The discovery of iron, the establishment of Burnt Creek and mining infrastructure mark the beginning of the industrial era in Schefferville.
The enormous mining potential started seing light in around 1937. Joseph Arlington Retty, a doctor in geology, played a determining role in spotting iron deposits on the Quebec/Labrador border line. In following the footsteps of his predecessors, Retty was guided: in 1937 by Mathieu André, Innu community Chief of Sept Iles; and in 1938 by Francis Pinette from around Moisie; notably providing an essential contribution to the success of these expeditions.
In 1929, a sector of an isolated area at the 55ᵗʰ parallel was named “Knob Lake” by 2 prospectors. From the 1930s, mining prospecting became increasingly important. Hardly accessible, this same region turned out to be the hunting territories of many Innu families; ancestral lands passed down from generation to generation. The story tells us that the territories were lost to the profits of the mines…
Setting up his camp at Knob Lake (first name of Schefferville), the prospecting program of Retty confirmed the existence of 400 million tons of iron ore, red gold hidden in basements. A promising mining operation prompted about ten companies such as Hollinger North Shore Exploration, Hanna Mining, Labrador Mining, Republic, and Armco, among others, to found the Iron Ore Company of Canada, a colossal financial contribution exceeding $145,000,000. A few kilometers from Knob Lake, Burnt Creek was born in 1945. This main camp received many workers assigned either to the opening of future mines, or to cafeteria services, dormitories, or postal counter acting as a bank branch. In 1946, the first log cabins were erected in an area identified as “Burnt Creek” a few miles west of Knob Lake.
On July 27, 1947 in Burnt Creek, the main shareholders of IOCC formalized this grandiose mining project. Then began Operation Ungava. For 49 days, the Flying Car transported tons of equipment by air, at a rate of 24 hours per day. An approximate number of 68 iron ore deposits were identified. From 1954 to 1969, 45,636,000 tons of ore were extracted from only 2 mines. By 1957, workers set a record of performance where in one day 1,329 wagons were loaded.
In order to transport the ore, the Quebec North Shore & Labrador Rail Road was founded. Between 1945 and 1950, 1,390 miles (2,236.5 km) of survey line were moved to a 357-mile (574.4 km) railway.
The personal notebooks of the surveyors related misadventures of capsized boats, equipment carried away by the waves, countless showers, arctic cold where even the dogs froze by -50°F (-45.5°C).
From 1951 to 1954, a 3-year odyssey was accomplished in extreme conditions of endurance, where major works were carried out including 2 tunnels, 19 bridges and culverts, not to mention the crossing of marshes extending over more than a third of the way. The airline Hollinger Ungava Transport (created in 1948) transported tons of goods as unusual as dynamite. Qualified as the largest civil air bridge in history, it included 12 main runways. Simultaneously, 6,900 men worked on the railway, the terminus of Sept-Îles, the camps along the line, the Menihek dam serving as a railway bridge and hydroelectric plant, the town of Schefferville and the mining sector.
The symbolic Clou d’Or ceremony marking the end of work was hammered in on February 13, 1954, at Knob Lake, from a temperature of -56°F (-48.8°C) at night to -20°F (-28.9°C) for the ceremony. Nine families resided at Oreway, at mile 186, which was also the relay point for railway workers moving between the North and the South. A detachable pole, clinging directly to the telephone line along the railway, was used to establish communications.
