The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Mining has been the lifeblood of Flin Flon for decades yet many residents don't know much about it. Here are some facts about the local industry collected from a variety of sources: The name of the Precambrian volcanic belt in which the Flin Flon area is located is called the Flin Flon Belt. The majority of this belt is believed to have been formed 1.9 billion years ago. The belt, Flin Flon's source of vast mineral deposits, contains primarily zinc, copper, silver, and gold. Tom Creighton and David Collins are credited with discovering the first ore body in Flin Flon in 1914. Flin Flon's Saskatchewan neighbour was named in honour of Creighton. The first mine in Flin Flon was the Mandy Mine, which one historian says created $1,250 in revenue for every dollar spent during its heyday. A mining company called Tonapah set up shop at Mandy Mine from 1915 to 1919. The parent company of HBMS is Anglo American, which is based in the United Kingdom. The current Smoke Stack became operational in 1974 and is 825 feet tall. That makes it the third-tallest freestanding structure in Canada behind Toronto's CN Tower and a stack in Sudbury, Ontario. HBMS utilized "Company apartments" from the 1920s until 2003, when the last two remaining structures were demolished as part of ongoing modernization efforts. HBMS projects the 777 mine has enough ore to last to 2016. The $200 million 777 mine development is the major component of the 777 group of projects, which have an overall budget of $400 million.11/5/04
