HISTORY
MINING HISTORY
MINING HISTORY
PATRICK HARRISON & COMPANY
Created by Gail Hussey-Weir
March 2023
Created by Gail Hussey-Weir
March 2023
Summary:
Patrick Harrison & Co. was a mining construction contractor based in Val-d'Or, Quebec. From about 1940-1970, this company was the leader in mine shaft sinking in Canada. As part of the Wabana Expansion Programme, the company was contracted by Dominion Wabana Ore Ltd. to bore tunnels that would eventually link up the different submarine mines. They were operating at Wabana for at least 3 years as one of their employees was killed in No. 3 Main Slope in January 1952, and in December 1954, another of their employees was killed in No. 3 Mine’s Forsyth Slope.
Patrick Harrison & Co. was a mining construction contractor based in Val-d'Or, Quebec. From about 1940-1970, this company was the leader in mine shaft sinking in Canada. As part of the Wabana Expansion Programme, the company was contracted by Dominion Wabana Ore Ltd. to bore tunnels that would eventually link up the different submarine mines. They were operating at Wabana for at least 3 years as one of their employees was killed in No. 3 Main Slope in January 1952, and in December 1954, another of their employees was killed in No. 3 Mine’s Forsyth Slope.
Background:
A paper presented to the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy in 1950 expressed great optimism for the future of the Wabana mines and talked of the millions of dollars worth of improvements that would be undertaken in the coming years. Indeed, from 1950 to 1956, an extensive expansion and modernization program was carried out. This program cost approximately twenty‑two million dollars and seemed to be paying off, as it was noted in 1957 that “ore from Wabana is finding increasing acceptance in European markets.”
From The Daily News, Dec. 31, 1952, p. 54, we learn that:
In April of this year [1952], No. 3 Mine was temporarily closed, and the "expansion programme" really got underway. It is in this mine that most of the activity in connection with this programme is centered. Men from all parts of Canada, from the British Isles, and the Continent of Europe are engaged in the Wabana Expansion Programme. They are employed by various mainland firms under contract to DOSCO. The Canadian Comstock Co. are installing electrical equipment for the ore crushing and conveyor system. The Stephens-Adamson Co. are installing the mechanical equipment, and the Patrick Harrison Co. have crews engaged boring the tunnels which will eventually link up the different mines. Men from the Atlas Asbestos Co. of Canada worked on the new deckhead which is now completed.
From the 1952 Telephone Directory, Submarine Miner, and Daily News:
The Patrick Harrison Company was listed in the 1952 Telephone Directory under Dominion Wabana Ore Ltd.'s "No. 3 Area" with J. Doherty as contact person. In January 1952, Joseph Thomas Bunce, a foreman for the Patrick Harrison Company, was struck by an ore car in No. 3 Main Slope and died. In December, 1954, Richard Butler was working with the company when he died in a fall of ground accident in the Forsyth Slope of No. 3 Mine. The pall bearers at his funeral were his co-workers employed by that company: R. Bourgain, G. Langeois, J. Armstrong, P. Tourville, M. Gregorash, A. Jette, P. Hamel (Acting Undertaker). Another employee of the company in 1954 was Parker MacDonald, as was T. Smale, who was hired by Dominion Wabana Ore Ltd. in April 1954 as "development foreman."
From CIM Magazine, April 8, 2020:
The period between 1940 and 1970 can really be called the golden age of shaft sinking...During this entire period, shaft sinking in Canada was dominated by one mining contractor, Patrick Harrison & Co. Ltd. The company was actually established in 1934 in Val-d'Or, Quebec, and sank a number of shafts in that area. It was, however, the work carried out in the unstable ground conditions of the Quebec asbestos mines that established the company as a major force in North American shaft sinking. The majority of shafts sunk in the Elliot Lake uranium boom were sunk by PH & Co. ... Saskatchewan potash basin... and the Thompson nickel properties for Inco. At the time, the Thompson contract was the largest underground development project ever let to a mining contractor. A total of 1,500 persons were employed. These are but a few of a total of 600 shafts sunk by PH & Co. in its relatively brief history.
A paper presented to the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy in 1950 expressed great optimism for the future of the Wabana mines and talked of the millions of dollars worth of improvements that would be undertaken in the coming years. Indeed, from 1950 to 1956, an extensive expansion and modernization program was carried out. This program cost approximately twenty‑two million dollars and seemed to be paying off, as it was noted in 1957 that “ore from Wabana is finding increasing acceptance in European markets.”
From The Daily News, Dec. 31, 1952, p. 54, we learn that:
In April of this year [1952], No. 3 Mine was temporarily closed, and the "expansion programme" really got underway. It is in this mine that most of the activity in connection with this programme is centered. Men from all parts of Canada, from the British Isles, and the Continent of Europe are engaged in the Wabana Expansion Programme. They are employed by various mainland firms under contract to DOSCO. The Canadian Comstock Co. are installing electrical equipment for the ore crushing and conveyor system. The Stephens-Adamson Co. are installing the mechanical equipment, and the Patrick Harrison Co. have crews engaged boring the tunnels which will eventually link up the different mines. Men from the Atlas Asbestos Co. of Canada worked on the new deckhead which is now completed.
From the 1952 Telephone Directory, Submarine Miner, and Daily News:
The Patrick Harrison Company was listed in the 1952 Telephone Directory under Dominion Wabana Ore Ltd.'s "No. 3 Area" with J. Doherty as contact person. In January 1952, Joseph Thomas Bunce, a foreman for the Patrick Harrison Company, was struck by an ore car in No. 3 Main Slope and died. In December, 1954, Richard Butler was working with the company when he died in a fall of ground accident in the Forsyth Slope of No. 3 Mine. The pall bearers at his funeral were his co-workers employed by that company: R. Bourgain, G. Langeois, J. Armstrong, P. Tourville, M. Gregorash, A. Jette, P. Hamel (Acting Undertaker). Another employee of the company in 1954 was Parker MacDonald, as was T. Smale, who was hired by Dominion Wabana Ore Ltd. in April 1954 as "development foreman."
From CIM Magazine, April 8, 2020:
The period between 1940 and 1970 can really be called the golden age of shaft sinking...During this entire period, shaft sinking in Canada was dominated by one mining contractor, Patrick Harrison & Co. Ltd. The company was actually established in 1934 in Val-d'Or, Quebec, and sank a number of shafts in that area. It was, however, the work carried out in the unstable ground conditions of the Quebec asbestos mines that established the company as a major force in North American shaft sinking. The majority of shafts sunk in the Elliot Lake uranium boom were sunk by PH & Co. ... Saskatchewan potash basin... and the Thompson nickel properties for Inco. At the time, the Thompson contract was the largest underground development project ever let to a mining contractor. A total of 1,500 persons were employed. These are but a few of a total of 600 shafts sunk by PH & Co. in its relatively brief history.
Obituary from the Northern Miner, May 15, 1995 for Patrick Harrison:
One of the great shaft-sinkers in Canadian mining history, Patrick Harrison, has died after a long illness. He was 93.
A native of Northern Ireland, “Paddy” was chairman of Patrick Harrison & Co., a mining construction contractor known around the world. He arrived in Canada in 1921 and, after trying his hand at a variety of jobs, chose mining as his line of work.
Entering the contracting business in 1934, he secured his first real contract from Jacola Mines in the Val d’Or area of Quebec.
The firm’s largest and most difficult project involved shaft-sinking and development at Inco’s Thomson mine in Manitoba.
Another challenging project was Steep Rock Iron Mines, where the company was asked to lower the water level of Finlayson Lake without flooding the surrounding area. This was accomplished by driving a 10-by-12-ft. tunnel through solid rock along the route of flood channel beneath the lake; explosives were used to blow the plug out and allow the lake to drain.
One of the great shaft-sinkers in Canadian mining history, Patrick Harrison, has died after a long illness. He was 93.
A native of Northern Ireland, “Paddy” was chairman of Patrick Harrison & Co., a mining construction contractor known around the world. He arrived in Canada in 1921 and, after trying his hand at a variety of jobs, chose mining as his line of work.
Entering the contracting business in 1934, he secured his first real contract from Jacola Mines in the Val d’Or area of Quebec.
The firm’s largest and most difficult project involved shaft-sinking and development at Inco’s Thomson mine in Manitoba.
Another challenging project was Steep Rock Iron Mines, where the company was asked to lower the water level of Finlayson Lake without flooding the surrounding area. This was accomplished by driving a 10-by-12-ft. tunnel through solid rock along the route of flood channel beneath the lake; explosives were used to blow the plug out and allow the lake to drain.