British Canadian mine, Black Lake, Quebec

The British Canadian mine was a chrysotile mine at Black Lake, Quebec, owned in the sources from 1925 into the 1970s by the Asbestos Corporation and closed in 1997 by LAB Chrysotile.^3,11,12 Asbestos, the industry's trade journal, gives two accounts of its early owners: a 1939 obituary says that Bennett, with R. H. Martin and W. S. Thomas, "acquired control of the King Mine and of the British Canadian Mine at Black Lake and subsequently sold his interests to the Amalgamated Asbestos Corporation in 1908."² A 1923 article says that "in 1908 the British-Canadian Asbestos Corporation was formed, covering the Black Lake holdings" of those men, and that "with this as a nucleus the Amalgamated Asbestos Corporation was later brought into being."¹

From derrick to glory hole to open pit

In 1921 Asbestos, summing up a mining report, described the mine as "in a transition stage between the quarry and the mine," with hoisting by cable-derrick soon to be "entirely superseded by the glory-hole and underground haulage."¹³ That April the journal reported that the Asbestos Corporation of Canada had "ceased nightwork" at the British Canadian pits.⁵ A visitor writing for the journal in 1925 found the property "owned by the Asbestos Corporation," producing "well known grades of shingle stocks" and "working day and night shifts," with a tunnel driven from the Standard, Dominion and Glasgow pits "to the British Canadian pit, from the last of which the ore is carried into the mill."³ A 1930 company advertisement gave "2170 tons" as the material hoisted there in one day.⁷

The company's annual report for 1936 said that "to obtain additional tonnage it was necessary for the company to reopen" the mine, which was then "in continuous production."⁸ The report for 1937 said "the system of mining at the British-Canadian Mine was changed in September 1937 from the glory hole method to open pit shovel operation."⁹ In 1977 Asbestos called it "the open-pit British Canadian 1 and 2 Mines."¹⁴

Shutdowns and capacity

The Asbestos Corporation's annual reports, as Asbestos printed them, describe the mill running "at capacity" in 1937 and 1939, and the mine "at capacity" in 1944, 1945 and 1946.^{9,10,15,16,17} In 1930 the plant was "shut down for the past few weeks" while new dryers were installed, the trade journal reported.⁶ In November 1940 the journal reported the company had "temporarily suspended operations," because "the large market for the product of this mine which had been developed in Continental Europe is now closed."¹⁸ The company's report said the mill ran "at capacity up to September 28th," when "it was closed due to the market situation," and that it "resumed operations at capacity on September 1, 1941."^4,19 In 1943, the report said, "open pit mining operations were hampered because of the many very heavy snowfalls."²⁰ The report for 1959 says "the British-Canadian Mine was shut down for two months."²¹

The mills

The U.S. Bureau of Mines' Minerals Yearbook for 1950 reported that the company "almost doubled its mill capacity at the British Canadian mine by building a new rock mill and reconditioning an old one."²² The sources give the mill's size differently over the years: a 1951 table from U.S. Mineral Trade Notes gave a daily rock tonnage of 4,000, Asbestos listed "5,000 ton mill" in 1958, and in 1960 it gave "6,000 tons (British Canadian) treated on three shifts on a five day week."^23,24,25 By 1979 the trade journal said "each of the two British Canadian mills has the capacity to process over 7000 tons daily," and gave the open pit's output as "60,000 tons of ore per day."²⁶ The company reported that in 1960 "fibre production was increased by 24% in response to the strong demand."²⁷ In 1964 operations at British Canadian and the neighboring Johnson's Megantic mine were integrated, the company said.²⁸ In 1971 Asbestos described "shrink packaging" at the British-Canadian Mill, by which "one or two ton packages of pressure-packed fiber can be handled as efficiently as a single bag."²⁹

Dust equipment

The company's report for 1955 said "an installation of additional dust-filtering units in the mill was undertaken in the fall."³⁰ The Minerals Yearbook for 1959 told of a mechanic at the mine who "developed a new sealing ring, which prevented the escape of dust from a cone crusher," so that overhaul of the crusher "to clean dust-fouled machine parts was reduced from once in 3 months to once in 15 months."³¹ In 1967, the company reported, at British-Canadian Plant No. 2 "the aspiration and filter system was enlarged" and a new tailings disposal system was being built to replace one "partially destroyed by fire."³²

Ore reserves

The company and the Minerals Yearbook published the mine's ore reserves year by year: the yearbook gave "British Canadian, 46.9" million tons at the end of 1962.³³ The company gave "55,645,000 tons" for 1965 and "70,460,000" for the end of 1967, while the yearbook's table for 1968 gave 68,285 thousand short tons.^32,34,35 For 1969 both gave 63,645,000 tons.^36,37 Later company figures were "54.8 million tons" for 1972, "57-million tons" for 1975, "85,189,000 tons" at year-end 1977 and "75,101,000 tons" at year-end 1979.^38,39,40,41

The end

The U.S. Geological Survey's Minerals Yearbook for 1997, citing Industrial Minerals, reported that "LAB Chrysotile closed its British Canadian asbestos mine near Black Lake, Quebec."¹¹

The documents report this mine producing asbestos fiber for sale.²⁷

Location

Output the documents report

Figures as printed, in the units each document uses (short tons before about 1990, metric tons after, in most U.S. chapters). Some are a year's output, some a daily rate or a capacity, some a company's total rather than this mine's alone; the statement for that year below says which.

Year	Figure	Source
1930	2,170 tons of material hoisted in one day	7
1979	60,000 tons of ore per day	26

Year by year

Every statement about this mine in the documents, in each document's own words, by the year it is about.

1908

• Ownership: “In 1908 the British-Canadian Asbestos Corporation was formed, covering the Black Lake holdings” (British-Canadian Asbestos Corporation), p. 34¹
• Ownership: “Bennett, Martin and Thomas acquired control of the British Canadian Mine at Black Lake and sold to the Amalgamated Asbestos Corporation in 1908” (Amalgamated Asbestos Corporation), p. 29²

1921

• Workforce: “ceased nightwork at the ... British Canadian pits” (Asbestos Corporation of Canada), p. 66⁵
• Description: “cable-derrick will soon be entirely superseded by the glory-hole and underground haulage”, p. 22¹³

1925

• Description: “driven a tunnel from the Standard and Dominion as well as the Glasgow pit to the British Canadian pit” (Asbestos Corporation), p. 26³
• Worked: “owned by the Asbestos Corporation ... working day and night shifts” (Asbestos Corporation), p. 26³

1930

• Mill: “New dryers being installed” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), p. 52⁶
• Idle: “Plant shut down for the past few weeks while new dryers are installed” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), p. 52⁶
• Output: “British Canadian: 2170 tons of material hoisted in one day” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, p. 19⁷

1936

• Opened: “To obtain additional tonnage the company reopened the British Canadian mine; now in continuous production” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 37⁸

1937

• Mill: “British-Canadian mill operated at capacity throughout 1937” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 40⁹
• Description: “Mining changed in September 1937 from the glory hole method to open pit shovel operation” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 40⁹

1938

• Exploration: “At King, Beaver, British Canadian and Vimy a total of 20,879 feet of diamond drilling, indicating additional ore in reserve at each property” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 39⁴²

1939

• Mill: “Mills at the King, Beaver, Vimy and British-Canadian Mines operated at capacity throughout 1939” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 39¹⁰
• Mill: “A sprinkler system installed through the mill” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 39¹⁰
• Exploration: “Stripping to uncover a year's supply of ore; diamond drilling program completed” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 39¹⁰

1940

• Idle: “has temporarily suspended operations at the British Canadian Mine at Black Lake” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), p. 31¹⁸
• Exploration: “Sufficient stripping done to uncover a supply of ore for two years' mill operation” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 40¹⁹
• Idle: “Mill at the British Canadian Mine run at capacity up to September 28th (1940), then closed due to the market situation” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 40¹⁹

1941

• Worked: “Mill at the British Canadian Mine resumed operations at capacity on September 1, 1941, closed since September 28, 1940” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 35⁴

1943

• Mill: “Mills at the King, Beaver, British Canadian and Vimy Ridge Mines operated to capacity throughout 1943; open pit mining hampered by heavy snowfalls” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 40²⁰
• Exploration: “Stripping at the British Canadian: removal of 33,789 yards of overburden” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 41²⁰

1944

• Worked: “operated at capacity thruout the year” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 38¹⁵

1945

• Exploration: “stripping ... 64,430 cubic yards of overburden and a program of diamond drilling commenced” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 45¹⁶
• Worked: “operated at capacity thruout the year” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 45¹⁶

1946

• Worked: “operated at capacity thruout the year” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 40¹⁷

1950

• Mill: “The Asbestos Corp. almost doubled its mill capacity at the British Canadian mine” (Asbestos Corp.), as reported by Canadian Min. and Met. Bull., p. 8²²

1951

• Mill: “British Canadian (Asbestos Corp.) 4,000 [daily rock tonnage]” (Asbestos Corp.), as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 50²³
• Mill: “the British Canadian Mine which completed its first calendar year of production at its expanded milling rate” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 44⁴³
• Worked: “Operations at the Company's four producing mines ... continued at capacity thruout 1951” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 44⁴³

1952

• Worked: “operated at close to capacity thruout the year” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 48⁴⁴

1953

• Description: “new building at the British Canadian Mine which houses the drill shop, compressors, the locker and lunch rooms and the mine office” (Asbestos Corporation Ltd.), p. 8⁴⁵

1954

• Mill: “improvements were confined to the extension of haulageways and minor alterations to the conveying, screening, and other apparatus in the mill” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 44⁴⁶

1955

• Worked: “At the ... British-Canadian Mines production was at maximum capacity” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 48³⁰
• Dust and health: “an installation of additional dust-filtering units in the mill was undertaken in the fall and will be completed this spring” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 48³⁰

1956

• Worked: “operated at or near capacity throughout the whole of the year” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 34⁴⁷

1958

• Mill: “British Canadian Mine (Black Lake) 5,000 ton mill” (Asbestos Corporation Ltd.), p. 8²⁴

1959

• Dust and health: “Overhaul of the crusher to clean dust-fouled machine parts was reduced from once in 3 months to once in 15 months”, p. 11³¹
• Dust and health: “developed a new sealing ring, which prevented the escape of dust from a cone crusher”, p. 10³¹
• Idle: “the British-Canadian Mine was shut down for two months” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 54²¹

1960

• Mill: “to 6,000 tons (British Canadian) treated on three shifts on a five day week”, p. 10²⁵
• Output: “At the British-Canadian Mine, fibre production was increased by 24% in response to the strong demand” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 62²⁷

1962

• Reserves: “British Canadian, 46.9” (Asbestos Corporation Ltd.), p. 7³³

1964

• Description: “integration of operations ... at the British-Canadian and Johnson's Megantic mines” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 25²⁸

1965

• Reserves: “British Canadian—55,645,000 tons” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 24³⁴

1967

• Mill: “a new tailings disposal system is now under construction to replace that which was partially destroyed by fire” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 23³²
• Reserves: “British-Canadian Mine—70,460,000” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 22³²

1968

• Reserves: “British Canadian mine | 68,285 (thousand short tons)” (The Asbestos Corporation Ltd.), as reported by Asbestos Corporation Ltd. Annual Report, p. 9³⁵

1969

• Reserves: “British Canadian Mine | 63,645 (thousand short tons)” (Asbestos Corporation Ltd.), as reported by Asbestos Corporation Ltd. Annual Report, p. 8³⁶
• Description: “open-pit operations showed a marked improvement over 1968” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 42³⁷
• Reserves: “British Canadian Mine, 63,645,000” (Asbestos Corporation Limited), said by Asbestos Corporation Limited, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 42³⁷

1971

• Mill: “A process called "shrink packaging" is in use at the British-Canadian Mill at Black Lake” (Asbestos Corporation Ltd.), p. 8²⁹

1972

• Reserves: “54.8 million tons at British-Canadian” (Asbestos Corporation Ltd.), said by Asbestos Corporation Ltd., as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 34³⁸

1975

• Worked: “operates the King-Beaver, British-Canadian and Normandie Mines” (Asbestos Corporation Ltd.), p. 30¹²
• Reserves: “57-million tons at British Canadian Mine” (Asbestos Corporation Ltd.), said by Asbestos Corporation Ltd., as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 36³⁹

1976

• Reserves: “53.9-million at the British Canadian Mine” (Asbestos Corporation Ltd.), said by Asbestos Corporation Ltd., as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 40⁴⁸

1977

• Description: “the open-pit British Canadian 1 and 2 Mines” (Asbestos Corporation Ltd.), p. 27¹⁴
• Reserves: “85,189,000 tons at the British Canadian Mine” (Asbestos Corporation Ltd.), said by Asbestos Corporation Ltd., as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 34⁴⁰

1978

• Reserves: “80.7-million tons are at the British Canadian Mine” (Asbestos Corporation Ltd.), said by Asbestos Corporation Ltd., as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 46⁴⁹

1979

• Mill: “Each of the two British Canadian mills has the capacity to process over 7000 tons daily” (Asbestos Corporation Ltd.), p. 28²⁶
• Output: “the ... British Canadian open pits; producing ... 60,000 tons of ore per day” (Asbestos Corporation Ltd.), p. 28²⁶
• Reserves: “British Canadian Mine 75,101,000 tons” (Asbestos Corporation Ltd.), said by Asbestos Corporation Ltd., as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 39⁴¹

1997

• Closed: “closed its British Canadian asbestos mine near Black Lake, Quebec” (LAB Chrysotile), as reported by Industrial Minerals, p. 2¹¹

Other names

Documents call this mine “British Canadian mine”, “British Canadian”, “British Canadian Mine”, “British Canadian asbestos mine”, “British-Canadian mine”, “British Canadian pit”, “British-Canadian Mine”, “British-Canadian Mill”, “British Canadian 1 and 2 Mines”, “British-Canadian”.

See also

• Asbestos Corp.: the company's history, documents, people, products and plants
• All asbestos mines

References

1. Asbestos Magazine, 1923, March 1923 (March 1, 1923), p. 34.
2. Asbestos Magazine, 1939, August 1939 (August 1, 1939), p. 29.
3. Asbestos Magazine, 1925, October 1925 (October 1, 1925), p. 26.
4. Asbestos Magazine, 1942, March 1942 (March 1, 1942), p. 35.
5. Asbestos Magazine, 1921, April 1921 (April 1, 1921), p. 66.
6. Asbestos Magazine, 1930, February 1930 (February 1, 1930), p. 52.
7. Asbestos Magazine, 1930, June 1930 (June 1, 1930), p. 19.
8. Asbestos Magazine, 1937, April 1937 (April 1, 1937), p. 37.
9. Asbestos Magazine, 1938, March 1938 (March 1, 1938), p. 40.
10. Asbestos Magazine, 1940, February 1940 (February 1, 1940), p. 39.
11. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1997 (January 1, 1998), p. 2.
12. Asbestos Magazine, 1975, December 1975 (December 1, 1975), p. 30.
13. Asbestos Magazine, 1921, October 1921 (October 1, 1921), p. 22.
14. Asbestos Magazine, 1977, December 1977 (December 1, 1977), p. 27.
15. Asbestos Magazine, 1945, March 1945 (March 1, 1945), p. 38.
16. Asbestos Magazine, 1946, March 1946 (March 1, 1946), p. 45.
17. Asbestos Magazine, 1947, March 1947 (March 1, 1947), p. 40.
18. Asbestos Magazine, 1940, November 1940 (November 1, 1940), p. 31.
19. Asbestos Magazine, 1941, February 1941 (February 1, 1941), p. 40.
20. Asbestos Magazine, 1944, March 1944 (March 1, 1944), pp. 40–41.
21. Asbestos Magazine, 1960, May 1960 (May 1, 1960), p. 54.
22. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1950 (January 1, 1951), p. 8.
23. Asbestos Magazine, 1951, April 1951 (April 1, 1951), p. 50.
24. Asbestos Magazine, 1958, October 1958 (October 1, 1958), p. 8.
25. Asbestos Magazine, 1960, March 1960 (March 1, 1960), p. 10.
26. Asbestos Magazine, 1979, December 1979 (December 1, 1979), p. 28.
27. Asbestos Magazine, 1961, April 1961 (April 1, 1961), p. 62.
28. Asbestos Magazine, 1965, April 1965 (April 1, 1965), p. 25.
29. Asbestos Magazine, 1971, December 1971 (December 1, 1971), p. 8.
30. Asbestos Magazine, 1956, March 1956 (March 1, 1956), p. 48.
31. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1959 (January 1, 1960), pp. 10–11.
32. Asbestos Magazine, 1968, May 1968 (May 1, 1968), pp. 22–23.
33. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1962 (January 1, 1963), p. 7.
34. Asbestos Magazine, 1966, May 1966 (May 1, 1966), p. 24.
35. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1968 (January 1, 1969), p. 9.
36. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1969 (January 1, 1970), p. 8.
37. Asbestos Magazine, 1970, July 1970 (July 1, 1970), p. 42.
38. Asbestos Magazine, 1973, May 1973 (May 1, 1973), p. 34.
39. Asbestos Magazine, 1976, May 1976 (May 1, 1976), p. 36.
40. Asbestos Magazine, 1978, May 1978 (May 1, 1978), p. 34.
41. Asbestos Magazine, 1980, July 1980 (July 1, 1980), p. 39.
42. Asbestos Magazine, 1939, March 1939 (March 1, 1939), p. 39.
43. Asbestos Magazine, 1952, March 1952 (March 1, 1952), p. 44.
44. Asbestos Magazine, 1953, March 1953 (March 1, 1953), p. 48.
45. Asbestos Magazine, 1954, April 1954 (April 1, 1954), p. 8.
46. Asbestos Magazine, 1955, March 1955 (March 1, 1955), p. 44.
47. Asbestos Magazine, 1957, April 1957 (April 1, 1957), p. 34.
48. Asbestos Magazine, 1977, May 1977 (May 1, 1977), p. 40.
49. Asbestos Magazine, 1979, June 1979 (June 1, 1979), p. 46.