Asbestos was discovered here in 1876 and the rest is history. The region was the largest producer of asbestos in the Western World until the closure of the last mine in 2012. Former mine pits in Thetford Mines, Black Lake, and Asbestos can be viewed from observation points. Yes, there was so much Asbestos that they name a town after the mineral.
Asbestos 
Pile of rocks from the British Canadian Mine 
Black Lake
Minéro, a museum on the history and use of asbestos around the world also chronicles the townsfolk’s health concerns over the years. Alarms were raised as early as the 1910s on the dust produced by the mines, the combined effects of poor air and water quality led to high infant mortality rates.
Minéro 
Minéro
It took decades for miners to lobby for strict workers’ protection and fair compensation. The Workers’ Compensation Act was passed in 1931 and asbestosis was recognized in 1943. Unions went on strike in 1949 and 1975 to demand dust-free work sites. It wasn’t until the 1980s when air filters were finally introduced.
The Carey Mine was closed in 1986, the Beaver Mine in 1995, the British Canadian Mine in 1997 and the Diamond Lake Mine in 2012. The British Canadian Mine is now the site of another mine museum focused on the technical aspects of the mine – KB3. I highly recommend visitors purchase combo tickets to both museums.
Workshop 
Workshop
The mine shop was built in 1939 for the blacksmiths to make and repair equipment for miners and maintain other buildings. The hoist building, also built in 1939, houses electric motors that provide power to the mine elevators that transport people and ore between the tunnels and the surface.
Hoist building 
Headframe 
British Canadian Mine 
Mine tunnel
The headframe covers the mine elevator and its cables, they are usually icons of underground mines. This particular one is 46 metres tall and drilled down to almost 460 metres – ten times the height of the tower.
