A TOUR OF THE COBALT
SILVER MINES
By
Sandy Cline
1982 SILVER & GOLD ANNUAL

I have written several articles on the silver of the Cobalt Camp in the past. This has led me inundated with requests for more information on Cobalt. To facilitate those treasure hunters, who desire to embark on an adventure into the past, may I guide you on a tour of some of the mines of the Cobalt Camp?

Silver was discovered in the Cobalt area in 1903. James McKinley and Ernest Darragh filed the first recorded claim on land at the south end of Long Lake. A blacksmith, Fred LaRose, filed on land near his forge at the north end of the lake. The provincial geologist was asked to investigate the deposits and his report in 1904 produced a rush of prospectors, claim jumpers, fortune hunters and eager novices, eager to make their fortune. The railway station beside Long Lake became Cobalt.

The town grew around the railway station unplanned. Wherever a flat outcrop of rock, big enough to support a building could be found, appeared a miner's home. The present town still maintains this haphazard appearance of growth, the main street zigzagging through the town. Cobalt was a poor man's mining camp. Most of the rich, silver bearing veins lay close to the surface and could be mined cheaply. This ultimately led to the town's demise. By 1929 most of the mines had shut down. There was a slight flurry of activity in 1950-51 with the discovery of new veins and another in the 60s with the rising price of silver. By 1973 there were only three operating mines in the area.

Every August, the town returns to its days of glory with the Miners Festival. This features special events, tours and competitions relating to the historic mining period of the area. It would be an asset to acquire a topo map of the area before setting out to metal detect the inoperative mines and tailings of the Cobalt Camp. The map number is 31 MI SE, Cobalt and can be obtained from;

Public Service Centre,
Ministry of Natural Resources
Room 1640, Whitney Block,
Queens Park, Toronto,
Ontario, Canada M7A 1W3

If you have not obtained the topo map before reaching Cobalt, you can check the Highway Bookshop at Cobalt. They maintain a large selection of topo maps of the area but the Cobalt map is often out of stock.

Specimens of silver can be collected from the dumps of numerous inoperative mines in the vicinity of Cobalt. The intrusion of collectors on the tailings of the mines still operating is severely frowned upon.

Cobalt is four miles off Highway 11 on the secondary road 11B. Head frames of past productive mines border the road as you enter the town. It would be an asset to begin your explorations at the Mining Museum. This is on the main street in the center of town. The head frame of Shaft No.4, of the Coniagas, now a part of the main street shops, stands up the street from the museum. The museum contains a display of types of silver found in the Cobalt area that have been donated by the various mines that have existed in Cobalt's past. This can give you a visual aid in identifying silver when you find it. The various rooms contain information pictures arid relics dealing with Cobalt's mining past. Some of the items give a personal atmosphere to the era a set of snowshoes for a one-legged man, stocks from defunked mines and early editions of the Cobalt news-paper, The Nugget.

Leaving the museum, proceed north on II B to the Coniagas head frame. This has been used as a confectionery store and a florist shop in the past and was used as the information center for the Miner's Festival in 1983. Leave the main road and proceed past the head frame, about 100 feet down this road is a junction. Turn right onto the road to Sasaginaga Lake. Drive 0.2 miles to the mine on the right side of the road. There are several shafts on this property that were once the Coniagas mine. It was discovered in 1904 and closed in 1943 yielding close to 34 million ounces of silver.

The Trethewey mine was just north of the Coniagas. It operated during the same period and produced 64 million ounces of silver.

Returning to 11 B at the railway station, turn left of the Bank of Commerce for 0.2 miles. Turn left and drive 0.05 miles to a junction. Shaft 80 of the Nippising tube is to the left of the junction straight ahead up the ridge is another part of the Coniagas mine. The area within a quarter mile is dotted with many shafts. These shafts were the most prolific producers of silver in the Cobalt area until their demise in 1932.

Continue north on 11B to St. Theresa School on the right and the Cobalt-Brady Lake road. Turn right (east), crossing the Larose bridge over the railway. The rusty head frame at the railway tracks to the south is Shaft No.2 of the Right of Way mine. The Agnico Concentrator to the north of the road sits on the tailings of the Larose mine. The historic black-smith's forge and cabin still stand at the side of the road.

For this excursion I will give a road log beginning at Hwy. 11B (Mile 0)

Mile
0.25 Road on right to Nipissing 401 Mine
0.4 Road on right to O'Brien shaft #33
0.5 Road on left to O'Brien mine
0.75 Junction of Cross Lake Road on right
0.9 Road on left to Colonial mine
1.5 Nova Scotia nine to left of road
Road on left to Crown Reserve tailings
2.4 Junction of Glen Lake road on right
2.5 Road on left to Crown Reserve mine
2.55 Junction of road to Foster and University mines
2.65 Silver Sidewalk site
3.0 Road on left to Drummond mine
3.9 Road on right to Rochester mine
4.1 Junction. Follow road to right
4.1 5 Lumsden mine on right
4.25 Silver Miller mill on left
4.45 Road on right leads to Silver Miller mine
4.6 Cobalt Lode mine on left
5.5 Road on right to Victory mine
Road ends at Mayfair mine.

The Nipissing 401 mine was operated until 1932 and was one of their most productive claims. There are two shafts on the property, 0.1 and 0.25 miles south of the Brady Lake road on the right of the access road.

The O'Brien mine was the longest continuously operated mine in the Cobalt area. Between 1905 and 1967 it produced 40 million ounces of silver. The underground workings have so undermined the area that several cave-ins have occurred and are now fenced of to the general public. The head frame and mine buildings are still standing, allowing the visitors to experience the magnitude of a mine operation. The Colonial Mine produced about ten million ounces of silver between 1907 and 1936. The workings consist of several open cuts, adits and shafts, with the adits are the most productive. The Nova Scotia mine began with a surface vein showing silver for 60 to 75 feet. Leaf silver was commonly encountered during the mining operations between 1906 and 1912. About a million ounces of silver was recovered. The Juno mine yielded 46,000 ounces of silver. For several years "No Trespassing" signs have graced the entrances and mine tailings.

The Crown Reserve mine produced 20 million ounces of silver in the period l908-l948. The veins lay beneath Kern Lake, which was drained to allow mining. The majority of tailings now lay beneath the waters of Kerr Lake. Crown Reserve. Kerr Lake, Lawson, Foster and University properties are presently under lease to Canadaka Mines and they are not allowing treasure hunters to detect these properties.

The Drummond mine consisted of an open pit with several open cuts and shafts. Between 1904-17 it produced nearly four million ounces of silver. It was common to find sheets of silver during the mining operations.

The Rochester mine produced 15,000 ounces of silver before it was abandoned as being unprofitable.

The Beaver, Temiskaming and Cochrane mines are currently in production by Agnico Mines and are not accessible to treasure hunters.

The Lumsden mine, despite its low production (20,000 ounces of silver), is an excellent area for the novice treasure hunter. The area has been actively detected but still produces small plates of silver. The high mineral content of the tailings dampens the field of the detector so the average detector has a very low depth penetration. I usually remove a couple inches of surface rock from the area I am searching to obtain greater depth with my detector.

The Silver Miller mine came into existence with discovery of silver veins under Brady Lake in 1947. For a time ore was mined from the Lumsden property until the Silver Miller shaft was sunk. This shaft continued operation until 1957, yielding 7.3 million ounces of silver.

The Christopher and Cobalt Lode mine prospered from 1954-66 yielding 1½ and 4~/2 million ounces respectively. The Victory, Ophir and Mayfair mines were very low producers.

There are many other mines that I have not listed specifically, but treasure hunters may find interesting. The Deerhorn mine where dendritic silver is found in pink calcite and greatly prized by rock hounds and the Nipissing property where the hill was hydraulically washed of all earth and vegetation to expose the veins of silver are points of interest.

The silver is not confined to the mines that I have noted. The tailings of abandoned mines were used as fill for roadbeds and foundations. Pieces of silver rich ore fell from trucks and sleds as it was being transported to the mill. In 1906, a resident of North Bay walked around the various mining properties picking up silver nuggets to the value of $l5, 000. That was when silver was 51.50 an ounce. In the 1950s I was able to still walk the mining properties picking up silver by sight. The advent of the metal detector has greatly reduced the easy pickings. These days it is essential to locate the areas that other treasure hunters have not searched. I dig a bit deeper into the tailings or find tailings away from the main shaft. The silver is there, but you have to pass your coil over it to detect it.

There are three other items that I think that you should consider hi planning a silver-hunting trip. Develop a practical knowledge of silver in its various forms. Consider the time of year that you plan to make your trip and make arrangements to be sure that you will return.

Silver is not the only metal/mineral that you will read with your detector. The area contains various iron ores, cobalt and nickel. The only mineral that you will find difficult to discriminate is the nickel. It will read at high discrimination. In many cases the silver will be found in association with one of these minerals. A ready visual aid to determining the difference is by their oxidation through weathering. Cobalt oxidizes pink, nickel green and iron-rust. For an in-depth identification, consult a rock and mineral guide.

Weather is of prime importance in planning when the trip is to be made. The snow starts around the end of October and lingers into May. Last April when I made a trip with Cliff Williams and John Payne we found a foot and a half of snow on the ground with drifts six to eight feet around the tailings. The good weather brings out the black flies and mosquitoes. The black fly is a tiny insect with the appetite of a piranha. They are more numerous during the milder weather. The mosquito thrives during July and August when they literally line up to get a drink. Needless to say insect repellent is a must.

I cannot stress the possibility of getting lost. I search well off the usual area for my silver. In the past year, several of the treasure hunters lost. Fortunately they were a part of a group and were found. Each of the lost never believed that it could happen to them.
Carry a compass and a topo map of the area and never venture into the bush alone without letting someone know where you are going.

A trip to the Cobalt Camp is an adventure with the potential of finding enough silver to make it very profitable. I continue to make several trips a year and always cover my expenses.
If you come across a little guy with a big beard detecting the dumps of Cobalt while you are there, stop and say "Hello". I can show you much more in person than I can write in article. Many professional treasure hunters never run any discrimination. They dig everything because they know that even sometimes, tiny amounts of discrimination will cause good samples to be rejected. Just set the discriminator to eliminate the very tiny items like small nails and other rusted iron objects.

Whenever you locate a piece junk be sure to keep it and discard it in a trash receptacle. Do not put it back down. Some day you may be in the same area again or at lea there is a good chance that some low treasure hunter will be there
It makes no sense to dig a piece junk time and time again. Let's I each other to be productive.

There are vast quantities of silver in the Cobalt region. There are quantities of gold in Australia. There are vast quantities of silver and in Mexico and in the Western States you can find your share if you use the right detector, learn how use it and be persistent. The reward will be yours.