Manitoba Mining Facts

The mining and petroleum industries make up Manitoba's third largest primary resource industry. In 2019, preliminary estimates of the combined value of mineral production for metals ($1.1 billion), industrial minerals ($287.8 million) and petroleum ($1.12 billion) totalled about $2.5 billion. The industries employ an average of 4,500 workers directly, with many more in indirect jobs and generating millions of dollars in spin-off business.

 

Click on the links below to discover more facts about the world of minerals:

The Rock Cycle

How to Turn "A" Nickel into a Dollar

Available in alternate formats upon request.

What do Manitoba mines produce? Base and precious metals, such as nickel, copper, zinc and gold. Specialty metals like cesium. Industrial minerals such as dolomite, spodumene, silver, gypsum, salt, granite, limestone, lime, sand and gravel. Manitoba mineral resources with potential for future economic development include diamonds, platinum-group metals (PGM), rare earth elements (REE), titanium, vanadium, chromite, silica and potash.

Manitoba produces:

37% of Canada's zinc

7.1% of Canada's nickel

4.6% of Canada's copper

1.9% of Canada's gold

10.5% of Canada's silver

Manitoba also produces cobalt and platinum-group metals which are by-products of other mined metals or minerals.

 

Operating Mines

Mine	Company	Location	Date Opened	Major Metals/Minerals Mined
777 Mine	Hudbay	Flin Flon	2000	copper, zinc
Birchtree Mine NOTE: Currently under care and maintenance	Vale	Thompson	1968	nickel, copper
Bucko Lake Nickel Mine NOTE: Currently under care and maintenance	CaNickel Mining Limited	Wabowden	2009	nickel
Lalor Mine	Hudbay	Snow Lake	2014	copper, zinc, gold
True North Gold Mine NOTE: Currently under care and maintenance	1911 Gold Corporation	Bissett	2006	gold
Tanco Mine	Sinomine Rare Metals Resources Co. Ltd.	Lac du Bonnet	1969	cesium
Thompson mine T1, T3 & 1-D	Vale	Thompson	1958	nickel, copper

 

Manitoba's Rich History

Manitoba Mining Through the Centuries Manitoba has been mining for centuries. This website presents the history of mining in the province as a timeline and includes a provincial map showing mining locations both historical and current, commodity information, company listings and a photo gallery.

Manitoba's Mining Communities

Mining is the reason for communities such as Thompson, Flin Flon, Snow Lake, Wabowden, Lynn Lake and Leaf Rapids in the north, and Bissett and Lac du Bonnet in the south.

 

Stake Your Future in Mining Click on the job profiles listed below to explore some of the career opportunities in the mining industry. Geologist Mining Engineer GIS Specialist Available in alternate formats upon request.

Building Blocks

Ever wonder why rocks are used in building projects? Sometimes it can be for practical reasons, but often the aim is to create something that will be regarded for its beauty and elegant appearance. A great example of this type of "building" rock is dimension stone. Dimension stone includes Manitoba Tyndall Stone® (a mottled limestone with trace fossils), as well as other rocks with rich "dimension" like granite, marble, labradorite, sandstone.

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