RED LAKE — The mayor of Red Lake says the announcement that Pure Gold Mining would immediately suspend its operations came as a surprise.
The Vancouver-based company on Monday issued a press release stating that they will be suspending operations at the Red Lake mine due to ongoing financial troubles, despite a reduction in operating costs and an increase in production.
The troubling news came as a surprise for the Red Lake residents, especially Mayor Fred Mota, who first received the news through a text message from a puzzled community member.
“I had no idea until I received an email from the company,” Mota said on Tuesday.
“I've had no dialogue with Pure Gold at this point, and I am anxious to speak with them on their care and maintenance plan and their current employees.”
In addition to the suspension of mining operations, Pure Gold has also left the mine with a limited workforce that will care for and maintain the faculty until such time that they decide either to sell the site or are able to obtain the funding necessary to resume operations.
“I’m hopeful Pure Gold will find a way to resolve their financial difficulties and woes and slowly start bringing people back into the mine,” Mota said.
According to Mota, there are 200 employees have received lay-off notices. Mota plans on contacting these employees to see if they are willing to speak with him personally about the situation. But he also admitted that because of the municipal election, which was the same day Red Lake received the notice from Pure Gold, it was a whirlwind 24 hours
"With this news that came out too, it was like going to the dentist to get a tooth out,” he said.
In the meantime, Mota offers his residents hope. Over the past few years, Red Lake has gone through a pandemic, a flood, and a weather event which blew through the town and caused considerable damage.
“We had challenges here in Red Lake historically with the mining industry. We’ve had large layoffs previously as well too. But our community is very resilient and we come back,” Mota said. “Will there be an initial difficulty for community members? 100 per cent. But the mining industry here in Red Lake is continuing to move forward.
Mota acknowledges that Evolution Mine is continuing to expand its operations, as well as the Kinross Gold Corporation that will be moving into the Red Lake area in the near future. Kinross Gold will be developing new infrastructure, which will increase the economic well-being of Red Lake.
“This community will continue to expand,” Mota said.
