Realizing the unique contribution that the discovery and development of the Cobalt silver mining camp has made to the mineral industry in Canada and the world, the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines conceived a pilot project designed to preserve and illustrate some of the historical attributes of the area.

The result is the Heritage Silver Trail; a self-guided drive along the back roads of Cobalt and through some of the more historical mining sites in the camp. A six kilometer loop within the existing road system east of Cobalt Lake provides typical examples of mining at the turn of the century.

Five principal sites were chosen to illustrate the many features associated with mining in the early l900's. Through a system of billboards, route markers, site signs and information points, the visitor is able to travel through the past and experience the history of the Cobalt mining camp.

Each stop illustrates a different aspect of the Cobalt story and consists of a parking area, picnic tables, look-out platforms and/or walking trails.

The McKinley-Darragh Mill Site introduces the processing stage of a mining operation. Broken ore, hauled from a mine, is further crushed and treated at a mill. Here, high grade ore was separated and an enriched concentrate and waste tailings produced. The high grade ore and concentrate were shipped to a refinery for final processing to the bullion stage. Tailings or "slimes'' were dumped near the mill site and represent the very finely ground waste from the ore processed.

The Little Silver Vein site offers a spectacular view of an open "stope" or cut which remains after a vein is mined out. The narrow widths provide some idea of the conditions that early miners worked under. A cliff face at the site offers a view of what a 2.2-billion-year-old sand and gravel pit might have looked like. A trail leads from here to a tunnel or "adit" which can be entered to experience the sensation of being "underground''.A blast of icy air greets the visitor throughout the summer.

The Cart Lake Tailings Lookout offers a panoramic view of a tailings pond bordered by a number of old headframes. Further up the hill, the Nippissing Mine Site provides the visitor with a variety of interesting features including a look-out, a well-preserved hoist room with hoist, a headframe, a rock and mineral collectors dump, and a spectacular view down Into a 60 m deep, ice-filled rock cut.

The Right-Of-Way Mine Site presents a different style of mine building and includes a display of old mining machinery used in the past. Silver was mined from beneath the railroad tracks at this location.

The trail ends at Northern Ontario s Cobalt Mining Museum in the heart of the Town of Cobalt. A deceptively small front on the building disguises seven rooms dedicated to the history of mining in Northern Ontario. It houses one of the country's finest collections of silver samples.
 

SILVER was first discovered at the south end of Cobalt Lake in 1903 and has been mined continuously since that time. To this date, over 1/2 billion ounces have been produced from the area. At one time, over 100 mines were in operation and supported a population of 12,000 within the Town of Cobalt.
 
By 1910, the Ragged Chutes Compressed Air Plant, one of only three like it in the world, came on-stream. It supplied compressed air to the area mines through an extensive network of pipes, parts of which still remain throughout the camp.

Between 1910 and 1914, three hydro-electric plants were built to meet the burgeoning demand for power. A street car line soon began operating and reflected one of the immediate benefits of a booming economy. Peak production was reached in 1911 when 31,507,791 ounces of silver were produced. By 1922, over 300 million ounces of silver had been extracted from local mines.

Prosperity continued for a relatively long time but was interrupted by many disasters which have plagued the town to this day. In 1906, a dynamite cache exploded and resulted in a fire which destroyed a large portion of the town. The following year a smallpox epidemic took many lives and in 1909 another fire left 3,000 residents homeless. An outbreak of influenza in 1918 decimated the town yet again. Following a relatively stable period, a major fire once more swept through the area in 1977 and razed the entire north end of the town. Since that time, smaller fires in 1984 and 1986 have resulted in the destruction of many of the remaining landmarks.

Through all this adversity, people have persevered and the Town of Cobalt continues on, anticipating the inevitable upswing in the mining cycle. Silver is still mined in the area, at a rate of about 1.6 million ounces per year and new mines are presently being developed. We hope that you enjoy your tour and will recommend it to your friends!

This tour was designed and funded by the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines. It is now maintained and managed by Northern Ontario's Mining Museum with the good will of Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd.