Open pit taking shape at Timmins mine – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – June 6, 2016)

http://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Development work on Goldcorp’s Hollinger open-pit mine in Timmins is progressing steadily, following ramp-up last October.

Goldcorp’s Brendan Zuidema, general manager of Porcupine Gold Mines (PGM), the Timmins-area division of Goldcorp, and Don Burke, general manager of the Hollinger Mine, visited city council in March to provide an update on the work done so far.

Progress is slowly becoming more visible, Burke said: the topography is levelling out and walls are starting to form inside the pit. “The pit is actually starting to look like a real pit, so things are progressing extremely well,” he said. Manpower has ramped up as well. The company now has 113 operational personnel and 42 contractors at the site. Maintenance staff numbers 44 employees and technical staff remains steady at 165 employees.

Burke said PGM has been working to reduce the number of contractors on site and increase the number of PGM employees.

There are three main areas to the Hollinger Mine: the 92 pit to the south of the property, the Central pit to the northeast, and Millerton. The company has been focusing its efforts on building up 9-metre benches.

“Over the months of October, November and December, a lot of the mining activities have been focused on the 92 pit area,” although more work is starting to be done the Central pit, Burke said.

“There won’t be a lot of work in the Millerton in 2016,” he added. “There will be some pioneering and levelling of the landscape later in the year, but for the most part, 2016 will be focused on the 92 pit and the Central pit.”

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