In a ritual that has been performed thousands of times before in Timmins, a brand new gold bar was poured Thursday morning. The shiny ingot, weighing around 55 pounds, was valued at roughly $1.2 million.
For a handful of people in Timmins it might be a common thing, but for Tahoe Canada it signifies that the company made the right moves eight years ago when Lake Shore Gold, now Tahoe Resources, was being created.
The gold bar that was poured at the company’s Bell Creek refinery was the one-millionth ounce of gold that has been produced since the company initiated its Timmins mining complex back in 2009.
The gold pouring itself was carried out by refiner Gilles Godmaire and metallurgical technician Nick Muskovac. But the million-ounce event goes far beyond them.
“What you see here right now is the work of about right now 650 people that everyday are down there mining the gold,” said Peter Van Alphen, the vice-president of operations for Tahoe Canada.
“And you got to see a few of us holding that nice piece of gold that they did all the work for,” he added.
“It is significant for us as a company. It’s a big part of our production. It is a big milestone for us,” Van Alphen told reporters gathered at Tahoe’s Bell Creek milling complex Thursday.
He said the million-ounce milestone happening eight years after the company initiated the Timmins operation is a good place to be.
“Absolutely. We continue to run the two mines here in Timmins,” he said.
“You know we’ve got the Bell Creek mine which we’re expanding and we’re going to be doubling production here. Timmins West continues and we’re still busy there on the 144 and expanding that mine. So it’s all on track and it’s going according to plan,” said Van Alphen.
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