Mining: Aggregate
Martin Marietta Inc. is the second largest construction aggregates producer in the United States and its District of Guysborough quarry is its only Canadian aggregates operation. The quarry is located on tidewater within the Strait of Canso. Production at the facility has increased significantly in recent years.
The operation furnishes material via self-unloading ships and barges to customers in Nova Scotia, the Eastern and Gulf Coasts of the United States and the Caribbean.
The Strait of Canso is among Canada's busiest ports. The current terminal is capable of handling bulk carrier vessels up to 70,000-tonne capacity. The facility employs over 100 people. Products lines include fine aggregates, coarse aggregates, granular materials, and drainage materials
Black Point Quarry
A second aggregate quarry, at Black Point near Canso, is proposed. Vulcan Materials, the United States’ largest producer of construction aggregates, plans to develop the Black Point Quarry Project as an aggregate quarry and marine terminal. The project consists of quarry development and aggregate production on an undeveloped, 354-hectare property, along with the construction and operation of a marine terminal adjacent to the quarry in Chedabucto Bay.
Processed aggregate will be off-loaded into Panamax-size bulk carriers and transported to ports along the eastern and Gulf coast of the United States, and potentially to markets in Canada and the Caribbean.
The Black Point location is sheltered and ice-free, enabling construction of a deep-water marine terminal.
Gold
The Municipality has a rich gold mining history. Some of the most successful gold mines in the province were at Hurricane Pt., Upper Seal Harbour and the vicinity of Goldboro. Today, gold mining is coming back, with new technologies expanding the size of previously known deposits.
In early 2021, Anaconda Mining Inc. announced that its original estimate of approximately 1.4 million ounces of gold deposits on its Goldboro property had ballooned to more than 2.75 million ounces – after an extensive drilling and exploration process completed in 2020. The CEO called it a “top-tier gold deposit” – the second largest undeveloped deposit in Atlantic Canada.
Plans for the company’s Goldboro Gold Project now include a full-scale milling facility that would produce partially refined gold bars. Anaconda is currently seeking environmental approval for an open-pit mine with a nine-year anticipated life-span, transitioning to an underground mine.
Along with gold, deposits of rare earth metals are being uncovered with regularity and mounting interest.
The Registry of Mineral and Petroleum Rights of the Department of Natural Resources, issues Mineral Exploration licenses within the province. An up to date map on the licenses issued within the Municipality may be downloaded and reviewed at
http://www.gov.ns.ca/natr/meb/one/rmt-home.asp