Salter's Meridian 1856

Photo by Mona Albano - October 4, 2005

Plaque Location

The City of Greater Sudbury
Regional Road 55, near the site of the meridian line, Naughton - about 17 km southwest of Sudbury

Plaque Text

While laying out a meridian line (a north-south survey line) in 1856, provincial land surveyor Albert Salter observed severe compass needle deflections some five kilometeres north of here. Alexander Murray, assistant provincial geologist, examined the area and reported 'the presence of an immense mass of magnetic trap'. Analysis of rock samples revealed nickel, copper and iron. This was the first indications of the Sudbury region's mineral wealth, but it aroused no interest at the time because the site was so remote. In 1886 prospector Henry Ranger rediscovered the deposit and in 1900 the Canadain Copper Company (later International Nickel) began working the claim. It became the Creighton Mine, one of the world's leading nickel producers.