Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. (TSX:T.AEM, Stock Forum) shares fell Wednesday along with weaker gold prices and news that the company's vice-president and chief financial officer, Ammar Al-Joundi, is leaving for rival Barrick.
Al-Joundi is returning to Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:T.ABX, Stock Forum) as executive vice-president and CFO.
Having lost a senior executive to a key rival, Agnico-Eagle is planning on increasing its budget for exploration, with $43 million to be spent this year, the company said in a release.
The budget increase from $106 million to $115 million is due to encouraging results at the Meliadine project in Nunavut and the Lapa mine in northwestern Quebec.
Bulk sampling from the Tiriganiq zone at Meliadine returned 6% more gold ounces and 14% higher grades than had been estimated.
The wholly-owned gold project is located near the western shore of Hudson Bay in the Kivalliq region.
Drilling at Tiriganiq zone is focusing on converting resources to reserves. The project's highlights include 10.9 metres at a grade of 13.5 grams per tonne and 12.1 metres at a grade of 10.4 grams per tonne.
Also, a new zone has been discovered at Meliadine, named “Normeg.” It is located at the west end of the Wesmeg deposit.
Meanwhile at Lapa, work continues on an exploration drift and infill drilling. The aim is to extend the mine's life beyond 2015 by another year or two.
The underground mine is located in the Abitibi region of northwest Quebec. The mine is expected to produce an average of 102,000 ounces of gold annually.
On Wednesday, Agnico-Eagle was trading at $41.05 a share. The company has a market cap of $7 billion, based on $171.2 million shares outstanding. The 52-week high and low was $72.51 and $31.50 respectively.