Canada. Mines Branch : In 1873 the Department of the Interior was created (36 Vict., c.4) to take on administration of federal public lands. Of its five branches; Indian Affairs, Ordnance and Admiralty Lands, Affairs of the Northwest Territories, Geological Survey and Dominion Lands, the latter branch was responsible for the survey, sale and lease of agricultural, mining and forest lands. By 1884 the opening of mining sites in the Rocky Mountain area prompted the Department of the Interior to appoint a field officer who would have general responsibility for mining operations in the western region. William Pearce, Inspector of Dominion Land Agencies, assumed this new office as Superintendent of Mines. This office was empowered to inspect mining operations, collect statistics and suggest amendments to mining regulations as well as to promote mining activities on federal lands. Pearce reported to the Commissioner of Dominion Lands independent of the chief of the Timber, Mineral and Grazing Lands Office (P.C. 1098, May 15, 1884).
That same year the Geological Survey of Canada, which reported through the minister of the Interior from 1873 to 1890, opened a Mining Section headed by Mining Engineers Eugene Coste and E. D. Ingall. Its mandate was to gather mining statistics, monitor mineral production and report on the state of Canadian mineral resources. There was a growing tension between the mining industry and the GSC with the former wishing for a dedicated department to assist with the technical issues relating to ore extraction and refining, as well as research and development of mineral products. The GSC staff felt they were doing an adequate job on the technical side and a new department was not needed. With the appointment of Dr. E. A. Haanel as the Superintendent of Mines in the Department of the Interior the government moved in the direction of increasing its involvement in technological and scientific assistance to the mining industry.
This initiative led to the establishment of a Mines Branch in the Department of the Interior on 1 July 1906 to administer "all matters pertaining to the Yukon Territory, and all mines and mining lands the property of the federal government, including coal in the western provinces and the territories of the Dominion." (p.28 Interior Annual Report) In compliance with the Geology and Mines Act of 1907 (6-7 Edw. VII, c.29) the office of the Superintendent of Mines was combined with the Geological Survey to form a new Department of Mines (P.C. 1184, May 15, 1907). The new department was comprised of two branches; Mines and Geological Survey. The Mines Branch within the Department of Mines was responsible for collecting and publishing statistics on mining, making detailed investigations on mining operations and deposits as well as collecting specimens of ores, metals and fuels for experimentation and exhibition. Eugene Haanel became director of the Mines Branch (P.C. 1261, May 28, 1907). In 1911 the Mines Branch of the Department of Mines was organized into the following divisions: the Division of Mineral Resources and Statistics, the Division of Fuels and Fuel Testing, the Division of Chemistry, the Ore Dressing and Metallurgical Division, the Division of Metalliferous Deposits, the Division of Non-metalliferous Deposits, the Explosives Division, the Draughting Division and the Dominion of Canada Assay Office, Vancouver. (Mines Branch, Summary Report 1911, p. 2) A Ceramics Division was added to the Mines Branch in 1915 (Mines Branch, Summary Report 1915, p. 2). A Road Materials Division was established within the Mines Branch in 1917 to conduct field examinations of road materials, as well as to conduct laboratory tests and investigations (Mines Branch, Summary Report 1917, p. 121). The Ore Dressing and Metallurgical Division, Fuels and Fuel Testing Division, Ceramics and Road Materials Division, were charged primarily "with laboratory testing and research investigations on ores and minerals and on processes for their treatment and recovery; on mineral products, and on methods and purposes of their utilization" (Mines, Annual Report 1922, p. 30).
In 1934 the Department of Mines was reorganized. A Bureau of Economic Geology (F.C.C. Lynch, Director) was set up. It had two sections; the Geological Survey, and the National Museum of Canada. Separate from the Bureau but of equal status were the Mines Branch, the Explosives Division, Editorial Division and the Administration Division. With the dissolution of the Department of the Interior in 1936 and the merger of the departments of Mines, Indian Affairs, and Immigration, a new Department of Mines and Resources was created (Edw. VII, c. 33). Each of the five branches - Mines and Geology; Lands, Parks, and Forests; Surveys and Engineering; Indian Affairs; and Immigration, has a director equivalent to a deputy minister. The Branch was organized into the Bureau of Geology and Topography, the Dominion Fuel Board, the National Museum of Canada and the Bureau of Mines, charged with responsibility for scientific and technical investigations to further the development of mining, metallurgical and related industries in Canada.
The Bureau of Mines, headed by W.B. Timm, took over the responsibilities of the former Mines Branch. The divisions were reorganized and their functions distributed to form the Economics Division, Metallic Minerals Division, Industrial Minerals Division and Fuels Division (Mines and Resources, Annual Report 1937, pp. 35-36). The main objective of the Bureau of Mines was "aiding industry in attaining maximum efficiency and economy in the processing of Canadian ores and minerals and in utilization of the products of the mines." (Mines and Resources, Annual Report 1949, p. 26).
In 1949 the Department of Mines and Resources was dissolved and three new departments were created: Resources and Development, Citizenship and Immigration and Mines and Technical Surveys. The latter department contained five branches; Surveys and Mapping, Geological Survey, Dominion Observatories, Geographical Branch and Mines Branch (13 Geo. VI, c.17; P.C. 2/330, January 20, 1950). The Mines Branch, formerly the Bureau of Mines, continued the work of investigating the technological problems involved in the Canadian mining industry, maintaining laboratories for testing various minerals and metals and collecting statistics concerning the mining industry. The Branch had six divisions; Mineral Resources, Mineral Dressing and Process Metallurgy, Physical Metallurgy, Radioactivity, Fuels and Explosives. The Mineral Resources Division was moved from the Mines Branch in 1957 and made directly responsible to the Director General of Scientific Services.
A new Department of Energy, Mines and Resources was created under the Government Organization Act of 1966 (14-15 Eliz. II, Chap. 25) to replace Mines and Technical Surveys. The new department was designated as the federal government's principal agency for the discovery, investigation, development and conservation of the nation's mineral, water and energy resources. The functions of the Mines Branch were placed under the Mines and Geosciences Groups. (Energy, Mines and Resources, Annual Report 1967-1968). The branch itself consisted of six divisions - Physical Metallurgy, Fuels and Mining Practice, Mineral Sciences, Extraction Metallurgy, Mineral Processing, and Mining Research Laboratories. The latter three later became the Mineral Sciences Laboratories.
In 1974 the Mines Branch was reorganized and became the Canada Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology (CANMET) within the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, with research laboratories specializing in energy, mining, mineral sciences, and physical metallurgy. CANMET was part of the Mineral and Metals Division of Mineral Development Sector. The major objectives of the newly named entity was the improving of industrial products with a view to durability, resource conservation, and environmental protection.
