| Summary: | On verso of image: Eldorado Mine, Yukon Terr., Ca. 1897. My dad, uncle and grandpa in photo. Print loaned by Wm. Stanley, 1986. Filed in Yukon Territory In 1900, J.M. Bell and Charles Camsell of the Geological Survey of Canada journeyed down the Mackenzie River, up the Bear River and into Great Bear Lake. They recorded their observations of the area thus: “in the greenstones with numerous interrupted stringers of calcite containing chalcopyrite and the steep rocky shores where they present themselves to the lake are often stained with cobalt bloom and copper”. However, it was not until 1929 when Gilbert Labine read Bell's notes that the potential for mineralisation became clear. Labine immediately flew to the east shore of Great Bear Lake approximately 40km south of the Arctic Circle and staked the first four claims of what would become the Eldorado uranium mine. By 1932, the town of Great Bear, later renamed Port Radium, consisted of the partially constructed Eldorado mine, a sawmill, electric power plant, general store, post office, two radio stations, an RCMP post and a mining recorder’s office. The town’s population stood at 200. By the end of 1932, between 2,500 and 3,000 claims were recorded in the area. Eldorado mines, the first modern mining operation in the NWT, began production in December 1933. The mine first produced radium and uranium, and subsequently silver. The mill operated at a capacity of 50 tons per day (tpd) up until 1940 after which throughput was increased to 125 tpd. The mine became a crown company in 1944. In 1950, the mill capacity was increased to170 tpd. A fire halted production in 1951. However, the mill was re-built in 1952 with the capacity increased to 300 tpd. With the development of other uranium sources in Canada, the mine was no longer profitable and was closed in September 1960. Native peoples in the Great Bear Lake area worked for the mine, carrying the powdered ore in burlap sacks on their back. Since then, at least 14 of those workers have died of lung, colon and kidney cancers.
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