Came across this interesting and rather detailed article about a short-live hold rush that took place in Eldorado, just north of Madoc. I knew they had found gold there back in the 1800s even before confederation. There is a historical plaque to mark to area, but few buildings remain of a once briefly-booming mining town, much less of the mines themselves.
If you were to search for them, there are plenty of scars left of the exploration and excavation that characterized the mad rush to riches. It’s a sad scenario that has been so often repeated across the region. Sadder still are the hundreds of abandoned mines that were once fully developed and then abandoned nearly as quickly as they were created. Many of these still pose dangers to the environment and to water sources a great distance away. And as you may know, billions of our tax dollars are eventually spent trying to clean up the sites long left behind because our regulations and safeguards were too lax.
Our current government in Ontario has sought to further reduce what little protections we have from the rampant abuses of mineral exploration and mining in the name of the new gold rush for critical metals needed for the much-hyped EV revolution.
The article also contains a link to a great TVO documentary on another gold ruch that did develop snd operate for many years in Ontario’s north and lead to the development of the City of Timmins. That story is rife with all the social injustices that were common in those days when greed and desperation came face to face.
Hope you find this enjoyable and enlightening:
https://amp.tvo.org/article/after-the-gold-rush-the-rise-and-fall-of-ontarios-own-eldorado
Know that your SLCA continues to keep a watchful eye on the threat that mining in the area could pose to our watershed and the natural beauty that surrounds it. Not much that can be done under the current political climate, but that’s no reason not to vigilant and patient!