Page 33 Contd on pg 34 Contd from pg 32 ported PGM s proposal acknowl edged the concerns of some residents but believed that the Best Manage ment Plan contained in the Site Plan Control Agreement addressed their concerns Councillor Rinaldo encour aged PGM to improve their communi cations with the community historic mine being transformed into a modern working open pit mine what a way to show the world that T immins is a demonstrated leader in the mining Marks Now that PGM has received T immins council support the next step before it can open the mine is to obtain cer of the Environment for air quality and water taking A week prior to Council s vote of ap proval of the site control plan agree ment Marc Lauzier general manager of operations for PGM provided an impassioned presentation to coun T immins and addressing questions and concerns that have been swirling around the proposal since it was of W ithout mining there would be no T immins where would T immins be without mining Lauzier said Since 1910 over 195 million ounces of gold have been recovered from the Hollinger Mine which stopped pro duction in 1968 though some surface mining did take place into the early 1980s Lauzier said the primary goal of PGM s proposal is to restore the Hol linger site and that mining the gold was the way PGM will pay for the restoration of the site Lauzier responded to concerns raised about the impact of the project on property values by saying that prices may drop for a short period but will in the long term increase because the eyesore of the existing unsafe Hol linger site would be replaced by a safe reclaimed property that would be turned over to the city for public use Lauzier said PGM is opened to all reasonable proposals for the after use of the Hollinger property if the pro posed public park is not wanted by T immins Some concern had been voiced that the maintenance of the the City PGM would not guarantee property values Lauzier emphasized No other mining company in T immins has been asked to do so as there are too many variables Lauzier pointed to the eco by the project and the additional jobs created by local companies providing services to PGM Lauzier also said that the ore mined from the Hollinger site was needed to keep the Dome Mill operational W ithout the ore from Hollinger open pit the consequences would be dras tic Lauzier said Lauzier also said that other mining companies are watching the outcome of PGM s request to council Other companies know that PGM has spent 25 million to rehabilitate the Hol linger site with the understanding that T immins was open for business he said If our proposal is turned down what message would be sent to other companies involved with setting up a mine around T immins Paul Miller Goldcorp s Manager of Surface Operations earlier explained mine gold from an open pit mine on the Hollinger site in downtown T im mins at the T immins Regional Eco nomic Outlook Conference October 15 2012 The Hollinger property currently con sists of a number of old mined pits and sinkholes Miller described the current state of old Hollinger mine property as over 250 acres that are unsafe unusable a site with envi ronmental problems that we will re turn to a usable site Miller said that PGM is committed to reclaiming the Hollinger site and rehabilitating it for the community as they have down over the years on other sites like the McIntyre Proper ty by Highway 655 which today has been revegetated with walking trails for the public to use PGM plans to operate an open pit gold mine for eight years The mine will employ 180 people and create 130 jobs The extraction of ore and