Asbestos Production Halted in Quebec

The only operating asbestos mine hasn't been extracting the mineral for a couple weeks.

For the first time in more than a century, Canada's asbestos industry has stopped production of the much-debated mineral. There are only two remaining asbestos mines in the country, both of which are in southern Quebec. The Lac d'amiante du Canada mine in Thetford Mines, Que., quietly halted mineral extraction earlier this month, while the province's other mine, Jeffrey Mine, has remained indefinitely shuttered while its operators seek a loan from the provincial government to restart production. According to CBC, the Lac d'amiante mine has stopped extracting due to "operational obstacles in accessing the mineral." Both mines, however, have stockpiles of the mineral that they continue to sell, but the stopped production marks a precipitous decline for a Canadian industry that once dominated the world's asbestos market. (Oh, and it also directly contributed to hundreds of thousands of deaths around the world. Minor setback, that.) The end of production will surely be welcomed by the industry's opponents, who have criticized the industry and its government backers for allowing the export of a mineral that is directly linked to cases of mesothelioma, a rare form of lung cancer. The government and the industry both say that asbestos is safe when handled properly, but safety guidelines in developing countries to which asbestos is exported are often relaxed, at best.