Mining in Manitoba

Lynn Lake Mining Area

History of the Lynn Lake Area

The story of Sherritt Gordon began with the staking of a promising copper showing by Carlton W. Sherritt in 1923 near Kississing Lake, north of Flin Flon. John P. Gordon, an engineer, took the first option on the property and in 1927 Sherritt Gordon was incorporated. Production at Sherridon, begun in 1931, ended in 1951 when the ore was exhausted. However, after a new nickel-copper discovery was made at what is now Lynn Lake, most of the town was moved 265 km. to the north.

After completing the move to Lynn Lake, Sherritt Gordon opened the "A" Mine in 1953. It produced 12.6 million tonnes of 1.2% Ni and 0.62% copper ore before closing in 1969. The "EL" deposit produced 2.2 million tonnes averaging 2.5% Ni and 0.93% Cu between 1954 and 1964. The Farley Mine, opened in 1961 and closed in 1976, ending mining in the immediate vicinity of Lynn Lake, a town that grew to 2500 people in the early 1970's.

The 3 mines produced concentrates containing 166.1 million Kg of Ni and 94.8 million Kg of Cu, as well as 1.7 million Kg Co, 447 Kg of Au and 9019 Kg of Ag. Nickel concentrates were shipped to Sherritt's nickel refinery at Fort Saskatchewan, northeast of Edmonton. During the 1960's, Sherritt's exploration effort again paid off with the discovery of the Fox and the Ruttan copper-zinc deposits. The Fox deposit, 48 km southwest of Lynn Lake, was discovered in 1961. The mine reached 820 metres before ore reserves were exhausted in late 1985.

In April 1969, Sherritt geologists tarcing interesting airborne electromagnetic survey results, discovered the large Ruttan copper-zinc. Located 121 km. southeast of Lynn Lake, the deposit contained about 46 million tonnes of ore. The Ruttan Mine began in 1973 with an open pit and a 9070 tonnes per day concentrator. Open pit production ceased Dec. 1980, with production continuing from an underground operation.

SherrGold Inc. A Sherritt subsidiary, SherrGold Inc., opened the MacLellan gold mine in 1986, 5km northeast of Lyn Lake. The property was first staked in 1946 by J.W.Boiley and J.G.Webb and restaked in 1950 by Roy and J.W.Rundle, who transferred the claims to Agassiz Mines Ltd. Several companies had options on the property during the ensuing years. In late 1979 Comiesa Corp, who held controlling interest in the propert, optioned it to Sherritt Gordon Mines. From 1979 to 1985, Sherritt spent $12 million on diamond drilling, shaft sinking, and drifting. In September 1985, Sherritt transferred the MacLellan Mine to a new company - SherrGold.

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