Le Roi Mine - Rossland, BC
N 49° 04.740 W 117° 48.854
11U E 440539 N 5436557
The Le Roi Mine was one of five mines that once operated in Red Mountain near the town of Rossland, BC.
Waymark Code: WM6ZAK
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 08/09/2009
Views: 8
The claims that would become the Le Roi were filed in 1890. In 1981 some seven tons of ore was sent to a smelter in Spokane WA and although the costs of production and transport ate up all profit from the ore it showed enough potential to continue development.
By 1895, 2 other mines had started production on Red Mountain and they along with the Le Roi had found rich ore within the ancient volcano that made up the mineral content of the mountain. The boom was on and the town of Rossland would swell to 7000, with 42 saloons and 17 law firms. A smelter was built in the town of Trail that would start to use some of the ore produced from the Rossland mines.
The mines would eventually be consolidated and all the mines would be joined physically and jointly produced ore until their closure in 1929. In the end, 6,000,000 tons of ore was removed valued at $125,000,000. There is close 80 miles of tunnels and workings left behind inside of Red Mountain.
Today the mining legacy lives on in the history of the area and through the efforts by museums like the Rossland museum. The tour is available May to September. It takes about an hour and if you take it, dress warm, it is only 8 degrees Celsius in the mine. A fee is required. The tour actually enters Red Mountain through the Black Bear mine entrance but because it connects to the Le Roi, you walk past the location of the vertical shaft that went to the top of the mountain.