Murdock Charles Mosher, one of Canada’s best known prospectors, died Sept 6 at Centenary Hospital in Scarborough, Ont. He was 85.
Born in Wine Harbour, N.S., “Murdie” was one of three brothers who scoured the Canadian wilderness in search of new ore deposits. There are few well known mining camps in which he wasn’t active.
A former president of the Prospectors and Developers Association and a member of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, he used everything from canoes to small aircraft during several decades of prospecting.
Mosher, who worked as a typesetter in Cobalt, Ont., during the First World War, was known for doing things by the book. He staked his first claim with a copy of The Mining Act under one arm.
During the 1920s, he and his brother, Alex Mosher, walked 110 miles to stake the property that later became Central Patricia Gold Mines. “If there were any messages of a discovery, our main objective was to get there the next morning,” said Alex Mosher who worked with his brother for many years.
In 1931, the Mosher brothers took part in the Little Long Lac gold rush in northern Ontario where they staked the claims which later served as the foundation for Mosher Long Lac Gold Mines.
The brothers also prospected in the Northwest Territories and took part in the Thompson Syndicate during an eventful career.
Mosher, who suffered two strokes before he died, leaves behind two daughters and four grandchildren.
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