1/2 mile west of Moyie
In 1893 a Kootenay Indian, Pierre, found a rich galena outcrop in the hill nearly. Father Coccola of St. Eugene Mission arranged sale of the claims, and with the proceeds built a new home for Pierre and a new mission church. Development of the lead-silver mine influenced the expansion of Cominco and the construction of the Crowsnest Pass Railway.
Father Nicolas Coccola, OMI, was a Corsican-born missionary priest. In 1887 he was placed in charge of St. Eugene Mission near present-day Cranbrook. In 1891 two Kootenai women picking berries along the St. Mary's River found a large shiny rock which they discarded. Later it was found by Joseph Bourgeois and its discovery was the beginning of the North Star Mine, which was bought by the Canadian Pacific Railway for $40,000 the following year.
Father Coccola realized the potential wealth of the area and suggested to local Kootenai that they should look for similar stones. In 1893 a man named Pielle (commonly referred to as Pierre) found such a stone near Moyie Lake and showed it to Father Coccola. James Cronin, an American prospector at the mission, was the first to recognize the value of the outcropping. Coccola immediately went to Fort Steele and registered for a miner's licence. He sent the samples to Spokane for analysis and found out that the ore contained a high percentage of silver. Coccola, Pielle and Cronin each staked a claim above Moyie Lake and registered them in Fort Steele. Cronin convinced American investers to put money into the new mine to build a concentrator. The mine was called St. Eugene Mine, after the Catholic mission, even though the two were many miles apart.
Prospectors were so excited about this find that, when news of it spread, claims were staked all around the St. Eugene Mine, including three in the lake where an attempt was made to drill below the water.
Father Coccola sold his share in the mine for $12,000 and used the money to build a church for the mission. Pielle retained his share and had a house built for himself. Cronin held his share for 10 years and then sold out for a reported half million dollars.
Of the $11 million worth of ore mined, most was shipped to smelters in Belgium and Chile. In 1907, St. Eugene produced over 60 per cent of the lead mined in BC and was the largest lead-silver mine in Canada. Claims to the east of the St. Eugene produced 10,000 tons of even higher grade ore. In 1911, the mine closed, but was reopened when a new mill was built and $500,000 worth of tailings was recovered from the lake. During the 1930's, the mine had its galleries pumped out and extended. However, it would appear that this project was not profitable and the St. Eugene mine closed again.
At Moyie today are vesitiges of the St. Eugene Mine's history, including some mine buildings, a slag heap, the 1907 firehall, the 1904 church and the cemetery.
