Copper Mountain Mine

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Copper Mountain Mining Corporation ("CMMC") is a BC resource company that owns the Copper Mountain Mine located 15 km south of the town of Princeton.

The Copper Mountain orebody, which also contained some gold and silver, was first discovered in 1884; in 1923 the Granby Consolidated Mining Smelting and Power Company began large scale undergound mining on the east side of the Similkameen River. That operation, which included a concentrator mill at Allenby and a branch of the Kettle Valley Railway (the Copper Mountain Subdivision) to connect the two, was suspended during the Depression and again in 1957 due to low metal prices and high transportation costs.

Newmont Mining Corporation later purchased Granby's mining interests, and in 1972 started open-pit mining at the Ingerbelle deposit west of the river, building its mill beside Highway 3. Mining then resumed on the Copper Mountain orebodies in 1979, using a conveyor to transport ore across the river. Cassiar Mining (later Princeton Mining) purchased the entire property in 1988 and continued mining until 1996, when again low copper prices forced the mine to close. The operation was known during this time as "Similco Mines".

Now, Copper Mountain Mining has brought the mine back to life for a third time. The company, along with its partner Mitsubishi Materials, built a new concentrator plant and maintenance buildings on the east side of the river adjacent to the open pits, and reopened the mine in spring 2011. Extensive new ore resources have been identified that will keep the mine operating for 20 years or more.