Hedley Mascot Mine
The Mascot Mine of Hedley was a gold mine in Hedley, British Columbia, Canada. Gold was first discovered in the Nickel Plate Mountain area in 1897 and several small mines were developed over the years. The Hedley Mascot Mine operated between 1936 and 1949 and was one of the most unusual mining operations in the world, being built entirely on the side of a mountain, 5,000 feet above the town of Hedley or seven thousand feet above sea level. In the 1990s, the British Columbia government was going to burn the site down because it posed a safety risk, but the Minister of Tourism at the time intervened and, in 1995, steps were taken to preserve the site as a Provincial Heritage resource.
The buildings were stabilized and rehabilitated over an eight-year period, and, in 2004, the site was open for tours as the gold mine called Mascot Mine. In 2017, the Mascot Mine tours were officially closed.
