The Beginnings

Arnold Agnew is "Mr. History" of Prince Albert. Born there in 1891, he worked in his father's general store from 1906 to 1918. While some of the history he recounts was told him by his elders, much of it he witnessed himself. The family store supplied many of the early prospectors as they took off to the Yukon, and later into northern Saskatchewan, in search of gold.

In the days of the Yukon gold rush, a number of prospecting parties went from here. If I remember, one of the MacLeods, Fred MacLeod I think, was one of those who started out with his teams from here, overland to the Yukon.

As it turned out, the overland route from Prince Albert to the Yukon was the safest, and the most practical. It went through territories where there was all kinds of water, fuel, game, and everything. It was by far the most practical route, had the people been steered into it.

One of the worst expeditions at that time was taken from Edmonton - they had a terrific time. But this other route was a natural, as was proved by the early trappers. This was in 1898 and '99 - the trail of '98.

The year 1906, was the next landmark in mining in northern Saskatchewan, as Arnold Agnew recounts. At this time there was rumored to be a gold strike up in the Lac la Ronge area, at Rottenstone Lake.

The late Dick Hall was promoting it, I remember at that time we stocked the store with miners' picks and gold pans. There was quite a flurry here, with people buying up equipment and supplies to go prospecting.

That was in 1906 and '07. I was in the store then, so can remember it. But nothing came of that, I think Consolidated Mining and Smelting did investigate, but decided there was nothing there of commercial importance they so didn't invest anything, I don't think.

About this same time, people began panning for gold in the North Saskatchewan River again - Arnold Agnew . . . .

There was a lot of gold panning being done in the Battlefords area. Arising out of this, a dredging company - Roughsedge and Ramsay - was formed. In 1904 they built the dredge in east Prince Albert in the shops of the Prince Albert Lumber Company.

The machinery for this dredging operation had been shipped to some country in South America, and had lain there on a river bank for several years. Owing to the uncertainty of the future of governments in that area the company sent it back to New York and apparently it was sold to Roughsedge and Ramsay. Ramsay was a Member of Parliament in the Old Country and was the chief financial backer of the operation.

The dredge was reconstructed by the three Woodhouse brothers and their father. They were out from the Old Country a few years and farmed at Lily Plains, just west of the city. The father wrote up the history of the undertaking, and mentions where the equipment came from. I remember at that time the CPR was the only railroad that serviced Prince Albert over the old line from Regina and Saskatoon.

I remember seeing big cogwheels being unloaded from the train coming in by express for the dredge. The equipment was pretty well sanded up. Mr. Woodhouse had an awful time cleaning it up and assembling the pieces, but it did become functional. They towed it up the river with the steamer Alberta to about the Third Meridian. They had a camp at the foot of the meridian, on the north bank of the river.

They operated for a time, until they had all the kinks ironed out; then they ran into difficulties. So Dr. Roughsedge took Woodhouse to California during the winter months to investigate dredging facilities down there, and their problems. It turned out that their main trouble was, while they got the gold it was so contaminated with iron that the two couldn't be separated. The fact that there was practically no gold in the river sands did not add to the success of the venture.

Then during the first world war Snay and Tadman, who were in the salvage business, bought up the whole works, dismantled it, and shipped it away for war salvage. And that was the end of the gold dredging. There's a provincial cairn at the Shell River bridge commemorating the old gold dredge. This is not on the original site, which was actually four or five miles upstream from the mouth of the Shell River.

Then some years later, I think after the Flin Flon orebody had been discovered, there were prospecting parties made up here from Prince Albert, and the Beaver Lake Gold Mines Company was formed. Quite a number of investors in Prince Albert were taken in on that, including myself. This was about 1913, just before the first world war.

This was kept alive for a number of years. I don't know what finally happened. It was reported that they high-graded the holdings and pulled out. Everyone involved in that venture is gone. The last man who had anything to do with the company was the late Colonel Lindsay. He was a lawyer here.

INTEREST PICKS UP IN PROVINCE'S GOLD

Thursday, April 28, 1983 - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Star-Phoenix By Dan Zakreski
of the Star-Phoenix.

Gold - a magic, four-letter word which conjures up images of the Klondike, California and South Africa. And soon, perhaps, Saskatchewan.

Although the province is better known for uranium and wheat, places such as Waddy Lake, Tower Lake, Oven Lake, Wedge Lake and Neyrinck Lake are generating interest in the gold community.

The province's gold history stretches back to the 1930s and 1940s when most of the deposits being worked today were originally discovered. A fickle trade, gold prospecting depends heavily on the current price of the precious metal. With the present price well over the $400-per-ounce mark, previously uneconomical deposits are looking attractive again.

The recent Hemlo gold discovery in Northern Ontario, considered one of the most important gold finds in recent years, is helping to draw attention to Saskatchewan.

Tom Sibbald of Saskatchewan Energy and Mines said the nature of the discovery is providing a tremendous impetus for Saskatchewan.

"Gold is normally carried in a medium like quartz," he explained, "but the Hemlo discovery is in volcanic rocks, in with sulfide minerals. It's the kind of find where people ask, 'How many times have I walked over these rocks and not known what's there'?"

It's good for Saskatchewan because the province has an extensive volcanic belt and companies which arrived too late in Ontario are beginning to look elsewhere.

Phil Reeves of Energy and Mines said, although the traditional gold camps are based in Ontario and Quebec, there are limited gold regions in Saskatchewan.

"As far as gold exploration goes, there are generally two areas: Northeast of La Ronge is the Waddy Lake area, in a group of rocks known as the La Ronge belt, and the other main area is over near Flin Flon."

Saskatchewan Mining and Development Corporation is involved in a number of joint-venture gold projects scattered throughout the province.

The Crown corporation, in partnership with Giant Yellowknife Mines and Golden Rule Resources, has a 50-per-cent interest in a Wedge Lake project.

Diamond drilling revealed sections which assayed more than 0.2 ounces of gold per ton over estimated horizontal widths of from 2.5 metres to five metres, in a 500-metre zone.

Reeves said deposits assaying more than 0.1 ounces of gold per ton are economically worth exploring. Some deposits have been as high as 0.7 ounces, with even rarer, small intersections assaying more than one ounce per ton.

Extensive drilling has taken place near Waddy Lake over the past three years. Reeves said the work is being done by two private companies, Waddy Lake Resources and Energy Reserves. The La Ronge belt activity is mostly a re-evaluation of properties discovered a number of years ago.

Athona Mine near Goldfields, Circa 1936.

This gold mine, which delivered ore to the Box Mine for custom milling, closed in 1939. Credit: Saskatchewan Archives Board
Photograph no. RA 1477(2).