{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Burchell Lake | area_footnotes = | area_land_km2 = | area_total_km2 = | access-date = | work = | publisher = | title = | area_magnitude = | area_water_percent = | established_date3 = | established_title3 = | established_date2 = 1967 | established_title2 = Abandoned | established_date = 1961 | established_title = Settled | area_water_km2 = | population_as_of = | leader_title3 = | coordinates = {{coord|48.603|N|90.592|W|region:CA-ON_type:city_dim:5km|display=title}} | website = | area_code = | postal_code = | postal_code_type = | elevation_m = | elevation_footnotes = <!--for references: use <ref> </ref> tags--> | utc_offset_DST = −4 | population_footnotes = | timezone_DST = EDT | utc_offset = −5 | timezone = EST | population_density_km2 = | population_total = 0 | population_note = | leader_name3 = | leader_name2 = | official_name = | image_flag = | image_blank_emblem = | shield_size = | image_shield = | seal_size = | image_seal = | flag_size = | image_caption = | image_map = | image_skyline = | motto = | nickname = | native_name = <!-- for cities whose native name is not in English --> | other_name = | settlement_type = Ghost town | blank_emblem_size = | mapsize = | leader_title2 = | subdivision_type2 = County | leader_name1 = | leader_title1 = | leader_name = | leader_title = | government_type = | subdivision_name2 = Thunder Bay | subdivision_name1 = {{ON}} | map_caption = | subdivision_type1 = Province | subdivision_name = {{CAN}} | subdivision_type = Country | pushpin_mapsize = 200 | pushpin_label_position = top | pushpin_map = Canada Ontario | footnotes = }} '''Burchell Lake''' is a ghost town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located behind a locked gate at the southern end of Highway 802 in the Thunder Bay District.<ref name="ronbrown">Ron Brown, ''Ontario's Ghost Town Heritage''. Boston Mills Press, 2007. {{ISBN|9781550464672}}.</ref>
The town existed only from 1959 to 1967, as a company town, owned by North Coldsteam Mines Limited.
== History == A copper mining town which was active from 1959 to 1967, the town had approximately 400 residents at its peak.<ref name=ghosttown>[https://www.talkingwallsphoto.com/db/Burchell-Lake-(ghost-town)-abandoned-Ontario_location6.html Burchell Lake] at Ontario Abandoned Places.</ref> The Burchell Lake area had seen mineral exploration as early as 1902,<ref>Jon Nelson, ''Quetico: Near to Nature's Heart''. Dundurn Press, 2009. {{ISBN|9781770703957}}. p. 27.</ref> but active development of large-scale mining operations in the area was not economically feasible until the completion of Highway 11 through the region in 1954.<ref name=ghosttown /> After a mine shaft and mill complex was built, the Coldstream Copper Mines company began building a townsite for its workers in 1959.<ref>Robert Matthew Bray and Ashley Thomson, ''At the End of the Shift: Mines and Single-industry Towns in Northern Ontario''. Dundurn Press, 1992. {{ISBN|9781550021509}}. p. 102.</ref> However, the price of copper had fallen sufficiently by 1967 that the mine was no longer profitable, and the site was shut down in 1967. In less than ten years of operations, workers at Burchell Lake had mined an estimated 102 million pounds of ore.<ref name=ghosttown />
A number of recreational cottages are still located in the area.<ref name="ronbrown" />
== Existence as a ghost town == Easily accessible, Burchell Lake remained one of Ontario's best-preserved ghost towns for many years, with many of its buildings still standing at the townsite as of summer 2011.<ref name=ronbrown/> This included a dozen or so houses (some with basements), the original BA gas station, two room school, and collapsed recreation hall.<ref name="ronbrown" /> The baseball cage could also be found with the original scoreboard. Street lamps, a sewer cover, and a fire hydrant also existed. Beginning in 2012 the mine site was remediated by Denison Environmental, with all surface structures demolished, mine openings properly sealed and mine wastes stabilized and covered with biosolids to encourage vegetation growth.
A 40-year community reunion was held in nearby Shebandowan in 2007.<ref>[http://www.burchell-lakereunion.com/ Burchell Lake Reunion] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908072701/http://www.burchell-lakereunion.com/|date=September 8, 2008}}</ref>
== See also ==
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Thunder Bay District}}
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Category:Communities in Thunder Bay District Category:Ghost towns in Northern Ontario Category:Mining communities in Ontario Category:Copper mines in Ontario Category:Company towns in Canada