Did they ever find gold on the bottom of the Ottawa River?

The plan was to dredge the bottom of the Ottawa River behind the Canadian Mint where there was an estimated 1 million OzT of Gold, Silver and Platinum.... The plan was hatched in 1996, and as recent as 2004 they had still not recovered the Gold. As far as we know ....

 2004: "If it all sounds too good to be true, consider the bickering that's commenced in recent months over whether or not the outflow pipe — and, hence, the gold — even exists.

"They can look at the blueprints of the building, but there's no pipe," declares mint spokesman Pierre Morin, apparently unaware of Ford's claim that his barge inadvertently rammed the elusive pipe during a recent dredging session.

 Such squabbling aside, Ford has earned the cautious endorsement of environmentalists who agree that — gold or no gold — his scheme can't help but cleanse this section of the beleaguered Ottawa. "It's a great idea," says Murphy. "Maybe they'll get some of the other toxins while they're at it." Meanwhile Ford, in true treasure-hunter form, is keeping his eyes on the prize. "Sure, I'm glad to help. But, you know, I'm really just here for the gold." -

See more at: http://www.outsideonline.com/1842886/enterprise-eureka#sthash.0uo32IpS.dpuf

Sept. 25, 1996 :

OTTAWA -- Canadian prospector Jim Ford and his partners have gone where they know the gold is -- behind the Canadian mint. Mr. Ford's group will start dredging for gold and other precious metals Wednesday in a scenic bay of the Ottawa River, where for decades, in the first half of this century, the Canadian mint discharged tons of waste from its big gold-refining operation. http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB843614890157439000

In Search of the Mint's Missing Gold ...

$ 1.2 Billion in Gold resting on the bottom of the Ottawa River ?

Plans to dredge the Ottawa River in search of lost Gold have been in the works since as early as 1996.

Did the Cohen Brothers know something then that the RCMP could not figure out 13 years later in 2009 ???

In 1996 a trio of Ottawa investors attempted to raise $8 million needed to finance their improbable venture. As much as one million ounces of gold worth a potential $1.2 Billion (in today's dollars)  could be mined within sight and sound of the House of Commons.  

Three partners in the bid to dredge the bottom of the Ottawa River adjacent to the the Royal Canadian Mint plan to reprocess tailings from its gold production facilities. Those partners included Pierre Gevry, head of Les Mines JAG Ltee., a Montreal-based exploration company; Jim Ford, a Canadian prospector who learned his trade successfully hunting for gold in Mali, West Africa; and the Cohen brothers, Harold and Al, who own the capital city's best-known demolition firm. … 

http://business.highbeam.com/4341/article-1G1-18714173/startling-gold-rush-below-parliament-hill

The Missing Gold washed away ?

It was the mystery of the missing gold - some $15-million worth - and the Mounties were on the case. 

They descended on the Royal Canadian Mint, seeking a culprit in the touchy tale of 17,500 ounces somehow vanishing from the Crown corporation that refines the stuff.

Eventually the RCMP rendered its verdict:  No heist. In fact, say third-party experts who also snooped around within the Mint's fortified walls, the explanation is more banal, if no less bewildering: accounting errors and processing losses - gold disappearing on the books and in the chlorination baths.....   http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/missing-gold-never-left-the-mint/article1347654/

Missing Gold from Canadian Mint accounted for.. or is it ?

Good News .... The RCMP found last month that millions of dollars worth of gold was not stolen 
from the mint as previously thought. 

The vanished gold has been attributed to several internal errors. First, the processes involved in gold refinement cause a small loss of gold, which the mint drastically underestimated in 2008.

More : http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/mint-s-missing-gold-now-accounted-for-1.856775