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Jul 14, 2020 17 tweets 23 min read Read on X
#Gypsum was discovered on #CapeBreton’s #IsleMadame in the 1800s. The most significant deposit is on the north side of the island, in the Lennox area.
Here's the history of the Lennox gypsum quarry!
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia
@TourismCB @TourismNS @mikekelloway @alanapaon ImageImage
The Lennox #gypsum quarry opened around 1865. Prior to 1873, about 1500 tons were exported yearly but there was little production during the rest of the 1870s.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia #capebreton ImageImage
A major hurricane in August 1873 destroyed the nearby wharf and building and the structures were not replaced in the 1870s. In fact, the August Gale, as it was called, destroyed 900 buildings and 1,200 boats in #NovaScotia, and killed as many as 600 people, according to reports. Image
Shipping in and out of #Arichat, on the south side of #IsleMadame, also dropped off in the 1870s. After their ships lay idle in Arichat for the winter, ship owners used to buy #gypsum in Lennox and get an advance from the US customers that bought it.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia Image
The advance covered the cost of the ships’ spring voyages to American ports where this would pick up other cargoes. This practice died out as extracting the best-quality Lennox gypsum became more expensive and US buyers refused to buy lower-quality gypsum.
#nspoli #cbpoli Image
US companies instead turned to other sources of gypsum and Arichat ship owners focussed more in fishing.
In the latter 1800s and early 1900s, the Lennox quarry was operated by H. C. Higginson of Newburgh, New York.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia #capebreton Image
Higginson appears to have been involved in several companies, including the “H. C. Higginson Plaster and Marble Dust Works” company. #Gypsum is the main ingredient in Plaster of Paris, which was used for things like mouldings and medical casts...
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia Image
...and Higginson used Lennox #gypsum in his plaster products.
In the late 1800s, there were dock facilities at #GrandiquePoint that served the quarry. From 1886-1896, a total of 10,825 tons of gypsum were produced.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia #capebreton Image
In describing #NovaScotia’s traditional role as a major supplier of #gypsum, Higginson once wrote that “All mills on the Atlantic seaboard draw their supplies from Nova Scotia….”
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia #capebreton ImageImage
#NovaScotia is still a significant producer of #gypsum – the walls in most #NS homes and buildings contain gypsum that was quarried here and was manufactured into wallboard in the US.
#nspoli #cbpoli #capebreton ImageImage
The Higginson family had some interesting hobbies. Their dog Dutchess, a King Charles Spaniel, was listed in the 1896 edition of the American Kennel Club Stud Book. Mr. Higginson was commodore of the Orange Lake Ice Yacht Club (sail boats on skates, basically).
#nspoli #cbpoli Image
The H. C. Higginson – a three-masted schooner, not the guy – sank near Boston on November 26, 1888 while transporting “plaster.” Its cargo was likely gypsum from Isle Madame since the words gypsum and plaster were often used interchangeably in that era.
#nspoli #cbpoli Image
The Lennox deposit contained significant amounts of anhydrite, which is likely the reason the quarry shut down since there were still large quantities of good #gypsum in the quarry.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia #capebreton Image
#Gypsum and anhydrite are closely-related minerals - the main difference is gypsum contains water and anhydrite doesn't – but it’s unhelpful to have anhydrite mixed into a gypsum deposit.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia #capebreton Image
(Neat fact: #Gypsum buried deep can turn into anhydrite as it dehydrates. Anhydrite can turn back into gypsum if it absorbs moisture from ground water.)
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia #capebreton Image
There were also a couple limestone quarries in the Lennox area, starting around 1860. Most of the limestone was shipped to PEI, heated to make lime and used in agriculture to adjust soil acidity and pH levels. By 1880, about 2500 tons per year were being sold...
#nspoli #cbpoli Image
...to agents who sold the lime at retail to farmers.
The first permanent settlement on #IsleMadame dates back to 1713. It is believed the island was named in honor of Madame De Maintenon, the second wife of Louis XIV.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia #capebreton ImageImage

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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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