Canada's mining heritage spans three centuries and three oceans — silver rushes in the Kootenay mountains, nickel in the Sudbury Basin, uranium in the northern Shield and copper smelting towns on the BC coast accessible only by boat. The abandoned mines left behind are some of the most dramatically sited industrial ruins in the world: headframes rising above hoodoo canyons, trolleybus cemeteries in silver ghost towns and asbestos company towns erased from the map. Here are the 5 best abandoned mines in Canada, selected from our Abandoned Places Map Canada — 2,500+ GPS locations across Canada.
1. Cobalt Mining District – Northern Ontario — 1903 Silver Rush, World's Richest Silver Deposit Per Square Mile, Headframes and Mine Buildings Still Standing Throughout the Townsite (Known Location)
The discovery of silver at Cobalt in 1903 triggered one of the most explosive mining booms in Canadian history — a town of 10,000 appeared within years and Cobalt briefly produced more silver per square mile than anywhere on earth. When the richest veins were exhausted in the 1920s, many operations closed; headframes, shaft houses and mine processing buildings still stand throughout the Cobalt townsite and surrounding bush. The Cobalt Mining Museum and several heritage properties preserve the surface infrastructure of a boom that created fortunes and destroyed them within a single generation. The most historically significant abandoned mining district in Ontario.
🔗 Learn more: Wikipedia – Cobalt Ontario
2. Sandon – West Kootenay, BC — 1890s Silver Mining Capital, 5,000 Residents, 85 Brothels, Trolleybus Cemetery, Most Extraordinary Ghost Town in British Columbia (Known Location)
Sandon in BC's West Kootenay was Canada's richest silver mining community in the 1890s — 5,000 residents, 85 brothels, 29 hotels, 28 saloons and two competing railways. A 1955 flood destroyed much of the town; what remained was progressively abandoned. The site is now most famous as a trolleybus cemetery — rows of old Vancouver Brill trolleybuses brought for refurbishment and simply forgotten, rusting in the mountain valley. One of the most extraordinary and most visually unique abandoned mining places in BC.
🔗 Also read: Top 5 Best Abandoned Places in Canada →
3. Bradian – Bridge River Valley, BC — 1930s Gold Mining Settlement Supporting BC's Most Productive Gold Mines, Original Company Housing Still Standing in the Wilderness (Known Location)
Bradian in the Bridge River Valley supported the Bralorne and Pioneer mines — the most productive gold mines in BC history, operational from the 1930s through 1971. The community's original 1930s-1940s company housing, the community hall and the settlement infrastructure remain in the Bridge River Valley wilderness. One of the most discussed and most photographed abandoned mining settlements in BC. GPS coordinates available with our map.
4. Abandoned Canadian Shield Nickel Mine – 1900s-1940s Sudbury Basin Underground Operation, Original Steel Headframe Still Standing 30 Metres Above the Rock Cut, Waste Rock Piles Forming Lunar Landscape (Exclusively on Our Map)
A 1900s-1940s underground nickel mine in the Sudbury Basin — the original steel headframe still standing 30 metres above the rock cut, the shaft house with its period hoist machinery partially intact and the waste rock piles of nickel-bearing ore that create the characteristic lunar landscape of the Sudbury Basin. The Sudbury Basin contains the world's largest known nickel deposit, created by a 1.85-billion-year-old meteorite impact; dozens of smaller mines were abandoned when consolidation concentrated production in fewer large operations. Discover its exact location on our interactive map.
5. Abandoned Alberta Badlands Coal Mine – 1910s-1940s Canyon Wall Underground Operation, Timber-Frame Tipple and Headframe Visible Above the Hoodoo Formations, Red Deer River Valley (Exclusively on Our Map)
A 1910s-1940s underground coal mine cut into the wall of the Drumheller Badlands canyon — the original timber-frame tipple structure where coal was sorted and loaded still standing above the hoodoo formations, the mine portal visible in the canyon face and the coal handling infrastructure partially intact above the Red Deer River. Over 139 mines operated in the Drumheller valley at peak production; the combination of the decaying industrial infrastructure and the extraordinary Badlands geology creates the most visually distinctive abandoned mine landscape in Canada. Featured in our Canadian abandoned places map.
Safety Tips
- Mine shafts: Canada's abandoned mines have thousands of unfenced vertical shafts — never approach ground openings and never enter mine portals without professional equipment and training
- Contamination: mine waste rock and tailings contain heavy metals and in some cases radioactive material — never disturb soil near tailings ponds and always wash hands thoroughly
- Never explore alone — always bring at least one other person
❓ FAQ
What is the most famous abandoned mine in Canada?
The Cobalt Mining District in Northern Ontario — a 1903 silver rush that briefly made Cobalt the richest silver-producing area per square mile on earth. Headframes, shaft houses and mine buildings still stand throughout the townsite.
What is the Sandon trolleybus cemetery?
Rows of Vancouver Brill trolleybuses — used in the city until the 1980s — brought to the Sandon ghost town for planned refurbishment and simply forgotten. They rust in the mountain valley beside the silver mining ruins, making Sandon one of the most photographically extraordinary abandoned places in BC.
Why does Sudbury have a lunar landscape?
A century of nickel and copper smelting released sulphur dioxide that killed vegetation across the Sudbury Basin, combined with the waste rock piles of nickel-bearing ore from hundreds of mines. NASA actually used the Sudbury Basin to train Apollo astronauts; decades of re-greening efforts have restored much of the landscape.
🎯 Summary
Canada's abandoned mines range from an Ontario silver district that briefly produced more silver per square mile than anywhere on earth, to a BC ghost town with a trolleybus cemetery and Badlands coal mines cut into canyon walls of dinosaur-age rock. Each of these 5 abandoned mines in Canada captures a different chapter of the country's extraordinary resource extraction history.
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