Pine Point Mine

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The past producing Pine Point Mine is located west of Fort Resolution, Northwest Territories and east of Hay River, Northwest Territories, on the south shore of Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories. It produced lead and zinc ores between 1964-1988. The town of Pine Point was built by the mining company, and when the mine closed the town was demolished and abandoned.

The mine was first discovered in the late 19th Century by fur traders at Fort Resolution, Northwest Territories after hearing rumours of lead ores from the natives. A minor staking rush occurred to the location in 1898 when Klondike prospectors heard rumours of silver. There was no silver to be found here, and although the lead was very rich it was not feasible to mine the isolated deposit without good transportation to the south.

First major work was done in 1928-1930 when several short shafts or glory holes were sunk and a churn drill was brought to the area to drill into the rich ores. The Great Depression halted work. Geological investigation by Cominco after World War II led to new theories on how the lead and zinc deposits were hosted. By 1955 several thousand tons of ore were outlined in an extensive exploration program along a 20 kilometer belt. A railway (Great Slave Railway, now known as part of the Mackenzie Northern Railway) was started from Grimshaw, Alberta, north to connect to the future mine in 1962. The railway was completed in 1964, and official production commenced in 1965. Cominco built its own town site which became known as Pine Point. It became a territorial settlement with private businesses, and boasted a population of 1,200 at its peak. When the mine closed in 1988, the single-industry town was forced to close.

The mine produced and shipped 10,785,000 tons of lead and zinc concentrates/high-grade ores after mining and milling 69,416,000 tons of ore material. Contained metal was approximately 2 million tons of lead and 7 million tons of zinc.