Osisko Gold Group announced that its board formally approved proceeding with construction of the company’s Cariboo gold project, located in central British Columbia, Canada. The Cariboo gold project is a permitted, feasibility-stage project located in the historic Wells-Barkerville mining camp. In late 2024, the project was granted the Mines Act and Environmental Management Act (British Columbia) permits, marking the successful completion of the permitting process for key approvals and solidifying the project’s shovel-ready status.
As part of the board’s decision to approve a final investment decision (FID), the company’s subsidiary, Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd., has entered into agreements with Trafigura Canada Ltd. and Urion Investments Holdings Ltd., an affiliate of Trafigura, that support the development of the project.
Urion has agreed to acquire more than 9.5 million shares of the company for $30 million. Trafigura signed offtake agreements with Barkerville for all the gold concentrate for the first four years of production (or until 80,000 dry metric tons of concentrate are delivered) and gold doré for the first four years of production. The agreement also includes an option for a $120 million gold prepayment facility and a further six years of concentrate and doré offtake between Barkerville and Trafigura.
“This decision is a culmination of more than a decade of de-risking work on the project, from early exploration when the first drills hit the ground in 2015, through permitting and technical studies, and into project financing and pre-construction,” said Sean Roosen, chairman and CEO, Osisko Gold Group. “It reflects our confidence in the significant long-term value Cariboo can deliver to our shareholders and other stakeholders, and in the transformational impact it can have on the future of Osisko Gold.”
The project is designed as a conventional, decline-accessed underground mining operation employing mechanized long-hole stoping mining methods, with paste backfill, to extract ore from gold-bearing vein corridors. Underground access is currently provided through the Cow portal, with development extending into the Lowhee and Cow deposit Zones. At the mine site complex, earthworks have commenced on the second underground access at the Valley Portal. Once established, the Valley Portal will provide a second development front and support critical path primary development access to the Valley and Shaft Zones, which host most of the Cariboo gold deposit’s mineral reserves and mineral resources.
Approximately 3 km of underground development has been completed to date. Early works have already commenced during pre-construction, with preparatory activities advancing at the mine site complex, waste rock storage facility, sediment control pond and water treatment plant, among other areas. Major earthworks are scheduled to ramp-up in Q3 2026 and are expected to continue through Q4 2027, with the process plant foundations work commencing in the summer of 2027 and building enclosure targeted for Q2 2028.
The equity investment is expected to close in September 2026, subject to customary closing conditions.
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