Allen Alper Jr.: This is Al Alper Jr. with Metals News. I'm here with Phil Vinet, Mayor of Red Lake, Ontario, Canada. Could you give us a little background on Red Lake and its history, Phil?

Phil Vinet: Red Lake is a world-class high-grade gold district. We've been mining gold since 1926, and each day, they appear to find more and more gold, distributing high grades. Right now, we have one producing gold mining company which is Gold Corp. We have their flagship property, located right in Red Lake, both the Campbell and Red Lake complexes.

And I believe they're producing upwards of 700,000 ounces a year. They employ over 1,000 people, so, Goldcorp is Red Lake and Red Lake is Goldcorp. That's the way we look at it. It's real time. We've probably had 25 producing goldmines in the last 80 years. And gold mining in Canada is synonymous with Red Lake, and that’s all I can say about the gold industry.

Allen Alper Jr.: You have some very interesting photos in back of you. What are some of the interesting ones here?

Phil Vinet: You can see how the technology has changed, both from a mining perspective and from an architectural and engineering perspective. Some of the old frames, head frames you see are made of wood, hoist and beam kind of construction. Now, they're all certainly either concrete or steel, steel fabrication.

Obviously the mining techniques have changed also. You had the old arm and bar methods, and now you have more modern technology. You wouldn't tell an old miner that there would be long hole drilling going on, for instance. The architecture is one of the most interesting features that has changed over the years.

Allen Alper Jr.: Who's Dr. Revell?

Phil Vinet: Dr. Revell – you see that snow cart in the photo, it's driven by a propeller on the very back, an airplane motor, design – he was the doctor that was located in the remote part of Red Lake. If you can find the remote part of Red Lake, he was out there. The only doctor in that part of the country, and of course, he had to have that type of transportation.

In the summer, he would use a boat, and you have to remember there were no roads into Red Lake. The first road into Red Lake wasn't until 1947. So, it was quite remote. It was well off the beaten path of the Canadian National Railway, and certainly well off the beaten path of the Trans Canada Highway.

Allen Alper Jr.: And you were mentioning before we started taping that you've run into a lot of people here at PDAC?

Phil Vinet: Yes, because of the number of mines that have been in Red Lake, mostly goldmines. There was an iron ore mine there years back. It has since ceased production. At the PDAC convention, it's not uncommon to run into literally 100's of what we call Red Lakers, people who are in the mining business that one time lived and worked in Red Lake. So, it's like old home week for a lot of us here at the PDAC.

Allen Alper Jr.: Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and your background and how you came to be here?

Phil Vinet: Okay, my background is mine related as well. My mother came to Red Lake in 1929 as a young four year old girl. Of course, she had to fly in because there were no roads. When she got a little bit older, my grandmother had to ship her out to Winnipeg to go to school, because there were no schools in Red Lake. She completed high school in Winnipeg and would commute back and forth to Red Lake via air.

Right after the war, she met my father. They were married and they moved back to Red Lake. I was born a couple years later and I've been in Red Lake ever since. As a Red Laker, you get into the political game. I got in on the School Board System to start with, and of course that becomes a way of life.

You have commitment and compassion for your community and you tend to put things back into your community. This is one way you can do it; through the political process. So, here I am, many years, 20 some years later still in the political world, and I'm now the Mayor of Red Lake. And I might say, it's a very humbling experience to be elected mayor in a small town, where you know everybody.

So, not only do you have compassion, you have total passion as well for your constituents and your neighbors and these people you know on a first name basis.

Allen Alper Jr.: What are the things you're able to do, being in this office?

Phil Vinet: You don't do anything alone. It doesn't matter what you do in life, you'll never get very far alone, whether it's in a marriage or on a ball team. You need good partners and you need good teamwork. One of the things we've tried to do as a Coucil is make our community modern; deliver the amenities that make the lifestyle in Red Lake enjoyable. This way we can attract and maintain younger people so they will stay; and attract outside people to come and live in Red Lake to give the mines a good type of employee.

Allen Alper Jr.: Now, geographically, where is Red Lake located?

Phil Vinet: Geographically from a Canadian perspective, we’re right in the center of Canada. We're halfway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, and we're 100 miles north of the Trans Canada Highway. Now, from a North American perspective, we're about roughly 600 miles direct due north of Minneapolis. So, you can see that we're pretty centrally located in North America.

Allen Alper Jr.: And what are some of your activities? I see a scrolling boarder here in your display.

Phil Vinet: You'll see the summer activities. If you're going to live in communities like Red Lake, which have a lot of natural beauty, you better be in a position to enjoy it. You only work so many hours a day and you have to have this life balance.

And in the wintertime, there's cross country skiing, there's curling, there's hockey, there's snowmobiling, there's snow shoeing, there's ice fishing, let alone the indoor activities for children. Swimming pool's open year round, of course, and there's gymnastics, and there're all the social groups, wolf cubs, and the girl guides, and so on and so forth.

So, there's a lot to do in the winter, and then summertime, just the lakes and rivers and streams. You can canoe and kayak. It’s not uncommon to go see the bears, the moose, the deer, the wolves. You may run into a caribou. You can fish. You can golf at Ontario's most northerly golf course a beautiful, beautiful 18-hole course, located on the shores of Red Lake.

Ironically, one of the holes where you tee off on top of the hill, the tallest hill on the golf course, overlooks the goldmines. It's a very pretty site. So, there’s a lot to do. One of the complaints we have in Red Lake, much like city life I guess, is that we don't have enough time to do it all. So, you can see for yourself, there is a lot to do. It's a great little community. We're about 5,000 people

Aviation plays a big role in Red Lake. As a point of interest, in 1936, the Red Lake itself was the busiest airport in the world, bar none, the busiest in the world. Bigger than O'Hare, Atlanta and all of those in terms of take offs and landings. It was, yeah, we keep that little stat in the back of our minds all the time. It's the little engine that could and we were.

Allen Alper Jr.: Very nice! Red Lake sounds like a wonderful place to live and raise children. Obviously you’re a great Mayor. Red Lake is fortunate to have the kind of vision and leadership that you and the others in your town clearly have. Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your community?

Phil Vinet: Since we're in the heartland of Canada, we have miles and miles of natural beauty. We're home to a lot of American tourists. We're a very attractive place to be, primarily because of our fishing. And we attract a lot of clientele from the upper Midwest. It's a very busy place in the summertime.

Allen Alper Jr.: So, what do you catch?

Phil Vinet: Our species of choice is walleye. Of course, we believe that is the best tasting fish on the planet. There is also excellent sports finishing for northern pike, but primarily we're a walleye country. The other, aside from the tourism base, is we were one of the founding areas of the Woodland Native Artists.

Of course, most people in the art world have heard of Norval Morrisseau. This was his home. And Red Lake is sure proud of its native heritage. That's attested by the fact that it plays a very, very dominant role in our heritage and cultural center. You see the native dancers depicted there.

Allen Alper Jr.: That’s excellent. So, other than mining, what other industries do you have?

Phil Vinet: Of course there is a logging business. With the forest industry being in the downturn, it's not as significant nowadays, but we expect that to return to its day of glory and we'll be ready for it. We are very happy with our tourism. There’re some cultural experiences that you cannot get anywhere else. Not all the jobs are working in the mines. We have the hospitals, the schools, the churches, and others with a significant service industry.

Just as a point of interest about Red Lake. We are great believers in geothermal heating and cooling. Almost all of our public buildings, all of our schools, our library, our senior's home, our municipal offices are geothermally heated and cooled. And so per capita, we're probably one of the leading communities in Canada in terms of geothermal heating and cooling.

Allen Alper Jr.: Yeah, I was looking into that. I was very interested that there was an ice hotel that was powered by geothermal. You wouldn't think of a building made out of ice as being cooled by heat.

Phil Vinet: The geothermal activity in Red Lake is very important. It reduces our energy costs just tremendously. That's the kind of money we can put back in the classroom for the benefit of the kids. Not only that, it creates such an innovative environment for the kids that it's a good learning experience.

Phil Vinet: We're here to let the mining community know that Red Lake's open for business and it’s a great place to live. We still have a considerable amount of exploration going on at Red Lake Right now.

So, aside from Goldcorp, which is the big player, there are many, many other ones, like, Rubicon, which is very interesting. Hopefully down the road, we'll see a few more headframes pop up.

Allen Alper Jr.: So other than Gold Corp, and Rubicon who else is there?

Phil Vinet: Rubicon and Claude Resources are there. Some of the others are Premier Gold, Cyprus Development, Hy Lake Gold; those are the ones that come to mind immediately. As long as gold maintains its current price, or perhaps even climbs, I think we're going to see continued interest in the Red Lake gold camp. We’ll always be ready to serve them.

Allen Alper Jr.: Well, there're a lot of people who are saying that gold is continuing to climb.

Phil Vinet: Yeah, I think we‘re listening to the world economic leaders, and we like hearing what they're saying.

Allen Alper Jr.: Well, thank you very much.

Phil Vinet: Thanks a lot.

Allen Alper Jr.: Good talking with you.