The old abandoned asbestos mine
The old abandoned asbestos mine

The old abandoned asbestos mine

The old abandoned asbestos mine

A walk in the white gold country

Région des Appalaches (Quebec), Canada

The use of asbestos by man does not date from yesterday. Already, more than 2000 years ago, the Greeks used in making funeral clothes. Its name comes from its property to withstand fire: άσβεστος (asbestos, meaning "indestructible").

Its many industrial uses will make it a popular ore when a lode will be discovered in the Thetford Mines area in 1876. Thenceforth, the agricultural landscape of the hinterland will be changed forever. In 100 years, Quebec will become the leader in this industry and will produce in 1976 more than 80% of all Canadian asbestos. The area then saw its golden age which ranks 2nd largest asbestos producers in the world, just behind the Soviet Union.

Five companies share the mining operations in the region. Slowly, the industry will strangle by the reports about its dangers and, in September 2012, after the refusal of the Quebec government to offer a subsidy to revive the last mine in the region still active, Abestos industry will end in the area.

In 1970, studies estimated that more than 3,000 products contain asbestos. Today, asbestos is found in all kinds of industrial and consumer products (brake blocks, asbestos cement pipes and even in children's toys). According to the Le Devoir newspaper website, between 2004 and 2014, Canada imported $ 250 million of products made with asbestos.

Despite the closure of the mine, there was plenty of activity on the site. A guard carries out patrols and the factory basement is used for recyclable bale storage (cardboard, plastic, metal, tires, etc.) from Lévis.

Related content

The abandoned Stelfil plant in Lachine
Lachine, Quebec (Canada)

Victim of the globalization of markets, the history of Stelfil Ltd. has suddenly stopped on March 28, 2008 for the factory and its hundred employees. The company has been decorated in 2002 in the Great manufacturing company category by the...

The old and abandoned mine

Heavily damaged by the time, the old copper mine is closed for several years. While its lower floors are completely flooded with muddy and stagnant water, the ground floor was, meanwhile, weakened by a sedimentary rock ceiling that collapsed in...

The abandoned Bilbao plant
Bilbao, Vizcaya (Spain)

In the Basque Country there are several generations who have grown up by drinking milk from the Beyena company, a regional source of pride, well beyond its nutritional values. Every day, hundreds of trucks were leaving the factory located in...

The abandoned cement factory of Los Santos
Los Santos, (Spain)

When I was a kid, I often traveled with my parents and my brothers in Los Santos, the village where I was born. Each time when we approached, my father used to say: "Beware, I will give a penny to the first one who will see the smoke of the plant...