Goldbanks Mines defunct; Opemisca Explorers became Campbell Resources

After perusing some old files of my late father and grandmother, I came across some certificates from Goldbanks Mines and Goldbanks Kirkland Mines. I would like to do a search of this company but am not sure where to begin.

Karen Pittao,

Mount Brydges, Ont.

Goldbanks Kirkland Mines was incorporated in 1933 and originally worked on a 7-claim property in Teck Twp., about 3 km west of the modern-day Macassa mine (itself about 5 km west of Kirkland Lake). The president, J.H. Sharman, and two of the directors, C.W. Baker of London and Dr. A.J. McKinnon of Zurich, were from southwestern Ontario, and it seems reasonable to conclude that a good number of the company’s investors came from that area.

The company did surface prospecting and a little diamond drilling, then sunk a 74-ft. (22-metre) shaft and did a little underground drifting. They sunk a second shaft, even shorter than the first, some time between 1933 and 1937.

In June 1937, the company, which had run out of funds, refinanced with a share consolidation in which holders received one new Goldbanks Mines share for two of Goldbanks Kirkland.

The southwestern-Ontario connection was still strong: the company’s head office had moved to London; McKinnon was president; Thomas Clift of London, vice-president; Baker, secretary; and Andrew Gray of Inwood was on the board. The other board members — Gordon MacDonald, Walter Little and Joseph Edwards — were all from Kirkland Lake.

Through 1938, and sporadically up to 1942, the company did work (mainly drilling) on the Teck Twp. claims. The second shaft was deepened to 75 ft. (23 metres), but most further work was suspended during the war years.

Following the war, the company did a magnetic survey on the property and followed it up with surface prospecting. The next campaign was planned for 1950, but it appears Goldbanks could not raise any more money. The company was idle until 1961, and its charter was cancelled that December.

I have a relative who purchased 100 shares in Opemisca Explorers Ltd. in July 1958. The original registrar for the shares was The Eastern Trust Company of Montreal. The shares were purchased from Hugh Mackay & Co. I am interested in tracing Opemisca Explorers and in finding out whether the shares have any value.

Kevin Burnett

Carnoustie, Scotland

Another company, Quebec Chibougamau Goldfields, formed Opemisca Exploration in 1952 to hold title to a property in Levy Twp., near Chibougamau in northern Quebec. By 1956, the company had been taken public on the old Canadian Stock Exchange, the Montreal-based board whose relaxed attitude toward disclosure made it the home of several scandals in the 1960s. Opemisca was not one of the scandals. Work on the Levy Twp. property continued through to about 1957, and about 9 million tonnes of massive-sulphide material were blocked out. Unfortunately, it was largely pyrite, and Opemisca was looking for copper.

Through those years Opemisca was a dedicated follower of staking rushes, tacking on properties in the Matagami and Bachelor Lake camps in the Abitibi greenstone belt of northwestern Quebec, and even a copper bet near Shawinigan, and dropping them about as quickly.

About 1961, though, Opemisca tied on to a recent discovery by Opemiska Copper Mines (a Noranda affiliate, despite the similar name) — right back home in Levy Twp. That property turned up encouraging enough results to keep Opemisca going into the late 1960s.

In 1969, Opemisca was reorganized under the name Allied Mining Corporation, with 15 Opemisca shares traded for each new share of Allied. Allied merged into United Asbestos in June 1973 with no diminution of its capital. The new company’s principal asset was an asbestos property at Black Lake, Que.

United Asbestos moved into the Campbell Resources fold and was ultimately merged, along with several other companies, to form a reorganized company in May 1983. Shareholders got 0.3 common share and one preferred share of the new Campbell for each share of United Asbestos. (At that point, a 100-share block of Opemisca would have become two common and seven preferred shares of Campbell.)

In 1984, the preferred shares were consolidated, with one new Series A traded for five old shares. The preferred series did pay dividends, at a rate of $2.50 annually. In November 1985, the Series A shares were converted to 3.8 common shares and a purchase warrant. The warrant, exercisable at $6, expired at the end of 1988.

So depending on what credit may have been given for fractional shares, a 100-share holding in Opemisca Exploration would probably be worth between 24 and 27 shares of Campbell Resources (cch-t) today, plus some accrued dividends. Campbell closed at 37 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Dec. 22, 2000.