28 Page 26 By Gregory Reynolds Gold production at the Porcupine Mine Complex in T immins continues to set records for continuous mining operations now in their 105th year and reserves are good for another 13 years Owner Goldcorp Inc says Porcupine consists of the Hoyle Pond and Dome under ground mines the Hollinger open pit mine several lar ge tonnage stockpiles and a central milling facil ity at the Dome In 2014 gold production totalled 300000 ounces Production dur ing 2015 is expected to be between 300000 and 320000 ounces Goldcorp is one of the world s fastest growing gold producers Its lowcost gold production is located in safe ju risdictions in the Americas and re Thirteen mor e years of gold pr oduction seen for Goldcorp s Porcupine Complex mains 100 unhedged It has 12 producing mines and three development projects It reported company record gold production of 886000 ounces in the fourth quarter resulting in 2014 gold pro duction of a record 2871 mil lion ounces Located within the city limits of T immins the Porcupine Complex includes approxi mately 38000 hectares of mining claims Pavedroad access is readily available as the principal properties strad dle Highway 101 The Hollinger open pit is lo cated adjacent to residents and businesses The pit will reclaim 250 acres of current ly unusable and unsafe land for future safe public use Site stripping and mining ac tivities currently take place during the day until the En vironmental Control Berm is constructed around the pit periphery The berm is designed to reduce noise levels and once complete fulltime 24 hour operations will commence The Hoyle Pond Deep project con tinued to advance with shaftsinking expected to be completed during the pected to commence by year end Exploration during 2015 will focus on Hoyle Pond highgrade tar gets and expansion of the TVZ zone Progress is steadily advancing on that will provide increased access to zones such as the TVZ and V A Z in the under ground Hoyle Pond op mine s productive life Successful exploration drilling at Hoyle Pond has demonstrated im proving gold grades and the extension of several gold structures at depth This success is spurring new invest ments in mine development to posi tion the revitalized Porcupine Com plex for longterm success Hoyle Pond is accessed by decline and by a shaft The current winze con sion to access below 2000 metres Mining methods employed are con mining and longhole methods in wid er zones Owner Goldcorp Inc says at Porcu pine 2015 gold production is expected to be between 300000 and 320000 gold ounces driven by increasing production from the Hollinger open pit Costs at Porcupine in 2015 are expect ed to be relatively higher as a result of a stripping campaign at Hollinger The Porcupine mines are situated in the Porcupine Camp in Archean rocks of the western Abitibi Greenstone Belt in the Canadian Shield volcanic rocks of the Keewatin sub group overlain by sedimentary rocks of the T imiskaming group The lands lie adjacent and to the north Porcupine Fault Gold mineralization is found in a number of dif f erent structural settings and consists of continuous quartz car bonate veins quartz tourmaline veins quartz stockworks and gold associ ated with disseminated sulphides Gold is recovered using a combination of gravity concentration and cyanida tion techniques The circuit consists of primary secondary and tertiary crushing rodball mill grinding grav ity concentration cyanide leaching carboninpulp gold recovery strip