The Kemess Mine was an open-pit copper and gold mine, located just northeast of the foot of Thutade Lake, at the head of the Finlay River, in the Omineca Mountains of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It was operated by Royal Oak Mines from 1998 to 1999, when it was bought by Northgate Minerals. Northgate operated the mine until its closure in 2011; that year Northgate was taken over by AuRico Gold. In 2014 AuRico Gold partitioned off its portion of Kemess Mine ownership creating a new company called AuRico Metals.
Thutade Lake is located in the Omineca Mountains of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. About 40 km in length, and no more than about 2 km wide, the lake is primarily significant as the ultimate source of the Mackenzie River. The lake is at the head of the Finlay River, which joins the Peace River via Williston Lake. The area is very remote, being located about 260 km north of Smithers, although several mining operations for ores containing copper, lead, zinc and silver have occurred around the lake. The largest of these is the Kemess Mine, an iron and copper property originally owned by Royal Oak Mines and now by Northgate Minerals, located in the valley of Kemess Creek, which is off the northeast end of Thutade Lake. The mine is accessed by the Omineca Resource Road and other resource routes, and is 400 km by road from Prince George. Just downstream from the outlet of Thutade Lake, the Finlay plunges over 180-foot (55 m) Cascadero Falls, and then through a series of cataracts in a twisting course until it begins its main northeastward trend. Cascadero Falls is slated for hydroelectric development in connection with the power needs of the area's mines.
The Finlay River is a 402 km long river in north-central British Columbia flowing north and thence south from Thutade Lake in the Omineca Mountains to Williston Lake, the impounded waters of the Peace River formed by the completion of the W.A.C. Bennett Dam in 1968. Prior to this, the Finlay joined with the Parsnip River to form the Peace. The headwaters of the Finlay at Thutade Lake are considered the ultimate source of the Mackenzie River. Deserters Canyon is located just north of Williston Lake.
The Omineca Mountains, also known as "the Ominecas", are a group of remote mountain ranges in north-central British Columbia, Canada. They are bounded by the Finlay River on the north, the Rocky Mountain Trench on the east, the Nation Lakes on the south, and the upper reaches of the Omineca River on the west. They form a section of the Continental Divide, that, in this region, separates water drainage between the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. The lower course of the Omineca River flows through the heart of the range. To the south of the Ominecas is the Nechako Plateau, to the west the Skeena Mountains and Hazelton Mountains, to the north the Spatsizi Plateau and the Stikine Ranges, while east across the Rocky Mountain Trench are the Muskwa Ranges.
AuRico Metals was acquired by Centerra Gold in January 2018.
Centerra Gold Inc. is a Canadian-based gold mining and exploration company engaged in the operation, exploration, development and acquisition of gold properties in North America, Asia and other markets worldwide and is one of the largest Western-based gold producers in Central Asia.
The deposit mined was a copper-gold porphyry. Over its life the mine produced approximately 3 million ounces of gold and 800 million pounds of copper.
Porphyry copper deposits are copper orebodies that are formed from hydrothermal fluids that originate from a voluminous magma chamber several kilometers below the deposit itself. Predating or associated with those fluids are vertical dikes of porphyritic intrusive rocks from which this deposit type derives its name. In later stages, circulating meteoric fluids may interact with the magmatic fluids. Successive envelopes of hydrothermal alteration typically enclose a core of disseminated ore minerals in often stockwork-forming hairline fractures and veins. Because of their large volume, porphyry orebodies can be economic from copper concentrations as low as 0.15% copper and can have economic amounts of by-products such as molybdenum, silver and gold. In some mines, those metals are the main product.
Kemess Creek Airport,, is located near Kemess Mine, British Columbia, Canada.
Prince George, with a population of 74,003, is the largest city in northern British Columbia, Canada, and is the "Northern Capital" of BC. It is situated at the confluence of the Fraser and Nechako Rivers, and at the crossroads of Highway 16 and Highway 97.
Smithers is a town in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, approximately halfway between Prince George and Prince Rupert. Smithers is located in the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako. With a population of 5,351 in 2016, Smithers is a service area for most of the Bulkley Valley.
Near the mine is the Kemess Underground Project, also owned by Centerra Gold. This separate deposit is currently in the development stage, and has not been approved for production.
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