Buildout
Although most of the Porcupine area mines were destroyed in the fire, the return to production was almost overnight.
The Dome founders held an emergency meeting within two days, and funds to rebuilt were immediately forwarded. By March 1912 the site had grown so large they were able to host a major party for the investors, shipping them in via a new spur line that ran to the site. In its first full year in operation the mine had already produced almost a million dollars of gold, with a profit of $500,000. Over the next five years the quarry mining gave way to shafts, producing $5 million in gold. The Dome started sinking new shafts around their properties over the next few years, leading to the Dome Expansion, Dome Lake Mine and several others.
The Hollinger site was also wiped out in the fire, but rains that followed washed off the now unprotected topsoil to reveal many more veins of gold-bearing rock. the mine was processing 800 tons of ore a day by 1914, and that year they were able to announce that they had proven reserves worth at least $13 million, and started paying dividends. In 1916 they were the first mine in the area to install underground electric railways, which paid for themselves in six months due to faster movement of man and ore. Hollinger then purchased the Acme and Millerton properties, creating a single 440-acre (180 ha) plot, and becoming the Hollinger Consolidated Gold Mines in the process.
McIntyre lacked the financial backing of the Hollinger or Dome, and took longer to get into full production. They had constant problems finding reasonable veins, and moved to the north side of Pearl Lake, eventually digging five shafts before finding a reasonable deposit. By this time the company was having trouble paying bills and was often being delivered goods "cash on delivery", but without a strong financial backer this was difficult to arrange. There is an oft-told story in Timmins that the first bar of gold produced by the mine was rushed to the bank so quickly that it was still warm. Things improved dramatically when Sir Henry Pellatt, rich from the Cobalt silver mines, took interest in the McIntyre, and the mine paid its first dividend in 1917. In 1924 the company went on a buying spree, purchasing the Jupiter and Pearl Lake mines, creating a single 626-acre (253 ha) plot. In 1927 they built their Number 11 shaft, who's headframe can still be seen on the north side of Pearl Lake, a symbol for the entire rush.
The initial rush resulted in scores of small mines, but the hard rock mining demanded a high level of investment to be profitable, and many of the smaller sites with less valuable plots failed. There was a major first-mover advantage and many of the surviving properties were consolidated by the larger holdings to produce a single mine that was much more profitable. Although the "big three" were the most successful at this, there were a number of other success stories as well. The Coniaurum Mine was founded in 1924; backed by Cobalt money, they amalgamated several older plots north of the McIntyre area. The mine proved highly profitable due to the nature of the veins, which tended to run vertically. This allowed shafts to be sunk directly over the veins, without requiring the massive amounts of lumber needed to shore up horizontal drifts. The Coniaurum was successful into the 1950s, when the gold ran out. Another success was the Vipond, which had veins similar to the Coniaurum, and used their profits to build up a larger set of holdings.
Starting in the late 1920s and early 1930s a second wave of new mines opened across the area. Low labour costs due to the great depression changed the economics of running a mine, and an increased demand due to a lack of faith in paper money led to higher gold prices on the market. A number of sites formerly ignored due to low production were suddenly rendered profitable.
Read more about this topic: Porcupine Gold Rush