Editing Elliot Lake (section)

===Uranium mining===
{{Main|Uranium mining in the Elliot Lake area}}
The city was established as a [[planned community]] for the [[mining industry]] in 1955 after the discovery of [[uranium]] in the area, and named after the small lake on its northern edge. By the late 1950s, its population had grown to about 25,000.<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|title=Elliot Lake Journal: Snug Retiree Haven Where Uranium Mine Stood|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/03/world/elliot-lake-journal-snug-retiree-haven-where-uranium-mine-stood.html |author=Clyde H. Farnsworth |newspaper=The New York Times |date=Jun 3, 1996 }}</ref> It was originally incorporated as an improvement district. Geologist [[Franc Joubin]] and American financier [[Joseph Hirshhorn]] were instrumental in its founding. The principal mining companies were [[Denison Mines]] and [[Rio Algom]]. The population has varied with several boom-and-bust cycles from the 1950s to the 1990s, from a high of over 26,000 to a low of about 6,600.

By 1958 it was apparent that world production of uranium was far outstripping demand and Canadian producers received unofficial notice that US options on Canadian uranium production between 1962 and 1966 would not be exercised. This was confirmed in 1959.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hunter |first1=William D.G. |title=The Development of the Canadian Uranium Industry: An Experiment in Public Enterprise |journal=The Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science |date=1962 |volume=28 |issue=3 |page=349 |doi=10.2307/139666 |publisher=Canadian Economics Association|jstor=139666 }}</ref>

During the 1970s, federal plans for [[CANDU Reactor]]s and [[Ontario Hydro]]'s interest in atomic energy led the town, anticipating a population of 30,000, to expand again. However, by the early 1990s depleted reserves and low prices caused the last mines in the area to close.

====Area uranium mines====
* [[Stanleigh Mine]] (1956–1960 and 1982–1997), operated by Rio Algom Ltd., produced 14 million tons{{Vague|long tons, short tons, or metric tons?|date=March 2008}} of ore.
* [[Spanish American Mine]] (1957–1959), operated by Rio Algom Ltd., produced 79,000 [[long ton|tons]] of ore.<ref>{{Cite web|author = Rio Algom Ltd|title = Elliot Lake Uranium Mine Site Reclamation: Information Package|url = http://www.denisonenvironmental.com/en/rehab/Content/PDF%20Folder/Elliot%20Lake%20Info%20Package.pdf|year = 2001|access-date = 2009-01-28|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110709012735/http://www.denisonenvironmental.com/en/rehab/Content/PDF%20Folder/Elliot%20Lake%20Info%20Package.pdf|archive-date = 2011-07-09}}</ref>
* [[Can-Met Mine]] (1957–1960), operated by Denison Mines Ltd., produced 2.6 million tons{{Vague|long tons, short tons, or metric tons?|date=March 2008}} of ore.
* [[Milliken Mine]] (1957–1964), operated by Rio Algom Ltd., produced 6.3 million tons of ore.
* [[Panel Mine]] (1957–1961 and 1978–1990), operated by Rio Algom Ltd., produced 15 million tons of ore.
* [[Denison Mine]] (1957–1992), operated by Denison Mines Ltd., produced 69 million tons of ore.
* [[Stanrock Mine]] (1958–1960 and 1964–1985), operated by Denison Mines Ltd., produced 6.4 million tons of ore.
* [[Quirke Mine]](s) (1955–1961 and 1965–1990), operated by Rio Algom Ltd., produced 44 million tons of ore.
* [[Pronto Mine]] (1955–1970), operated by Rio Algom Ltd., produced 2.3 million tons of ore.
* [[Buckles Mine]] (1956–1960), operated by Rio Algom Ltd., produced 276,000 tons of ore.
* [[Lacnor Mine]] "Lake Nordic" (1956–1960), operated by Rio Algom Ltd., produced 3.4 million tons of ore.
* [[Nordic Mine]] (1956–1970), operated by Rio Algom Ltd., produced 13 million tons of ore

====Mining legacy health and environmental concerns====
{{main|1974 Elliot Lake miners strike}}
In 1974, after growing concern from uranium miners about lung cancer and a lack of support from mine owners for sick workers, 1,000 uranium miners staged a wildcat strike.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=The strike that saved lives|url=https://magazine.cim.org/en/voices/the-strike-that-saved-lives/|access-date=2021-12-11|website=magazine.cim.org|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Lopez-Pacheco|first1=Alexandra|date=June–July 2014|title=The strike that saved lives|work=CIM Magazine|location=Montreal, Canada|url=https://magazine.cim.org/en/voices/the-strike-that-saved-lives/|access-date=22 April 2020}}</ref> The 14-day strike<ref name=":42">{{Cite journal|last=MacDowell|first=Laurel Sefton|date=2012|title=The Elliot Lake Uranium Miners' Battle to Gain Occupational Health and Safety Improvements, 1950–1980|url=https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/llt/1900-v1-n1-llt0160/1011330ar.pdf|journal=Journal of Canadian Labour Studies}}</ref> triggered a chain of events that led to the creation of a [[Royal Commission on the Health and Safety of Workers in Mines]] (informally known as the Ham Commission) <ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Elliot Lake wildcat strike led to key law|url=https://www.thesudburystar.com/2014/03/26/elliot-lake-wildcat-strike-led-to-key-law|access-date=2021-12-11|website=thesudburystar|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218022921/https://www.thesudburystar.com/2014/03/26/elliot-lake-wildcat-strike-led-to-key-law |archive-date=2021-12-18 |language=en-CA}}(archive.org)</ref> which subsequently led to the creation of the Canada's ''Occupational Health and Safety Act'' of 1979.<ref name=":1"/><ref name=":2"/><ref name=":3">{{Cite news|date=17 April 2014|title=Workplace safety fight far from over, Steelworkers say|work=CBC|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/workplace-safety-fight-far-from-over-steelworkers-say-1.2613441}}</ref>

According to University of Toronto history professor Laurel Sefton MacDowell in her 2012 article 'The Elliot Lake Uranium Miners’ Battle to Gain Occupational Health and Safety Improvements, 1950–1980', the health concerns over radiation in the local environment are perpetual, and must be monitored perpetually.<ref>{{cite web|last=McDowell|first=Laurel Sefton|title=The Elliot Lake Uranium Miners' Battle to Gain Occupational Health and Safety Improvements, 1950–1980|url=http://www.lltjournal.ca/index.php/llt/article/viewFile/5678/6541|access-date=December 11, 2018}}</ref>

The 2017 performance of [[Rio Algom|Rio Algom Limited]] (a subsidiary of [[BHP]]), who own nine of the decommissioned mines, was described as "below expectations" by the [[Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|title=Regulatory Oversight Report for Uranium Mines, Mills, Historic, and Decommissioned Sites in Canada: 2020|url=https://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/the-commission/meetings/cmd/pdf/CMD21/CMD21-M34.pdf|journal=Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission|pages=160|access-date=2021-12-15|archive-date=2022-09-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220915124207/https://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/the-commission/meetings/cmd/pdf/CMD21/CMD21-M34.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission reported radium releases above limits at the Stanleigh effluent treatment plant, prompting engineering work plus increased site monitoring by the owners.<ref name=":5" />