Pine Point, Northwest Territories

Pine Point, Northwest Territories

Pine Point was the townsite built at the Pine Point Mine in the Northwest Territories, Canada, which was an open-pit lead and zinc mine.

The first buildings were erected in 1952 during the original exploration and development campaign, and even before that a number of log cabins had been built in the late 1920s. The modern town was surveyed in 1962 and became operational by 1963.

The town was a joint-venture between the Canadian Government and mine owner's Cominco. It became a territorial settlement in the 1970s with private businesses and boasted a population of 1,200 at its peak. Pine Point had an elementary school (kindergarten to grade 6)--Galena Heights—and a grade 7 to 12 school, called Matonabbee School. The last graduating class was in 1988 as the mine was closing.

More than 15 million tonnes grading over 7% zinc plus lead (about 5 years of normal production) was deleted from the 1985 and 1986 ore reserves

The town was served by Northwest Territories Highway 5 and by a railway line owned by Canadian National Railway. It also had an airport.

Cominco closed the mine in 1988, forcing the single-industry town to close. All buildings were removed or demolished, and today the site is completely abandoned, although there is still evidence of the street layout.

Pine Point is the subject of a 2011 web documentary Welcome to Pine Point, created by Michael Simons and Paul Shoebridge and produced by the National Film Board of Canada. The web documentary includes audiovisual material and mementos compiled by ex-Pine Point resident Richard Cloutier for his own website, Pine Point Revisited.