Private development Gold mine in works for the Timmins area

The economy here is in for a shot in the arm perhaps as early as year’s end thanks to a new gold mine being developed about 90 miles to the southwest.

Kian Jensen, administrator of the privately owned Claude Rundle mine project in Newton Twp., said the mine is expected to be operational either by the end of 1992 or the beginning of 1993.

“The certificate of approval application will be in the hands of the government within a week,” Jensen said. “The normal government approvals take 6-8 months. We’ve got our fingers crossed that it won’t take that long because we’ve kept every government ministry informed of our progress since day one.”

Jensen says the mine will employ 80-100 full-time workers, with an estimated payroll of $5.5-$6.8 million a year. In addition, he says the company is budgeting $6-7 million a year for supplies and services.

“If Timmins suppliers are competitive (in price), we’ll get the product locally,” said Jensen. “However, the lowest price doesn’t always get the contract. We’ve learned that from experience already.”

The Rundle project already employs 15 full-time people, 13 of which are from Timmins.

The gold property was discovered in 1940 by Claude Rundle, a prospector who was working for the Hollinger mine. The property was brought into production in the early 1940s before it was closed because of a massive forest fire in 1948 that destroyed the surface plant and all the equipment. Hollinger, a number of other companies and, most recently, Breakwater Resources conducted various exploration programs on the property in an attempt to bring the mine back into production.

Rundle Gold Mine Inc. bought the property two years ago from Breakwater. The latest published figures on ore reserves are 551,000 tons grading 0.204 oz. gold per ton. Jensen won’t reveal what Rundle’s extensive exploration program has uncovered.

So what did Claude Rundle Gold Mines find that everyone else seems to have overlooked?

“I’m not at liberty to discuss that just yet,” said Jensen, “but I can say that we have identified 27 faults where only four had been identified in the past.”

Jensen says the company expects to call tenders in the near future for construction of a 500-ton-per-day mill, a campsite and some underground development work.

Jensen says the company will supply its own electricity through diesel generators. He says the company expects to save about $250,000 a year by staying off the Ontario Hydro grid.