Published: May 6, 2026 |

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A shuttered Nova Scotia gold mine is rebooting and will process three million tonnes of stockpiled ore, producing about $240-million worth of the precious metal.

The ore at the Touquoy Mine contains some 38,000 ounces of gold — about $240-million worth at $6,250 per ounce, the price bullion hovered around at the end of last week.

In late April, Atlantic Mining Nova Scotia, a subsidiary of Australia-based St Barbara, got provincial approval to reprocess the leftover ore.

That work will take up to 14 months, generating $150 million in economic activity, and creating nearly 200 new jobs at a site that once employed 340.

“To be able to bring those folks back and hire new ones is really good. But for an overall mining perspective in the province, it sends a message. When we didn’t finish processing all the gold at Touquoy, it was a sign to the industry that the regulations required to operate effectively in the province weren’t there,” said Dustin O’Leary, St Barbara’s business development manager for Atlantic operations.

St Barbara ceased operations at Touquoy three years ago because it couldn’t get provincial approval for certain permits. But a shift in Nova Scotia’s economic policies and a priority on natural resource development has revived the mining sector, particularly around gold and other critical minerals.

A NEW APPETITE FOR MINING

Advocates have long said new critical mineral strategies and major project approvals could generate billions of dollars and generate hundreds of jobs in Nova Scotia.

Last year, Premier Tim Houston pledged to diversify the economy and stimulate more resource development. As a result, nearly twice as many exploration licenses were issued in 2025 than the year before, and mining claims have spiked.

“The message that it sends is Nova Scotia is a place where we protect the environment and we do business properly. Mining brings economic development and opportunities to areas that don’t always see it. Not every opportunity can go to downtown Halifax,” said O’Leary.

HOW THE REOPENING WILL WORK

The Touquoy project, located in the northeastern part of the province, is expected to begin processing by the end of this year and start shipping gold in early 2027.

Atlantic Mining Nova Scotia has signed contracts worth more than $50 million with two Nova Scotia companies to initiate the reopening of the mine.

Alva Construction Ltd. was awarded a $48 million contract, and MacGregors Industrial Group inked an $8 million deal.

Alva will move material around the site, to the mill for processing and disposing of the left-over rock.

MacGregors will refurbish the mill and make it operational.

“The structure and machinery are there. We just need to make sure it’s ready when we need it to operate it. They’ll assist us with that,” said O’Leary.

All activity will take place within the existing footprint, and all processed waste will be refurbished and placed into the existing open pit.

Reclamation, or cleanup, of the site began in 2024 after operations stopped. Those efforts will continue while the remaining ore is processed. The province holds a $79.9 million bond from Atlantic Mining to ensure full reclamation of the site is completed.

“We’ll be closing the site. When that ore is processed, the commitment is still to reclaim that site. We’ve already spent $18 million-plus reclaiming the site, and we plan to keep spending more to be able to do it. While you’re moving some of the rock to be processed, you’re still moving more of it around for reclamation purposes,” said O’Leary.

Touquoy is the second major gold mine approval in the past year, following the Goldboro Gold Mine in Guysborough County.

Goldboro, owned by NexGold Mining, will begin construction this year after lengthy delays. According to feasibility studies, it could operate as an 11 year open-pit mine and produce roughly 100,000 ounces of gold per year.

“These two projects represent more than $2 billion in economic activity and close to a thousand jobs for Nova Scotians,” Natural Resources Minister Kim Masland said in a statement.

Once Touquoy winds down, St Barbara will set its sights on developing its 15 Mile Stream Gold Mine, a major project that combines three former mining industrial sites on Nova Scotia’s eastern shore.

No permits have been submitted yet, but if approved, the 15 Mile Stream project will be in operation for more than 11 years and could provide a $5 billion economic spinoff.

“We’re in the process of submitting an initial project description to federal and provincial regulators. The process of permitting the project and assessing where that goes should begin sometime in June,” said O’Leary.

“We’re very confident. It’s a transformational project for the province,” added O’Leary.

Source: The Chronicle Herald

St Barbara Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, mining, and sale of gold. The company also explores for silver deposits. It holds interest in the Simberi project located in the province of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea.

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