50 Years Ago (March 01, 1991)

STEEP ROCK PLAN

LARGEST OF ITS KIND

Ambitious plans exist for the drainage of Steep Rock Lake, north of Atikokan, Ont. The goal is to get cheaply at the iron ore below, according to Joseph Errington, president of Steep Rock Iron Mines. The plan for mining ore from underground had to be put to one side, in favor of drying up the lake and mining, for the first few years, by open shovelling. When the pits have been taken to their final working depth, underground mining can be carried out without fear of water difficulties. The saving in production costs (open pit over underground) over the course of years would be several times the cost of the drainage scheme. To divert the water and dry up the lake will cost between two and three million dollars, The Northern Miner has learned.

VALUES IMPROVE

AT PAYMASTER MINE

Paymaster Consolidated is opening good ore in the No. 17 vein on the 2,575-ft. level close to the 2075-1 winze. Two shoots have been exposed to date, the first one showing a length of 66 ft., averaging 0.3 oz. or $11.55 per ton at $38.50 gold across a width of five feet. Good ore is continuing in the east face and sampling of the last round returned an assay of 0.2 oz. across a width of 58 inches.

FALCONBRIDGE SETS

EXAMPLE IN WAR WORK

Indicative of the patriotic spirit that prevails all through the north country is the splendid effort being put forth at Falconbridge where the mining men and their families have not only pledged themselves 100% to the purchase of war savings certificates, but are contributing liberally in time and money to other activities.

Coming as it does in the midst of a war in which Canada and the Empire are fighting for their very lives, the forthcoming annual meeting of the Canadian Institute of Mining & Metallurgy, to be held in Montreal, will be one of the most significant in its history. The Canadian mining industry is straining every nerve and muscle to keep the stream of metals pouring into the crucible of war. The Dominion is supplying vital metals to her own industries and, more importantly, to British industries. These include the nickel, copper, lead and zinc which are vitally essential to the conduct of modern war. Canada is supplying not only raw materials but finished products which, like motor vehicles, require vast quantities of metals.

REINDEER SIGHTED

Yet another herd of reindeer has formed and is moving from the Mackenzie River delta toward the eastern Arctic along the coast in charge of Eskimos. This part of the large herd was brought from the Alaskan coast three years ago in an epic trek which took the Lapland herders four years to complete. Reindeer are brought to the Arctic to provide the Eskimos of the western coast with a more dependable supply of food than the migratory caribou, the movements of which in the past decade have been somewhat erratic.

GOLD OUTPUT SETS RECORD

Gold production in Ontario hit new high marks in value and in the quantity of ore treated in 1940, a preliminary report of the provincial department of mines shows. During the year, the gold mines milled 11.7 million tons, which yielded 3.2 million ounces of gold and 577,864 oz. of silver, total recovery from which was $122.2 million.

In 1939, the gold mines produced three million ounces of gold and 696,673 oz. silver, valued at $109.6 million from the treatment of more than 10.5 million tons of ore.