For those unfamiliar with french, Val d’Or translates as Valley of Gold. And it’s an appropriate name: the city grew up around two gold mines and mining remains the only significant game in town.
Unlike fiat money, of which we can always print more, there’s only so much recoverable gold in the world. And despite the best efforts of alchemists, we can’t recreate its unique chemistry in a lab. The only way for us to acquire more is to dig.