Page 10 By Gregory Reynolds Quebec has always ranked among the best areas in the world to explore min eral potential and develop mines and has long been one of the world s main mineral producers And yet more than twothirds of Que bec s territory remains unexplored or has only been partially explored Many of these unexplored areas are in Northern Quebec in the James Bay region on Eeyou Istchee land a re gional government administ ered by The Grand Council of the Crees During Mining W eek in May 2017 Melanie Dion Ministere de lEner gie et des Ressources Naturelles said Every year the Quebec mining in dustry generates on average nearly 3 billion in investments and sup ports nearly 30000 direct and indirect jobs The mining sector had a production value of 86 billion in 2016 The Quebec mining industry is also noteworthy for diversifed production of 28 miner als including 15 metals and 13 indus trial minerals worthwhile potential for an array of metals and emer ging minerals such as lithium graphite and rare earths which underpin promising strategic Quebec a major mineral pr oducer industries 23 act ive mines and nearly 30 min ing projects According to Quebec s Ministry of Ener gie et Ressources Naturel les MERN The history of mining in Quebec goes back almost to the discovery of North America when Jacques Cartie r thought he had found diamonds and gold on the slopes of Cap Diamant However when he re turned to France Pliny the lapidary of Francois I announced that what he had discovered was quartz and pyrite The discovery of the frst lead deposit occurred in 1686 in the AbitibiTe miscamingue region when Chevalier de T royes investigated trace s of the metal on the eastern shore of Lac Te miscamingue previously noted by the inhabitants of Fort Temiscamingue guided by Amerindians The discovery however was for got ten for the next 200 years until it was rediscovered by EV W right in the 1850s and mined for lead zinc and sil ver in the 1890s The frst true mines did not open in Quebec until the 1840s when several major mineral deposits were identi fed mainly in the south Following the discovery of a famous gold nug get in the Beauce region by Clothilde Gilbert completely by chance Que bec experience d its frst gold rush By 1847 the frst alluvial gold operation had opened This was also the period when Que bec declared its ownership of all un der ground mineral resources and by introducing various legislati ve and administrative measures acted to control and promote exploration and mining in Quebec A major copper and sulphur mine opened in the Eastern T ownships around 1860 which was also when asbestos was frst mined In 1906 Alphonse Oilier and Au guste Renault discovered the frst gold deposit in the RouynNoranda region on the shores of Lac Fortune Despite their discovery the area only became a cent re for mining follow ing the staking of claims in 1921 and the discovery of a copper and gold deposit at the northern end of Lac T remoy by Edmund Horne a pros pector from Nova Scotia The early 1920s was when mining really became established in Quebec The growth of the mining industry which coincided with lar gescale in dustrial expansion elsewhere quick ly made Quebec an important source Page 10 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Alexander Stewart Dadson 1906 1968 Inducted in 2001 httpwww mininghallofamecainducteesdf Alexander Dadson began exploring the Y ellowknife region in the early 1940 He saw the potential beyond the small highgrade gold showings known to exist since 1898 Starting from the original discovery outcrop he unraveled the complex geology and outlined min able zones on what was to become the biggest and richest gold deposit in the Northwest T erritories In 1998 the Giant Mine passed the 50year mark with a total output of about 7 million ounces In 1958 Dadson confrmed his extraordinary ability as a geologist by guiding Lake Dufault Mines to the discovery of its Norbec and Millenbach polymetallic copper zincsilver gold mines in the Noranda region of Quebec During his illustrious career spent mostly with Thayer Lindsley s V entures Ltd and related companies he re mained modest about his many professional achievements A quiet and generous man he was frequently described as one of the unsung heroes of mineral exploration in Canada yet twothirds is still unexplor ed dir ect indir ect and induced jobs Contd on pg 1 1