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There is enough leftover gold ore from the old Hollinger Gold Mine, to bring it back to life.

Goldcorp Porcupine Gold Mines has revealed that it intends to create three new open pit mining operations at the old Hollinger Gold Mine property. Goldcorp PGM's strategic project manager Dave Bucar told Timmins city council Monday evening that his company intends to create the new mining operation entirely within the existing property and fence line of the known Hollinger property.

Bucar says this will allay any fears in the community that may exist about the creation of a super-sized open pit that would take in parts of Schumacher, the McIntyre Arena and the Shania Twain Centre.

Bucar's revelation follows the news that was released by Goldcorp in 2007 that more than four million ounces of gold have been identified through exploration drilling in and around the former Hollinger gold mine, one of the most lucrative gold mines in the history of Timmins.

"We are now moving into a permitting phase, said Bucar "We dont, at this point, have any exact timing on when will we start construction or when the mine will begin." He says the timetable will be determined according to how quickly the various branches of government give the company permission to carry out mining operations.

Bucar also revealed that in order to address concerns about dust, vibrations and noise that are part of an open pit mine, the company would be creating a rock wall, or a berm, twenty metres high along the entire perimeter of the project.

Through a lot of our studies, weve looked at noise and dust and vibration and what effect that might have on our surrounding neighbors. And what it has told us time and time again is that we have to put a barrier in between the mine and the community, Bucar told council.

So what were showing here is that with the rock we excavate out of the open pits is that we are planning to build a berm twenty metres high, around the entire property, he said.

Twenty metres is roughly the height of a six-storey building, a bit above the height of the old St. Marys general hospital.

The new open pits mining area will consist of areas identified as the 92-Pit, just east of the Shania Twain Centre; the Millerton Pit near the old Hollinger golf course driving range; and then the Central Pit, located behind the old Hollinger building.

Bucar says the pits will be big, but not as big as the Dome superpit or the Pamour pit.

Probably the key message here that were showing is that in fact we will in fact be able to stay on our own property, inside the fence line.

Were going to continue to use the Dome mill to process the ore, Bucar told the meeting.

Bucar says the idea of using public roads to haul the ore was ruled out because the mining trucks required to carry the ore economically are just too big for public roads. He says a new haulage road, located on Goldcorp property, will have to be laid out. He says the company wants to impact the public as little as possible.

As part of creating a new mine, mining companies in Ontario must now also create a closure plan. Bucar says part of that plan is to use waste rock to backfill other pits and holes in the ground left over from the last 100 years of mining.

The closure plan also calls for filling up and re-vegetating the land around two of the new open pits and then creating a scenic lake, a pit lake with the largest pit.

Bucar says this would return roughly 250 acres of private industrial land back to the city as parkland.

The public will have a chance to get a full overview of Goldcorps plans at the open house to be held tomorrow, Thursday, at the McIntyre Community Building ballroom from 12 noon to 9:00 p.m.

http://www.timminstimes.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1225944