Mining Association of Nova Scotia Profile picture
May 4, 2020 11 tweets 16 min read Read on X
Mining built #NovaScotia!
The term building stone refers, not surprisingly, to stone used in construction. It can be structural/load-bearing or for decorative purposes such as cladding, floor pavers and carvings.
Read this for the history of building stone in #NS!
#nspoli #cbpoli ImageImage
Virtually any type of stone can be building stone but in Nova Scotia, sandstone and granite have historically been most common.
Most building stone in the 1600s and 1700s was either:
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia #capebreton ImageImage
Ship ballast - rock or other heavy material placed low in a ship to improve its stability. Ballast in the days of sailing ships gave easy access to building material.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia #capebreton ImageImage
Fieldstones, which are usually erratics - rocks carried by glaciers and deposited as the glaciers melt. Fieldstones were historically often used in walls and buildings because they could just be picked up and used. No extraction necessary.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia #capebreton ImageImage
Quarrying sandstone began in the early 1800s around Wallace and #Pictou. Some of #NS's most beautiful buildings are made of stone from those quarries, including the legislature which opened in 1819 and is mainly made of Wallace sandstone.
#nspoli @karla_macf_pc @TimHoustonNS ImageImage
Wallace sandstone is 300 million years old and 100,000 blocks were used in the legislature. Its exterior walls are up to 3 metres thick.
In 1985 @NSLeg was renovated and 1700 stones were replaced with stones from Wallace so they would match.
#nspoli @TimHoustonNS @karla_macf_pc Image
In the mid to late 1800s, as many as 75 quarries produced sandstone in Nova Scotia. Many were small and short-lived but #Wallace is still producing today and its stone has been used in many #NovaScotia buildings and even the parliament buildings in Ottawa.
#nspoli #cbpoli Image
Some Wallace stone even travelled as far as California!
Granite has also helped build many Nova Scotia buildings.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia #capebreton Image
Starting in the mid-1700s the old Queens Quarry on the Northwest Arm and quarries in Terence Bay (#Halifax County) provided granite for buildings in Halifax like Saint Mary’s Basilica and the Merrill Lynch Building.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia #capebreton ImageImage
Historical quarries in #Shelburne, #Nictaux (#AnnapolisCounty) and West Erinville (#Guysborough) also produced granite for construction. Many former quarries are now beautiful parks and protected areas.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia #capebreton ImageImage
We post info about many historical Nova Scotia buildings and where their stone was quarried. You can also see examples on our educational web site at notyourgrandfathersmining.ca/mining-built-ns
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia #capebreton 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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