For many hundreds of years, the flat and marshy lands of the tundra were inhabited only by the native people and the local wildlife. Bears, caribou, wolves, muskrats, and the native traveler interacted in this large setting where life was simple. There was a kind of natural beauty to the area on which no other man had traveled, and the harsh mystic of its landscape captivated those who would visit the barren tundra flats.

Nearing the turn of the 19th century, more and more southern men journeyed into the northernmost regions of Canada's north. Most of them were trappers working for trading companies, trying to make a living where they felt they belonged - the unexplored. Many of these pioneers' stories have gone untold. It was not until gold in Canada's north was discovered that more and more people became interested in the mystical plains and rocky shores of the Northwest Territories.

From 1930-1945, both Yellowknife and the Great Bear Lake areas became developed with mines, towns, and people looking for more land to explore. Setting off in every direction possible, some ended up on the shores of Matthews Lake, south of Courageous Lake, upon which grounds they staked the first gold claims of the area. Such men included Jack Matthews, Mike Mitto, Frank Salerno, and Tom Payne. A number of companies were formed in the first year of development (1945), of most importance were Salmita Northwest Mines Ltd, and Bulldog Yellowknife Gold Mines Ltd.

Jack Matthews staked the first claims here in May 1945, with Mike Mitto and Frank Salerno staking their claims in June. Within a year, other prospectors entered the region, and several claims, including the Mint group of Thomas Payne, were staked and recorded. Payne incorporated his so-named company, Payne Yellowknife Gold Mines Limited, and hired William Peters to conduct exploration. Some property samples were told to be ten times richer than the other discoveries in the area, but exploration failed to indicate an economically substantial deposit.

By 1951, enough exploration work on the Salmita and Bulldog properties warranted underground development. Supplies were hauled in by cat train, or chartered over by float plane. In the winter, ice fields were cleared to permit landing of larger aircraft such as DC3's. By 1953 both Salmita and Bulldog had challenged the climate and the environment and established two northern mines. Both had headframes, one of which sat over top of a 145-foot shaft, and installed some heavy equipment. Camp huts were set-up, a mill building was built at Salmita, and everyone was ready for some big development.

But no further work was done at either property in the following couple years. Labor for construction of mills, bunkhouses, and shaft development, was at a low ebb, and the incurring uranium prospecting rush made cause for a loss of interest in Barrenland gold.

Three years later in 1956, the Bulldog company was revitalized as Taurcanis Mines Limited. A subsequent drive to production occurred into 1960, with massive amounts of money being pooled into the company's treasury by interested companies. It wasn't long before Taurcanis was on the road to production and in 1963, when all was ready for the final year of construction, the company's name was changed to Tundra Gold Mines. In April 1964, Tundra became the first gold producer in the Courageous Lake region of the NWT - a major triumph to those involved in its creation.

Tundra started off with limited ore reserves and it was unfortunate that no further mineable ore was uncovered. The mine shut-down in 1968 without making much of a profit. What it did do, however, was set the stage for future mining operations that would be created in the arctic tundra.

Salmita Mine remained closed during this time period. In wasn't until 1975 that Giant Yellowknife Mines Limited drove an underground adit under the old shaft and uncovered some interesting gold values. A subsequent drive to production was heading by Giant, and by 1981, it appeared as though a mill would be in operation. Using the old Tundra mill, gold was produced between 1983 and 1987.

The following year, Noranda Mines of Ontario began to sink a massive shaft on the �Fat� deposit north of Salmita. A 1,500-foot shaft was driven to explore a massive million-ton deposit, and some hefty mine facilities were put in place. The deposit did not materialize into a producing mine however, and in 1989 the site was closed and all buildings and equipment removed, except for the old camp. The same year began the start of a clean-up effort at Salmita mine when all buildings met the same fate.

Only the Tundra mine and mill site have remained to this day. In the early 1990's, the NWT was hit with a diamond staking rush. The former Noranda camp was reconditioned by the Warnar family for use by prospectors and mining engineers looking to reside and set up camp in the area. Treeline Lodge was later established as a tourism outpost for the Courageous Lake area, offering ecological and history tours, including the remains of the Tundra Gold mine.

Mining continues to be an important aspect to the future of this area. Diamond mines have been popping up in the vicinity of Courageous Lake, and all ground is favorable prospecting ground. The history of mining is equally as important, and it is for this reason that Treeline Lodge has been created.

The Tundra Mine, formerly known as Bulldog or Taurcanis, is located at the south end of Matthews Lake, on the shores of small Bulldog Lake, (distance) from Treeline Lodge. The mine is connected to the lodge by way of road to airstrip, road from airstrip to Salmita, and road to Salmita to Noranda camp. Distance between sites is approximately 5 kilometers. The road is in good condition, having been maintained by Treeline Lodge. The Tundra produced gold between 1964 and 1968, and the site was used during Salmita operations in the 1980's. The site remains today, although listed for a future government cleanup, and the target of vandalism.

Tundra Mine 1963 - Gerry Riemann

Jack Matthews was actually the second to stake a mineral claim in this region. The northern stretches of the NWT beyond the treeline saw very little prospecting activity before WWII, although it is known that in 1939, the Territories Exploration Limited company, under the direction of a W.L. Brown, noted several occurrences at Courageous Lake. Along with gold, some tungsten was discovered. Some drilling was reported as having been completed, but the claims lapsed.

In May 1945, Jack Matthews staked the Jeja claims over a possible showing of gold. He was enticed not by the drilling results of the pre-war prospectors, but more directly interested in work done by the Geological Survey of Canada in 1944. A new map was published in 1945, showing the general geology of the entire area north of Courageous Lake. Matthews quickly made a copy of it, chartered a plane, located favorable ground, and, incidentally, found gold.

By the end of 1945, other ground was quickly being staked and companies being formed. Matthews knew that in order to develop his claims in any way, he would need funding. John McDonough was asked for financial assistance, and a company was formed in 1948 - Bulldog Yellowknife Gold Mines Limited. McDonough was also involved in other northern ventures through his involvement in Trans-American Mining Corporation.

It is interesting to see a list of the many different companies formed during the post-war years in Canada. It is even more interesting to see the amount formed with the name Yellowknife tagged onto it. Akaitcho Yellowknife, Doris Yellowknife, Beaulieu Yellowknife, Admiral Yellowknife....a few of many companies formed with Yellowknife holdings and interests. During a gold boom, it was common to "jump on the bandwagon" so-to-speak. Yellowknife became good national publicity for two-bit outfits hoping to make it big. Some companies had no relationship to the Yellowknife mining district in any way. It is funny that most of the companies, despite their scheming and market manipulations, never found much gold.

Bulldog began exploration at Matthews Lake during a difficult time in the NWT mining industry. Gregory Smith, president of the Bulldog company in the 1950 annual report, explains:

This situation was a deterrence upon all mining prospects during the post-war years. The Federal government created a program called the Emergency Gold Mining Assistance Act, which would help fund operating mines though difficult economical recessions. This program was only available to companies that had achieved gold production; therefore, for a small company like Bulldog without any significant development, the only funds available were those through stock trading.

As a result of the above conditions, it was reported that work confined at Bulldog between 1948 and 1950 was exploratory drilling and some surface trenching. Some 20,000 feet of drilling was performed making possible a fairly accurate indication of the ore deposits upon which this whole endeavor was founded.

The general geology of the area provided for three important deposits: the Matthews (discovery) vein, the South zone, and the No.2 vein. The most prominent feature was the Matthews vein, a deposit termed in parts as the "High Grade zone" and the "Sulphide zone". The "High Grade zone" was told to have a value of $2,885,000 to a depth of 400 feet in 1950 on the market, not including operational costs that would of course be factored out of the profit equation. The other two zones remained virtually unexplored at this time.

Bulldog's status on the stock market went from "unlisted" to "listed" during the summer of 1950 upon confirmation of a rich gold deposit. Two weeks in a row, full-page advertisements for the Bulldog company appeared in the local Yellowknife newspaper News of the North, and the potential of the Matthews lake region as the next gold producing region were raved about around the mining scene of the north.

Indeed there was some rich gold at Bulldog. Company directors felt that the deposit was being wasted as an undeveloped property, and that the mine should be opened immediately to take advantage of the government funding. It was upon these grounds that in late 1951, underground development at Bulldog was approved. Jock McNiven, consulting mine engineer and then mine manager at Negus Mine, was hired to contract out the shaft work under the direction of Trans-American Mining Corporation.

A large amount of equipment was acquired, supplies forwarded to the company warehouse, and a 70 ton convoy of sleds pulled by Cat Train made their way from Yellowknife, east on Great Slave Lake to Thompson-Landing, and north via cat trail to Matthews Lake - the first haul of it's type in the North.

The Bulldog Operation

This operation predated the development of the Tundra Mine by about five years. It was the intent of the Bulldog company to sink a shaft to over 500 feet on the Matthews vein, construct mine facilities, and to truck ore to the nearby Salmita mine, which was equipping a mill. Having laid out these plans, construction started in the spring of 1952.

The camp buildings consisted of three Igloo-type steel frame tents with rubber-sponge insulation for their arctic use. These were similar to the Quonset design huts commonly used at many of these northern operations at the time. Also located at the camp site, which was located on the north end of Bulldog Lake, were tent frames used for storage. All camp buildings were fitted with Coleman oil stoves and fairly comfortable accommodation for work crews. Excellent food was served, with plentiful helpings (none of which ever went to waste). Good food was important for morale.

A 65' timber headframe was erected over the shaft site, designed for production through a 3-compartment shaft. The shaft, which was collared to a depth of 38', had dimensions of 18x8'. Most production shafts utilized three or more compartments. Such a shaft design would include a compartment for a mancage, one for a production skip, and one for pipes, electrical wire, and a manway ladder. An overwind hoist system was used to counter-balance the mancage and skip. The hoist used at Bulldog during this period was a Canadian Ingersoll-Rand 36x24� PE1 double-drum hoist, powered by a 75 H.P. electric motor, housed in a small 24x24' structure immediately in front of the headframe.

Such a small mine operated on self-generated electricity. The power-plant consisted of a 246 H.P. National diesel engine powering a 550-volt Brush generator. This unit supplied the operation with all of its power needs, although a smaller 110-volt Fairbanks-Morse light plant was also available if needed.

Compressed air for use in power drills and the blacksmith shop was pumped from a 3 cylinder Broomwade 800 c.f.m. air compressor, powered by a 100 H.P. electric motor. All powerhouse units were purchased new and were therefore in excellent condition. The large National diesel engine was only told to have been run for a total of 53 hours. The powerhouse building included room for a miner's dry. Other buildings on-site included a 20x40' Igloo-type garage, a powder house, and some shops - all housed in huts.

Operations seemed to be going well during the spring of 1952 while the shaft was being collared. In July, Gregory Smith made a site visit in order to report on the company's progress for inclusion in the 1951 annual report. It was indicated by numerous press releases that the start of shaft sinking would be delayed because of difficulties of arranging freight transport to the property. Much equipment did not make it in till the following spring. At this time, it was no longer possible to acquire a shaft sinking crew since experienced crews were busy working on uranium and base metal projects that appeared more attractive. Jock McNiven returned abruptly to Yellowknife to settle the closing of his Negus Mine.

In 1955, after being abandoned probably without caretaker for 2 years, Richard E. Parkes, mining engineer, put together a property report for George Holbrooke of Mid-North Engineering Services Limited, perhaps under contract from Bulldog. After outlining stages of work involved in reopening the mine, he concludes his recommendation:

The Taurcanis Operation

Mr. Parkes report was taken seriously, as within a year negotiations were underway to reform Bulldog into a vibrant new outfit. Arthur White stepped into the scene and changed the companies name to Taurcanis Mines Limited.

By then, the original developers of the Bulldog project, Jack Matthews and John McDonough, had passed away but �their spirit lived on�. Early in 1957, work crews were sent to Matthews Lake to clean-up camp, renovate buildings, and begin preparation for sinking the shaft. Some equipment, and even buildings, were moved from the now abandoned Salmita mine to Taurcanis. The Salmita inventory in 1957 was owned by Lanky Muyre's exploration outfit, the items having been acquired by him after a court case against Salmita won in his favor. The original Bulldog camp was moved from the north end of Bulldog Lake to the mine-site.

The subsequent drive to production was perhaps owed to the intervention of the Byrne organization in the affairs of the Taurcanis company. The Byrne family, the most prominent members being J.J. Byrne, and his two sons Norm and Jerry, were at work building themselves mines all over the NWT at this point. The Discovery gold mine, located halfway between Yellowknife and the treeline, was, in 1957, 7 years into production and going strong. The Rayrock uranium mine, also near Yellowknife, was just going into production as the first private uranium enterprise in the north. A second uranium mine owned by the Byrnes - Northland Consolidated - was under consideration as a satellite mine for the Rayrock operation. Norman Byrne had established himself as a well-respected NWT mining engineer with great credentials. Jerry Byrne was an experienced mine manager, having operated Outpost Island in the early 1940's, and being Discovery's managing director. J.J. Byrne, elder father of the two, was a major shareholder and director in all three companies. Officials for Taurcanis knew that �getting in bed� with the Byrne's would be good for business.

Financing for the Taurcanis venture was provided by the following parties at this time: New Dickenson Mines Limited (25%), Consolidated Discovery Mines Limited (35%), Trans-American Mining Corporation (10%), and Brewis & White Limited (30%).

Starting in April 1957, the camp was rebuilt, some new equipment installed, and the start of shaft sinking begun. The following year, lateral development was underway on the first level at 325' depth. The Western Miner, in November 1958, reported:

Other work was underway at the mine aside from underground development. Repair on the old Salmita airstrip was underway on an esker about 5 kilometers east of the shaft. A rough strip 2,300' long was cleared using an International-Harvester TD-14 tractor in 1957-58. In 1959-60, the strip was lengthened to 4,000' using a 4-yard carryall and a 2-12 Caterpillar grader, and could then accommodate Bristol freighters fully loaded with 3 ton payloads. The strip was constructed at a cost of $35,000.

New winter road routes were scouted in 1960 to the mine from Yellowknife. This route, ploughed by Ice road engineer John Denison, took up at Discovery mine, heading east to Gordon Lake, then north up into the Barrenlands. In the first year of operation, Denison was contracted to ship 275 tons of material to Taurcanis at rates of $60 per ton from Yellowknife. The ice road was opened every year until the mine closed.

In 1960, some new players became involved in the Taurcanis operation. Funding was now provided by Consolidated Discovery, Dickenson Mines Limited, Rayrock Mines Limited, and Radiore Uranium Mines Limited. The inclusion of Rayrock became an important one. As mentioned, Rayrock was a Byrne family enterprise that operated the uranium mine outside of Yellowknife. In 1959, Rayrock closed it's mine after a depletion of reserves. Under an agreement dated August 8th 1960, Taurcanis purchased all the milling plant and equipment located at Rayrock Mine. In exchange, a share offering was given to the Rayrock company.

By now, the Byrne family was well established within the Taurcanis operation. Jerry Byrne was managing director, and Norman Byrne was, of course, consulting engineer. In the annual reports, each provided confidence in the viability of opening the mine for production. The inclusion of Rayrock in the financing and construction of the mine was also an important asset. The Rayrock milling and power plant was in perfect shape, and the fact that it milled uranium would make no difference to its effectiveness in producing gold.

During the winters of 1961-1962-63, major freight was delivered to Taurcanis. Oil tanks, ball mills, diesel engines, even whole buildings made their way up past the treeline from Yellowknife and points elsewhere. By now, a substantial mine was being erected on the shores of Bulldog Lake. Old shacks and archaic Quonset huts were demolished, and new striking steel structures under construction. An all new plant and camp layout was under design.

Mine development continued rapidly. By the end of 1961, the shaft was completed to 1,250 feet and lateral development on 6 levels was being performed at a rate of several hundred feet a month. Large new camp facilities were under final construction, including a 2-storey bunkhouse and a 2-storey recreation center. A crew of 100 men was maintained under the supervision of mine manager Jack Boulding, and engineer Norman Byrne. The following chart gives the amount of lateral development performed on each mine level up to December 31st 1962:

The annual general meeting of Taurcanis Mines held on February 28th 1963 ended with a resolution for a change in company structure, including a new name. The new company was called Tundra Gold Mines Limited - better reflecting the romantic nature of Canada's to-be first Barrenland gold producer. At fiscal year end September 30th 1963, ore reserves amounted to 40,476 tons at a grade of 0.58 ounces per ton. Production began in March 1964, and the first gold bar was poured April 12th 1964.

The start of milling operations on March 15th 1964, when the filling of the plant circuit with low-grade ore started, was an achievement beyond words. It was certainly the result of a great deal of effort and tenacity that began when Jack Matthews first found gold at Matthews Lake in 1945. The exciting gold pour on April 12th 1964, and the publicity driven opening ceremony in July, was followed by three years of struggle to keep the mine open and to keep gold flowing through the mill circuitry.

Considering the Gamble

In comparison to other mines in the north, Tundra opened with limited ore reserves indicating a short, but hopefully profitable life. Most of the NWT mines in fact started off like this. Mines depended on the discovery of additional gold ores through exploration and development programs while gold was being produced. The gold poured payed for the exploration expenses, and the exploration in turn was expected to pay for production. Discovery Mine, in 1950, started off with only two mine levels and limited ore but, with perhaps more luck than geological insight, became the richest and most encouraging mine in the north in the following years. Con, and Negus mines started out in the same fashion at Yellowknife in the late 1930's, and perhaps it was only Giant that had good reason to start production.

In many ways, the construction and operation of a mine are gambles. Of course all mines depend on profitability, and it was this that Tundra had reason for production. Of most importance was the encouragement and determination of those experienced mining men involved in its creation. Despite low gold reserves, all involved were confident of new ore deposits. But for an operation that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to build, would the mine pay off?

Mining on the Barrenlands

In all appearance, Tundra was a bleak outpost in the middle of nowhere. In the summer, its lifeline was by aircraft, and by a 250 kilometer ice road in the winter. The mine was built and designed for life in the far north.

Mine facilities that were built compactly were better on heating costs. Buildings at Tundra were of metal-clad type, of Armco and Butler make, with vapor barriers and insulation on all walls and ceilings. Mine manager Jack Boulding once commented on the effects of not having proper insulation by saying �It is amazing to watch the amount of snow that can be driven into a room through a small nail hole.� (6)

The lack of trees and hill protection resulted in full force winds that could blow in any direction at any time of the year. Often, metal panels would fly off buildings - especially the headframe. Winter snowstorms could make a man lost walking from the Bunkhouse to the mill for a morning shift. For this reason, rope guides were strung between buildings. An enclosed walkway was built between the Bunkhouse and the Personnel Services building (PSB), and between the Dry/Office and the shafthouse.

Although the plant at Tundra was compact and designed specifically for the rigid climate, heating costs were high. A cheap source of fuel was in use - Bunker C oil. The problems associated with this oil are explained by A.T. Jordan:

Permafrost was also a problem faced by management. All mines of the north faced permafrost, but none of them to the extent of 900 feet like Tundra. The permafrost mostly affected mine temperature and water conditions between seasons. Hot exhaust was pumped deep underground to control temperature, and the use of aluminum piping helped to radiant the heat along the mine drifts and crosscuts.

The Tundra Mine and Camp

The types of facilities at the mine were normal of any mining operation. Huddled around the headframe were a combination dry/office/and shop complex (The Plant Services Building), the milling plant, refinery, assay lab, carpenter shop, powerhouses, hoist room, warehouses, oil tanks, bunkhouse, the PSB, manager's residence, and other buildings. Building specs were as follows:

Construction of these facilities continued through the years 1958-1964 at a rapid pace.

The 2-storey Bunkhouse had accommodation for 62 single men, plus a small hospital, laundromat, and some married staff residences. The PSB contained the kitchen and mess hall, recreation hall and library, gymnasium, pool hall, and staff quarters. Such a building was important for providing pastime recreation and services to employees.

Mine managers resided in a small house adjacent the PSB, and in 1964-65 trailer units were brought in on winter road to provide additional family housing. Despite it's bleak appeal, Tundra was home to some 100 people during production years, including families. While confined to safe and security during the harsh winter months, for a short period during the summer, outdoor recreation was cherished. These activities were limited to boating and fishing primarily, and hunting was not encouraged. An 18-barrel golf course (perhaps the only in the world) was located on the airstrip using a No. 7 iron, with the objective being to either sink the ball into, or ding one of the old drums used to mark the edge of the airstrip. Often, creativity was the driving force behind recreational activities at these isolated mining operations.

Servicing the Mine

Transportation, and communication, with the outside world was important for Tundra. Today the world has become connected through the wide array of communications, but this was not the fact in the early years of the north. Tundra mine was in fact an outpost, isolated from the commons of Yellowknife, while Yellowknife itself was isolated from the commons of centralized North America.

The development and operation of mines in the north would not have been possible without the use of airplanes. Without an abundance of all-season roads, flight and winter routes were the only way to access the NWT's expanding mining properties. The first highway into the NWT, reaching all the way to Yellowknife, was completed in 1960. The next best thing was the all-weather road from Grimshaw, Alberta, to Hay River that was cleared during the post-war years. These developments proved important to reducing the expense of running mining operations North of 60.

Winter freight haul to Salmita Mine, 1951

No all-weather road was likely to be cleared beyond the treeline, although once it was considered. Rather, the developing Tundra Mine was forced into air charters and winter road clearing. These were expensive methods. Trucking into the Barrenlands from Yellowknife was reduced from over $100 per ton in 1962, to $65 per ton going into production. Freight trucked directly from Edmonton cost $110 per ton. The use of Bristol freighter aircraft reduced freight rates considerably. Bristol rates were at $90 per ton in 1964, whereas single-engine Otter aircraft would cost over $300 per ton.

A 4,000' airstrip and a 300 kilometer winter road were to be commended for creating a profitable transportation corridor between Tundra and the outside. The winter road was a pioneering effort by the one-and-only John Denison. His 1962 ice road was the first to penetrate the treeline (the year before he cleared a road to Great Bear Lake). This road was usually open between January and April of each year, and during this time up to 2,500 tons of material (most of it fuel oil) was transported to the mine. For example, during the 1965 season, the first trailer truck convoy arrived at the property on January 17th and the final convoy on April 12th. During that time 133 loads arrived with a payload of 2,550 tons. Included in this tonnage was 366,000 gallons of fuel oil.

Mining Operations

Normally there are two methods to mining a deposit - by open pit methods, and by underground tunnel development. Underground mining is far more complex, and also the preferred method of development since so many of the worlds mine's extend to great depths. Despite a person's vision of endless tunnels likely impossible to navigate and easy to become lost in, the underground network of shafts and drifts are intricately laid out to provide the most effective way of accessing and mining a deposit.

At Tundra mine, development headings were usually blasted to provide for a tunnel of 6x7' dimensions - enough to accommodate 24" rail track gauge, piping, and ventilation ducts. Each heading had a ditch excavated along its length to support drainage of water downhill to the shaft station. Water was collected in a sump at the bottom of the shaft and pumped to surface. Tundra was a very wet mine, especially since they pumped hot water down to the levels and sprinkled it onto the rock walls to reduce ice formations on the walls and ceilings of the drifts, and crosscuts.

To some, underground development and driving is an art. However, drilling, blasting, mucking, and scaling is hard and dangerous work. At Tundra, holes were drilled in strategic positions on the face wall of a heading, and explosives injected into the holes. The drills used for drilling were heavy. Detachable bits were used, and the drills operated on compressed air supplied by the powerhouse. Water was added to the mixture of rock and grinding metal to help with the drilling process and to reduce dust. Bits were fixed with carbides made of manganese or tungsten to ensure a better drill.

At the end of the shift, the blasting cord was secured, and later on the foreman remotely detonated the explosives, effectively cutting a good 5 or more feet out of the rock in the intended direction. Mucking was then performed to remove the waste rock from the underground. In some cases, this rock was high valued ore, therefore would be transported to the mill for gold recovery. Mucking machines picked up the ore, and threw it into ore carts, which would deliver ore to the ore pass, dropping the rock into the shaft pocket that would feed the skip.

By character, drifts run parallel the ore-body, while cross-cuts cut across or towards the deposit. A third type of underground tunnel was the raise, driven for many purposes. Raises were used to connect level with man-ways to provide emergency exists and ventilation sources. Ore-passes were a type of raise, although you wouldn't want to put a man-way through one.

Deposits were mined overtop of the levels in areas called �stopes�. At the start of production, 17 stopes had been made ready for mining. Stopes were developed in benches, each held up by pillars. At Tundra, levels were spaced 150' apart; therefore, stopes could have heights of 150' if required.

Four battery locomotives were in use at Tundra, each of which pushed a train of ore carts to the ore pass. During production years at Tundra, an average 4,000 tons of ore were hoisted each month.

Power Plant

A source of power generation is always important for a mining operation. The most economical system of accessing such power is always chosen. Most of the isolated mines used self-generated power through the used of gas, oil, or diesel engines. In some cases if hydropower is available locally, the choice to connect to such a service can be made. However, as was the case with Tundra, sometimes mine-life and economic conditions will not permit such an expense.

Mine power also includes engines to generate compressed air for underground drills, and a heating plant. At the start of production in 1964, the following power units were in service located in the primary big powerhouse building:

The large units were sufficient to supply the power and heat needs of the entire plant and camp on most days of the year. A standby plant was maintained, consisting of several old power units located in the original 1952 powerhouse, retrofitted during operations with some newer units. This plant consisted of the following:

A light plant was installed in the Personnel Services Building for additional back-up emergency power. It was a D-3,400 Caterpillar 15 K.W. gen-set. A small Napanee Automatic steam boiler was also installed in the building.

A system of heat recovery was used to provide economical and efficient heating operations. Exhaust gases from the Cooper-Bessemer and the Foster -Wheeler units were used to produce additional steam.

Oil storage was provided by several large oil tanks. Six 20' diameter tanks held diesel fuel, and two 40' diameter tanks held bunker-C oil for the boiler plant. Capacity for 350,000 gallons of bunker oil were provided by these two large tanks, and 225,000 gallons was available for diesel fuel in the smaller tanks.

Hoisting Plant

In 1950, the Matthews Lake deposit was found to extend to a depth below 400'. At this depth, it would be necessary to access the deposit via underground workings. In order to sink and use a shaft for production purposes, a unique kind of hoisting equipment must be installed. Much like an elevator shaft, the underground vertical tunnel is fitted with a cage to transport men between levels, and a cable is strung up to raise and lower it. The headframe structure � a common symbol for a mine � is erected over top the shaft to relay the hoist cable, which is controlled by a hoist drum on the surface, down into the shaft. The sheave-wheel is the relay wheel that angles the cable straight down into the shaft.

Hoist drum units come in two types � double-drum and single drum. With a shaft compartment that will accommodate two hoisting systems (ie. Man-cage and ore skip) a double-drum hoist is used. For smaller operations were only a sinking bucket is in use, a single-drum (cheaper) unit is used. Double-drum units operate as a counter-balance system with over-wind, under-wind features. This means that one rope is released from the underside of one drum, while the second rope is retracted into the drum on the topside, while the hoist motor operates the two drums in the same direction. Conditions are reversed when the hoist operator turns the engine the other direction. The weight of the mancage and skip on either end of the hoist cable counter each other.

The depth of the shaft determines the hoist-drum size, headframe height, and sheave wheel diameter. Normally, the hoist drum and the sheave wheel diameter match each other, with the sheave wheel never smaller than the hoist drum. Hoists are measured diameter by face usually in inch units. For a shaft depth of 1,250 feet, a timber headframe of 65' height and a hoisting unit of size 48x36� was found appropriate for use. This electric hoist, purchased from Rayrock Mines Limited in 1960, was a Canadian Ingersoll-Rand make � a popular brand of hoist units that are still commonly used today.

Communication between the underground and the surface was important. Deckman, cage-tenders, and the hoist operators had to memorize special shaft signals indicated between stations only by a bell or buzzer system similar to Morse code.

Milling Plant

It is through the milling and recovery plant where the hard work and determination in creating a gold mine is found. Milling circuits are all unique in their own way. Aside from the different brands or sizes of equipment that are used, mills are designed based on two big things � the type of minerals to be recovered, and the characteristics of the ore being milled. As far as gold is concerned, its recovery can be very simple, or utterly complicated. It depends really on geology and the certain deposit. A simple example is the difference between a lode and placer deposit. Gold can be found in heavy sands and soils of placer mining districts (ie. Yukon), or incased in bedrock like the mines of Yellowknife. Placer gold can be panned with water, but lode gold requires operations like Tundra Mine.

Lode gold has its simplicities and complications as well. Free milling gold can be recovered after suitable crushing, grinding, chemical treatment, and gravity concentration. In the case of Giant Mine ores (or some former Con and Negus ores), gold as associated with other minerals that do not permit conventional milling methods. All three mines mentioned at one point had roasters installed to treat arsenical ores.

Luckily for the developers of Tundra Mine, the Matthews Lake ore deposit was found to be 99% free-milling. Frederick B. Brien, chief metallurgist at Tundra Mine in 1964, explained the pre-design research performed:

Preliminary design of the milling plant was carried forth upon this great news. In 1960, the Rayrock milling plant was purchased. This mill had been used to process uranium ores for three years, but this fact made it no less of a gold recovery plant. During the following winters, heavy equipment was transported up the winter road while designing for the mill was completed. Construction carried forth during 1963 at Tundra, and by March 1964 all was ready for first mill test. On March 15th, the first low-grade ore was being processed. The first gold bar was poured April 12th 1964.

The milling plant, by appearance, looks to be an accomplishment of ingenuity. Pipes and conveyor ways span in all directions, and large impressive machines tumbling around in earth-shaking fashion. Gold recovery is simple chemistry with gravity as one simple principle. However, it requires a system of laid out machinery to accomplish the science. The Tundra milling plant was designed for a production of 150 tons per day.

The first stage of milling involves the crushing of rock to an appropriate size. When ore was first hoisted from the underground at Tundra, it was a size less than 2' in diameter. This ore was received in a 110-ton �coarse ore-bin� located behind the headframe, and passed onto the first conveyor way into the crusher house. Tundra crushing was done two-stage. The first stage was through an 18x32� Telsmith jaw crusher, using clamping jaw plates to reduce the ore to 2� or less. Ore too large for further treatment was screened into the second stage of crushing � a 3' Symons cone crusher. All undersize material of �3/4� size was passed onto conveyor again into the main mill building.

Crusher product was fed into the 5x8' Denver ball mill. These units are the central portion of the mill, from which it's name is derived. The basic idea of a mill is to grind the fine ore in the tubular casing while spinning it around at high speeds and adding water and chemicals. There are three types of mills � ball mill, rod mill, and autogenous mills. Ball mills use small steel balls to act as a grinding medium to grind the ore, rod mills use steel rods, and autogenous mills use the ore itself as the grinding medium. Tundra mine used ball mills to achieve an effective grind.

A wet slurry emerged from the end of the mill, was passed through a Denver duplex jig to recover a rough gold concentrate, with tailings classified using a Kreb cyclone classification unit. Oversize from the cyclone was sent back for regrinding in a 5x8' Marcy ball mill., and the same process occurred until an underflow is produce from the cyclone. Jig products were sent for amalgamation (explained later).

Slurry from the grinding and classification stage was sent to cyanidation. The first stage of this was dewatering in a 32x10' steel tank Thickener. Chemicals are added to help dissolve the gold in solution. Gold bearing underflow was then sent into three agitator tanks in which a 40 hour stage of agitation continues to separate gold from the material. This was followed by waste separation using large 8x16' Oliver filters. These filters rotated at a slow speed, with a tailing product dropping off of the shell into the tailings pump.

A �pregnant� solution was obtained from the filters which, along with Thickener overflow, was sent to clarification. Zinc was added to precipitate the gold in the solution before entering the precipitation presses. The 10-plate Whitco press was located in the refinery building along with the bullion furnace. The presses pressed all remaining water solutions from the gold material.

In the amalgamation process, ball mill jig concentrates were conditioned with mercury in an amalgamation barrel and the amalgam product was sent through the refining process. Two refining stages were employed, one to refine gold bars produced from the amalgamation process, and the second to refine bars from the cyanidation process. Mercury was �retorted� from the amalgam sponge, and a brick poured in a Rockwell furnace. The precipitates from the presses were collected and mixed into the refinery furnace with flux for a gold pour as well.

A final gold bar would be about 4x6x2� in dimensions with a variant weight. Both gold, silver, and some minor metals were recovered. The below chart indicates Tundra production between 1964 and 1968. Silver recovery was not always recorded. A total of 202 gold bars were poured, with the last three bars recovered January 25th 1968.

Maintaining the Operation

Mine warehouses were always stocked full of supplies and spare parts. At an operation where the purchase of supplies could be an expensive and time consuming ordeal, it was important to order a full years supply of as many non-perishables, and mechanical parts, as possible.

The Plant Services Building was built next to the headframe and shaft house. It was a two-storey affair, with miner's dry and service shops on the ground floor, and engineering and accounting offices on the top floor. The mine was fully serviced with blacksmith, machine, and carpenter shops. During the construction phase, the carpenter shop would be the handiest facility. Mine shops were built to serve the demand of mining for minerals.

All equipment was subject to disrepair and breakdowns at any time. Underground trammers and ore carts would often get wheel axles broken and in need of major overhaul. Diesel engines would require regular maintenance to ensure the heating and power plant remained running. Underground drillers would bring dull drill steel to the surface in bundles, ready to be forged and re-sharpened by the blacksmith. Sometimes the hoist motor would burn out, and the electrician called in to do the necessary repairs. Even with a dedicated and experienced mine and repair crew, Tundra was subject to its maintenance routines.

The Men who Make the Mine

Perhaps the most important asset to an operation are the brains and the brawn behind it. The following payroll staff were employed at year-end of each year. Records that indicate other work crews are not available:

Mine Manager's were L.T. Vears 1957-1958, Jack Boulding from 1959-1964, and Len Dixon from 1965-1968. Jerry Byrne was Managing Director through all years of operation and Norman Byrne was consulting engineer.

From the beginning of production, it was known that ore reserves would mine the operation out within three to four years. At the end of each year, a review of proven ore reserves was made by Norman Byrne, consulting engineer, and reported in Tundra Gold Mines annual reports. Additional ore would have been indicated at either dates by the probable ore reserves, but these are not included in the below table:

Starting in 1965, some aggressive lateral development was undertaken to confirm probable ore reserves. By this time, 80% of the workings were probing the Matthews vein on most levels and attention was being turned towards the No. 2 vein as a productive ore deposit. Some drifting was accomplished north of the shaft but no new ore was revealed.

The No. 2 deposit was opened up for stoping and was proven below ore grade. This development proved that previous ore reserve estimates were overly optimistic. Profitability improved during the calendar year 1967, and development work was declined in anticipation for a possible closure in the New Year. For the 6-month period of operations ending September 30th 1967, the company earned a profit of $130,312.

Norman Byrne reports the decline of operations during 1966-1967:

The mill was brought up to speed during 1965 to process 160 tons per day, without the need for circuit expansion. Mill recoveries were down, but operating costs were at an all-time low. All operations were cutback during the last year of operation as ore reserves slowly ran out.

In January 1968, milling stopped and a mill clean-up recovered the last couple gold bars. All crews were laid off, and warehouse stock sent to Discovery mine. Tommy Forrest was hired to be watchman and remained until spring 1969 when Discovery closed. Another man replaced him. At this time, ore reserves were told to be of low-grade quality, and that a substantial increase in the price of gold would be required to reopen the property.

In Retrospect

In many ways, Tundra mine was a success story, and in many ways it was a failure. The reality is that all mines die at some point. Some just take a lot longer. In all fact, very few NWT mines have lasted more than 5 years of steady operation. Of all mineral deposits, very few are substantial enough to provide for a long lasting mine life. But it is upon the hope that more gold, silver, or uranium can be found that mines are built.

While the producing reign of Tundra lasted a mere four years, it had a life longer than ten years. Opened for shaft sinking in 1957 by Taurcanis, it had a 7 year program of development and construction before milling began in 1964. During this time, some formidable obstacles of mining in the far arctic were faced. The achievement of gold production was beyond belief for many at the time. But it was done through hard work and determination. The operation was unique. Tundra was the first of its kind, therefore a milestone in the Canadian mining industry. New methods of mining and arctic living were introduced and some new records set. Jobs were created, and large amounts of money were spent on the northern economy.

In retrospect, a gold mine is not only made of gold. The Tundra gold mine was made of everything that has been explained about in this history project.

Long inactive as a mining operation, in 1975 the Salmita gold deposit on the north side of Matthews Lake was reopened. Giant Yellowknife Mines Limited began to drive an underground adit (tunnel) from surface and anticipated installing a mill to recover gold. Rather than construct all new facilities, Giant decided to refix the old Tundra plant and camp. In 1983, after considerable time and money spent into upgrading the old buildings, Salmita Mine went into production using the old Tundra mill. Some modifications to the plant were seen. A large 8x8 Allis-Chalmers ball mill was installed in the mill. New crushing units were required since the old 1968 units had been removed by Tundra. The old 80x32' garage was moved to the Salmita decline site for use as a powerhouse. The old Cooper-Bessemer diesel engine was overhauled and started back up again. Operations at Salmita lasted until the fall of 1987 when the orebody was mined out, and the Tundra mill again shut down.

Quote References

1) Bulldog Yellowknife Gold Mines Limited: Third Annual Report for period ending December 31st 1950
2) News of the North: June 2nd 1950 pg 1
3) Bulldog Yellowknife Gold Mines Limited, property report submitted to Mr. George Holbrooke by R.E. Parkes, July 18th 1955
4) Tundra Gold Mines Limited, in Western Miner June 1964: Byrne, et all, pg 29
5)Western Miner, November 1958, pg 56
6) Tundra Gold Mines Limited, in Western Miner June 1964: Byrne, et all, pg 32
7) Barrenlands Gold, in North Sept/Oct 1964: A.T. Jordan, pg 13-14
8) Tundra Gold Mines Limited, in Western Miner June 1964: Byrne, et all, pg 34
9) Tundra Gold Mines Limited: Annual Report for the year ended March 31st 1967

General Sources

+ Botsford: Mine Plant Equipment and Buildings at Tundra. Report dated 1973
+ Byrne, Norman et all: Tundra Gold Mines Limited. Western Miner magazine, June 1964
+ Jordan, A.T.: Barrenlands Gold. North magazine, Sept/Oct 1964
+ Osler, Hammond, & Nanton: Taurcanis Mines Limited, Matthews Lake, NWT. Insurance Engineering Report dated September 1960
+ Parkes, R.E.: Bulldog Yellowknife Gold Mines Limited. Report submitted to George Holbrooke, July 18th 1955
+ Tundra to Open in Spring 1964. Western Miner, October 1963
+ Bulldog Yellowknife Gold Mines Limited Annual Report 1950
+ Taurcanis Mines Limited Progress Reports. 1957-1962
+ Taurcanis Mines Limited Annual Reports. 1959-1962
+ Tundra Gold Mines Limited Progress Reports. 1963-1968
+ Tundra Gold Mines Limited Annual Reports. 1963-1969
+ General operation files for Tundra Mine