Salter's Meridian 1856
Text from the plaque
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 kilometres 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 Canadian Copper Company (later International Nickel) began working the claim. It became the Creighton Mine, one of the world's leading nickel producers.
Transcribed from the marker, not summarised.
Find the place
The City of Greater Sudbury
In Naughton, on the south side of Road 55
between Reserve Road and Simon Lake Drive
5.4 km west of the intersection of Road 55 with Highway 17
N 46 24.252 W 81 10.926
Recorded October 2005. Check current access before visiting.
More views
Where it stands
Visitors' notes
July 28, 2011
This plaque has now been replaced. No more graffiti.