Matagami

Matagami
City

View of Matagami
Matagami
Coordinates (195, boulevard Matagami[1]): 49°45′N 77°38′W / 49.750°N 77.633°W / 49.750; -77.633Coordinates: 49°45′N 77°38′W / 49.750°N 77.633°W / 49.750; -77.633[2]
Country  Canada
Province  Quebec
Region Nord-du-Québec
RCM None
Constituted April 1, 1963
Government[1]
 • Mayor René Dubé
 • Federal riding Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou
 • Prov. riding Ungava
Area[1][3]
 • Total 65.10 km2 (25.14 sq mi)
 • Land 66.85 km2 (25.81 sq mi)
  There is an apparent contradiction between two authoritative sources
Population (2011)[3]
 • Total 1,526
 • Density 22.8/km2 (59/sq mi)
 • Change (2006–11) Decrease1.9%
 • Dwellings 719
Time zone EST (UTC−5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC−4)
Postal code(s) J0Y 2A0
Area code(s) 819
Website www.matagami.com

Matagami (/mətɑːɡəmi/, French pronunciation: ​[mataɡami]) is a small town in Quebec, Canada. It is located north of Amos, on Matagami Lake, at the northern terminus of Route 109 and the start of the James Bay Road (French: Route de la Baie James). The town had a population of 1,526 as of the Canada 2011 Census.

History

Matagami was founded in 1963 with the development of mining in the area. Previously, it existed only as a very small prospecting camp accessible only by float plane, but after a viable mineral deposit was found in the late 1950s a permanent settlement began to be established. In 1962, the Quebec Toponomy Commission attempted to name the new community Mazenod after Charles-Joseph-Eugène de Mazenod, the founder of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, but after a public outcry by local residents the community was named after Matagami Lake.

The name Matagami means "the confluence of waters" in the Cree language.[4]

The first church service in Matagami was held on 17 April 1962.

Demographics

Population trend:[5]

Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 625 (total dwellings: 719)

Mother tongue:

Economy

The two primary employers in the city are Xstrata and Domtar. Domtar has been in Matagami since 1988 when the company bought out Bisson & Bisson.[6]

Xstrata entered Matagami in 2006 when it acquired Falconbridge Ltd. In 2008, Xstrata put Perseverance, a zinc-copper volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposit, into production. Perseverance has a mine life of 5.5 years.[7] Since 1957 ten deposits, including the world class Matagami Lake deposit (25.6 million tonnes grading 8.2% Zn, 0.56% Cu, 20.91 g/t Ag, 0.41 g/t Au), have been discovered and mined out for a total of "44.4 million tonnes with a similar average grade."[8]

Further exploration is continuing in the camp through a 50–50 joint venture agreement between Xstrata and Donner Metals.[9] In late 2008, Donner Metals Ltd. announced that Xstrata Zinc Canada was in the process of completing a scoping study at their jointly owned Bracemac-McLeod property.[10] It is the nearest city to the Lac Doré Vanadium Deposit.[11]

The community is also one of the distribution points for goods and services to the James Bay Hydroelectric Project. As well, Matagami has a small tourism industry due to the popularity of fishing and hunting in northern Quebec. Hotel Bell and Hotel Matagami include full service bars.

Geography

Matagami is located in the geographic centre of Quebec quite far to the west and on similar parallels to Winnipeg and Vancouver further west in Canada – all of which have milder climates to a various degree. It is several parallels north of Montreal and Quebec City and in a sparsely populated area. In terms of other parts of the world, Matagami is on the same parallel as the hot Rhine shift around Mannheim in Germany, which is more than 10° C warmer in terms of yearly mean temperature.

Climate

In spite of being located below the 50th parallel Matagami has a subarctic climate.[12] The winter season is long and cold with a January daily mean of −20 °C (−4 °F),[13] but summer temperatures during the short season are quite warm for subarctic climates. On average around 133 days of the year do not have temperatures above freezing.[14] The cold air is dominant with 224.4 days of the year averaging air frost.[14] Also a full 30.5 days of the year should fall to below −30 °C (−22 °F). Around three days in summer are warm enough to reach 30 °C (86 °F),[14] indicating a very continental climate.

Geography

Nearby lakes include Lake Olga.

Media

Matagami is served by a community radio station, CHEF-FM, as well as by a rebroadcaster of Première Chaîne's CHLM-FM.

Notable people

Matagami is the birthplace of Canadian swimmer Marianne Limpert, who won the silver medal in the 200m Individual Medley at the 1996 Summer Olympics.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Geographic code 99015 in the official Répertoire des municipalités (in French)
  2. ↑ Reference number 39658 of the Commission de toponymie du Québec (in French)
  3. 1 2 "(Code 2499015) Census Profile". 2011 census. Statistics Canada. 2012.
  4. ↑ Matagami :..:
  5. ↑ Statistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 census
  6. ↑ Matagami
  7. ↑ Xstrata Zinc Canada Archived 27 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ↑ Kaiser Bottom-Fish Online
  9. ↑ Exploration Archived 27 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ↑ Bracemac-McLeod Archived 27 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  11. ↑ "Apella Resources reports on exploration effors at Lac Dore North Vanadium Project". Proactive Investors UK. 2 December 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-01.
  12. ↑ "Matagami, Québec Climate Summary". Weatherbase. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  13. ↑ "Matagami, Québec Temperature Averages". Weatherbase. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  14. 1 2 3 "Canadian Climate Normals 1971–2000". Environment Canada. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  15. ↑ "Canadian Climate Normals 1971–2000". Environment Canada. Retrieved 2012-11-10.

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