Manitoba Rocks! | Manitoba Mineral Resources

Manitoba...rocks!

Manitoba Mining Facts

The mining and petroleum industries make up Manitoba's largest primary resource industry. In 2017, the combined value of mineral production for metals ($1.37 billion), industrial minerals ($289.4 million) and petroleum ($877 million) totalled about $2.5 billion. The industries employ an average of 6,200 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

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.

Image of gold ore

Manitoba produces:

39.2% of Canada's zinc

10.9% of Canada's nickel

6.6% of Canada's copper

2.7% of Canada's gold

11.6% 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
Hinge-007 Mine NOTE: Currently under care and maintenance	Klondex Mines Ltd.	Bissett	2009	gold
Lalor Mine	Hudbay	Snow Lake	2014	copper, zinc, gold
True North Gold Mine NOTE: Currently under care and maintenance	Klondex Mines Ltd.	Bissett	2006	gold
Tanco Mine	Tantalum Mining Corporation of Canada, 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

Image of zinc ore

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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