McLeese Lake is an unincorporated community on

British Columbia Highway 97 Highway 97 is a major highway in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the longest continuously numbered route in the province, running and is the only route that runs the entire north–south length of the British Columbia, connec ...

in the

Cariboo The Cariboo is an intermontane region of British Columbia, Canada, centered on a plateau stretching from Fraser Canyon to the Cariboo Mountains. The name is a reference to the caribou that were once abundant in the region. The Cariboo was ...

region of the Central Interior of British Columbia,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. It is named for the lake of the same name, which itself was named for

Robert McLeese Robert McLeese (June 28, 1828 – March 27, 1898) was an Ireland, Irish-born hotel keeper, store owner, owner of a sternwheel river boat and political figure in British Columbia. He represented Cariboo (provincial electoral district), Cariboo ...

, a pioneer storekeeper, hotelier and steamboat owner and also politician. McLeese Lake is home to the Gibraltar Mine, Canada's second-largest open pit

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish ...

mine, which is located approximately 10km north of town. In addition to copper, the Gibraltar Mine also mines

Molybdenum Molybdenum is a chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42 which is located in period 5 and group 6. The name is from Neo-Latin ''molybdaenum'', which is based on Ancient Greek ', meaning lead, since its ores were confused with le ...

References

{{coord, 52, 25, 12, N, 122, 17, 43, W, display=title Designated places in British Columbia Geography of the Cariboo Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia