There are two major types of gold mining - placer and hard rock. While extraction methods are tailored to each deposit, methodology and techniques are derived from either placer or lode deposits. Placer deposits use techniques like panning and sluice boxes for gold retrieval. On the other hand, lode deposits like Red Lake's utilize hard rock mining techniques. Hard rock mining uses a combination of drilling, blasting and milling to recover gold.

Mining Practices explores the basic principles, procedures, jobs and equipment used to work on the Red Lake goldfield. This section also begins to address changes that have been made in the mining industry. For more information on Ontario's mining rules and regulations, please visit the Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines. If there are any unfamiliar terms, there is a glossary of terms available from the exhibition's home page.

Click on one of the buttons below to examine a category. In several of the topics, there are videos featuring Red Lake residents to personalize the subject matter.