The people of Timmins will be able to get a heightened view of the Hollinger Open Pit Project by the end of next year.
A viewing platform will be constructed atop the berm of the Hollinger Pit, with a drive-up entrance located off of Shania Twain Drive. It will be located in roughly the same area where the fireworks were launched during the Stars and Thunder festival.
It is an idea that has been mentioned a few times in the council chambers by various Goldcorp brass over the past couple of years, but formal plans haven't been made public until very recently.
"We're still moving forward. We kind of ran into a couple of different issues, more of a safety factor, and to do with the Engineer of Record. So we've been actively moving that one forward, even though it doesn't seem to be moving very fast in the public's eye, or in our eyes," said Goldcorp Porcupine Gold Mines Sustainablity Manager Bryan Neeley.
He said Goldcorp built up the berm and is excited to give the public access, but they are in the process of having an engineer sign off their approval.
"We've kind of changed the design of the lookout, where people would actually be able to drive up there and park on the berm. There will be a viewing area, to overlook the pit and obviously overlook the city side as well. So we've got a nice rendering right now of what we want to do. We really tried to get a lot of that pushed through this summer and fall, but obviously everything needs to be safe," said Neeley.
He is hopeful that in the "very near future" the company can begin moving waste rock to build up the road to the viewing area.
"The engineers are going to monitor that, they'll survey it in, make sure its stable enough to meet their expectations."
Three separate engineering groups - one who designed the berm, a local firm, and engineers from the City of Timmins are involved in the process.
"We're probably about nine months behind on this project. Originally, Stars and Thunder kind of pushed the project off, just because we couldn't get access to that area. Since, Stars and Thunder wrapped, we've started to move along and do some of the work."
The goal is to have the lookout done "within the next year."
On Tuesday at city hall, Don Burke, Assistant Mine General Manager of Porcupine Gold Mines, stated that completion wasn't anticipated until December of 2018
Councillor Joe Campbell said he's heard that a lot of people in the community are very excited to be able to watch the mining operations, but wondered if there will be an adequate amount of time for it to be worthwhile, considering Goldcorp has said the pit will begin slowing down in the spring of 2019, and head towards landscaping the area.
"You will have enough time to go see the operations," replied Burke.
