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Archival description
Cominco Ltd. fonds
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Cominco Ltd. fonds

  • PR-1419
  • Fonds
  • [ca. 1884-1985]

The fonds consists of the records of Cominco Ltd., including those created under its previous name, the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada Limited. Most of the records were selected by Cominco from its offices in Vancouver and Trail, B.C.

The fonds includes textual records, approximately 8700 photographs, maps, films and sound recordings which include oral histories with former employees. The records document the industrial activities, personnel, and the social history of the communities where the company was active.

Documentary forms include but are not limited to: correspondence; photographs; annual reports; news clippings and scrapbooks; lab reports; payroll records; journals, ledgers, cash books and other financial records; sound recordings of interviews, oral histories and radio broadcasts; transcripts connected with the Cominco oral history project; films (including those of mining operations); maps; informational publications, pamphlets and brochures about the company; engineering and geological reports; subdivision plans and city plans; property/lot plans; and the president's files.

Subject matter includes topics such as mineral exploration, mining, smelting, fertilizer production, research and development, legal matters, finance, personnel and labour relations, public relations and advertising, company history and environmental pollution.

Topics and locations reflected in the records include but are not limited to: Trail area operations at Warfield and Tadanac; the Sullivan mine at Kimberley; the Bluebell mine and concentrator at Riondel, B.C.; the Con mine in Yellowknife, N.W.T.; the H.B. mine and concentrator at Salmo, B.C.; Calgary facilities for production of ammonia, ammonium nitrate and urea; Benson Lake (Vancouver Island) mine and concentrator; the mercury mine at Pinchi Lake, B.C.; the Box mine at Goldfields (Athabaska Lake) Saskatchewan; Wedge copper mine at Newcastle, New Brunswick; Pacific Coast Terminals Limited operations in warehousing, docking, loading and shipping at New Westminster and Port Moody, B.C.

The records document Cominco’s operations in fields such as zinc die casting through the purchase of National Hardware Specialties Limited and its plant in Dresden, Ontario. The records reflect the continuing research and development carried out at Trail, and, after the mid-1960s, at the new research centre built at Sheridan Park, Ontario.

Records of subsidiaries and affiliates include those of operations in the United States and overseas. These include but are not limited to: Cominco Products, Inc. a wholly-owned subsidiary created to carry out fertilizer warehousing, liquid fertilizer conversion and product marketing at Spokane, Washington; the development of phosphate rock mining interests in Montana; the Magmont lead mine and concentrator at Bixby, Missouri; Rubiales mine, Lugo Province, Spain; the Black Angel mine and concentrator, Marmorilik Fjord, Greenland; and Cominco Binani Zinc Limited (CBZL) in India.

Photographs and textual records document the important role played by Cominco, beginning in the 1920s, in exploring the northern regions of the four western provinces and the Northwest Territories. The company pioneered aircraft prospecting which led to the discovery of gold, uranium, oil and copper. Exploration by Cominco influenced settlement patterns and laid the foundation for the creation of an aviation service in northern Canada.

The fonds also consists of records of Cominco’s participation in the Manhattan Project's heavy water production program during World War II. Textual records are contained in series MS-2500. Photographs are contained in series MS-3176, consisting of images which include: primary plant and secondary cell plant, (including construction of, starting in November 1942); the oxygen stripper tower, booster room, cooling tower, boiler plant, and evaporator building. See the files referring to Project 9, Heavy Water, No. 9 Project, or P-9 Project.

Other notable records include those concerning the international dispute between Canada and the United States over pollution from the Trail smelter and its effects on the agricultural lands in the U.S. Cominco was involved in an international tribunal in 1932 (Trail smelter dispute) as a consequence of sulphur-bearing smoke damage to crops. See file of negative filmstrips titled Smoke Control – Mathews films Tribunal Case 1932 [photographs]. Among other topics the photographs appear to include images of areas in Idaho and Washington State. They are possibly connected with MS-2500, box 457, file 1, “Survey of agricultural conditions (Mathews) - appendix D8”, dated 1935.

The fonds also consists of records of subsidiaries, affiliates, and predecessor companies, including the West Kootenay Power and Light Company Ltd. and the Canadian North-eastern Railway Company (previously Portland Canal Short Line Railway).

The fonds consists of the following six series: MS-2500 Cominco selected records; MS-3176 Cominco photographs; AAAA1498 Cominco films; AAAA1499 Cominco sound recordings; MS-0888 Summary of the history of Cominco; MS-0015 Cominco papers.

Cominco Ltd.

Cominco papers

The series consists of four distinct parts.

The first part is records of the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada Limited, dating from 1884 to 1967. Textual records (in boxes 1 to 12) include but are not limited to correspondence, journals, ledgers, indentures, lab reports, records on union-management relations, wage scale information, account books, and general business records. Eleven scrapbooks are contained in boxes 13 to 23; these include newspaper clippings, ca. 1909-1967, and include two on the Doukhobors.

The second part of the series (boxes 24 and 25) consists of correspondence and other business records of Samuel Stewart Fowler, a key figure in the mining industry in the Kootenays in the early 20th century, and at the Bluebell mine in particular, where he worked before it became the property of the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company. The records date from 1908-1941 and consist of Fowler's correspondence, inward and outward, with various firms and individuals. Precise reasons for these records forming part of the Cominco fonds are not known. It is conjecture that the records were inherited by the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada Ltd. when they acquired the Bluebell mine property.

The third part of the series (boxes 26 - 27), consists of 20 cm of records of the West Kootenay Power and Light Company Ltd., dating from 1906-1947. The records consist of miscellaneous correspondence and business records, and includes papers of predecessor and subsidiary companies, including the Rossland Power and Light Company, the East Kootenay Power Company, and South Kootenay Power Company. These records include correspondence with the company from A.D. Fredericks of Waneta, B.C., who regularly reported on the river, climatic conditions, the water level of local creeks and rivers, and general social conditions in the Waneta area.

The fourth part of the series (boxes 28 - 29) consists of 20 cm of correspondence and other records of the Canadian North-eastern Railway Company, including some records created under the company’s original name, the Portland Canal Short Line Railway Company. The records consist of correspondence, and some legal agreements and survey plans, arranged chronologically from 1909 to 1930.

Historic Summary of Cominco

The series consists of one 20-page document, entitled “Historic Summary of Cominco,” which presents a chronological timeline of the history of the company from 1890 to 1974. Dated 21 May 1975, it appears under Cominco letterhead, and with the added information “Supervisor, Information research, Cominco.”

Cominco selected records

MS-2500 is an extensive collection of records selected by Cominco, from its offices in Vancouver, Trail, and elsewhere, for transfer to the Provincial Archives. The records include: annual reports, early correspondence, financial and legal records, research and development department records, records of metallurgical, smoke, chemical and fertilizer operations, diverse records of Cominco's various mines, subsidiaries, and affiliates, smoke control records, public relations department records, histories of Cominco, and personnel records.

The legal department series of documents are organized according to the Cominco assigned identifying number, the first two digits of which group the document by subject. For example, numbers beginning with .02 and .03 refer to legal documents re Rossland.

The public relations and advertising series of records were removed from their original filing sequences by Cominco staff for transfer to the Provincial Archives. In that process, evidence of their original order was lost and the series have been reconstructed by Archives’ staff on the basis of physical similarity. In cases where there was no evidence that files have previously existed as a series a note "put into series by Public Archives of British Columbia" has been put beside the series description. The public relations and advertising series contain files relating to the production and management of press releases, brochures on various Cominco operations, employee newsletters, information brochures for employees, shareholder information, some training manuals, files on donations made by Cominco to various community and recreational groups, and information prepared for submission to various regulatory and legislative bodies.

The history files series contains original records selected by Cominco officials because they were thought to be of historical interest. Records include: published and unpublished articles; notes on reference questions answered by the Cominco Library; correspondence, research notes, and draft manuscripts connected with the preparation of company histories; and notes, correspondence, lists of people interviewed, and transcripts connected with Cominco oral history project.

The old Rossland employment history cards series includes the following data on the cards: record card number, name, occupation, age, marital status, height, dependents, weight, nationality, birth, citizenship, last employer, length of employment, date leaving, signature, dates of employment, day rate and bonus earnings, clock number, department, division, classification of work, and reason for quitting, transferring or being laid off. Based on a sampling of recorded occupations, the cards appear to cover employment in the Trail operations as well as at the Rossland mines; specific place of employment is not stated on the cards.

In the insurance history cards in alphabetical order series, each individual represented in the file is documented by two cards. Card 1 contains the following information: name, man number, record of share certificates received, and occupation/job. Card 2 contains: date of birth, gender, marital status, nationality, date entering service, clock numbers, date of severance, reason, beneficiaries, certificate no. plan "A" group assurance c/w dates, certificate no. plan "B" group assurance c/w amount and monthly premiums, payroll deduction authorization c/w signature in full, man number and name.

The general payroll index 1898-1915, found in the IRD (industrial relations division) pay office records, Trail, records series, contains the following information: record of shifts worked, earnings per month, workplace, name, date of birth, nationality, married or single, pay period, clock no., balance, and pick-up balance. In 1916, a new format was introduced along with the existing format and additional information was captured, including: name, department, earning by month and shift, and total bi-monthly. In 1922, the format was changed to a bi-monthly debit-credit sheet with name, date of birth, nationality, marital status, period, ledger page reference, doctor, credit, balance and pick-up balance. In 1927 a “bonus” element was added. In 1932, there was another change in format and the following information was captured: clock no. name, workplace and/or job title, month, man number, month and hours worked, gross, tax, total, and bonus share.

The textual records include annual reports, correspondence, financial and legal records, research and development department records, records of metallurgical, smoke, chemical and fertilizer operations, smoke control records, public relations department records, histories of Cominco, and labour relations and personnel records.

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