Mining
Marie-Ève Fortier, Millie Ann Grenon, Liliane Hamelin, Fannie Hébert, Ikram Haffaf
1. Mining - Planetary scale
2. Mining - Territorial scale
3. Mining - Regional scale
4. Mining - Historical scale
5. Mining - Technological scale
Study of four specific metals: gold, copper, lithium and nickel. Canada is among the five most important producers of gold, lithium and nickel. In addition to the large-scale mining projects scattered throughout the country, a number of foreign companies with overseas mining assets have been added to the list of Canadian mining operators, taking advantage of the country's acknowledgedly very permissive legislation.
Single-industry regions and towns where mining is a major source of employment and economic stimulation: iron from the Labrador Trough on the North Shore, gold from the Cadillac Pontiac Belt in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, and nickel from the Ungava Trough in Northern Quebec. A striking phenomenon of labour migration in fly-in/fly-out management mode in remote areas. This movement of populations leads to an interdependent center-periphery relationship.
To date, the active mines in Abitibi-Témiscamingue are operated by companies that exploit mainly gold-bearing substances, while other mineralized bodies are also found in high concentrations throughout the territory. However, despite the growing prosperity of this economic sector, the conflicting power relationships between the actors of the Témiscamingue mining industry persist and the renewal of its workforce is a critical issue.
It is at the start of the 20th century that the richness of the geological formations of the Cadillac Fault is first discovered. Nearly 200 mines appeared and disappeared over a period of nearly a century, stimulating the development of numerous single-industry towns and the rapid settlement of the region. Despite fluctuations and uncertainties, the mining industry is still one of the main economic forces of Abitibi-Témiscamingue.
The mining industry offers a significant diversity of technologies from one mining project to another. The processes used depend not only on the type of metal exploited, but also on the type of deposit and the composition of the ore. A commitment to research in the sector justifies the emergence of multiple innovations, notably in the areas of industrial sustainability, metal recycling and extraction.