Digging For Riches

• 1850 – First successful metal mine in Ontario starts mining copper ore at Bruce Mines on the north shore of Lake Huron.
• 1858 – First commercial oil well in North America drilled at Oil Springs, near Sarnia.
• 1866 – First gold mine is founded near Madoc.
• 1880s – Mining boom brings people to Northern Ontario.
• 1883 – Railroad construction gang finds copper, nickel and other minerals near Sudbury.
• 1886 – The Canadian Copper Company opens. Other mining companies set up in the area, making Sudbury Canada's mining centre.
• 1903 – Miners find silver deposits near Cobalt.
• 1955 – Prospectors found the town of Elliot Lake to mine uranium.
• 1960s – Large copper and zinc deposits found near Timmins, an important gold mining centre.
• 1980s – Three new gold mines open in the Hemlo area.
• Today – Ontario is one of the world's top 10 mineral producers.