Ming's Bight: Located at the head of the inlet that is also referred to as Ming's Bight, a "bight" being another name for a bay, the community of Ming's Bight is about 15 km (9.3 mi) from the community of Baie Verte, According to ENL sources, there are three possible derivations of the name, all as slightly far-fetched as the other.

Probably the most plausible explanation is that the "bight" takes its name from Saint Méen (or Mein) of Brittany.

Born circa 540 and died 617 Saint Méen was a Breton saint, possibly of Cornish or Welsh origin. His feast day is the 21st of June and he is the patron of Brittany, abbeys and wanderers.

The second possibility is that the name comes from a corruption of the original name of the indentation of the shoreline, La Baie des Pins (or Des Pins), translated to mean Bay of the Pines or Pine Bay.

And finally, the name is thought to come from an old English word "ming" or "meng" meaning "land of different proprietors lying mixed said to be in ming" (Old English Dictionary).

Brooks (2013) stated "with this reference in mind, the early living arrangements between the French and the English in the settlement [Ming's Bight] could account for the name - Ming's Bight".

It has been reported that Ming's Bight was formerly referred to as the Baie des Pins (Bay of Pine Trees).

From the Community Accounts website, the community is described as follows: The community is built in 2 sections. One section is known as "la Mees" which is where it is believed the French stayed when they fished from the area.

The "Bottom" is the other section, which is the area that one first sees when entering the community by road. A large rocky hill separates both sections of the community. The community of Ming's Bight is said to have been settled around 1857.

Fishing is said to have been the reason for the settlement of the community. It is believed that the French hired people to tend to their nets and such during the winter months and these people decided to settle there and so the community began.

Ming's Bight has much to offer for those who like to explore the past. Small cannon balls which have been found, would lead one to think that some type of fighting took place around this community in the past.

Settled in the 1850s, the fishery, as expected from its location, was the main stay of the economy, however, for a short period mining was pursued, but unfortunately the mine was not productive enough and it closed.

In the late 1800s Ming's Bight became the site of Newfoundland's first productive gold mine. Smith McKay and Charles F. Bennett were prospecting the west shore of Ming's Bight for copper as early as 1877, but it was not until 1879 that another prospector, also looking for copper, happened upon a vein of gold- bearing quartz.

Several attempts (some which came to the unfavourable attention of the French) to locate the source of this vein followed, until John R. Stewart, former mine manager at Little Bay, was successful in 1903.

The Goldenville mine opened in 1904 and that summer 23 tons of ore were shipped to Nova Scotia. However, the mine closed in 1906, having yielded only 158 ounces of gold (but producing the first Newfoundland gold brick).

Interestingly, gold mining is back in the news. From the Anaconda Mining Website comes the following:

The Point Rousse Project (the "Project") is located within the Baie Verte Mining District, on the Point Rousse/Ming's Bight Peninsula, in the northern portion of the Baie Verte Peninsula, approximately 6 km northeast of the town of Baie Verte, in north central Newfoundland, in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The area encompassing the Point Rousse Project includes 5 mining leases and 24 mineral licences with a total of 5,794.27 hectares (14317.9 acres). The Project is accessible year-round through a network of provincial paved roads and a 5 km mine road maintained by the Company.

The Project covers three prospective gold trends: The Scrape Trend, the Goldenville Trend and the Deer Cove Trend. These trends have approximately 20 km of cumulative strike length and include three deposits (Pine Cove, Stog'er Tight and Argyle) and numerous prospects and showings all located within 8 km of the Pine Cove Mine and Mill.

Anaconda has been mining at the Pine Cove open pit mine continuously since 2010, has produced in excess of 118,028 ounzes of gold, and has been growing the project infrastructure and mill capacity since 2010 with current production at approximately 15,000 to 16,000 ounces per year.

Anaconda has sufficient Probable Mineral Reserves to continue mining until Q1 of 2020. Mining is in the process of transitioning from the Pine Cove Mine to Stog'er Tight.

The Company also has recently discovered the Argyle Deposit, an advanced exploration asset located within 4.5 kilometres of the Pine Cove Mill.

Even with new employment opportunities, the population of Ming's Bight decreased in the period 2011-2016. In 2011 there were 333 residents, whereas in 2016 there were 319 (4.2% decrease).

Used with permission from "Uncovering the Origin of 1001 Unique Place Names in Newfoundland and Labrador" 2021 Jennifer Leigh Hill

Address of this page: http://nl.ruralroutes.com/MingsBight