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Karl Brooks Heisey

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Karl Brooks Heisey Mining Engineer
Karl Heisey c.1936

Karl Brooks Heisey (b.1895 Markham, Ontario d. 7 December 1937[1] Toronto, Ontario) was a well-known Canadian mining engineer and mining executive in the 1930s.[2] Heisey pioneered the exploration and development of the Sanshaw/Red Lake metal deposits located in northwest Ontario in the 1930s. The Red Lake Mine is one of the richest gold mines in the world, still in production today with annual production of 600,000 ounces gold and over 11 million ounces produced to date.[3]

Early life

RFC Second Lieutenant Karl Brooks Heisey
RAF 2nd Lt. Karl Heisey c.1920

Heisey was the son of farmers, Jacob Heisey and Ida Lehman and was raised in the Township of Markham, Ontario.[4] He enlisted in the Signal Corps of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1916, during the First World War. Heisey joined the Royal Flying Corps Canada(the training organisation of the British Royal Flying Corps) as a Cadet, flying out of Camp Borden, Ontario, and was demobilised at the end of the war as a Royal Air Force Second Lieutenant.[5] Heisey was of Dunkard descent (Brethren in Christ Church a pacifist German Anabaptist sect) did not see combat and was a flight instructor at Camp Borden.[6]Heisey obtained a bachelor's degree in Applied Science from the College of Applied Science (Mining) at the University of Toronto in 1922. He was married to Alice Isabel Smith (1895–1968) in 1927.[7]

Mining career

Karl Heisey freight canoe 1935

As both a highly experienced pilot and mining engineer Heisey was well positioned to participate in the Red Lake and Kirkland Lake Gold Rushes in northern Ontario in the 1930s. Red Lake was inaccessible by road until 1947 when Ontario Highway 105 was constructed and the only access prior to then was by boat or plane.[8] Kirkland Lake had no road access until 1937.[9]

Heisey engaged in geological surveys for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources between 1919 and 1922 in Kirkland Lake and West Shinintree and conducted magnetic surveys for discovery of gold with pyrrhotite iron.[10][11][12][13][14]

Following this, Heisey worked as an engineer with Argonaut Mines, Kirkland Lake from 1922 to 1923. In 1924 he was appointed chief engineer of Tough Oakes Gold Mines[1] and the same year he joined the Mond Nickel Company as exploration engineer in the Quebec field. Heisey opened his own office in Kirkland Lake in 1928,[2] coming to Toronto in 1930.

Heisey was affiliated with numerous other mining corporations throughout his career where he held various roles, some of these corporations include: Manitoba and Eastern Mines Ltd.,[15] Marquette Long Lac,[16] and Russet Red Lake Syndicate.[17] His appointments with these mines included being in charge of surface work,[15] consulting and direction of a new extensive diamond-drilling program,[16] as well as consulting and analysis leading to recommendation of diamond drilling of a section of the property[17] respectively. Heisey also has authorship on an assessment report on Ossian Mines Ltd. for the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines of Ontario; his assessment outlined analysis of the mine as well as recommendations for future work.[18]

Sanshaw Gold Mine

Sanshaw Mine, White Horse Island, Red Lake overlooking Hammell Channel[19]

Heisey was President of Sanshaw Mines, Limited, incorporated in 1936, which owned claims on White Horse Island, on Red Lake which was first staked by the Sanshaw Mines Syndicate.[20] 15 diamond drill holes were drilled totalling 1160 m in 1936.[21] He was the manager and driving force of the Sanshaw Gold Mine which was developed on White Horse Island during 1936–7. Heisey's crew uncovered a previously unknown well-mineralized shear and gold vein in 1936 which was the most important discovered up until that time in the Red Lake area.[22][23]

  • Clearing land & burning timber Sanshaw Mine 1936
    Clearing land & burning timber Sanshaw Mine 1936
  • Mine Shaft & Warehouse Sanshaw Mine 1936
    Mine Shaft & Warehouse Sanshaw Mine 1936
  • Warehouse Barge Delivery, Sanshaw Mine 1936
    Warehouse Barge Delivery, Sanshaw Mine 1936
  • Head frame over Mine Shaft 1937
    Head frame over Mine Shaft 1937
  • Log Pier Sanshaw Mine 1936
    Log Pier Sanshaw Mine 1936

Buildings constructed on the property included a bunk-house, two-storey office and warehouse, ice-house, cookery, directors' lodge, manager's residence, blacksmith shop, powder magazine, detonator-house and dry-house.[24] A 35-foot shaft was sunk on White Horse Island in 1937.

Operations ceased in September 1937 and Heisey died shortly thereafter in December of that year at the age of 42. Mining at Sanshaw was not restarted until after World War II when it reopened as Orlac Gold Mines, Limited.[25]

The Sanshaw Mine name was a pun on the name of John Whitman Shaw, who was a consulting mining engineer operating in the Red Lake area. The mine was proceeding with diamond drilling and sinking a shaft "sans" (i.e. without) Shaw. Shaw's nickname in the mining industry was "turn em down Shaw" referring to his lack of support for many new mine proposals. The White Horse Island discovery was one of the few in the Red Lake area that didn't use John Shaw's services. [26]

  • Sanshaw Gold Mine Site 1938 year after closure, Howey Bay background
    Sanshaw Gold Mine Site 1938 year after closure, Howey Bay background
  • Man with Stag on dog sled, Warehouse, Sanshaw Gold Mine, winter 1938
    Man with Stag on dog sled, Warehouse, Sanshaw Gold Mine, winter 1938

References

  1. ^ a b "Noted Mine Engineer Karl B. Heisey Dead". Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. 8 December 1937. p. 12.
  2. ^ a b "Mining Executive Karl Heisey, Dies", Ottawa Citizen, 8 December 1937
  3. ^ https://finance.yahoo.com/news/grandview-gold-inc-undertakes-ip-133000796.html "Grandview Gold Inc. Undertakes IP Survey of Sanshaw-Bonanza in Red Lake to Explore Extension of Historic Mineralization With Goldcorp/Premiere's Bonanza Deposit" Marketwire. 18 January 2012
  4. ^ http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Trails/2014/Loyalist-Trails-2014.php?issue=201446
  5. ^ "Memoranda". The London Gazette. thegazette.co.uk. 12 March 1920. p. 3193. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  6. ^ http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/heise/134/
  7. ^ http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~maryc/tor1927p7.htm
  8. ^ History of The King's Highway 105 http://www.thekingshighway.ca/Highway105.htm
  9. ^ History of Kings Highway 66 http://www.thekingshighway.ca/Highway66.htm
  10. ^ "Roches et Mineraux, Geological Survey of Canada, Report 77, Anna P. Sabina, Queen's Printer, 2003 p. 196 http://wmsmir.cits.rncan.gc.ca/index.html/pub/geott/ess_pubs/214/214760/mr_77_f.pdf
  11. ^ "Mining Executive Karl Heisey dies" Ottawa Citizen 8 December 1937 p. 5 https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2194&dat=19371208&id=N3AvAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ANwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5712,1735014
  12. ^ Statistical Review of the Mineral Industry of Ontario for 1937 Department of Mines, Province of Ontario by A.C. Young page 125 and 203. [1]
  13. ^ "Who's Who in Canada 1936–37 Including The British Possessions in the Western Hemisphere" Edited by E.M. Greene, Twenty-Fifth year of Issue, Published by International Press Limited, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 1937
  14. ^ "Mine's President Dies Toronto", Winnipeg Tribune 8 December 1937 p.17
  15. ^ a b “Organization To Seek Mines in North Areas”, Winnipeg Tribune, 18 September 1928 p. 21 https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/36461680/
  16. ^ a b “Around The Mines”, Winnipeg Tribune, 11 November 1937 p. 14 https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/37323331/
  17. ^ a b “Russet Red Lake Syndicate Reports Promising Results”, Winnipeg Tribune, 2 October 1937 p. 23 https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/39347152/
  18. ^ Ossian – Assessment File Research Imaging for The Ministry of Northern Development and Mines Ontario http://www.geologyontario.mndmf.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/afri/data/imaging/32D05SE0376/32D05SE0376.pdf
  19. ^ Heisey's 3 children in foreground left to right Lawrence Heisey , Karl Jr. wearing hat and Alan Milliken Heisey Sr..
  20. ^ http://www.frontlinegold.com/s/NewsReleases.asp?ReportID=718609&_Type=News-Releases&_Title=Frontline-Acquires-Red-Lake-Mining-Patents-Between-Goldcorp-and-Premier-Gol...
  21. ^ http://www.geologyontario.mndmf.gov.on.ca/gosportal/goscommand=mndmsearchdetails:mdi&uuid=MDI52N04SW00014
  22. ^ “Sanshaw Locates New Shear Zone”, The Northern Miner, 10 September 1936 p. 21
  23. ^ "New Vein Uncovered at Sanshaw Property", The Globe and Mail, 4 September 1936 p. 16 http://search.proquest.com/docview/1350960999
  24. ^ Mines of Ontario in 1937 , Ontario Department of Mines, Kings Printer, 1938 p. 203 http://www.geologyontario.mndmf.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/pub/data/imaging/ARV47/ARV47.pdf
  25. ^ "A Cabin on White Horse Island" Claire Cudahy, The Northern Sun News, 28 August 2015 https://www.thenorthernsun.com/a-cabin-on-white-horse-island/
  26. ^ Industry in the Wilderness: The People, the Buildings, the Machines By Frank Rasky 1983 page 51
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