{{Short description|Kidd Township, Timmins area, Ontario}} {{Infobox mine | name = Kidd Mine | image = Kidd Mine 2.JPG | width = 270px | caption = | pushpin_map = Ontario | pushpin_label = Kidd Mine | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Ontario | coordinates = {{Coord|48|41|20|N|81|21|55|W|region:CA-ON|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | place = [[Timmins]] | subdivision_type = [[Provinces of Canada|Province]] | state/province = [[Ontario]] | country = [[Canada]] | owner = [[Glencore]] Inc. (2013– )<br>[[Xstrata]] (2006–2013)<br>[[Falconbridge Ltd.]] (1986–2006)<br>[[Canada Development Corporation]] (1981–1986)<br>[[Texas Gulf Sulfur Company]] (1963–1981) | official website = {{URL|www.kiddoperations.ca}} | acquisition year = 2013 (takeover of Xstrata) | products = [[Zinc]], [[copper]] and [[silver]] concentrates | financial year = 2019<ref name="glencore2019">{{cite web |title=Full Year 2019 Production Report |url=https://www.glencore.com/dam/jcr:73ac9a15-0400-4b6a-a440-285ab245dece/GLEN_2019-Q4_ProductionReport.pdf |publisher=Glencore |accessdate=24 March 2020 |location=Baar, Switzerland |page=12 |date=4 February 2020 |archive-date=2 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602154028/https://www.glencore.com/dam/jcr:73ac9a15-0400-4b6a-a440-285ab245dece/GLEN_2019-Q4_ProductionReport.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> | amount = Zinc (t): 67,600<br>Copper (t): 33,500<br> Silver (oz): 1,654,000 | opening year = 1966 | closing year = }}
'''Kidd Mine''' or '''Kidd Creek Mine''' is an underground [[base metal]] (copper-zinc-silver) mine {{convert|24|km|abbr=on}} north of [[Timmins, Ontario|Timmins]], [[Ontario]], Canada. It is owned and operated by Swiss multinational [[Glencore]] Inc. The ore deposit was discovered in 1959 by [[Texas Gulf Sulfur Company]]. Exploration drilling at the Kidd site began in November 1963. In 1981, it was sold to [[Canada Development Corporation]], then sold in 1986 to [[Falconbridge Ltd.]], which in 2006 was acquired by [[Xstrata]], which in turn merged with Glencore in 2013. [[Ore]] from the Kidd Mine is processed into [[Ore concentrate|concentrate]] at the [[Kidd Metallurgical Site]], located {{convert|27|km|mi|abbr=on}} southeast of the mine,<ref name="strike">{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/Business/article/509443|title=Strike begins at Xstrata's Ontario plant|date=Oct 1, 2008|publisher=The Toronto Star|accessdate=2009-04-11}}</ref> which until 2010 also [[Smelting|smelted]] the ore and refined the metal produced. Following the closure of most of the Met Site, concentrate is now shipped to Quebec for processing.<ref>[[Kidd Metallurgical Site]]</ref> Kidd Mine is the world's [[Extremes on Earth#Subterranean|deepest mine below sea level]] ({{convert|2733|m|0|abbr=on}} below sea level) as well as the deepest copper-zinc mine ({{convert|3014|m|ft|abbr=on}} below the surface).<ref name="supersized">{{cite journal|last=Diekmeyer|first=Peter|title=A supersized combo|journal=CIM Magazine|publisher=[[Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum]]|location=[[Montreal]]|volume=4|issue=2|pages=54–57|issn=1718-4177}}</ref>
== History == An aerial [[geophysical survey]], conducted by [[Texas Gulf Sulfur Company|Texas Gulf Sulphur Company]] in March 1959, indicated an anomaly in the Kidd-55 segment warranting ground investigation. A ground electromagnetic survey was conducted in October 1963 and a drill rig started drilling a 600-foot [[core sample]] in November. The core, later confirmed by the Union [[Assay]] Office in Salt Lake City, showed an average copper content of 1.15%, an average zinc content of 8.64%, and 3.94 ounces of silver per ton. A second hole was drilled in March 1964, followed by two more in early April. The copper-zinc-silver ore deposit at Kidd Mine discovery was announced in a [[press release]] after the [[board of directors]] meeting on 16 April 1964. Seven drill holes indicated an [[ore]] body 800 feet long, 300 feet wide, and a vertical depth of 800 feet.<ref name=John>{{cite book |last1=Brooks |first1=John |title=Business Adventures |date=2014 |publisher=Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. |location=New York |isbn=9781497644892 |pages=138–146, 148, 150–162}}</ref><ref name="Barnes">{{cite book|last1=Barnes|first1=Michael|title=Fortunes in the Ground|date=1986|publisher=The Boston Mills Press|location=Erin, Ontario|isbn=091978352X|page=140}}</ref>
During the initial exploration of the site, then known as Kidd-55, officers of the company engaged in [[Insider trading#Court decisions|insider trading]] in Texas Gulf shares.<ref name=brooks>{{cite magazine|last=Brooks|first=John|title=A Reasonable Amount of Time|magazine=The New Yorker|date=November 9, 1968|pages=160–188}}</ref> The ensuing lawsuit by the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] resulted in a [[SEC v. Texas Gulf Sulphur Co.|landmark decision]] that established the right of all market participants to have "relatively equal access to material information."<ref name=SEC_Historical>{{cite web|author=Securities and Exchange Commission Historical Society|title=Fair To All People: The SEC and the Regulation of Insider Trading|url=http://www.sechistorical.org/museum/galleries/it/takeCommand_c.php}}</ref>
The mine began ore production in 1966, as an open pit mine and eventually evolved into an underground mine. The mine produces copper, zinc, and several other metals.<ref name="supersized"/><ref name="extend">{{Cite news | last = Kerawala | first = Minaz | title = Xstrata Copper to extend Kidd mine with fresh investment | newspaper = CIM Magazine | pages =20 | date = September–October 2008 }}</ref>
The mine has the oldest-known flowing water on Earth. A billion-year-old water sample collected from the mine was added to the collection at [[Ingenium]] in [[Ottawa]] on November 25, 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ingeniumcanada.org/channel/articles/messages-in-a-bottle-ancient-water-in-the-ingenium-collection|title=Messages in a bottle: Ancient water in the Ingenium collection | the Channel}}</ref>
== Geology == [[File:Kidd Mine.jpg|thumb|left|[[Open-pit mining|Open pit]] at Kidd Mine. [[Volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposit]] formed 2.7 billion years ago on an ancient [[Seabed|seafloor]].]] The Kidd deposit is one of the largest [[volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposit]]s in the world and one of the world's largest base metal deposits.<ref name="supersized"/> It lies within the [[Abitibi greenstone belt]].<ref>[http://www.millstreammines.com/AreaGeology.html On Geology and Ore Deposits of the Timmins District, Ontario] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529161342/http://millstreammines.com/AreaGeology.html |date=2016-05-29 }}. Geological Survey of Canada (open file 2161, field trip 6)</ref>
== Current operation == Kidd Mine and Met Site collectively employ approximately 850 employees and contractors. In 2008, the company committed to investing $120 million to extend the production to 2017, and deepen the mine to {{convert|9600|ft|m}}.<ref name="supersized"/><ref name="extend" /> The investment would add 3.4 million tonnes of ore into the mine plan. The expansion included the development of three additional production levels and deepening the ramp from the 9100 level to the 9600 level, where the [[loading pocket]] is located. This included an extension of the [[underground mine ventilation|ventilation]] and [[backfill]] systems to the new sections of the mine. The mine's expected production life has since been extended to 2021.<ref name="supersized"/> In 2019, exploration drills were set up on the 9,800 level to search out and define the new ore zone.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/regional-news/timmins/is-there-new-life-for-kidd-mine-1510179|title = Is there new life for Kidd Mine?}}</ref>
== Depth == Kidd is the deepest [[base metal]] mine in the world. The bottom of N° 4 shaft at Kidd Creek Mine D is {{convert|3014.3|m|ft}} below the surface,<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.kiddoperations.ca/EN/Pages/home.aspx | title=Home | Kidd Operations | access-date=2022-02-01 | archive-date=2020-03-02 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302114244/https://www.kiddoperations.ca/en/Pages/home.aspx | url-status=dead }}</ref> {{convert|2735|m|ft}} [[below sea level]], the deepest accessible non-marine point on Earth.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Werniuk |first1=Jane |title=The Reno |journal=Canadian Mining Journal |date=1 January 2007 |url=http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/features/the-reno/ |accessdate=23 March 2020 |location=Toronto, ON}}</ref><ref name=godkincmj>{{cite news|author= Godkin, David |url= http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/features/being-safe-is-no-accident/ |title= Being safe is no accident |date= 1 February 2014 |newspaper= Canadian Mining Journal }}</ref>
== See also == * [[List of mines in Ontario]] * [[Volcanology of Canada]] * [[Volcanology of Eastern Canada]] * [[Coleman Mine]]
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Sources == * Hannington, M. D., and Barrie, C. T., editors, (1999). The Giant Kidd Creek Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide Deposit, Western Abitibi Subprovince, Canada: Economic Geology Monograph 10, The Giant Kidd Creek Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide Deposit, Western Abitibi Subprovince, Canada. 672 p. * John Brooks, "Annals of Finance: A Reasonable Amount of Time," ''The New Yorker,'' Nov. 9, 1968, p. 160. ** Reprinted in John Brooks, ''Business Adventures.'' New York: Weybright & Talley, 1969. Ch. 4, pp. 118–144.
== External links == {{Commons category}} * {{Official website|www.kiddoperations.ca}}
[[Category:Copper mines in Ontario]] [[Category:Mines in Timmins]] [[Category:Volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposits]] [[Category:Xstrata]] [[Category:Zinc mines in Canada]] [[Category:Silver mines in Canada]]