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IntroductionThe industrial mineral processing and manufacturing industries of Nova Scotia are diverse and technically advanced. Many top quality products manufactured in Nova Scotia are sold throughout Atlantic Canada or are exported to markets throughout the world. The same innovation and pride that existed when industrial mineral manufacturing began 200 years ago still exists today. At that time building stone was the commodity of interest. Today the 11 industrial minerals and rocks mined in Nova Scotia are used to manufacture products required by the agricultural, construction, fishing, food processing, landscaping, pulp and paper and power generating industries and are essential materials in environmental protection. Some of Nova Scotia's industrial minerals are also used in medicine and for recreational purposes. Everyone uses and benefits from industrial mineral products, many of which are supplied by Nova Scotia companies. The Glossary of Geology says that an industrial mineral is "any rock, mineral, or other naturally occurring substance of economic value, exclusive of metallic ores, mineral fuels and gemstones; one of the nonmetallics." Industrial minerals produced in Nova Scotia include anhydrite, barite, clay and shale, building stone, dolomite, gypsum, limestone, peat, salt, silica sand, and aggregate materials of sand, gravel and crushed stone. Processing of these rocks and minerals ranges from basic upgrading of raw aggregate materials to meet user specifications for asphalt and concrete to more sophisticated processes that include using limestone to manufacture cement, gypsum to manufacture FiberBond™, clay and shale to manufacture bricks, and barite to manufacture high purity pharmaceutical grade BaSO4 used for diagnostic X-ray examination of patients. The value of these products ranges from less than $10 per tonne for aggregates to several hundreds of dollars per tonne for some of the highly processed and manufactured products.
HistoryMore than 10 000 years ago, during the Paleo-Indian period, people were making tools and weapons from chalcedony, a hard, durable rock obtained from outcrops along the shoreline of the Minas Basin. Several items from this period have been recovered from sites found in the Debert/Belmont area of Colchester County. Many of these are kept at the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History in Halifax. The first European settlement in Nova Scotia was established at Port Royal in 1605 by de Monts and Champlain. A stone tablet found at Port Royal, Annapolis County, has been described as a flat slab of trap rock on which was carved the date 1606, the names of Sieur de Monts and other captains and the fleur-de-lys. Obviously the settlement had stone cutters and masons capable of creating the stone tablet and erecting stone buildings. This stone was lost in the walls of the Royal Canadian Institute in Toronto, but another stone, the d'Aulnay stone of 1651, found during the excavation at Fort Anne, is on display at Fort Anne, Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia.
The Emergence of the IndustryThe beginning of Nova Scotia's industrial mineral manufacturing industry, as we know it today, emerged in the mid-1700s. Contributing factors were Nova Scotia's favoured geographical location on tidewater and its seafaring and shipping abilities which were recognized throughout the world. There was also a strong entrepreneurial spirit developing within the Province, which recognized opportunities to sell mineral products locally and internationally. Most important to the development of the industry, though, was the recognition that Nova Scotia had industrial mineral resources that could be developed and sold throughout the world. The first major developments of Nova Scotia's industrial minerals were the building stone and gypsum industries. The first shipments of gypsum were thought to have been made around 1760 from Windsor, Hants County, the birthplace of the gypsum industry in North America. The oldest worked stone quarries in Nova Scotia were the Battye Sandstone Quarries which began in 1809 along the banks of the Wallace River, in Cumberland county. Information on shipments of industrial mineral products from Nova Scotia during the early years is difficult to ascertain. It was not until 1872 that the Annual Reports of the Department of Mines printed statistics on industrial mineral shipments. This information was extracted from the Custom House Reports, which recorded quantities and values of minerals exported during each fiscal year. Earlier sources of information can be found in the Blue Books for the Colony of Nova Scotia, which are held in the Public Archives of Nova Scotia. The Blue Book for 1846 reported significant shipments of gypsum, plaster and grindstones from Nova Scotia to the British Colonies in North America and the United States of America.
Industry PerseveranceMany of Nova Scotia's industrial mineral manufacturing industries operating today began well over 100 years ago, which is a creditable accomplishment considering the changes that have occurred in the marketplace. These industries have survived and adapted to change through periods of war, economic depression and recession, changes in quality demands from consumers and, more recently, increased global competition. Industries which have endured for over a century are the gypsum, limestone, dimension stone and clay brick. The first gypsum plaster mill in Nova Scotia began production in 1891 at Windsor, Hants County. Other gypsum calcining mills that one operated in Nova Scotia were the Great Northern Gypsum Company at Chéticamp, Inverness County, and the Iona Gypsum Company Limited mill at Grassy Cove, Victoria County. The most extensive use of limestone in the early years was the production of lime by burning limestone in small kilns. The most notable operations were at Marble Mountain and Georges River on Cape Breton Island, Stewiacke, Colchester County, and Springville, Pictou County. In 1851 it was reported that 114,412 bushels of lime were produced in Nova Scotia. Another important early use of limestone was to supply flux stone to the Londonderry Iron Company works at Londonderry, Colchester County. During this period the Bras d'Or Marble Company also reported shipping building stone marble from the Marble Mountain Quarry. In the early 1900s additional limestone quarries were in operation at Point Edward, Cape Breton County, to supply blast furnace flux to the Sydney Steel Mill and at Brierly Brook, Antigonish County, to supply stone for the construction of Saint Ninian's Cathedral in Antigonish. In 1926 the Eastern Lime Company was manufacturing quicklime and slacked lime at Windsor, Hants County. Some of the slacked lime was mixed with other ingredients to form insecticides such as nicotine mixture, Bordeaux mixture and sulphur mixtures. Most of the limestone produced today is used to manufacture cement. Lesser amounts are used for adjusting the pH balance of soils and water courses. Limestone is also used in the pulp and paper industry and in the preparation of some animals feeds. Dimension stone production using sandstone first began in the Wallace area, Cumberland County and soon after in Pictou County, then spread to other parts of the Province. At the peak of the stone business, during the mid- to late-1800s, about 75 quarries were producing sandstone in Nova Scotia. Granite quarries were developed in Halifax, Shelburne, Annapolis and Guysborough Counties. Of the 1 000 000 t of stone produced in Nova Scotia between 1873 and the present, 90% was sandstone, most of which came from the Wallace Quarry. Wallace sandstone was used extensively in buildings in Eastern and Central Canada and along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. Some Wallace sandstone was even shipped to California. Wallace sandstone was used in the construction of the Peace Tower of our Parliament Buildings in Ottawa. Another very interesting development in the early years of Nova Scotia stone was the grindstone industry of Cumberland County. Sandstone suitable for the manufacture of grindstones was found on and near the DesBarres Estate in Minudie, Cumberland County. Quarries were opened toward the end of the 18th Century. Amos Peck Seaman, a barefoot boy of eight from Sackville (then in Nova Scotia), landed at Minudie in 1796. He became a tenant on the DesBarres Estate in 1823 and secured a lease for all the quarries on the Estate in 1826. In 1834 he became the owner of the DesBarres Estate, and in 1838 the government of Nova Scotia granted him the sandstone reefs at Lower Cove near Joggins, Cumberland County. Amos Seaman became the Grindstone King operating his own quarries and renting quarry sites to others. In 1847 over 33,000 grindstones were shipped from Cumberland County. At Lower Cove, Seaman built a mill and installed gang saws capable of cutting large blocks. These may have been among the first gang saws installed in North America. Brick production in Nova Scotia goes back to the 17th Century when bricks were handmade by the French. In the mid-1800s many small brickyards were operating throughout the Province. One of these companies, started by Robert Shaw at Hantsport, Hants County in 1861, continues to operate today at Lantz, Hants County. In 1909, 17 brick and drain-pipe plants were operating in Nova Scotia manufacturing 22 000 000 bricks and large quantities of drain pipe. Today the Shaw Brick plant at Lantz is the only brickyard in the Maritimes.
Industrial Minerals Secondary Processing TodayIntroductionFor many it can be difficult to relate pits, quarries and underground mines to the high standard of living to which we are accustomed. We expect to live and work in the comfortable surroundings of our homes, apartments and offices, to travel on good highways, to be able to grow crops, to landscape and garden, and to be educated and entertained in the best possible facilities. The provision of these and many other things relies on the many products made from industrial minerals and rocks, all of which come from pits, quarries or mines. What has formerly been considered waste materials are also being used by several mineral manufacturing industries. A paper, Industrial Minerals, Can We Live Without Them? by Hal McVey, Mineral Marketing Inc. ( Industrial Minerals, April 1987, p. 74-75) takes us through a normal working day to show us just how much we rely on "products that contain industrial minerals." Mr. McVey identifies over 100 items that contain or utilize industrial minerals for their manufacture. Nova Scotia produces some industrial minerals and rocks that are processed to customer specification at source and shipped to manufacturing plants elsewhere. An example of this is the processing of aggregate material at the deposit site and shipping to a concrete products manufacturing plant elsewhere in the Province or beyond. There are also producers undertaking the process from start to finish; companies which extract the raw materials, process, package and then market the product. The salt industry in Nova Scotia is an example of this type of operation. A closer examination of these operations shows that a considerable investment has been made by the companies in both developing the expertise and acquiring the best technology to ensure that customers receive consistently high quality products at the most competitive prices.
Availability of Industrial Minerals and RocksNova Scotia's industrial minerals mining industry provides 11 important minerals and rocks to the secondary processing industries of the Province. Aggregate (sand, gravel and crushed stone) pits and quarries have been established in all regions of the Province primarily to satisfy local aggregate demands. Some nova Scotia aggregates are also sold on the export market. Anhydrite, barite, clay and shale, building stone, dolomite, gypsum, limestone, peat, salt and silica sand are supplied by well-established operations on both mainland Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island. With the exception of salt, all industrial mineral production in Nova Scotia comes from open-pit operations. Salt is produced by underground and solution mining.
The Construction IndustryThe construction industry is a major consumer of industrial minerals and rocks. Industrial minerals and rocks produced in Nova Scotia and consumed by the construction industry include aggregates (sand, gravel and crushed stone), clay and shale, gypsum and anhydrite, limestone and building stone. Products manufactured using these materials include cement, concrete, and decorative and structural concrete products, clay bricks and liners, gypsum fibreboard and dimension stone.
AggregatesMineral aggregates are structured materials fundamental to the infrastructure of Nova Scotia. Comprising sand, gravel, crushed stone, and slag, these materials are used in most aspects of construction. They are used for highways, granular base courses, railway ballast, retaining walls and breakwaters, in landscaping projects or with a binder to produce Portland cement concrete and asphaltic concrete. The properties of mineral aggregates that make them valuable materials are their bulk, strength, durability, uniformity of composition and in some applications, their colour and texture. The production of aggregates begins with the selection of a deposit that contains adequate reserves of sufficient quality for the user. Aggregates have physical, chemical and mechanical properties that determine their acceptability. Quality demands vary for different applications. From the deposit the rock is processed through a system of crushers, screens, classifiers and washers to produce several sizes of high quality aggregate products. The equipment used in this process must have the capability of producing the various sizes, gradations, particle shapes and cleanness of material specified by the user. A number of aggregate products supplied from both naturally occurring granular deposits and bedrock sources include concrete and asphalt aggregates of all sizes prepared to users' specifications, roadbuilding base coarse materials, traction grits, roofing stone, rip-rap, railway ballast and landscaping materials. The coarse concrete aggregate used in the construction of the Confederation Bridge, a concrete bridge connecting Prince Edward Island with New Brunswick, was supplied by Lafarge Construction Materials from their quarry at Folly Lake, Cumberland County. Total aggregate production in Nova Scotia in 1996 was 11 Mt valued at $50 million with direct employment of 600 persons.
CementCement and concrete are not the same thing. Concrete is a mixture of cement, water and aggregates, in which the cement and water paste react chemically to bind the aggregates into a solid mass called Portland cement concrete. Early "Cements" in Nova Scotia In the early 1900s the Windsor Plaster Company manufactured selenite cement using gypsum. This product was used as an undercoating instead of mortar because of its rapid setting time. In 1905 the Sydney Cement Company erected a plant to manufacture cement from blast furnace to slag obtained from the Dominion Iron and Steel Company. The cement was shipped in barrels and sold under the trade name Rampart Brand Cement. In 1907 production of cement in Nova Scotia was reported to be 58,672 barrels. A New Cement Plant for Nova Scotia In 1965, The Canada Cement Company opened a modern one kiln, dry process cement plant with a production capacity of 250,000 t of cement per year at Brookfield, Colchester County. In 1970, The Canada Cement Company became associated with Lafarge Canada Ltd., forming a new company named Canada Cement Lafarge. By 1978 the plant was operating two kilns with a total capacity of 450,000 t of cement production per year. In 1988 the company became known as Lafarge Canada Inc. following a reorganization of Canada Cement Lafarge of Canada and General Portland Inc. of the United States. Manufacturing Cement at Brookfield, Colchester County Lafarge Canada Inc.'s Brookfield plant uses limestone from their own deposit near the plant. Limestone from this deposit is a natural cement rock requiring only blending of the high and low calcium grades of limestone from the deposits to give the right mix for Type 10 Normal Portland Cement. Once quarried, the stone is broken down in size in the primary and secondary crushers. This is followed by raw grinding in ball mills, which crush, pulverize and mix the raw materials in preparation for burning in the kilns. The ball mills produce a material with a fineness of 78% passing a 75 micron sieve, the size required for the kiln process. From the ball mill the mix is transferred to silos where it is homogenized before being fed to the kilns. The raw material is now ready for the pyroprocessing (the burning process) in the kilns. The kilns are long refractory lined cylinders that are mounted on an incline and rotate slowly. The raw material is fed into the raised end of the kiln and over a two hour period makes its way down the rotating kiln. The temperature inside the kiln increases to over 1450°C towards its lower end. During its travel down the kiln, the raw material is first dried, then calcined and burned converting the mix into glass hard chunks called clinkers. The hot clinker is then moved into a cooler where some of the heat is captured and returned to the kiln in order to save fuel. From the cooler the clinker goes into a large storage dome. The final stage is to take clinker from the storage dome and grind it in a ball mill system. A small amount of gypsum is added at this time to regulate the set time of the cement when it is mixed with other materials to form concrete or mortar. The finished cement is conveyed pneumatically into several storage and shipping silos. Cement is shipped in bulk by truck and rail or as bagged products. The Brookfield plant manufactures Type 10 Normal Portland Cement, Type 30 High Early Strength Portland Cement, Type 50 (Kalicrete) Sulphate Resisting Portland Cement, Masonry Cement, and Lafarge SF CEMENT, a Portland silica fume cement developed by Lafarge to meet customers' needs for high-performance concrete. Lafarge SF CEMENT was used in the construction of the Confederation Bridge. Lafarge's Brookfield plant's products are sold in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and St. Pierre and Miquelon.
ConcreteIn Nova Scotia the two types of concrete used are hot mix asphalt concrete and Portland cement concrete. Asphalt concrete is a mixture of aggregates and an asphaltic material that is hot mixed and used mostly for a variety of pavements from recreational surfaces to high traffic volume and heavy loaded highway systems. Portland cement concrete is a mixture of hydraulic cement, aggregates and water. Additives may be included to modify the properties of the concrete. Portland cement concrete can be formed into complex and aesthetic shapes creating many applications for the product. Hot Mix Asphalt Concrete Two types of plants are used to make hot mix asphalt concrete, the batch type mixing plant and the drum mix plant A batch plant mixes, then drops individual batches of hot mix asphalt concrete and a drum mix plant is a continuous flow type of production plant. In a batch type mixing plant different sizes of aggregates are drawn from a multi-bin cold feed system into an enclosed counter flow rotary drum. After the aggregate is dried, it is lifted to the top of the batching tower and on to a screen system which separates the aggregate into different sizes and then drops the different sizes into individual bins. Aggregate is then drawn from the hot bins in predetermined amounts, weighed and dropped into a pug mill mixer with the correct amount of liquid asphalt. The batch is mixed, then dropped into a waiting truck or sent to a surge bin until trucks arrive. In a drum mix plant a metered, four compartment, cold feed bin system supplies the exact amount of the required size of aggregates to the rotating drum mixer The drum mixer is an inclined, parallel flow dryer/mixer in which the aggregate is dried and heated in the upper section of the drum, then mixed with liquid in the lower part of the drum. From the drum the hot mix is discharged into a hot elevator which lifts the finished product to a surge hopper or storage silo both equipped to load trucks. Portland Cement Concrete Portland cement concrete is sold to consumers either in small amounts as bagged, dry, premised concrete or mortar mixes, or as ready mix concrete delivered by mixer trucks.
The ready mix plant assembles and drops the materials required to make concrete into a mixer truck. The plant's critical function is to select the proper sizes and amounts of aggregate materials, cement, fly ash (if used) and water, then transfer these materials unmixed into a mixer truck. The mixer truck then takes over mixing, delivering and discharging the concrete at the job site. The production and distribution of ready mix concrete is a significant industry in Nova Scotia with 40 plants. Annual sales of ready mix concrete in Nova Scotia are approximately 500 000 m3 with another 130 000 m3 used in the manufacture of precast concrete products and in masonry applications. Concrete Products Industry Nova Scotia has a highly diversified concrete products manufacturing industry. Several small plants are engaged in the manufacture of a limited range of basic concrete products, such as patio blocks, well crocks and septic tanks. Other plants are more diversified, producing a much wider range of basic concrete products along with decorative and ornamental concrete products. The larger, highly diversified plants manufacture a complete range of concrete products and specialize in the manufacture of concrete bricks and blocks of various textures and colours, concrete culverts, concrete pipes and fittings and specialized structural and architectural products. A few plants specialize in the manufacture of specific engineered products, including architectural panels, structural beams, bridge girders and roof and floor slabs. Several hundred concrete products are manufactured in plants located throughout the Province. The small plants employ two or three people and the larger plants employ up to 60 people. Concrete products are made by preparing a batch of concrete that can be formed, moulded, pressed or worked into a final product. Shaping the concrete can be done by using basic forms or moulds or more sophisticated tiltup forms, high pressure forming presses, high frequency vibrating moulds or in prestressed concrete casting beds.
Structural Clay ProductsStructural clay products, including bricks and flue liners, are manufactured at Lantz, Hants County, by Shaw Brick, an 135 year old Nova Scotia brick-making company. The Lantz Brothers opened a brickyard in Lantz in 1888 and L. E. Shaw, now Shaw Brick, took over the operation in 1932 from Nova Scotia Clay Works. Shaw Brick uses local clays and shales to manufacture bricks of different colours, textures and sizes. It is interesting to see brick being made. The process begins with grinding, pulverizing and mixing clay and shale into a homogeneous, plastic body suitable for brick moulding. Moulding is accomplished by high pressure extrusion through a lubricated die which defines the brick's length and width. At this point the brick surfaces may be left smooth, mechanically textures or a coating applied to give a post-fired colour (antique brick). The bricks are then cut to the proper height, collected and stacked on kiln cars and sent to warming and drying rooms. After drying, the loaded kiln cars, travelling on rails, enter a tunnel kiln for firing. Firing involves precise time and temperature control developed by brick makers for the raw materials they use. It is programmed to minimize production losses and to use energy as efficiently as possible. For the next few hours the bricks slowly travel the length of the kiln through several temperature zones, exiting as fired bricks. After cooling the bricks are inspected, sorted and prepared for shipping. The annual production capacity of the Lantz plant exceeds the total reported production from 17 Nova Scotia plants 85 years ago. Shaw bricks are sold in Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario, Northeastern United States, and recently shipments have been made to Japan.
Dimension StoneDimension stone is any stone that has undergone shaping and finishing. The dimension stone industry of Nova Scotia is experiencing growth for very good reasons. Many stone buildings are in need of repair or restoration requiring matching stone pieces that must be obtained from the original quarries. There is a growing desire to use natural stone in new construction and landscaping because of the beauty, durability and enjoyment natural stone brings to our surroundings. Nova Scotia has six monument works that cut monument blanks out of imported stone. These companies are John D. Steele's Sons Ltd., North Sydney, Cape Breton County; Arsenault Monument Works Ltd., North Grant, Antigonish County; Tingley Monuments Ltd., Amherst, Cumberland County; Heritage Memorials Ltd., Windsor, Hants County; DeMone's Monuments Ltd., Lunenburg, Lunenburg County; and Dauphinee Memorial Art, Shelburne, Shelburne County. Arsenault Monument Works Ltd. has a sandstone quarry at North Grant, Antigonish County, which they use for special order pieces. This is an attractive, fine grained, tan coloured sandstone named Estate Buff which has been used in buildings in the Antigonish area. Heritage Memorials Ltd. quarries a fine grained, blue-grey granite at Nictaux, Annapolis County. This stone is known as Atlantic Mist Grey and is used for curbing, signs and monument bases. Four new dimension stone businesses have opened in Nova Scotia recently. Pictou County Sandstone Quarry Ltd. has a sandstone quarry and a stone cutting and finishing shop at hardwood Hill, Pictou County. Their sandstone is a fine grained, buff coloured stone known as Scotsburn Buff. At Bass River, Colchester County, Raspberry Bay Stone creates beautifully carved stone pieces from sandstone. Nova Scotia now has a slate producer. Scotia Slate Products Ltd. is producing grey slate at East Gore, Hants County. Currently Scotia is selling flagstone and shaped pieces to craftspeople and intends to offer more products as the operation develops. Lange Natural Rock and Stone Supplies of Maplewood, Lunenburg County, produces split-faced granite products for the Maritime marketplace. Another interesting development was undertaken by Nova Tile&Marble Ltd. of Dartmouth, Halifax County. The company obtained blocks of greenish granite from an abandoned quarry site at Moose Hill, Shelburne County, and has installed this attractive stone at several locations in the Halifax area. Maritime Canstone Inc., a company that specializes in stone building restoration, has an office and workshop in Halifax. Wallace Quarries Ltd. at Wallace, Cumberland County, continues to provide sandstone blocks to the industry. Currently the company is shipping sandstone to Ottawa for restoration projects.
Gypsum and AnhydriteThere is one gypsum manufacturing plant and a unique gypsum-anhydrite separation plant in Nova Scotia. Louisiana-Pacific Canada Ltd. manufactures FiberBond™ wallboard products in their seven year old plant at Point Tupper, Richmond County, and Fundy Gypsum Co. has a sink/float plant to treat gypsum and anhydrite at Wentworth, Hants County. Louisiana-Pacific Canada Ltd. In 1990, at Point Tupper, Richmond County, Louisiana-Pacific Canada Ltd. built the only plant of its kind in Canada to manufacture an advanced fibre-reinforced gypsum wallboard building panel called FiberBond™. FiberBond™ uses recycled newspaper as its fibre source and combines the fibre with gypsum, perlite and other ingredients. Three varieties of panels are made including interior wallboard, exterior sheathing, and underlayment, a thin, smooth panel used as an even surface for a variety of floor coverings. Making FiberBond™ panels begins by preparing the three key ingredients, recycled newspaper, gypsum and perlite. Recycled newspaper is shredded and milled, which reduces it to a fine fibre consistency. This fibre makes up about 15% by weight of each panel. Gypsum is crushed calcined and milled into a fine stucco powder. The third key ingredient is perlite which ends up in the core layer of the panel. Perlite, like popcorn, expands up to 20 times in volume when heated. Because its volume is high in proportion to its weight, it is used to keep down the weight of the panels. In forming the panels, the ingredients in each layer are blended then spread to form a three layer mat which moves along to a two stage compression system. Once compressed, the system cuts the FiberBond™ into 8' x 24' panels which are moved into a multi-level dryer. From the dryer wallboard panels go straight to the finishing area while underlayment and exterior sheathing panels move on to an additional stage where a moisture resistance sealer is applied. These panels are dried and go to the finishing area. Finished panels are trimmed and cut to proper size. Wallboard panels have an edge profile added at this point. At several stages during the manufacturing process the panels are inspected and quality control checks made to ensure performance consistency. All panels are moved to the shipping area for final inspection and are carefully prepared for shipment to customers throughout the world. Fundy Gypsum Co. An interesting process used to separate gypsum and anhydrite is the heavy media sink/float plant at Fundy Gypsum Co. at Wentworth, Hants County. An intermixed, white gypsum and anhydrite is quarried, crushed, washed and treated in a floatation tank where a nonchemical, heavy media liquid separates the lighter gypsum from the heavier anhydrite. After separation these minerals are washed and screened into a number of gypsum and anhydrite products. This plant was the first of its kind installed in Canada to treat gypsum and anhydrite.
BariteWhen Professor W. C. Roentgen discovered X-rays in his laboratory in Wurzburg, Germany, in 1895, Nova Scotia's barite industry was supplying high purity, processed barite to paint manufacturers in Canada and the United States. By the time barium sulphate was introduced as a contrast medium for X-ray gastrointestinal diagnosis in 1910, Nova Scotia was producing 90% of the total Canadian barite production. It was not until 1980 that Nova Scotia barite made its way into X-ray diagnostic usage. Contrast media are nontoxic, diagnostic preparations introduced into the body to enhance subject contrast. When an organ cannot be studied in detail because its X-ray signature is similar to that of an adjacent organ, a contrast medium such as barium sulphate taken into the gastrointestinal tract can be used to provide the radiographic detail needed for diagnosis. Nystone-Division of E-Z-EM Canada Inc. processes barite ore from its deposit at Brookfield, Colchester County, into high purity USP pharmaceutical grade barium sulphate. The refining is done in the Nystone plant at Debert, Colchester County. The barium sulphate is prepared, packaged and sold to hospitals and clinics by Therapex-Division of E-Z-EM Canada Inc. in Anjou, Québec, and E-Z-EM Inc. in Westbury, New York. Some of the products sold by these companies are barium sulphate products for upper and lower gastrointestinal studies, noniodinated barium sulphate suspensions for CT scanning of the gastrointestinal tract, barium sulphate preparations for esophageal studies, barium sulphate formulations for swallowing studies and barium sulphate enema kits and systems for colon studies.
Limestone and DolomiteMost agricultural soils in the Atlantic Region are naturally acidic and liming is essential if they are to be productive. Failure to lime acidic soils reduces crop yields and causes fertilizers to be wasted. The amount of liming depends on soil pH, organic matter content and the amount and type of clay present in the soil. Soil testing is necessary to determine the amount of limestone and dolomite needed to raise the pH to the soil's most productive level. Liming improves soil structure and improves the efficiency of fertilizer use. Liming also increases the activity of soil micro-organisms which can result in faster decomposition of added organic matter such as peat moss. All liming products supply calcium; dolomite supplies both calcium and magnesium. Mosher Limestone Company Limited, Upper Musquodoboit, Halifax County, has been supplying the Maritime Region with aglime products for over 50 years. Limestone and dolomitic limestone are quarried, ground and shipped in bulk or in bags from this location. These products are sold directly to farmers, landscapers, composting facilities and organizations involved in raising the pH of lakes in the region. Retail outlets sell Mosher aglime in bags either as ground products or in pellet form. Ice Buster, a limestone traction grit, is also produced at Upper Musquodoboit. The Kellys Cove, Victoria County, operation of Mosher Limestone consists of a dolomite quarry, a granite aggregate quarry and a grinding mill. Agricultural dolomite from Kellys Cove has been shipped by vessel to Prince Edward Island and dolomite has been shipped to a steel mill in Trinidad. Mosher Limestone supplies stone dust, a finely ground limestone product used in coal mines as an inert explosion suppressant and the company has developed a new product, Soilrite, a natural rock organic fertilizer which it hopes to market soon.
Peat MossPeat consists of partially decomposed plant material formed under anaerobic conditions in swamps, bogs and wetlands. Peat moss production begins by clearing the peatland and draining it with a system of ditches. When weather conditions permit, the surface peat is loosened by harrowing, allowed to dry for a short period of time then collected with vacuum harvesters and transported to the plant. At the plant the peat moss may be packaged immediately or screened and milled and then packaged. The benefits of using peat moss are many. It permits soils to breathe easily, gives body to light soils, saves fertilizers by storing natural plant foods, stimulates root growth and provides humus to promote soil bacteria. Annapolis Valley Peat Moss Co. Ltd. Annapolis Valley Peat Moss Co. Ltd. has been producing peat products at its Caribou Bog deposit near Berwick, Kings County, since 1949. This company produces peat moss, professional growing mediums, composted manure products and organic black earth. Cansorb, an organic oil absorbent made with peat moss, is also produced by Annapolis Valley Peat Moss Co. Ltd. The company exports its peat moss products to several parts of the world with its major markets in the United States and Japan. Clare Organic Products Ltd. In 1987, a newly incorporated company, Clare Organic Products Ltd., undertook the development of a peat deposit at Meteghan Station, Digby County. By 1994, work on the peat bog had progressed to a stage where it was ready to produce peat. Production began in 1995 when a plant was constructed with new peat screening and bagging systems and peat harvesting equipment was also purchased. In 1996, Clare Organic Products Ltd. began shipping peat moss in containers through the Port of Halifax to overseas markets.
SaltSodium is an unstable metal that reacts violently in the presence of water and chlorine is a lethal gas. The combination of these two elements forms a white compound known as salt (NaCl) which is essential to life itself. Two companies produce salt in Nova Scotia. SIFTO Canada Inc. operates a solution mining and salt production plant at Nappan, Cumberland County, and The Canadian Salt Company Ltd. operates an underground mine and surface plant at Pugwash, Cumberland County. SIFTO Canada Inc. SIFTO Canada Inc. uses an electric powered Mechanical Vapour Recompression Process to produce salt at Nappan, Cumberland County. Salt is recovered from underground deposits by solution mining using water to dissolve the salt. The resulting brine is pumped to a settling tank on surface where it is treated and allowed to stand in the tank for impurities to settle out. From the settling tank the brine is preheated and the hot brine enters an evaporator where a circulating-heating-evaporating process develops salt crystals and water vapour. The water vapour is cleaned to remove all traces of salt and enters a centrifugal compressor driven by a powerful motor which compresses the vapour significantly. The compressed vapour enters a heat exchanger to provide the heat needed to convert the brine to salt and water vapour in the evaporator. During the evaporation process, the compressed vapour gives up a considerable amount of heat and converts to a hot condensate which is used to preheat the brine prior to it entering the evaporator. Cool condensate leaving the brine preheater is fed to the brine well to dissolve more underground salt. Salt formed in the evaporator is collected, washed with cool brine and this slurry is thickened, dried, prepared and packaged into a variety of salt products. SIFTO Canada Inc. produces ice and snow removal salt sold in bulk or as bagged products, and a wide variety of high grade salt products. The Canadian Salt Company Ltd. The Canadian Salt Company Ltd., Pugwash, Cumberland County, has a room and pillar underground mine. On surface the rock salt is crushed and screened with 90% of the production used for ice and snow removal products on streets and highways in Eastern Canada and the Northeastern United States. Most of this salt is shipped by truck from the plant or by vessel from the company owned marine loading terminal at Pugwash. A unique feature of the Pugwash operation is the recovery of the waste material from rock salt production to form a salt brine which is evaporated and manufactured into 30 high grade salt products marketed under the "Windsor" brand name. Salt from Nova Scotia deposits is used at home for cooking and baking and to relax tired muscles in a hot bath. On the farm, salt is required for proper animal body chemistry and dietary processes. In the food industry salt is used for meat packing, fish processing, in baking products, dairy products, and in canning and pickling. Water softeners use salt to soften hard water by ion exchange, trading sodium for calcium and magnesium, the principal contributors to hard water.
Silica SandShaw Resources of Shubenacadie, Hants County, processes silica sand from their West Indian Road, Hants County, deposit into more than 20 silica sand products. These products include play sand, sweep sand, filter sand, ½ Silagg, chicken grit, hen grit, poultry grower, turkey grit, No. 00 Alwhite Silica, No. 9 Alwhite Silica, No. 1 Alwhite Silica, No. 2 Alwhite Silica, beach sand, golf trap blend, foundry sand, glass sand, fertilizer filler, flour and flux sand. The production begins with washing and sizing raw sand into three main products: minus ¼" plus 35 mesh sand used to produce sandblasting and other industrial sand products; minus 35 plus 140 mesh sand used to make glass sand and foundry sand; and minus 100 mesh sand used mainly as a silica additive for low alkali cement making. Glass sand production requires beneficiating to improve the sand to satisfy the requirements of the glass producer, Consumers Glass at Scoudouc, New Brunswick. The technique used by Shaw Resources is high intensity magnetic separation which produces a glass sand of 99.5% SiO2 and 0.025% Fe2O3. Some interesting uses for Shaw Resources specialty silica sand products include seedling planting in tree nurseries, water treatment plant filtering systems, swimming pool and fish farm filtering systems, certain fluidized bed systems and moulding sand for metal casting production in foundries. These products must meet specified requirements for purity, grain size uniformity and grain size distribution limits set by the users of these silica sand products.
Recycling and Waste Product UtilizationResearch and aggressive marketing have turned many formerly considered waste products into valuable products. Louisiana-Pacific Canada Ltd. is using recycled paper in the manufacture of FiberBond™ wallboard products at their Point Tupper, Richmond County, plant. In Sydney, Cape Breton County, Heckett Canada Ltd. and LaVatte Construction Co. Ltd. are processing Sydney Steel Corp. slag into aggregate materials. Stone blocks from former producing quarries and stone from dismantled buildings are being used for restoration, new construction and the creation of decorative stone products. Fly ash and bottom ash are waste products from coal-fired electrical power generating plants in Nova Scotia. Shaw Resources has developed markets for these products. Fly ash is used in concrete to improve its workability and to control unwanted alkali-aggregate reaction of some aggregates in concrete. Nova Scotia fly ash is distributed by Shaw Resources to numerous concrete plants in Atlantic Canada and Quebec. Fly ash is also used to manufacture self-compacting flowable fill. Fluid Fill, a product sold by Mobile Ready Mix Ltd., is made with sand, fly ash, Portland cement and water. Its principle application is when 100% compaction is needed and future extraction may be necessary. Bottom ash obtained from the Seaboard Power Plant site at Glace Bay has been processed by Shaw Resources and shipped to a cement plant in Port Everglades, Florida. This plant used it as a source of iron, aluminum and silica in their cement making process. In 1995 Warren Maritimes Ltd. used the Taisei Rotec paving train system to complete the first hot, in-place asphalt recycling program in Atlantic Canada on a section of Highway 104 in Pictou County.
Directory of ManufacturersBarite
Cement
Structural Clay Products
Concrete Products
Ready Mix Concrete Plants
Dimension Stone
Gypsum and Anhydrite
Limestone and Dolomite
Peat Moss
Salt
Silica Sand
Acknowledgments
Photos: (Not presently available)
Industrial minerals and rocks mined in Nova Scotia are used to manufacture products required by the agricultural, construction, fishing, food processing, landscaping, pulp and paper, and power generating industries. An early use of local stone from the Paleo-Indian period. The monument to Champlain at Fort Anne, Annapolis Royal, Annapolis County. The d'Aulnay stone at Fort Anne, Annapolis Royal, Annapolis County. The early gypsum trade included shipping gypsum from Walton, Hants County, ca. 1911. Mineral export records from the Blue Books, RG2, v. 46, for the Colony of Nova Scotia, 1846. The Eastern Lime Company plant at Windsor, Hants County, ca. 1926. Nova Scotia quarries supplied stone for the construction and maintenance of the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa. The Grindstone King, Amos 'King' Seaman, 1788-1864. Clay pipe press, Standard Clay Products Ltd., New Glasgow, Pictou County, ca. 1930. Mineral products help farmers get more yield per acre. Landscaping adds beauty and value to real estate. Concrete blocks used in construction of the Halifax Sheraton Hotel were manufactured by V. J. Rice Concrete Ltd., Bridgetown, Annapolis County. Using concrete in agriculture, Ruminant Animal Centre, Nova Scotia Agricultural College, Bible Hill, Colchester County. Aggregate processing plant at Lafarge Construction Materials, Folly Lake, Cumberland County. Aggregate is used for many different applications, some of which are shown below. Rampart Brand Cement was used in the construction of the Maritime Business College building in Halifax, ca. 1907. Lafarge Canada Inc. quarry and cement plant at Brookfield, Colchester County. Limestone from the quarry is converted to cement clinker in the rotary kiln, then ground and sold as Portland cement at Lafarge Canada Inc., Brookfield, Colchester County. The coarse aggregate and the cement used in the construction of the Confederation Bridge was supplied by Lafarge Construction Materials and Lafarge Canada Inc. operations in Nova Scotia. Asphalt drum mix plant. Asphalt concrete paving in northern Nova Scotia. Concrete highway bridge construction near Truro, Colchester County. Nova Scotia has 27 concrete ready mix plants. Beauty and versatility of concrete (counter clockwise): University of Kings College Library, Halifax; concrete highway bridge; concrete ballast in lobster traps; landscaping products made with exposed aggregate concrete. The Shaw Brick plant at Lantz, Hants County. Victoria Street reconstruction with stone and brick, Amherst, Cumberland County. The plaque for Harbour Station, Saint John, New Brunswick, was created by Craig A. Schneider, Fredericton, New Brunswick, using Lantz clay. Laying bricks. Mushrooms of the Lorenzen collection made with Lantz clay. Renewed interest in Shelburne County granite quarries. Stone polishing technology used by Tingley Monuments Ltd., Amherst, Cumberland County. Art Gallery of Nova Scotia restoration by Maritime Canstone Inc., Halifax. Granite curbing for Annapolis Royal manufactured by Heritage Memorials Ltd., Windsor, Hants County. Amherst red sandstone was used in the construction of the railway station in Amherst, Cumberland County. Fiberbond™ wallboard, manufactured by Louisiana-Pacific Canada Ltd., Port Hawkesbury, Inverness County. Loading Louisiana-Pacific Canada Ltd. FiberBond™ wallboard in Halifax, for shipment overseas. Sireskop SX examination system. Radiopaque barium sulphate used in X-ray gastrointestinal examination. applying limestone to improve crop yields in the Annapolis Valley. Peat processing equipment at Clare Organic Products Ltd., Meteghan Station, Digby County. Annapolis Valley Peat Moss Co. Ltd., Berwick, Kings County. Water conditioners use salt to eliminate hard water impurities. Salt is used in bread making. The SIFTO Canada Inc. salt plant, Nappan, Cumberland County. High purity silica sand from Shaw Resources is used to manufacture glass containers in New Brunswick. Producing valuable aggregates from slag at Sydney, Cape Breton County.
Map: (Not presently available) Map showing locations of manufacturers. |
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