Every mine develops at a different pace. The discovery of a major mineral deposits may create feverish excitement, but an actual mine may remain undeveloped for decades, waiting for a favourable alignment of investors, infrastructure developments, or market conditions.
Some mines develop rather suddenly, however, leading to the “rush” conditions that have been romanticized in popular culture. Mineral rushes may lead to riches for some, but they also can create impossibly difficult conditions for miners and their families, including poor housing, hunger, diseases, and high accident rates in the mines.
One of the most rapid and disruptive precious metal rushes in Canadian history occurred at Cobalt, Ont. The first inkling of the rich silver in the area was when two railway construction workers, J.H. McKinley and Ernest Darragh, found silver flakes in rock near Cobalt Lake while working on the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario (T. & N.O.) railway in 1903.
Legend has it that the blacksmith Fred LaRose discovered another high-grade silver deposit when he hurled an axe at a fox, the errant throw overturning a rock rich in silver. While Charlie Angus’s recent history of Cobalt suggests the fox incident was a tall tale, the silver was very real.
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