Article

Kimberley

Published Online November 28, 2007

Last Edited March 4, 2015

Kimberley, BC, incorporated as a city in 1944, population 6652 (2011c), 6139 (2006c). The City of Kimberley is located in a valley between the Rocky Mountains to the east and the Purcell Mountains to the west, 31 km northwest of Cranbrook.

Kimberley, BC, incorporated as a city in 1944, population 6652 (2011c), 6139 (2006c). The City of Kimberley is located in a valley between the Rocky Mountains to the east and the Purcell Mountains to the west, 31 km northwest of Cranbrook. Since the Sullivan and North Star mines were discovered 1892, Kimberley has been mainly a mining centre. Consolidated Mining and Smelting (now Cominco Ltd) gained control of the Sullivan Mine 1920 and used advanced technology to separate the ore components. By 1937 the Sullivan was the largest zinc-lead-silver mine in the world, producing 10% of the world's output. Tin and iron were processed at Kimberley until 1972. By-products led to the building of a fertilizer plant by Cominco.

Renowned for its sports, Kimberley won the Allan Cup and the World Hockey Championship 1937-38 and the Allan again 1978. Its downtown renewal on a "Bavarian" theme in the 1970s and the expansion of recreational facilities (golf, skiing) has moved Kimberley away from a resource-based economy towards one focusing on tourism and retirement.