May 14, 2012
OSISKO PROVIDES UPDATE ON CANADIAN MALARTIC
(Montreal, May 14, 2012) Osisko Mining Corporation (the
"Company" or "Osisko") (OSK: TSX, EWX: Deutsche Boerse)
herein provides an update from the preliminary assessment
of fire damage incurred last week at the Canadian Malartic
Mill and preliminary time estimates of the recommencement
of production.
Civil engineering inspections have been conducted on the
mill floor and roof areas affected by the fire, and safety
concerns in the area of the Number 4 cyclone bank have been
addressed. Clean-up and repair work has commenced.
A 600 tonne capacity mobile crane has been brought to site,
and the Number 4 cyclone bank is being removed from the
building and should be expedited tonight for refurbishing.
Combined with the existing inventory of spare parts at the
mine and work being carried out by suppliers, Osisko
believes the Number 4 cyclone bank can be rehabilitated to
working state in the near term.
SAG mill, ball mill and crusher wear steel is being
replaced concurrently with work on the cyclone, work which
was previously scheduled for the mid-May maintenance shut
down but is proceeding ahead of schedule because of the
fire-related shut down.
Osisko currently believes production will be able to resume
in the near term using the three undamaged cyclone banks at
a reduced throughput. Exact timing of the restart of
production should be available later this week, as well as
an estimate on the delay time needed to re-establish
service of the Number 4 cyclone.
Insurance company representatives have been to site and the
evaluation and claim process is following normal course.
Initial advance payment on the claim is scheduled to be
received within 10 to 15 days.
Mining activity in the pit has continued uninterrupted, and
was not affected by last week's fire.
Osisko would like to reassure stakeholders that all steps
and measures are being taken to return Canadian Malartic to
production in a safe and timely manner, and that the
company is using this unscheduled downtime to best
advantage while efforts to reestablish production continue.
Secondary Crusher and Pebble Crusher
It has also been confirmed that the adjustment ring for the
second FLSmidth XL2000 cone crusher has been safely loaded
in Brazil and is now preparing for shipment on a dedicated
vessel destined for Trois-Rivieres, Quebec where it will
undergo three weeks of machining and tooling on arrival.
The other main components of the second FLSmidth XL2000
cone crusher are currently in transit via rail from Halifax
to Malartic.
The components of the new pebble crusher purchased from
FLSmidth (noted in last Friday's press release) will be
shipped this week via land transport from Northern United
States to Malartic.
About Osisko Mining Corporation
Osisko Mining Corporation operates the Canadian Malartic
Gold Mine in Malartic, Quebec and is pursuing exploration
on a number of properties, including the Hammond Reef Gold
Project in Northern Ontario.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release may be
deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this
release, other than statements of historical fact, that
address events or developments that Osisko expects to
occur, are forward looking statements. Forward looking
statements are statements that are not historical facts and
are generally, but not always, identified by the words
"expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends",
"estimates", "projects", "potential", "scheduled" and
similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will",
"would", "may", "could" or "should" occur including,
without limitation, consequence of this incident on
operations at Canadian Malartic operations. Although Osisko
believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking
statements are based on reasonable assumptions, including,
without limitation, that all technical, economical and
financial conditions will be met in order to warrant
further development of its Hammond Reef project and that
the diligent ongoing optimizing of its operations at the
Canadian Malartic mine including the installation of the
secondary crushing circuit will be achieved and will,
accordingly, improve its operating performance, such
statements are not guarantees of future performance and
actual results may differ materially from those in forward
looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual
results to differ materially from those in forward-looking
statements include gold prices, access to skilled
consultants, mining development personnel, results of
exploration and development activities, Osisko's limited
experience with production and development stage mining
operations, uninsured risks, regulatory changes, defects in
title, availability of personnel, materials and equipment,
timeliness of government approvals, actual performance of
facilities, equipment and processes relative to
specifications and expectations, unanticipated
environmental impacts on operations market prices,
continued availability of capital and financing and general
economic, market or business conditions. These factors are
discussed in greater detail in Osisko's most recent Annual
Information Form and in the most recent Management
Discussion and Analysis filed on SEDAR, which also provide
additional general assumptions in connection with these
statements. Osisko cautions that the foregoing list of
important factors is not exhaustive. Investors and others
who base themselves on forward-looking statements should
carefully consider the above factors as well as the
uncertainties they represent and the risk they entail.
Osisko believes that the expectations reflected in those
forward-looking statements are reasonable, but no assurance
can be given that these expectations will prove to be
correct and such forward-looking statements included in
this press release should not be unduly relied upon. These
statements speak only as of the date of this press release.