Rossland Mining Museum

Le Roi Mine - Rossland Museum and Gold Mine Tour

Useful Information

Location:	Rossland, at the Junction of Highways 3B and 22.
Open:	Mine Tour: closed. Museum: Mid-MAY to mid-SEP daily 9-17. [2012]
Fee:	Mine Tour: closed. Museum: Adults CAD 10, Children (6-13) CAD 3, Children (0-5) free, Seniors (60+) CAD 8, Students CAD 5, Family CAD 28. Groups (16+): available with pre booking only. [2012]
Classification:	Gold Mine
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:	L=128,000 m, T=7 °C.
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:	Anon (1995): The Story in the Rocks, The Geology of Rossland, B.C..
Address:	Rossland Mining Museum, P.O. Box 26, Rossland BC, V0G 1Y0, Tel: +1-250-362-7722, Free: +1-888-448-7444, Fax: +1-250-362-5379. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

JUL-1890	gold discovered by Joe Moris and his partner Bourgeois.
1891	trial shipment of seven tons of ore to Trail Creek landing by mule-back, by river steamer and railway to Butte, Montana.
1892	wagon road to Northport constructed.
1893	wagon road to Trail Creek Landing constructed.
1895	War Eagle and Centre Star claim hit rich ore.
1895	F. Augustus Heinze from Montana built a smelter at Trail Creek Landing and a narrow gauge railway to Rossland named Trail Creek Tramway.
1897	population increased to 7,000, town had 42 saloons and 17 law firms.
1901	Miners' Union Strike and disastrous collapse of Whittaker Wright's infamous financial empire.
1902	peak-production year for the Rossland mines.
1902	City of Rossland burned down.
1905	Centre Star powder house exploded.
1905	Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company (Cominco) created by the amalgamation of the War Eagle and Centre Star mines.
1911	Le Roi puchased by Cominco.
1929	mine closed.
1934	Cominco holdings thrown open for leasing as a depression relief aid.
1954	Rossland Museum established by the Rossland Rotary Club in the Rossland Court House.
1967	present museum building opened.
2009	underground tour closed for security reasons.
2012	underground tour will not be reopened, interactive exhibition planned.

Geology

The Rossland Monzonite is the host rock for the gold. Located in the area of an orogenic process, the formation of a mountain chain, during the last 190 million years, the volcanic rocks of the Rossland Volcano have been buried, deformed, metamorphosed and finally uplifted again. The result is the Rossland Monzonite intrusion, which extends along the valley from Warfield up to just west of Rossland. It has been deeply eroded by Trail Creek.

Description

The Rossland Museum consitst of the Visitor Center, the Mining Museum and the Le Roi Mine Tour. The Rossland Mining Museum adjacent to the Visitor center has displays on local history, geology, the mining, the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company (Cominco), and the West Kootenay Power. There is an extensive collection of rocks and minerals from all over the world with a hands on rock specimen display. There is historical geologic and ore processing equipment. The museum offers an introduction to mining history and the geology of the area for grade 11 through university level student groups.

The tour into Le Roi Mine (ake Leroi Mine) starts at the entrance to the museum. Then the visitors walk up to the mine where they are equipped with helmets. From the entrance the group follows the main haulage way for 240 m to the intersection with the Le Roi shaft. The next stop is an underground hoist room with repair shop and forge. In a large side chamber an early diamond drill machine is shown. There are several stopes, a miners term for mined out ore bodies.

The Rossland Museum mine tour was closed in 2009, after an inquiry by a geotechnical firm which revealed security issues. The Black Bear adit, which was used for the show mine, was restored at the cost of CAD 165,000. But unfortunately the works revealed that the costs for the complete restoration were much too high. In 2012 the decision was made, not to reopen the mine but to replace it by an interactive tourist attraction, a virtual mine tour. A feasibility study for the new exhibition is made in 2012, at the same time the adit will be filled in for security reasons.