Originally posted by JimJohnson Norm, that's a hardrock (underground) mining trolley. May I ask what is mined nearby?
I'm coming to understand that most of the northern woodlands were settled by the white man due to some kind of mining.- certainly true where I live; copper and not all that far away, iron. The semi-precious gem amethyst is mined across Lake Superior in Ontario and nickel at the northeast corner of Lake Huron. I certainly doubt these regions would have expanded beyond the native population and fur trade otherwise.
By the way Norm, it was your photos that convinced me to upgrade from my K-30 and mount my 18-135 on a K-3. The K-30 is an excellent camera, but the controls on the K-3 just flow under my fingers and I really like the tonality produced by its sensor.
Bancroft is considered the mineral capital of Canada, there are many different minerals found here. There is a big mineral fair here each year held on the long August weekend, and in the old train station is a display run by the "mineral Club of Bancroft."
Bancroft Gem and Mineral Club Mineral Museum
I've been to the amethyst mines near Thunderbay. They blast into a seem, they bring the blasted material up to the parking lot with a front end loader. For a certain amount of money you can use their high volume hose to wash away silt and search for amethyst.. I went with my two kids and GF of the time, we would have had better stones not paying to work and just buying from the gift shop, but we had an hour of the thrill of the hunt.
The area around us was white pine country and was looted extensively for the tall pines used as masts by the British navy and merchant mariners, in their sailing ships. The only mines in this area are small and exist because of the existence of logging roads. None of them could have supported roads across the muskeg and rock or the area, which can cost millions a mile. IN fact, given that 7 different Ontario rivers start on the Algonquin Dome and they provide clean water for much of the province, it makes no sense to have any mines here at all. Despite what they say, they despoil the landscape and pollute the water. There are several watersheds in Ontario that are polluted by old mines, that have gone bankrupt. The mining association claims they are cleaning them up and that it's no longer an issue, but it only takes a 15 minute inspection of a working mine site (or paper mill) to know what a load of crock that is. And at the rate the mining association is working it will take about 200 years before all polluted Ontario waterways are safe, if in fact they ever are.