Barraute is a municipality in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, located in the

Abitibi Regional County Municipality Abitibi Regional County Municipality is a regional county municipality in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec. The seat is Amos. Subdivisions There are 19 subdivisions within the RCM: ;Cities & Towns (1) * Amos ;Municipalities (12) * ...

. It is home to the Mont-Vidéo Ski Resort.

History

Colonization began after the completion of the

National Transcontinental Railway The National Transcontinental Railway (NTR) was a historic railway between Winnipeg and Moncton in Canada. Much of the line is now operated by the Canadian National Railway. The Grand Trunk partnership The completion of construction of Canada's ...

through the Abitibi region. In 1916, the family of Uldéric Hardy arrived, followed by a further 20 in 1917 and, by 1918, the place had a total of some 30 families. The new settlement was initially called Natagan, taken from the Natagan River, a

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

name that means "winding waters." In 1917, the Natagan River Post Office opened, renamed to Barraute in 1919. In 1918, the United Township Municipality of Fiedmont-et-Barraute was formed, incorporating the geographic townships of Fiedmont and Barraute (proclaimed in 1916). Pierre-Jean Bachoie, called Barraute (1723-1760), was an officer of the

Régiment de Béarn A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

in the army of General Montcalm and member of the

Order of Saint Louis The Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis (french: Ordre Royal et Militaire de Saint-Louis) is a dynastic order of chivalry founded 5 April 1693 by King Louis XIV, named after Saint Louis (King Louis IX of France). It was intended as a rewar ...

. Fiedmont likewise was an officer of the army of Montcalm. In 1948, a portion of the municipal territory separated and was incorporated as the Village Municipality of Barraute. In 1950, zinc and silver mines began operating, that in addition to its favourable location along the railroad and Laflamme River (a tributary of the Bell River), contributed to the local prosperity. In 1951, the United Township Municipality of Fiedmont-et-Barraute changed status to just municipality. But the closure of the zinc and silver mines in 1957, as well as the closure in 1965 of Canada's only

lithium Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid el ...

mine in neighbouring La Corne, dealt a blow to the economy of Barraute. In 1978, the Town of Barville (incorporated in 1953) was merged into the Municipality of Fiedmont-et-Barraute and, in 1994, the Municipalities of Fiedmont-et-Barraute and Barraute were regrouped into the new Municipality of Barraute.

Economy

In 2012, Quebec Lithium Corp. reopened Quebec Lithium Mine, which had operated as an underground mine from 1955 to 1965. They are planning to carve an open pit mine over

pegmatite A pegmatite is an igneous rock showing a very coarse texture, with large interlocking crystals usually greater in size than and sometimes greater than . Most pegmatites are composed of quartz, feldspar, and mica, having a similar silicic com ...

dikes. (The pegmatite is about 1%

lithium carbonate Lithium carbonate is an inorganic compound, the lithium salt (chemistry), salt of carbonate with the chemical formula, formula . This white Salt (chemistry), salt is widely used in the processing of metal oxides. It is listed on the World Health O ...

.) The mine is about north of

Val-d'Or Val-d'Or (, , ; "Golden Valley" or "Valley of Gold") is a city in Quebec, Canada with a population of 32,752 inhabitants according to the Canada 2021 Census. The city is located in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region near La Vérendrye Wildlife R ...

, southeast of

Amos Amos or AMOS may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Amos Records, an independent record label established in Los Angeles, California, in 1968 * Amos (band), an American Christian rock band * ''Amos'' (album), an album by Michael Ray * ''Amos' ...

, and west of Barraute. Access to the mine is via paved road from Val-d'Or.

Demographics

Population trend:Statistics Canada:

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

census * Population in 2011: 1980 (2006 to 2011 population change: -4.0%) * Population in 2006: 2062 * Population in 2001: 2010 * Population in 1996: 2134 * Population in 1991: 2200 Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 876 (total dwellings: 986) Mother tongue: * English as first language: 5.2% * French as first language: 94.1% * English and French as first language: 0% * Other as first language: 0.7%

Municipal council

* Mayor: Lionel Pelchat * Councillors: Gaétan Alain, Stéphane Alain, Michel Auger, Nancy Habel, Marc Hardy, Michel Leclerc

References

{{authority control Municipalities in Quebec Incorporated places in Abitibi-Témiscamingue Populated places established in 1916 1916 establishments in Quebec

History

Economy

Demographics

Municipal council

See also

References