The Cariboo Gold Project is an advanced stage gold exploration project in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The project is owned by Osisko Development, a North American gold development company.
Cariboo Gold Project received an Environmental Assessment Certificate in October 2023, concluding the EA process. Osisko secured the BC Mines Act and Environmental Management Act permits in Q4 2024.
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The company announced the results of an independent Feasibility Study (FS) for Cariboo Gold Project in January 2023. Subsequently, an optimised FS was conducted, and results were announced in April 2025.
According to the FS 2025, the project can produce around 90,000 ounces of gold annually over a ten-year mine life (LOM). The study estimates total initial capital cost of $881m and sustaining capital of $525m over the LOM.
Construction works may begin in the third quarter of 2025, with first gold anticipated in H2 2027.
Cariboo Gold Project Location
The Cariboo Gold Project is situated in the historic Wells-Barkerville mining camp within the District of Wells, British Columbia. The project spans approximately 60km from northwest to southeast in the Wells-Barkerville mining camp.
Located within the Cariboo Regional District, the project area includes the main towns of Wells and Barkerville Historic Town & Park. Wells is positioned 74km east of Quesnel and roughly 500km north of Vancouver.
Overall. ODV’s land holdings include 384 mineral titles, covering a total of 142,885.12 hectares in a single, contiguous property block.
Geology and Mineralisation
The gold project is hosted by the Snowshoe Group, central to the Barkerville Subterrane. It lies within the Kootenay Terrane of the Omineca Tectonic Belt in the south-central Canadian Cordillera.
Both the Barkerville and Cariboo Subterranes consist of metamorphosed siliciclastic protoliths with interlayered marble and granitic orthogneiss.
In the Barkerville Subterrane, principal gold-producing areas are found in rocks metamorphosed to lower-greenschist facies, while amphibolite-facies rocks are present but not significantly mineralised.
Gold mineralisation in the Wells-Barkerville mining camp, part of the Cariboo Gold District, aligns with an orogenic gold deposit model.
This mineralisation is linked to orogenic silica-carbonate-sericite-pyrite fluids moving along secondary permeability, influenced by metamorphic fabrics, vein arrays, faults, lithologic contacts, and rheological contrasts.
The project’s deposit types were categorised into five inter-related styles of vein and replacement-type mineralisation.
These are fault-fill breccia veins parallel to foliation in carbonaceous mudstone; vertical northeast-trending extensional veins in sandstone units; moderately dipping east-northeast-trending shear veins in sandstone units; gold-bearing sulphide replacements in fold hinges of calcareous sandstone units; and gold-bearing sulphide replacement mineralization in fault-bounded calcareous siltstone units.
Cariboo Gold Project Reserves
Cariboo Gold Project Probable mineral reserves total 17.8 million tonnes with a grade of 3.62 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold, amounting to 2.071 million ounces of gold.
The total measured and indicated resources are reported at 17.38 million tonnes, with a grading of 2.88 g/t, translating to 1.612 million ounces of gold.
Additionally, total inferred resources are estimated at 18.77 million tonnes, grading 3.09 g/t, for 1.864 million ounces of gold.
Mining and Processing
Cariboo Gold Project encompasses three primary zones—Cow, Shaft, and Valley—with two smaller satellite zones, Lowhee and Mosquito.
It aims for a steady production rate of 4,900 tonnes per day (tpd) by the first half of Year 1, maintaining this until Year 10 before tapering off.
The mining method that will be predominantly employed is long hole longitudinal retreat, with some stopes using a modified version or transverse approach.
The materials handling fleet includes 10-tonne scooptram Load Haul Dump (LHD) vehicles and 51-tonne haul trucks. Stope production will commence in the second half of Year -1, ramping up to full production by Q2 Year 1, with underground operations continuing until the first half of Year 10. The long hole method is chosen for its suitability to the sub-vertical geometry of mineralized veins and cost-effectiveness.
The project divides into three sectors: South (Valley Upper, Cow, Lowhee), North (Mosquito, Upper Shaft), and Deep (Lower Shaft, Valley), each contributing to a third of nominal production.
The mine plan involves extracting 17.8 million tonnes of ore at an average grade of 3.6 grams per tonne of gold, producing 8 million tonnes of waste over the LOM.
The equipment fleet features six two-boom Jumbos, two Sandvik Roadheaders, 17 diesel 51-tonne trucks, and 10-tonne LHDs. The mine operates year-round with three roster systems, employing up to 169 underground workers per rotation.
The processing activity will include underground crushing and conveying ore to the surface for sorting, grinding, gravity concentration, flotation, and tailings dewatering.
All mill tailings are returned underground as paste backfill. Gravity concentrate is refined on-site into doré bars, while flotation concentrate is shipped offsite.
The ore is crushed underground and then conveyed to the surface for screening. About 30% bypasses ore sorting and goes directly to the fine ore silo, while the remaining 70% is sorted using two ore sorters. Sorted concentrate is further crushed and combined with fines before entering the grinding circuit.
Grinding occurs in a ball mill, reducing ore to a P80 of 190 microns. The circuit includes primary gravity concentration to recover some gold. Remaining material goes through flotation, encompassing rougher, regrind, and cleaner stages.
The regrind mill reduces particle size to 25 microns for enhanced liberation. Secondary gravity concentration is also applied, with combined gravity concentrates refined into doré.
Flotation concentrate is thickened and filtered before being shipped. Tailings are similarly dewatered and mixed with cement for use as paste backfill underground.
Overall gold recovery over the life of the mine is projected to be 92.6%, integrating ore sorting, gravity, and flotation processes.
Contractors Involved
BBA Engineering completed the 2025 feasibility study (FS) as lead independent consultant. The company also prepared the FS released in January 2023.
Several other entities also contributed InnovExplo, WSP Canada, JDS Energy & Mining, Falkirk Environmental Consultants, Integrated Sustainability Consultants, M.A. O’Kane Consultants, Alius Mine Consulting and Clean Energy Consulting.
