Pine Point

Pine Point, Northwest Territories, was a town located 10 km inland from the south shore of GREAT SLAVE LAKE, 87 km east of Hay River. The discovery of lead-zinc deposits near this mining town were closely related to the KLONDIKE GOLD RUSH. In 1898 prospectors heading overland to the Yukon met a party of Dene who had musket bullets and fish weights, fashioned from local metal. Originally the metal deposits were considered uneconomic because they lacked silver. But in the early 1920s the deposits began to be considered for their lead-zinc content alone. Further exploration took place in 1948 and Pine Point Mines, owned by Cominco Ltd, was formed in 1951. Production started in 1965, but by the mid-1980s depressed prices caused economic difficulties for the mine. Cominco shut down operations in summer 1987, although it continued to mill until the following spring. The town has now been dismantled and the site reclaimed.