June 11, 1954 

   “The biggest cargo of silver-lead-zine concentrates ever to arrive at Vancouver from United Keno Hill Mines at Mayo, Yukon Territory, was unloaded this week at West Indies Wharf.

   The Norwegian freighter Skagerak was specially chartered to load 6800 tons of concentrates at Skagway, destined to Trail Smelter.

   Normal output from United Keno Hill is about 4000 tons a month. The ore reaches Trail after a most circuitous route. It is shipped by barge up the Stewart and Yukon rivers to Whitehorse, then shipped by rail to Skagway for transshipment to Vancouver, where it is again sent by rail to the smelter.

   Ore traffic from Skagway is normally handled by barge and coastal freighters, but due

to a shortage of space, the Norwegian vessel was chartered by Union Steamships Ltd.

   West Indies Wharf at North Vancouver was leased last year from the National Harbors Board by United Keno Hill and its associated company, Cassiar Asbestos Co., especially to handle cargoes of ore and asbestos fibre from the north.

   The asbestos comes from Cassiar in northern B.C., and is also shipped through Skagway. The mill is now being converted to double its capacity, and it will soon be shipping 1400 tons of asbestos fibre a month to Vancouver. The asbestos is exported from here to the eastern United States, England and Japan.”

(The Vancouver Province – Vancouver, BC)