Agnico Eagle Mines : Meliadine mine partners with Nunavut Shared Services Team wins 2020 Michel Létourneau Award

July 29, 2021, CTMN: Receiving the 2020 Michel Létourneau Award on behalf of the Meliadine mine and Nunavut Shared Services teams: L-R: Steve Beauchemin, Project Control Superintendent; Daniel Seguin, Director, Construction Projects; Pascal Lavoie, Director, Shared Services Nunavut; Jean-Claude Blais, General Superintendent; Michel Létourneau, Corporate Director, Health, Safety and Security (Retired); Mathieu Grenier, Superintendent Supply Chain; Guillaume Bigué, Manager, People, Nunavut; Patrice Gilbert, Vice President, Health, Safety, Security & Social Affairs; Martin Plante, Vice President, Nunavut.

Throughout the pandemic, Agnico Eagle has been focused on protecting our employees and the communities surrounding our operations in collaboration with local authorities. We are pleased to announce that our Meliadine mine and Nunavut Shared Services teams are this year's Michel Létourneau Award winners for their instrumental role in helping us manage COVID-19 risk with the implementation of systematic Real Time Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) testing.

Also known as COVID-19 rapid testing, early in the pandemic it became clear that having access to this kind of immediate and reliable testing directly onsite would be critical for keeping our operations safe from the spread of the virus. This was especially true given the remote nature of Agnico Eagle's Nunavut operations, the frequent travel and employee accommodations in camp facilities. It also placed Agnico Eagle at the forefront of this type of proactive approach as we became one of the first mining companies in Canada to provide this level of testing.

Created to celebrate achievements in teamwork, productivity improvements, cost control, innovation, accident prevention and health and safety, our Meliadine mine, together with the Nunavut Shared Services team, was recognized with the 2020 award at a virtual award ceremony on July 29th with the award's namesake, our former colleague Michel Létourneau, Corporate Director, Health, Safety and Security (now retired), in attendance.

The Meliadine mine and the Nunavut Shared Services teams were proud to have the opportunity to work closely with Dr. Gary Kobinger, Ph.D., Director of the Research Centre on Infectious Diseases at Laval University who is also renowned for co-developing an efficient vaccine and treatment against Ebola. With his expertise and guidance, a reliable same-day testing facility was able to be established and by early April 2020, roughly one month into the pandemic, a fully operational testing protocol was in place with all employees and contractors scheduled to travel to Nunavut tested for COVID-19 on arrival at the airport and then only boarding their northbound flights once their negative tests results are received, which typically takes about two and a half hours.

'This was an amazing accomplishment to ensure the safety of our employees at both our Meliadine mine and Meadowbank Complex. The team's hard work and collaboration allowed us to complete this project which became so vital to the safety of our operations,' commented Guillaume Bigué, Manager, People, Nunavut.

Today, the Nunavut testing protocols have become even more robust and include four testing facilities to allow for testing of workers prior to boarding northbound flights, as well as increased screening measures for all individuals flying to site, and onsite re-testing.

Sean Boyd, CEO and Vice Chairman commented, 'One of the milestones that helped us move forward ahead of other mining companies during the pandemic, was being one of the first mining companies to pilot and implement a COVID-19 lab. With hard work and good thinking, our Meliadine mine, in partnership with the Nunavut Shared Services team, stepped up to the challenge and have greatly contributed and enhanced our ability to protect the health and safety of our workforce in Nunavut.'

'When I think about our people and how we have all persevered through an immensely challenging year, I am both humbled and proud of all the work and dedication that has gone into to protecting one another.' added Ammar Al-Joundi, President.

Congratulations to our Meliadine mine and the Nunavut Shared Services teams for their quick response in the height of the pandemic, for working together to safely resume operations, and helping to safeguard our Nunavut mine sites.