Barrick implements major changes at Hemlo New Faces and New Equipment
Barminco crews and equipment have mobilized to start the development of the new portal. Project Superintendent J.P. Kayumba & Barminco Jumbo operator Adam Pickering pose with the new 421 Sandvik Jumbo before drilling the first round of what will be the entrance to the new portal.
By Kevin Vincent
One of the world’s biggest gold miners is breathing new life into a historic, small-town gold mine and the company is bringing the community along for the ride. Barrick Gold Corporation made news this summer when Warren Buffett broke his longtime investment wedding vows (our words, not his) and funneled more than US $600 million into the global mining giant. But that news was likely ignored by most residents of Marathon, Ontario this August as Barrick, which operates the Hemlo Gold Mine, announced it would continue a community investment program in the region designed to prop up existing, local small businesses as well as new business startups. Mine manager Adam Foulstone says the program announced earlier this year in the midst of the COVID pandemic was well received by the community, so they’ve decided to extend the support program. To date, the company has distributed
more than $630,000. Foulstone told Mining Life, “We established a stimulus package for the local communities where they can access $5000-$10,000 loans at a very low interest rate funded by Barrick – we’re going to keep that going for quite some time – not necessarily tied to COVID.” “We also did a lot of work around donating PPE and sanitizer and shared insight into how to start up a small business in line with provincial requirements,” he added. “Because PPE was so scarce for a while, we had some in stock, so it was easy for us to assist.” In addition, during the second quarter, company representatives met weekly, with all local First Nation Chiefs, CEO’s, local town Mayor’s, CAO’S and Health Leads on COVID-19 mitigation plans for open and transparent partnership sharing. Barrick also met with First Nations communities on new exploration permits and 3-year plans, completed our legal review with our So-
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cial Economic Agreements with our First Nation Partners and are moving to signing. Barrick assisted the local First Nations to Shelter in place and allow their workers from the Mine site to self-isolate with family while still being compensated. Barrick’s Chief Operating Officer also worked closely with the Ontario Mining Association to lobby on implementing COVID-19 testing for remote high-risk communities. That strategy seemed to work at the Hemlo/Marathon operation as the company didn’t (at the time of this writing) experience any COVID cases or interruptions in production. On the development front, Hemlo took possession of two new Sandvik autonomous jumbo drills for the company’s high-speed development goals, and eight Sandvik 45-ton haul trucks. The new trucks move more ore than the company’s existing fleet and it includes an Cont’d on pg. 14
