Isabella and George Davidson were residents of William's Mine (Lot 7 Conc. 9, Marmora Twp) arriving by wagon from Belleville c.1870. Also living at Williams Mines (also known as Lower Deloro) were Mr. & Mrs. Edward Archer and son, William Archer, born 1874.

Canadian GoldFields secured the property in 1896 and erected a large mill at Marmora station. The ore was treated using the bromo-cyanide process (Sulman-Teed process) for nearly a year when the mill and plant was destroyed by fire. At that time the management of the plant was put in the hands of Mr. P. Kirkeqaard. A new stamp mill was erected at the mine site and a double process (amalgamation followed by the bromo-cyanide treatment) was begun which proved to be a great success.  (Click here for details)

After the discovery of gold at Eldorado in 1866,  a great amount of activity was shown in the Deloro area with at least 25 shafts being sunk on the site. The Severn mine (Pearce Mine) which is located on the east side of the Moira river was supposedly opened in 1868.

The present site had a number of owners and/or companies involved. The Hawkeye Property, the W. J. Gatling (Brother of the inventor of the Gatling gun), the Gatling Company, the Tuttle property, the Severn property and quite possibly the Cook property. The Deloro Mine which included the Gatling and Tuttle shafts was first opened by the Gatling Gold and Silver Mining company in 1873. This company spent several thousands of dollars developing the property which sold out to Canada Consolidated Gold Mining Company.   

For more technical  details, maps and photos,  see the Golder Associates Apr. 2012 report :   Click on Part 1,   and  Part 2  and  Part 3

Canada Consolidated obtained the property in 1880 and imported from Pennsylvania, a French mining engineer, Rene Claude Earnest Gaujot (1840-1909) to act as superintendent, The company spent extravagant sums of money in buildings and plants but made a complete failure in treating the refractory mispickel ores (arsenopyrite) by their chlorination process. In 1883 expenditures reached 200,000 dollars, work was suspended and the personal property of the company was sold under execution. Work continued two years longer under lease and then given up as a complete failure.  Arsenic production is reported as 440 tons in 1885, 120 tons in 1886 and 30 tons in 1887 etc. There is no mention of gold having been recovered.

(Click here to read about Charles Havelock Taylor, the prospector and engineer who worked in Actinolite Mills and the Consolidated Mines.)

In 1901 the number 3 level was 426 feet 3 inches long and the number 4 level was 393 feet 6 inches long. There was extensive cross cuts as well as working in the Tuttle and Red Shafts. The ore was worked exclusively for the gold and the arsenic was purely a by-product. It should be noted that the tailings from the previous operations was successfulIy reworked using the new process.

The"Report of the Ontario Bureau of Mines-1901 ", page 115-116 states"At the presenttime the arsenic plant is undergoing complete reconstruction for the purpose of securing a large yield at reduced cost per ton. The difficuIties formerly experienced at Deloro from the loss of arsenic andthe consequent imperiling of livestock in the vicinity,  have been entirely overcome by modifications etc. No cases of arsenic poisoning have occurred, great care being observed to precludeaccidents of this sort".

In 1901, this was the only arsenic producing plant on the American Continent manufacturing arsenic (99.4-100% pure AS2 03) on a commercial scale.  Production was 50-60 tons per month and 700 tons (valued at $42,000) was sold in 1901for use in pesticides, fertilizer and even cosmetics.

Disastrous Fire May 12, 1898
On Sunday morning about 4 o'clock fire broke out in the big mill belonging to the Canadian Gold Fields Co. at Deloro. The fire originated from the drying machines, where the men left fire at 12 o'clock, midnight, and went home. There was a big wind blowing, and one of men was awakened near by and went in to try and save some precious belongings, and he states the whole inner partitions were all ablaze when he got there. It is said that the mill was insured for $41,000. The company was just erecting a new crusher in the same building, and in- tended to operate the machine this week. It is said that there was a quantity of gold under treatment in the laboratory, about $8000. worth. The laboratory was a complete wreck, not 'one thing being saved. A pair of scales was burned valued at $250. About 30 men were thrown out of employment. Loss estimated at $75,000. The insurance was with Norwich Union.
North Hastings Review

Peter Kirkegaard has resigned his position as Managing Director of the Deloro Mining and Reduction Co., with a view to taking up private practice of his profession. Marmora Herald Feb. 16, 1911

(In April of 1911, Peter Kirkgaard and Reginald Burton of London, England, bought the Donahue Mining Claim in Tisdale Township, Porcupine. Mr. Kirkgaard was also an owner of the Cordova Mine)

Deloro had one advantage over its competitors in that it also sold a cobalt product called Stellite, as well as cobalt oxide. In the early 20th century, an entrepreneur in Kokomo, Indiana, Elwood Haynes, began experiments to develop a stainless metal. In 1907 he patented an alloy of cobalt, tungsten and chromium that he called Stellite. Since Haynes required cobalt, the only place he could get it in large quantity was from Deloro. Thus in 1912, as the price of cobalt oxide deteriorated, Deloro Mining and Reduction began producing high-value Stellite under contract to Haynes.

The demand for Stellite varied considerably in the early years. During the First World War it was in high demand for military uses but after the war the demand shrank considerably. In 1919 the son of M.J. O’Brien, Ambrose, went to England to explore markets for cobalt and Stellite. One result of his visit was the opening of a Stellite plant in Birmingham. Deloro became the world’s leading cobalt producer in 1924. Stellite is still manufactured today by Deloro Stellite, a multinational company that had its origins with the Deloro Mining and Reduction Company.   In 1909 Hydro electric power lines were installed from the Trent River and a railway spur line connected Deloro to the Central Ontario Railroad in 1913.

The results of experimentation by M.E. Haynes and Prof. H. T. Kalmus of Queens University was applied in production and in 1914 Deloro manufactured the first cobalt metal (226,079 Ibs.) to be produced commercially in the world. This led to the production of stellite a much sought after war material.

Dec 16, 1909      

The fatal accident of Kust Bikki

Deloro accident - A.H. Thornton          Marmora Herald Feb. 28, 1918

FOREIGNER ARRESTED
A foreigner, who went by the names of Hill and also Lappe, came up before Judge Deroche on Wednesday of last week for stealing a quantity of silver from Deloro Mining & Reduction Company. He was sentenced to the Provincial Reformatory for two years less a day.
February 3, 1916

INCORPORATION OF THE VILLAGE OF DELORO  Jan 1, 1919

On Feb. 15, 1918,  The Deloro Smelting and Refining Co. took the formal step of making application to the Legislative Assembly to incorporate their lands into a formal Municipality.  It was not without the objection of the Municipallity of Marmora and Lake in whose juristiction the property was situate.  However,  the company received permission and on  January 1, 1919 the Village of Deloro was Incorporated.  On Jan. 9,  the Herald reported the results of the first election:  Reeve - S.B. Wright, Councillors - R.A. Elliott, F.A. Bapty, J. Judge and S.Simmons

1917

ONTARIO REPORT on the Mining Accidents in Ontario in 1927

Deloro Smelting and Refining Company

The Safety First Committee of the Deloro Smelting and Refining Company, with R. A. Elliott as chairman, continued a very active campaign against accidents during 1927. They were successful in reducing the number of compen- sated accidents for the year to five. There are approximately 362 employees.

The decline in accidents each year is shown by the following figures taken from the chairman's annual report for 1927. Figured on a per centage basis the lost time was:

1923 0.635% of the total time. 1924 .509 1925 .233 1926 .160 1927 .071

This reduction in the number of accidents and lost time was due to co-operation of the management and employees with the safety committee. Each accident was carefully investigated and classi- fied under one of the following causes : faulty equipment, wrong method of work, carelessness, doubtful or accidental. Cash prizes were awarded to 33 employees for worthy suggestions. Three foremen for departments received rewards for the best no-accident record of the year.

In 1916 the company' s name was changed to the Deloro Smelting and Refining Co.  By 1917 the company employed 400 men in a series of plants destined to  irretrievably pollute the stretch of the Moira River they sat along while manufacturing refined silver, refined arsenic, Cobalt oxide, metallic cobalt, nickel oxide and stellite.

On 25 March, 1920, 96 railroad cars of silver weighing over 8,500 pounds left Marmora Station heading for China.   

Dwindling world markets for cobalt in the 1920's lead to large scale layoff, however when several silver mines closed in Cobalt, Ontario,  after 1929,  the silver cobalt ore was shipped to Deloro and stockpiled. This kept the company operating until World War II when the demand for cobalt boomed.

Also from 1932 to 1937 the hand cobbed ore shipped by the Eldorado Mine at Great Bear Lake, North West Territories to its Port Hope refinery,  along with the residue from the refinery,  was sent to the Deloro Smelter for re-processing.

During World War II Deloro was also the only cobalt plant in North America and operated mainly on cobalt-copper-iron alloy residues from Northern Rhodesia plus a supplementary supply from the Belgium Congo. No Canadian concentrates were treated as the imported ores were more highly concentrated.

Following World War II the Deloro Smelter went back to treated ores and concentrates from Cobalt, Ontario but at a reduced rate.  From 1944 to 1952 the Deloro Smelter treated the 19.7% speiss residue from the Port Hope refinery and a smaller quantity of hand cobbed cobalt from the Eldorado Mine.

Eight lean years followed. The Korean War and United States Gov't contracts for the treatment of Moroccan ore kept the plant operating full strength untiI 1958.   The company employed as many as 500 workers. Belgium competition, falling world prices and the decline of silver mining in the Cobalt area dealt the company a crushing blow. There were no substantial customers to use the company's smelting and refining facilities. So in March 1961 the plant closed down and the chemical and research laboratory was moved to the Belleville plant of Deloro Stellite, a subsiduary of Deloro Refining & Smelting Cos.

Deloro Smelting and Refining Company Limited, 1917-1961

Click here to read David Caldow's 1927 description of life as a Deloro worker

Fire at Deloro1928

On Sunday evening, June 20th,a fire occurred in the Oxide Plant at Deloro which resulted in quite a heavy loss and might have had very serious results. The fire is reported to have been caused by a break in one of the oil pipes. The oil became ignited and caused a spectacular blaze. The roof of the Oxide building was quicklydestroyed and about everything that would burn in the building. The railroad locomotive, which was on the track beside the building was also destroyed. Fortunately no loss of life resulted and while the loss is heavy it will be covered by insurance. As a result of the fire part of the operations at the plant will be interfered with for a time, but the building and plant will be replaced or repaired as soon as possible.
Marmora HeraldJune 21, 1928

Interview with former employee,  Ted Bedore,  in 4 parts

Part 1 - Deloro Smelter and Refinery: Cobalt and silver

Part 2 - Deloro Smelter and Refinery: Arsenic Bag House

Part 3 - Allergy to Arsenic

Part 4 - Hard working conditions

Pat McCrodanwrote:  In 1956 when I worked in the primary treatment Office, Lavender trucks used to back up the trestle and dump lime from Beachville

Plant Closure

Although the Deloro Smelting and Refining Company plant had been rebuilt in the early 1950s and the company continued to flourish, the rural, isolated location of the industry became a growing liability. Fewer people were willing to work within the company town environment of Deloro. As well, the company itself had become part of a larger international operation.

In 1956 some of the operations were moved to a new facility in Belleville in order to be closer to schools, transportation, and an urban environment that would attract skilled employees.

In 1961 the Deloro Mining and Smelting Company completely shut down its Deloro plant.

Fifty years of refining and smelting arsenical ores at Deloro had contaminated the land. However, a broad public awareness of environmental issues was still in its infancy in the 1950s. At that time the Deloro plant was still an economic boon to the region. Only during the 1960s did the environmental concerns begin to become evident.

WAS THE HERALD UNION BUSTING?

THE HERALD  1952

Member of Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association Authorized as Second Class Mail Post Office Department Ottawa

Deloro Strike Ended

Basis of Agreement Reached at Meetings in Office of Minister of Labour

The strike of employees at DeIoro Smelting &. Refining Company Limited ended the latter part of last week, but the effects are liable to last for a considerable time. It may be easy to close down a plant like Deloro in a few days, but getting it ready for production again and resuming business operations is a very different matter.

A copy of the basis of agreement between Deloro Smelting & Refining Co. Limited and the Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers Union appears in another page and the more employees study it, the more they will realize they were taken for an expensive ride by the Union, with neither pleasure or profit at the end of it.

The agreement shows that all the employees receive for the next year, over and above what was offered before the strike began, is one extra holiday, while the company pays the difference between the former insurance premiums, and the new one. Had the Union approached the Company in a conciliatory manner before the former contract expired, instead of demanding a 40 hour week and 40 cts. an hour increase in wages before they would consent to negotiate, they could have got the 10 cent increase offered before the strike began. The 10 cents an hour would have meant about $100.00 extra since June 1st , and the saving of around $200.00 they lost by the strike. In fact, before operations can be resumed on a full scale, some of the men may lose a good deal more in wages.

After a year employees are to receive an extra 5 cents an hour and a 42 hour week, but to the majority the extra time will be of no value. The contract runs until June 1st, 1954, which, means there will be no opportunity for further negotiations before that time. Judging by the time wasted throughout the plant in recent months, in talk and arguments about Union affairs, the Company will save a lot more than the 5 cents an hour in having the agreement run to June 1st, 1954.

Most of the employees realize now how badly they were mislead by the Union, both in promises of strike pay and benefits while a strike was in operation, and also in claims of what could be accomplished by a strike. It will take years to make up what they have lost as a result of the strike. Employees who are dissatisfied with the conduct and results of the strike have the privilege of notifying the company, within seven days of the Signing of the agreement, that they wish to have deductions from their pay cheque for union dues discontinued. That would be one way of making a small saving each month and help get rid of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers Union. Another thing that is making Union members angry is the discovery of the amount of the Local 889 funds that have been used for the benefit of some of the local executive before and during the strike.

Deloro Site maps