Canadian miner Agnico Eagle Mines has reported a 2.1% increase in year-end 2025 gold mineral reserves to a record 55.4-million ounces, as exploration success at key assets bolstered both reserves and resources.

The company said year-end reserves totalled 1 330-million tonnes grading 1.30 g/t gold. Measured and indicated mineral resources rose 9.6% to 47.1-million ounces (1 200-million tonnes at 1.22 g/t), while inferred resources increased 15.5% to 41.8-million ounces (522-million tonnes at 2.49 g/t).

The year-on-year increase in mineral reserves reflects reserve replacement at operating mines and the initial declaration of mineral reserves at the Marban deposit in Malartic following the acquisition of O3 Mining in March 2025.

Agnico Eagle said its 2025 exploration programme averaged 120 diamond drill rigs and completed 1.4-million metres of core drilling across its portfolio.

"I would like to congratulate our exploration team for their performance in 2025 in terms of safety, productivity and cost control with an average of 120 diamond drill rigs in operation drilling 1.4-million metres of core. The exploration programme continued to yield exciting results at our mines and key pipeline projects, which drove an increase in our mineral reserves and in our measured, indicated and inferred mineral resources primarily from additions at Detour Lake, Odyssey and Hope Bay," said exploration VP Guy Gosselin.

"The success of our 2025 exploration programme reinforces our view that we have built the strongest project pipeline in the company's history, with exceptional exploration upside - arguably the best in the gold mining sector," added Gosselin.

At Detour Lake, conversion drilling increased underground indicated mineral resources below the openpit to 3.47-million ounces (52.9-million tonnes at 2.04 g/t) at year-end, while exploration drilling below and west of the pit lifted underground inferred resources to 3.88-million ounces (59.6-million tonnes at 2.03 g/t).

At Odyssey, inferred resources at the East Gouldie deposit increased 62% year-on-year, or 2.8-million ounces, to 7.4-million ounces (94.3-million tonnes at 2.43 g/t), including the Eclipse zone. The Odyssey mine now hosts 6.03-million ounces in proven and probable reserves (59.7-million tonnes at 3.14 g/t), 3.4-million ounces in measured and indicated resources (57.8-million tonnes at 1.85 g/t) and 12.7-million ounces in inferred resources (177.7-million tonnes at 2.21 g/t).

At Marban, part of the Canadian Malartic complex, a fourth-quarter technical evaluation updated probable mineral reserves to 1.58-million ounces (51.6-million tonnes at 0.95 g/t). This marks the first reserve declaration at Marban since the O3 Mining acquisition.

At Hope Bay, 131 208 m of exploration drilling focused on resource expansion at the Madrid deposit following success at the Patch 7 zone. Patch 7 now hosts 1.0-million ounces in indicated resources (4.5-million tonnes at 6.77 g/t), while inferred resources increased 123% to 1.7-million ounces (8.0-million tonnes at 6.57 g/t).

For 2026, Agnico Eagle expects total exploration expenditures and project expenses of between $565-million and $635-million, with a midpoint of $600-million. This includes about $384-million for capitalised and expensed exploration and approximately $216-million for advanced exploration projects, studies and other corporate development activities.

Key priorities for 2026 include continued drilling at the Detour Lake underground project, assessing the full potential of the Canadian Malartic property, supporting regional synergies in Abitibi and advancing exploration at Hope Bay.