At the time when the Abitibi region was being surveyed and organized in 1907, the name Malartic was chosen for the geographic township and lake, following the pattern of assigning names of regiments and officers of General Montcalm's army. It was named after Anne Joseph Hippolyte de Maurès, Comte de Malartic, aide de camp to Montcalm. The discovery of major gold deposits in 1923 led to a gold rush in the Abitibi region, attracting settlers to the area in 1928. In 1935, the Canadian Malartic Gold Mines began operation, employing people from all over the province, Canada, and several east European countries. Together with Eastern Malartic and Malartic Goldfields that began operating in 1937 and 1939 respectively, these three became Quebec's largest gold mines. But newly arriving workers were not permitted to settle near the mines and would build a squatter camp on Crown land about 4 km north of Malartic, that became the community of Roc d'Or. The two settlements grew concurrently, duplicating services. But the parishes, railway station, and post office were established near the mines in Malartic. In 1939, the Town of Malartic was incorporated under the auspices of the Quebec Ministry of Mines, in an attempt to halt the proliferation of squatter camps in the Abitibi region. In 1943, the entire community of Roc d'Or was ordered to move to Malartic by the provincial government and the settlement was demolished. Despite a mining accident in April 1947 that killed 12 miners in an underground fire, Malartic was thriving throughout the 1950s, reaching a peak of nearly 7000 residents. But in 1965, Canadian Malartic and Malartic Goldfields closed their mines, followed by the Barnat and East Malartic mines in the 1980s. This led to rapid decline in the economy and population. In 2008 and 2009, renewed exploration by Osisko Mining revealed an untapped new gold deposit, estimated at approximately 9 million ounces, beneath the town. The company received approval from the government of Quebec to launch what would become Canada's largest ever open pitgold mine. The project, which will have an estimated cost of $1 billion if approved, would see most of the portion of the town lying south of Route 117, consisting of about 200 houses and several of the town's public facilities, relocated to a new housing development in the north end of town. This move was featured in season 4 of the television showMonster Moves. As of late 2009, most of the relocation work had been completed, and this, before the end of public consultations by Quebec's Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks.
