The Northwest Regional Office is responsible for the management of 4 District Offices--Kenora, Red Lake, Thunder Bay North and Thunder Bay South. The resulting area is approximately 700 km by 700 km in size, from the Manitoba-Ontario border in the west to the vicinity of the town of White River, Ontario, in the east; and from the United States-Canada border in the south to the edge of the James-Hudson Bay lowlands in the north.
The Northwest Regional Office is also home to the First Nation Minerals Information Officer, who provides information and expertise to Ontario First Nations communities in particular. Although the First Nation Minerals Information Officer is based in Thunder Bay, his services are delivered throughout Ontario.
Metallic mineral commodities produced in the Northwest Region include gold, palladium, platinum, silver, copper and nickel. The Northwest hosts 5 producing gold mines: Red Lake Mine, Musselwhite Mine, William Mine, David Bell Mine, and Lac Des Iles Mine. Non-metallic mineral commodities produced in the Region include granite dimension stone and amethyst, the latter being Ontario's official gemstone.
Mining and Exploration Summary Northwestern Ontario - 2007 (pdf)
Northwestern Ontario Mining and
Exploration Activity
Highlights - 2007 (pdf)
The Kenora District Office is located in the City of Kenora. The District also includes the communities of Dryden, Emo, Fort Frances, Ignace, Nestor Falls, Mine Centre, Rainy River, Savant Lake, Sioux Lookout, Sioux Narrow and Vermilion Bay. A majority of the communities associated with the Treaty #3 First Nations Territory are located in the Kenora District.
Parts of the English River, Winnipeg River, Western Wabigoon and Quetico subprovinces are covered by the Kenora District. Dimensional stone, displaying a variety of colours and textures, continues to be extracted from several quarries within the Kenora District. Commodities such as lode gold, iron, molybdenum, platinum group elements, orthomagmatic base-metals, rare-elements, uranium, volcanogenic massive sulphides and diamonds are targeted by mineral exploration projects.
Mineral Deposits Not Being Mined
Gold Potential Areas - Western Wabigoon Subprovince
Recommendations for Exploration
Prospects Available for Option
Lake Sediment Survey Study
The History of Mining in the Kenora Area
The Red Lake District Office is located in Red Lake, Ontario. The present town of Red Lake was created in 1998 by the amalgamation of the Townships of Red Lake, Golden (the Balmertown, Cochenour and McKenzie Island townsites) and the Madsen Local Services Board. The District also includes the community of Ear Falls and many First Nation communities which are accessible only by air or winter road.
Historically, gold is the main commodity produced in the Red Lake District, although iron was produced from 1968 to 1986 at the Griffith Mine near Ear Falls and zinc, copper and silver were produced from the South Bay Mine from 1971 to 1981. Since 1930, over 23 million ounces of gold have been produced in the Red Lake District, the bulk of it (approximately 18 million ounces) from the Campbell-Red Lake Deposit, now operated as The Red Lake Gold Mines by Goldcorp Inc.
Gold Production in the Red Lake District (pdf)
Mineral Deposits not Being Mined (pdf)
The Thunder Bay North District encompasses an area covering the Nipigon Basin and eastern Wabigoon Subprovince in the south, extending north and east to the Hudson Bay Lowlands, and in the west includes the eastern and central portions of the Uchi and Sachigo Subprovinces. The following towns and First Nation (FN) communities are situated within the district: Angling Lake (Wapakeka FN); Armstrong; Beardmore; Bearskin Lake FN; Big Trout Lake (Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug FN); Cat Lake FN; Fort Hope (Eabametoong FN); Geraldton; Gull Bay FN; Jellicoe; Kasabonika FN; Kingfisher Lake FN; Lansdowne House (Neskantaga FN); Longlac; Macdiarmid; Nakina; North Caribou Lake (Weagamow FN); Osnaburgh House (Mishkeegogamang FN); Pickle Lake; Summer Beaver (Nibinamik FN); Webequie FN and Wunnummin Lake FN.
Musselwhite Mine (Goldcorp Inc.) is the only producing mine in the Thunder Bay North District. It is located 126 km north of Pickle Lake. In 2007, the mine produced 222 379 ounces of gold from 1 325 726 milled tonnes at a grade of 5.45 g/t Au (A. Cheatle, Goldcorp Inc., personal communication, March, 2008). From 1997 to 2007, 13 941 308 tonnes of ore were mined and milled to produce 2 399 070 ounces of gold. Proven and probable mineral reserves as of December 31, 2007, were 9 740 000 t at a grade of 6.32 g/t Au, for a total of 1 980 000 contained ounces.
Two main gold producing camps have been identified from past production in the Thunder Bay North District. The Beardmore-Geraldton belt produced an estimated 4.1 million ounces of gold from the mid-1930's to the 1970's. Gold production in the Pickle Lake area totaled approximately 3.1 million ounces from five mine sites between 1934 and 1997.
In addition to gold, there are active exploration projects for copper-nickel-platinum group elements, copper-zinc, and diamonds throughout the district.
Mineral Deposits not Being Mined (pdf)
The Thunder Bay South District covers an area from Calm Lake, west of Atikokan, east to White River, and just west of Armstrong. The Resident Geologist’s Program is based in Thunder Bay, but also maintains a seasonal field office in Marathon.
There are three producing, precious and base metal mines, as well as several amethyst producers and a stone quarry in the Thunder Bay South District. The Shebandowan Mine was closed in the second quarter of 1998. The Winston Lake Division mine suspended operations in late 1998. The remaining, active mines are:
| Mine | Operator | Owner(s) | Commodities |
|---|---|---|---|
| David Bell | Teck-Corona Operating Corporation | Teck Cominco Limited (50%) Barrick Gold Corporation (50%) |
Gold |
| Lac des Iles | Lac des Iles Mines Ltd. | North American Palladium Ltd. | Platinum group metals, gold, copper, nickel |
| Williams | Williams Operating Corporation | Teck Cominco Limited (50%) Barrick Gold Corporation (50%) |
Gold |
The two gold mines are situated on the Hemlo deposit, east of Marathon. The Lac des Iles Mine is located approximately 100 km north of Thunder Bay.
