Where is the BC Museum of Mining?
If you've ever driven the Sea to Sky Highway from Vancouver to Whistler, you'll know the BC Museum of Mining. If you've driven the highway in recent years, you'll have witnessed the ongoing changes at Britannia.
The Museum is located in the historic mining village of Britannia Beach, a 45 minute drive north of Vancouver. Fifteen historic buildings and a historic haulage tunnel sit adjacent to our most dominant and admired building, and the cause of our National Historic Site status - Mill 3, a twenty-storey structure built onto the side of the majestic Howe Sound coastal mountains. As one of the last gravity-fed Concentrators in North America, this iconic building received a $5 million two-year exterior renovation 'face lift', completed in 2007 and arguably the most significant visual milestone in the rehabilitation of this former mining community.
You may also be aware of Britannia's environmental legacy. A victim of acid-rock drainage for decades, the site was known as the worst single point discharge of metal pollution to a marine environment in North America. Yet today, it is a shining example of environmental stewardship in action. The EPCOR Britannia Mine Water Treatment Plant has turned this legacy on its head, evidence of advances in ethics, science, technology and industry.
