Page 30 C A N A D I A N S H I E L D C O N S U L T A N T S A G E N C Y I N C Y O U R T U R N K E Y E N V I R O N M E N T A L S E R V I C E T E A M S P E C I A L I Z I N G I N W A T E R A N D W A S T E W A T E R C a n a d i a n S h i e l d C o n s u l t a n t s A g e n c y C S C A p r o v i d e s t u r n k e y s e r v i c e s f o r a l l e n v i r o n m e n t a l p r o j e c t s F r o m i n i t i a l s i t e e n v i r o n m e n t a l a s s e s s m e n t s f e a s i b i l i t y c o s t i n g a n d d e s i g n t o f i n a l r e g u l a t o r y a p p r o v a l a n d i n s t a l l a t i o n C S C A c a n s t r e a m l i n e y o u r p r o j e c t b y p r o v i d i n g r e g u l a t o r y c o m p l i a n t d e s i g n s m a t c h i n g t h e b e s t t e c h n o l o g y t o f i t y o u r p r o j e c t n e e d s C A N A D I A N S H I E L D C O N S U L T A N T S C O M o f f i c e c a n a d i a n s h i e l d c o n s u l t a n t s c o m 1 8 6 6 6 9 1 0 4 2 4 E N G I N E E R E D D E S I G N E C A A P P L I C A T I O N M O E C C I N S T A L L A T I O N M A I N T E N A N C E S E R V I C E A F T E R S A L E W A S T E W A T E R M A N A G E M E N T D R I N K I N G W A T E R M A N A G E M E N T T A I L I N G S P O N D M A N A G E M E N T E N V I R O N M E N T A L S P I L L R E S P O N S E E N V I R O N M E N T A L S I T E A S S E S S M E N T By Gregory Reynolds The discovery of the Eldorado radium mine that led to the birth of the Cana dian uranium industry has several of fcial versions That was not unusual as prospectors and authors had prob lems separating facts from colourful touches added during the telling There is no denying that at the end of March 1930 Gilbert LaBine 10 Feb 1890 8 June 1977 traveled to Great Bear Lake in the Northwest T errito ries to do some prospecting This version is that on 16 May while exploring an island at Echo Bay La Bine discovered a very rich deposit of uranium ore The trouble is that he was looking for cobalt because the Canadian Geologi cal Survey of Canada had reported in 1900 an occurrence in the area He found cobalt silver and pitch blende which contained radium and uranium Silver was valuable and radium used in medical treatment and equipment was selling at 75000 a gram but no one wanted uranium LaBine and the pilot who few him into Echo Bay EC St Paul told how he spotted something from the air got excited adding something bright had caught his eye He asked St Paul if he could fnd the spot again and the pilot replied he could and did The fnd became the Eldorado Mine While ending up as a key ingredient in atomic bombs uranium as a mar ketable and proftable substance had a rather unremarkable beginning as the waste material of radium processing LaBine stockpiled uranium ore at Great Bear Lake from the time of early production after the staking of the company s frst two claim s in May 1930 Eldorado s pitchblende the outcrop of rock containing uranium cobalt radium silver etc was refned ini tially for radium because it traded at a high value and was used for treating cancer Uranium was a byproduct of the refning process and the company had littl e use for it When radium pric es dropped operations slowed down By mid1940 Eldorado s sales totaled less than 8 million and its prospects were not encouraging In the early 1930s uranium was merely Eldora do s lar gest waste byproduct As such uranium was not deemed by the company to be of economic or polit ical value and was stored or disposed of with apparent disregard at both Eldorad o s Port Radium mine in the Northwest T erritories and at its Ontario Port Hope refnery site where it was discarde d in local ravines piled around the plant or dumped into the harbour While Gilbert LaBine was the discov erer and the man to whom the world gave most of the credit his brother Charles was an allimportant fgure behind the scenes the fnancial brain W ithout his skill and persistence in tracking down funds for their devel opment the Eldorado and Gunnar Gold Mine in Saskatchewan might not have become the fnancial suc cesses that they did From the time they were teena ge boys who left the family home together to seek their fortune Charles and Gilbert were comrades They shared discom forts hardships insecurity and even tual prosperity They were business associates in bad times and in good times They formed their own company but the mine they are remembered for is the Eldorado Under ground develop ment began in 1932 and production of radium and silver commenced in 1933 A radium refnery was con structed by the company at Port Hope Ontario in 1933 In July 1940 the mine was shut down and allowed to fll with water W ith the race to build the frst atomic bomb fully underway after the United States entered W orld W ar 2 in De cember 1941 uranium became highly sought after The mine was quickly dewatered and uranium extracted for use in the US Contd on pg 32 Page 30 And was heart of frst atomic bomb LaBine s Eldorado fnd gave birth to Canadian uranium industry Gilbert LaBine to left at Port Radium Barricks in 1931