Cuniptau Mines

Last updated
Cuniptau Mines
Industry Mining
FateMerged
SuccessorOntario Nickel Corporation
Founded1933;86 years ago (1933)
Defunct1937;82 years ago (1937)
Headquarters Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Products Copper, nickel, platinum, gold

Cuniptau Mines (a combination of the symbols Cu, Ni, Pt and Au [1] ) was a Canadian mining company from 1933 to 1937. It was incorporated in December 1933 under the leadership of B. W. Watkins with its headquarters based in Toronto, Ontario. [2] The company was engaged in development of the Cuniptau Mine, a polymetallic ore deposit in Strathy Township of Northeastern Ontario. [1] [3] In later years Cuniptau Mines also acquired the Alexo Mine property in Clergue and Dundonald townships of Cochrane District. [2]

Copper Chemical element with atomic number 29

Copper is a chemical element with symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orange color. Copper is used as a conductor of heat and electricity, as a building material, and as a constituent of various metal alloys, such as sterling silver used in jewelry, cupronickel used to make marine hardware and coins, and constantan used in strain gauges and thermocouples for temperature measurement.

Nickel Chemical element with atomic number 28

Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile. Pure nickel, powdered to maximize the reactive surface area, shows a significant chemical activity, but larger pieces are slow to react with air under standard conditions because an oxide layer forms on the surface and prevents further corrosion (passivation). Even so, pure native nickel is found in Earth's crust only in tiny amounts, usually in ultramafic rocks, and in the interiors of larger nickel–iron meteorites that were not exposed to oxygen when outside Earth's atmosphere.

Platinum Chemical element with atomic number 78

Platinum is a chemical element with symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platino, meaning "little silver".

Contents

History and operations

Development of the Cuniptau Mine began in 1933 with the sinking of a 115 ft (35 m) shaft and underground drifting on the 100 ft (30 m) shaft level. [3] This was followed by deepening of the shaft to 240 ft (73 m), a new level established at 225 ft (69 m), drifting, crosscutting and raising in 1934. [4] Operations in 1935 were confined mostly to surface mineral exploration. [5] In 1936, the smelter was rebuilt to test out the possibilities of making a suitable matte from the mined ore. [2] High-grade quartz vein material from the Cuniptau Silica Deposit in Best Township was used as flux for the ore smelting. [6] Development of the Cuniptau Mine in 1936 consisted of underground drifting, crosscutting and raising, with exploration confined to surface and underground diamond drilling. [2] The mine office was stationed at Goward, a locality now in the municipality of Temagami. [2] [7]

Shaft mining construction which connect underground deposits together or with the surface

Shaft mining or shaft sinking is excavating a vertical or near-vertical tunnel from the top down, where there is initially no access to the bottom.

Underground mining (hard rock) underground mining techniques used to excavate hard minerals

Underground hard rock mining refers to various underground mining techniques used to excavate hard minerals, usually those containing metals such as ore containing gold, silver, iron, copper, zinc, nickel, tin and lead, but also involves using the same techniques for excavating ores of gems such as diamonds or rubies. Soft rock mining refers to excavation of softer minerals such as salt, coal, or oil sands.

Drift mining is either the mining of an ore deposit by underground methods, or the working of coal seams accessed by adits driven into the surface outcrop of the coal bed. A drift mine is an underground mine in which the entry or access is above water level and generally on the slope of a hill, driven horizontally into the ore seam. Random House dictionary says the origin of the term "drift mine" is an Americanism, circa 1885–1890.

Cuniptau Mines reopened the Alexo Mine near Porquis Junction in 1936. Operations at this mining property during the year consisted of partial mine dewatering and sampling. The company shipped two cars of ore from Alexo to the Cuniptau Mine to increase the nickel content of the material being smelted. [2]

Mine dewatering is the action of removing groundwater from a mine.

On January 10, 1937, the shareholders of Cuniptau Mines ratified a proposal to merge the company with the newly formed Ontario Nickel Corporation. [2] Ontario Nickel acquired the Cuniptau and Alexo mines in 1937 from this merge. [8]

A shareholder is an individual or institution, including a corporation, that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a public or private corporation. Shareholders may be referred to as members of a corporation. Legally, a person is not a shareholder in a corporation until their name and other details are entered in the corporation‘s register of shareholders or members. A beneficial shareholder is the person that has the economic benefit of ownership of the shares, while a nominee shareholder is the person who is on the corporation’s register as the owner while being in fact acting for the benefit and at the direction of the beneficiary, whether disclosed or not.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Sandefur, Bennett T. (1942). "The geology and paragenesis of the nickel ores of the Cuniptau Mine, Goward Nipissing District, Ontario". Economic Geology . Society of Economic Geologists. 37 (3): 173.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sinclair, D. G.; Tower, W. O.; Bayne, A. S.; Cooper, D. F.; Weir, E. B.; Webster, A. R. (1938). Forty-Sixth Annual Report of the Ontario Department of Mines. Mines of Ontario in 1936 (Report). XLVI. Queen's Printer for Ontario. pp. 33, 222.
  3. 1 2 Sinclair, D. G.; Cleland, R. H.; Cooper, D. F.; Keeley, E. C.; Webster, A. R. (1935). Forty-Third Annual Report of the Ontario Department of Mines. Mines of Ontario in 1933 (Report). XLIII. Queen's Printer for Ontario. p. 110.
  4. ↑ Sinclair, D. G.; Keeley, E. C.; Cooper, D. F.; Weir, E. B.; Webster, A. R. (1936). Forty-Fourth Annual Report of the Ontario Department of Mines. Mines of Ontario in 1934 (Report). XLIV. Queen's Printer for Ontario. p. 156.
  5. ↑ Sinclair, D. G.; Keeley, E. C.; Cooper, D. F.; Weir, E. B.; Webster, A. R. (1937). Forty-Fifth Annual Report of the Ontario Department of Mines. Mines of Ontario in 1935 (Report). XLV. Queen's Printer for Ontario. p. 174.
  6. ↑ McAuley, J. (1996). An Evaluation of Potential High-Purity Silica Sources: Preliminary Site Investigations (Report). Queen's Printer for Ontario. pp. 35, 36. ISBN   0-7778-5645-X.
  7. ↑ "Standard Geographical Classification (SGC) 2006". 3548069 - Temagami. Statistics Canada. 2016-11-08. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  8. ↑ Sinclair, D. G.; Tower, W. O.; Bayne, A. S.; Cooper, D. F.; Weir, E. B.; Webster, A. R. (1939). Forty-Seventh Annual Report of the Ontario Department of Mines. Mines of Ontario in 1937 (Report). XLVII. Queen's Printer for Ontario. p. 239.
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