Document 2qx3ybyrJr77eogJGqvbazNYR

FILE NAME Quebec Asbestos Mining Association QAMA DATE 1979 June DOC QAMA159 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION QAMA Bulletin Vol 3 No. 3 IRDA One of the principal recommendations of the Sor^sgroup to whom the Association des mines d'amiante du Qu^'bechad conferred the task of carrying out an indepth study of the possibilities of manufacturing asbestos products in Qu^'bec brought out the necessity of intensifying rsearch and development Sor^sreport In order to develop new asbestosbased products and fill a widening gap in the research and development between these products and their substitutes the Sor^s report concluded positive and drastic actions should be taken to improve the prospects of growth of asbestos and asbestos products where an intensive research and deve- lopment program should be launched in the shorter delays with the following objectives ) to improve the characteristics and the perception of existing asbestosbased products ii to improve the manufacturing pro- cesses to develop new asbestos products and manufacturing processes These actions could be carried out by an existing organization or by a new organization to be created grouping all the interested decision centers Government policy While the Sor^s experts were com- pleting the preparation of their report the Qu^'becgovernment announced its new asbestos policy proposing the creation of a research and development cen- tre for the development of new asbestosbased products on the one hand and for research into ways and means of ensuring health and safety in both the manu- facture and the use of asbestos products on the other making specific recommendations for the operating and financing of a research The government expressed the wish that such a centre might be created jointly with the industry which would have the primary responsibility for orienting and organizing the proposed research body The AMAQ having already endorsed the recommendation of the Sor^sreport which had been commissioned well be- centre The CDT report was a valuable working document enabling the AMAQ and its member companies to make a constructive and enlightened contribution based on expert objective analyses towards the establishment of a research and development organization fore the government announced its policy had no hesitation in subscribing to the objectives put forward by the government regarding research and development and immediately offered its col- laboration AMAQ draft agreement Thus in October the AMAQ was able to take action on the agreement in principle signed the previous month by the Minister of Natural Resources and the Directors of the Association at the Plan of action However neither the statement of government policy nor the Sor^sreport went beyond formulating general objec- tives It was still necessary to determine the possibilities and means for speeding up the process of developing research into asbestos in Qu^'becso that the best possible performance is obtained in viable economic conditions by making optimum use of the human material and technological resources available It was also necessary to ascertain the major needs and objectives for asbestos research and development in first joint meeting on the subject and offer the government a draft agreement covering the principal objectives together with details concerning the establishment operation and financing of a new centre For the most part it is this draft agreement with just a few minor changes which was the object of an order in council dated June 6 1979 and which forms the basis of the agreement for the creation of the Institut de recherche et de IRDA Minister d^'veloppement de l'amiante signed June 29 1979 by the of Natural Resources and the President of the AMAQ Qu^'becand to draw up a concrete plan of action for the creation of a centre Finalization The AMAQ welcomes the finalization CDT study of this agreement by virtue of which the project can now enter the phase of active The AMAQ therefore commissioned a study from the Centre de d^'veloppement technologique CDT of the Ecole Polytechnique de Montr^'alwith a view to making a survey of all asbestos research activities to assessing the possibilities and limitations regarding their development in Qu^'becand to organization The incorporation and organization of the IRDA will be taken in hand by the AMAQ which will moreover provide the entire 500 000 starting capital the creation of the institut ushers in a dynamic and stimulating period for asbestos research and development in Qu^'bec LBulletin| Pilot study to be carried out by Qu^'becscientists A research project sponsored by the Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health of Montr^'al The Institute of Occupational and Band director of the clinical re- Environmental Health recently ap- search unit at the Institut du Cancer proved an important research pro- de Montr^'aland Dr. Ren^'Vauclair ject proposed by a team of Qu^'bec researchers for the study of the sputum of asbestos workers The Executive Committee of the IOEH has assigned almost 195 000 to this project entitled Sputum cy- head of the pathology department at Montreal's H^pitalDame year project The study to be spread over two tology in the asbestos sector Pro- years aims at determining the pre- ject director will be Dr. Antoine Si- valence of atypical or abnormal cells mard researcher at the Institut du in the sputum of asbestos workers Cancer de Montr^'aland his princi- The researchers will also endeavour pal associates will be Dr Pierre to establish the relationship between the seriousness of the atypias discovered and the exposure to asbes tos and to cigarette smoking In its sputum analysis the team intends to use a technique of cell Short Course in Mineralogical Techniques of Asbestos Determination The Mineralogical of Canada Association published inMay ume on the Short Course in City May20 Determination which was held in Qu^'bec from a vol- through 22 immediately prior to the annual meeting of the MAC This 279 page volume provides the texts of the lectures given during the course by several eminent specialists it also contains numerous photographs tables and graphs It was edited by Robert Ledoux Professor in the Geology department of the Universit^'La- val and organizer of the course As Mr Ledoux states in his introduction the volume should prove to be useful not only to mineralogists but also to all scien- tists working in industries using asbestos and to researchers on ocupational health problems related to dust The volume is the fourth of its kind to be published by the MAC In fact each year since 1976 on the occasion of its annual meet- ing the Association has sponsored short courses on subjects related to various aspects of mineralogy and then published the lectures of the courses in textbook form The Short Course In Mineralogical Techniques of Asbestos Determination is available both in French and in English at 10 per copy Copies may be obtained by writing to the Mineralogical Association of Canada c Mineralogy Department Royal Ontario Museum 100 Queen's Park Toronto M5S 2C6 Or Antoine Simard concentration devised by Dr. Gino Saccomanno of St. Mary's Hospital Grand Junction Colorado who is well known for his studies of the sputum of uranium workers of the Colorado plateau Exact interpretation The cell concentration technique consists in obtaining a sputum sample which is homogenized in the laboratory then centrifuged to obtain a cell concentrate from which smears are prepared and then placed on slides and coloured by the Papanicoulaou method for analytical purposes The interpretation of the smears drawn up by Dr. Saccoman- no must be very exact and detailed Saccomanno's classification iden- tifies three distinct stages in the evolution of cellular atypias defin- ed as mild moderate and marked atypical metaplasias abnormal changes in cell structure preceding the point where a cancer becomes discernible by ray examination by as much as 10 years in some cases One of the members of the team Pr Band is already engaged in a study of the sputum of close to 1 000 workers of a uranium mine in the north of Saskatchewan in collaboration with Dr Saccomanno The 750 cases The group of workers that Dr Si- mard and his colleagues propose to examine will include the employees of Les Mines d'amiante Bell of Thetford Mines totalling close on 150 miners and 350 employees working in the mill and in the ad- first with his full cooperation and thereafter independently For the solution of any statistical difficulties which may arise Dr Simard's team has secured the services of Dr. Michael Feidstein statistician at the University of Rochester New York who is already involved in the uranium study at the Institut du Cancer de Montr^'al In addition to analyzing the results of the cytological examinations the researchers will determine an asbestos exposure index for each employee For this aspect of their work they will call upon the services of Dr. W. Gibbs Director of the Occupational Health and Safety Unit at McGill University Using the work which Dr Gibbs has already carried out in the asbestos sector the data stored in the Unit's com- puter and the new information obtained in the course of the project the scientists will be able to evalu- ate the level and the duration of the exposure to asbestos Epidemiology Dr Pierre Band - present study aims also to implantthe Saccomanno technique at the Ins du titut Cancer de Montr^'al te Dr Ren^'Vauclair For epidemiological purposes the results of the cytological examination will be compared with the as- ministrative departments together with a number of workers who have bestos concentration that each work- er was exposed to and with the du- been exposed to asbestos for 35 ration of this exposure Cigarette years or more numbering approxi- smoking and age will also be taken mately 250 employees of into account Soci^'t^' in these comparisons Asbestos of Thetford Mines and a Once the comparisons have been few employees of Carey Canada of East Broughton Data cards will be prepared for made among the asbestos workers with regard to age exposure and cigarette smoking the team intends each worker and will carry in ad- to make a number of comparisons dition to the usual information re- with other cohorts at a high lung ferences to cigarette smoking Sputum samples will be obtained twice cancer risk workers in other indus- tnes and smokers living in an urban environment from each person at the beginning of the project The samples will be collected at the Institut de m^'decine Industrielle de Thetford Mines under the supervision of the director Dr. Richard Lambert and his medi- cal staff The team will pass on to each worker the results of his cytological examination The confidential nature of the personal files will be fully guaranteed The overall results after they have been codified and de- Statistics The samples will then be asses- personalized personalized will then be and there can be no doubt that they will be of considerable benefit to the sed by Dr Saccomanno's method industry as a whole | Bulletinfi Third Open Operators Conference held in the asbestos region More than 250 participants from lule of Mining and Metallurgy and all over Canada attended the Third organized this year by the Thetford Open Operators Conference on Mines section of the CIM with a June 11 through 13. held this year large contribution in human and fi- in the asbestos region of | Qu^'becnancial resources being provided Those present included mining en- by the asbestos mining companies gineers geologists and technicians of Thetford Black Lake East from Canadian mining companies Broughton and Asbestos which op- together with representatives from government departments and orga- nizations and from and universities delegates from major consulting firms and the principal suppliers of mining equipment erate open mines The participants at the conference enjoyed an outstanding opportunity to become familiar with the many aspects of operating an openpit asbestos mine some of them CIM conference The conference was held under highly complex thanks notably to the technical sessions conducted by members of the personnel of the the auspices of the Canadian Insti- asbestos producing companies and to the guided tours of the installations of Carey Canada Lac d'amiante du Quebec Soci^'t^A'sbestos and Manville Canada Technical sessions The technical sessions were spread over two mornings and con- sisted of papers on 20 different sub- jects directly related to asbestos mining operations Each of these twenty sessions conducted by management personnel from the four asbestos producers involved made ample use of visual material Thus not only were slides shown but the talks themselves had been previously recorded in English and in French and then synchronized so that the participants were able to follow them in the language of their choice by means of transistorized audio equipment The subjects dealt with during these sessions concerned mining operations as such and the particularities varying from one mine to another the methods and systems of environmental control the processing of waste and recovery from tallings drilling and blasting pit slope stability programs geological activities planning operation of workshops and other aspects Mine tours In their tour of the mining instal- lations the participants visited in succession the mines and process- ing plants of Carey Canada at East Broughton of LAQ at Black Lake of Soci^'t^' Asbestos at Thetford Mines and of Manville at As- bestos At each visit the CIM conference participants were able to observe the scale the complexity and the particularities of the various operations in the pits and mills Participants visiting the processing plent of Carey Canada at East Broughton The conference organizing committee In the usual order Mr. Bernard Coulombe Mr Andr^' Duclos Mr Raymond Ga^'tan Mr Jean Bolduc Mr Gilles Cyr Mr Lucien Lacasse Mr Cl^'mentBernier pr^'sidentof the organizing committee Mr Robert Gale and Mr Maurice ( auzon With a conference of this kind as with the first which was held at Labrador City in 1977 and the second at Kamloops British Columbia in 1978 the object is to promote and encourage cooperation and lechnical exchanges among specialists in open mining operations and so the CIM Thetford Mines sec- tion made a point of providing numerous opportunities outside the technical sessions and visits to installations for formal and informal meetings Having opened at Thetford the conference closed at Asbestos with a dinner presided by Mr H. Caldwell President 01 CIM where special merit awards were presented to two known figures in the Qu^'becmining sector Mr. M.J Messel President of Lac d'amiante and Mr Paul Bourassa President of SOQUEM 4 d 5 YBulletin| Third Open Operators Conference held Looking to the future The speakers at the Third OpenPit Operators Conference Mr Lionel Pluze at the opening dinner and Mr. E.H Caldwell at the closing dinner among other things took a look at the future Mr Pluze former Presi- dent Operations at LAQ and long- Two awards presented by the CIM The Third Open Operators Conference was the occasion for the presentation by the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy of honorary awards to Mr M.J. Messel President of Lac d'amiante du Qu^'becand Mr. Paul Bourassa President of SOQUEM They received their awards from Mr EH Caldwell President of the CIM at the conference's closing dinner in Asbestos time Chairman of the AMAQ Committee on the Environment said that he was confident that the effects of the asbestos campaigns would diminish and that in his estimation when all asbestos manu- facturing plants keep their ambient air in an acceptable condition and when all asbestos containing products are handled safely the pro- blem of substitutes will not be a se- rious threat Mr. Messel The Distinguished Service Award presented to Mr. Messel is in recognition of the invaluable services that throughout his career he has rendered the Qu^'becmining industry particularly the asbestos industry and the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy A mining engineer and graduate of McGill University in Montr^'alMr. Messel acquired wide experience of the asbestos industry with varlous comparies before joining Lac d'amiante du Qu^'becin 1956 as General Marager a position which he held until his appointment as President in 1964. Since 1976 Mr Messel has also been Vice- President of ASARCO Incorporated of New York the parent com- pany of LAQ He was several times President of the Association des mines d'amante du Qu^'bec Mr. MJ Messel Mr. Bourassa For his part Mr. Bourassa received the Proficiency Me- dal for his technological contribution to the mining industry in District no 2 of the CIM An engineer specializing in mining exploration Mr. Bourassa Joined Qu^'bec Cartier Mining in 1965 and was responsible for several development projects including the Mount Wright project until his appointment in 1971 as Director of the company's Engineering and Research Department He became President of the Soci^'t^q'u^'b^'coise d'exploratio mini^re = SO- QUEM in 1978 Mr Lionel Piuze In the opinion of Mr. Piuze the principal problem that the Canadian asbestos Industry is likely to have to deal with is that of Soviet competition whose production capacity is rising and could reach 000 000 tons by 1985 For his part CIM President E. H. Caldwell stressed the importance of technological innovation for the future progress of the Canadian mining industry technological in- novation is vital to the continued maintenance of our industry A concerted effort will be required on the part of industry government universities mining schools and research oriented organizations to overcome the constraints or bar- riers which hinder the conception and implementation of programs designed to foster technological innovation and to provide a climate which on the contrary will favour and encourage technological innovation New offices for Les Mines d'amiante Bell and personnel departments on the other The general management including the President's office and that of the production manager is located on the floor above as also The management and the administrative departments of Les Mines d'amiante Bell are now grouped together in a completely new building its architecture is simple yet elegant and its exterior is a constant reminder to passers along Boulevard Smith at Thetford Mines that they are in the capital of the asbestos world The upper part of the outer covering of Bell's new head office is in fact composed of shaped asbestos cement panels which contribute largely to the building's aesthetic certain other departments The Bell building specially de- signed for easy maintenance and possessing its own water and waste disposal systems is laid out in such a way as to obtain optimum efficiency and to meet the company's present and future needs The rational Use of space IS are the engineering and geology departments The basement includes a large room equipped so that the employees can take their meals there Les Mines d'amiante Bell a sub- sidiary of Turner & Newall produces fibres mainly of grades 3. 4 5 and 6 The company's major pro- ey major s appeal Practical and functional the Bell building stands close by a small wood and is separated from Boule- vard Smith by spacious fawns it was built on company grounds about one kilometre from the mine Bell's new premises consist of two floors over an area of 000 square metres and bring under one roof all the company's departments which had previously been scatter ed among several buildings due to the growth of the engineering and The new Bell building on Smith Boulevard at Thelford Mines shown in the arrangement of the gram of modernization of its sur- offices and the regrouping of the face installations is due to be com- departments On the ground floor are found the accounting data pro- pleted at the end of 1980 and a mechanization program for its un- cessing and purchasing departments derground operations should be on the one hand and the marketing completed in 1981 seas ORY EE BRN ge MOYAHSSS ARREARS NF oR APN ESTEE Carey Canada Inc. The management of Les Mines canadiennes Lt^'e at East Broughton Qu^'bec announced in May the amalgamation of two Cana- dian divisions of the Jim Walter Corporation of Tampa Florida namely Les Mines canadiennes and Jim Walter Building Products under the new corporate name of Carey Canada Inc. The company has been mining its present asbestos ore body located to the east of East Broughton since 1958 It produces some 200 000 tons of asbestos fibre per year exporting 50 of its production to the United States where it is used hundreds of different applications The rest of its production is sold in more than 45 countries around the world Carey employs 500 people in its mine processing plant and administrative departments The division which until now operated under the name of Jim Walter Building Products manufactures accessories and decorative fittings for the home The products manufactured at ils Barrie Ontario plant include bathroom accessories decorator lights and mirrors range hoods heaters and ventilating equip- ment Management Mr. M Mines Prus who was President of Les Mines canadiennes has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors and President of Carey Canada Inc. Inc. whose head of- fice is located at East Broughton Mr. Gordon Scowcroft who was President of Jim Walter Building Products will retain his former duties regarding the management of this division and will also be a Director of Carey Canada Inc. The others Directors of Carey Canada Inc are Mr Jean Bolduc President Operations and Mr Ross W King Secretary Treasurer both from East Broughton and Me P -Andr^'Gervais of the Montr^'allaw firm of Doheney Mackenzie Grivakes Gervais Le- moyne Lene ey Institut de recherche et de d^'veloppementde l'amiante Joint communiqu^'from the Government and the AMAQ The signing of an agreement between the Qu^'becgovernment and the Association des mines d'amiante du Qu^'becfor the creation of an institute of asbestos research and development was marked by a short ceremony held before the press in the Qu^'bec Parliament building on June 29 After completing their signatures the Minister of Natural Resources Yves B^'rub^'and the President of the AMAQ Marcel Dorais answered questions from the journalists present The full text of the communiqu^'issued jointly on this occasion by the Department of Natural Resources and the AMAQ is as follows It is Minister with great of Natural pleasure that the Resources Yves B^'rub^a'nd the President of the Associa- tion des mines d'amiante du Qu^'bec Marcel Dorais announce the signing of an agreement concerning the creation of an asbestos research and development centre means of a 500 000 starting fund entirely underwritten by the Association The 24 fe Q : . a The objectives of the centre which will be known as the Institut de recher- che et de d^'veloppement de l'amiante IRDA are - the measurement of the amount of fibre emission in the environment by existing and new asbestos products and research on methods aimed at its elimination the development of new asbestos ed products leading to the establishing of new industries using asbestos fibre The setting up of the IRDA will be the task of the Association des mines d'amiante du Qu^'becwhich will see to its incorporation and its organization by gecieraceent The President of the Association des mines d'amiante du Qu^'bec Marcel Dorais and the Minister of Natural Resources Yves B^'- rub^'signing the agreement for the creation of the IRDA financing of the IRDA during the five years following its setting up will be provided as follows the Government of Qu^'becwill contribute up to 5 million with a yearly average of $ million while the asbestos producers who are members of the AMAQ will contribute up to half of % of the total value of their annual net sales of asbestos fibre estimated net sales for 1978 300 million To begin with the IRDA Board of Directors will consist of four represen- tatives of the industry appointed by the member companies of the AMAQ and of three representatives appointed by the Government It is understood that any eventual new member of the AMAQ will be called upon to contribute to the IRDA and to designate a Director The location of the IRDA's head office will be determined by the Board of Directors The agreement puts into effect the principles jointly agreed in September 1978 by the AMAQ and the Government and was countersigned by the four member companies of the Association des mines d'amiante du Qu^'becnamely les Mines d'amiante Bell Manville Canada Carey Canada and Lac d'amiante du Qu^'becand by the Soci^'t^N'atio- nale de l'Amiante Minister B^'rub^'said that he is very pleased with the creation of the IRDA which represents an important element often largely overlooked of Qu^'bec's asbestos policy Marcel Dorais Presi- dent of the Association des mines d'a- miante du Qu^'becfor his part expressed the hope that this collaboration with the Government will rapidly lead on to concrete achievements which will further the cause of asbestos in Qu^'becTo con- clude they both offered their wishes for a long and successful career for the Institut de recherche et de d^'veloppement de l'amiante a |Bulletiin This BULLETIN is published by l'Association des mines d'amiante du Qu^'bec 1130 Sherbrooke Street West Suite 410 Montr^'al H3A 2M8 The Post Office Department in Ottawa has authorized postage paid in cash and forwarding of the pub lication by third class mail had = Canada Post Postes Canada Postage paid mot paye Bulk third class 264 nombre troisi^me classe Montr^'alP.Q.