Mining Association of Nova Scotia Profile picture
Feb 8, 2020 14 tweets 23 min read Read on X
We love getting questions about #mining, #minerals and #geology! We were recently asked about historical mining in #PortHood, #Inverness County. Here’s our answer:

#nspoli #cbpoli #NovaScotia #CapeBreton #NS #CB ImageImage
In the 1740s-1750s, a quarry on #PortHood Island was the main supply of finished/dressed sandstone for #FortressLouisbourg’s window and door casements. About 60 men worked there in summer and the stone was sent by barge through the #StraitofCanso to #Louisbourg.
#nspoli #cbpoli Image
Many historical #NovaScotia buildings, including the more important buildings at #Louisbourg, were made of stone that was considered somewhat unattractive (i.e. fieldstone or ironstone), so it was often fancied up with granite or sandstone trim.
#nspoli #cbpoli #CapeBreton #NS Image
#PortHoodIsland was connected to mainland #PortHood by a low-lying isthmus until the 1800s when the sand spit eroded and made it an island. You can see the isthmus in the 1776 map below.
#nspoli #cbpoli #NovaScotia #CapeBreton #NS #CB Image
An attempt to reconnect #PortHood Island to the mainland was made in 1905 when horse-drawn sleds dragging stones helped build a breakwater. Further work was done in 1937.
#nspoli #cbpoli #NovaScotia #CapeBreton #NS #CB Image
It wasn't till 1960 that the breakwater was completed – but no road was built on it because the top washed away shortly after the breakwater was done. The remains of the breakwater can be seen below and in the satellite shot that shows the submerged stone.
#nspoli #cbpoli ImageImage
#Coal mining started in #PortHood in 1864-65 when the #CapeBreton Coal Company opened the American Mine.
The Tremain Colliery opened in 1875 but lack of a good shipping point made mining unprofitable. It closed in 1878 after a boiler explosion.
#nspoli #cbpoli #NovaScotia #NS #CB Image
Tremain was reopened in 1900 by the #PortHood #Coal Mining Company. A wharf was built in 1901 solving the shipping problem. Tremain was taken over by the Port Hood-Richmond Railway and Coal Company in 1906.
#nspoli #cbpoli #NovaScotia #CapeBreton #NS #CB Image
Unfortunately, a 1908 explosion killed ten men in Tremain. Six were locals. Four had arrived so recently from Bulgaria that no one knew their first names or how to contact their families in Bulgaria.
#nspoli #cbpoli #NovaScotia #CapeBreton #NS #CB Image
Tremain was flooded in 1911 – a significant concern since, like most #CapeBreton coal mines, Tremain tunnelled under the sea. However, in 1947 the origin of the water was found to be groundwater passing over salt beds as its salinity was greater than that of the sea water above. Image
#PortHood Collieries Ltd. started the Beaton Mine in 1918. Operations ceased in 1922 due to flooding.
The McDonnell Colliery opened near Port Hood Beach in 1926 and closed in 1930.
#nspoli #cbpoli #NovaScotia #CapeBreton #NS #CB Image
In 1930 the #PortHood Fuel and #Coal Company opened the Henderson Colliery. It was taken over in 1934 by the Port Hood Coal Company.
The Chestico Colliery opened in 1940 near Port Hood Beach and closed in 1947.
#nspoli #cbpoli #NovaScotia #CapeBreton #NS #CB Image
The Harbourview Colliery was opened in 1950 by the Margaree Steamship Company, which was later renamed Inverness Industries Ltd. Chestico Coal Mines Corp. took over Harbourview in 1959. Harbourview closed in 1966, bringing Port Hood's coal mining days to an end.
#nspoli #cbpoli Image
Total production in Port Hood was 1,115,021 tons.
During the Carboniferous era (360-300 million years ago) when #NovaScotia’s coal deposits formed and much of #NS was tropical swamp, a forest at #PortHood contained club moss trees that may have been up to 50 meters tall!
#nspoli Image

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More from @MiningNS

Feb 25, 2021
@nsgov announced new rebates for electric vehicles yesterday. Mining makes #greentech like electric cars possible because they are mostly made of minerals and metals.
#nspoli @KeithIrvingNS @IainTRankin @NS_Energy_Mines @ns_environment @ChenderMLA @AllanMacMaster @MLAChuckPorter Image
For example, an e-car has 183 pounds of copper wiring in it because copper is used in every major component from the motor to the inverter and the electrical wiring. There is about four times more copper in an e-car than in a car with an internal combustion engine.
There are about 400 electric cars on Nova Scotia roads - a total of over 73,000 pounds of copper!
An electric car uses 25-50 grams of silver, so Nova Scotia’s 400 e-cars contain about 15,000 grams of it.
Read 9 tweets
Sep 23, 2020
The Morris Street Engine House has been declared a municipal heritage property!
#Halifax’s Fire Station #2, as it is also called, was built 1907-08 of reinforced concrete.
Here's the story!
#nspoli @HFXFireHistory @HRMFireNews @hfxfire @HFXFirefighters @hfxgov @MikeSavageHFX
Concrete is a mixture of aggregates and paste. The aggregates are sand and gravel or crushed stone; the paste is water and portland cement. (The terms cement and concrete are often used interchangeably, but cement is actually an ingredient of concrete...
#nspoli
...Cement is the glue that holds concrete together.)
Reinforced concrete means the concrete is poured over a frame, usually steel bars, that give the structure greater strength.
#nspoli
Read 12 tweets
Sep 21, 2020
We love getting questions about mining, minerals and geology! We were asked about sinkholes and whether they are a risk when walking in the woods.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia #capebreton @oxfordsinkhole ImageImage
The short answer is yes, sinkholes are real but no, they are not a major risk and should not prevent you from enjoying outdoor activities.
Most natural sinkholes are caused by groundwater naturally eroding rocks like gypsum, salt and limestone which are water-soluble.
#nspoli Image
The water erodes the rock, leaving an underground cavern. Eventually, the weight of the rock and earth above the cavern causes the sinkhole to form. Sinkholes can form either gradually (i.e. a small depression appears and perhaps grows larger over time) or by sudden collapse. Image
Read 18 tweets
Sep 20, 2020
We love getting questions about mining, minerals and geology! We were asked about the historic #NewCampbellton coal mine in #VictoriaCounty.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia #capebreton #nshistory
@JaimeBattiste ImageImage
The New Campbellton coal mine was opened in 1862 by Charles J. Campbell, a former Member of Parliament, Member of the Legislative Assembly and executive council member. The community had been named Kelly’s Cove but was changed to New Campbellton in 1862 in honour of Mr. Campbell. Image
A sample of New Campbellton’s coal was sent to the 1865 Dublin Exhibition and “was very favorably noticed by the Judges,” according to a report.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia #capebreton #nshistory Image
Read 18 tweets
Sep 19, 2020
Mining built #NovaScotia!
#Halifax was founded in 1749 and its first court house is reported to have been built by 1754 on the northeastern corner of Buckingham + Argyle streets. After the building burned in 1789, the courts were temporarily housed in various buildings.
#nspoli ImageImage
In April 1851 a bill to provide Halifax with a county court house was passed. Mr. H.G. Hill, a prominent #Halifax architect, prepared a plan for a wooden building.
However, since the records of the county, wills, deeds and other papers of public office were...
#nspoli #novascotia Image
...to be stored in the court house, it was important that the building be fire-proof. Also, a number of serious fires in #Halifax in 1857 led to the passage of a bylaw that required large buildings be made of stone or brick, so Hill's plans for a wooden building were abandoned. Image
Read 10 tweets
Sep 18, 2020
The Sullivan Creek #coal mine, before and after!
It's one of several mines reclaimed around #AlderPoint #CapeBreton in the late 1900s/early 2000s - examples of how mining makes temporary use of land and then land can be used other ways.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia @JaimeBattiste ImageImage
The first mine in the area was the Scotia Mine, or #NovaScotia Steel & Coal Company No. 4 Colliery, on Toronto Road, which operated on the Sydney Main (Harbour) Seam from 1915 to 1921.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia @JaimeBattiste ImageImage
Coal quality and structural issues (including water inflow) plague the Harbour Seam west of Florence so upon closure of the colliery, production on the Harbour Seam was limited to the Company’s No. 3 Colliery in Florence, which had opened in 1902...
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia ImageImage
Read 19 tweets

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