Mining Lore

From luck to riches in Kirkland LakeAn accidental discovery of gold that helped establish one of Canada’s most valuable mining camps and important newspapers

An accidental discovery of gold that helped establish one of Canada’s most valuable mining camps and important newspapers

By Tijana Mitrovic

April 06, 2021

The Wright-Hargreaves mine would become one of the seven major gold mines founded in the Kirkland Lake region. Courtesy of the Toronto Public Library

When William Henry “Bill” Wright came across a visible gold vein in Kirkland Lake in 1911, he could not have known that the deposit he had just found would become one of Canada’s most prosperous mining camps, home to seven gold mines.

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