Series 2000.1.2 - Cartographic Material

Cassiar Asbestos Corporation Limited (CAC) was established in 1951 by the parent company Conwest Exploration Company Limited. CAC opened an asbestos mine and mill in 1952 in northern BC and constructed a townsite for its workers. Because Cassiar was unincorporated, CAC provided municipal services (sewer, water, electricity, medical, educational, community and retail.) Cassiar town holdings include administrative, housing, school, hospital, and retail store records. For 40 years Cassiar was a thriving one-industry town of 1200+ people. In the late 1950s, CAC began active efforts to find and acquire another asbestos deposit for the company. In 1957 such a deposit was discovered in the Yukon Territory, and acquired by CAC. By 1967 CAC had begun construction of a second mine, plant, and town in what became known as Clinton Creek. For most of its history the Cassiar operation was an open-pit mine, but in 1988 it began construction of an underground mine which became operational in 1990. The unprofitability of this underground operation contributed to the corporation’s bankruptcy in 1992. Most employees were laid off and in September the entire town, mine, and mill infrastructure was auctioned off by Maynard Industries, Vancouver.