1
NON-METALLIC MINERALS USED IN THE CANADIAN
MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES.
INTRODUCTORY.
The rapid industrial growth which Canada has been under
going in recent years has greatly increased the demand for the
non-metallic minerals and is constantly affording new uses to
which they may be applied. In many of the manufacturing
industries, minerals, in a more or less crude state, are used as
raw material or, indirectly, as a means of producing the
products of the factory.
A reference to the tables in this report will show that an
unduly large proportion of the mineral used in these industries
is imported. In some cases the importation is necessary or
advisable, since some minerals and particular grades of others
are not obtainable at present in Canada, or the material may be
obtained from abroad for less than the cost of production and
delivery of the Canadian. In other cases, however, it,is due to
the fact that the domestic products are not always prepared in
the form most suitable for the purposes for which they are re
quired. Frequently the buying and selling methods in use
are at fault. For example, the Canadian producer, through
lack of capital, is often at a great disadvantage, being unable to
advertise extensively and thus attract attention to his product
and secure a trial of it, even though his price be lower and his
product as good, or better than the imported article. During
the gathering of data for this report, it was found, in many
cases, that the consumers of certain minerals were not aware
that these were produced in the country, often quite close at
hand. In such instances a list of the producers and their
addresses was furnished.
There are a number of trade journals which reach the
manufacturers, and it would seem that even small advertise
ments judiciously placed by the Canadian producers would aid