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All these workers practised a technology that came from the great French craft tradition; their highly skilled art derived from trade guild knowledge, instruction and scientific treatises.

Cobalt (Co) is a brittle, hard, greyish-white magnetic metal that melts at 1495°C and that closely resembles iron and nickel. It is not found as a native element.

Uranium oxide was first identified in 1789 by M.H. Klaproth in the MINERAL pitchblende, but its distinctive property of radioactivity was discovered much later (1896) by Henri Becquerel.

Its most important mineral forms are magnetite (Fe3O4, 72.4% Fe), hematite (Fe2O3, 69.9% Fe) and siderite (FeCO3, 48.29% Fe). In Brazil, some ore that contains practically no other minerals can grade as high as 68% Fe, but the crude ore mined in Canada grades between 30 and 44% Fe.

Cadmium (Cd) is a soft, ductile, silvery white metal that melts at 320.9°C and is present in the earth's crust at 0.1-0.5 parts per million. The most common cadmium MINERAL, greenockite (CdS), is generally found in zinc-bearing ores and is recovered as a by-product during processing.

Lead is extracted from mined ores containing zinc, silver and minor amounts of copper. It is also recovered from recycled materials; more than 50% of world metal production comes from recycling, making lead one of the most recycled metals in the world.

Like most industrial activities, mining involves risk. However, contemporary mining in Canada is much safer than it once was.

Mineral engineering is that branch of ENGINEERING concerned with the application of scientific and technical knowledge to the search for and production of valuable MINERALS from naturally occurring surface, underground or below-water deposits.

Metallurgy is the art, science and technology of turning metals and alloys (i.e., materials consisting of two or more metals) into forms suitable for practical use.

 A mineral is an element or chemical compound formed in nature, usually by inorganic processes. Minerals may be composed of one element such as carbon (DIAMOND) or GOLD, or of several elements.

Molybdenum (Mo) is a silver-grey metallic element with an unusually high melting point (2610°C). It is an important alloying element in iron, steels and specialty alloys and is used frequently in combination with other ferrous additives.

Under these 3 Acts - one each for Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta - the federal government turned over to the Prairie provinces the jurisdiction that it had exercised over the crown lands and natural resources of the region since its purchase from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1870.

Since its first commercial exploitation in the 1850s, petroleum has become the major energy source of Canada and the industrial world.

Research has always been the backbone of the petroleum industry. Bringing crude oil, bitumen or natural gas to the surface presents major technological problems and, once recovered, there is little use for the resource in its raw state.

Potash is an alkaline potassium compound most commonly used in fertilizers. It refers to a variety of salts produced through mining of minerals and chemical manufacturing. Canada is the world's largest potash producer and exporter.

The most technically advanced ironworks in America in their first 100 years, the forges had long been obsolete when shut down in 1883. The plant employed over 100 specialized craftsmen and 300-400 labourers, and produced forged iron and molded products such as pots, pans and stoves.

Minerals are naturally-occurring, homogeneous geological formations. Unlike fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas, minerals are inorganic compounds, meaning they are not formed of animal or plant matter.

Sodium chloride (NaCl), or common salt, is ubiquitous in the environment. In its solid form, salt crystallizes as colourless cubes and is called rock salt. Salt is also known to geologists as halite. Its crystal structure was the first to be determined by X-rays.

Gem-quality diamonds crystallize as octahedrons (8 faces), trisoctahedrons (24 faces), hexoctahedrons (48 faces) or a combination of these. Diamond owes its supreme standing among all the gemstones to 4 specific attributes.

Radium (Ra) is a rare radioactive metal found with naturally occurring URANIUM (about 1 part radium to 3 million parts uranium). It was discovered in 1898 by Pierre and Marie Curie and G.