BRITISH COLUMBIA 33

The coal fields of the Province are well distributed and offer a supply far in excess of any probable demand for hundreds of years to come.

SMELTING AND REFINING.

Development in the Smelting industry has been as great and possibly more rapid than the mining industry. In early days all B. C. ores were treated at foreign smelters. In 1896 the Trail smelter began smelting Rossland copper gold ores, gradually extending operations, and in 1899 installed a lead furnace, and for the past two years has treated practically all B. C. ores. Other lead smelters were established at Nelson and at Marysville, but the difficulty of operating a small lead smelter by itself resulted in both smelters closing down. There are two smelters on Van- couver Island, at Crofton and Ladysmith, and the discovery of consider- able bodies of low grade copper ores in the Yale District at Phoenix and Greenwood resulted in the construction of large smelters at Grand Forks and Greenwood, which have become famous for their economic operations and low cost. The former, belonging to the Granby Mining and Smelting Company, has become one of the world’s largest smelters, having treated over one million tons of ore in eleven months in 1910, and are still enlarging and improving. The smelter at Greenwood has a capacity of over 2,000 tons per day. At Trail the copper capacity has also been greatly enlarged and is now close to 2,000 tons daily.. At the Coast a similar development has taken place. ey

For economic working, the tendency has been towards the consolida- tion of interests, with the result that more ore is now being smelted than ever. The surviving plants being in the hands of strong, well managed

Bonnington Falls. Successfully harnessed to produce electricity which is widely distributed,