Coppermine River

Coppermine River
Coppermine River
	View of the Arctic Sea from the mouth of the Coppermine River (1821) by George Back
	Coppermine River mouth location
Location
Country	Canada
Physical characteristics
Source	Lac de Gras
• location	Northwest Territories, Canada
• coordinates	64°35′01″N 111°11′33″W / 64.58361°N 111.19250°W
• elevation	396 m (1,299 ft)
Mouth	Coronation Gulf
• location	Nunavut, Arctic Ocean, Canada
• coordinates	67°48′43″N 115°05′05″W / 67.81194°N 115.08472°W
• elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Length	845 km (525 mi)
Basin size	50,700 km2 (19,600 sq mi)
Discharge
• average	337.69 m3/s (11,925 cu ft/s)
• minimum	10.37 m3/s (366 cu ft/s)
• maximum	1,500 m3/s (53,000 cu ft/s)

The Coppermine River is a river in the North Slave and Kitikmeot regions of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut in Canada. It is 845 kilometres (525 mi)^[4] long. It rises in Lac de Gras, a small lake near Great Slave Lake, and flows generally north to Coronation Gulf, an arm of the Arctic Ocean. The river freezes in winter but may still flow under the ice.

The community of Kugluktuk (formerly Coppermine) is located at the river's mouth.

The river was named for the copper ores which are located along the river, by Samuel Hearne in 1771.^[5] Hearne found only one lump of copper and commercial mining was not considered viable.^[6]

Bloody Falls, part of the Kugluk/Bloody Falls Territorial Park, is located 18.5 kilometres (11.5 mi) from Kugluktuk, and was home to the Kogluktogmiut a sub-group of the Copper Inuit. It is the site of the Bloody Falls Massacre, when Matonabbee, Samuel Hearne's guide, and his fellow Chipewyan warriors ambushed and massacred the local Inuit.^[7]