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_________________________ Number 49, September 8, 2005 ____________________________
Several months ago Joop Langelaar sent me a cassette a recording of an
address given by David Thomas in March 1978 to the annual Prospectors and
Miners Convention held in Toronto. The transcript follows (the emcee is
unidentified):
It is my pleasure now to introduce our luncheon speaker, Mr. David Thomas,
President & Chief Executive Officer of Sherritt Gordon Mines Ltd.
Dave Thomas was born and educated in Winnipeg. Following graduation he
articled with the firm of Miller, McDonald, and Company, Chartered
Accountants in Winnipeg, and he obtained his CA degree in 1947. Daveıs
career has been entirely with Sherritt Gordon. He joined the firm in 1947 as
Assistant Secretary and was appointed Controller in 1959, Treasurer and
Director in 1964, and President and Chief Executive Officer in 1967. Dave is
a Director of the Mining Association of Canada, member of the CIMM,
Institute of Chartered Accountants, and he is also currently involved in the
Federal Government MAC Task force on the Canadian Mineral Industry.
As many of you know, Sherritt Gordon celebrated their 50th anniversary last
year and we thought it would be of interest to this audience at a time when
various sectors of the industry are going through a tough cycle, to hear
something about a company like Sherritt that has gone through a number of
severe problems and business cycles over its lifetime.
Looking back over the companyıs history, Dave said he didnıt know whether to
laugh or to cry, and fortunately for us, he decided to laugh. Heıs entitled
his talk today - Fifty Years of Up and Down. I understand that we will get
the light side of the story and weıll hear about some of the humorous ways
of finding mines. He wouldnıt confirm with me whether or not they were still
using these methods.
Having been associated with the company for about half of its lifetime and
being its President and Chief Executive Officer for the last 11 years, while
still maintaining a good sense of humour, heıs extremely well qualified to
present this talk to us today and Iım sure you will find it very enjoyable.
I would ask you to give a very warm welcome today to our guest speaker
today, Mr. Dave Thomas.
Mr. Chairman, distinguished head table guests, ladies and gentlemen. When I
looked at the program for this 46th Annual Convention of our Association, I
found the title of my talk somewhat conspicuous in a rather formidable and
determined list of subjects. Now all of you must have been working hard, a
few of you may have even attended some of the sessions. I propose a change
of pace, because I have a story to tell, a special story. It is the story of
how Sherritt Gordon found its mines in northern Manitoba. It illustrates
what has taken place in the mining industry at various times over the past
50 years. It may even be repeated a few times in the next 50 years,
depending, of course, on the whims of governments, environmentalists, and
anti-Corporate do-gooders. Fifty years of Up and Down or, alternatively, the
Sherritt see-saw. Do you know that the price of Sherritt shares have
travelled up and down more irregularly than the price of copper? Both are
part of our fifty years of up and down. The shares went up to $9.90 in 1929
and then down to 18 cents in 1932, up to $4.00 in ı37, down to 55 cents in
42, up to $10.37 in 56, down to $2.35 in 59. Would you believe, up to
$25.00 in 1970? I know youıd all believe they went down to $4.05 in 77.
Now back in 1932 when we shut down our first mine at Sherridon, copper was
selling at five cents a pound. Today, the LME price is about 12 times that -
60 cents. Our cost of producing copper in 1932 was 5.6 cents and 12 times
that, just about equals the price we need to break even today. In short,
weıre really just about where we came in or went out 46 years ago. But let
me now lead you back to the start of Sherritt Gordon, which really began
with a full blooded Cree Indian named Phillip Sherlett. Now thatıs not
Sherritt, itıs Sherlett. Phillip had a trap line in the area of Kississing,
or Cold Lake, 600 miles north of Winnipeg. Besides being a trapper, he was a
first class prospector. In 1922 he made a discovery, and he and his family
staked and recorded a number of claims. He did the necessary assessment work
and then, as he really didnıt want to trek about 200 miles south to The Pas,
he entrusted a man called Burke with money and samples to record the work at
The Pas recording office. Now, Burke reached The Pas all right, but promptly
stopped for a drink after that very arduous journey, and then proceeded to
get very drunk on Phillipıs money. The work was not recorded, Phillip was
never told and of course, the claims subsequently lapsed.
Now the next character I would like you to meet is Carl Sherritt, an
American from North Dakota. He served overseas with the US army in the First
World War and later found work as a teamster on construction of the Hudson
Bay Railway in northern Manitoba. In 1921 he turned to trapping as a
livelihood. He was a very successful trapper but he also devoted some time
to prospecting. In 23 he was attracted to Phillip Sherlettıs stakings and
after some work in taking samples, he staked some ground around Phillipıs.
He obtained some assistance from a fellow trapper, Richard Madole. He was
another American who trapped nearby. In 1924 when the original ground rights
came open, Sherritt and Madole restaked the claims of Phillip Sherlett which
had lapsed.
Now, Madole was quite a guy. He had been trapping up north for years. In the
bush, he was a real gentleman, he even enjoyed a game of bridge which he
played with a great deal of skill, however, when he got to town he
invariably got unbelievably drunk for days, even weeks on end. When he had
used up all his money and his credit he would start bumming by asking anyone
for a dirty old dollar. When turned down he would lower his sights to a dime
and then a nickel. Naturally, he got to be known as Dirty Old Dollar Dick,
and to try and keep him out of trouble, Carl Sherritt usually took his furs
together with his own, to the sales in The Pas.
Now in The Pas at this time, the manager of the Canadian Bank of Commerce
was a gentleman called C.R. Neely. One morning, as he was having breakfast
in the local restaurant, he struck up a conversation with a man he had never
seen before. As they were leaving the stranger realized that heıd left his
money at the Hotel CR offered to pay his bill. The stranger allowed him to
do so providing CR would let me know where he could find him to repay the
loan. CR told him where he worked. A few hours later the head clerk at the
bank came into CRıs office with a baffled look and announced that a stranger
was outside insisting upon paying for his breakfast. That is how Carl
Sherritt met CR and that was the start of a lifelong alliance.
One of the many diversified jobs the bank did was to handle fur sales for
its clients and in ı23, Sherritt brought in his and Madoleıs furs. The
following year besides furs, he brought in some samples of ore. He then
recorded his claims and left the records at the bank. Now just prior to this
time, John Peter Gordon, a Civil Engineer, came to The Pas to work on the
Hudson Bay Railway. Just at that time, the mining prospecting boom started
to develop and JP turned promoter. He had financial backing from his family
in the east which was headed by his brother, Senator George Gordon of North
Bay who had lumber interests in the Ottawa Valley. Rumours started to spread
about Sherrittıs find and CR introduced Carl Sherritt to J.P. Gordon. Next
year, in 1925. J.P. Gordon and Carl Sherritt came to an agreement. Gordon
obtained an option on the property with the right to re-option provided he
kept up payments to Sherritt and Madole. The total price was $250,000. Now
thatıs back in the days when a dollar was a dollar and there was no Capital
Gains tax. Gordon optioned the property to several different parties who did
work on it which showed two copper/zinc ore bodies spread over some 6,000
feet of length.
Now, another enterprising individual enters the scene. Eldon L. Brown was a
young mining engineer working for the Victoria Syndicate, the exploration
subsidiary of the Mond Nickel Company. In the spring of 1926, he travelled
into Cold Lake and examined the Sherritt prospect. He liked what he saw and
staked some surrounding ground. During that summer, Eldon Brown, who later
was known as just ³Brownie², was awaiting anxiously like everyone else, to
hear if the current option holders would make the next payment. One night,
as Brownie was having dinner at one of the stopping camps enroute down to
Flin Flon, he happened to overhear an engineer say that the option was to be
dropped. Ever resourceful, Brownie snuck out after dinner and, if you can
imagine it, he walked 16 miles that night to Sturgeon Landing, caught the
steamer to The Pas and next day wired his principals to make a deal with the
Gordons. Brownie returned to Cold Lake and worked on his claims. A number of
field engineers for various companies visited the camp and looked over the
property. Among the visitors was Bob Jowsey of whom you will hear more
later. Then in September of that year, Oliver Hall, Manager of Mines for the
Mond Nickel Company arrived to see Brownie at Cold Lake and told him that
the Victoria Syndicate had obtained the option. Brownie immediately
proceeded with work on the Sherritt property. All cores and trenches were
resampled, claims were surveyed, fifteen fractions were staked including the
GD fraction and the AD fraction, another damn fraction. The Mond officials
wanted to go ahead with the diamond drilling program but their controlling
group in England did not. They had decided that the property was too far in
the bush and the ore was too complex to treat. The option was dropped at the
end of the year and the Victoria Syndicate dissolved. All of a sudden,
Brownie didnıt have a job what to do? Brownie knew that one of the earlier
visitors, Bob Jowsey, was still interested so he wrote a report on the
property and with this report, Jowsey managed to interest Thayor Lindsley &
Associates, and on July 7th, 1927, just five years after Phillip Sherlettıs
first discovery, Sherritt Gordon Mines was incorporated. Brownie was hired
as Superintendent - the Companyıs first employee - and was sent back to
prove the mine he said was there.
Sherritt and Madole were bought out. Sherritt received $200,000 and 100,000
shares of stock. Madole wanted cash and received $60,000 dirty old dollars.
When Carl Sherritt received his cash and shares, he left the stock with his
friend C.R. Neely at the bank in The Pas. Later, when he was going on a trip
south and 50,000 shares were coming out of escrow, he told CR to sell the
50,000 if a price of fifty cents could be obtained. A few days later, CR
received a telegram from a brokerage firm in Winnipeg ³Understand you have
50,000 shares in Sherritt available at fifty cents?² Now, CR was greatly
intrigued with this message as he had told absolutely no one. He wired back
³Sorry, my client is not interested.² An hour or so later, another wire
came in raising the ante. Again CR regretted. Several days and about 100
telegrams later, from a variety of sources, which remarkably followed Carl
Sherrittıs route, the offers were coming in at over $9.00. When Sherritt
got back to The Pas, he went to see his banker friend and mumbled that he
was undoubtedly the worldıs biggest fathead for unloading his Sherritt at
fifty cents. One can imagine the scene, when he was told that due to CRıs
sixth sense, nothing had been sold! Later, they averaged better than $7.00 a
share. Subsequent to this, Carl Sherritt learned why, obtaining his pilot
license in the United States. Tragically in April, 1928 he was killed at the
age of 33 when he fell out of his own plane while stunt flying over The Pas
he had neglected to fasten his safety belt.
The other partner, Dick Madole, proceeded, with his $60,000, to make a name
for himself as a big spender. He hooked up with a local character called
the Moose Jaw Kid who said she would stick by him as long as the money
lasted. They headed for Winnipeg by a private rail car. They entertained
royally in one of the most expense suites in the old Royal Alexandra Hotel.
Their circle of friends increasing in direct proportion to the amount of
money they spent. One evening, during an argument over travel in the bush,
Madole had one of the rooms filled to a depth of a foot or more with corn
flakes so that he could demonstrate the proper method of snowshoeing. In
less than a year, understandably, the money was gone and they were back in
The Pas. Again, Neely had been shrewd enough to salvage sufficient out of
the wreck to outfit Madole and his Kid to go trapping again north of the
Churchill River, where they spent the rest of their lives.
C.R. Neely had retired from the bank and had become manager of Carlıs
affairs just before the plane crash. CR spent over 20 years looking after
the distribution of Carl Sherrittıs very considerable estate. CR also became
mayor of The Pas and held that office for five years. As for Phillip
Sherlett, where my story started - when Brownie learned of his story and his
bad luck with the original find, he told the Lindsleyıs. Sherritt Gordon
arranged a pension for Phillip for the rest of his life and it was paid to
his wife after Phillip died.
In the fall of 1927, work on the Sherritt Gordon properties started in
earnest. A winter road was cut from Cranberry Portage and a whole mining
plant and camp was freighted in during 1927/28. As the railroad was then
being built to Flin Flon, work could start on a branch to Sherridon if
sufficient ore could be proved before the line to Flin Flon was completed.
Brownie was able to find sufficient ore and the railroad reached the mine at
Sherridon in July 1929. A plant was built and production became in April
1931. Unfortunately, this was at the time when the depression forced the
first break in the price of copper. Plans were revised as the price
continued to fall and finally the mine was closed down after a little more
than a year of production. The mine remained closed for five years. Then,
with improved metal prices, it reopened in 1937. The operation was
continuous from then until 1951 when the ore bodies were completely
exhausted. Eight and a half million tons had been milled and production had
a value of 58 million dollars. Brownie was now the companyıs General
Manager and he had already started a search for a new mine. Up to as many as
four prospecting parties were kept in the field every year. The names of the
men involved will perhaps bring back memories to some of the old timers who
are with us today - Dave Foster, Nick Babi, Austen McVeigh, Stan Simpson,
Jimmy Sayies, Bob Brown, Fred Johnson.
In September 41 Austen McVeigh pulled the moss off an outcrop and found
some mineral worth a sample. It assayed 1% copper and 1.5% nickel. The
outcrop was the only one for quarter of a mile in any direction, which left
lots to the imagination. The decision was made to do no staking, to cover
over the discovery, and to attract no attention to it. In 1941, the war was
at its height and obviously a hundred miles in the bush nothing much could
be accomplished. Finally, in the fall of ı45 McVeigh was back with the
T-Bird magnetometer and found a number of anomalies in the muskeg in the
vicinity of his original discovery. A drill was flown in and then, just
before freeze-up, the first ore body at Lynn Lake was found. All work was
stopped except the staking of claims. By the end of freeze-up, fortunately a
long one, Sherritt Gordon had staked all the ground it needed a block of 3
miles wide by 9 miles long. The news of the discovery got out. One of
Canadaıs major staking rushes followed. No ore body at Lynn Lake
out-cropped. All were first located by magnetometer or by EM. McVeighıs
original discovery is still there at Lynn Lake. It was not connected with
any ore bodies. One anomaly in particular was found which did not conform to
the usual pattern. It had extremely high readings. Hole #160 was located
right at the highest magnetic reading and drilled vertically. Bedrock was
reached at 25 feet followed by twelve feet of barren rock. For the next 602
feet the hole ran in massive sulphides which averaged 4.87% nickel and 1.71%
copper. The ³EL² ore body was a bonanza. When drilling was completed, the
³EL² was found to contain 2.5 million tons of 2.5% nickel ore. Prospecting,
development, drilling, shaft sinking, and building a town, all took place
over the next eight years. In an historic venture, the whole mining plant
and most of the town houses together with the bank, churches, and schools
were moved to Lynn Lake over a winter road after the Sherridon Mine came to
an end. In November, 1953, on the day Donald Gordon of the CNR drove the
last spike, the first nickel concentrate was shipped out on the new
railroad.
Living in the Town of Lynn Lake in the early years was a unique experience
and one which will be familiar to some of you here today. I think it was
accurately recorded by the wife of one of our employees in this poem:
I moved up there inı52
With an optimistic throng.
We couldnıt buy any lumber, so
We took our homes along.
They jacked us up in the frigid air
To battle the wind and snow,
In winterıs grip, with mercury
At forty-five below.
They dumped some rations in the door
And later on returned
To fetch a load of wood so green
It boiled before it burned!
For fourteen days we took the cure
Of weather, wind, and storm,
And formed a ring around the stove
To make sure the fire stayed warm!
The cupboard was a deep-freeze
And only a little crude;
Youıd swear the thing had been installed
For storing frozen food!
The baby was a problem
That pains my conscience yet:
We found him frozen to the floor
Because his pants were wet!
Our prospecting today, is a long way from the man in the ground in the
20ıs, 30ıs and 40ıs. We have a twin engine Beechcraft crammed with
electronic gear and trailing a pair of bombs. Our geophysicist no longer has
to look out the window to see where he is when the needle jumps on his
instruments. The discovery of airborne geophysical anomaly in the Fox Lake
area of northern Manitoba on October 8, 1960 marked the beginning of a new
era for Sherritt Gordon. Men were now forced to conform to some new norm by
machines invented by others. We had an anomaly, we confirmed its location by
ground EM, and by February 1961 we started drilling. We drilled and studied,
studied and drilled. By 1965 we had proven a reserve of 12 million tons of
copper/zinc ore and it was decided we had a mine. By the spring of 1970 the
first ore went through the 3,000 ton per day mill and Sherritt was back in
the copper/zinc business.
At Fox there are no anecdotes about individual prospectors to compare with
the early days of discovery at Sherridon and Lynn, however, there are many
tales which illustrate how man and nature keep life interesting. At one
point, diamond drillers working at our Fox Lake prospect, were dismayed to
see a small forest fire too close for comfort, so they jumped into a nearby
lake and stood in water up to their necks, watching their drill being
consumed by the fire.
Another story concerns one of President Brownıs early visits to the Fox
property. He had landed at Snake Lake and was properly impressed when seven
of the local staff people insisted he take the front seat of the bombardier
as it would be more comfortable than the hard benches at the rear. A mile
down the road they traversed what looked like a small lake, but, it was
really just a big puddle in Manitobaıs newest highway PR 396. The bombardier
filled with water to just over the level of Brownieıs seat while the seven
sat on the uncomfortable benches at the back, high and dry, without even
getting the soles of their feet wet. I have often thought that is a great
way to impress a President.
Then, on one other occasion, Jim McLellan, who was then the Mill Manager,
and Gerry Latimer who was then Chief Mechanic, decided they would move two
1,000 hp diesels to the Fox mine using the old Sherridon winter tradition of
sleighs and tractors. While they were arranging the tractor convoy at Lynn
Lake unbeknownst to them the Manitoba Department of Highways, in an unusual
fit of generosity, decided to plow the snow from Sherrittıs new road to Fox
Lake. The upshot of that generous gesture was that the local contractorıs
D-6 cat which happened to be the pole cat in the convoy hit unexpected bare
gravel and slowly converted itself into two D-3 catsif thatıs what you call
half a D-6.
Now Fox has gone on to be a great little mine, but never really got its day
in the sun in Sherritt because before we got Fox going we found Ruttan. With
more sophisticated airborne gear we found an airborne geophysical anomaly
about 60 miles southeast of Lynn on July 5th, 1968. This was followed by EM
work in July and August. We didnıt drill the anomalies until the following
spring in April 1969. The first shallow hole hit ore so we staked the ground
around it just as spring break-up arrived. Now many things have improved
over the years, but bush radio, in the pre-Cambrian, is still subject to all
kinds of interference. You can imagine the frustration and the excitement in
trying to deal by radio with a new find which appeared to be a big ore body.
We didnıt have enough drills or enough drill rods. During break-up we got
only three holes down 1,000 feet apart, and because we were short of rods,
all the holes stopped in ore. The size of the Ruttan ore body was limited
only by oneıs imagination. The ore body at Ruttan has since been proven at
51 million tons of copper/zinc ore. It was brought into production in 1973
as an open pit with the first copper concentrate being trucked to Lynn Lake
from the 10,000 ton per day concentrator in April of that year. The decision
was made last year to proceed with the development of underground ore with
the production from underground scheduled to begin early in 1979. We have a
modern mining plant in Ruttan, a beautiful and well-laid out townsite at
Leaf Rapids built by the Manitoba Government at great expense, part of
which, we share. The mine and town are connected by a company gravel road,
also very expensive. As the so-called gravel is really 6 inch rounded
glacial boulders to a depth of over 24 inches trapped in 13 miles of
bottomless clay the longest cobblestone street in Manitoba.
As you probably know, the old mine at Lynn Lake struggled down deeper and
deeper for more ore. Unfortunately the grade also went down and the costs
went up so we had to shut her down in mid 1976.
Now thatıs my story of fifty years of up and down. Perhaps I should have
entitled it ³Down and Up² since up is certainly a better note to end it on.
So let me try to turn it around. Despite the depressed metal markets in a
tortuous world economic situation, despite burdensome taxes, and excessive
government regulations in Canada, I am convinced that we will again be ³up²;
for the great qualities of resourcefulness, adventure, imagination,
inventiveness, courage, energy, of the individuals I have talked about
today, are with us still in the people in our industry. Who knows, what
wondrous tales will be told by your luncheon speaker in the year 2028.
Thank You.
_____________________________________________________________________
Unrelated to the above is the second part, of three, covering the 1976 Great
Northern Pike Derby booklet. Scans attached. (Part one appeared in
Newsletter 47.)
Thank you for your time.
Talk to you later. Emil
The newsletter ³A Place To Remember² is my own initiative. It is not
affiliated with, sponsored by, or connected to the Town of Lynn Lake, or the
Lynn Lake website in any way.
ejszekrenyes@sasktel.net
A Place to Remember
P.O. Box 89
Cochin, SK
S0M 0L0
306-386-2245
IN MEMORIAM
On August 25th, Kathy Bastiaanssen wrote: Have some bad news, my father,
ROBERT PACEY, recently passed away, He was 72. He lived up in Lynn for a
number of years and ran the theatre up
there. He had a lot of great memories of the town and the people.
TADEUSH (TED) KRUL
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our husband, father
and grandfather on Tuesday, August 16, 2005 at Arborg Hospital at the age of
68 years.
Ted will be greatly missed by his wife Joyce of 45 years and their children,
Lillian (Ken) Ashley and Rachel Boychuk, Andy (Barbara) Keith and Jocelyn
Krul; Valerie, Mathew and Jason Webb; Alan (Maryann) Krul; Patsy (Shawn)
Tad, Austin and April Decaire; and Tim Krul. He will also be missed by
numerous family and friends.
Ted was born in Ledwyn, MB, June 5,1937, the only child of Alex and Annie
Krul. He married Joyce on October 17,1959 and they settled in the Ledwyn
area. There he drove a school bus, farmed and did winter freighting for
Sigvasonıs, he also was a bartender and did road construction. In 1972 the
family moved to Lynn Lake, MB where Ted worked for Sheritt Gordon Mines
until 1989 then went on to pursue his passion for building cabins and small
engine repair and running a coffee shop.
Ted and Joyce retired in 1997, moving back to the family farm in Ledwyn. Ted
kept very busy during these years hunting, trapping, fixing and driving
around the countryside checking crops. During the winter Ted spent countless
hours on his caterpillar brushing down trees. Family and friends will miss
Tedıs sense of humour and his numerous stories and jokes.
Pallbearers are Stefan Eyolfspn, Mike Hawrysh, Andy and Ed Barylski, Kris
Johnson and Phillip Hryhorchuk. Prayers will be held on Friday, August 19 at
8:00 p.m. at the Arborg MacKenzie Funeral Home. A celebration of his life
will be held on Saturday, August 20 at St. Phillipıs Roman Catholic Church
in Arborg at 2:00 p.m. following the interment at St. Johnıs the Baptiste,
Ledwyn, MB.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Kidney Foundation,
CancerCare Manitoba or the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
Arborg (MacKenzie) Funeral Home in care of arrangements.
FAYE DURUSSELL, recently, at Flin Flon.
--
A Place to Remember
ejszekrenyes@sasktel.net
P.O. Box 89
Cochin, SK
S0M 0L0
306-386-2245
