In 2020, following a proxy fight with activist shareholder Paulson & Co., the mine and the company were acquired by Kirkland Lake Gold in an all-stock purchase totaling $4.9 billion.

The Detour Gold Corporation was founded in an asset purchase agreement announced on August 21, 2006, by a group of investors and mining experts led by Gerald Panneton.

The company raised another $252-million in 2010 at $24 per share[5] and entered into a $125 million to purchase new haul trucks and supporting equipment from Caterpillar Inc.-supplier Toromont Industries.

In 2011, the company began construction, with Kiewit Corporation on a new 135 kilometer transmission line to bring electricity to the mine site.

[6] Detour and Kiewit would be later be fined $75,000 for environmental damage relating to the work on the transmission line, including violations such as dumping fill into water bodies and clearing land within the boundaries of Little Abitibi Provincial Park.

[7] Detour Gold's successful exploration and feasibility program, which illustrated an open pit mine could be constructed at a cost of $1.2 billion to access 14.9 million ounces of gold over 21 years and be profitable at US$625/oz (at the time the commodity price was US$1,330/oz),[6] caused the company to be targeted for acquisition by larger mining companies that could supply the expertise and funding for the construction and operation phases.

[8][9] However, CEO Gerald Panneton resisted[10] and pursued environmental assessment approval and opened a new regional headquarters office in Cochrane.

[19] The share price bottomed out at $2.97 in late-November and CEO Gerald Panneton resigned, to be replaced by the company's Chief Financial Officer Paul Martin.

Both Detour Gold and Paulson & Co. filed complaints against each other with the Ontario Securities Commission for providing shareholders with false and misleading information.