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56 www.resourceworld.com A P R I L / M A Y 2 0 1 8 MINING B arite (BaSO 4 ) is not a glamorous industrial mineral like those in vogue such as graphite or lithium carbonate but it has a very specific application due to its specific gravity (4.1-4.5) to the oil and gas industry. It is utilized as a fluid weighting material or agent to suppress blow-outs when down drill pressures are excessive. Oil and gas exploration and development takes place world- wide and almost everywhere in Canada; drilling holes in the earth is the industry's exploration tool. A large percentage of every drill hole utilizes barite as a drilling fluid; however, barite does not occur everywhere. The formation of barite geologically requires a very unique set of circumstances and for that reason it is not often found where it is needed. Some countries, like China, India and Morocco, are blessed with substantial deposits and dominate the barite export mar- ket. Canada has a few small scattered deposits but currently only one deposit is in production near the town of Fireside, northern British Columbia, along the Alaska Highway south of the Yukon border at Watson Lake. Private, Kelowna-based Fireside Minerals Ltd. operates Canada's only barite mine – mining, crushing and packaging the mineral to meet the needs of oil and gas drilling programs in Western Canada. Initial production commenced in 1984-85 total- ling 41,071 tonnes of barite mined and milled by US Dresser Industries which was later taken over by oil giant Halliburton. After a period of intermittent production, the deposit was re-evalu- ated by Fireside Minerals and put into production in 1998. Fireside Minerals is owned and operated by the Allan and Cowin families. Andrew and Jemma took over operational management of the company in 2009 with very old equipment, 10 employees and small annual tonnage production. The company was on the verge of insolvency. Since that time it has been the hard work of the entire team that has made Fireside in the success story it is today with a staff of 25-30 employees, updated equipment, camp, mill, new safety standards and one of the most efficient automated bagging processes in the country. This allows Fireside to be the brand of choice for the roughnecks and drillers of the Western Canadian sedimentary basin. Jemma was recently voted one of Kelowna's Top Forty Under 40 as Vice-President of Fireside. At 32 years of age, she shares in all the chores of the position ranging from administration to oper- ating any of the 30 pieces of equipment on the site. As a mother of two young children she is a busy parent holding down the fort in West Kelowna and, with a hard hat, driving a haul truck or greasing a front-end loader when on one of her on-site visits. Annual barite consumption in BC and Alberta varies between 100,000 and 150,000 tonnes, much of which is sourced from US and foreign producers. Barite utilization is dependent on rig counts which, in turn, depend on oil and gas pricing. Fireside operates on a seasonal nine-month schedule employing local and non-local personal producing 30,000-40,000 tonnes of 40-kilo bags (4.1 S.G.) of barite per year. Mining of the barite is by open- pit methods using impact rock breaking equipment rather than explosives. High-grade barite goes directly to crushing and bag- ging whereas lower grade ore is upgraded using a jigging process. Geologically, the barite occurs as steeply-dipping veins with reserves estimated to be sufficient for a 10-year mine life. With the deposit open along strike to the north and south of current operations, developing additional barite reserves looks encour- aging. Geophysical surveys have been completed and are now under review. n Canada's only producing barite mine operated by Kelowna's Fireside Minerals by Dr. Edward Schiller Jemma and Andrew Allan with their son Leo at the Fireside Minerals barite mine near Watson Lake, northern British Columbia. Photo courtesy Fireside Minerals Ltd.