Perhaps the most interesting mine however, was the Robinson-McQuire property that started when J. Robinson, as he was removing large sheets of white mica on a small hill near the shore of the far end of Lawson Bay at the end of February 1921. Mr. Robinson co-worked with Harry McQuire in the mining of mica. There he discovered the jet black, octagonal crystals of uraninite and hence radium. Robinson believed he had a good quantity especially once the snow melted uncovering yet more uraninite in the seven pegmatite dykes he noticed. The strike was about 18 m x 21 m in its exposure (on the boundary of Lot 9 and Lot 10, Con 9). Could there be more along the dykes or other dykes? The stake was originally claimed by the brothers James Chrysler and Harry F. McQuire for …show more content…
In addition to the radioactive minerals, there was also found niobium, molybdenum, some rare earths and the very rare and unusual thucholite. Plus a modest amount, (618 tons) of feldspar was harvested in 1925 the year McQuire & Robinson Radium & By Products Co. increased their stake to 50 acres.
As for the uraninite mined, a few hundred pounds of it was sent to various museums (an example is ROM #M12500) and sold to collectors due to their high quality. In the end, Harry McQuire applied to the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario to surrender the charter for the McQuire-Robinson Radium and By-Product Limited as of April 1932. Several of the McQuire brother's land claims in the Lawson Bay area fell into tax arrears to be sold off by the government in 1939. Harry did better than his brother spending his later life in the upper class Forest Hill area of Toronto.
The discovery of high grade uranium and thorium ores attracted 'rock hounds' from the south 45 years after Robinson stumbled over them. The story of the excursion is recorded by the Parry Sound North Star (Sept. 20,