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Zinc and copper helped to for By Greg Huneault the News If only the miners and metal workers of 6,000 years ago could see the modern equipment used to get to the zinc and copper deposits which are mined at Minnova. It would be quite a Surprise to say the least. ' Because it is a soft metal and occasionally found in its native State, copper was one of the first metals to be worked by man. Sometime under 7,000 years ago, Primitive tools helped man shape and mould the metal into useful items. Copper played such an impor- tant part in the history of humankind's development that it is recognized as an era in man's Progress -- The Copper Age Later, about 4,000 years ago, metal workers learned to mix or alloy copper with small amounts of tin, which was found in many of the same areas throughout the world that copper was deposited, and the copper age gave way to the Bronze Age. Long before the dawning of the Industrial Age, copper. was worked and fashioned to provide tools, utensils and omamental work and served an adequate need. With the invention of machinery and methods to supply electricity to new industries, however, the demand for copper skyrocketed. During the vast span of the industrial age, copper was the sec- ond-most widely used metal next to ron. Recently, this position. was taken over by aluminum, but cop- per still has a plays a major role in progress, mainly because of its ability to conduct heat and electric- ity. Approximately half of the pre- sent uses of copper centre around electric applications. It is also important to the building industry when used in forms such as wire, sheets or pipe. ' When combined with tin, cop- per becomes an alloy called tin, and when mixed proportionally with zinc, it is called brass. Both brass and tin have played vital roles in development in their own right. Despite being at an all-time high, the products made with cop- per are in no immediate danger of become scarce, Copper reserves are also at an all-time high. Despite thousands of uses throughout the world, copper is produced in only a few areas. Mines are found in areas such as Northern Rhodesia and the Congo, izona, Chile Ontario and Quebec to name some. These areas produce almost 70 per cent of the world's copper, and a large part of the production of copper is overseen by less than a dozen companies, who in most cases have interests in a number of countries. The production of copper is unique in that no other metal show as high a degree of concentration in terms of location and producers, The history of zinc is somewhat more recent than that of copper, but it plays a very important role none- the-less. j A form of zinc was found to be used in China and India as well as by metal workers in Europe, but it dates back to the 16th Century. Zinc cannot be smelted by sim- ple methods like those used to 'melt the copper out of the rock,' so it eluded early metallurgists. It is a base metal like copper, but because it does not have a long history of production, the methods used to obtain it vary greatly. Zinc's major strength lies in its ability to resist moisture and the corrosive action of gases in the atmosphere. By coating other metals such as iron with a thin layer of zinc, it pro- tects the metal in two ways. The first source of protection is by providing a protective physical sheath, which prevents contact between the metal and corrosive material. Even trusty iron will Tust in time when exposed to air and moisture. The second method is through "galvanic" action, Galvani, an 18th Century Italian Scientist, discovered that when two dissimilar metals are in electrical contact with each other by the help of a conducting liquid, one metal will corrode while protecting the other, ,..- This process of Coating steel is called "galvanizing," and a large demand for zinc results from this desired quality. Other major uses are in brass castings, die castings, and zinc oxides for the rubber, paint and other industries. Page 9, News, Wednesday, August 24 , 1988 Zinc is usually found and mined together with other metals, such as copper or more often lead. It is mined in countries throughout the world: in Mexico; United States; Australia; and Canada. Demand for these two valuable metals is expected to remain strong for some time. Despite cycles of demand and price (as with most natural resources) there is no dan- ge progress ger of the production decreasing drastically. As mining milling techniques such as those at Minnova continue to improve, it will be possible to mine deposits where it otherwise wouldn't have been economical. Mining in this area has been going on for a long time. It will continue to do so through the progress and skill resources of companies like Minnova Winston Lake Division. Township of new --NORONT echt le r ss Structural Miscellaneous Platework Ornamental Maintenance ay and Stee! lron Work Steel] Erection Industrial pS (705 Be Om..67.8 Opper Cliff, Ontario PO M1MO 4 1988 On 1ONEER © CONSTRUCTION AVC. MERN O S => ws * Road building * Open pit mining and tunnelling * Custom crushing |* Sewer and water * Sand and Gravel * Equipment rentals * Asphalt products Fax: 705-560-8263 705-560-7200