Page 28 By Kevin V incent The overhaul of Barrick s Hemlo property that be gan in early 2019 is continuing to outline a prom ising resultsoriented program into 2020 that will extend the life of the mine to 2028 The Marathon Ontario operation was given a clear mandate to right the ship or according to marketwatchers Barrick was going to unload the underperforming property to another operator General Manager Adam Foulstone told Mining Life that Hemlo 20 is pointed in the right direc tion and 2020 may prove to be a watershed year for the operation once Covid19 restrictions are fully lifted and fullscale implementation of com prehensive upgrades and modernization plans can begin Heading into 2019 the company knew that its unde r ground operations were underperforming T otal gold output was 22 below 2018 targets which landed the mine in the crosshairs of the corporate ofce In addition poor and inconsistent communications with the local indigenous communities Biigtigong Nishna a beg and Netmizaagamig Nishnaabeg First Nation s A new lease on life Call it Hemlo 20 Page 28 MLEN SPRING 2020 General Manager Adam Foulstone right displays Bar rick Hemlo cheque donated to the Marathon Food Bank allowed the relationship with Barrick Hemlo to become more transactiona l in nature less trans parent and reactive Barrick Hemlo spent the year of 2019 engaging with the Rightsholders and building the relationships they now have today A strong relationship that focuses on genuine part nerships and mutual beneft P ANDEMIC RESPONSE And then like the rest of the world those plans were sideswiped by the coronavirus pandemic The company immediately established a compre hensive COVID19 plan in partnership with area communities and First Nations leaders The plan that began in late January included screening Contd on pg 30