Watch blasting of open pit mine

Dave Farrell caught an interesting view of blasting at Gold Corp’s Hollinger Open Pit Mine in Timmins on Monday afternoon.

We thought you might want to take a look.

Here’s the site’s history, as told by Gold Corp:

The Hollinger gold deposit was discovered in 1909 by Benny Hollinger and Alex Gillies, one of the “Big Three” mines which also included the McIntyre and Dome mines. The main Hollinger Mine operated from 1910 to 1968, during which time 65,778,234 tonnes of ore was milled, producing 19,327,691 ounces of gold, making it one of the richest mines in western hemisphere.

In 1989 the site was closed, leaving behind numerous hazards on the property from mine shaft openings, near surface stopes, small pits and ground subsidences associated with previous underground mining activity. After four years of extensive review, it was determined that an open pit mine was the most appropriate long term solution for the property.

Extensive technical studies were completed during the feasibility stage of the Project in order to assess the potential environmental effects and assist in establishing appropriate prevention and mitigation plans. As part of this process, PGM has worked closely with the City of Timmins to develop a Best Management Plan which incorporates best practices currently used in the mining industry, in order to identify preventative or mitigative measures which can be implemented to minimize potential impacts to nearby residents to acceptable levels as defined by the City of Timmins, regulatory agencies and PGM’s corporate environmental standards.