page_title: Joggins Formation
section_title: General Mining Association
hierarchical_section_title: Joggins Formation / History / General Mining Association
caption_attribution_description: English: Acid mine drainage spilling from a collapsed mine tunnel at outcrop of the so-called Fundy seam&#91;1&#93; (middle part of Joggins Formation, lower Pennsylvanian) north of Joggins, Nova Scotia. Deutsch: Aus einem eingestürzten Kohlestollen am Ausbiss des sogenannten Fundy-Flözes&#91;1&#93; (Mittelteil der Joggins-Formation, unteres Oberkarbon) austretende saure Grubenwässer nördlich von Joggins, Nova Scotia. ↑ a b Sarah L. Quann, Amanda B. Young, Colin P. Laroque, Howard J. Falcon-Lang, Gibling R. Martin (2010): Dendrochronological dating of coal mine workings at the Joggins Fossil Cliffs, Nova Scotia, Canada. Atlantic Geology. 46:185-194, doi:10.4138/atlgeol.2010.011 (cf. p.&#160;187, fig.&#160;2A therein).
context_page_description: The Joggins Formation is a geologic formation in Nova Scotia. It preserves fossils dating back to the Carboniferous period, including Hylonomus, the earliest known reptile. In addition to fossils, the Joggins Formation was a valuable source of coal from the 17th century until the mid-20th century.
  The Joggins Formation's spectacular coastal exposure, the Joggins Fossil Cliffs at Coal Mine Point, was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008.
context_section_description: The General Mining Association (GMA) took over nearly all Nova Scotian mining operations in 1827. In 1825, the Duke of York had been deeply in debt to Rundell, Bridge & Co. when the firm learned of the 1788 lease that would have granted him mineral rights to all of Nova Scotia. A mining engineer was sent by Rundell, Bridge & Co. to scout Nova Scotia for copper, and while little of it was found the engineer reported that the colony was rich in coal. At the firm's insistence, the 1788 lease was rewritten to include coal and approved by King George IV. According to the new terms, this granted the Duke mining rights to the following for the next sixty years:
  ...gold and silver, coal, iron, stone, lime-stone, slate-stone, slate-rock, tin, copper, lead and all other mines, minerals and ores and all beds and seams of gold, silver, coal, iron, stone, lime-stone, slate-stone, slate-rock, tin, clay, copper, lead and ores of every kind and description belonging to his Majesty within the Province of Nova Scotia...
  Once the lease was issued, the Duke subletted it to Rundell, Bridge & Co. in exchange for 25% of all profits they generated off the minerals it covered. Rundell, Bridge & Co. founded a new firm, the General Mining Company, which would manage their Nova Scotian properties from London. Taking advantage of the region's natural resources, particularly coal, was imperative to the growth of British North America: fuel was hard to come by, the anthracite mined in the Coal Region of Pennsylvania being difficult to use and bituminous coal from the Appalachian Mountains proving costly to transport. The Association focused initially on deposits in Pictou and Sydney, where they were able to buy leases on preexisting mines and take advantage of infrastructure that was already in place. After acquiring the rights to Cape Breton (which had to be negotiated for separately) the GMA had established a monopoly over all the mines in Nova Scotia, and the Nova Scotia House of Assembly discouraged competition by refusing to grant leases to new mines even if doing so would not violate the terms of the Duke of York's lease. Though Des Barres's land claim had expired after his death, the GMA did not immediately make an attempt to establish themselves at Joggins, and actively discouraged anyone else from mining the Joggins Formation. Despite their urgings, small groups of Cornish settlers  continued mining exposed coal veins in the area. By 1836 an illegal mine had sprung up around the King's Vein, accessed through an adit dug into the cliff wall where an outcropping had once been apparent.
  Abraham Gesner returned to Nova Scotia in 1844 to petition the House of Assembly for the rights to mine at Joggins, as he felt the coal reserves had gone unused for too long and a shortage of firewood in Cumberland County provided ample opportunity for a new source of fuel. The colonial government, which had previously protected the General Mining Association from any threat of competition, had begun to change its stance on the GMA's monopoly: it was coming to light that the firm was offering discounts to American buyers but not Nova Scotians, and an 1842 report commissioned by Lieutenant Governor Lucius Cary suggested the GMA was poorly managing the Albion Mine in Pictou. The government decided to approve Gesner's request. To preserve their dominance in the colony, the GMA subleased a tract of land near the community of Joggins Mines (present-day Joggins) and opened the Joggins Mine in 1847. Joggins Mine was a shaft mine roughly 30 m (98.4 ft) deep, accessing the King's Vein from above and using a horse gin to raise the coal to the surface, where it was loaded onto a narrow-gauge railway and transported to a pier near Bell's Brook to be loaded onto ships. The GMA hired Joseph Smith, manager of their Pictou mine, to oversee its early operations. Much of the coal mined at Joggins Mine was sold to buyers in Saint John, New Brunswick. Joggins Mine cost £16,000 to build, and after the initial start up costs were covered the GMA invested minimally in the site.
  The Gen
caption: Ruins of the New Mine. The red-coloured rocks pictured have been stained by iron-rich acid spillage from the mine.
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