Kirkland Lake includes the townships of
Teck,
Bernhardt and
Morrisette. Kirkland Lake is located in the resource-rich
Precambrian Shield, an ancient geological core of the North American continent. Nearby is the Arctic Watershed, a
drainage divide at an elevation of . Rivers south of that elevation flow into a
drainage basin which includes
Lake Ontario and the
Saint Lawrence River, while rivers north of the watershed flow into
Hudson Bay. Noticeable local landmarks include
Mount Cheminis, rising above sea level, and many small
kettle lakes, scraped out of the rock during the last Ice Age and filled with clear water.
Black spruce,
jack pine,
trembling aspen,
white birch,
white spruce,
balsam poplar, and
balsam fir are the dominant trees in the area. A prominent forest form in this part of the black spruce distribution is the black spruce/feathermoss
climax forest, which characteristically exhibits moderately dense canopy and features a forest floor of
feathermosses.
Moose,
beaver,
muskrat,
snowshoe hare, as well as numerous predators roam this area, including
marten,
ermine,
fisher,
otter,
black bear,
wolf, and
lynx. The many
wetlands and
lakes support a diversity of bird species, such as
great blue herons,
ducks,
geese, and that symbol of the north, the
common loon. Ground and tree dwelling birds are also plentiful, including
grouse,
partridge,
robins,
blue jays, and
Canada jays as well as birds of prey such as
hawks.
Geology Kirkland Lake is located within the
Abitibi greenstone belt and the
Abitibi gold belt. The main geologic feature in the Kirkland Lake Camp is the Kirkland Lake Break, or Main Break. This Break is a
vein located along a
thrust fault extending east to west and
dipping steeply to the south. The area mine shafts are all located along this Break. Gold occurs in
quartz veins in spatial relationship to this fault. The major mines in 1960, trending east to west, included Toburn, Sylvanite, Wright-Hargreaves, Lake Shore, Teck Hughes, Kirkland Minerals, and Macassa. In the early days of staking claims, most prospectors tried to understand the lateral extent of this east–west trending vein defining the Main Break, as well as the associated veins paralleling it, e.g. South Vein, No. 2 Vein, No. 6 Vein, No. 7 Vein, etc. Most importantly, prospecting was extensive in the hopes the vein extended under the southern portion of Kirkland Lake.
Telluride minerals were present in the Tough-Oakes ore. They are also present in the Sylvanite Mine, though
sylvanite is not one of them. The Sylvanite Mine started a 200-ton mill in 1927 and shafts reached by 1930. Kirkland Lake Gold Mines Ltd. was incorporated in 1913 before the property was taken over by
Cobalt's Beaver Consolidated Mines Ltd. after a shaft was sunk . They formed the Kirkland Lake Gold Mining Company in 1915 and the main shaft was sunk , which prompted the building on a mill in 1919. Shafts reached a depth of before the mine closed in 1924. Operations restarted in 1926 with new financing organized by
Dr. J.B. Tyrrell, and high-grade ore was found at . By 1930, the mine had reached a depth of and had acquired the Chaput-Highes claim to the south. The property was acquired by the Kirkland Minerals Corporation in 1956. Tough-Oakes produced 213 tons of high-grade ore in 1914. Operations included a
five-stamp mill for
amalgamation plus a
cyanide plant. However, the presence of high-grade ore in the vein terminated at the level and the mine shut down in 1918. This property was consolidated with Burnside's to form Tough-Oakes Burnside Gold Mines Ltd. in 1923 and the Burnside No. 3 shaft was deepened to . The operation went bankrupt in 1928. Operations restarted as the Toburn in 1932, as a subsidiary of the
American Smelting and Refining Company. Lake Shore Mines Ltd. was incorporated in February 1914. Oakes proceeded with sending a crosscut from his shaft on the South Vein towards the anticipated Main Break under the lake to the north. This crosscut encountered high-grade ore and a 100-ton mill was in operation by March 1918. Their No. 1 shaft reached a depth of and their No. shaft a depth of by 1930 and was considered "the wonder mine" by Pain. There was 1,600 feet of high-grade ore at the 1,000-foot level and at the 2,400-foot level. Wright-Hargreaves Mines Ltd. was incorporated in 1916. The Wright-Hargreaves Mine had a 100-ton a day mill operating by 1921 and shafts reached a depth of by 1930. Almost of high-grade ore was found between the level down to . In 1916, the Teck-Hughes Mine built a 50-ton cyanide mill after the No. 1 shaft reached a depth of . In 1923, the company was reorganized as Teck-Highes Gold Mines Ltd, which included the Orr claim to the south. The central shaft reached a depth of and a south shaft was sunk in 1928 to reach a depth of . A 1000-ton per day mill was in operation by 1930. High-grade ore of up to was found on six levels. Macassa Mines Ltd. was organized in 1926, which included the Elliott claims. Mill operations started in 1933 and acquired the United Kirkland Gold Mines Ltd. claims to the south. The lake itself was gradually filled in by mill
tailings, such that the water had disappeared by 1930. By 1960, of underground workings were in the Kirkland Lake camp and of direct hoisting shafts. The Lake Shore and Wright-Hargreaves mines had the deepest working depths in the world, at below the surface.
Climate Kirkland Lake enjoys four distinct seasons. Spring and autumn offer a mix of warm sunny days and crisp, cool nights. Summers are comfortably warm, with dry air and temperatures reaching into the mid-20-degree Celsius range (mid-70s Fahrenheit). Winter temperatures may seem brisk, but high winds and high humidity are rare, allowing residents to take full advantage of outside recreational activities. ==Demographics==