ODDS’N’SODS — Yellow-brick sidewalk

The discovery of the fabulous “golden sidewalk” is said to be the most spectacular find of visible, on-surface gold made in the history of Canadian gold mining.

Situated at Carr Lake, in northeastern Ontario’s Skinner Twp., the gold occurrence was discovered by Tom Bathurst during the Red Lake gold rush of 1926.

The golden sidewalk is a dome of quartz, 3-4 ft. high, 15 ft. wide and about 15 ft. long. One section was 3 ft. long and 4 ft. wide, and it is because of these dimensions that the find was given its name; the section resembles a section of cement sidewalk in any modern city.

The golden sidewalk is laced with native gold plates 3-4 inches long, and wire gold up to 1 inch thick connects the plates.

News of this discovery made its way into newspapers, and many prospectors came to see it. Mr. Bathurst stationed an armed guard at the site by day, and added another one at night. He also had his crew build a log crib around the dome, which was then filled with waste rock, securely burying the find.

In 1927, Mr. Bathurst formed the Bathurst Mines, with himself as president and managing director. A steam-powered mining plant and a mill were taken to the site over a winter road, and a mine shaft was sunk to 200 ft. The mine was closed, however, for the winter months. In the summer of 1929, the shaft was deepened to 314 ft., a station was cut at 300 ft., and 2,045 ft. of drifting was carried out. The operation closed until the following year, when it reopened, operating only during the summer months. It closed again, however, but not before the shaft was deepened to 420 ft., with a station at 400 ft.

Total gold production there, from 1928 to 1934, was 307 oz., plus 93 oz.

silver. The golden sidewalk is still there, untouched, and securely covered by the waste rock excavated from the 420-ft.-deep mine shaft. It has been re-staked many times over the past 70 years and is still waiting to be mined.

Perhaps some day in the not-too-distant future, the golden sidewalk will again make the headlines.

— The author, a regular contributor to this column, is a retired operating engineer living in Thunder Bay, Ont.

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