Operational for three periods between 1905 and 1973, the Emerald Mine near Salmo was the first mine in Canada to use heavy diesel-powered equipment underground and also boasted a heated, Olympic-sized swimming pool built with volunteer labour. Having worked as a miner for 13 years, including one summer at the Emerald mine, Larry Jacobsen of Port Coquitlam has produced Jewel of the Kootenays: The Emerald Mine (Gordon Soules 2008 $25). He interviewed 91 former residents for their personal accounts of isolation and hardship and camaraderie. Promotional material asks, "Can you imagine depending on a mountainous road with 22 switchbacks for access to doctors and hospitals during deep winter snow - with no phone service after 11:00 p.m.?"

978-0-9781640-1-0

[BCBW 2008] "Mining"

Review of the author's work by BC Studies:
Walhachin: Birth of a Legend
Salmo Stories: Memories of a Place in the Kootenays