Silver Centre is a ghost town in Timiskaming District, Northeastern Ontario, Canada, situated in South Lorrain Township. It is located approximately south of North Cobalt, and west of Highway 567. Silver Centre was a secondary camp to the great silver fields of Cobalt, discovered in 1903. There are no current residents in Silver Centre. It is still an active mineral field and does at times have active mineral exploration.
The first discovery of silver in the area was made in the 1874 by a lumberman named Pat Manion. He blazed a stump as a witness or discovery tree and showed his sample to his fellow workers at the bunkhouse; everybody believed the sample to be common lead, and Manion agreed. A decade later while discussing his find to a young geologist, Manion discovered that the sample was nearly pure silver, to his surprise. Manion returned to the Ryan Timber Limit where he searched in vain for the location, but was unsuccessful in his attempt. The story of Manion's lost silver mine became legendary throughout the Gatineau-Ottawa region. In August 1903 silver was quickly discovered near the railway bed during the construction of the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway. The discovery made at Long Lake, north of North Bay, was spectacular. And within one year a silver rush occurred and subsequently the town of Cobalt was established to cater to the world's greatest silver region.
The South Lorrain camp produced the Keeley "nugget", which weighed 4,402 pounds and contained 24,222 ounces of silver.
Rediscovery and initial boom 1907–1910
A young Robert Jowsey who grew up with the story of Manion's lost silver mine obtained a crude map from William Purcell, another lumberman who worked with Manion in the Ryan Timber Limit. In 1907, Jowsey, prompted by the stories of the rich silver strikes of Cobalt, arrived at Haileybury and quickly teamed up with two seasoned prospectors, James Wood and Charlie Keeley. The three men arrived in South Lorrain Township where a number of prospectors were already on the scene. In October, James Wood discovered a small piece of float which contained some visible silver. An assay test was made which disclosed over of silver per ton. The sample also disclosed cobalt, an associated but well sought-after mineral. A few months later Manion's discovery post was found by Woods.
Prospectors, promoters and mining men filled the region by 1908, and over 1500 men were in the region looking for silver. The following year three mines were in production: Keeley, Bellellen and Wettlaufer. In 1908 the government of Ontario stepped in to alleviate the difficulties involved with mining development. On the shores of Lake Timiskaming, at a location formerly known as Sullivan's Landing, east of the camp, the authorities laid out a town site, erected a wharf and built a tote road to the camp.
By 1909, three active mines were in production the Keeley, Bellellen and the Wettlaufer mines. At the lakeside town site a dozen businesses established themselves to cater to the boom. The Temiskaming Navigation company assumed steamship services, while the site counted a general store, a school, a restaurant, a hardware store, a few cartage and freighting companies and other enterprises. Just south of the government town site a small mining company, which failed to find silver on their lakeside claim, subdivided a portion of their land into a town site as well and sold housing lots. At the camp, a branch of the Farmers Bank, a financier of the Keely Mine, was established.
Decline, stagnation and renewed exploration 1910–1918
In 1910 activity was waning in the district as no additional discoveries of silver were made. Of the three operating mines, only one, the Wettlaufer, proved feasible. In 1911 the Keeley Mine suspended operations after the Farmers Bank collapsed; shortly afterward the Bellellen also closed down, followed by the Wettlaufer in 1913. The camp's total production by 1913 consisted of a little more than of silver; the Keeley and Bellellen produced approximately each while the Wettlaufer held the balance of the camp's production at slightly less than .