In 1905 the Anglo-Newfoundland Development Company (AND) was granted mineral rights to of central Newfoundland for 99 years; any commercial mining would result in payment of a 5% royalty to the Dominion of Newfoundland.
Mattie Mitchell, a prospector and guide of Mi'kmaq and Montagnais ancestry employed by AND is credited with the original discovery of zinc-lead-copper ore on the banks of the Buchans River.