Gold, diamond rush on
the horizon ~
By John R. Hunt
I lived through the Texasgulf rush of
which the Kidd Creek mine at Timmins is a lasting monument. And I lived
through the Elliot Lake rush, which created a new city and a lot of now
dead mines.
Cobalt prospectors and engineers played a role in both. The old town
was excited and very busy. Prospectors were coming and going at all
hours.
Many gathered at the old Boston Grill where the phone rang every few
minutes and Charlie Ferris used to yell out the latest news from the
stock exchange. A lot of people made money on the market, and probably
just as many lost their shirts.
Now it seems certain I shall experience yet another rush, based partly
on gold, and largely on diamonds. This should be good news if there were
not disquieting rumours of a possible hangup.
The thought of writing a good news story containing a possible threat
to the whole deal has some appeal for a writer. Snow White and her
dwarfs would be pretty tame without the wicked and threatening Queen.
Every story needs a villain. But I did a little digging and the
villains seem both friendly and benign.
The villain possibility surfaced when I was talking to a municipal
leader of considerable experience. He, like many others, lived through
the dispute with the Temagami Bear Island First Nation. That tied up a
vast area of Northeast Ontario for more than 20 years.
The natives imposed land cautions on more than 100 townships, which
stifled development in a vast area from Temagami to the outskirts of
Kirkland Lake.
His story was that the Timiskaming First Nation at Notre Dame du Nord
in Quebec was preparing a Temagami-style land claim that might tie up
the whole region again.
Years ago I spent some time with the Timiskaming First Nation people. I
knew a prospector named McBride who had an iron property. A Polson was
shift boss or mine captain at the Langis mine, which was originally the
Casey Cobalt. It was located at the head of Lake Temiskaming, some
distance from the main Cobalt silver camp.
The Timiskaming First Nation played a big, possibly decisive role in
blocking the Adams Mine garbage project.
I called Notre Dame du Nord. Acting Chief Beverley Chevrier-Polson was
tied up. But I got lucky and spoke to an old friend who works with her.
He assured me the last thing the First Nation wants is to tie up
anything. But they do want to protect traditional hunting grounds, 60
per cent of them in Ontario. They want to protect the environment and
they want jobs and opportunities.
He pointed out that last October the Timiskaming First Nation signed a
unique agreement with Tres-Or Resources. The company is engaged in an
extensive diamond exploration project.
First Nations people are getting all kinds of jobs and being trained
with many new skills. So it looks as if this mining company is working
with the native people. Surely a great step forward that bodes well for
the future.
Please see Too on Page 23
Cont’d from Page 6
There are so many companies involved in exploration projects in the
area from Temagami to New Liskeard, and east into Quebec it is difficult
to keep tab. The latest buzz is that Temex Resources has found a boulder
in the bed of an old logging road. It is reportedly plugged full of
gold, some of it assaying over 6,000 grams to the ton. The odd thing is
that Temex has been involved in a major diamond hunt in the same area
southwest of Latchford.
Here are some other names of companies exploring mostly for diamonds.
One big player at Temagami is Tres-Or Resources Ltd. Others are Rhonda
Corporation, Rock Resources Inc, JML Resources, and a whole bunch of
small outfits wheeling and dealing for a share of the pie.
Kimberlite pipes, which usually host diamonds, are popping up all over
the place.
From a purely Cobalt perspective, the most exciting is Cabo Mining
Corporation.
It has been working in Lorrain Twp. near the old and long gone ghost
town of Silver Centre. Last June it reported finding 95 diamonds,
including four macro diamonds.
I recently chatted to a technical type who told me he uses satellite
mapping to find likely ore zones. It seems odd but pictures taken far
out in space are beamed to earth, and can provide important clues for
mineral exploration. He insisted the whole region is going to explode
with new mines in the very near future.
This reminds me of when I picked up a very old hitchhiker at Latchford
long ago. He told me how he was working with a railway construction
crew. That night a workman slipped away from the camp on the shores of
the Montreal River at Latchford.
He returned much later, carrying a big chunk of pure silver. But he
never told where he found it.
“There’s lots of good stuff out there,” the old timer said. I hope he
was right.
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