Based on the 900A maps and the Mines Handbooks, there were almost 550 mines in Canada in the 21st Century (Appendix 3). Not all commodities are necessarily referenced on the 900A Maps. For example, Helium is currently being produced in Saskatchewan. Also, minerals, crystals and gemstones are found in Canada at mine sites, or from specialty deposits such as the Amethyst mines near Thunder Bay, the Placer Gold found in streams in Dawson City, the Ammolite in Alberta, and Jade in British Columbia. Those commodities are not acknowledged in these tables.

Eventually, the author compiled all of the mines listed in various provincial databases. A new interactive map of Canadian mines and quarries (Figure 5) since 1774 can be found at the Hub. The source of the data for each mine can be found by clicking on mine location icon and scrolling down the list to the  GIS_Source_Link. Users of the Hub are encouraged to go to the original source of the GIS links to learn more about each operation. It is possible to explore the mines in the Hub by date, commodity, mine type, region, and tonnages at this time.  

Figure 5. Historical Canadian Mines Data Hub and Visualization Centre

The Government of Canada promotes investment in exploration and mining by providing a document about the advantage of investing in Canada, tax provisions, security regulations, and indigenous peoples as partners in development. This general document entitled “Exploration and Mining in Canada: An Investor’s Brief” (Government of Canada, 2016) could be asked for in any country. A search on mining publications on key government websites could be attempted.

Canada is a very innovative country with respect to mining as shown by research consortium’s that exist across the country representing partnerships between industry, government and academia. The overall goal of these groups is to increase innovation in mining. These organizations represent that the mining companies and Government is economically important so investments in innovation are provided. Groups include:

• Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI)
• Centre for Innovation in Mineral Resource Engineering (CIMRE)
• Canada Mining Innovation Council (CMIC)
• COREM of Quebec
• International Minerals Mining Institute (IMII)
• Mining Suppliers Trade Association
• Mirarco Mining Innovation