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Historical Perspective The potential of the Steep Rock ore body was clearly assessed in 1938. At that time, it was North America's first significant discovery of direct shipping ore in 25 years. The ore was of a high grade, and was then thought to be in sufficient quantity to meet Canada's perceived iron ore needs indefinitely. Steep Rock Iron Mines Ltd. was incorporated in 1939 to develop and extract the ore from this site. The importance of the Steep Rock discovery was substantially increased at the outbreak of World War II. It became necessary to secure a good ore source for the Canadian and eventually the U.S. war effort since steel production was increasing and the only other major source of iron ore, other than the Great Lakes region, was subject to risky sea-crossing from South America. In 1942, 85% of US-bound ore carriers were being sunk by enemy submarines. Because of this threat, the U.S. Government took the senior financing role for the Mine's development, and thus much of the project risk. Steep Rock Iron Mines Ltd. however, remained a Canadian-owned public company. To develop the Mine, $15 million was spent domestically on the building of the ore docks, expanded rail facilities, hydro lines and housing. In addition, the company spent $8.4 million before the first ton of iron ore was produced in the mammoth task of dam building, draining and dredging the lake bottom. Although the War ended before full ore production could start, faith inthe Mine's potential paid off. The value of the output proved substantial, aiding the Korean War effort, contributing to Ontario's post war economic growth and helping to develop a strong local economy in the area. |
Iron Ore Production Through its lifetime, Steep Rock's Atikokan Mine was Ontario's major producer of iron ore. Output grew steadily through the 1950's. It peaked at 3.3 million tons in 1956, before steadying off between 1.0 and 1.5 million tons annually for the balance of the 1960's and '70's. In its period of high growth between 1944 and 1955, Steep Rock Iron Mines (SRIM) accounted for 50% of the volume, and 62% of the value, of Ontario's iron ore production. Even in the 1970's, as ore reserves were depleted, the Mine accounted for 10% of the province's ore output. |
Mine Employment As output grew at the Mine, so did direct employment. The Mine work force reached 1,200 by the mid-1950's. Most of the growth was accounted for by the water diversion, dredging and construction operations. By the mid-1960's, after the open pit mines were developed and the Steep Rock and Caland pellet plants were built, the operation evolved into one of ore extraction and processing, which was much less labour intensive. Direct employment, as a result, settled close to 700 persons. Mining at Steep Rock, however, also generated a significant number of jobs in the surrounding community by the early 1970's. Most of those employed in the township were directly involved in mining at Steep Rock or Caland. Others were employed in forestry, or with the railway. The available data suggest that for every 100 jobs at Steep Rock Iron Mines, roughly 65 more were created in the immediate community. Thus, total direct and indirect employment generated by the company in Atikokan amounted to an estimated 40,000 person-years over the 1946-1980 period. |
Gross Provincial Product and Government Revenues On real revenues of $2.23 billion, it is estimated that Steep Rock Iron Mines generated 2.3 billion of direct, indirect and induced GPP in Ontario over the 1946-80 period. On average, this represents roughly $65 million per year of operation. The spending and re-spending of SRIM employee wages accounted for 35% of that total. Steep Rock's taxes, depreciation expense, and profits accounted for 39%, and the remaining 26% was generated through the purchase of supplies and services.l The Ontario Government's revenues were enhanced over the 1946-80 period both in terms of direct income taxes paid by SRIM and in terms of induced economic activity. From 1956 to 1980, SRIM paid about $13 million in real 1986 dollars in income and mining taxes to the federal and provincial governments. Ontario's share of that total was roughly one-third, or $4.5 million in real 1986 dollars. A much larger factor, however, was the induced person income tax effect associated with SRIM employees adn those of spin-off industries. We estimate that $176 million (constant 1986 dollars) was generated through personal income taxes and indirect sales and excise taxes over the 1946-80 period. A further $10 million in corporate income taxed were generated from increased industrial spin-off activity in Ontario. In total, activity over the productive lifetime of SRIM contributed $191 million (constant 1986 dollars) to the Ontario Government's revenues. |
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