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.
Uranium
Visualizing the Uranium Mining Industry in 3 Charts
These visuals highlight the uranium mining industry and its output, as well as the trajectory of nuclear energy from 1960 to today.
Creator Program
When uranium was discovered in 1789 by Martin Heinrich Klaproth, it’s likely the German chemist didn’t know how important the element would become to human life.
Used minimally in glazing and ceramics, uranium was originally mined as a byproduct of producing radium until the late 1930s. However, the discovery of nuclear fission, and the potential promise of nuclear power, changed everything.
What’s the current state of the uranium mining industry? This series of charts from Truman Du highlights production and the use of uranium using 2021 data from the World Nuclear Association (WNA) and Our World in Data.
Who are the Biggest Uranium Miners in the World?
Most of the world’s biggest uranium suppliers are based in countries with the largest uranium deposits, like Australia, Kazakhstan, and Canada.
The largest of these companies is Kazatomprom, a Kazakhstani state-owned company that produced 25% of the world’s new uranium supply in 2021.
As seen in the above chart, 94% of the roughly 48,000 tonnes of uranium mined globally in 2021 came from just 13 companies.
| Rank | Company | 2021 Uranium Production (tonnes) | Percent of Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇰🇿 Kazatomprom | 11,858 | 25% |
| 2 | 🇫🇷 Orano | 4,541 | 9% |
| 3 | 🇷🇺 Uranium One | 4,514 | 9% |
| 4 | 🇨🇦 Cameco | 4,397 | 9% |
| 5 | 🇨🇳 CGN | 4,112 | 9% |
| 6 | 🇺🇿 Navoi Mining | 3,500 | 7% |
| 7 | 🇨🇳 CNNC | 3,562 | 7% |
| 8 | 🇷🇺 ARMZ | 2,635 | 5% |
| 9 | 🇦🇺 General Atomics/Quasar | 2,241 | 5% |
| 10 | 🇦🇺 BHP | 1,922 | 4% |
| 11 | 🇬🇧 Energy Asia | 900 | 2% |
| 12 | 🇳🇪 Sopamin | 809 | 2% |
| 13 | 🇺🇦 VostGok | 455 | 1% |
| 14 | Other | 2,886 | 6% |
| Total | 48,332 | 100% |
France’s Orano, another state-owned company, was the world’s second largest producer of uranium at 4,541 tonnes.
Companies rounding out the top five all had similar uranium production numbers to Orano, each contributing around 9% of the global total. Those include Uranium One from Russia, Cameco from Canada, and CGN in China.
Where are the Largest Uranium Mines Found?
The majority of uranium deposits around the world are found in 16 countries with Australia, Kazakhstan, and Canada accounting for for nearly 40% of recoverable uranium reserves.
But having large reserves doesn’t necessarily translate to uranium production numbers. For example, though Australia has the biggest single deposit of uranium (Olympic Dam) and the largest reserves overall, the country ranks fourth in uranium supplied, coming in at 9%.
Here are the top 10 uranium mines in the world, accounting for 53% of the world’s supply.
Of the largest mines in the world, four are found in Kazakhstan. Altogether, uranium mined in Kazakhstan accounted for 45% of the world’s uranium supply in 2021.
| Uranium Mine | Country | Main Owner | 2021 Production |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cigar Lake | 🇨🇦 Canada | Cameco/Orano | 4,693t |
| Inkai 1-3 | 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | Kazaktomprom/Cameco | 3,449t |
| Husab | 🇳🇦 Namibia | Swakop Uranium (CGN) | 3,309t |
| Karatau (Budenovskoye 2) | 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | Uranium One/Kazatomprom | 2,561t |
| Rössing | 🇳🇦 Namibia | CNNC | 2,444t |
| Four Mile | 🇦🇺 Australia | Quasar | 2,241t |
| SOMAIR | 🇳🇪 Niger | Orano | 1,996t |
| Olympic Dam | 🇦🇺 Australia | BHP Billiton | 1,922t |
| Central Mynkuduk | 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | Ortalyk | 1,579t |
| Kharasan 1 | 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | Kazatomprom/Uranium One | 1,579t |
Namibia, which has two of the five largest uranium mines in operation, is the second largest supplier of uranium by country, at 12%, followed by Canada at 10%.
Interestingly, the owners of these mines are not necessarily local. For example, France’s Orano operates mines in Canada and Niger. Russia’s Uranium One operates mines in Kazakhstan, the U.S., and Tanzania. China’s CGN owns mines in Namibia.
And despite the African continent holding a sizable amount of uranium reserves, no African company placed in the top 10 biggest companies by production. Sopamin from Niger was the highest ranked at #12 with 809 tonnes mined.
Uranium Mining and Nuclear Energy
Uranium mining has changed drastically since the first few nuclear power plants came online in the 1950s.
For 30 years, uranium production grew steadily due to both increasing demand for nuclear energy and expanding nuclear arsenals, eventually peaking at 69,692 tonnes mined in 1980 at the height of the Cold War.
Nuclear energy production (measured in terawatt-hours) also rose consistently until the 21st century, peaking in 2001 when it contributed nearly 7% to the world’s energy supply. But in the years following, it started to drop and flatline.
By 2021, nuclear energy had fallen to 4.3% of global energy production. Several nuclear accidents—Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and Fukushima—contributed to turning sentiment against nuclear energy.
| Year | Nuclear Energy Production | % of Total Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 | 72 TWh | 0.2% |
| 1966 | 98 TWh | 0.2% |
| 1967 | 116 TWh | 0.2% |
| 1968 | 148 TWh | 0.3% |
| 1969 | 175 TWh | 0.3% |
| 1970 | 224 TWh | 0.4% |
| 1971 | 311 TWh | 0.5% |
| 1972 | 432 TWh | 0.7% |
| 1973 | 579 TWh | 0.9% |
| 1974 | 756 TWh | 1.1% |
| 1975 | 1,049 TWh | 1.6% |
| 1976 | 1,228 TWh | 1.7% |
| 1977 | 1,528 TWh | 2.1% |
| 1978 | 1,776 TWh | 2.3% |
| 1979 | 1,847 TWh | 2.4% |
| 1980 | 2,020 TWh | 2.6% |
| 1981 | 2,386 TWh | 3.1% |
| 1982 | 2,588 TWh | 3.4% |
| 1983 | 2,933 TWh | 3.7% |
| 1984 | 3,560 TWh | 4.3% |
| 1985 | 4,225 TWh | 5% |
| 1986 | 4,525 TWh | 5.3% |
| 1987 | 4,922 TWh | 5.5% |
| 1988 | 5,366 TWh | 5.8% |
| 1989 | 5,519 TWh | 5.8% |
| 1990 | 5,676 TWh | 5.9% |
| 1991 | 5,948 TWh | 6.2% |
| 1992 | 5,993 TWh | 6.2% |
| 1993 | 6,199 TWh | 6.4% |
| 1994 | 6,316 TWh | 6.4% |
| 1995 | 6,590 TWh | 6.5% |
| 1996 | 6,829 TWh | 6.6% |
| 1997 | 6,782 TWh | 6.5% |
| 1998 | 6,899 TWh | 6.5% |
| 1999 | 7,162 TWh | 6.7% |
| 2000 | 7,323 TWh | 6.6% |
| 2001 | 7,481 TWh | 6.7% |
| 2002 | 7,552 TWh | 6.6% |
| 2003 | 7,351 TWh | 6.2% |
| 2004 | 7,636 TWh | 6.2% |
| 2005 | 7,608 TWh | 6% |
| 2006 | 7,654 TWh | 5.8% |
| 2007 | 7,452 TWh | 5.5% |
| 2008 | 7,382 TWh | 5.4% |
| 2009 | 7,233 TWh | 5.4% |
| 2010 | 7,374 TWh | 5.2% |
| 2011 | 7,022 TWh | 4.9% |
| 2012 | 6,501 TWh | 4.4% |
| 2013 | 6,513 TWh | 4.4% |
| 2014 | 6,607 TWh | 4.4% |
| 2015 | 6,656 TWh | 4.4% |
| 2016 | 6,715 TWh | 4.3% |
| 2017 | 6,735 TWh | 4.3% |
| 2018 | 6,856 TWh | 4.2% |
| 2019 | 7,073 TWh | 4.3% |
| 2020 | 6,789 TWh | 4.3% |
| 2021 | 7,031 TWh | 4.3% |
More recently, a return to nuclear energy has gained some support as countries push for transitions to cleaner energy, since nuclear power generates no direct carbon emissions.
What’s Next for Nuclear Energy?
Nuclear remains one of the least harmful sources of energy, and some countries are pursuing advancements in nuclear tech to fight climate change.
Small, modular nuclear reactors are one of the current proposed solutions to both bring down costs and reduce construction time of nuclear power plants. The benefits include smaller capital investments and location flexibility by trading off energy generation capacity.
With countries having to deal with aging nuclear reactors and climate change at the same time, replacements need to be considered. Will they come in the form of new nuclear power and uranium mining, or alternative sources of energy?
-
Personal Finance4 weeks agoRanked: The Best U.S. States for Retirement
-
Demographics2 weeks agoVisualizing the American Workforce as 100 People
-
Commodities4 weeks agoCharted: Commodities vs Equity Valuations (1970–2023)
-
Batteries2 weeks agoHow EV Adoption Will Impact Oil Consumption (2015-2025P)
-
Money4 weeks agoVisualizing the Assets and Liabilities of U.S. Banks
-
Money2 weeks agoRanked: The World’s Top 50 Endowment Funds
-
Central Banks3 weeks agoVisualized: Real Interest Rates by Country
-
United States2 weeks agoCharting the Rise of America’s Debt Ceiling