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First blast at [Timmins Goldcorp] open pit – by Jeff Labine (Timmins Daily Press – February 12, 2014)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Goldcorp literally started its operations at the Hollinger Mine with a bang. Residents were given advanced warning that the mining company would be blasting at Hollinger on Tuesday. The first blast was expected to take place around 11:30 a.m. but the window of opportunity was missed when it took too long to place the blast mats down.

The city made an agreement with Goldcorp/Porcupine Gold Mines to only blast during the destination windows. That placed the first blast at the second time slot – between 1:30 p.m. and 2 p.m.

Paul Miller, superintendent of surface operations for the Hollinger project, watched the blast from the top floor of Goldcorp’s office building, near the Shoppers Drug Mart along Algonquin Boulevard. Called a pioneering blast, the explosion is intended to level out the area for the company to work in.

“Its been a long time coming,” he said. “We look at it as the start. In terms of the community it is a significant event because it is our first blast.

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Kidd Mine life may get three-year extension – by Jeff Labine (Timmins Daily Press – February 11, 2014)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – If all goes according to plan, Glencore Copper’s Kidd Mining project could have its life extended by another three years.

City council heard from general manager Tom Semadeni about the mining project at Monday night’s meeting. The mine produces copper, zinc and is rumoured to be one of the largest silver mines in Canada. The Kidd Mine also has the distinction of not only being the deepest mine in Canada but also the deepest base metal mine in the world at more than 9,600 feet.

The mine’s life was originally expected to end in 2018 but that might not be the case. Semadeni said the way to make sure the mine continues until 2021 is by providing opportunities for people and for development.

The plan is to continue to keep a safe work environment, make reliable mining plans and find cost savings. “The only reason why I work there and why everyone works there is to maximize the benefit of that ore body,” he told council. “We want to extend its operational life. That’s important to everyone’s interest. We want to do that safely and cost efficiently. We recognize that it is hard because it is deep. It’s technically challenging and expensive.”

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Goldcorp using analytics to reduce harm – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – February 6, 2014)

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business  provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North. 

Goldcorp is undertaking a new kind of mining designed to improve the health and safety record across its operations. Data mining is the process of using analytics to find patterns or trends in data that can help predict outcomes and shape future actions.

Teaming up with financial advising firm Deloitte, Goldcorp undertook a pilot project to examine data gleaned from its Porcupine Gold Mine in Timmins. The goal was to help identify situations in which workers would be more vulnerable to being part of a serious accident.

“What we want to understand is why are some people more likely to put themselves in a situation where they’re vulnerable to something bad happening versus other people?” said Paul Farrow, Goldcorp’s senior vice-president for people and safety. “How can we change our training, our coaching, our leadership development programs to eliminate or, at a minimum, reduce that probability?”

Farrow said 90 per cent of the data examined already exists. Every mine keeps production and safety data, he noted. Analytics help find correlations amongst them.

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[Timmins] Hollinger open pit project goes forward – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – February 4, 2014)

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business  provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North. 

Porcupine Gold Mines (PGM) has received its final environmental approval from the province, paving the way for work to start on its Hollinger open pit mine. The environmental compliance approval (ECA) focused on noise, vibration and dust associated with the project, and was awarded by the Ministry of the Environment in early December.

Located adjacent to Timmins’ downtown core, the Hollinger site involves the repurposing of an historic underground mine, which operated for close to 60 years before closing in 1968. PGM, a subsidiary of Goldcorp, has spent $8 million to fill subsidences and other hazards that remain on the property.

The new project proposes eliminating the remaining hazards by removing the land around them and creating one large opening. The openpit operation will recover the gold remaining underground over an eight-year mine life. Ore will be processed at the company’s mill located at its nearby Dome Mine.

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Blasting set to begin at Hollinger open pit – by Benjamin Aubé (Timmins Daily Press – February 4, 2014)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – The familiar sound of blasting will soon officially mark the Hollinger Mine’s return to life. With its Ministry of Environment air and noise permits safely secured and drilling having begun, Goldcorp is expecting the first blast at the historic mine to take place on Feb. 11.

“We began drilling around Jan. 28, and the first blast is now expected for this coming week,” said Paul Miller, superintendent of surface operations for the Hollinger project. “The date we’re now targeting is Feb. 11, and public notifications are being sent out and there will be some immediate analysis on the first blast.

“The initial blast will be very small, in the 3,000 to 4,000 tonne range to begin with, and located on the south-east location of the property in an area where we’re distant from residents and businesses.”

Miller, along with Goldcorp/Porcupine Gold Mines (PGM) general manager Marc Lauzier, were at council to provide an update about the open-pit mine project.

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Timmins History: Dance night a treat for early prospectors – by Karen Bachmann (Timmins Daily Press – February 1, 2014)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – A few years ago, the Auer family donated, to the museum, a selection of the journals of Charles and Mae Auer. The Auers were local pioneers, responsible for the Nighthawk Mine and the development that would become known as Mattagami Heights (today, home to our local Ford Dealership).

The diaries are an exceptional view of what life would have been like for the very early prospectors coming to the area. Today, I offer to you an excerpt that caught my attention because it sounds like something right out of a movie!

To set the stage, Charles Auer and his partner Black Jack Cole (what a name!) started to head for the Nighthawk River system in January 1908. Along with their dog team lead by Nell and Jack, they mushed their way on existing trails, breaking new ones when needed.

The temperatures plunged to -40 F and the snow was about three feet thick. The going was pretty rough. Eventually, they hit smoother ground and stopped for the night at Campbell’s Halfway House, outside of McDougall Chutes. They took care of the dogs and enjoyed a good hot meal.

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HISTORY: Photographers immortalized Porcupine Gold Rush – by Karen Bachmann (Timmins Daily Press – January 25, 2014)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

Karen Bachmann is the director/curator of the Timmins Museum and a local author.

TIMMINS – The Porcupine Gold Rush was immortalized in pictures, thanks to early photographers who made their way into the gold camps.

While some prospectors like Charles Auer took photos of his early trek into the Porcupine, it is the work of two professional photographers that come to mind when we look at those early shots. Henry Peters (postmaster, town councillor and photographer) was one of those men. Arthur Tomkinson was the other.

It is Mr. Tomkinson who interests me today because of a recent donation made to the Timmins Museum by Bob Guenette – but more about that later. Thanks to the body of work created by Art Tomkinson, we have a good pictorial history of the Porcupine going back to its start. So, who was this gentleman?

A.K. Tomkinson was born in 1888 into a family of foundry workers in Askam, a village on the west coast of England in the county of Cumbria. When he was about 16 years old, he emigrated with his family to Galt, Ont., where he got a job in a brass foundry.

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Work begins on open pit – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – December 20, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Excavators and trucks have started moving earth and rocks around as construction begins on the Hollinger open-pit mine.

“We finally got our permits a couple of weeks ago, so construction is slowly beginning,” Marc Lauzier, general manager of Goldcorp Porcupine Gold Mines, told The Daily Press Thursday. “We’re actually just finishing up the roads now and the contractor who will be doing the overburden stripping is starting to mobilize.

“There may be a couple of drills drilling. We don’t expect to be blasting before mid to end of January. Initially, all we’re going to do is move some earth around … For the most part, it will look like a pretty regular construction project.”

The open-pit operation is expected to create about 60 new jobs. “We’re on a slow ramp-up. Right now we have the people we need, but over the next two or three months, I definitely expect we will start hiring people,” said Lauzier.

“We have about 120 who are already here and we will eventually have a total workforce of about 180. Certainly, over the next year, we will create probably 60 new positions but they won’t all happen in the first couple of months of the year. We will gradually build this up.

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Premier promises more Northern meetings – by Benjamin Aubé (Timmins Daily Press – December 7, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne’s visit to Timmins for the first Northern Ontario Leaders’ Forum included a commitment to quarterly meetings between her Northern ministry and municipal and regional leaders.

Michael Gravelle, the province’s Minister of Northern Development and Mines, explained he’d be at meetings approximately every three months with groups such as the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA), the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM), the Northern Ontario Large Urban Mayors (NOLUM), and leaders of the First Nations and Métis Nation.

Wynne admitted there was a disconnect between Queen’s Park and the communities and people it services in the North that needs to be fixed.

“Where there are bottlenecks and where there are procedural issues that need to be addressed, having an opportunity to talk about those on a regular basis makes a lot of sense,” said Wynne. “We’re very supportive of Minister Gravelle’s suggestion that those (meetings) happen on a regular basis.”

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Focus on transformation, not sell-off, of ONTC – by Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – December 3, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Selling off the remaining assets of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission is no longer the primary option for restructuring the Crown corporation.

Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle said Monday the mandate for the ONTC is now transformation rather than divestment. The announcement came following Monday’s meeting of the Minister’s ONTC Advisory Committee, which includes stakeholders from business, industry, labour and Northern municipalities.

“Together, we took the opportunity to further explore options as we move forward with the ONTC transformation,” Gravelle said in a press release. “There was very valuable discussion around the table related to the sustainability of the ONTC.

“Our goal throughout this process remains unchanged; ensuring northern communities and industries benefit from viable, efficient and sustainable transportation and communications systems. At today’s minister’s advisory meeting, I was pleased to reaffirm my commitment to look at all options.

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50 years ago: Discovery of Kidd Mine – by Len Gillis (Sudbury Star – November 10, 2013)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

It was the most important thing to happen in Timmins since the discovery of gold. And it happened 50 years ago, on Nov. 7, 1963.

It was Thursday November 7th, 1963. Texas Gulf exploration geologist Ken Darke directed a diamond drill crew where to set up for drilling on the mineral anomaly known as Kidd 55. The very first drill hole was K-55-1. The drilling crew was set up in the northeast section of Kidd Township, roughly 24 kilometres from Timmins Town Hall.

Aside from a handful of drillers and geologists, no one would witness the incredible event that would happen the next few days in that drill shack, as core samples from hole no. K-55-1 were being pulled out of the ground and placed in core boxes.

As the story goes, one of the samples displayed a length of solid copper nearly a foot long. Ken Darke knew immediately he was standing on a major discovery. It would become the world-class Kidd Creek orebody; so huge and so rich it was a geological freak of nature. It was a good Friday in Timmins, although no one in Timmins knew it yet.

It would be another six months before Texas Gulf formally announced the discovery on April 16, 1964, causing whoops of joy, kicking off a major staking rush as well as a rush on buying shares in any company anywhere near the Kidd Township discovery.

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Golden opportunities in Timmins – by Benjamin Aubé (Timmins Daily Press – November 8, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – A junior mining company based in Timmins is voicing excitement about the potential for two projects that could leave their mark on the city for a long time to come.

Ian Campbell, president and CEO of Temex Resources, said the two biggest things the company has on its side are a pair of properties located in the heart of a region that has seen over a century of continuous mining activity.

“In the junior mining space, everybody knows there’s some issues going on, and that’s hard, but in our view, Temex stands our for a variety of reasons,” Campbell said to a crowd at an Inside Business luncheon hosted by the Timmins Chamber of Commerce. “We stand out because we’re not a junior relying on just one project. We’ve got two projects.

“Our focus is on the Whitney Project, in the East End of Timmins. It’s got all those things you need going for a project these days. It’s got high-grade (gold), it’s got location, it’s got the infrastructure to put something into production. Of course, we’re a small management team, and I’m focused on the efficient allocation of cash.”

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Timmins shows us how to do the job – by Brian MacLeod (Sudbury Star – November 1, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

Where is one of the bastions of entrepreneurial growth in Ontario outside of Toronto?

Why, it’s the sprawling municipality of Timmins. And a sprawling municipality it is. With 2,979 square kilometres of land, it’s one of the largest geographic municipalities in Canada, larger than a dozen GTA municipalities combined. It’s the city with a history of fur trading and mining, and more recently, of Sherry Tremblay, Canada’s Most Perfect Woman over 30, as named by the Canada’s Perfect Pageant.

And, of course, it’s the home of Shania Twain.

A Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (CFIB) survey has put Timmins eighth in Canada for the last couple of years among mid-sized cities for its entrepreneurial zeal. The report on the subject by Ted Mallett, vice-president and chief economist of the CFIB, notes a few things worthy of note for municipalities bent on attracting jobs.

Most importantly, spend more time looking inward. While entrepreneurs are typically mobile, communities are rooted, so an entrepreneurial city needs to harness its own people’s strength.

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Northern summit to be held in Timmins – Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – November 1, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Ontario cabinet ministers will converge on Timmins in early December to meet with Northern leaders. On Thursday, Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle announced plans to host a Northern Leaders’ Forum on Dec. 6 in Timmins. The meeting will involve municipal, Aboriginal, business, industry and education leaders from across the North.

The main topic for discussion will be how best to implement the provincial government’s Growth Plan for Northern Ontario.

“Our government first released the Growth Plan as a blueprint for job creation and economic development throughout Northern Ontario,” Gravelle said. “Since its release, we have seen communities, organizations, and Aboriginal groups achieve some amazing things that have unequivocally proven my belief in the strength and resilience that we all share as Northerners.

“I am very pleased that our government is able to fulfil the request of the Northern Ontario Large Urban Mayors (NOLUM) and bring together key government ministers and community and Aboriginal leaders from across Northern Ontario to renew momentum and drive forward the next phase of the Growth Plan.”

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NEWS RELEASE: Timmins miner aims to boost expertise of community social agencies

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.

Ontario Mining Association member Kidd Operations (Glencore) is helping to stage a conference to better align goals of private sector donors and community non-profit fund raisers. Kidd Operations and the Cochrane District Social Planning Council (CDSPC) are holding a Working Toward Sustainability Conference and Training event November 14 and 15, 2013 at the Timmins Native Friendship Centre. The goal is to help non-profit social agencies achieve sustainability in a competitive fundraising environment and be better prepared to fulfill funding applications.

“Local businesses and companies receive donation requests surpassing their budgets by several hundred thousands of dollars annually,” said Carole Belanger, Communications and Community Relations Coordinator at Kidd Operations. “With so many worthy projects, it is difficult and agencies applying for support need to understand corporate donors are moving from a traditional charity approach to strategic social investing for community development.”

Presenters at the conference include Helen Burstyn, former Chair of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and special advisor and chair of the provincial government’s Partnership Forum, and Ethel Cote, Director Social Enterprise Development at the Canadian Centre for Community Renewal. Also, Ms Belanger, who administers Kidd Operations’ Community Partnership Program, will be sharing her perspective on support and sustainability.

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