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Tributers
E. Percy Brown and the Brookfield Mine
Barachois
Nova Rich Mines
Shad Bay Treasure Hunt
Montague 1937 Accident
Father Lanigan’s “Prospect”
George V. Douglas
The Stewart Brothers
Goldboro
Moose River's Touquoy Mine
Camerons Mountain
Jim Campbells Barren
Stanburne's Puzzling Gold Mine
Pockwock
Beaverbank Lake
Banook Mining Company
Deep Gold Mining
Wellington
Arsenic and Gold
Dynamite
War of Words
King of the Klondike
Oliver Millett
Kempt Gold Mining Company
Carleton
The Memramcook Fiasco
Love and Gold in Oldham
Montague 1893 Disaster
Central Rawdon Consolidated Mines
Cochrane Hill
Amateurish Early Gold Mining
Sable Island Gold
The Sea Wolf
Trueman Hirschfield
Alexander Heatherington
Prospector Joe Cope
Killag Quicksand
George W. Stuart
Wellington
Billy Bell
Cooper Jim Mine
South Branch Stewiacke
Walter Prest
Lake Charlotte
Acadia Powder Mills Company
The Ovens Anticline
Moose River Anticline
Avon Mine Explosion
Montague
Waverley Claims Dispute
Avon River
Moose River Disaster
Mooseland Scam
New York and Nova Scotia Gold Mining Company
Rosario Siroy and the South Uniacke Gold District
Blockhouse
Killag Gold District
Miller Lake
Baron Franz von Ellershausen
Mooseland: Nova Scotia’s first Gold Discovery
United Goldfields of Nova Scotia
Pleasant River Barrens Gold District
Lochaber Gold Mining Company
Rawdon Gold Mines
MacLean Brook
Gold in Clayton Park?!
Forest Hill
Meguma vs. Placer Gold
Uniacke
Voglers Cove
Gold River
Moosehead
Goldenville
Westfield
Indian Path
Harrigan Cove
Centre Rawdon
Nova Scotia’s Gold Mining History
WWII Gold
Middle River Gold District
Early Gold Discoveries
Halifax 1867
Paris Exhibition 1867
Mining and Tourism
An Act relating to the Gold Fields
Molega Gold District
Brookfield Gold District
Gays River
Halifax Gold
Caribou Gold District
Renfrew Gold District
Oldham Gold District
Whiteburn Gold District
Country Harbour Mines
Waverley Gold District
Robert Henderson and Klondike Gold
George Mercer Dawson
Cow Bay Gold District
Lake Catcha Gold District
Wine Harbour Gold District
Gold in Clayton Park?!
There were reportedly several small-scale gold mines on Geizer Hill starting at the end of the 1800s.
Geizer Hill, just the other side of highway 102 from Bayer’s Lake, was forested back then. An article in the February 1898 edition of Canadian Mining Reviews even described it as being “about three miles from Halifax,” a reminder of how much Halifax has grown over the past century.
According to the article, “a trial run of one ton [of ore] gave six penny weights, eight grains." One penny weight is 1.5 grams so this test of the ore produced about 9 grams of gold, or a 1/3 of an ounce. That was a decent but not spectacular amount since successful gold mines in that era often produced 1-2 ounces per ton of ore.
According to a January 18, 1898 story in the Mail Star newspaper, Alexander Taylor claimed to have found gold-bearing quartz all over his land on Geizer Hill and that he had hundreds of tons of quartz ready for the crusher.
A January 25, 1899 story in the Mail Star said there were many prospectors on Geizer Hill and some had found gold. Some were excavating near a Mr. MacDonald’s house and they reportedly found gold-bearing quartz.
According to the Fairview historical Society, in the 1930s Hubert Smart said prospectors dug holes all over the Rufus Avenue vicinity in a search for gold. He said he worked there himself, blasting and drilling.
Much of Geizer Hill is developed today but there is still a forested area and a trail between Washmill Lake Drive and Greenpark Close.
In the modern era, gold mining returned to Halifax - well, Halifax Regional Municipality - when the Moose River gold mine opened in 2017. It employs 300 people and is providing an essential material we all use every day (it's in the device you're using now!)
The Fairview Historical Society has more details on gold mining in Clayton Park and Fairview at http://fairviewhistoricalsociety.ca/gold-in-the-hills-of-fairview/