skills and legislated training but also in the so- called soft skills. Safety, too, is at the top of the agenda. Over the past year the injury frequency at Red Lake- encompassing both minor and major injuries- has fallen by one- third. It's interesting that this successful safety policy evolved after senior management attended an industry- wide safety conference two years ago in Salt Lake. " A question was put to the attendees: Would you let a family member work in the most dangerous job in your mine? The answer was that 90 percent of the conference attendees would not do so," Lalonde says. " At that point Goldcorp's senior management decided to make this our goal: to make our operations safe enough for our families." It's the personal approach again: the instinct to make the right decision at the right time, which governed the company's first acquisition of Red Lake, its subsequent purchase of the BCD, and its expansion into a world force in gold mining. Lake Mine over the next several years." The company is also doing exploration in a 40- km radius around Red Lake, some of it in conjunction with junior exploration companies. " We did a considerable amount of drilling on the surface in Balmertown in 2008, and we're looking at the possibility of opening a pit operation here several years down the road." Not surprisingly, Goldcorp is the major employer in the area. Some 4,600 people reside in the towns of Red Lake, Balmertown, Cochenour, McKenzie Island, Madsen and Starratt Olsen. Before the US house- building crash and the rise in value of the Canadian dollar, there had been a substantial local logging industry. Today there is an element of tourism, but Goldcorp and its contractors employ the majority of the adult population, providing jobs for around 1,300 people. Like many companies, Goldcorp puts people at the heart of operations, investing a considerable amount in training staff and hourly workers, not only in the hard Goldcorp: Red Lake Gold Mine JANUARY 10 www. bus- ex. com 31

32 www. bus- ex. com JANUARY 10 Detour Gold is developing what is believed reserve in Canada. Keith Regan learns make it an excellent candidate for relatively why 2010 is a great time to be constructing Right perfect resource,