The Abandoned Mines Project was created to study the historical impacts of abandoned mines on First Nations communities in northern Canada. Our goal is to highlight the social and environmental changes that large mining projects brought to northern communities and the ongoing impact of these mines after they were abandoned. We see abandoned mines as living historical landscapes, places where human activities from decades ago continue to have environmental impacts in the present day.
Our work will focus on five major case studies:
- Pine Point Mine, NWT
- Giant Mine, NWT
- Port Radium, NWT
- Keno Hill Silver Mine, YK
- Labrador/Quebec Iron Ore Belt
Our work is funded through the “Northern Communities” program of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSRHC).
The Website
This website will introduce you to the subject of abandoned mines. You can explore the site and find out more about us and our research through text, images, and video. There is also a page of links to project partners, mining reports, and other agencies working on the issue of northern mines.
Featured image: Abandoned mine in Yellowknife, 2010. Photo by TravelingOtter on Wikimedia Commons.

Latest posts by NiCHE Administrators (see all)
- Rural History Roundtable Fall 2023 Speaker Series – University of Guelph - September 18, 2023
- World Congress of Environmental History 2024 – Call for Papers and Posters - June 26, 2023
- Call for Applications: Black Indigenous Waterways Postdoctoral Fellowship - June 7, 2023
- 2023 Winner of Best Article/Chapter in Canadian Environmental History Prize - June 1, 2023
- Job – Lecturer in Environmental History, Newcastle University - June 1, 2023
- Canada’s First Oil Boom: Kerosene Lighting in Canada, 1846-1920 - May 18, 2023
- Petrolias, Then & Now: Exploring Change & Continuity in the Ethics of Extraction - May 18, 2023
- Online Event – Decolonizing Ourselves: Legislating Broken Promises, Past and Present - May 1, 2023
- CFC – The Routledge Handbook of Health and Environmental Humanities - February 22, 2023
- WEBINAR: Supporting Modern Environmental Research with Digital Primary Sources - February 2, 2023