Ontario's Natural Resources - Minerals and Mining
Ontario's first gold rush occurred in 1866, near today's town of Madoc. There have been several other gold rushes and mineral discoveries in Ontario since then many of which still produce gold. Ontario stone was used to build the Ontario Legislature, the federal Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, and the Canadian Embassy in the U.S. capital of Washington, D.C.
Ontario has been Canada’s leading metals producer for almost a century, producing more than 30 different metal and non-metal mineral products. In 2008, Ontario produced 47 per cent of Canada’s nickel, 53 per cent of its gold, 31 per cent of the country’s copper and 84 per cent of its platinum group metals. More than 100,000 people across the province are employed in mineral exploration, production and the mining equipment and services sector. Forty per cent of Ontario's mineral production is exported around the world.
The ancient rocks of the Canadian Shield cover two-thirds of Ontario and host many mineral deposits. Younger sedimentary rocks also contain valuable minerals and unconsolidated glacial deposits are another important source of mineral riches. Ontario ranks as the world's second largest producer of nickel. The province is also a significant producer of gold, copper, zinc, platinum, palladium, cobalt and silver.
Ontario produces about $10 billion worth of minerals a year from barite to zinc. Many of the northern Ontario towns and cities that produce mineral commodities are; Red Lake (gold), Hemlo (gold), Wawa (gold), Marathon (gold), Thunder Bay (gold, platinum/palladium, amethyst and agate), Timmins (gold, copper, zinc), and Sudbury (nickel, copper, platinum, palladium).
While northern Ontario yields most of our metallic minerals, southern Ontario is home to world class producers of non-metallic minerals including salt, gypsum, lime, nepheline syenite and structural materials (sand, gravel, stone). The sedimentary rocks of the south are also the site of Ontario's oil and gas industry. In fact, the first commercial oil well in North America was drilled at Oil Springs, Ontario, (near Sarnia) in 1858. In 2007, southern Ontario produced crude oil valued at $52 million.
Amethyst, a variety of six-sided purple quartz crystal was adopted as Ontario's official gemstone in 1975. Amethyst, while occurring worldwide, is in rich supply along Lake Superior's north shore near Thunder Bay. It is also found in the Bancroft and North Bay areas.
After over 130 years of mineral production, Ontario's mineral industry continues to explore for new deposits and new commodities to meet the changing demands of the new millennium. Gold, platinum group elements and base metals are the major exploration targets but interest in diamonds and rare earth metals is increasing. The Victor open-pit mine, Ontario's first diamond mine, began development in January 2006 and came into production in spring 2008.
Some mining also takes place in southern Ontario. Salt is mined at Goderich and Windsor in the southwest; limestone at Guelph, Ingersoll and Dundas; gypsum in Caledonia and Hagersville; and talc at Madoc.
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