On a hot and windy Victoria Day in 1977, a discarded cigarette started a fire that destroyed 140 buildings and left over 400 homeless. įire protection at the time was inadequate and firefighters were forced to dynamite buildings to create a firebreak. Half the town was destroyed 150 buildings were lost and 3,000 residents left homeless by that time the water table had been contaminated and a typhoid outbreak earlier in the year had killed 111 people. In 1909, a fire in a cafe spread quickly through debris and garbage-filled alleyways. Cobalt mining was done with the use of wheelbarrows, pickaxes, hand steel and dynamite.Ĭobalt suffered two devastating fires in the 20th century. Those who learned their trade in Cobalt moved north, discovering gold in Kirkland Lake and Timmins and further afield in Canada and around the world. The ore in Cobalt was close to surface, so men with limited experience could prospect, begin mining, and then hone their skills as the mines went deeper. The silver mines of Cobalt, and the prospectors and miners who discovered them and worked them, left an indelible mark on Canadian history, and the town is known as the birthplace of hard rock mining in Canada. One mill still operated in the area in 2017, and exploration for diamonds and other minerals was ongoing. By the 1960s, the area had produced over 420 million ounces of silver. Activity renewed in the 1950s then slowly dropped off, and since the 1980s, there have been no operating mines in the area. Mining continued until the 1930s, then slowed to a trickle. ĭuring 1914 the main mines in operation were the City of Cobalt Mining Company, Combat Comet Mine, Cobalt Lake (who owned the bed and edge of the lake), Cobalt Townsite, Colonial Silver Mine, Coniagas Mine, Crown Reserve Mine, the Drummon Fraction Could, Hargrave, Hudson Bay, Kerr Lake, La Rose Consolidated, Lumsden, McKinley-Darragh-Savage, Meteor, Nipissing, O'Brien, Penn-Canadian, Peterson Lake, Provincial, Seneca-Superior, Silver Bar, Temiskaming, Trethewey, and York-Ontario. The town's population soared to 10,000 by 1909. In 1911, the 34 mines produced over 30 million ounces (937.5 tons) of silver. : 32, 40īy 1908, the camp was considered the world's largest producer of silver and of the cobalt which is a byproduct of the process. Speculation over mining stocks on Wall Street in New York City required mounted police to control the crowds. : 18 The 40-Stamp Mill of the Cobalt Lake Mine, around 1914 The Timmins brothers bought the remaining claims from Fred La Rose, and erected some cabins. In 1904, Willet Miller, on a visit to Mile 104 on the T&NO, along with brothers Noah and Henry Timmins, named the future town Cobalt. The subsequent Cobalt silver rush led to the development of the McKinley Darragh, La Rose, Nipissing, and O'Brien silver mines. The silver from both sites was consistently high-grade. Later that year, Tom Hébert found a rich vein on the east side of Cobalt Lake and began a business with hotel owner Arthur Ferland. The discovery was made in 1903, near Long Lake (later called Cobalt Lake), by Ernest Darragh and James McKinley, who were supplying railway ties. Silver was discovered in the area during the construction of the Temiskaming & Northern Ontario Railway (T&NO) from North Bay to the communities of Haileybury and New Liskeard, north of Cobalt. Logan discovered cobalt in 1884 at the future site of the Agaunico Mine, one mile south of Haileybury. History Lang Street in Cobalt, 1911 Silver mines in Cobalt, around 1918 Cobalt Street In late 2017 one publication referred to Cobalt as a ghost town, but the high demand for cobalt, used in making batteries for mobile devices and electric vehicles, is leading to great interest in the area among mining companies. Mining declined significantly by the 1930s, together with the local population. By 1910, the community was the fourth highest producer of silver in the world. In the early 1900s, the area was heavily mined for silver the silver ore also contained cobalt. It had a population of 1,118 at the 2016 Census. Cobalt is a town in Timiskaming District, Ontario, Canada.
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