Job losses offset by gains in mining; economic upturn "long overdue".

• Author: Wareing, Andrew
• Position: Timmins Report - Dumas Contracting Ltd.

Job losses in the Timmins region within the forestry sector have been offset by job creation in other natural resource sectors, with mining and exploration providing the main impetus for job creation.

Carrie Vescio, Northern Ontario area economist with Human Resource Development Canada, says there was no change in overall employment numbers for 2002-2003 for the northeastern Ontario region surrounding Timmins.

That was the result of a drop in employment numbers in some areas like the goods-producing sector, offset by gains in service. Job losses in the forestry sector resulting from the Canada/U.S. softwood lumber dispute were offset by an eight-per-cent increase, or 1,100 jobs, in the rest of the remaining natural resources sector including fishing, mining, oil and gas sector, she says.

"We think where that is coming is increased exploration and activity in the mining sector," says Vescio. "There's been a lot of attention with the price of gold being so high. We're thinking some of that (increase in jobs) has to be coming from mining because it certainly isn't coming from forestry."

Recent announcements in the mining sector validate HRDC observations.

St. Andrew Goldfields Ltd. announced recently that Dumas Contracting Ltd. of Timmins has been awarded a $9.7-million contract as part of the Clavos Advanced Exploration project of St. Andrew's Stock Gold Complex near Timmins.

The Clavos Advanced Exploration Project consists of a decline ramp, an exploration development program and an underground drill program to explore the Clavos deposit. This program will test the continuity of the Clavos mineralization, provide metallurgical samples for testing and provide underground access for further drilling and evaluation.

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Dumas Contracting Ltd. is a well-known and established mining contractor operating from Timmins. Dumas completed a number of incline and vertical shaft development projects over the last 10 years, and has been engaged in mining contracts for Falconbridge, Inco, Placer Dome and Kinross mines in the Timmins and Northern Ontario area and for others internationally.

Mark Dumas, president of Dumas Mining Contracting, says the company plans to hire about 20 people at the start of the project, but that number could swell between 40 and 100 people.

"We have been waiting for the last seven years for things to start moving," he says. "I thought it would happen last year. Some people are still asleep at the wheel. The...