Page 64 By Gregory Reynolds It took a desperate move by the presi - dent of the United States to give the Canadian gold mining industry , and especially T immins, a shot in the arm. On Feb. 1 1934, Franklin D. Roosevelt jumped the price of gold from US$20.67 to US$35 an ounce. The country , as was the world, was in the midst of the worst Depression in recorded history . In 1933, the U.S. government had de - creed its citizens could not purchase or hold gold. Roosevelt wanted to restore conf - dence in the fnancial system and get the economy moving again. The price hike also benefted all the other gold mining dependent commu - nities in the world. That action triggered the Second Golden Era for T immins. It takes time to get a gold mine from discovery to production but there were many known deposits in the T imm ins area that could be proftable at $35 an ounce. In the period 1936-41, 10 gold mines opened up in and around T immins. It must be stated that gold mines were always opening and closing but the gold price increase was an external stimulus that caused a huge burst of activity in the exploration and devel - opment felds. The new mines were not giants in the class of the Big Three of the First Golden Era, the Dome, Hollinger and McIntyre, but they made a signifcant contribution to the local, provincial and federal economies. The gold price increase also made the bottom lines of the Big Three stronger and extended their lives as they could utilize lower grade ore. The Hollinger was the lar gest gold mine in North America as well as be - ing the lar gest in the British Empire but it cheered Roosevelt’ s decision. An unpublished history of the Hol - linger noted: “This move provided the gold mines with a stable and ready market for all the gold they could pro - duce at a price 69 per cent higher than the price at which it sold for many years.” Elsewhere it commented: “The in - crease in gold price had improved Roosevelt raising gold price in 1934 stimulated T immins Hundreds of new mining jobs created after price of gold went to US$35 an ounce in 1934 “The Porcupine Camp” 100 Y ears of Mining Cont’d on pg. 64 Page 62