ODDS ‘N’ SODS — Homage to an old timer

Seldom do we have the opportunity and privilege to pay tribute to a real “old timer.” Robert Ekloff was such a man.

I recently read in the paper of his passing, at 97 years of age, and my mind went back to those early years I spent at Pioneer Gold Mines, situated deep in the Coast Range Mountains of British Columbia. At the time, I was a recent graduate in mining engineering from the University of Vancouver.

Howard James, the president of Pioneer Gold Mines, was confronted with the task of developing the newly discovered 27 vein at the Pioneer mine following several decades of mining from the main vein. Howard, astute operator that he was, realized that the 27 vein called for a new team. He called upon Jack Graham and Hughie Langille, placing development of the 27 vein in their capable hands.

The Pioneer mine was serviced by two vertical shafts that provided access to the main vein and were to be adapted for the needs of the 27 vein. This is where the old timer entered the picture.

Bob was the mine foreman who pioneered the growth of the Pioneer. He first came to the district in the early 1920s and prospected and operated placer leases in the upper Bridge River, subsequently venturing up the Hurley River, and then up Cadwallader Creek, where he found and developed the roots of the placer gold he had pursued for years.

Bob possessed the practical skills and instincts of a miner, and these were precisely what the new team needed. Soon, tunnels and shafts were being bored into the greenstones beside Cadwallader Creek, and a small mill was set up to treat the gold ores.

Mining of the main vein rested in Bob’s capable hands, and he was a key person in the extraction of gold ore from the structure for more than 3,000 vertical feet.

As work commenced at the 27 vein, the mining plan changed. There was a new challenge in the flat-dipping vein, but Bob worked faithfully with the new group and offered much needed counsel on practical matters.

He patiently listened and offered advice to those who worked with him, placing real values at the top of the scales and seldom erring in his judgment, which proved instrumental in the success of the Pioneer mine.

— The author, a retired mining engineer, resides in Vancouver, B.C.