MP-0000.794.1 | Buildings, pit and ore stock pile, Moose Mountain Mines, ON, ca. 1910
Buildings, pit and ore stock pile, Moose Mountain Mines, ON, ca. 1910
About 1910, 19th century
Ink on paper - Halftone
7.9 x 10.1 cm
MP-0000.794.1
© McCord Museum
Description
Keywords: Industry (942) , Print (10661)
Keys to History
Although fairly scarce in northern Ontario, iron ore was the focus of significant interest from mining companies. Stimulated by the steel-making plans of the American Francis Clergue at Sault Ste. Marie, but above all by the insatiable demand of U.S. steel makers, iron production enjoyed growth from the late 19th century until the end of the First World War. Sudbury also played an important role, as a new transcontinental railway, the Canadian Northern, began service through the region starting in 1907-08, opening up new territories. Sixty kilometres north of the town, an iron deposit to be known as the Moose Mountain Mine was discovered.
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What
A steam machine in the building with two smokestacks fed a conveyor that overhung two railway tracks, which can just be made out here.
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Where
The iron ore came from the hill that was gutted and turned into an open pit mine. It can be glimpsed just behind the wooden ramps. The ore was crushed into small rocks and carried by conveyor to the railway line.
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When
In 1910 the company employed 200 workers from the Sudbury area. The work was seasonal, because the ore, which was initially shipped by rail to Key Inlet on Georgian Bay, then had to be loaded onto boats, and there was no navigation for a good part of the year.
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Who
We know the name of one of the many workers who worked in the mine: Pietro Bendo. Arriving from Italy before the war, he was hired several times by Inco in Sudbury, then was taken on by Moose Mountain, which he left in the early 1920s for the mines in Timmins. He then worked at Noranda's Horne mine, where he continued until his death.
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