On production, Artemis said Blackwater has capped off its inaugural operating year with a record quarter of 68,480 ounces of gold, bringing full year 2025 production to 192,808 ounces of gold. The quarterly gold production represents a 12% increase from the previous quarter and was primarily driven by higher mill feed grades and higher processing recoveries, it added.
CEO Dale Andres, said: "Record quarterly gold production is a fitting end to an extraordinary first year of operations for Artemis Gold. Our mining operations are performing extremely well, with ore grades being delivered to the mill as planned. Our focus remains on further improving mill throughput and availability, and we continue to target mill throughput levels at 10% above design capacity on a sustainable basis in advance of the Phase 1A expansion which we expect will increase annual design throughput by 33% to 8 Mtpa by Q4 2026.
"We are also advancing the Expanded Phase 2 project, which we expect to fund from operating cash flow and will see us further increase annual throughput to 21 Mtpa by the end of 2028, which is more than triple our current capacity. This is an exciting time for Artemis Gold as we transform Blackwater into one of the three largest single gold mines in Canada."
Wednesday's statement noted mill feed grade averaged 1.66 g/t gold in Q4 2025, 12% higher than in Q3 2025. Gold recovery in the mill improved to 88.1% in the quarter, up from 84.9% in Q3 2025. Artemis said the increase in recovery was related to both improved ore characteristics as mining extended deeper into the deposit as well as continued optimization of the mill circuit.
"During Q4 2025, the mill performed well on an operating hour basis and above the design rate," the statement said. "However," it added, "the total tonnage processed was impacted by lower mill availability. The availability of the processing plant during October and November was approximately 82%, primarily due to a planned four-day shutdown to complete the first full re-line of the ball mill in October and a ball mill motor failure in early November as previously disclosed. Design and construction deficiencies caused by the company's former EPC contractor (Sedgman) are being systematically addressed, with fixes to the issues which caused the majority of the unplanned downtime now largely completed. The availability of the process plant improved to over 93% in December. The mill operated at an average throughput rate of 15,466 tonnes per day or 94% of design capacity for the quarter."
Artemis said full details of 2025 production results and financials will be announced on February 18.
On 2026 production and cost guidance, the company expects another strong year with 265,000-290,000 ounces of gold produced at all-in sustaining costs of US$925-US$1,025 per ounce sold, which is one of the lowest costs in the industry. At current spot gold prices of approximately US$4,500 per ounce, this translates into an AISC margin of approximately US$3,500 per ounce of gold sold, or more than 75% margin on revenue.
Additionally, the company said it has "industry leading growth that will more than triple mill throughput capacity in the near term". Artemis noted Phase 1A, announced in September 2025, is expected to be completed in 2026 and is an "attractive step change opportunity to increase nameplate mill capacity" from 6 Mtpa to 8 Mtpa. It also noted the EP2 project, announced in December 2025, is "one of the largest gold development projects currently underway in Canada". Artemis said EP2 is "advancing well" and is expected to increase gold production to over 500,000 ounces per year by the end of 2028. "These growth projects will cement the Blackwater Mine's position as one of the lowest-cost and highest-margin gold operations globally and transforms the mine into one of the three largest single gold mines in Canada," it added.
According to Artemis, higher grades are expected in the first half of the year as mining progresses towards the bottom of the current pit phases and higher throughput rates expected in the second half of the year as components of the Phase 1A plant expansion come online. It noted the Phase 1A expansion project, which is expected to be completed, commissioned and fully ramped up during the fourth quarter, will require an estimated 8-day shutdown of the existing plant at the end of Q3 2026 to tie in major components.
Artemis said sustaining capital is expected to be around $5 million in 2026. Resource expansion and exploration drilling is expected to be between $15 and $20 million in 2026, with the primary focus on resource expansion drilling on the Blackwater deposit at depth together with the next phase of greenfield exploration drilling in the district.
Total growth capital, Artemis added, is expected to be in the range of $670 to $745 million and funded from operating cash flow, which includes $95 to $100 million to finish the Phase 1A expansion, $385 to $435 million to advance the recently announced $1.44 billion EP2 project, and $190 to $210 million of other expansion capital primarily associated with tailings and water expansion projects together with additional equipment for the mining fleet. "The early works program on the EP2 project is focused on advancing detailed engineering and design, long-lead equipment and material procurement, earthworks, and camp construction. Major works are expected to commence before the end of the third quarter."
Shares in Artemis closed up $0.04 to $39.23 on the TSX Venture Exchange.
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