Gold in Manitoba

Introduction Gold holds an important place among the mineral products of Manitoba. In value, it ranks second only to copper, which in 1931 attained first place. The gold production increased from 23,189 fine ounces in 1930 to 102,969fine ounces in 1931. The production for 1930, worth $479,359, came almost entirely from the Central Manitoba mine. The production for 1931 was worth $2,128,558, of which $1,509,018 came from the Flin Flon mine, $528,951 from the Central Manitoba, and $83,497 from the Sherritt Gordon. The Gem Lake mine and some prospects produced $7,785. The total output of gold in Manitoba, from the first recorded production in 1917 to the end of 1931, is estimated at 178,669 fine ounces, valued at $3,693,332. The production for 1932 promises to reach a new high record, due chiefly to the stepping-up of tonnage at the Flin Flon plants and the coming into production of the San Antonio mill in May. History The Manitoba Act, constituting Manitoba a Province of the Dominion, was passed in 1870 and provided for the vesting in the Crown of all un-granted or waste lands of Manitoba, as well as for the administration of these lands by the Dominion of Canada for the purposes of the Dominion "subject to, and except and so far as the same may be affected by, the conditions and stipulations contained in the agreement for the surrender of Rupert's Land by the Hudson's Bay Company to the Crown". Included in these waste lands were large areas later prospected and staked out as mineral lands. Up to the year 1912, that vast territory extending from the 12th base line to the 60th parallel of latitude, and from the Saskatchewan boundary to Hudson bay, was part of the District of Keewatin. Although added to Manitoba in 1912, the administration of its mineral lands also remained vested in the Dominion, so that all mineral lands within the Province upon which deposits of gold ore have been found were disposed of and administered by the Mineral Lands Division, Department of the Interior, until the transfer of the natural resources to the Province of Manitoba, on July 15th, 1930.