Reader Rebuttal (December 01, 2002)

Diamonds in Quebec

Regarding “Diamonds in Quebec: The cutting edge” (CMJ September 2002), good historical snapshot, with interesting geological and human-interest tidbits. Please keep up your excellent work.

Afzal Rahman, Financial consultant and independent investor Katy, Tex.

Labrador/Quebec boundary is where?

I enjoyed very much reading the September issue featuring Qubec. It certainly is a province that is open for business. But I notice that there is one item of unfinished business. Without going too far back into history as to why the Qubec/Labrador boundary is where it is today, there is still the question of where the southern limit of Labrador should be along the 52nd parallel of latitude.

Compare the maps on pages 8 and 28 of the magazine, both from the Qubec Ministry of Natural Resources. Note the difference along this stretch of the boundary. From my knowledge of Canadian history, not everyone, even within the province of Qubec apparently, has accepted the southern boundary of Labrador as the straight line that we see most often on maps of Canada. I’ve heard that they ran out of time, interest and/or money to complete the job of tracing out the watershed divide back in the 1920s, “they” being Canada and the UK, as Newfoundland was a colony at the time.

Opening a Pandora’s box on the subject of the entire boundary is not my intention, but I think it would be good idea to resolve this particular southern stretch. In the meantime, explorers in this “overlap” territory should consider double-checking from whom they need permission and where to lodge their staked claims. Imagine if the Voisey’s Bay deposit were located here.

By the way, don’t listen to anyone who says that “Labrador” is a derivative or corruption of “Golden Arm” in French. The name derives from the Portuguese “lavrador”, a landholder/farmer. Does that mean that Portugal, too, might have a claim on the territory?

Rolf N. Pedersen NorCanEx Associates Ottawa, Ont.

After reviewing the article on the Exploration Highlights in Quebec (CMJ September 2002, p. 25), I was surprised to see the depiction of geological divisions on the map provided by the Ministre des Ressources naturelles du Qubec. It’s funny how some people still don’t understand the geography of Canada yet, as this map clearly indicates.

For some reason it depicts the “Grenville Province” extending beyond the Newfoundland and Labrador provincial boundary on the 52nd parallel. Even the front cover along with a map on page 11 are incorrect. Please check your sources with respect to the outlays of provincial boundaries. As a Labradorian I feel that mistakes like this shouldn’t go unchallenged.

Doug Gover, senior mechanical engineer Iron Ore Co. of Canada Labrador City, NL

The illustrations that appear on pages 8 and 28 of the September edition of CMJ were essentially designed to support the author’s statements. The official cartographic representation of Qubec’s territory is available on the web site of the Ministre des Ressources naturelles du Qubec, at the following address: www.mrn.gouv.qc.ca/territoire/ portrait/portrait-quebec.jsp

Louise Lefebvre Ministre des Ressources naturelles du Qubec Qubec, Qu.

Safest mine – Troilus or Raglan?

It was with great interest that I read the Safety news in the September 2002 edition of the Canadian Mining Journal. Unless I am mistaken and there are multiple awards, both the John. T. Ryan and the F.J. O’Connell trophies for 2001 were awarded to Falconbridge’s Socit Minire Raglan du Qubec. We are very proud of these achievements, so I would like to request you to verify with the Troilus mine if they indeed too received both awards.

Gertjan Bekkers, ing., Open Pit Engineering Falconbridge Ltd. – Socit Minire Raglan du Qubec Lte. Rouyn-Noranda, Qu.

Sorry about the confusion. In 2001, the Raglan mine won the John T. Ryan trophy (from the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum) for Canadian metal mines, and for the fourth consecutive year won the F.J. O’Connell trophy (from the Qubec Mining Association) for Qubec mines working 800,000 or more hours in the year. In the same year, the Troilus mine won the John T. Ryan regional trophy (Qubec and East) for select mines, and the F.J. O’Connell trophy for mines in Qubec working 350,000-800,000 hours. Ed.

Quebec number one

Thanks for a very thorough issue on “mineral Qubec” and its assets. I would just like to point out a minor error in your column (“Something new for CMJ readers”, p. 5). Qubec, with a landmass of 1.5 million km2, ranks first among Canadian provinces, while Ontario has an area of “only” 1.1 million km2. Please keep up the good work that CMJ does in promoting good mining practices, here and abroad.

Gilles Mahoney, Ministre des Ressources naturelles Charlesbourg, Qu.