The series consists of photographs (lantern slides and a few glass or flexible negatives) created by the offices of the Bureau of Mines and the Dept. of Mines between ca. 1900 and 1953. The photographs depict all aspects of Bureau activities including surveys and inspections. Many of the glass negatives were taken by W.F. Robertson and H.T. Nation of the Bureau of Mines and were often used for annual reports and other publications. The bulk of the photographs are glass lantern slides, either made from Bureau of Mines photographs or copied from other sources. Photographer Edgar Fleming took or copied many of the photographs for the Department. These slides show mines and mining operations and equipment; mining camps, first aid teams, refineries, smelters, coke ovens, concentrators, railways and rail trestles; boats, landscape and terrain features including coast, rivers and mountain ranges and aerial views. There are also a significant number of maps and technical drawings.

Occasionally other photographer initials M.S.H., S.S.H. and W.H.M. are noted on the slides. There are 63 slides of South African mines and general views, 23 slides of the Alcan Kemano project from 1953 and various portraits scattered throughout the series, as well as ca. 115 aerial views from the 1930s, many with their own numbering scheme.

The series also includes an additional 38 glass lantern slides from the 1920s, alienated from the main run of lantern slides and transferred separately. Most of these slides were made of photographs taken by Edgar Fleming for the Bureau of Mines but also include some slides of maps and technical drawings.

The series consists of photographs taken by or collected by the Bureau of Mines, where they were compiled into 30 photograph albums. Some of the albums, or parts of the albums, were compiled at the end of the year's work and were intended by the Provincial Mineralogist to document his annual summer field work throughout the province.

Many of the photographs were published each year in Department bulletins and in the Annual Report of the Minister of Mines. There is a coding in the albums which indicates that a photograph was used in the Annual Report. For example, “R1925 - A182” signifies that the photograph was used in the 1925 Annual Report of the Minister of Mines on page A182. Each Annual Report of the Minister contains narrative descriptions of the field trips taken by the Provincial Mineralogist and other Bureau of Mines staff, so it is possible to trace the relationship each year between these field trip narratives and the photographs.

W. Fleet Robertson (Provincial Mineralogist from 1898 to 1925) took some of the photographs. Beginning ca. 1906, Harold T. Nation was an assistant to the Provincial Mineralogist, and travelled with him on his summer field trips, taking photographs, compiling many of the photo albums and indexing them. Exceptions were the years 1914-1917, when Nation served in the military in Europe, after which he returned to his former position. Others from the Bureau of Mines who contributed to the creation of the albums include: W.A. Carlyle, (W. Fleet Robertson's predecessor as Provincial Mineralogist); J.D. Galloway (Robertson's successor); Herbert Carmichael (an Assistant Mineralogist); and Newton W. Emmens. They took photographs or directed that photos be taken to document their work in the field. Many photographs are labeled “B.C. Bureau of Mines” but the photographer is not identified.

Some of the albums, or parts of albums, appear to have been compiled, not an annual basis, but at a later date, and were labeled “miscellaneous.” They relate to the mining industry, geology, mineralogy, and local culture, but are not related to the annual field trips. The Provincial Mineralogist's office collected some of these from private sources including mining companies and miners. Professional photographers whose work is found in the albums include: R.J. Hughes (Trail, BC), Hughes Bros. (Trail, BC), Joseph F. Spalding (Fernie, BC), Carpenter & Co. (Rossland, BC), Carpenter & Millar (Rossland, BC), The Dominion Photo Company (Vancouver), Richard H. Trueman (R.H. Trueman & Co., Vancouver), E.F. Tucker, and Leonard Frank. There are a small number of photos taken by Charles Camsell of the Geological Survey of Canada, 1911, so it is possible others were taken by federal government employees.

Subjects include a very wide range of industrial and cultural activities and geographic features. These include: mines and mining operations and equipment; mining camps, prospectors, miners' houses, powder magazines, first aid teams, fire brigades, mine rescue squads and stations; immigrant workers; refineries, smelters, coke ovens, concentrators, brickyards, slag dumps and tailings; railways and rail trestles; boats, scows, ships, and dredging; landscape and terrain features including rivers and mountain ranges; mining industry towns, schools, hospitals, hotels, churches, government offices and wireless offices; First Nations activities and culture, including totem poles, grave sites, and villages; whaling and whaling stations; horse pack trains, Hudson's Bay Company posts; and conferences and congresses attended by Bureau of Mines staff.

Many of the photos are annotated with directions for the printing/publication process. Many are pieced together to create panoramas. Some albums have accompanying individual indexes and some have been indexed in the master alphabetical index.

Container No. Photograph Album
001302-0001 -- Bureau of Mines photographs miscellaneous album, H.T. Nation [album misc. B] ca. 188-?-1919
001302-0002 -- Bureau of Mines D : photographs ca. 189-?-1917
001302-0003 -- B.C. Bureau of Mines [E] miscellaneous photographs compiled from October 1927
001302-0004 -- 1895 Bureau of Mines
001302-0005 -- 1896 Bureau of Mines
001302-0006 -- Bureau of Mines, 1897-1898
001302-0007 -- Bureau of Mines photos 1898, 1899, 1900
001302-0008 -- Dept. of Mines, 1901, 1899-1901
001302-0009 -- Bureau of Mines 1902
001302-0010 -- Bureau of Mines, 1903, Victoria, B.C., 1903-1904
001302-0011 -- Photographs : 1905
001302-0012 -- Peace River and other trips in 1906 by W.F. Robertson and H. Carmichael, 1906
001302-0013 -- 1907 Bureau of Mines, Victoria B.C., 1906-1907
001302-0014 -- 1908 photos by Bureau of Mines, Victoria B.C., 1908-1909
001205-0001 -- Bureau of Mines photos collected during 1909
001302-0015 -- Odd photos collected in the Provincial Mineralogist's office, entered Nov. 1910
001302-0016 -- Summer trip of the Provincial Mineralogist to the Bulkley and Telkwa Rivers and the Slocan Mining Division, 1911; 1934
001302-0017 -- Provincial Mineralogist trip to Cassiar, 1912, 1911-1912
001302-0018 -- Photos for 1913 report, taken by W.F. Robertson, B.G. Forbes, W.M. Brewer, J.D. Galloway
001302-0019 -- Photographs taken in 1914
001302-0020 -- Dept. of Mines album 1915
001302-0021 -- Photographs : Dept. of Mines album 1916
001302-0022 -- Photographs : Bureau of Mines 1917-1918-1919
001302-0023 -- Photographs : Bureau of Mines 1920-21
001302-0024 -- Photos received at the Bureau of Mines during 1921 & 1922, compiled by Harold T. Nation
001302-0025 -- 1923 current photos, Bureau of Mines, 1920-1925
001302-0026 -- Dept. of Mines album : photos 1925 continued, 1926, 1925-1926
001302-0027 -- Bureau of Mines photographs 1926 (continued), 1927, 1922-1928
001302-0028 -- Bureau of Mines, Victoria, B.C. misc. photos, compiled by Harold T. Nation, 1927 [misc. album C], 1895-1927
001302-0029 -- Bureau of Mines photographs, 1926-1930, 1966
001302-0030 -- Dept. of Mines album 1930, [ca. 1930-1936]

The item consists of a training film in two parts, made at the Copper Cliff Research Laboratory in 1941. It shows mining experiments in photoelasticity, illustrating the "Doming Theory".

CALL NUMBER: T1701:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): A mining engineer : work with Anaconda PERIOD COVERED: 1913-1917 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1975-11-26 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Diamond discusses his personal background, beginning with his education and interest in geology. His early work in mining while at university. His decision to go west and his beginning employment with the Anaconda company. Moving to Montana. Initial work in the testing department and work in devising a good information retrieval system. Change to working with the early stages of the froth floatation process. Interest in this area and work with Anaconda. TRACK 2: In charge of all floatation research and testing for Anaconda. The importance of the floatation process to mining. The development of floatation processes for Anaconda Company. Early contact with Cominco about its problems with the Sullivan ore. Description of Trail in 1917. CALL NUMBER: T1701:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): The beginnings of Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company RECORDED: [location unknown], 1975-11-26 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Diamond discusses: the background development of the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company; the importance of the Sullivan Mine to the company; the problem of making use of the ore from the Sullivan Mine; the problem of mineral separation created by the ore; the effort to solve the problem of the Sullivan ore. TRACK 2: Mr. Diamond talks about: the solution to the Sullivan ore separation process and the beginning of the differential flotation process developed by Mr. Diamond; the impact of the Sullivan Mine on the rest of Cominco; the growth of Cominco at Trail and in B.C., Alberta and elsewhere; the beginning of his involvement with the fertilizer business. (End of interview)

The item consists of a training film made in the 1940s at Brent Laboratories. It shows safety in mines research and shot-firing underground

Out-takes. Mining and construction engineering projects undertaken by Wright Engineers Ltd.