A view of Lake Duparquet from Chemin du Lac, a waterfront road in Duparquet
In 1912, a rich gold vein was discovered near Lake Duparquet by a prospector named Beattie. He set up the Beattie Gold Mine company that began operation in 1933. That same year, the new community forming at the mine was incorporated as Ville de Duparquet, named after the geographic township in which it is located. The township was named in 1916 in honour of Jean-Annet Chabreuil Du Parquet, a grenadier captain of the La Sarre Regiment, that was part of General Montcalm's army.[1]
After producing 1 million ounces of gold and killing at least 27 miners, including 4 in a landslide on 9 July 1946, the mine closed in 1956. But the owners of the mining rights are currently considering reopening it as an open-pit mine.[4]
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Duparquet had a population of 716 living in 342 of its 389 total private dwellings, a change of 7.5% from its 2016 population of 666. With a land area of 121.17 km2 (46.78 sq mi), it had a population density of 5.9/km2 (15.3/sq mi) in 2021.[3]
^Patrick Rodrigue (18 September 2009). "Une mine à ciel ouvert à Duparquet?" (in French). canoe.ca. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
