Gowganda and the Millerett Mine

Introducing Gowganda

The Cobalt story started when contractors McKinley and Darragh discovered silver while working for the T&NO Railroad in 1903. 

Boom! The mining camp was born. 

Then, after the initial flurry of exploration activity in Coleman Township, prospectors spread out to neighbouring regions. Some travelled north along the Montreal River where they found silver near Gowganda Lake.

In this story, we feature the Millerett Mine. It was the first to ship ore of any substantial quantity from Gowganda.

Gowganda Ho

Superintendent G. M. Colvocoresses wrote a brief history of the Gowganda camp. He described the harsh conditions he encountered on the way to the site.

… [It was] during the summer of 1908 when prospectors following up the Montreal River found silver on the west shore of Gowganda Lake, while at nearly the same time silver-bearing veins were found near Leroy and Miller Lakes, which are 3 miles east of Gowganda Lake.

Travel conditions “nasty”

Colvocoresses continues:

My first visit to go Gowganda was in November 1908, just at the “freeze-up” which, barring the “break-up” is the nastiest time of the year. The canoe route was frozen up and the winter road was not yet cut through, so our party walked the entire distance from the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railroad at Charlton to Gowganda (60 miles), and back again, two weeks later.

Blackburn discovery

One of those early prospectors was a man known only as Blackburn. As he tramped through the bush in the south end of Haultain Township, he found silver nuggets in a vein running through conglomerate. Blackburn staked his claims, and then sold to the Millerett Silver Mining Company which incorporated in 1909.

First things first

Remember, this was remote territory, without nearby access to a transportation route. Even though there were hundreds of people in the area, no substantial development work could be done until a winter road was built. Only then could supplies be hauled in and construction could begin. More importantly for the investors, the silver could be shipped out to market.

Winter road and a new boom town

The winter road to Gowganda opened in early January, 1909, and a “mushroom town sprang up with surprising rapidity and the real rush to the camp began,” said Colvocoresses. The road saw extraordinary traffic in just four months.

By February, miners began underground development work.  Thirty camps were built, and teamsters hauled in nine power plants. Then operators laid in provisions and supplies for about ten months’ work and general stores were heavily stocked up at Gowganda. Throughout March, six hundred sleigh teams traveled back and forth between Charlton and Gowganda, and three hundred over the western road from the terminus of the Canadian Northern Railway at Sellwood.

Then the winter road broke up in April and it was no longer passable.

Terrible freight rates and even worse roads

Mining at the Millerett began in 1909. Getting the ore to refineries was the next challenge. Since this was a boom town, the rules of supply and demand were in effect. Freight costs were high, and the number of available teamsters was low. 

If and when a wagon came available, Colvocoresses shipped ore to a stockpile in Elk Lake. He sent only ten to twelve bags at one time because the route was so bad. It was impossible to ship anything heavier. The ore sat at Elk Lake until freight rates and transportation options improved. 

First significant shipment

In June 1910, the Millerett made headline news regarding a “trial” shipment of 800 bags, or thirty tons of ore from Elk Lake to Latchford, along the Montreal River. Though two cars of high-grade ore were ready to ship, management sent a stockpile of “seconds” instead. “If freight rates allow of a good profit on it, it will be of course assured on the high grade.”

The first steamer left Elk City dock Thursday morning. After several transfers to other boats, the shipment arrived in Latchford before six in the evening. According to the Nugget, a record time for the Montreal River. The trial was declared a success. 

The Millerett stamp mill

Mine production continued, and in 1911, management installed a mill to process the low-grade ore. The plant contained a 10-stamp mill manufactured by Allis-Chalmers Bullock and a small Blake crusher among other things. The stamp mill pulverised 30 – 40 tons a day.

Ore was mined from an adit, and two shafts to a depth of 200 feet. The ore ran out by the end of 1912. Total silver production of the Millerett was just over 600,000 ounces.

In 1913, the adjacent Miller Lake O’Brien Mine acquired the property and used the mill to process their low-grade ore.

Siscoe acquired the Millerett

In 1945 Siscoe Metals Ltd. bought the Millerett property from the Miller Lake O’Brien Company. They mined a small amount of ore from the Millerett property by extending the mine workings of their nearby Miller Lake O’Brien mine and operated the Millerett Mill till at least 1951.

Siscoe built a new mill in 1951 and operated both that year. However, we have not been able to determine when the old Millerett mill finally ceased operation. 

The Millerett – familiar to many

The Siscoe Mine closed down in 1972. This means that today, many people who read this story know someone who was employed at the Gowganda property. If you have any stories or pictures to share, we’d love to hear from you.

Acknowledgements, resources, and additional reading

Thanks to Reiner Mielke for research assistance.

Resources

• Claims map Haultain Township
• Sergiades, A.O. 1968. Silver Cobalt Calcite Vein Deposits of Ontario; Ontario Department of Mines, Mineral. Resources Circular No. 10, 498p
• Ontario Sessional Papers, 1913, No.14-15 Internet Archive
• Hathi Trust Engineering Mining Journal
• Canadiana
• Gowganda Views 2009
• Newspapers.com Cobalt Daily Nugget, Toronto Star, etc.

Further Reading

• Gowganda Ho An entertaining account of a very early canoe trip to Gowganda by a N.R. Green
• 1908-11-06-AA Cole to JM Turnbull A letter on T&NOR letterhead to a gentleman in Trail, B.C., from A.A. Cole, the Mining Engineer of the railway, dated Nov 6th 1908. In this letter is a description of travelling to Gowganda via Earlton to Elk Lake by road and thence further by canoe. A description is made of the geology and mining claims in the Gowganda area, including a discussion of the Blackburn claims.
• Stamp milling – comprehensive description of the stamp mill design, equipment, and process