Gold River, Nova Scotia

Last updated

Gold River, Nova Scotia
Village
Gold River Bridge NS.jpg
Canada Nova Scotia location map 2.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Gold River in Nova Scotia
Coordinates: 44°32′42″N64°19′07″W / 44.54500°N 64.31861°W / 44.54500; -64.31861 Coordinates: 44°32′42″N64°19′07″W / 44.54500°N 64.31861°W / 44.54500; -64.31861
CountryCanada
Province Nova Scotia
County Lunenburg County.
Municipality Chester Municipal District
Elevation
17 m (56 ft)
Time zone UTC-4 (AST)
  Summer (DST) UTC-3 (ADT)
Postal code
B0J 1J0
Area code 902
NTS Map021A09
GNBC CodeCAGYN
Part of a series about Places in Nova Scotia

Gold River is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in the Chester Municipal District. It is located near the mouth of the same-named river, where it empties into Mahone Bay.

Gold was discovered in Gold River, Lunenburg County, in September 1861. The area produced 7610 ounces of gold between 1881 and 1940.

Mining took place only sporadically from 1861-86 but then became more continuous from 1886-1915. The area was then quiet for 15 years until it started up again in the 1930s.In 1931 the Lacey Gold Mining Syndicate dewatered an old 25-m shaft in the Lacey Fissure, which was discovered in 1910 and became one of the most productive mines in Gold River. A 25-ton ball mill was installed in 1935 but operations were discontinued because too much gold was being lost to the tailings. The mill equipment was not effective enough and the mine shut down.

In 1937 the Lacey Mine was taken over by the Government of Nova Scotia. There was installed a 25-ton ball mill. The mine was operated under the Mine Apprentice Project, a government program that trained about 500 men in “modern hard rock mining techniques” in 1937-40.

The outbreak of World War II brought the program to an end. But it appeared, Canadian miners played important role in the war. They dug many kilometers of tunnels into the Rock of Gibraltar to protect Allied soldiers from bombardment. The Rock of Gibraltar was strategically important for controlling access to the Mediterranean Sea, and Canada’s experience with hard rock mining was key to holding it.

Gold River is well-known as a good river for panning gold because the gold-bearing quartz vein systems actually outcrop within and adjacent to the river. Gold River erodes some of the rock that hosts the gold and carries it downriver until the gold settles out. While it was not used extensively at Gold River, panning was a simple but effective small-scale method of extracting gold at many historical sites. [1]

In 2019, Gold River Marina was voted by the people as ″2019 Best Marine Services in the Chester Municipality." [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gold rush</span> Gold discovery triggering an onrush of miners seeking fortune

A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Chile, South Africa, California, the United States, and Canada while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia</span> Rural Community in Nova Scotia, Canada

Sherbrooke is a rural community on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia, Canada, in Guysborough County. It is located along the St. Mary's River, a major river in Nova Scotia. The community is named for Sir John Coape Sherbrooke, a colonial era Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia. Gold was discovered in the area in 1861 and Sherbrooke entered a gold rush which lasted two decades. The economy of the community today revolves around fishing, tourism and lumber. The community is the site of an open-air museum called "Sherbrooke Village" which depicts life in the later 1800s in the wake of the gold rush era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prospecting</span> The physical search for minerals

Prospecting is the first stage of the geological analysis of a territory. It is the search for minerals, fossils, precious metals, or mineral specimens. It is also known as fossicking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comstock Lode</span> Lode of silver ore in Virginia City, Nevada

The Comstock Lode is a lode of silver ore located under the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, a peak in the Virginia Range in Virginia City, Nevada, which was the first major discovery of silver ore in the United States and named after American miner Henry Comstock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gold mining</span> Process of extracting gold from the ground

Gold mining is the extraction of gold resources by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. However, with the expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface, has led to more complex extraction processes such as pit mining and gold cyanidation. In the 20th and 21st centuries, most volume of mining was done by large corporations, however the value of gold has led to millions of small, artisanal miners in many parts of the Global South.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halifax and South Western Railway</span>

The Halifax and South Western Railway was a historic Canadian railway operating in the province of Nova Scotia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Empire Mine State Historic Park</span> State-protected site in California

Empire Mine State Historic Park is a state-protected mine and park in the Sierra Nevada mountains in Grass Valley, California, U.S. The Empire Mine is on the National Register of Historic Places, a federal Historic District, and a California Historical Landmark. Since 1975 California State Parks has administered and maintained the mine as a historic site. The Empire Mine is "one of the oldest, largest, deepest, longest and richest gold mines in California". Between 1850 and its closure in 1956, the Empire Mine produced 5.8 million ounces of gold, extracted from 367 miles (591 km) of underground passages.

Moose River Gold Mines is a Canadian rural community located in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality. It is located at the junction of Moose River Road and Mooseland Road. No numbered highways run through Moose River Gold Mines. Gold was discovered in the area in 1866 and mining started in the 1870s. Interest waned around 1900 but rose in the 1930s. The community gained international attention in 1936 when three men were trapped in the mine.

Goldboro is a Canadian rural community in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Municipality of the District of Chester</span> Provides local government to the rural residents in part of Nova Scotia, Canada

The Municipality of the District of Chester is a Nova Scotia district municipality occupying the northeastern half of Lunenburg County, Canada.

Picacho is an unincorporated community in Imperial County, California. It is located on the Colorado River 29 miles (47 km) south-southeast of Palo Verde, at an elevation of 203 feet.

Gold mining in Alaska, a state of the United States, has been a major industry and impetus for exploration and settlement since a few years after the United States acquired the territory in 1867 from the Russian Empire. Russian explorers discovered placer gold in the Kenai River in 1848, but no gold was produced. Gold mining started in 1870 from placers southeast of Juneau, Alaska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nome mining district</span> Unincorporated mining district

The Nome mining district, also known as the Cape Nome mining district, is a gold mining district in the U.S. state of Alaska. It was discovered in 1898 when Erik Lindblom, Jafet Lindeberg and John Brynteson, the "Three Lucky Swedes", found placer gold deposits on Anvil Creek and on the Snake River few miles from the future site of Nome. Word of the strike caused a major gold rush to Nome in the spring of 1899.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orex Exploration</span>

Orex Exploration is a former Canadian gold mining company that conducted exploration work on mining properties it owned in the Goldboro and Guysborough County areas of Nova Scotia. The properties owned by Orex were the sites of the former Boston Richardson Mine, Dolliver Mountain Mine, West Goldbrook Mine, and East Goldbrook Mine which operated between 1892 and 1912. Headquartered in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, the company was founded in 1987 and raised funds for exploration work, in part, by issuing stocks traded on the Montreal Stock Exchange and then the TSX Venture Exchange. It became a subsidiary of Anaconda Mining Inc. after Anaconda acquired the company in a stock swap deal in 2017.

Gold was first discovered in the Wine Harbour Gold District of Nova Scotia in 1860. Between 1862 and 1907 approximately 42,336.5 troy oz of gold were extracted. The bulk of this extraction was from a series of open pits and underground workings. Historical exploitation of gold via surface pits is rare in Nova Scotia, and it is believed that relatively high grades were found over significant widths in shallow plunging ore shoots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gold mining in Nova Scotia</span>

Gold mining has been a part of Nova Scotia's heritage for 150 plus years and continues to this day. Over a million ounces of gold have been produced in the province since mining began in 1861. Although not as well known as the gold rushes of California, the Klondike, Australia, and South Africa, three distinct rushes resulted in an economic boom in the province and saw the birth and sometimes demise of many new communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pictou Harbour</span> Natural harbour in Nova Scotia; its geography and history

Pictou Harbour is a natural harbour in Nova Scotia on the Northumberland Strait.

The Middle River of Pictou is a Canadian river located in Pictou County, Nova Scotia.

The French Henry mine is a gold and silver mine located on Baldy Mountain. The mine was in operation intermittently from 1870 to 1938. Part of the Baldy Mining District, the mine has changed ownership many times and is now owned by the Boy Scouts of America as a part of Philmont Scout Ranch. The French Henry is no longer operational.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerr-Addison Mine</span> Canadian gold mine

The Kerr-Addison Mine is an abandoned gold mine in the Kearns area of McGarry, Ontario.

References

  1. "Gold River: Not Your Grandfather`s Mining". Mining Association of Nova Scotia. 2019.
  2. Gold River Marina Simmer Newsletter, Jul 25, 2019