Mining | Who's Who Introduction | Mining Companies | Leading Mines

According to output reported by NRC, Canada rated seventh in world production in 2001 with 157 tonnes (5.1 million oz), the country was a consistent producer throughout the 20th century, coming only behind South Africa and Russia for most of the time. And in an era of open-pits and heap leaching, Canada still gets much of its gold from long-life underground mines, such as Dome (opened 1909) and Campbell (opened 1949). Meanwhile, its top mining companies have gone global.

The world's most northern mine -
Echo Bay's Lupin, 56 miles from the Arctic Circle
(Credit: Timozhy Green)

Gold was first discovered in Canada in 1823, but only on a commercial scale on the Fraser river in British Columbia in 1857. The real gold rush came in 1896 to the Klondike tributary of the Yukon river near Dawson City. The Klondike yielded 75 tonnes (2.4 million oz) in three years.

The real significance of Canada as a major producer came with the development of underground mines in the Pre-Cambrian shield of northern Ontario and Quebec. The Dome mine near Timmins showed the way in 1909. Other 'camps', as Canadians call them, around Kirkland Lake and Red Lake in Ontario and Val d'Or in Quebec, identified quartz veining at depths of 300 to 1,500 metres (1,000-5,000 feet) which were more accessible than the deep South African reefs.

Helped by the $35 gold price in 1934, gold became the backbone of the Canadian mining industry with output peaking at 172 tonnes (5.5 million oz) in 1941 – a total only surpassed in one subsequent year, 1991.

This gold mining industry was sustained from 1948 until the 1970s by a subsidy, Emergency Gold Mining Assistance (EGMA), with the aim of keeping remote mining industries alive. By 1971 80% of Canada's gold was produced under this cost-aid system. Only the Campbell mine, with a grade of 20g/t (0.6 oz) was not subsidised. Once the gold price rose in the 1970s the 'camps' were still in place to respond to new exploration and investment. Output had never fallen below 50 tonnes (1.6 million oz) a year.

New discoveries soon came. Echo Bay mines opened Lupin close to the Arctic Circle in 1982, but the real prize was the Hemlo field north of Lake Superior, whose three mines, David Bell, Golden Giant and Williams, have now been producing close to 30 tonnes (2.9 million oz) annually for over twenty years. The newcomer in the late 1990s was the Eskay Creek gold-silver mine in British Colombia, and more recently (August 2000) the Red Lake mine, northern Ontario.

Canada remains distinct in hosting hard rock underground mines, which are more costly and slower to bring into production than the open pits that have become practical. For that reason, and because of tough environmental controls, the energy and investment of major Canadian mining houses, Barrick Gold, Placer Dome, Kinross and smaller ones such as Cambior and Coeur d'Alene, has been increasingly diverted to exploration in the US, Latin America, Australia, Papua New Guinea and Africa.

Barrick and Placer generate most of their gold output outside Canada, and rank fourth and fifth respectively in the world league of major producers.

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