Mining firm Agnico Eagle reported record gold production in the second quarter, despite stoppages related to Quebec wildfires and caribou migration in Nunavut.

The company reported its second quarter financials on Thursday, which include a record 24,755 kilograms of gold on the back of its 100 per cent ownership of the Malartic mine in northern Quebec.

Overall, Agnico Eagle reported a net income of $326.8 million, with production costs per ounce of gold reaching $851.

“It has been a fantastic quarter operationally,” Ammar Al-Joundi, Agnico Eagle president and CEO, told BNN Bloomberg on Thursday.

Al-Joundi said the Malartic mine was first discovered in 1923 and has produced nearly 200,000 kilograms of ore since, with plans to continue operations at the site until at least 2042. 

 “It’s one of the best mines in the world in one of the best jurisdictions in the world,” he said.

Not everything was smooth over the quarter, as air quality concerns temporarily paused much of the company’s northern Quebec operations. 

“It got to the point where the air quality, we had to adjust for that,” he said.

“The team is well prepared for different contingencies and something as surprising as the wildfires.”

Additionally, a pair of Agnico Eagle mines in Nunavut were shut down for 11 and 15 days respectively due to an early and long caribou migration in the territory.

“We are guests in Nunavut and the communities there have depended on caribou there for their existence for thousands of years,” Al-Joundi said. “It’s exceedingly important to them and to us, so we have very specific protocol with regards to the caribou migration. We have in our budgets approximately 30 days a year where we expect to stop a lot of the road traffic.”

Al-Joundi added that the earlier and longer caribou migration season is a good thing as it shows the herds are strong.

“We were very well prepared for that and effectively the operations continued to deliver great results,” he said.

Looking ahead, Agnico Eagle is keeping with its previous year-end projections of between 91,852 and 97,522 kilograms of gold production, though it may have to scale back operations at a mine in Finland if Supreme Court of Finland upholds lower production limits.

“We’ve had a fantastic start to the year and were trending very, very well relative to our guidance,” Al-Joundi said.