Gold was first discovered in the Rice Lake area in 1916 (Lee 2006). In the early to mid 20th century, Rice Lake was host to a dozen small gold mines (Table 1). From that early prospecting came almost all of the nearly two million ounces of gold produced in the area, though most of it after pre-modern and modern mining techniques were introduced post-WWII. Pre-WWII mining technology did not allow deep drilling so most of the exploration was done above the 500 foot level. In contrast, most recent discoveries have been made at depths greater than 1,000 feet.

Table 1. Gold Production in the Rice Lake Gold Belt†

†Lee (2006)

Currently San Gold owns and operates the Rice Lake Gold Project (formerly San Antonio - see above) which includes the deep, high-grade Rice Lake Mine and the nearby, surface ramp accessed San Gold #1 deposit. The Rice Lake Gold Project has reserves and resources of approximately 1.2 million contained ounces gold. No other producing resource companies are operating in the area.

Junior gold exploration companies in the District include Grandview Gold Inc., Harvest Gold Corp., Wildcat Exploration Ltd. and Marum Resources Inc.