ODDS’N’SODS — Red Lake’s engineering `dean’

Among the many heroes of Ontario’s Red Lake mining camp is Horace Greely Young, Sr.

Honored for his work in that community in the province’s northwest, Young was born in Osnaburgh, Ont., in 1881 and graduated in mining engineering from Montreal’s McGill University in 1905.

He became manager of the Hudson silver mine in Cobalt, Ont., and later managed the Trethewey silver mine at Cobalt townsite from 1905 to 1914. He joined the Royal Canadian Engineers Corps and went overseas where he rose to the rank of major, commanding his own company. He was discharged in 1919 and went to Alaska as manager of the Julian Alaska gold mine for three years. In 1922, Young moved back to Cobalt to manage the Castle silver operation. He then travelled to Gowganda, Ont., to manage the Capital silver mine. He became manager of the Harker gold mine in Holloway, Ont., in 1924, and subsequently managed the Wendigo gold producer near Kenora, Ont., from 1925 to 1927.

Moving to Red Lake, Ont., he was involved in the sinking of the Howey gold mine shaft by steam power and the building of the 1,000-ton-per-day mill which went into production on April 2, 1930. He continued as manager until 1933 when he went into the consulting mining engineers practice and became president and managing director of West Red Lake Gold Mine and Red Crest Gold Mine. He became managing director of McKenzie Red Lake Gold Mine and a director and major shareholder of Madsen Red Lake Gold Mines. Young was the president and founder in 1946 of H.G. Young Mines, which produced 55,000 oz. gold from 1960 to 1963, when he retired to the Royal Alexandra Hotel, Winnipeg, Man., for a year to wind up his business affairs before moving to Calgary, Alta., to be near his two grandchildren. His 18-claim property in northwestern Ontario, largely covered by the waters of Balmer Lake in Balmer Twp., was sold to the adjoining Campbell Red Lake Mines (now Placer Dome) in 1978.

In 1966, the Red Lake branch of The Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy presented Young with a plaque in recognition of his 35 years of historical contribution to the development of gold mining in Red Lake. He was named “Dean of Red Lake Mining Engineers.” Young died in Calgary in 1968 at the age of 87.

— A regular contributor, Donald Parrott is a retired operating engineer in Thunder Bay, Ont.