Monday, September 09, 2019

Cobalt 2019

An awesome time was had in Cobalt Ontario (population 1500) on Saturday the 7th of September. A big thank you to Megan and Andy for enduring the 6 hour drive to fill this old farts bucket list.
Also a big thank you to my wife fror taking care of Connor and Jenia so we could make the trek.
And a big thank you to daughter Tina and sons Brad and Jason for encouraging me to donate the historic photo records my great grandfather had taken of Cobalt between 1905 and 1910 as well as other pertinent memorabilia.
All my life I had head the stories, looked at the photos and felt a kinship with the people of Cobalt and this weekend I got to live it albeit short it fulfilled a dream.
The people, in and around the area, take great pride in their mining history as well as the contribution to WWI and WWII. We took the time to visit the Military Museum which celebrates all nations and has an amazing display of uniforms and militaria. Unfortunately the mining museum was closed on Saturday as it is end of season but then maybe another visit is in order 
We also drove the Heritage Trail and saw several of the old mines that still stood more that 100 years later. Of particular interest was the book store that we dropped of the photos to Deborah Ranchuck, secretary for the Historic Society. The store is built over and around one of the headframe for the mine. The history of the store was fascinating in itself, prior to being a bookstore ith had been a grocery and because there was ice forming in the mine shaft the owner of the grocery store used it as a cooler to store meat and other items, in the 60's the government stepped and said "you can't do that" the store closed and became a flower shop and that owner did the same by store flowers in the shaft.






























Thursday, August 29, 2019

More exciting news regarding the revival of Charles 1890's invention and its modernization

Green Mining Investment Coming to North Eastern Ontario

News release


August 28, 2019                    Ottawa, Ontario                      Natural Resources Canada        
The Canadian mines and minerals industry is important to our economy and to communities across the country. Developing Canada’s natural resources in cleaner, more sustainable ways will create good, middle-class jobs, increase competitiveness and reduce pollution as we move toward a clean energy future.
Paul Lefebvre, Parliamentary Secretary to the Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, today announced an investment of $2.1 million for a green mining project aimed at developing an alternative to the mechanical compressors currently used in underground mining, one that is expected to reduce energy consumption and costs for compressed air by almost 40 percent. The alternative compressors will be deployed at Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd.’s Holloway Mine.
Kirkland Lake Gold will use Sudbury-based Electrale Innovation Ltd’s hydraulic air compressor (HAC) technology, which relies on water and gravity to compress air. The cooler, drier, oil-free compressed air will also improve equipment maintenance and reliability at Kirkland Lake Gold’s Holloway Mine.
Funded through Natural Resources Canada’s Clean Growth Program, this project is harnessing the HAC technology to bring it to commercial scale in an operational underground mine and to build a new industry standard for compression in applications beyond underground mining.
The Clean Growth Program is a $155-million investment fund that helps emerging clean technologies further reduce their impacts on air, land and water while enhancing competitiveness and creating jobs.
Canada’s climate plan includes measures to protect the environment and leave a healthier planet for future generations, including actions to protect our oceans, phase out coal-fired electricity, invest in renewables and public transit and reduce plastic pollution. Green mining technologies are a key part of Canada’s plan to combat climate change while growing the economy.

Quotes

“The Government of Canada continues to invest in projects that are positioning Canada’s mining industry to lead the clean energy future. Through strong government partnerships and a commitment to innovation, we are building the sustainable and competitive mining industry of tomorrow.”
- Paul LefebvreParliamentary Secretary to Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources 
“Kirkland Lake Gold is delighted to be working with NRCan and the project partners on this hydraulic air compressor deployment. By reducing energy consumption without negatively impacting costs and performance, Electrale’s hydraulic air compressor is a perfect fit with our sustainable mining objectives, and we are proud to take a leading role in the commercial deployment of this technology.”
- Alasdair Federico
Executive Vice President of Kirkland Lake Gold

Associated links


Link https://www.canada.ca/en/natural-resources-canada/news/2019/08/green-mining-investment-coming-to-north-eastern-ontario.html