For those skiers wanting to know, the best skiing of the season now exists on North Star slopes. A firm crust covered with powder snow exists above the 4th bench. What control a skier finds in this. Your writer is absolutely unable to find fitting adjectives, so please take the word of some 30 or 40 skiers who were up there Sunday. It's just plain wonderful. Won't you try it?

Now a word from our ski patrolman. When going up to the top of the North Star apply a good climbing wax before leaving the cabin, or if you have climbers or skins, better yet. Please ascend well to one side of the slope, everyone on the same side to prevent a descending skier from ruining you, himself or a lot of innocent pine trees.

The Ski Patrol is an official and organized body of volunteers attempting to pro-mote. safe and sane skiing for the utmost of pleasure. Nobody likes accidents!

It appears, last Sunday one person using more ambition than brain, proceeded to walk on foot up the centre of the ski run. Several others noticing his foot prints did likewise and all were offended when informed of the stupidity of their act, by ski patrolmen.

The holes created by so many boots are a serious hazard to any and all skiers. We do not anticipate any more of this, but should it arise the offender will find himself walking toward town.

We hear slight murmurs of a predance ski party at the cabin, house parties, and the Ice Carnival. Whichever be your pleasure make sure to come to the big ski dance afterward everyone. Look for the ads in the local papers.

Cominco employed 8,829 at end of 1949

A portion of the Annual Report of the Consolidated Mining and Smelling Co. recently published, gives some interesting figures regarding number of employees, wages, shifts etc. The extract printed below says:

"Labour supply was generally adequate for all operations. The turnover reached a record low since the end of the war. The number of employees on the active roll at the year end was 8,829 compared with 8,639 at the end of 1948. The increase was entirely due to construction work and greater activity in our sundry mining operations. The average number of shifts worked per day at Trail and Kimberley was down slightly. Average hours worked per week for Trail and Kimberley continued the same in 1949 as in 1948 at 40.3. Hourly earnings at Trail averaged $1.28, including contract labor, compared with $1.23 in 1948; and at Kimberley the average was $1.41, compared with $1.34 in 1948. The average rate for all operations in 1949 was $1.32 compared with $1.27 in 1948.

"Paid vacations granted to hourly-rated employees aggregated 60,673 days. The cost to the Company was $630,963.

"Your Company's contribution to the Pension Fund Society during 1949 was $1,293,387 bringing the fund at the year end to $14,363,243. Pensions paid by the society amounted to $262,387.

"The Company's contribution to medical and hospital plans at Trail and Kimberley was increased and now represents approximately one-half of the cost for all employees and their families.

"Commencing in June, 1949, your Company has undertaken to contribute to the Trail and Kimberley Employees' Benevolent Societies, making it possible for these societies to double their sick benefits.

"The practice of giving a Christmas bonus to employees was continued. The 1949 bonus amounted to $1,106,000.

"In line with the experience in Canada generally, the number of accidents occurring in your operations showing some increase during and after the war. Recent years however, have seen a steady reduction and the 1949 record is very creditable. The improvement at the Sullivan Mine was particularly notable.

1951 Cominco will spend $9,000,000 on Kimberley fertilizer plant

Trail, B.C., Jan. 4th: The Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada, Limited, announced recently that it was constructing, at a cost of $9,000,000 a plant at Kimberley, B.C. for the production of 70,000 tons a year of high analysis ammonium phosphate fertilizer.

The plant will be located adjacent to and directly east of the Sullivan Concentrator and will comprise the following units: roasters and gas cleaning plant, sulphuric acid plant, phosphoric acid and phosphate fertilizer plant; storage and shipping buildings. It is estimated that the project will take about two years to complete and will give permanent employment to about 150 men.

For process materials, the plant will use Sullivan Concentrator tailings as a source of sulphur, phosphate rock from Montana and ammonia from Corninco's plant in Calgary.

Power requirements will be supplied by a new power line which will connect with Cominco installations on the Kootenay River. Water, of which the new plant will use considerable quantities, will be supplied by a 5,000 gallon per minute pumping plant on the St. Mary's river about three miles from the new plant. This new water supply will also be adequate for the needs of the Sullivan Concentrator which has, at times, been troubled with inadequate water reserve.

The first step in the process will be roasting Sullivan Concentrator tailing to produce sulphur dioxide gas which after treatment in the latest gas cleaning equipment, will be converted into sulphuric dioxide gas which after treatment in the latest gas cleaning equipment, will be converted into sulphuric acid in the sulphuric acid plant. The phosphoric acid plant will contain the necessary equipment for drying and grinding the phosphate rock and reacting it with sulphuric acid to produce phosphoric acid. In the final step, ammonia is added to phosphoric acid and the product, ammonium phosphate, is granulated, dried, screened and sent to storage. It is taken from storage and bagged just before shipment to the user.

Ammonium phosphate has proven over the years, to be the most satisfactory fertilizer for use on the Canadian Prairies and one of the major reasons for the construction of the new plant is to satisfy the growing demand from this area. Cominco is currently producing over 100,000 tons of this type of ammonium phosphate fertilizer so the new plant represents about a 70 % increase and will bring the Company's total fertilizer production to about 650,000 tons annually.

Next.

Salute to Kimberley - Index Page

Front Cover  -   Inside Front Cover

Page One 1896 - 1910, -  Page Two 1900 - 1911, -  Page Three 1912 - 1920, -  Page Four 1921 - 1924, -  Page Five 1925
Page Six 1926, -  Page Seven 1927, -  Page Eight 1928, -  Page Nine 1929, -  Page Ten 1930, - 
Page Eleven 1930, -  Page Twelve 1931/32, -  Page Thirteen 1933 - 1936, -  Page Fourteen 1937 - 1939, -  Page Fifteen 1940, - 
Page Sixteen 1941/42, -  Page Seventeen 1943, -  Page Eighteen 1944/45, -  Page Nineteen 1945/46, -  Page Twenty 1946/47, - 
Page Twentyone 1948, -  Page Twentytwo 1948, -  Page Twentythree 1949, -  Page Twentyfour 1950/51, -  Page Twentyfive 1951, - 
Page Twentysix 1952, -  Page Twentyseven 1953, -  Page Twentyeight 1954/55, -  Page Twentynine 1955, -  Page Thirty 1956/57, - 
Page Thirtyone 1957/58, -  Page Thirtytwo 1958/59, -  Page Thirtythree 1959 - 1961, -  Page Thirtyfour 1961/62, -  Page Thirtyfive 1962/63, - 
Page Thirtysix 1963/64, -  Page Thirtyseven 1964 - 1966, -  Page Thirtyeight 1967, -  Page Thirtynine 1968 - 1970, -  Page Forty 1970, - 
Page Fortyone 1971, -  Page Fortytwo 1972, -  Page Fortythree 1973, -  Page Fortyfour 1974/75, -  Page Fortyfive 1975, - 
Page Fortysix 1976, -  Page Fortyseven 1976, -  Page Fortyeight 1977/78, -  Page Fortynine 1978, -  Page Fifty 1979/80, - 
Page Fiftyone 1981/82, -  Page Fiftytwo 1982/83, -  Page Fiftythree 1983/84, -  Page Fiftyfour 1985, -  Page Fiftyfive 1986/87, - 
Page Fiftysix 1987/88, -  Page Fiftyseven 1988/89, -  Page Fiftyeight 1989 - 1991, -  Page Fiftynine 1991/92, -  Page Sixty 1993/94, - 
Page Sixtyone 1995, -  Page Sixtytwo 1996/97, -  Page Sixtythree 1997/98, -  Page Sixtyfour 1998/99, -  Back Cover

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