The Baie Comeau Quartzite Deposit and Its Importance as an Industrial Mineral Reserve

CIM Bulletin, 1971

"The north coast of the St. Lawrence River will be the scene of an industrial development during the coming decades". The facts which underlie this statement are the occurrences of iron and titanium ore, the abundance of hydro-power and the availability of deep-water ports in this region. Havre St-Pierre, Sept-Iles, Port Cartier and Baie Corneau already exist as major ports and urban centers. The huge quartz deposit at Baie Comeau will be a decisive contributing factor in the development of a metallurgical plant in this area. Due to its purity, it lends itself, first of all, to the manufacture of glass of different kinds, being comparable to the quartz sands now used by the plate glass and glass container industries in the Montreal area, Moncton, N.B., Trois-Rivieres and - in the future - at Becancour, Quebec. However, its high quality will also make it possible to use it as one of the main basic materials for the production of silicon carbide and ferrosilicon, and as a flux in metallurgical processes. It is intended, in this report, to offer conclusive proof of the economical importance of this large quartz deposit by presenting the results of the studies made to date.

Keywords: Deposits, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, magnetic separation, quartzite, Quebec City, Silica Sands Produced, flotation, Glass, Magnetic separation, Materials, quality, Quartzites, Silica, Silica sand