[1] In 1906, the land that became the mine was staked by a group of friends from Chesterville, Ontario: dairy farmer Herman Hummel, Jesse Elliot, Wesley Barkley, and store-keeper J. T.

[6][4] Hummel spotted a white formation in a rock embedded in a cliff face, which he retrieved, cracked open and found that it contained gold.

[4] The group incorporated the Chesterville Larder Lake Gold Mining Company on March 20,[7] 1907[1] with J.T.

[9] Initially, the company struggled to attract the necessary financing;[4] the location of the ore was isolated, lacking road access, making transportation and the construction of a mill expensive.

The relatively lower gold value at the time, negatively impacted the company's ability to raise finances.

[4] In the 1920s, the company launched a muskrat farm, the costs of operating the business prompted Hummel to sell his share of the ownership.

[1] In 1944, daily ore production averaged at 350 tons, increasing to 487 in 1945 once more men had returned from the Second World War.