Photographs depict aerial views of the Cassiar townsite, plantsite, tailings pile, mine road, bench and pit mine, mine buildings (tramline loading station, crusher, shop, and garage), and surrounding mountain range. Here "aerial" refers to photos depicting a large area and taken from the air or from a high point of elevation.
The Photographic Materials series consists of 6100 photographs, 900 slides and negatives documenting a wide variety of subject areas pertaining to both the operations of Cassiar Asbestos Corporation Ltd., and the company township of Cassiar, B.C. Types of subject areas found within this series include, but are not limited to: mine, plant, labour, and townsite operations at the company towns of Cassiar and Clinton Creek (including community activities associated therein and townsite development); construction of plant and mine buildings ; mines and equipment not owned by Cassiar Asbestos Corporation, but which are believed to have been used for operational research purposes ; aerial photographs ; company exploration of further mineral deposits outside of Cassiar ; official tours ; community images, promotional material ; executive portraits. The Photographic Materials series has been further subdivided into the following 4 subseries: Exploration & Development, Construction, General (Mining) Operations & (Townsite) Community Operations, and Corporate Affairs.
- File contains photographs done to item level description, depicting miscellaneous people and locations at or around Cassiar, B.C. This includes a photograph of renowned prospector William (“Bill”) Storie, Bill Pratt with a fox, a community gathering in a someone's home, and a hockey game.
- Also included but not to item level is a photo of "David Madore" as part of his application to Cassiar, photo of "William Field" a local hire maintenance mechanic, and photos of a RNWMP Post sign (Royal North West Mounted Police) that depicts annotations "Indian grave" , "Miners Cabin" , "Road House" , "Customs House" , "St. James Church" , "Swansons Store" etc., and 15 negatives of various individuals at what appears to be someone's home.
- Also included is cabin at Boya Lake, which used to be named Chain lake, located off the Stewart-Cassiar highway. This land of this cabin may have been involved legal issues , which was related to people at Cassiar.
File contains images relating to Incident & Accident Investigations and Occurrences. The photographs are grouped into sets relating to separate incidents.
File contains photographs related primarily to the following subject areas: personnel vehicle accidents, mine vehicle accidents, workplace accidents, fires, and rock falls in the pit mine.
Identified objects include Euclid ore hauling trucks, Wabco ore haulage trucks, drill rigs, derailed train car, Clark forklift, dump trucks, twisted steel girder, and cat machine.
Locations identified include the townsite, mill building, pit mine, tramline, railroad, the powerhouse, the plantsite, and the underground mine.
The following is abbreviated description of the incidents documented in this file:
- Photos and negatives of a rock slide in the pit mine, a flooding creek, a house severely damaged by fire, a parking lot in Cassiar, and what are speculated to be oil drums.
- Various of Finning Tractor and equipment damage incidents, one occurred on 2 July 1981 because of HOS blade, another in Nov, 1987, and another in Oct. 1986. Also Euclid accidents, of which one occurred 29 May 1987
- Photos of split fibre bags in snow, a damaged brown car in Cassiar parking lot, various Blast Hole Drill accidents, of which one occurred in pit in September 1985, and another planned blast that failed to detonate - powergel 'A' slurry failure on 10 June 1985.
- a derailed train, and a young woman measuring damaged steel trellis.
- Photos of Drill #707 fallen over in bank, a broken haulage truck, a fire damaged truck, and of Drill and Wzbco accident, #650 Haulage Truck accident on Oct. 24, 1990, and another accident near gas pump area involving truck on 5 Feb. 1987.
- Photos of damaged tramline after avalanche with annotated envelope "Bill Zemenchick", a set of photos showing tramline trackrope incident in 1986, and a derailed tramline carts in discharge area on 6 October 1986.
- Photos of Pressure Packer Accumulator Failure from the Plantsite in 1986, incident neraby Fibre Storage building involving #872 Forklift during 80s, another incident involving the #489 Hydraulic Shovel in the Mine during 80s.
- Photos of broken windshield and overloaded bucket on 30 April 1985, a screw gun malfunction caused by outlet having 600v power source in 1985, incident caused injury.
- Photos of "G" conveyor accident in April 1988, equipment damage in Underground mine in 1990, damaged screens in Mill, malfunctioning blade incident 11 Jan. 1992.
- Photos of Cat Engine cracking, damaged garbage truck, Haulage Truck engine failure on 27 Oct. 1986, Truck #84 backed into trench on 17 Oct. 1990, a loader that caught fire 21 June 1989, a grader accident on 21 Nov. 1985, and Haul track #59 broken tie rod that caused significant equipment damage.
- Photos of a fuel oil spill on 11 June 1990 in the Cassiar valley around plantsite.
- Photos of ground failure in Cassiar open pit 22 June 1988, 5 May 1987, and 2 Sept. 1987.
- Photos of damaged tires and damaged cart, a panfeeder accident in trench, shovel accidents on 6 March 1986 and 15 November 1986, Cylinder rod accident on 7 March 1986, manhole incident 9 April 1984, snow damage to building 29 March 1982, another loader engine fire on 3 Sept. 1987, and a broken tail light on 6 April 1988.
- Photos of accident in Underground mine when drilling piece of shotcrete fell on 20 June 1991, incident of disconnecting sling from chute causing damage on 4 July 1990, and accident in open pit of machinery going off road on 14 January 1988.
- Photos of Mine Garage Parts-room fire collection; 18 January 1986, also included are two photographs of a Euclid truck - kept with collection of context. Truck could have been used to transport debris.
- Important collection of three photographs of scoop tram sabotage incident - "foul play" on 15 June 1990. The Scoop tram was used in the underground mine.
Some of the above accidents involved personnel and therefore access is restricted - See Archivist for accessibility.
The file contains eight photographs depicting close up images of three rock samples, some photographed with a ruler for scale. One of the rock samples is speculated to be obsidian and the other two are likely serpentine. The images where originally found in an envelope titled "ROCKS" and are likely dated around 1991.
Included in this file are an five photographs of rocks on a shelf, which may be asbestos sample rocks. There are five accompanying negatives to these photographs and are likely dated around 1977. The photographs and negatives were found in an envelope labelled "Negatives - CIMM Photos."
Additionally two negative strips of geology maps of Canada. These negatives were found in an envelope labelled "Negatives - CIMM Papers, Mining, Planning, Geology."
File contains images depicting the underground mine at Cassiar, showing structural damages, repaired damage ground support, and mining and repair processes.
The file contains a photo inventory entitled “Underground Mine Structural Inspection, Rock Mechanics Dept. Foto Documentation” with a complete file inventory linking the picture number to a location, title, and dated film. This photographic documentation was assembled for the purposes of liaising with a underground mining consultant located in South Africa.
- Images document structural ground support including steel cables, support arches, metal mesh, shotcrete, rockbolts, wooden beams.
- Images show ground support damaged through ground movement, but some depict newly installed or repaired support.
- Images depict ventilation ducting that was crushed or torn.
- Mining processes depicted include miners installing a rock breaker, miners paving the adit floor with concrete, miners inspecting a damaged section of mine, miner loading drill or blastholes with ANFO (ammonium nitrate / fuel oil mixture) explosives, and long hole drilling.
- Technical elements of the underground mine depicted include a mining device and ore in a chute (annotated ‘1290 crusher’), the conveyor, ‘LH drill’, ore processing machine annotated ‘1350 breaker’, and an electrical box titled ‘Weighometer’.
- Specific locations shown include ore draw points, ore passes, access drifts, a hatch and door titled “Fuel station 1415”, and a dead end drift with a stack of equipment and an orange cable annotated “1335 access electrical stations”.
Photographs of various Cassiar Staff at work. There is extensive annotations on the back of each photo explaining who is depicted and where they are working.
Photograph depicts unidentified man in dress shirt and tie standing next to large Caterpillar engine on flatbed. Road in foreground, unidentified building in background. Accompanying note reads: "MTCE 4-01 (b) Cat 3612 Engine".
Photograph depicts large Caterpillar engine on flatbed. Road in foreground, trees in background. Accompanying note reads: "MTCE 4-01 (b) Cat 3612 Engine".
Photograph depicts large Caterpillar engine in large shop with sheeted walls and brick floor. Accompanying note reads: "MTCE 4-01 (b) Cat 3612 Engine".
Photograph depicts large Caterpillar engine against painted brick wall in building with brick floor. Miscellaneous equipment in background. Accompanying note reads: "MTCE 4-01 (b) Cat 3612 Engine".
This file includes two major photographic collections concerning the construction and development of the underground mine at Cassiar, title the McDame Project.
The first collection includes fifteen monthly progress reports documenting the development from July 1988 to December 1989. The progress reports are authored by G. Verret, and were distributed to the executives of Cassiar Asbestos in Vancouver as well officials of the B.C. Government and other creditors of the Corporation. Most images are annotated and dated. Many of the loose photographs are accompanied by an inventory sheet.
Subjects depicted include: the staging area prior to mine development, the initial development of the “Vent Portal”, a jumbo drill working on the mine face, the working face marked for drilling and wired with fuses, a Caterpillar dozer clearing snow after an avalanche, scene of a fire in winter time, complete conveyor sump decline, mining vehicle parked on the “Lay-Down Area” presumably near the portal, the working face of the mine at various stages of development, 1563 portal being slashed, the removal of the overburden for the tramline loading station site, the construction of the transfer tower(s), construction of the stockpile area, the construction of a sedimentation pond, a presumed cave in, construction of footings for the conveyor, construction of the tramline loading terminal station, construction of the crusher building, a slash titled “Breakthrough in Access Ramp”, storage of powder and fuses, a washout in conveyor decline, fog at the portal in -30 degrees Celsius, the 1290 junction flooded, a slab of shotcrete which fell on and injured a miner while shotcreting, shotcrete blasted off walls for repairs, images of the “Hilti-test”, shots showing grade of drift, and structural failures in the 1350 adit.
Locations and structure within the underground mine depicted include: yellow ventilation ducting, ground support including steel screen and shotcrete, steel cables bolted unto ground support, puddles in the adits, the access road to the lay-down area, the exhaust drift, “Fans and Heaters in the 1415 adit”, the 1350 sump, the access ramp to the 1320, the exhaust ramp safety bay, the conveyor decline, the ventilation adit, the 1563 portal, the temporary repair shop at the 1415 portal, junctions of various drifts, the ”Fresh Water Pump & Pumphouse on lower Creek”, the “Ventilation Raise/1563 Platform”, a “Diamond Drill Station” at 6066 North in the underground mine, the “Bridge to the Gravel Pit”, the “Crushing and Screening Plant” in the gravel pit, the ventilation bulkhead in the conveyor decline, and the “Powder Magazine”.
People depicted include Rose Gay and R. Tyne on a tour of the underground mine, a geologist with a rockhammer, a miner identified as A. Jacobs working, contract miners Bruno and Marbel from Canadian Mine Development, and unidentified miners rockbolting, shotcreting, and drilling using jackleg drills.
Vehicle and mining equipment depicted include jeeps, pickup trucks, a front end loader, an unidentified a small unmanned tracked machine with a long arm, scoop trams, a land cruiser, an ore truck with a flat tire, the cone crusher, a “scissor lift”, a mobile shotcrete machine, a new grout pump, a new Boart Jumbo Drill, and a detached bucket half of a 413 ore truck.
The second collection depicts the McDame Project construction in 1986 and 1987.
Content of these photographs includes: various machinery used for excavating and drilling, underground progress of tunneling, supports, wire meshing, rock formations in mine, and exposed asbestos. There are no annotations regarding this photographs.
Photograph depicts close up view of gravel pit, ruler displayed for scale. Photograph speculated to have been taken at the plant or near the Cassiar airstrip. Stamped annotation on recto of photograph: "JUN. 1987".
Photograph depicts an unidentified man standing to left of large puddle in gravel pit, mountain peaks in background. Photo speculated to have been taken on the plant, or near the Cassiar airstrip, facing south west. Stamped annotation on recto of photograph: "JUN. 1987".
Photograph depicts yellow conveyor belt in foreground over gravel pit, dump truck behind in midground. Mountains visible in background. Photo speculated to have been taken at the plant or near the Cassiar airstrip. Stamped annotation on recto of photograph: "JUN. 1987".
Photograph of lab equipment at plantsite. It is believed the equipment depicted was involved in fibre testing.
Photograph depicts samples of Cassiar asbestos.
Photographs depict different construction projects at separate locations in Cassiar. Photographs were originally housed in envelopes with the following annotations: "POLICE STATION. July 15, 1977."; "Aggregates and Concrete (PERMASTEEL)"; "Fibre Storage and Handling"; "Powerhouse Expansion"; "Sewage Collection Plant."; "Sewage Treatment Plant"; "Single Person Accommodations - Site Work."; "Outside Work - Camp Nos. 1,2,3." Photos generally feature the work sites, supplies, vehicles, machinery, and work in progress at each location.
Additional photographs integrated into file include maintenance project on lining of tubes, lining of aspiration hood, and lining of willow fiberizer. Also five photographs of maintenance in the townsite to fix in ground piping.
Photograph depicts passengers exiting CP Air plane on runway. Unknown man and air traffic controller in foreground.
Photograph depicts unidentified man walking up front steps to building with the following sign: "TOWN ADMINISTRATION / MOTOR VEHICLE BRANCH / HCBC AGENCY / DISTRICT REGISTRAR / CDN CITIZENSHIP COURT / FISH & GAME LICENCES". Vehicles parked in foreground and behind at unknown building in midground. Power line and mountains in background.
Photograph depicts four orange and brown two-story buildings speculated to be bunkhouse residences. Blue car in foreground, forest and mountains in background.
Photograph depicts three long panabode buildings behind trees across from ball park. Power lines and other buildings visible in background. The winter bunkhouses contained double occupancy rooms with a common bathroom, and were distinguished from the summer bunkhouses which were generally considered less accommodating (see item 2000.1.1.3.19.84).
Photograph depicts man seated in chair while reading newspaper, bed on left, chair and mirror on right. Winter scene visible through window in background.
Photograph depicts two fire trucks semi-visible in garage with the sign "FIRE HALL". House and snowmobile can be seen in left midground, truck and power pole in right foreground. Mountains in background. Warning visible on front of trucks: "KEEP BACK 500m".
Photograph depicts two-story main office building in right midground behind sign reading "CASSIAR ASBESTOS CORPORATION Ltd / CASSIAR MINE / MAIN OFFICE". Building believed to be warehouse can be seen behind raised Canadian flag on pole in left midground. New mill building and tailings pile visible behind warehouse and office, mountains in background.
Photograph depicts the new mine garage behind machinery, mountains in background. Mobile blast hole drill can be seen in left foreground (manufactured by Robbins with Caterpillar undercarriage). Two 50-tonne Wabco "haul paks" in right foreground (ore haulage trucks).
Photograph depicts shovel in excavation area of mine, loading ore haulage truck believed to be a Wabco "haul pak".
Photograph depicts residences and fenced front yards to left of street, trash cans in front. Small tricycle, camping trailer, power poles, and trees also visible.
Photograph depicts unidentified child climbing front of slide in playground. Monkey bars in foreground, mobile homes in background. Trees visible throughout.
Photograph depicts vehicles parked in driveways and on street to right of mobile homes. Mountain base in background.
Photograph depicts man looking at coats in what appears to be the clothing section of a store.
Photograph depicts yellow hand-drawn poster which reads: "HAPPINESS IS... BEING IN SCHOOL". Orange smiling facing adhered to centre of poster.
Photograph depicts unidentified youth seated at library tables. Group of smaller children can be seen sitting between bookshelves in background. Two adults visible on far right; chalk boards and posters on wall in background.
Photograph depicts two young individuals instructing what appears to be a gymnastics class. Group of children on gymnasium floor in foreground. Mats and small trampoline also visible.
Photograph depicts young girl and boy on two sleds at top of snowy hill. Forest and mountains visible in background.
Photograph depicts six children playing hockey on indoor ice rink, goalie and sideboards visible in background.
Photograph depicts two unidentified men playing squash in indoor court.
Photograph depicts two unidentified men using weight training equipment in indoor gymnasium. Weights and other equipment in background.
Photograph depicts two unidentified individuals in canoe on Boya Lake, B.C. (formerly known as Chain Lakes). Foliage silhouetted in foreground; forest and hills on opposite shore in background.
Photograph depicts large auditorium, seats filled with unidentified individuals (mostly children). Rounded stage in foreground, curtain on wall in background. This building was built in the late 1970s and belonged to the community's cultural society.
Photograph depicts Sue and David Pewsey to right of unidentified man in food line. Dishes in foreground, group in background.
Photograph depicts William (Bill) Storie at location known as Limestone Mountain, southwest of Cassiar, B.C. Photo features profile of Bill, hands in pocket, Cassiar valley and mountains in background. Storie was a renowned prospector in the Cassiar area, and the new school at Cassiar was named for him in 1992.
Photograph depicts a shovel loading what appears to be a Euclid ore haulage truck on left. Unidentified Caterpillar machine in foreground.
Photograph depicts a Euclid ore haulage truck in foreground. Shovel and unidentified caterpillar machine can be seen in background.
Photograph depicts three men wearing coveralls and hard hats in carpenter shop. Left to right: Jason Clark, Alf Guderjahn, Herbert Pichler (shop tool crib man).
Photograph depicts steel tower. Snow in foreground, mountainside in background.
Photograph depicts tramline conveyors in centre of image (located west of mine). Conveyors ran from crusher plant to the tramline loading station. Building on left believed to be the crusher reject plant. Water truck can be seen by transfer building on far right (truck was used to thaw propane tank when necessary). Mine valley in background.
Photograph depicts tramline conveyor (located west of mine). Conveyor ran from crusher plant to tramline loading station. Mine valley and northwestern mountain range in background.
Photograph depicts Ruston Hornsby diesel engines which turned the generators in the power house on the Cassiar plant. Two unidentified men wearing coveralls can be seen in image.
Photograph depicts unidentified man standing on Ruston Hornsby diesel engine which turned the generators in the power house on the Cassiar plant.