The city of Timmins was founded by Noah Timmins in 1912 after three gold mines were discovered in the area. Mining of gold and other metals such as silver, zinc, copper, and nickel, is the dominant industry in the area.

Geography of Timmins, Ontario

At 2,961.52 square kilometres, Timmins was Canada's largest municipality in land area until 1995, when the regional municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta was created. The City of Timmins is centrally located in Northeastern Ontario. Road, air and rail provide convenient access to and from the City. Timmins is situated minutes away from the Trans-Canada Highway thus providing easy access to major markets.

Economy and Industry

Based on the vast wealth of natural resources, Timmins enjoys a strong and diversified industrial sector, using the latest technological advances to compete on the world market. Key industries include mining and smelting, forestry and manufacturing wood products, metal fabrication, service industries, and tourism.

Mining History

The Porcupine Camp is dotted with head frames and open pit mines dating back to the early 1900's when a number of these mines were first staked. Along the Porcupine-Destor Fault Zone ("PDFZ"), which extends 450 km from Timmins, Ontario to Val d'Or in Quebec, over 110 million ounces of gold have been produced. A similar structure to the south, namely the Larder Lake Cadillac Fault Zone, extends from west of Kirkland lake to Cadillac and gold production in this area totals approximately 70 million ounces of gold.

The McIntyre Gold Mine

The McIntyre Gold Mine is the 3rd largest gold producer in Canada with production of 10.8 million ounces of gold. The prospector's Alexander Olifant (alias Sandy McIntyre) and Hans Buttner staked their claims in 1909. The mine operated between 1912 and 1988 (76 years).

The McIntyre was the first mine in Canadian history to use rubber liners in milling and the first in the Porcupine Camp to apply square-set and cut and fill stoping mining methods underground. Gunitting was also developed at the McIntyre Mine, and it adapted and introduced flotation to gold milling system. It was the first mine in Ontario to sink a shaft below 4,000 feet.

The Hollinger Gold Mine

The Hollinger Gold Mine operated from 1910 to 1968, and closed when ore reserves were depleted. It is considered Canada's largest gold producer with production of 19.6 million ounces of gold during its 58 year operation.

The Paymaster Gold Mine

The Paymaster Gold Mine was developed by Standard Mines Ltd., and operated from 1915 to 1966 (51 years), and produced 1.2 million ounces of gold.

The Dome Gold Mine

Dome, was the first producing gold mine in Timmins. It was founded in the spring of 1909 by a prospecting team led by Harry Preston and Jack Wilson, they staked their claim naming it "The Big Dome".

The mine started off as an underground operation and expanded to include the super pit. To date, Dome has produced over 15 million ounces of gold and continues to show reserves on the books. It is one of the first mines to be discovered, and is also one of Canada's longest running gold mines.

Pamour-Mine/ Porcupine Joint Venture

Pamour was first staked in 1909 by a prospector named A.C. Brown, however the mine had a difficult start up. In 1935, a deal was made between Noranda Mines Ltd., and Pamour Porcupine Mines Ltd., to bring the mine into production with Quebec Gold as the manager. The name Pamour comes from a combination of the two prospectors, Firman La Palme, and Wilfrid D'Amour.

In 2005, the Porcupine Joint Venture (between Placer Dome Ltd., and Kinross Gold Corp), saw the Pamour pit back in operation in 2005. The project is now owned and operated by Goldcorp Inc.

Pamour has produced 4.8 million ounces of gold and reserves are currently estimated at 1.8 million ounces of gold.

The Kidd Creek Mine/ Metallurgical Site

The Kidd Creek Mine is 100% owned and operated by Xstrata Plc., when it acquired the former owner and operator, Falconbridge Ltd., and is located approximately 22 km north of the city of Timmins. The major ore body was discovered in 1963 and production began in 1966. Copper, zinc and silver are the metals mined at the Kidd Creek Mine and then transported approximately 10km away to the metallurgical site where they are refined.

The Kidd Creek Mine produces annually around 45,000 tonnes of copper and 130,000 tonnes of zinc contained in concentrates.

The information above has been provided by the Timmins Chamber of Commerce.