The company plans to increase production to 250,000 - 300,000 ounces per year in several stages. Last month, the company launched a $60 million private placement financing of convertible debentures, with the new funds to be used to finance a production expansion program at its operations in Kirkland Lake. The funds will also be used to complete remaining payments due to Queenston Mining related to the acquisition of various joint ventures projects. In September, the Ontario-focused gold producer maintained its output guidance for the year of between 180,000 - 200,000 ounces as it announced its fiscal first quarter results. For the three months that ended in July, Kirkland's Macassa mine in Ontario produced 70,201 tons of ore at a head grade of 0.26 ounces of gold per ton. A gold recovery rate of 95.2 per cent gave the company 17,396 ounces of gold in the latest quarter, with Kirkland selling a total of 19,964 ounces in the period, despite some production challenges.