This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.
To people inside the mining industry, this headline will perhaps be viewed as a rhetorical question. Those involved in the mineral sector know about the large capital investments, the thousands of direct jobs, the proliferation of indirect jobs providing supplies and services to mines, the provincial infrastructure built by and supported by mining, the communities it builds and the taxes companies and well paid employees pay to support all Ontarians – and Canadians.
Yesterday, we looked closely at five of the 24 mines that the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines confirms opened in Ontario within the past 10 years. Now let’s see what new operations may be opening their doors in the not too distant future and providing their own additional contributions to Ontario’s society and economy.
Vale is on schedule to bring the Totten Mine in the west side of the Sudbury Basin into the ranks of nickel and copper producers by the start of 2014. The company has invested $760 million during the past seven years to advance this base metal project. During construction, there are about 500 people working on the site and when production begins, the mine will employ about 200 people.
The company has signed an impact-benefit agreement with the Sagamok First Nation. This mine of the future will put into place some of the most advanced technology in mineral processing, automation and environmental management.
Rubicon Minerals is an advanced-stage gold development company. It is focused on the responsible and environmentally sustainable development of its Phoenix gold project in the Red Lake area. Production is scheduled to begin next year.
The preliminary economic assessment indicates the Phoenix gold project has capital expenditures in the range of $214 million. The site is busy now with employees and contractors and the mine is expected to employ about 200 people when production commences. The mine is expected to produce an average of 160,000-plus ounces of gold annually with an anticipated mine life of at least 13 years.
Also, in Red Lake, Goldcorp is engaged in a multi-million-dollar expansion involving the enlarging and upgrading of the Cochenour shaft and the construction of a five-kilometre drift connecting to existing underground infrastructure. Production for the Cochenour project, which will contribute to the overall output of Goldcorp’s Red Lake Mines is expected to start in 2015.
In 2012, Goldcorp’s Red Lake Mines produced more than 500,000 ounces of gold . The operation has about 1,280 employees including contractors.
In a different part of the province, Ontario Graphite plans to start up production in 2014 at its Kearney Mine, located between Huntsville and North Bay. The company intends to produce about 20,000 tonnes of graphite concentrate annually and a 30-plus year mine life is anticipated.
The company says the operation will have a workforce of about 80. However, it notes that these well-paying direct jobs will lead to twice as many jobs in the supply and service sector.
Numerous other mining companies – Glencore, KGHM International, Noront, Cliffs and Osisko among them – all have advanced projects with a strong likelihood of becoming mines within the next decade. However, geological, financing, production and environmental decisions all need to fall into place to turn these projects into new mineral producers.
Whether looking back 10 years, forward two years — or a decade — mining brings major capital investments, employment in a multitude of forms both directly and indirectly, community building activities, infrastructure development and hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes for all levels of government, while producing commodities of value essential to modern society.
However, perhaps the greatest commodity new mines bring to Ontario is hope. Hope for opportunities, hope for training, hope for meaningful employment, hope to build better health and education facilities and hope for a brighter future. A University of Toronto study (“Ontario Mining: A partner in prosperity building”) shows the economic employment creating multiplying impact of mining. It indicates that for every direct job in a producing mine in Ontario 3.75 indirect and supply and service jobs are created. We hope this starts to answer questions about what mining has done and will do for Ontario.