Artemis Gold’s Blackwater mill bill balloons

AI desk brief

Artemis Gold raised the budget for its Blackwater mill expansion in British Columbia to C$120 million from C$100-C$110 million, but still expects the larger plant to start up by year-end. The upgrade adds spare equipment and lifts designed processing capacity by a third to 8 Mt/y; the work was 57% complete at June 30 and the company says the overrun is manageable relative to its C$670-C$745 million 2026 growth capex funded from operating cash flow.

The market takeaway is that Blackwater remains on track to ramp meaningfully higher from an improving production base. Artemis posted record Q2 output of 74,063 oz., kept full-year guidance at 265,000-290,000 oz., and aims to lift annual gold output above 500,000 oz. by 2029 as further expansion proceeds. Haywood’s Pierre Vaillancourt said the added capex is not material, and the revised cost still implies a competitive C$60 per added tonne of annual processing capacity.

Near term, investors will focus on execution risk as mechanical installation becomes the critical path and most of the production uplift is pushed into 2027. A prior gearbox failure at the existing mill showed operational vulnerability, but the mine’s quick recovery and strong Q2 performance support confidence. Artemis shares rose 5% on the update, while the broader implication for gold is slightly supportive via incremental long-term mine supply, though the immediate impact on bullion pricing is limited.