Renewable Energy For Our Future
Located approximately 60 kilometers southwest of Stewart, British Columbia on the shores of Observatory Inlet, Anyox was the location of rich lodes of copper and other precious metals. Hydroelectric facilities were first constructed on Anyox Creek in 1910 to support the mining and smelting operations in the adjacent Hidden Creek drainage basin. A large dam, pipelines and a powerhouse were constructed and operated to provide both electricity and compressed air to the village and smelter.
However, in 1935 the mine and the associated power project were shut down. For safety reasons, the concrete arch storage dam was breached with several small holes near its base in several locations to permit water flow and to prevent overtopping of the storage dam. During the late 1930’s and early 1940’s large scale salvage operations systematically removed all equipment and structural steel from Anyox, leaving behind the bones of the former town of 3,000 residents.
A massive forest fire in 1946 swept clean the remains of Anyox leaving behind only the major concrete and steel structures which are still in evidence today.
The remains of the mine and its components were eventually sold to Cominco. Today, the only commercial activity at the Anyox site (with the exception of the road building program by Anyox Hydro Electric Corp.) is a surface mining operation run by True Grit abrasives. True Grit Abrasives mines the smelter slag pile for industrial abrasives on a seasonal basis. The jet black silica slag pile was formerly the site of a nine hole golf course and evidence of the old tee boxes and ceramic tile slag gutters still exist.