a bit of history.... As the City of Timmins celebrates 100 years of gold mining history, most people think only of the Dome, McIntyre and Hollinger gold mines. They were the ones that survived the longest. Forgotten in history are countless more. How many of the following mines have you ever heard of or remember?
The Porcupine Peninsular Gold Mine, was located on the shores of Nighthawk Lake and was staked by Charles Auer in 1907. Before it closed a few years later, it produced a half-million dollars worth of gold – a huge sum in those days.
George Bannerman, for whom Bannerman Park has been named, with his partner Tom Geddes, owned the Scottish-Ontario Mine. The property was discovered in 1909 in Whitney Township. There was also Banner-Porcupine Mines, (Banner, for George Bannerman) was once known as The Canusa, (named for investors in both Canada and USA) and was situated in Whitney Township.
Hughes, Apex, Dobie, Desantis, Acme, Mulholland, Porcupine Crown and Iroquois mines are other names from the past and all were discovered and began producing between 1909 and 1912.
In 1911, the Two-in-One Mine could be found in eastern Whitney Township. It was situated near the Three Nations Mine which was later bought by Pamour Porcupine Mines Ltd. Pamour Porcupine made another nearby acquisition when they took ownership of the Porcupine Grande Mine. Today all these properties are under the ownership of Goldcorp. When driving past that area today, one would never realize that there were once seven or eight individual mines. It’s still producing gold 101 years later.
Bill Davidson discovered his mine in 1909, north of South Porcupine in Tisdale Township, incorporating it in 1911 under the name Davidson Gold Mines Ltd. It was one of the earliest mines operating in the Porcupine but was closed during WWII. Through the years there have been several unsuccessful attempts to re-open it.
The Foley-O’Brien Mine was owned by Ambrose O’Brien of Renfrew, ON. O’Brien is remembered for his Cobalt hockey team’s rivalry with a Haileybury team owned by Noah Timmins. Each team had their sights set on winning the 1909-1910 Stanley Cup in the National Hockey League. O’Brien’s mine was discovered in 1910 and was located on the site of the Spruce Hill Lodge in South Porcupine.
The Big Dome, as the Dome Mine was known, lent its name to several nearby smaller mines. Lot 6, Concession 1, Tisdale Township was the site of the Dome Lake Mining Company. It went into operation in 1911, as did the Dome Extension Mine which was situated east of, and adjoining the well-known Dome Mines Ltd. property which itself was staked in 1909 and began operating in 1910. Another mine that capitalized on the Dome name was the North Dome which was located on Lots 3 and 4 in Concession 1. The Preston East Dome Mine was actually south, not east of the Dome and was incorporated in 1911. The West Dome Mine was really south-west of the Dome Mine. All these mines are now part of Goldcorp. Beside the open pit, there is only one headframe left to mark underground operations.
These are but a few of the operating mines in the eastern part of the city between 1907 and 1912. It isn’t hard to imagine the excitement and gold fever that must have struck this area 100 years ago
link: https://www.timminstimes.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3458201