Minister of Mines PROVINCE of BRITISH COLUMBIA
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Minister of Mines PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA ANNUAL REPORT For the Year ended 31s December 1949 BRITISH COLUMBIA DEPARTMENT OF MINES VICTORIA, B.C. Hon. R. C. MACDONALD, Minister. JOHN F. WALKER, Deputy Minister. JAMES STRANG, Chief Inspector of Mines. G. CAVE-BROWNE-CAVE, Chief Andzlst aml Assa7~er. HARTLEY SARGENT, Chief Mining Engineer. P. J. MULCAHY, Chief Gold Commissioner. To His Honour CHARLES ARTHUR BANKS, C.M.G., Lieutenant-Govermw of the Province of British Columbia. MAY IT PLEASE YOUR HONOUR: The Annual Report of the Mining Industry of the Province for the year 1949 is herewith respectfully submitted. R. C. MACDONALD, Minister of Mines. Minister of Mines’ O/&e, May, 1950. rials, 1948 and 1949 ~~~. 27 Table XII (Graph) .-British Columbia Mine Production, 1895-1949~~..,........~~~~~~ 28 Table XIII (Graph) .-British Columbia Lode-mines Production, 191349~.mm.m.. 29 Table XIV.-Coal Production mr Year to Date~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 30 Table XV.-Coke Production from Bee-hive Ovens from 1895 to 1925~~~~.~.~~~~.~~~~30 Table XVI.-Coke and By-products Production, British Columbia, 194049~~~~~- 31 Table XVII.-Dividends paid by Mining Companies, 1897-1949~~~~~~~~~~~~.~~~~~~~~~~~~ 32 Table XVIII.-Salaries and Wages, Fuel and Electricity, and Process Supplies, ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MINISTER OF MINES. 1949. Introduction. A Report of the Minister of Mines of the Province of British Columbia has been published each year since 1874. This 1949 issue, therefore, is the seventy-sixth Annual Report of the Minister of Mines. The Annual Report records the salient facts in the progress of the industry, also much detail about individual mining operations, including those undertaken in the search for exploration and development of mineral deposits as well as the actual winning of material from mineral deposits. The Annual Report of the Minister of Mines now contains introductory sections dealing with statistics and Departmental work, followed by sections dealing with Metal-mining (Lode) : Placer-mining; Structural Materials and Industrial Minerals: Inspection of Lode Mines, Placer Mines, and Quarries; Coal-mining: and Inspection of Electrical Equipment and Installations of Mines and Quarries, each with its own table of contents. An introductory review of the mining industry and notes at the first of several of the main sections deal generally with the industry or its principal subdivisions. Notes in the various sections deal briefly with the work done on individual properties during the year or describe a property in more complete detail, outlining the history of past work and the geological setting as well a.8 describing the workings and the mineral deposits exposed in them. Some notes deal with areas rather than with a single mine or property. The work of the branches of the Department is outlined briefly in the section headed “ Departmental Work.” This section is followed by notes dealing briefly with the work of the British Columbia 01‘ Dominion Government services of particular interest to the mining industry of British Columbia. Information concerning mine operations and some of the activities of the Inspection Branch of the Department of Mines is contained in the section on “Inspection of Lode Mines, Placer Mines, and Quarries,” early in the section on “ Coal-mining ” and in the section on “ Inspection of Electrical Equipment and Installations at Mines and Quarries.” The section on “ Statistics ” consists of tables supplemented by brief notes. A statement of current and past practice in arriving at quantities and calculating the value of the various products is given under “ Statistics ” (pp. 13 and 14). Quantities and values of the principal mineral products for 1949 and 1948 are given in Table I (p. 15). The average prices for each of the principal metals and coal for each year, beginning with 1901, are given in Table II (p. 16). Other tables record the details of mineral output from year to year for the Province and for the various mining divisions. The numbers employed in various divisions of the mining industry; the expenditures for salaries and wages, fuel, electricity, and process supplies: the divi- dends disbursed; the quantity of ore mined and the freight and treatment charges incurred are also tabulated, and the lode-metal producers are listed. The section on “ Statistics ” is supplemented by data on the production of individual properties found in notes on properties in the succeeding sections, and by data relating to the production of individual coal mines and of coal-mining areas tabulated early in the section on “ Coal-mining.” 7 Review of the Mining Industry of British Columbia, 1949. By Hartley Sargent. The gross value of mineral production in British Columbia in 1949 was $133,012,968, and the value to the end of 1949 (1852 to 1949, inclusive) is $2,567,036,472. The value for 1949 is exceeded only by the value for 1948, which was $152,524,752. Placer gold mined in 1949 had a value of $529,524, compared with $585,200 in 1948. Lode gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc in 1949 had a gross value of $105,259,001, compared with $125,979,961 in 1948. The total quantity of ore mined was 6,095,441 tons, compared with 5,655,266 tons in 1948, and the number of productive lode znines was 118, compared with 97 in 1948. The total quantity of coal mined was 1,917,296 tons, valued at $12,462,424, compared with 1,809,018 tons, valued at $10,854,108, in 1948. In both years twenty-one underground mines and three strip mines were operated. The output of strip-mined coal was almost 200,000 tons less, and the output of underground mines was about 300,000 tons more than in 1948. Miscellaneous metals, minerals, and materials had a value of $4,X06,129* in 1949 and $6,137,261 in 1948, and structural materials were valued at $9,955,890 in 1949, compared with $8,96X,222 in 1948. The average number employed in all branches of the mining industry in 1949 was 16,621. Some of the major expenditures were for salaries and wages, $41,023,786; fuel and electricity, $7,206,637; process supplies, $17,884,408; freight and treatment on ores and concentrates of metals, $19,613,185; Dominion taxes, $13,655,842; Provin- cial taxes, $3,769,785; municipal and other taxes, $511,037; Workmen’s Compensa- tion, silieosis, unemployment insurance, and other levies, $1,458,149. Dividends paid amounted to $33,651,096. The prices for the principal base metals, although less than the 1948 prices, are high compared with the long-time average. In the United States the prices for copper, lead, and zinc fell in the first six months of 1949 and rose again moderately in the final six months. The price of silver rose moderately from the low reached near the end of 1948. Following devaluation of British, Canadian, and other currencies, in September, Canadian producers of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc received a lo-per- cent. exchange premium or equivalent benefit. Some gold-producers benefited under the “ Emergency Gold Mining Assistance Act ” throughout 1949. Duties on zinc imported into the United States are 0.75 cent per pound of zinc in ores and concentrates and 0.875 cent per pound of slab zinc. The import duties on lead became effective again on July Ist, 1949; they are 0.75 cent per pound of lead in ores and concentrates and 1.065 cents per pound of refined lead. The duty on copper remained suspended throughout 1949. Unless other provision is made, the duty will become effective again on July lst, 1950, and will be 2 cents per pound of copper in concentrates, matte, blister, or refined copper. A small increase in the output of lode gold and increased price consequent upon revaluation of the Canadian dollar resulted in an increase of 3.6 per cent. in the value of lode gold. Silver production was greater than in 1948 by 13.7 per cent. in quantity and 12.5 per cent. in value. Copper output exceeded that in 1948 by 27.5 per cent., but because the average price was 2.4 cents per pound less than in 1948, the value of 1949 production was only 13.9 per cent. higher than in 1948. Lead output was 20.8 per cent. less in quantity, and the value was 30.7 per cent. less than in 1948. Zinc production was 6.6 per cent. less in quantity and 11.2 per cent. less in value than in 1948. These two metals have contributed 55 per cent. of the total gross value of our I noes “ot inch& tungstate ,woa,. valued st about $3,600. recovered from phzer operations near *tiin. 9 A 10 REPORT OF THE hmvISTER OF MINES, 1949 mineral production in the past ten years, and the percentage was 72.4 in 1949 and 77.7 in 1948; consequently substantial changes in the output and in the prices for lead and zinc have an important bearing on the total value of mineral production. The minor metals and sulphur had a combined value of $3,852,604 in 1949, com- pared with $5,215,540 in 1948. This decrease comes very largely from the suspension of production of tungsten concentrates. Late in 1948 production of tungsten concen- trates was stopped and the Emerald mill was converted for treating silver-lead-zinc ore from the Jersey part of the same property. Decreases in the value of the output of antimony, bismuth, and tin were more than offset by increases in the value of cadmium and sulphur. Lode-gold production came principally from the mines in the Bridge River District, at Tulsequah, Wells, Hedley, and Sheep Creek.