This 360° aerial photo overlooks the site of the 2012 Black Lake landslide in Thetford Mines, Quebec. The landslide destroyed a section of Route 112, cutting through the grounds of the former Lac d’amiante du Canada (LAB Chrysotile) mine, an open-pit asbestos operation extracting serpentinized peridotite. The mine had already been shut down in 2011 when asbestos production in Quebec ceased.
The collapse tore away part of the road embankment and sent debris cascading into the vast open pit. In response, Route 112 was permanently rerouted, and a new bypass section opened to traffic in 2015.
The drone view highlights the fractured terrain, steep rock faces, and scar left by the landslide, contrasting with the surrounding forested ridges. Historic imagery, such as a Google Earth capture from May 2009, shows the pre-collapse alignment of Route 112 skirting the mine’s edge.
This photo records both the human engineering legacy of Thetford Mines—once the world’s asbestos capital—and the fragility of its altered landscape.