TIMMINS – Nobody at the time of the discovery of its deposit in 1909 would have predicted the Dome Mine would still be in operation in 2016. But here we are, albeit, with the Dome in its final months.
Goldcorp announced this week it will be shutting down the Dome underground operation, likely around the end of July. Close to 200 people — 115 employees and 76 contractors — will be out of work as a result.
The Dome has been virtually mined out. The company revealed at a press conference held in Timmins on Friday that there are still some traces of gold in the rocks but it’s just not worth digging up and processing at any price.
As Timmins residents, we can feel sad about the closing — but surely we can’t be bitter.
The ultimate closing of the Dome will be like the passing of a loved one who has lived for more than a century. One may be affected by the loss, but there is no real sense of a life being cut short or opportunities left unfulfilled.
The Dome has lived up to being a legendary gold deposit. People will talk about the Yukon Gold Rush — yet the output of the Dome far surpassed the Yukon Rush single-handedly.
Goldcorp’s announcement this week that it will be closing its underground operations at the Dome is not a complete shock.
In fact, it was inevitable. We are taking about a finite resource that at some point had to run out. The Dome has obviously reached that point.
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