Sullivan Mine

 museum, railway, lead production / processing, zinc mine/processing, silver mine

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Cominco's Sullivan mine was for many decades the largest lead-zinc-silver mine in the world. Discovered in 1892, the mine operated from 1907 to 2001, producing 8 million tonnes each of lead and zinc metal and 280 million ounces of silver (together worth over $40 billion at today's prices) from over 140 million tonnes of ore.

A mining interpretive centre has being developed below the old 1915 mine entrance in Mark Creek valley, and includes a ride on a mining railway including a trip underground, mining show, equipment, exhibits in the old powerhouse building, and a historic miner's cabin.

www.kimberleysundergroundminingrailway.ca/

To the northwest of the powerhouse is a a former open pit that operated through the 1950s-60s. During mine reclamation, the pit was filled in with waste rock and capped with compacted till and soil to prevent leaching of acidic water and contaminants. Another, much larger cleared area was the site of the main headframe and more recent mine buildings.

North of this is an area covered with several small craters, these are subsidence areas above the mine. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsidence
In this area the orebody was quite thick and also close to the surface, and was mined by the old technique of room and pillar, without any backfill materials added to replace the ore mined. When the pillars were removed in later years, the surface collapsed because there was nothing left to hold it up. Since the ground is unstable and quite likely to experience more cave-ins, Teck Cominco has permanently closed off this area (90 hectares) with high chain link fencing.