Faro, Yukon
Encyclopedia
Faro is a small town
in the central Yukon
, Canada
, formerly the home of the largest open pit lead
–zinc
mine in the world as well as a significant producer of silver and other natural resource ventures. The mine was built by the Ralph M. Parsons Construction Company of the USA with General Enterprises Ltd. of Whitehorse being the main subcontractor. Currently (June 2007) the population is 400, considerably lower than its peak of over 2,100 in February 1982. Faro was named after the card game
.
Though these industries have declined over the past decade, Faro is attempting to attract eco-tourists
to the region to view such animals as Dall's Sheep and Stone's Sheep—a species of mountain sheep almost unique to the surrounding area. Several viewing platforms have been constructed in and around the town.
One unique feature of Faro is that it has a golf course running through the main part of town. Residents are also treated to frequent sightings of wildlife.
Lorne Greene
, famous for his work in Bonanza, once narrated a film about Faro called A New World In the Yukon.
Al Kulan was murdered in 1977 by a person diagnosed by a psychiatrist called by his defense counsel at trial as having a "paranoid personality disorder compounded by alcohol abuse" and who had a list of people he wanted to kill including the Commissioner of the Yukon. The murderer had no mining connection with Kulan. The victim, who was living in Vernon, B.C. at the time, was actively involved in mineral exploration at the time of his death and was in Ross River to prospect an area nearby.
A forest fire in 1969 destroyed the beautiful newly-built homes, and work had to start all over again. The mine remained in more-or-less constant production until 1982. Trucks carried the ore concentrate from the mill by highway to Whitehorse
, where the buckets were lifted from the trucks and lowered onto cars of the White Pass and Yukon Route
railway. The trains took the buckets another 106 miles to Skagway, Alaska
, where the contents were poured out into the holds of ships. During those years, Cyprus Anvil was purchased by Dome Petroleum
.
World prices for metals fell in 1982, and the mine owners announced in May a two-month halt to production starting in June, 1982. In July, the mine owners extended the shutdown to four months. In September, the owners announced that the shutdown would be indefinite.
Under new ownership, and with government funding, a waste-rock stripping operation began in 1985, and under new owners, Curragh Resources, production resumed in 1986. This time, ore was trucked in ore pots from Faro directly to Skagway, bypassing the railway. This operation ended in 1993 not long after Curragh Resources suffered a coal mining disaster at the Westray Mine
in Plymouth, Pictou County, Nova Scotia
. A third operation, by the Anvil Range Mining Corporation, opened in 1995 and ceased production in January 1998, followed by the bankruptcy of Anvil Range. Much of the heavy mining and milling equipment was sold and removed from the Yukon.
Any prospect for further mining of the lead-zinc resource would now require significant investment to bring in mining equipment, and it would need to come entirely by road unless a B.C.-Alaska railway is built or the White Pass route is reopened to freight traffic to Whitehorse. Cost of cleanup is estimated at close to a billion dollars.
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in the central Yukon
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, formerly the home of the largest open pit lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
–zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
mine in the world as well as a significant producer of silver and other natural resource ventures. The mine was built by the Ralph M. Parsons Construction Company of the USA with General Enterprises Ltd. of Whitehorse being the main subcontractor. Currently (June 2007) the population is 400, considerably lower than its peak of over 2,100 in February 1982. Faro was named after the card game
Faro (card game)
Faro, Pharaoh, or Farobank, is a late 17th century French gambling card game descendant of basset, and belongs to the lansquenet and Monte Bank family of games, in that it is played between a banker and several players winning or losing according to the cards turned up matching those already...
.
Though these industries have declined over the past decade, Faro is attempting to attract eco-tourists
Ecotourism
Ecotourism is a form of tourism visiting fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas, intended as a low impact and often small scale alternative to standard commercial tourism...
to the region to view such animals as Dall's Sheep and Stone's Sheep—a species of mountain sheep almost unique to the surrounding area. Several viewing platforms have been constructed in and around the town.
One unique feature of Faro is that it has a golf course running through the main part of town. Residents are also treated to frequent sightings of wildlife.
Lorne Greene
Lorne Greene
Lorne Greene , was the stage name of Lyon Himan Green, OC, a Canadian actor.His television roles include Ben Cartwright on the western Bonanza, and Commander Adama in the science fiction movie and subsequent TV Series Battlestar Galactica...
, famous for his work in Bonanza, once narrated a film about Faro called A New World In the Yukon.
History
The area was prospected in the 1950s and 1960s by Al Kulan, credited with discovering several significant deposits of lead and zinc ore and playing a major role in the discovery of the Faro Mine, which became Canada's largest lead-zinc mine. The Cyprus Anvil Mining Corporation established the first operations to mine the deposits, and established the town of Faro. A new highway was built between Carmacks and Ross River to serve the Faro area - initially numbered Highway 9, it is today part of the Robert Campbell Highway, Yukon Highway 4.Al Kulan was murdered in 1977 by a person diagnosed by a psychiatrist called by his defense counsel at trial as having a "paranoid personality disorder compounded by alcohol abuse" and who had a list of people he wanted to kill including the Commissioner of the Yukon. The murderer had no mining connection with Kulan. The victim, who was living in Vernon, B.C. at the time, was actively involved in mineral exploration at the time of his death and was in Ross River to prospect an area nearby.
A forest fire in 1969 destroyed the beautiful newly-built homes, and work had to start all over again. The mine remained in more-or-less constant production until 1982. Trucks carried the ore concentrate from the mill by highway to Whitehorse
Whitehorse, Yukon
Whitehorse is Yukon's capital and largest city . It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1476 on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas occupy both shores of the Yukon River, which originates in British Columbia and meets the Bering Sea in...
, where the buckets were lifted from the trucks and lowered onto cars of the White Pass and Yukon Route
White Pass and Yukon Route
The White Pass and Yukon Route is a Canadian and U.S. Class II narrow gauge railroad linking the port of Skagway, Alaska, with Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon. An isolated system, it has no direct connection to any other railroad. Equipment, freight and passengers are ferried by ship through the...
railway. The trains took the buckets another 106 miles to Skagway, Alaska
Skagway, Alaska
Skagway is a first-class borough in Alaska, on the Alaska Panhandle. It was formerly a city first incorporated in 1900 that was re-incorporated as a borough on June 25, 2007. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city was 862...
, where the contents were poured out into the holds of ships. During those years, Cyprus Anvil was purchased by Dome Petroleum
Dome Petroleum
Dome Petroleum Limited was a Calgary-based petroleum producer in the Alberta oilfields. Jack Gallager joined a group of investors in Dome Exploration Ltd. in 1950 and built it into the major Canadian oil company Dome Petroleum Limited . Gallagher was the sole employee for the first two years...
.
World prices for metals fell in 1982, and the mine owners announced in May a two-month halt to production starting in June, 1982. In July, the mine owners extended the shutdown to four months. In September, the owners announced that the shutdown would be indefinite.
Under new ownership, and with government funding, a waste-rock stripping operation began in 1985, and under new owners, Curragh Resources, production resumed in 1986. This time, ore was trucked in ore pots from Faro directly to Skagway, bypassing the railway. This operation ended in 1993 not long after Curragh Resources suffered a coal mining disaster at the Westray Mine
Westray Mine
The Westray Mine was a coal mine in Plymouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. It was the site of an underground methane explosion on May 9, 1992. The explosion resulted in the deaths of all 26 miners who were working underground at the time.-Background:...
in Plymouth, Pictou County, Nova Scotia
Plymouth, Pictou County, Nova Scotia
Plymouth is a small Canadian rural community in Pictou County, Nova Scotia located approximately 3 km south of the town of New Glasgow. It stretches along Route 348 situated on the east bank of the East River of Pictou, opposite the town of Stellarton....
. A third operation, by the Anvil Range Mining Corporation, opened in 1995 and ceased production in January 1998, followed by the bankruptcy of Anvil Range. Much of the heavy mining and milling equipment was sold and removed from the Yukon.
Any prospect for further mining of the lead-zinc resource would now require significant investment to bring in mining equipment, and it would need to come entirely by road unless a B.C.-Alaska railway is built or the White Pass route is reopened to freight traffic to Whitehorse. Cost of cleanup is estimated at close to a billion dollars.