In 1982, Eldorado bought Gulf Minerals Canada Limited Companys (GMCL) from Gulf Canada Limited. One of GMCL's principal concerns was the development of uranium mining sites around Rabbit Lake, in Saskatchewan. Eldorado also bought the assets of a German-owned, Canadian-incorporated company called Uranerz, which had entered into a joint venture with GMCL in 1970 to develop the Rabbit Lake sites.
These files document the exploration activities of GMCL throughout the late 1960s and 1970s. By the late 1970s, as uranium competition stifened and demand decreased, diversification into other mining opportunities and mineral products became an increasingly important consideration at GMCL. In this respect, the impact of Exploration's activities on corporate strategies was significant. In addition, Exploration's records, more than the records of the other areas, reflects GMCL's broader geographical mining and mineral interests and properties and leases beyond Eldorado's narrower focus on Saskatchewan uranium.
Some of the oldest of GMCL's files come from this division. Included are files from all areas of Exploration, including Uranium, Minerals, Geological Services and Geotechnical Services. The records include files of correspondence from the office of the Vice-President, Exploration. Included are technical reports, studies and correspondence.
The accession consists of many distinct record groupings, as organized and labelled by the creator. For instance, the accession includes boxes labelled as the Exploration Department's "general files" (boxes 1-18, 30, 32), as well as boxes labelled as being from the Exploration Department's: Head Office (boxes 19-28, 31, 34-35); Geological Services (boxes 36-45); Contracts (boxes 46-50); Land (boxes 61-75); and more. Also included are the Minerals Division's central files (boxes 57-59). A high-level overview of the accession's contents is as follows :
The Exploration Department's general subject/office file series, as it existed in ca. 1982 as a series of hanging folders organized alphabetically by subject, is found in boxes 1-18 of the accession. Subjects listed include but are not limited to : Landsat, meetings and presentations, Manitoba government correspondence, overburden sampling, patents, exploration planning, press releases, remote sensing, strategy statements and business plan, weapons, weekly operations meetings. Daily letter files from 1982 are also included in box 16.
Head Office Chronological files -- also titled Daily Letter Files - Exploration Department -- for the period 1975-1981 are in boxes 19-23. Correspondence and miscellaneous file notes from 1967-1975 are in box 24. Also from the Head Office is a box of records labelled "Saskatchewan Project - Miscellaneous Dead Files 1968-1974" (box 34) and a box of catalogue files for a range of technical consultants (geophysical, logging, aerial photography), instruments, tanks & drums, and specialty transportation services (box 35.)
Toronto Office copies of reports to AECB, 1970-1978 are in boxes 26-27; GOCAN reports (Canadian Mineral Ventures) dating from 1970-1981 are in boxes 28-31.
Geological Services' "Services and Material Contract" files are generally organized alphabetically by year, 1977- 1982, and are in boxes 36-45.
Contract files, dating from 1968-1982, are in boxes 46-50. Topics listed include but are not limited to: GMCL-GCL, GMCL-SOQUEM-Hydro Quebec, Norex, Moose Mountain, Cochrane River and Pasquia Hills, Saskatchewan.
Land records are found in boxes 62-75. Land and lease case files in boxes 62-72 are organized by code such as A 9869 or 3-21981. Some lease files include cartographic materials (e.g., maps for claims). The Land unit's "financial data for assessment work reporting etc." are in boxes 73-75 and include Estimate & Cost Status Reports as well as completed Authority for Expenditure forms, which feature narrative statements regarding Work Plan and Geological/Geophysical Explanation.
While boxes 60 and 61 are unlabelled, they also seem to consist of Land records. Box 60 consists of binders of computer print-outs, from ca. 1979-1982, of: leases (various); non-producing lease inventory, and prospect analysis; rental recommendation listing. Box 61 consists of miscellaneous correspondence files and provincial mineral regulations.
Miscellaneous desk and other records are also included in the accession. For instance, boxes 51-53, from the Uranium area, consist of desk files from C.R. Burkhart's Office, including, for instance, records pertaining to field administrative procedures. Boxes 54-56, from the Geotechnical area, are labelled as Ken Morgan's desk files. Boxes 57-59 are labelled as the central files of the Minerals Division. Boxes 57-58 consist of a series of hanging folders organized by subject, mostly alphabetically. Subjects address the topics of business plans, budgets, business strategy, performance, planning, inactive prospects, etc. Copies of various mining regulations and manuals (human resources, safety) are also found in box 58. Box 59 includes records pertaining to the Saskatchewan Mining Association, 1982 Authority for Expenditure forms, and binders labelled: Land File Exploration Copies, Minerals Group Drill Hole Data, and Diamond Drill Holes 1981, and Performance Evaluation & Advancement Potential.
Several boxes are labelled "general files" or do not feature labels. Safety and procedure manuals, regulation guides, an Exploration Department personnel directory, as well as a wide range of other materials are in box 32. In addition to miscellanea (including photographs), box 33 contains material relating to the preparation of technical maps, including, but not limited to: GMCL map filing; N.T.S. Index for townships; manual for using the 860 Information Processing System (including a "Student Disc" floppy diskette for training).
While the records are primarily textual, maps are included among textual files throughout the accession. Photographs are of Rabbit Lake, the "Saskatchewan Project", specimens for petrographic and chemical analysis in relation to uranium occurrences in the Great Bear Lake project, and, likely, Minor Bay (tbd). Slides are from a 1977 symposium presentation titled "Exploration discoveries, Noranda District, Quebec."
