The entire process involves an inte-
grated system of air ducts, screens,
cyclones, collectors, specific gravity
separators, dedusters and fans, all
designed to move the asbestos fibre
from stage to stage in the milling pro-
cess until it is finally deposited—
cleaned and graded—in one of the
plant's storage bins.

This takes a lot of air. Five fans pro-
vide it. Four of them produce 125,000
cubic feet per minute each, or a total of
500,000 cubic feet of air per minute. A
fifth fan provides an additional 100,000
feet per minute for a total of 600,000
cubic feet per minute for mill production
purposes including air for plant dust
control.

BAGGING

The three main grades of fibre prod-
ucts are fed to pressure packers and
bagged under 1,500 pounds per square
inch pressure into 100 pound coated
woven polyethylene bags. The filled
bags are then moved to a palletizing
machine where they are combined into
20 bag units for storage and shipping.

The mine’s palletized fibre storage
facilities, which forms part of the mill
building, has a storage capacity of
1,400 tons and a three bay truck loading
area. It is from here that Clinton Creek
asbestos fibre starts its long journey
from the mine to Vancouver and the
markets of the world.