Island Copper was an open pit mine at the northern end of Vancouver Island on Rupert Inlet at the head of Quatsino Sound, about 4.6 miles (7.4 km) east of Coal Harbour and 8.5 miles (14 km) south of Port Hardy, British Columbia. The mine extracted a copper-molybdenum-gold deposit from quartz–feldspar rocks associated with the Island Plutonic Suite, a series of igneous intrusions in a geological formation called the Bonanza Volcanics overlying the Wrangellia terrane. Rupert Inlet was historically known as Rupert Arm, named after Fort Rupert, the Hudson’s Bay Company trading post established on Beaver Harbour near Port Hardy. The area is the traditional territory of the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw people, meaning “Kwakʼwala-speaking peoples”, which includes the Haisla, Wuikinuxv, and Heiltsuk.

Quatsino Sound extends east from the Pacific Ocean and branches into several smaller inlets, creating an intricate complex of bays and islands. It is the northernmost of five sounds on the west coast of Vancouver Island; the others are Kyuquot Sound, Nootka Sound, Clayoquot Sound, and Barclay Sound. Near the Pacific entrance, Forward Inlet extends north and branches into smaller inlets including Winter Harbour. Koskimo Bay and Koprino Harbour lie farther east, with Drake Island near the eastern end. Neroutsos Inlet extends south-east from Drake Island; the town of Port Alice lies near its end. East of Drake Island, Quatsino Narrows—a tidal rapid—connects the eastern end of Quatsino Sound to Holberg Inlet and the smaller Rupert Inlet.

Island Copper Mine, on Rupert Inlet’s northern shore, was operated by BHP Minerals of Canada before closing in 1995 when copper-molybdenum-gold ore reserves were depleted. At peak capacity the mine employed almost 1,000 people and produced approximately 30,000 tonnes of ore monthly containing 27% copper. Other minerals extracted included molybdenum, gold, silver and rhenium. The pit bottom reached 1,320 feet (402 m) deep and below sea level. The tailings were dumped at several locations surrounding the main pit, the largest being Rupert Inlet Beach and the North Dump. The beach site represents about 400 million tons of tailings dumped into Rupert Inlet, affecting benthic marine life owing to heavy-metal content. The pit was flooded in 1995 at the conclusion of mining. See a video of the mine prior to flooding here. Read more here and here. Explore more of Island Copper and Rupert Inlet here: