Manitoba Mining Facts

The mineral industry is Manitoba's second largest primary resource industry. In 2011, the combined value of mineral production for metals ($1.65 billion), industrial minerals ($188 million) and petroleum ($1.26 billion) totalled over $3 billion. The province’s mineral industry employs an average of 5,800 workers directly, with many more in indirect jobs and generating millions of dollars in spin-off business.

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What do Manitoba mines produce?

Base and precious metals, such as nickel, copper, zinc and gold.
Specialty minerals like lithium, cesium and tantalum.
Plus 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:

20.1% of Canada's nickel
15.8% of Canada's cobalt
10.7% of Canada's copper
12.7% of Canada's zinc
4.6% of Canada's gold
100% of Canada's cesium and lithium
27.8% of Canada's selenium
6.4% of Canada's silver
37.5% of Canada's tellurium

Operating Mines

Company	Mine	Location	Date Opened	Major Metals/Minerals Mined
CaNickel Mining Limited	Bucko Lake Nickel Mine	Wabowden	2009	nickel
Hudbay	Trout Lake Mine	Flin Flon	1982	copper, zinc
Hudbay	Chisel North Mine	Snow Lake	1998	copper, zinc
Hudbay	777 Mine	Flin Flon	2000	copper, zinc
San Gold Corporation	Rice Lake Gold Mine	Bissett	2006	gold
San Gold Corporation	Hinge Mine	Bissett	2009	gold
Tantalum Mining Corporation of Canada, Ltd.	Tanco Mine	Lac du Bonnet	1969	spodumene, pollucite
Vale	Thompson mine T1 & T3	Thompson	1958	nickel, copper
Vale	Birchtree Mine	Thompson	1968	nickel, copper

Cobalt, silver, selenium and tellerium are by-products of other mined metals or minerals.

Manitoba's Rich History

Manitoba's Legends of Rock

John F. Thompson (pdf)

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.

More Mining Facts

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

Manitoba Minerals give you mOre
The Rock Cycle (pdf)
How to Turn "A" Nickel into a Dollar (pdf)

Manitoba's Mineral Resources