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t 6-Orono Weekly Times, Wednesday, August 24, 1983 New Recreation Building for senior citizens The new recreation building officially opened' on Monday night at the Durham County Senior Citizen's Lodge in Orono now provides provides facilities of a banquet and assembly hall, a kitchen, a laundry and a recreational area in the basement for shuffle shuffle board, pool table, hand shuffle board and darts. The new hall was com pleted at a cost of $100,000 which money was supplied by the Durham County Senior Citizen's Lodge. History of Canada's Uranium Industry Canada's uranium industry had its embryonic beginnings in the mid-nineteenth century with the discovery of ore on the eastern shore of Lake Superior. Decades later, in 1930, veteran prospector Gilbert LaBine found deposits of pitchblende, silver and cobalt at Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories. Territories. Pitchblende, a radium-bearing ore, had been discovered in various parts of the world, but not often in commercial quantities and scarcely ever in so rich a find. LaBine immediately staked a claim at Port Radium, as the site became known, and by 1933 he and his brother Charles had brought a mine into production to recover radium and silver. Thq LaBines also decided to establish their own refinery. Two locations - Port 1 lope V, and Hamilton - were considered, considered, but the former was i chosen because a site with a building was available and the town council offered their firm,«Eldorado Gold Mines Limited, a bonus in the form of tax concessions. Before the plant could go. into production a refining" process had to be developed. The field was highly specialized; specialized; the first refining of radium had been accomplished accomplished in Czechoslovakia and only only two other enterprises, operations in Colorado and Belgium, had subsequently been established. The LaBines received research advice advice from the Bureau of Mines and they were fortunate fortunate in engaging Ivjarcei Pochon, a graduate of the School of Industrial Physics and Chemistry, Paris, as tjieir ' plant manager. Through experimentation experimentation and building upon his experience, Pochoo made numerous improvements improvements to the technique of extracting radium from ore, and by 1937 he had perfected a process which was utilized at Eldorado until 953. * The refinery did not immediately immediately prosper. Produit- ion was complex and expensive, expensive, 50 tons of ore being required required to produce one ton of concentrates, and from 6 fo 13 tons of concentrates and various chemicals in a ratio of 7 tons of chemicals to 10 tons of concentrates being required required to produce a "pinch of potent white powder". Indeed, Indeed, it took three years of co-ordinated effort among miners, mill staff and transportation and refining personnel to produce Eldorado's first ounce of radium. In addition, competition competition for markets - radium was used in cancer treatment and in glazes for pottery - was fierce. A price war between the company in Colorado and the Belgium Muniere Corporation Corporation had ultimately forced forced the American refinery out of business. Canadian production production was initially ignored by the European giant, but as Eldorado radium began to in varie the world markets a price war ensued which threatened the firm's" existence. existence. To prevent bankruptcy bankruptcy Eldorado joined the European European cartel in 1938. The outbreak of war in . Europe a year later had far- " reaching effects on Eldorado. With the development of nuclear Weapons uranium oxide, oxide, considered a waste'in the refining of radium and discarded, became a product of strategic importance. As the' only firm operatifig in' North America, Eldorado supplied all of the uranium oxide used in American nuclear experiments including including the Manhattan Project. Project. Between 1942 and 1944 the firm was under contract with the United States government, refining ore from both the Belgian Congo and Port Radium and undertaking undertaking intensive explorations for additional uranium deposits. The oxide produced ' was enriched in the U.S. and was ultimately used in the atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945. Eldorado's involvement involvement in this project led many to view the development development of nuclear energy as an issue of .national security. The Canadian government consequently purchased controlling controlling interest in the firm in 1942 and two years later nationalized nationalized Eldorado Gold Mines Limited, creating a Crown Corporation through which the mining, refining and marketing of uranium could be controlled. After the war the Eldorado refinery continued to play an important role in the nuclear industry. It supplied uranium oxide to both the United States and Britain for use in the development of thermonuclear thermonuclear weapons and* explored explored peace-time applications applications for 1 its product. In order to increase • "efficiency, processes processes were unproved and the ' plant was enlarged from a random collection of buildings to a sophisticated complex. In 1954 the refinery was overhauled and a new , system installed which enabled enabled the company to obtain a purified metal product. Four -, years later its uranium metal plant began production of a ; fuel to be used in research | reactors, such as those at Chalk River, and in,reactors which created electrical energy. Previously this fuel had had to be imported front the United States. Eldorado also continued to play a dominant regulating role in the industry. Passage of the Atomic Energy Control Control Act in 1946 evidenced the Canadian government's in : ' terest in supervising the development, application and use of atomic energy. For . over a decade it used the firm as the producer-consumer intermediary intermediary in the marketing of all uranium produced in Canada. Throughout the 1960's and '70's to the present present Eldorado Resources Limited has remained the government's agent of control control over the uranium industry. industry. • Orono Building Contractor Brick - Block - Concrete Stone Work Carpentry - Cabinet Work Floors - Tile Phbne 983-5444 ORONO Clarke Public LIBRARY Tuesday 1-8 p.m. Wednesday 1-5 p.m. Thursday 10-8 p.m. Friday 1-5 p.m. Saturday 10-1 p.m. Closed Mondays 983-5507 Newcastle Public Library Board An expression of opinion poll will be held on September 14,15 and 16, 1983 on whether the Ontario Cattlemen's Association check-off* should be made non-refundable. The question will be "Are you in favor of making licence fees (check-off) under the E(,eef Cattle Marketing Act non-refundable?" You are eligible to vote if you owned cattle between June 15,1981 and June 15,1983. Before receiving a ballot, voters will be required to complete a Certificate of Qualification ' (available at polling stations) attesting to eligibility. Polling stations will be located at all OMAF Cpunty and District Agricultural Representative offices** Polling hours will be Wednesday, September 14, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursday, September 15, 9 a.m. -9 p.m. • '< Friday, September 16, 9 a.m. -4 p.m. , * one-fifth of ohe per cent of the value o.f. cattle sold to a ' slaughtering plant or sold for brief production purposes at,, an established public auction sale * '* , » " And also in the following communities; , Bruce Station (Algoma),'Cochrane (Cochrane),, ' Eganville (Renfrew), Englehaft (Tirriiskaming), Tara (Bruce) Check your focal OMAF office for details. Ministry @f Agriculture and Food • Dennis Timbrell, Minister William Davis, Premier Ontario