Small Belgium a major metals player

The go-ahead Kingdom of Belgium, known to us mainly for the terrible battles of Waterloo and Ypres and of “the Bulge,” or for the Flemish masters — Rubens, van Dyck, Breughel, Memlinc and van Eyck — and composer Cesar Franck, is the most densely populated country in Europe. At 10 million people, 95% of whom are urban dwellers, the northern European nation has a population only slightly greater than Ontario.

The nation is also Europe’s most highly industrialized country, with a strong mine output.

Belgium’s cramped density contrasts vividly with Canada’s vast open spaces. It is so small that almost all of the country lies within a 75-mile radius of Waterloo.

Its language problems — the unending struggle between the formerly dominant French speakers of the south (largely descendants of the aboriginal Celtic Belgae), and the majority Flemish, speaking a form of Dutch, in the north (deriving mainly from the Germanic Franks) — remind one strongly of Canada.

For more than 1,700 years, the two strains have never fused. However, almost everywhere, English is the third language.

The 1,000-year-old capital, Brussels, has 1.2 million people. Located in its Centenary Park is Atomium, a huge stainless steel structure which represents the molecule of a crystal of iron magnified by 65 million times.

Well more than half of Belgium’s metal-using firms are controlled by the giant bank Societe Generale de Belgique, which existed before the Belgian state was created in 1831 as a result of revolt against Dutch rule and pressure from Britain. Queen Victoria’s uncle Leopold became the first king of the Belgians and his successor Baudouin reigns today.

The country has mine output of about six million tons coal and a small ore output of iron, lead, zinc, copper, manganese and phosphates. Large amounts of imported iron ores are processed.

There is an outstanding non- ferrous and precious metal refinery of world renown at Hoboken, Antwerp, from which the New Jersey city in the U.S. takes its name. Antwerp is Europe’s third largest port.

Steel output is around 12 million tons per year. The country lives by its foreign trade and about 50% of Belgium’s entire industrial output is sold abroad. Iron and steel companies were launched after 1850 by English entrepreneurs and some names survive, such as Cockerill- Ougree, a large nickel-using steel producer.

The Belgian steel plants and non- ferrous alloy producers consume Canadian metals such as nickel, platinum, palladium, gold and silver in sizable amounts. It has been estimated the country has several hundred years of coal in the ground in the Kampen (Campine) area.

Surprisingly, Belgium’s gold bullion reserves in vaults are about 34 million troy oz., much higher than Canada, the U.K. or Japan.

The world’s largest diamond- cutting centre is in Antwerp, providing a most important export with a total annual value of about US$6 billion; it is Belgium’s fifth most important industry. Incidently, diamond cutting was invented in Bruges, Belgium, in 1476.

The people of Belgium are devoted to hard work; their other two main passions are good food and good art. Lunching in the board dining room at the Societe General in Brussels is a truly wonderful gourmet experience in the old French manner. The Belgians sure know how to work and how to live.006

T.P. (Tom) Mohide, a former president of the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange, served as a director of mining resources with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources prior to his retirement in 1986.