In 1933, William Seibert
cleverly opened up the first fluorspar min, upon Black Duck vein,
that the province had ever seen. It was during this time that our
economy was in an extremely poor state due to the depression, the
Tidal Wave and low fish prices. Naturally, the residents of St.
Lawrence saw the birth of this industry as an excellent opportunity
to support themselves on the fifteen cents per hour Seibert had
assured them. Workers from all over, not just in St. Lawrence, saw
this and came here in hopes of getting a share in this new venture.
Eventually, veins in
Blue Beach, Tarefare, and Director became the sites for mining as
well. Men younger than twenty-five years of age and older than
fifty-five worked hard to extract the fluorspar, which would be
exported to American markets, until tragedy struck around 1978. The
discovery was made that, for years, these dedicated men had been
slaving in the presence of radioactive gasses and as a result,
many died, or were dying of radiation induced
cancer.
This, along with competition from mines in Mexico, who were selling
their fluorspar at a lower price, caused our industry to fold.
Numerous people were without jobs, which resulted in moving away of
many families in search of employment. The town was utterly shocked
and devastated.
The mining potential
was seen and the industry began again. From 1984 to 1990 the mine
was operated by a firm based out of the United Kingdom, Minworth
PLC. This mine, employed 140 staff members again, many hourly paid
workers. The joy brought about by this industry was felt in St.
Lawrence with the handing out of jobs again and people were happily
becoming less dependent on the government’s financial assistance.
|
 |
|
Minworth During
Operation |
Unfortunately, as the
saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Once more, the
mine in St. Lawrence shut down. The American markets began buying
fluorspar from Chinese, who were selling for one third of the price
we had been selling for. Eventually, as were many other mines for
this reason, the min in St. Lawrence was left no other choice but to
close.
|
Alcan 1952 -
1978
|
Prospectors say that
there is still plenty of fluorspar yet to be mined at the old sites.
In fact, they say that there is enough to ensure prosperous mining
for up to twenty-five years. However, due to enormous lack of funds,
the mine is unable to be reopened as of now.
With regard to the
mining in St. Lawrence, one thing is for certain – the economic
stated of this community was much more stable when our mine was in
full operation. Perhaps, with funding, proper management and a
little luck, we might reach that stability once more. |
