![McIntyre Mine in Schumacher, Ontario](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/McIntyre_Mine_in_Schumacher%2C_Ontario.jpg)
The McIntyre mine is an abandoned
underground
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* The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston
* The Underground ...
gold mine Gold Mine may refer to:
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*"Gold Mine", a song by Joyner Lucas from the 2020 album ''ADHD
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characteri ...
in
Schumacher,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, which has earned a place in Canadian mining history as one of the nation's most important mines. Its iconic
headframe, located near downtown
Timmins
Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 (2021). The city's economy is based on natural resource ext ...
, has come to represent the entire
Porcupine Gold Rush
The Porcupine Gold Rush was a gold rush that took place in Northern Ontario starting in 1909 and developing fully by 1911. A combination of the hard rock of the Canadian Shield and the rapid capitalization of mining meant that smaller companies ...
. The McIntyre also yielded a considerable amount of copper over its life.
There has been an extensive degree of rehabilitation and exploration work performed in and around the old McIntyre Mine property in recent years, and the Porcupine Joint Venture has yet to decide whether or not to continue spending hundreds of millions of dollars on mining out the property or continuing with a closure plan (2007).
History
Sandy McIntyre (1869-1943) had immigrated to Canada from Scotland around the turn of the century. He had changed his name from Alexander Oliphant and in 1906 became a prospector, exploring Northern Ontario.
McIntyre Porcupine was formed in 1911, adding land staked by Sandy McIntyre to nearby ground obtained by
J. P. Bickell. Although the initial assays were lean, Bickell kept the company afloat through tough times. Later, as grades improved, he obtained additional ground. In 1919, Bickell left the investment business to become president and then chairman of McIntyre-Porcupine Mines.
McIntyre sold his interest for $65,325, of which $60,000 was never collected. He did receive a pension for the use of his name however. Ownership by Charles Flynn, A. Freeman and then J.P. Bickell. McIntyre Mine was incorporated in 1912. An investment in the mine was made by
Henry Pellatt
Major-General Sir Henry Mill Pellatt, CVO (January 6, 1859 – March 8, 1939) was a Canadian financier and soldier. He is notable for his role in bringing hydro-electricity to Toronto for the first time, and also for his large château in Toron ...
in 1915. By 1924, the mine included 626 acres, including the former Jupiter and Pearl Lake mines, besides the Plenaurum and Platt Veteran properties.
The McIntyre (Number 11) headframe was completed in 1927. The shaft, along with new shops, processing, administrative and change facilities were all located on the north shore of Pearl Lake. This led to the subsequent abandonment and demolition of the original mill located to the south west of the new facilities. The six-compartment shaft excavation underneath it was deep and 160,000 tons of rock, as well as 40,000 tons of water, were removed in the process. The project used 240,000 pounds of powder to blast the rock and of Douglas fir to timber the shaft.
[
In its early days the McIntyre mine was a nightmare of problems. It was remarked "it is doubtful if any major mining corporation anywhere was ever established on a shakier foundation." Mine manager Dick Ennis told how he ran to the bank with hot bullion bars to cover a payroll and how he disappeared underground to hide from creditors. In later years the large profits from the mine enabled J. P. Bickell to loan the funds to Conn Smythe for the construction of Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. During the 1930s the company constructed the McIntyre Community Center in Schumacher. The facility includes both a hockey arena and a curling rink. It has since been taken over by the City of Timmins. The mine was owned and operated by the McIntyre company until 1973 after which it was sold to Pamour Porcupine Mines.
Overcoming the obstacles (thanks to Ennis) the McIntyre Mine went on to set a long list of firsts in mining and milling practices, as well as in health and safety. It was the first mine in Canada to have a metallurgist on the mill staff and employing a graduate engineer as mine superintendent. It was also the first in Canada to use rubber liners in milling and the first in the Porcupine camp to apply square-set and cut-and-fill stope mining. Gunitting was developed there it adapted and introduced flotation to gold milling. They were the first in Ontario to sink a shaft to below 4,000 feet.
Ennis established mine safety procedures, including a daily report on safety conditions underground, a standard that is common today, and an attempt to tackle the serious health problem of silicosis. At the time, European researchers had hypothesized that the scarring of lungs caused by silicosis was the result of a complex chemical reaction between silica particles and lung tissue, although this is now known to be inaccurate. A McIntyre research group, which included the world-renowned Banting Institute of the ]University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...
, pursued the goal of finding a way of eliminating or reducing the solubility of silica particles by using small quantities of metallic aluminum dust in a two-stage dry that miners passed when they returned to surface. The non-profit McIntyre Research Foundation was formed to further the use of the treatment throughout the world mining industry. In 2015, the McIntyre Powder Project and Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers began investigating the link between the McIntyre aluminum dust treatment and neurological disorders, including ALS and Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...
. The McIntyre Powder Project is a registry for miners who have health issues and who have been exposed to McIntyre Powder aluminum dust.The McIntyre Powder Project
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Between 1912 and 1955 production was valued at $230 million and the company paid $62 million in dividends to shareholders. From 1912 to 1988 there were 37,529,691 tons milled, producing 10,745,361 ounces of gold, an overall grade of 0.29 ounces per ton. In the early 1960s a substantial body of copper ore was noted north west of the old #6 shaft. By 1965 this was put into production and was an important addition to McIntyre Mine economics through the exhaustion of reserves in 1984.
See also
*List of mines in Ontario
This is a list of mines in the Canadian province of Ontario and includes both operating and closed mines.
*Adams Mine
*Agnew Lake Mine
*Amalgamated Larder Mine
*Argonaut Mine
*Armistice Mine
*Associated Goldfields Mine
*Barber Larder Mine
*Barto ...
References
External links
{{Commons category
Canadian Mining Hall of Fame
Porcupine Mining Area
Defunct mining companies of Canada
Gold mines in Ontario
Mines in Timmins
Underground mines in Canada
Former mines in Ontario