Bell Asbestos Mines

Bell Asbestos Mines Ltd. was a Canadian chrysotile asbestos mining company that operated in Thetford Mines, Quebec, from the late 19th century into the late 20th century. It was one of several major producers in the Quebec asbestos belt, supplying raw chrysotile fiber to manufacturers of insulation, textiles, cement products, and friction materials around the world. The company went through several ownership changes, including periods under British control by Turner & Newall, before mining operations wound down.

Origin

The company was founded in 1878 to work asbestos deposits near Thetford Mines, Quebec, shortly after commercial chrysotile mining began in the region in 1877. It later became closely tied to the British asbestos conglomerate Turner & Newall, which acquired a controlling interest in the early 20th century and used Bell as a key fiber supplier for its UK manufacturing operations.

Significance in Asbestos Context

Bell Asbestos Mines was a major source of the raw chrysotile fiber that ended up in thousands of asbestos-containing products used in North America, the UK, and beyond, which means workers exposed to insulation, cement board, brake linings, or textiles from the early to mid-20th century may have handled fiber that originated at Bell. Internal documents from Bell and its parent Turner & Newall have been used in litigation to show that the industry had early knowledge of asbestos hazards, including dust disease and cancer risks, but continued to market fiber without adequate warnings. For patients building a case, identifying a Bell or Turner & Newall connection in the supply chain can help link a specific employer or product to a knowing supplier of hazardous fiber.

Related Terms

Turner & Newall, Chrysotile, Thetford Mines, Asbestos Corporation Ltd., Johns-Manville, Quebec Asbestos Belt

Notes

• If a family member worked in Quebec mining or milling, request employment records from the Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST) and any surviving company personnel files.
• Ask your legal team whether Turner & Newall trust documents or Chase Manhattan Bank trust filings (the T&N Asbestos Trust) are relevant to your claim, since Bell fiber often flowed through T&N channels.
• Preserve any product labels, shipping documents, or purchase records identifying Canadian chrysotile suppliers. These can help establish the chain from mine to workplace.
• For workers exposed downstream (insulators, shipyard workers, auto mechanics), the specific mine of origin is rarely critical to your claim against product manufacturers, but it can matter when pursuing supplier-level defendants or trust claims.

Asbestos products

1 product our documents name Bell Asbestos Mines as making or selling. Each product's page says what the documents say about it, including its asbestos content.

• Cavity Decking (Bell Asbestos Mines)

Plants

Plants where asbestos products were made that the documents say Bell Asbestos Mines ran.

• Bell Asbestos Mines Ltd. plant at Vancouver (greater area), British Columbia

Mines

Asbestos mines the documents name Bell Asbestos Mines as running or owning.

• Bell Asbestos mine, Thetford Mines, Quebec

Court cases

7 court decisions in our case-law library name Bell Asbestos Mines as a defendant, newest first.

• Grimes v. AT&T Corp. (2017)
• Lewis v. Asbestos Corporation, Ltd. (2012)
• Farrall v. Atlas Turner (In re Asbestos Litigation Limited TO Farrall, 2011)
• Fischer v. Johns-Manville Corp. (1986)
• Gardner v. Asbestos Corp., Ltd. (1986)
• Neal v. Carey Canadian Mines, Ltd. (1982)
• Grabowski v. Turner & Newall (1980)

In our library

2 documents in our library name Bell Asbestos Mines, by collection.

In the Union Carbide documents

Bell Asbestos Mines is named in 8 Union Carbide documents dated 1974 to 1979 (8 mentioned), from asbestos lawsuits over Union Carbide's Calidria asbestos. All are published in our collection.

• G. J. Weihs, Chrysotile Asbestos Markets and Forecasts for Group 7 (1974) UC-2638 (mentioned)
• G. J. Weihs, Chrysotile Asbestos, Group 7 (Shorts): Market Analysis and Forecasts (1974) Union Carbide 278 (mentioned)
• G. J. Weihs, Chrysotile Asbestos (Group 7, Shorts) Market Analysis, Union Carbide Marketing Services Department (1974) UC-209 (mentioned)
• G. J. Weihs, Chrysotile Asbestos, Group 7 (Shorts): Market Analysis, with Morgan Guaranty Transmittal Letter to W. C. Thurber (1974) UC-1509 (mentioned)
• G. J. Weihs, Chrysotile Asbestos (Group 7, Shorts) Market Analysis for Union Carbide Marketing Services (1974) UC-4630 (mentioned)
• John L. Myers, The Asbestos Situation: Canadian Supply Shortage and Calidria Position (1975) UC-2643 (mentioned)
• Calidria Asbestos Product Applications and 1978 Domestic Market Share Analysis (1978-1979) UC-2640 (mentioned)
• Record of Initial Strategic Planning Meetings on the Asbestos Business (Calidria) (1979) Union Carbide 496 (mentioned)

Names in the documents

The spellings documents use for Bell Asbestos Mines, OCR misreadings included, so a search for any of them finds this page: Bell Asbestos Mines, Ltd · Bell · Bell Asbestos Mines Ltd..

Where this comes from

This page brings together every document in our library that names Bell Asbestos Mines, across collections. Titles and affiliations are taken from the documents themselves, and units and subsidiaries are grouped under the company they belong to.