Misplaced Pages

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121-573: The extended federal and provincial quasi-administrative regions of Northern Ontario have their own boundaries even further south in the transitional area that vary according to their respective government policies and requirements. Ontario government departments and agencies such as the Growth Plan for Northern Ontario and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation define Northern Ontario as all areas north of, and including,

242-554: A by-election in 2001, and was re-elected in the 2003 and 2007 elections. Former Ontario New Democratic Party leader Howard Hampton and former Ontario Liberal Party leader Lyn McLeod also represented Northern Ontario ridings in the provincial legislature; the six months in 1996 between Hampton's accession to the NDP leadership in June and McLeod's departure as Liberal leader in December marked

363-570: A controversial but now-defunct plan to ship Toronto 's garbage to the Adams Mine , an abandoned open pit mine in Kirkland Lake. In the redistribution of provincial electoral districts before the 2007 election , the province retained the existing electoral district boundaries in Northern Ontario, rather than adjusting them to correspond to federal electoral district boundaries as was done in

484-636: A hopper and a shaking screen or trommel which frees the desired minerals from the waste gravel. The minerals are then concentrated using sluices or jigs. Large drills are used to sink shafts, excavate stopes, and obtain samples for analysis. Trams are used to transport miners, minerals and waste. Lifts carry miners into and out of mines, and move rock and ore out, and machinery in and out, of underground mines. Huge trucks, shovels and cranes are employed in surface mining to move large quantities of overburden and ore. Processing plants use large crushers, mills, reactors, roasters and other equipment to consolidate

605-411: A letter to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien asking him to outline the necessary conditions for the region to secede from Ontario to form a new province. This movement emerged as a reaction to the government of Mike Harris , whose policies were widely unpopular in the region even though Harris himself represented the Northern Ontario riding of Nipissing in the legislature. More recently, some residents of

726-875: A mass of actual rock. Both types of ore deposit, placer or lode, are mined by both surface and underground methods. Some mining, including much of the rare earth elements and uranium mining , is done by less-common methods, such as in-situ leaching : this technique involves digging neither at the surface nor underground. The extraction of target minerals by this technique requires that they be soluble, e.g., potash , potassium chloride , sodium chloride , sodium sulfate , which dissolve in water. Some minerals, such as copper minerals and uranium oxide , require acid or carbonate solutions to dissolve. Explosives in Mining Explosives have been used in surface mining and sub-surface mining to blast out rock and ore intended for processing. The most common explosive used in mining

847-426: A mining operation. Once the analysis determines a given ore body is worth recovering, development begins to create access to the ore body. The mine buildings and processing plants are built, and any necessary equipment is obtained. The operation of the mine to recover the ore begins and continues as long as the company operating the mine finds it economical to do so. Once all the ore that the mine can produce profitably

968-503: A more sustainable future, the demand for metals is set to skyrocket. Between 2022 and 2050, an estimated 7 billion metric tons of metals will need to be extracted. Steel will account for the largest portion of this total at 5 billion tons, followed by aluminum at 950 million tons, copper at 650 million tons, graphite at 170 million tons, nickel at 100 million tons, and other metals. Notably, the energy expenditure required to extract these metals will soon surpass that of coal mining, highlighting

1089-428: A rock or mineral that contains valuable constituent, can be extracted or mined and sold for profit. Mining in a wider sense includes extraction of any non-renewable resource such as petroleum , natural gas , or even water . Modern mining processes involve prospecting for ore bodies, analysis of the profit potential of a proposed mine, extraction of the desired materials, and final reclamation or restoration of

1210-530: A second movement emerged following the creation of Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905. In the 1940s, an organization called the New Province League formed to lobby for the creation of a new territory of "Aurora". In 1966, a committee of mayors from the region, comprising Max Silverman of Sudbury, G. W. Maybury of Kapuskasing, Ernest Reid of Fort William, Leo Del Villano of Timmins, Merle Dickerson of North Bay and Leo Foucault of Espanola, formed to study

1331-620: A standalone university in 2022 dually based in Sudbury and Thunder Bay. NOSM has clinical placements throughout Northern Ontario and a special research focus on rural medicine. In 2011, Laurentian University was granted a charter to launch the McEwen School of Architecture in Sudbury, and Lakehead University was granted approval to launch the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law in Thunder Bay. As with

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1452-408: A strong inducement to extract these metals or to lease the deposits and collect royalties from mine operators. English, German , and Dutch capital combined to finance extraction and refining . Hundreds of German technicians and skilled workers were brought over; in 1642 a colony of 4,000 foreigners was mining and smelting copper at Keswick in the northwestern mountains. Use of water power in

1573-635: Is ammonium nitrate . Between 1870 and 1920, in Queensland Australia, an increase in mining accidents lead to more safety measures surrounding the use of explosives for mining. In the United States of America, between 1990 and 1999, about 22.3 billion kilograms of explosives were used in mining quarrying and other industries; Moreover " coal mining used 66.4%, nonmetal mining and quarrying 13.5%, metal mining 10.4%, construction 7.1%, and all other users 2.6%". Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM)

1694-811: Is a blanket term for a type of subsistence mining involving a miner who may or may not be officially employed by a mining company but works independently, mining minerals using their own resources, usually by hand. While there is no completely coherent definition for ASM, artisanal mining generally includes miners who are not officially employed by a mining company and use their own resources to mine. As such, they are part of an informal economy . ASM also includes, in small-scale mining, enterprises or individuals that employ workers for mining, but who generally still use similar manually-intensive methods as artisanal miners (such as working with hand tools). In addition, ASM can be characterized as distinct from large-scale mining (LSM) by less efficient extraction of pure minerals from

1815-420: Is characterized by extremes of temperature, with very cold winters and hot summers. The principal industries are mining , forestry , and hydroelectricity . For some purposes, Northern Ontario is further subdivided into Northeastern and Northwestern Ontario . When the region is divided in that way, the three westernmost districts ( Rainy River , Kenora and Thunder Bay ) constitute Northwestern Ontario, and

1936-476: Is done by removing surface vegetation, dirt, and bedrock to reach buried ore deposits. Techniques of surface mining include: open-pit mining , which is the recovery of materials from an open pit in the ground; quarrying , identical to open-pit mining except that it refers to sand, stone and clay; strip mining , which consists of stripping surface layers off to reveal ore underneath; and mountaintop removal , commonly associated with coal mining, which involves taking

2057-478: Is exceptionally popular near James Bay. Group hunting for moose is a favourite social outing. In winter, snowmobiling, ice fishing, outdoor shinny, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing are popular activities. The region boasts extensive snowmobiling trails and many lakes are dotted with ice hut villages throughout the winter. The region is home to numerous major cultural events, including Sudbury's La Nuit sur l'étang , Northern Lights Festival Boréal and Cinéfest ,

2178-613: Is mining upward, creating a sloping underground room, long wall mining , which is grinding a long ore surface underground, and room and pillar mining, which is removing ore from rooms while leaving pillars in place to support the roof of the room. Room and pillar mining often leads to retreat mining , in which supporting pillars are removed as miners retreat, allowing the room to cave in, thereby loosening more ore. Additional sub-surface mining methods include hard rock mining , bore hole mining, drift and fill mining, long hole slope mining, sub level caving, and block caving . Heavy machinery

2299-484: Is much more common, and produces, for example, 85% of minerals (excluding petroleum and natural gas) in the United States, including 98% of metallic ores. Targets are divided into two general categories of materials: placer deposits , consisting of valuable minerals contained within river gravels, beach sands, and other unconsolidated materials ; and lode deposits , where valuable minerals are found in veins, in layers, or in mineral grains generally distributed throughout

2420-486: Is no single regional culinary dish. Fish and wild game, such as walleye (pickerel) and moose , can be considered regional favourites. Roadside chip trucks are popular choices for meals for locals and tourists alike, and almost every community has at least one. Poutine , which originated in Quebec with early adoption in Northern Ontario, is a core dish at these and many other restaurants. Italian cuisine has had an influence on

2541-413: Is not of immediate interest to the miner. The total movement of ore and waste constitutes the mining process. Often more waste than ore is mined during the life of a mine, depending on the nature and location of the ore body. Waste removal and placement is a major cost to the mining operator, so a detailed characterization of the waste material forms an essential part of the geological exploration program for

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2662-583: Is not politically part of the District of Sudbury — is the only census division in Northern Ontario where county-level services are offered by a local government rather than the province. A portion of the Nipissing District which lies south of the geographic dividing line between Northern and Southern Ontario is considered administratively and statistically part of Northern Ontario because of its status as part of Nipissing. As well, for administrative purposes,

2783-584: Is recovered, reclamation can begin, to make the land used by the mine suitable for future use. Technical and economic challenges notwithstanding, successful mine development must also address human factors. Working conditions are paramount to success, especially with regard to exposures to dusts, radiation, noise, explosives hazards, and vibration, as well as illumination standards. Mining today increasingly must address environmental and community impacts, including psychological and sociological dimensions. Thus, mining educator Frank T. M. White (1909–1971), broadened

2904-640: Is still based primarily on natural resources and manufacturing. Yet, in the era of government cutbacks, Thunder Bay's economy has been less prone to recession and unemployment. Sudbury trades more readily into Southern Ontario, whereas Thunder Bay has closer trade ties to Manitoba and Minnesota . Under the staples thesis of Canadian economic history, Northern Ontario is a "hinterland" or "periphery" region, whose economic development has been defined primarily by providing raw natural resource materials to larger and more powerful business interests from elsewhere in Canada or

3025-589: Is that a politician who represents a Northern Ontario riding in the House of Commons of Canada or the Legislative Assembly of Ontario must typically maintain a much higher budget for travel and office expenses than one who represents a small urban district does. Ongoing high unemployment , lack of awareness of or concern for Northern Ontario's problems, and difficulties in achieving economic diversification have led to discontent amongst Northern Ontarians; throughout

3146-490: Is the extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth . Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agricultural processes , or feasibly created artificially in a laboratory or factory. Ores recovered by mining include metals , coal , oil shale , gemstones , limestone , chalk , dimension stone , rock salt , potash , gravel , and clay . The ore must be

3267-549: Is the dominant city in Northeastern Ontario, and Thunder Bay is the dominant city in Northwestern Ontario. These two regions are quite distinct from each other economically and culturally, and although the two regions are adjacent, their population centres are quite distant from each other. As a result, Sudbury and Thunder Bay are each the primary city in their part of the region but neither city can be said to outrank

3388-634: Is the largest producer of diamonds in Africa, with an estimated 12 million carats in 2019. Other types of mining reserves in Africa include cobalt , bauxite , iron ore , coal, and copper . Gold and coal mining started in Australia and New Zealand in the 19th century. Nickel has become important in the economy of New Caledonia . In Fiji , in 1934, the Emperor Gold Mining Company Ltd. established operations at Vatukoula , followed in 1935 by

3509-481: Is the third busiest airport in Ontario after Toronto Pearson International Airport and Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport , carrying some 600,000 passengers in 2004 with over 100 domestic flights and four international flights daily. Sudbury's economy, in which the largest sectors of employment are government-related fields such as education and health care, is somewhat more diversified than Thunder Bay's, which

3630-423: Is to conduct a feasibility study to evaluate the financial viability, the technical and financial risks, and the robustness of the project. This is when the mining company makes the decision whether to develop the mine or to walk away from the project. This includes mine planning to evaluate the economically recoverable portion of the deposit, the metallurgy and ore recoverability, marketability and payability of

3751-419: Is used in mining to explore and develop sites, to remove and stockpile overburden, to break and remove rocks of various hardness and toughness, to process the ore, and to carry out reclamation projects after the mine is closed. Bulldozers, drills, explosives and trucks are all necessary for excavating the land. In the case of placer mining , unconsolidated gravel, or alluvium , is fed into machinery consisting of

Northern Ontario - Misplaced Pages Continue

3872-729: The Pays d'en Haut , essentially the watersheds of the Ottawa River , Lake Huron and Lake Superior , had been acquired by the British by the Treaty of Paris (1763) and became part of Upper Canada in 1791, and then the Province of Canada between 1840 and 1867. At the time of Canadian Confederation in 1867, the portion of Northern Ontario lying south of the Laurentian Divide was part of Ontario, whilst

3993-549: The 2011 election , the NDP retained nearly all of these seats with the exception of Sault Ste. Marie , where longtime incumbent MP Tony Martin was defeated despite that election's historic increase in NDP support nationwide; in the 2015 election , however, a resurgence of Liberal support under Justin Trudeau resulted in the Liberals regaining all of the region's seats except Timmins-James Bay and Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing , where

4114-511: The Canada 2021 Census , they are: It is important to note that in the Province of Ontario there are no requirements to become a city and the designation is voluntary. As a result, there are four towns in Northern Ontario that have a larger population than its smallest city Dryden . Until the City of Greater Sudbury was created in 2001, Thunder Bay had a larger population than the old city of Sudbury, but

4235-840: The District of Patricia , but was merged into the Kenora District in 1937. The Province of Canada began creating judicial districts in sparsely populated Northern Ontario with the establishment of Algoma District and Nipissing District in 1858. These districts had no municipal function; they were created for the provision of judicial and administrative services from the district seat . Nipissing had no district seat until 1895. Up until that date, registry office and higher court services were available at Pembroke in Renfrew County. Nipissing Stipendiary Magistrate and land registrar William Doran established his residence at North Bay in 1885. Following

4356-716: The Festival of the Sound in Parry Sound and the Red Rock Folk Festival in Red Rock. Many communities host festivals celebrating local ethnic groups such as French, Métis, First Nations, Finnish, and Italian. Other communities have celebrations of unique local heritage such as Kapuskasing's Lumberjack Days, Mattawa's Voyageur Days, Sioux Lookout's Blueberry Festival, Elliot Lake's Uranium Heritage Days, and Red Lake's Norseman Festival. Even

4477-513: The Greek author Diodorus Siculus , who mentions fire-setting as one method used to break down the hard rock holding the gold . One of the complexes is shown in one of the earliest known mining maps. The miners crushed the ore and ground it to a fine powder before washing the powder for the gold dust known as the dry and wet attachment processes. Mining in Europe has a very long history. Examples include

4598-605: The Legislative Assembly of Ontario . However, Harris himself was the only Conservative candidate elected in a true Northern Ontario riding in either the 1995 or 1999 elections (if the definition of Northern Ontario includes the Parry Sound District, then Harris was joined by Ernie Eves in Parry Sound—Muskoka). Following Eves' retirement from politics, Norm Miller was also elected in Parry Sound—Muskoka in

4719-524: The Liberal Party has traditionally taken the majority of the region's seats at both the federal and provincial levels. The New Democrats also have a significant base of support, thanks to Northern Ontario's history of labour unionism , support from First Nations communities, and the personal popularity of local NDP figures. Two Premiers of Ontario , William Hearst (1914–1919) and Mike Harris (1995–2002), represented Northern Ontario constituencies in

4840-562: The Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (whose head office is in Greater Sudbury). As well, many of Northern Ontario's major tourist attractions (e.g. Science North , Dynamic Earth , the Sault Locks , etc.) are agencies of the provincial or federal governments. Further, much of the funding available for economic development in Northern Ontario comes from government initiatives such as

4961-493: The Regional Municipality of Sudbury was the larger Census Metropolitan Area as Sudbury had a much more populous suburban belt (including the city of Valley East , formerly the region's sixth-largest city.) However, as the former Regional Municipality of Sudbury is now governed as a single city, it is both the region's largest city and the region's largest CMA. Other municipalities in Northern Ontario include: Sudbury

Northern Ontario - Misplaced Pages Continue

5082-735: The Université de Hearst in Hearst, Kapuskasing and Timmins. All except Lakehead began as federated schools of Laurentian University, before being rechartered as independent universities at different times. The region also has six colleges: Confederation College in Thunder Bay, Sault College in Sault Ste. Marie, Northern College in Timmins, Canadore College in North Bay, and the anglophone Cambrian College and francophone Collège Boréal in Sudbury. Several of

5203-507: The argentiferous galena in the mines of Cartagena ( Cartago Nova ), Linares ( Castulo ), Plasenzuela and Azuaga , among many others. Spain was one of the most important mining regions, but all regions of the Roman Empire were exploited. In Great Britain the natives had mined minerals for millennia , but after the Roman conquest , the scale of the operations increased dramatically, as

5324-806: The greenstone of the Langdale axe industry based in the English Lake District . The oldest-known mine on archaeological record is the Ngwenya Mine in Eswatini (Swaziland) , which radiocarbon dating shows to be about 43,000 years old. At this site Paleolithic humans mined hematite to make the red pigment ochre . Mines of a similar age in Hungary are believed to be sites where Neanderthals may have mined flint for weapons and tools. Ancient Egyptians mined malachite at Maadi . At first, Egyptians used

5445-559: The 2010s calling on the province to create a new level of supraregional government that would give the Northern Ontario region significantly more autonomy over its own affairs within the province. In the 2013 Ontario Liberal Party leadership race , candidate Glen Murray similarly proposed a distinct level of supraregional government for Northern Ontario. The region is home to five universities: Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Laurentian University in Sudbury, Nipissing University in North Bay, Algoma University in Sault Ste. Marie, and

5566-505: The 21st century begins, a globalized mining industry of large multinational corporations has arisen. Peak minerals and environmental impacts have also become a concern. Different elements, particularly rare-earth minerals , have begun to increase in demand as a result of new technologies. In 2023, 8.5 billion metric tons of coal were extracted from the Earth's crust. However, as the global economy transitions away from fossil fuels and toward

5687-663: The 7th century to the 14th century. Gold was often traded to Mediterranean economies that demanded gold and could supply salt , even though much of Africa was abundant with salt due to the mines and resources in the Sahara desert . The trading of gold for salt was mostly used to promote trade between the different economies. Since the Great Trek in the 19th century, after, gold and diamond mining in Southern Africa has had major political and economic impacts. The Democratic Republic of Congo

5808-783: The Canada (Ontario Boundary) Act, 1889 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom , which set the province's new northern boundary at the Albany River . The remaining northernmost portion of the province, from the Albany River to Hudson Bay , was transferred to the province from the Northwest Territories by the Parliament of Canada in the Ontario Boundaries Extension Act, 1912. This region was originally established as

5929-644: The French crown to operate mines in 1733, becoming "the first practical miner on Lake Superior"; seven years later, mining was halted by an outbreak between Sioux and Chippewa tribes. Mining in the United States became widespread in the 19th century, and the United States Congress passed the General Mining Act of 1872 to encourage mining of federal lands. As with the California Gold Rush in

6050-630: The Loloma Gold Mines, N.L., and then by Fiji Mines Development Ltd. (aka Dolphin Mines Ltd.). These developments ushered in a “mining boom”, with gold production rising more than a hundred-fold, from 931.4 oz in 1934 to 107,788.5 oz in 1939, an order of magnitude then comparable to the combined output of New Zealand and Australia's eastern states. During prehistoric times, early Americans mined large amounts of copper along Lake Superior 's Keweenaw Peninsula and in nearby Isle Royale ; metallic copper

6171-535: The NDP incumbents were successfully re-elected. Major political issues in recent years have included the economic health of the region, the extension of Highway 400 from Parry Sound to Sudbury, issues pertaining to the quality and availability of health care services, mining development in the Ring of Fire region around McFaulds Lake, the closure of Ontario Northland , the Algo Centre Mall roof collapse of 2012, and

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6292-508: The Northern Ontario School of Medicine, each was the first school of its type ever established in the region, as well as the first new school of its type launched in Ontario since the 1960s. Outdoor recreation is popular in the region year-round. In summer, fishing, boating, canoeing, ATVing, and camping are enjoyed by residents. Hunting remains popular in autumn, especially for moose, whitetail deer, and grouse, although goose hunting

6413-419: The Ontario forest industry, and the perceived inaction by the provincial government, has in particular spurred support for the idea of secession. In particular, many residents feel that the industrial energy rate is too high to allow the industry to remain competitive. While also stopping short of advocating for full independence, Sudbury's Northern Life community newspaper published a number of editorials in

6534-477: The Romans needed Britannia 's resources, especially gold , silver , tin , and lead . Roman techniques were not limited to surface mining. They followed the ore veins underground once opencast mining was no longer feasible. At Dolaucothi they stoped out the veins and drove adits through bare rock to drain the stopes. The same adits were also used to ventilate the workings, especially important when fire-setting

6655-589: The Spanish to pulverize ore after being mined. This device was powered by animals and used the same principles used for grain threshing . Much of the knowledge of medieval mining techniques comes from books such as Biringuccio 's De la pirotechnia and probably most importantly from Georg Agricola 's De re metallica (1556). These books detail many different mining methods used in German and Saxon mines. A prime issue in medieval mines, which Agricola explains in detail,

6776-730: The Umm el-Sawwan site; gypsum was used to make funerary items for private tombs. Other minerals mined in Egypt from the Old Kingdom (2649-2134 BC) until the Roman Period (30 BC-AD 395) including granite , sandstone , limestone , basalt , travertine , gneiss , galena , and amethyst . Mining in Egypt occurred in the earliest dynasties. The gold mines of Nubia were among the largest and most extensive of any in Ancient Egypt. These mines are described by

6897-638: The appointment of Thomas Farquhar to the Senate of Canada . In the 2008 federal election , the New Democratic Party won nearly every seat in the region, with the exception of Nipissing—Timiskaming , which was retained by its Liberal incumbent Anthony Rota , and Kenora , which was won by Conservative Greg Rickford . This sweep included several seats which were formerly seen as Liberal strongholds, including Sudbury , Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing , Thunder Bay—Rainy River and Thunder Bay—Superior North . In

7018-514: The area, forming joint ventures. While still in the exploration phase, there have been some exciting finds that could bring prosperity to the region and the First Nations communities in that area. New mining sites have also been investigated and explored in Sudbury, Timmins, Kirkland Lake, Elliot Lake and the Temagami area. In Chapleau , Probe Mines Limited is in the advanced stage of exploration and

7139-624: The beginning of civilization, people have used stone , clay and, later, metals found close to the Earth's surface. These were used to make early tools and weapons; for example, high quality flint found in northern France , southern England and Poland was used to create flint tools . Flint mines have been found in chalk areas where seams of the stone were followed underground by shafts and galleries. The mines at Grimes Graves and Krzemionki are especially famous, and like most other flint mines, are Neolithic in origin (c. 4000–3000 BC). Other hard rocks mined or collected for axes included

7260-464: The bright green malachite stones for ornamentations and pottery . Later, between 2613 and 2494 BC, large building projects required expeditions abroad to the area of Wadi Maghareh in order to secure minerals and other resources not available in Egypt itself. Quarries for turquoise and copper were also found at Wadi Hammamat , Tura , Aswan and various other Nubian sites on the Sinai Peninsula and at Timna . Quarries for gypsum were found at

7381-413: The city of Kenora have called for the city or the wider region to secede from Ontario and join Manitoba . A few residents throughout the region continue to suggest splitting all or part of the region into a separate province. The latter movement, known as the Northern Ontario Secession Movement, has begun to attract attention and support; most notably by the mayors of Kenora and Fort Frances. The crisis in

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7502-401: The colleges also have satellite campuses in smaller Northern Ontario communities. A large distance education network, Contact North , also operates from Sudbury and Thunder Bay to provide educational services to small and remote Northern Ontario communities. The Northern Ontario School of Medicine opened in 2005. Initially a joint faculty of Laurentian and Lakehead universities, it became

7623-415: The culture of Northeastern Ontario, with porchetta considered a culinary signature of Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie, while Thunder Bay's food culture is distinctively Finnish, with the Hoito restaurant known internationally for its Finnish-style pancakes and other traditional Finnish dishes. Chinese Canadian restaurants have been common in every city and many smaller settlements in Northern Ontario since

7744-417: The cutter-head is progressively launched further into the coal seam. High wall mining can produce thousands of tons of coal in contour-strip operations with narrow benches, previously mined areas, trench mine applications and steep-dip seams. Sub-surface mining consists of digging tunnels or shafts into the earth to reach buried ore deposits. Ore, for processing, and waste rock, for disposal, are brought to

7865-416: The districts of Muskoka and Parry Sound are sometimes treated as part of Northern Ontario even though they are geographically in Southern or Central Ontario . In 2004, finance minister Greg Sorbara removed Muskoka from the jurisdictional area of the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund , to which it had been added in 2000 by his predecessor Ernie Eves , but

7986-404: The districts of Parry Sound and Nipissing for political purposes, and the federal but not the provincial government also includes the district of Muskoka. The statistical region has a land area of 806,000 km (311,000 sq mi) and constitutes 88 percent of the land area of Ontario, but with just 780,000 people, it contains only about six percent of the province's population. The climate

8107-440: The early 20th century, satisfying "the ubiquitous Northern demand for Chinese food," albeit often heavily Westernized. Although maple syrup is not produced in most of Northern Ontario, it is still made in some areas near North Bay, Sudbury, Manitoulin Island, and Sault Ste. Marie. St. Joseph Island near Sault Ste. Marie is noted for the large quantity of maple syrup produced there. Since the demise of Northern Breweries , formerly

8228-477: The feasibility of Northern Ontario forming a new province. In the late 1970s, North Bay businessman and city councillor Ed Deibel formed the Northern Ontario Heritage Party to lobby for the formation of a separate province of Northern Ontario. The party attracted only modest support and folded in 1984, but was reestablished in 2010. Both the party's original and revived forms have varied their platforms at different times, sometimes advocating for full independence of

8349-444: The federal government's Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario (FedNor) and the provincial Northern Ontario Heritage Fund . Over the past several years, there has been a renewed interest in mining exploration. McFaulds Lake in the James Bay Lowlands has attracted the attention of junior mining exploration companies. Since the 2003 investigation of the area for diamonds, some 20 companies have staked claims in

8470-415: The first and only time in Ontario's history that all three parties in the legislature were simultaneously led by Northern Ontario MPPs. The riding of Algoma East was represented federally by Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson from 1948 to 1968. Pearson was not from the district, however, but represented the district because it had been chosen as a safe seat for him to run in a 1948 by-election following

8591-698: The focus to the “total environment of mining”, including reference to community development around mining, and how mining is portrayed to an urban society, which depends on the industry, although seemingly unaware of this dependency. He stated, “[I]n the past, mining engineers have not been called upon to study the psychological, sociological and personal problems of their own industry – aspects that nowadays are assuming tremendous importance. The mining engineer must rapidly expand his knowledge and his influence into these newer fields.” Mining techniques can be divided into two common excavation types: surface mining and sub-surface (underground) mining . Today, surface mining

8712-481: The form of water mills was extensive. The water mills were employed in crushing ore, raising ore from shafts, and ventilating galleries by powering giant bellows . Black powder was first used in mining in Selmecbánya , Kingdom of Hungary (now Banská Štiavnica , Slovakia) in 1627. Black powder allowed blasting of rock and earth to loosen and reveal ore veins. Blasting was much faster than fire-setting and allowed

8833-400: The growing importance of sustainable metal extraction practices. The process of mining from discovery of an ore body through extraction of minerals and finally to returning the land to its natural state consists of several distinct steps. The first is discovery of the ore body, which is carried out through prospecting or exploration to find and then define the extent, location and value of

8954-416: The hotly contested district town election in 1895, North Bay earned the right to become the district seat in the new Provisional District of Nipissing. After the creation of the province of Ontario in 1867, the first district to be established was Thunder Bay in 1871 which until then had formed part of Algoma District. The Ontario government was reluctant to establish new districts in the north, partly because

9075-421: The land after the mine is closed. Mining materials are often obtained from ore bodies, lodes , veins , seams , reefs , or placer deposits . The exploitation of these deposits for raw materials is dependent on investment, labor, energy, refining, and transportation cost. Mining operations can create a negative environmental impact, both during the mining activity and after the mine has closed. Hence, most of

9196-525: The metals due to the difficulties of transporting them, but the copper was eventually traded throughout the continent along major river routes. In the early colonial history of the Americas, "native gold and silver was quickly expropriated and sent back to Spain in fleets of gold- and silver-laden galleons", the gold and silver originating mostly from mines in Central and South America. Turquoise dated at 700 AD

9317-753: The mid-19th century, mining for minerals and precious metals, along with ranching , became a driving factor in the U.S. Westward Expansion to the Pacific coast. With the exploration of the West, mining camps sprang up and "expressed a distinctive spirit, an enduring legacy to the new nation"; Gold Rushers would experience the same problems as the Land Rushers of the transient West that preceded them. Aided by railroads, many people traveled West for work opportunities in mining. Western cities such as Denver and Sacramento originated as mining towns. When new areas were explored, it

9438-492: The mid-sixteenth century. On the continent, mineral deposits belonged to the crown, and this regalian right was stoutly maintained. But in England, royal mining rights were restricted to gold and silver (of which England had virtually no deposits) by a judicial decision of 1568 and a law in 1688. England had iron , zinc , copper , lead , and tin ores. Landlords who owned the base metals and coal under their estates then had

9559-432: The minehead, where the water was stored in large reservoirs and tanks. When a full tank was opened, the flood of water sluiced away the overburden to expose the bedrock underneath and any gold-bearing veins. The rock was then worked by fire-setting to heat the rock, which would be quenched with a stream of water. The resulting thermal shock cracked the rock, enabling it to be removed by further streams of water from

9680-511: The mineral-rich material and extract the desired compounds and metals from the ore. Thunder Bay District Thunder Bay District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario . The district seat is Thunder Bay . In 2016 , the population was 146,048. The land area is 103,719.51 square kilometres (40,046.33 sq mi);

9801-431: The mining of previously impenetrable metals and ores. In 1762, one of the world's first mining academies was established in the same town there. The widespread adoption of agricultural innovations such as the iron plowshare , as well as the growing use of metal as a building material, was also a driving force in the tremendous growth of the iron industry during this period. Inventions like the arrastra were often used by

9922-683: The northern and western boundaries of Ontario were in dispute after Confederation . Ontario's right to Northwestern Ontario was determined by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in 1884 and confirmed by the Canada (Ontario Boundary) Act, 1889 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . By 1899 there were seven northern districts: Algoma, Manitoulin, Muskoka, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Rainy River, and Thunder Bay. Five more northern districts were created between 1907 and 1922: Cochrane, Kenora, Sudbury, Temiskaming and Patricia. The Patricia District

10043-405: The ore body. This leads to a mathematical resource estimation to estimate the size and grade of the deposit. This estimation is used to conduct a pre-feasibility study to determine the theoretical economics of the ore deposit. This identifies, early on, whether further investment in estimation and engineering studies is warranted and identifies key risks and areas for further work. The next step

10164-462: The ore concentrates, engineering concerns, milling and infrastructure costs, finance and equity requirements, and an analysis of the proposed mine from the initial excavation all the way through to reclamation. The proportion of a deposit that is economically recoverable is dependent on the enrichment factor of the ore in the area. To gain access to the mineral deposit within an area it is often necessary to mine through or remove waste material which

10285-442: The ore, lower wages, decreased occupational safety, benefits, and health standards for miners, and a lack of environmental protection measures. Artisanal miners often undertake the activity of mining seasonally. For example, crops are planted in the rainy season , and mining is pursued in the dry season . However, they also frequently travel to mining areas and work year-round. There are four broad types of ASM: Surface mining

10406-453: The other as the principal economic centre of Northern Ontario as a whole. In fact, each city has a couple of distinct advantages that the other city lacks — Sudbury is at the centre of a larger economic sphere due to the city's, and Northeastern Ontario's, larger population but Thunder Bay is advantaged by air, rail and shipping traffic due to its prime location along major continental transportation routes. The Thunder Bay International Airport

10527-505: The other districts constitute Northeastern Ontario. Northeastern Ontario contains two thirds of Northern Ontario's population. In the early 20th century, Northern Ontario was often called "New Ontario", although that name has fallen into disuse because of its colonial connotations. (In French , however, the region may still be referred to as Nouvel-Ontario , although le Nord de l'Ontario and Ontario-Nord are now more commonly used.) Those areas which formed part of New France in

10648-556: The overhead tanks. The Roman miners used similar methods to work cassiterite deposits in Cornwall and lead ore in the Pennines . Sluicing methods were developed by the Romans in Spain in 25 AD to exploit large alluvial gold deposits, the largest site being at Las Medulas , where seven long aqueducts tapped local rivers and sluiced the deposits. The Romans also exploited the silver present in

10769-512: The population density was 1.4 per square kilometre (3.6/sq mi). Most of the district (93.5%) is unincorporated and part of the Unorganized Thunder Bay District . Thunder Bay District was created in 1871 by provincial statute from the western half of Algoma District , named after a large bay on the north shore of Lake Superior . Its northern and western boundaries were uncertain until Ontario's right to Northwestern Ontario

10890-519: The portion north of the divide was part of the separate British territory of Rupert's Land . The province's boundaries were provisionally expanded northward and westward in 1874, whilst the Lake of the Woods region remained subject to a boundary dispute between Ontario and Manitoba . The region was confirmed as belonging to Ontario by decision of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in 1884, and confirmed by

11011-473: The province continues to treat Parry Sound as a Northern Ontario division under both programs. The federal government continues to retain both more southerly districts in the service area of FedNor . All of Northeastern Ontario is within the Eastern (UTC −5) time zone ; Northwestern Ontario is split between the Eastern and Central (UTC −6) time zones. Northern Ontario has nine cities. In order of population as of

11132-401: The provincial government. For example, districts have provincially maintained secondary highways instead of county roads . Statistically, the districts in Northern Ontario (which appear in red on the location map) are Rainy River , Kenora , Thunder Bay , Cochrane , Timiskaming , Algoma , Sudbury , Nipissing and Manitoulin . The single-tier municipality of Greater Sudbury — which

11253-600: The region and other times lobbying for measures to increase the region's power over its own affairs within the province, including increasing the number of Northern Ontario electoral districts in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and the creation of a special district for the region's First Nations voters. In 1999 the Northeastern Ontario Municipal Association, a committee consisting of the mayors of 14 Northern Ontario municipalities, wrote

11374-513: The region are almost all extremely large geographically. The federal electoral district of Sudbury and the provincial electoral districts of Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie are the only ones that are comparable in size to an electoral district in Southern Ontario, while at the other extreme the districts of Kiiwetinoong and Mushkegowuk—James Bay are both geographically larger than the entire United Kingdom . One consequence of this, for example,

11495-413: The region are resource-based economies, whose economic health is very dependent on "boom and bust" resource cycles. Mining and forestry are the two major industries in the region, although manufacturing , transportation , public services and tourism are represented as well. After 2001, the major cities returned to patterns of modest growth in the censuses of 2006, 2011, 2016 and 2021, although many of

11616-481: The region's history, there have been various movements proposing that the region secede from Ontario to form its own separate province or territory within Canada. The first to raise the issue of secession was Simon James Dawson in 1875, then the representative of the Algoma district in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Then, a movement emerged in Sudbury in the 1890s, when the provincial government began taxing mines;

11737-674: The region's primary local brewery , in 2006, several new local craft brewers have emerged in the region, including Stack Brewing in Sudbury, OutSpoken Brewing and Northern Superior Brewing in Sault Ste. Marie, Sleeping Giant Brewing and Dawson Trail Craft Brewery in Thunder Bay, Lake of the Woods Brewing in Kenora, Manitoulin Brewing in Little Current, New Ontario Brewing Company in North Bay, and Full Beard Brewing in Timmins. Mining Mining

11858-431: The remaining part of a coal seam previously exploited by other surface-mining techniques has too much overburden to be removed but can still be profitably exploited from the side of the artificial cliff made by previous mining. A typical cycle alternates sumping, which undercuts the seam, and shearing, which raises and lowers the cutter-head boom to cut the entire height of the coal seam. As the coal recovery cycle continues,

11979-446: The shafts could no longer be pumped dry with the available technology. Although an increased use of banknotes , credit and copper coins during this period did decrease the value of, and dependence on, precious metals , gold and silver still remained vital to the story of medieval mining. Due to differences in the social structure of society, the increasing extraction of mineral deposits spread from central Europe to England in

12100-558: The silver mines of Laurium , which helped support the Greek city state of Athens . Although they had over 20,000 slaves working them, their technology was essentially identical to their Bronze Age predecessors. At other mines, such as on the island of Thassos , marble was quarried by the Parians after they arrived in the 7th century BC. The marble was shipped away and was later found by archaeologists to have been used in buildings including

12221-473: The smaller towns saw further declines. The cities have, by and large, been very dependent on government-related employment and investment for their economic diversification. The Liberal government of David Peterson in the 1980s moved several provincial agencies and ministries to Northern Ontario, including the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (which maintains a large office in Sault Ste. Marie) and

12342-674: The smallest First Nations in the region will have an annual pow wow, which bring in many people from outside the community as well, although by far the largest and most famous powwow in the region is held in Wiikwemkoong on Manitoulin Island. In winter, many towns will host a winter carnival celebrating the cold weather; the largest of these is Sault Ste. Marie's Bon Soo Winter Carnival . As of 2017, LGBT pride events take place in Sudbury ( Sudbury Pride ), Thunder Bay ( Thunder Pride ), Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay, Timmins, Elliot Lake and Kenora. There

12463-474: The southern part of the province. Without this change, the region would have lost one Member of Provincial Parliament . For the 2018 election , the province further diverged from the federal electoral districts in the region, creating the special districts of Kiiwetinoong and Mushkegowuk—James Bay to accommodate the unique political concerns of the rural far north. Due to the region's relatively sparse population, federal and provincial electoral districts in

12584-474: The surface through the tunnels and shafts. Sub-surface mining can be classified by the type of access shafts used, and the extraction method or the technique used to reach the mineral deposit. Drift mining uses horizontal access tunnels, slope mining uses diagonally sloping access shafts, and shaft mining uses vertical access shafts. Mining in hard and soft rock formations requires different techniques. Other methods include shrinkage stope mining , which

12705-590: The tomb of Amphipolis. Philip II of Macedon , the father of Alexander the Great , captured the gold mines of Mount Pangeo in 357 BC to fund his military campaigns. He also captured gold mines in Thrace for minting coinage, eventually producing 26 tons per year. However, it was the Romans who developed large-scale mining methods, especially the use of large volumes of water brought to the minehead by numerous aqueducts . The water

12826-448: The top of a mountain off to reach ore deposits at depth. Most placer deposits, because they are shallowly buried, are mined by surface methods. Finally, landfill mining involves sites where landfills are excavated and processed. Landfill mining has been thought of as a long-term solution to methane emissions and local pollution. High wall mining, which evolved from auger mining, is another form of surface mining. In high wall mining,

12947-614: The top slats. Many examples of such devices have been found in old Roman mines and some examples are now preserved in the British Museum and the National Museum of Wales . Mining as an industry underwent dramatic changes in medieval Europe . The mining industry in the early Middle Ages was mainly focused on the extraction of copper and iron . Other precious metals were also used, mainly for gilding or coinage. Initially, many metals were obtained through open-pit mining , and ore

13068-461: The world's gold, followed by the establishment of large mines such as the Mount Morgan Mine , which ran for nearly a hundred years, Broken Hill ore deposit (one of the largest zinc-lead ore deposits), and the iron ore mines at Iron Knob . After declines in production, another boom in mining occurred in the 1960s. In the early 21st century, Australia remains a major world mineral producer. As

13189-652: The world's nations have passed regulations to decrease the impact; however, the outsized role of mining in generating business for often rural, remote or economically depressed communities means that governments often fail to fully enforce such regulations. Work safety has long been a concern as well, and where enforced, modern practices have significantly improved safety in mines. Unregulated, poorly regulated or illegal mining , especially in developing economies , frequently contributes to local human rights violations and environmental conflicts . Mining can also perpetuate political instability through resource conflicts . Since

13310-468: The world, which was increasingly demanding copper for electrical and household goods. Canada's mining industry grew more slowly than did the United States due to limitations in transportation, capital, and U.S. competition; Ontario was the major producer of the early 20th century with nickel, copper, and gold. Meanwhile, Australia experienced the Australian gold rushes and by the 1850s was producing 40% of

13431-489: The world. Northern Ontario has had difficulty in recent years maintaining both its economy and its population. All of the region's cities declined in population between the censuses of 1996 and 2001. (This coincides with the discontinuation of the operation of the subsidized government airline norOntair in March 1996.) Although the cities have tried with mixed results to diversify their economies in recent years, most communities in

13552-541: Was determined by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council . Until about 1902 it was often called Algoma West from the name of the provincial constituency established in 1885. The following districts include areas that were formerly part of Thunder Bay District: As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , the Thunder Bay District had a population of 146,862 living in 64,601 of its 72,510 total private dwellings,

13673-612: Was mined in pre-Columbian America; in the Cerillos Mining District in New Mexico , an estimate of "about 15,000 tons of rock had been removed from Mt. Chalchihuitl using stone tools before 1700." In 1727 Louis Denys (Denis) (1675–1741), sieur de La Ronde – brother of Simon-Pierre Denys de Bonaventure and the son-in-law of René Chartier – took command of Fort La Pointe at Chequamegon Bay ; where natives informed him of an island of copper. La Ronde obtained permission from

13794-576: Was primarily extracted from shallow depths, rather than through deep mine shafts. Around the 14th century , the growing use of weapons , armour , stirrups , and horseshoes greatly increased the demand for iron. Medieval knights , for example, were often laden with up to 100 pounds (45 kg) of plate or chain link armour in addition to swords , lances and other weapons. The overwhelming dependency on iron for military purposes spurred iron production and extraction processes. The silver crisis of 1465 occurred when all mines had reached depths at which

13915-494: Was recognized in 2013 with the Ontario Prospectors Association 2013 Ontario Prospector Award. Northern Ontario has generally been one of the weakest areas in all of Canada for both the federal Progressive Conservative and Conservative parties, as well as one of the weakest areas for the provincial Progressive Conservatives . Instead, partly due to the region's significant dependence on government investment,

14036-406: Was still present near the surface in colonial times. Indigenous peoples used Lake Superior copper from at least 5,000 years ago; copper tools, arrowheads, and other artifacts that were part of an extensive native trade-network have been discovered. In addition, obsidian , flint , and other minerals were mined, worked, and traded. Early French explorers who encountered the sites made no use of

14157-411: Was the removal of water from mining shafts. As miners dug deeper to access new veins, flooding became a very real obstacle. The mining industry became dramatically more efficient and prosperous with the invention of mechanically- and animal-driven pumps. Iron metallurgy in Africa dates back over four thousand years. Gold became an important commodity for Africa during the trans-Saharan gold trade from

14278-471: Was then merged into the Kenora District in 1927. Unlike the counties and regional municipalities of Southern Ontario , which have a government and administrative structure and jurisdiction over specified government services, a district lacks that level of administration. Districts are too sparsely populated to maintain a county government system, so many district-based services are provided directly by

14399-403: Was used for a variety of purposes, including removing overburden and rock debris, called hydraulic mining , as well as washing comminuted , or crushed, ores and driving simple machinery. The Romans used hydraulic mining methods on a large scale to prospect for the veins of ore, especially using a now-obsolete form of mining known as hushing . They built numerous aqueducts to supply water to

14520-461: Was used. At other parts of the site, they penetrated the water table and dewatered the mines using several kinds of machines, especially reverse overshot water-wheels . These were used extensively in the copper mines at Rio Tinto in Spain, where one sequence comprised 16 such wheels arranged in pairs, and lifting water about 24 metres (79 ft). They were worked as treadmills with miners standing on

14641-539: Was usually the gold ( placer and then lode ) and then silver that were taken into possession and extracted first. Other metals would often wait for railroads or canals, as coarse gold dust and nuggets do not require smelting and are easy to identify and transport. In the early 20th century, the gold and silver rush to the western United States also stimulated mining for coal as well as base metals such as copper, lead, and iron. Areas in modern Montana, Utah, Arizona, and later Alaska became predominant suppliers of copper to

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