Porcupine Gold Rush

The Porcupine Gold Rush was a gold rush that took place in Northern Ontario starting in 1909 and developing fully by 1911. A combination of the hard rock of the Canadian Shield and the rapid capitalization of mining meant that smaller companies and single-man operations could not effectively mine the area, as opposed to earlier rushes where the gold could be extracted through placer mining techniques. Although a number of prospectors made their fortune, operations in the area are marked largely by the development of larger mining companies, and most people involved in the mining operations were their employees.

The mines peaked between the 1940s and 50s, but continue to produce gold to this day, although the many smaller mines have been consolidated into a small number of larger holdings. By 2001, 67 million troy ounces of gold have been mined from the Porcupine area, making it by far the largest gold rush in terms of actual gold produced. For comparison, the well-known Klondike Gold Rush produced about 12 million troy ounces.

The Porcupine rush, along with the Cobalt Silver Rush and Kirkland Lake Gold Rush, all in the early 20th century, drove most of the settlement effort in northern Ontario.

During the late 17th century, explorers and fur traders established outposts in Northern Ontario (then part of Rupert's Land) to capitalize on the fur trade. The Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company later developed several trading posts along major routes in Northern Ontario. The rivalry between these two trading companies resulted in the need to get their furs to market as soon as possible and this led to the development of the Porcupine Trail, a trading route that connected the Abitibi River to the Mattagami River and passed directly through present day Timmins.

There were hints of gold in the Porcupine Lake area on a number of occasions before the actual rush started. The earliest recorded mention is by a Department of Mines surveyor, E.M. Burwash, who reported seeing gold-bearing quartz as he travelled through Shaw Township, just southwest of the future goldfields. This was of little interest at the time, as the area was almost inaccessible. A University of Toronto geologist, W. Parks, followed up with three surveying runs in 1898, 1899, and 1903. These crossed through the main gold-bearing area along what was known as 'the Back Road' which has since been renamed "Goldmine Road". On his return to Toronto, he made a now-famous comment that "I regard the region south of the Porcupine trail as giving promise of reward to the prospector."

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Wikipedia