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Cobalt Lake MineAfter Sir Henry Pellat purchased the mineral rights for 47 acres under Cobalt Lake, the water was pumped from Cobalt Lake into Cross Lake. In 1915 a profitable vein was uncovered in the reverse fault under Cobalt Lake.
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Cobalt City Mine1910
Cobalt Mining Camp, Town of Cobalt and Coleman Township, Ontario, Canada
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Cobalt City MineMines that were situated close to lakes took advantage of the lakes as a place to dump waste rock and processed ore after the silver was extracted. As a result of dumping, more flat land was built up for the mine to build on.
In 1907, most of the land underlying the Town of Cobalt was leased to the Cobalt City Mine whose shaft houses were located north of the Buffalo and Townsite Mines. It's richest vein was in the north-east corner but vein exensions from the Buffalo and townsite mines were also productive.
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Cobalt Nipissing Mill1915
Cobalt Mining Camp, Town of Cobalt and Coleman Township, Ontario, Canada
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Cobalt - Nipissing MillProcessing plants were generally built on a hill side to enable gravity to work in the process. The ore was hoisted from underground to the top level of the mill and from there went to the processors and flowed downhill through various phases of recovery. The resulting smelter product contained all the silver and a waste product or tailings. The tailings would be dumped in the most convenient spot which was usually a nearby lake.
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Overhead Ore Bucket Nipissing Mine1920
Cobalt Mining Camp, Town of Cobalt and Coleman Township, Ontario, Canada
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Overhead Bucket - Nipissing MillOre was moved to different central processing plants by various means. When a mining company had several ore sources, the ore had to be moved to a central location. At the Nipissing Mine this consisted of a overhead bucket line that moved the ore from the Meyer Shaft across the town and Cobalt Lake to the mill on the main property. A safety net was used where the ore buckets crossed a road.
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Buffalo Mine Dump1908
Cobalt Mining Camp, Town of Cobalt and Coleman Township, Ontario, Canada
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Buffalo Dump - 1907/08Trees were buried as dumps got larger. The top of the dump is flat as it has a small rail track on it. The dump was started by building a trestle next to the headframe that enabled the mine cars to dump away from the structure and avoid damage. As the pile built up the track was extended out along the top of the dump giving a typical flat-topped appearance that is so typical of this type of dump construction in Cobalt.
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Buffalo Mine Shaft House1920
Cobalt Mining Camp, Town of Cobalt and Coleman Township, Ontario, Canada
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Buffalo Mine Shaft HouseOre from the mine would be introduced into the top of the processing building and gravity would then become the prime mover as the ore was processed. This saved considerably on electric power, equipment installation and labour. It can also be noted that the transfer track is covered in completely from the weather. It would prevent ice and snow build up in the winter, safety from the wind and rain and also give some safety to the workers. On a waste dump with the rails running along the top of the dump these considerations were not important.
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Buffalo Mine Filter Plant10 April 2006
Cobalt Northern Ontario Mining Museum, Cobalt, Ontario, Canada
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Buffalo Mine Filter PlantPart of the processing operation was to get rid of water from the finished product as it cost money to ship it to the smelters. The concentrates containing the silver were filtered and dewatered as much as possible before bagging and shipping by rail.
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Muggley Concentrator Cobalt Lake1908
Cobalt Mining Camp, Town of Cobalt and Coleman Township, Ontario, Canada
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