Mining
The Story of the Golden Triangle in British Columbia
The Golden Triangle
In a hidden corner of Northwestern Canada lies some of the world’s most significant mineral potential.
Billions of dollars of undiscovered gold, silver, and copper still sit within an unexplored area that was once remote. However, only now can these world-class deposits be finally tapped.
Skeena Resources has generously helped us to put together the story of the famed Golden Triangle.
The History of the Golden Triangle
Even before Canada was officially a country, the area now known as the Golden Triangle was a hub for prospectors looking to strike it rich.
In 1861, Alexander “Buck” Choquette struck gold at the confluence of the Stikine and Anuk Rivers, kickstarting the Stikine Gold Rush. More than 800 prospectors left Victoria to go to the Stikine in search of gold.
A few short years later, an even more significant rush would occur just to the north in the Cassiar region – it’s where British Columbia’s biggest ever gold nugget, weighing in at 73 ounces, would be found. The Atlin Gold Rush, an offshoot of the world-famous Klondike Gold Rush, would also occur just north of the Triangle.
The First Discoveries
The companies that first worked in the Golden Triangle balanced its richness against the costs of its remote location.
1. Premier Gold Mine
The first big discovery in the Golden Triangle was at the Premier Gold Mine, which started operations in 1918.
The company that first owned it, Premier Gold Mining Company, returned as much as 200% on the stock market between 1921 and 1923. At the time the Christian Science Monitor called it “One of the greatest silver and gold mines in the world.”
2. Snip Mine
Discovered in 1964 by Cominco, the deposit stayed dormant until 1986, when it was drilled in a joint venture with Delaware Resources. Murray Pezim’s Prime Resources bought out Delaware after the stock ran from a dollar to $28 a share.
The high-grade Snip mine produced approximately one million ounces of gold from 1991 until 1999 at an average gold grade of 27.5 g/t.
3. Eskay Creek
In 1988, after a 109 drill holes, tiny exploration companies Stikine Resources and Calpine Resources finally hit the hole they needed at Eskay Creek: 27.2 g/t Au and 30.2 g/t Ag over 208m.
Eskay would go on to become Canada’s highest-grade gold mine and the world’s fifth largest silver producer, with production well in excess of 3 million ounces of gold and 160 million ounces of silver.
Grades:
Gold: 49 g/t
Silver: 2,406 g/t
Lead: 3.2%
Zinc: 5.2%
By the time it was all said and done, the stock price of Stikine Resources would go from $1 to $67, after it was bought by International Corona.
Why did these three rich mines shut down?
Despite the gold in the Triangle being extremely high grade, lower gold prices in the late 90s made the economics challenging. Meanwhile, the lack of infrastructure in this remote area of Canada meant that power, labor, and logistics costs were sky high.
Both of these things have changed today, and activity at the Golden Triangle is now fast and furious.
Gaining Access to the Triangle
The Golden Triangle is a hot area for exploration again. This is for three main reasons: higher gold prices, new infrastructure, and modern discoveries.
Higher gold prices
Average gold price (1999): $279 (Adjusted for inflation: $398)
Average gold price (2016): $1202
Gold prices are more than 3x as high today, even after adjusting for inflation. Combined with the Golden Triangle’s high grades, this becomes even more attractive.
New Infrastructure:
Today, road access to the area is easier than ever, and a new transmission line will dramatically reduce the cost of power for companies operating in the Triangle.
Recent improvements:
- Completion of a $700 million high-voltage transmission line to the Golden Triangle. The Northwest Transmission Line goes 335km from Terrace to Bob Quinn Lake, and north to the Red Chris mine
- Paving of the Stewart-Cassiar highway north from Smithers (Hwy 37)
- Opening of ocean port facilities for export of concentrate in Stewart
- Completion of a three dam, 277 MW hydroelectric facility located 70km northwest of Stewart
With new infrastructure in tow, the Golden Triangle is now open for business.
Modern Discoveries
The next gold rush at the Golden Triangle has already started.
Just some of the new discoveries in the area include Seabridge’s KSM project, Pretium’s Valley of the Kings deposit, and Imperial Metal’s Red Chris mine.
Yet, despite this track record of new discoveries and mines being built in the area, a British Columbia government report estimates that only 0.0006% of the Golden Triangle has been mined to date.
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Mining
Mapped: The 10 Largest Gold Mines in the World, by Production
Gold mining companies produced over 3,500 tonnes of gold in 2021. Where in the world are the largest gold mines?

The 10 Largest Gold Mines in the World, by Production
This was originally posted on Elements. Sign up to the free mailing list to get beautiful visualizations on natural resource megatrends in your email every week.
Gold mining is a global business, with hundreds of mining companies digging for the precious metal in dozens of countries.
But where exactly are the largest gold mines in the world?
The above infographic uses data compiled from S&P Global Market Intelligence and company reports to map the top 10 gold-producing mines in 2021.
Editor’s Note: The article uses publicly available global production data from the World Gold Council to calculate the production share of each mine. The percentages slightly differ from those calculated by S&P.
The Top Gold Mines in 2021
The 10 largest gold mines are located across nine different countries in North America, Oceania, Africa, and Asia.
Together, they accounted for around 13 million ounces or 12% of global gold production in 2021.
Rank | Mine | Location | Production (ounces) | % of global production |
---|---|---|---|---|
#1 | Nevada Gold Mines | 🇺🇸 U.S. | 3,311,000 | 2.9% |
#2 | Muruntau | 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan | 2,990,020 | 2.6% |
#3 | Grasberg | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | 1,370,000 | 1.2% |
#4 | Olimpiada | 🇷🇺 Russia | 1,184,068 | 1.0% |
#5 | Pueblo Viejo | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | 814,000 | 0.7% |
#6 | Kibali | 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo | 812,000 | 0.7% |
#7 | Cadia | 🇦🇺 Australia | 764,895 | 0.7% |
#8 | Lihir | 🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea | 737,082 | 0.6% |
#9 | Canadian Malartic | 🇨🇦 Canada | 714,784 | 0.6% |
#10 | Boddington | 🇦🇺 Australia | 696,000 | 0.6% |
N/A | Total | N/A | 13,393,849 | 11.7% |
Share of global gold production is based on 3,561 tonnes (114.5 million troy ounces) of 2021 production as per the World Gold Council.
In 2019, the world’s two largest gold miners—Barrick Gold and Newmont Corporation—announced a historic joint venture combining their operations in Nevada. The resulting joint corporation, Nevada Gold Mines, is now the world’s largest gold mining complex with six mines churning out over 3.3 million ounces annually.
Uzbekistan’s state-owned Muruntau mine, one of the world’s deepest open-pit operations, produced just under 3 million ounces, making it the second-largest gold mine. Muruntau represents over 80% of Uzbekistan’s overall gold production.
Only two other mines—Grasberg and Olimpiada—produced more than 1 million ounces of gold in 2021. Grasberg is not only the third-largest gold mine but also one of the largest copper mines in the world. Olimpiada, owned by Russian gold mining giant Polyus, holds around 26 million ounces of gold reserves.
Polyus was also recently crowned the biggest miner in terms of gold reserves globally, holding over 104 million ounces of proven and probable gold between all deposits.
How Profitable is Gold Mining?
The price of gold is up by around 50% since 2016, and it’s hovering near the all-time high of $2,000/oz.
That’s good news for gold miners, who achieved record-high profit margins in 2020. For every ounce of gold produced in 2020, gold miners pocketed $828 on average, significantly higher than the previous high of $666/oz set in 2011.
With inflation rates hitting decade-highs in several countries, gold mining could be a sector to watch, especially given gold’s status as a traditional inflation hedge.
Mining
The 50 Minerals Critical to U.S. Security
This graphic lists all minerals that are deemed critical to both the economic and national security of the United States.

The 50 Minerals Critical to U.S. Security
This was originally posted on Elements. Sign up to the free mailing list to get beautiful visualizations on natural resource megatrends in your email every week.
The U.S. aims to cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 as part of its commitment to tackling climate change, but might be lacking the critical minerals needed to achieve its goals.
The American green economy will rely on renewable sources of energy like wind and solar, along with the electrification of transportation. However, local production of the raw materials necessary to produce these technologies, including solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles, is lacking. Understandably, this has raised concerns in Washington.
In this graphic, based on data from the U.S. Geological Survey, we list all of the minerals that the government has deemed critical to both the economic and national security of the United States.
What are Critical Minerals?
A critical mineral is defined as a non-fuel material considered vital for the economic well-being of the world’s major and emerging economies, whose supply may be at risk. This can be due to geological scarcity, geopolitical issues, trade policy, or other factors.
In 2018, the U.S. Department of the Interior released a list of 35 critical minerals. The new list, released in February 2022, contains 15 more commodities.
Much of the increase in the new list is the result of splitting the rare earth elements and platinum group elements into individual entries rather than including them as “mineral groups.” In addition, the 2022 list of critical minerals adds nickel and zinc to the list while removing helium, potash, rhenium, and strontium.
Mineral | Example Uses | Net Import Reliance |
---|---|---|
Beryllium | Alloying agent in aerospace, defense industries | 11% |
Aluminum | Power lines, construction, electronics | 13% |
Zirconium | High-temparature ceramics production | 25% |
Palladium | Catalytic converters | 40% |
Germanium | Fiber optics, night vision applications | 50% |
Lithium | Rechargeable batteries | 50% |
Magnesium | Alloys, electronics | 50% |
Nickel | Stainless steel, rechargeable batteries | 50% |
Tungsten | Wear-resistant metals | 50% |
Barite | Hydrocarbon production | 75% |
Chromium | Stainless steel | 75% |
Tin | Coatings, alloys for steel | 75% |
Cobalt | Rechargeable batteries, superalloys | 76% |
Platinum | Catalytic converters | 79% |
Antimony | Lead-acid batteries, flame retardants | 81% |
Zinc | Metallurgy to produce galvanized steel | 83% |
Titanium | White pigment, metal alloys | 88% |
Bismuth | Medical, atomic research | 94% |
Tellurium | Solar cells, thermoelectric devices | 95% |
Vanadium | Alloying agent for iron and steel | 96% |
Arsenic | Semi-conductors, lumber preservatives, pesticides | 100% |
Cerium | Catalytic converters, ceramics, glass, metallurgy | 100% |
Cesium | Research, development | 100% |
Dysprosium | Data storage devices, lasers | 100% |
Erbium | Fiber optics, optical amplifiers, lasers | 100% |
Europium | Phosphors, nuclear control rods | 100% |
Fluorspar | Manufacture of aluminum, cement, steel, gasoline | 100% |
Gadolinium | Medical imaging, steelmaking | 100% |
Gallium | Integrated circuits, LEDs | 100% |
Graphite | Lubricants, batteries | 100% |
Holmium | Permanent magnets, nuclear control rods | 100% |
Indium | Liquid crystal display screens | 100% |
Lanthanum | Catalysts, ceramics, glass, polishing compounds | 100% |
Lutetium | Scintillators for medical imaging, cancer therapies | 100% |
Manganese | Steelmaking, batteries | 100% |
Neodymium | Rubber catalysts, medical, industrial lasers | 100% |
Niobium | Steel, superalloys | 100% |
Praseodymium | Permanent magnets, batteries, aerospace alloys | 100% |
Rubidium | Research, development in electronics | 100% |
Samarium | Cancer treatment, absorber in nuclear reactors | 100% |
Scandium | Alloys, ceramics, fuel cells | 100% |
Tantalum | Electronic components, superalloys | 100% |
Terbium | Permanent magnets, fiber optics, lasers | 100% |
Thulium | Metal alloys, lasers | 100% |
Ytterbium | Catalysts, scintillometers, lasers, metallurgy | 100% |
Yttrium | Ceramic, catalysts, lasers, metallurgy, phosphors | 100% |
Iridium | Coating of anodes for electrochemical processes | No data available |
Rhodium | Catalytic converters, electrical components | No data available |
Ruthenium | Electrical contacts, chip resistors in computers | No data available |
Hafnium | Nuclear control rods, alloys | Net exporter |
The challenge for the U.S. is that the local production of these raw materials is extremely limited.
For instance, in 2021 there was only one operating nickel mine in the country, the Eagle mine in Michigan. The facility ships its concentrates abroad for refining and is scheduled to close in 2025. Likewise, the country only hosted one lithium mine, the Silver Peak Mine in Nevada.
At the same time, most of the country’s supply of critical minerals depends on countries that have historically competed with America.
China’s Dominance in Minerals
Perhaps unsurprisingly, China is the single largest supply source of mineral commodities for the United States.
Cesium, a critical metal used in a wide range of manufacturing, is one example. There are only three pegmatite mines in the world that can produce cesium, and all were controlled by Chinese companies in 2021.
Furthermore, China refines nearly 90% of the world’s rare earths. Despite the name, these elements are abundant on the Earth’s crust and make up the majority of listed critical minerals. They are essential for a variety of products like EVs, advanced ceramics, computers, smartphones, wind turbines, monitors, and fiber optics.
After China, the next largest source of mineral commodities to the United States has been Canada, which provided the United States with 16 different elements in 2021.
The Rising Demand for Critical Minerals
As the world’s clean energy transitions gather pace, demand for critical minerals is expected to grow quickly.
According to the International Energy Association, the rise of low-carbon power generation is projected to triple mineral demand from this sector by 2040.
The shift to a sustainable economy is important, and consequently, securing the critical minerals necessary for it is just as vital.
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