Britannia Mine Museum | Tourism Squamish

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The Britannia Mine Museum is a newly transformed, historical destination on Britannia Beach located just 10 minutes south of Squamish. Revitalized in 2010 with a major $14.7-million three-phase redevelopment project, the reinvented Museum celebrates the contribution of mining and minerals to society, the history of the storied Britannia Beach community and the ideas and practices of environmental renewal and sustainability. It promotes mining awareness through fun educational programs, historic collection preservation and insightful public that enables guests to leave with a better understanding of mining in BC; past, present, and future.

The Museum also commemorates the accomplishments and ingenuity of Canada’s mining pioneers and showcases the evolution of the mining industry, its advances and achievements. It highlights Canadian innovation and leadership in sustainable mining and resource development and environmental stewardship.

Quick Historical Facts:

There are 210 km (150 miles) of mining tunnels in the mountain at Britannia.
The two communities in the area, Britannia Beach and Mount Sheer, accounted for a population of 60,000 spanning over 70 years. Men and women came from all parts of the world to live and work in the isolated areas.
Britannia Beach was only accessible by boat from 1904 to 1956 (it took 2 days to travel from Britannia to Vancouver by boat) when they added a rail line to the area. A road was not added until 1958.
Only employees of the mine and their families could live in the community.
The Mine was once the largest copper mine in the British Empire. During its operation (1904 – 1974) more than 50 million tons of ore were produced of which included:
- 650,00 tons of copper
- 137,000 tons of zinc
- 17,000 tons of lead
- 500,000 ounces of gold
- 6 million ounces of silver
- 1.55 million lbs of cadmium
Mining in BC currently employs more than 6,400 and generates more than $4 billion in annual revenue.