Tanco Mine
Location | |
---|---|
Location | Bernic Lake |
Province | Manitoba |
Country | Canada |
Coordinates | 50°25′48″N 95°26′47″W / 50.4299554°N 95.4464722°W |
Production | |
Products | Caesium from Pollucite, Spodumene, Tantalum |
History | |
Opened | 1969 |
Closed | Currently open |
Owner | |
Company | Sinomine Resource Group[1] |
Website | https://tancomine.com |
Tanco Mine or Bernic Lake mine is an
The mine has the largest
History
The pegmatite ore body now mined by the Tanco Mine was discovered in the late 1920s and the first mining started in 1929. Several times the mine was closed, reopened and closed, until in 1969 when it was reopened as a tantalum mine.[2]
Cabot Corporation bought the mine in 1993, and began the production of caesium brine from pollucite in 1996.[4]
Tanco Mine was purchased by Sinomine in June 2019. Sinomine paid $135 million with an additional 10-year lithium royalty consideration. Tax impact was unexpected.[1]
Geology
The pegmatite found at the north west shore and below the lake floor of Bernic Lake is a
Deposit
The pollucite (chemical formula (Cs,Na)2Al2Si4O12·2H2O) deposit associated with the pegmatite is the largest known deposit of this mineral and with 350,000 tons,[5] it accounts for two thirds of the known resources.[6] With an estimated average global use of 30,000 kg/year the reserves of the mine would last for 2,000 to 3,000 years.[6] The mined pollucite contains approximately 24% Cs2O.[7] The ore body is 1400 m long, 600 m wide and 100 m deep.[5][8] For several decades the pegmatites at Bernic Lake have supplied the world with the needed caesium.[6]
References
- ^ a b "Cabot Corporation Completes Sale of Specialty Fluids Business". Business Wire. 28 June 2019.
- ^ a b c d "TANCO — Tantalum Mining Corporation of Canada, Ltd" (PDF). Cabot Corporation. 2001. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
- ^ "Tantalum reserves in Canada" (PDF). commerceresources.com. 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-25. Retrieved 2013-07-07.
- ^ "The Tanco Mine". davidkjoyce.com. Archived from the original on 2009-09-30. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
- ^ a b c Černý, Petr; Simpson, F. M. (1978). "The Tanco Pegmatite at Bernic Lake, Manitoba: X. Pollucite" (PDF). Canadian Mineralogist. 16: 325–333.
- ^ a b c Butterman, William C.; Brooks, William E.; Reese, Jr., Robert G. "Cesium" (PDF). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
- ^ Polyak, Désirée E. "Cesium" (PDF). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
- ^ Kremer, P. D.; Lin, S. (2006). "Report of Activities 2006: Structural geology of the Bernic Lake area, Bird River greenstone belt, southeastern Manitoba (NTS 52L6): implications for rare element pegmatite emplacement" (PDF). Manitoba Geological Survey. pp. 206–213.
Further reading
- Garrett, Donald E. (2004). Handbook of lithium and natural calcium chloride: their deposits, processing, uses and properties. Academic Press. pp. 150–157. ISBN 978-0-12-276152-2.
- National Materials Advisory Board (U.S.). Committee on the Technical Aspects of Critical and Strategic Materials (1983). Tantalum and columbium supply and demand outlook. National Academies. p. 23.