Canadian ghost town sold

A former mining town with most of its buildings and houses still relatively intact, has been sold to Chinese investors for a little under $1 million dollars.

In the early half of the last century gold was discovered in the mountains of south-central British Columbia.  In the mid 1930’s the town of Bradian sprang up near the Bralorne mine which became one of the most prolific gold mines in the country. Over the next 40 years, some 4 million ounces of gold, and 1.2 million ounces of silver were extracted from the mine.

But by the 1960’s there was little left, the mine was closed and by 1971, the once bustling community mountainside community of Bradian was abandoned.

Located at an altitude of just over 1,000 metres, the site lies about four and half hours drive (depending on weather) from the major urban port city of Vancouver.

In the 1990’s Tom and Kathleen Gutenburg had been exploring old BC mining towns, sadly finding that most had been destroyed through weather and vandals, and which only had vestiges of building foundations remaining.. In 1997, they were surprised to come across Bradian which was relatively intact, with 22 remaining homes. They eventually owned the town and began efforts to keep the remaining buildings from detiorating. However, with that done, they decided to sell the 50 acre site.

With the possibility of horseback and hiking trails, snowmobiling in winter, and lakes for fishing nearby, the ghost town has been sold this week to the China Zhong Ya Group Hebei Canada-China Co.

The Chinese investors plan to turn the site into a recreational hub where visitors can even pan for gold.

Project manager Mike Mills is quoted in the Metro news saying “They have the notion that one day it’ll look like Whistler. They’re enthusiastic to make a showplace here.”

Whistler BC (now known as Whistler-Blackcomb) is by several measures, the largest ski resort in North American, and was the site of the 2010 Winter Olympics.