Tony Makuch, the former Kirkland Lake CEO who became CEO of the new Agnico Eagle when the two companies completed their merger of equals this month, has stepped down.

Agnico Eagle announced on Thursday that Makuch had informed the board that he had decided to resign as CEO and director of the company.

The group appointed president Ammar Al-Joundi as CEO with immediate effect. In his new expanded position, he would also join the board.

Agnico Eagle pointed out that Al-Joundi had 20 years of experience in mining, capital markets and banking, with specialisation in finance and business strategy.  He joined Agnico Eagle as president in 2015, after serving as CFO from September 2010 to June 2012, and as CFO and senior VP at Barrick before that.

"Ammar has the right mix of skill, experience and knowledge to execute the new Agnico Eagle's strategic plan to become the world's leading and highest quality senior gold producer," said executive chairperson Sean Boyd. 

"We are confident that Ammar is the right leader to complete the integration of Agnico Eagle and Kirkland Lake Gold and, working closely with our combined board members and executive team and our outstanding employees, he will help drive the company's successes as we continue to work to create long-term value for the company's shareholders and other key stakeholders," added Boyd.

RESULTS
The fourth quarter of 2021 was Agnico Eagle's fifth consecutive quarter of more than 500 000 oz of gold production, which is particularly impressive given the impacts of Covid-19 during the latter part of the quarter, Al-Joudini reported.

On a full-year basis, in 2021, the company achieved records in gold production, operating cash flow and mineral reserves, all while delivering the best safety performance in the company's 64-year history. Payable gold production in the full year 2021 was 2.03-million ounces at an all-in sustaining cost of $1 038/oz.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, net income was $101.1-million, or $0.41 a share,  compared with net income of $205.2-million, or $0.85 a share, in the comparative period.  For the full-year 2021, the company reported net income of $543-million, or net income of $2.23 a share, compared with $511.6-million, or net income of $2.12 a share, in 2020.

"Looking forward, all of our mines, both those contributed by Agnico Eagle and Kirkland Lake Gold, are well-positioned for another strong year in 2022, and well into the future.  Furthermore, the company is investing more than ever before at our mines and in exploration to build an even stronger business, in what we believe are the best places in the world to mine for gold," added  Al-Joundi.