1905 The Anglo-Newfoundland Development Company hires a local prospector to search the area for sulphur deposits. He finds samples of ore that contain a combination of zinc, lead, copper, gold and silver.
1906 Development on a mine begins in earnest.
1911 Production stops when no process can be found to separate the zinc, lead and copper sulphide.
1915 A U.S. company, ASARCO, hears tale of the rich ore, and eventually gets a deal to control the area.
1925 ASARCO scientists develop a technique of "selective flotation" separation that finally allows processing of Buchans ore.
1926 The first woman comes to Buchans, and what had been a male-only mining location starts to develop into a community.
1928 The blossoming town gets a mill, school, railway, hospital and theatre - and the first baby is born. Open-pit mining also begins.
1931 Mill capacity hits 1,250 tons a day. Recovery of gold and silver begins on New Years Eve.
1941 The first major strike hits the town. Seventy-five police officers are brought in to maintain order, but the strike ends when new war rules forbid labour action.
1947 A new mine - the Rothermere - is discovered.
1950 Premier Joey Smallwood visits the town to address the union.
1951 As the Rothermere mine reaches full production, yet another nearby ore body is discovered.
1966 The population climbs to more than 2,500.
1970s Tests reveal the mine is reaching the end of its life.
1973 After years of labour strife, the situation boils over when a manager hits two picketers with his car. Other picketers overturn the man's car. A week later, RCMP officers investigate damage to company property, which incites strikers, who ransack the main office, upend company vehicles, and burn the car that had earlier struck two of their number.
1981 Ore reserves dwindle to 81,000 tons. The company had mined 200,000 tons annually.
1982 ASARCO employs only 12 people, down from 550 four years previous.
1984 ASARCO ceases operations.
2005 ASARCO files for bankruptcy, leaving AbitibiBowater as the sole tenant of the land.
2008 The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador expropriates AbitibiBowater's assets. The company launches a court challenge, which is continuing.2009 The population sits at about 750.
Sources: heritage.nf.ca, townofbuchans.nf.ca