Colonial Adit Underground Mine Tour

Cobalt Northern Ontario Mining Museum


Useful Information

Location: 24 Silver St, Cobalt, ON P0J 1C0.
Meeting point at the Cobalt Mining Museum.
(47.395556, -79.685810)
Open: Museum: All year daily 10-16.
Currently closed due to Covid 19.
Mine tours: JUL to AUG daily 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16.
Only with reservation.
[2022]
Fee: Museum: Adults CAD 8, Children (6-18) CAD 6, Children (0-5) free, Students CAD 6, Seniors CAD 6, Families (2+4) CAD 2 0.
Mine tours: Adults CAD 20, Children (6-18) CAD 17, Children (0-5) free, Students CAD 15, Seniors CAD 15.
Plus tax.
[2022]
Classification: MineSilver Mine
Light: LightIncandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours: D=1 h.
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: no
Bibliography:
Address: Colonial Adit Underground Mine Tour, Cobalt's Northern Ontario Mining Museum, 24 Silver St., Cobalt ON, Tel: +1-705-679-8301. E-mail:
Welcome Centre, 1 Station Street, Cobalt, Ontario P0J 1C0, Tel: +1-705-679-5191. E-mail: contact
Right of way mine headframe, 115 Lang St, Cobalt, ON P0J 1C0,
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1903 begin of the Great Silver Rush.
1907 Colonial Mine opened.
1920s end of silver rush.
1937 Colonial Mine closed.

Geology


Description

Cobalt is an old mining town, and many tourist attractions allow a view on this long gone industry. There is a the Welcome Centre located in the Historic Train Station. Here the tours of the Historic Cobalt Mining Camp area start. It is also the location of the Cradle of Canadian Mining exhibit, providing an overview of Cobalt's unique development and history. There is a short film giving an overview on Cobalts history and an original 1919 black and white movie showing the Cobalt Mining Camp in operation. The new Cobalt's Great Canadian Mine Show is an interactive show highlighting mining technology and exploration.

The Cobalt Mining Museum, also called Northern Ontario Mining Museum, holds a unique collection of historic mine materials and artifacts. Rare photographs and early newspapers, like the Cobalt Nugget and the Northern Miner, document the history of Cobalt. Mining books, ledgers and government manuals have been preserved and are available to researchers and historians. Quite exceptional is a collection of mineral samples which start glowing in different colors under ultraviolet light. It is said to be the only such display north of Toronto. Mayor H.H. Lang, a mine owner who was the first mayor of Cobalt donated the Mayor’s Chain of Office, which is also on display. Several original paintings by Richard Ferrier depict local mine head frames. They were donated by the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame to commemorate 100 years of silver in 2003.

The Heritage Silver Trail is a self-guided drive along the back roads of Cobalt and through some of the more historical mining sites. The six kilometre loop has five principal stops. The McKinley-Darragh Mill Site introduces the processing stage of a mining. The Little Silver Vein site offers a spectacular view of an open stope, the empty mined out vein. Here is the possibility to go underground into an adit. The Right-Of-Way Mine Site offers a display of old mining machinery and a headframe.

Until today silver is mined in the area, at the moment about 1.6 million ounces per year. Stable and rising silver prices are the reason that new mines are presently being developed.