BOOK REVIEW — Book catalogues Canada’s mining heritage — Untold Wealth: Canada’s Mineral Heritage

Gold Fever Publishing — Seven Whaling Rd., Darien, CT., 06820

Since John Cabot’s arrival in 1497, Canada has built a reputation as one of the world’s largest and richest repositories of mineral deposits. From British Columbia to Newfoundland, the country is replete with mines, both big and small.

Untold Wealth: Canada’s Mineral Heritage is a compendium of the multitude of mines which, over the years, have fostered the country’s formidable mining industry.

Author Kenneth Kutz begins with a brief overview of the more renowned explorers and major political events of the pre-Confederation era, and then discusses virtually every mineral project that was advanced to production in each of the provinces and territories. Mines are classed by the metals or minerals produced and by region.

Unfortunately, Kutz’s adherence to this structure occasionally results in repetition, which adds a dry, textbook-like flavor to the book. This dryness is exacerbated by excessive descriptions of each mine’s founder, ownership and production schedule.

To his credit, Kutz alleviates the tedium with an ample supply of enjoyable anecdotes. For instance, this reader was surprised to learn that Newfoundland holds the distinction of having Canada’s longest continually operated mine, Wabana, an iron mine which produced 79 million tons over its 71-year life span. Being the country’s most easterly situated mine, it is fitting that Wabana is a native word meaning “the place where daylight first appears.”

Kutz also embellishes many pages with mining-related postal items from his personnel collection. Excerpts from letters are laid out in their original form, complete with grammar and spelling mistakes, giving the book a tone that is both folksy and authentic.

The book catalogues the industrial applications of metals and minerals, and tabulates aggregate production of each commodity since records were first kept, which should prove useful for many readers.

Although the book is well-referenced, mistakes are made. One such error is the implicit suggestion that the meteorite impact theory for the formation of the Sudbury igneous complex is only one of many arguments, rather than the prevailing one. While covering deposit genesis may not have been Kutz’s main goal, the vital role such issues play in the mining industry begs for more information than is given.

Kutz also gives some mines short shrift. For instance, he fails to mention that Agnico-Eagle Mines plans to nearly double production in the next few years at its Laronde polymetallic underground mine in northern Quebec. This expansion program arose from the discovery of several large, deep mineralized zones in the early 1990s. And contrary to Kutz’s assertion, the mine started production in 1988, not 1990, though he was correct in stating mill capacity reached 2,000 tons per day in 1990.

Mistakes notwithstanding, Untold Wealth is a worthwhile read and a valuable reference for anyone looking to expand his knowledge of the companies, individuals and events that shaped Canada’s mining industry. Most significantly, this book provides what may be the only comprehensive written chronology of notable events in the country’s mining history, from Cabot noting that the natives he encountered wore copper earrings to Falconbridge shipping the first ore from the Raglan mine just months ago.