Gold miner makes big Rochester donation

CANADIAN gold mining company Agnico Eagle has donated $750,000 to the flood-affected Rochester community.

The money will be provided through the miner’s Agnico Eagle Community Partnership Program and has been targeted at the Rochester Recreation Reserve and Rochester Community House.

The Rochester Recreation Reserve is home to a significant number of local institutions including Rochester Football Netball Club, as well as the local netball association, cricket, junior football, fishing, and pony clubs, and Rochester Little Athletics.

The Rochester Riverside Caravan Park and the Rochester Show Society are also located at the site.

“The reserve’s facilities sustained substantial damage from the recent floods, but were also due for some upgrades, so Agnico Eagle’s support has come at a perfect time,” said Brendan Martin, chair of the Rochester Recreation Reserve Committee of Management.

Amanda Logie, the manager of Rochester Community House, welcomed the funds after her team of staff and volunteers had been stretched to their limits due to COVID and then the floods.

“This support from Agnico Eagle will make a world of difference to our team, making it possible for us to get more staff, which will give us a real boost as we head into 2023,” she said.

Agnico Eagle successfully operates a goldmine in Fosterville 25 kilometres from Bendigo, where it has extracted over 3.5 million ounces of the metal since 2005, and employs more than 800 people at the site.