Cobalt silver gave birth to Ontario’s mining industry

In 1988, the town of Cobalt, Ont., celebrates its 85th anniversary — 85 years of uninterrupted silver production, yielding half a billion ounces. Agnico-Eagle’s emergence as the dominant force in the Cobalt camp is the culmination of the town’s colorful and roller-coaster history.

Although Cobalt is important historically as Canada’s leading silver producer, its greatest contribution was the impetus it gave to the exploration and development of other mining camps. Cobalt spawned the Ontario mining industry. The mining areas of Porcupine, Timmins, Larder Lake and Kirkland Lake owe their existence to Cobalt.

Cobalt has been called “the town that wouldn’t die.” Like the phoenix, it has arisen from its own ashes. Over and over again the town has fluctuated between disaster and success. Ask any old miner or prospector, and he’ll spin a tale which will demonstrate the fervent and eternal optimism that only a mining town can breed.

He may repeat the legend of the father of Cobalt, a blacksmith named Fred LaRose who, it is said, threw his hammer at a curious fox. He missed, but hit a rock, exposing native silver, and precipitated the Cobalt silver rush. LaRose was indeed one of the first miners in Cobalt. (In fact, his ramshackle blacksmith’s cabin survives today at the entrance to Agnico-Eagle’s silver division offices.) But the actual discovery of Cobalt’s silver occurred less sensationally. Railway coming helped

In the early days of this century, the Ontario government committed itself to developing the verdant farmland north of North Bay to accommodate the great number of immigrants flooding into Canada. In order to open up the northern countryside, it began construction of the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railroad from North Bay to New Liskeard. James McKinley and Ernest Darragh were tie-cutting contractors. In August, 1903, while searching for timber for railroad ties, they noticed glints of metallic flakes on the shore of Long Lake (now Cobalt Lake). It was native silver, which assayed a spectacular 4,000 oz to the ton.

Although McKinley and Darragh quickly staked their claims, it took a year before the real silver rush began. Mining men had traditionally believed there were no precious metals east of the Rocky Mountains. According to lore, mining booms always occurred in obscure places, causing suffering and hardships. Prospectors were sceptical such riches could exist so close to civilization.

But as the news spread, silver fever gripped the dream seekers. In 1905, Cobalt’s population swelled from 200 to 6,000, and by the end of the year 16 mines were in operation.

Cobalt was popularly described as the town whose streets were paved with silver. Indeed, many prospectors did make their fortunes digging up the streets using pickaxes, shovels and wheelbarrows. Later, as the surface riches were skimmed, enterprising mining operators invested their profits from the accessible surface silver to sink shafts and exploit their mines underground. Two newspapers

The town grew and flourished. By 1911, Cobalt had a population of 10,000. Finally the town that had begun as a tent city in a sea of mud boasted attractive wide sidwalks, numerous fancy stores, and the Bijoux Theatre on Lang Street. Cobalt spawned several firsts: Ontario’s first streetcar system, the Nipissing Central Railway lasted until 1935. The first Northern Ontario hockey team was formed. The forerunner of the Ontario Provincial Police began in Cobalt. And two legendary newspapers, The Weekly Nugget (now the North Bay Nugget) and The Northern Miner newspaper, began publishing here.

Prior to 1903, Canada’s total silver production was five million ounces annually. In 1907, Cobalt alone produced nine million ounces. By 1909, it was producing 12% of the world’s silver. And two years later, at its peak, 34 mining companies produced 312 million ounces of silver.

But the joy was soon tempered by tragedy. Alternately accursed and blessed, Cobalt saw more than its share of misfortune. The town struggled with a 5-year typhoid epidemic caused by poor sanitary conditions. Diphtheria and smallpox were common. In 1906, an explosion on Lang Street demolished many new homes. Three years later, a fire destroyed more homes and shops. Dangerous conditions

Underground mining was particularly dangerous. Candles, used to illuminate the tunnels, created an eerie light and often ignited gas explosions. By the end of 1912, more than 100 men had died underground. A dozen years later, the brake holding the cage at Redrock Mine gave out and three young miners were killed. Finally these deaths were not in vain. The outcry led to the upgrading of equipment and in the stricter safety regulations that govern modern mines today.

Tolling church bells mourned individual miners. But the death knell for the town was sounded by the crashing of the stock market and silver prices in 1929. And, to compound the disaster, the silver veins of Cobalt consistently dried up 300 ft below the surface. Although more than 300 million oz of silver had been extracted, the unwelcome news had to be faced. The town seemed to be mined out.

Miners and their families abandoned the town and moved on to the new, thriving mining areas the Cobalt boom had spawned, Porcupine, Larder Lake and Kirkland Lake. By 1937, all the original mines had ceased production. Only the hardiest entrepreneurs remained, picking over the dry bones of once flourishing mines. The rusting skeletons of abandoned headframes became a silent reminder of the glory that had once been Cobalt, the town that refused to die. Revitalized in 1940s

The town was revitalized briefly in the 1940s, resulting in one new mine, Cobalt Lode, which would eventually form the nucleus of today’s Agnico-Eagle. But the flurry of activity was short-lived. In the early 1950s again it seemed that the town might thrive again, due to its namesake — cobalt. However, in 1957 the United States government, the principal purchaser of the mineral, allowed its contract to lapse, as its needs were met domestically. Without the major market for cobalt, and little production of silver, it appeared that cobalt would become a ghost town again.

However, the beginning of Cobalt’s return to prominence began 35 years ago with the creation of a silver producer named Agnico Mines Ltd. — the predeces- sor company to today’s Agnico- Eagle Mines. And the final important element in Cobalt’s recovery occurred with the advent of the present management in 1963 — exactly 25 years ago]

Today, “the town that wouldn’t die” thrives due to the company’s faith in the promise of its past. Agnico-Eagle celebrates Cobalt’s resurgence and is committed to continuing the camp’s future as an important Canadian silver producer.00400 3/8 — From Agnico-Eagle Mines’ 1987 annual report.