VOLUME 28 COPPER CLIFF, ONTARIO, FEBRUARY, 1969 NUMBER 11

Drilling for a Sublevel Caving Blasf -

(Story on Page 9) /L

/Jy ,i'L

Page 2

Published for aH employees of TheInternational Nickel Company of

Canada LimitedD. M. Dunbar, Editor

D. J. Wing, Assistant EditorEditorial Office, Copper Cliff, Ont.

Authorized as second class mall by thePost Once Department, Ottawa, and orpayment of postage in cash.Material contained in Inco Triangleshould not be reprinted unless permissionhas been obtained from The InternationalNickel Company of Canadg, Limited,Copper Cliff, Ontario.

Magazine PromotesSafety of Family

As part of its Off-the-Job safetyprogram for 1969 the Company hasobtained subscriptions to "FamilySafety", a National Safety Councilpublication, for all its employees inthe Ontario Division. This inter-esting and readable magazine con-taJns articles on safety in andaround the home, and is edited tobe of interest to all members of thefamily. The Winter issue wasmailed to the homes of all Incopeople on January 24, accompaniedby a message from division generalmanager J. A Pigott in which he

expressed his concern for thesafety of all members of the Incofamily, away from as well as onthe job.

Among the timely articles con-tained in the Winter issue arethose dealing with safe handlingof babies, techniques for ice rescue,winter driving hazards, power toolpointers and many others.

"Far too many of our people andtheir loved ones are sufferinginjury and death through acci-dents in the home, on the high-way and in the countryside," saidsuperintendent of safety C. F.Hews. "We feel the addition of'Family Safety' to our Off-the-Jobsafety program will be effective inhelping to reduce this toll of acci-dents. There is no doubt that itsbeneficial effect will also be felton our On-the-Job injury experi-ence."

Because of its exceptional duc-tiiLty, commercially pure mckel canbe drawn into fine wire less thanone-thousandth of an inch in dia-meter. A pound of such wire wifistretch 80 mIles.

INCO TRIANGLE

Strong ShowingIn NOCA Bonspiel

Rinks from the Copper Cliff andConiston curling clubs, part of astrong 30-team contingent fromthe Sudbury area, were prominentamong the winners in the NOCA's82nd annual bonspiel at Sault Ste.Marie.

Art Romanick's Copper Cliffrink won the Doran's trophy andwere runners-up for the grandaggregate. Curling with Art in thisfearsome foursome were Moe Pal-maro, Chick McDonald, and SuperBertuzzl.

In the Falconbrldge event Cop-per Cliff's Ken Silver (skip), ArtSilver, Bob Miller and D'ArcyMeehan took the top prize, whileAif Blair (skip), M. Sharko, L.Huddart and R. Coulter finishedthird.

Another Copper Cliff entry ofJoe Sauve (skip), Teddy Leclair,Maurice Curlook the NOCA secre-tary, and Bob Urquhart won theAlgoma Steel event.

Don Dumontelle of Conistonskipped his crew of Ed Traffi, LeoBoyer and Jerry Cleaver to victoryin the Cochrane event, in whichthird and fourth spots were takenby the Copper Cliff rinks of SteveKuzmaski (skip), Jesse Morrison,Vern Tupling and Bifi McCormick,and Doug Gathercole (skip), L.Martel, R. Shore and W. Muraska.

The Conlston entry of J. Fitz-gerald (skip), G. Halverson, R.Spotswood and G. Caverson pickedoff third money in the Playersevent, in which Iourth spot wentto G. MacKinnon (skip), R.Hewitt, K. Scott and H. GrahaMof Copper Cliff.

Frank Mei of Copper Cliff, skip-ping R. Tate, L. Doucette and L.Thompson, came home with firstprize in the KVP event, andanother Copper Cliff rink of Ron(}authier (skip), H. Graham, V.Villeneuve and A. Desloges, pickedup fourth prize in the Inco event.

The Inco event and grand ag-gregate winner, Bert Chisnell ofthe new Sudbury Idylwylde club,subsequently skipped his team tovictory in the Sudbury districtplaydowns of the Canadian curlingchampionship. Another Idylwyldeskip, Bob Ash, won the other play-off berth.

John McCreedy ElectedAssistwu Vice-President

John McCreedy was electedassistant vice-president of TheInternational Nickel Company of

Canada, Limited itwas announced atToronto January 22by Henry S. Win-gate, chairman andchief officer of theCompany.

Mr. McCreedyhas been divisiongeneral manager(Manitoba) sinceMay 1967. He join-

I A ed Internationalc ree y Nickel in 1949 atCopper Cliff as a mine efficiencyengineer and subsequently heldpositions of increasing responsibil-ity in the Company's mines in theSudbury District.

He was appointed manager ofmines in January 1q64 and wastransferred to Thompson, Mani-toba in 1967 following his appoint-

Creigh ton-LivelyHad Fine 'Spiel

Reviving an old habit, RalphBrown turned up as the victoriousskip In the annual Creighton-Lively curling bonspiel stagedjointly by Creighton employeesand the Lively Athletic Associa-tion.

There were 20 rinks of enthusi-astic broom-wielders in this year'sedition of the popular event at theCopper Cliff club, with the calibreof the kibitzing as usual runningneck and neck with the ability ofthe curling.

Bob Boudignon was chairman ofthe 'spiel, assisted by Alex Fex andGary Foy, with Ralph Brown asdrawmaster.

Scoring was on the points sys-tem, with six teams sharing theloot: 1, Ralph Brown (skip), LyleMcGlnn, Gil Davies, Wayne Poul-son; 2, Walter Chornenky (skip),Don Phfflips, Orville Cull, BobWallace; 3, Bob Seawrlght (skip),Moe Leblanc, Walter Marcolini,

FEBRUARY, 1969

After scoring a 7-end against RussMcKessock, Waiter Tuttle gently ap-plies the crying towel to his tearfulvictim.

Gene Dankewich; 4, Ed Knezacek(skip), Bob Boudignon, MauriceCoulter, Bill Horrick; 5, GeorgeStephens (skip), Lacey Cull, AlbertCassell, Red MacDonald; 6, RudyRoman (skip), Nick Trefiak, JimBrady, Peter Hien.

ment as division general manager(Manitoba).

Born in Winnipeg, in 1917, Mr.McCreedy received his bachelor ofscience degree in mining engineer-ing from the University of Torontoin 1949.

Solid SupportFor maximum stability, giant

telescopes are supported on mountsmade of a special Iron-nickel alloywhich neither contracts nor ex-pands with changes in tempera-ture.

John H. Page ElectedAssistant to Chairman

John H. Page has been electedassistant to the chairman of TheInternational Nickel Company ofCanada, Limited, Henry S. Win-gate, chairman, announced Janu-ary 24. Mr. Page, who joinedInternational Nickel in 1965, is avice-president of its United Statessubsidiary, The Interntional NickelCzmpany, Inc.

For four years prior to joiningInternational Nickel, Mr. Page wasexecutive vice-president of theFree Europe Committee, Inc. From1946 to 1961 he held various man-

agement and public relations posi-tions in the Bell Telephone organ-ization, resigning in 1961 as vice-president of the Pacific NorthwestBell Telephone Company.

He is a director of the Inter-national Development Foundation;a member of the Council onForeign Relations; a vice-presi-dent of The American ResearchHospital in Poland, Inc.; and adirector of the Huntington Hoe-pital, Huntington, Long Island.

Mr. Page graduated from Har-vard University in 1942. He ismarried to the former SusanSimonds and resides in Hunting-ton.

Creighton branch manager Al Brown presents the Toronto-Dominion trophy andminiatures to the victorious rink: skip Ralph Brown, Lyle McGinn, Gil Davies,Wayne Poulson.

John Page of New York, newly elected assistant to the chairman, is shown onthe right at a recent conference at Copper Cliff with (from left) D. A. Fraser,assistant general manager (administration), Shane MacKay of Toronto, directorof public affairs, and R. C. Hamer, supervisor oF public affairs.

The broad smiles n this fomily por-trait belong to Thompson T3 shaftstope leader Mike Thomos, his wifeMarie, and their three young live-wires, Valerie, 3, Eric, 5, ond Andrew,6. Both native Manitobans ond mem-bers of the Indian Cree tribe, Mikecame from Easterville, neal GrandRapids, and Mono from Sherridon,north of Fun Flon. Mike left o lifeof hunting ond trapping to join Inco'sManitoba division in 1965, but stillloves to get out on the troil of a deeror moose

Edward PinMIi is the mon responsible for our smilingPort Colborne fomily this month. He hos been a sto-tionary engineer for five yeors ot the nickel refinery,where he started in 1951 in the loathing, colcining ondsirfering department. He ond his wife Maria ore theproud pcren1 of four happy youngsters, Jim, 15, Gorry,10, Lourie, 8, ond Rkky, 7. Ed enoys hunting, fishing,ond bowling. He built his own fine home on WolnutStreet.

It wos in 1948 thatGerry Morin left hishome town of Corn-wall, Ontario, ondtobacco farming, tojoin Into ot Creigh-ton No. 5 shoftwhere he works osa stope boss on the2100 level. Gerry'swife Peggy comesfrom Azildo, ondthe fomily live onRidgemount Avenuein Sudbury. Stond.ing beside his dadis Donny, 13, al-ready olmost os tollos his dad, ondseated ore Stephen,10, Brenda, 11, G -selle, 14, Edith, 5,Koren, 8, and Jef.frey, 7.

When not busy ot his lob os a raise driller at Murraymine, Ckjrence Weist devotes o lorge chunk of his sporetime os chairman of the Murray mine othletic associationond as o peewee hockey coach ot Copper Cliff. Bornond rdsed within sigM of the smelter, Clorence startedworking there in 1954, and was o guide when heswitched to mining at Murray in 1959. His wife Isabelleis o Massey girl, ond their fomily of three ore Bobby, 6,Pom, 10, ond Eddie, 8.

Representing Stobie in this month's othum is theyoung fornily of mining technologist Herb Kuzond his wife Shirley. An Incoite since 1964, Herbstarted with the Compcjny at Frod, and s alevel boss when he transferred to the Stobie engi.neerng deportment. Their chorming youngstersore Jomes, 3, ond Derryl, 10 months. Their finenew home is a stone's throw from Sudbury'sRobinsan loke, where the farmly enoys swimmingond ice skoting. As well os a busy mother,Shirley doubles os o full time nurse at SudburyMemorial Hospitol.

Copper Cliff is horn, to the large and happy family of Noreen aodRoo Gouthier. A Companyemployee since 1948, Ron worked os o sampler with the metallurgical department before hismove to the safety deportment as o first oid man in 1951, ond is stationed at No. 2 chonge house.In the back row ore John, 14, Potrick, 12, Susan, 10, Kevin, 11, ond Grant, 9; seated ore Andrea,18 months, Stephonie, 3, Margon, 5, and Dalton, 7. Mother hcüls from Copreol and is onardent ontique collector. Doddy is o shorp curler.

Page 4 INCO TRIANGLE

Three Frood team stalwarts Len La Stobie 7's hardworkng managermore, Roger Chretien, Howie Neeley. statistician, John Wilson.

FEBRUARY, 1969

Gerry Baronette bursts through Maurice Ayotte and Henry Bkis to nab therebound of his hard drive on Levack's Filion.

Four-Team Inter-Mine Loop"Turns on" Shift Speedsters

"We're not ready for the Rus-sians yet, but we're having a lot offun," said the Frood defencemanas he flopped down on the bench.His team had just absorbed an 8-2licking from Stobie 7 shaft, butthat didn't seem to be hurting toomuch. The fun was the importantpart.

A fast-paced four-team inter-mine hockey league, which hope-fully will expand next year tothclude all Inco mhies In the Sud-bury area, is whlppmg up a lot ofinterest and enthusiasm at Frood,the two Stobie shafts, and Levack.Lots of friendly rivalry andflashes of excellent hockey markevery game.

With financial help from themine athletic associations and themen on their shifts, plus proceedsfrom the odd exhibition game, theteams are making the moneygrade okay. Playing thternationalrules, with no body contact, they'regetting the enjoyment without thewear and tear.

Coaches Do the SufferingIt may all be

good rousingsport for theplayers, but forthe coaches it'ssomething else.Between gamesthey smile, butm the heat ofbattle, withthe honor oftheir shifts atstake, they gothrough all theagonies oftheir NHLcounter p arts,and will prob- Frood goalie Donably wind up Hebert.the seasonwith ulcers growing on theirulcers.

Unsung heroes of the league arethe referees, "Red" Dabous, PeteBodson, Bernie Beaudry, and LenBona.

(Continued on Page 12)

Between games thecoaches are all

Here's a hardy smiles; Stobie 8's

quartet from Stobie Bill Lampert, Le

7: Harold Oram, vack's assistant

Paul Cross, Johnny playing coach Tom

Johnson and Mike Todd, Stobie 7's

Jordan. Harry Thurlow, andFrood's playingcoach Tom Hywarren.

In the Frood team'scheering section areKen Lavalley's wifeJean, and Len La-more's wife Gaileand his mother,Mrs. Edna Lamore.

Hot action at Sudbury Arena as Stobie 8's Roger Wilson zooms pest defenceman Gil Tremblay to score on Levack goalie Bernie Filion.

Stobie 7 coach Harry Thurlow, who admits he seldom sleeps the night beforea game, roars encouragement to his team from players' box.

FEBRUARY, 1969 INCO TRIANGLE Page 5

Ontario Division Safety Championship Trophies Are Presented for 1968Murray and LevackShare Mines Award

For the first time in the historyof the annual safety trophy com-petitions for Inco operations Inthe Ontario division, two mineswere tied for first place in theMines Section.

Levack and Murray finished ina dead heat and will share thehandsome big wood-sculpture tro-phy for the year, each to have iton display for six months.

Murray has won previously sincethe trophy was established in 1962,but for Levack it was first time Inthe top spot, although this minehas rolled up some outstandingperformances in the million-safe-shifts category.

"Both Levack and Murray stagedtremendous improvements overtheir showings of the previousyear, moving to the top from fifthand sixth places in the 1967 stand-ings," safety superintendent C. F.Hews noted in announcing theresults.

Final standing in the competi-tion Is based on three factors,frequency of all injuries, frequencyof lost-time injuries, and injuryseverity.

Creighton came second for 1968,Frood-Stobie third, Garson fourth,and Crean Hill fifth.

Copper Cliff Maintenance TopsCopper Cliff maintenance won

the aU-round safety championshipof the Reduction Section for1968, continuing the supremacyestablished in the preceding yearsby the mechanical and electricaldepartments before they werebrought together under a singleadministration.

Young CanadaCelebrating Minor Hockey Week

in Canada, little leagues all acrossthe country staged exhibitions inwhich the young fry proudlystrutted their stuf for admiringparents and friends.

With all age groups from Squirtsto Midgets participating, the pro-grams gave spectators solid evi-dence of the value of supervlzedsport.

The loyal volunteer coaches whowork with the boys, season afterseason, basked in the reflectedglory of their young proteges.

At Stanley Stadium in CopperCliff the two teams of Squirtsshown on the right, Canadienscoached by Harold Tunney andBruins coached by Pete Zvonko-vich, staged a rousing curtain-raiser to a full night of minorhockey. These pint-sized perform-ers, just emerging from the fail-ing-down stage but full of the oldcollege try, were alone worth theprice of admission. Yacker Flynn,the CCAA minor hockey chairman,was in charge of the excellentprogram.

A fine show was also put on atLevack, an all-day affair whichsaw Squirts, Atoms, Peewees andBantams from West Ferris (NorthBay), and Midgets from Sudbury,battle it out with teams fromLevack's big minor hockey league,of which Jim Conners is chairman.Levack figure skating club alsoput on an enjoyable exhibition.

When statistics were finallytabulated for the year's overallperformance, it was separation andFBR in second place, transporta-tion in third, and convertersfourth. Copper Cliff, Creighton, Le-vack and Frood-Stobie mills camefifth, reverbs sixth, and Conistonsmelter seventh.

Presentation of the trophies tothe superintendents of the victori-ous operations took place at aluncheon at the Copper Cliff Club.CI. R. Green, assistant generalmanager (mining) presented theMines Section trophy to Murraysuperintendent N. R. Creet, and toLevack assistant superintendent G.Bertrim in the absence of superin-tendent D. Lennie. The ReductionSection trophy was presented ta-.maintenance superintendent F. CI.Burchell by J. B. McConnell,manager of reduction plants.

MINES TROPHY PRESENTATION: Murray mine safety engineer A. Petryhynx, superintendent N. R. Creet, G. R. Green,Levack mine assistant superintendent G. Bertrim, safety engineer Hugh Ferguson, and general superintendent of minesM. E. Young.

REDUCTION TROPHY PRESENTATION: Maintenance superintendent F. G.Burchell, J. B. McConnell, G. 0. Machum, assistant general manager (pro-cessing), and G. F. Byers, reduction plants safety supervisor.

Page 6 INCO TRIANGLE FEBRUARY, 1969

on inc0 /0en&onJACK PARftY

A late starter with Inco, JackParry was past 40 when he becamecrushIng plant foreman at theFruod open pit In 1944. Now thespry old tinier has retired on ser-vice pension after nearly 25 yearswith the Company. Born InWigan, Lancashire, England, Jack

Mr. and Mrs. Parry

was a lad of three when his familycame over to Canada In 1907 tosettle In Quebec. Copper mininge Noranda filled his pre-Incoyears. He left the Frood pit tobecome machine shop foreman atNo. 3 shaft, transferred to theCreighton machine shop In 1956,and was foreman there until re-tirement. His marriage to Winni-fred Balkie took place In Rouyn In1934, and their family of three areall represented at moo: Jack Is anelectrician at Creighton, Pat Ismarried t John Malysh, assIstantto the superintendent at Conlstonsmelter, and Jacqueline is the wifeo Stobie maintenance foremanFred Johns. Five grandchildrencomplete the family.

ANDY SOGANiCA fine figure of a man is Andy

Soganic. He doesn't look his 64years, and he doesn't feel them.

"Most of the timeI feel 25 yearsyounger," his voiceboomed from hisbarrel chest. "Just

-- sometimes my legsget a little tired."Retired on specialearly service pen-sion, Andy was astope leader atFrood for nearly 38

A s ,• years. An Austrianoga IC by birth, he left forCanada In 1927, shortly after hismarriage to Anne Valko. Hestarted a.t Frood In 1929, brokehis service In 1935 to visit his wifeand family In Austria and re-turned to the Company the sameyear. HI wife joined him here in1937 and they now have twodaughters and three grand-children. Daughter Mary is thewife of Copper Cliff maintenanceforeman Howard Thomson. "Tellthem at Frood that Andy sendsthem ail a big HI!" was his part-ing message.

HNAT YAGNYCHHnat Yagnych first saw service

with the Mond Nickel Company atLevack in 1925, left there in 1931to farm 50 acres at Larchwood,and commenced what was to be 26years with Inco at Levack in 1942.He was a tract boss when he re-tired on service pension. He mar-ried a Creighton girl, Mary Gorval,

Mr. and Mrs. Yagnych

in 1925, and they have brought upa family of three. Son Rudy is ainotorman at Levack mine. A proudtotal of 12 grandchildren completethe family. StJfl owner of the 50Larchwoocj acres, Hnat wlU staybusy raising beef cattle and tend-ing a kitchen garden.

JOE PYLKOA powderman at Frood for the

last five of his 33 years with Incoat Frood, Joe Pylko is now as free

as the breeze andplans to travel farand wide in hisnew role as a Com-pany special earlyservice pensioner.He came to Canadafrom Poland In1927, and settled InMontreal until hestarted his life asa miner here in

i P Iko 1935. His marriageto Brunice Bodflk

took place in 1930, and theybrought up a family of three.Mrs. Pylko died in 1966. Betweentravels, Joe will be busy visitinghis seven grandchildren.

THOMAS E. GRARAMA familiar figure in the Com-

pany's offices at Toronto for over20 years, Tom Graham has steppedinto retirement and will hence-forth devote his cheerful personal-ity to more relaxing pursuits suchas fishing and motor travel.

Born in Canton, Ohio, In 1899,Tom came to Canada with his

Mr. and Mrs. Graham

parents in 1909. He served withthe Canadian army In both worldwars, in the signal corps in thefirst and in the pay corps in thesecond.

Joining Inco at Toronto in Aprilof 1948, he became supervisor ofthe mall room and messengers,and was also responsible for allcustoms clearances.

His marriage to Edna Jacksonof Toronto took place in 1921.They have one daughter and twograndchildren.

KEITH YOUNGWater has played a prominent

role in the life of retired CopperCliff mill flotation boss Keith

Young, now on service pensionafter 32 years with Inco. Born inCollingwood, on the shores of LakeHuron, Keith salied in the GreatLakes freighters before he joinedthe Company in 1936, and duringhis years at the mill experiencedmost of the water-handling jobs

there. Clara Rice became his wifein 1930 and they have a familyof two, with five grandchildren.An ardent amateur prospector,Keith is considering a move toManitoulin Island where he candouble as a rock hound and easy-going fisherman.

PAUL REBACK"I'm not used to this life of day-

light," said Murray mine servicepensioner Paul Reback. "I feel abit like a gopher does in thespring." A skip tender at the minefor the past eight years, Pauljoined Inco at Creighton in 1942,

Mr. and Mrs. Reback

moved to Murray in 1945. Born inPoland, he came to Canada in128, and settled for western rail-roading before becoming a miner.His marriage to Anne Chlahotnytook place in Sudbury in 1942.Their daughter Joyce is the wifeof Copper Cuff geological depart-ment draftsman Jack Varier. Onegrandson completes the family.

BARNEY CAVERSONBarney Caverson's experience in

the nickel industry dates back to1918 when, as a youngster of 12, hestarted work in the Creighton

Mr. and Mrs. Caverson

mine rock house for the CanadianCopper Company. That was fouryears after his father moved hisfamily from Italy and settled inConiston. Now on special early

pension after 35 years with Inco,Barney's service started at Conis-ton in 1933; he transferred to thecopper refinery in 1944, and was ablacksmith there until retirement.Coniston was the scene of hismarriage to Mary Caberlin in 1926,and they have five of a familywith 14 grandchildren. Son Ray isa special projects asssitant atCopper Cliff. Barney hasn't tra-velled much, but now plans to doso. "And I'm going to see Canadafirst," he said.

ALFRED CHRISTOFFERSENAs a young man of 22, Alfred

Christoffersen left his home inDenmark in 1925, "to spend a yearor two in Canada." But he likedthe place, and now, after 27 yearswith Inco, the Copper Cliff con-verter skimmer has rttred on serv-ice pension. His marriage to Irene

Mr. and Mrs. Christoff ersen

Doran took place In Winnipeg in1942, and they have brought up afamily of three. "It's too late nowto go back," said Alfred. "Iwouldn't know anybody any more."He and his wife are relaxing intheir comfortable Gatcheli homeand planning their garden for thecoming spring.

MIKE DOSKOCZMike Doskocz has raised homing

pigeons in Conston for as longas he's worked for Inco, and that's

35 years. Now thathe's retired on ser-vice pension, he'flbe able to give hisfull attention tohis 50 featheredfriends. Mike came

• to Canada from the• Ukraine in 1923,

and started withthe Company firstin 1929. He broke

M. Doskocz his service in 1930,was married in

Winnipeg to Mary WociechowskiIn 1931, and returned to theCompany at Coniston in 1933. Hehas been a blacksmith at Garsonsince 1940. He and his wife havea family of one daughter and onegrandson.

GINO FURLANIWell known to the many

patients who have passed throughthe Copper Cliff hospital since hestarted there as an orderly in1931, cheerful little Gino Furlanihas retired on service pensionafter nearly 40 years with Inco.

Mr. and Mrs. Furlani

Gino made the trip from his hometown of Fano, Italy, to Canada in

FEBRUARY, 1969 INCO TRIANGLE Page 7

1927, and before his move to thehopita1 spent three years withthe Copper Cliff transportationdepartment. He and his wife,Josephine Desanti when they weremarried In 1934, have a family offour, with 10 grandchildren. Onlyfive foot four In his stockingedfeet, Gino packs a lot of poweras many a patient will confirm,"With my background, my wifeteUs me I'll make a pretty goodassistant housekeeper," he saidwith his customary good-naturedsmile.

GEORGE UEARNFrom motorman at Stobie to full

time rancher at Worthington Isthe change that George Hearn'sretirement on disability pensionhas brought about. His 27 yearswith moo started at Frood, and hemoved over to Stobie six years ago.Two Worthington natives wereunited when George exchanged

Mr. and Mrs. Hearn

marriage vows with Myrtle Dock-rell in 1939. 01 their family offour, daughter Pat is the wife ofCreighton driller John Macke-v1cio, and identical twin sonsGerry and Dick are Crean Hillminers, and diesel loaderman andtrammer boss reectively. George's75-acre spread currently supportsfive head of registered Herefordcattle, and he plans to enlargehis herd to 30.

ARM JACOBSONWith a yen for the great out-

doors, both summer and winter,and with many relatives to visit

in the Sudburyarea, early servicepensioner Arni Ja-cobson figures he'llhave little trouble

.,, , staying active Inretirement. A na-

I tive of Copper Cliff,he worked on thecopper refineryconstruction beforehe joined the Corn-

A J obson pany at Frood openOCpit in 1935 as a

haulage truck driver. In lateryears he was a driver at the Clara-belle open pit, and for the last yearof his service was a maintenancemechanic at the Frood-Stobie mill.A Worthington girl, Sara Pentti-nen, became Arnfs bride in 1938.

GEORGE WALLIGeorge Warn's name has been

transferred from the Company'semployee files to the pensionerfiles. "But there are still Wallsat Inco," said George proudly,"and four of them are my sons."A converter blaster for all of his32 years at Copper Cliff, Georgehas retired on special early servicepension. He and his wife, TyyneVahamaki when they were mar-ried in 192'l, have a family of six.Vilho is a tripperman at theCreighton mill, Arvo Is a garagemechanic at Levack, George Jr. isa process chemist at Levack, andEtnar works at the Company's J.

Mr. and Mrs. Walli

Roy Gordon research laboratorynear Toronto. A grand total of 14grandchildren rounds out thefamily.

LEN BOLTONStill full of vim and vigor, Len

Bolton has retired on special earlyservice pension after 35 years with

moo as an electri-cian at Frood, andnow plans to de-velop his 76-acreproperty on LakeNiplssing. Born InWigan, Lancashire,England, he madehis move to Canadain 1929, and startedwith the Companyin 1931. His mar-

B fton riage to Rose Jolley° of Hanmer tookplace In 1937. Mrs. Bolton died in1965. Their fansily of three ismatched by a similar number ofgrandchildren. Son Ken is amotorman at Creighton.

FRED STEPANCHUKWith time on his hands after 33

years with Inco at Frood, specialearly service pensioner Fred Ste-pancthuk is considering a visit tobrothers and sisters In the Uk-

Mr. and Mrs. Stepanchuk

ralne whom he hasn't seen sincehe left there for Canada in 1928.Fred has been a motorman for thelast 18 years. His bride of 1938was Anne Kosak, and their mar-riage was blessed with two daugh-ters. Natalie lives In Toronto, Olgadied in California last year.

ALBERT FONTAINAlbert Fontain has woked at

Frood for all of hIs 26 Inco years,and he spent the last 23 of themas a toplander. A disability pen-sioner, Albert was born and

Mr. and Mrs. Fontain

brought up In Blind River, andin 1933 was married to GracePaquette, a Chelmsford girl. Oneof their family of three, Rene Isa pumpman at the Creighton mill.Five grandchildren round out the

family. A camp on Cache Lakewill provide summer relexation forthe Fontains.

BILL SHACKBill Shack's retirement on early

service pension, after 37 years withmoo at Copper Cliff, has ended along partnership with the smeltercranes. It started In 1930, eightyears after he left his nativeUkraine, when he joined the Com-pany as a baleman In the con-verter building. Re moved up to

Mr. and Mrs. Shack

the crane cab in 1942, and was acraneman in the casting and cool-ing building during the latter partof hi service. Lena Tataryn andBill were married in Sudbury In1932, and have a family of two.Favorite entertainment of theShacks Is watching famous hockeyson Eddie on televised NHL games."When he played with Torontowe often travelled down to thegames," said Bill. "Boston's justa little too far."

JIM MOTTRAMA Frood miner since he came to

Inco In 1933, JIm Mottram hasoperated the ore car tipple on

2800 level Ior the- . last 15 years. He

-. has retired on spe-cial early servicepension after morethan 35 years withthe Company. BornIn Lewisham, Inthe county of Lon-don, England, Jimwas two when hisfamily left there to

fir settle in Quebec• a am and 15 when theymoved west to farm In Saskat-chewan. His 1930 marriage toVera Johns took place in Sudbury,and they have a family of threewith three grandchildren. Mrs.Mottram has been confined to awheel chair since 1950.

ANTTI RIUTTAAntti Riutta worked for the

Mond Nickel Company at Levackbefore be was hired at Creighton

Mr. and Mrs. Riutfa

in 1933. Now, with 35 Companyyears behind him, he has retiredon early service pension. He wasa skip tender for the past 11 years.Born in Toholampi, Finland, heleft for Canada In 1928, twomonths after his marriage toHanna Koivisto. She joined himin Sudbury in 1929 and they havea family of three. Daughter EllenIs the wife of iron ore plant

machinist Ed Lahti. They havefive grandchildren, two In Sudburyand three in Sault Ste. Marie.

BUD HALLBud Hall is quite content with

his two new occupations. "Sum-mers I'll be a self-employed put-terer at my Vermilion Lake camp,and winters will be spent as a full-time TV fan watching all the

Mr. and Mrs. Hall

hockey and football games." Budhas retired on service pensionafter 37 years with moo as a car-penter at Frood. Annabelle Gumbecame his bride in 1929 and theirfamily of two are Bud Jr., an oper-ating shaft boss at Frood, andMarilyn who is the wife of CopperCliff combustion technician DonHarry. Seven grandchildren com-plete the happy family group.

GEORGE MITCHELLGeorge Mitchell's service with

the Company would have been 40years instead of 28 if he hadn'tbroken his strIng in 1937. A Frood

switch conductor-. for the last 10 years,

George has retiredon disability pen-sion. Born in Ud-dington, Lanark-shire, Scotland, he

"' crossed the AtlanticIn 1925, farmed for

i awhile inMani-

G Mu h II toba, and joinedIncofor the first

time at F'rood in 1928. He returnedto Frood in 1939. He married Mrs.Matilda Danis, who had one son,In 1936, and since then a grand-child has been added to the family.George and his wife enjoy theSudhury area and will continue asresidents of New Sudbury.

GUERRINO LUGLIWith a proud total of nearly 40

years with Inco at Copper Cliff,Guerrino Lugli has downed his

Mr. and Mrs. [ugh

carpenter's tools to retire on serv-ice pension. He left Pesoro, Italy,for Canada in 1926, and joIned thetransportation department in 1928.His move to the mechanicaldepartment came In 1940, andsince then most of his skills withthe plane and saw have beenapplied to Copper Cliff housing.His bride of 1930, Mary Frattini,died in 1955 after presenting himwith a family of four. His secondmarriage to Prderi Ornella tookplace in 1960.

/

HANGING *ALLFOOTWALL -

I CAVING ROCK

FOOTWALLACCESSORIFT ' ii j I // jf /1 / 1/ ORE

PRODUCTION LH.D. MACHINE -

\ // HihH!!!!j!iHLjI!!j!!:ij

PRODUCTION LHDMACNE ORE

\ V,7 ( ) LOADING BLAST HOLES' SLOT CUT OFF

I / i/Ill ISLOT DRIFT

\c\ II I I

ci I ') DRILLING DRILL RIG IORE FSS SLOT DRIFT

\V/T DEVELOPMENT DRILL JUMBO I IIIIIIL'\

\V//Drawing by Orest Andrew

\ / Sublevels Interconnected by Inclined Ramp

\ / Cutaway view showing progress of sublevel caving operations. The footwall\ ( access drifts, which serve as haulage ways on the various mining horizons, are\ \ interconnected by an inclined ramp located in the footwall and not shawn\ \ in this view.

Studying General LayoutCareful planning is vital to the success of anymining method. Shown studying the generallayout of the sublevel caving program atStobie are: seated, assistant mine superinten-dent Milt Jowsey, underground superintendentTed Flanagan, mine engineer Gerry Smith;standing, area engineer Merv Dickhout, divi-sional foreman Guy Hunter, layout engineerClaudio Barsotti, and assistant mine geologistDon Stephenson.

FEBRUARY, 1969 INCO TRIANGLE Page 9

SUBLEVEL CAVINGCOMING ON STRONG

A new major method of mining at InternationalNickel, sublevel caving is now firmly established atStobie mine, demonsfraling marked advantages inefficiency and safety in the recovery of a large lower-grade orebody.

It's the moat extensive use yetmade of "trackless" mining atInco. In the mine just below1,000 level at Stobie, where theinitial sublevel caving program isin full swing, practically every-thing is on rubber-tired wheels -huge load-haul-dump machinesthat remove the ore in 6-ton bites,highly mechanized 3-boom drilljumbos, 2-machine fan drill rigsfor uphole drilling, secondary drillrigs for roof bolting, and busyservice vehicles. Operating withcomplete mobility in big widecrosscuts and haulage ways, thisconcentration of specialized equip-ment presents an exciting modernmining scene.

Orderly, Clean-Cut TechniqueNot as spectacular as the equip-

ment involved, but even moreinteresting from the miner's pointof view, Is the orderly clean-cutnew mining technique being intro-.duced.

Sublevel caving can be describedbriefly as a method of mining anorebody from a system of sub-levels, in a series of vertical slices,and removing the broken ore withthe assistance of controlled cavingof the hanglngwall rock.

A bulk mining method, it is usedin a large lower-grade orebodywhere a more selective ff1 methodis not required. It is used onlywhere Induced caving of the hang-ingwail does not disturb the over-all operation of the mln& Becauseit allows a higher degree of controlof the hanglngwall caving, it willeventually replace the conven-

tional blasthole open stoping andpillar recovery at Stobie mine, andwill be used exclusively in the newLittle Stobie mine, scheduled tocome into production later thisyear. It will also be applied insections of the ?turray and Froodmines which lend themselves tothis type of operation.

Maximum ProtectionThe compact nature of this bulk

mining technique, and its closecontrol of the caving feature, com-bine to provide maximum protec-tion for the miner, who at alltimes has the advantage of strongoverhead cover. The mechanizedequipment he is using also con-tributes to his safety in enablinghim to work at a distance frompotential danger.

A good working environment Isassured by the mine's powerfulventilation system, which sendsfresh air coursing freely throughthe big haulage ways and croescutsat the rate of 900,000 cubic feet perminute. Inco's strict procedures.covering the underground opera-tion of diesel-driven equipmenteliminate objectionable fumes. Alldiesel units are fitted with the

Driving a CrosscutDriving one of the sublevel cross-cuts, which extend the full width ofthe orebody, this 3-boom drilljumbo makes short work of a 10-foot round. Under the directionof the shift boss the face is pre-marked for the guidance of thedriller. The drills are positionedhydraulically and operated by com-pressed air from the central console.The jumbo is driven by an air-cooled diesel engine equipped withan oxy-catalytk exhaust scrubber.The duller shown at the console,wearing approved hearing protec-tion, is Mario Tombari.

te

--.

DRILL SJMBO

n

I

Drawing by Orest Andrews

Sectional View of Crosscut SystemA sectional view of sublevel caving showing the location of the crosscuts andthe drilling pattern of upholes used to blast the ore.

most advanced type of oxy-cata-lytic scrubbers, and a rigid sched-ule of atmospheric tests Is main-tained, providing protection farexceeding government regulath.

:"H, •,'J, :

LHD, MAcsINE

LHDMACHINE

LOADING BLAST HOLES

FAN DRILL RIG

I

._J L____J LJ!_J

Preparathry development for sub-level caving consists of driving aswltchback ramp in the footwall,to connect the mining horizons for

((ontInueiI on l'age t I)

Page 10 INCO TRIANGLE FEBRUARY, 1969

Sublevel Caving Inco's Biggest Use Yet of Trackless Mining

THE FRONT COVER

Drilling BlastholesThis is the type of fan drill rig usedin sublevel caving to drill off 5-footslices of ore in mining the extractioncrosscuts. Starting at an angle of55 degrees in the shoulder of thecrosscut, 10 holes are drilled ina fan-shaped pattern overhead,varying in length to 40 feet at theapex, and spaced so that the toesare 5 feet apart. The pattern isinclined at 85 degrees toward thehangingwall. Rubber-tired and air-operated, the rig has a dial on itsconsole to guide the driller in set-ting the incline of the two drills.When drilling, the rig is stabilizedby four hydraulic jacks. Shown atthe console is longhole drillerArnold Service,

Loading for BlastPreparing to blast a 5-foot slice ofore drilled off overhead in a cross-cut, a crew is charging the "fan"of upholes with onfo )ammoniumnitrate-fuel oil) blasting agent.Operated by compressed air, theloading device blows the anfothrough the hose and up into theholes. Polyethylene film is spreadto catch and remove spillage ofanfo from the loading operation toprevent possrble accumulation ofammonia fumes. In this loadingcrew are, left to right, Bob Hart,Gene Bedard, and Jean Cyr.

Willing WorkhorseA load-haul-dump machine, ecgerbig workhorse of trackless' min-ing, has loaded its 5-yard bucketwith broken ore after a blast in asublevel caving crosscut, and istaking off for the ore pass. Despiteits length (27 feet) and weight (17tons) it manoeuvers with amazingspeed and dexterity at the con-sole commands of its operator,Olaf Nylund. The crosscut is 16feet wide, and the machine alter-nates from one side to the otherin mucking Out the blast.

SUBLEVEL CV1NGCOMING ON STRONG

(Continued from Page 9)ea.sy Interchange of mobile equip-ment. The ramp, 14 feet wide by12 feet high, Is driven at a fairlysteep Incline of 20%. An ore pass,Is also driven in the footwall tofunnel the ore down to the mainhaulage level below, where it istrammed to the crushing station.

Establish Crosscut SystemsFrom the ramp, horizontal sub-

leveJs are developed in the orebodyat 30-foot intervals, each withaccess to the ramp and connec-tions with the ore pass. Each sub-level consists of an access driftwhich serves as a haulage wayalong the footwall contact, con-nectthg up a system of crosscutsspaced 20 feet apart and driven thefuLl width of the orebody, which

may vary up to 300 feet. Thecrosscuts are 16 feet wide and 12feet high, and are roof-bolted forprotection, with wire mesh screenalso Installed wherever necessary.The crosscuts are offset on alter-nate levels to maintain goodground conditions and provide thebest possible control of orremovaL

Since all the sublevel develop-ment work is in the orebody, thesublevel caving method has theunique advantage of being ü.business" right from the drop othe hat. It is the only type ofmining in which all developmentwork Is actually ore production. Asthe crosscuts are drilled off by the3-boom Jumbo6 hi 10-foot roundsand b1ated, the load-haul-dumpmachines move smartly in to scoopup the muck and transport it tothe ore pass.

B1astho1e in "Fan" PatternWhen sufficient development hasbeen completed on the top 3ub-level, fan drill rigs are moved intothe crosscuts and the ore overheadis drilled off in vertical slices 5feet thick. The holes are drilledin a fan-shaped pattern, inclinedtoward the hangingwall at 85degrees for better brow control,and vary in length up to 40 feet.

When drilling is sufficiently ad-vanced a s'ot opening 40 feet highis blasted at the hangingwall endof each crosscut from the slot driftthrough to the slot cutoff drift. Asthe broken ore from the slot isremoved by a load-haul-dumpmachine, caved hanglngwall rockfollows down by gravity to fi1 theopening.

Blasting of the drilled slices ofore is then commenced. The drilllles are loaded and blasted with

After a fast trip bock through the crosscut and along thehaulage way, Olaf Nylund's load-haul-dump machine isshown here dumping its 6-ton load into the ore passthrough which the muck travels down to the main haulagelevel below, where it is trammed to the crusher. Like allother diesel-powered underground equipment, the machineis fitted with an oxy-catalytc scrubber to remove oblection-able exhaust fumes.

anfo, the combination of am-monlum nitate and fuel oil, whichs blown up tht the hol by afr-operated kaders. Polyethy1eie filmis spread to catch spillage of anloin the loading operation and avoidgeneration of ammonia fumes.

Breaks Against Rock CubIonIn blasting, the slice of ore

breaks against the backdrop ofcaved hangingwall rock, whichcushions and contains the blast sothat the broken ore can be readilyremoved by a load-haul-dumpmachine without rock dilution. Aseach slice is mueked out, thecushion of hanglngwall rock fol-lows in behind, the pressure of itsweight then as1stlng hi the re-moval of the broken ore.

As full-scale production in theupper sublevel gets underway,mining proceeds on additionalsublevels until a series is hi oper-ation, with straight ore productionon the uppermost, fan drilling onthose immediately below, and acontinuing program of subleveldevelopment at the lower horizons.

The orderly development andsequenced removal of mined ore bymechanized equipment makes sub-level caving a highly efficient bulkmining methocL It is used exten-sively in Sweden, and when it wabeing planned for introduction atthe Companys mines in the Sud-bury district, several Swedishmines were visited by an Incoparty of G. R. Green, as8istantgeneral manager (mining), R. J.Hall, assistant chief mines engi-ne, nd W. J. Taylcr, min re-search engineer, to observe itsoperation.

AND TUE FIGHT WAS ONThe proud Lather was talking

about the intelligence of his son.You know, dear," he told hIs

wile, I think he must have gothis brains from me.'

He certainly must," retorted h1wife. 'lye still got mine.'

Red Hot BrakesAddition of small amounts of

nickel to the cast iron used inbrake drums for heavy construc-tion equipment has made it poe-sible for the drums to operate tored heat without fajiure.

Page 12 INCO

Dunc White Top Skip in Refinery 'Spiel

TRIANGLE FEBRUARY, 1969

J. A. Pigott presents to Sudbury hospital council chairman Gordon Browningthe first of five $500,000 cantributions by International Nickel over the nextfour years.

Inco Gives $2.5 Million brSudbury Hospitals Expansion

A gift of $2.5 million to the capital building campaign of theSudbury and District Hospital Council was announced January 20by International Nickel.

In a ceremony at Sudbury J. A. Pigott, assistant vice-presidentand division general manager (Ontario), presented a cheque for$500,000 to Gordon Browning, chairman of the hospital council.The balance of the Inco gift will be contributed in instalments of$500,000 each over the next four years.

Inco's donation raised the total amount received by thehospital council from private and municipal sources to $8.5million of its $10 million campaign goal. Government grantsare expected to amount to another $20 million.

Four hospitals serving the Sudbury area will benefit from thecapital building program. St. Joseph's plans to build a newhospital to be known as Laurentian Hospital, and part of thepresent St. Joseph's facilities will continue in use to house about75 patients with chronic illnesses. Renovation and expansion isalso planned at the Sudbury General and Sudbury Memorialhospitals, and Sudbury Algoma Sanatorium.

A large share of - -the credit for thesuccess of the re-finery 'spiel went to

-

the drawmasters,Howard Caldwell,Dunc White andWes Hart. Popularpensioner BarneyCaverson came outof retirement toskip the winningrink in the second.event; he's shown here receiving the A. C. Kerr trophy and prizes from WayneWilson, with his team of George Trimmer, Al Zandri and Phil Lindsay. Runners-up were Jack Maclnnes (skip), Jerry Rienguette, Mike Cirella, Don Ley. Thecurlers appreciated a fine buffet dinner served by the curling club caterer,Mrs. Estelle Johnstane.

Live-wire athleticassociation secre-tary Bud Eles step-ped in to presentthe C. 8. Mathewsmemorial trophy c_iand prizes to thevictors in the thirdevent, Leo Pevato(vice-skip), RichardDuguay, Gabe Pre- 1kvast; skip of thisrink was Graham Dick. Runners-up were Percy Lorocque (skip),Tom Whitesid,, Rick Barrett.

Tony Huska,

"Homecoming" for John Shaw at Copper Cliff

Four-TeamInter-Mine Loop

(Continued trom Page 4)

Levack is on top of the heap,closely followed by Stobie 7 shaft,Frood, and Stobie 8, in that order.Playoffs get underway the weekof February 17, with the Frood-Stobie A.A. trophy at stake.League games have been played atSudbury Arena and Copper Cliff'sStanley Stadium, but CapreolArena will probably also be usedduring the playoffs, which will gothree games in the semis and fivein the finals.

During the season the teamshave sharpened their shooting Inexhibition matches against suchlineups as Warren, Sturgeon, GoreBay, Elliot Lake, Levack Old-Timers, and Creighton mine.

Personnel of TeamsAt Levack, playing coach Maur-

ice St. Amour has had good goal-scoring help from Maurice Ayotteand Ron Roy; others on his teamare T. Todd, J. Janahawski, H.Blais, G. Smith, 0. Tremblay, E.Lavigne, M. Carriere, L. Bla.seg, D.Stewart, A. Brazeau, J. Proulx, B.

Filion, R. Rivet, M. Charbonneau,D. Amyotte, T. Del Mastro, A.Tremblay.

Eddie St. Martin, Gerry Renkers,and Sonny Pelletier are big goal-getters for coach Harry Thurlowof Stobie 7 shaft; also In his line-up are M. Jordan, J. Marriott, B.Coyne, S. Pelletier, J. Johnson, M.Blanchet.te, P. Cross, H. Orarn, D.Crawford, A. Gauthier, J. Lacey,D. True.

Dave Thnms has been one ofthe big producers for playingcoach Tom Hywarren of Frood 3shaft. His lineup includes DanHebert, H. Neeley, A. Rivet, W.Dearing, J. Gibson, A. Tryon, R.Chretien, K. Lavalley, L. Lamore,R. Kerr, C. Labti, B. Petran.

Stobie 8 shaft's team has a high-class hockey connection In thatgoalie Armand Desjardlns is abrother of Gerry DesJardlns, net-minder of the Los Angeles Kings.Coach Bill Lampert's hottestscorers include Gerry Baronette,Bill Manning and Don Boucher.Others in the lineup are R. Plette,R. Rickard, R. Wilson, S. Bastar-ache, G. Cole, R. Corneau, R.Leduc, G. Ellison, G. Brideau, R.Pharand, M. Labbe, S. Gervals,D. Norman, W. O'Neill, D. Mc-Cormick, J. Imbeau.

Good fellowship reigned supreme during the annual banspiel staged at CapperCliff by the capper refinery's active athletic association, with 80 curlers andnear-curlers enjoying the fun. Winners of the first event are shown above:Harry Lanning, Al Cruthers, John Koski, and skip Duncan White, receivingtheir trophy and prizes from president Wayne Wilson. Runners-up wereRally Roy (skip), Brian Rogers, Emil Jolicoeur, Brian King.

When he came up from Inca New York to address the Sudbury Branch of theCIMM on Ocean Mining, in which he is now engaged in wide-ranging researchbr the Company, executive assistant John Show enjoyed a real "homecoming".He renewed many friendships of the years 1954 to 1960 when he was stationedat Copper Cliff, developing electra-magnetic gear for geophysical exploration.He's shown above, second from the left, with chief geophysicist John Dowsett,pilot engineer Norm Linnington, geophysical technician Tom Turgeon, andresearch geophysicist Gus Leask.

FEBRUARY, 1969

Well insulated in herhooded one-piecewind - proof tobog-gan suit, lngrid Con-way shows goodracing form as shesolos the familymachine around thetrack. Reports haveit that the sport hasinspired some dili-gent weight-watch-ing - the less youweigh the faster youcan travel.

Power Toboggan FansHave Club at Thompson

The conversation was very tech-nical and the atmosphere washeavy with the fumes of gasolineand lubricating oil. Terms like

souped - up," lean mixture,""domed high compression heads,""over bore," and "tuned exhaust,"tilled the air along with the roarof revving engines.

The scene - complete withcrash - helmeted and be - goggleddrivers - might have been in thepits at a race car track but it wasa weekend get-together in theclubhouse of the Thomp8on PowerToboggan Club.

Incorporated in 1963, and with acurrent membership of 55, theclub's headquarters comprise a20 x 40 foot building and a circu-lar super-elevated track one-thirdof a n1e around, 1ocjted a mile orso south of town. "Let's face it,"said Frank Montieth, the club'spresident since it was formed, "ourmachines make a lot of noise. Thisway we don't disturb anybodyexcept maybe the Thompsonturkeys and a squirrel or two."

Other club officers are vice-president Harry Towes, secretaryTed Smith, treasurea Bob Cunie,and publicity man Ed Bolig.Membership fee is a yearly $15

INCO TRIANGLE

Air-borne at close to 50 miles an hour,expert tobogganer Gordon Fosterjumps his machine on the club's cir.cular race track. He is a timbermanat the Company's Thompson mine.

and entitles a member to use ofthe clubhouse and the race track.

The group's big event s theirannual "Hullabaloo" held on thelast weekend in March, and duringthe two days of npetitn, rwersvie for a big bundle of prize moneyand trophies.

It's a mixed club with enthusi-astic participation by both wivesand girl friends. The ladles havetheir own annual event In the"Powder Puff Derby," whichusually attracts some 30 flying fe-males who demonstrate that some-times the weaker sex can be prettydurable.

A relatively new sport, powertobogganing has won tremendouspopularity across Canada. North-ern Manitoba temperatures evendown to 40 below don't deter en-thusiastic Thompson fans, who

Planning Safe NewAlways a step ahead with their

concern for formulating a soundset of safety rules and practicescovering the use of new equipmentand operational innovations, mem-bers of the Company's Manitobadivision salety department werephotographed In discussion withtransportation personnel at theThompson smelter.

Gathered around one of the three1800-h.p diesel locomotives thatwill operate on Inco's new railroadlinking Soab and Pipe mines withthe Thompson plant are, in theforeground, maintenance superin-tendent John MacDougall, plant

Page 13

regularly organize 50-mile cross-country races from the clubhouseto Paint Lake and back, "Someof the bigger 52-h.p machines canstep along at 70 miles an hour,"said club member Gordon Foster."And believe me, a driver has tobe well insulated to enjoy winterweather at thai speed. But it'sa terrific game."

Bi-monthly race meets drawlarge erowth of speotatom, and arepopular with the younger set whoenjoy the thrill of free ridesaround the circuit.

Railroad Operationsafety engineer Will Lederhaus,transportation supervisor MikeBabulic, heavy equipment foremanJim Kennedy, dispatcher JohnSouth, labor foreman Steve Ogrod-nick, and yardmaster Ken Mac-Donald. On the loco are safetyengineer Bernie Whalen, brakemanGlen Finney, locomotive engineerJack McKinnon, and track fore-man Gordon MacDonald.

Inco's World StatureIs Growing Steadily

Ron jour. Guten morgen. Buongiorno. Buenas dias. Those areamong the greetings that can beheard every day at offices of Inter-national Nickel. And in English,you can hear these greetings witha South Afrloan, Canadian, Amer-ican, British or Australian accemt.

Inco and its distributors havecentres in principal cities of theFree World, helping industriessolve metal problems by keepingthem up to date on the latestmetallurgical developments.

Then there are growing numbersof Inco mines, research labor-atories, and exploration unkts Inmany parts of the Free World.Facilities of that magnitude meanjobs and raised standards of living.They mean international cooper-ation between governments fortheir mutual benefit.

Exploring, mining, comductingmetals research, providing newalloys to meet the needs of Indus-try, International Nickel is attain-ing steadily increasing world sta-ture as a pillar of progress.

Some of the 55 members of the Thompson Power Toboggan Club, lined up with their machines alongside their brandnew clubhouse, are Ray and Ingrid Conway with daughters Ruth and Margaret, Bob and Pat Powell, Walter andBetty Klym with Carol Anne, Ted Smith with daughters Connie and Bonnie, Ed Bolig, Frank Montieth with Kelvin andTen Koutecky, bewded Gordon Foster, and Bob and Marg Currie with their youngsters Dawn and Kevin.

Pulling the FingerOn that Elusive

15th Element

Inco scientists Alex Illis and Allan Manson are shown with asample of the blue-gray osmium powder won at long lastfrom Inco's Sudbury District or's. Behind them is the originaldistillation apparatus used in the osmium recovery experiments.Both men have since moved from the Copper Cliff researchdepartment to the new J. Roy Gordon research laboratoryat Sheridan Park, near Toronto, Mr. Illis as technical assistantto the director and Mr. Manson as senior research chemist.

A STORY of tenacious and imag1natve researchover a long period of time lay behind the

announcement that the familiar family of 14elements Inco recovs from it Sudbury Districtores had been increased to 15.

Alter an eight-year campaign by scientists ofthe research department at Copper Cliff, with theassistance of colleagues at the copper and nickelrefineries, as well as other departments of theoperations, the extremely scarce and elusive ele-ment osmium wa successfully tracked down andcornered.

Symbolic of DeterminationThis outstanding achievement was announced in

the Company's 1966 annual report in the followingterms: "Symbolic of the professional determinationof our research staff to wrest the maximum pos-sible number of elements from our ores is theperfection in our laboratories in 1965 of a processto recover the sixth and last remaining platinum-group metal, i.e., o6mium. Thus we have started,if oniy on a modest scale, the recovery of afifteenth element".

With this "blessed event", the family of ele-ment recovered by International Nickel became:nickel, copper, Iron, cobalt, sulphur, gold, silver,platinum, palladium, iridium, rhodium, ruthenium,

It's in plain enough sight on the Periodic Chartof the Atoms, but extracting it from Sudbury orewas something else.

Joe Bischoff, works metallurgist at the copper refinery, ChrisDunkley, assistant manager of the refinery, and Walter Cur-look, assistant to the general manager, are pictured as theyworked on development of a mechanical flow diagram for thepractical extraction of osmium.

FEBRUARY, 1969 INCO TRIANGLE Page 15

selenium, tellurium and osmium.It was almost inevitable that

this latt Inco stride in extrac-tive metallurgy would, like theCompany's first production ofhigh-grade iron ore at CopperCliff in 1956, be likened to "gettingeverything out of the pig but thesqueal". ActuaUy the recovery ofosmium came pretty close to bag-ging the squeal itself.

Osmium occurs in only veryminute trace quantities in theSudbury ores, and is closely associ-ated with the other platinum-group metals, platinum, palladium,iridium, rhodium and ruthenium.

Undetect.ed for YearsBecause it L present in such

minute quantities, it went unde-tected for many years. In 1q57 theresearch department at CopperCliff made an intensive search forosmium with the object of ascer-taining how much was actuallypresent in the Company's Sudburyores, and what happened to it atvarious stages between mine andreñnery.

When it was established thatthere was a very small amount ofosmium associated with the plati-num-group metals, a program wasundertaken to separate and re-cover this elusive trace element.

Testwork continued for some twoor three years in the laboratory,after which mini-plant scale test-work was undertaken. At thisstage, process engineers from oper-ations were introduced to theproblem to assist with devising apraotlcal scheme for recoveringEemen 15.

Its Secret RevealedOne important characteristic of

osmium, one which was responsiblefor its evasiveness, Is that itsoxide is extremely volatile. Thisfeature, which explains whyosmium went undetected in theSudbury ores for so long, has beenturned to advantage. It Is possibleto separate osmium from the otherplatinum-group metals by subject-ing the host material to an oxidiz-ing treatment, therthy volatilizingoff the osmium. The osmium Isthen collected from the ox1d1inggases, and after being subjected toseveral exacting purifying steps,emerges with a puñty greater than99.8 per cent. As they say on theSeine, "Vollal"

In the slow controlled cooling ofthe matte coming from the nickelconverters at the Copper Cliffsme}ter, the molten mass crystal-lizes into three produots, one ofwhkh contains most of the preci-ous metals - gold, silver and the

Part of the specially de-signed experimentalequipment used in de-veloping a process forthe extraction of osmiumwas this big distillationapparatus erected at thecopper refinery. It sep-arates an osnium con-centrate from a very lowgrade sludge precipitatedin precious metal recov-ery operations.

platinum group. Separated mag-netically from the nickel andcopper sulphides, this productundergoes treatment involving thesmelter, the nickel reñnery at PortColborne and the copper reñneryat Copper Cliff. After being sepa-rated from copper, nickel, gold andsilver, the platinum group metalsproceed to the precious metalsrefinery at Acton, England. O -mium which hitherto had justgone along for the ride andducked out when the fares werebeing colle,ted, is now added tothe list of precious metals re-covered.

Very High Melting PointOsmium, blue-gray in color, is

the most refractory of the plati-num metals, with a very highmelting point around 5500 degreesFahrenheit. It Is extremely brittleand Is regarded as unworkableeven at high temperatures. Ittprincipal applications at presentare in the various hard, corrosion-resistant alloys used for tippingpen nibs, phonograph needles, andinstrument pivots.

Although all the platinum-groupmetals were isolated and named

Another device designed by Incoscientists in their experimental cam-paign to capture the long-soughtosmium, this chemical processing unitat the copper refinery treats the liquorconcentrate from the distillation ap-paratus to produce a pure osmiwn saltwhich is subsequently reduced to pure,netal. This unit is constructed of non-corrosive plastic material, rather thanmetals, to prevent contamination ofthe osrniun in this final delicate phaseof processing. The operator shown ismetallurgical supervisor Bud Eles.

early in the 1th century, it wasnot until the mid-1950's that theapplication of platinum catalyststo petroleum reñning brought agreat surge in the demand forthis metal, although it had alreadywon extensive use in industry.Similarly palladium, which like

platinum had been popularlyknown in a jewelry context, hasgained great industrial statussince 1960 through it applicationin electrical contacts in communi-cation switch gear. Presently theneed for refractory ware in which

(Continued on Page 16)

Page 16

Tallest Stack in World

INCO TRIANGLE

Inco Announces $13 Million ProjectAt Smelter to Combat Air Pollution

A $13 million project to combat air pollution was announcedby International Nickel February 5.

A 1,250-foot chimney,to serve the Copper Cliff s

Coincidentally Inco vtators for dust abatemenexisting precipitators atcontent of the gases tostandards.

Anouncement of the project wasmade at a press conference at thePresident Hotel, Sudbury, by D. A.Fraser, assistant general manager(administration).

The chimney will assure that airIn the Sudbury area will be con-siderably cleaner on average thanthat in any other industrial com-munity of Ontario and will exceedby a substantial margin the airquality standards established bythe Ontario Air Pollution ControlService.

The increased draft created bythe higher stack, in conjunctionwith the Company's continuingprogram for improved containmentof sulphur dioxide gases, will pro-vide better smelter working condi-tions.

Intensive Research ContinuesCompany officials emphasized

that erection of the 1,250-footstack is regarded only as aninterim measure, providing cleanair now while intensive researchis continued toward more completerecovery of sulphur from thesmelter gases. In this research onother processes for recovery ofsulphur values, Inco's laboratoriesand pilot plants are being assistedby internationally known con-sultants.

Consultants have assured theCompany that the new stack willeliminate any possibility thatground concentrations of sulphurdioxide from Copper Cliff willagain reach the point where theycan cause damage to vegetation.This is supported by experiencegained from recent high stack in-stallations in Europe and theUnited States. Gases from thesmelter will be emitted at high

highest in the world, will be erectedmelter complex.

till install two new electrostatic precipi-t and collection, and will also enlargehe smelter. This will decrease the dustwell below Ontario Health Department

velocity, temperature and altitudeto assure their adequate dispersionand dilution even under adverseweather conditions.

Gases will be emitted from thenew stack at a velocity of from50 to 60 feet per second, carryingthem upward to about 4,000 feet.This will place them in the pathof radiant winds which have avelocity three times greater thanwinds at ground level, so that theresultant dispersion will be muchgreater.

Exceeds StandardsDesign bases for the new stack

have been drawn up in consulta-tion with the Ontario Departmentof Health and also with Dr. MorrisKatz of Syracuse University, oneof the world's leading experts insulphur dioxide emission andcontrol.

Dr. Katz reported that a stackheight of 1,000 feet would meet airpollution control standards, butInco decided to increase this to1,250 feet so as to be well over thestandards.

Engineering work will start Im-mediately and construction will beunderway this summer. A "guess-timate" puts the diameter of thenew stack at 100 feet at the baseand 45 feet at the top. The exist-ing smelter stacks, two of 500 feeteach and the third 350 feet, willbe closed down and capped.

SPOKE AT THOMPSONK. H. J. Clarke, Toronto, assistant

vice - president - Can a di an Sales,addressed the January 29 meetingof the Thompson branch of theCIMM, discussing world develop-ments and trends in the marketsfor International Nickel's products.

The 15th Element(Continued from Page 15)

to melt laser compositions has In-creased the demand for iridium,and since osmium is closely com-parable to this metal although ofgreater hardness and corrosion-resistance, it naturally is very highon the "wanted" list for tomor-row's hungry industrial technology.

Annual world production of theplatinum metals amounts to about40 tons, as compared with 1,500tons for gold and 9,000 tons forsilver. Current Canadian produc-tion of the platinum metals, as aby-product of nickel-copper metal-lurgy, is roughly one-third of theworld's annual production. SouthAfrica and Russia being the othertwo major producers.

Inco's potential production ofosmium may be reckoned only inounces, not tons, but it representsa highly important contribution tothe technological progress of thefuture. And the extraction of thiselusive 15th elment was a chal-lenge which the Company's re-search scientists could not leaveunanswered.

AppointmentJ. A. Pigott, general manager of

the Ontario division, announcedthe appointment effective Feb-

ruary 1 of N. C.Hillier as assistantto the manager,Port Colbornenickel refinery.

Joining Interna-tional Nickel atPort Colborne inJune 1948 as a re-search chemist,Norman Hillier be-came a general

NI. C. Hillier foreman in the re-finery in 1949. He

was appointed assistant superin-tendent of the leaching, calciningand sinter department and the

Embryo Soccer StarsLearn Ball Control

"Keep your eye on the ball,"said Stu Bramley as he demon-strated foot control to some of the30 youngsters who belong to thejunior indoor soccer group andwork off excess energy on Tuesdayevenings between six and nineo'clock at the Thompson Com-munity Club.

Stu, a shipper in the refineryshipping and shearing department,and a forward with the DurhamRedwell Rangers before he came toCanada from England, is one of

FEBRUARY, 1969

Prize for travelling farthest to theCopper Cliff ladies' highly successfulopen curling bonspiel was eosily wonby this rink from Part Colborne:skip Foy Hudgins (with stone), Bettyl.indenos, Terry Hart, and Erma Todd.They returned home praising northernOntario haspitality.

anode department in 1958, andfour years later became superin-tendent of these departments.

Born at Westeyville, Newfound-land, he attended Mount AllisonUniversity at Sackville, NewBrunswick. He served with theRoyal Air Force in World War 2.

His marriage to Esther Patri-quin of Axnherst, Nova Scotia, tookplace in Toronto in 1948. He hastwo sons and one daughter.

He is chairman of the minorhockey program of the Port Col-borne Lions Club. Fishing andhunting are his favorite rec-reations.

three soccer instructors who will-ingly donate their time and experi-ence to the younger set.

Watching the lesson is instructorLindsay Cunningham of the ma-chine shop, who played seconddivision football for Bailymena inthe Northern Ireland B Lea'gue.The third fember of the teachingtrio is Peter Norbury, a miner atthe Company's T3 shaft.

"One of our biggest problems,"said Lindsay, "is to stop the boysfrom catehing the ball, like they'reused to doing in basketball, Butwe're getting there, they're begin-n.ing to use their heads, both liter-ally and figuratively."

I.. S. Renzani, Toronto, vice-president-process research, explains a detail atthe press conference to announce the $13 million project. In the centre is D. A.Fraser, assistant general manager (administration) and an the right is consul-tant Dr. Morris Katz of Syracuse University, an. of the world's leading expertsin sulphur dioxide emission and control.

Port Colborn.e Curlers