Industrial Minerals in British Columbia

Industrial minerals include any rock, mineral or other naturally occurring material (e.g. peat) that has economic value except metals ores, fossil fuels and gemstones. Familiar rocks such as granite and slate are classified as industrial minerals; so are minerals like graphite and gypsum. This group also includes mineral by-products of other processes: sulphur from refineries and slag from smelters. British Columbia?s interesting and complicated bedrock geology determines where industrial mineral and other mineral deposits occur¹. Where they are developed, however, depends on extraction costs, access to power and transportation, and environmental concerns.

Most industrial minerals in British Columbia are mined from pits or quarries in rural settings. The extraction methods vary with the type of deposit. Some may be simply scooped up and loaded into a truck (e.g. pumice), while others require drilling, blasting, crushing and other processing (e.g. granite for aggregate). Importantly, industrial mineral operations commonly require little or no chemical processing, make comparatively little waste rock or waste material, are rather easily reclaimed and have very little long-term environmental impact².

BC Operations³
There are currently 65 important industrial mineral mines and quarries in BC, not counting sand and gravel or crushed stone aggregate operations. More than three-quarters of these are small operations employing less than 6 people and generating less than $1 million in sales annually. Many of these operate seasonally and some operate only when there is demand. The remaining one-quater are classified as major operations, employing 20-30 people, operating 24 hours/day and generating $4-5 million in sales each year.

In addition to the mines and quarries there are 25 processing plants where value is added to the raw mineral resources to create products as varied as cement, wallboard, kitty litter, shingle granules and rock wool insulation.

BC Employment⁴
The BC Ministry of Energy Mines and Petroleum Resources estimates that the industrial mineral mining sector directly employs 2,600 people, nearly one-third of the total number of people in the entire mining industry. This does not count the many indirect jobs in the supply and service sector tied to industrial minerals operations. It is important to note than most of these operations, as well as the processing plants, are located near small communities and are important employers and contributors to the health of the local economy.

BC Economic Value
Industrial minerals as commodities are generally less valuable than precious and base metals or coal. For example, the industrial mineral barite currently (2009) sells for $US300/tonne while copper sells for $US4781/tonne⁵. The industrial minerals sector, however, is a vital part of the province?s mining industry. The BC Ministry of Energy Mines and Petroleum Resources estimates British Columbia's industrial minerals production for 2008 (including sulphur) at $400 million².

Uses
Industrial minerals are used for many familiar things, from concrete sidewalks to anti-acid tablets to tombstones and batteries. Some have very special properties and uses such as flake graphite in hydrogen fuel cells and refractory clays in space shuttle tiles. Commonly their uses are obscure and underappreciated by the general public. They are, however, essential to countless industrial processes and fabricated materials which we use and take for granted every day.

References:
¹ Dawson, K. M., Panteleyev, A., Sutherland Brown, A. and Woodsworth, G. J. 1991. Regional metallogeny. In Geology of the Cordilleran Orogen in Canada, ed. H. Gabrielse and C. J. Yorath, The Geology of Canada, 4:707-768. Geological Survey of Canada.

² Simandl, G., Irvine, M.L., Grieve, D., Lane, R., Wojdak, P., Madu, B., Webster, I., Northcote, B. and Schroeter, T., 2007, Industrial Minerals of British Columbia - 2006 Review, Victoria, BC: British Columbia Geological Survey.

³ 2008 information provided by the BC Ministry of Energy Mines and Petroleum Resources (BCMEMPR)

⁴ G. Simandl, BCMEMPR, pers. comm., 2009

⁵ Barite price quote from Mineral Price Watch prices in Industrial Minerals magazine, July 2009, Metal Bulletin, UK; copper price quote from Vancouver Sun newspaper, July 2009

For the most current comprehensive information on industrial minerals operations in BC, please download the the Industrial Minerals of British Columbia - 2006 Review, or visit the BC Geological Survey Web site.
A new reviews of industrial minerals is expected to be produced in early 2010.