We took a drive to find where the gold mine tour would be happening tomorrow, and were pleasantly surprised to discover the mine was open today and that we could get into the next tour.
The tour is of an abandoned gold mine shaft in the city of Val D’Or. Unlike mines we are familiar with in Alberta, the mines in this area seem to be within the town. Our guide was a former mine worker who knew a good deal about the operational aspects of the mine. Because it’s an actual mine we were required to don the appropriate safety gear; hard hats, headlamps, boots and coveralls (all provided as part of the tour). We were driven to the mouth of the mine, and part way down the shaft on a modified articulating mine buggy – with seats and seatbelts! The cool air hit us shortly after we entered the mine.
We got off the buggy and took an extensive walking tour of the mine and were shown a simulated explosive demonstration (with lights representing the prescribed explosive pattern), a collection shaft that dropped 1600’ (he threw a rock down to demonstrate the depth), a cavern that had been cleared, lunch room and more.
With the high value of gold we were told that the tailings pile was being re-mined for remaining bits of gold. Years ago the filtration system in the research lab was cleaned and thousands of ounces of gold were found in the filters!
Cross-Canada with the MAHARG's 