Page 16 By Gregory Reynolds Although Benjamin (Benny) Hol - linger made one of the richest gold discoveries in the history of Ontario, his story is a perfect illustration of the faults of the grubstaking system and the bad luck that seemed to haunt the fnders of great mines. On Oct. 9, 1909, Hollinger peeled moss from a rock outcropping to expose a six-inch wide vein of gold- laden quartz. That fnd became the Mighty Hollinger Gold Mine that went into production in 1910. When it shut down in 1968, it had produced 19.3 million ounces worth $564.7 million. There would have been no T immins without that discovery . Prospectors lived a hand-to-mouth existence in those days, spending months in the bush looking for ground that might contain something valuable and selling it as quickly as possible to a mining company or individual in or - der to get back in to the bush to fnd “the big one.” When out of money , they would turn to “grubstakers” (grub being another name for food). For suffcient money to live in the bush for several months, prospector would give their grubstak - ers a percentage of the proceeds of any discovery . Deals were done on a handshake and written contracts were rare. Benny and his former partner Alex - ander (Alex) Gillies had raised $155 from two dif ferent men and therefore Pr ospectors found the mines but rar ely got big money while travelling and working together owed their loyalty to their separate backers. Benny received $165,000 for his half share deal with his grubstaker . He had it all spent when his weak heart gave out in 1919. One book stated Benny’ s grubstaker was act ually his uncle John MacMa - hon who made the young man sign a power of attorney . MacMahon ne - gotiated with Noah T immins for the claims and got an unusually high price of $330,000. Gillies split $350,000 with his grub - staker , the price being much higher than normal because the buyer of the Hollinger claims (Noah T immins) wanted all of the adjoining land. Gil - lies made another big deal later but lost all his money trying to corner the wheat market while playing the stocks. John (Jack) W ilson who offcially was credited with fnding the Dome Mine lost his money in the wheat market and Harry Preston who claimed to fnd the Dome spent the few thousand he recei ved and ended up destitute the Alex Gillies and Bennie Hollinger (1909) founders of the mighty Hollinger Mine Cont’d on pg. 15 ww w . a tc o s l. co m Call: 1.800.575.2826 Y ou kno w gold when y ou see it A TCO sets the gold standar d for mining camps A TCO of fers turnkey camp operations including catering and a eet of modular building solutions for sale or r ent Now open in Timmins “The Porcupine Camp” 100 Y ears of Mining Page 14