Gilbert LaBine
Gilbert LaBine | |
|---|---|
 Gilbert LaBine, the prospector who found Radium at Port Radium | |
| Born |
February 10, 1890 |
| Died | June 8, 1977 (aged 87) |
Gilbert LaBine was the Canadian prospector who found a large and valuable lode of Radium and Uranium on the shores of very remote and isolated Great Bear Lake.
In 1924 he founded Eldorado Gold Mines. In 1930 he discovered Radium on Great Bear Lake, a deep, cold lake in Canada's Northwest Territories. The lake is one of the tenth largest lakes onn Plaet Earth, and is frozen for almost six months of the year. There is only one settlement of about 150 Dene people, at the Lake's mouth.
A mine was started where he discovered the ore, and the mine site was named Port Radium. A fleet of tugboats was employed to tow barges loaded with Uranium ore, in burlap sacks, and one of the tugs, the Radium Gilbert, was named after him.
When Uranium started to be mined the mine became a key source for the Manhattan Project. LaBine remained President of Eldorado until 1944. He later acquired.
LaBine was awarded the prestigious Order of Canada.