Uranium, gold and nickel finds (1930-39)

Feb. 6, 1930

Sweeping brokerage changes will help mines and the public. The Old Margin Game is dead, deader than the cities engulfed by Vesuvius. With it are swept away the old methods of financing mining. They’re gone, with all the machinery of the old-style margin gambling. In their place will have to come rules, new regulations, higher margins.

Aug. 28, 1930

Silently and smoothly, and three months ahead of time, Flin Flon has been brought into production, and the concentrator is already milling 1,000 tons daily and regularly. Concentrates will start moving into the roaster early next month, and by the end of September Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Company should be well on the way to recovering and refining zinc.

Copper smelter completion is being pushed, and management expects to start warming it up in October.

Feb. 12, 1931

That there is a splendid chance of the pitchblende discovery of the Eldorado Mines, on the east side of Great Bear Lake, becoming important, is the belief of one of the management engineers who examined it. He tells The Northern Miner that while, in his opinion, insufficient work has been done on the property to form an opinion of the economic possibilities, the chances are bright that something of real importance may be found with further development work. He says that there are several breaks in the general strike in which flinty siliceous material occurs, associated with iron minerals. In this siliceous material yellow uranium oxides show at various places, and narrow lenses of rich radium ore were observed. The extent of this important ore can only be known after considerably more surface development work has been done. What might be considered the main break was followed for possibly over 300 feet. Other breaks were observed and further development work is also necessary on these before their importance can be ascertained. The area is very interesting mineralogically and may prove of great importance when thoroughly explored, he remarked.

April 9, 1931

The Sherritt Gordon mill has now been operating 20 days and it is possible to give a line on results. As a matter of fact, no new Canadian plant has come in smoother than that of Sherritt. Within ten days of turnover all the kinks had been smoothed out and none of them was of any importance. Officials assert that the mill is now running as though it had been operating for years.

April 16, 1931

The Northern Miner learns that Eldorado Gold Mines Ltd. has, this spring, added considerably to stakings in the Echo Bay region of Great Bear Lake. The company now controls almost three miles along strike of the copper-pitchblende discoveries, with the exception of one claim staked by Consolidated Smelting & Refining Co. which angles in.

Charles LaBine, president of the company, states that the original shareholdings of his own and Gilbert LaBine, managing director, are still intact and that no treasury stock has been sold.

Contrary to the impression previously received the company will endeavour to bring out 50 tons of pitchblende ore with the idea of production of radium in mind, rather than for test purposes. Additional information has been secured on processes necessary to produce the finished radium salts and it is not expected that total costs, including freight, will exceed $10,000 a gram. As the price of radium runs from $50,000 to $70,000 a gram the hope of profit is discernible.

Aug. 27, 1931

The rush to Great Bear Lake is beginning. Until this week prospecting and staking had been confined to half a dozen outfits; now individuals and syndicates are taking a hand and the sound of the cutter’s axe is resounding among the hills near Echo Bay.

Dec. 31, 1931

Over 2,000 mining companies are dealt with in the Canadian Mines Handbook, which will be ready for distribution within a week. This is 60% greater than the number treated by any similar book of this type. Furthermore, the information given has been brought to a new standard of completeness and usefulness. Shareholders are provided with just what they want to know about their companies, the form of the information being guided by many years of experience in such matters.

A special section has been devoted to more than 1,300 companies that have become quiescent, been reorganized, or have passed out of corporate existence. This section should be particularly valuable to individuals who possess old certificates, to trust companies, lawyers and some others who have to deal with estates. Some of the information goes back 25 years.

A short section is devoted to the principal Canadian oil and gas companies.

The handbook also contains the conventional range of stock prices, in this case running back seven years, and also minimum commission rates. A new feature is stock transfer taxes.

Feb. 4, 1932

Without any particular fuss Quebec has become the outstanding field in gold prospecting in Canada. There is more real exploration going on in northwestern Quebec than in any other part of Canada. Plants are being taken in, several diamond drills are working, and the recording offices are busier than at any time since the Rouyn rush.

Forty miles of belt is under active exploration. The work is in strong hands. A large sum is being spent monthly. The results are excellent and it is reasonable to hope that several new mines will be brought into successful production. The Quebec gold belt is important to the whole world, not just to Canada. And the Quebec government isn’t saying a word, but is vigorously helping the operators with roads and other forms of active assistance.

March 31, 1932

Hon. Charles McCrea, Ontario Minister of Mines, met a large representation of the newly formed Ontario Prospectors’ Association at a banquet in his honor on Tuesday night of this week. The Minister informed the prospectors that he was glad they had formed an Association and took occasion to outline the policy of the government with respect to mining and promotional affairs.

The aims and objects, the hopes and purposes of the newly formed Ontario Prospectors’ Association were outlined by Carl Springer. The organization came into being to meet an urgent need and once launched there was revealed the fact that the idea of an organization had been latent in the minds of many.

June 23, 1932

The San Antonio mill, completed in May, has made its first gold brick shipment to Ottawa within the past week. At present the mill is running at little over half capacity, being gradually tuned up to handle 150 tons daily. Average grade, it is anticipated, will run between $15 and $20 to the ton. At $15 the output would approximate $65,000 a month, a sizable addition to Manitoba’s gold contribution.

Dec. 29, 1932

In the quiet town of Port Hope, Ontario, sixty miles east of Toronto, there is proceeding in orderly fashion the development of a unique Canadian industry, one which will put Canada on the metallurgical and scientific map of the world in a distinctive way. At this sequestered location the Eldorado Gold Mines Ltd. has acquired and equipped an extensive plant for the production of radium. Contrary to preformed ideas concerning the plant, it has the dimensions and its equipment represents the cost of a 200-ton gold mill. So far from being a laboratory-scale operation, the Eldorado radium production installation has involved the assembly of large-sized units, unique in Canadian milling and metallurgical practice.

Oct. 26, 1933

The lid’s off: President Roosevelt, yielding to the agrarian drive, is setting up an American market for gold and undertakes to start and keep it at whatever levels are necessary to bring up commodity prices. What those levels will be, where gold will finally rest, is the biggest guessing game in the world today.

But $20.67 an ounce is finished, done with, dead.

In this place last week, at a time when most people were expecting early stabilization of the U.S. dollar (and the markets were expressing it in lo
w prices) we declared that to us it seemed most likely that the Untied States, internally insolvent, could run counter to the world trend. Mr. Roosevelt, in breathtaking fashion, upsets the best wishes of the creditor class, the holders of bonds and mortgages. He yields to the great masses, the people must pay interest and repay debts, and starts the U.S. dollar driving towards levels that are calculated to raise commodity prices and wages, and bring his country out of the slough of despond and the swamp of unemployment. His government will buy newly mined U.S. gold at prices to be set from time to time; it will go into the world markets and buy and sell gold as required. Those who declared that gold would be abandoned are given their final quietus. Gold is becoming more sought after, more utilized in the monetary scheme, than ever.

Feb. 1, 1934

A flash from Washington Wednesday afternoon says that President Roosevelt has exercised his powers and has set the Untied States dollar at 59.06% of its former value and the ounce of gold at $35. He announces that the Untied States Treasury will buy all gold offering (foreign and domestic) at $35 an ounce.

This is the new United States gold standard and stabilization.

This news means that the United States will pay 35 American dollars for the gold from Canadian mines.

June 21, 1934

With one property coming into production this fall and at least four others at a stage warranting large-scale development expenditures, the Little Long Lac area in northwestern Ontario is one of the brightest new gold spots in Canada today. Four hundred men are working for different companies, and prospectors are scouring the bush beyond stakings for probable extensions of the favourable rocks in which discoveries have been made to date.

Dec. 20, 1934

The prosperity of mining and its importance in the economic life of the country are forcefully emphasized by the fact that in 1934 the industry contributed approximately 29% of all dividends paid by Canadian corporations.

Distributions by mining companies of the Dominion this year exceeded the combined total of those to common and preferred stockholders of all banks, insurance and trust companies, chain stores, brewing and distilling corporations, textile, construction and utility companies.

Returns from mining at $49,500,000 were surpassed by only one group, the oils, whose dividends amounted to around $62,000,000. Of this amount however, some $32,500,000 was provided by the foreign-operated International Petroleum Corporation, leaving less than $30,000,000 for the purely Canadian companies.

May 2, 1935

Eldorado Gold Mines Ltd. has sold to the Ontario government three and a half grams of radium for use in the provincial hospitals, it is announced. While the price quoted in the Toronto dailies was given as $170,000, The Northern Miner learns that the figure was somewhat lower than this. This is the first instance of Empire-produced radium being sold in such large quantities. Deliveries will be effected during the summer months.

May 14, 1936

Remarkably rich ore, perhaps equalling anything previously found in Canada, is being mined in drifts east of the shaft on the 700 and 1,000-ft. levels of the O’Brien Mines, in Cadillac Township, Quebec. An official, talking to The Northern Miner Tuesday, estimated that the two drifts, which had opened up lengths of between 80 and 100 ft. each, had recovered in the form of high grade, that is being quickly turned into bullion.

Found the last week in April, production mounted quickly, and in the week ending May 2nd a total of $52,000 was taken out, and in the following week $55,000. There has been a great deal more since which has not been appraised.

If the estimate of $250,000 production from these two drifts is realized when the final returns are had, the drifts will average around $500 a ton.

July 2, 1936

The mining boom has struck Red Lake again and this Patricia pioneer camp, still in its infancy, is proffering the mine seeker with all kinds of likely ground meriting serious attention. The Northern Miner was caught in the bustle and activity of the camp last week and was impressed with the widespread nature of the renewed exploration activity.

Three airplane companies, maintaining daily air service into the camp are doing a rushing business. Red Lake is being thronged with prospectors and promoters, engineers and mining men. Diamond drills are at a premium and several outfits are waiting for a drill to be made available. The speculative fever has caught most of the inhabitants, many of whom are holding vendors’ interests-for, following the first heyday of the camp, a decade ago, many of those who came in the rush decided to stay.

After a period of quiescence, even though the main developing and producing efforts have been steadily reporting entrancing ore conditions, it remained for Gold Eagle Gold Mines with its startling ore developments in recent weeks to touch off the spark and now much of the outlying ground that cannot afford to be ignored seems assured of thorough-going investigation. Well over a score of operations are settling down to serious exploration and development along the twenty-odd mile long front of the Red Lake gold bearing formations. Many others are making preparations to start. Some few will come through but many more will be forgotten-that is the law of mining. The important thing is that justifiable work is to be done.

June 10, 1937

Taking full advantage of the higher copper prices, the Britannia Mining and Smelting Co., Howe Sound British Columbia, controlled by the Howe Sound Co., second largest operator in the coast province, has stepped its mine and mill up to operating at capacity basis again.

The huge mill and concentrator are handling over 6,000 tons daily and the mine, working on a six-day week basis, is turning out 7,000 tons daily.

In the short space of eight months mill tonnage has been increased from 70,000 to 180,000 tons per month, and there are possibilities that further increases may be in prospect later on. Payrolls have advanced accordingly and over 1,100 men were employed when The Northern Miner visited the property.

Dec. 23, 1937

During the past season, exploration of the large mining concession in Labrador held by Labrador Mining and Exploration Company has resulted in the discovery of two iron deposits believed to have possibilities of major importance. Due to the shortness of the season for work to be carried on in this area, only preliminary investigation was possible, but if further work next year substantiates present indications, there is an excellent chance that the next few years will see the opening up of another vast and virtually unexplored section of the British Empire. Already the British government has indicated interest in the project and it is understood negotiations are proceeding at the present time. The situation in Spain has forced Great Britain to be on the lookout for other sources of iron ore.

May 5, 1938

Kerr-Addison gold mines hoisted 785 tons of ore for crushing on May 1st and Monday afternoon grinding in the big new mill was officially started. For the first few days the automatic feeder is being held to about 325 tons daily but before the week is out, it is expected the mill will be operating at 500 tons daily or over, The Northern Miner was told on Tuesday by W. S. Row, manager. Some old surface muck is being utilized for tuning-up purposes but with nearly all stopes on the 300-ft. level silled out now, the full requirements of the mill will be looked after from underground.

June 2, 1938

Sachigo River has cut its ore on the third level and The Northern Miner can say that the crosscut assay is 11.38 ounces across one foot. The mill is now running, latest report saying that the feed is two ounces, tailings less than 30 cents a ton, 25 tons a day. These results make Sachigo Ontario’s highest grade gold mine.

March 2, 1939

At long last a Canadian dream is coming true. Afte
r a century and a half of effort there is being displayed on the Canadian side of Lake Superior a big-tonnage deposit of high grade iron ore equal in grade to the best on the American side of the lake. There is reckoned to be in sight already 100,000,000 tons down to the first thousand feet of ore depth, with grade likely to average between 55% and 60%. The estimate is based on preliminary diamond drilling with about a dozen holes in the deposit so far. The body is 4,000 ft. long and appears to have a minimum width of 200 ft., with the deepest hole 1,400 ft. below surface. Geophysical work corroborates the feeling that extensions or repetitions of this deposit are indicated to occur; diamond drilling last week pulled high grade core from another body.

Aug. 31, 1939

The International Nickel Company of Canada has acquired under option to purchase, the old Alexo nickel mine at Alexo station on the Porcupine branch of the T. and N. O. Railway. An option has also been secured on the adjoining property of Alexo Extension Mining Syndicate and several other claims in the same neighborhood have been staked, and will be absorbed into the main groups in the event that exploration should uncover results of value.

The Alexo nickel mine was acquired from Alexo Nickel Mining Co. The property was a shipper to the Mond Nickel Company during the Great War but shipments were suspended when the drop in demand for nickel in the early ’20s caused curtailment of the nickel operation generally. An examination of the property at that time showed about 20,000 tons of approximately three per cent nickel-copper ore remaining in the mine. Total shipments during the war were reported to have amounted to about 60,000 tons of a similar grade.

Oct. 26, 1939

During the first year of its operation, The Con mill of Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada, has produced gold valued in excess of $1,000,000. The mill has a rated capacity of 100 tons per day using the cyanide process but has handled up to 120 tons in a 24-hour stretch. On the basis of an average mill schedule of 100 tons daily, the reported output of $1,000,000 would represent an average recovery of approximately $35, or roughly one ounce of gold per ton. Additions to the mill have been made recently, permitting an increase to 160 tons daily capacity.