Mineral Exploration is the official publication of the Association of Mineral Exploration British Columbia.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/264766
48 s P r i n G 2 0 1 4 Photograph : ame Bc archive s Gunnar operated its own town site complete with a recreation centre. The mine site was isolated from Uranium City with no all-weather road connec- tion except during the winter months, when an ice road across Athabasca Lake provided access to Uranium City. Lorado Uranium Mines acquired a potentially promising property at the southwest end of Beaverlodge Lake in 1953. The company was able to define a small resource, but it was insufficient to support a milling facility. However, Lorado proceeded to const r uct a 500-ton-per-day custom milling facil- ity in 1957, which, in addition to pro- cessing Lorado's own mine production, would be capable of accepting ore from other mines in the camp. Several mines within convenient trucking distance of the Lorado mill commenced shipping ore there. These included the Lake Cinch mine producing 200 tons per day, the Cayzor Athabasca mine pro- ducing 150 tons per day, and the National Exploration mine producing 50 tons per day. Lorado sold its uranium quota contract in March 1960, and this sale also marked the end of production for the mill and the closure of the Lake Cinch and Cayzor mines. Smaller, one-time ore ship- ments of between 500 and 2,000 tons were produced from several mom-and-pop-type operations. In keeping with the nuclear-age theme, several of these small mines had attractive catch- all names such as Beta Gamma Mines, Meta Uranium, Pitch-Ore and Radiore Uranium. There were also a number of independent miners, prospectors and weekend rock hounds who shipped small tonnages, ranging from 10 to 2,000 tons, of hand-sorted high-grade ore from abandoned mine dumps, stockpiles and exploration trenches. Some of these small shipments were very rich, with grades up to 3.0 per cent U 3 O 8 . The Eldorado milling facility also accepted custom ore. The Rix Athabasca mine two kilometres west of Uranium City mined and trucked 100 tons per day to Eldorado from 1954 to 1960. Other ship- ments were received from the Nicholson Mine at Goldfields, and the Eagle, ABC and National Exploration mines. Uranium City was the central base of activity for the Beaverlodge uranium camp. The town was initially a tent city in 1951. From this beginning, it rapidly became Saskatchewan's most northerly incorporated centre with a population of about 2,000 in the boom days of the 1950s. The thriving town expanded significantly in the 1960s when many of Eldorado Mining's employees built their homes at Uranium City. Several of the first buildings were actually skidded across the ice on Athabasca Lake from Goldfields. Stores, schools, a bank, a hos- pital, a large liquor store, a curling rink and an ice arena were all available. The original Uranium City Hotel, with its spacious beer parlour and cocktail lounge, was very popular. The lounge was appropriately named The Big Stope, as the miners sat around the tables to boast about their huge tons of blasted ore. Beer shipments to the camp were transported by tug and barge from Fort McMurray after ice breakup in late June. As a result, beer in storage from the previous year's shipments was often skunky by late spring, so the new stock of shipments was always welcomed. In order to get rid of the old stock, bartend- ers usually served it up in the later hours of the evening. Uranium City – like many fast-grow- ing boomtowns – experienced some devas- tating fires. The original hotel, the rebuilt hotel, one of the schools, and several busi- nesses and homes were destroyed at differ- ent times. But the local people were resil- ient and most premises were rebuilt. A regularly scheduled bus service to and from Uranium City was a conve- nient means of travel. A paved runway was constructed close to the town site and served as the airport for Eldorado's own DC3 and DC4 aircraft as well as for Pacific Western Airlines. These aircraft provided daily service from Edmonton. After the closure of the Ace-Fay-Verna mine, the Eldorado town site and all service facilities were totally decommis- sioned; only the airstrip remains. All bulk freight, heavy equipment, fuel, lumber and construction material destined for the mining camp were transported by tug and barges from the railway terminus of Waterways near Fort McMurray down the Athabasca River and across Athabasca Lake to the port of Bushell 10 kilometres southwest of Uranium City. From Bushell, freight and supplies were trucked to the mines and towns. The Beaverlodge uranium camp was a vibrant mining camp during its heyday of prospecting, exploration and mine development. However, the discovery in 1968 of unconformity-related high- grade uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin south of Athabasca Lake dramati- cally changed the exploration strategy and focus for uranium in Saskatchewan, and effectively cast a long shadow on any future opportunities for the Uranium City area. When Eldorado closed the Ace-Fay-Verna mine in 1982, it led to the economic collapse of Uranium City. Between 1953 and 1982, 16 mines were put into production to produce over 28 million kilograms of U 3 O 8 – 73 per cent of which was produced from the Eldorado-operated mines. Today, the camp is quiet. ■ Gary Delaney of the Saskatchewan Geological Survey is acknowledged for providing links to reports on the Beaverlodge uranium camp. Frequent flier: Eldorado Mining & Refining Limited's venerable DC3. art.silver@lidarservices.ca Suite 400, 3115 - 12 St. N.E. Calgary, Alberta T2E 7J2 Canada Tel: 403-517-3130 Toll-free: 1-888-870-9972 Fax: 403-291-5390 www.lidarservices.ca The leader in airborne Lidar solutions Lidar.indd 1 7/26/11 4:02:04 PM p44-49_CampsOfFame.indd 48 14-02-14 3:03 PM