Among the glacial barrens and rolling hills of Yarmouth County, lies the East Kemptville Tin District, a once-promising but now forgotten part of
Canada’s mining past.
Discovered by Shell in 1978, limited regional exploration and less than 20,000 metres of drilling successfully defined a large tonnage open-pit deposit.
Recognizing the district’s potential, Rio Algom acquired the project in 1982 and fast-tracked a feasibility study and development of an open pit mine.
By 1985, East Kemptville became North America’s only primary tin mine, producing up to 4,000 tonnes of tin per year plus copper and zinc byproducts.
Despite technical success, a sustained 50% collapse in global tin prices - driven by Asian oversupply - caused the mine to close prematurely in 1992 after only seven years out of a 17-year life of mine.
Today, although the mine buildings have been demolished and site partially reclaimed, the East Kemptville District has extensive resource potential and still hasn’t seen any systematic follow-up on numerous regional high-grade drill intercepts.
