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CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - APRIL 2013
The site is
world class
for mining and
production. De-
tour Lake is a
huge site with
a life span of
21
years plus,
and the site is
a huge reserve
with a large re-
source.
The key for a project of this mag-
nitude and importance is to have top
talent, and it is only with our current
team that we were able to get this mine
into construction and now in opera-
tion.
There is a different skill set work-
ing in an open pit mine, versus an
underground mine, and we had to be
sure we had the right people for the
job. We offer a great rotation for our
mine workers, with seven days in and
seven days out—they can have a home
life and stay here while they work.
With [Agrium’s] Kapuskasing
mine shutting down, we had a better
selection of workers, and were able to
attract those from Northern Ontario
who previously worked at that mine.
How important has communica-
tion been as the project comes to frui-
tion, with shareholders, communities,
and the public?
GP:
We have really been able to
establish excellent relations with the
communities in the North, including
First Nations groups, through regular
communication with them from the
start.
We spend all the time necessary
to update our stakeholders and make
sure they have a clear understanding
of each milestone in the project, which
allows them to question and under-
stand all the risks associated with De-
tour Lake.
Since the project began, we have
had local support from municipal par-
ties and from stakeholders; credibility
and keeping the schedule on time goes
a long way for the project and has been
very important to local communities.
What is so important about De-
tour Lake, as a mining site but also to
the Canadian resource economy?
GP:
The site is world class for
mining and production. Detour Lake
is a huge site with a life span of 21
years plus, and the site is a huge re-
serve with a large resource. With the
gold price going up people are looking
for safe investment and Canada is the
place to be.
When I was with my former com-
pany, a Canadian company, it was said
that there was nowhere left in Canada
to explore for significant gold resourc-
es. With Detour Lake we have proven
otherwise. My former company had
left Canada to expose other resources.
But when we took a look at the open
pit potential at Detour Lake, we never
looked at things the same way again.
It was great to come back to Can-
ada, and in 2006 to start Detour Gold
Corporation. I was able to see poten-
tial in this gold belt, and we didn’t
DETOUR GOLD
