Merger improves viability of gold deposit.

• Position: Timmins: Special Report

A promising gold deposit near Timmins is likely three years away from development after a three-way $1.95-billion merger deal between Kinross, Echo Bay Mines and TVX Gold Inc. was announced June 10.

An estimated 1.277 million ounces of proven and probable reserves of gold were believed to exist in 1997 in the Aquarius project when Echo Bay purchased the property for $53 million U.S.

Public hearings held in Matheson and Timmins on the joint venture encountered no objections and municipal approvals are also expected, an official with Kinross says.

Whether the Aquarius will be a stand-alone project or incorporated into a separate Placer Dome-Kinross deal, the Porcupine Joint Venture, is not known, but this latest merger of the three mid-sized mining companies makes...