Steep Rock Lake

Steep Rock Lake was a body of water near the township of Atikokan, northern Ontario, Canada. It was originally fed by the Seine River.

For the community in Manitoba, see Steep Rock.
Steep Rock Lake
Steep Rock Lake
LocationOntario, Canada
Coordinates48.79°N 91.67°W / 48.79; -91.67
Typelake

During World War II, a program was implemented to drain the lake.[1] This diversion of the river allowed open-pit mining of hematite iron ore under the middle arm of the lake by the Inland Steel Company and its subsidiary Caland Ore Canada. By 1949, the site was producing a million tons of ore per year and had an estimated 500 million tons of ore deposits.[2]

This lake was the site of an elaborate UFO hoax in 1950.[3] In 1957, a caribou antler was discovered in the exposed silt. This specimen may have been deposited here by a barren-ground caribou at the end of the last ice age, demonstrating that the species once lived in this region. These caribou are now found much further to the north.[1][4]

References
  1. Nelson, Jon (2009), Quetico: near to nature's heart, Dundurn Press Ltd., p. 62, ISBN 1-55488-396-2
  2. Staff (Oct 24, 1949), "A great new supply of ore", Life: 89
  3. Colombo, John Robert (1999), Mysteries of Ontario, Dundurn Press Ltd., p. 207, ISBN 0-88882-205-7
  4. Bergerud, A. T.; Luttich, Stuart N.; Camps, Lodewijk (2008), The return of caribou to Ungava, McGill-Queen's native and northern series, 50, McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, p. 69, ISBN 0-7735-3233-1

See also
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