Good morning, everyone. Today, I have the pleasure to present and to introduce more what is Agnico. What are we doing, who we are, but more importantly, what differentiates ourselves. Maybe before I begin, please take my remarks is going to be looking forward statements. Who is Agnico? Now we're the second-largest gold producer in the world. We have 10 mines in operation in four countries, Canada, Finland, Mexico, and Australia. 85% of the production is coming from Canada, with the three regions, Quebec, Nunavut, and Ontario. We are today, on the financial state point of view, last year, we've generate $8.8 billion EBITDA. We had a $4.4 billion free cash flow at the end of last year.
On that cash flow, the $2.7 billion, we finished with net cash balance at $2.7 billion last year, and we've give back to shareholders $1.4 billion through share buyback into dividend. What differentiate Agnico Eagle to other company? We don't consider ourself as a global mining company. We are more a regional mining company, and that's why I think we're able to succeed today, where we have our costs are $200-$300 per ounce less than our peers. Why this is important, the regional aspect? It's the way that we found that we've built the company, since many years that we've been able to have a clear and a best way to have a sustainable business. There is two criteria before we go into a region. Is there a geological potential that we could build many mines and to be there for many years?
And do we have the political and social stability to be there for many years? Because that's the way we think we're able to create and to build a competitive advantage, where we have a long-term relationship with the communities. We have a good... Let's say, our employees are more committed, stay with Agnico. We have a very low turnover. Our turnover, for example, in Quebec, is 5%- 6%. Overall, our turnover is half of the other business. We have some sites that the third generations that people are at site. And I'm a good example of that. I've been with Agnico 26 years, starting with Agnico was one mine. And today, my daughter is a mining engineer at one of our mine in Nunavut. But I'm not an exception. That's common into Agnico to have this.
That give us good strength to build our project and to have a good technical base on the knowledge, on operation, on construction, and on delivering on target. What is the result of that? Is it working? When you look to our result, it's working. In the past 20 years, we've been able to increase the production 14x compared to where we were before. This looks good, but what is difficult to do is to do it per share. Our focus always remains to do it per share. We've been able, to the last two decades, to increase our production per share by 3x , which is not an easy achievement to do. We have a growth plan, I'm going to talk later, to keep doing that, growing the company without, let's say, in the per share value.
When you look also on the EBITDA, and when you look at the number there, per share, the dividend per share, everything is in the positive. Overall, Agnico have been better than the S&P 500 and the XAU Index. We have a compounded return of the last 20 years of 13%. Again, the success is based a lot on the strategy to grow the company, but on a regional basis, too. We try to do acquisition or to increase our productivity in the same region where we are. That's the future, what we see now. We're looking to be in the early 2030s, 20%-30% more production than where we are today. Right now, in the next coming years, we're 3.4 million-3.5 million ounces for the next three years. We're going to be north of 4 million ounces into 2030+.
This is based on the same five projects that we were looking and working on when the gold price was at $2,000. The two first one are to increase the production at the site where we have infrastructure, we have the people at Detour Lake. I'm going to talk more into detail in the coming. The two first sites is assets and operation. After that, we have Hope Bay, and we have Upper Beaver. This is two new sites that we're building, or we are going to build. The fifth one, San Nicolás, this one is not counted into my increase because it's more a copper project. I'm going to talk more today about the next four one.
We're in the strongest position that we ever been with a good balance sheet, with a good growth profile in front of us, and a stable production in all our operation. Detour Lake, that's a world-class asset. We've been able, in the last five years, to increase the reserve and resources by 25 million ounces in the last five years into that project. Without thinking differently or doing an expansion, we're going to be mining there up to 2060-2070. That mine was in operation in the '80s or 1980, 1990. We just opened underground at the time. In 2010, that was reopened with an open pit, and this is what we're mining right now at 700,000-750,000 ounces per year.
Now we're looking to go back underground and to take higher grade from underground to replace lower grade from open pit to bring that to 1 million ounces. Again, this is done with existing infrastructure. The mill, we already have. Underground mining, it's not a secret for us, and we're going to increase in the 2030s to 1 million ounces per year. This is one part of the growth that we have in our view. The second one, Canadian Malartic. Since we've moved, we're moving from open pit at 60,000 tons per day. Now in 2029, we're going to be 100% going underground. The grade is going to triple from one gram to three grams, but the mill production is going to move from 60,000 tons-20,000 tons per day.
So we're going to keep the same production, 550,000 ounces per year, but we had a great opportunity, 40,000 tons per day available at the mill. So we've worked on that the last two, three years. There's three part of that to bring that one also to 1 million ounces. The first one, we're looking to have a second shaft because that deposit, it's a world-class deposit, and there's enough room that we're able to extract more for the East Gouldie Odyssey deposit. So we're planning to do a second shaft that's going to add 200,000- 225,000 ounces per year. We're also looking to bring Marban pit. It is a pit with the acquisition of O3. It is at 15 km away from the mill, so we're going to mine it, truck it to the mill. And we have another project in Quebec called Wasamac.
It's an underground mine, 3,000 tons per day, 100 km. We're going to truck it to Malartic mill. That's the second part of the puzzle to add more ounces in the coming years. Again, on the site, in the region where we know with a low risk. If you combine Malartic and Detour together, in the last 10 years, we've been able to add 50 million ounces on resources just by drilling and by bringing new ideas. That's really an interesting way to create value. The third one, Upper Beaver, that's a project in Ontario. You could see on the map, it is close to our Macassa site. We're going to have a second mill into that camp. It is at 210,000 ounces per year we're looking for.
That also might also unlock other deposit that we have in that camp in the future, having that mill. We're doing currently the shaft sinking. That's the same team that did the Macassa shaft number four, doing that shaft. The team doing the construction, we do our own construction. The site or the development is going as planned, and we're on target on this one. The last one, and not the least, I'm going to talk Hope Bay. We bought that project from TMAC in 2021. At the time, it was 100,000 ounces per year. It was not enough for Nunavut. We've put it on care and maintenance, and we've drilled it very hard. We found a new deposit with Patch 7, which is the best that we have.
Now we're targeting to announce the construction of that project in May 19th. That's going to be 400,000-450,000 on the life of mine, 1,000 ounces per year for first 10 years, but that's just the beginning. Why we're not announcing it now? Because it's like what we did at Meliadine. We need to have enough engineering to make sure that the costs and the schedule are solid. We're going to be announcing it in May, and we are already over 50% of engineering. The team doing Meliadine from the study engineering, and now we're starting to beef up the operation or the same team or part of the team that did Meliadine. Again, even though it's in the Arctic, it is not an easy environment. It is not our first barbecue, Tanya, and we're going to do one also in May.
We're confident on that project. Now what we see is the first picture of a first 10 years, but we have 80 km greenstone belt that we're going to keep drilling and most probably keep expanding that property. That's the last one I was looking to talk to you with their significant potential there. That's the way Agnico were creating value. Our focus is really to create value per share, not just to improve production. That has been our mindset, and we could see the result of that, and we're going to keep doing it. From optimization, from project, we have the best pipeline that we never had with what we have in the middle. We're also working and looking for what next. What project we should bring into play in 2035.
On the exploration side, on M&A, this is thing that always looking forward to keep building that pipeline. On that, I will pass it to you, Tanya, for questions.
Okay. Thank you very much, Dominique. I'm going to open it to the audience to see if there are any questions from the audience. Gentleman over there.
Excuse me. May I ask about your European ambitions? It seems that Europe is quite small now relative to your Canadian assets. It's been the focus of companies to try to slim down their non-strategic assets. What does Agnico plan to do within Europe? What does it generate in terms of ounces, and what's its ambitions?
Well, we're getting that question, I think at all meetings. Same thing, Australia and Europe. Is it non-core asset? We don't see that as a non-core asset because both of the sites have a long life of mine. In fact, in Australia, that's the longest life of mine that site has ever had. We also see exploration potential at the two sites, at Kittilä and also at Fosterville. For us, we keep drilling it. Plus, when you think about that, today both sites are doing around $1 million free cash flow per day. They are not on cost, they are providing value to us. Both place in Kittilä and especially in Australia, it is really difficult to start a new mine and to build a new mine.
Having those assets, it's an added value and we keep the regional thinking. Okay, how could we build on that at the same place or around this that we could use the synergy we have with the team, the synergy we have the infrastructure? There's no plan to let those go for now.
The gentleman over here. Yeah.
Do you have any plans in the Dominican Republic?
I think we are maybe involved in a project. I'm not sure. I would say maybe overall, we're getting a lot of question, "Are you interested in that one or that one?" We are invested in approximately between 60 and 70 projects, which some of them are public, some of them are not. Really that's the way we've been building the company. Our goal by doing that is to have access to the data, having access to the people, being more comfortable with the region to get the knowledge advantage and often the value of the project is well-priced. You need to see through that. You need to see through the exploration potential to match the value and to create the value. We're patient, so often it could be two years, five years, seven years working with the junior company to help them to develop the project.
It's good for us, but it's also good for them because we could provide some technical knowledge and help how to develop the project. I could get all questions about each project. Again, we have a dedicated team on evaluating project and also project development, full-time people on that, working, looking to different projects.
Maybe to-
Maybe, Tanya. Maybe to answer, I would be back to the two criteria. Could we build many mines? Would we have the geological potential to see many mines? That's one criterion. The second one, is it stable socially? Is it stable politically? Even though we could build many mine in Africa, we won't go there.
Maybe just to round off Mexico, you've talked a bit about Europe, and maybe just what's happening in Mexico, your strategy there?
Yeah. Mexico, we have one mine still in operation, Pinos Altos. There's 2-3 years in front of us. The team is looking with the current gold price, could we expand it? Because again, we have the thing built and we have the team. We'll see if there's something. The thinking is to use the workforce and the knowledge to help and to develop San Nicolás. We're still into the permitting phase, into the study phase at San Nicolás, but that's the plan that we have for more clear, let's say, in the future for Mexico.
Maybe if I can keep going on just about mine building in general. One of the concerns when I ask the CEOs of all mining companies, "What is your biggest worry?" they say, "People." Right? We worry about the oil today, but just people in general. Maybe you can talk a little bit more in depth about these new mines that you're building, all the people that we need to build these mines? Maybe you can just share with us a little bit more about how each are going to be built and how you move people around your operations?
Yeah. Agnico, we build our mine, so we never give or we don't give EPCM. Engineering, procurement, construction, and management, the head of all of those blocks is an Agnico-selected person that we beef up from other sites or at some we don't have choice with engineering firms and with consultant, with contractor. We have a core team on construction that we're able to move from one project to another one, using the same process, using the same way to report how the project is progressing. That's the way we do that. I'm not concerned because again, if I'm looking at Canadian Malartic, the team doing a first shaft is going to be the same team doing the second shaft. At Hope Bay, the team that did Meliadine and Amaruq, now they're building Hope Bay. Detour, we already have the people. That's an interesting question.
I think it's a challenge for not just the mining industry. We see a bit less. Well, not a bit less, we see less quality into the engineering firms. Same thing with contractor. In the past, we're able to get a contractor with 10 years of experience. Now it's not the case. It's more you get a contractor with no experience, so we need to do more training. Because our original thinking, we have access more than often to the A-team because the contractor likes to work with us, and we know who they are. We're not going in an area where we don't know the contractors.
We know who they are, so we're able to ask, okay, fine for that project, I need that guy, that guy, and that guy because I know those guys are going to drive the construction, for example, at the right pace.
Yeah. With a lot of projects being built in Canada, you always have to fight for labor.
Yeah. In fact, we're just finishing Hope Bay. I was in discussion with the Construction VP two days ago, and he was explaining to me the factor they're using on productivity. The one we're using now at Hope Bay, it's different than Meliadine based on the current situation. We have less expertise, less experience. For example, and I'm just giving numbers. At Meliadine, on paper, you need one hour to install a pipe on paper.
At Meliadine was, for example, 1.1 hour that you need. To put on cost. At Hope Bay it might be 1.5 hours. You put into your estimate because we know we have less capacity. The price we're going to give to you, which is going to be around-ish $2 billion to build Hope Bay, this is included into our estimate. Same thing with the OpEx. At Hope Bay, we're taking the same price we're doing right now at Meliadine and underground at Amaruq in the north. It's an advantage we have the historical data to cost the projects.
Well, I think we're out of time, but Dominique, I will be coming to that barbecue at Hope Bay.
You're welcome.
On May 20th. Okay, thank you, Dominique.
Thank you.