Unit 7: Mining in Canada

(Lindsay Porter and Alfred Hecht)

Mineral extraction [1] has always been important in the Canadian economy; the mining industry is the backbone of many Canadian regional and rural economies. Initially, mining played only a major role in the regional economies of such areas as northern Ontario and southern British Columbia. However, since the 1950s, Canada has become a major supplier of minerals to world markets, especially the US. Canada is one of the world's largest exporter of minerals and mineral products, and is also a world leader in environmentally safe and clean mining practices and mining technology. As of 1997, 368,000 Canadians were employed in this industry, including extraction, smelting and refining, and the manufacture of mineral and metal products.

Minerals found [2] across Canada vary from province to province. In 1997, Canada's three northernmost territories together produced 29% of all the zinc in the country and 12% of all the gold. The Dawson City District is the major mining district in the Yukon [3], while the Polaris Mine [4], primarily a lead and zinc mine, is Canada's northernmost mine. The Giant Canadian Gold Mine in Yellowknife and the Lupin Gold Mine in the High Arctic are the main sources of gold for the far North. The Yukon Territory produces mainly gold, lead, zinc, silver, sand and gravel. British Columbia [5] is Canada's largest coal exporting province and produced 28 million tonnes of coal in 1997 -- 36% of all of Canada's coal. In addition British Columbia is also Canada's and the world's top molybdenum producer.

Alberta was responsible for the production of 79% of Canada's fuel in 1997, the largest producer in the country. It was also the largest coal producer in Canada during the same year. Alberta's main products [6] include petroleum, natural gas, coal, cement, sand and gravel. Saskatchewan produces 85% of Canada's potash [7] and is also the largest potash producer [8] in the world. Most of the potash [9] is found near Saskatoon, Regina, Esterhazy and Rocanville. Manitoba produces nickel, copper, zinc, and gold [10].

Ontario is responsible for the bulk of Canada's nickel production [11] and in 1996 produced 74% of the country's nickel. The Creighton Nickel Mine in Sudbury is the deepest mine [12] in Ontario, at 7200 feet or 2.2 kilometres, and is one of the primary sources of this mineral. Also, 41% of all the sand and gravel in Canada came from this province. In 1996, Ontario contributed 70% of all the country's nickel [13], more than 50% of the gold and 50% of the copper. Other materials produced in Ontario include silver, zinc and cement. Titanium is only produced in one province in Canada, Quebec. Quebec [14] is the world's second largest producer of titanium oxide slag. In 1997, the province produced 40% of Canada's iron ore tonnage [15] and also mines gold, zinc, asbestos, copper and rough and worked granite.

New Brunswick and the other eastern provinces also make important mineral contributions to the country. The New Brunswick Zinc Mine is the largest in the world in terms of volume and in 1996, the province held almost 40% of Canadian zinc reserves [16]; it also has 65% of the total lead and 34% of silver reserves. In 1997, more then 80% of Canada's gypsum [17] came from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, most of which was exported to the United States. Other materials from Nova Scotia include coal, natural gas and salt and mineral aggregates. Iron ore comprises 91% of Newfoundland's mineral production and is mined at The Iron Ore Company [18] of Canada in Labrador City [19] and Wabush Mines Operations in Wabush. Almost 60% of all the iron ore in Canada comes form Newfoundland. Of all the provinces in Canada, Prince Edward Island is the only one that doesn't have any mines. Only peat, sand and gravel are produced here, however, these aggregates are still important to the country's economy.

Canada is one of the world's leading producers [20] and exporters of minerals. In 1997, Canada ranked first in the production of potash and uranium, second in the production of asbestos, sulphur, nickel, zinc and gypsum, and third in the production of titanium, aluminum, copper, platinum and group metals. In 1998, the ten top leading minerals [21] in Canada by value of production were aluminum, coal, copper, potash, iron ore, zinc nickel, cement, sand and gravel, and stone. Gold production earned $2.8 billion in 1998, coal $1.79 billion, copper $1.69 billion, and potash $1.66 billion. In 1998, mining caused Canada's GDP to increase by $26.5 billion to $718 billion. The four mineral processing stages each had a different impact on this increase. The primary mineral production stage (mining and concentrating) contributed 28.8%, mineral production (smelting and refining) 16.0%, minerals and metals based semifabrication industries 23.0%, and metal fabrication industries 32.3%.

Of the 749 mining establishments in Canada, 79 are metal producers, 132 are non-metal producers, 501 are structural, 35 produce coal and 2 are oil sand operations. The total value from the mining establishments in 1998 in Ontario alone was $4.99 billion or 27.3% of the total value of mineral production in the country. Ontario was followed by Quebec with $3.44 billion (18.8%) and British Columbia with $2.9 billion (15.8%). Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia were responsible for producing 86.5% of Canada's gold and 90% of the country's copper; 91.7% of the coal was produced in British Columbia, Alberta and Nova Scotia, while 100% of Canada's 'manufactured' oil came from the oil sands [22] in Alberta.

Of all the minerals and mineral products, 80% are exported and 20% are consumed locally. Minerals and mineral products comprised 14.5% of Canada's total exports in 1998, making it very important to Canadian trade. Mineral exports in Canada increased 56%, rising from $2.9 billion in 1993 to $45.17 billion in 1998. The top three mineral exports, iron and steel, aluminum and gold, made up 44.6% of the total mineral exports. Iron and steel comprised 21% of all mineral exports, aluminum 15.8% and gold 7.49%. Of all primary nickel exports 27% go to the US, 18% to Europe, 23% to Japan and 35% to other countries. Twenty years ago, 5% of all nickel went to Asia, in 1998 that amount was 50%. In terms of annual consumption, aluminum was the largest (781,268 tonnes) followed by copper (224,607 tonnes) , zinc (136,817 tonnes), lead (92,999 tonnes) and magnesium (34,026 tonnes).

Table: Canada's Top Ten Mineral Exports and Imports (1998)

Imports of minerals also increased by 13% over the same time period to $43.9 billion in 1998. While iron ore was the major export, it was also the major import for Canada: 35.04%. The top ten imported minerals and mineral products composed 54% of all imported minerals. The United States is Canada's largest mineral trade partner receiving 75.1% of all mineral exports. Ninety-nine percent of the chromium produced in Canada is exported to the US along with 95% of the iron and steel, 82% of the silver and 73% of uranium; Canada receives 69.5% of its mineral imports from the US. In 1997, exports to the European Union, Japan and Mexico decreased, while imports from the same countries increased.

Each year coal contributes almost $5.8 billion to the Canadian economy. There are 23 different coal mines [24] in Canada with 3 in British Columbia, 15 in Alberta, 3 in Saskatchewan, 1 in New Brunswick, and 1 in Nova Scotia. Of these mines, Alberta produces the most coal followed by British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Although Alberta produces the most coal, British Columbia exports the most (71.6%). Japan receives the majority of Canada's coal (48.9%), followed by South Korea (18.2%), the United Kingdom (4.2%), Taiwan (3.3%) and Brazil (3.3%). However, not all of the coal produced in Canada is exported, much is consumed locally [25] and used extensively in thermal power stations. Alberta uses the most at 44%, then Ontario (29.1%), Saskatchewan (16.9%), Nova Scotia (4.5%) and New Brunswick (2.4%). Ontario must import 83.1% of the coal that it uses, while Quebec must have 45.4% of its coal brought in.

There are a number of major mining companies in Canada. Alcan Aluminum Ltd. [26] was named the leading mining company in Canada in 1995. The company is based in Montreal and is involved in aluminum refining, power generation, aluminum smelting and research and technology. It has operations and sales offices in over 30 countries around the world and is a global producer and marketer of flat-rolled aluminum products. Falconbridge Ltd. [27], founded in 1928, explores, develops, mines, processes and markets a variety of metals and minerals. It is Canada's top copper producer, the world's largest producer of refined nickel products and the world's fourth largest producer of cobalt. In addition, the company produces zinc, precious and platinum group metals, and calcium. Two of the Falconbridge's nickel operations are located in Sudbury, 400 kilometres north of Toronto in northern Ontario. In addition to Falconbridge, there are five other mines in the Sudbury Basin spread over an area of 90 square kilometres. Onaping - Craig Mine is the newest in the area and produces 1.2 million tonnes of nickel annually. Inco Ltd. [28] --the International Nickel Company-- was established in 1902 in Sudbury and has subsidiary operations in Manitoba, the UK, the US, and Indonesia. It is the leading international producer of nickel, supplying 27% of the world's demand. Elsewhere, the mine at Raglan (in Nunavik Territory in northern Quebec) opened in July of 1998, and has since increased nickel production by 50%. Approximately 130 000 tonnes of nickel and copper are shipped to Quebec City from this mine each year.

Rio Algom Ltd. [29], based in Toronto, is one of Canada's largest diversified mining corporations The company mines copper, gold, molybdenum, uranium and coal in Canada, the US, Chile, Argentina and Peru. Rio Algom also controls the following: Cerro Colorado Mines in Chile that produced $179 million worth of coal in 1998; Highland Valley Copper Mines in British Columbia that produced $103 million of copper and molybdenum in 1998; and, the Polaris Mine in the Canadian Arctic that produced $9 million of zinc and lead in 1998. Another important mining company in Canada is TeckCominco Ltd. [30], an international integrated mining and metal company which started in 1906 and which now has mining operations worldwide. Cominco is the world's largest zinc concentrate producer and fourth largest zinc metal producer. It is also the producer of lead, copper, molybdenum and germanium concentrate. Zinc is the world's fourth most used metal after steel, aluminum and copper. 6.5 million tonnes are used annually in the western world, up 2.5% per year since 1980. Some 47% of the zinc produced in 1998 was used in galvanizing [31] (bonding zinc to steel to protect the steel against erosion).