Torrance Gypsum Mine

The Torrance Mine was a test mine dug in 1846 in search of gypsum. They had encountered some, but they never found the main body of gypsum and stopped looking for it. The mine is accessible from land and from water, both being difficult in their own way. If you choose to come from the land route, you will either have to slide down the side of the banks or wade about 400 meters upstream through the Grand River. You could also rent a canoe and come down the easy way. Both of the access routes have have their own risks, so just make sure you’re being careful.

Bureau of Mines Report

1896

“On Lot 16 in the first Concession of the Township of Brantford, one mile east of Paris on the north side of the Grand River, a new opening for plaster was being made. The property, comprising 133 acres, is owned by Mr. John Torrance of Paris, and occupied by Mr. William Hynes as tenant, who is an old miner, who in company with James Wright, another miner, had driven a shaft from the brink of the river north 45 feet at the date of my visit, November 27th. Limited prospecting had been done at the place of opening some 50 years ago, but the work was abandoned and nothing further done until the present year. Along the drift, some excellent specimens of plaster were obtained, intermingled with slate; the extremity of the drift was in clay. It was the intention, I was told, to advance the work much farther in the same line, with the expectation of intercepting the regular layer of plaster.”