South Main Shaft - 1938-1941

SOUTH MAIN SHAFT

1938 – 1941

South Main shaft, one mile south of North Main shaft, was developed to serve the southern portion of the ore reserves. Shaft sinking operations began in 1938, and by 1941 the head frame, change house, ore bin, water tower, hoist and generator building were completed, and the shaft had reached the 2,500 foot level. Sixty four percent of the haulage from the Flon Flon ore body was through this shaft. This shaft originally went down to 5,000 feet.

The above photo shows the land and space once occupied by South Main shaft. South Main shaft was torn down in 2010. All buildings and foundations were removed and the shaft was capped. The ground around the area of the old shaft was levelled and excavated, covered in black topsoil and returned back to its natural state. We have lost one of our major landmarks and a structure that played a valuable role in our community, but it is great to see how it has been put back to the way it once was. There will be a cairn erected on this site where South Main Shaft once stood.

This photo is one of a kind showing Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd., with the Open Pit in the centre where it all began, three head frames, South Main in the foreground, North Main in the centre, and our new 777 mine in the far centre with smoke coming from our smelter stack. The photo was taken in the summer of 2008. With the dismantling of South and North main, and the closing of the smelter in 2009, our skyline has changed.

This photo is another image that has been erased from the Flin Flon skyline. This was a silhouette of South Main Shaft from the east side of Hapnot Lake, gone and gone forever, now just memories.