TIMMINS – The impending closure of the Dome Mine in Timmins will be a hard blow for that community which lost two other major mines over the years.
It is also a warning for those concerned with the future of Northern Ontario.
The North depends upon its natural resource industries. Mining and forestry are the backbone of the northern economy. Agriculture is growing and will get bigger if the predictions of global warming are correct.
The dome is rooted in history. According to local legend, it was discovered when a prospector fell down an embankment. His hobnail boots scraped the moss off a mineral vein and the Dome was discovered.
All mines must be discovered and the exploration industry is of vital importance. Every mine begins to die when the first ton of ore is extracted.
Northern Ontario is spotted with towns that relied on natural resources.
Temagami once had three sawmills. It also had the Sherman Mine which employed 400 people. Now the sawmills and the mine have all gone.
Cobalt has not had a mining operation since 1990. The SMC refinery is providing some employment at Cobalt.
It was the discovery of silver at Cobalt in 1903 that led to prospectors finding gold at Kirkland Lake and the discovery of the Dome Mine in Timmins.
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