The Red Lake mine was one of the largest gold mines in Canada and in the world.[1] The mine is located in northwestern Ontario at Red Lake.[1] The mine had estimated reserves of 3.23 million oz of gold in 2013.[1] Note that the Campbell and Red Lake mines are (or were) mining the same orebody, commonly referred to as the Campbell-Red Lake deposit.[2]
![]() High grade gold ore from Red Lake Mine | |
Location | |
---|---|
Location | Red Lake |
Province | Ontario |
Country | Canada |
Coordinates | 51°3′40.16″N 93°44′35.34″W / 51.0611556°N 93.7431500°W |
Production | |
Products | Gold |
History | |
Opened | 1949 |
Owner | |
Company | Evolution Mining |
Website | Red Lake |
Year of acquisition | 2019 |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/Red_Lake_Mine_OSM.png/220px-Red_Lake_Mine_OSM.png)
The Red Lake Mining District has produced over 26 million ounces of gold through 2020, worth over $US 46 billion at 2020 prices. The two principal mines, Campbell and Red Lake, both have historic ore grades averaging about 0.57 oz/ton Au (22 g/tonne).[3] One famous sample, the "Campbell Mine Whopper", contained 431 ounces of gold in a football-sized rock.[2]
The rocks and mineralization features in this district are complex. The host rock here is a metamorphosed tholeiitic basalt dating to ~2.85 billion years (early Neoarchean). This basalt has been subjected to biotite-carbonate alteration and auriferous silicification. Gold mineralization has been dated to 2.712-2.723 billion years (during collision-related emplacement of several nearby igneous intrusions - Uchian Phase of the Kenoran Orogeny), and at 2.63-2.66 or 2.699 billion years (during a regional thermal event or another igneous intrusive event).[4]
On November 25, 2019, Newmont Goldcorp announced an agreement to sell the Red Lake complex to Evolution Mining.[5] As of early 2021, Evolution has announced resources of 2.9 Million oz Au at 6.9 gms Au/tonne, with a further 5.7 Million oz at 7.7 g/t indicated and 5.3 Million oz at 6.49 g/t inferred. Other projects in the district also are reporting promising results.[2]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c "Red Lake - Overview & Operating Highlights". goldcorp.com. 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
- ^ a b c Red Lake gold district at Geology for Investors, May 30, 2022
- ^ Red Lake Gold District
- ^ Red Lake gold mine
- ^ "Australian company to acquire Red Lake, Ont., gold mines". CBC News. 2019-11-27.