Mining Communities

Dome Mine in Timmins, Ontario

Most mining communities are found in the Canadian Shield.  This is because the Canadian Shield is made of rock and many minerals that people mine (like gold, diamonds and copper) are in the rock.  These different minerals are natural resources.  Mining is an important industry in Ontario as we use many of the minerals that are mined in everyday things.  For example, we use nickel mined in Ontario for things like rechargeable batteries and guitar strings.  Copper is mined and used to make electrical cables, water pipes and computer parts.

There are many different types of jobs in the mining industry.  Prospectors survey the land and figure out where the minerals are buried.  Surveyors decide where the best place is to dig into the rock to get the minerals out.  Engineers and driller work together to cut into the rock to extract (take out) the natural resources that are hidden there.  Miners are responsible for finding and taking out whatever minerals they find.

Waste water from a copper mine.

Mines use a lot of energy to function. There is a lot of pollution that goes into the air because of all the machinery used in mining.  Mines also create a large amount of dirty waste water that can sometimes get into lakes and rivers.  When you decide on a spot to begin mining, you have to destroy the habitat that was already there.  Some mines are located on First Nations reserves and can affect the First Nations community that lives there.