page_title: Bell Island (Newfoundland and Labrador)
section_title: Closure of iron ore mine
hierarchical_section_title: Bell Island (Newfoundland and Labrador) / History / Closure of iron ore mine
caption_attribution_description: English: Canadian Forces Boeing Vertol CH-113 Labrador helicopter from CFB Gander, landing on tip of Bell Island in 1987. Captain Randy Price (check pilot) and Captain David Barkes at the controls. The rock sea stack is locally known as 'the Clapper'. Deutsch: Eine Boeing Vertol CH-113 Labrador der Canadian Forces Base Gander landet 1987 auf Bell Island; mit den Piloten Captain Randy Price (Prüf-Pilot) und Captain David Barkes (Pilot). Der Brandungspfeiler-Fels wird lokal als The Clapper bezeichnet.
context_page_description: Bell Island is an island located off the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada in Conception Bay. Measuring 9.7 kilometres in length and 3.5 kilometres in width, it has an area of 34 square kilometres. The subsurface is composed of Ordovician sandstone and shale with red hematite. It was once the site of large iron ore mines.
  It is home to three communities, the largest of which is the incorporated town of Wabana. The provincial government operates a ferry service from Portugal Cove–St. Philip's to Bell Island daily using either the MV Flanders or the MV Legionnaire. It is primarily used by commuters who work in the St. John's metropolitan area.
context_section_description: Being an underground operation, the Bell Island iron ore mine was extremely expensive to operate.  During the 1950s, some of the largest surface iron ore deposits in the world were discovered in northeastern Quebec and the western part of Labrador.  After the Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway was built in the latter part of the decade, Bell Island iron ore became uncompetitive.
  During the early 1960s, the steel and coal industries on Cape Breton Island began to falter in the face of foreign competition. In 1966 the steel mill in Sydney and nearby coal mines were slated to be closed. At the same time, iron ore mining at Wabana stopped.
  Bell Island's resource-based economy was hard-hit by the shutdown, resulting in a large out-migration of residents. Some moved to the nearby growing metropolitan centre of St. John's. In recent decades a reverse move has occurred where housing is being built on Bell Island to accommodate residents who wish to commute by ferry (20 minutes each direction) to Portugal Cove and travel to work in the city.
  The scenic and sheltered waters of Conception Bay are also seeing an increase in pleasure boating activity as the suburban communities grow around nearby Conception Bay South.
  In September 2015, concerns were expressed over the possible collapse of the abandoned tunnels that formed part of the Bell Island mine. A retired miner, Peter Young, told CBC Radio's On The Go that tunnels under the abandoned mines, going down as far as two kilometres, hold the potential for a large-scale disaster. He felt that a collapse would initiate a local earthquake giving rise to the secondary effect of the water level in Conception Bay around the mine dropping which in turn could force a tsunami from the surrounding ocean.
caption: A Canadian Forces Labrador helicopter landing on "The Clapper", a sea stack off the tip of Bell Island, in 1987.[needs context]
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