In 1923, zinc and copper was discovered near the Calamité River and two years later, the Abana Mine Company obtained the mining rights. The new settlement, formed by families from Saint-Eustache, Portneuf, Bellechasse and the Mauricie, was therefore first called Abana. In 1931, the Normetal Mining Corporation acquired the mine and brought it to full operation six years later. In 1939, the railway and road to Dupuy was completed. In 1945, the place was incorporated, taking the name of the mining corporation whose name in turn is a portmanteau for "northern" and "metal".[1][4]
In 1949, street lighting was installed in Normétal. In 1950, the mining corporation came under control of Noranda (which became Falconbridge Ltd. and bought by Xstrata in 2006). In 1956, the mine had a peak production of 900 tons of ore per day and employed over 600 persons. In 1961, the town reached a population of 2519, its largest number of residents. But in 1975, after reaching a depth of 8,000 feet (2,400 m), the copper mine closed, resulting in a large exodus of people from the community with many going to the mines of Matagami and Joutel that had just opened. By the following year, the population had dropped to 1455.[1][4][5]
The Normetmar Mine closed in 1990. In 2005, work began on rehabilitation of the mine site by removing the tailings and planting vegetation.[4][5]
Demographics
Population
Canada census – Normétal, Quebec community profile
Canada Census Mother Tongue - Normétal, Quebec[11]
Census
Total
French
English
French & English
Other
Year
Responses
Count
Trend
Pop %
Count
Trend
Pop %
Count
Trend
Pop %
Count
Trend
Pop %
2021
780
745
5.7%
95.5%
5
0.0%
0.6%
15
200.0%%
1.9%
5
n/a%
0.6%
2016
810
790
7.1%
97.5%
5
0.0%
0.6%
5
n/a%
0.6%
0
0.0%
0.0%
2011
855
850
1.2%
99.4%
5
50.0%
0.6%
0
0.0%
0.0%
0
100.0%
0.0%
2006
885
860
13.1%
97.2%
10
n/a%
1.1%
0
0.0%
0.0%
15
40.0%
1.7%
2001
1,015
990
12.4%
97.5%
0
100.0%
0.0%
0
0.0%
0.0%
25
n/a%
2.5%
1996
1,140
1,130
n/a
97.1%
10
n/a
0.9%
0
n/a
0.0%
0
n/a
0.0%
Arts and culture
The town of Normétal is the setting of an award-winning movie, The Legacy from filmmaker Bernard Émond (2009), in which a family medicine physician from Montreal takes over the practice of an aging physician in need of respite.[12]
