Cobalt Mining Camp

Photo by Alan L Brown - July 25, 2006

Plaque Location

The District of Temiskaming
The Town of Cobalt
In a park at the SE corner of Silver Street and Prospect Avenue

Plaque Text

About 820 metres southwest of here, on August 7, 1903, two lumbermen seeking timber for railroad ties made the initial discovery of the Cobalt silver camp. Named for its discoverers, the McKinley-Darragh mine operated from 1904 to 1927. In the rush of 1905-06, Coleman Township became the scene of the most intensive prospecting hitherto known in Ontario. Though it once boasted over 100 producing mines, the fortunes of the camp waned after 1920, owing to sharply reduced silver prices. After 1960 a firmer market and improved methods of recovery encouraged renewed activity. In its first sixty years, the Cobalt camp produced over 12 million kg of silver, valued at some $264 million.