Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - The Search for Uranium in Canada
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Aerial view of the Beaver-
lodge area.
Vue aérienne de la région
de Beaverlodge.
programs of construction and its operations in the Northwest Territories
and in northwestern Saskatchewan have been a real challenge, due to the
long cold winters and the relatively short season of open water for transporting
supplies by ship. The plane, man’s hardihood, and skilled and determined
administration have been meeting the challenge successfully.
Not all the uranium being mined in Canada is going for defence purposes,
including the manufacture of atomic weapons. In point of fact, Canada
herself is engaged in research only on the peacetime uses of atomic energy.
And in this connection, the Canadian government recently formed the Atomic
Energy of Canada Limited which gives its attention to medical and other
uses of atomic energy. A notable contribution of this company is the Cobalt
“bomb” for use in the treatment of cancer.
Historically, the background to Canada’s pre-eminence in uranium pro-
duction is interesting. It was in 1930 that one of Canada’s most-renowned
mining prospectors, Gilbert La Bine, discovered pitchblende around Great
Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories, some 25 miles from the Arctic
Circle. At that time, some years before the dawn of the atomic age, pitchblende
was thought of principally as the source of radium and the Canadian dis-
covery caused the price of radium to drop from 60 or 70 thousand dollars a
gram to 25 thousand dollars a gram. But the market for radium was limited
and the privately-owned property at Port Radium, known as Eldorado,
ceased to operate in 1940. During the next few years, the success of the
Manhattan atomic energy project put a new value on uranium, and in 1944 the
Canadian government expropriated the stock of the Eldorado company.
Outline map of Canada, the shaded area indicating the Canadian or pre-Cambrian
shield in which nearly all the known occurrences of uranium are to be
found. Also indicated are the focal points of uranium mining and refining—
Great Bear Lake, Lake Athabaska and Port Hope, Ontario.
Carte du Canada. Les zones sombres indiquent le bouclier canadien ou
précambrien où sont situés la plupart des gisements d’uranium connus. On
identifiera facilement aussi les principaux centres d’extraction et de raffinage
de l’uranium: Grand Lac de l’Ours, lac Athabaska et dans la province
d’Ontario, Port Hope.
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