Brunswick 12 mine

Last updated
Brunswick #12
Location
Canada New Brunswick location map 2.svg
Schlaegel und Eisen nach DIN 21800.svg
Brunswick #12 mine
Location in New Brunswick
Location Gloucester County
Province New Brunswick
CountryCanada
Coordinates 47°28′48″N65°52′30″W / 47.480°N 65.875°W / 47.480; -65.875 Coordinates: 47°28′48″N65°52′30″W / 47.480°N 65.875°W / 47.480; -65.875
Production
Products Lead, Zinc, Copper
History
Discovered1953
Opened1964
Closed2013
Owner
Company Xstrata
Year of acquisition2005

The Brunswick #12 mine is an underground lead-zinc-copper mine in the Bathurst Mining Camp of northern New Brunswick, Canada. It was discovered in January, 1953 [1] and entered production in April, 1964. The Brunswick #12 orebody is the largest deposit in the Bathurst area and was one of the largest underground zinc mines in the world [1] well into the late 1990s. The mine was officially closed at the end of April, 2013. [2]

The Bathurst Mining Camp is a mining district in northeast New Brunswick, Canada, centred in the Nepisiguit River valley, and near to Bathurst. The camp hosts 45 known volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits typical of the Appalachian Mountains. Some of the ore is smelted at the Belledune facility of Xstrata. Although the primary commodity is zinc, the massive-sulphide ore body produces lead, zinc, copper, silver, gold, bismuth, antimony and cadmium.

New Brunswick province in Canada

New Brunswick is one of four Atlantic provinces on the east coast of Canada. According to the Constitution of Canada, New Brunswick is the only bilingual province. About two thirds of the population declare themselves anglophones and a third francophones. One third of the population describes themselves as bilingual. Atypically for Canada, only about half of the population lives in urban areas, mostly in Greater Moncton, Greater Saint John and the capital Fredericton.

Canada Country in North America

Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Canada's southern border with the United States, stretching some 8,891 kilometres (5,525 mi), is the world's longest bi-national land border. Its capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. As a whole, Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land area being dominated by forest and tundra. Consequently, its population is highly urbanized, with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, with 70% of citizens residing within 100 kilometres (62 mi) of the southern border. Canada's climate varies widely across its vast area, ranging from arctic weather in the north, to hot summers in the southern regions, with four distinct seasons.

Contents

Geology

The supergiant Brunswick #12 deposit is a volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposit rich in lead, zinc, and copper. Currently the copper-rich portion of the deposit has not been mined.

Volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposit

Volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposits, also known as VMS ore deposits, are a type of metal sulfide ore deposit, mainly copper-zinc which are associated with and created by volcanic-associated hydrothermal events in submarine environments.

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References

  1. 1 2 Luff, William M. (October 1995). "A history of mining in the Bathurst area, northern New Brunswick, Canada". CIM Bulletin. Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
  2. "Brunswick Mine closes Bathurst-area operation". CBC News. Retrieved 2014-03-06.