Bethlehem Copper

Bethlehem Copper mined low-grade copper in the Highland Valley, southeast of Ashcroft. Production started in 1962 after a Sumitomo financing deal. The 1974 report listed the Huestis pit and ground next to Valley Copper. It was the first large low-grade open-pit copper mine in western Canada.

Bethlehem opened the Highland Valley as a copper camp and shipped concentrate, including to Japan.

Why it mattered

Bethlehem opened the Highland Valley as a copper camp and shipped concentrate (including to Japan). The pits and mill were the base that Cominco later used for Valley ore and that became part of Highland Valley Copper, still B.C.’s largest copper mine.

Now

Cominco bought Bethlehem in 1981. The Bethlehem pits stopped in 1982. Cominco and Lornex formed Highland Valley Copper in 1986. Teck, after the Cominco merger, now owns that mine outright.

Sold (1981) · Now: Cominco / Highland Valley Copper (Teck Resources)