page_title: Cobalt, Ontario
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Cobalt, Ontario / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph, glass lantern slide, Silver Mine, Cobalt, ON, about 1918, Anonymous. Silver salts and transparent ink on glass - Gelatin dry plate process - 8 x 10 cm Français&#160;: Photographie, diapositive sur verre, Mine d'argent, Cobalt, Ont., vers 1918, Anonyme. Plaque sèche à la gélatine, 8 x 10 cm
context_page_description: Cobalt is a town in the district of Timiskaming, in the province of Ontario, Canada, with a population of 1,118 according to the Canada 2016 Census.
  In the early 1900s, the area was heavily mined for silver; the silver ore also contained cobalt. By 1910, the community was the fourth highest producer of silver in the world. Mining declined significantly by the 1930s, together with the local population. In late 2017 one publication referred to Cobalt as a ghost town, but the high demand for cobalt, used in making batteries for mobile devices and electric vehicles, is leading to great interest in the area among mining companies.
context_section_description: W.E. Logan discovered cobalt in 1884 at the future site of the Agaunico Mine, one mile south of Haileybury.
  Silver was discovered in the area during the construction of the Temiskaming & Northern Ontario Railway (T&NO) from North Bay to the communities of Haileybury and New Liskeard, north of Cobalt.  The discovery was made in 1903, near Long Lake (later called Cobalt Lake), by Ernest Darragh and James McKinley, who were supplying railway ties. Later that year, Tom Hébert found a rich vein on the east side of Cobalt Lake and began a business with hotel owner Arthur Ferland. The silver from both sites was consistently high-grade.
caption: Silver mines in Cobalt, around 1918
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