Canadian miner Discovery Silver is setting its sights on doubling gold production from the Timmins camp in Ontario to more than 500 000 oz/y with the acquisition of Glencore's Kidd operations. 

Discovery will acquire the Kidd Creek copper, zinc and silver mine, the Kidd metallurgical site and the associated tailings management area, adding processing capacity, infrastructure and exploration ground contiguous with its existing Hoyle Pond and Pamour operations.

“Acquiring the Kidd Operations provides an opportunity to substantially increase our processing and tailings capacity and supports a growth trajectory that could more than double gold production in Timmins to over half a million ounces per year,” said Discovery president and CEO Tony Makuch in a statement announcing the acquisition.

Makuch added that the Kidd metallurgical site was a fully permitted facility with four independent processing circuits, about 90 MW of available power, extensive tailings capacity, rail access and laboratory infrastructure.

“This infrastructure will assist us as we advance plans to grow our gold production substantially, with the added milling capacity, and the addition of at least one new gold circuit, expected to be sufficient for future planned tonnage from Pamour, Borden and Hoyle Pond, as well as for processing mineralisation from TVZ,” he said.

The acquisition also provides exposure to base and precious metals from the Kidd Creek mine, which in 2024 produced 40-million pounds of copper, 82-million pounds of zinc and 1.5-million ounces of silver. Discovery plans to deploy additional drilling at Kidd Creek and surrounding properties to test significant exploration upside for copper, zinc, silver, gold and other critical minerals.

Under the agreement, consideration to Glencore at closing includes $10-million in Discovery shares, the assumption of financial assurance and rehabilitation obligations, concentrate offtake arrangements and a 1% net smelter return royalty on future production from a large exploration land package outside the existing operations. A deferred payment of up to $75-million, payable in shares or cash at Discovery’s discretion, will be triggered upon receipt of key permits to deposit gold tailings at the Kidd tailings management area.

Ontario Energy and Mines Minister Stephen Lecce said the transaction would help preserve jobs and extend the life of key infrastructure in the region, noting that the Kidd operations had been slated for closure at the end of 2026.

Discovery expects to close the deal in the first half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals, including consent from Ontario’s Ministry of Mines and approval under Canada’s Competition Act.