- Why Mining Matters
- Jobs
- Safety
- Environment & Operations
- FAQ
- Links
- Fun Stuff
You are here
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
Rawdon Gold Mines
Mining at Rawdon Gold Mines (aka East Rawdon to differentiate it from the Centre Rawdon Gold District) began in 1884 when two individuals by the names of Sims and White opened a mine. A 10-stamp mill was built (eventually upgraded to 25 stamps) and 241 ounces of gold were extracted.
In 1885, the Sims (aka No.1) lead was opened over a length of 274.3 metres by a Robert McNaughton and 2,759 ounces of gold were recovered. This mine would prove to be the site with by far the most mining activity in East Rawdon. McNaughton was also involved in gold mining in places like in Lower Seal Harbour, Sherbrooke and Stormont.
Some additional development work on other veins in the district was carried out in 1885 by three men named Thompson, Anderson and Lantz.
In 1886, two mines were worked steadily, one in the western part of the district under the management of a Mr. Dissoway and the one in the east under Mr. McNaughton.
During 1887 both mines continued producing gold and the workings in the McNaughton Mine were carried to a depth of 121.9 metres on what was reported to be “a wide lead.” That year the East Rawdon district ranked first among the gold producers of the province with 3,507 ounces of gold recovered.
Both mines were sold to the Rawdon United Mining Company in 1887 and operations were continued under the management of a Captain Nicolls.
In 1888, a fire destroyed the entire settlement of East Rawdon, which consisted of 30 buildings, including all the buildings at both mines. (Some sources say the fire took place in 1887 but 1888 is referenced more often).
In 1890, McNaughton and Barres reported 275 ounces of gold, however, the following year only a small amount was reported. Mining dropped off after that.
In 1901, the McNaughton Mine was dewatered by the Gold Zone Mining Company whose intention was to refurbish the 25-stamp mill and initiate mining. However, no mining took place.
Records are incomplete but mining continued at Rawdon intermittently until 1932.
Total production from 1884-1932 was 13,494 ounces of gold. Two shafts exceeded 150 metres in depth but the average depth of the workings was about 70 metres. Most of these shafts were put down on the No. 1 Lead.
In 1981, a Richard Marchant staked 24 claims in the area and then negotiated an option agreement with Pan East Resources Inc. Pan East explored the property but opted not to exercise their agreement to purchase the rights as their exploration efforts proved not to be encouraging.
In 1992, Gold Bank Resources evaluated the economic potential of extracting gold from the tailings at Rawdon Mines. Historical mine tailings often contain significant quantities of metals because methods of processing ore in the 1800s and early 1900s were less efficient than modern methods – our ancestors did not have the science and technology we have today so significant amounts of valuable material ended up as waste. Modern science makes it possible to “mine” historical tailings, which allows us to recover valuable materials like gold, while also remediating historical tailings. For example, Nova Scotia mining company GoGold Resources has a highly-successful project in Mexico that is extracting silver from historical tailings.