Treasure Island Silver Islet (7 photos + 1 video)

In the vastness of our planet you can find amazing islands. But this one stands apart. And the name Silver Islet - Silver Island by no means a poetic epithet, due to the moonlight that envelops at night a modest area, or an unusual shade of sand.





This small piece of sushi with an area of 50 square kilometers in northwestern Ontario (Canada) and is interesting in that in literally consisted of silver. Not 100%, of course. But deposits colossal, so when the Montreal mining company found out about them company (and it was back in 1868), it was immediately A decision was made to expand the island. To organize the booty the purest precious metal.



Island in 1902





Island today

The territory was expanded almost 10 times. special difficulties with there was no increase, since Silver Isle towered over the water level is only 2.5 meters. The game was worth the candle, so the work boiled. After alluvium from crushed stone, the workers built dams, erected buildings and got to work.

I must say, not easy, given the development of technology and mining conditions of the time. So that the mines would not be flooded with water, they built special pumps. For 14 years, the main vein is almost completely developed and opened another one. She was less promising silver purity. But this time is a decent time. And on the island already a full-fledged working settlement appeared with a pier, shops and residential houses. Even children were born.



flooded mine

And then, as often happens, an emergency happened. More precisely, not quite it. The fact is that the deadlines for the delivery of coal were violated. And pumps stopped. The mines began to fill with water. About restoring speech production no longer went. And the flooded underground labyrinths remained as man-made a reminder of human sloppiness.

But today they have become a place of pilgrimage for divers. True, they cannot be fully explored, too deep - almost 400 meters. But some lucky ones extract souvenirs from the depths - any small things that the former owners did not have time or did not consider necessary take with me



Silver Islet General Store

In total, during the operation of the mines on the island, there were mined silver for a colossal amount - about 3.2 million dollars old course. Subsequently, several attempts to resume mining been undertaken. But they were rather sluggish and nominal.



Now on Silver Island there is a holiday village created by on the basis of a former mining town. Tourists who prefer to stay in silence and away from the noise of big cities, even find small pieces silver.



And from the lips of summer residents you can hear stories about whirlpools on place of flooded mines and even suspicious groans at night. But these stories are more than their category of folklore, since any historical shtetl (and Silver Island is no exception) for the forest attractiveness should have its own ghost, or at least a tale about him.