Cominco

Article summary

The Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada Limited, and from 1966 onwards Cominco Ltd., was a Canadian mining company that existed from 1906 to 2001. Cominco was created by the Canadian Pacific Railway through the consolidation of a number of mining, smelting, and power assets in the British Columbia Interior. At its inception, the company's main asset was the Trail smelter, which serviced a variety of mines in the region. Sulphur dioxide pollution from the smelter, which crossed into the United States, became a major problem and led to an international tribunal in 1927 to remedy the situation. Cominco grew through the 1910s and 1920s, and by the 1930s had become a major industrial concern. Besides its metals production, the company diversified into chemicals and fertilizers. In both world wars, Cominco was a major supplier of raw materials to the Canadian and British governments. Cominco grew to become an international mining company and one of the world's largest zinc producers. Canadian Pacific remained Cominco's majority shareholder until 1986. That year, following a period of poor performance, the CPR sold its share in the company to a consortium of Teck, Metallgesellschaft, and Mount Isa Mines. By 1994, Teck had bought out the other partners and controlled just under half of Cominco.…

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