Ontario should thank Timmins for its gold industry

The first gold produced in The Porcupine was in 1910. That was the year the Dome and Hollinger produced 1,947 ounces.
By today’s scale, the total was small but it was significant. Those ounces marked the birth of the gold mining industry in Ontario.
To quote the Ontario Bureau of Mines annual report for 1910:
“There were nine properties (in Ontario) from which gold bullion was recovered in 1910, the output being 3,619 ounces, valued at $168,498. The Porcupine mines (Hollinger 1,733 ounces and Dome 214 being the only producers) were responsible for more than one-half the production.There had been local mines before the Dome and Hollinger but their production was short lived and not officially recorded. The lack of sustainability of early mines in Eastern Ontario, Lake  of the Woods and Sudbury,  created legions of critics who became vocal in the United States and England whenever promoters tried to arrange financing for a property.
Thus when the third mine of what was to become the Big Three of Canadian mining, the McIntyre, was briefly headed by a crooked promoter from New York, the newspapers and mining magazines tried to drive nails into The Porcupine’s reputation.
Timmins was incorporated as a town Jan. 1, 1912 and celebrated its 100th anniversary over 10 years ago. Every year the Canadian Mining Industry celebrates Ontario's gold industry in Timmins at the Canadian Mining Expo. 
Gold has been produced locally for  over 112 years, a feat few gold-producing areas in the world can trumpet. With several gold mines expected to declare commercial production in the next few years, the future of Timmins, and therefore the Ontario gold mining industry, remains bright.
It is unfortunate that the provincial and federal governments basically ignored the importance of the City of Timmins as the bellwether of Ontario’s gold mining industry.
Mines are depleting assets; they start to die when the first ounce comes out of the ground. Therefore, common wisdom is that any community dependent on gold will die with its mines.
The fact that the Dome has been in continuous production for 120 years gives lie to the first theory. And the existence of Timmins makes a mockery of the second so-called truth.
A lot of gold has been taken out of the ground here and a lot more will be mined in the decades to come.  The value of that bullion runs into the billions of dollars.
Those are facts that the world should be reminded of, not just that a municipality reached 111.
Timmins is a special place and its residents have been, and are, special people.

Over 400 exhibits and 6000 attendees converge to the foot of the Iconic McIntyre head frame for the  The Big Event Canadian Mining Expo. “Where the World Comes To Explore”. TIMMINS, June 6-8.

Key officials of mining companies meet the people who provide the supplies and services they require in today’s mineral sector. Face to face discussions, fact-based presentations and actual displays of new equipment means all parties gain when they meet in the friendly atmosphere created by the CME.

Those who have been coming to the event tell us it is just the right size to acquire the knowledge they are seeking and to develop new contacts and even friendships. The keys for tomorrow’s success are available today. See you in Timmins June 7-8.

Register today at: www.canadianminingexpo.com

 

Tags: Northern Ontario / Investment / Gold / All Articles