Industry - Mining: The Smelter
Texada Island Heritage Society

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THE VAN ANDA SMELTER

 

By 1896 Ed Blewett had purchased the Cornell, Copper Queen and Little Billie mineral claims and, with partner Harry Treat, had incorporated the Van Anda Copper and Gold Company.  Within a year 300 tons of (silver, copper, gold) ore were shipped as ballast from the companys 400-foot wharf in Van Anda Bay to a smelter in Swansea, Wales, for processing. The expense of shipping overseas sparked a plan to build a local smelter on site.

 

Unfortunately their first smelter furnace blew up in 1898 and, the following year, the wharf collapsed in a southeast gale. Undaunted, it was rebuilt and a new furnace arrived from Vancouver. A huge timber frame building was constructed.  Measuring 107 by 35.5 feet, it contained the furnace, engine and boiler shed.  A carpenters shop, blacksmith and assay office were added later.

 

In 1903 the smelter shut down and the furnace was shipped to Ladysmith.  It re-opened in 1910 with a new oil-burning process and continued operations until 1919 when the mines closed

 

For years the old building sat silent until it became the site of a crushing mill which produced fine white marble limestone for stucco.  This Whiterock Mill coated Van Anda in clouds of dust until the buildings were again abandoned and eventually bulldozed and burned in the 1970s.

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Accession Number: 2006.50.14
Title: The Smelter c.1900
 

 


Accession Number: 2012.33.02
Title:  The Smelter  c. 190
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Accession Number: 2008.45.395
Title: The Smelter  c.1900


Accession Number: 2006.50.19
Title: The Smelter  c.1900


Accession Number: 2006.50.16
Title: The Smelter  c.1900


Accession Number: 2012.33.01
Title: The Smelter  c.1900

 

 


Accession Number: 2006.58.70
Title:  The Smelter  c.1960

 

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This page was last updated Friday November 27, 2020