Let’ haves

steel mill now

Qpposing. views on establish-
ment of a basic steel industry
Were argued before the Royal

By NIGEL MORGAN.

Commission on Canada’s Eco- |

nomic Future in Vancouver last
Week. Simultaneously news-

.. Peper headlines declared: “Can-

ada faces decision on metals’—
“Japanese mills gobble B.C. iron
ore’ —“Steel plant proposed for
Squamish?—‘“B.C. steel industry
must await growth”.

What the debate served to
_-€mphasize is the fact that we
have now reached the point
where we must decide whether
We want a steel industry in this
Part of the world at all, or
Whether we are content forever
to depend on foreign sources
for our steel.

Failure to make a decision

-such

Maru take less than forty-eight

hours to pour 14,5000 tons ot .

iron ore into their massive holds
and get on their way again.
With each shipment, the chances
of encouraging a full-fledged
steel smelting industry ~are
diminishing.

The argument against esta-
blishment of a steel industry in
this province has ‘always been.
that the time is not ripe, that
the population in this part of
the country is not large enough,
that it is questionable if there
is enough iron ore available and
that in any case a decision on
an expensive venture

should be postponed.

Now will, in itself, be a decision.:

And, nobody knows that better
than those anti-national ele-
_™ents that have been engaged
in thwarting all efforts to es-
tablish a steel mill here. They
Want us to surrender our po-

tential industrial power; to let

foreigners. cart off this “great

- Natural resource, and along with
it the jobs, payrolls and wealth
that it would create. They know

that high-grading readily ac-
cessible deposits decreases’ the
‘Chances of a steel industry start-
ing in B.C.

my

*

‘ Shipping iron to the Ruhr is
@ taking coal to the Crows
€st or ‘lumber to the Alberni
: valley, But that is precisely
what we are doing today! Iron
re is going by the thousands of
ns from Texada Island to
Ri iver to Japan.
In 1953, Japan took 958,000
tons from’ Campbell River. Re-
cently Japan has built several
Uge specialized ore carriers to
ippstate a shuttle service be-

ae Lakes carriers, the
shun Maru and the Nichiryu

ermany, and from Campbell

ween, B.C. and Japan. Looking ~

These, of course, have been

‘the stock arguments of the op-

ponents of every great nation-
buildiing project from the time
the first trans-Canada railway.
system was constructed. Had
such reasoning prevailed we
still would not have a national
railway, a trans-Canada high-
way, a Trans-Canada Airlines
or the CBC. In fact it is doubt-
ful if B.C. would be a part of
Confederation at all.

It is no surprise to Canadians
to find big business spokesmen
unconcerned about the national
welfare to the point where they
will sell their country short for
a fast buck. But, it is startling
indeed that such anti-Canadian
policies should enjoy. the \sup-
port of a seemingly “authorita-
tive” body like the B.C. Res
search Council — an organiza-
tion which is. supported by the
taxpayers, occupies a building

‘on the UBC campus and is

headed by a UBC professor.

A newspaper report of a B.C.

‘Research Council Bulletin (Van-
couver Sun, January 22, 1955).

disclosed that Dr. G. 'P.. Con:
tractor opposed - establishment
of, a steel, plant because an iron
industry, — using the natural re-
sources of , this country, could
not survive. Because a steel in-
dustry is so important to the

oe
e

progress of our economy; so
essential in the manufacture of
machinery, equipment, tools,
rails, pipe and practically every
need of industry, it is neces-
sary to, question this authority
and examine the facts carefully.

*

What are the facts? Three
successive official reports: name-
ly the Freyn Report, the Mc-
Kee Report and the Black Re-
port (the latest, published in
the Annual Report of the pro-
vincial department of mines—
1952) all show there is no ques-
tion that the resources are avail-
able for the successful establish-

ment of a steel industry.

The precise amount of iron
ore has never been fully cata-
logued or measured. But Iron
Hill (the Quinsam claim, which
Dr. Contractor says can be.writ-
ten off) and Texada Island
were originally estimated in re-

‘ports of the department of

mines: to have 3,200,000 tons, ©

yet in 1952-53 alone 3,700,000
tons were mined and they are
still going strong. :

In addition two other depos-
its were found at Quatsino and
Zeballos, which are estimated
to contain 5,000,000 tons. This
is larger than the original re-
serves at Iron Hill and Texada
before mining started, so that,
insofar as known reserves go,

\

we have more ore than when
mining commenced.

What is the situation now?
Scrap is being melted here but
no pig iron is produced from
ore. Dr. Contractor gives a

figure ‘of 245,000 tons as our |

present annual consumption of
iron and steel, and if we assume
that, because of the compara-
tively small size of plants that
would be built here, it would
not be feasible to produce spe-
cial alloys and large shapes and
plates to the extent of one third
of our consumption, then our
market for locally-produced iron
and steel would be about 160,-
000 tons per year.

Of this, about 40,000 tons is
produced from scrap, so our
potential new consumption is
about 120,000 tons per year.
Since about two tons of ore
are needed to produce one ton
of pig iron, we would need
about 240,000 tons of ore per
year.

The 5,000,000 tons newly dis-
covered would supply this de-
mand for 20 years.

Do we have other deposits?
Yes. According to reports pub-
lished in 1926, by the depart-

, ment of mines, 22 deposits at

that time had mineable bodies
of ore. Two are being mined,
but the other 20 contain at least
5,000,000 more tons — enough
for another 20 years — making
a total of 40 years.

Moreover, we may expect
that additional deposits will be
located. Those found prior to
1926, were found before any
demand existed for iron ore,
and consequently before any
real search had been made to
find it.

Dr. Contractor and those who

“oppose establishment of a B.C.

steel industry apparently do
not want us to know that we
have reserves (without any
further prospecting) for 20 to
40 years. Instead, Contractor
states merely that our ore is
only sufficient to last U.S. smel-

ters for one week.

It would be interesting to
know why he chose this mis-
leading comparison. The im-
plication is that such a small
reserve is not anything like
enough on which to base an
iron industry.

It’s not without significance
that he should measure our re-
sources in terms of U.S. con-
sumption. It would be just
about as correct to advise us to
stop fishing because there aren't
enough fish in our coastal waters
to feed the U.S., or to stop
lumbering because we haven’t
enough timber to supply all
that. the U.S. requires.
comparison is idiotic.

Presumably Dr. Contractor is
an authority, or he should not
have been'selected by the B.C.
Research Council to prepare
such an important report. Or
perhaps his “authority” lies in
his ability to present a report
so well calculated to discour-
age hopes for a smelter here.
After all, it is in the interests
of U.S. industrialists to keep
B.C. a colony from which to
draw raw materials at will,

CAD 5: srieiter Joads iron ore for Woes at Campbell River

‘was held up because steel was

chance. of. se, ied of their
‘claims. : arg
ahe: 24

‘going tod just happen.

‘Money spent in developing this

and to which, they can sell
manufactured products.

*

_ According to A. S. Mathews,
Social Credit MLA for Van-
couver Centre (Vancouver Her-
ald, February 24, 1954) we have
been depleting our igdn ore
resources for a total return to
B.C. of about $7.50 per ton,
while we have been buying back
steel rolling mil products at
more than $130 per ton, plus
freight.

It has been estimated that
during the Second World War
Vancouver shipyards paid $25
million in freight charges alone
for steel.

The other day Premier w.
A. C. Bennett reported that
bridge construction at Mission

not available. Yet plentiful
supplies of cheap hydro power
and natural gas, and at least
20 to 40 years’ supply of high
grade iron ore is immediately
available here on the coast —
and this without touching the
10,000,000 tons of tailings from
the Chapman- Camp operation
of Consolidated Mining and
Smelting at Kimberley, which
is already ground dust fine
and is known to contain 66
percent iron.

Our coking coal mines are
working short shift. Limestone |
deposits are going undevelop-
ed. But, what is the Bennett
government doing? Clearly the
time has com@ to make a de-—
cision! Z

An industry to supply an ad-
ditional 120,000 tons of iron
would be a wonderful boost to
our economy. A_ smelter
handle this capacity would have
to be built. The capacity of |
plants for handling pig iron
and for rolling steel would
have to be quadrupled.

Coal would be required.
Limestone would have to be
mined and shipped to the smel-
ter, making more useful jobs.
More hydro power would be
harnessed and put to work.

Finally, development of an.
iron and steel industry would
mean many more jobs, making
possible the development of
needed secondary industries. ~

A smelter is important to the
mining industry, as was recog-
nized by the B.C.-Yukon Cham-
ber of Mines in its representa-
tions to the Gordon Commission
last week, because it will stim-
ulate developments of new min-
ing prospects. -Prospectors will
find
for iron ore. when the have a

' A -basi¢e steel- eee ‘is ‘ak
: The —
prospect has been kicked @round
long enough to show that it will —
only ~suecceed* if the provincial
government takes a hand and —
it is supported by accurate es
search’ and ‘careful planning. :
“It will take courage and fore- —
sight by those entrusted with
legislative responsibility. To im-
provise and compromise with —
this vital problem can only lead —
to another case of “too. little ti,
and. too late.” We have in
B.C. most of the machinery to
have the necessary 1

carried out on which.an intel-

ligent decision can be based.

vital industry is not only well —
justified, but infinitely more —
likely to bring increased
and security to British C ;
bia than the extravagant ex-
penditures planned for arma-_
ments-in the next few years.
The next session of the leg- _
islature should tackle the ques-

tion of a steel industry for B.C.
,as an issue, not for an indefin-
itely postponed future but for
_ immediate action. i ee

paAuceyR ic TNRUTRIUNTR — DECEMBER 16, 1955.

5

it -worthwhile: to search