Industrial Minerals in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

The industrial-minerals industry is a small, but significant, part of the mineral industry in Newfoundland and Labrador. For 2007, the forecast for 2007 of the value of industrial minerals in the province is C$27.3 million and most of the products are exported to the rest of Canada and the USA. The major components are high-calcium limestone and high-magnesium dolostone that are exported for use in the chemical industry. Some limestone and dolostone is used within the province as agricultural lime, and in the production of fluxed iron-ore pellets for export. Barite is recovered from mine tailings and used as drilling mud in the oil industry. Gypsum is used in the local manufacture of wallboard; and pyrophyllite is used in the ceramics industry and as a filler in paints. High-purity quartzite (>99.5 % silica) is quarried in Labrador and exported for the production of silicon metal. Peat is processed in central Newfoundland where it is converted to an oil-absorbent material mainly for export and also as agricultural peat for export and local use. Not currently in production is the dormant fluorspar mine at St. Lawrence, in southern Newfoundland, which has significant reserves of fluorspar. The provincial Geological Survey has carried out numerous assessments of other potential deposits including dolostone and limestone, silica, talc and fluorspar. Sizeable deposits of limestone, dolostone and silica are indicated. Some of the reports on this research are available on-line via www.nr.gov.nl.ca/mines&en/. A summary report and mining statistics on the mineral industry in Newfoundland and Labrador is found at www.nr.gov.nl.ca/mines&en/mining/.