Fonds AR340 - Island Copper Mine fonds

The Island Copper Mine (ICM) was located near Port Hardy. From 1970 to 1995, copper, gold, silver, molybdenum and a by-product rhenium were mined, using conventional open pit truck and shovel methods. When the mine closed in 2000, more than 1 billion tons of material had been moved, leaving the deepest excavated depression below sea-level on earth. At one time, the mine employed over 900 people, and helped turn the tiny community of Port Hardy into a town of 5,000. ICM also made very significant contributions to the mining and milling industry, and pioneered the engineering for STD systems and the monitoring techniques for assessing the impact of tailings on the marine ecosystems, and subsequent recovery from that impact. Dr. Derek Ellis of the University of Victoria was a member of the BC Universities' team of scientists and engineers which for thirty years oversaw the assessments conducted by the mine. His particular responsibility was with the seabed assessments.