Strategy

For the past several years, we have pursued a five-pronged growth strategy focussed on finding more gold and developing new mines at the lowest possible cost.

Produce more gold
Our goal is to increase annual gold production to 1.4 million ounces by 2011, by building and exploring our own mines. With the planned start-ups of the Goldex and Kittila mines in 2008, we will be on our way to having six operating gold mines. Over the period from2010 to 2017, we are targeting steady-state gold production averaging 1.3 million ounces.

Grow gold reserves in mining-friendly regions
We aim to grow gold mineral reserves to between 18 and 20 million ounces by year-end 2008 through aggressive exploration on our 100%-owned properties. Agnico-Eagle has active exploration programs in Canada (Ontario,Quebec, the Yukon and Nunavut), the United States (Nevada), Finland and Mexico (Chihuahua). Over the past several years, we have established our ability to find gold and grow reserves faster than most other intermediate gold producers. We see the potential for several five-million ounce gold deposits at our existing properties.

Acquire small, think big
We continuously look to add quality projects and assets to our portfolio. Agnico-Eagle is positioned to act if an opportunity is well-matched to our technical skills and abilities, and can significantly strengthen the business. Our focus is on smaller companies or projects, which can typically be acquired at favourable prices and whose operations can be quickly and easily integrated into our company.

Be a low-cost leader
We consider low-cost production to be an important competitive advantage that helps position the company to deliver value. At LaRonde, strong byproduct revenues, economies of scale afforded by the high-tonnage mine and a highly skilled and motivated workforce enable us to maintain our status as one of the lowest-cost producers in the gold industry. As we build new mines, we have implemented rigorous cost-control measures and monitoring programs to ensure that project budgets remain on track.

Maintain a solid financial position
A conservative and strong balance sheet gives us the financial resources to fund growth projects while maintaining our longstanding policy of never selling away the price upside on our gold reserves. As we open the new gold mines, growing cash flow should allow us to execute on opportunities, and reward our shareholders, while maintaining a solid financial position