In 1868 Canada as a nation was one year old and for the most part a relatively untouched land dominated by a harsh and lonely wilderness, The North Shore of Lake Superior was one such area and in that year the government decided to levy a tax upon all mineral lands.

As such the Montreal mining companies sent a small surveying party to prospect it’s holdings in the Thunder Bay district, this resulted in the finding of a rich vein of pure silver on a small island which later became known as Silver Islet.

This film which was produced & directed by Peter G. Elliott and written by Robert Sandler tells the story of this tiny island and how it became a 19th century milestone in terms of technical achievement as a 1300 foot deep silver mine was developed on this storm-battered island.

Originally filmed in 1985 this was Peter G. Elliott’s second professional documentary film which he sold to CBC, it is dedicated to his friend Scott Hoey who also provided the narration to this film but sadly passed in 2009.