In the fall of 1897, three men named Benjamin Boyer, Jim Sayers and Alois Goetz were in search of minerals in the area of Algoma.

While staking out the land they noticed a reddish tinge in a nearby lake, caused by the oxidation of nearby iron. The men took a sample of mineral they believed to be gold, to Francis Clergue. Clergue, the owner of the nearby Grace Gold Mine realized the sample was iron ore,not gold. He purchased the land from the three men in order to build the province's first large scale iron mine. The men's asking price was $500 dollars for the claims.

Around 1900, Clergue sunk nine pits into the earth situated on Boyer Lake. He handed management of the mine to his brother E.V. Clergue and named the mine after his sister Helen.

Mining operations commenced and on July 1st, 1900 the Canadian Blast Furnace Company, of Midland Ontario, processed the first Canadian iron ores in Canada.

A steel plant was constructed on the shores of the St. Mary's River in 1902. In addition, four steamships were purchased to be used at Michipicoten Harbour in shipping the ore to Sault Ste Marie. They would become part of the Algoma Central Steamship Lines.

A railway link from the mine to Lake Superior was built which kicked off the Algoma Central Railway.

At the town site, three sleep camps able to accomodate 75 men were built in addition to a 200 foot dining hall, crusher house, office, warehouse, residences and a three storey machine and carpentry shop. Amenities including water, sewers, and electricity were introduced to make the town more enjoyable.

For their efforts, the men received an average of 25 cents an hour. Drillers on the other hand earned $4.50 a day. The payroll in the year 1900 was a mere $107,535 for almost 400 employees. For their low wages, the men's work was incredibly dangerous. On January 26, 1911, one hunded pounds of dynamite exploded, killing the two men handling it. Another miner was killed after falling down a shaft as a result of the explosion.

The mine prospered until 1918 when the hematite ore deposits had been depleted and the mine, once Canada's largest producer of ore, closed. By that time it had produced almost 3 million tonnes of hematite ore worth more than 8 million dollars. The mine sat vacant until 1921 when a fire destroyed most of the dormant mine.

Helen Mind Reborn

During the 1930's, the steel market of Sault Ste. Marie was feeling the effects of the Great Depression. Sir James Dunn, an investor in the Algoma Steel Corporation was hired to reignite the Canadian steel industry. His efforts to refuel the industry paid off as by 1935, Dunn was not only a major shareholder in the company but also the owner, chairman and principal owner.

Dunn required large amounts of ore and soon the Helen Mine was springing back to life. As the fire of 1921 had wiped out almost all of the old mine, a new mine needed to be built in order to extract the estimated 8 million tons of waiting ore. The reincarnation of the mine would be known as the New Helen Mine.

The ore would require more treatment than that of the old Helen Mine. To accomplish this, a crushing plant and sinter plant (output of 3000 tons per day) were built at the Wawa Station along the ACR railway. Eighty men were hired in1937 to build a road that would lead from the mine to the sinter plant. At the sinter plant a town consisting of two streets was built. It would become known as Sinterville.

The Second World War increased the demand for metals thus cementing a certain future for the New Helen Mine. There were approximately 210 employees working at this time.

The first ton of ore was produced at the New Helen Mine on July 28, 1939. Around the late 1940's, the open pit had become so large that it was becoming dangerous to work in. It was decided to use underground shafts instead.

In order to keep a watch over his mine, in 1945 Dunn built a large two storey home at the top of the Helen Mine mountain. It was appropriately named The Eagle's Nest. After Dunn died in 1955, the Eagle's Nest would be used for company social functions.

By 1950 there were 700 employees working at the mine.

Interestingly enough, on September 24, 1955 the mine set off 153 tons of powder in 12 simultaneous explosions that blasted over one millions tons of ore. It would take employees over six months to remove it all.

In May of 1998 the last of the ore was dumped from the Helen Mine. The next month Algoma Ore closed its doors. The machinery was sold or removed.