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MwnranjsiMARi   ]9g, 


nol  .  '  ' 

THE    JOURNAL 


Canadian  Mining  Institute 

1908 


Edited  by  the  Secretary 


V 


A 


VOLUME  XI 


"  The  Institute  as  a  body  shall  not  be  responsible 
for  the  statements  and  opinions  advanced  in  the 
papers  which  may  be  read  or  in  the  discussions 
which  may  take  place  at  its  meetings." — By-Lazes, 
Par.  xxxix. 


Published  by  Authority  of  the   Council  at  the  Secr/etary's  Office, 
413  Dorchester  Street,  W.,  Montreal,  August,   1908. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2011  with  funding  from 

University  of  Toronto 


http://www.archive.org/details/transactions11cana 


CANADIAN   MINING    INSTITUTE 


List  of  Officers  and  Members  of  Council  since  the 

Establishment  of  the  Institute  showing  the 

years  during  which  office  has  been  held. 


TO 


PRESIDENT 


Coete,  Eugene,  1903,  1904. 
Fergie,  Charles,  1901,  1902. 
Fowler,  S.  S.,  1900. 
Hardman,  J.  E.,  1899. 


Keffer,  Frederic,  1907. 
Miller,  Dr.  W.  G.,  19ns. 

Smith,  G.  R..  1905,  1906. 


VICE-PRESIDENT 


Adams,  Dr.  F.  D.,  1901,  1902,  1903, 

1905,  1906. 
Barlow,  Dr.  A.  E.,  190S. 
Cantlev,  Thomas,  1905. 
Carlvle,  W.  A..  1899. 
Chambers,  R.  E.,  1903,  1904. 
Coste,  Eugene,  1902. 
Dawson,  Dr.  G.  M..  C.M.G.,  1899. 
Donkin,  Hiram,  1899,  1900. 
Drummond.  Geo.  E.,  1899,  1900,1908. 
Duggan.  G.  H.,  1905,  1906,  1907. 
Fergus,  Chas.,  1900. 


Eraser,  Graham,  1901,  1902. 
Goodwin,  W.  L.,  1905. 
Hedlev,  R.  R.,  1901,  1902. 
Hobson,  J.  B.;  1903,  1904. 
Keffer.  F.,  1905,  1906. 
Kirbv,  E.  B.,  1904. 
Leekie,  R.  G.,  1905,  1906. 
McArthur,  James,  1900,  1901. 
.Miller.  Dr.  W.  G.,  1907. 
Porter.  Dr.  J.  Bonsall,  1907.  1908. 
Robertson,  W.  F.,  1907,  1908. 
Smith.  G.  R.,  1903,  1904. 


COUNCILLORS 


Adams,  F.  D.,  1899,  1900,  1904,  1907. 

1908. 
Aldridge.  W.  H.,  1905,  1906,  1907. 
Barlow,  Dr.  A.  E..  1905.  1906,  1907. 
Bennett,  B.,  1902,  1903.' 
Blue,  Archibald,  1899. 
Blue,  John,  1905,  1906. 
Brent,  Charles,  1899,  1900. 
Brewer,  Win.  W..  1908. 
Brock,  R.  W.,  1907,  1908. 
Browne,  David  II.,  1907,  1908. 
Cantlev,  T.,  1903,  1904,  1905,  1906. 
Chambers,  R.  E.,  1901,  1902. 
Cirkel,  F.,  1903,  1904. 
Cole,  Arthur  A.,  1908. 
Coll,  C.  J..  1905,  1906. 
Coste,  Eugene,  1899,  1900. 
Cowans,  J.  R.,  1899,  1900. 


Craig,  B.  A.  C,  1905,  1906.   1907. 
DeKalb.  Courtenev,  1901,  1902. 
Dimock,  C.  1899.  * 
Drurv,  H.  A.,  1908. 
Duggan,  G.  H.,  1903,  1904. 
Fergie,  Chas.,  1908. 
Fowler,  S.  S.,  1898,  1899. 
Fraser,  Graham,  1904. 
Gait.  E.  T.,  1899,  1900. 
Gilman,  E.  W.,  1907,  1908. 
Gilpin,  Dr.  E.,  1903,  1904. 
Goodwin,  Dr.  W.  L.,  1903,  1904. 
(iwillim,  J.  C,  1905,  1906,  1907,  1908. 
Hardman,  John  E.,  1908. 
Haultain,  H.  E.  T.,  1907,  1908. 
Bay.  Col.  A.  M..  1905,  1906,  1907. 
Hedlev,  Robt.  R..  1900,  1905. 
Hobson,  J.  B.,  1899,  1901,  1902. 


IV 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


COUNCILLORS— Continued 


Hopper,  R.T.,  1899,  1900,1905,1906, 

1907,   L908. 
Keffer.  Frederic,  L902,  1903. 
Kerr,  L).  (1..  1903,  1904. 
Kirby,  E.  B.,  1900,  1901,  1903, 
Kiddie,  Thos.,  1905.  1906,  1907. 
Kirkgaard,  P.,  1901,  1902. 
LecHe,  R.  G.,  1901,  1904. 
Lewis,  James  F.,  1900,  1901. 
Libbv,  W.  L.,  1899,  1902. 
Little,  W.  F.,  1901,  1902. 
Macdonald,  Bernard,  1900,  1901. 
.McArthur,  James,  1899. 
McCall.  J.  T.,  1901,  1902. 
McConnell,  R.  G.,  1900,  1901. 
McEvov,  J.,  1904,  1905,  1906,  1907, 

1908. 
McXab,  A.  J.,  1908. 
McNaughton.  G.  F.,  1900,  1901. 
Meissener,  C.  A.,  1899,  1900,  1905. 
Miller,  Dr.  W.  G.,  1904,  1905,  1906. 
Obalski,  J.,  1898,  1905. 


Parrish,  S.  F.,  1903,  1904. 

Parsons,  W.  F.  C,  1908. 

Poole,  H.  S.,  1900,  1901. 

Porter,  J.  Bonsall,  1902,  1903,  1905, 

1906. 
Kobb   D.  W.,  1901,  1902,  1905,  1906, 

1907,  1908. 
Robbing,   Frank,   1902. 
Robertson,  \V.  F.,  1904. 
Shields,  Cornelius,  1902,  1903. 
Siostedt,  E.  A.,  1902,  1903. 
Smith,  F.  B.,  1905,  1906,  1907,  1908. 
Smith,  Geo.  R.,  1899,  1901,  1902. 
Smith,  J.  Burley,  1900,  1901. 
Smith,  O.  B.,  1908. 
Stewart,  R.  H.,  1908. 
Tonkin,  J.  H.,  1903. 
Turn3r,  A.  P.,  1902,  1903. 
Tvrrell,  J.  B.,  1908. 
Williams,  H.  J.,  1903,  1904,  1905, 1906. 
Willmott,  A.  B.,  1905. 


SECRETARY 

Bell  B.  T.  A.,  1899,  1900,  1901,  1902,      Coste,  Eugene,   (Acting  Secretary) 
1903.  1904. 

Lamb,  H.  Mortimer,  1905,  1906,  1907,  1908. 

TREASURER 

Brown,  J.  Stevenson,  1900,  1901,1902   Stevenson,  A.  W.,  1899. 
1903,  1904,  1905,  1906,  1907, 
1908. 


CONTENTS 


GENERAL 

PAGE 

Report  of  the  Annual  General  Meetings,  Ottawa,  March  4th,  5th,  and  6th. .       3 

Western  Branch  Meetings,  reported  by  E.  Jacobs 72 

Cobalt  Branch  Meetings,  reported  by  G.  R.  Hardy 86 

Montreal  Branch  Meeting 87 

McGill  Mining  Society,  reported  by  H.  H.  Yuill 88 

PAPERS. 

C.  K.  LEITH— The  Iron  Ores  of  Canada 91 

A.  B.  WILLMOTT— The  Iron  Ores  of  Ontario 106 

Discussion 124 

J.  G.  PARMELEE— The  Iron  and  Steel  Industry  of  the  Province  of  On- 
tario      125 

X.  L.  LEACH — The  Moose  Mountain  Iron  Ore  Deposits 148 

J.  E.  HARDMAX — A  New  Iron  Ore  Field  in  the  Province  of  New  Bruns- 
wick      156 

R.  H.  SWEETZER— The  Blast  Furnace  Fuel  for  Ontario 165 

R.  TURXBULL — The  Reduction  of  Iron  Ores  in  the  Electric  Furnace  .  .  175 

Discussion 178 

A.  STAXSFIELD— Possibilities  in  the  Electric  Smelting  of  Iron  Ores.  .  .  181 

P.  Mc  X.  BEXXIE — Progress  with  the  Grondal  Process  of  Concentrating 

and  Briquetting  Iron  Ores 189 

Discussion 199 

R.  W.  ELLS — Carbonaceous  and  Bituminous  Minerals  of  Xew  Brunswick  204 

Discussion 227 

D.  B.  DOWLIXG— Classification  of  Coal 220 

Discussion 227 

E.  NYSTR*  )M— The  Utilization  of  Peat  for  Industrial  and  Metallurgical 

purposes 230 

H.  P.  H.  BRUMELL — Modes  of  Occurrences  of  Canadian  Graphite  ....    236 
Discussion 243 

J.  <  tBALSKI — Gold  in  the  Eastern  Townships  of  the  Province  of  Quebec      251 

Discussion 254 

A.  E.  BARLOW — The  Origin  of  the  Silver  of  James  Township,  Montreal 

River  Mining  district 256 

Discussion 273 

R.  E.  HORE — Origin  of  Cobalt  Silver  Ores  of  Xorthern  Ontario 275 

A.  A.  COLE— The  Sampling  of  Silver-Cobalt  Ores  at  Copper  Cliff,  <  >ntario  287 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 


PACE 

1'.  N.  \  \.\  W     Metallurgical  Conditions  at  Cobalt,  Ontario 292 

I".  C.  LORING     Mining  al  Cobalt 335 

G    I     SANCT<  IN-  Methods  of  Concentration  at  Cobalt,  Ontario 340 

.1.  B.  TYRRELL-    Minerals  and  Ores  of  Northern  Canada 348 

1  discussion 364 

T.  L.  WALKER-  The  <  >ecurrence  of  Tungsten  <  >res  in  Canada 367 

W  H  HO  YD — Topographical  Methods  used  for  the  Special  Map  of  Ross- 
land,  B.  C 372 

F.  KEFFER — Notes  on  Costs  of  Diamond  Drilling  in  the  Boundary  Dis- 
trict     385 

( !.  M.  (  AMPBELL— Granby  Mining  .Methods 392 

Discussion 413 

A.  B.  H.  HODGES— Handling  Three  Thousand  Tons  of  Ore  per  day  at 

the  Granby  Mines  and  Smelter 408 

\Y.  M.  BREWER — Some  Notes  on  the  Copper  River  district.  Alaska  .  .      41") 

('.  CAMSELL — Observations  on  the  Geologv  and  Ore  Deposits  of  Camp 

Hedley.  B.  C 423 

J.  C.  GWILLIM — A  Partial  Bibliography  of  Publications  referring  to  the 
Geology  and  Mineral  Industry  of  Alberta,  British  Columbia  and  the 
Yukon 433 

C.  S.  BAKER — Notes  on  the  Practice  of  Assaying  in  B.  C 445 

E.  JACOBS— Mineral  Production  of  B.  C.  in  1907 452 

H.  H.  CLAUDET — A  few  notes  on  the  Elmore  Vacuum  Process   of   Ore 

Concentration 4(30 

E.  P.  JENNINGS — Secondary  Copper  Ores  of  the  Ludwig  Mine.  Yerring- 

ton,  Nevada 463 

J.  D.  KENDALL— The  Duties  and  Rights  of  Engineers 467 

W.  CAMPBELL — Metallography  Applied  to  Engineering 471 

E.  D.  INGALL — Note  on  a  System  of  Conventional  Signs  for  Mineral 

Occurrence  Maps 4S7 

H.  H.  STOEK — Secondary  Mining  Education 504 

Discussion .521 

H.  H.  YUILL— The  "White  Bear  Mine,"  Rossland,  B.C 525 

A.  A.  PARE — Mining  and  Mining  Methods  of  the  Yukon 545 

L.  STEWART— The  Creighton  Mine  of  the  Canadian  Copper  Co.,  Sudbury 

district,  Ontario 5(i7 

B.  NEILLY — Refining  of  Silver  Bullion  containing  Arsenic  and    Antim- 

ony      586 

F.  NICOLAS— General  Index 593 


Dr.  WlLUBT  G.  MILLER,  Provincial  Geologist  of  Ontario. 
Elected   President   Canadian   Mining  Institute,  March,  1908. 


MEETINGS 


CANADIAN    MINING    INSTITUTE 


ANNUAL    MEETING 
Ottawa,  March  4th,  5th  &  6th,   1908 


The  tenth  Annual  General  Meeting  of  the  Institute  was  held 
at  the  Russell  House,  Ottawa,  on  Wednesday,  Thursday  and 
Friday,  March  4th,  5th  and  6th,  1908. 

The  members  in  attendance  assembled  in  the  drawing-room 
of  the  hotel,  on  Wednesday  morning  at  10  o'clock.  The  meeting 
was  called  to  order  by  the  President,  Mr.  Frederic  Keffer,  En- 
gineer of  the  B.C.  Copper  Co.,  Ltd.,  Greenwood,  B.C.,  who  in 
opening  the  proceedings  said:  "We  are  honoured  to-day  by  the 
presence  of  the  Minister  of  Mines,  the  Hon.  William  Templeman, 
who  has  kindly  consented  to  address  you  (applause).  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  inform  the  Honourable  Minister  that  this  Institute 
is  a  very  representative  body.  It  has  now  a  membership  of,  in 
round  numbers,  seven  hundred,  and  we  include  on  our  roll  virtually 
all  the  mining  men  of  standing  of  the  Dominion.  It  has  already 
played  a  very  important  part  in  promoting  the  welfare  of  the 
great  industry  it  represents.  Its  purpose  in  bringing  together  the 
mining  engineers  of  the  country  is  to  disseminate  technical  know- 
ledge, to  raise  the  standard  of  achievement  and,  in  general,  to  foster 
an  industry  which — already  important — is  but  on  the  thresh- 
hold  of  a  development  which  possibly,  nay  probably,  will  make 
Canada  the  greatest  mineral  producing  country  in  the  world  (ap- 
plause). 

"Another  and  parallel  aim  of  the  Institute  is  to  serve  the  cause 
of  education.  Ever  since  our  organization,  many  years  ago, 
we  have  done  our  best  to  aid  young  men  entering  the  profession. 
By  offering  annually  prizes  for  competition,  by  establishing  college 
branches,  and  by  other  means,  we  have  secured  the  interest  of  these 
young  men  and  many  of  them  are  now  members  of  the  Institute, 
while  at  present  we  have  a  student  membership  of  over  a  hundred. 
You,  Mr.  Templeman,  and  your  government  have  been  liberal  and 
consistent  in  aiding  our  development  and  our  work,  and  it  is  the 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 


ambition  of  the  Council  and  the  members  at  large  to  prove  to  you 
by  our  works  that  your  assistance  has  been  wisely  bestowed. 

"Now,  gentlemen  of  the  Canadian  Mining  Institute,  I  have 
the  honour  to  introduce  the  Honourable  William  Templeman, 
Minister  of  Mines,  who  will  welcome  you  to  the  capital  city  of 
the  Dominion."     (cheers). 

ADDRESS  BY  THE  HON.  THE  MINISTER  OF  MINES. 

The  Honourable  William  Templeman,  (Minister'of  Mines), 
who  was  greeted  with  applause,  said:  "-It  was  the  intention  of 
Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier  to  be  here  to-day  to  welcome  you  to  the  city 
of  Ottawa,  but  I  regret  to  say  he  has  been  compelled  on  sudden 
notice  to  leave  the  city,  and  so  is  unable  to  be  present  on  this 
occasion.  I  have  very  great  pleasure  indeed  in  being  here  to 
welcome  the  members  of  the  Canadian  Mining  Institute  to  the 
city  of  Ottawa.  I  understand  from  what  you  have  just  said,  Mr. 
President,  that  the  Institute  has  grown  in  numbers  and  influence 
very  considerably  during  the  last  few  years.  The  Department  of 
Mines  of  Canada,  of  which  I  have  the  honour  to  be  the  head,  is  as 
yet  young  and  inexperienced  and  it  is  a  satisfaction  for  me  to 
know  that  we  have  an  organization  of  this  high  character,  com- 
posed as  it  is  of  mining  engineers,  geologists,  men  versed  in  the 
technical  and  practical  side  of  mining,  in  short  so  thoroughly  rep- 
resentative of  the  mining  industries  of  the  country,  to  give  us  aid 
and  counsel  at  all  times,  (hear,  hear).  I  appreciate  what  you 
have  said,  Sir,  that  Canada  is  destined  to  become  one  of  the  leading 
mining  countries  in  the  world.  It  is  because,  coming  as  I  do  from 
the  province  of  British  Columbia  (which  we  are  vain  enough  to 
sometimes  think  is  one  of  the  leading  mining  provinces  of  the 
Dominion)  and  having  a  more  or  less  superficial  knowledge  of  the 
mining  resources  of  that  province  and  the  development  that  has 
taken  place  there  during  the  last  fifteen  }rears,  that  I  induced  my 
colleagues  to  constitute  a  Mines  Department,  (hear,  hear). 
The  Mines  Department  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada  has  not  yet 
been  completely  organized;  we  hope  to  greatly  extend  its  field 
of  usefulness.  We  have  had  some  difficulties  to  contend  with,  but  I 
am  glad  to  say  these  are  being  rapidly  overcome  and  I  know  that 
there  is  in  the  minds  of  my  colleagues  a  desire  to  foster  and  en- 


Proceeding  <>f  10th  Annual  Meeting 


courage  the  mining  industry  of  Canada.  The  Dominion  Mines 
Department  occupies  a  somewhat  different  position  from  that 
occupied  by  the  Mines'  Departments  of  the  .several  provinces.  We 
have  not,  of  course,  anything  to  do  with  legislation  affecting  min- 
ing in  those  provinces,  which  control  and  own  their  own  minerals; 
but  in  the  new  provinces  of  the  West — in  Manitoba,  Alberta  and 
Saskatchewan — in  which  the  Dominion  Government  controls  the 
mining  rights,  we  continue  to  exercise  jurisdiction.  But  the  Do- 
minion Mines  Department  has,  apart  from  this,  a  great  and  useful 
work  to  carry  out.  For  example,  we  can  encourage  mining  along 
educational  lines,  and  that  I  can  assure  you  is  one  of  the  main 
objects  we  have  in  view;  moreover,  we  purpose  encouraging  by 
experiment  and  investigation  the  great  interests  you  are  assembled 
to  promote.  I  am  not  at  the  moment  prepared  to  say  more  to 
you;  I  am  a  novice  facing  experts;  I  cannot  speak  about  mining 
from  the  standpoint  of  experience  or  technical  skill.  I  can,  how- 
ever, assure  you  again  that  in  so  far  as  the  Mines  Department  of 
Canada  is  concerned  we  stand  to  help  in  the  development  of  the 
mining  industries  of  the  country,  (applause).  We  know  enough 
about  those  resources  of  Canada  to  believe,  as  the  chairman  has 
said,  that  we  will  soon  become  one  of  the  greatest  mining  countries 
in  the  world.  I  extend  again  a  cordial  welcome  to  you  on  behalf 
of  the  Prime  Minister  and  of  myself.  I  trust  that  your  meetings 
will  be  interesting  and  profitable  to  yourselves  and  to  the  country, 
and  that  the  results  will  be  beneficial  to  the  interests  you  have  so 
much  at  heart.  I  would,  however,  counsel  you  not  to  imitate 
Parliament  too  closely  and  have  all  night  sessions,  for  in  my  opinion 
that  is  not  a  very  desirable  thing.  I  offer  my  best  wishes  for  the 
success  of  this  meeting:  and  of  the  Canadian  Mining  Institute.'' 
(applause). 

letters  of  regret  at  inability  to  attend. 

At  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Templeman's  address  the  Secretary 
read  letters  of  regret  at  inability  to  be  present  from  Dr.  J.  F.  Kemp, 
Columbia  University,  X.Y..  Mr.  John  Duer  Irving,  of  Yale  Univer- 
sity, Mr.  S.  F.  Emmons,  Geological  Survey  of  the  United  States, 
and  Mr.  Alfred  C.  Lane,  State  Geologist,  Lansing,  Michigan. 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


TELEGRAM    OF    SYMPATHY    TO    DR.    LOW. 

Di.  J.  Bonsall  Porter  then  asked  permission  to  move  that 
the  secretary  be  instructed  to  despatch  a  telegram  to  Dr.  A.  P.  Low, 
Deputy  Minister  of  Mines,  at  present  convalescing  in  the  West 
Indies,  expressing  the  sympathy  of  the  Institute  in  his  illness  and 
its  thanks  for  the  interest  he  had  always  shown  in  the  work,  and  the 
assistance  he  had  been  ever  ready  to  afford,  the  Institute  in  the 
past. 

The  resolution  was  seconded  by  Mr.  Geo.  R.  Smith,  and  was 
carried  unanimously. 

PAPERS — WEDNESDAY    MORNING    SESSION. 

The  following  papers  were  then  read  and  discussed: 

the  classification  of  coal,  by  D.  B.  Dowling,  Ottawa. 

THE  CARBON  MINERALS  OF  NEW  BRUNSWICK,  by  Dr.  R.  W.  Ells, 

Ottawa. 

on  secondary  education,  by  H.  H.  Stoek,  Scranton,  Pa. 

OCCURRENCE  OF  TUNGSTEN  ORES  IN  CANADA,  by  Dr.  T.  L. 

Walker,  Toronto,  Ont. 

TOPOGRAPHICAL    METHODS    USED    FOR    THE    SPECIAL    MAP     OF 

rossland,  B.C.,  by  W.  H.  Boyd,  Ottawa,  Ont. 

WEDNESDAY    AFTERNOON    SESSION. 

Upon  re-assembling  at  3  o'clock,  the  President  announced  that 
Dr.  J.  Bonar,  Deputy  Master  of  the  Royal  Mint,  at  Ottawa,  had 
kindly  intimated  that  members  of  the  Institute  would  be  welcome 
to  visit  that  institution  at  any  time  during  their  stay  in  the  city. 

The  following  papers  were  then  read  and  discussed : 

GOLD  IN  THE   EASTERN  TOWNSHIPS   OF  QUEBEC,   by  J.  Obalski, 

Quebec,  Que. 

Canadian  graphite,  by  H.  P.  H.  Brumell,  Buckingham,  Que. 

*HANDLING  THREE  THOUSAND  TONS  OF  ORE  PER  DAY  AT  THE 
GRANBY  MINES  AND  SMELTER,  PHOENIX  AND  GRAND  FORKS,  B.C., 

by  A.  B.  W.  Hodges,  Grand  Forks,  B.C. 


Paper  read  by  Mr.  R.  R.  Hedley  in  the  absence  of  the  author. 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting 


NOTES    ON    COSTS    OF    DIAMOND    DRILLING    IN    THE    BOUNDARY 

district,  B.C.,  by  Frederic  Keffer,  Greenwood,  B.C. 

WEDNESDAY    EVENING    SESSION 

At  the  evening  session,  8  p.m.,  Dr.  Wm.  Campbell,  of  Columbia 
University,  New  York,  delivered  a  most  interesting  address  on 
the  subject  of  "Metallography  as  applied  to  Engineering."  The 
lecture  was  admirably  illustrated  by  lantern  slides.  At  the  close 
of  his  address  Dr.  Campbell  extended  a  hearty  invitation  to  mem- 
bers of  the  Institute  visiting  New  York  to  inspect  his  laboratories 
and  apparatus  at  Columbia  University. 

Discussion. 

The  President: — I,  and  I  am  sure  all  here,  have  listened  with 
a  great  deal  of  pleasure  to  the  very  excellent  address  of  Prof.  Camp- 
bell, and  on  behalf  of  the  Institute  I  am  pleased  to  extend  to  that 
gentleman  a  very  warm  welcome  to  our  convention. 

Dr.  Stansfield: — I  wish  to  say  a  few  words  in  appreciation 
of  the  address  of  Dr.  Campbell,  and  especially  in  appreciation  of 
his  beautiful-photographs.  Dr.  Campbell  began  working  on  metal- 
lography a  number  of  years  ago  in  a  laboratory  of  which  I  was 
in  charge,  and  I  believe  that  his  original  work  in  that  line  was  on 
a  piece  of  work  I  had  originated,  that  of  the  constitution  of  the 
copper-tin  alloys,  which  I  had  worked  out  with  the  acid 
of  the  recording  pyrometer,  taking  cooling  curves.  At  my  sug- 
gestion Dr.  Campbell  proceeded  to  complete  the  work  by  means 
of  the  miscroscope.  although  at  that  time  I  could  not  give  him  very 
satisfactory  apparatus.  After  that  he  went  to  New  York,  where 
he  has  ultimately  obtained  the  very  satisfactory  results  we  have 
seen  this  evening.  Dr.  Campbell  began  his  work  at  the  Royal 
School  of  Mines  in  London,  where  they  now  have  a  very  satisfac- 
tory apparatus  for  this  line  of  investigation.  The  Metallurgical 
Laboratories  at  McGill  are  also  well  equipped  for  such  work. 

Dr.  Porter: — This  is  a  matter  of  immense  importance  to 
geologists  and  students  of  ore  deposits.  We  1  ave  with  us  several 
people  eminently  qualified  to  speak  on  this  subject,  in  relation  to 
the  question  of  steel  rails,  for  instance,  which  is  an  affair  of  crying 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 


importance.  We  have  also  petrographers  and  geologists,  and  I 
think  we  could  have  a  very  interesting  discussion  on  this  paper. 

The  President: — I  would  suggest  a  few  words  from  Dr. 
Adams. 

Dr.  Adams: — I  am  afraid  that  I  am  scarcely  competent  to 
adequately  discuss  this  subject,  Mr.  Chairman,  but  I  may  say  that 
the  point  which  has  always  struck  me  in  connection  with  this  vfery 
interesting  metallographic  work  is  that  it  brings  out  so  strikingl}' 
the  resemblances  in  structure  which  exist  between  alloys  or  com- 
pounds of  metals  and  rocks.  The  structure  of  cementite,  as  we 
saw  it  so  beautifully  on  the  screen  this  evening,  is  strikingly  similar 
to  that  of  graphic  granite.  There  are  many  other  structures  which 
are  developed  in  these  metallic  rocks,  if  we  may  so  style  them, 
which  are  precisely  similar  to  those  we  are  accustomed  to  see 
under  the  microscope  in  ordinary  rocks  made  of  minerals.  I 
desire  to  convey  my  sincere  congratulations  to  Dr.  Campbell  for 
his  excellent  paper,  and  to  express  my  great  admiration  of  the 
photographs  which  he  has  thrown  upon  the  screen  and  by  which 
his  remarks  were  so  admirably  illustrated. 

PROSPECTING    IN   THE   ROCKIES. 

Mr.  D.  B.  Dowling,  then  read  a  paper  on  "A  Prospecting 
Trip  in  the  Rocky  Mountains. "  in  which  he  gave  an  entertaining 
account  of  a  summer  spent  in  the  hills  and  valleys  of  that  section  of 
country,  and  showed  a  series  of  very  beautiful  slides,  many  of  which 
were  coloured. 

In  moving  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Mr.  Dowling,  Dr.  Porter  said: 
"  We  have  listened  with  great  pleasure  to  Mr.  Dowling's  very 
interesting  address,  but  I  think  we  should  compliment  him  in  part- 
icular upon  his  very  excellent  slides,  which  are  very  tastefully 
coloured,  and  I  should  like  to  ask  who  was  responsible  for  that  work? 
It  is  about  the  best  I  have  seen. 

Mr.  Dowling: — I  did  it  myself.  To  colour  my  slides  I  used 
a  dye  which  I  obtained  from  a  Chicago  firm,  and  which  I  applied  in 
the  ordinary  way  with  a  brush,  diluting  the  dyes  as  needed  with 
water. 

The  vote  of  thanks  was  seconded  by  Dr.  Adams  and  unani- 
mously carried. 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting  9 

Mr.  E.  D.  Ingall,  then  read  a  short  paper  entitled  "A 
Note  on  a  System  of  Conventional  Signs  for  Shewing  Min- 
erals Occurrences  on  Maps,  Etc.  " 

thursday  morning  session. 

The  session  opened  at  10  o'clock,  and  was  devoted  to  matters 
of  business  detail  in  connection  with  the  affairs  of  the  Institute. 

The  President,  Mr.  Frederic  Keffer,  delivered  his  annual 
address  as  follows: 

PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS. 

In  reviewing  the  past  year  it  is  gratifying  to  be  able  to  note 
a  substantial  increase  in  the  membership  of  the  Institute.  At 
our  last  meeting  the  roll  included  some  five  hundred  names, 
whereas  at  the  present  time  we  have,  in  round  figures,  a  member- 
ship of  seven  hundred.  The  professional  standing  and  character 
of  the  gentlemen  we  have  admitted  to  membership  during  this 
period  is  also  a  matter  for  congratulation,  since  the  list  includes 
so  many  men  actually  engaged  in  building  up  the  mining  industry 
of  Canada — men  widely  known  in  their  several  fields  of  work. 

One  of  the  important  tasks  undertaken  during  the  year  by 
the  Council  of  the  Institute,  is  the  establishment  of  branch  libra- 
ries in  the  more  important  mining  centres,  a  work  which  cannot 
fail  to  add  to  the  usefulness  of  the  Institute. 

Another  important  business  now  before  the  Institute  is  the 
coming  visit  (next  Fall)  of  distinguished  representatives  of  the  lead- 
ing engineering  and  mining  societies  of  Great  Britain,  who  will 
come  out  asg  ests  of  the  Canadian  Mining  Institute  to  participate 
in  a  proposed  tour  of  the  mineral  regions  of  the  Dominion,  inclu- 
sive, if  possible,  of  the  Province  of  British  Columbia.  As  a  resi- 
dent of  the  latter  pruviuce,  I  think  that  I  may  safely  promise,  on 
behalf  of  my  fellow,  members  in  that  field,  that  we  will  do  all  in 
our  power  to  make  that  visit  a  pleasant  and  profitable  one  for 
our  London  gue- 

Last  January  there  was  organized  at  Xelson,  B.C.,  a  Western 
Branch  of  the  Institute,  in  order  that  members  resident  in  the 

tern   Provinces,   of  whom  verv  few  indeed  can   attend   the 


10  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

annual  meetings  usually  held  in  Eastern  Canada,  may  enjoy  the 
advantages  of  personal  association  and  interchange  of  ideas.  About 
thirty  members  were  in  attendance,  and  although  there  were 
fewer  present  than  had  been  hoped,  still  those  who  did  attend 
included  many  of  those  foremost  in  the  mining  industry  of  the 
Province,  and  the  meeting  was  thoroughly  representative.  Mr. 
A.  B.  W.  Hodges,  the  Acting  Manager  of  the  Granby  Cons.  M.  &  S. 
Co.,  Ltd.,  owning  the  greatest  copper  mining  and  smelting  works 
in  Canada,  was  elected  President,  and  Mr.  E.  Jacobs,  Editor  of 
"The  Mining  Record,"  of  Victoria,  a  gentleman  well  and  favour- 
ably known  throughout  the  Dominion  by  his  journalistic  work  in 
connection  with  mining,  was  elected  Secretary-Treasurer.  A 
strong  council  of  nine  members,  representing  Alberta,  British 
Columbia  and  the  State  of  Washington,  was  also  elected.  It  is 
the  intention  to  hold  meetings  every  four  months  in  various  parts 
of  the  territory  covered  by  the  branch,  so  as  to  give  members  an 
opportunity  to  attend  a  meeting  at  least  once  each  year.  It  was 
felt  that  in  this  way  only  could  the  proper  spirit  be  fostered,  and 
a  lively  interest  in  the  Institute  maintained. 

That  this  interest  needs  to  be  awakened  was  amply  demon- 
strated when  notices  were  being  sent  out  to  members  in  respect  to 
the  Nelson  meeting.  Although  a  return  addressed  postal  card 
was  sent  to  every  member,  and  all  required  of  him  was  to  reply 
"Yes"  or  "No"  to  the  questions  asked,  but  fifty  per  cent,  of  the 
members  responded;  while  to  the  notices  sent  out  last  September 
the  response  was  even  less  satisfactory.  We  hope  to  change  all 
this  in  the  West  and  make  the  Institute  and  its  work  a  live  issue; 
and  its  meetings  so  valuable  that  members  will  realize  that  they 
cannot  afford  to  remain  away.  And  if  this  Institute  is  to  occupy 
the  position  it  can  and  should,  it  is  imperative  that  the  interest  of 
all  members  should  be  enlisted  and  that  we  should  all  work  to- 
gether as  for  a  common  cause. 

In  conclusion,  it  is  related  that  when  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence was  signed  in  1776,  some  wag  amongst  the  subscribers 
said — "Gentlemen,  we  must  all  hang  together  now,  for  if  we  don't 
we  shall  assuredly  all  hang  separately."  It  is  much  the  same 
with  our  organization.  We  must  all  hang,  work  and  strive  to- 
gether for  a  national  Canadian  Mining  Institute  of  which  we  can 
all  be  proud.     Nothing  short  of  this  is  worth  while,     (applause). 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting  11 

The  Secretary  (Mr.  H.  Mortimer-Lamb)  then  read  the  annual 
report  of  the  Council  for  the  year  1907-1908,  as  follows-— 

REPORT  OF  THE  COUNCIL  FOR  THE  YEAR,  1907-08. 

MEETINGS. 

The  Ninth  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Institute  was  held  at  the 
King  Edward  Hotel,  in  the  city  of  Toronto,  on  March  the  6th, 
7th  and  8th,  1907.  The  attendance  was  the  largest  in  the  history 
of  the  Institute  and  the  occasion  was  also  noteworthy  in  that  the 
members  were  afforded  the  privilege  of  entertaining  a  number  of 
distinguished  guests  from  the  United  States,  who  took  an  active 
interest  and  part  in  the  proceedings.  Other  meetings  have  been 
held  during  the  year  under  the  auspices  of  the  local  branches  of 
Cobalt  and  Toronto;  whilst  an  important  meeting  of  Western 
Members,  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  a  Western  Section  and 
for  the  reading  of  papers,  was  held  at  Nelson,  B.C.,  on  Jan.  15th, 
1908. 

Five  regular  meetings  of  Council  have  been  held  at  Head- 
quarters, the  attendance  having  been  generally  above  the  average 
of    former    years. 

PUBLICATIONS. 

Thirty-five  papers  were  presented  at  the  Annual  Meeting, 
and  these  with  the  discussions  thereon,  and  a  Report  of  the  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  Meeting,  now  constitute  Vol.  X.  of  the  Journal  of 
the  Institute,  which  has  been  issued  to  members  in  good  standing. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Council  in  October  last,  it  wes  decided  to 
publish  thereafter  advance  proofs  of  papers  contributed  by  mem- 
bers, reports  of  Branches  and  Affiliated  Societies  and  other  matter 
of  general  interest  to  the  membership,  in  the  form  of  a  quarterly 
Bulletin.  The  first  number  of  this  Bulletin  has  been  placed  before 
you. 

MEMBERSHIP. 

The  increase  in  the  membership  during  the  year  is  exception- 
ally gratifying,  there  having  been  elected  since  the  last  Annual 
Meeting  one  hundred  and  sixty  one  members,  thirty-four  associate 


12  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

members,  thirteen  corresponding  members,  and  four  student  mem- 
bers, or  a  total  of  two  hundred  and  two,  representing  an  increase 
in  membership  for  the  year  of  over  forty-five  per  cent. 

BRANCHES. 

This  large  increase  in  membership  is  mainly  attributable  to 
the  interest  that  has  been  awakened  in  the  work  of  the  Institute 
in  the  Provinces  of  British  Columbia  and  Alberta,  and  in  the  Cobalt 
District  of  Ontario.  In  the  latter  District,  a  Branch  was  success- 
fully organized  on  the  15th  of  April  last,  Mr.  Arthur  A.  Cole 
having  been  elected  Chairman  and  Mr.  G.  R.  Hardy,  Secretary. 
The  branch  holds  regular  monthly  meetings  for  the  reading  of 
papers  and  for  the  discussion  of  questions  of  local  interest.  The 
Western  Section  or  Branch,  to  which  already  allusion  has  been 
made,  was  organized  at  Nelson,  B.C.,  on  Jan.  15th,  1908,  with 
a  membership  in  round  figures  of  a  hundred  and  fifty,  including 
members  residing  in  British  Columbia,  Alberta  and  the  adjacent 
United  States  territory.  A  vote  having  been  taken,  Mr.  A.  B.  W. 
Hodges,  General  Manager  of  the  Granby  Consolidated  Mining, 
Smelting  and  Power  Co.,  Ltd.,  of  Grand  Forks.  B.C.,  was  elected 
Chairman,  and  Mr.  E.  Jacobs,  of  Victoria,  B.C.,  Secretary  of  the 
Western  Branch.  The  Council  desires  to  record  its  appreciation 
and  to  express  its  grateful  acknowledgment  of  the  valuable  ser- 
vices rendered,  in  connection  with  the  organization  of  the  Western 
Branch,  by  the  President  of  the  Institute,  Mr.  Frederic  Keffer, 
who  undertook  and  carried  out  all  the  arrangements  for  the  meet- 
ing, the  success  of  which  may  be  almost  entirely  credited  to  his 
personal  efforts  and  zeal. 

On  Feb.  13th,  1908,  a  Montreal  branch  of  the  Institute  was 
organized  with  Mr.  George  E.  Drummond  as  Chairman,  and  Mr. 
J.  W.  Bell,  Secretary.  This  branch  contemplates  holding  monthly 
meetings  during  the  Winter  months. 

DEATHS    AND    RESIGNATIONS. 

The  Council  records  with  profound  regret  the  deaths  of  the 
following  members: — Mr.  John  Blue,  Eustis,  Que.;  Dr.  W.  H. 
Drummond,  Montreal;  Dr.  E.  Gilpin,  Jr.,  Halifax,  N.S.;Mr.  T.  R. 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting  13 

Gue,  Halifax,  X.S.:  Mr.  George  T.  Marks,  Port  Arthur,  Ont,  and 

Mr.  Tyndall  Phipps,  Reno,  Nevada. 

The  following  gentlemen  have  resigned  their  membership: — 
Messrs.  F.  Bacon,  T.  B.  Bacon,  Thomas  Barnes,  W.  Caldwell, 

\Y.  J.  Chalmers,  H.  E.  Coll,  D.  Ford,  H.  W.  Hixon,H.  W.  Machines, 

H.  Montgomery,  Robert  Murray,  F.  N.  Speller  and  J.  J.  Campbell. 

LIBRARY    AND    READING    ROOM. 

The  library  and  reading  room  at  headquarters  have  been  freely 
used  by  members  and  visitors  during  the  year.  Upwards  of  two 
hundred  volumes  have  been  added  to  the  library  shelves,  including 
transactions  of  technical  and  learned  societies,  official  reports, 
periodicals,  and  exchanges.  The  Secretary  is  now  engaged  in 
arranging  for  the  establishment  of  libraries,  at  all  the  principal 
mining  and  industrial  centres  of  the  Dominion,  for  the  convenience 
of  members  residing  elsewhere  than  at  headquarters;  and  it  is  hoped 
that  this  proposal,  which  has  already  met  with  much  encourage- 
ment, will  be  carried  into  effect  within  the  next  few  months. 

DEPUTATIONS 

Acting  under  instruction  of  the  Council,  Messrs.  Adams,  Porter 
and  the  Secretary,  last  November,  waited  on  the  Honourable  the 
Minister  of  Mines  and  the  Honourable  the  Minister  of  Finance,  at 
Ottawa,  and  urged  that  the  vote  annually  granted  to  the  Institute 
by  the  Federal  Parliament  be  increased  from  three  to  five  thousand 
dollars.  This  additional  assistance  was  asked  for  in  consideration 
of  the  extension  of  the  Institute's  field  of  usefulness,  and  of  further 
proposals  looking  to  that  end.  The  Council  has  much  pleasure 
in  stating  that  the  larger  sum  has  in  consequence  been  included  in 
■this  year's  estimates. 

Deputations  have  also  waited  on  the  Honourable  the  Minister 
of  Mines  for  the  Dominion,  Mr.  Templeman,  and  on  the  Honourable 
the  Minister  of  Mines  of  Ontario,  Mr.  Cochrane,  to  ask  for  financial 
assistance  in  connection  with  a  proposal  to  invite  representatives 
of  the  leading  mining  and  engineering  societies  of  Great  Britain  and 
the  Continent  to  visit  Canada  this  summer  as  the  guests  of  the 
Institute  to   take  part  in  a  general  excursion  of    members  to  all 


14  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

the  important  mining  regions  of  the  Dominion,  from  Ocean  to 
Ocean.  The  Council  has  every  reason  to  believe  that  substantial 
financial  assistance  will  be  given  the  Institute  in  carrying  out  this 
programme. 

FEDERAL    DEPARTMENT    OF    MINES. 

The  creation  by  Act  of  Parliament  last  spring  of  a  Federal 
Department  of  Mines,  the  desirability  and  need  of  which  has  been 
persistently  urged  by  the  Institute  on  frequent  occasions  in  the 
past,  is  worthy  of  special  remark.  This  department  has  been 
placed  under  the  Ministerial  control  of  the  Honourable  William 
Templeman,  who,  as  is  well  known,  has  keenly  at  heart  the  welfare 
of  the  mining  industry  of  the  Dominion,  and  is  earnestly  desirous  of 
promoting  its  growth  and  prosperity.  In  this  desire  he  has  the 
loyal  support  and  active  co-operation  of  Dr.  A.  P.  Low,  the  Deputy 
Minister,  (whose  present  disability  in  consequence  of  long  and 
severe  illness,  the  Council  notes  with  profound  regret) ;  and  of  the 
Director  of  Mines,  Dr.  Eugene  Haanel,  and  the  acting  Director  of 
the  Geological  Survey,  Mr.  R.  W.  Brock,  the  executive  heads  of  the 
two  branches  of,  respectively,  Mines  and  Geology.  The  good 
service  the  Department  has  already  rendered  the  country  in  gen- 
eral, and  the  mining  industry,  in  particular,  is  already  evidenced  in 
the  publication  of  the  several  valuable  monographs  and  other 
reports  of  an  economic  nature  issued  during  the  past  twelve  months. 

STUDENTS'    COMPETITION    AND    AWARDS. 

After  receiving  the  report  of  the  judges,  Messrs.  Charles  B. 
Going  and  Frederick  Hobart,  the  Council  awarded  the  President's 
gold  medal,  for  the  best  paper  submitted  by  a  Student  Member 
during  the  year,  to  Mr.  Frank  E.  Lathe,  of  McGill  University, 
Montreal,  in  addition  to  a  cash  prize  of  twenty- five  dollars.  Cash 
prizes  of  twenty  dollars  were  also  awarded  to  the  following  gentle- 
men: Mr.  G.  R.  McLaren,  of  the  School  of  Mining,  Kingston, 
Mr.  W.  J.  Dick,  of  McGill  University,  Montreal,  and  Mr.  C.  V. 
Brennan,  of  McGill  University,  Montreal. 

The  following  extract  from  the  Report  of  the  judges  may  be  of 
interest  to  members:  "The  undersigned,  appointed  by  you 
judges  of  the  student  papers  submitted  to  the  latest  annual  meeting 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting  15 

of  the  Institute,  would  respectfully  report  as  follows:  The  first 
place  should  be  accorded  to  the  paper  on  'Basic  Open-Hearth 
Steel  Manufacture  as  carried  out  by  the  Dominion  Iron  and  Steel 
Company  at  Sydney,  Cape  Breton,'  by  Frank  E.  Lathe.  This  is 
an  excellent  monograph,  carefully  written,  with  full  attention  to 
details,  and  especially  to  the  costs  and  expenses  of  manufacture; 
a  point  in  which  many  technical  papers  are  deficient.  It  shows  also 
a  fair  sense  of  proportion;  that  is,  of  the  relative  importance  of  the 
various  parts.  This  paper  unquestionably  takes  the  first  place. 
It  is  to  be  regretted  that  it  cannot  be  published  in  full,  as  some  of 
the  details  of  costs,  etc.,  were  given  to  the  writer  on  condition  that 
they  should  not  be  made  generally  public.  The  two  papers  'The 
Cariboo  Consolidated  Hydraulic  Plant,  Bullion,  B.C.,'  by  W.  J. 
Dick,  and  'Underground  Mining  Methods  at  the  Quincy  Copper 
Mine,  Michigan, '  by  G.  R.  McLaren,  appear  to  be  of  nearly  equal 
excellence.  The  former  should,  perhaps,  have  the  preference,  as 
relating  to  a  Canadian  topic.  The  Quincy  paper  has  a  number  of 
sketches  which  serve  to  illustrate  its  text,  but  which  might  have 
been  more  carefully  executed.  The  paper  on  'The  Oldham  Ster- 
ing  Gold  Mine,  Nova  Scotia,'  by  C.  V.  Brennan  has  merit,  and  only 
falls  a  little  below  the  two  mentioned  in  this  paragraph.  The 
paper  by  G.  D.  Drummond  on  'The  Use  of  Chemical  Analysis 
in  Iron  Blast  Furnace  Practice  and  some  notes  on  Laboratory 
Methods'  is  a  monograph  constituting  a  record  of  practice  and 
experience  of  considerable  value. " 


H.  MORTIMER-LAMB,  Secretary. 


The  Secretary  added: — 


In  reference  to  the  increased  membership  I  might  also  add  that 
during  the  year  the  membership  of  the  two  Student  Societies,  name- 
ly, those  of  McGill  University  and  Queen's,  has  in  each  case 
doubled,  largely  as  a  result  of  the  energy  and  enthusiasm  of  the 
Secretaries  of  these  branches.  The  Council  desires  to  congratulate 
these  gentlemen  on  their  exertions. 

The  Treasurer  (Mr.  J.  Stevenson  Brown)  then  read  the  follow- 
ing report: — 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

TREASURER'S  STATEMENT. 
Year  Ending  February  1st,  1908. 


RECEIPTS. 
Balance  from  last  year 


$1,354.20 


Subscriptions—  *mnn  .    $4,050.00 

405  Ordinary  Members  at  $10.00 '  16.00 

8  Student  Members  at  .    JJ.UU ^ 

72  University  Members  at  $1.UU 924  00 

\rrears  collected ! —      4,302.00 

47.60 

Sale  of  Publications. 3,000.00 

Dominion  Government  Grant •  1,500.00 

Ontario ......  50 .  80 

Interest .....  6.10 

Sundries 

\nnual  Meeting—  $415.50 

Banquet  Tickets,  etc. 660.00 

Cobalt  Trip  Subscription 1,075.50 

$11,396.20 

LESS 

7,923.51 

Disbursements  per  Statement __ 

$3,472.69 
Balance  on  hand 


J    STEVENSON  BROWN, 

J-  ^  Treasurer. 


Audited  and  Certified  Correct, 


P.  S.  ROSS  &  SONS. 

Chartered  Accountants. 

.Montreal,  February  17th,  1908. 

SUMMARY  STATEMENT, 

s_  — «,-*-— sat  vr- WOEK  AND 

Publication—  _  $1,917.05 

Transactions,  Vol.  A. 197 .92 

Postage  and  Express 243 .  14 

Sundries $2,358. 11 

Library—  $500.00 

Rent 40.00 

Telephone 40 .63 

Binding 17.50 

Sundries 598.13 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting  17 


Mfftixp  % 

Annual  Meeting  and  Cobalt  Trip $2,267 .  56 

Other  Meetings 165. 10 

Secretary's  Office — 

Secretary's  Grant $500.00 

Printing,  Stationary,  etc 100.25 

Postage,  Phones  and  Telegrams 58.84 

Travelling  Expenses 756 .  25 

Sundries 57 .  13 

Treasurer's  Office — 

Treasurer's  Grant $500.00 

Printing,  Stationery,  etc 53.75 

Postage,  Telegrams,  etc 66.78 

Bank  Charges  on  Cheques  and  Drafts .  92 .  40 

Sundries 70 .  61 

Sundries — 

Deputations 30 .  25 

Advertising 45 .  84 

Prizes 85.00 

Subscriptions  paid  twice 20 .  00 

Various 97 .  51 


2,432.66 


1,472.47 


783.54 


278.60 
$7,923.51 


J.  STEVENSON  BROWN, 

Treasurer. 

In  connection  with  the  financial  statement  it  may  be  remarked 
that  the  year  just  closed  has  been  one  of  unusual  activity;  the 
receipts  and  disbursements  have  far  exceeded  those  of  any  pre- 
ceding year,  while  the  cash  balance  at  the  credit  of  the  Institute 
is  the  largest  in  its  history. 

The  only  liability  outstanding  at  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year 
is  balance  owing  for  printing  and  binding  in  connection  with  Vol- 
ume X  of  the  Transactions,  the  account  for  which  had  not  been 
rendered  before  the  books  and  accounts  were  closed. 

It  is  gratifying  to  note  the  marked  increase  in  the  revenue 
derived  from  membership  fees,  amounting  to  $1,160.00  or  nearly 
forty  percent.,  and  which  increase  is  largely  due  to  the  energy 
displayed  by  our  Secretary  in  obtaining  new  members.  The 
figures  compared  with  last  year  are  as  follows: — 

For  year  ending  1st  February,  1907 $2,978 .00 

For  year  ending  1st  February,  1908 4,138.00 

Increase $1,160.00 


18  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

The  net  balance  at  the  credit  of  the  Institute  at  the  close  of 
each  fiscal  year  since  1900  is  shown  in  the  following  table: — 

1900  $484.87 

1901  630.61 

1902  957.40 

1903 1,682.49 

1904 1,909 .  58 

1905 658.52 

1906 1,191.84 

1907 1,354.20 

1908 3,472.69 

Less  Liability 700.00  2,772.69 


Respectfully  submitted, 

J.  STEVENSON  BROWN, 

Treasurer. 

The  Treasurer  added: — I  may  say  in  reference  to  the  balance 
of  $3,474.69,  that  there  is  an  unpaid  account  due  in  respect  to 
Volume  X  of  about  $700,  and  the  balance  shown  will  be  reduced 
by  that  amount  as  shown  above. 

auditor's  report. 

The  President  read  the  report  of  the   Auditors  as  follows: — 

Montreal,  Feb.   19th,   1908. 
To  the  President  and  Councilors  of  the 
Canadian  Mining  Institute, 
Montreal. 
Gentlemen: — 

We  beg  to  report  that  we  have  audited  the  receipts  and  dis- 
bursements made  by  your  Treasurer  on  behalf  of  the  Institute  for 
the  year  ended  on  the  31st  January,  1908. 

The  revenue  for  the  year  according  to  the  books  has  been  pro- 
perly accounted  for,  while  the  cash  disbursements  have  been  pro- 
perly covered  by  satisfactory  vouchers  which  have  been  properly 
approved. 

We  have  checked  the  detail  of  the  amounts  as  they  appear 
under  their  respective  heads  in  the  Statement  to  be  presented  to 
your  Annual  Meeting  and  have  certified  the  Statement  as  correctly 
setting  forth  the  transactions  of  the  Institute  according  to  the 
Books  of  Account. 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting  19 

We  have  also  checked  the  Bank  Accounts  throughout  the 
year  and  verified  the  balances  at  the  date  of  the  Statements. 

The  recording  of  the  transactions  has  been  done  in  a  very  clear 
and  concise  manner,  and  the  interests  of  the  Institute  in  this  direc- 
tion have  been  wel1  guarded. 

All  of  which  we  have  pleasure  in  reporting. 

(Signed)  P.  S.  ROSS  &  SONS, 

Chartered  Accountants. 

The  Peport  of  the  Council  was  adopted  after  some  discussion 
in  the  course  of  which.  Mr.  Coste,  Chairman  of  the  Toronto  Branch, 
stated  that  the  members  of  the  branch  met  regularly  once  a  month, 
and  sometimes  more  frequently,  the  attendance  being  generally 
between  twenty-five  and  thirty.  Members  visiting  Toronto  were 
always  welcome  at  the  meetings.  The  branch  had  been  no  charge 
on  the  Institute. 

In  connection  with  the  Treasurer's  Statement,  Mr.  J.B.Tyrrell 
suggested  that  it  would  be  an  advantage  if  in  future  the  accounts 
and  balance  sheet  were  published  in  advance  of  the  meeting  and 
distributed  to  members. 

REPORT     OF     COMMITTEE     ON     MINING     LEGISLATION     IN      ONTARIO. 

(Report  of  Committee  appointed  at  annual  meeting  held  in 
Toronto  on  March  the  6th,  1907,  to  confer  with  the  Ontario  Gov- 
ernment regarding  "An  act  to  supplement  the  revenues  of  the 
Crown,"  which  was  at  that  time  in  discussion  by  the  Govern- 
ment). 

Your  Committee,  consisting,  of  Mr.  R.  W.  Leonard,  representing 
Coniagas  Mines,  Cobalt;  Mr.  David  H.  Browne,  representing  the 
Canadian  Copper  Co;  Mr.  A.  B.  Wilmott,  representing  The  Lake 
Superior  Corporation,  Co. ;  Col.  A.  M.  Hay,  representing  The  Trethe- 
way  Silver-Cobalt  Mining  Co.;  Mr.  John  E.  Hardman,  representing 
The  Canadian  Iron  and  Furnace  Company  and  the  Drummond 
Mines,  Limited,  and  Mr.  A.  D.  V.  Adler,  Chairman  of  The 
Cobalt  Mines  Committee,  with  power  to  add  to  their  number, 
discussed  the  subject  with  the  Premier,  The  Minister  of  Mines, 
and  the  Provincial  Secretary  on  the  6th  of  March,    1907,   and 


20  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

presented  the  resolution  passed  by  the  Canadian  Mining  Institute 
at  that  Meeting. 

The  result  of  this  conference  was  that  the  Institute  was  re- 
quested by  the  Minister  of  Mines,  through  the  Committee,  to  cease 
all  opposition  to  the  Bill  on  assurance — which  was  given  by  the 
Minister — that  the  government  would  amend  the  Bill  at  its  next 
session  to  make  it  more  nearly  meet  the  wishes  expressed  by  the 
Committee,  as  it  was  too  late  then  to  undertake  any  amendments 
during  that  session. 

We  were  also  requested  to  present  to  the  Minister  of  Mines, 
during  the  ensuing  autumn,  some  suggestions  that  would  assist  in 
such  a  revision. 

The  proposed  "  Act  to  supplement  the  revenues  of  the  Crown" 
was  passed,  exacting  a  royalty  of  three  percent,  on  the  gross  output 
of  all  mines  yielding  a  profit  of  over  $10,000  per  year  after  allowing 
of  certain  deductions  for  cost  of  labour,  etc.,  involved,  which  roy- 
alty this  Institute  disapproved  of  in  the  resolution  presented  to 
the  Government  on  the  occasion  referred  to. 

With  the  object  of  assisting  the  Department  by  suggesting 
amendments  as  requested  by  the  Minister,  your  Committee, 
through  its  Chairman,  entered  into  correspondence  with  the  Min- 
ister of  Mines  in  August  last  requesting  information  to  enable 
the  committee  to  consider  the  subject  intelligently.  The  in- 
formation desired  included  the  acreage  in  the  province  held  as 
mining  land;  revenues  from  the  same;  the  acreage  taxed  as  mining 
lands,  and  that  exempted  from  taxation;  the  revenues  from  this 
possible  source;  the  number  of  mining  companies  incorporated  in 
Ontario,  with  their  capitalization;  the  revenue  derived  from  them 
in  various  ways;  the  total  revenues  of  the  Crown  (from  various 
forms  of  taxation)  from  the  mining  industry,  etc.,  etc. 

After  much  correspondence  (copies  of  all  of  which  are  in  the 
hands  of  the  Secretary)  and  several  interviews  with  the  Depart- 
ment, your  Committee  failed  to  obtain  much  information  to  assist 
them  in  their  efforts;  but  learned  that  such  information  is  not  in 
the  possession  of  the  Department  in  such  form  that  it  can  be  read- 
ily referred  to.  The  following  facts  were  obtained,  however, 
which,  though  incomplete  and  therefore  unsatisfactory,  are  worthy 
of  noting: — 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting  21 

The  Province  received  from  mining  alone  in  1906  a  revenue  of 
$250,121. 

As  this  was  before  any  large  revenue  was  received  from  the 
Crown  from  Cobalt  properties,  it  may  perhaps  fairly  represent  the 
income  of  the  Province  in  taxes  on  mining  only  up  to  that  time. 

In  1906  there  were  263  mining  companies  organized  in  On- 
tario, with  a  total  capitalization  of  .$184,677,000.00,  and  18 
foreign  mining  corporations  licensed  with  a  total  capitalization  of 
si  2.536,000. 

The  Deputy  Minister  of  Mines  in  conversation  with  the  chair- 
man of  your  Committee,  stated  that  he  estimated  roughly  that 
there  were  probably  about  800,000  acres  of  land  held  as  mining 
property  in  the  province. 

With  such  scanty  information  available  your  Committee  de- 
cided that  it  would  be  unwise  to  make  any  recommendations  other 
than  to  request  that  a  Royal  Commission  be  appointed  to  investi- 
gate the  subject  in  its  entirety,  and  a  resolution  to  this  effect  was 
presented  to  the  Minister  of  Mines  in  November  last  after  receiving 
recommendations  from  the  Cobalt  and  Toronto  branches  of  the 
Institute,  endorsing  that  suggestion. 

The  request  of  the  Committee  was  not  favourably  received  by 
the  Minister  of  Mines,  who  considered  it  a  reflection  on  the  Govern- 
ment and  on  his  Department;  but  your  Committee  is  nevertheless 
in  the  hope  that  legislation  amending  the  Act  (as  promised  by  the 
Government  a  year  ago)  partially — at  least — removing  the  just 
ground  of  dissatisfaction  of  the  mining  industry,  will  be  passed  at 
this  session. 

Signed,  R.  W.  LEONARD, 

Chairman  of  the  Committee. 

On  a  motion  of  Mr.  Craig,  seconded  by  Mr.  Hobart,  the  report 
of  the  Committee  was  adopted. 

APPOINTMENT    OF    SCRUTINEERS. 

The  following  gentlemen  were  appointed  by  the  meeting 
scrutineers  of  the  ballots  for  the  annual  meeting  of  Officers  and 
Council:  Messrs.  Frederick  Hobart,  New  York;  Mr.  R.  W.  Brock, 
Ottawa,  and  Dr.  A.  W.  G.  Wilson.  Montreal. 


22  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

amendments  to  by-laws. 

Dr.  J.  Bonsall  Porter,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  appoint- 
ed by  the  Council  to  offer  suggestions  for  amending  the  By-laws, 
presented  the  Committee's  recommendations,  notification  of  which 
had  been  issued  by  the  Secretary  prior  to  the  meeting. 

Dr.  Porter: — "  At  the  February  meeting  of  the  Council  it  was 
decided  that  in  view  of  criticisms  of  certain  by-laws  and  the  friction 
arising  from  inadequate  and  defective  regulations  it  would  be 
desirable  to  carefully  revise  the  by-laws  with  a  view  to  improving 
their  efficiency,  and  of  affording  lesser  opportunity  or  occasion  for 
differences  of  opinion.  A  Committee  consisting  of  Dr.  Barlow,  the 
Secretary  and  myself  was  appointed  to  study  the  by-laws  and  make 
such  recommendations  as  we  thought  fit.  We  held  many  sessions 
and  began  by  considering  the  by-laws  of  similar  societies  of  this  and 
other  countries,  and  our  recommendations  are  based  on  the 
information  so  obtained." 

Dr.  Porter  then  read  the  proposed  amendments  clause  by 
clause,  and  the  following  were  adopted: — 

2.  To  amend  Section  2,  lines  three  and  four  to  read:  "Asso- 
ciate Members  shall  be  entitled  to  vote,  but  may  not  hold  office. " 

7.  After  the  word  Field  Parties,  add: — "And  the  principal 
officers  of  the  Mines  Branch  of  the  Federal  Department  of 
Mines,  etc. " 

8.  Amend  the  last  three  lines  as  follows:  "  On  the  election  of  a 
candidate  he  shall  be  immediately  notified  by  the  Secretary.  On 
the  receipt  of  the  notification  he  must  pay  to  the  Treasurer  the 
regular  fees  before  he  can  be  entitled  to  the  privileges  of  member- 
ship. Should  he  fail  to  do  so  within  six  months  from  the  date  of 
the  notification  of  his  election,  such  election  shall  be  void.  Mem- 
bership shall  date  from  the  day  of  the  election. " 

12.  After  the  word  "Council,"  line  two,  add  "or  of  any  ten 
members  in  good  standing. " 

13.  After  the  word  "year,"  line  three,  add  "Persons  elected 
after  six  months  of  any  fiscal  year  shall  have  expired  shall  pay  only 
one  half  of  the  dues  for  that  fiscal  year. " 

16.  Add  as  follows:  "Any  member  who,  for  non-payment  of 
dues,  has  been  struck  off  the  roll  of  membership,  may  again,  if  the 
Council  approve,  join  the  Institute  on  payment  of  all  arrears. " 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting  23 

16a.  Add  as  follows:  "Any  member  may  compound  his  fee 
and  become  a  life  member  on  payment  of  a  sum  of  $100,  which  is 
to  be  invested  by  the  Council,  the  interest  only  to  be  used  for 
current  expenses. " 

166.  "The  Council  may,  for  sufficient  cause,  exempt  from  pay- 
ment of  dues  any  member  distinguished  in  his  professional  career, 
who,  from  ill-health,  advanced  age,  or  other  good  reason  assigned, 
is  unable  to  pay  such  dues. " 

18.  Strike  out  the  words  "Secretary  and  Treasurer"  on  second 
and  third  lines. 

25a.  "The  Council  at  the  first  regular  meeting  after  the  close 
of  the  Annual  Meeting  shall  appoint  a  Finance  Committee,  a  Com- 
mittee on  Publications  and  a  Library  Committee  and  shall  proceed 
to  appoint  a  Secretary  and  a  Treasurer  or  a  Secretary-Treasurer  and 
such  subordinate  officers  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  proper  con- 
duct of  the  business  of  the  Institute  at  such  salaries  as  it  may  deem 
fit.  The  appointment  of  a  Secretary  and  of  a  Treasurer  or  a  Secre- 
tary-Treasurer shall  be  conducted  by  letter-ballot  of  the  whole 
Council,  and  such  candidate  or  candidates  as  shall  receive  a  major- 
ity of  votes  shall  receive  the  appointment. " 

It  was  decided  after  discussion  that  the  Amendment  25a 
should  not  become  operative  until  a  vacancy  should  occur  in  either 
or  both  offices. 

A  vote  of  thanks  was  then  passed  to  the  Committee  for  the 
excellent  work  they  had  done  in  connection  with  the  revision  of 
the  by-laws. 

THURSDAY    AFTERNOON    SESSION. 

The  session  opened  at  3  o'clock,  when  the  following  papers 
were  read  and  discussed: — 

the  iron  ores  of  Canada,  by  Dr.  C.  K.  Leith,  University 
of  Wisconsin,  Madison,  Wis. 

the  iron  ores  of  Ontario,  by  A.  B.  Willmott,  Sault  Ste. 
Marie,  Ont. 

electric  smelting  in  Canada,  by  R.  Turnbull,  St.  Cather- 
ines, Ont. 

possibilities  of  electric  smelting,  by  Dr.  A.  Stansfield, 
McGill  University,  Montreal. 


24  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

the  smoking  concert. 

Under  the  auspices  of  the  local  Reception  and  Entertainment 
Committee,  a  Smoking  Concert  was  given  in  the  Dining  Room  of 
the  Russell  Hotel,  on  Thursday  evening.  A  capital  programme 
of  songs  and  dialogues  was  arranged  and  refreshments  were  also 
provided.  Mr.  E.  Drew  Ingall,  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Canada, 
acted  as  chairman,  and  performing  the  duty  of  the  office  in  a 
most  acceptable  manner. 

FRIDAY    MORNING    SESSION. 

The  first  business  of  the  day  was  the  discussion  of  the  follow- 
ing resolution,  moved  by  Mr.  Geo.  R.  Smith  and  seconded  by  Mr. 
John  E.  Hardman: 

RENEWAL    OF    LEAD    BOUNTY    ACT. 

"That  the  Canadian  Mining  Institute  in  annual  meeting 
"assembled,  in  continuation  of  its  policy  and  action  taken  in  the 
"past  does  hereby  endorse  the  request  of  the  Lead  Miners  and 
"Smelters  of  British  Columbia,  now  before  the  Government,  for 
"  an  extension  of  the  Lead  Bounty  Act  for  a  further  period  of  five 
"years,  with  an  increase  in  the  minimum  price  of  lead,  fixed  by 
"the  bounty  from  £16  to  £18  pounds  per  2,240  lbs." 

Mr.  J.  E.  Hardman: — This  is  a  matter  that  can  very  well 
attract  the  attention  of  the  Institute  for  a  few  moments,  and  I 
shall  have  great  pleasure  in  seconding  this  motion.  A  few  words 
may  be  said  to  illustrate  the  matter  a  little  more  clearly  than  it 
has  been  illustrated  in  the  press.  When  you  realize  that  the  lead 
mining  industry  of  British  Columbia,  which  has  been  the  only 
lead  mining  industry  of  the  Dominion,  was,  five  years  ago,  without 
any  bounty  or  any  help  whatever,  when  the  duty  on  lead  imported 
into  the  United  States  was  such  as  to  interfere  very  materially 
with  the  success  of  the  mines,  particularly  of  the  Slocan  district, 
and  when  you  further  understand  that  after  the  granting  of  the 
Government  bounty  the  production  rose  at  once  from  6,000  tons 
per  annum  to  22,000  to  23,000  tons  per  annum,  that  the  amount 
of  labour  employed,  to  the  consequent  benefit  of  the  Dominion  as 
a  whole,  was  thereby  very  greatly  increased,  and  when  you  further 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting  25 

consider  that  during  five  years  out  of  the  appropriation  granted 
by  the  Dominion  Government  of  $2,500,000  es  a  maximum,  only 
$750,000  was  claimed  under  the  statute,  and  that  by  help  to  that 
extent  from  the  Dominion  Treasury  the  output  has  increased  to 
something  over  $9,000,000  worth  of  lead  and,  including  the  silver, 
to  $14,000,000,  I  think  you  will  all  concede  that  this  is  a  matter  of 
truly  national  importance.  Our  charter  says  we  are  incorporated 
for  the  purpose  of  taking  concerted  action  upon  such  matters  as 
affect  the  mining  and  metallurgical  industries  of  the  Dominion 
and  the  encouragement  and  promotion  of  these  industries  by  even- 
lawful  means,  I  can  conceive  that  it  is  the  duty  of  this  Canadian 
Mining  Institute  to  do  ail  in  its  power  to  assist  the  Minister  of 
Trade  and  Commerce  and  the  Minister  of  Finance  to  make  up 
their  minds  that  the  request  of  the  lead  miners  and  smelters  of 
British  Columbia  is  a  legitimate  one  and  is  backed  up  by  the 
concensus  of  mining  opinion  in  the  Dominion  of  Canada  as  repre- 
sented by  this  Canadian  Mining  Institute.  (Applause.)  We  have 
here  gentlemen  from  British  Columbia,  who,  I  am  sure,  will  give 
us  additional  facts  and  figures,  but  as  a  member  of  this  Institute 
representing  the  whole  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  and  coming 
personally  from  the  Province  of  Quebec,  I  have  great  pleasure 
in  extending  my  sympathies  to  the  men  who  are  struggling  to 
to  develop  this  industry. 

Mr.  Louis  Pratt,  of  Sandon,  B.C.: — We  feel  that  a  resolu- 
tion of  this  nature  if  passed  by  the  Institute  would  be  of  great 
assistance  to  us  in  obtaining  what  we  think  is  a  very  fair  demand. 
We  are  asking  the  Government  to  extent  the  Lead  Bounty  Act 
for  another  period  of  five  years,  and  to  raise  the  stable  minimum 
price  of  lead  on  which  the  bounty  is  paid  from  £16  sterling  to  £18 
per  long  ton.  I  may  explain  that  five  years  ago  we  asked  the 
Government  to  make  the  limit  £16.  This  they  granted.  We 
thought  at  that  time  that  this  provision  would  be  sufficient,  and  it 
was.  Since  then,  however,  conditions  have  changed  somewhat.  Two 
or  three  years  ago  the  by-product  we  were  selling  to  the  U.S.  was 
a  source  of  revenue  to  us;  and  in  some  cases  represented  our  profit, 
but  at  the  present  time  we  are  unable  to  sell  our  lead  in  that  market. 
Meanwhile  a  duty  of  20  percent,  has  been  imposed  by  the  U.S. 
Government  not  only  on  zinc,  but  on  zinc  and  its  contents.  The 
duty  is  20  per  cent,  on  the  silver  contained  in  the  zinc,  and  our 


26  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

zincs  carry  fairly  high  values  in  silver.  That  product  we  cannot 
ship  at  any  price,  and  we  have  no  market  for  it.  We  are  asking  the 
government  for  this  increase  in  the  price,  but  we  are  not  asking 
for  any  more  money.  The  limit  of  the  bounty  paid  is  $500,000  in 
any  one  year,  and  when  that  is  earned  it  is  no  longer  operative  for 
that  year.  We  ask  merely  that  the  earning  capacity  of  the 
bounty  be  increased.  We  have  placed  before  the  members  of  the 
Institute,  copies  of  the  memorial  which  we  have  sent  to  the  Govern- 
ment and  that  affords  a  fair  explanation  of  the  whole  situation. 
We  would  feel  very  grateful  if  the  Institute  would  pass  this  Reso- 
lution. We  are  merely  asking  for  a  continuation  of  the  bounty 
which  has  been  in  force  for  nearly  five  }^ears  and  which  ceases  on 
the  1st  June  next.     I  shall  be  glad  to  answer  any  questions. 

Mr.  McNaughton: — I  am  not  at  all  familiar  with  the  condi- 
tions of  the  lead  industry  in  British  Columbia.  I  would  therefore 
like  to  ask  if  there  is  at  present  a  profit  in  mining  and  smelting 
lead  in  British  Columbia.  If  there  is  a  profit  it  seems  to  me  the 
industry  should  stand  on  its  own  feet. 

Mr.  Pratt: — In  so  far  as  lead  is  concerned  there  is  no  profit. 
It  has  been  demonstrated  that  were  it  not  for  the  silver  contents, 
it  would  be  impossible  for  us  to  mine  a  ton  of  lead  and  sell  it  in  the 
Canadian  market  at  a  profit.  Every  ton  of  lead  that  is  mined,  is 
mined  at  a  loss.  It  is  the  silver  in  the  lead  that  has  helped  us 
through.  To  relate  the  difficulties  under  which  the  B.C.  lead 
industry  labours,  would  be  a  long  story;  but  one  of  our  principal 
difficulties  is  to  find  a  market.  We  are  at  the  extreme  end  of 
Canada  and  our  marketing  charges  are  very  high,  and  now  we 
are  cut  off  from  the  American  market  by  H  cents  on  lead  ores,  and 
2^  cents  per  lb.  on  pig  lead  or  $42  a  ton.  The  freight  rates  on 
lead  to  markets  other  than  the  United  States  make  it  impossible 
for  us  to  mine  the  lead  itself  at  a  profit. 

Mr.  T.  M.  Gibson: — I  would  like  a  little  further  and  clearer 
understanding  of  the  matter.  My  impression  at  the  present  time 
is  that  the  bounty  which  is  to  expire  shortly  provides  that  the 
bonus  is  payable  upon  lead  when  the  selling  price  of  pig  lead  in  the 
London  market  is  under  £12 /10s.  per  ton.  It  is  proposed  that 
that  standard  price  shall  be  changed? 

Mr.  Pratt: — Yes,  it  is  changed  in  this  way:  The  bounty  will 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting.  27 

be  paid  up  to  £14 /10s.  and  ceases  entirely  at  £18.  When  the 
London  market  is  £18  there  will  be  no  bounty  payable. 

Mr.  Hedley: — It  guarantees  a  minimum  price  of  £18  to  the 
producer  of  lead. 

Mr.  Gibson: — Is  the  bounty  sufficient  to  raise  the  price  to 
£18  in  any  case? 

Mr.  Hedley: — It  is  sufficient  to  raise  it  to  that  and  no  more. 

Mr.  G.  R.  Mickle: — What  they  are  asking  for  is  the  extension 
of  the  time  during  which  the  money  already  voted  maybe  available. 
And  at  the  outset  of  the  memorial,  it  asks  for  a  continuance  of  the 
bounty.     I  think  that  is  misleading. 

Mr.  Retallack: — I  wish  to  correct  Mr.  Mickle.  The  specific 
request  is  for  a  continuation  of  the  bounty  period  for  five  years 
with  a  vote  of  $500,000  in  each  individual  year.  We  are  asking  for 
a  further  bounty  for  five  years,  $500,000  a  year  earning  capacity 
and  with  the  price  of  lead  fixed  at  £18  instead  of  £16. 

Mr.  Haultaix: — Is  there  any  increase  in  the  bounty  payable? 

Mr.  Retallack: — No. 

Mr.  H.  Mortimer-Lamb  (Secretary): — The  lead  mining  in- 
dustry in  British  Columbia  has  laboured  in  recent  years  under  a 
good  many  disabilities.  Some  few  years  ago  it  was  in  a  more  or 
less  flourishing  condition  and  there  was  a  very  considerable  pro- 
duction of  lead.  Then  suddenly  the  lead  market  in  the  United 
States  was  closed  by  restrictive  duties  and  at  the  same  time  an 
agitation  came  about  to  change  the  hours  of  labour  from  10  hours 
to  8  hours  a  day.  That  had  a  disastrous  effect  on  the  lead  industry 
and  it  languished.  In  view  of  the  principle  adopted  by  the 
Dominion  Government  in  dealing  with  the  steel  industry  of  this 
country,  British  Columbian  operators  felt  they  were  as  much  en- 
titled to  a  bounty  for  the  stimulation  of  the  lead  industry,  as  were 
the  iron  and  steel  men  of  the  east,  whose  industry  was  thus  sub- 
sidised; and  it  was  the  unanimous  wish  of  the  Boards  of  Trade  of 
British  Columbia  that  this  bounty  should  be  granted  and  it  was 
granted.  In  the  last -two  or  three  years  the  London  price  of  lead 
has  so  increased  that  it  has  not  been  necessary  to  utilize  anything 
like  the  amount  available  for  bounty  purposes,  but  since  we  have 
had  a  depression  the  price  has  lowered,  and  the  last  state  of  the 
industry  is  worse  than  the  first.  Unless  this  bounty  is  renewed 
I  think  I  am  quite  correct  in  saying  it  would  be  impossible  that  the 


28  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

development  which  is  now  going  on  as  a  result  of  this  bounty 
system  should  continue.  I  believe  that  ultimately  the  lead  mining 
industry  will  be  on  an  independent  footing,  if  it  has  sufficient 
encouragement  at  the  present  time.  Unless  this  bounty  is  granted 
the  development  of  the  lead  industry  in  Canada  will  cease.  I 
think  it  is  up  to  the  Canadian  Mining  Institute  to  accede  to  this 
request  of  our  western  members,  (applause). 

Mr.  Eugene  Coste: — There  is  no  question  but  that  a  great 
many  of  our  industries,  even  our  mining  industries,  need  some  help 
to  promote  their  development,  and  this  is  clearly  one  of  the  cases 
in  which  an  industry  does  need  help.  I  think  our  friends  from 
British  Columbia  are  absolutely  entitled  to  this  vote  for  the 
encouragement  of  the  lead  industry. 

Mr.  J.  C.  Murray: — There  is  a  purely  provincial  matter 
appertaining  to  British  Columbia  that  has  an  indirect  bearing  on 
the  lead  bounties.  There  recently  has  been  put  in  force  in  British 
Columbia  an  enactment  abolishing  coal  royalties  altogether  and 
imposing  a  flat  tax  of  10  cents  on  coal,  and  15  cents  a  ton  on  coke. 
To  my  mind  that  creates  a  somewhat  anomalous  situation.  That 
tax  will  inevitably  fall  upon  metallurgical  and  mining  industries 
and  its  tendency  will  be  to  offset  the  benefit  of  the  bounty.  I 
think  that  in  this  discussion  that  might  be  given  some  attention. 

The  resolution  was  put  to  the  meeting  and  unanimously 
adopted. 

Mr.  Mortimer-Lamb: — Now  that  we  have  passed  this  resolu- 
tion I  think  it  would  help  these  gentlemen  who  are  with  us  to-day, 
if  a  deputation  were  appointed  to  wait  on  the  Government  in 
connection  with  this  matter  and  present  the  views  of  the  Institute. 
I  suggest  that  the  President  should  appoint  a  deputation  from  the 
Institute. 

Mr.  Eugene  Coste: — That  is  a  very  good  suggestion. 

The  suggestion  of  Mr.  Lamb  was  put  in  the  form  of  a  motion 
and  unanimously  agreed  to. 

Mr.  Pratt: — I  wish  to  extend  to  the  Institute  the  thanks  of 
the  silver  lead  miners  of  British  Columbia,  for  this  action,  and  I 
feel  sure  that  this  resolution  coming  from  this  national  body  will  be 
a  great  help  to  us  in  our  undertaking.     I  thank  you  very  much. 

Mr.  Eugene  Coste: — I  think  our  British  Columbia  friends 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting 


29 


may  always  depend  on  the  help  of  the  members  of  this  Institute 
for  the  encouragement  of  any  mining  industry  in  their  province. 

STATISTICS    OF    MINING. 

Mr.  J.  McLeish,  of  the  Geological  Survey  Ottawa,  presented  to 
the  meeting  the  preliminary  report  for  the  year  1907  on  the 
Mineral  Production  of  Canada. 

The  statement  placed  the  value  of  the  aggregate  production  of 
the  year  at  $86,183,477.  The  two  following  tables  show  the 
total  increases  and  decreases  in  value  of  the  more  important 
products: 


Product. 


Increase      Decrease. 


758,170 


257,907 


586,573 


Copper 

Gold,  Yukon 

Gold,  all  other 

Pig  iron,  (from  Canadian  ore) 

Lead 

Nickel 

Silver (     2,669,766 

Other  metallic  products 137,930 

Asbestos 444,900 

Chromite 

Coal j     4,828,219 

Corundum I 

Gypsum 


Natural  gas 

Petroleum 

Portland  cement .  .  . 
Other  net  increases . 


182,160 
295,328 
210,021 

588.815 


2,450,000 
780,436 

556,351 


18,958 

27,051 
824 


Total  increase . 


10,959,789 
7.126,169 


3,833,620 


It  becomes  interesting  at  times  to  compare  the  relative  im- 
portance of  the  various  industries  in  respect  of  their  total  values, 
and  the  following  table  has  been  compiled  to  show  for  the  years 
1907  and  1906,  the  position  in  the  scale  of  importance  of  a  number 
of  mineral  products,  constituting  together  about  95  per  cent,  of 
the  total. 


30 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


Product. 

Quantity. 

Value. 

Increase. 

Decrease. 

Increase. 

Decrease. 

Metallic — 

% 
3.18 

% 

% 
7.07 

% 

Gold 

28.10 

Pig  iron  (from  Canadian  ore 
only) 

2.79 
8.94 

14.95 
16.64 

Pig  iron   (from  both  home 

and  imported  ore) 

Lead 

12.89 
1.40 

18.01 

Nickel 

6.55 
47.17 

21.59 
24.47 

Silver 

50.47 

10.16 
7.66 

Non-metallic — - 

Asbestos  and  asbestic 

Coal 

Corundum 

16.79 
25.75 

13.19 

Feldspar 

27.1 

Gypsum 

13.55 

.13 

Natural  gas 

31.21 

38.77 

6.63 

Petroleum 

38.45 
11.74 

Portland  cement 

"It  will  be  observed  that  a  slight  increase  is  shown  in  copper 
output,  a  decrease  in  British  Columbia  being  more  than  offset  by  an 
increase  in  the  copper  contents  of  the  Sudbury  nickel-copper  ores. 
A  very  large  decrease  in  gold  production — over  28  per  cent. — 
practically  represents  a  falling  off  in  every  district,  with  the  possible 
exception  of  Nova  Scotia. 

''In  pig  iron  production,  a  substantial  increase  is  indicated. 
New  furnaces  were  in  operation  at  Hamilton  and  Port  Arthur.  The 
production  of  lead  was  less  by  about  13  per  cent.  Nickel  shows 
but  little  change.  The  output  of  silver  was  over  50  per  cent, 
greater  than  in  1906,  and  this  despite  a  falling  off  in  British  Colum- 
bia, the  large  increase  being  entirely  due  to  the  shipments  from  the 
Cobalt  district. 

"Amongst  the  non-metallic  products,  the  asbestos  industry 
shows  substantial  progress,  an  increase  of  10  per  cent,  in  quantity 
with  higher  prices.  Coal  mining  also  shows  a  steady  growth  in  all 
fields,  with  higher  prices  realized.  Natural  gas  and  petroleum 
production  also  shows  large  increase,  and  this  is  particularly 
gratifying  as  indicating  that  these  fields  in  Ontario  have  not  yet 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting.  31 

reached  the  exhaustion  point.     Portland  cement,  with  incomplete 
returns,  shows  an  increase  of  nearly  12  per  cent. 

Mr.  McLeish  then  addressed  the  meeting  as  follows  on  the 
subject  of 

"Methods  of  Collecting  Statistics" 

Mr.  McLeish  : — Although  I  am  down  upon  your  programme  for 
a  paper  on  the  "Compilation  of  Mining  Statistics, "  I  must  frankly 
confess  I  have  not  prepared  a  paper  on  the  subject.  I  have  been 
so  busy  with  the  actual  labour  of  compiling  statistics,  that  I  have 
been  unable  to  find  sufficient  leisure  to  write  upon  the  subject, 
which  is  not  only  a  broad  one,  but  requires  careful  thought  and 
study. 

"  I  informed  your  worthy  Secretary  some  time  ago,  however, 
that  in  presenting  a  Statement  of  Mineral  Production  during  1907, 
I  might  perhaps  be  able  to  say  a  few  words  on  the  subject  of  collect- 
ing and  presenting  or  publishing  Mineral  Statistics  in  Canada. 

"In  this  country,  as  you  all  know,  we  have  nine  separate  and 
distinct  Provincial  Governments,  each  of  which,  with  one  or  two 
exceptions  has  entire  control  of  its  Mining  Lands  and  Mining  Laws 
and  Regulations;  while  the  Federal  Government  controls  the  Mining 
Lands  and  administers  the  Mining  Laws  in  the  unorganized  terri- 
tories, and,  to  a  limited  extent,  in  the  new  Provinces  of  Alberta 
and  Saskatchewan. 

"From  the  Provinces  of  Nova  Scotia,  Quebec,  Ontario  and 
British  Columbia,  we  have  Annual  Reports  of  the  Mining  Bureaus 
and  these  reports  include  amongst  a  mass  of  information  concerning 
the  mining  industry,  annual  statistics  of  production.  I  think  I 
am  probably  safe  in  saying  that  in  no  two  of  these  Provinces  are 
the  mineral  statistics  collected  and  presented  in  exactly  the  same 
way.  There  is  no  co-operation  between  the  Provinces  for  the 
purpose  of  presenting  the  information  in  a  uniform  way,  nor  is 
there  any  machinery  for  bringing  about  such  co-operation. 

The  Federal  Government  also  through  the  Department  of 
Mines  provides  for  the  collection  and  publication  of  Mining  Statis- 
tics, there  is  no  clearly  defined  or  well-understood  co-operation 
between  this  branch  and  any  of  the  Provincial  Bureaus. 

"The  result,  gentlemen,  is  very  disconcerting,  particularly 
to  the  British  or  foreign  student  of  our  Mineral  Statistics.  When 
he  consults  the  various  reports,  he  is  at  a  loss  to  understand  the 


32  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

different  results,  unless  he  has  a  great  deal  of  leisure  to  thoroughly 
study  and  understand  the  actual  meaning  of  the  different  state- 
ments presented,  and  as  a  rule  the  differing  statements  are  quite 
explainable  by  the  different  methods  adopted  in  collecting  and 
publishing  the  results.  All  the  provinces  do  not  use  the  same 
year,  as  for  instance,  in  Nova  Scotia  the  year  used  is  the  period 
of  twelve  months  ending  with  September.  In  British  Columbia, 
while  the  year  used  is  ostensibly  the  Calendar  year,  the  figures  of 
production  of  metals  represent  the  smelter  return  received  during 
the  year.  Then  again  in  some  cases,  the  total  output  whether 
shipped  or  not,  is  included  as  production,  while  in  other  cases  only 
the  actual  sales  or  shipments  are  included  as  production.  Methods 
of  valuation  also  differ.  In  Nova  Scotia  the  production  is  not 
valued  at  all.  In  Ontario  the  shipping  value  or  the  value  compu- 
ted at  the  selling  prices  of  the  products  of  the  mines  or  works  is 
used.  In  British  Columbia,  the  average  price  of  the  metal  for  the 
year  in  the  New  York  metal  market  is  the  basis,  with  a  deduction 
of  from  5  to  10%. 

"The  Federal  Department  of  Mines  uses  the  average  value  of 
the  metal  for  the  year  without  any  deductions  for  metallic  ores, 
and  shipping  values  for  non-metallic  ores. 

"This  subject  has  been  brought  up  many  times  before,  and 
has,  I  believe,  received  much  attention  at  the  meetings  of  the 
Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

"At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Institute  in  1903,  a  large  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  look  into  the  whole  question,  and  although 
some  members  of  the  committee  did  a  great  deal  of  investigation, 
no  practical  results  have  been  achieved.  At  least  no  report  has 
been  made.  Nevertheless,  I  think  the  subject  is  worthy  of  fur- 
ther attention,  and  I  think  also  that  a  great  deal  of  assistance 
could  be  obtained  from  the  mining  men  themselves  in  the  solu- 
tion of  the  problem. 

"It  must  be  somewhat  irritating  to  the  mining  accountant  to 
have  a  number  of  differing  schedules  of  questions  "thrown"  at  him 
for  answer  in  January,  making  it  necessary  perhaps  for  him  to  go 
over  his  books  as  many  times  as  he  has  enquiries,  and  particularly 
if  he  has  other  important  duties  to  perform  for  his  firm,  such  as 
getting  out  annual  statements.  I  am  not  surprised  that  our  cir- 
cular requests  for  information  are  not  always  promptly  answered. 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting  33 

"It  is  not  merely  the  Dominion  and  Provincial  Mines  Depart- 
ments who  collect  statistics.  The  Census  Bureau,  various  labour 
bureaus,  the  mining  journals,  the  American  Iron  and  Steel  Asso- 
ciation and  perhaps  even  the  Secretary  of  the  Mining  Institute,  all 
combine  to  worry  the  mineowner.  The  Government  will  not 
even  pay  bounties  without  very  detailed  information  as  to  produc- 
tion. 

"A  beginning  towaids  the  solution  of  the  difficulty  might  be 
made  by  securing,  if  possible,  uniformity  in  the  schedules  of  ques- 
tions asked  by  the  different  Mining  Bureaus  and  by  the  Dominion 
Department,  and  this  uniformity  might  perhaps  be  most  easily 
secured  by  combining  all  the  questions  asked  by  the  different  bu- 
reaus into  one  schedule.  That  is  to  say,  obtain  as  much  detail  as 
possible,  instead  of  merely  asking  output,  or  sales  and  shipments, 
only,  ask  for  both,  and  stock  on  hand  also  if  advisable.  In  this  con- 
nection I  would  commend  our  statistics  on  cement  production.  It 
has  been  our  experience  that  if  we  ask  for  output  only,  some  will 
make  returns  showing  output,  while  others  will  make  returns 
showing  shipments  and  the  result  will  therefore  be  less  correct 
than  if  more  detailed  information  is  asked. 

"Another  important  question  arises  as  to  the  desirability  or 
otherwise  of  making  prompt  publication  of  results  at  the  expense 
of  accuracy,  this  method  of  publication  of  course  to  proceed  only 
and  not  supercede  the  publication  of  complete  and  final  statistics. 
It  is  well  known  that  for  metallic  ores,  smelter  returns  are  seldom 
received  until  from  one  to  three  months  after  shipment,  therefore 
complete  returns  cannot  be  expected  until  well  on  in  the  year 
following  the  one  covered. 

"If  a  preliminary  report,  then,  is  advisable — and  I  think 
that  it  is — could  that  not  best  be  secured  by  systematically  making 
two  collections  of  statistics  of  metallic  ores,  the  first  a  partial  esti- 
mate obtained  late  in  December  or  early  in  January,  and  the  second 
a  complete  report  obtained  when  available? 

"In  fact,  in  order  to  secure  statistics  of  production  in  the 
Cobalt  district  in  time  for  publication  on  the  first  of  March,  we 
have  had  to  follow  this  very  method. 

"There  are  many  other  important  features  connected  with 
the  collection  and  publication  of  mining  statistics  that  I  should 

3 


34 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


like  to  discuss,  but  I  am  afraid  I  shall  have  to  leave  them  till  some 
other  time." 

Mr.  Gibson  (Deputy  Minister  of  Mines,  Ontario): — "I  have  a 
statement  here  which  gives  the  Mineral  production  of  Ontario  for 
the  past  year. 

"Returns  to  the  Bureau  of  Mines  show  that  the  output  of 
the  mines  and  general  works  of  Ontario  for  1907  was  as  given  in  the 
following  tables.  The  aggregate  value  of  the  production,  based 
upon  the  selling  price  of  the  products  at  the  place  of  production, 
was  $24,949,475  being  $2,561,092  in  excess  of  the  value  for  1906. 
The  returns  are  not  absolutely  complete,  and  the  figures  are 
therefore  subject  to  revision. 

"Returns  to  the  Bureau  of  Mines  show  that  the  output  of  the 
mines  and  mineral  works  of  Ontario  for  1907  was  as  given  in  the 
following  table.  The  aggregate  value  of  the  production,  based 
upon  the  selling  price  of  the  products  at  the  place  of  production, 
was  $24,949,475,  being  $2,561,092  in  excess  of  the  value  for  1906. 
The  returns  are  not  absolutely  complete,  and  the  figures  are  there- 
fore subject  to  revision. 

MINERAL  OUTPUT  OF  ONTARIO,  1907. 


Metallic. 


Quantity. 


Value. 


Gold,  oz 

Silver,  oz.  .  .  . 
Cobalt,  tons  . 
Nickel,  tons  . 
Copper,  tons. 

Lead 

Iron  ore,  tons. 
Pig  iron,  tons. 


Less  value  Ontario  iron  ore 
(120,177  tons)  smelted  into 
pig  iron 


3,810 

10,005,749 

751 

10,972 

7,373 


66,399 

6,155,166 

104,426 

2,271,616 

1,045,511 


205,295 
286,216 


482,532 
4,716,857 


14,842,507 

282,702 
14,559,805 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting 


35 


Non-Metallic. 


Quantity. 


Arsenic,  tons 

Brick,  common,  number.  .  . 

Tile  drain,  number 

Brick,  pressed,  number.  .  .  . 
Brick,  paving,  number 
Building  and  crushed  stone 

Calcium  carbide,  tons 

Cement,  Portland,  bbls.  .  .  . 
Cement,  Natural  Rock,  lbs.. 

Corundum,  tons 

Feldspar,  tons 

Graphite,  tons 

Gypsum,  tons 

Iron  pyrites,  tons 

Lime,  bus 

Mica,  tons 

Natural  gas 

Peat,  tons 

Petroleum,  Imp.  gallons.  .  . 

Pottery 

Quartz,  tons 

Salt,  tons 

Sewer  pipe,  tons 

Talc,  tons 


Value. 


712 

73,882 

15,500,000 

69,763,423 

3,732,220 


2,677 

1,653,692, 

7,239 

2,6831 

12,328; 

2,000 

10,186 

15,755, 

650,000 

456 


200 
27,621,8511 


56.585 
48,735 


Add  metallic  production. 


1,870 


2,782 

2,108,891 

648,683 

499,417 

73,270 

675,000 

173,763 

2,777,478 

5,097 

242,608 

30,375 

20,000 

19,652 

51,842 

425,000 

82,929 

756,174 

1,040 

1,049,631 

54,585 

124.148 

379,771 

627,588 

5,010 

10,389,670 
14.559,805 


24,949.475 


Mr.  Gibson: — As  Mr.  McLeish  has  pointed  out  there  is  a  very 
decided  difference  in  the  method  of  computation  employed  as  be- 
tween the  Ontario  Bureau  of  Mines  and  the  Dominion  Geological 
Survey.  Both  of  these  methods  differ  in  turn  from  the  methods 
employed  in  British  Columbia,  in  Nova  Scotia  and  Quebec.  I 
quite  a.cree  with  the  sentiments  expressed  by  Mr.  McLeish  that 
there  should  be  a  nearer  approach  to  uniformity  in  the  method  of 
presenting  the  statistics  of  the  various  provinces.  I  am  quite 
ready  at  any  time  to  co-operate  with  the  Dominion  Geological 
Survey  and  with  the  officers  of  the  various  Provincial  Departments 
to  secure  these  results.  I  can  conceive  of  no  reason  why  the  Pro- 
vincial Bureaus  should  not  be  quite  ready  to  furnish  the  Geological 
Survey  with  the  information  that  they  may  receive.  I  have 
always  been  ready  and  am  now  ready  to  assist  in  securing  co- 
operation to  that  end.  The  different  methods  adopted  by  the 
different  Provincial  Bureaus  are  productive  of  different  results; 


36  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

and  comparisons  based  upon  these  different  results  are  necessarily- 
misleading.  For  instance  in  the  item  of  nickel — Ontario  being 
the  only  nickel  producing  province  in  the  Dominion — if  you  look  at 
the  results  presented  by  Mr.  McLeish  for  last  year  and  the  returns 
presented  by  the  province  of  Ontario  you  will  find  they  agree  very 
nearly  as  to  the  quantity  of  nickel  produced,  but  they  differ  very 
materially  in  the  value  attached  to  that  item.  For  instance  in  the 
Dominion  statistics  we  find  the  quantity  of  nickel  produced  last 
year  is  21,189,000  pounds  or  roughly  speaking  10,594  tons.  The 
statistics  for  Ontaiio  give  10,968  tons  which  corresponds  very 
closely  with  the  quantities  as  given  by  Mr.  McLeish;  but  in  Mr. 
McLeish's  figures,  I  do  not  think  he  includes  the  nickel  contents  of 
the  Cobalt  ores  which  accounts  for  the  difference  in  figures.  But 
the  value  that  is  given  in  the  Dominion  statement  is  $9,535,000, 
while  the  value  of  nickel  in  our  statement  of  returns  is  $2,271,000. 
The  explanation  of  this  is  that  in  the  preparation  of  our  figures  we 
take  what  may  be  regarded  as  the  selling  price  of  the  nickel  in  the 
form  in  which  it  is  produced,  while  the  Dominion  report  adopts  the 
price  of  the  refined  metal  in  the  New  York  market.  I  think  there 
are  reasons  to  be  given  for  and  against  both  methods  of  computa- 
tion; but  I  conceive  that  the  object  of  statistics  is  to  present  a  fair 
and  accurate  and  honest  statement  of  facts.  It  does  not  seem  to 
me  that  it  is  quite  fair  to  take  the  credit  for  the  money  and  the 
labour  that  is  expended  in  a  foreign  country  in  refining  the  metal, 
s'eeing  that  we  do  not  get  the  benefit  of  that  in  Ontario.  The 
actual  value  to  the  country,  from  the  public  point  of  view,  is  that  of 
the  nickel  in  the  form  in  which  it  leaves  the  country,  and  the  cap- 
ital and  labour  expended  in  the  further  treatment  of  the  mattes  in 
England  or  in  the  United  States  should  not  be  credited  to  Ontario, 
and  it  is  not  strictly  accurate  to  claim  the  benefit  of  these  in  the 
returns.  That  difference  of  principle  in  calculation  leads  to  a 
difference  of  results.  The  same  thing  applies  to  copper,  and,  more 
or  less,  to  many  of  the  other  items.  As  one  of  the  leading  purposes 
of  statistics  is  to  furnish  a  basis  for  comparisons,  the  results  will  be 
necessarily  vitiated  if  the  methods  of  preparing  these  statistics  are 
discordant.  It  is  a  little  difficult  once  a  certain  system  or  standard 
has  been  adopted  to  change  from  that  system  or  standard,  because 
if  you  do  so  it  is  difficult  to  make  a  comparison  of  one  year  with 
another.     So    far    as    I    am    concerned,     I    would    be    quite 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting  37 

willing  to  meet  with  the  officers  of  the  Dominion  Geological  Survey, 
and  with  the  officers  of  the  various  Provincial  Bureaus,  to  see  if  we 
cannot  agree  upon  some  common  scheme  both  of  collecting  and 
presenting  these  statistics  with  a  view  of  obtaining  something  like 
uniformity  of  results.  I  have  referred  to  nickel  and  copper  as 
illustrating  the  point  I  am  endeavouring  to  make;  I  might  also 
mention  iron  ore  and  pig  iron.  The  production  of  iron  ore  in 
Ontario  last  year  was  200,000  tons,  and  the  production  of  pig  iron 
286,216  tons.  Both  of  these  items  are  included  in  the  Ontario 
statement  of  production  with  their  values  attached  to  each.  But 
in  arriving  at  the  value  of  the  metallic  production  we  deduct  the 
value  of  the  iron  ore  which  is  smelted  into  pig  iron  in  Ontario  so  as 
to  avoid  duplication  of  the  value  of  the  iron  ore.  Having  included 
it  as  iron  ore  it  is  not  fair  to  include  it  again  when  it  is  converted 
into  pig  iron.  The  Dominion  Statistics  treat  the  matter  differently. 
Only  the  exports  of  Canadian  ore  are  reckoned  in  the  table  of 
values,  and  only  the  quantity  of  pig  iron  produced  from  Canadian 
ore.  There  is  probably  room  for  difference  of  opinion  as  to  what  is 
the  proper  method  to  be  adopted;  but  the  manufacture  of  pig  iron 
is  a  metallurgical  industry  and  whether  the  ore  is  of  domestic  or 
foreign  origin,  surely  the  product  of  that  metallurgical  industry 
should  be  included  in  the  value  of  the  total  metallurgical  products 
of  the  country.  The  various  non-metallic  products  are  treated  by 
the  Dominion  Department  and  by  the  Ontario  Bureau  of  Mines  in 
a  very  similar  manner  and  there  is  not  the  same  difference  of  results. 
The  value  of  the  crude  oil  is  given  in  each  case  so  far  as  the  petro- 
leum is  concerned.  There  is  some  difficulty,  as  those  who  have  to 
deal  with  mineral  statistics  will  acknowledge,  in  drawing  hard  and 
fast  lines  between  raw  and  finished  products,  because  what  is  one 
man's  raw  material  is  another  man's  finished  product;  and  if  you 
are  going  to  reckon  the  value  of  the  raw  material  only,  when  you 
come  to  the  manufacture  of  an  article  such  as  cement  and  bricks 
and  products  of  that  class,  then  you  will  exclude  them  altogether; 
because  the  raw  materials  are  of  very  little  value,  and  it  is 
practically  the  labour  expended  on  them  that  gives  them  any  value 
at  all.   (applause). 

Mr.  Obalski: — -I  quite  endorse  everything  that  Mr.  McLeish 
and  Mr.  Gibson  have  said  regarding  the  advantage    of  uniformity 


38 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 


in  collecting  statistics.     I  beg  to  present  the  following  statistics  for 
the  province  of  Quebec: 

SUMMARY  STATEMENT  OF  THE  OUTPUT  OF  THE  MINES  IN  THE 
PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC  FOR  THE  YEAR  1907. 


Kind  of  Minerals. 
(Tons  of  2,000  lbs.) 


Wages 
Paid 


Number 
of 

Workmen 


Quantities 
Shipped 
or  Used 


Gross 
Value 


iron  ore 

Calcined  Ochre 

Raw  ochre 

Chromic  iron 

Copper  ore 

Asbestos 

Asbestic 

Mica,  trimmed,  pounds.  . 

Mica,  untrimmed 

Phosphate 

Graphite 

Magnesite 

Slate  (square) 

Flagstones  (yards) 

Cement  (barrels) 

Granite  (cubic  yards)  .  . 

Lime  (bushel) 

Bricks 

Tiles  and  pottery 

Limestone  (cubic  yards). 


28,974 
20,197 


31,801 
103,884 
930,061 


10,600 


100 
75 


76 

250 

2,141 


15,000 
.  15.000 

15,000 

1,350 

170.000 

238,761 

33,500 
300,000 


288 
"75 


155,882 


2,153,010 


50 

6 

350 

653 

124 

1,462 


22,681 

2,300 

2,700 

6,407 

29,574 

61,833 

29,193 

550,247 

91 

408 

120 

35 

4,336 

3,000 


515 


6,165 


51,873 

556,000 

94,000,000 


97,710 


80,231 

29,430 

5,400 

63,130 

160,455 

2,457,919 

27,293 

199,848 

24,030 

3,410 

5,000 

20,056 

2,550 

640,000 

560,236 

96,000 
525,000 
270,000 
223,580 


5,391,365 


MICA    AXD    CHROME 

The  production  of  Mica  shipped,  may  be  summed  up  as  follows 
for  1907. 


Lbs. 


Value. 


1/2  Thumb  trimmed 

1/3 

2/3 

2/4 

3/5 

4/6 

5/8 

Total  thumb  trimmed. 
Split 


Crude  mica  having  undergone  a  first  classification, 
150  tons  (2,000  lbs.  to  a  ton)   

Total  value 


204,2761 

$30,633.00 

139.240 

34,891.00 

S6,003 

44,460.00 

71,852 

49,235.00 

24,248 

20,090.00 

12,597, 

13,083.00 

4,074 

5,347.00 

542,290 

$197,739.00 

7,957 

2,109.00 

550,247 

199,848.00 

- 

24,330.00 

$223,878.00 

Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting 


39 


The  Mica  Industry  in  the  Province  has  employed  275  work- 
men of  which  150  have  worked  on  the  mines  and  the  others  to  the 
classification.  The  work  has  been  done  during  periods  of  3  to 
12  months  and  a  sum  of  $100,600  has  been  paid  in  salaries. 

The  production  of  Chrome  for  1907,  has  been  as  follows  (2,240 
lbs.  tons.) 


Gross  Tons. 


Value. 


1st  Class  in  lumps  . 
2nd  Class  in  lumps. 
Concentrated  .... 

Total 


Ho  I   1,925.00 

3.536  33.485.00 

2.040  27,720.00 

5,721  §63,130.00 


Corresponding  to  6,407  tons  of  2,000  lbs. 

70  workmen  were  employed  during  periods  of  4  to  11  months. 


ASBESTOS. 


The  production  during  the  year  of  1907,  from  the  different 
districts  of  the  Province,  is  as  follows: — 


Tons  of  2,000  lbs. 
Tons. 

Value. 

1st  Class  (crude) 

1,487 

2,938 

19,905 

37,655 

3367,438 

2nd  Class  (crude) 

456,073 

772,513 

846,145 

Total 

61,985 
29,193 

2,441.919 

Asbestic 

27,293 

Total  value 

82,469,212 

2,081  workmen  have  been  employed,  and  $915,061  represents 
wages  paid.  The  principal  mines  have  been  operated  through- 
out the  year. 

Mr.  Obalski  (continued): — Our  mineral  production  in  Que- 
bec seems  to  be  very  low,  but  if  you  study  the  manner  in  which 
the  statistics  are  compiled,  you  will  find  the  explanation.  In 
Ontario  they  place  a  value  on  the  pig  iron  less  the  value  of  iron 
ore  and  the  same  way  with  other  metals.     We  do  not  do  that. 


40  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

Our  returns  are  relatively  small,  but  if  calculations  were  made  on 
the  basis  adopted  by  Ontario  we  should  show  a  valuation  of  eight 
instead  of  four  and  a  half  millions.  I  quite  agree  with  these  gentle- 
men that  it  is  desirable  there  should  be  a  uniform  method  of  com- 
puting these  statistics.  I  think  a  committee  should  be  appointed 
to  bring  that  about,  and  for  my  part  I  would  be  pleased  to  give 
the  Federal  Government  any  statistical  information  I  may  possess 
relating  to  Quebec.  I  think  we  should  do  something  towards 
making  our  returns  comparable;  for,  at  present,  they  are  not  com- 
parable. The  return  from  each  province  should  agree  with  the 
total  shown  by  the  Federal  Government  for  all  Canada. 

Major  Leckie: — The  basis  for  preparing  these  returns  should 
be  the  quantity  and  not  the  value.  For  instance  a  year  ago  copper 
was  25  cents  a  pound  while  now  it  is  only  half  that  price,  and, 
when,  therefore,  you  give  the  returns  in  values  they  are  misleading. 
When  you  speak  of  a  certain  amount  of  nickel  being  in  the  ore, 
whether  it  is  an  average  of  one  per  cent,  or  anything  else,  it  is  a 
nuisance;  it  is  of  no  value;  in  fact  it  costs  something  to  get  rid  of  it; 
it  is  not  to  be  taken  into  consideration  at  all  in  the  way  of  values. 
In  the  case  of  the  nickel  in  the  Cobalt  ore  it  is  much  the  same  thing. 
The  separation  of  the  nickel  from  the  copper  is  rather  an  expensive 
metallurgical  operation  and  therefore  I  think  the  matter  of  values 
is  a  very  indefinite  sort  of  thing.  These  statistics  should  be  based 
simply  on  quantity. 

Dr.  Goodwin: — This  question  has  been  brought  up  on  several 
occasions  and  discussed  and  yet  nothing  has  been  clone.  It  seems 
to  me  that  from  the  facts  stated  this  morning  something  should  be 
done  and  what  may  be  done  is  for  the  Institute  to  memorialize 
the  Minister  of  Mines  to  authorize  the  Geological  Survey  to  arrange 
for  a  conference  with  the  Provincial  authorities.  The  initiative 
would  naturally  come  from  the  Dominion  Department.  The 
Dominion  officials  could  meet  with  the  proper  officials  of  the  diff- 
erent provinces  and  see  if  they  cannot  devise  some  common  system 
of  valuing  the  different  mineral  products  so  that  the  statistics 
given  out  by  the  provinces  shall  be  concordant  with  the  statistics 
given  out  by  the  Dominion.     I  would  therefore  be  glad  to  move: 

"That  the  Canadian  Mining  Institute  in  annual  meeting 
"  assembled  would  respectfully  suggest  to  the  Minister  of  Mines 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting  41 

"that  a  conference  be  arranged  between  the  Deputy  Minister  of 
'.Mines  and  the  Deputy  Ministers  of  the  Provinci?l  Bureaus  to 
''devise,  if  possible,  an  uniform  method  of  compiling  statistics  and 
"valuing  mineral  products." 

Mr.  Tyrrell: — I  second  that  motion,  and  think  that  some 
such  plan  should  be  adopted  as  soon  as  convenient.  There  should 
be  some  definite  plan  of  valuation.  If  the  Dominion  government 
is  wrong  it  should  get  away  from  its  error  as  quickly  as  possible. 
If  the  Dominion  system  is  right  the  provinces  should  lose  no  time 
in  adopting  it  too.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  Canadian  plan  of 
valuation  should  approximate  as  nearly  as  possible  the  United 
States'  methods. 

Mr.  McLeish: — I  am  pleased  to  know  that  Mr.  Gibson  and 
Mr.  Obalski  are  willing  to  lend  their  assistance  towards  the  se- 
curing of  more  uniform  statistics.  A  willingness  and  desire  for 
more  uniform  results  on  the  part  of  those  responsible  for  the  col- 
lection of  the  statistics  is  a  large  step  forward  in  securing  the 
desired  object.  The  question,  however,  is  scarcely  one  of  right 
or  wrong  methods,  as  is  sometimes  argued,  but  rather  one  of  point 
of  view.  In  publishing  statistics  in  the  Department  at  Ottawa 
we  have  practically  adopted  the  same  system  as  is  used  in  the 
United  States.  In  Great  Britain,  however,  the  system  used  is 
more  analogous  to  that  used  by  Mr.  Obalski  for  the  Province  of 
Quebec,  that  is  to  say,  giving  in  a  general  table  the  output  of  the 
crude  ore,  thus  with  nickel,  instead  of  giving  the  amount  of  matte 
or  nickel  in  the  matte,  the  quantity  and  value  of  the  ore  only 
would  be  given,  and  further  detailed  information  would  be  given 
in  other  parts  of  the  report. 

The  subject — nickel — selected  by  Mr.  Gibson  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  different  methods  of  valuation  used,  is  unfortunate 
and  not  quite  representative,  inasmuch  as  nickel  is  only  produced 
in  one  district  in  Canada,  namely  Sudbury,  including  Victoria  Mines, 
and  the  operations  are  all  of  the  same  class,  the  ore  being  roasted  and 
smelted  and  matte  produced  and  shipped.  With  copper,  however, 
the  material  is  shipped  out  in  several  different  forms,  in  some  cases 
as  ore,  in  others  as  matte  and  again  as  blister  copper.  If  we  take 
the  value  of  the  copper  in  the  ore,  add  that  to  the  value  of  the 
copper  shipped  as  blister  copper,   and  then  to   the  copper   con- 


42  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

tained  in  the  matte  shipped  and  state  the  production  as  so  much 
copper  with  such  and  such  value,  we  have  a  total  valuation  which 
has  but  little  meaning.  That  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  a  uniform 
system  of  valuation  has  been  adopted,  so  that  comparisons  be- 
tween various  countries  and  districts  might  be  made.  This  sub- 
ject has  often  been  thrashed  out  before,  but  there  is  one  point  at 
least  upon  which  I  am  sure  we  can  all  agree,  and  that  is,  as  Dr. 
Leckie  has  stated,  that  after  all  quantities  are  the  most  important. 

If  we  can  secure  uniformity  in  quantity  and  the  method  of 
valuation  is  distinctly  stated,  we  shall  have  achieved  some  pro- 
gress. 

Mr.  Fr aleck : — One  thing  is  clear,  the  methods  are  entirely 
opposed  to  each  other.  There  can  be  no  compromise,  although 
each  method  of  computation  possesses  its  own  merits.  I  could 
never  understand  why  we  could  not  have  the  results  given  to  us 
by  both  methods;  that  is  by  two  columns  showing  values  by  dif- 
ferent methods  of  computation  with  an  explanation  stating  how 
the  results  are  arrived  at.  It  seems  to  me  the  extra  clerical  work 
envolved  would  not  be  very  great. 

Mr.  T.  W.  Gibson: — In  the  report  of  the  Bureau  of  Mines 
last  year  that  method  was  adopted.  First  a  table  was  given  based 
on  the  methods  heretofore  followed,  and  a  second  table  giving  the 
values  of  the  metals  as  refined,  thereby  attempting  a  comparison 
on  both  bases.  Tables  of  that  kind  serve  a  useful  purpose  and 
there  is  no  difficulty  in  compiling  them. 

Mr.  Leish: — The  difficulty  is  that  with  six  or  seven  different 
provinces  it  would  mean  as  many  tabled  columns. 

Dr.  Woodman: — Would  it  be  possible  for  the  Committee  sug- 
gested by  Dr.  Goodwin  to  take  into  account  the  scope  to  be  covered 
by  the  statistics.  In  Nova  Scotia  in  the  '60s  and  '70s  some  serious 
attempts  were  made  to  find  out  the  amount  and  value  of  all  the 
metallic  and  non- metallic  materials  produced  in  that  Province. 
The  custom  lately,  however,  has  been  to  take  notice  of  only  such 
materials  as  pay  a  royalty  to  the  Government.  The  non- metallic 
minerals,  such  as  gypsum,  brick  clay,  in  fact  practically  everything 
except  coal,  iron  and  gold,  were  exempt  from  royalty.  In  the  case 
of  iron  especially  there  arose  an  anomalous  situation  due  to  the  fact 
that  a  large  proportion  of  the  small  amount  of  iron  produced  in  the 
Province  came  from  districts  where  the  mineral  rights  went  with 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting  43 

the  land,  so  that  there  was  no  royalty  and  no  sworn  reports,  and  the 
government  did  not  take  the  trouble  to  find  out  with  any 
accuracy  the  amount  of  iron  ore  produced.  This  year  in  the 
Report  of  the  Mines  Department,  some  effort  has  been  made  to 
return  to  the  old  basis,  and  there  has  been  a  partial  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  clerical  end  of  the  Mines  Department.  But  this  still 
leaves  much  to  be  desired  and  I  would  like  to  see  the  proposed 
committee  try  to  persuade  the  Nova  Scotia  Government  to 
include  in  it  all  its  economic  mineral  products.  They  are  not 
large  outside  of  coal,  and  that  is  all  the  more  reason  why  we 
should  keep  accurate  account  of  what  we  have.  Private  protests 
have  done  no  good,  but  an  inter-provincial  committee  such  as 
suggested  would  have  a  weight  because  of  its  character  which  no 
local  organization  could  hope  for.  I  think  they  would  get  what 
they  want,  as  it  is  not  so  much  a  matter  of  expense  as  of  method. 

Mr.  Willmott: — May  I  suggest  a  difficulty  which  should  be 
provided  for.  That  is  that  we  are  mining  different  grades  of  iron 
ores  in  the  various  provinces,  and  therefore  a  comparison  by  ton- 
nage is  misleading.  Would  it  not  he  possible  to  add  a  column 
showing  the  average  per  cent,  of  iron  in  the  ore  mined?  There 
is,  moreover,  a  tendency  to  bring  on  lower  grade  ores,  and  it 
would  be  interesting  to  be  able  to  make  that  comparison  later  on. 

The  resolution  was  then  unanimously  adopted. 

In  the  absence  of  the  author  the  Secretary  then  read  a  paper 
by  Mr.  E.  Jacobs,  of  Victoria,  B.C.}  entitled,  "Mineral  Produc- 
tion of  British  Columbia  in  1907." 

cheap  transportation  for  prospectors. 

The  following  resolution  was  then  moved  by  Mr.  J.  B.  Tyrrell, 
seconded  by  Mr.  T.  L.  Walker:  "That  the  Canadian  Mining  Insti- 
tute ask  the  various  railways  of  Canada  to  issue  tickets  to  pros- 
pectors at  reduced  rates,  similar  to  the  tickets  now  sold  to  home- 
seekers;  the  records  of  such  tickets  to  be  endorsed  on  the  Miners' 
Licenses  held  by  such  prospectors. 

Mr.  Tyrrell: — It  seems  to  me  that  this  is  a  matter  which  the 
railways  would  only  require  should  be  brought  to  their  attention 
to  take  action  thereon.  For  years  they  have  been  issuing  tickets 
at  a  rate  of  about  a  cent  a  mile  to  home-seekers  with  a  view  to  en- 


44  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

couraging  the  settlement  of  the  agricultural  sections  of  western 
Canada.  It  seems  to  me  that  certainly  similar  aid  should  be 
given  to  encourage  the  exploration  and  development  of  the  mineral 
areas.  I  believe  if  this  Institute  will  place  itself  on  record  as  re- 
commending the  proposal  the  railway  companies  would  act  on  the 
suggestion. 

Dr.  Walker: — Clearly  the  railways  should  be  approached  in 
this  matter.  The  prospectors  would  of  course  be  defined  as  men 
holding  mining  licenses. 

The  resolution  was  put  to  the  meeting  and  unanimously 
agreed  to. 

The  following  papers  were  then  read  and  discussed: — 

Progress  with  the  Grondal  Process  of  Concentration 
and  Briquetting  of  Iron  Ores,  by  P.  McN.  Bennie,  Niagara  Falls, 
N.Y. 

A  New  Iron  Ore  Field  in  Eastern  Canada,  by  J.  E.  Hard- 
man,  Montreal,  Quebec. 

FRIDAY  AFTERNOON  SESSION. 

The  Session  opened  at  3  o'clock  and  the  following  papers  were 
read  and  discussed: — 

Minerals  and  Ores  of  Northern  Canada,  by  J.  B.  Tyrrell, 
Toronto. 

Origin  of  the  Silver  in  James  Township,  by  Dr.  A.  E. 
Barlow,  Ottawa. 

student  papers. 

Dr.  J.  Bonsall  Porter  announced  that  a  number  of  students 
had  been  present  with  papers,  but  had  been  compelled  to  return 
home. 

The  Secretary: — We  had  thirteen  student  papers  this  year 
and  two  more  have  been  sent  in,  making  a  total  of  fifteen,  which  is 
the  largest  number  of  Student  papers  ever  received  by  the  Insti- 
tute in  any  one  year. 

REMOVAL  OF  HEADQUARTERS  TO  OTTAWA. 

Dr.  A.  E.  Barlow,  of  Ottawa,  then  presented  the  following 
resolution  in  regard  to  the  removal  of  the  headquarters  of  the 
Institute  from  Montreal  to  Ottawa: 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting  45 

"Resolved  that  it  is  in  the  best  interests  of  the  Canadian 
Mining  Institute  that  its  headquarters  should  be  moved  from 
Montreal  to  Ottawa." 

Dr.  Barlow: — In  explanation  of  this  motion,  I  would  observe 
that  the  question  of  the  location  of  headquarters  is  determined  by 
Article  5  of  the  Charter  of  the  Canadian  Mining  Institute  which 
was  adopted  by  the  Parliament  of  Canada  in  1898.  This 
article  recites  that  "the  head  offices  of  the  Institute  shall  be 
in  the  city  of  Montreal  or  in  such  other  place  as  may  from 
time  to  time  be  determined  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  members 
of  the  Institute."  To  obtain  such  a  vote  necessitates  a  refer- 
endum, by  letter  ballot,  addressed  to  all  of  the  members  of  the 
Institute.  I  do  not  intend  this  afternoon  to  go  at  length  into  the 
various  reasons  which  to  my  mind  make  such  a  move  highly  de- 
sirable, but  would  simply  ask  this  meeting  for  the  necessary 
authorization  to  send  out  a  circular  letter  addressed  to  all  the 
members  of  the  Institute  and  thus  determine  the  wish  of  the  majo- 
rity in  regard  to  this  matter.  I  do  not  care  at  this  moment  to  mention 
the  primary  object  for  this  removal,  but  I  may  be  permitted  to 
point  out  that  as  all  of  our  printing  is  done  in  Ottawa  (where  it 
can  be  done  to  better  advantage  and  cheaper),  the  Secretary  has 
been  obliged  to  make  frequent  and,  in  some  cases,  prolonged  visits 
to  this  city.  In  addition  to  this  it  may  be  mentioned  that  of  late 
years  we  have  not  only  received  a  very  substantial  annual  grant 
from  the  Dominion  Government  to  aid  us  in  our  work  and  publi- 
cation, but  also  occasional  grants  for  certain  special  objects,  such 
as  that  for  which  we  are  at  present  asking  to  aid  us  in  entertain- 
ing certain  representative  European  mining  men  whom  we  have 
invited  to  Canada  this  summer.  To  secure  such  very  necessary 
assistance  requires  very  considerable  attention  and  explanation 
on  the  part  of  the  Secretary  and  certain  members  of  the  Council. 
During  the  discussions  at  Council  in  regard  to  the  selection  of  the 
place  for  the  present  annual  meeting,  and  in  answer  to  my 
invitation  extended  on  behalf  of  the  Ottawa  members  of  the  In- 
stitute, one  of  the  main  objections  raised  was  as  to  the  adequacy 
of  our  hotel  accommodation.  This  was  not  very  serious,  as  I 
pointed  out  that  surely  men,  who  in  the  daily  pursuits  of  their 
profession  were   accustomed  to   "roughing  it,"  could  doubtless 


46  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

overlook  any  disadvantage  in  this  respect  if  such  really  existed, 
in  consideration  of  the  many  other  advantages  and  attractions 
offered  by  the  capital.  Now,  however,  gentlemen,  that  you  have 
experienced  the  hospitality  of  the  Russell  hotel  I  hope  you  will 
go  away  with  a  much  more  favourable  impression  of  the  capital's 
ability  to  look  after  visitors.  I  may  repeat,  moreover,  that  there 
is  a  deep-rooted  conviction  amongst  many  of  the  members  that 
the  Institute,  being  a  national  one,  should  have  its  headquarters 
at  Ottawa.  There  are  many  members  in  the  Mines  Department 
of  Ottawa  who  are  brought  into  very  close  touch  with  tie 
mining  development  of  Canada,  whilst  the  presence  of  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Institute  here  would  be  a  constant  reminder  to 
the  Department  of  the  real  reason  of  its  existence.  Our  Sec- 
retary at  headquarters  would  then  be  surrounded  by  a  great  num- 
ber of  men  with  intimate  knowledge  of  the  mining  development 
in  the  several  localities  covered  by  their  examinations,  men  who 
are  altogether  unbiassed  and  interested  only  in  the  true  develop- 
ment of  the  mining  interests  of  the  whole  Dominion,  and,  as  a 
consequence,  of  the  well-being  of  this  Institute.  I  therefore  leave 
this  matter  in  the  hands  of  this  meeting  and  move  that  a  refer- 
endum be  agreed  upon  and  submitted  at  the  earliest  opportunity 
to  the  whole  of  our  membership,  the  vote  to  be  taken  by  letter 
ballot, 

This  motion  was  seconded  by  Mr.  Coste,  who  in  speaking 
thereto  said: — "Dr.  Barlow  has  put  the  matter  very  clearly  and 
forcibly.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  Ottawa  is  the  capital  of  the  country 
it  seems  to  me  impossible  to  get  away  from  the  fact  that  this  city 
is  the  natural  headquarters  for  a  national  institution  such  as  ours. 

Mr.  J.  E.  Hardman: — While  acquiescing  in  the  sentiments 
expressed  by  Dr.  Barlow  as  to  the  advantage  of  having  at  the  same 
place  as  the  headquarters,  a  body  of  educated  scientific  men  with 
whom  the  Secretary  might  frequently  consult,  I  submit  that  this 
question  like  every  other  has  two  sides.  I  think,  speaking  as  one 
of  the  oldest  members  of  this  Institute,  and  one  who  has  had  a  fair 
share  in  its  past  history,  that  one  of  the  objects  of  the  Canadian 
Mining  Institute  is  to  maintain,  so  far  as  is  possible,  its  independence 
in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  mining  and  metallurgical  industries 
of  the  Dominion.  I  remind  you  of  this,  because  it  must  be  con- 
sidered in  connection  with  the  question  of  the  proposed  removal  of 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting  47 

headquarters.  Ottawa  is  the  seat  of  the  Dominion  Government  and 
by  having  our  headquartess  here,  the  Institute  would  come,  more 
or  less,  for  good  or  ill,  under  the  influence  of  the  Department  of 
Mines  divided  into  the  branches  of  Geological  Survey  and  of  Mines. 
I  submit  that  it  is  a  matter  worthy  of  careful  consideration  whether 
under  these  circumstances  the  Institute  could  maintain  its  indepen- 
dence of  character. 

"In  regard  to  the  matter  of  our  annual  grant  from  the  Dom- 
inion Government,  we  have  heard  the  Treasurer's  report,  in  which 
we  have,  or  did  have  at  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year,  a  favourable 
balance  of  $3,000.  We  have  also  heard  the  report  as  to  the  greatly 
increased  membership  during  the  past  year  or  two.  I  submit,  as  a 
critical  Institution,  which  we  are  entitled  to  be,  our  independence 
apart  from  these  grants  is  greatly  to  be  desired,  and  I  think  we  can 
fairly  say  that  with  our  rapidly  increasing  membership,  we  may 
hope  during  the  next  few  years  to  derive  a  sufficient  income  from 
membership  fees  to  render  us  independent  of  Dominion  or  Pro- 
vincial grants. 

"I  mention  this  to  give  you  thought  before  the  final  referendum 
is  made.  I  have  no  objection  to  the  referendum,  but  wish  to 
impress  upon  you  the  necessity  for  consideration  before  you  decide 
one  way  or  the  other.  A  great  many  reasons  could  be  adduced, 
with  success  I  think,  why  the  headquarters  of  the  Institute  should 
remain  where  they  are. 

"At  Montreal  you  are  in  closer  touch  with  the  east  and  west 
than  is  the  case  in  respect  to  any  other  city  in  the  Dominion.  We 
have  a  considerable  number  of  members  in  the  Maritime  Provinces, 
and  they  can  reach  Montreal  more  readily  than  any  other  city  in 
Central  Canada.  Those  from  British  Columbia  are  in  as  close 
relation  with  Montreal  as  with  any  other  city  in  Canada. 

"There  is  another  feature  which  in  the  Institute's  earlier  years 
was  of  importance,  and  will  be  again  in  }rears  to  come;  namely,  that 
a  great  many  people  arriving  in  Canada  from  England,  France, 
Germany  and  other.  European  countries,  especially  in  summer, 
land  directly  at  Montreal.  It  seems  to  me  theiefore  that  Montreal, 
which  by  your  charter  is  at  the  present  time  your  headquarters,  and 
must  remain  so  until  two-thirds  of  the  members  decide  that  it  shall 
be  removed,  is  geographically  a  good  location  for  your  head- 
quarters. 


48  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

"Referring  again  to  the  desirability  of  the  Institute  maintaining 
its  independence,  I  submit  that  it  is  of  first  importance  that  we  should 
as  far  as  possible  remain  free  from  the  suspicion  of  being  in- 
fluenced by  any  government  or  bureau.  In  the  past  the  Institute 
has  had  occasion  to  offer  suggestions  to  the  Dominion  Government 
in  matters  touching  the  welfare  of  the  mining  industry,  and  to 
oppose  legislation  which  appeared  to  be  prejudicial  to  our  interests; 
and  it  seems  to  me  we  might  lose  that  independence  of  attitude  if 
our  Secretary,  Treasurer  and  prominent  officials  resided  in  Ottawa 
and  thus  came  more  directly  under  government  influence. 

Dr.  Goodwin: — As  a  very  old  member  of  the  Institute  I 
sympathize  more  or  less  with  Mr.  Hardman's  view  touching  the 
independence  of  the  Institute.  Yet  I  think  he  has  exaggerated  the 
danger  of  a  loss  of  independence  by  this  proposed  move.  The  fact 
is,  our  former  Secretary  lived  for  many  years  and  transacted  his 
business  in  Ottawa,  and  in  Mr.  B.  T.  A.  Bell's  time  we  had  no  fear  of 
undue  influence  biasing  him  to  the  disadvantage  of  any  pressure 
we  might  desire  to  bring  to  bear  upon  the  government.  It  seems 
to  me  that  that  consideration  need  not  trouble  us.  The  point  to 
consider  is  whether  Ottawa  is  more  advantageously  and  conveni- 
ently situated  than  Montreal  to  warrant  the  proposed  change. 

Dr.  Porter: — There  is  no  doubt  that  the  headquarters  should 
be  where  the  majority  of  members  of  the  Institute  wish.  Mr.  Hard- 
man,  however,  has  called  attention  to  several  matters  which  should 
be  carefully  considered  before  any  decision  is  arrived  at.  An 
additional  reason  has  occurred  to  me  which,  together  with  those 
advanced  by  Mr.  Hardman,  seem  to  me  sufficiently  strong  to  justify 
us  in  leaving  well  enough  alone  at  present.  One  very  desirable 
feature  of  the  Institute  is  its  national  character.  In  order  to 
preserve  this  to,  perhaps,  the  greatest  possible  degree  it  seems  to 
me  we  should  keep  our  members,  and  particularly  the  members  of 
the  Council,  interested  in  the  affairs  of  the  Institute.  I  contend 
that  Montreal  as  the  business  centre  of  the  Dominion  is  more  likely 
to  be  visited  during  the  course  of  a  year  by  members  of  the  Insti- 
tute and  Council  than  any  other  city.  A  large  number  of  members 
of  the  Council  and  our  most  prominent  mining  men,  are  managers 
or  directors  of  mining  companies  having  their  headquarters  at 
Montreal,  and  require  to  attend  their  directors'  meetings  there.  In 
consequence  these  members  representing  the  large  concerns  of  the 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting  49 

Maritime  Provinces  and  also  of  the  West,  visit  Montreal  in  the  course 
of  the  year,  and  the  Secretary  and  staff  can  thus  keep  in  touch 
with  a  greater  number  of  the  members  of  Council  than  if  the  head- 
quarters were  moved  to  Ottawa.  It  has  been  said  that  as  long  as 
the  headquarters  remained  at  Montreal  a  few  of  us,  of  whom  I  am 
spoken  of  as  one,  take  an  undue  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  Institute. 
Wherever  the  headquarters  may  be,  certain  members  will  be  more 
active  than  others,  who,  living  at  a  distance,  can  only  occasionally 
attend  the  meetings.  But  if  the  headquarters  were  removed  to  Ot- 
tawa, I  think  the  result  would  be  that  a  still  smaller  average  number 
would  attend  the  meetings  of  the  Council  and  the  society  would  be 
more  than  ever  under  the  control  of  a  few.  I  believe  it  would  be  a 
mistake  to  move  to  Ottawa.  Ottawa  is  very  easily  reached  from 
Montreal,  but  is  no  nearer  to  Toronto  than  Montreal,  hence  just  as 
now  the  interested  members  would  attend  the  meetings  and  vice 
versa.  I  am,  however,  prepared  to  second  Dr.  Barlow's  motion  for 
a  referendum.  All  I  ask  is  that  the  members  have  the  facts  on 
either  side  and  consider  them  thoroughly  before  voting. 

Mr.  Gwillim: — -We,  western  members  of  Council,  have  been 
under  some  disability  in  being  obliged  to  attend  meetings  in 
Montreal.  If  Ottawa  were  headquarters,  the  members  from  both 
east  and  west  would  travel  there,  and  thus  counteract  any  suspicion 
of  local  influences.  Also  Ottawa  is  not  a  university  town.  If  the 
headquarters  are  in  a  university  town,  that  university  has  advan- 
tages over  the  others.  As  to  the  contention  that  more  people  go  to 
Montreal  than  to  Ottawa  I  should  imagine  that  Ottawa  as  the 
Capital  would  bring  as  many  men  from  the  wider  portions  of  the 
Dominion  as  Montreal.  If  Westerners  go  to  Montreal  it  is  not  to 
remain  long;  while  if  they  come  to  Ottawa  they  stay  here  some 
time  and  are  more  likely  to  attend  meetings.  Quebec  is  not  so  great 
a  mining  Province  as  Ontario  which  has  come  into  great  promin- 
ence of  late,  and  the  large  membership  from  the  latter  province 
should  not  be  obliged  to  travel  to  one  corner  of  the  country.  Obvi- 
ously Ottawa  is  the  more  central. 

Mr.  Leonard: — I  conceive  that  Montreal  is  at  present  the 
metropolis  and  business  centre  of  the  Dominion.  The  majority  of 
members  of  the  Institute  are  business  men.  They  occasionally 
have  business  with  the  government  at  Ottawa,  but  for  once  my 
business  calls  me  to  Ottawa  it  calls  me  to  Montreal  half  a  dozen 

4 


50  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

times.  Montreal  certainly  would  be  more  central  to  me  although 
I  live  at  St.  Catherines,  and  I  am  thus  in  closer  touch  with  the 
headquarters  at  Montreal  than  if  it  were  at  Ottawa.  Montreal  is 
also  a  university  city,  and  although  I  am  not  a  McGill  man  I  think 
it  a  good  argument  to  advance  that  one  college  should  derive  the 
benefit  of  the  Institute  headquarters  rather  than  that  this  advant- 
age should  be  denied  to  all. 

"Then  again  a  number  of  the  members  of  the  Institute  are 
members  of  the  Canadian  Society  of  Civil  Engineers.  I  for  one  am. 
I  may  say  my  own  experience  is  that  mining  and  civil  engineering 
go  very  closely  together,  and  should  continue  to  do  so  more  and 
more.  I  advocate  an  affiliation  of  some  sort  between  this  Institute 
and  the  Canadian  Society  of  Civil  Engineers,  with  a  view  to  the 
joint  publication  of  transactions.  During  the  past  few  years  the 
head  offices  of  the  Institute  have  been  in  the  Civil  Engineers' 
building,  and  this  has  been  a  great  advantage  to  me  when  visiting 
Montreal.  This  may  not  benefit  many  others,  but  I  think  it  is  a 
point  that  should  be  remembered." 

Col.  Hay: — If  this  matter  had  come  up  yesterday  I  should 
have  voted  to  remove  to  Ottawa.  But  last  night  all  differences 
that  would  have  influenced  me  in  that  direction  were  sunk,  never,  I 
hope,  to  be  raised  again,  and  under  these  circumstances  I  do  not 
think  there  is  any  comparison  as  between  Montreal  and  Ottawa  for 
headquarters.  For  one  thing  Montreal  has  good  hotels  and  the 
accommodation  in  this  town  is  not  to  be  compared  with  that  of 
Montreal.  But  apart  from  that,  business  men  only  require  to 
travel  where  business  calls  them,  and  the  headquarters  of  this 
Institute  would  be  in  that  respect  much  more  convenient  to  me  in 
Montreal  than  in  Ottawa.  I  think  we  are  all  now  assured  that  the 
Montreal  members  have  no  selfish  reason  for  desiring  the  head- 
quarters to  remain  there,  and  we  owe  a  deep  debt  of  gratitute  to 
those  Montreal  gentlemen  who  have  devoted  so  much  of  their  time 
to  the  work  of  the  Institute.  We  cannot  therefore  do  better  than 
allow  the  headquarters  to  remain  in  that  city. 

The  Secretary: — It  was  remarked  yesterday  that  a  vote 
by  letter  ballot  was  unsatisfactory,  since  many  members  not 
present  at  the  meeting  at  which  the  subject  to  be  voted  upon  was 
discussed,  refrained  from  exercising  their  franchise,  for  the  reason 
that  they  failed  to  thoroughly  understand  the  matter  at  issue.     I 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting  51 

suggest,  therefore,  that  a  committee  be  appointed  in  connection 
with  this  matter,  to  include  the  mover  and  seconder  and  such  other 
members  as  hold  strong  views  one  way  or  the  other,  and  that  they 
prepare  a  statement  giving  the  pros  and  cons  of  the  case  for  the 
consideration  of  the  membership  at  large.  If  you  submit  a  refer- 
endum without  affording  this  information  you  will  probably  only 
get  replies  from  those  who  know  already  how  they  intend  to  vote. 

Dr.  Porter:- -Mr.  Leonard  spoke  of  a  matter  to  which  I 
should  also  like  to  refer,  that  is  the  possibility  of  a  closer  relation- 
ship between  this  society  and  the  Civil  Engineers'  Society  at 
Montreal.  The  possible  rivalries  and  disagreements  between  the 
two  societies  are  now  matters  of  ancient  history.  It  has  been  the 
hope  of  many  of  us,  including  a  considerable  minority  of  the 
Institute  council,  that  the  two  societies  should  arrive  at  some  work- 
ing arrangement  in  regard  to  the  publication  of  their  reports,  etc. 
Last  year  a  report  was  presented  to  the  effect  that  it  would  be 
possible  without  increasing  the  fees  of  either  society  to  arrange  for 
a  common  distribution  of  the  transactions.  This  would  be  mutual- 
ly helpful.  It  could  be  done  by  pooling  the  editorial  work.  If 
the  headquarters  were  removed  from  Montreal  to  Ottawa  any 
effort  in  this  direction  would  be  out  of  the  question.  We  hope 
before  long  to  be  able  to  submit  a  proposal  to  this  end  and  for  that 
reason  I  should  like  to  see  matters  left  as  they  are.  It  is  a  world 
wide  custom  to  have  the  headquarters  of  all  learned  societies  at  the 
national  metropolis,  and  we  cannot  tret  away  from  the  fact  that 
Montreal  is  the  metropolis  of  Canada. 

Mr.  Coste:— The  first  point  raised  by  Mr.  Hardman  that  if  the 
Secretary  and  Treasurer  were  to  reside  at  Ottawa,  they  would 
come  under  governmental  influence  is  not  well  taken,  especially  now 
that  we  have  decided  that  in  future  these  officers  shall  be  appointed 
by  the  Council,  which  is  the  supreme  directing  body;  and  we  can 
trust  the  members  of  the  Council  to  preserve  their  independence  of 
view. 

It  has  also  been  suggested  that  Council  meetings  shall  be  held 
at  places  other  than  the  headquarters.  But  that  cannot  be  done 
without  changing  the  by-laws.  Meanwhile  it  is  hardly  fair  to  compel 
members  of  the  Council  who  live  away  from  Montreal  to  go  so  far  to 
attend  the  meetings.  It  means  that  Toronto  members  for  example 
must  each  spend  $30  or  $40  on  each  occasion,  besides  the  loss  cf 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 


their  time.  The  directing  body  must  meet  at  headquarters,  and 
these  should  be  at  the  most  convenient  point  to  all  concerned. 
From  that  criterion  we  find  that  the  Council  meetings  at  Montreal 
have  not  been  well  attended.  Members  from  the  east  scarcely 
ever  attend,  and  it  has  been  very  difficult  at  times  to  secure  a 
quorum.  A  majority  of  us  believe  that  Ottawa  would  be  more 
convenient,  while,  too,  Ottawa  would  be  neutral  ground. 

Dr.  Barlow: — In  regard  to  what  Mr.  Harclman  said  in  refer- 
ence to  a  possible  danger  to  our  independence  of  action  by  the 
removal  of  headquarters  to  Ottawa,  he  is  well  aware  that  the  late 
Secretary  lived  here  a  great  many  years,  and  he  was  not  accused  of 
being  influenced.  While  the  Hon.  Mr.  Templeman  emphasized 
that  he  gave  us  this  aid  as  a  body,  he  has  never  even  hinted  that  he 
desired  to  interfere  with  our  independence,  but  tendered  it  because 
he  knew  we  would  use  the  grant  to  advance  the  mining  interests  of 
the  Dominion.  As  to  the  attendance  of  members  from  the  east,  I 
have  heard  that  argument  used  so  often  in  favour  of  Montreal, 
when  any  change  has  been  mooted,  that  I  am  tired  of  it.  If  these 
eastern  men  attend  the  Council  meetings  occasionally,  it  has  been 
so  occasionally  that  I  have  not  appreciated  the  fact.  We  want  to 
get  away  from  these  sectional  jealousies  as  far  as  possible,  and  it 
would  be  in  the  best  interests  to  move  to  Ottawa,  for  here  you 
would  have  "Peace,  perfect  Peace."  (Laughtei.) 

The  motion  to  take  a  referendum  vote  on  the  question  of 
transferring  the  headquarters  to  Ottawa  was  then  adopted  unanim- 
mously. 

Dr.  Barlow: — I  strongly  approve  of  the  Secretary's  sugges- 
tion to  appoint  a  joint  committee  to  place  the  question  in  a  fair 
light,  and  on  both  points  of  view  before  the  whole  membership. 

The  President: — That  may  be  very  properly  left  to  the 
Council  as  a  whole,  and  I  think  the  case  will  be  faiily  set  forth. 

NOTES    ON    MINING    LAWS. 

Dr.  W.  G.  Miller,  in  introducing  the  discussion  on  this  sub- 
ject, said  that  he  desired  to  lay  stress  on  certain  basic  principles, 
which  are  important  to  the  mining  industry  in  all  parts  of  the 
Dominion.  He  did  not  wish  to  discuss  points  in  connection  with 
mining  laws,  which  are  of  interest  only  in  individual  provinces 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting  53 

or  districts.  Mining  men  may  differ  in  details  on  mining  laws, 
but  he  believed  it  would  be  found  that  they  were  agreed  on  the 
broad  principles  on  which  the  laws  governing  the  industry  should 
be  based. 

Dr.  Miller  said  that  there  was  a  tendency,  in  Eastern  Canada 
especially,  to  deal  with  mining  lands  and  mining  rights  on  the 
same  basis  as  agricultural  rights,  but  he  held  that  agriculture 
and  mining  should  be  considered  to  be  two  distinct  industries. 
Mineral  rights  should  be  dealt  with  in  such  a  way  as  to  encourage 
mining  as  much  as  possible.  If  one  man  will  not  work  a  mineral 
deposit,  another  should  be  given  a  chance  to  do  so,  and  no  one 
should  be  allowed  to  tie  up  mineral  properties  indefinitely. 

The  best  way  to  keep  the  titles  of  mineral  lands  clear  is  by 
having  an  annual  acreage  tax.  Certain  men  in  some  parts  of 
the  Dominion  now  hold  mineral  rights  of  hundreds  or  even  thou- 
sands of  acres  of  land.  The  owner  of  the  surface  rights,  in  many 
jases,  pays  the  taxes,  while  the  owner  of  the  mineral  rights  may 
hold  them  indefinitely,   without   working  them,   which  tends  to 

•urage  the  industry. 

Dr.  Barlow: — In  Ontario  the  fact  that  a  certain  part}'  has 
applied  for  a  working  permit  is  made  known  to  the  public  by  a 
notice  posted  at  the  Recorder's  office.  You  are  not  granted  the 
permit  for  60  days,  during  which  time  anyone  has  a  right  to  pros- 
pect on  the  territory  applied  for  and  if  he  makes  a  discovery  during 
this  time  which  can  be  passed  by  the  Inspector,  he  secures  the 
location,  even  although  you  have  been  working  zealously  and  in- 
telligently to  make  such  discovery.  I  do  not  think  that  this  is 
a  good  system,  because  a  competent  man  who  is  generally  well 
known  as  such,  advertises  the  fact  that  he  considers  the  area  in 
question  a  promising  one  and  many  men  are  watching  and 
waiting  for  just  such  information  which  they  hope  to  be  able  to  turn 
to  advantage.  I  do  not  think  such  publicity  should  be  given  to 
the  granting  of  these  permits.  It  is  this  fact  that  prevents  many 
from  applying  for  what  seems  at  best  a  very  doubtful  advantage. 

Mr.  Gwilli.m: — The  working  permit  seems  to  be  somewhat 
misunderstood.  The  provision  is  made  for  a  working  permit 
chiefly  for  lands  on  which  a  discovery  cannot  be  made  without  a 
great  deal  of  work.  The  sixty  day  interval  prevents  the  blanket- 
ing of  lands  before  they  have  been  prospected  in  the  ordinary  way. 


54  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

The  man  who  has  the  working  permit  has  at  least  as  good  a  chance 
to  make  a  discovery  within  the  sixty  days  as  has  any  one  else. 
It  is  taken  advantage  of  in  that  district  at  any  rate. 

Mr.  Tyrrell: — The  greatest  difficulties  that  we  have  to 
contend  with  are  the  complexities  of  the  present  mining  law  in 
Ontario,  and  the  great  uncertainty  of  the  interpretations  tl  at 
will  be  given  to  it  by  the  judges  and  lawyers.  Until  each  section 
is  so  interpreted  everything  is  hazy  and  indefinite,  and  by  the 
time  they  are  so  interpreted  the  miners  will  have  less  chance  of 
understanding  it  than  they  have  at  present.  It  will  probably  be 
too  complex  to  be  understood  by  any  one.  At  present  the  only 
safe  man  is  the  man  who  keeps  close  to  the  officials  who  interpret 
the  law. 

For  instance  the  law  would  appear  to  make  the  discovery  of 
valuable  mineral  the  very  first  requisite  to  the  acquisition  of  a 
mining  claim,  and  consequently  a  claim  that  is  staked  with- 
out actual  discovery  of  some  sort  is  not  validly  staked  at  all. 
But  in  the  case  of  Cashman  vs.  The  Cobalt  and  James  Mines  it  was 
held  that  any  claim  which  has  been  staked,  whether  a  discovery 
has  been  made  or  not,  remains  closed  to  others  until  it  is  thrown 
open  to  staking  by  the  Mining  Recorder,  whether  the  claim  is 
within  an  inspection  area  or  not.  Another  man  may  dispute  the 
right  of  the  first  staker,  as  provided  by  the  Act,  but  he  gets  no 
advantage  from  this.  The  claim  may  be  thrown  open  for  staking ; 
and  he  may  join  in  the  stampede  to  restake  it,  but  that  is  all.  He 
cannot  hold  any  discovery  that  he  may  have  made  on  the  claim 
thus  fraudulently  held  by  the  first  staker,  and  of  course  he  will 
not  waste  his  time  disputing  claims  that  he  cannot  obtain  except 
by  collusion  with  officials. 

Secondly  I  favour  the  final  disposal  of  ground  to  a  miner  after 
he  has  done  a  certain  amount  of  work.  Men  cannot  interest 
capital  in  mining  enterprises  unless  they  are  given  a  good  title  to 
the  ground  on  which  they  are  working,  so  that  it  is  very  essential, 
as  a  final  condition  of  the  mining  laws,  that  an  absolute  patent 
should  be  given  to  the  ground.  The  leases  that  were  given  by  the 
Dominion  government  for  mining  areas  in  the  Yukon  Territory  did 
enormous  injury  by  almost  entirely  preventing  the  introduction 
of  capital  to  install  large  works.  But  a  patent  is  only  necessary 
where  large   mining  enterprises  are  undertaken,  or  where  a  con- 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting  55 

siderable  amount  of  money  has  been,  and  is  being  spent  on  the 
mine.  Therefore  before  a  patent  is  issued  it  is  only  reasonable 
that  a  considerable  amount  of  money  should  have  been  expended 
in  development. 

Poor  people  working  mines  should  be  allowed  to  hold 
them  on  leases  at  a  small  rental  and  to  work  them  from  year  to  year 
without  being  required  to  take  out  a  patent  unless  they  wish  to  do 
so. 

Thirdly,  as  far  as  staking  and  holding  property  are  concerned. 
I  am  strongly  in  favour  of  this  first  condition — and  it  seems  to  me 
that  it  is  a  condition  that  appeals  to  every  mining  man  who  is 
attempting  to  develop  a  claim — namely,  that  as  long  as  a  man  is 
definitely  at  work  on  his  claim  he  should  be  allowed  to  hold 
it,  and  that  no  inspector  or  anybody  else  should  be  able  to  go  on 
the  property  and  say  to  the  locator  "You  have  no  discovery  and 
you  must  get  off."  If  a  man  has  faith  enough  in  a  mineral 
location  to  spend  his  time  and  money  in  its  development,  that 
should  be  sufficient  evidence  of  his  bona  fide  intentions.  It  is 
entirely  contrary  to  all  ideas  of  a  rational  mining  policy  having  in 
view  the  development  of  a  new  country,  for  the  Government  to 
demand  a  statement  of  discovery  as  long  as  a  man  is  living  on  the 
ground  and  working  it.  When  the  locator  has  made  a  discovery 
he  can  report  that  fact  to  the  government  and,  if  necessary,  an 
inspector  may  be  sent  to  verify  it.  Then  such  holding  conditions 
as  are  proper  may  be  imposed.  But  so  long  as  a  man  is  working 
his  ground  and  developing  it,  he  should  not  be  turned  off  it, 
whether  his  discovery  is  real  or  imaginary. 

What  I  may  think  to  be  a  discovery,  nine  out  of  ten  men  may 
consider  is  not  one;  and  we  know  perfectly  well  that  some  of  the 
greatest  mineral  discoveries  were  made  by  enthusiasts  whose  efforts 
were  originally  ridiculed.  It  is  therefore  a  good  policy  to  encour- 
age and  not  discourage  the  enthusiast.  Let  him  go  on  and  work 
the  ground  and  discover  minerals  if  he  can.  His  work  will ,  in  the 
long  run,  redound  to  the  benefit  of  the  whole  community. 

Mr.  Willmott: — I  agree  with  Dr.  Miller  in  advocating  the 
keeping  of  the  surface  and  the  mineral  rights  separate,  and  I  think 
the  Ontario  Government  is  making  a  mistake  in  transferring  the 
mineral  rights  with  the  land  to  the  farmers. 

Also  I  agree  with  the  idea  of  the  increased  land  tax,  which 


56  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

will  tend  to  stop  the  tying  up  of  large  blocks.  But  I  do  not  agree 
with  the  provision  requiring  discovery.  I  always  disagreed  with 
that,  and  think  my  opinion  is  being  justified  b}^  the  way  in  which 
that  provision  of  the  law  is  being  dropped.  It  was  originally 
"discovery"  over  the  whole  province,  but  this  was  never  enforced 
except  near  Cobalt,  and  it  is  now  being  withdrawn  there.  In  that 
connection  I  have  further  to  criticize  the  present  Ontario  law, 
which  is  so  largely  a  matter  of  "orders  in  council"  that  it  is  im- 
possible for  the  ordinary  man  to  keep  in  touch  with  it  or  know  at 
any  given  time  just  what  is  the  state  of  the  law. 

For  example  I  was  lately  in  Cobalt,  and  was  surprised  to  find 
that  inspection  was  no  longer  required  there.  I  do  not  take  the 
Ontario  Gazette,  and  do  not  suppose  many  prospectors  do;  but 
unless  you  take  the  Gazette  you  cannot  keep  in  touch  with  what 
the  government  is  doing.  The  recorder's  office  was  the  only  place 
where  I  could  learn  that  inspection  was  now  being  applied  only 
to  the  Montreal  river  division  and  to  a  portion  of  the  Coleman 
division.  The  system  is  far  too  complicated.  We  have  alto- 
gether too  many  legal  difficulties  to  overcome  in  securing  titles 
to  our  properties  and  the  law  should  be  so  simple  that  all  can 
understand  it. 

I  take  the  position  that  when  a  man  goes  on  to  a  property,  if 
he  is  the  first  comer  it  should  be  his  as  long  as  he  works  it.  It  is 
commonly  remarked  by  investors  that  our  titles  are  bad,  and  that 
the  difficulty  of  securing  title  is  so  great  that  people  will  not  invest 
in  Ontario  mines.  That  is  a  very  serious  charge.  It  may  be 
difficult  to  substantiate  it  but  that  is  the  belief.  It  is  absolutely 
necessary  that  titles  should  be  beyond  suspicion  and  that  any  man 
with  a  legitimate  claim  to  a  property  should  be  able  to  get  it  with- 
out a  lawsuit.  As  matters  stand  to-day  if  you  buy  a  valuable 
property  you  buy  a  lawsuit  with  it. 

Mr.  J.  M.  Clark: — The  remarks  of  Mr.  Tyrrell  call  for  certain 
comment.  He  suggested  that  the  courts  created  the  difficulties  by 
their  interpretation  of  the  mining  law.  That  is  not  the  case.  The 
judges,  of  course,  gave  decisions  in  conformity  with  the  Act  and  of 
its  provisions  as  applied  to  inspection.  The  whole  difficulty  arose 
from  introducing  an  utterly  wrong  and  indefensible  principle  into 
the  mining  laws  of  Ontario,  and  this  was  done  by  the  Legislature. 
The  judge  had  no  option  but  to  carry  out  the  statute  and  interpret 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting  57 

it  as  best  he  could.  But  when  a  mischievous  principle  is  intro- 
duced into  a  law,  as  the  principle  of  inspection  necessarily  is,  the 
mischief  has  much  more  far  reaching  consequences  tl  an  can  pos- 
sibly be  anticipated  when  the  law  is  introduced,  and  I  think  that 
is  the  history  of  the  whole  matter.  Recently,  I  met  a  gentleman 
from  Mexico  who  said  he  had  read  the  Act  six  times  over  in  an 
effort  to  find  out  what  our  Ontario  mining  law  really  was,  and  after 
each  .study  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  re  could  not  tell  where 
he  was  at.  The  difficulty  is  not  with  the  judges  but  with  tie 
defective  law,  which  is  so  uncertain  that  it  is  difficult  for  anyone 
to  interpret  what  it  means.  Trat  difficulty  would  be  eliminated 
if  the  act  were  made  to  enunciate  only  sound  principles  of  mining 
law,  set  out  in  understandable  language.  This  I  am  sure  could  be 
done. 

These  difficulties  will  always  occur  in  Ontario  until  you  Lave 
a  definite,  clear  and  certain  law.  You  can  have  no  certainty  of 
title  if  the  law  can  be  changed  from  day  to  day  by  order  in  council. 
Therefore  if  you  would  avoid  these  difficulties  you  must  talk  not 
to  judges  and  lawyers,  but  to  the  Legislature  in  order  to  secure  a 
mining  law,  which  is  intelligible  and  understandable  to  the  lay 
miner. 

Major  Leckie: — It  is  not  only  necessary  to  have  the  rights 
of  the  miner  clearly  defined  and  separated  from  those  of  the  agri- 
culturist, but  also, in  Ontario, from  those  of  the  lessee  of  the  timber 
limits.  We  have  great  trouble  with  these  men  who  hold  leases  of 
the  timber.  Another  thing,  it  should  be  clearly  understood  that 
once  the  government  grants  a  lease  or  patent  under  certain  con- 
ditions that  these  conditions  shall  not  be  changed  either  by  order 
in  council  or  by  the  Legislature.  Our  rights  should  be  clearly 
defined  and  unchangeable,  otherwise  it  will  be  impossible  to  in- 
terest capital  in  the  development  of  our  mines.  The  mining  in- 
dustry is  risky  enough  in  itself  without  incurring  the  worry  of  a 
lawsuit. 

Mr.  Coste:— -I  fully  endorse  Mr.  Willmott's  remarks.  Our 
worst  troubles  are  undoubtedly  the  uncertainties  of  the  law,  ac- 
centuated by  orders  in  council.  But  Major  Leckie  to  my  mind 
goes  rather  too  far  when  he  says  that  title  should  be  unalterable, 
even  by  the  Legislature.  That  is  an  impossibility,  since  the  Legis- 
lature has  always  power  to  amend  the  law. 


58  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Major  Leckie: — When  we  receive  a  deed  from  the  Crown 
it  should  be  couched  in  clear  and  distinct  terms  and  should  be  in- 
violable. If  I  secure  such  a  title,  it  should  not  be  within  the  power 
of  even  Parliament  to  take  it  from  me. 

Dr.  Miller: — In  presenting  this  matter  I  did  not  intend  to 
go  into  details  but  to  enunciate  broad  principles  which  might 
apply  to  the  various  provinces  and  to  the  Dominion.  It  has  been 
argued  that  when  a  man  stakes  out  a  piece  of  ground  he  should 
be  allowed  to  hold  it  as  long  as  he  works  there.  But  the  answer 
to  that  is  that  the  miners  at  Cobalt  in  the  early  days  asked  for 
inspection.  The  later  arrivals  felt  that  the  whole  of  the  promising 
area  had  been  blanketed.  They  complained  that  there  had  been 
blanketing,  and  asked  the  government  to  insist  upon  discovery. 
They  feared  that  without  this,  large  corporations  might  hire  men 
for  the  purpose  of  holding  vacant  ground  and  thus  blanket  the 
whole  country. 

Major  Leckie  has  also  referred  to  the  fact  that  patents  should 
not  be  cancelled.  That  seems  to  me  pretty  strong,  as  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, the  Crown  would  not  have  the  power  to  cancel  patents 
granted  in  cases  when  fraudulent  representation  could  be  proved. 

Mr.  Fox: — We  had  that  argument  with  the  Ontario  Depart- 
ment, and  our  answer  was  that  if  the  mining  officer  took  the  same 
care  before  the  title  was  issued  as  he  did  afterwards  there  would  be 
no  chance  of  fraud.  Once  then  a  title  is  issued  it  should  be  always 
inviolable.  As  long  as  this  uncertainty  prevails  it  will  be  difficult 
to  interest  capital  in  the  Province. 

Col.  Hay:— With  regard  to  inspection,  the  Government  was 
simply  misled  by  the  demands  of  a  howling  mob  at  Cobalt  in  the 
summer  of  1905,  who  found  that  the  most  desirable  lots  had  been 
taken  up  by  earlier  arrivals.  The  result  of  the  Inspection  Law 
was  that  men,  while  working  on  what  they  thought  were  their  own 
locations  by  priority  of  discovery,  found  stakes  were  being  planted 
all  over  their  properties,  and  every  stake  meant  a  lawsuit.  I  always 
opposed  inspection  as  long  as  working  conditions  were  complied 
with,  and  am  glad  to  hear  that  it  is  being  done  away  with  in  the 
township  of  Coleman.  If  a  miner  applies  for  ground  that  has  not 
already  been  taken  up,  it  should  be  his  subject  to  reasonable 
conditions  of  work. 

Dr.  Miller: — The  government  must  consider  the  prospector 
as  well  as  the  capitalist.     It  has  been  said  that  men  who  ask  for 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting  59 


inspection  in  Cobalt  were  only  the  late  arrivals.  But  the  chairman 
of  the  meeting  referred  to  was  Marty  Wright,  who  made  the 
second  important  discovery  iu  1904,  and  a  number  os  the  "old 
timers"  were  also  present. 

Col.  Hay: — Marty  Wright  accompanied  me  on  a  deputation 
to  Toronto  to  oppose  that  same  inspection. 

The  following  resolution  was  then  moved  by  Mr.  A.  B. 
Willmott  and  seconded  by  Mr.  J.  M.  Clark: — 

Whereas,  in  view  of  the  increasing  importance  of  mines  and 
mineral  lands  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Dominion  Parlia- 
ment, be  it  therefore  resolved,  that  the  Canadian  Mining  Institute 
in  annual  meeting  assembled,  do  hereby  memorialize  the  Dominion 
Government  to  appoint  a  Royal  Commission  to  secure  evidence 
concerning  the  requirements  of  the  mining  industry  in  this  regard 
and  to  draft  mining  laws  to  be  submitted  for  the  consideration 
of  the  Dominion  Government. 

"And  as  an  argument  in  support  of  the  appointment  of  such  a 
Royal  Commission,  it  be  urged,  that  when  a  statute  to  be  enacted 
by  the  Dominion  Parliament  declares  with  clearness,  conciseness 
and  certainty  the  laws  relating  to  mines  and  mining  under  Federal 
control,  such  a  statute  would,  as  far  as  local  conditions  permit, 
be  followed  by  the  various  Provincial  Governments,  thus,  ensuring 
as  far  as  practicable,  a  uniform  system  of  mining  laws  throughout 
the  whole  Dominion." 

Mr.  Clark: — In  seconding  that  resolution  I  wish  to  emphasize 
the  necessity  of  making  the  mining  law  clear,  concise  and  certain. 
If  we  had  such  law  a  great  many  of  the  difficulties  we  now  have  to 
face  would  be  eliminated. 

Mr.  Coste: — This  resolution  now  before  the  Institute  is  a 
most  important  one.  Our  worst  troubles  are  undoubtedly  the 
uncertainties  of  the  mining  law,  complicated  by  the  practice  of 
passing  Orders  in  Council.  By  this  practice  the  law  as  it  stands 
is  not  stable,  since  at  any  time  entirely  new  regulations  may  come 
into  force  by  Orders  of  Council.  Especially  is  this  the  case  in  res- 
pect to  Dominion  lands  at  the  present  time.  The  Dominion  lands 
in  Saskatchewan,  Alberta,  Manitoba  and  the  Yukon  have  always 
been  governed,  so  far  as  mining  is  concerned,  by  departmental  reg- 
ulations approved  by  Order  in  Council,  and  sometimes  not  even 
by  that,  but  simply  by  regulations  of  the  Minister  of  the  Interior 


60  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

without  the  sanction  of  the  Council.  I  had  a  personal  experience 
of  such  a  case  in  connection  with  the  development  of  oil  prospects  in 
the  North-West.  That  system  is  totally  wrong.  We  are  supposed 
to  be  a  democracy  under  parliamentary  government,  but  in  all 
mining  affairs  we  are  absolutely  in  the  hands  of  the  Governor-in- 
Council,  or  of  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  independent  of  the 
Conucil.  For  instance,  when  we  made  application  for  these 
petroleum  lands,  we  were  told  we  were  the  first  applicants  and 
having  made  the  necessary  deposit,  were  entitled  to  the  property; 
but  should  get  the  homesteader  to  sign  a  lease  urider  the  form 
prescribed  by  the  Department,  which  lease  stipulates  that  a  royalty 
should  be  paid  to  the  homesteader,  while  the  Order  in  Council 
states  that  the  royalty  is  payable  to  the  government.  We  refused 
to  pay  this  double  royalty,  and  as  a  result  the  development  of  that 
property  has  been  delayed  during  the  past  nine  months.  If  the 
request  in  this  memorial  is  accepted  by  the  Dominion  Government 
and  the  Hon.  the  Minister  of  Mines,  is,  I  understand  favourable 
thereto,  all  these  points  may  be  settled  and  a  proper  mining  law 
passed.  It  would  then  be  possible  to  carry  on  operations  under 
reasonably  favourable  conditions  in  respect  to  title. 

The  resolution  was  adopted  unanimously. 

The  following  paper  was  then  read:  "The  Moose  Mountain 
Iron   Ore   Deposit,"   by  N.  E.  Leech,  Sudbury,  Ont. 

ELECTION    OF    OFFICERS. 

Mr.Hobart,  on  behalf  of  the  scrutineers,  then  presented  their 
report  on  the  ballots  for  the  election  of  officers.     He  stated  that 
316  ballots  had  been  cast,  by  far  the  largest  number  in  the  history 
of  the  Institute.     Of  these  24  had  been  rejected  for  various  causes. 
The  election  resulted  as  follows: — 
President— Dr.  Willet  G.  Miller,  Toronto,  Ont. 
Vice-Presidents — 

Mr.  W.  Fleet  Robertson,  Victoria,  B.C. 
Mr.  Geo.  E.  Drummond,  Montreal,  Que. 
Secretary — Mr.  H.  Mortimer-Lamb,  Montreal,  Que. 
Treasurer— Mr.  J.  Stevenson  Brown,  Montreal,  Que. 
Council — 

Mr.  Charles  Fergie,  Glace  Bay,  N.S. 
Mr.  J.  E.  Hardman,  Montreal,  Que. 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting  61 

Mr.  R.  H.  Stewart,  Rossland,  B.C. 
Mr.  Arthur  A.  Cole,  Cobalt,  Ont. 
Mr.  Wm.  M.  Brewer,  Victoria,  B.C. 
Mr.  A.  J.  McNab,  Trail,  B.C. 
Mr.  J.  B.  Tyrrell,  Toronto,  Ont. 
Mr.  H.  A.  Drury,  Montreal,  Que. 
Mr.  R.  T.  Hopper,  Montreal,  Que. 
Mr.  0.  B.  Smith,  Phoenix,  B.C. 
Mr.  R.  W.  Robb,  Amherst,  N.S. 
Mr.  F.  C.  Parsons,  Londonderry,  N.S. 

After  a  hearty  vote  of  thanks  had  been  accorded  the  scrutin- 
eers, the  President,  Mr.  Keffer,  invited  the  president-elect,  Dr. 
Miller,  to  address  the  meeting. 

Dr.  Miller: — Gentlemen,  I  wish  to  sincerely  thank  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Institute  for  this  honour.  All  I  can  say  is  that 
I  shall  try  to  do  everything  in  my  power  to  promote  the  welfare  of 
this  Institute  and  of  the  mining  industries  of  the  Dominion  dur- 
ing my  term  of  office.     (Applause.) 

Mr.  Coste: — I  would  remind  the  assembly  that  according  to 
our  constitution  we  must  now  proceed  to  the  election  of  another 
vice-president  to  fill  the  vacancy  created  by  Dr.  Miller's  election. 
I  have  therefore  much  pleasure  in  proposing  the  name  of  Dr. 
Barlow. 

This  was  seconded  by  Mr.  Hedley  and  carried  unanimously. 

The  Secretary  : — Before  we  adj  ourn  I  think  that  a  very  hearty 
vote  of  thanks  is  due  to  the  local  committee  to  whose  efforts  we 
may  largely  attribute  the  success  of  this  meeting.  The  chairman 
of  that  committee,  our  friend  Dr.  Barlow,  has  been  most  assiduous, 
and  we  owe  him  in  particular  an  expression  of  grateful  acknowledge- 
ment. 

The  vote  of  thanks  was  carried  unanimously  and  the  pro- 
ceedings then  terminated  amid  cheers  for  the  retiring  president, 
Mr.  Keffer. 

ANNUAL    DINNER. 

The  Annual  Banquet  of  the  Institute  was  held  in  the  large 
dining-room  of  the  Russell  Hotel,  at  8  p.m.,  on  Friday  evening, 
and  proved  to  be  a  most  enjoyable  affair.     Among  the  guests  of 


62  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

the  evening  were  the  Hon.  William  Templeman,  Minister  of  Mines, 
Mr.  T.  Luginmara,  Japanese  Consul  General,  the  Hon.  Senator 
Bostock,  Mr.  Duncan  Ross,  M.P.,  Mr.  A.  C.  Bovce,  M.P.,  Mr. 
Cockshutt,  M.P.,  Mr.  McDonald,  M.P.,  Dr.  J.  Bonar,  Deputy 
Master  of  the  Royal  Mint;  Dr.  R.  M.  Coulter,  Deputy  Postmaster 
Genera' ;  Dr.  Eugene  Haanel,  Director  of  the  Mines  Branch,  Federal 
Depart  meat  of  Mines;  and  Mr.  R.  W.  Brock,  Acting  Director  of 
the  Geological  Survey.  Letters  of  regret  at  inability  to  attend 
were  received  from  the  Premier,  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier,  the  Hon.  Mr. 
Pugsley,  the  Hon.  Clifford  Sifton  and  others  to  whom  invitations 
had  been  issued. 

Covers  were  laid  for  a  hundred  and  twenty,  and  an  excellent 
menu  was  provided.  The  retiring  President,  Mr.  Keffer,  presided, 
and  had  on  his  right  the  Hon.  the  Minister  of  Mines,  and  on  his 
left,  the  President-elect,  Dr.  Miller.  Col.  A.  M.  Hay,  of  Toronto, 
acted  as  toast-master. 

The  formal  toasts  of  "The  King"  and  the  "President  of  the 
United  States"  having  been  received  with  musical  honours,  the 
toast-master  proposed  the  toast  of  the  "Dominion  and  Provincial 
Governments." 

The  Hon.  William  Templeman  upon  rising  to  respond  to  the 
toast  was  received  with  loud  cheers.     He  said: — 

"On  behalf  of  the  numerous  governments  you  have  just  toast- 
ed so  heartily  I  beg  to  return  their  several  and  collective  thanks. 
But  for  a  few  minutes,  I  would  prefer  to  speak  to  you  of  the  great 
mining  industry  whose  interests  you  have  so  much  at  heart,  rather 
than  of  these  governments  and  of  their  merits. 

"I  notice  on  the  back  of  your  menu  cards  a  ladder  dating  from 
1877  to  1907  showing  the  growth  of  the  mineral  output  of  Canada. 
As  I  remember  it  20  years  ago  there  was  little,  if  any,  successful 
quartz  mining  in  Canada.  Perhaps  I  am  putting  the  date  too 
recently,  but  25  years  ago  British  Columbia,  from  which  province  I 
come,  had  no  quartz  mining  at  all,  and  the  entire  mineral  industry 
ot  our  province  has  developed  since  that  time.  When  I  resided  in 
Ontario  some  thiity  years  ago,  we  had  then  a  few  small  lode  mines 
in  operation,  but  they  were  relatively  unimportant. 

"Your  statistics  show  that  in  1877  Canada  produced  minerals 
to  the  value  of  approximately  $11,000,000.  In  1897  you  produced 
$28,000,000,  while  last  year  your  products  amounted  to  no  less 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting  63 

than  $87,000,000.  Thus  the  ratio  of  increase  during  the  past 
decade  as  compared  with  previous  years  is  very  great  indeed, 
and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  during  the  next  ten  years 
this  ratio  will  be  still  greater;  and  with  the  improvement  in  trans- 
portation facilities,  you  should  ere  long  be  making  an  annual 
production  not  far  short  of  $250,000,000. 

"A  few  years  ago  we  boasted  that  British  Columbia  was  the 
foremost  mining  province  of  the  Dominion,  but  I  am  now  told  that 
Ontario  is  leading  British  Columbia  by  four  or  five  million  dollars, 
in  consequence  of  the  development  of  the  rich  Cobalt  mines.  We, 
in  British  Columbia,  are  glad  to  see  this  development  in  Ontario, 
but  we  intend  to  run  her  a  close  race,  knowing  as  we  do  the  great 
mineral  resources  of  our  own  province. 

"It  is  34  years  ago  since  I  left  Ontario  for  British  Columbia, 
and  up  to  20  years  ago  there  was  no  quartz  mining  there.  Last 
year  from  quartz  mining  alone,  British  Columbia's  production 
represented  $17,000,000  or  $18,000,000. 

"  Seventeen  years  ago  there  was  not  a  smelter  in  British  Colum- 
bia. To-day,  we  are  the  smelting  province  of  Canada,  with  eight 
large  smelters  handling  millions  of  tons  of  ore  every  year. 

"Again  in  the  east,  in  Nova  Scotia  and  Quebec,  there  is  great 
minin»  activity,  and  it  is  most  gratifying  to  know  that  in  Canada 
we  have  so  vast  an  are j.  of  mineral  bearing  country,  which  should 
in  a  few  years  make  the  Dominion  one  of  the  world's  great  mining 
countries. 

"I  recently  read  that  in  the  United  States  the  economic  value 
of  the  various  minerals  produced  amounted  to  no  less  than  $2,000, 
000,000  a  year.  We  have  as  great  and  probably  as  rich  an  area  in 
Canada,  and  the  time  should  not  be  so  far  distant  when  our  mineral 
production  will  equal  that  of  the  United  States.  There  is  no  in- 
dustry the  government  can  better  afford  to  assist  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  special  department  and  by  the  aid  that  such  a  special 
department  can  give,  than  the  mining  industry  of  this  country. 
There  is  nothing  the  government  can  do  of  greater  benefit  to  the 
country  than  to  encourage  the  development  of  our  mineral 
resources.     (Loud  applause). 

"The  Department  of  Mines  is  still  young.  It  was  only  organ- 
ized a  year  ago.  We  do  not  claim  that  our  organization  is  yet 
complete,  but  we  hope  to  branch  out,  and  by  additions  to  the 


64  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

staff  and  by  extending  our  investigations,  to  render  a  valuable 
service  to  the  mining  interests  of  the  country.  Already  I  think 
you  will  admit,  the  Mining  Department  has  been  of  considerable 
service.  (Applause).  It  was  constituted  for  the  benefit  of  the 
mining  industry,  just  as  the  agricultural  department  was  for  the 
benefit  of  farming,  and  in  my  opinion  great  things  will  be  accom- 
plished by  it  in  the  years  to  come.  As  to  the  Minister  of  Mines  I 
can  promise  you,  that  in  so  far  as  he  has  it  in  his  power,  he  intends 
to  do  everything  that  seems  advisable  for  the  permanent  benefit 
of  this  great  industry.     (Loud  applause). 

Hon.  Mr.  Bostock,  of  Ducks,  B.C.,  in  responding  for  the 
Senate,  applauded  the  action  of  the  government  in  constituting  the 
Department  of  Mines. 

Mr.  Duncan  Ross,  M.P.  for  Yale-Cariboo,  B.C.,  responding 
for  the  House  of  Commons,  said:  As  a  representative  of  a 
mining  district  I  am  very  glad  of  this  opportunity  to  meet 
the  representatives  of  the  mining  industry  of  the  Dominion. 
I  represent  a  district  which  has  possibly  the  biggest  smelter  on  this 
continent,  grinding  out  3,500  tons  of  ore  a  day;  and  coming  from 
such  a  country  I  naturally  feel  at  home  with  you.  I  regret  that 
the  exigencies  of  political  life  prevented  my  attending  all 
your  meetings,  but  I  was  with  you  this  afternoon  to  hear  Prof. 
Miller,  of  Toronto,  telling  you  something  about  what  perfect  mining 
laws  ought  to  be.  The  thought  occurred  to  me  at  that  time  that 
the  mining  men  were  the  real  pioneers,  the  path  finders  of  any  new 
country.  You  can  not  show  me  a  section  of  Canada  or  the  United 
States  that  was  not  originally  discovered  b'/Mhe  o^ospector,  with 
his  pack  on  his  back,  who  went  out  and  found  things.  Then  later 
came  the  fruit  growers,  the  agriculturists,  and  lastly  the  professional 
men  who  live  on  the  farmers  and  mining  men.      (Laughter). 

"The  thought  occurred  to  me  that  the  fundamental  principle  in 
mining  is  that  the  man  who  discovers  things  should  have  what  he 
discovers.  (Applause).  And  I  am  bound  to  say,  that  the  most 
perfect  mining  laws  in  the  world  are  those  of  British  Columbia, 
where  they  allow  a  man  to  plant  his  stakes  and  get  possession  of 
what  he  stakes  out.  In  the  older  settled  portions  of  this  country 
every  man  has  an  indefeasible  right  to  the  title  of  his  property  and 
you  cannot  disturb  it.  With  regard  to  the  unsettled  lands  the 
policy  I  believe  in  is  to  encourage  men  to  go  there  and  find  things, 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting.  65 

and  give  them  what  they  discover  so  they  can  hold  it  against  all 
comers. 

"That  is  our  British  Columbia  practice.  We  allow  a  man  to 
plant  his  stakes,  but  fine  him  for  holding  it  against  everybody  else 
by  saying  he  must  do  assessment  work  or  pay  $100  a  year.  And 
after  he  gets  the  crown  grant  he  must  pay  so  much  a  year  for  hold- 
ing the  land  against  everybody  else.  That  is  the  true  basic  prin- 
ciple which  should  prevail  in  every  country  and  province  in  respect 
of  its  mining  laws.  Further  I  think  that  principle  should  obtain 
in  respect  of  coal  and  timber.  In  the  Mackenzie  basin  we  have 
some  of  the  most  valuable  timber  properties  in  the  world  as  well 
as  some  of  the  richest  mineral  areas  in  Canada.  It  is  all  owned  by 
the  Dominion  Government,  and  I  would  encourage  people  to  go 
into  this  unknown  land  and  discover  things  by  giving  them  every- 
thing they  find.  We  shall  not  give  breadth  as  well  as  length  to 
Canada  by  figuring  our  wealth  in  undeveloped  resources.  Our 
strength  is  in  the  people  who  exploit  things,  and  I  would  give 
them  every  opportunity  to  do  that."     (Applause). 

Mr.  Cockshutt,  M.P.  for  Brant,  the  next  speaker,  strongly 
endorsed  Mr.  Ross'  argument  that  the  prospector  should  be  entitled 
to  his  discoveries.  Although  not  a  mining  man  he  considered 
that  there  must  be  money  in  mining  because  he  had  put  a  good 
deal  into  it  and  could  not  get  it  out.      (Laughter). 

Referring  to  the  Ontario  mining  laws  the  speaker  said: — "I  do 
not  like  the  idea  of  putting  a  royalty  upon  the  output  of  the  mines. 
(Loud  Applause.)  I  think  that  when  men  have  set  their  ingenuity 
to  work  and  have  gone  over  the  face  of  the  earth  staking  out  claims 
that  may  or  may  not  be  good,  and  that  when  finally  they  strike  one 
that  is  good,  it  is  not  fair  for  the  government  to  step  in  and  de- 
mand ten  or  twenty  per  cent,  in  royalties.  Although  I  am  a 
strong  supporter  of  the  Whitney  government  I  do  not  think 
this  taxation  of  the  output  of  the  mines  is  a  fair  proposition.  (Loud 
Applause.)  The  business  is  risky  enough  in  any  case,  and  to  my 
thinking  any  man  who  has  the  snap  to  put  his  time,  energy, 
ingenuity  and  money  in  it  is  entitled  to  all  he  can  get." 

Mr.  Edwin  Harkin  then  sang  "The  Trumpeter"  in  excellent 
style. 

Mr.  McDonald,  M.  P.  of  Pictou,  Nova  Scotia,  responding 
for  that  province,  said: — 


66  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

"We  have  heard  a  good  deal  about  British  Columbia,  but  I 
represent  a  province  which  leads  them  all  so  far  as  mining  is  con- 
cerned. Not  only  have  we  lead,  copper,  zinc  and  gold,  but  we  have 
what  none  of  the  other  provinces  have,  we  have  iron  and  coal.  In 
fact  I  was  one  of  the  counsel  in  the  coal  and  steel  dispute,  and  per- 
haps that  is  why  I  am  so  strong  for  the  mining  industry.   (Laughter.) 

"  I  come  from  the  province  which  is  the  parent  of  the  Canadian 
mining  industry,  and  my  own  constituency  of  Pictou  saw  the  first 
coal  dug,  and  there  also  the  first  railway  on  this  continent  was 
built.  Since  then  Nova  Scotia  has  maintained  her  position  as  the 
leading  coal  mining  province  of  the  Dominion.  We  do  not  make 
so  much  out  of  our  gold  mines,  which  are  low  grade  ores,  and  we 
find  ourselves  unable  to  float  such  huge  companies  as  British 
Columbia  has  done,  and  that  is  one  thing  I  hope  British  Columbia 
will  teach  us — how  to  earn  an  honest  dollar  by  capitalizing  a  hole 
in  the  ground.     (Laughter.) 

"There  are  millions  of  miles  of  undiscovered  mineral  lands  in 
our  great  northland,  and  the  young  men  I  see  here  to-night  will  not 
merely  reap  a  personal  reward  from  their  devotion  to  their  profession, 
but  will  render  a  much  nobler  service  to  Canada  in  increasing  her 
wealth  and  power.  I  recognize  in  you,  men  who  are  doing  that  for 
Canada  in  your  own  profession  which  none  else  can  do,  and  we  look 
to  you  to  develop  and  people  Canada  so  that  in  the  years  to  come 
she  may  take  that  place  in  the  mineral  world  which  awaits  her  in 
every  other  industrial  direction.     (Applause.) 

Mr.  Obalski,  superintend  of  mines,  Quebec,  briefly  responded 
on  behalf  of  Hon.  Charles  Devlin,  Minister  of  Mines  of  that  Province. 

On  rising  to  respond  for  Ontario,  Dr.  Miller,  was  received  with 
loud  and  prolonged  applause. 

He  said: — "I  may  say  on  behalf  of  the  Legislature  of  Ontario 
that  I  am  sure  its  members  appreciate  very  highly  the  work  of  the 
Canadian  Mining  Institute,  and  recognizes  its  educational  value, 
and  we  may  look  to  assistance  from  the  Ontario  Government. 

"As  a  member  of  the  Institute  I  desire  to  add,  and  in  this  I  think 
I  voice  your  views,  that  we  appreciate  very  highly  the  interest  taken 
by  Hon.  Mr.  Templeman,  in  the  mining  industry.  We  all  con- 
sider him  our  very  good  friend,  and  one  of  the  first  appointments 
he  has  made,  that  of  Mr.  Brock,  as  Acting  Director  of  the  Survey, 
met  very  strongly  with  our  approval. 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual'  Meeting  67 

"So  far  as  the  Ontario  Legislature  is  concerned  I  believe  I  am 
safe  in  asserting  that  it  may  be  depended  on  to  encourage  the 
Institute  and  its  work  at  all  times."     (Applause.) 

The  toast  of  "The  Mining  Industry"  was  then  proposed  and 
enthusiastically  received,  all  joining  in  the  chorus  of  the  time 
honoured  anthem  "  Drill,  Ye  Terriers,  Drill. " 

Mr.  Eugene  Haanel,  Director  of  the  Mines  Branch  respond- 
ing to  the  toast,  said: — It  is  very  important  that  we  should  secure 
capital  for  the  development  of  our  mineral  resources.  This  can  be 
done  in  part  by  publishing  monographs  dealing  with  the  important 
economic  minerals  of  Canada,  from  the  mining,  engineering  and 
investor's  standpoint.  This  work  has  been  commenced,  and  we 
have  issued  several  such  monographs  upon  mica,  asbestos,  graphite, 
etc.,  and  another  is  ready  for  press  on  the  chrome  iron  ores.  The 
difficulty  we  experience  in  the  Department  is  in  securing  experts  to 
write  these  monographs,  since  industrial  pressure  is  so  great  that  the 
best  men  are  not  available  for  the  Government  service. 

Our  provinces  labour  under  somewhat  peculiar  difficulties. 
When  I  first  came  to  assume  the  duties  of  the  Superintendent 
of  Mines,  my  attention  was  arrested  by  the  large  amount  of  iron 
in  the  crude  and  manufactured  state  imported  into  Canada. 
Iron  is  the  foundation  of  all  industry,  and  a  country  which  has 
to  import  its  iron,  either  in  the  raw  or  manufactured  state,  is 
severely  handicapped.  In  the  middle  provinces  we  have  the 
iron  ore  deposits,  but  no  metallurgical  fuel,  and  it  occurred  to 
me  that  some  other  process  than  the  blast  furnace  process  might 
be  made  available  for  the  extraction  of  the  metal  from  the  ores. 
The  central  provinces  are  richly  endowed  in  the  possession  of 
numerous  water  powers,  which  might  be  made  available  for  con- 
version into  heat  for  smelting  operations. 

To  gain  all  needed  information  as  to  what  had  been  done  in 
this  direction  in  Europe,  the  Government  appointed  a  Com- 
mission to  investigate  the  subject.  Since  the  publication  of  the 
report  of  this  commission,  some  17  electric  steel  furnaces  have 
been  set  up  in  Europe,  and  on  account  of  the  economic  success 
of  the  electric  process  in  producing  an  excellent  quality  of  steel 
it  is  gradually  displacing  the  crucible  process. 

Regarding  production  of  pig-iron  by  the  electric  process, 
it  may  be  stated  that  the  experiments  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  con- 


68  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

ducted  under  Government  auspices,  have  established  the  metal- 
lurgy of  the  process  and  the  further  important  discovery  has 
been  made,  that  by  the  electro-thermic  process,  sulphur  up  to  two 
and  more  per  cent,  maybe  eliminated  without  making  a  basic  slag, 
a  fact  which  will  make  many  ore  deposits  which  cannot  be  handled 
by  blast  furnaces  commercially  available.  The  furnace  employed 
in  the  experiments  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie  was  provided  with  a 
central  electrode,  which  prevented  the  mechanical  charging  of  the 
furnace  and  permitted  the  escape,  without  utilization,  of  the 
carbon  monoxide  resulting  from  the  chemical  action  within  the 
furnace.  What  is  now  needed,  is  the  invention  of  a  commercial 
furnace,  permitting  the  use  of  labour-saving  machinery  and  the 
utilization  of  the  carbon  monoxide  evolved.  Improvement  in 
these  directions  is  now  being  prosecuted  at  Welland,  Ontario, 
where  an  experimental  electric  furnace  has  been  set  up  by  the 
Electro-Metals  Company. 

The  experiments  made  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie  have  been  watched 
with  intense  interest  by  the  Swedish  iron  masters,  and  no  sooner 
had  our  report  been  issued  than  200,000  kronor  were  subscribed 
by  the  iron  masters  for  further  experiments  in  Sweden  to  solve 
the  problem  presented  in  the  construction  of  an  economical, 
commercial  electric  furnace. 

The  next  important  and  very  grave  question  for  the  central 
provinces  is  the  securing  of  an  adequate  supply  of  fuel.  Although 
we  have  no  coal  in  these  provinces,  they  are,  however,  richly 
provided  with  extensive  peat  bogs.  The  utilization  of  this  low 
grade  fuel  has  been  recognized  as  an  important  problem  and  much 
money  has  been  spent  in  this  country  in  experimentation  to  render 
peat  a  marketable  fuel.  Many  of  the  failures  are  due  to  the  fact 
that  this  experimentation  has  been  undertaken  without  a  proper 
knowledge  of  what  has  already  been  done  in  this  direction  in 
countries  which  have  employed  peat  as  a  fuel  for  many  years.  To 
furnish  this  necessary  information,  an  expert  was  sent  by  the 
Department  to  Europe  to  examine  into  the  peat  and  lignite  in- 
dustry and  report  upon  the  same.  This  report  will  soon  be  ready 
for  distribution. 

During  the  summer,  the  Department  has  undertaken  in 
the  interest  of  the  peat  industry  the  investigation  of  the  various 
accessible  peat  bogs,  and  reports  will  be  issued  of  their  extent, 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting.  69 

depth.  best  method  of  draining,  quality  of  peat  therein  contained, 
and  the  best  methods  adapted  to  their  exploitation.  When  this 
has  been  done,  one  of  the  most  rational  methods  of  utilizing  our 
peat  bogs  will  consist  in  setting  up  gas  producers  for  power  pur- 

-  upon  the  peat  bogs  and  utilizing  the  energy  in  a  similar 
manner  as  that  furnished  by  water  powers. 

The  solution  of  these  two  problems  for  the  middle  provinces, 
that  of  the  iron  industry  and  the  utilization  of  peat,  will  render 
us  independent  to  a  great  extent  of  outside  sources  for  these  two 
necessities. 

As  regards  the  future  prospects  of  the  mineral  industry  of 
Canada,  we  have  every  reason  for  optimism.  In  the  exploita- 
tion of  the  resources  of  the  country  to  the  south  of  us  it  is  now 
recognized  that  it  has  been  extravagant  and  accompanied  by 
waste,  and  a  note  of  warning  is  being  sounded  throughout  the 
country  by  an  intelligent  press.  The  time  will  come,  and  is  re- 
garded to  be  not  far  distant,  when  their  ore  deposits  will  be 
worked  out.  and  they  will  look  with  longing  eyes  to  Canada  with 
its  magnificent  resources  for  the  supply  of  that  necessary  metal, 
iron,  without  which  modern  civilization  cannot  be  maintained.  I 
hope  the  lesson  thus  taught  us  by  our  neighbours  early  in  the 
history  of  our  development  will  render  us  more  prudent  regarding 
the  exploitation  and  utilization  of  our  resources.  Especially 
would  I  plead  for  such  action  as  would  prevent  our  iron  ores 
from  passing  out  of  our  country.  Our  country  is  extensive  in 
area,  has  a  brilliant  future  before  it,  and  for  its  development  we 
shall  need  every  ounce  of  iron  ore  with  which  it  is  endowed. 

Mr.  R.  W.  Brock.  Acting  Director  of  the  Geological 
Survey,  in  a  brief  speech,  expressed  the  desire  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Mines  Department  to  serve  the  mining  industries 
of  the  country. 

Mr.  A.  B.  Wilmott.  of  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  also  responded  to  the 
toast.  He  referred  to  the  immensity  of  the  "'claim"  that  Canada 
had  staked  out  for  herself  on  this  continent.  "  As  to  discoveries," 
he  continued,  "I  would  point  out  that  the  Cordillera  region  is 
divided  into  three  sections.  There  are  1,500  miles  in  Mexico, 
rich  in  silver;  1,500  in  the  United  States,  with  gold  and  silver.  We 
have  1,500  miles  in  Canada,  and  know  that  along  the  boundary 
and  to  the  extreme  north  it  has  proved  very  rich,  and  we  may 


70  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

justly  infer  that  our  fifteen  hundred  miles  is  as  rich  as  either  of  the 
others.  Then  we  have  the  Sudbury  district,  the  greatest  nickel 
camp  in  the  world,  and  Cobalt;  while  in  Quebec  we  have  corundum, 
asbestos  and  many  other  valuable  minerals,  while  on  our  eastern 
and  western  coasts  we  have  abundant  coal.  To  the  north  again 
we  have  gold  areas  of  which  practically  nothing  is  yet  known. 
That  north  region  is  bound  to  become  a  valuable  asset  to  Canada. 
These  are  merely  a  few  of  the  reasons  I  have  for  feeling  confident 
that  our  great  Canadian  claim  will  '  pan  out'  well."     (Applause). 

Mr.  Louis  Pratt  responded  on  behalf  of  the  mining  industry 
of  British  Columbia. 

"The  Retiring  President"  was  then  proposed  by  Mr.  J.  E. 
Hardman  of  Montreal,  who  said: — "  It  gives  me  very  great  pleasure 
to  propose  this  toast,  both  as  an  old  member  of  this  Institute,  and 
as  an  old  friend  of  many  of  your  past  presidents.  The  position  of 
president  of  this  Institute  is  by  no  means  a  sinecure,  especially 
when,  like  your  immediate  past  president,  he  resides  in  British 
Columbia,  and  requires  to  travel  across  the  continent  to  attend  a 
meeting.  In  proposing  this  toast  I  crave  permission  to  tell  you 
something  about  Mr.  Keffer  which  you  may  not  know.  Going 
to  British  Columbia  in  1896,  when  there  was  one  log  cabin  in 
Greenwood,  he  began  his  work  on  the  "Mother  Lode,"  unassisted, 
without  any  large  capital.  He  developed  that  property  from  a 
prospect  to  what  it  is  now,  the  second  largest  producing  mine  in 
British  Columbia.  He  was  undoubtedly  the  pioneer  of  the  Bound- 
ary country  of  British  Columbia,  and  as  the  pioneer  engineer  of 
the  Boundary  country  he  has  steadily  upheld  a  standard  of  moral 
integrity  amongst  his  people.  It  is  to  his  credit  that  during  the 
time  he  was  general  manager  of  that  company  there  was  no  dis- 
sension and  no  strike  amongst  his  employees,  and  this  I  conceive 
to  be  as  bright  a  crown  as  a  man  can  wear.  It  is  needless  to  say 
that  he  has  most  worthily  maintained  the  dignity  of  the  Insti- 
tute during  his  term  of  office  as  President. 

Mr.  Keffer,  on  rising  to  reply,  was  greeted  with  loud  cheers. 
In  a  few  well  chosen  words  he  returned  thanks,  and  added  that 
he  would  continue  to  take  a  warm  interest  in  the  Institute,  and 
would  promote  its  welfare  by  every  means  in  his  power. 


Proceedings  of  10th  Annual  Meeting  71 

"Our  Guests"  was  responded  to  by  Messrs.  Sakemure,  Act- 
ing Consul  General  for  Japan;  Dr.  J.  Bonar,  Dr.  W.  Campbell,  Mr. 
Turriff,  and  Dr.  R.  M.  Coulter,  Deputy  Postmaster  General;  and 
"The  Press,  "  by  Mr.  Frederick  Hobart,  Mr.  Farr  and  Mr.  J.  C.  Mur- 
ray. 


72  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

WESTERN  BRANCH  MEETINGS. 

Reported  by  E.  Jacobs,  Secretary. 

The  proposal  to  form  a  western  Branch  of  the  Institute  was 
taken  up  with  enthusiasm  by  a  number  of  members  resident  in  the 
Province,  conspicuous  among  them,  Mr.  Frederic  Keffer,  of  Green- 
wood, engineer  in  charge  of  the  several  mines  of  the  British  Colum- 
bia Copper  Company,  who  in  March  of  1907  was  elected  president 
of  thelnstitutefortheyear  1907-8,  and  Mr.  A.  B.  W.  Hodges,  of  Grand 
Forks,  general  superintendent  of  the  mines  and  smelters  of  the 
Granby  Consolidated  Mining,  Smelting  and  Power  Company.  The 
movement  received  a  decided  stimulus  as  the  direct  outcome  of  the 
visit  to  the  West  last  autumn  of  Mr.  H.Mortimer-Lamb,  of  Montreal, 
secretary  of  the  Institute,  who  stirred  up  general  interest  in  the 
proposal  to  organize  a  Western  Branch.  The  result  of  the  efforts 
of  these  several  gentlemen  an4  ©f-otker- members  who  heartily  sup- 
ported them,  was  seen  in  the  successful  organization  of  the  branch 
at  Nelson  on  Wednesday,  January  15,  on  which  day  and  that  fol- 
lowing a  satisfactory  and  successful  meeting  of  members  was  held. 

proceedings  on  the  first  day. 

The  Court  Room  at  Nelson  having  been  kindly  placed  at  their 
disposal,  the  members  first  met  there  on  Wednesday  morning. 

Mr.  Frederic  Keffer,  as  president,  made  an  address  in  which  he 
stated  the  object  of  the  meeting,  which  was  primarily  the  formation 
of  a  Western  Branch  of  the  Institute. 

It  was  then  moved  by  Mr.  S.  S.  Fowler,  and  seconded  by  Mr. 
C.  P.  Hill,  that  "  we  now  constitute  ourselves  a  Western  Branch  of 
the  Canadian  Mining  Institute."     This  was  carried  unanimously. 

The  next  order  of  business  was  the  election  of  permanent 
officers,  with  the  following  result:  President,  Mr.  A.  B.  W.  Hodges; 
secretary,  Mr.  E.  Jacobs ;  Executive  Council:  Messrs.  P.  S.  Couldrey, 
R.  H.  Stewart,  L.  Hill,  0.  E.  S.  Whiteside,  W.  M.  Brewer,  J.  C. 
Haas,  E.  C.  Musgrave,  J.  McEvoy  and  S.  G.  Blaylock,  and  the 
western  members  of  the  Council  of  the  Institute,  ex-officio. 

While  the  scrutineers  were  examining  the  ballot  papers,  Mr. 


Western  Branch  Meetings  73 

E.  Jacobs  stated  that  the  provincial  mineralogist  had  requested 
him  to  express  his  regret  that  his  official  duties  just  now  prevented 
him  from  leaving  Victoria,  so  that  he  was  unable  to  attend  the 
meeting.  He  also  apologized  for  the  unavoidable  absence  of  .Mr. 
John  Hopp,  of  Cariboo,  who  had  intended  being  present,  but  had 
been  prevented  by  business  engagements. 

After  announcement  of  the  result  of  the  ballot,  the  president 
of  the  branch,  Mr.  A.  B.  W.  Hodges,  took  the  chair  and  in  his  open- 
ing address  thanked  his  fellow  members  for  the  honour  they  had 
done  him.  He  said:  "  I  have  belonged  to  the  Institute  many  years, 
but  have  been  so  busy  that  I  have  never  had  time  to  attend  a  meet- 
ing in  the  East.  When  the  Council  of  the  Institute  suggested  this 
plan.  I  was  heartily  in  favour  of  a  branch  out  here,  and  I  know  all 
the  gentlemen  present  are  interested  enough  to  endorse  my  senti- 
ments. But  an  endeavour  should  be  made  to  increase  the  mem- 
bership as  soon  as  possible.  It  will  require  hearty  co-operation  to 
make  a  success  of  this  branch.  The  whole  reason  of  the  formation 
of  the  Western  Branch  is  that  the  busy  members  out  West  cannot 
attend  the  meetings  of  the  Institute  held  in  the  East. 

"I  think  we  should  have  a  committee  of  three  appointed  to 
look  into  the  by-laws  of  the  Canadian  Mining  Institute  and  report 
to-morrow  on  such  changes  as  they  shall  consider  it  advisable  to 
make.  I  appoint  on  that  committee,  Messrs.  S.  S.  Fowler,  L.  Hill 
and  J.  C.  Haas." 

Mr.  E.  Jacobs,  the  newly  elected  secretary,  thanked  the  mem- 
bers for  his  election,  and  went  on  to  say  that  there  were  already 
nearly  150  western  members  of  the  Institute,  including  those 
resident  in  Alberta,  British  Columbia,  Yukon  Territory,  and  the 
State  of  Washington,  and  he  thought  it  probable  that  within  a 
year  there  would  be  a  membership  of  at  least  200.  He  then 
pointed  out  that  the  Government  of  the  Province  was  paying  a 
great  deal  of  attention  to  agriculture,  but  not  so  much  to  mining. 
The  new  branch  of  the  Institute  might  induce  it  to  make  a  differ- 
ence in  this  regard. 

The  president  next  stated  that  it  was  not  the  intention  that 
afternoon  to  proceed  with  the  reading  of  technical  papers,  but 
rather  to  have  an  informal  discussion  as  to  the  best  method  of 
carrying  on  the  newly  formed  branch  of  the  Institute. 

Mr.  F.  Keffer  thought  it  would  be  well  to  have  small  local 


74  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

branches  of  the  Institute  in  the  different  mining  centres,  to  meet 
every  month  or  so. 

Mr.  S.  S.  Fowler  thought  that  there  would  be  hardly  a  suffi- 
cient membership  present  in  any  one  of  these  centres,  with  the 
possible  exception  of  the  Boundary,  to  make  such  meetings  inter- 
esting. He  was  of  opinion  that  there  should  be  quarterly  or  semi- 
annual meetings.  This  suggestion  led  to  some  discussion,  and 
finally  the  general  opinion  seemed  to  be  that  the  meetings  of  the 
Western  Branch  of  the  Institute  should  be  held  thrice  yearly. 

Mr.  Keffer  agreed  with  Mr.  Fowler  that  the  oftener  meetings 
could  be  held  the  better  the  members  could  get  together. 

Mr.  J.  C.  Haas  suggested  the  reading  of  papers  at  such  meet- 
ings, but  thought  the  procedure  of  the  meetings  should  be,  as  far 
as  possible,  informal. 

Mr.  T.  Kiddie  agreed  as  to  the  non-formality  of  the  meetings, 
and  thought  that  meetings  three  times  a  year  would  be  ample. 

Mr.  E.  Jacobs  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  Institute  would  be  held  this  year  in  Ottawa,  open- 
ing on  March  4,  and  that  it  would  be  in  order  for  the  Western 
Branch  to  prepare  for  that  annual  meeting  anything  that  the  West 
particularly  thought  desirable  for  discussion.  He  next  read,  for 
the  information  of  the  meeting,  the  by-laws  of  the  Institute  as  to 
membership  and  associate  membership.  Continuing,  he  remarked: 
"In  view  of  the  fact  that  a  Dominion  Department  of  Mines  had 
been  organized,  it  would  be  politic  for  the  meeting  to  pass  a  resolu- 
tion congratulating  the  Dominion  Government  upon  its  establish- 
ment, and  expressing  appreciation  of  the  useful  work  done  in  the 
West  by  the  Geological  Survey  Department  and,  as  well,  with 
reference  to  the  exhaustive  labours  of  the  Zinc  Commission,  and 
the  work  of  Mr.  R.  R.  Hedley  in  gathering  for  the  Department  of 
Mines,  for  publication,  statistics  and  other  data  relative  to  the 
mining  and  smelting  industries  of  the  West. "  Further,  he  called 
attention  to  a  statement  published  in  the  press  to  the  effect  that 
the  Canadian  branch  of  the  Royal  Mint  would  not  be  able  to  use 
for  coinage  purposes  metals  smelted  in  Canada  until  after  these 
shall  have  been  further  refined.  He  thought  the  Institute  should 
call  attention  to  the  fact  that  such  a  statement  is  quite  erroneous, 
since  at  the  refinery  at  Trail,  owned  and  operated  by  the  Consoli- 


Western  Branch  Meetings  75 

dated  Mining  and  Smelting  Company  of  Canada,  the  silver  pro- 
duced is  of  fineness  averaging  over  .999  and  the  gold  about  .995. 

The  secretary  was  requested  to  prepare  resolutions  along  the 
lines  sugested,  for  consideration  the  following  day. 

Mr.  Fowler,  on  behalf  of  the  Nelson  members,  invited  the 
visiting  members  together  with  their  lady  fiiends  to  be  present  at 
a  complimentary  dance  arranged  to  take  place  at  the  Hume  hotel 
that  night. 

At  five  o'clock  adjournment  was  made  until  the  following 
morning  at  11  o'clock. 

proceedings  on  second  day. 

The  first  business  taken  up  on  Thursday  morning  was  the 
consideration  of  the  following  two  resolutions,  which  were  unani- 
mously adopted: 

Proposed  by  Mr.  E.  Jacobs  and  seconded  by  Mr.  T.  Kiddie: 
"That  the  Western  Branch  of  the  Canadian  Mining  Institute 
hereby  expresses  its  satisfaction  at  the  establishment  of  a  Dominion 
Department  of  Mines,  with  its  'Geological'  and  'Mines'  branches, 
under  the  control  of  a  minister  of  mines  and  directed  by  his  several 
chief  officials,  the  deputy  minister  of  mines,  director  of  the  Geo- 
logical Branch  and  director  of  the  Mines  Branch  respectively.  It 
also  expresses  its  appreciation  of  the  valuable  work  heretofore 
done  in  western  Canada  by  the  Geological  Survey,  particularly  in 
the  Crow's  Nest  Pass  coal  fields,  and  later  in  Kootenay,  Boundary, 
Similkameen  and  Skeena  districts,  and  the  comparatively  large 
amount  of  geological  and  topographical  work  done  in  Yukon 
Territory.  Further  it  places  on  record  its  recognition  of  the  sys- 
tematic and  thorough  work  of  the  Zinc  Commission  and  that  of 
the  more  recent  efforts  of  the  Mines  Branch  to  collect  and  compile 
for  publication  statistics  and  other  useful  information  concerning, 
the  mining  and  smelting  industries  of  Western  Canada.  Finally, 
it  notes  with  satisfaction  the  considerable  increase  in  the  amount 
placed  by  the  Dominion  Government  on  the  estimates  for  the 
ensuing  fiscal  year  for  the  purposes  of  continuing  and  extend- 
ing the  valuable  work  of  the  respective  branches  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Mines,  and  it  respectfully  commends  to  the  favourable  con- 
sideration of  the  hon.  the  minister  of  mines  and  his  chief  officials 


76  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

the  great  need  existing  for  field  work  operations  in  Western  Cana- 
da on  an  adequate  scale,  so  that  the  development  of  the  enor- 
mous mineral  resources  of  this  very  important  part  of  the 
Dominion  may  be  further  encouraged  and  facilitated." 

It  was  further  resolved  that  the  secretary  forward  copies  of 
the  foregoing  resolution  to  the  right  hon.  the  prime  minister,  the 
hon.  the  minister  of  mines,  the  deputy  minister  of  mines  and  the 
directors  of  the  Geological  and  Mines  branches  respectively. 

Proposed  by  Mr.  S.  S.  Fowler  and  seconded  by  Mr.  Frederic 
Keffer:  "That,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Western  Branch  of  the  Can- 
adian Mining  Institute,  the  mining  industry  of  British  Columbia 
has  attained  to  such  comparatively  large  proportions  in  regard  to 
annual  total  value  of  its  mineral  products,  and  gives  such  promise 
of  continued  steady  increase  in  activity  and  productive  results 
as  to  call  for  larger  annual  appropriations  for  the  practical  pur- 
poses of  the  Provincial  Bureau  of  Mines,  so  that  the  examination 
of  mining  districts  and  the  dissemination  of  useful  information 
relative  to  their  mineral  resources,  may  be  on  a  scale  more  in 
keeping  with  the  fast  growing  importance  of  the  mining  industry 
than  has  been  reasonably  practicable  during  recent  years.  It  is 
therefore  respectfully  urged  that,  while  much  good  work  has  already 
been  done,  the  great  benefit  the  adequate  development  of  the  min- 
ing industry  will  be  to  the  Province  at  large,  as  well  as  to  the  dis- 
tricts more  directly  interested,  be  fully  recognized,  and  that  the 
Provincial  Government  make  more  liberal  provision  for  the  work 
of  the  Bureau  of  Mines,  so  that  this  serviceable  department  may 
be  enabled  to.  considerably  extend  its  effective  work,  thereby  en- 
suring that  the  mining  industry  shall  enjoy  the  benefit  of  similar 
liberal  treatment  by  the  Government  as  has  been,  and  is  being, 
given  to  the  agricultural  and  fruit-growing  industries  of  the  Pro- 
vince." 

The  secretary  was  directed  to  send  copies  of  this  resolution  to 
the  hon.  the  premier  and  the  officials  of  the  Provincial  Bureau  of 
Mines 

The  committee  on  by-laws,  appointed  the  previous  day,  made 
a  verbal  report  to  the  effect  that  the  by-laws  of  the  parent  Insti- 
tute must  govern  the  conduct  of  this  branch,  though  such  modifica- 
tion as  shall  be  considered  necessary  may  be  recommended  by  the 
local  council  to  the  council  of  the  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 


Western  Branch  Meetings  77 

Mr.  S.  S.  Fowler  here  extended  to  the  members,  on  behalf  of 
that  company,  a  cordial  invitation  to  visit  the  reduction  works  of 
the  Canada  Zinc  Company  now  in  course  of  construction  within 
a  short  distance  of  the  city.  The  invitation  was  accepted  with 
thanks. 

This  completed  the  general  business  of  the  morning.  Mr. 
W.  A.  Davidson,  engineer  of  the  West  Canadian  Collieries,  Limited, 
Blairmore,  Alberta,  read  some  notes  on  the  "Utilization  of  Waste 
at  Lille  Colliery,  and  how  it  is  accomplished."  An  interesting 
discussion  followed,  which  occupied  the  attention  of  the  meeting 
until  the  session  was  adjourned  for  luncheon. 

At  two  o'clock  some  20  members  left  by  electric  car  for  the 
Canada  Zinc  Company's  works,  over  which  they  were  shown  by 
rhe  resident  officials.  Upon  return  to  the  city  the  afternoon  session 
was  opened  at  half-past  three  o'clock.  The  several  papers  read 
and  discussed  were  as  follows:  "Notes  on  Cost  of  Diamond  Drill- 
ing in  the  Boundary  District,"  by  Frederic  Keffer;  "Handling 
3,000  Tons  of  Ore  Per  Day  at  the  Granby  Mines  and  Smelter,"  by 
A.  B.  W.  Hodges;  "Mineral  Production  of  British  Columbia  in 
1907,"  by  E.  Jacobs. 

Other  papers  were  read  by  title. 

This  concluded  the  business,  whereupon  hearty  votes  of  thanks 
were  tendered  to  Messrs.  Keffer  and  Hodges  for  having  been  lar- 
gely instrumental  in  bringing  about  the  holding  of  the  meeting 
and  the  resultant  organization  of  the  new  branch;  to  the  committee 
of  Nelson  members  of  the  Institute,  particularly  Messrs.  Campbell 
and  Fowler,  for  having  made  arrangements  for  the  conven- 
tion, carrying  out  of  the  local  arrangements  for  holding  the 
meeting,  and  for  the  entertainment  and  hospitality  provided  for 
the  enjoyment  of  the  visiting  members  and  the  ladies  accompanying 
some  of  them;  to  the  Canada  Zinc  Company  for  the  opportunity 
to  inspect  its  works,  and  to  the  Daily  News  and  Canadian  news- 
papers for  the  publicity  they  have  given  the  proceedings. 

In  conclusion  it  may  be  said  that  the  meeting  was  decidedly 
successful,  both  in  point  of  attendance  and  as  regards  its  repre- 
sentative nature.  Nine  signed  applications  for  membership  were 
received  and  others  were  promised.  The  attendance  of  members 
was  as  follows:  W.  B.  Bishop,  A.  B.  W.  Hodges,  C.  T.  Mitchell 
and  W.  St.  John  Miller,  Grand  Forks;  F.  Keffer  and  C.  Yarcoe, 


78  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Greenwood;  C.  Rundberg,  Phoenix;  W.  E.  Zwicky,  Kaslo;  A.  W. 
Davis,  Sandon;  Jas.  Buchanan,  Trail;  E.  C.  Brown-Cave,  Van- 
couver; E.  Jacobs,  Victoria;  W.  A.  Davidson,  Blairmore,  and  C.  P. 
Hill,  Frank,  Alta.;  J.  C.  Haas,  Spokane;  T.  Kiddie,  Northport, 
Wash.  The  Nelson  members  in  attendance  were:  G.  H.  Barn- 
hart,  S.  G.  Blaylock,  J.  J.  Campbell,  S.  S.  Fowler,  A.  C.  Garde, 
A.  H.  Gracey,  Leslie  Hill,  B.  A.  Isaac,  A.  L.  McKillop,  G.  A.  Revell 
and  E.  W.  Widdowson.  The  non-members  present  were:  A.  D. 
Wheeler,  Ainsworth;  J.  A.  Whittier,  Kaslo;  L.  Pratt,  Sandon;  F.  W. 
Guernsey,  Trail;  Thos.  Brown,  L.  Crawford,  Frank  Fletcher,  E.  F. 
Miltenberger,  A.  Bruce  Ritchie  and  C.  H.  Rowlands,  Nelson. 


WESTERN  BRANCH,  ROSSLAND  MEETING. 


Reported  by  E.  Jacobs,  Secretary. 

The  Western  Branch  of  the  Canadian  Mining  Institute  held 
its  second  general  meeting  at  Rossland  on  Thursday,  May  14. 

Mr.  A.  B.  W.  Hodges,  of  Grand  Forks,  general  superinten- 
dent of  the  Granby  Mining,  Smelting  and  Power  Company, 
Limited,  was  in  the  chair. 

The  following  members  were  present:  From  Nelson:  S.  S. 
Fowler  and  C.  H.  Rowlands.  Grand  Forks:  W.  B.  Bishop,  A.  B. 
W.  Hodges,  Frank  E.  Lathe,  W.  St.  John  Miller  and  C.  T.  Mitchell. 
Phcenix:  C.  M.  Campbell.  Trail:  F.  W.  Guernsey  and  J.  M. 
Turnbull.  Vancouver:  J.  West  Collis.  Victoria:  E.  Jacobs. 
Northport,  Wash.:  Thos.  Kiddie.  Rossland:  D.  J.  Browne,  T.  W. 
Cavers,  H.  H.  Claudet,  P.  S.  Couldrey,  Graham  Cruickshank,  Geo. 
W.  Dunn,  A.  G.  Larson,  A.  J.  McMillan,  M.  E.  Purcell,  J.  M. 
Sands,  R.  H.  Stewart  and  C.  Varcoe.  Dr.  J.  Bonsall  Porter,  pro- 
fessor of  mining  at  McGill  University,  and  Mr.  John  A.  Dresser, 
instructor  in  geology,  both  members  of  the  Institute,  who  were  in 
the  Kootenay  with  the  McGill  summer  mining  school,  also  attended. 
The  visitors  at  the  meeting  included  J.  A.  Macdonald,  M.P.P.  for 
Rossland;  A.  B.  Mackenzie,  secretary  of  the  Associated  Boards  of 
Trade;  J.  S.  C.  Fraser,  manager  of  the  Bank  of  Montreal,  Ross- 
land; W.  S.  Rugh,  office  manager  of  the  Le  Roi  Mining  Company, 
Limited;  H.  P.  Dickinson,  district  representative  of  the  Giant 
Powder  Company;  K.  C.  Allen,  J.  C.  Fuller  and  F.  S.  Peters. 

The  secretary  read  an  account  of  the  proceedings  at  the  Nelson 
meeting  last  January,  and  this  was  taken  as  the  minutes  of  that 
meeting,  and  on  resolution  was  so  adopted. 

The  chairman  then  asked  Mr.  J.  A.  Macdonald,  member  for 
the  Rossland  district  in  the  Provincial  Legislature,  who  was 
present  by  invitation,  to  address  the  meeting. 


80  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Mr.  Macdonald  said  that  the  citizens  of  Rossland  had  been 
honoured  by  having  the  second  meeting  of  the  Western  Branch 
of  the  Canadian  Mining  Institute  convened  in  their  city.  He 
thanked  the  Branch  for  the  honour  done  him  in  inviting  him  to 
be  present  and  to  address  the  meeting.  He  knew  the  work  the 
branch  was  doing  was  entirely  one  of  unselfishness — to  give  others 
the  benefit  of  the  experience  each  had  obtained  in  his  own  sphere. 
In  mining  there  was  no  selfish  competition,  each  mine  owner  being 
glad  to  see  his  neighbour  prosper  and  none  succeed  at  the  expense 
of  others.  This  spirit  had  been  carried  into  the  work  of  the 
Canadian  Mining  Institute,  and  was  being  used  for  the  purpose 
of  disseminating  the  knowledge  individual  members  had  gained, 
thus  exemplifying  the  unselfishness  of  their  motives. 

Mr.  A.  J.  McMillan,  managing  director  of  the  Le  Roi  Mining 
Company,  was  next  called  upon.  He  expressed  pleasure  at  seeing 
members  of  the  Canadian  Mining  Institute  meeting  in  Rossland, 
and  hoped  the  proceedings  would  be  found  profitable  to  those 
taking  part  in  them.  The  visitors  would  be  given  opportunity 
to  go  through  the  large  m^nes  of  the  camp.  Those  in  charge  of 
the  mines  had  not  lost  faith  in  them — they  believed  there  still 
remained  large  bodies  of  good  ore,  and  although  there  were  still 
difficulties  to  be  met,  these  would  doubtless  be  overcome  as  others 
had  been  in  the  past. 

The  chairman  then  announced  that  an  intimation  had  been 
received  from  the  secretary  of  the  Institute,  in  Montreal,  that 
several  British  and  foreign  institutes  connected  with  engineering, 
mining  and  metallurgy  had  been  invited  to  join  the  Canadian 
Mining  Institute  in  an  excursion  through  the  mining  sections  of 
the  Dominion  next  September,  and  that  it  was  proposed  to  visit 
the  chief  mining  camps  of  British  Columbia.  The  members  of 
the  Western  Branch  would  be  expected  to  unite  in  entertaining 
the  visitors,  and  he  asked  that  as  many  as  possible  would  join  in 
the  excursion  when  the  party  should  come  west  and  proceed  to 
Victoria,  where  a  formal  meeting  of  the  Institute  would  be  held. 
He  understood  the  Provincial  Government  had  already  been  in- 
formed that  it  would  be  asked  to  make  an  appropriation  towards 
the  cost  of  entertaining  the  visitors.  He  hoped  Mr.  Macdonald 
would  endeavour  to  help  them  to  secure  some  such  assistance 
from  the  Government. 


Western  Branch  81 


Mr.  Macdonald  enquired  whether  the  Canadian  Mining  Insti- 
tute received  a  grant  from  the  Provincial  Government.  He 
thought  that  if  application  for  it  were  made  the  Legislature  would 
support  a  grant  to  assist  in  carrying  the  useful  work  of  the  Institute. 

The  secretary  said  that  so  far  as  he  knew  no  financial  assist- 
ance had  yet  been  given  the  Institute  by  the  Government  of 
British  Columbia.  The  statement  of  the  treasurer  of  the  Institute, 
presented  at  the  annual  meeting  in  Ottawa  in  March,  shows  that 
the  Dominion  Government  gives  an  annual  grant  of  S3 ,000  and 
the  Ontario  Government  one  of  $1,500,  and  he  understood  that 
the  Dominion  Government  had  been  asked  to  increase  its  yearly 
grant  to  $5,000.  As  a  matter  of  fact  there  had  been  no  official 
recognition  by  the  Government  of  British  Columbia  of  the  existence 
of  the  Institute.  The  Dominion  Government  and  the  Provinces 
of  Quebec  and  Ontario  had  all  been  officially  represented  at  the 
annual  meetings  of  the  Institute,  and  had  supplied  information 
relative  to  their  mineral  production,  but  British  Columbia  had  had 
only  the  benefit  of  the  attendance  at  the  annual  meetings  of  two 
or  three  members  from  the  Province,  and  such  information  con- 
cerning mineral  production  as  he,  the  speaker,  had  supplied  for 
submission  to  the  meetings  of  1907  and  1908  respectively. 

Mr.  McMillan  suggested  that  the  Institute  should  apply  to 
the  Provincial  Government  for  a  grant,  which  should  not  be  less 
than  the  amount  received  from  Ontario. 

Mr.  Macdonald  did  not  anticipate  that  the  Institute  would 
have  any  difficulty  in  obtaining  a  grant  from  the  Provincial  Gov- 
ernment if  the  proper  information  concerning  the  work  and  posi- 
tion of  the  Institute  were  supplied.  The  Province  had  been  fairly 
liberal  in  giving  aid  to  the  agricultural  and  fruit-growing  indus- 
tries, so  he  thought  the  mining  industry  would  be  similarly  assisted 
if  the  necessary  representations  were  made. 

The  secretary  mentioned  that  the  total  value  of  the  mineral 
production  of  the  Province  in  1907  was  not  far  from  $26,000,000, 
which  was  as  large  as  or  larger  than  that  of  the  combined  value  of 
two  or  three  others  of  the  chief  industries  of  British  Columbia. 
It  was  true  the  Province  had  the  benefit  of  the  work  of  the  pro- 
vincial mineralogist  and  the  provincial  assayer,  but  in  his  opinion, 
the  mining  industry  did  not  receive  from  the  Provincial  Govern- 
ment adequate  aid  or  recognition.     It  was  gratifying  to  find  the 


82  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Dominion  department  of  mines  doing  so  much  work  in  the  West, 
and  he  had  received  assurances  from  the  minister  of  mines,  and 
the  directors  of  the  geological  survey  and  mines  branches,  respec- 
tively, that  their  work  in  the  West  would  be  continued  on  at  least 
as  large  a  scale  as  during  the  past  few  years. 

The  secretary  here  mentioned,  as  good  news,  to  those  inter- 
ested in  the  zinc  mining  industry,  that  the  appeal  to  the  United 
States  courts,  against  the  decision  of  the  General  Board  of  Ap- 
praisers in  favour  of  admitting  zinc  ores  into  the  United  States 
duty  free,  had  not  been  successful,  the  court  ruling  that  no  duty 
is  legally  chargeable  upon  them,  except  as  to  their  lead  contents. 

The  chairman  expressed  his  pleasure  that  the  question  of 
applying  to  the  Provincial  Government  for  aid  to  the  Institute 
had  been  brought  up,  and  that  Mr.  Macdonald  had  been  present 
and  heard  the  views  expressed  in  this  connection.  Bearing  in 
mind  the  relative  importance  of  the  several  industries  and  the 
value  of  their  products,  he  thought  the  mining  industry  should 
receive  from  the  Government  twice  the  amount  of  the  assistance 
given  to  any  one  of  the  others. 

An  adjournment  to  the  afternoon  was  here  made. 

AFTERNOON   SESSION. 

The  business  was  resumed  at  2.30  o'clock  p.m.,  and  the 
following  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted  after  a  brief  de- 
bate:— 

Proposed  by  Mr.  P.  S.  Couldrey,  seconded  by  Mr.  Thomas 
Kiddie,  "that  in  order  to  make  the  council  of  this  branch  more 
fully  representative,  the  number  of  elected  members  thereof  be 
increased  from  nine  to  twelve,  in  addition  to  the  president  and 
secretary. " 

Proposed  by  Mr.  R.  H.  Stewart,  seconded  by  Mr.  F.  W. 
Guernsey,  "that  Messrs.  R.  W.  Coulthard,  Fernie,  and  John  L. 
Retallack,  Kaslo,  be  and  hereby  are  elected  members  of  the 
council." 

The  secretary  reported  that  "the  council  recommends  that  a 
committee  be  appointed  to  request  the  Provincial  Government  to 


Western  Branch  83 


make  an  appropriation  towards  the  expense  of  suitably  entertain- 
ing the  British  and  foreign  and  other  visitors  who  will  next  Sep- 
tember visit  British  Columbia  as  guests  of  the  Canadian  Mining 
Institute,  such  committee  to  consist  of  Messrs.  A.  B.  W.  Hodges, 
W.  H.  Aldridge  and  S.  S.  Fowler,  with  power  to  add  to  their 
number. " 

Dr.  J.  Bonsall  Porter,  who  is  senior  vice-president  of  the 
Canadian  Mining  Institute,  at  the  request  of  the  chairman,  gave 
some  information  as  to  who  were  these  invited  guests,  who  include 
a  number  of  eminent  members  of  British  and  foreign  societies,  and 
the  scheme  of  the  proposed  excursion. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  A.  J.  McMillan,  seconded  by  Mr.  M.  E. 
Purcell,  the  recommendation  of  the  council  was  adopted. 

Proposed  by  Mr.  S.  S.  Fowler,  seconded  by  Mr.  J.  West  Collis, 
"that  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  by  the  president  to  make 
suggestions  to  the  council  of  the  Institute  in  connection  with  the 
itinerary  in  western  Canada  of  the  British  and  foreign  visitors 
next  September."     Carried  unanimously. 

The  reading  and  discussion  of  papers  was  then  proceeded 
with. 

Mr.  E.  Jacobs  read  some  brief  notes  on  a  "Matte  Separating 
Forehearth"  in  use  at  the  Tyee  Copper  Company's  smelter  at 
Ladysmith,  Vancouver  Island.  He  said  that  Mr.  W.  J.  Watson, 
manager  of  the  smelter,  had  informed  him  that  so  far  as  he  knew, 
he,  Mr.  Watson,  was  the  first  to  use  this  particular  adaptation  of 
the  old  Orford  settler  to  a  water-jacketted  receiver,  and  that 
during  the  two  years  it  has  been  in  use  the  matte  compartment 
has  only  frozen  up  three  or  four  times,  and  then  on  account  of  the 
high  zinc  contents  of  the  matte.  The  settler  has  more  than  paid 
for  itself  by  reason  of  the  slag  made  being  cleaner.  Among  other 
advantages  which  this  arrangement  of  the  settler  affords  are  the 
following:  The  wear  and  tear  of  the  matte  pots  is  reduced  by 
the  stream  of  matte  not  striking  the  side  of  the  pot  as  it  does  in  the 
ordinary  tapping  methods;  tapping  clay  is  saved;  the  danger  of 
men  being  burned  when  tapping  slag  is  obviated;  the  services  of  a 
tapper  are  dispensed  with  and  a  consequent  economy  is  effected 
in  not  having  to  pay  this  extra  man's  wages. 


84  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

The  notes  were  discussed  by  Mr.  Thomas  Kiddie,  who  was 
familiar  with  the  conditions  under  which  Mr.  Watson  had  worked, 
and  by  Messrs.  Guernsey  and  Hodges. 

Mr.  H.  H.  Claudet  contributed  a  "Few  Notes  on  the  Elmore 
Vacuum  Process  of  Ore  Concentration."  The  discussion  that 
followed  was  participated  in  by  Messrs.  Porter,  S.  S.  Fowler,  F.  W. 
Guernsey,  A.  B.  W.  Hodges,  Thos.  Kiddie  and  J.  M.  Turnbull. 
Samples  of  several  concentration  products  were  passed  around 
for  inspection. 

Mr.  C.  M.  Campbell's  paper  on  "  Granby  Mining  Methods"  was 
a  clear  and  comprehensive  description  of  the  methods  followed 
by  the  Granby  Company  at  its  big  copper  mines  at  Phcenix.  A 
number  of  excellent  drawings  and  large  photographs  illustrated 
the  text  of  the  paper,  which  was  generally  commended  as  being 
a  distinctly  creditable  production.  As  the  time  was  short, 
discussion  was  brief. 

The  chairman  here  announced  that  he  had  been  requested  by 
Mr.  Frederic  Keffer,  engineer  in  charge  of  the  mines  of  the  British 
Columbia  Copper  Company  in  the  Boundary,  and  who  was  last 
year's  president  of  the  Institute,  to  present  to  Mr.  Frank  E.  Lathe 
the  president's  gold  medal  for  the  best  paper  submitted  by  a 
student  member  last  year.  Mr.  Lathe,  who  is  now  with  the 
Granby  Company,  was  then  at  McGill  University. 

Mr.  Lathe  was  heartily  applauded  as  he  went  forward  to 
receive  the  medal,  in  addition  to  which  he  had  already  received 
from  the  Institute  a  cash  prize  of  $25. 

The  secretary  then  read  some  notes  he  had  made  on  "Ore 
Hoisting  Appliances  at  the  Tyee  Copper  Company's  Smelter," 
when  visiting  those  works  a  fortnight  ago.  In  particular  he  des- 
cribed a  trolley  designed  by  Mr.  W.  J.  Watson  and  found  to  work 
effectively  in  connection  with  hoisting  ore  from  vessels  into  the 
bunkers  on  the  wharf.     Illustrative  photographs  were  shown. 

On  the  request  of  the  chairman  Dr.  Porter  briefly  outlined 
the  work  in  progress  in  McGill  laboratories  to  test  the  coals  in 
Canada.  These  tests  are  being  made  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Dominion  Government. 


Western  Branch  85 


On  motion  of  Mr.  S.  S.  Fowler,  seconded  by  Mr.  M.  E.  Purcell, 
the  president  and  secretary  were  appointed  to  urge  upon  the 
Dominion  Department  of  Mines  the  desirability  of  completing 
as  soon  as  possible  Mr.  R.  W.  Brock's  full  report  on  his  structural 
survey  of  Rossland  camp,  with  maps,  the  necessity  of  having  these 
made  available  being  pressing. 

Votes  of  thanks  to  the  local  committee  for  its  services  in  pro- 
viding for  the  entertainment  of  the  visitors;  to  the  district  press 
for  the  publicity  given  the  meeting,  and  to  local  officials  for  the 
use  of  the  court  room,  were  passed,  and  the  meeting  then  ad- 
journed. 

SMOKER    AT   THE    ROSSLAND    CLUB. 

A  most  enjoyable  smoker  was  tendered  the  visitors  at  the 
Rossland  Club  in  the  evening.  The  chairman  of  the  club,  Mr. 
J.  S.  C.  Fraser,  presided  over  the  proceedings  and  he  and  Mr.  J.  A. 
Macdonald,  M.P.P.,  cordially  welcomed  the  visitors,  on  whose 
behalf  Mr.  Hodges  responded.  Speeches  were  also  made  by  Mr. 
A.  J.  McMillan,  Dr.  J.  B.  Porter,  Mr.  A.  S.  Goodeve,  Mr.  P.  S. 
Couldrey,  Mr.  S.  S.  Fowler,  Mr.  M.  E.  Purcell,  Mr.  Thos.  Kiddie, 
Mr.  F.  W.  Guernsey,  and  others. 

In  the  course  of  the  evening  an  excellent  programme  of  vocal 
and  instrumental  music  was  rendered. 

The  next  day  was  spent  in  inspecting  the  Le  Roi,  Le  Roi  No. 
2,  and  Centre  Star  mines,  under  the  escort  of  the  various  mine 
officials.     Most  of  the  visitors  left  for  home  by  the  evening  train. 

The  committee  on  entertainment  consisted  of  Messrs.  A.  G. 
Larson,  J.  S.  C.  Fraser,  R.  H.  Stewart.  W.  S.  Rugh,  P.  E.  Couldrey, 
Graham  Cruickshank  and  H.  P.  Dickinson. 


86  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

COBALT  BRANCH 

Reported  by  G.  R.  Hardy,  Secretary. 

A  regular  meeting  of  the  Cobalt  Branch  was  held  Friday, 
December  20,  1907. 

Present: — A.  A  Cole,  E.  L.  Fraleck,  Capt.  Leckie,  C.  Campbell, 
H.  J.  Deyell,  R.  W.  Brigstock,  Carl  Reinhardt,  W.  H.  Prest  and 
G.  D.  Hardy. 

Mr.  Cole  occupied  the  chair  and  after  a  few  preliminary  re- 
marks, called  upon  Capt.  Leckie,  who  read  an  interesting  paper 
entitled,  "  The  Mispickel  Deposits  at  Arsenic  Lake. "  Capt.  Leckie 
showed  some  good  specimens  of  mispickel,  also  maps  showing  the 
location  of  the  deposits.  A  brief  discussion  followed  the  reading  of 
the  paper. 

The  meeting  closed  with  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Capt.  Leckie, 
proposed  by  Mr.  Brigstock  and  seconded  by  Mr.  Fraleck. 

A  meeting  of  the  Branch  was  also  held  during  the  month  of 
May,  when  interesting  papers  were  presented  by  respectively 
Mr.  E.  L.  Fraleck,  on  "Early  Mining  Endeavour  in  the  Province  of 
Ontario,"  and  by  Mr.  G.  H.  Sancton  on  "Methods  of  Concentration 
at  Cobalt, "  which  was  productive  of  a  lengthy  discussion. 


Montreal  Branch  Meeting  87 


MONTREAL  BRANCH  MEETING. 

On  Tuesday  evening,  March  31st,  the  members  of  the  Mont- 
real Branch  entertained  at  dinner  at  the  Engineers'  Club,  Montreal, 
the  President  of  the  Institute,  Dr.  Willet  G.  Miller,  Provincial 
Geologist  of  Ontario,  and  Mr.  R.  W.  Brock,  the  Acting  Director  of 
the  Geological  Survey  of  Canada.  Mr.  Geo.  E.  Drummond,  Chair- 
man of  the  Branch,  presided,  and  was  ably  supported  by  the  vice- 
chairman,  Mr.  John  E.  Hardman.  The  toast  of  the  evening, 
"Our  Guests,"  was  proposed  by  Mr.  Drummond  and  Mr.  Hard- 
man.  Both  speakers  paid  a  warm  tribute  to  the  magnificent  work 
accomplished  by  Dr.  Miller  in  the  field  of  economic  geology  in 
Ontario,  and  added  that  the  Institute  had  every  reason  to  be 
proud  of  having  this  year  as  its  presiding  officer,  a  man  of  such 
sterling  worth  and  high  professional  standing.  Mr.  Hardman 
referring  to  Mr.  Brock's  recent  appointment  to  be  Acting  Director 
of  the  Geological  Survey,  remarked  that  the  selection  of  that 
gentleman  to  fill  this  important  post  was  an  eminently  judicious 
one.  Mr.  Brock,  the  speaker  added,  enjoyed  the  confidence  and 
esteem  of  the  mining  communities  of  Canada,  and  had  established 
for  himself  an  enviable  reputation  as  a  geologist,  more  especially 
in  connection  with  his  valuable  work  at  Rossland  and  in  other 
British  Columbian  districts.  Other  toasts  given  were:  "The  Man- 
ufacturing Interests,"  responded  to  by  Messrs.  T.  J.  Drummond, 
MacDougall  and  Peacock;  "Financial  Institutions,"  responded  to 
by  Mr.  Hal  Brown;  "The  Western  Branch  of  the  CM. I.,"  responded 
to  by  Mr.  R.  R.  Hedley;  "The  Mining  Industry  of  Australia," 
responded  to  by  Mr.  Marshall;  " McGill  University,"  responded 
to  by  Dr.  F.  D.  Adams;  "The  Secretary  of  the  Institute,"  and 
"The  Chairman  of  the  Montreal  Branch."  During  the  evening 
Mr.  Strangways  sang  several  songs,  while  Mr.  Stevenson  Brown 
recited  one  of  the  late  Dr.  Drummond's  poems  in  a  very  accept- 
able manner.  The  Dinner  was  pronounced  a  great  success  and 
was  most  thoroughly  enjoyed  by  all  present. 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


McGILL  MINING  SOCIETY. 

(Reported  by  H.  H.  Yuill,  Secretary) 

A  meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  in  the  Lecture  Hall  in  the 
Mining  Building  of  the  University,  on  March  15th,  to  elect  officers 
for  the  coming  year.     The  results  of  the  elections  were  as  follows: — 

Honorary  President: — Dr.  J.  B.  Porter. 

President:— ft.  ft.  Yuill. 

Vice-President: — H.  B.  Gillis. 

Secretary-Treasurer: — J.  Penney. 

Second  year  Representative: — C.  Fortier. 
The  retiring  President,  Mr.  C.  V.  Brennan  thanked  the  mem- 
bers for  the  support  he  had  been  accorded  during  his  term  of  office. 


PAPERS 


THE  IRON  ORES  OF  CANADA. 
By  C.  K.  Leith,  University  of  Wisconsin,  Madison,  Wis. 
(Ottawa  Meeting,  March,  1908.) 

I  hasten  to  disclaim  intention  of  attempting  a  comprehensive 
discussion  of  all  known  Canadian  iron  ore  deposits.  While  I  have 
seen  most  of  the  principal  deposits  in  Canada  and  Newfoundland, 
and  others  have  been  examined  by  associates  and  assistants,  I 
cannot  claim  to  have  sufficiently  detailed  knowledge  of  a  consider- 
able part  of  them  to  warrant  detail  discussion.  Attention  will 
be  called  rather  to  certain  general  features  of  comparison  of  Cana- 
dian ores  with  the  several  types  of  deposits  of  the  United  States 
which  have  been  more  fully  exploited  and  studied,  and  thus  view 
the  Canadian  iron  ore  situation  with  a  perspective  not  otherwise 
easily  gotten.  For  the  purposes  of  this  discussion,  the  New- 
foundland ores  are  included  with  the  Canadian  ores,  because  they 
are  controlled,  mined  and  largely  used  by  Canadian  inteiests.  So 
far  as  is  necessary,  information  will  be  drawn  from  the  various 
careful  descriptions  of  Canadian  ores  published  by  the  Dominion 
and  Provincial  Geological  Surveys  or  Mining  Bureaus. 

The  classification  of  iron  ore  deposits  we  shall  use  is  partly 
a  new  one  based  upon  recent  detailed  studies  of  the  Lake  Su- 
perior ores  and  ores  of  the  western  United  States. 

All  metallic  ores  are  derived  ultimately  from  the  interior  of 
the  earth,  whence  they  are  delivered  by  igneous  eruptions  near 
or  to  the  surface,  there  to  undergo  various  distributions  and  con- 
centrations under  the  influence  of  meteoric  waters  and  gases.  The 
variations  in  composition,  shape,  and  commercial  availability  of 
an  ore  are  controlled  by  variations  of  conditions  under  which  the 
ores  have  reached  the  surface  and  have  been  distributed.  The 
variations  have  developed  the  following  types  of  North  American 
iron  ore  deposits: — 

(1)  Magmatic  segregation  type. — Ores  brought  to  the  outer 
part  of  the  earth  in  molten  magmas  but  retained  in  them  during 


92  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

crystallization,  with  the  result  that  the  ores  form  part  of  the  rock 
itself,  just  as  do  the  feldspar  and  other  minerals.  Such  are  the 
titaniferous  magnetites,  containing  refractory  silicates,  and  fre- 
quently sulphur  and  phosphorus,  in  deleterious  quantites.  While 
known  in  enormous  quantities  over  North  America — in  Canada 
principally  along  the  Lower  St.  Lawrence  river,  and  in  the  Chaff ey 
and  Matthews  mines  of  Lower  Ontario — smelting  is  not  beyond 
the  experimental  stage  and  they  are  nowhere  used  at  a  profit. 

(2)  Pegmatite  type — Ores  which  are  carried  to  or  near  the 
surface  in  magmas  and  are  extruded  from  them,  in  the  manner  of 
pegmatite  dikes,  after  the  remainder  of  the  magma  has  been  par- 
tially cooled  and  crystallized.  They  are  deposited  from  essentially 
aqueous  solutions  mixed  in  varying  proportions  with  solutions  of 
quartz  and  the  silicates.  To  this  class  belong  some,  and  perhaps 
all,  of  the  magnetite  deposits  along  the  contacts  of  limestone  and 
igneous  rocks  constituting  the  greater  part  of  the  iron  ores  of  the 
western  United  States,  and  most  of  the  magnetite  ores  of  Vancou- 
ver and  Texada  Islands  and  elsewhere  in  British  Columbia.  The 
assignment  of  the  British  Columbia  magnetites  to  this  type  is 
based  on  a  personal  comparison  of  them  with  ores  in  southern 
Utah  believed  to  be  of  this  type,  the  origin  of  which  is  discussed  in 
some  detail  by  Mr.  Harder  and  myself,  in  Bulletin  No.  338  of  the 
United  States  Geological  Survey.  The  essential  features  of  these 
deposits  are  their  highly  crystalline,  magnetic  character,  their 
content  of  garnet,  amphibole  and  other  silicates,  local  abundance 
of  sulphides  and  of  apatite.  The  area  of  these  deposits  at  the 
surface  varies  up  to  about  0.2  of  a  square  mile.  They  are  easily 
located  by  their  outcrops  or  by  the  fragments  strewn  down  the 
slopes,  but  it  is  not  so  easy  to  determine  the  shape  and  extent  of  the 
deposits  when  found,  because  of  their  extremely  irregular  association 
with  wall  rock.  It  is  not  safe  to  assume  that  they  extend  a  foot 
beyond  the  zone  of  direct  observation.  Their  vertical  dimensions 
and  shape  and  their  mineralogical  composition  at  depth  are  rela- 
tively unknown.  Mining  operations  in  the  west  on  this  class  of 
deposits  have  not  been  extensive  enough  to  determine  these  facts, 
such  deposits  having  been  mined  principally  in  but  few  localities, 
at  Texada  Island,  at  Fierro,  New  Mexico,  and  in  the  Monterey 
and   Durango   deposits   of  Mexico.     In   the   United  States   and 


The  Iron  Ores  of  Canada  93 

Mexico  certain  similar  deposits,  but  not  all,  have  been  found  to 
take  on  pyrites  and  garnet  with  depth. 

A  small  amount  of  ore  has  been  mined  from  Texada  Island. 
The  better  ore  averages  about  55%  iron  content,  and  from  this 
down;  much  of  it  is  below  Bessemer  limit  in  phosphorus,  and  sul- 
phur is  in  amounts  requiring  roasting.  Garnet  and  amphibole 
are  both  abundant,  locally  requiring  hand  sort'ng.  Silica  varies, 
inversely  as  the  iron,  up  to  about  11  per  cent.  All  of  the  ore 
contains  a  small  amount  of  copper,  locally  as  much  as  4  per  cent. 
The  shapes  of  the  deposits  are  extremely  irregular.  Seldom  do 
the  widths  exceed  100  feet.  In  depth  they  are  best  shown  by  a 
tunnel  300  feet  below  the  surface  which  discloses  ore  with  essenti- 
ally the  same  width  and  composition  as  at  the  surface. 

The  ores  on  the  west  coast  of  Vancouver  Island  have  had  only 
a  little  development  work  done  on  them.  They  likewise  vary 
widely  in  iron  content;  phosphorus  is  low,  sulphur  is  usually  high, 
silica  varies  up  to  about  26  per  cent. 

Making  due  allowances  for  lack  of  development  and  possible 
shallowness  and  change  of  character  with  depth,  it  is  still  certain 
that  there  is  a  large  known  tonnage  available  in  British  Columbia, 
which  will  be  used  when  West  Coast  demands  warrant  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  local  steel  industry,  instead  of  the  importation  of 
finished  products  from  the  east.  There  are  indications  that  this 
time  may  not  be  far  distant.  While  suffering  somewhat  from 
their  composition,  they  are  easily  and  cheaply  mined,  and  being 
located  directly  upon  the  coast,  will  have  the  cheapest  transporta- 
tion. So  far  as  the  ores  have  thus  far  been  used,  it  has  been  in 
Washington,  and  the  recent  rapid  development  of  the  north- 
western United  States  suggests  that  their  further  immediate  use 
will  be  in  Washington,  notwithstanding  duty,  at  least  until  such 
time  as  sufficiently  large  ore  reserves  in  this  part  of  the  United 
States  become  developed  or  until  the  population  of  British  Colum- 
bia requires  a  steel  industry  of  its  own. 

To  the  pegmatite  type  are  provisionally  assigned  the  ores  of 
the  Attikokan  and  Hutton  districts,  of  Ontario,  where  the  magne- 
tites have  the  mineralogical  and  chemical  constituents  of  this  class 
and  show  such  intimate  relations  with  greenstones  as  to  suggest  a 
direct  derivation  from  them.  They  lack  the  bedded  structures, 
characteristic  of  ores  of  class  (3)  to  be  described,  though  in  the  Hutton 


94  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

district  the  bedded  iron  formation  rocks  are  also  present.  The 
extremely  irregular  association  of  the  ore  with  greenstone  makes 
it  difficult  to  outline  the  deposit  even  a  few  feet  in  advance  of  ex- 
ploration. The  Attikokan  deposits  are  high  in  sulphur,  2  to  5 
per  cent.,  requiring  roasting.  At  Hutton  the  sulphur  is  low  so 
far  as  explorations  yet  go,  and  phosphorus  runs  about  1  per  cent. 

To  this  class  of  ores  also  may  belong  at  least  a  part  of  the 
magnetites  in  the  pre-Cambrian  Grenville  series  of  New  Jersey  (a), 
some  of  the  magnetites  of  the  Adirondacks  of  New  York  (6),  some 
of  the  magnetites  in  the  Grenville  series  of  southeastern  Ontario  (c), 
and  the  magnetites  of  Cornwall,  Pa.  (d),  and  Cranberry,  N.C.  (e). 

These  deposits  have  essential  features  in  common  and  mineral- 
ogical  and  chemical  similarities  to  the  western  ores  of  this  class. 
It  may  be  that  part  of  the  Ontario  Grenville  ores  belong  rather 
with  the  following  class  (3),  suggested  not  only  by  their  character- 
istics, but  by  Dr.  Miller's  recent  correlation  of  certain  associated 
rocks  with  the  Keewatin  series  of  the  Lake  Superior  region,  which 
contains  ores  belonging  to  class  (3). 

The  Grenville  ores  of  lower  Ontario  are  interbanded  lenses 
of  magnetite,  gneisses  and  amphibolites,  closely  associated  with, 
and  partly  in  direct  contact  with,  crystalline  limestones  of  the 
same  series.  The  ores  vary  from  lean  unworkable  magnetite 
gneiss,  carrying  a  small  percentage  of  magnetite  ribs  as  compared 
with  gneissic  ribs,  to  deposits  of  nearly  pure  magnetite.  The  iron 
formation  bands  are  lens  shaped  and  discontinuous.  Their  great- 
est width  is  probably  less  than  150  feet  and  usually  under  50  feet, 
and  their  greatest  length  perhaps  1,500  feet.  They  have  been 
mined  to  a  depth  of  350  feet,  but  most  of  the  workings  are  less 
than  100  feet.  The  better  grade  ores  average  much  the  same  in 
iron  as  the  better  grade  western  magnetites  of  this  class,  that  is 
about  55  per  cent,  and  from  this  down.     Phosphorus  is  usually 


(a)  Spencer,  A.  C.  Genesis  of  the  magnetite  deposits  in  Sussex  county, 
N.J.     Min.  Mag.,  vol.  10,  1904,  pp.  377-381. 

(b)  Kemp,  J.  F.  The  geology  of  the  magnetites  near  Port  Henry,  N.Y., 
and  especially  those  of  Mineville.  Trans.  Am.  Inst.  Min.  Engs.,  vol.  27,  1898, 
pp.  146-203. 

(c)  Brock,  R.  W.     Personal  communication. 

(d)  Kemp,  J.  F.  The  ore  deposits  of  the  United  States  and  Canada. 
New  York,  3d  ed.,  1900,  pp.  175-179. 

(e)  Keith,  Arthur.  Iron  ore  deposits  of  the  Cranberry  district,  North 
Carolina-Tennessee.     Bull.  U.S.  Geol.  Survey  No.  213,  1902,  pp.  243-246. 


The  Iron  Ores  of  Canada  95 

below  the  Bessemer  limit,  adding  much  to  the  availability  of  the 
ores.  Sulphur  is  usually  too  high  to  allow  the  ore  to  be  used 
without  roasting,  seldom  running  less  than  .05  per  cent,  though 
by  hand  cobbing  the  sulphur  content  may  be  kept  down  some- 
where near  this  limit.  Concentration  of  certain  of  the  leaner  grade 
ores  is  likely  to  be  commercially  feasible  in  the  future,  though 
this  is  yet  a  mooted  question,  especially  with  reference  to  the 
satisfactory  elimination  of  sulphur.  In  a  few  places  titanium  is 
present. 

Hematite  has  been  mined  at  Wallbridge,  Dalhousie  and 
McNab  in  eastern  Ontario  in  similar  geological  relationships. 
According  to  Willmott,  (a)  there  is  reason  for  believing  that  they 
are  oxidized  portions  of  iron  pyrites  bodies  lying  below. 

A  deposit  of  magnetite  not  far  from  Bathurst,  New  Bruns- 
wick, seems  from  its  available  description  (6)  to  belong  with  this 
class  of  pegmatite  ores,  but  I  do  not  have  sufficient  information 
to  discuss  it. 

(3)  Lake  Superior  sedimentary  type. — Ores  brought  to  the 
surface  by  igneous  rocks  and  contributed  either  directly  by  hot 
magmatic  waters  to  the  ocean  or  later  brought  by  surface  waters 
under  weathering  to  the  ocean  or  other  body  of  water,  or  by  both; 
from  the  ocean  deposited  as  a  chemical  sediment  in  ordinary 
succession  of  sedimentary  rocks;  and,  still  later,  under  conditions 
of  weathering,  local  enrichment  to  ore  by  percolating  surface 
waters.  To  this  class  belong  most  of  the  producing  iron  ores  of 
the  Lake  Superior  region,  those  of  the  Michipicoten  district  of 
Canada,  and  most  of  the  non-producing  banded  iron  formation 
belts  of  Ontario  and  eastern  Canada.  The  Lake  Superior  ores 
constitute  the  world's  largest  reserve  of  high  grade  hematite,  more 
or  less  hydrated,  much  of  it  of  Bessemer  grade,  and  little  of  it  high 
either  in  phosphorus  or  sulphur. 

The  ores  of  this  class  differ  in  origin  from  those  of  the  preced- 
ing classes  in  that  the  iron,  instead  of  being  directly  deposited 
near  igneous  rocks  as  ore,  is  distributed  by  the  aqueous  sedimenta- 
tion and  deposited  with  a  large  amount  of  interlayered  silica  in 


(a)  Willmott,  A.  B.     The  Iron  ores  of  Ontario.     Jour.  Canadian  Min. 
Inst.,  vol.  XI,  1908. 

(b)  Hardman,  John  E.     A  new  iron  ore  field  in  eastern  Canada.     Jour. 
Canadian  Mining  Institute,  vol.  XI.,  1908. 


96  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

banded  "iron  formation,"  containing  about  25  per  cent,  of  iron, 
too  poor  to  be  used  directly  as  ore,  and  requiring  that  the  silica 
be  locally  taken  out  before  they  are  of  value.  This  ore  may  or 
may  not  show  close  areal  association  with  the  parent  igneous  rocks. 
It  is  obvious  that  gradation  phases  are  to  be  expected  between 
groups  (2)  and  (3),  and  that  many  ore  deposits  can  with  difficulty 
be  assigned  definitely  to  one  or  to  the  other. 

It  has  long  been  known  that  the  lake  Superior  ores  were 
concentrates  in  certain  sedimentary  iron  formations.  It  was 
believed  that  these  sedimentary  iron  formations  were  derived  from 
the  weathering  of  basic  shores  containing  much  basic  igneous 
rock  usually  called  "greenstone."  As  a  result  of  further  study 
it  has  been  found  necessary  to  conclude  that  the  iron  formations 
have  not  only  been  derived  from  greenstone  by  weathering,  but 
have  actually  been  contributed  by  greenstone  magmas  directly  to  the 
water  in  magmatic  solution  and  that  theie  are  all  intermediate 
stages  between  the  two  processes.  It  begins  also  to  appear  that 
the  iron,  copper,  nickel  and  silver  ores  of  the  Lake  Superior  and 
Lake  Huron  districts  are  related  in  a  great  metallographic  pro- 
vince in  which  the  characteristics  and  distribution  of  the  different 
ores  are  initially  controlled  by  igneous  rocks. 

This  conclusion  has  an  essential  bearing  on  exploration,  for 
if  the  iron  is  specifically  related  to  certain  greenstones,  just  as 
the  Sudbury  ores  are  to  the  norite,  then  it  follows  that  its  distri- 
bution may  be  somewhat  freakish,  as  it  is  in  any  ores  related  to 
igneous  activity,  as  for  instance,  the  gold  ores  of  the  west,  and  that 
it  cannot  be  concluded  from  similarity  in  succession  or  structure 
that  iron  ores  should  necessarily  be  found  in  a  distant  district, 
though  the  redistribution  as  sedimentary  rocks  which  the  iron 
ores  alone  have  undergone  has  greatly  increased  their  area  and 
the  chances  of  finding  them. 

As  first  deposited  the  iron  formation  consisted  essentially 
of  chemically  precipitated  iron  carbonate  or  ferrous  silicate 
(greenalite)  with  some  ferric  oxide,  all  minutely  interlayered  with 
chert.  When  these  were  exposed  to  weathering,  the  ferrous  com- 
pounds, the  siderite  and  greenalite,  oxidized  to  hematite  and  li- 
monite,  essentially  in  situ,  although  some  of  it  was  simultaneously 
carried  and  redeposited.  The  result  was  ferruginous  chert 
called  taconite  or  jasper,    averaging  less  than  30  per  cent,  of  iron. 


The  Iron  Ores  of  Canada  97 

The  concentration  of  the  iron  to  50  per  cent,  and  over  has  been 
accomplished  principally  by  the  leaching  of  silica  bands  from 
the  ferruginous  chert  and  jasper.  Infiltration  of  iron  has  been 
mi  a  .smaller  and  more  variable  scale.  The  leaching  of  the  silica 
develops  pore  space,  and  allows  the  iron  layers  to  slump,  thereby 
enriching  the  formation  sufficiently  to  constitute  an  ore. 

It  has  been  found,  further,  that  during  this  leaching  of  silica 
the  character  of  the  iron  bands  has  not  essentially  changed  and 
therefore  that  the  nature  of  the  ore  deposits  is  determined  largely 
by  the  character  of  the  ferruginous  chert.  The  phosphorus  is  in 
the  iron  bands,  rather  than  in  the  chert,  and  therefore  the  leaching 
of  the  chert  tends  to  raise  the  percentage  of  phosphorus  in  the  ore, 
but  there  has  been  also  later  introduction  of  phosphorus,  making 
the  phosphorus  content  of  the  ore  considerably  higher  than  that 
of  the  parent  rock. 

For  fiat-lying  formation  such  as  the  Mesabi  from  4  to  8  per 
cent,  of  the  surface  of  the  formation  and  less  than  2  per  cent,  of 
the  volume  of  the  part  of  the  formation  lying  vertically 
below  this  exposed  surface  have  been  altered  to  ore.  For  steep 
dipping  formations  like  the  Gogebic,  about  the  same  percentage 
of  the  volume  has  been  altered  to  a  depth  of  2,000  feet.  . 

I  have  discussed  the  Lake  Superior  ores  only  so  far  as  neces- 
sary to  bring  out  certain  essential  features  of  this  class  of  ores 
in  Canada  and  their  bearing  upon  availability.  There  are  many 
iron  formation  belts  of  this  class,  but  they  have  been  found  to 
have  undergone  local  enrichments  to  important  ore  deposits  only 
in  the  Michipicoten  district,  and  to  some  extent  in  the  Animikie 
district. 

In  the  Michipicoten  district  the  ores  are  principally  non- 
Bessemer  and  in  portions  of  the  deposits  high  in  sulphur.  Their 
occurrence  beneath  the  peculiar  Boyer  Lake  basin  with  walls  of 
chert,  tuff  and  carbonate,  is  well  described  by  Coleman  and 
Will  mot  t.  (a) 

In  the  Animikie  district  the  iron  formation  is  an  eastward 
continuation  of  the  Mesabi  iron  formation,  but  it  is  less  than  200 
feet  thick,  as  compared  with  700  to  1,000  feet  in  the  Mesabi,  and 
has  undergone  enrichment  only  in  thin  layers    interbedded  with 


(a)  Coleman,  A.  P.,  and  "Willmott,  A.  B.     The  Michipicoten  iron  region. 
11th  Report  of  the  Ontario  Bureau  of  Mines,  1902,  pp.  168-169. 

7 


98  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

cherts  and  along  a  few  fault  planes.  The  thickness  of  the  ore  beds 
that  may  be  mined  will  depend  on  how  low  a  grade  can  be  used 
and  the  success  of  hand  sorting  in  keeping  the  ore  up  to  this  grade. 
Under  any  conditions  much  rock  must  be  handled.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  ores  have  great  horizontal  extent,  are  near  the  surface, 
are  red  hematite,  low  in  phosphorus,  with  low  sulphur,  and  prac- 
tically on  the  shore  of  Lake  Superior,  justifying  the  hope  that  they 
may  be  used. 

Two  significant  questions  remain  to  be  solved  in  connection 
with  the  lean  iron  formation  of  the  Lake  Superior  type  so  widely 
distributed  in  Ontario  and  elsewhere  in  Canada:  (1st)  Is  their 
apparent  lack  of  second  concentration  a  real  one;  and  (2nd)  if 
so,  what  has  caused  it?  On  the  assumption  that  the  apparent 
lack  of  concentration  is  a  real  one,  Van  Hise  has  suggested  that  per- 
haps a  part  of  the  enriched  portions  has  been  removed  by  deep 
glacial  erosion.  Another  alternative  is  that  the  structural  con- 
ditions have  not  favored  abundant  flow  of  surface  waters  necessary 
f or  the  leaching  of  the  silica.  A  third  possibility  here  most  favored, 
is  that  the  original  texture  of  the  iron  formations  or  proportions 
of  the  original  constituents  have  been  somewhat  different  from 
those  of  the  Lake  Superior  region,  and  that  they  have  not  allowed 
access  to  the  waters  necessary  to  leach  the  silica.  The  formations 
are  principally  Keewatin  and  in  general  are  more  dense,  crystalline 
and  magnetic  than  the  Huronian  iron  formations  of  the  Lake  Superior 
region.  Some  of  these  differences  are  doubtless  due  to  secondary 
alterations,  but  it  is  not  easy  to  account  for  all  of  the  differences 
in  this  way.  Another  possible  reason  for  deficiency  of  ore  in  the 
Ontario  iron  formations  is  that  their  yet  known  area  is  so  small, 
as  compared  with  that  in  the  Lake  Superior  region,  that  even  if 
the  same  percentage  of  the  formation  were  concentrated  to  ore, 
the  total  amount  of  ore  to  be  discovered  would  not  be  large.  The 
Keewatin  formations  of  the  Lake  Superior  region  occupy  only 
about  9  per  cent,  of  the  area  of  all  the  iron  formations,  and  have 
produced  only  7  per  cent,  of  all  the  ore  mined  to  date  (a).  There 
may  be  unfavorable  significance,  therefore,  as  noted  by  Willmott, 
in  the  fact  that  the  Canadian  formations  thus  far  discovered  are 
largely  Keewatin. 


(a)  Iron  Ores  of  Ontario,  cit. 


The  Iron  Ores  of  Canada  99 

All  these  explanations  and  possibly  others  may  apply.  On 
the  other  hand,  much  more  exploration  is  necessary  to  show  that 
there  really  has  not  been  concentration  of  large  ore  deposits  in  the 
known  Canadian  iron  formations.  The  fact  is  again  cited,  that, 
in  the  producing  Lake  Superior  districts,  the  proportion  of  ore, 
even  under  most  favorable  conditions,  constitutes  less  than  8  per 
cent,  of  the  surface  of  the  iron  formation  and  usually  much  less, 
and  in  volume  it  constitutes  less  than  2  per  cent.  Only  rarely 
have  the  ores  been  discovered  at  the  surface.  Underground  ex- 
ploration through  drift  and  rock  has  been  necessary.  In  but  few 
localities  in  Canada  has  there  been  adequate  search  for  these  local- 
ized concentrations  within  the  iron  formations.  This  fact  is  some- 
times lost  sight  of  because  of  marked  tendency  to  use  the  term  "iron 
ore"  for  the  banded,  unconcentrated  "iron  formation,"  and  to 
speak  of  such  formation  as  "lean,  banded  ore."  In  the  Lake 
Superior  region  "iron  formations"  and  "iron  ores"  are  discrim- 
inated. It  is  not  impossible  that  mechanical  concentration  of  the 
iron  formation  may  result  in  the  production  of  ore,  but  it  is  un- 
necessary to  argue  the  commercial  advantage  of  finding  some  part 
of  the  iron  formation  in  which  nature  herself  has  done  the  concen- 
trating. 

(4) .  Clinton  sedimentary  type. — Sedimentary  ores  deposited  in 
oceans  from  weathering  of  the  land  areas  in  which  the  iron  is  either 
disseminated  in  igneous  rocks  or  has  undergone  some  of  the  con- 
centrations outlined  in  (1),  (2)  and  (3).  To  this  class  belong  the 
"flax  seed"  ores  of  the  Clinton  and  other  beds  of  the  Appalachians 
and  Wisconsin,  the  ores  of  the  Torbrook  and  Nictaux  areas  of 
Xova  Scotia,  and  those  of  Belle  Isle  in  Newfoundland.  They 
have  now  been  discovered  in  Missouri,  (a)  They  are  believed  to 
differ  in  origin  essentially  from  those  of  the  preceding  classes  in  that 
they  are  immediately  derived  by  weathering  processes,  that  they 
were  deposited  in  the  ocean  as  iron  oxide  rather  than  as  ferrous 
salts,  and  that  they  have  undergone  no  further  concentration, 
being  mined  essentially  in  the  condition  in  which  they  were  depos- 
ited. There  has  long  been  some  doubt  as  to  whether  or  not  these 
ores  might  not  represent  two  concentrations,  but  work  in 
the  south-eastern  United  States  by  Eckel,  Burchard  and  others, 


(a)  Buckley, E.R., State  Geologist  of  Missouri.    Personal  communication 


100  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

(a)  for  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  and  our  own  observations 
in  Wisconsin,  seem  to  show  one  concentration. 

On  Belle  Isle  the  ores  are  beds  dipping  about  9°  to  the  north- 
west, in  two  main  seams.  The  lower  or  Dominion  seam  averages 
about  10  feet  in  thickness,  though  variable,  and  extends  across  the 
island  for  about  3  miles  along  the  strike  and  down  the  dip  for 
perhaps  half  a  mile,  covering  an  area  of  818  acres,  although  not 
productive  for  this  entire  area.  The  upper  seam  occupies  an  area 
about  1  by  i  mile  (240  acres)  averaging  7  feet  in  thickness  and  is 
not  all  productive.  The  mining  has  been  largely  open  pit,  but  is 
becoming  more  largely  underground  as  the  ore  is  followed  down  the 
dip.  They  are  now  being  followed  under  the  ocean  by  drifting. 
Much  of  the  upper  bed  averages  about  52  per  cent,  in  iron,  and  the 
lower  bed  about  50  per  cent.  Recent  shipments  are  reported  to 
be  under  50  per  cent.  Phosphorus  averages  1  per  cent.  The  ores 
are  adapted  to  basic  Bessemer  or  open  hearth  treatment,  and  for 
the  former  receive  a  bonus  for  high  phosphorus  from  some  Euro- 
pean consumers. 

In  the  Torbrook  and  Nictaux  areas  the  ores  are  of  similar 
kind,  but  the  beds  differ  from  those  of  Belle  Isle  in  being  thinner 
and  inclined,  requiring  deep  mining  and  handling  of  waste  rock. 

Ores  of  this  kind  occupy  a  definite  stratigraphic  position,  are 
easily  explored  for,  and  so  far  as  their  future  in  Canada  is  concerned, 
they  have  already  been  pretty  well  discounted. 

(5).  Carbonate  ores,  derived  from  weathering  of  rocks,  trans- 
ported and  deposited  with  organic  reducing  material  in  bogs;  now 
found  in  thin  I)eds  usually  associated  with  coal  seams  or  carbona- 
ceous shales.  These  have  been  extensively  mined  in  the  coal  bear- 
ing and  adjacent  areas  of  the  eastern  United  States,  but  not  in 
Canada.  Their  present  production  in  the  United  States  is  almost 
nil.  Wheie  exposed  to  weathering  the}'  alter  to  limonite  or  brown 
ores,  considered  under  the  following  heading.  Iron  carbonates 
constitute  minor  phases  of  class  (3). 

(6).  Broiun  or  hydrated  ores,  developed  either  from  the 
weathering  of  iron  carbonates  mentioned  in  the  preceding  head- 


(a)  Eckel,  E.  C.  The  Clinion  ore  red  ores  of  northern  Alamba.  Bull. 
U.S.  Geol.  Survey  No.  285,  1906,  pp.  172-179. 

Burehard,  E.  F.  Clinton  ores  of  Birmingham  District,  Ala.  Bull.  U.S. 
Geol.  Survey  No.  315,  1907,  pt.  I,  pp.  130-151. 


The  Iron  Ores  of  Canada  101 

ing,  or  of  limestones  containing  carbonate  or  other  iron  minerals, 
or  by  replacement  of  limestones  or  by  deposition  in  glacial  drift, 
or  by  log  deposition,  or  by  some  combination  of  them.  The 
few  limonites  in  class  (3)  are  not  here  included.  Being  often  residual 
products  of  weathering,  they  are  characteristically  mixed  with 
other  residual  products  of  weathering,  particularly  clay.  To  use 
these  ores  it  is  necessary  to  wash  out  the  other  residual  products, 
a  process  which  nature  neglected  to  attend  to.  The  ores  are 
characteristically  hydrous  and  high  in  phosphorus,  but  when 
washed  aie  found  highly  suitable  for  open  hearth  furnace  practice. 

The  bog  ores  of  Quebec  presumably  belong  to  this  class. 

Related  to  classes  (5)  and  (6)  are  the  Londonderry  ores  of  Nova 
Scotia,  consisting  of  carbonates  of  iron,  calcium  and  magnesium, 
showing  more  or  less  alteration  to  limonite  in  irregular  vein-like 
masses,  in  slate  and  quartzite.  These  ores  are  low  grade,  fairly 
high  in  phosphorus,  manganese  and  silica,  and  are  extremely 
irregular  in  their  shape  and  distribution.     Their  origin  is  in  doubt. 

(7).  Magnetic  sands. — Magnetic  sands  are  developed  from  the 
erosion  of  classes  of  (1),  (2)  and  (3).  As  exposed  along  the  lower 
St.  Lawrence  river  they  seem  to  be  principally  from  classes  (1) 
and  (2),  and  are  therefore  high  in  titanium.  They  form  beds  from 
^  inch  to  2  feet  in  thickness,  with  wide  extent.  Their  availability 
is  still  in  doubt. 

Commercial  importance  of  the  several  classes  of  ores.  The 
proportions  of  the  several  classes  of  ores  mined  in  the  United 
States,  Canada,  and  Newfoundland,  for  1906,  appear  in  the  sub- 
joined table.  Where  the  origin  of  the  deposits  is  in  doubt, 
the  classification  of  their  production  is  in  doubt  but  the  produc- 
tion from  such  types  is  too  small  to  introduce  any  essential 
error  into  the  figures  sriven. 


102 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


Production  of  Different  Classes  of  Iron  Ores  in  1906  in  Terms  of 
Percentage  of  Total  Production. 


U.S. 

Canada 
and 
Newfound- 
land. 

Class  1.     Magmatic  segregation  (magnetite)    

Class  2.     Pegmatite  type  (magnetite) 

.00 
5.2    "I 
80.      J 
8. 

5.8    J 

0 

Class  3.     Lake  Superior  sedimentary  type  (hematite) 
Class  5.     Carbonate  type 

12.29 
78.34 

Class  6.     Brown  ore  type  (limonite) 

8.51 

The  dominances  of  class  (3)  (Lake  Superior  ores)  in  the  United 
States  production  shows  how  desirable  it  is  to  have  the  ores  go 
through  nature's  concentrating  mill.  These  are  the  only  ores 
which  have  undergone  second  local  enrichments.  That  the  less 
desirable  grades  of  ore  should  compete  at  all  with  the  Lake  Superior 
grades  is  due  largely  to  lower  freights  between  ores  and  furnaces, 
between  fuel  and  fluxing  materials  and  furnaces,  and  between 
furnaces  and  consuming  centres.  Iron  ores  differ  from  most  other 
metallic  ores  in  that  their  great  bulk,  as  compared  with  their 
value,  required  cheap  transportation,  which  operate  to  develop 
certain  low  grade  deposits  well  situated  in  this  regard  at  the  ex- 
pense of  better  grade  ores. 

Turning  to  the  Canadian  production,  it  appears  from  the  table 
that  the  proportions  of  different  classes  of  ores  mined  are  quite 
different  from  those  of  the  United  States,  and  that  a  far  larger  pro- 
portion of  Canadian  ores  is  being  drawn  from  less  desirable 
classes.  The  class  which  produces  86  per  cent,  of  the  United  States 
production  produces  only  12. 29 per  cent,  of  the  Canadian  produc- 
tion. 

It  appears,  therefore,  that  in  order  to  compete  with  the  United 
States  on  equal  terms  so  far  as  grades  of  ore  are  concerned,  Cana- 
dian ores  of  the  Lake  Superior  type  must  be  more  largely  developed. 
The  proportions  and  amounts  of  ores  of  the  Lake  Superior  type 


The  Iron  Ores  of  Canada  103 

now  mined  in  Canada  are  not  far  different  from  those  of  the 
United  States  fifty  years  ago,  before  the  advent  of  high  grade 
Lake  Superior  ores  had  revolutionized  the  industry.  It  is  not 
meant  to  imply  that  Canada  is  fifty  years  behind  the  times  in  this 
regard,  but  rather  to  call  attention  to  its  latent  possibilities  for 
the  future  and  probable  direction  of  development.  It  does  not 
follow  that  the  production  of  ores  other  than  of  the  Lake  Superior 
class  may  not  also  increase,  because  of  low  freights  or  artificial 
aids  in  the  way  of  tariff  or  for  other  reasons. 

Similar  conclusions  seem  to  follow  from  a  consideration  of  ore 
reserves.  I  fully  realize  the  uncertain  nature  of  estimates  of  un- 
developed deposits  and  the  wide  variety  of  figures  that  may  be 
gotten  by  conscientious  observers  with  different  points  of  view  or 
different  methods,  but  certain  essential  features  of  our  knowledge 
concerning  reserves  are  fairly  well  established  and  a  brief  summary 
of  them  will  help  to  bring  the  Canadian  iron  ore  situation  some- 
what more  definitely  before  us. 

The  titaniferous  ores  of  class  (1)  not  being  mined,  there  is  no 
point  in  attempting  estimates,  indeed,  they  are  not  sufficiently 
well  developed  to  warrant  estimates. 

The  British  Columbia  magnetites  of  class  (2)  have  been  subject 
to  a  wide  range  of  estimates  depending  upon  how  low  a  grade  of 
ore  is  included,  upon  the  depth  arbitrarily  assigned  and  upon  the 
extent  to  which  isolated  portions  of  deposits  are  assumed  to  be 
continuous.  Using  only  the  extents  and  depths  known,  the  ton- 
nage of  ore  of  commercial  grade  may  be  measured  in  a  few  tens 
of  millions. 

The  difficulty  of  estimating  the  Attikokan  and  Hutton  ore  of 
class  (2)  is  due  to  their  mixture  of  greenstone,  making  it  impossible 
to  predict  in  advance  of  exploration  the  extent  of  the  deposits. 
In  both  districts  the  explorations  show  at  least  several  millions 
of  tons. 

For  the  Lake  Superior  ores  of  type  (3)  in  the  Michipicoten 
district, Coleman  andWillmott  have  estimated  a  reserve  of  possibly 
two  millions  of  tons.  Some  of  this  reserve  is  of  doubtful  value 
because  of  high  content  of  sulphur.  In  the  Animikie  district  the 
tonnage  is  problematic  because  of  conditions  described  for  that 
district,  but  at  best  the  ore  to  be  recovered  is  not  in  large  amount. 
The  reports  of  hundreds  of  millions  of  tons  of  ore  of  the  Lake  Su- 


104  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

perior  type  in  various  parts  of  Canada  so  frequently  seen  in  print 
are  without  foundation  except  as  they  cover  commercially  non- 
available  lean  iron  formation  rather  than  ores.  Even  under  the 
best  conditions  but  a  small  fraction  of  the  iron  of  these  formations 
is  likely  to  be  in  ore  of  commercial  grade. 

The  Grenville  ores  of  lower  Ontario  show  wide  variations  of 
estimates  depending  upon  the  factors  chosen.  The  known  dimen- 
sions of  commercial  grades  indicate  not  more  than  a  very  few  mil- 
lions of  tons. 

I  have  little  knowledge  on  which  to  base  an  estimate  of  the 
Londonderry  carbonate  and  linionite  ores,  but  no  one  claims  these 
deposits  to  be  of  the  first  magnitude. 

The  ores  of  the  Clinton  type  of  Newfoundland  (class  3)  are 
sharply  delimited  on  Belle  Isle  and  the  reserve  tonnage  carefully 
estimated.  The  doubtful  features  are  the  amount  of  ore  below 
present  commercial  grade  and  the  amount  of  available  ore  in  the 
beds  known  to  extend  under  the  ocean.  The  ore  on  the  island 
alone  has  been  estimated  at  about  thirty  millions  of  tons.  The 
amount  available  beneath  the  ocean  is  now  being  demonstrated 
by  drifting  and  may  be  several  times  this  figure.  The  reserve 
is  large  because  the  ores  make  up  the  entire  beds,  rather  than 
concentrations  within  the  beds. 

The  similar  beds  of  Nova  Scotia  are  so  thin  that  only  a  part 
of  them  can  be  counted  as  commercially  available.  A  commercial 
estimate  has  been  four  million  tons  to  level  of  700  feet  on  the 
principal  group  of  properties. 

It  appears  in  general,  then,  that  the  proportion  of  reserve  of 
Canadian  ore  of  the  Lake  Superior  type  to  the  total  reserves  is 
probably  not  greater  than  the  proportion  of  their  annual  produc- 
tion to  total  annual  production.  It  is  not  held  for  a  moment  that 
the  tonnage  of  some  of  these  deposits  to  be  ultimately  developed 
may  not  be  considerably  larger  than  here  indicated,  but  whether  they 
be  increased  or  decreased,  it  will  be  because  of  introducing  factors 
of  depth  or  grade  partly  common  to  all  of  them.  This  is  not  likely 
to  change  their  proportion  sufficiently  to  obscure  the  fact  that  the 
most  desirable  ores  of  the  Lake  Superior  type  of  class  (3)  are  not 
yet  developed  in  large  enough  tonnage  to  insure  the  future  com- 
petition of  Canadian  iron  ores  with  those  of  the  United  States  on 
an  equal  basis.     In  competition  with  the  great  reserves  of  high 


The  Iron  Ores  of  Canada  105 

grade  ores  of  the  Lake  Superior  region  the  principal  Canadian 
reserves  thus  far  developed  suffer  handicaps  in  grade  and  in  con- 
tent of  deleterious  constituents.  These  handicaps  are  and  will 
be  overcome  to  a  certain  extent  by  bounties  or  locally  by  favor- 
able conditions  of  transportation,  but  that  they  exist  is  shown  by 
the  extremely  vigorous  search  for  iron  ore  of  the  Lake  Superior 
type  by  Canadian  mining  interests,  by  the  importation  of 
Lake  Superior  ore  to  the  amount  of  4  /5  of  the  ore  used  in  Ontario, 
and  by  the  recent  increase  in  proportion  of  ore  imported  to  home 
production,  due  to  Canadian  demand  for  finished  products  having 
gone  ahead  of  the  production  from  Canadian  ores. 

That  ores  of  the  Lake  Superior  type  are  in  larger  quantities 
in  Canada  than  are  now  known  seems  likely,  in  view  of  the  position 
of  the  Lake  Superior  region  as  a  mere  southern  fringe  of  the  great 
Canadian  area  of  the  pre-Cambrian  rocks.  Their  discovery  will 
require  closer  search  than  has  been  previously  made  in  any  but 
isolated  localities,  for  it  is  not  only  necessary  to  find  the  iron  form- 
ation, but  to  find  the  small  fraction  of  this  formation  which  happens 
to  have  been  concentrated.  The  vast  area,  the  difficulties  of 
travel,  and  the  drift  covering,  requiring  drilling,  all  combine  to 
make  the  task  a  difficult  one  and  partly  explain  why  the  search  is 
not  farther  advanced.  On  the  other  hand,  exploration  may  never 
develop  abundant  ores  of  the  Lake  Superior  type  for  geological 
reasons  discussed  under  class  3. 


THE  IRON  ORES  OF  ONTARIO*. 

(By  A.  B.  Willmott,  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  Ont.) 
(Ottawa  Meeting,  1908.) 

This  article,  like  many  of  its  predecessors,  must  be  a  record  of 
what  we  are  going  to  do  in  the  development  of  the  iron  ore  re- 
sources of  Ontario,  rather  than  of  what  we  have  accomplished.  It 
will  be  a  statement  of  the  opportunities  open  for  the  iron-ore 
miner,  rather  than  a  statement  of  results  attained.  The  pro- 
duction of  iron  ore  in  Ontario  has  been  as  follows: — 

Tons.  Value. 

1869-1896 582,542  $1,445,225 

1897 2,770  4,996 

1898 27,409  48,875 

1899 16,911  30,951 

1900 90,302  111,805 

1901 273,538  174,428 

1902 359,288  518,445 

1903 208,154  450,099 

1904 53,253  108,068 

1905 211,597  227,909 

1906 128,049  301,032 

1907 , 200,185  471,127 

2,153,998         $3,892,960 

CHARACTER  OF  ORES. 

Hematite. — We  have  in  Ontario  all  the  usual  varieties  of 
merchantable  iron  ore.  Of  the  total  production  by  far  the  larger 
amount,  namely,  about  one  and  a  half  million  tons  has  been  of 
hematite  ore.     So  far  as  this  has  come  from  the  Helen  Mine  there 


Note  by  the  Author: — 

*This  paper  is  written  at  the  request  of  our  energetic  secretary  who 
thought  that  a  compilation  of  our  present  knowledge  of  the  iron  ores  of  Ontario 
would  be  of  value  in  view  of  the  proposed  visit  of  the  members  of  the  British 
Iron  and  Steel  Institute.  This  must  be  my  apology  for  burdening  the  already 
large  literature  on  the  subject  with  still  another  paper. 


The  Iron  Ores  of  Ontario.  107 


has  been  mixed  with  the  pure  hematite  a  certain  amount  of  limon- 
ite  and  goethite  which  would  make  the  product  of  that  mine  strictly 
classed  as  brown  hematite.  An  average  analysis  of  20,000  tons  of 
the  earliest  shipments  from  the  Helen,  runs  as  follows: — 

Moisture  at  212°  F 6.610  per  cent. 

Iron 58.70 

Silica 5.660 

Alumina 0. 730       " 

Lime  (CaO) 0.210 

Magnesia  (MgO) trace 

Phosphorus 0. 114 

Sulphur 0.047 

Organic  matter  and  combined  water 9 .  670        " 

Insoluble 6.040 

The  average  cargo  analysis  for  1901  was  58.709%  iron,  and 
for  1907  just  a  shade  better,  showing  that  this  property  has  main- 
tained its  grade  as  depth  has  been  attained.  Ores  similar  to  the 
Helen  have  been  discovered  and  explored  at  several  other  points, 
as  Steep  Rock,  Frances,  and  Josephine,  but  as  yet  there  has  been 
no  production.  From  a  number  of  properties  in  eastern 
Ontario,  of  which  the  Wallbridge,  Dalhousie  and  McNab  are  the 
chief,  about  150,000  tons  of  hematite  have  been  produced.  These 
ores  have  been  good  in  their  iron,  phosphorus  and  sulphur  contents, 
and  carried  small  percentages  of  lime  which  was  an  additional 
advantage.  All  these  eastern  deposits  have  so  far  proved  small 
and  there  is  reason  for  believing  that  some  of  them,  if  not  all,  are 
oxidised  portions  of  iron  pyrites  beds  lying  below.  From  the 
Stobie  Mine  in  Aberdeen  township,  a  few  small  cargoes  of  specular 
hematite  of  good  quality  were  shipped  some  years  ago.  Similar 
specular  hematites  occur  in  the  quartzites  of  the  Lower  Huronian 
at  a  number  of  points,  as  at  Killarne3r,  Algoma  Mills,  and  around 
Echo  Lake.  In  Aberdeen  township  a  vein  of  high  grade  hematite 
occurs  at  the  contact  of  a  quartzite  and  slate  conglomerate,  and 
has  been  traced  by  pits  at  intervals  for  over  a  mile. 

Analysis  shows  as  as  follows : — 

Iron 65.60% 

Managanese 10 

Silica 1 .  73 

Alumina 1.31 

Lime 39 

Magnesia trace 

Phosphorus 0 .  045 

Sulphur .005 


108  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

A  somewhat  slaty  hematite  occurs  on  the  Williams  property 
a  few  miles  north  of  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  Ont.  A  silicious  hematite, 
but  otherwise  of  excellent  quality, occurs  in  the  flat  lying  Upper 
Huronian  at  Loon  Lake  east  of  Port  Arthur. 

Magnetite. — Of  the  total  production  of  the  province  about 
600,000  tons  have  been  of  magnetite.  For  the  most  part  these 
ores  have  been  high  in  iron,  low  in  phosphorus,  high  in  sulphur, 
and  with  titanium  absent.  The  average  of  ten  samples  of  Belmont 
ore  taken  by  Prof.  Miller,  runs : — 

Iron 60.02% 

Phosphorus 015 

A  shipment  of  800  tons  from  the  same  mine  averaged : — 

Iron 57.38% 

Phosphorus 01 

Sulphur 08 

A  shipment  of  8,514  tons  of  Farnum  ore  ran  iron  54.05, 
phosphorus  .018,  and  sulphur  .059,  titanium  nil.  A  pile  of 
7,000  tons  of  ore  from  the  Wilbur  Mine  averaged  57%  iron,  and 
under  .01  phosphorus.  Thirty-seven  determinations  for  phos- 
phorus made  by  Ingall  on  magnetites  from  the  vicinity  of  the 
Kingston  and  Pembroke  Railway  ran  from  a  trace  to  .17,  averag- 
ing .022. 

From  the  northern  part  of  the  province  magnetites  have  been 
mined  this  past  year,  and  will  be  shipped  in  an  increasing  amount 
next  year.  Atikokan  ore  from  mining  locations  E.  10  and  11,  has 
been  smelted  this  season  in  the  furnace  of  the  Atikokan  Iron  Com- 
pany, at  Port  Arthur.  Surface  samples  from  this  property  run, 
iron  66.5,  silica  3.2,  phosphorus  .015,  and  sulphur  .01,  according 
to  sampling  and  analysis  by  Hille  (1).  An  average  of  seven 
samples  of  the  best  ore  from  a  number  of  diamond  drill  cores 
is  given  by  Hille  as  iron  59.3,  Phosphorus  .069,  sulphur  1.09, 
and  this  probably  fairly  represents  the  ore  when  below  the  zone  of 
oxidation.  The  ore  is  being  roasted  by  blast  furnace  gas  before 
being  smelted,  and  is  giving  excellent  results  in  the  manufacture 
of  foundry  pig. 


(1)  Jour.  Can.  Min.  Inst.  9-1906. 


The  Iron  Orks  of  Ontario  109 

A  property  a  short  distance  to  the  west  has  been  explored  this 
past  year  by  the  United  States  Steel  Corporation,  and  purchased  by 
them.  Surface  samples  show  magnetite  running  from  53%  to  67% 
in  iron,  .007  to  .058  in  phosphorus,  and  .07  to  .5  in  sulphur. 

Another  property  which  will  this  year  begin  shipping  magnetite 
is  the  Moose  Mountain  lying  north  of  Sudbury,  of  which  the  guar- 
anteed analysis  is,  iron  55.5,  phosphorus  .  10,  and  sulphur  .011. 

Titaniferous  Magnetite. — There  are  throughout  Ontario 
a  number  of  considerable  ore  bodies  of  titaniferous  magnetite,  such 
as  the  old  Chaffey  Mine,  and  the  Matthews  Mine  on  the  Rideau 
Canal,  from  which  several  thousand  tons  were  shipped  years  ago. 
Near  Gooderham,  Ont.,  is  a  similar  deposit,  in  connection  with  a 
large  gabbro  intrusive.  Near  Chapleau,  Ont.,  a  magnetite  deposit 
carries  10%  titanium.  The  Orton  Mine  in  Hastings  county,  an 
undeveloped  prospect,  carries  from  1%  to  3%  titanium.  In 
twenty-five  samples  of  magnetites  taken  by  Ingalls  along  the 
Kingston  and  Pembroke  Railway,  titanium  was  absent  in  13,  and 
12  went  between  1.03%  and  16.45%.  Numerous  other  occur- 
rences are  known,  but  in  practically  every  case  titanium  is  absent 
from  the  magnetites  and  hematites  of  Ontario  except  where  the 
deposit  is  connected  with  basic  eruptives. 

Limonite. — Bog  ore  occurs  at  many  points  throughout  the 
province  as  deposits  resulting  from  the  leaching  of  the  glacial  drift. 
There  are  also  numerous  deposits  resulting  from  the  weathering 
of  iron  pyrites,  and  some  from  the  weathering  of  iron  carbonate. 

Back  as  far  as  1813  small  quantities  of  bog  ore  from  Norfolk 
County  were  smelted  in  a  small  furnace  at  Normandale.  In  more 
recent  years  bog  ores  from  Oxford  county  and  vicinity  have  been 
smelted  in  small  quantity  at  Hamilton.  As  already  mentioned  a 
percentage  of  limonite  is  mixed  with  the  Helen  ore,  which  has  been 
classed  as  a  hematite.  Bog  ores  resulting  from  the  oxidation  of 
pyrites  occur  at  Paint  Lake  in  western  Michipicoten,  Goudreau 
Lake  near  Missanabie,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Josephine.  Similar 
ore  is  seen  near  some  pyrites  deposits  near  Steep  Rock  Lake,  and 
also  in  Parkin  township  north  of  Sudbury.  Eleven  cars  of  limon- 
ite, from  what  afterwards  became  the  Bannockburn  Pyrites  Mine, 
were  smelted  at  Hamilton.  The  better  class  of  such  ores  run  from 
50%  to  55%  in  iron,  and  under  .5%  in  sulphur.     On  the  Mattag- 


110  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

ami  River,  there  is  a  limonite  deposit  resulting  from  the  oxidation 
of  iron  carbonate  occurring  in  the  Devonian  limestone.  This  ore 
runs  from  48%  to  57%  in  iron,  and  about  .  1  in  sulphur,  and  from 
.  1  to  .  2%  in  phosphorus.  Similar  ore  is  found  at  a  number  of 
points  in  the  valley  of  the  Moose  River,  and  its  branches,  origina- 
ting in  a  similar  way. 

Siderite. — In  connection  with  a  number  of  hematite  deposits 
in  Ontario,  quantities  of  siderite  are  found  which  may  yet  become 
of  commercial  value.  On  the  hill  back  of  the  Helen  Mine,  there 
are  exposed  siderite  lenses  aggregating  a  width  of  136  feet,  and 
averaging  34.94%  in  iron,  and  7.7%  insoluble.  A  picked  speci- 
men yielded: — 

Insoluble 4. 38% 

Carbonate  of  iron 78 .  57 

Carbonate  of  magnesia 12 .  84 

Carbonate  of  lime 4 .  09 

Alumina trace 

Total 99.88 

Metallic  iron 37.71% 

Ore  of  this  character  in  considerable  amount  is  found  at  the 
Josephine,  at  Steep  Rock  Lake,  and  at  other  points  throughout 
the  province.  It  is  almost  always  contaminated  with  sulphur  up 
to  1%  or  2%,  and  but  for  this  might  be  considered  a  fair  ore  of 
iron.  It  is  low  in  phosphorus,  and  on  roasting  would  yield  a 
product  running  50%  in  iron,  and  the  roasting  would  eliminate 
the  sulphur.  The  magnesia  and  lime  present  would  serve  as  useful 
fluxes. 

In  the  vicinity  of  Port  Arthur  in  the  Animikie  formation  are 
considerable  bands  of  siderite  somewhat  lower  in  iron  content, 
and  correspondingly  higher  in  silica.  The  bands  correspond  to 
the  taconite  of  the  Mesabi  range,  though  they  are  higher  in  carbon- 
ate of  iron.  One  deposit  north  of  Port  Arthur  is  said  to  be  500  feet 
long  by  100  feet  wide,  by  12  feet  deep,  and  to  average  33  per  cent, 
iron.  On  the  Opazatika  River,  and  on  other  tributaries  of  the 
Moose,  iron  bearing  limestones  are  found.  These  carbonates  are 
probably  too  low  in  iron  ever  to  be  of  direct  value  as  an  iron  ore; 
possibly,  however,  bodies  of  hematite  may  yet  be  found  in  their 
vicinity.     (1) 

(1)     Bur.  of  Mines,  Vol.  13,  pages  150-152. 


The  Iron  Ores  of  Ontario  111 

Magnetic  Sands. — At  many  points  in  the  province  iron  sands 
are  being,  or  have  been,  concentrated  by  the  waters  of  the  Great 
Lakes.  Such  a  deposit  is  found  in  the  vicinity  of  Peninsula  Har- 
bour on  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Superior.  On  the  north  shore  of 
Lake  Erie  a  small  amount  of  such  sands  was  smelted  in  the  funace 
at  Normandale  nearly  100  years  ago.  It  is  improbable  that  these 
sands  can  be  made  of  commercial  value  at  the  present  time. 

GEOLOGICAL  CLASSIFICATION  OF  ORES. 

The  geological  formations  occurring  in  Ontario,  beginning  at 
the  most  recent,  are  as  follows: — 

Cenozoic  Pleistocene 


Paleozoic 


Pre-Cambrian 
or 
Archean 


r  Devonian 

J  Upper  Silurian 

(Lower  Silurian 
Cambrian 

Keweenawan  or  Nipigon 
Animikie  or  Upper  Huronian 
Middle  Huronian 
Lower  Huronian 
(Laurentian  Eruptives) 
Keewatin 


In  this  classification  the  recommendations  of  the  International 
Committee  on  the  succession  in  Lake  Superior  region  have  been 
followed  (1).  The  Laurentian  granites,  etc.,  which  used  to 
be  considered  the  base  of  the  geological  column  are  now  recognised 
as  eruptives,  always  later  than  the  Keewatin,  and  very  frequently 
later  than  the  Middle  Huronian.  In  the  eastern  section  of  the 
province,  the  international  committee  recommended  the  following 
succession  from  below,  Laurentian,  Grenville,  but  Miller  has  shown 
(Bur.  of  Mines,  Vol.  16,  page  221)  that  rocks  undoubtedly  Keewatin 
occur  in  that  section  of  the  province,  and  that  the  Grenville  is 
really  an  upper  portion  of  the  Keewatin.     Miller  further  finds  an 


( 1)     Journal  of  Geology,  1905,  or  Bur.  of  Mines,  Vol.  14,  page  269. 


112  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

overlying  formation  carrying  pebbles  of  the  Grenville,  which  he 
considers  Huronian.  His  classification  corresponds  closely  with 
that  adopted  for  the  Lake  Superior  region,  and  permits  an  orderly 
arrangement  of  many  facts,  which  did  not  fit  with  the  previous 
classification. 

In  the  Pleistocene  we  have  only  the  insignificant  deposits  of 
bog  iron.  In  the  Devonian  there  are  some  siderite  deposits  now 
altering  to  limonite  in  the  valley  of  the  Moose  River,  which  are  as 
yet  unknown,  and  so  far  of  no  commercial  value.  The  Clinton 
formation  of  the  Upper  Silurian  is  in  Ontario  commercially  barren, 
although  a  small  deposit  has  been  found  near  Cabot  Head.  The 
base  of  the  Medina  of  the  Upper  Silurian  is  marked  by  red  ocherous 
clays,  which  are,  however,  of  no  value.  At  the  base  of  the  Potsdam 
of  the  Cambrian,  there  are  some  deposits  of  impure  hematite,  such 
as  that  at  Dog  Lake,  north  of  Kingston.  At  the  base  of  the  Keween- 
awan  again,  there  are  some  ocherous  clays  which  in  places  almost 
approach  iron  ores,  but  are  so  far  of  no  commercial  value.  In  the 
Animikie  there  are  possibilities  of  commercial  ores.  This  forma- 
tion is  the  one  which  on  the  United  States  side  of  Lake  Superior 
carries  the  Mesabi,  Gogebic  and  Menominee  iron  ranges.  It  is 
found  in  Ontario  in  the  triangular  area  between  the  Port  Arthur, 
Duluth,  and  Western  Railway,  Lake  Superior,  and  the  American 
boundary.  At  numerous  points  in  this  area  indications  of  ore 
have  been  found,  and  large  ore  bodies  have  been  developed 
at  Loon  Lake.  In  the  vicinity  of  Sudbury  is  another  Animikie 
area,  but  so  far  as  known  carrying  no  iron  deposits.  Except  these 
two  areas,  and  a  few  other  very  small  areas  the  Animikie  is  un- 
known in  Ontario.  North  of  the  province  on  the  eastern  shores  of 
James  Bay,  rocks  apparently  of  the  Animikie  series  are  found  on 
the  Nastapooka  Islands.  Here  very  considerable  bodies  of  iron 
ore  have  been,  found,  and  when  transportation  difficulties  are 
removed  these  ores  will  undoubtedly  come  on  the  market. 

The  Lower  Huronian  formation  is  widely  distributed  through- 
out Ontario,  the  typical  region  being  that  north  of  Lake  Huron. 
It  should  be  noted  that  all  the  older  geological  maps  and  reports 
by  Canadian  Geologists,  use  the  term  Upper  Huronian  for  what 
is  now  called  Lower  Huronian,  and  similarly  Lower  Huronian 
•was  used  in  the  older  reports  for  what  is  now  termed  Keewatin. 


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The  Iron*  Ores  of  Ontario  113 

On  the  accompanying  map  the  areas  of  Keewatin  and  Lower  Hu- 
ronian  are  outlined  with  as  great  accuracy  as  our  present  knowledge 
of  the  unsettled  regions  of  Ontario  will  permit.  It  has  not  proved 
possible  to  show  them  separately  on  a  small  scale  map  even  when 
the  information  was  at  hand  to  do  so.  So  far  little  iron  ore  of 
commercial  value  has  been  found  in  the  Lower  Huronian  areas. 
In  Deroche  township  north  of  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  some  prospecting 
has  been  done  with  fair  results.  In  Long  and  Rutherford  town- 
ships, deposits  of  specular  hematite  have  been  found  in  small 
quantities.  In  Aberdeen  township  a  more  promising  prospect 
occurs.  All  of  these  deposits  are  associated  with  quartzite  or  slate. 
The  banded  jasper  and  hematite  of  the  Marquette  range  is  for  the 
most  part  absent  in  the  typical  Lower  Huronian  area.  In  Harrow 
township  the  typical  iron  formation  does,  however,  occur  in  the 
Lower  Huronian,  and  at  two  other  points  iron  carbonate  has  been 
found. 

In  the  Keewatin  the  most  promising  iron  deposits  of  Ontario 
are  found.  This  formation  is  very  widely  distributed  and  in  prac- 
tically every  place  where  Keewatin  or  Huronian  are  marked  on 
the  various  geological  maps,  bands  of  sedimentary  iron  formation 
can  be  found.  These  may  be  small  inextent,  representing  only  the 
hist  remnants  of  a  large  area,  or  they  may  be  long  and  narrow  belts. 
Usually  the  bands  are  only  a  few  hundred  feet  wide;  almost  always 
less  than  half  a  mile.  Most  frequently  there  are  a  series  of  lenses 
ranged  in  a  row  or  occasionally  in  a  few  parallel  rows.  At  times 
the  iron  belt  extends  for  many  miles  enclosed  on  either  side  by 
green  schists.  The  Nipigon-Long  Lake  belt  is  almost  continuous 
for  70  miles. 

The  ores  associated  with  the  basic  intrusives  may  occur  in 
different  periods,  but  seem  to  be  all  pre-Cambrian. 

The  iron  ranges  on  the  American  side  of  Lake  Superior  show  a 
close  similarity  geologically  to  those  in  Ontario.  As  seen  on  the 
map  the  various  producing  ranges  occur  in  the  Keewatin.  Huronian, 
and  Animikie  series  of  the  Archean.  These  formations  occur  as 
narrow  belts  between  the  eruptive  granites,  just  as  in  Ontario. 
The  characteristic  association  of  banded  jasper  with  ore  is  true  on 
both  sides  of  the  lake.  In  the  following  table  the  total  production 
of  the  different  ranges  is  given. 


114  The 


Range. 


Canadian  Mining 

Institute 

Year 

opened. 

1855 

Total 

Tons 

84, 849,280 

63,  806,652 

54,023,478 

26,785,950 

150,198,054 

1,400,000 

381,063,414 

Shipments 

per  cent. 

22  3 

1877 

16.7 

1884 

14.2 

1884 

7.0 

1892 

39.4 

1900 

.4 

100.0 

Marquette  . 
Menominee. 
Gogebic 
Vermilion.  . 
Mesabi  .  .  .  . 
Ontario.  .  .  . 


The  Ontario  production  is  made  up  mainly  of  shipments  from 
the  Helen  Mine  on  the  Michipicoten  Range,  and  the  McKellar 
property  on  the  Atikokan.  Both  of  these  properties  are  in  the 
Keewatin  formation,  as  also  are  the  mines  in  the  Vermilion.  The 
mines  of  the  Menominee,  Gogebic  and  Mesabi  are  all  in  the  Ani- 
mikie,  and  most  of  the  Marquette  production  comes  from  the 
Lower  Huronian,  although  a  portion  of  it  is  at  the  base  of  the 
Animikie,  practically  at  the  contact  with  the  Lower  Huronian. 
Assuming  that  the  whole  of  the  Marquette  production  is  from  the 
Lower  Huronian,  one  finds  that  of  the  total  production  of  iron  ore 
from  around  Lake  Superior,  70 . 3%  has  been  produced  from  the 
Animikie,  22.3  from  the  Lower  Huronian,  and  7.4  from  the 
Keewatin. 

COMPARISON      WITH      SCANDINAVIAN      ORES. 

In  the  transactions  of  the  American  Institute,  1907,  a  classi- 
fication of  the  Scandinavian  Iron  Ores  is  given  by  Prof.  Sjorgen. 
Considering  the  similarity  between  the  general  geological  conditions 
of  Scandinavia  and  northern  Ontario,  a  comparison  is  of  interest. 

1.  Ores  of  the  Archean  Crystalline  Schists. 

A.  Apatite  Ores. 

B.  Mixed  Hematite  and  Magnetite. 

C.  Quartz  Banded  Ores. 

D.  Skarn  Ores. 

E.  Limestone  Ores. 

2.  Ores  of  the  Porphyries. 

3.  Magmatic  Segregations  in  Basic  Eruptives. 

4.  Iron  Ores  of  Metamorphosed  Cambro- 

Silurian  Schists. 

5.  Contact  Deposits  in  the  Christiana  Region. 

6.  Lake  and  Bog  Ores. 


The  Iron  Ores  of  Ontario.  115 

Of  these  groups  numbers  2,  4  and  5  are  not  found  in  Ontario. 
While  eruptive  porphyries  occur,  so  far  we  have  no  iron  ores 
associated  with  them.  In  Ontario  there  are  no  metamorphosed 
Cambro-Silurian  Schists,  nor  eruptives  of  the  post-Silurian  age,  so 
that  groups  4  and  5  are  impossible.  The  other  groups  1,  3  and  6  are 
found  in  Ontario,  and  closely  resemble  the  corresponding  deposits 
in  Scandinavia.  The  Apatite  ores  of  group  1,  resemble  closely  the 
ore  mined  in  the  Lake  Champlain  region  of  New  York  State,  which 
again  is  closely  paralleled  by  some  deposits  in  eastern  Ontario. 
The  mixed  hematite  and  magnetite  deposits  free  from  banded 
material  are  not  common  in  Ontario,  but  the  deposit  north  of 
Cartier  would  seem  to  resemble  corresponding  deposits  in  Scandi- 
navia. The  quartz  banded  ores  are  extremely  common  in  Ontario, 
more  so  than  in  Scandinavia.  Typical  occurrences  are  those  of  the 
Mattawin,  Michipicoten  and  Temagami  ranges.  The  Skarn  ores 
and  Limestone  ores  of  groups  D.  and  E.  can  be  paralleled  from 
some  of  the  minor  deposits  in  eastern  Ontario.  Magmatic  segre- 
gations in  basic  eruptive  rocks,  group  3,  are  very  common  in  On- 
tario, and  titaniferous  as  in  Scandinavia.  The  Lake  and  bog  ores 
of  the  two  countries  are  naturally  similar. 

GENESIS  OF  IRON  ORES. 

As  previously  stated  the  majority  of  the  Ontario  ores  occur 
in  the  Keewatin  formation.  At  the  base  of  this  series  is  a  mass  of 
greenstone  frequently  ellipsoidally  parted,  which  is  the  oldest 
known  rock  of  the  Lake  Superior  area.  Overlying  this  are  various 
green  schists,  and  towards  the  top  of  the  series  the  iron  formation 
proper.  This  consists  of  ferruginous  cherts  more  or  less  banded 
with"  hematite  and  magnetite,  iron  carbonate  and  iron  pyrites. 
Carbonated  schists  frequently  border  the  iron  formation.  Origin- 
ally these  belts  seem  to  have  been  a  chemical  sediment,  but  are 
now  found  in  nearly  every  case  closely  folded,  and  standing  nearly 
vertical.  Transverse  folding  has  been  a  very  common  occurrence, 
and  the  anticlines  have  been  frequently  eroded  until  the  formation 
has  been  cut  off  into  separate  lenses,  varying  from  a  few  feet  to  a 
few  miles  in  length.  In  most  cases  the  width  of  the  formation  is 
a  few  hundred  feet,  and  occasionally  up  to  half  a  mile.  Folded 
with  the  iron  formation  there  is  usually  a  bed  of  green  schists  which 


116  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

forms  an  impervious  layer  at  the  bottom  of  the  basin.  The 
American  geologists  who  have  closely  studied  the  Vermilion  and 
other  south  shore  ranges  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  ores  associated 
with  these  ranges  have  resulted  from  descending  water  concen- 
trating the  leaner  ores  from  above,  in  the  bottoms  of  these  basins. 
Iron  carbonate  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  most  frequent  source 
of  the  ore,  but  both  iron  silicate  and  iron  pyrites  have  also  con- 
tributed. Probably  in  our  Ontario  ranges  iron  pyrites  is  a  larger 
contributor  than  in  the  ranges  to  the  south,  as  it  occurs  much  more 
frequently  in  the  iron  ranges  to  the  north  of  Superior  than  to  the 
south.  In  some  few  cases  the  original  deposits  in  connection 
with  the  formation  seem  to  have  been  rich  enough  to  make  an  iron 
ore  without  further  concentration.  In  other  cases  there  are  lean 
silicious  magnetites  up  to  40  and  45%,  which  can  hardly  be  classed 
as  commercial  ore  bodies,  and  which  might  well  represent  original 
deposits  without  secondary  concentration.  In  these  the  silicious 
bands  are  absent,  the  silica  being  more  evenly  distributed  through 
the  whole  mass.  Another  class  of  ore  bodies  includes  those  which 
are  regularly  banded,  consisting  of  either  hematite  or  magnetite, 
alternating  in  narrow  bands  from  |  in.  to  2  in.  in  width,  with  bands 
of  quarte  which  may  be  white  chert,  or  red  or  black  jasper.  It  is 
with  the  more  granular  cherts  that  the  hematite  ore  bodies  so  far 
discovered  have  been  found. 

SPECIAL  DESCRIPTIONS. 

An  attempt  has  been  made  to  show  on  the  map  the  principal 
areas  in  which  iron  ores  have  been  found,  and  to  add  here  a  very 
brief  description  concerning  them.  It  is  probable  that  in  every 
area  shown  on  the  map  as  containing  Keewatin  rocks,  the  iron 
formation  will  be  found  when  search  is  made.  In  the  following 
descriptions  the  numbers  after  the  names  refer  to  the  corresponding 
numbers  on  the  map. 

The  Dry  den  and  Wabigoon  area  (1)  shows  a  number  of  bands 
of  lean  silicious  magnetite  with  assays  running  in  the  vicinity  of 
40%  iron.  Kaiarskons  Lake  deposits  (2)  of  silicious  magnetite 
with  some  higher  grade  lenses  have  been  slightly  explored.  Par- 
allel to  it  is  a  belt  of  iron  pyrite  characteristic  of  the  Keewatin 
ranges.     At  Bending  Lake  (3)  a  number  of  locations  have  been 


The  Iron  Ores  of  Ontario.  117 


taken  up  on  a  silicious  magnetite  somewhat  similar  to  the  two 
previous  ones.  In  Watten  and  Halkirk  townships  on  Rainy  Lake 
(4)  a  band  of  the  iron  formation  has  been  found,  containing  mag- 
netite and  particularly  rich  in  sulphides.  It  is  traceable  at  inter- 
vals for  some  miles  either  way,  and  is  really  part  of  one  belt  ex- 
tending from  Fort  Frances  up  the  valle}Ts  of  the  Seine  and  Atikokan 
as  far  as  Magnetic  Lake,  a  distance  of  slightly  over  100  miles.  At 
Steep  Rock  Lake  (5)  the  formation  has  been  considerably  bent. 
Diamond  drilling  on  the  eastern  arm  of  Steep  Rock  Lake,  and  also 
on  Strawhat  Lake  has  disclosed  fair  bodies  of  hematite  ore.  In 
these  cases,  as  in  several  others  in  Ontario, bodies  of  iron  pyrites 
are  found  in  close  contact  with,  but  not  contaminating,  the  hema- 
tite ore.  Considerable  bodies  of  siderite  also  occur.  Through  the 
valley  of  the  Atikokan  (6)  are  a  number  of  deposits  of  magnetite 
standing  out  as  low  hills  in  the  valley,  and  accompanied  by  various 
green  schists.  These  magnetites  are  low  in  phosphorus,  but  high 
in  sulphur.  The  deposit  of  McKellars  is  now  being  worked  by 
the  Atikokan  Furnace  Company,  and  a  property  a  short  distance 
west  of  this,  after  careful  exploration,  has  been  bought  the  past 
3rear  by  the  United  States  Steel  Corporation.  On  Fire  Steel  River 
(7)  bands  of  pyrites  are  known  which  represent  the  iron  formation 
in  that  belt  of  Keewatin.  On  Hunters  Island  (8)  there  are  several 
parallel  belts  of  the  iron  formation  which  may  represent  a  folding 
of  the  Keewatin,  but  possibly  as  suggested  by  Leith  some  of  the 
belts  are  Huronian.  The  Hunters  Island  range  is  in  line  with  the 
Vermilion,  and  distant  from  the  closest  part  of  it  about  20  miles. 
There  has  been  little  exploration  beyond  surface  work,  but  it  is 
reported  that  the  little  drilling  done  was  fairly  successful.  At 
Greenwater  Lake  (9)  is  a  continuation  of  the  Vermilion-Hunters 
Island  belt,  and  this  continues  to  the  east  through  the  Mattawin 
area  (10)  and  Conmee  and  Ware  townships  (11).  These  last  three 
occurrences  are  all  similar  in  character,  showing  banded  jaspers 
with  magnetite  and  hematite.  Picked  samples  from  the  surface 
of  locations  on  the.  Mattawin  yielded  58%  to  68%  iron,  .013  to 
.056  phosphorus,  .054  to  .164  sulphur,  and  titanium  nil.  The 
amount  of  ore  in  this  belt  is  very  considerable,  but  so  far  the 
limited  exploration  which  has  been  done  has  not  revealed  any  large 
concentrations.  The  ore  is  favourably  situated  for  transportation, 
and  could  be  quarried  from  hillsides.     Until,  however,  the  higher 


118  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

grade  ores  are  mined  out,  it  is  questionable  whether  these  surface 
deposits  running  40%  in  iron  can  be  economically  concentrated. 
There  is,  however,  a  probability  that  bodies  naturally  concen- 
trated may  be  found  if  properly  sought.  The  Animikie  formation 
(12)  occupies  a  considerable  area  round  Lake  Superior,  and  at 
many  points  within  it  carbonate  of  iron  running  20%  to  25%  is 
found. 

At  Loon  Lake  and  vicinity,  25  miles  east  of  Port  Arthur,  con- 
siderable exploration  work  has  been  done  resulting  in  the  finding  of 
several  beds  of  excellent  hematite  ore,  narrow,  however,  in  width, 
and  separated  from  each  other  by  lean  material.  This  ore  where 
pure  is  high  in  iron  and  low  in  phosphorus  and  sulphur,  and  carry- 
ing a  little  lime,  is  altogether  an  excellent  furnace  ore.  The  costs 
of  mining  and  concentration  are,  however,  problematical,  and  no 
company  has  yet  attempted  to  operate  commercially.  Altogether 
there  is  a  big  tonnage  of  ore  which  will  undoubtedly  be  valuable 
before  long.  It  is  only  four  miles  from  Lake  Superior,  and  is 
traversed  by  the  main  line  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway. 
A  second  series  of  beds  lie  above  those  already  mentioned,  which 
contain  even  larger  quantities  of  iron.  This  is,  howrever,  only 
about  35%  ore,  and  high  in  phosphorus  and  sulphur.  On  Black 
Sturgeon  River  (13)  are  some  deposits  of  hematite  in  the  Keewatin 
of  a  promising  character.  At  Little  Pike  Lake  (14)  specular  hema- 
tite interbanded  with  a  gray  slate  occurs  on  a  number  of  locations 
taken  up  some  years  ago,  but  on  which  no  work  has  been  done. 
At  Savant  Lake  (15)  the  usual  iron  range  rocks  of  the  Keewatin 
occur,  and  search  may  result  in  the  finding  of  merchantable  ore. 
On  Whitearth  Lake  (16)  iron  range  rocks  are  reported.  At  Cariboo 
Lake  (17)  lean  silicious  magnetite  is  found  over  a  large  area,  also  at 
Mud  River,  somewhat  to  the  east.  In  the  valley  of  the  Red  Paint 
(18)  the  Keewatin  formation  is  traceable  for  some  miles,  and  some 
diamond  drilling  was  in  progress  last  year.  The  Nipigon-Long 
Lake  (19)  belt  is  70  miles  long  and  almost  continuous.  At  the 
Nipigon  end  three  parallel  belts  are  found,  the  centre  hematite, 
and  the  north  and  south  magnetite.  A  little  drilling  has  been  done 
but  not  enough  to  determine  definitely.  At  Little  Pine  Lake  (20) 
a  similar  formation  occurs,  and  also  on  the  Slate  Islands  (21).  On 
Lake  Superior  at  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Pic  (22), locations  were 
taken  up  years  ago  for  a  magnetite  associated  with  a  basic  eruptive. 


The  Iron  Ores  of  Ontario.  119 

The  ore  is  lean  and  probably  useless.  Ten  miles  up  the  Pic  River 
(23)  are  some  magnetite  locations  showing  iron  ore  carrying  about 
and  contaminated  with  a  little  sulphur.  At  Otter  Cove  (24), 
in  a  small  fragment  of  the  Keewatin,  a  lean  magnetite  occurs.  At 
many  points  throughout  the  Keewatin  belt  of  the  western  part  of 
Michipicoten  (25)  the  usual  iron  range  rocks  are  found.  Towards 
Lake  Superior  these  occurrences  are  silicious  magnetites;  further 
north  they  are  banded  cherts  with  hematite  and  magnetite.  At 
the  Frances  diamond  drilling  as  shown  towards  the  bottom  of  one 
of  these  basins,  considerable  hematite  of  good  quality.  In  central 
Michipicoten  we  have  characteristic  banded  cherts  and  hematite  at 
a  number  of  points.  At  the  Helen  Mine  (26)  is  the  largest  ore  body 
yet  exploited  in  the  province,  which  has  yielded  about  one  and  a 
third  million  tons  of  ore,  to  the  end  of  1907.  Associated  with  this 
ore,  as  is  so  often  the  case,  are  deposits  of  pure  pyrites.  At  the 
Josephine  (27)  drilling  has  shown  considerable  ore,  under  the 
waters  of  Parks  Lake.  The  iron  range  is  traceable  both  east  and 
west  from  the  lake,  and  theory  indicated  that  where  the  iron- 
bearing  rocks  had  been  broken  down  and  eroded  so  as  to  form  a 
lake  basin,  a  deposit  of  ore  might  be  sought,  and  this  was  done 
successfully.  Further  to  the  north  (28)  the  range  is  so  rich  in 
sulphur,  that  it  has  become  of  value  as  a  source  of  iron  pyrites, 
iron  oxide  except  as  a  gossan  being  practically  absent.  At  Michi- 
picoten south,  lean  magnetites  are  found  at  several  points  as  at 
Anjigomi  (29)  and  Bridget  Lake  (30).  At  Cape  Choye  (31)  and 
eastward,  an  unimportant  belt  of  Keewatin  occurs,  carrying  lean 
hematite  and  magnetite.  At  Batchawana  (32)  banded  jasper  and 
hematite  occur  a  few  miles  from  Lake  Superior,  and  six  miles 
further  back  several  deposits  of  lean  magnetite.  At  Goulais  Bay 
(33)  a  belt  of  the  Keewatin  formation  runs  east  and  west  for  several 
miles,  and  is  enclosed  by  rocks  of  the  Lower  Huronian.  The 
brilliant  jasper  conglomerates  which  occupy  miles  of  the  Lower 
Huronian  have  always  proved  extremely  interesting,  and  until  the 
discovery  of  this  Goulais  belt,  no  source  of  the  jasper  pebbles  was 
apparent.  The  probability  is,  that  this  is  only  a  small  part  of  one 
of  several  buried  ranges.  In  Deroche  and  adjoining  townships 
there  are  several  occurrences  of  hematite  associated  with  quartzite 
and  slate.  Some  of  these  lenses  are  good  ore,  but  no  large  bodies 
have  yet  been  found,  though  further  development  is  warranted. 


120  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

From  Aberdeen  township  (35)  several  small  vessel  loads  of  good 
hematite  were  shipped  years  ago.  In  the  northern  part  of  the 
township  a  promising  prospect  of  hematite  is  being  developed, 
which  occurs  at  the  contact  of  the  slate  and  quartzite.  In  the 
townships  of  Long  (36)  and  Rutherford  (37)  occurrences  of  high 
grade  specular  hematite  in  the  quartzite  have  been  explored,  but  the 
deposits  have  proved  small.  North  of  Cartier  (38)  a  deposit  of 
hematite  and  magnetite  is  of  considerable  promise.  At  Woman 
River  (39)  and  north  of  Flying  Post  (40)  belts  of  banded  jasper  and 
hematite  are  found  continuous  for  some  distance,  and  of  consider- 
able width.  At  the  Grand  Falls  on  the  Mattagami  (41)  carbonate 
of  iron  and  the  resulting  limonite  are  found.  Further  exploration 
of  these  and  similar  deposits  occurring  in  the  Devonian  may  show 
ores  of  value  as  soon  as  transportation  has  been  provided.  At 
Shining  Tree  Lake  (42)  and  Burwash  Lake  (43)  the  usual  banded 
ores  are  found.  At  Moose  Mountain  (44)  is  a  large  deposit  of 
magnetite,  which  seems  to  be  an  original  deposit,  and  not  a  second- 
ary concentration  from  the  usual  leaner  ores.  This  property  is 
now  connected  with  the  Georgian  Bay  at  Key  Inlet  by  railway, 
and  shipments  will  begin  on  a  large  scale  next  season.  To  the 
north  and  west  banded  iron  continues,  and  is  found  on  the  Wahna- 
pitae  (45)  to  the  south  east.  Around  Temagami  Lake  (46)  are 
several  belts  of  the  usual  iron  range  rocks  making  altogether  a  good 
many  miles  in  length.  On  the  Caldwell-Mulock  property  a  little 
diamond  drilling  has  been  done,  but  with  this  exception  these 
ranges  are  as  yet  unexplored.  In  Boston  township  (47)  lean 
magnetite  has  been  found,  and  a  little  exploration  work  has  so  far 
failed  to  locate  commercial  ore  bodies.  At  Lake  Abitibi  (48)  the 
usual  iron  range  rocks  occur.  Along  the  Kingston  and  Pembroke 
Railway  in  Eastern  Ontario  are  numerous  deposits  of  magnetite 
which  have  been  worked  in  a  small  way  in  years  gone  by. 

Similar  occurrences  are  found  in  Hastings  and  adjoining 
counties  (50).  In  both  these  districts  the  magnetites  are  fairly 
high  in  iron,  low  in  phosphorus,  and  apt  to  be  contaminated  with 
sulphur.  In  the  Parry  Sound  district  (51)  there  are  several 
occurrences  of  magnetite,  associated  with  limestone.  This  area 
has  not  yet  been  mapped  so  that  an  outline  of  the  Keewatin  and 
Huronian  cannot  be  given. 


The  Irox  Ores  of  Ontario. 


121 


CONCLUSIONS. 


There  is  no  other  area  in  the  world  equal  to  the  Lake  Superior 
region  as  a  producer  of  high  grade  iron  ore.  The  only  competitor 
is  the  Minette  region  of  Germany,  France  and  Belgium,  which  is 
being  rapidly  left  behind.  The  following  table  shows  the  great 
increase  in  production  which  has  yearly  taken  place  on  the  Ameri- 
can side  of  Lake  Superior. 

Production  of  Iron  Ore  from  Lake  Superior. 

1891 7,621,465  long  tons. 

1892 9,564,388 

1893 .- 6,594,620 

1894 7,682,548 

1895 10,268,978 

1896 10,566,359 

1897 12,205,522 

1898 13,779,308 

1899 17,802,955 

1900 19,121,393 

1901 20,593,537 

1902 27,571,121 

1903 24,281,575 

1904 21,726,590 

1905 34,241,498 

1906 38,393,495 

1907 41,817,385 

But  even  the  immense  resources  of  the  American  side  of 
Lake  Superior  will  reach  an  end.  The  serious  drain  on  this  supply 
is  well  shown  in  the  following  quotation  from  Van  Hise,  one  of  the 
best  authorities  on  Lake  Superior  iron  mines. 

"The  total' product  of  the  Lake  Superior  region  since  mining 
"began  in  1850  to  1899  inclusive  is  171,418,984  long  tons.  The 
"amount  mined  in  the  decade  between  1891  and  1900  inclusive  is 
"  114.017.546  long  tons,  or  66.5  per  cent,  or  nearly  seven  tenths  of 
"  the  total  amount  mined.  The  product  for  the  year  1900  surpasses 
"that  of  any  previous  year,  and  is  one  ninth  of  the  aggregate  of 
"this  and  all  preceding  years.  It  is  certain  that  the  product  of 
"  the  current  decade  will  far  surpass  that  of  the  last  decade." 

It  is  most  striking  that  the  production  for  1907  is  also  one 
ninth  of  the  aggregate  of  this  and  all  preceding  years. 

This  season  as  a  result  of  the  investigation  by  the  Tax  Com- 
mission of  Minnesota,  it  has  been  determined  that  the  Minnesota 
deposits  of  ore  approximate  1,170,000,000  tons.     The  total  tonnage 


122 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


for  the  Lake  Superior  district  of  the  United  States,  including 
undeveloped  lands  amounts  to  2,000,000,000.  This,  on  the  basis 
of  last  year's  consumption  will  last  fifty  years,  but  as  is  shown 
in  the  preceding  table,  consumption  is  advancing  with  rapid 
bounds.  Already  lower  grade  ores  are  being  marketed  than  a  few 
years  ago  was  thought  possible.  In  1907  the  standard  for  iron 
ore  was  reduced  from  56.7  to  55,  and  this  will  undoubtedly  con- 
tinue as  iron  ore  becomes  scarcer.  Moreover  three  quarters  of  the 
ore  reserves  of  Minnesota  are  in  the  hands  of  one  company.  As  the 
scarcity  develops  on  the  southern  side,  the  search  for  ore  among 
the  iron  formations  in  Ontario  must  correspondingly  increase. 
As  shown  on  the  map  the  same  geological  formations  are  found 
throughout  northern  Ontario,  as  in  Minnesota,  Wisconsin  and 
Michigan.  One  mine  in  Ontario  has  alread3r  produced  one  and  a 
third  million  tons  of  ore,  and  two  other  properties  have  begun 
shipment.  It  will  be  extremely  strange  if  the  banded  jasper  and 
hematites  found  for  so  many  hundred  miles  throughout  northern 
Ontario  are  not  in  places  associated  with  iron  ore,  as  they  are  on 
the  south  side  of  Lake  Superior.  When  these  surface  indications 
on  the  Canadian  side  are  followed  up  as  they  have  been  on  the 
United  States  side,  similar  ore  bodies  will  undoubtedly  be  found. 
The  amount  spent  on  exploration  on  the  Vermilion  range  alone, 
between  Tower  and  Section  30,  a  distance  of  say  thirty  miles, 
probably  surpasses  all  the  money  spent  in  actual  exploration  of  the 
hundreds  of  miles  of  similar  ranges  in  northern  Ontario.  Not  only 
must  part  of  the  future  demands  of  the  United  States  be  met  from 
Ontario,  but  the  Ontario  demand  itself  must  also  be  provided  for. 
As  shown  in  the  accompanying  table  we  only  furnished  last  year 
%  of  the  ore  required  for  our  Ontario  furnaces.  Indeed  from 
1901  and  onward  the  per  cent,  of  Ontario  ore  used  in  our  furnaces 
has  steadily  decreased. 

Consumption  of  Iron  Ore  in  Ontario. 


1901    1    1902 

1903 

1904 

1905    1    1906 

1907 

Ontario  ore  smelt' d  109,109 
Foreign  ore  smelt'd     85,401 
Ratio  Ontario  ore . 

to  total 56% 

92,883 
94,079 

50% 

48,092 
103,137 

32% 

50,423 
173,182 

23% 
127,845 

61,960 
383,459 

14% 
256,704 

101,569 
396,463 

20% 
275,558 

120,177 

388,727 

23.6% 

The  Iron  Ores  of  Ontario  123 

As  stated  in  the  beginning  of  this  paper  the  record  of  the  pro- 
duction of  iron  ores  in  Ontario  is  rather  one  of  opportunity  than  of 
achievement. 

It  has  been  suggested  by  several  competent  geologists  that  the 
only  reason  that  can  be  suggested  why  the  iron  formations  of 
Ontario  should  not  overlie  ore  bodies  as  they  do  south  of  the  inter- 
national line  would  be  the  greater  glacial  erosion  to  the  north. 
This  reason  does  not  appeal  to  me  so  forcibly  as  to  some.  It  is 
generally  accepted  that  the  iron  ore  bodies  of  Lake  Superior  have 
been  concentrated  in  underlying  impervious  basins  by  descending 
waters.  The  upper  portions  of  the  formations  are  left  that  much 
poorer,  and  it  is  these  that  have  for  the  most  part  suffered  erosion. 
In  the  "  old  ranges  "  of  the  south  shore  ore  is  being  mined  to  a  depth 
of  2,000  feet,  and  little  of  it  came  from  near  the  surface.  Even  if 
it  be  granted  that  glacial  erosion  was  carried  deeper  in  Ontario 
(and  this  might  be  successfully  disputed)  unless  it  cut  nearly  to  the 
bottoms  of  the  basins  the  ore  deposits  would  be  only  slightly 
affected.  Severe  erosion  of  this  kind  would  have  left  only  shallow 
and  isolated  patches  of  the  iron  formations  instead  of  the  hundreds 
of  miles  which  are  found  in  Ontario.  Moreover,  drilling  has 
already  established  at  several  points  that  the  formation  is  at  least 
500  to  1,000  feet  deep.  These  considerations  do  not  apply  to  the 
flat  lying  Animikie,  where  a  few  hundred  feet  of  erosion  would  cut 
to  the  bottom  of  the  basins. 

To  my  mind  the  most  striking  differences  between  the  United 
States  and  Canadian  occurrences  are  (1)  the  relative  greater  abun- 
dance of  the  Keewatin  iron  formation  in  Ontario  as  compared 
with  those  of  Lower  Huronian  and  Animikie  age,  and  (2)  the  more 
frequent  occurrence  in  Ontario  of  iron  pyrite  with  the  ferruginous 
cherts,  etc.,  of  the  iron  ranges.  Apparently  iron  pyrites  and  iron 
carbonate  were  somewhat  equally  deposited  in  the  iron  formations 
of  Keewatin  times,  and  iron  carbonate  predominated  in  Lower 
Huronian  and  Animikie  times. 


124  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


DISCUSSION. 

Mr.  F.  Hille: — I  am  sorry  Mr.  Willmott  did  not  lay  more 
stress  upon  the  Mattawin  Iron  Range,  which,  in  my  opinion,  con- 
tains the  greatest  iron  ore  deposits  in  Canada  of  which  we  have 
knowledge.  To  give  you  an  idea  about  some  of  these  deposits  I 
might  mention  only  a  few:  one  is  over  700  feet  wide  by  3,400  feet 
long;  another,  over  1,000  feet  wide  by  nearly  two  miles  in  length; 
and  there  are  man}'-  others.  We  have  drilled  into  these  deposits 
over  a  thousand  feet,  of  course  not  reached  the  bottom,  and  if 
we  go  by  our  geological  survey,  they  may  be  over  10,000  feet  deep. 
We  can  trace  these  deposits  from  20  miles  west  of  Port  Arthur  to 
the  Vermillion  range  in  Minnesota,  thus  you  have  an  idea  of  the 
vast  extent  of  this  range.  The  ore  is  not  of  high  grade,  but  it 
can  be  concentrated  very  cheaply  into  a  high  grade  Bessemer  ore 
with  hardly  any  phosphor  and  sulphur. 

Mr.  Willmott  spoke  about  assets  of  the  Province  of  Ontario, 
not  in  the  eastern  deposits,  but  in  the  Mattawin  range  lies  the 
greatest  asset  the  province  possesses.  In  a  few  weeks  "  the  Mines 
Branch  "  will  publish  my  report  on  part  of  this  range  from  which 
you  may  learn  more  about  it". 

Mr.  Dixon  Craig: — A  few  words  with  regard  to  the  commer- 
cial aspect  of  this  matter  may  be  of  interest.  Prof.  Willmott  spoke 
of  a  mine  in  Ontario  which  produces  some  ore  and  two  others 
which  have  begun  shipping.  The  reason  that  these  latter  two 
are  shipping  is  that' this  ore  is  low  in  phosphorus,  or  is  a  Bessemer 
ore,  the  supply  of  which  in  the  Cleveland  market  to-day  is  prac- 
tically nil.  This  is  a  great  advantage  to  the  ore  as  well  as  the 
local  conditions,  and  although  the  Bessemer  process  is  on  the 
decline  it  will  last  for  ten  or  fifteen  years  yet,  so  there  will  be  a  con- 
tinued demand  for  this  ore,  and  it  can  possibl}-  be  shipped  to  the 
U.S.  and  pay  duty  and  still  make  a  fair  profit.  The  Canada  Iron 
Furnace  Company  is  using  it  at  Midland  with  good  results. 

The  reason  for  the  small  amount  of  exploratory  work  done  in 
Canada  is  that  under  present  conditions,  with  the  keen  competition 
in  our  markets  from  the  United  Kingdom  and  United  States,  we 
have  not  been  able  to  make  any  of  the  large  accretions  of  capital 
necessary  to  carry  on  this  work.  But  to  my  mind  the  eastern 
Ontario  magnetites  offer  a  very  promising  field  for  prospectors. 


THE  IRON  AND  STEEL  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  PROVINCE 
OF  ONTARIO,  CANADA. 

By  Jas.  Grannis  Parmelee,  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  Ont. 

(Ottawa  Meeting,  1908.) 

To  describe  the  general  process  of  manufacture  of  iron  and 
steel  and  the  interesting  details  showing  the  capacity  and  general 
lay-out  of  the  different  plants  throughout  the  province  of  Ontario, 
would  consume  too  much  time  in  the  reading  and  too  much  space 
in  publishing,  and  in  consequence  no  attempt  will  here  be  made  to 
more  than  touch  on  the  various  subjects,  and  if  we  are  successful 
in  our  efforts,  to  give  a  brief  outline  of  the  more  important  plants 
in   the   province. 

In  point  of  tonnage  and  amount  of  capital  invested,  the  lar- 
gest single  plant  is  that  owned  by  the  Lake  Superior  Corporation, 
which  is  operated  under  the  name  of  The  Algoma  Steel  Co.,  Limited. 
The  plant,  which  is  located  on  the  St.  Mary's  River  a  short  distance 
above  the  rapids,  was  built  in  1901  and  commenced  operations 
in  the  spring  of  1902.  A  dock  2,250  feet  long  is  built  along  the 
river  at  which  the  ore  vessels  are  tied  up  and  unloaded  by  means 
of  two  bridges  to  the  piles  immediately  behind  the  dock.  The 
ore  is  brought  from  the  Lake  Superior  ranges  to  the  plant.  The 
Corporation  also  owns  the  Helen  mine,  located  about  one  hundred 
and  thirty  miles  north  of  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  but  only  a  small  per- 
centage of  the  ore  is  used  at  the  plant,  as  it  is  too  high  in  phos- 
phorus for  use  in  the  Bessemer  process.  This  ore,  however,  is 
sold  to  other  consumers,  and  exchanged  for  Lake  Superior  ores. 

The  two  ore  bridges  for  unloading  vessels  and  transferring  ore 
to  the  ore  pile  were  designed  by  the  Wellman-Seaver-Morgan  Co. 
Each  bridge  has  a  span  of  295  feet, and  a  height  at  the  inner  end 
of  84feet  and  aheight  at  the  water  end  of  50  feet.  The  motive  power 
for  operating  the  bucket  and  for  moving  the  bridge  is  furnished  by 


126  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

two  130-h.p.  500-volt  motors,  which  are  installed  in  a  house  in 
the  supporting  legs  at  the  water  end.  These  motors  are  geared  to 
counter  shafting  driving  three  winding  drums  through  a  train  of 
gears  and  clutches,  which  are  thrown  in  or  out  according  to  the 
motion  desired.  The  handling  capacity  of  the  automatic  buckets 
on  the  bridge  is  70  tons  per  hour  each. 

The  storage  bin  system  is  located  340  feet  from  the  edge  of 
the  dock  and  is  built  of  brick  and  steel,  the  total  height  being  40 
feet.  The  ore  is  carried  in  steel  bins  of  the  Berquist  type,  of  which 
there  are  eight,  with  a  combined  capacity  of  3,000  tons,  and  when 
unloaded  is  either  carried  full  length  of  the  ore  bridge  to  the  bins, 
or,  if  the  bins  are  full,  it  is  dumped  on  the  ore  pile,  and  afterwards 
reloaded  into  the  bins  as  required.  Each  bin  is  provided  with 
four  chutes  and  the  necessary  gates  for  controlling  the  removal 
of  the  ore.  These  chutes  are  located  on  the  side  of  the  bin  away 
from  the  water  end  and  deliver  the  ore  into  round  buckets  for  the 
skip  hoist  used  for  charging  the  blast  furnace.  These  buckets 
are  placed  on  flat  scale  cars,  which  run  on  a  track  along  the  face 
of  the  bins  and  are  operated  by  an  electric  motor,  the  current 
being  supplied  to  it  by  a  trolley.  The  bucket  can  thus  be  run 
under  any  desired  bin  for  charging.  A  steel  trestle  1,400  feet  long 
and  40  feet  high  runs  along  the  inner  edge  of  the  ore  pile  and  on 
the  centre  line  of  the  bins,  which  connects  with  the  main  line  of 
the  Algoma  Central  railway  and  with  the  yards  of  the  Canadian 
Pacific  railway,  from  which  points  the  cars  of  raw  material  are 
switched  to  the  required  position  for  dumping  directly  into  the 
bins. 

Adjoining  the  ore  bins  there  is  a  coke  bin  provided  with  16 
chutes,  through  which  the  blast  furnace  hoist  bucket  is  loaded. 

The  skip  hoists  to  the  blast  furnaces  are  operated  by  135-h.p. 
motors  driving  a  four  foot  winding  drum  through  double  reduction 
gearing.  The  motors  are  controlled  by  means  of  Otis  magnet 
regulators,  which  are  installed  in  the  houses  located  at  ends  of 
the  ore  bins. 

The  blast  furnaces  are  two  in  number  and  are  on  line  parallel 
with  the  dock.  No.  1  stack  is  70  feet  high,  furnace  bosh  17  feet 
and  an  11-foot  hearth,  capacity  250  tons  per  day.  The  corres- 
ponding figures  for  No.  2  are:  stack  80  feet  high,  bosh  17  feet,  and 
hearth  10  feet  8  inches;    capacity,  250  tons  per  day.     Both  are 


The  Iron  and  Steel  Industry.  127 

operating  with  coke  for  fuel.  The  general  plan  contemplates  the 
addition  of  two  400-ton  furnaces,  the  trestle  and  bin  system  of 
which  are  already  in  place.  In  the  same  line  with  the  blast  fur- 
naces, and  between  them,  there  are  seven  fire-brick  stoves  20  feet 
in  diameter  and  70  feet  high.  A  steel  stack  150  feet  high  at  the 
rear  of  the  stoves  removes  the  waste  gases  after  their  passage 
through  the  stoves.  The  furnaces  are  provided  with  adequate 
dust  catchers  from  which  the  dust  is  dropped  direct  into  standard 
steel  hopper  cars.  Beside  each  furnace,  and  with  its  axis  in  the 
same  straight  line  joining  the  furnaces,  are  two  cast  houses 
of  steel  and  corrugated  iron  structure,  into  which  the  iron  may  be 
run  and  made  into  pigs  necessary,  or  into  20-ton  ladles  mounted 
on  a  standard  gauge  railway  truck,  which  convey  it  to  the  steel 
plant  mixer  or  to  the  pig  casting  machine. 

These  furnaces  are  being  operated  on  a  mixture  of  ore,  a  large 
percentage  of  which  is  obtained  in  the  States,  Ontario  Bessemer 
ores  not  yet  being  mined  in  sufficient  quantities  to  meet  the  present 
requirements.  Coke  is  obtained  in  the  Pocahontas  fields  in  West 
Virginia  and  transported  entirely  by  rail.  No  deposits  of  lime- 
stone have  yet  been  located  on  the  Canadian  side,  and  the  supply 
of  this  material  is  also  obtained  near  by  in  the  state  of  Michigan. 
The  air  blast  for  the  blast  furnaces  is  supplied  by  four  blowing 
engines  located  in  an  engine  house  parallel  with  the  blast  furnaces. 
The  engines  are  of  the  Steeple  Corliss  type  and  were  built  by  the 
Mesta  Machine  Co.  The  steam  cylinders  are  72  inches  by  60 
inches.  The  engines  run  at  about  40  revolutions  per  minute  and 
are  capable  of  blowing  thirty  pounds  pressure.  Each  engine  has 
a  fly-wheel  24  feet  in  diameter.  One  engine  is  provided  with  a 
gear  wheel  on  the  main  shaft,  enabling  it  to  drive  two  225  kilowatt 
electric  generators,  which  are  used  to  supply  current  to  the  entire 
plant  in  case  of  emergency  as  a  balance  to  the  primary  system, 
which  is  generated  by  water  power,  and  for  supplying  power  when 
water  wheels  become  choked  with  slush  and  needle  ice.  The 
generators  may  also  be  run  as  motors,  if  desired,  making  this  unit 
a  very  ingenious  and  interesting  machine.  The  generator  switches 
may  be  opened  and  the  machine  run  simply  as  a  steam  driven 
blowing  engine,  similar  to  the  other  three  engines  in  the  building; 
or  the  steam  may  be  shut  off  and  the  generators  used  as  motors, 
thus  making  the  machine  a  motor  driven  blowing  engine.     The 


128  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

air  cylinders  may  be  put  out  of  service  and  the  machine  becomes  a 
steam  driven  electric  generating  unit,  or  with  the  air  cylinders  at 
a  combination  electric  generating  unit  and  blowing  machine.  Is 
has  been  used  in  all  four  capacities. 

Steam  is  furnished  for  operating  the  blowing  engines  by  a 
battery  of  twelve  Cadall  vertical  water  tube  boilers,  each  250  h.p. 
The  boilers  are  arranged  in  batteries  of  two,  three,  three  and  four 
respectively. 

The  boiler  house  is  built  of  steel  and  is  erected  in  a  line  with 
the  engine  house  and  about  50  feet  distant.  Each  boiler  is  pro- 
vided with  a  36-inch  stack  40  feet  high. 

The  iron  is  delivered  from  the  blast  furnace  into  the  20-ton 
ladles,  as  noted  above,  and  is  conveyed  by  them  to  a  steel  and 
corrugated  iron  building  about  800  feet  distant  from  the  furnaces, 
where  is  installed  a  three-strand  Heyl  &  Patterson  pig  casting 
machine.  The  machine  is  fed  directly  from  the  20-ton  ladles 
brought  from  the  blast  furnaces,  these  ladles  being  picked  up  by 
a  40-ton  travelling  crane  fitted  with  an  auxiliary  hoist  and  carried 
over  the  receiving  end  of  the  pig  machine,  and  poured  by  appro- 
priate mechanism.  The  pig  machine  is  driven  by  a30-h.p.  220- 
volt  motor,  located  in  a  house  near  the  delivery  end  of  the  machine. 

The  results  obtained  from  the  above  described  blast  furnaces 
since  the  end  of  the  last  fiscal  year,  June  30th,  1907,  are  interesting 
records  of  good  blast  furnace  practice  (as  the  following  table  of 
average  daily  tonnage  shows),  especially  when  taking  into  con- 
sideration that  during  the  period  from  July  22nd,  1907,  to  Sep- 
tember 2nd,  1907  (41  days), No.  1  furnace  was  out  of  blast  while 
the  work  of  relining  and  remodelling  was  under  construction. 

1907— July. 
Aug. 
Sept. 
Oct, 
Nov. 
Dec. 


1907 -July. 
Aue. 
Sept. 
Oct, 
Nov. 
Dec. 


No.  1  Blast  Furnace. 

Average  tonnage  of  pig  iron  per  day.  . 
Relining  and  remodelling 

Average  tonnage  of  pig  iron  per  day 

a                   a                   <i 

128  G.T. 

204  G.T. 
...221      " 

a                   it                   ti 

...240      " 

it                   it                   it 

245      " 

No.  2  Blast  Furnace. 

Average  tonnage  of  pig  iron  per  day.  . 
a                  tt                  a 

249  G.T. 
...224      " 

a                  it                  (i 

...236      " 

a                         a                         tt 

...258      " 

a                         ti                         it 

...258      " 

ii                         it                         it 

...212      " 

fi  ZJ 


The  Iron  and  Steel  Industry.  129 

The  open  hearth  steel  department  consists  of  two  35-ton 
furnaces  of  the  Wellman-Seaver-Morgan  stationary  type  contained 
in  a  substantial  steel  and  corrugated  iron  building  conveniently 
located  for  additional  units  to  be  added  from  time  to  time  as  the 
market  for  this  product  may  demand,  at  minimum  cost.  The 
foundations  for  a  third  furnace  are  already  in  place. 

The  furnaces  are  served  on  the  charging  side  by  a  Wellman- 
Seaver-Morgan  low  type  charging  machine  handling  stock  by  the 
box  system,  and  on  the  pouring  side  by  an  electric  overhead 
travelling  crane  constructed  by  the  Morgan  Engineering  Co.  The 
gas  producers  are  eight  in  number  and  are  of  the  hand-poked 
water-sealed  circular  type.  The  furnaces  are  being  operated  at 
present  on  basic  linings  and  produce  steel  from  pig  iron  made  from 
ores  mined  in  the  province. 

The  steel  rail  and  finishing  mills  are  installed  in  a  series  of 
buildings  adjoining  each  other  and  extending  practically  in  a 
straight  line.  These  buildings  are  constructed  mostly  with  red 
sandstone  with  steel  and  corrugated  iron  roofs.  At  the  end 
nearest  the  blast  furnaces,  however,  is  a  building  constructed  of 
steel  and  corrugated  iron,  in  which  is  installed  a  150-ton  mixer 
for  handling  molten  iron  direct  from  the  blast  furnaces.  This 
mixer  is  served  by  a  40-ton  electric  travelling  crane  built  by  the 
Whiting  Foundry  and  Equipment  Co.,  for  lifting  the  ladles  which 
are  brought  from  the  blast  furnaces  on  a  standard  gauge  railroad 
track  running  into  the  building  alongside  the  mixer. 

Adjacent  to  the  mixer  building  is  the  cupola  building,  con- 
taining four  cupolas  used  for  melting  pig  iron  for  the  converters, 
and  also  three  furnishing  spiegeleisen  for  the  same. 

The  cupolas  for  melting  the  iron  are  8  feet  in  diameter  and 
have  a  capacity  of  about  25  tons  per  hour.  The  three  spiegel 
cupolas  are  each  5  feet  6  inches  in  diameter.  A  pair  of  Otis  electric 
elevators  serve  to  convey  the  charge  of  coke  and  iron  to  the  char- 
ging floor  of  the  cupola  house. 

The  melted  iron  from  the  cupolas  is  tapped  out  on  a  level  with 
the  charging  floor  of  the  converters  into  ladles,  which  are 
either  charged  into  the  mixer  by  the  mixer  crane  or  taken  directly 
to  the  converters  by  an  electric  trolley  car  system  operating  on 


130  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

a  narrow  gauge  track  between  the  mixer,  cupolas  and  converters 
on  this  level. 

The  Bessemer  converters  are  two  in  number,  each  of  four  tons 
capacity,  and  are  mounted  on  a  platform  which  is  on  a  level  with 
the  lower  floor  on  the  Cupola  house.  The  blast  is  furnished  at 
pressure  of  about  18  pounds  by  two  blowing  engines  located  in  a 
separate  building.  The  converters  pour  into  a  ladle  mounted  on 
a  hydraulic  jib  crane  which  swings  over  the  ingot  moulds,  which 
stand  on  cars.  These  ingot  moulds  after  being  filled  are  conveyed 
to  the  stripper,  and  when  stripped,  the  ingots  are  placed  in  two 
four-hole  gas  fired  soaking  pits  located  near  the  Bessemer  in  the 
same  building.  Each  hole  in  the  soaking  pit  has  a  capacity  of 
four  ingots. 

In  this  same  building  is  the  32"  blooming  mill.  The  ingots 
are  withdrawn  from  the  soaking  pit  by  means  of  an  automatic 
electric  overhead  travelling  crane  and  delivered  direct  to  the  table 
of  the  blooming  mill,  the  rolls  of  which  are  driven  by  a  pair  of 
reversing  Southwark  engines  28  by  48  inches.  The  tables  are 
driven  by  electric  motors  and  are  operated  from  a  pulpit  above 
the  rolls,  from  which  point  the  engines,  table  and  manipulator 
are  controlled. 

The  ingots  are  bloomed  down  to  8  inches  by  8  inches  and 
carried  along  the  table  to  a  bloom  shear  and  cut  into  blooms  of 
proper  length. 

The  reheating  furnaces  are  located  in  a  building  at  right  angles 
to  the  end  of  the  blooming  mill  and  contain  three  horizontal  fur- 
naces of  the  regenerative  type.  These  furnaces  are  operated  by 
producer  gas  supplied  from  the  producers  above  mentioned. 
The  furnaces  are  served  by  two  bloom  charging  cranes  supplied 
by  the  Wellman-Seaver-Morgan  Co.,  which  deliver  the  bloom  to 
the  furnaces  and,  when  heated,  withdraw  it  and  deposit  it  on  the 
table  of  the  rail  mill. 

The  rail  mill  building  is  parallel  to  the  steel  mill  and  joins 
the  building  containing  the  reheating  furnaces.  It  contains  two 
sets  of  roughing  rolls  and  one  set  of  finishing  rolls,  which  are  all 
three-high  and  are  coupled  together  and  driven  by  a  condensing 
Porter- Allen  40  x  48  engine.     The  piece  receives  four  passes  in 


The  Iron  and  Steel  Industry.  131 


first  set  of  rolls,  four  in  the  second  set  and  three  in  the  finishing 
set.  The  train  is  served  on  the  front  side  by  two  electrically 
operated  travelling  tables  equipped  with  tilting  motors,  and  on 
the  back  side  by  three  stationary  tilting  tables  designed  and  fur- 
nished by  the  Wellman-Seaver-Morgan  Co. 

After  passing  through  the  finishing  rolls  the  rail  is  conveyed 
about  75  feet  to  the  hot  saw  and  sawed  to  standard  lengths.  After 
being  sawed  the  rails  are  stamped  and  cambered,  and  then  run 
onto  the  hot  beds;  these  beds,  of  which  there  are  two,  each  140 
feet  long,  are  located  in  a  stone  building  adjoining  at  right  angles 
with  the  rail  mill. 

The  finishing  mill  adjoins  the  hot  beds  and  is  parallel  to  the 
rail  mill.  Along  one  side  of  the  building  is  a  roller  table  for  con- 
veying the  rails  to  any  desired  set  of  straightening  and  drilling 
machines.  The  rails  are  delivered  on  skidways  alongside  the 
machine  and  the  burr  occasioned  by  the  hot  saw  is  chipped  from 
them  by  a  man  at  each  endof  the  rail,  when  they  are  straightened 
in  the  presses,  then  pass  on  to  the  drilling  machines.  There 
are  four  straightening  presses  and  eight  drill  presses,  each  one 
independently  motor  driven.  After  drilling  the  rails  are  loaded 
directly  on  cars  for  shipment. 

The  above  described  rail  mill  is  capable  of  rolling  rails  from 
25  lbs.  up  to  and  including  100  lbs.  per  yard,  but  rolling  has  been 
confined  to  60,  70,  80,  85  and  100  lb.  sections,  being  the  greatest 
in  demand.     Capacity,  225,000  tons  annually. 

The  power  plant  for  the  steel  mill  is  located  about  75  feet  to 
the  west  of  the  steel  mill.  In  this  building  are  located  the  boilers 
which  supply  steam  to  the  engines  in  the  mill,  the  blowing  engines 
for  the  converters,  the  blowers  for  the  cupolas  and  the  pumps  for 
furnishing  water  to  the  boilers,  the  gas  producers  which  furnish 
gas  for  the  soaking  pits  and  reheating  furnaces,  and  for  operating 
hydraulic  machinery  around  the  plant.  The  boilers  are  arranged 
in  two  batteries  each  containing  eight  Stirling  boilers  of  250  h.p. 
each.  The  two  batteries  of  boilers  are  separated  by  a  room  con- 
taining the  gas  producers.  The  boilers  are  hand  fired.  The  gas 
producers  are  three  in  number  and  are  of  the  Frazer-Talbot 
mechanical  type. 


132 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


PRODUCTIONS— FISCAL  YEAR  ENDING  JUNE  30th,  1907— OF  THE 
ABOVE  DESCRIBED  PLANT. 

Blast  Furnace  No.  1 

Blast  Fur.  No.  2 

Rail  Mill 

Open  hearth 

59,568  G.  T. 

68,874  G.  T. 

178,624  G.  T. 

*6,896  G.T. 

*  Only  in  operation  May  and  June,  1907. 

The  Hamilton  Steel  and  Iron  Company,  Limited. 

The  Hamilton  Steel  and  Iron  Company,  Limited,  is  located 
at  Hamilton,  Wentworth  county,  Ontario,  and  its  development 
is  covered  in  the  brief  historical  review  in  this  paper.  The  present 
plant  consists  of  two  blast  furnaces,  four  open  hearth  furnaces 
and  sundry  finishing  departments. 

"A"  furnace  stack  is  80  feet  high,  bosh  16  feet,  capacity  200 
tons  per  day.  "B"  furnace  stack  is  80  feet  high,  bosh  20  feet, 
capacity  300  tons  per  day;  both  are  operated  with  coke  for  fuel. 
Stack  "  B  "  is  a  new  furnace  and  was  blown  on  November  8,  1907; 
it  embodies  all  modern  improvements  in  the  way  of  devices  for 
the  saving  of  labor  and  in  handling  of  ore,  pig  iron,  etc.  Ore  used: 
Lake  Superior  hematite,  Ontario  hematite  and  magnetic.  The 
two  15-ton  open  hearth  furnaces  have  been  enlarged  and  two 
30-ton  furnaces  have  been  added.  Through  careful  management 
this  company  has  been  enabled,  during  the  last  few  years,  to 
steadily  increase  the  capacity  of  the  plant. 

The  plant  as  it  stands  to-day  has  an  annual  productive  ca- 
pacity of  about  180,000  gross  tons  pig  iron,  100,000  net  tons  of 
steel  ingots  and  90,000  to  100,000  gross  tons  of  rolled  iron  and 
steel  bars,  besides  washers,  forgings,  steam  and  electric  railway 
car  axles  and  track  spikes. 

Canada  Iron  Furnace  Company,  Limited. 

The  "Canada  Iron  Furnace  Co.,  Limited,"  with  offices  in  the 
Canada  Life  Building,  Montreal,  Que.,  operate  a  number  of  plants, 
namely,  Radnor,  Three  Rivers,  Lac-a-la-Tortue,  Grandes  Piles,  Lac 
aux  Sables,  Lac  Pierre,  Ste.  Thecle,  all  of  which  are  in  the  province 
of  Quebec,  and  Midland  in  Ontario. 


The  Iron  and  Steel  [ndtjstry.  133 

Plant  No.  1  is  situated  at  Midland,  Simcoe  county,  Ont.,  and 
consists  of  one  blast  furnace  together  with  the  necessary  boilers, 
engines  and  stoves.  Stack  is  65  feet  high,  bosh  13  feet;  daily 
capacity  of  furnace  120  tons,  product  being  foundry,  malleable 
Bessemer  and  Bessemer  iron — foundry  and  malleable  Bessemer 
being  used  for  castings  and  Bessemer  for  steel  rails.  Fuel  is 
Qonnellsville  coke  ;  30%  of  the  ore  charged  is  Canadian,  the 
balance  being  that  of  the  Lake  Superior  region. 

Three  hundred  and  twenty-five  men  are  employed,  wages 
paid  annually  being  about   SI  18, 300. 00. 

The  above  furnace  was  built  in  1900  and  was  blown  in  Decem- 
ber 4th  of  the  same  year.     Stoves  are  three  in  number  of  the  two- 
fire-brick  type.     Iron  produced,  1906,  36,187  tons. 

Deseronto  Iron  Company  Limited. 

The  "Deseronto  Iron  Co.,  Limited,"  situated  at  Deseronto, 
Hastings  county,  Ontario,  have  a  blast  furnace  of  about  50  gross 
tons  capacity,  built  in  1898,  and  has  been  in  successful  operation 
since  January  25th,  1899,  using  charcoal  as  a  fuel,  the  product 
being  sold  for  malleable  castings,  car  wheels  and  grey  castings. 

Recently  the  furnace  has  been  remodelled,  and  coke  is  now 
used  exclusively  for  fuel.  The  present  amount  of  ore  used  daily 
is  61  tons,  of  which  52  tons  are  imported,  the  product  being  mal- 
leable, Bessemer  and  foundry  pig  iron,  and  is  sold  principally  for 
malleable   and  grey   castings. 

In  remodelling  the  furnace  the  size  of  the  bosh  has  been 
enlarged  from  9  ft.  6  in.  to  10  ft.  6  in.,  the  productive  capacity 
increasing  considerably,  as  the  following  figures  show: — In  1903, 
before  the  improvements  were  made  and  the  change  of  fuel  had 
taken  place,  the  year's  production  was  8911-1995  tons;    for  the 

2240 
year  1906    the    corresponding  figures  are  8876-885  tons.     Con- 

2240 

sidering  that  the  plant  is  equipped  with  iron  pipe  stoves  only,  and 
that  the  furnace  was  only  in  blast  for  eight  months  out  of  the 
twelve  of  1906,  I  do  not  consider  the  output  a  small  one.  It  is 
evident  that  coke  to-day  is  pre-eminently  the  blast  furnace  fuel 
of    Ontario. 


134  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

The  Ontario  Iron  and  Steel  Company,  Limited. 

The  Ontario  Iron  and  Steel  Co.,  Limited,  have  recently  com- 
pleted works  at  Welland,  Ontario,  where  they  have  installed 
equipment  of  which  the  works  proper  consist  in  general  of  two 
open  hearth  basic  furnaces,  one  in  the  foundry  department,  with 
a  capacity  of  20  tons,  the  other  being  of  25  tons  capacity,  situated 
in  the  ingot  foundry;  the  melting  capacity  of  the  two  furnaces  is 
about  80  tons  per  day,  part  of  the  product  being  used  for  steel 
castings. 

The  finishing  department  consists  of  one  22"  mill  and  one  12" 
mill  capable  of  rolling  small  rails,  angles,  bars  and  skelps  for  pipe. 

The  power  for  these  mills  and  various  appliances  throughout 
plant  is  supplied  by  electric  current  from  Niagara  Falls.  The 
Company  own  and  operate  natural  gas  wells  near  Port  Colbourne, 
and  pipe  the  gas  to  their  plant,  where  it  is  used  exclusively  for 
fuel. 

At  present  only  the  steel  foundry  is  in  operation,  but  it  is 
expected  that  the  rolling  mills  will  be  rolling  very  soon. 

The  Cramp  Steel  Company,  Limited. 

The  Cramp  Steel  Co.,  Limited,  later  the  "Northern  Iron  and 
Steel  Co.,"  through  financial  difficulties  has  never  been  fully  in 
operation.  Works  were  built  in  Collingwood,  Simcoe  county,  On- 
tario, for  the  manufacture  of  basic  open  hearth  steel  and  rolled 
iron  and  steel. 

The  plant  consists  of  an  open  hearth  department  equipped 
with  two  15-gross  ton  Siemens  furnaces  and  rolling  mills,  with 
trains  of  rolls  for  the  production  of  plates,  merchant  bar  iron  and 
shafting. 

The  Company  proposed  erecting  two  blast  furnaces  with  daily 
capacity  of  250  gross  tons  each,  using  Canadian  hematite  and  mag- 
netic ores,  product  to  be  basic  pig  iron,  but  this  department  was 
never  constructed.  The  future  of  the  departments  completed  is 
uncertain,  owing  to  the  financial  difficulties  as  above  stated. 


The  Iron  and  Steel  Industry.  135 

Atikokan  Iron  Company,  Limited. 

The  Atikokan  Iron  Co.,  Limited,  is  situated  at  Port  Arthur, 
Thunder  Bay  district,  Ontario.  A  blast  furnace  of  100  tons  ca- 
pacity, together  with  the  necessary  stoves,  boilers,  shipping 
docks,  etc.,  comprise  the  equipment. 

About  160  tons  of  ore  is  used  daily  (all  Canadian)  and  is 
brought  from  the  Company's  own  mines  a  short  distance  back 
of  Port  Arthur  (on  the  Nipigon  river). 

The  furnace  proper  has  a  74'  3"  stack,  bosh  14',  coke  is  used 
for  fuel;  product,  foundry  iron.  150  men  are  employed  in  the 
several  departments. 

This  furnace  was  in  blast  but  a  short  time,  making  7,532  tons 
of  iron,  when  the  management  deemed  it  advisable,  owing  to 
prevailing  conditions,  to  discontinue  operations  until  the  coming 
spring. 

All  the  above  mentioned  industries  of  this  province  are  con- 
ducted in  their  respective  lines  by  the  ordinary  accepted  modern 
processes  of  manufacture.  In  addition,  however,  some  original 
research  has  been  carried  on  in  the  treatment  of  various  ores,  and 
among  these  the  electro-thermic  process  for  the  manufacture  of 
pig  iron  from  iron  ores,  although  at  present  not  a  serious  compet- 
itor to  the  ordinary  blast  furnace,  has  a  right  to  be  considered  an 
important  factor  in  the  future  manufacture  of  iron  and  steel. 

In  1898  experiments  were  carried  on  in  Ontario  by  Mr.  Ernst 
A.  Sjostedt,  Chief  Metallurgist  of  the  Lake  Superior  Power  Com- 
pany, in  desulphurizing  a  certain  grade  of  the  Company's  nickel- 
iferous  pyrrhotite  from  the  Sudbury  district,  with  the  object  of 
utilizing  its  sulphur  contents  for  the  production  of  a  suitable 
sulphur  dioxide  (S  02)  gas  in  a  contemplated  sulphite  pulp  in- 
dustry, and  its  iron  and  nickel  contents  for  the  manufacture  of 
ferro-nickel  in  the  ordinary  blast  furnace  and  open  hearth  steel 
practice  from  dead  roasted  "cinders."  These  first  experiments 
did  not  prove  altogether  satisfactory,  the  product  containing  some 
7%  sulphur,  but  realizing  that  if  a  high  temperature  could  be 
attained,  sufficient  to  melt  and  keep  fluid  the  refractory  mixture, 
the  sulphur  could  be  fluxed  off  with  lime  or  similar  strong  base; 


136  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

his  attention  was  taken  to  the  electric  energy  for  the  required 
source  of  heat.  Electrical  experiments  were  then  carried  out 
(first  on  a  very  small  crucible  scale),  the  result  of  which  was  the 
construction  of  an  electric  furnace,  using  the  Company's  electric 
power  plant  for  energy.  The  results  obtained  were,  I  believe,  satis- 
factory and  proved  the  possibility  of  converting  a  partially  roasted 
pyrrhotite  into  a  sulphur  free  alloy.  Later  in  the  winter  of 
1905-6  an  experimental  Government  plant  was  installed,  super- 
vised by  Dr.  Eugene  Haanel,  Supt.  of  Mines,  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  pig  iron  from  iron  ores.  This  plant  was  subsequently 
purchased  by  the  L.  S.  Corporation,  when  about  150  tons  of  ferro- 
nickel  was  produced  from  the  Lake  Superior  Company's  briquetted 
roasted  pyrrhotite.  These  experiments  not  only  verified  Mr. 
Sjostedt's  previous  results,  but  were  made  on  a  scale  sufficiently 
large  to  encourage  the  belief  that  even  in  a  small  furnace  ferro- 
nickel  alloy  could  be  profitably  produced. 

If  electric  power  at  (a  reasonable  charge  of)  say  $15.00  per 
h.p.  annum,  could  be  furnished  from  some  established  power 
plant,  it  is  reasonable  to  believe  that  the  electric-thermic  process 
of  smelting  iron  ores  could  be  carried  on  profitably  and  success- 
fully with  a  furnace  similar  in  size  to  a  small  charcoal  blast  fur- 
nace, which  would  at  present  seem  sufficiently  large  for  such  a 
purpose,  and  furnaces  of  this  description  would  give  Ontario  a 
chance  to  develop  its  smaller  ore  deposits,  especially  in  the  county 
of  Hastings  and  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Ottawa. 

In  attempting  a  comparison  between  the  electro-thermic 
process  and  the  present  blast  furnace  practice  in  the  reduction  of 
iron  ores,  it  will  be  well,  I  think,  to  narrow  the  same  down  to  that 
of  a  charcoal  furnace  and  an  electric  furnace  of  similar  capacity, 
both  corresponding  to  a  3,000  h.p.  electric  smelting  plant,  which 
at  present  would  seem  sufficiently  large  for  such  a  purpose. 

The  average  output  per  1,000  h.p.  day,  as  given  in  Dr. 
Haanel's  preliminary  report,  is  about  10  short  tons,  which  equals 
about  9  gross  (pig  iron)  tons.  Although  such  a  production  no 
doubt  can  be  obtained  and  possibly  will  be  exceeded  on  a  large 
scale,  we  will,  for  the  sake  of  reasonable  safety,  make  a  reduction 
from  this  amount  of  about  20%  and  thus  base  our  estimates  on  a 
daily  output  of  only  7  gross  tons  per  1,000  h.p.  day,  or  an  annual 
production  of  about  7,500  gross  tons. 


Deseronto  Iron  Company.  Limited. 


Deseronto  Iron  Company.  Limited.     (Showing  stock  bins.) 


The  Iron  and  Steel  Industry. 


137 


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The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


Roughly  speaking,  the  cost  of  an  electric  smelting  plant  and 
charcoal  blast  furnace  plant  of  the  same  capacity  would  involve 
the  following  expenditure — exclusive  of  site,  mining  privileges 
and    hardwood   land : — 


Electric 
Furnace 

Charcoal  , 
Furnace 

Furnace  Plant 

$35,000 

6,000 

15,000 

19,000 

$100,000 

Electrode  Plant 

Charcoal  Kiln  Plant 

30,000] 
20,000 

Sundries,  say 

$75,000 

$150,000 

For  the  complete  equipment  of  an  electro-thermic  smelting 
plant  it  may  also  be  necessary  to  invest  in  separate  power  and 
electric  installation,  which  in  the  present  case  probably  would 
involve  an  additional  expenditure  of  some  $200,000,  but  we  will 
in  the  present  case  assume  that  electricity  will  be  furnished  for 
some  established  power  plant,  and  allow  for  the  same  the  reason- 
able charge  of  $15.00  per  h.p.  annum. 

The  cost  of  charcoal  will  be,  in  both  cases,  estimated  at  6.5c. 
per  bushel,  limestone  at  $1 .  50  per  ton,  and  the  ore  for  blast  furnace 
practice  at  $2.50,  and  that  intended  for  electric  smelting  (being 
supposedly  of  an  inferior  quality,  not  suitable  for  ordinary  blast 
furnace  practice)  at  $1.50  per  ton.  We  will  also  assume  labor 
cost  at  the  two  furnaces  to  be  the  same  (say  $2 .00  per  ton),  as  also 
all  incidental  expenses. 

We  thus  obtain  the  following  cost  items  for  the  production  of 
one  gross  ton  of  pig  iron  : — 


Electric 
Furnace 


Charcoal 
Furnace 


2  tons  of  iron  at   $2 .  50 

2      "  "      $1.50 

110  bush,  charcoal  at  6.5  cents 
56  bush,  charcoal  at  6.5  cents. 
Electrodes,  say  20  at  2.5  cents 

Limestone,  say 

Electric  Power  at  $15 

Furnace  Labor  

Office  Expenses 

Incidentals,  say 

Add  for  Amortization  at  10  %, 


$  3.00 

3.64 

.45 

.50 

6.00 

2.00 

1.00 

.41 


5.00 
7.15 

.25 

2.00 

1.00 

.60 


17.00 
1.00 

$18.00 


16.00 
2.00 

$18.00 


The  Iron  axd  Steel  Industry.  139 

The  above  estimates  are  considered  very  conservative,  and 
the  manufacturing  cost  will  be  reduced  in  larger  plants.  There 
are  exceptional  cases  where  the  cost  of  raw  material  and  power 
differ  radically  from  that  given  in  the  above  tables  and  where, 
therefore,  the  totals  will  be  entirely  changed,  but  the  above  will 
serve  as  a  conservative  estimate  for  plants  of  the  assumed  capacity, 
according  to  the  present  day's  knowledge. 

The  quality  of  the  product  from  the  electric  furnace  would 
compare  favorably  with,  and  in  most  cases  would  excel,  that  of 
the  best  charcoal  iron  made  (owing  to  the  possibility  of  a  perfect 
elimination  of  sulphur  and  the  great  homogenity  of  the  electric 
furnace  product). 

(I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Ernst  A.  Sjostedt,  Chief  Metallurgist 
of  the  Lake  Superior  Corporation,  for  the  above  figures). 

To  encourage  this  process  the  Government  has  authorized 
the  payment  of  the  following  bounties  on  the  undermentioned 
articles  when  manufactured  in  Canada  for  consumption  therein, 
viz.: — 

(a)  On  pig  iron  manufactured  from  Canadian  ore  by  the  pro- 
cess of  electric  smelting  during  the  calendar  years: — 

1909 $2.10  per  ton         1910 $2.10  per  ton 

1911 1.70  "      "  1912....       0.90   "      " 

(b)  On  steel  manufactured  by  electric  process  direct  from  Cana- 
dian ore,  and  on  steel  manufactured  by  electric  process 
from  pig  iron  smelted  in  Canada  by  electricity  from  Cana- 
dian ore  during  the  calendar  year: — 

1909 $1.65   per  ton         1910 $1.65   per  ton 

1911 1.05     "      "  1912,.  ...   0.60    "       " 

The  historical  review  of  iron  making  in  Ontario  dates  back  to 
the  year  1800,  when  the  first  furnace  in  the  province  was  construc- 
ted at  the  falls  of  the  Gananoque  river,  but  owing  to  inferior  ores 
and  the  high  cost  of  assembling  materials,  the  furnace  was  only 
kept  in  blast  two  years.  Not  until  twenty  years  later  was  a  fur- 
nace constructed  and  successfully  operated  for  a  number  of  years. 
This  furnace  was  built  at  Charlotteville  township,  Norfolk  county, 
using  bog  ore  from  the  immediate  vicinity.  However,  the  supply 
of  ore  became  exhausted,  and  in  1854  the  management  erected 
another  furnace  in  Houghton  township,   which  was  in  blast  but 


140  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

a  short  time  when  it  was  deemed  advisable,  owing  to  the  prevail- 
ing conditions,  to  discontinue  operations. 

In  1820  a  furnace  was  established  at  Marmora,  but  was  also 
unsuccessful.  Then,  in  1831,  a  furnace  was  started  using  bog  ores 
of  Colchester  and  Gosfield  townships,  but  after  five  or  six  years 
of  operation  it  was  closed  down  on  account  of  financial  difficulties. 
In  1836  a  furnace  was  built  in  Madoc,  being  in  operation  some 
eight  or  nine  years.  Following  these  many  attempts  to  start  fur- 
naces and  smelt  iron  in  the  province,  without  satisfactory  results 
ever  being  arrived  at,  a  mill  was  erected  at  Hamilton  in  1864  for 
the  purpose  of  re-rolling  iron  rails.  This  mill  was  in  operation 
until  1871,  when,  in  consequence  of  the  introduction  of  steel  rails, 
the  re-rolling  of  iron  rails  was  abandoned,  the  mill  remaining  idle 
until  1879,  when,  under  the  name  of  The  Ontario  Rolling  Mills 
Company,  it  was  started  as  a  merchant  bar  mill.  Some  years 
later  the  Hamilton  Iron  Forging  Company  started  a  plant  and 
small  rolling  mill  on  the  premises  adjoining  the  Ontario  Rolling 
Mill  Company's  works,  but  in  1890  the  Ontario  Rolling  Mill  Com- 
pany bought  them  out.  Then  in  1896  the  Hamilton  Blast  Fur- 
nace Co.  blew  in  a  furnace,  and  in  the  spring  of  1899  this  Company 
amalgamated  with  the  Ontario  Rolling  Mill  Company,  under  the 
name  of  the  Hamilton  Steel  and  Iron  Co.,  Limited,  their  equip- 
ment consisting  of  one  blast  furnace,  with  a  capacity  of  150  tons 
per  day,  two  mills  with  five  trains  of  rolls  (14  inch  neck,  9  and  10 
inch  guide,  20  inch  bar  and  20  inch  plate),  two  bushelling  furnaces, 
four  double  puddling  furnaces  and  nine  coal  heating  furnaces,  also 
a  forge  plant  with  four  steam  hammers  with  necessary  lathes  for 
rough  turning  forgings. 

An  analysis  of  this  industry  in  the  province  would  disclose  the 
permanent  foundation  upon  which  it  is  being  established.  Fore- 
most, of  course,  stands  out  the  large  deposits  of  rich  ore  that  exist 
in  Eastern  Ontario,  whose  presence  has  been  known  for  years. 
These  deposits  are  being  supplemented  from  time  to  time  by  such 
discoveries  as  that  of  the  Helen  mine  at  Michipicoten,  yielding 
1,000  tons  of  rich  basic  ore  per  day,  with  a  tonnage  that  will  not 
be  exhausted  for  years.  The  "Moose  Mountain"  mine,  which  is 
located  about  30  miles  north  of  Sudbury  in  Hutton  township, 
is  perhaps  the  largest  and  best  iron  ore  deposit  in  the  province. 
(The  first  development  of  this  mine  brought  to  light  a  bonded 


The  Iron  and  Steel  Industry.  141 

hematite  basic  ore,  but  recently,  through  diamond  drilling,  a 
Bessemer  ore  has  been  produced.)  And  the  mines  of  the  Central 
Ontario  range,  Hastings  county,  operated  by  such  companies  as 
the  "  Wilbur  Iron  Ore  Company,"  The  Mineral  Range  Iron  Mining 
Company,  and  the  "Belmont." 

The  consumption  of  iron  and  steel  in  all  its  various  forms  is 
increasing  with  giant  strides,  caused  primarily  by  the  rapid  devel- 
opment of  the  province  and  the  Dominion  at  large.  To  satisfy 
t  His  growing  demand  new  plants  are  being  built  and  new  products 
manufactured  whenever  the  market  for  such  product  justifies. 

Under  this  state  of  facts  the  past  two  years  have  witnessed 
the  establishment  of  two  new  blast  furnaces,  one  at  Port  Arthur 
and  the  other  at  Hamilton,  making  a  total  of  seven  in  the  province, 
six  of  which  have  been  built  in  recent  years.  At  Welland,  The 
Ontario  Smelting  Co.  have  completed  a  new  plant  consisting  of 
two  open  hearth  furnaces  and  a  rolling  mill,  and  at  the  works  of 
The  Algoma  Steel  Co.,  Limited,  two  new  open  hearth  furnaces 
have  been  installed  and  an  increase  has  been  made  in  the  produc- 
tive capacity  of  No.  1  blast  furnace. 

The  Canada  Iron  Furnace  Co.,  Limited,  whose  principal  office 
is  at  Montreal,  have  preliminary  plans  for  a  new  blast  furnace, 
steel  works  and  rolling  mill  to  be  built  on  its  property  at  Midland; 
four  open  hearth  furnaces  have  also  been  planned;  and  the  com- 
pany operating  the  Moose  Mountain  mine  are  negotiating  with 
the  Toronto  authorities  for  the  establishment  of  a  furnace  plant 
at  Ashbridge  bay,  which  is  believed  will  have  a  capacity  of  1,400 
tons  of  ore  daily,  to  be  followed  by  the  establishment  of  plants 
for  manufacturing  pig  iron  into  various  finished  products.  A 
steel  plant,  rolling  mill,  car  shops  and  finishing  mills. 

Particularly  important  in  the  increasing  use  of  iron  and  steel 
is  the  constantly  growing  demand  for  foundry,  railroad  and  build- 
ing purposes.  There  is  a  large  market  in  Canada  for  structural 
steel,  but  at  present  this  product  comes  from  Belgium  and  the 
United  States.  And  while  there  is  a  growing  demand  for  it,  the 
material  required  is  purchased  elsewhere,  being  cut  here  to  suit 
local  requirements.  Although  this  class  of  work  is  essentially  an 
American  production,  the  time  has  come  when  our  engineers 
should  be  familiar  with  it,  and  a  modern  plant  well  managed,  with 


142  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

low  fixed  charges,  situated  advantageously,  and  controlling  its 
own  raw  material,  would  have  nothing  to  fear  in  the  future. 

Further,  the  construction  of  railroad  and  trolley  systems  are, 
comparatively  speaking,  still  in  their  infancy,  and  the  amount  of 
steel  necessary  for  this  construction  will  add  largely  to  the  re- 
quirements. But  at  present  our  rail  mills  can  look  after  the  work 
to  be  done  as  far  as  rail  requirements  go,  for  the  mills  of  the  Al- 
goma  Steel  Co.,  Limited,  and  those  of  the  Dominion  Iron  and 
Steel  Company  produce  ample  tonnage  to  provide  for  present 
needs,  these  mills  having  a  total  capacity  of  over  400,000  tons  a 
year.  The  demand  for  rails  last  year,  the  largest  in  the  history 
of  Canadian  rail  requirements,  amounts  to  about  300,000  tons. 
Previous  years  the  demand  was  considerably  under  the  above 
figure,  but  there  is  room  for  development  in  structural  steel,  and 
manufacturers  should  be  induced  to  take  up  this  line.  The  de- 
mand for  this  material  in  the  past  few  years  has  been  a  most 
striking  development  in  the  industry.  Among  the  varied  new 
uses  for  steel,  the  rod  mill  has  its  share  and  the  wire  nail  industry 
is  a  large  one  in  itself,  but  more  remarkable  is  the  increase  in  the 
wire  fence  requirements.  Th:s  industry  in  the  United  States  is  nearly 
nine  times  as  large  as  it  was  six  years  ago,  their  production  being 
something  like  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  tons. 

These  industries  are  practically  new  to  us  and  are  full  of  rich 
opportunities.  No  other  industry  across  the  border  has  paid  such 
lavish  awards  to  men  who  have  possessed  the  genius  of  organiza- 
tion, and  now  that  Canada  is  turning  the  corner  in  the  matter  of 
iron  and  steel  development  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  other  companies 
will  be  formed  to  follow  the  example  of  some  of  our  larger  concerns, 
and  go  even  further  into  the  manufacture  of  the  finished  product. 
The  province  already  includes  a  great  number  of  establishments 
from  the  mills  of  the  Algoma  Steel  Co.,  Limited,  as  above  men- 
tioned, upon  which  millions  of  dollars  have  been  expended,  to 
the  little  foundry  of  the  small  towns,  or  even  to  the  smithy's 
forge  at  the  cross  roads. 

A  steel  industry  is  a  benefit  to  a  country  in  many  ways.  It 
is  the  foundation  of  larger  communities  which  increase  and  influ- 
ence the  general  prosperity  of  all  other  industries.  It  contributes 
to  the  payment  of  taxes.  It  supplies  an  enormous  amount  of 
freight  to  the  railroads,  the  receipts  from  a  plant  being  many 


The  Iron  and  Steel  Industry.  143 

times  as  much  as  though  the  same  amount  of  material  were  im- 
ported and  further  lowers  the  cost  of  transportation  by  their 
adding  to  the  amount  of  tonnage  handled.  No  country  can 
prosper  without  an  iron  industry  of  some  description,  whether 
it  be  an  iron  producing  country  itself,  with  mines  and  furnaces, 
or  not.  If  it  does  not  possess  iron  in  accessible  form  itself,  or  if 
it  has  not  the  energy  to  develop  its  own  iron,  it  is  under  the  neces- 
sity of  importing  iron  from  other  countries,  either  as  pig  iron  for 
manufacture,  or  the  finished  product,  or  both.  Another  argu- 
ment advanced  in  favor  of  iron  and  steel  development  in  the 
Dominion  is  the  bounty  offered  by  the  Dominion  Government. 
An  act  respecting  bounties  on  iron  and  steel  made  in  Canada, 
having  been  assented  to  and  renewed  April  27,  '07,  from  which 
the  following  has  been  copied : — 

(a)  In  respect  of  pig  iron  manufactured  from  ore,  on  the  pro- 
portion from  Canadian  ore  produced  during  the  calendar 
year:— 

1907 $2.10  per  ton         1908 $2.10  per  ton. 

1909 1.70    "       "  1910 0.90    "      " 

(b)  In  respect  of  pig  iron  manufactured  from  ore,  on  the  pro- 
portion from  foreign  ore  produced  during  the  calendar 
year : — 

1907 $1.10  per  ton  1908 $1.10   per  ton 

1909 0.70    "       "  1910 0.40    " 

(c)  On  puddled  iron  bars  manufactured  from  pig  iron  made  in 
Canada  during  the  calendar  year: — 

1907 $1.65   per  ton         1908 $1.65   per  ton 

1909 1.05    "       "  1910 0.60    "      " 

(d)  In  respect  of  rolled  round  wire  rods  not  over  three-eighths 
of  an  inch  in  diameter,  manufactured  in  Canada  from  steel 
produced  in  Canada  from  ingredients  of  which  not  less 
than  50  per  cent,  of  the  weight  thereof  consists  of  pig  iron 
made  in  Canada,  when  sold  to  wire  manufacturers  for  use, 
or  when  used  in  making  wire  in  their  own  factories  in  Canada 
— on  such  wire  rods  made  after  the  thirty-first  day  of  De- 
cember, one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  six,  six  dollars 
($6.00)    per   ton. 


144  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


(e)  In  respect  of  steel  manufactured  from  ingredients  of  which 
not  less  than  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  weight  thereof  consists 
of  pig  iron  made  in  Canada— on  such  steel  made  during  the 
calendar    year : — 

1907 $1.65   per  ton         1908 $1.65  per  ton 

1909 1.05     "       "  1910 0.60    "       " 

The  character  of  the  finished  product  of  the  several  industries 
has  reached  a  high  and  very  satisfactory  standard,  and  in  the 
product  of  the  greatest  tonnage  has  perhaps  excelled  that  of  other 
districts.  The  matter  of  section  and  specification  in  this  partic- 
ular product  is  now  in  the  transition  stage,  and  as  soon  as  a  decision 
is  reached  all  the  requirements  will  be  met  and  this  high  standard 
maintained.  All  products  in  the  regular  course  of  business  must 
pass  inspection  by  a  third  party,  who  is  the  agent  of  the  purchaser 
for  this  purpose,  and  whose  judgment  is  final  as  between  the  parties. 

This  matter  has  until  recently  been  in  the  hands  of  foreign 
"Bureaus  of  Inspection,"  but  recently  a  bureau  fully  equipped 
to  handle  all  branches  of  the  service  has  been  established  at  Toronto, 
so  that  at  the  present  moment  every  step  in  the  process  from  pro- 
ducing the  raw  ores  to  the  final  acceptance  of  the  finished  material, 
can  be  carried  on  within  the  province. 


From  the  Canadian  Manufacturer. 

The  Atikokan  Iron  Company's' Roasting  Kilns. — The  furnace  is  in  the 

background. 


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wFmt* 

From  the  Canadian  Manufacturer. 
Atikokan  Iron  Company's  Power  House  and  Blast  Furnace. 


The  Iron  and  Steel  Industry. 


145 


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THE  MOOSE  MOUNTAIN  IRON  RANGE,  WITH  SPECIAL 

REFERENCE  TO  THE  PROPERTIES  OF  MOOSE 

MOUNTAIN,  LIMITED. 

By  Norman  L.  Leach,  Sudbury,  Ontario. 

(Ottawa  Meeting,  March,  1908.) 

The  conformation  of  the  Moose  Mountain  Iron  Range  has 
been  traced  in  a  general  manner  and  found  to  extend  in  a  north- 
westerly direction  from  the  northwest  shore  of  Lake  Wahnapitae, 
in  the  district  of  Nipissing,  to  Onaping  Lake,  in  the  district 
of  Algoma,  a  distance  of  approximately  thirty-five  miles. 

Twenty-five  miles  due  north  of  Sudbury,  in  the  township 
of  Hutton,  are  situated  the  properties  of  the  Moose  Mountain, 
Limited.  The  existence  of  iron  ore  in  this  township  has  been 
known  in  a  general  way  for  years.  During  the  gold  excitement  of 
the  "nineties," prospectors  travelling  the  West  Branch  of  the  Ver- 
milion River,  in  search  of  the  yellow  metal,  portaged  across  a 
ridge  of  the  "No.  2"  deposit  at  a  point  known  as  the  "Iron 
Dam,"  the  wearing  away  of  the  moss  on  the  portage  having  ex- 
posed the  ore  in  several  places. 

In  1901  and  1902  Sudbury  prospectors,  through  Mr.  Chase  S. 
Osborne,  of  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  Michigan,  succeeded  in  interesting 
Mr.  John  W.  Gates,  of  New  York,  and  associates,  in  the  pro- 
perty. Enough  exploratory  work  was  then  done  to  prove  its 
value  and  negotiations  commenced  with  the  object  of  securing 
rail  connections  with  the  Georgian  Bay. 

Messrs.  Mackenzie  &  Mann,  appreciating  the  possibilities  of 
the  ore  tonnage  as  a  source  of  revenue  for  their  railroads,  be- 
came interested  in  the  property,  and  as  a  result,  a  branch  of  their 
Canadian  Northern  Ontario  Ry.,from  Toronto  to  Sudbury, has  been 
built  from  Sudbury  north  to  the  mines,  a  distance  of  35  miles. 
A  six  mile  spur  from  the  main  line,  a  few  miles  south  of    the 


148  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

French  River,  has  been  constructed  to  the  Georgian  Bay  at  a 
point  known  as  Key  Inlet,  and  is  the  final  link  connecting  the 
mines  with  the  Great  Lakes,  making  a  rail  haul  for  the  ore  of 
about  eighty  miles,  or  about  the  same  as  the  average  haul  of  the 
three  iron-ore-carrying  roads  of  Minnesota. 

Ore  docks  for  the  transhipment  of  the  ore  are  now  under 
construction  by  the  Mackenzie  &  Mann  interests  at  the  "Key." 
A  splendid  natural  harbour  has  been  secured  there  with  twenty- 
four  feet  of  water  alongside  the  ore  docks,  more  than  enough 
to  float  the  largest  vessels  on  the  Great  Lakes;  and  the  "Key" 
as  a  shipping  point  by  water  is  500  miles  nearer  any  of  the  iron 
ore  receiving  ports,  as  compared  with  shipments  from  the  head 
of  Lake  Superior.  This  will  be  a  considerable  factor  in  the  secur- 
ing of  favourable  lake  freight  rates. 

The  docks  are  of  unique  construction,  and  will  be  unlike 
any  on  the  Great  Lakes  for  the  handling  of  iron  ore.  The  ore 
from  the  mines,  loaded  in  hopper-bottomed  cars,  is  dumped  from 
a  trestle  to  a  stock-pile  ground  beneath.  Under  this  stock-pile 
groimd,  in  line  with  the  centre  line  of  the  trestle,  is  a  tunnel 
through  which  a  forty-two  inch  belt  will  convey  the  ore  to  a 
similar  belt  at  the  water's  edge,  which  in  turn  conveys  and 
elevates  the  ore  to  the  dock  trestle  sixty  feet  above  the  water 
level.  It  is  then  tripped  off  the  belt,  weighed  by  an  automatic 
device,  and  dumps  into  pockets  from  which  it  will  be  spouted 
into  the  hold  of  the  vessels  alongside  the  dock.  It  is  expected 
that  these  belts  will  have  a  capacity  of  eight  hundred  tons  of  ore 
per  hour. 

Development  work  at  the  properties  of  the  Moose  Mountain, 
Limited,  has  proven  the  existence  of  several  large  deposits  of 
merchantable  ore,  principally  magnetite,  and  a  small  amount  of 
hematite.  The  ores  occur  in  the  following  rocks  of  the  Keewatin 
age.  Those  in  close  proximity  to  the  ore  bodies  consist  princi- 
pally of  diorite,  diabase,  hornblende-schist,  hornblende-gneiss, 
all  of  which  may  be  collectively  referred  to  as  greenstone.  In  a 
few  instances  granite  comes  into  contact  with  the  ores.  Numerous 
exposures  of  magnetic  ores  are  to  be  found.  Where  weathered 
the  ore  presents  grey,  dark  green  and  black  appearances,  and 
glaciated  surfaces  have  the  lustre  of  metallic  iron.  When  crushed 
for  shipment  the  ores  have  a  steel  grey  appearance.     These  ores 


The  Moose  Mountain-  Iron  Range.  149 


can  be  delivered  to  any  blast  furnaces   in  Canada  or  the  United 
3,  tributary  to  the  Great  Lakes,  and  the  product  from  the 
Moose  Mountain  mines  will  be  disposed  of  in  the  above  markets. 
The  present  guaranteed  analysis  on  ore  sales  is: — 

Iron 55.50 

Phosphorus 10 

Silica 13.29 

Manganese 02 

Alumina 1 .21 

Lime 3.60 

Magnesia 3.15 

Sulphur Oil 

Titanium none 

Moisture 1 .00 

So  far  actual  mining  operations  have  been  confined  to  the 
"No.  1,"  or  original  "Moose  Mountain"  deposit.  The  surface  of 
the  ore  body  at  this  point  is  approximately  140  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  railroad  loading  tracks.  The  ore  is  won  by  under 
hand  stoping,  from  an  open  face  of  from  60  to  70  feet  in  height, 
trammed  out  to  a  large  chute  discharging  thirty  feet  below  the 
level  of  the  bottom  of  the  present  stope  into  a  No.  8  Austin 
gyratory  crusher,  which  reduces  it  to  a  maximum  size  of  five  to 
six  inches  diameter.  Leaving  the  number  eight  crusher,  the  ore 
passes  through  a  revolving  screen  48"  by  12'  with  {  inch  perfora- 
tions, the  rejections  going  direct  to  the  foot  of  the  elevator  pit, 
and  the  balance  to  a  No.  5  Austin  gyratory  crusher  discharging 
into  the  14"  by  30"  buckets  of  a  fifty-two  foot  centre  belt  elevator, 
which  elevates  the  ore  into  the  loading  bins,  whence  it  discharges 
through  hoppers  into  the  railroad  cars. 

A  16"  by  42"  Jenckes  Corliss  engine,  to  drive  the  crushing 
plant,  and  two  150  h.p.  return  tubular  boilers,  constitute  the 
present  power  plant,  the  machine  drills  having  been  operated 
by  steam  up  to  the  present  time. 

Very  little  systematic  exploration  work  has  been  done  upon 
the  Moose  Mountain  Range  as  yet,  and  when  it  is  remembered  that 
upon  all  of  the  older  iron  ranges  of  the  Lake  Superior  country 
millions  of  dollars  have  been,  and  are  still  being,  spent  in  the 


150  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

systematic  search  for  new  ore  bodies — and  that  all  of  these  iron 
ranges  show  more  ore  in  sight  to-day  than  they  ever  did — it  seems 
a  reasonable  possibility  that  careful  explorations  in  the  future 
will  reveal  still  other  bodies  of  high  grade  merchantable  ore  in 
the  Moose  Mountain  District. 


NOTES  ON  EARLY  MINING  ENDEAVOUR  IN  ONTARIO. 

By  E.  L.  Fraleck. 

(Cobalt  Branch  Meeting,  May,  1908.) 

The  mining  and  smelting  of  iron  ore  in  Ontario  was  com- 
menced as  early  as  1800.  In  this  year  a  furnace  was  erected 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  township  of  Lansdowne,  in  the  County 
of  Leeds,  at  the  falls  of  the  Gananoque  river,  by  a  syndicate 
composed  of  E.  Freeman  Jones,  Daniel  Sherwood,  Samuel  Barlow, 
and  Wallace  Sutherland.  The  place  on  this  account  was  called 
Furnace  Falls,  but  is  now  known  as  the  village  of  Lyndhurst. 
This  furnace,  however,  was  only  operated  for  two  years,  the 
suspension  of  operation  being  attributed  to  the  inferior  quality 
of  the  ore,  which,  too,  required  to  be  transported  a  considerable 
distance  from  lot  25,  in  the  10th  concession  of  the  township  of 
Bastard. 

The  next  attempt  was  made  in  1813  by  John  Mason,  an 
Englishman,  who  commenced  the  erection  of  a  furnace  on  the 
shore  of  Lake  Erie,  in  the  township  of  Charlotteville,  with  the 
object  of  treating  bog  ores  from  the  County  of  Norfolk.  The 
plant  was  a  very  crude  affair,  and  after  running  a  short  time  the 
inner  lining  gave  way,  and  the  enterprise  was  abandoned.  The 
following  extracts  from  letters  written  by  John  Mason  to  Robert 
Gourlay  in  1817  will  give  us  an  idea  of  his  difficulties.  "I  want 
five  or  six  pieces  of  cast  iron  30  cwt.  These  will  come  to  an 
enormous  expense.  I  intended  to  ask  Government  to  give,  or 
lend  me,  six  disabled  cannon  for  this.  I  asked  Government  to 
pay  the  passage  of  five  or  six  families  from  England  to  work  in 
the  furnace.  This  could  not  be  granted,  therefore  I  would  not 
ask  for  the  cannon.  Another  thing  against  me,  is  that  there  is 
not  a  man  in  the  country  that  I  know  of  capable  of  working  in  the 
furnace,  but  the  greatest  difficulty  I  have  to  overcome,  is  iron 
men  as  we  call  them,  are  the  very  worst  sort  of  men  to  manage, 


152  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

colliers  not  excepted.  Not  one  of  a  hundred  of  them  but  will  take 
every  advantage  of  his  master  in  his  power.  If  I  have  just  the 
number  of  hands  for  the  work,  every  one  of  them  will  know  that 
I  cannot  do  without  every  one  of  them,  therefore,  everyone  of 
them  will  be  my  master."  He  also  says: — "Those  who  begin  iron 
works  in  this  country  after  me,  will  start  many  thousand  dollars 
ahead  of  me,  everything  they  want  except  stone  will  be  had  here. 
The  best  method  of  working  the  ore  will  be  known,  and  men  will 
be  learned  to  work  it."  John  Mason  died  shortly  afterwards, 
and  the  property  was  bought  by  Joseph  Vanorman,  who  formed 
a  partnership  with  Hiram  Capron  and  George  Stillson,  and  in 
1823,  after  an  investment  of  $8,000.00,  the  furnace  was  blown  in. 
The  furnace  was  in  blast  eight  or  nine  months  each  year,  producing 
seven  or  eight  hundred  tons  of  iron  with  a  consumption  of  char- 
coal equal  to  4,000  cords  of  hardwood.  The  pig  iron  was  made 
into  sugar  and  potash  kettles,  stoves,  and  other  articles  for  the 
settlers.  Some  exports  were  made  to  Buffalo,  and  one  shipload 
was  sent  to  Chicago.  About  five  or  six  years  later,  Vanorman 
bought  out  Capron  and  Stillson.  The  business  was  successfully 
operated  until  1847,  when  the  supply  of  ore  and  fuel  gave  out,  but 
in  the  meantime,  Vanorman  had  amassed  a  considerable  fortune. 
Vanorman  utilized  the  waste  gases  from  his  furnace  to  calcine 
his  ore  and  heat  his  blast.  The  hot  blast  was  patented  by  J.  B. 
Neilson,  of  Glasgow,  in  1828,  and  although  Aubertot  used  waste 
gases  in  1814,  it  was  not  until  George  Parry ,  of  Cornwall,  invented 
the  cup  and  cone  arrangement  about  1850  that  the  practise 
became  general.  In  1845  J.  P.  Budd  took  out  a  patent  in  England 
to  use  waste  gases  for  heating  the  blast,  but  Vanorman's  stove 
was  in  use  nearly  twenty  years  before. 

In  1820,  a  furnace  was  constructed  by  Mr.  Hays  to  treat 
ore  from  the  big  ore  bed  at  Blairton,  in  the  township  of  Marmora. 
There  is  no  record  of  his  venture  except  that  he  failed,  and  the 
property  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Hon.  Peter  McGill  of  Mont- 
real. In  1831  Hetherington,  McGill  and  Manahan  incorporated 
the  Marmora  Iron  Foundry.  In  1839  the  Government  appointed 
commissioners  to  ascertain  the  cost  of  the  removal  of  the  peniten- 
tiary from  Kingston  to  Marmora  with  a  view,  evidently,  of 
employing  the  convicts  in  mining  and  smelting  work;  but  this 
was  not  done,  and  in  1847  Vanorman  purchased  the  property 


Notes  on  Early  Mixing  153 

for  $21,000.00.  The  iron,  however,  required  to  be  carted  a  dis- 
tance of  thirty-two  miles  to  Belleville,  until  a  water  route  was 
made  available  by  building  a  road  nine  miles  long  from  Crow  Lake 
to  Healy's  Falls  on  the  Trent  River,  whence  the  iron  was  conveyed 
by  boat  to  Rice  Lake,  and  thence  by  waggon,  twelve  miles  to 
the  dock  at  Cobourg.  The  pig  iron  sold  readily  at  $35.00  per  ton, 
but  upon  the  completion  of  the  St.  Lawrence  canals,  foreign 
pig  was  laid  down  at  Belleville  and  Cobourg  for  $16.00  per  ton, 
and  Vanorman's  venture  was  a  total  loss. 

After  Vanorman,  other  ventures  were  the  Marmora  Iron 
Foundry,  whose  losses  represented  nearly  $20,000,  and  an  English 
company  whose  loss  was  about  $75,000;  while  in  1875,  an  experi- 
ment was  made  of  using  petroleum  for  a  fuel,  with  the  result  that 
the  plant  was  completely  consumed. 

In  1837,  Uriah  Seymour  operated  a  furnace  at  Madoc.  The 
ore  was  obtained  from  the  Seymour  Iron  Mine,  five  miles  north 
of  the  village.  Limestone  was  first  used  as  a  flux,  and  material 
from  the  locality  used  for  the  lining.  The  linings,  however, 
were  slagged  out  as  rapidly  as  they  could  be  replaced,  while  a 
new  lining  obtained  from  Rossie  in  New  York  State,  similar 
to  that  used  in  the  furnaces  there,  afforded  no  better  results. 
Seymour  then  substituted  for  the  limestone  a  sandy  clay,  on  which 
the  furnace  ran  successfully  for  eight  or  nine  years,  and  it  was  to 
this  feature  that  Seymour  attributed  his  success.  His  supply  of 
charcoal  becoming  exhausted,  he  sawed  cord  wood  in  two-foot 
lengths,  and  employing  one  tuyere  only,  the  furnace  was  in  opera- 
tion for  seventy-five  days,  iron  of  excellent  quality  being  pro- 
duced. Encouraged  with  these  results  Seymour  then  worked  the 
furnace  to  full  capacity  with  all  tuyeres  in  use,  but  produced  an 
inferior  pig.  By  closing  all  but  one  tuyere,  however,  his  pro- 
duction sank  to  1\  tons  per  day,  but  the  quality  was  restored. 
Seymour's  partner  was  killed  by  an  explosion  in  the  mine,  and 
the  difficulty  of  settling  with  the  heirs,  and  Seymour's  ill  health, 
caused  the  abandonment  of  operations. 

Vanorman  resumed  smelting  in  the  west  part  of  Norfolk  in 
1854,  having  been  offered  $45.00  per  ton  for  pig  iron  of  equal 
quality  to  that  of  his  former  production.  In  1855,  he  shipped 
400  tons,  but  the  iron  would  not  chill,  and  he  was  compelled  to 
sell  it  at  $22.00,  and  his  losses  on  this  venture  were  $32,000. 


154  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

In  the  report  of  the  Royal  Commission  of  1890,  on  the  mineral 
resources  of  Ontario,  to  which  the  writer  is  greatly  indebted  for 
these  notes,  this  record  of  early  endeavour  and  achievement  is 
referred  to  as  a  "  Hapless  record  of  failures."  Upon  close  analysis, 
this  characterization  is  by  no  means  justified.  The  first  furnace 
of  1800,  was  in  blast  two  years,  and  it  is  inconceivable  that  the 
furnace  would  have  been  kept  in  operation  for  that  length  of 
time  at  a  loss.  The  ore  supply  for  the  furnace  was  obtained 
from  small,  high-grade  pockets  of  hematite,  which  occurred  in  a 
ferruginous  Potsdam  sandstone.  It  is  quite  reasonable  to  assume, 
that  the  furnace  ran  successfully  until  these  pockets  were  worked 
out,  and  that  no  new  sources  of  supply  were  found  within  dis- 
tances that  would  permit  of  the  economic  transportation  of  ore 
to  the  furnace. 

John  Mason  fought  manfully  against  overwhelming  odds,  and 
failed  mainly  through  insufficient  capital,  and  inadequate  furnace 
lining.  His  instance  in  the  year  1813  is  the  first  record  of  a 
request  to  the  Government  for  aid  to  the  mineral  industry,  and 
this  first  request  met  with  a  refusal.  Let  us  note  the  sturdy 
pride  of  the  old  man,  who,  when  the  Government  refused  his 
request,  "therefore,  would  not  ask  for  the  cannon."  We  may 
also  note  his  abiding  faith,  that  those  who  came  after  him  would 
succeed  where  he  failed. 

Vanorman's  case  constitutes  a  continuous  record  of  success 
for  twenty-five  years.  When,  however,  he  shifted  the  scene  of  his 
operations  to  Marmora,  his  failure  was  due  to  conditions  over  which 
he  had  no  control,  and  which,  doubtless,  he  could  not  forecast.  The 
improvements  in  methods  of  transportation  brought  the  iron  pro- 
ducing sections  of  England  closer  to  the  Ontario  market  than  was 
Vanorman's  furnace  at  thirty-two  miles  distant.  That  his  former 
experience  had  been  gained  in  the  treatment  of  bog  ores,  and  that 
he  was  suddenly  confronted  with  the  problem  of  smelting  a  hard 
dense  magnetite,  such  as  the  Blairton  ore,  need  not  be  considered 
as  factors  contributory  to  his  non-success  here,  for  the  man  who 
was  the  first  to  utilize  waste  gases  for  heating  the  blast,  and 
whose  furnace  stoves  were  similar  to  those  in  use  at  the  present 
day,  would,  we  may  be  assured,  be  sagacious  enough  to  adopt 
his  treatment  to  the  requirements  as  imposed  in  the  utilization 
of  an  ore  of  a  different  character. 


Notes  on  Early  Mining  155 

The  case  of  Uriah  Seymour,  who  operated  successfully  for 
eight  or  nine  years,  certainly  cannot  be  called  a  failure,  here  again 
Lb  an  instance  of  remarkable  ingenuity  in  utilizing  local  conditions 
in  overcoming  local  difficulties.  Last  year  Ontario's  production 
of  pig  iron  totalled  286,216  tons,  valued  at  $4,716,857,  and  her 
production  of  steel  237,855  tons,  valued  at  $4,168,127.  This  result 
has  largely  been  obtained  by  the  aid  of  that  Government  assistance 
BO  harshly  denied  John  Mason  nearly  one  hundred  years  ago.  The 
record  as  a  whole  is  one  of  achievement  and  not  of  failure;  and  it 
is  fitting,  that  some  testimony  be  borne  in  the  praise  of  those 
men  who,  with  patient  courage  and  unfailing  resource,  "blazed 
the  trail." 


A  NEW  IRON  ORE  FIELD  IN   THE  PROVINCE 
OF  NEW  BRUNSWICK. 

By  John  E.  Hardman,  S.B.  Ma.E.,  Montreal,  Que. 

(Ottawa  Meeting,    March,    1908.) 

The  discovery  of  large  deposits  of  iron  ore  near  the  shore  of 
the  Bay  of  Chaleur,  in  the  Province  of  New  Brunswick,  in  forma- 
tions belonging  to  the  Pre-Cambrian,  or  Cambro-Silurian,  period 
conies  as  a  surprise  both  to  geologists  and  mining  men,  who  hitherto 
may  have  regarded  New  Brunswick  as  containing  less  profitable 
mineral  wealth  than  any  of  the  other  Provinces.  When  to  this 
statement  is  added  the  further  one  that,  the  present  facts  indicate 
the  probability  that  this  district  contains  as  large,  or  larger,  de- 
posits of  merchantable  iron  ore  as  have  hitherto  been  found  in 
the  Dominion,  there  will  be  no  excuse  needed  for  presenting  to 
the  notice  of  this  Institute  a  preliminary,  and  somewhat  frag- 
mentary, account  of  the  field. 

No  geological  reconnaissance  of  this  portion  of  New  Brunswick 
has  been  made  (so  far  as  the  publications  of  the  Survey  show) 
since  the  seasons  of  1879  and  1880,  when  Dr.  R.  W.  Ells  examined 
the  district  as  well  as  could  then  be  done  by  canoe  traverse  of 
the  principal  streams  which  flow  into  the  Bay  of  Chaleur.  The 
County  of  Gloucester  was  then,  and  in  parts  is  to-day,  a  wilder- 
ness which  is  traversed  in  the  winter  time  only  by  trappers  and 
lumbermen,  and  in  the  summer  time  by  sportsmen,  for  the  river 
and  its  tributary  streams  have  long  been  choice  ground  for  salmon 
and  trout  fishing. 

The  district  under  consideration  lies  approximately  along  the 
meridian  of  65°  50'  West  Longitude,  and  the  parallel  of  47°  25' 
North  Latitude,  and  is  near  the  southern  boundary  of  the  County 
of  Gloucester.  The  limits  of  the  field  have  as  yet  been  by  no  means 
defined  or  determined,  but  may  be  taken,  according  to  present 
knowledge,  as  having  an  extreme  length  of  some  20  miles  north 
and  south,  with  a  width  of  not  less  than  5  miles.     This  extreme 


A  New  Iron  Ore  Field.  157 

length  takes  in  the  field  on  the  "Mill  Stream"  (so-called)  lying 
some  8  to  9  miles  north-west  of  the  town  of  Bathurst,  as  well  as 
the  portion,  which  is  hereafter  described  more  fully,  on  the  north- 
ern bank  of  the  Nipisiguit  River.  The  larger  section  has  an  area 
of  approximately  30  square  miles.  There  is  a  linear  gap  of  about 
16  miles  between  the  Nipisiguit  area  and  the  small  area  on  the 
Mill  Stream. 

The  rocks  in  which  these  deposits  of  iron  ore  are  found  are  all 
metamorphosed  or  crystalline.  They  have  been  mapped  as  Pre- 
Cambrian  and  belong,  probably,  to  one  of  the  Huronian  members. 

In  a  general  way  they  consist  of  micaceous  and  chloritic 
schists  and  slates  with  some  quartzites.  They  are  frequently 
cut  by  small  veinlets  of  quartz,  and  are  also  infrequently  pene- 
trated by  dikes  of  jasper. 

The  surface  rock  about  the  outcrops  is  a  mica  schist,  but  the 
immediate  hanging  wall  of  the  deposit  is  igneous,  being  a  gabbro- 
diorite;  the  underlying  rock  or  foot  wall  is  a  completely  altered 
rock  showing,  under  the  microscope,  only  chlorite  and  muscovite, 
and  its  origin  is  uncertain,  but  it  suggests  (as  is  shown  in  the  hang- 
ing) that  it  comes  from  a  true  volcanic. 

The  foot  wall  rock  is  filled  with  cubic  crystals,  both  large  and 
small,  of  pyrite  on  the  edge  near  the  body  of  iron  ore,  but  its 
lower  portion  is  more  free  from  this  metallic  sulphide.  The  struc- 
tural and  stratigraphical  relations  remain  to  be  worked  out. 

The  designation  of  the  ore  found  in  this  field  is  best  given  by 
the  words  "Magnetic-hematite."  It  has,  as  a  rule,  the  character- 
istic cherry  red  streak  and  dark  grey  colour  of  hematite,  but  in 
spots  and  in  the  vicinity  of  jasper  intrusions  is  altered  to  a  black 
ore  which  is  magnetite.  As  a  rule  the  ore  is  attracted  by  the  magnet 
a  frequent  characteristic  of  many  grey  specular  ores.  The  mag- 
netism, however,  does  not  permeate  all  portions  of  the  ore  body, 
but  is  most  frequently  noted  in  the  vicinity  of  the  small  intrusive 
veinlets  of  quartz  and  jasper  which  here  and  there  penetrate  the 
ore  mass;  in  such  places  the  ore  has  been  converted  into  a  strict 
magnetite  which  gives  the  characteristic  black  streak,  but  remote 
from  such  intrusions  the  red  streak  of  hematite  is  everywhere 
noted. 

At  the  northern  edge  of  this  field  (on  the  Ellis  property)  the 
only  ore  seen  is  a  grey  specular,  which  has  not  been  exploited,  but 


158  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

which  appears  to  be  more  steeply  inclined  and  to  have  a  width  of 
not  over  5  or  6  feet. 

The  shore  of  the  Bay  of  Chaleur  contains  a  narrow  strip  of 
rocks  belonging  to  the  lower  and  middle  Carboniferous,  which  is 
followed  to  the  south  by  red  and  purple  shales  and  sandstones 
which  represent,  probably,  the  Mill  Stone  Grit,  as  they  are  followed 
by,  and  include  some  of,  the  typical  coarse  grey  sandstones  of  the 
Grit.  This  Carboniferous  system  extends  along  the  eastern  bank 
of  the  Nipisiguit  River  for  13  or  14  miles,  but  the  western  bank 
shows  only  the  old  granites  and  gneisses  of  Laurentian  Age  for 
the  same  distance.  The  inclination  of  the  Carboniferous  is  very 
slight,  the  average  running  from  3  to  4  degrees  from  the  horizontal. 
Above,  or  to  the  south  of,  the  Laurentian  and  lying  directly  upon 
the  granite  are  reddish  and  grey  schists  and  slates,  shading  into 
blue  or  black  slates  which,  in  places,  are  highly  disturbed  and 
occasionally  cut  by  quartz  veins  which  render  the  schists  more 
quartzose  and  less  felspathic.  Frequently  the  black  slates  are 
ferruginous  with  pyrites,  and  in  places  the  silicification  has  formed 
hard  green  quartzites  whose  colour  is  doubtless  due  to  a  mixture 
of  chlorite. 

It  is  in  this  series  of  altered  schists  and  slates  that  the  iron 
beds  occur.  Twenty-eight  years  ago  these  schists  and  slates  were 
provisionally  regarded  as  "Cambro-Silurian"  or  portions  of  them 
as  "  Pre-Cambrian."  Although  unaltered eruptives  were  not  noticed 
in  the  field  the  microscopic  examination  of  the  hanging  and  foot 
wall  country  indicate  their  presence  in  the  vicinity. 

Geological  exploration  of  the  region  is  exceedingly  difficult 
owing  to  the  dense  growth  of  timber  which  covers  it,  and  to  the 
frequent  patches  of  thick  moss  which  cover  the  rock  exposures. 
Undoubtedly  a  field  party  will  be  put  into  this  new  district  during 
the  coming  summer  in  an  endeavour  to  more  clearly  define  the 
probable  limits  of  the  field,  and  to  make  a  correct  section,  if  possi- 
ble, of  the  rock  series  in  which  the  ore  occurs. 

Geography  and  topograph]/. — The  property  lies  about  21  miles 
from  the  town  of  Bathurst  in  a  south  south-westerly  direction, 
and  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Nipisiguit  River.  The  country 
rises  quite  rapidly  in  this  distance,  so  that  the  elevation  of  the  beds 
is  about  450  to  500  feet  above  sea  level.  Going  south-west  the 
country  rises  steadily  until  the  hills  of  this  section  are  reached, 


A  New  Iron  Ore  Field.  159 

which  vary  in  height  from  800  to  1,500  feet  above  the  sea  level. 
The  general  character  of  the  country  is  hilly  and  broken,  with 
stretches  of  level  lands  along  the  main  river.  The  general  direction 
of  the  slight  elevations  which  give  a  rolling  character  to  the  country 
is  north-west  and  south-east,  and  across  these  ridges,  with  a  gen- 
eral strike  of  north  north-east,  run  the  bands  of  the  formation 
which  cany  the  iron  ore,  and  which  in  consequence  are  sometimes 
exposed  along  the  crests  of  the  ridges. 

Discovery. — The  first  discovery  of  ore  in  this  field  dates  back 
to  the  year  1902,  when  Mr.  William  Hussey  of  Bathurst,  in 
attending  some  traps  which  had  been  set  on  Austen  Brook 
(a  tributary  of  the  Xipisiguit  River)  hurt  his  foot  upon  a  rock 
beneath  the  snow  which  rock  turned  out  to  be  a  piece  of  float  ore 
from  the  crest  of  the  hill  nearby.  The  heavy  character  of  this 
small  boulder  puzzled  Mr.  Hussey,  who  knocked  off  a  piece  and 
took  it  home  with  him  where  it  was  shown  to  one  or  two  people, 
and,  by  the  kindness  of  Mr.  T.  M.  Burns,  was  taken  to  Fredericton 
for  examination  by  a  Provincial  Government  official  there,  who 
at  once  pronounced  it  to  be  iron  ore  of  a  fairly  good  quality. 

The  previous  history  of  iron  ore  deposits  in  New  Brunswick 
had  not  been  such  as  to  make  their  mining  particularly  attractive 
as  a  venture,  and  it  is  not  therefore  surprising  to  find  that  little 
interest  was  shown  in  the  matter.  I  am  informed  that  a  represen- 
tative of  the  Dominion  Iron  and  Steel  corporation  visited  the  lo- 
cality a  few  years  ago,  but  saw  only  the  scattered  and  comparative- 
ly small  outcrops  in  the  area  which  is  now  designated  as  "  No.  II." 
I  am  also  informed  that  this  gentleman  entertained  a  favourable 
opinion  from  the  small  surface  exposures  he  was  then  able  to  see. 
But,  in  the  winter  of  1905.  when  in  the  same  locality  Mr.  Hussey 
remembered  his  previous  mishap  and  made  a  short  but 
more  thorough  examination  of  the  region,  with  the  result  that  he 
found  other  outcrops  and  an  abundance  of  fragments  or  boulders 
of  ore  on  the  southern  bank  of  Austen  Brook.  This  convinced  Mr. 
Hussey  and  Mr.  Burns  that  the  ore  was  distributed  over  a  quite 
extensive  area,  and  these  gentlemen  secured  Rights  to  Search 
upon  several  five-mile  locations  in  this  district. 

Through  the  assistance  of  friends,  advice  was  received  from 
Dr.  Eugene  Haanel,  the  Dominion  Superintendent  of  Mines,  and 
under  his  authority  Mr.  Einar  Lindemann  made  a  survey  of  a  por- 


160  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

tion  of  the  field  with  the  magnetometer,  in  whose  use  Mr.  Linde- 
mann  was  skilled.  The  Government  of  New  Brunswick  were  also 
petitioned  (under  statutory  regulations)  for  the  use  of  the  Dia- 
mond Drill  belonging  to  the  Province,  which  was  granted,  and 
the  first  hole  was  finished  about  the  beginning  of  December,  1906, 
by  which  time  Mr.  Lindemann  had  completed  his  magnetometric 
survey  and  fyled  his  report.  Mr.  Lindemann's  opinion,  as  ex- 
pressed in  his  report,  was  favourable  to  the  existence  of  large 
bodies  of  ore,  but  could  not,  of  course,  indicate  the  purity  or 
otherwise  of  such  ore.  For  this  reason  the  then  owners  decided 
to  continue  the  work  of  drilling  the  field  and  obtaining  analyses 
of  the  ore  found  in  the  cores. 

The  following  record  of  the  seven  holes  drilled  is  necessarily 
abbreviated,  but  for  the  purposes  of  this  paper  will  be  sufficiently 
comprehensive. 

Borehole  No.  1  was  located  some  200  feet  south  of  the  north- 
ern end  of  the  deposit  found  on  Area  No.  I.  At  the  northern  end 
of  this  area  there  is  a  small  hill,  rising  on  the  southern  bank  of 
Austin  Brook  precipitously  to  a  height  of  78  feet,  from  which 
height  there  is  a  gradual  descent  to  the  south  of  nearly  40  feet, 
and  at  the  base  of  this  slope  and  on  the  hanging,  or  western,  wall 
of  the  deposit,  No.  1,  Borehole  was  put  down  to  a  depth  of  162  feet. 
It  was  in  ore  continuously  from  35  feet  to  the  bottom,  giving  127 
feet  of  core  which  was  analysed  for  Insoluble  matter,  Iron,  Phos- 
phorus and  Sulphur,  the  average  length  of  core  represented  by 
each  analysis  being  10  feet.  In  this  core  there  was  found  to  be 
great  variation;  Insoluble  matter  ranged  from  8.04%  to  27.74%; 
Metallic  Iron  had  a  minimum  of  39 . 6%  and  a  maximum  of  57.2%; 
Phosphorus  varied  from  .486  to  1.007,  and  Sulphur  showed 
variations  from  .047%  to  .699%.  Close  inspection  of  the  results 
when  tabulated  showed  that  the  ore  occurred  in  bands  or  strata, 
ribbon-like,  and  that  these  strata  were  easily  separated  the  one 
from  the  other,  so  that  it  would  be  quite  possible  to  hand-sort 
the  ore  into  two  piles,  one  of  which  would  easily  exceed  52%  of 
metallic  iron  with  a  minimum  of  silica,  and  the  other  would  con- 
tain approximately  45%  of  metallic  iron  with  the  maximum 
amount  of  silica.  These  bands  or  strata  of  good  ore  range  from 
10  to  25  feet  in  thickness.  Subsequent  stripping  of  the  surface 
clearly  showed  a  banded  structure. 


A  New  Iron  Ore  Field.  161 

Xo.  2  Borehole  was  put  down  approximately  in  the  middle 
of  Area  No.  I,  about  S00  feet  south  of  the  first  borehole.  Its 
depth  is  161  feet.  It  began  in  iron  ore  and  showed  140  feet  of  mer- 
chantable ore.  Like  No.  1  hole  it  shows  a  banded  structure  and 
out  of  the  140  feet  there  are  60  feet  which  average: — 

Metallic  Iron  54.11%,  Insoluble  matter  16.7%,  Phosphorus 
0.73%  Sulphur  0.098%. 

On  the  bank  of  the  Nipisiguit  River,  and  at  the  extreme 
southern  end  of  Area  No.  I,  Borehole  No.  3  was  located  but,  un- 
fortunately, upon  the  foot  wall  instead  of  on  the  hanging  wall  of 
the  deposit;  it  therefore  proved  barren,  but  a  sample  taken  from 
the  surface  at  this  point  gave: — Metallic  Iron  51.6%,  Silica  15.28%, 
Phosphorus  .82%,  Sulphur  .05%. 

No.  4  Borehole  was  put  down  about  450  feet  to  the  westward 
of  the  outcrop  and  about  its  centre;  this  made  it  on  the  hanging 
wall  of  the  ore  body.  The  total  depth  attained  by  this  hole  was 
~>\1~  feet,  the  first  ore  was  encountered  at  a  depth  of  434  feet  and 
for  70  feet,  or  to  a  vertical  depth  of  504  feet,  the  ore  was  found 
continuous  and  of  the  same  quality  as  has  been  shown  in  the  pre- 
vious analyses. 

These  four  holes  proved  the  existence  of  an  ore  body  of  at 

_M40  feet  in  length  to  a  depth  of  500  feet  below  the  surface, 
which,  in  itself,  is  a  very  considerable  deposit.  Of  this  large  amount 
of  ore  fully  one-half  will  give  53%  Metallic  Iron  and  not  over  15% 
of  Silica. 

Area  No.  II,  so  called,  lies  about  1,000  feet  to  the  eastward 
of  Area  No.  I.  It  presents  at  least  five  distinct  outcroppings  in 
the  shape  of  knobs  or  small  lenticular  masses,  the  axis  of  which 

i  more  easterly  direction,  being  north  30°  east,  as  against 
north  15°  east  for  Area  No.  I.  No  boreholes  were  put  down  upon 
this  area,  which  previously  had  had  some  stripping  done  by  a 
representative  of  the  Dominion  Iron  and  Steel  Company.  From 
the  lines  of  the  magnetometric  survey  made  by  Mr.  Lindemann  it 
will  be  fair  to  assume  a  length  of  1,500  feet  for  the  axis  of  the  ore 
body  in  Area  II.  Surface  samples  from  this  Area  gave  the  follow- 
ing analysis: — 

Iron 50 .  23 

Silica 15.32 

Phosphorus 0 .  623 

n 


162  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Manganese 1 .  29 

Sulphur 0.044 

Alumina .  0 .  94 

Lime '■ 2.18 

Magnesia 0 .  26 

Area  No.  Ill  is  an  oval  shaped  area  lying  from  3,000  to  5,000 
feet  north  of  the  northern  bank  of  the  Nipisiguit  River  in  Lot  12 
of  the  17th  Range  of  the  Township  of  Bathurst;  the  major  axis 
of  this  Area  has  a  direction  of  north  30°  east,  and  a  length  so  far 
proved  of  2,400  feet.  Within  this  Area  are  half  a  dozen  or  more 
outcrops  which,  if  I  may  express  my  belief,  will  be  found  to  unite 
when  stripping  has  been  accomplished,  into  one  or  possibly  two 
large  lenses  or  bodies  of  merchantable  ore.  Up  to  the  present  time 
only  three  drill  holes  have  been  put  down  on  this  Area,  which  have 
proved  large  bodies  of  a  better  grade  of  ore  than  in  Area  No.  I, 
and  have  shown  the  dip  to  be  to  the  westward  at  angles  ranging 
from  54  to  56  degrees. 

Borehole  No.  5,  at  a  distance  of  about  700  feet  from  the 
southern  edge  of  this  Area,  was  sunk  vertically  upon  the  hanging 
wall  of  the  ore  body  to  a  depth  of  over  350  feet.  Ore  was  encoun- 
tered at  a  depth  of  23  feet,  and  the  core  was  continuously  in  ore 
to  347  feet,  showing  a  vertical  depth  here  of  at  least  324  feet,  or,  on 
dip  of  55°,  a  transverse  width  of  ore  in  excess  of  190  feet.  Thirty- 
three  analyses  were  made  of  this  core  in  portions  representing 
(with  one  exception)  10  feet  of  the  core.  The  same  structure  was 
revealed  that  was  shown  by  analyses  of  Boreholes  1,  2  an.d  4, 
namely,  that  the  ore.  was  composed  of  bands  of  varying  quality, 
there  being  in  this  cross-section  4  bands  of  excellent  commercial 
grade  and  3  bands  of  a  lower  grade  than  is,  at  the  present  time,  in 
demand.  The  first  50  feet  of  the  core,  i.e.,  from  23  feet  to  73  feet, 
gave  the  following  average  analysis:  Insoluble  matter  13.4%, 
Metallic  Iron  52.68%,  Phosphorus  .99%,  Sulphur  .047%,;  this 
was  followed  by  50  feet  of  ore  giving  over  20%  of  Insolubles  and 
less  than  45%  of  Iron.  Then  followed  20  feet  with  15%  of  Insol- 
ubles, 52 .  58%  of  Iron,  .  752%  of  Phosphorus,  and  .05%  of  Sulphur. 
This,  in  turn,  was  succeeded  by  70  feet  of  ore  averaging  only  44 . 3% 
of  Iron  and  running  high  in  Silica  and  Sulphur.  After  this  came 
50  feet  of  good  ore,  averaging  53%  Metallic  Iron,  which  in  its  turn 


A  New  Iron  Ore  Field.  163 

is  followed  by  40  feet  of  46%  ore;  the  whole  concluding  with  44 
feet  of  ore,  the  analysis  of  which  gives  12.25%  of  Insolubles,  and 
54'  |  oi  Metallic  Iron. 

This  hole  was  put  down  on  what,  upon  further  investigation, 
may  prove  to  be  the  easternmost  bed  in  this  No.  Ill  Area;  at  a 
transverse  distance  of  250  to  300  feet  to  the  west  another  series  of 
strongly  magnetic  lenses  appear,  but  none  of  them  have  been  drilled. 
The  last  hole,  No.  7,  is  located  about  750  feet  north  of  No.  5;  it 
encountered  iron  ore  at  a  depth  of  30  feet  and  passed  out  of  the 
ore  at  about  107  feet;  in  this  77  feet  there  are  nearly  60  feet  of  ex- 
cellent ore.  Beginning  at  40  feet  in  depth  up  to  83  feet  there  is 
a  length  of  core  42  feet  6  inches  long,  which  averages  53.10% 
Metallic  Iron,  with  17.02%  of  Insoluble  matter.  From  91  feet  to 
107  feet  there  are  16  feet  of  ore  averaging  54.32%  Metallic  Iron, 
with  14.37%  of  Insolubles. 

Consideration  of  these  figures  will,  I  think,  clearly  indicate  that 
iron  ore  in  very  large  quantities  exists  in  this  hitherto  unknown 
region.  The  depths  to  which  the  boreholes  have  proved  the  ex- 
istence of  the  iron,  coupled  with  the  horizontal  extent  over  which 
the  ores  are  known  to  exist,  and  the  widths  (which  have  been 
measured  to  average  fully  100  feet)  demonstrate  that  the  bodies 
are  large. 

The  analyses  of  the  cores  is  not  altogether  satisfactory  from 
a  chemical  point  of  view  inasmuch  as  the  method  followed  (by 
digestion  in  acid)  does  not  show  the  true  Silica,  but  only  Silica 
plus  silicates  and  other  insoluble  compounds,  which,  from  the 
iron  master's  standpoint,  may  be  a  very  different  matter.  In 
the  present  case  the  "Insolubles"  are  really  country  rock,  which 
has  previously  been  mentioned  as  igneous.  The  insolubility  of 
many  silicates  in  strong  acids  is  well  known  to  chemists.  The 
gabbros  and  diorites  of  the  hanging  wall,  with  the  muscovite  and 
chlorite  of  the  foot  wall,  contain  silica  percentages  ranging  from  50 
to  80.  In  the  few  complete  analyses  which  have  been  made  of  the 
ore  (the  silica  having  been  determined  correctly,  either  by  fusion 
or  by  the  hydro-fluoric  acid  method)  the  actual  percentage  of 
Silica  has  ranged  from  7  to  12,  and  there  have  been  found  amounts 
of  alumina  ranging  from  .05  to  1.2,  lime  from  2%  to  3%  and 
magnesia  from  \%  to  1%. 

By  hand  picking  or  rough  lump  sorting  fully  one  half  of  these 


164  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

large  ore  bodies  can  be  made  to  average  from  57  to  58%  Metallic 
Iron,  with  10%  of  Silica;  the  Phosphorus  in  such  ore  will  run  about 
0 .  88%  and  the  Sulphur  0 .  055%.  With  ores  of  such  a  character  no 
gentleman  conversant  with  the  iron  ore  markets  of  the  European 
Continent  would  be  disposed  to  quarrel. 

For  such  a  basic  ore  the  demand  is  now  large  and  steady,  and 
the  location  of  this  new  field  within  20  miles  of  a  sheltered  deep 
water  harbor  enhances  its  commercial  importance,  as  ocean  ship- 
ments from  this  harbor  can  be  made  during  at  least  9  months  of 
the  year. 

The  property,  including  some  30  square  miles  of  territory, 
passed  into  the  control  of  the  Drummond  Mines  Limited  in  Nov- 
ember, 1907,  and  by  this  corporation  it  will  be  actively  exploited 
this  summer;  it  will  also  be  tested  in  the  furnaces  of  the  London- 
derry Iron  and  Mining  Company,  although  its  composition  is 
such  as  to  occasion  no  uncertainty  as  to  the  quality  of  pig  iron 
obtainable  from  it. 

Although  the  ore  is  a  non-bessemer,  the  significance  of  this 
new  district  to  Eastern  Canada  is  very  great.  Iron  ores  of  good 
quality  are  scarce  in  our  Dominion  and  so  far  have  been  at  con- 
siderable distances  from  the  seaboard;  it  is  therefore  with  the 
feeling  that  this  new  field  is  well  worthy  of  a  preliminary  notice, 
and  that  it  will  probably  add  very  largely  to  the  Dominion's 
resources  of  furnace  oie,  that  I  have  ventured  to  bring  this  account 
to  your  notice. 


CHARCOAL:— THE  BLAST  FURNACE  FUEL  FOR  ONTARIO 
By  R.  H.  Sweetzer,  Columbus,  Ohio. 

(Ottawa  Meeting,  March,  1908.) 

The  blast  furnaces  01  Ontario  have  for  the  most  part  depended 
on  the  United  States  for  their  fuel.  Whether  the  coke  comes  di- 
rect from  American  ovens  or  whether  coal  is  shipped  to  Canadian 
coke  ovens,  the  fuel  cost  per  ton  of  pig  is  higher  than  in  countries 
provided  with  their  own  supply  of  fuel.  Tne  use  of  electricity  for 
smelting  Ontario  iron  ores  has  been  tried,  but  as  a  commercial  oper- 
ation electric  smelting  for  making  pig  iron  is,  and  for  many  years 
will  be,  impracticable.  At  the  present  time  there  is  in  Ontario 
such  an  abundance  of  material  for  making  an  ideal  blast  furnace 
fuel,  that  it  seems  but  necessary  to  prove  the  superiority  and  to 
indicate  the  possibilities  of  this  fuel  to  start  a  movement  that  will 
place  Ontario  in  the  position  the  Province  should  occupy  in  respect 
to  the  manufacture  of  iron  and  steel  and  to  make  her  independent 
of  all  outside  sources  of  blast  furnace  fuels.  There  is  only  one  fact 
that  inclines  one  to  hesitate  in  presenting  these  views,  and  that  re- 
lates to  the  destruction  of  the  forests.  But  there  is  so  much  land 
in  Ontario  that  must  be  cleared  for  settlement  and  civilization 
that  this  objection  need  not  be  seriously  considered  for  many 
years  to  come. 

Charcoal  was  the  first  fuel  used  in  the  primitive  blast  furnaces, 
and  its  use  was  continued  in  England  until  the  destruction  of  the 
forests  brought  about  prohibitive  laws  and  the  blast  furnaces  were 
compelled  to  use  coal  and  coke.  On  this  continent  charcoal  was 
the  almost  universal  fuel  up  to  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  and  its 
use  has  been  continued  in  some  sections  of  the  United  States  and 
Canada  to  the  present  day.  But  with  few  exceptions  the  char- 
coal blast  furnaces  now  in  operation  are  not  up-to-date  nor  are  they 
large  producers.     Those  furnaces  which  have  been  equipped  with 


166  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

modern  machinery  are  already  feeling  the  lack  of  charcoal  and  in 
some  cases  have  even  imported  part  of  their  supply  from  Canadian 
kilns.  The  rapid  destruction  of  the  forests  supplying  wood  for 
charcoal,  together  with  the  usual  small  capacity  and  light  weight 
equipment  of  existing  charcoal  blast  furnaces,  has  brought  about 
the  generally  accepted  opinion  that  the  use  of  charcoal  as  a  blast 
furnace  fuel  is  almost  a  thing  of  the  past.  With  nearly  all  the 
countries  that  are  now  large  producers  of  pig  iron  this  is  true ;  but 
with  at  least  two  great  possible  producers,  Canada  and  Russia, 
charcoal  is  the  logical,  the  best  and  the  cheapest  blast  furnace  fuel 
for  present  and,  for  a  number  of  years  of,  future  use. 

Charcoal  has  three  great  advantages  over  coke  as  a  blast  fur- 
nace fuel;  and  these  three  main  advantages  bring  about  several 
other  economies  in  operation  and  construction.  Charcoal  re- 
quires : — 

1 .  Less  fuel  per  ton  of  pig  iron  ; 

2.  Less  limestone  per  ton  of  pig  iron ; 

3.  Less  blast  per  ton  of  pig  iron. 

Less  Fuel 

Charcoal,  on  account  of  its  purity,  is  almost  100  per  cent. fuel, 
whereas  coke  contains  from  seven  to  fourteen  per  cent,  of  ash.  The 
ash  not  only  lessens  the  total  amount  of  available  fuel,  but  it  also 
requires  a  part  of  that  fuel  to  furnish  heat  for  the  smelting  of  the  ash. 
This  brings  the  net  available  fuel  in  coke  to  from  80  to  90  percent, 
of  its  weight. 

Actual  results  have  shown  that  charcoal  pig  iron  was  made  on 
2,083  pounds  of  charcoal,  where  under  similar  conditions  it  took 
2,207  pounds  of  coke  per  ton  of  pig  iron.  These  results  were  ob- 
tained at  the  blast  furnace  of  the  Algoma  Steel  Co.,  SaultSte.  Marie, 
Ontario,  during  the  time  that  No.  1  furnace  was  using  charcoal  and 
No.  2  furnace  using  coke,  April,  May  and  June,  1905.  Nearly  all 
conditions  were  similar,  except  that  the  charcoal  was  very  poor  and 
the  coke  was  good.  Some  few  furnaces  in  the  Great  Lakes  region 
will  make  iron  on  less  than  2,200  pounds  of  coke  per  ton  of  pig,  but 
charcoal  iron  can  be  made  on  less  than,  1,900  pounds  of  charcoal 
and  a  fuel  rate  of  between  1,600  and  1,700  pounds  per  ton  of  pig 
has  been  reached  under  favorable  conditions.     A  good  average 


Charcoal.  167 

figure  for  the  amount  of  coke  per  ton  of  pig  iron  for  the  whole  year 
round  is  2,300  pounds;  the  amount  of  charcoal  on  an  average  is 
about  400  pounds  less. 

Less  Limestone. 

It  requires  only  one  third  to  one  fourth  as  much  limestone  for 
flux  in  a  charcoal  furnace  as  it  does  in  a  coke  furnace.  This  is  chief- 
ly because  there  is  no  sulphur  at  all  and  scarcely  any  ash  in  the  char- 
coal. Most  of  the  sulphur  in  coke  iron  comes  from  the  coke  itself; 
this  is  especially  true  where  only  Lake  ores  are  used.  If  there  is 
not  much  sulphur  in  the  mixture,  then  the  slag  can  be  more  fusible 
and  can  carry  much  less  lime  than  is  permissible  when  the  fuel  and 
the  ores  carry  considerable  sulphur.  This  advantage  of  charcoal 
fuel  is  of  especial  importance  in  the  smelting  of  ores  from  Ontario 
on  account  of  the  presence  of  sulphur  in  so  many  of  them. 

Some  charcoal  blast  furnaces  in  Michigan  use  only  175  to  200 
pounds  of  limestone  per  ton  of  pig  iron  made;  but  at  the  Soo  it  was 
found  that  between  300  and  400  pounds  were  required.  Some 
coke  furnaces  are  so  favorably  supplied  with  good  ores  and  low-ash 
coke  that  it  takes  only  800  to  1,000  pounds  of  limestone  per  ton  of 
pig,  but  most  of  tfiem  require  1,000  to  1,400  pounds,  and  some  take 
even  more  on  account  of  lean  ores  or  high  sulphur  in  the  mixture. 

The  less  limestone  required  for  flux,  the  less  slag  there  will  be 
to  carry  off  heat  from  the  furnace,  and  the  less  bulk  of  material  will 
have  to  be  taken  care  of  inside  the  furnace.  Consequently  there  is 
less  flux  to  handle  in  filling  the  furnace,  and  the  less  slag  there  is 
to  be  taken  away  from  the  furnace. 

Less  Blast. 

The  question  of  the  quality  of  the  air  that  is  taken  into  the 
blowing  engines  to  furnish  the  blast  for  the  furnaces  has  received  so 
little  attention  until  very  recently,  that  it  is  usual  to  find  that  no 
special  arrangements  have  been  made  to  get  proper  air.  Even  in 
many  comparatively  new  plants  the  blowing  engines  take  the  air 
right  from  the  hot,  and  often  moist,  engine  room.  At  the  Soo,  the 
air  enters  the  blowing  engines  through  large  intake  pipes  that  ex- 
tend from  the  air  valves  out  through  the  side  of  the  building  to  the 
out-doors,  thus  furnishing  the  air  at  the  temperature  and  dryness 


168  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

of  the  outside  atmosphere.  This  temperature  is  many  degrees 
cooler  than  that  of  the  inside  air,  at  all  times  of  the  year.  In  some 
of  the  best  equipped  plants  the  Gayley  Dry  air  Blast  Apparatus  has 
been  installed  with  much  success.  In  Ontario,  on  account  of  the 
natural  cold  and  dryness,  there  is  not  so  much  need  of  this  ap- 
paratus, as  there  is  in  the  central  and  southern  parts  of  the  States. 
Under  ordinary  circumstances  it  takes  about  140,000  cu.  ft.  or 
5  tons  of  air  to  make  one  ton  of  coke  pig  iron.  A  ton  of  charcoal 
iron  under  the  same  conditions  can  be  made  with  91,000  cu.  ft.,  or 
about  3£  tons  of  air.  This  great  difference  in  favor  of  charcoal  is 
the  basis  of  many  of  the  ecomonies  in  the  construction  of  a  charcoal 
blast  furnace  compared  with  a  coke  furnace  of  the  same  capacity. 
Requiring  only  65%  as  much  blast  means  a  corresponding  reduc- 
tion in  the  capacity  of  the  blowing  engines,  boilers,  and  hot  blast 
stoves;  it  means  lower  blast  pressure  on  the  engines,  stoves  and  fur- 
nace; it  means  less  volume  and  less  velocity  of  the  waste  gases  and 
consequently  less  flue  dust  carried  over  into  the  down  comers  and 
dust  catcher.  This  last  item  has  been  found  to  actually  bring 
about  a  higher  yield  of  pig  iron  from  ores  smelted  in  a  charcoal  fur- 
nace than  when  the  same  ores  are  smelted  in  a  coke  furnace. 

The  Product. 

The  pig  iron  made  in  a  charcoal  furnace  is  almost  always  low 
in  sulphur;  and  it  is  possible  to  make  iron  with  extremely  low 
silicon,  and  also  low  sulphur.  Although  this  is  possible  with  a 
coke  furnace,  yet  it  is  difficult  to  make  very  low  silicon  and  yet  have 
low  sulphur.  If  a  coke  furnace  works  badly  the  pig  iron  made  is 
invariably  high  in  sulphur;  with  a  charcoal  furnace  in  distress  the 
iron  may  be,  and  generally  is,  all  white  iron,  but  still  the  sulphur 
never  gets  high  enough  to  do  any  harm,  and  seldom,  if  ever,  goes 
over  .040%. 

The  analysis  of  charcoal  iron  can  be  varied  as  desired  within 
the  same  limits  as  in  a  coke  furnace.  Charcoal  iron  can  be  used  for 
any  purpose  that  coke  iron  is  used,  and  besides  can  be  used  for  some 
purposes  for  which  coke  iron  is  not  suitable. 

Charcoal  iron  for  the  basic  open  hearth  process  would  always 
be  low  in  sulphur,  and  the  silicon  could  be  as  low  as  desired. 

The  biggest  blast  furnace  ever  operated  with  charcoal  for  fuel 
was  the  No.  1  furnace  of  the  Algoma  Steel  Co.  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie 


Photo  of  No.  1  Blast  Furnace,  The  Algoma  Steel  Co.,  Saull  Ste.  Marie,  Ont., 
while  running  on  Charcoal,  1905. 


tc  z 


Charcoal.  169 

Ontario.  This  furnace  was  70  feet  high,  13£  feet  diameter  in  the 
bosh,  and  8$  feet  diameter  in  the  hearth.  It  was  first  blown  in  on 
March  6,  1905,  and  was  operated  as  a  charcoal  furnace  until  July 
16,  1905.  Then  for  good  and  sufficient  reasons  the  fuel  was  changed 
from  charcoal  to  coke  without  any  change  in  the  construction  of 
the  furnace,  but  there  was  a  decided  increase  in  the  volume  of  the 
blast  and  in  the  amount  of  limestone  used.  This  furnace  was  large 
for  a  charcoal  furnace,  and  it  made  a  new  world's  record  for  output; 
it  was,  however,  small  for  a  coke  furnace,  yet  the  production  was 
very  large  for  the  rated  capacity.  Comparing  the  best  month's 
work  on  charcoal  with  the  best  month's  work  on  coke,  we  get  a 
fair  idea  of  the  main  points  of  advantage  in  favor  of  the  charcoal. 
But  there  is  one  fact  that  must  be  taken  into  consideration,  and 
that  is  that  at  no  time  while  the  furnace  was  running  on  charcoal 
was  there  a  large  enough  supply  of  charcoal  in  sight  to  warrant 
running  the  furnace  at  the  rate  of  best  working;  the  volume  of  blast 
had  to  be  kept  down  to  suit  the  available  supply  of  fuel.  While 
running  on  coke  there  was  a  sufficient  supply  of  fuel  and  the 
furnace  was  blown  according  to  its  needs. 

The  following  table  gives  the  best  month's  record  for  charcoal, 
and  the  best  for  coke : 


170 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


Month 


Charcoal 

Coke 

May,  1905 

February,  1905 

31 

28 

4,040 

5,618 

130.3 

200.6 

2,016 

2,326 

308 

954 

3,842 

4,291 

33.7 

41.5 

58.5% 

56.5% 

58.3% 

52.2% 

54.84% 

52  9% 

•  2% 

4.3% 

163% 

1.15% 

.014% 

•  026% 

262,742 

466,785 

41.60 

54  67 

42.93 

76.28 

81,423 

127,205 

46.6° 

13.0° 

2.49 

0.86 

$0.28 

21.29 

32.8 

46.9 

30.5 

8,146,000 

13,070,000 

338,952,437 

714,642,885 

70'-6" 

70'-0" 

13'-6" 

13'-6" 

8'-6" 

8'-6" 

9'-6" 

9'-6" 

6'-0" 

6'-0" 

6,119  cu.  ft. 

6,119  cu.  ft. 

9 

9 

5" 

5" 

173  tons 

237  tons 

1,004  tons 

1,453  tons 

4,071  tons 

6,131  tons 

Number  of  days 

Total  product  in  tons  (2,240  lbs) 

Average  product  per  24  hrs 

Pounds  fuel  per  ton  of  pig  iron 

Pounds  limestone  per  ton  of  pig  iron 

Pounds  ore  per  ton  of  pig  iron 

Per  cent,  of  Messabi  ores  used 

Theoretical  yield  in  pig 

Actual  yield  in  pig 

Per  cent,  iron  in  ore  mixture 

Deficit  in  pig 

Average  silicon  in  pig  iron 

Average  sulphur  in  pig  iron 

Pounds  fuel  per  24  hours 

Cubic  feet  air  per  pound  of  fuel 

Pounds  fuel  per  24  hours,  per  cubic  foot  ca 

pacity , 

Cubic  feet  air  per  ton  pig  iron 

Average    temperature    of    air   for    blowing 

engines 

Average  gram's  moisture  in  air 

Advantage  in  cost  of  labour  per  ton  pig. .  .  . 
Tons  pig  per  24  hours  per  1,000  cu.  ft.  ca 

pacity 

Cu.  ft.  capacity  of  furnace  per  ton  pig  per  24 

hours 

Total  pounds  fuel  used 

Total  pounds  air  used 

Height  of  furnace 

Bosh  diameter 

Hearth  diameter 

Stockline  diameter 

Bell  diameter 

Cubic  contents 

Number  of  tuyeres 

Diameter  of  tuyeres 

Biggest  Day's  product 

Biggest  Week's  product 

Biggest  Month's  product 


Charcoal. 


171 


fr  -9<-6' 


^T" 


Total  Cc*T£,V7S 


48S8  CFt- 


-/-a'-f 


,esecy..rt. 


N*l   BLAST      FURNACE 

I90S  —  /»0X, 
AZ-GO/ttA    ST££L    CO.,  Ut». 


J—  S'V.yeres 


HtAHTH     Lt-VCL  . 


THE   REDUCTION    OF   IRON    ORES   IN   THE   ELECTRIC 

FURNACE. 

By  R.  Turnbull,  St.  Catherines,  Ont. 

(Ottawa  Meeting,  March,  1908.) 

The  purpose  of  the  present  paper  is  to  outline  the  progress 
accomplished,  so  far  as  the  author's  knowledge  goes,  in  the  work- 
ing out  of  the  interesting  problem  in  connection  with  the  reduction 
of  iron  ores  in  the  electric  furnace  since  the  close  of  the  Govern- 
ment experiments  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie  in  March,  1906. 

The  experiments  themselves  have  been  faithfully  portrayed 
in  the  Government  report  issued  by  Dr.  Eugene  Haanel.  Atten- 
tion may,  however,  be  drawn  to  the  fact  that  as  the  short  ton  of 
2,000  lbs.  was  taken  as  a  basis  for  those  experiments,  instead  of 
the  long  ton  of  2,240,  corrections  should  be  made  in  respect  to 
the  figures  and  costs  given  in  the  report  in  estimating  the  exact 
cost  of  the  long  ton  of  pig  iron  and  the  amount  that  can  be  pro- 
duced per  h.p.  year. 

In  July,  1906,  the  writer  was  asked  by  Mr.  H.  H.  Noble,  of 
San  Francisco,  Cal.,  to  inspect  an  iron  property  situated  near  the 
junction  of  the  rivers  McLeod  and  Pitt,  in  Shasta  county,  with  a 
view  to  the  erection  in  that  neighbourhood  of  an  electric  smelting 
furnace.  As  a  result  of  this  visit,  Mr.  Noble  determined  to  install 
immediately  a  furnace  of  2,000 h.p. capacity,  which,  having  regard 
to  the  high  grade  quality  of  the  ore,  was  expected  to  produce 
25  tons  of  pig  per  24-hour  day. 

The  mine  is  situated  at  an  altitude  of  about  1,500  feet  and 
forms  the  crown  of  a  hill  composed  entirely  of  solid  magnetite 
ore.  A  rough  estimate,  assuming  an  average  depth  of  300  feet, 
gives  ore  in  sight  of  over  two  million  tons.  A  quarry  has  been 
cut  in  one  of  the  faces,  and  about  5,000  tons  of  ore  have  been 
taken  out.     The  face  of  the  quarry,  which  is  about  150  feet  in 


174  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

breadth,  is  one  solid  mass  of  magnetite,  averaging  between  68 
to  70%  metallic  iron. 

An  average  analysis  of  the  ore  shows — iron,  over  69%; 
sulphur,  0.024;    phosphorus,  0.016. 

Adjoining  the  iron  mine  is  a  large  deposit  of  pure  limestone, 
and  the  contact  with  the  iron  ore,  even  on  the  surface,  is  very 
striking.  This  body  of  limestone  runs  down  and  cuts  beneath 
the  iron  ore  body  on  one  side  of  the  hill  only,  at  a  depth  of  about 
300  feet  from  the  top.  At  this  point  the  ore  is  much  poorer,  and 
sulphides  of  iron  and  copper  are  found;  in  some  places  pure  iron 
pyrites  have  been  extracted.  The  iron  body,  on  the  contrary, 
bends  back  in  the  opposite  direction  to  the  limestone,  and  pure 
iron  ore  is  found  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  hill  in  large  blocks 
1,000  feet  from  the  top. 

The  smelter  is  situated  at  an  altitude  of  about  500  feet,  and 
at  a  distance  in  a  straight  line  of  something  under  a  mile  from  the 
mine.  The  problem  of  conveying  the  ore  and  limestone  to  the 
smelter  was  therefore  simple.  Meanwhile  an  aerial  tramway  is 
being  installed,  by  which  the  ore  can  be  laid  down  at  the  smelter  at 
less  than  $1 .  25  a  ton,  this  price  including  the  royalty  to  the 
owners  of  the  mine. 

In  further  reference  to  the  smelter  :  the  furnace  was  first  of 
all  designed  to  work  one-phase  only,  but  later  was  changed  to 
three-phase,  this  latter  being  a  distinct  departure  in  electric 
furnace  work,  in  the  case  of  large  capacit}*.  It  was  built  on  the 
same  principle  as  the  furnace  employed  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  with 
the  exception  that  it  was  hermetically  closed  on  top  by  an  iron 
cover,  and  the  charging  was  accomplished  by  means  of  four 
10-inch  vertical  iron  pipes  about  10  feet  long  from  an  upper 
charging  floor.  Two  of  these  pipes  were  placed  between  the  three 
electrodes  and  the  other  two  at  each  end  of  the  furnace,  thus 
insuring  an  equal  distribution  of  the  charge  round  the  electrodes. 
The  10-inch  pipes  were  enclosed  in  cast  iron  pipes  14  inches  in 
diameter,  through  which  the  escaping  gases  were  drawn,  the  idea 
being  to  admit  air  at  the  lower  end  and  to  burn  the  gases  with  a 
view  of  preheating  the  ore  as  it  descended  through  the  smaller 
pipes,  which  were  always  kept  full  with  the  charge.  The  shape 
of  the  furnace  was  oblong,  12  feet  long  and  5  feet  wide,  the  depth 
inside  forming  the  crucible  being  3  feet  3  inches.     The  current 


The  Reduction  of  Iron  Ores.  175 

was  supplied  by  three  500  k.w.  transformers,  22,000  volts  on  the 
primary  side  and  50  on  the  secondary.  This  voltage  was  never 
maintained  when  the  furnace  was  in  operation,  owing  to  the  main 
lines  being  overloaded,  and  at  no  time  was  it  possible  to  get  over 
1,200  h.p.  The  voltage  generally  fell  as  low  as  35,  which,  while 
not  interfering  in  any  wa3r  with  the  working  of  the  furnace, 
obliged  the  electrodes  to  carry  a  much  higher  density  of  current 
than  would  have  been  the  case  had  the  voltage  been  maintained 
at  50.  The  power  was  generated  at  a  distance  of  forty  miles 
from  the  smelter  and  delivered  at  the  smelter  sub-station  at  a  very 
low  cost. 

To  give  in  detail  an  account  of  all  the  troubles,  difficulties 
and  successes  which  were  experienced  would  occupy  over  much 
space  and  time.  A  brief  summary  of  these  experiences  may, 
however,  prove  of  interest. 

First:  The  power  obtainable  being  altogether  inadequate, 
we  were  unable  during  the  first  runs,  when  the  furnace  was  in 
good  condition,  to  follow  the  programme  originally  outlined. 

Second:  The  water  supply  was  so  poor  that  it  was  impossible 
to  obtain  a  sufficient  supply  for  the  water-cooled  parts  of  the 
furnace,  and  this  resulted  in  part  of  the  cover  being  melted  in 
the  second  run. 

Third:  The  efficiency  of  the  escaping  gases  between  the  ex- 
terior pipes  and  the  ones  through  which  the  charge  was  descending 
was  so  great,  and  the  charge  was  preheated  to  such  an  extent, 
that  the  ore  became  soft  and  sticky  in  the  pipes,  thus  preventing 
the  charge  descending  easily  as  it  did  when  cold  or  at  a  red  heat. 

Fourth:  The  cast  iron  cover,  which  was  kept  perfectly  cool 
by  the  charge  so  long  as  this  charge  came  down  evenly  and  regu- 
larly, got  white  hot  as  soon  as  the  charge  became  sticky  and 
descended  at  irregular  intervals,  with  the  result  that  a  large  hole 
was  melted  in  the  cover,  which  rendered  it  useless  for  further 
operations. 

At  this  stage  it  was  decided  that  a  new  cover  should  be  ob- 
tained, and  of  a  modified  form  to  prevent  the  sticking  of  the 
charge  in  the  pipes  Mr.  Noble,  however,  being  averse  to  this 
proposal,  on  account  of  the  inevitable  delay,  the  damaged  cover 
was  taken  off,  and  some  other  trials  were  made.  One  constituted 
working  the  furnace  open  as  in  the  case  of  the  furnace  at  Sault 


176  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Ste.  Marie,  and  the  other  by  partially  covering  it  with  brick 
arches.  In  each  case  the  heat  coming  from  the  top  of  the  furnace 
was  so  great  that  it  was  impossible  for  men  to  approach  it. 

Dr.  Heroult  being  of  the  opinion  that,  even  supposing  the 
furnace  could  be  made  to  work  satisfactorily  with  a  modified 
cover,  it  was  not  sufficiently  practical  to  solve  the  problem; 
it  was  therefore  arranged  between  Mr.  Noble  and  himself  that 
the  furnace  as  it  stood  should  be  used  for  other  purposes  until 
a  new  style  of  furnace  had  been  worked  out,  and  that  in  the  inter- 
val an  aerial  tramway  should  be  installed  between  the  mine  and 
the  smelter  and  other  improvements  made  to  cut  down  costs  on 
raw  material. 

The  foregoing  experiences  have  justified  the  following 
conclusions: 

First:  The  practice  of  using  the  electrodes  on  the  top  of  the 
furnace  embedded  in  the  charge  should  be  entirely  abandoned 
in  the  future  smelting  of  ores  electrically,  except,  possibly,  in 
the  case  of  small  furnaces  of  not  over  500  h.p.  capacity,  where 
only  one  electrode  would  be  required. 

Second:  A  three-phase  current  can  be  used  successfully,  no 
trouble  being  experienced  on  that  score.  This  is  of  great  impor- 
tance where  the  power  must  be  transmitted  from  a  distance. 

Third:  The  metal  bath  did  not  form  under  and  around  the 
electrodes  only,  as  was  at  first  feared,  but  over  the  entire  surface 
of  the  crucible,  thus  allowing  the  use  of  only  one  tap-hole. 

Fourth:  The  heat  in  the  electric  furnace  must  be  generated 
at  the  same  point  where  the  blast  enters  the  blast  furnace,  not 
in  the  charge  itself,  but  below  it.  This  can  be  done  by  having 
the  electrodes  on  the  side  or  between  the  shafts,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  Heroult-Haanel  furnace,  or  in  the  one  designed  by  myself. 
I  may  say,  however,  that  our  present  efforts  are  all  toward  the 
creation  of  fixed  electrodes  instead  of  movable  ones,  the  current 
to  be  regulated  by  special  transformers,  giving  fixed  watts  but 
allowing  the  volts  and  amperes  to  vary  as  the  condition  of  the 
furnace  may  demand.  This  will  simplify  the  work  to  a  great 
extent  and  do  away  nearly  altogether  with  the  consumption  of 
electrodes.  It  will  also  allow  of  the  upper  part  of  the  furnace 
being  kept  entirely  free,  and  the  escaping  gases  could  either  be 


The  Reduction  of  Iron  Ores.  177 

used  for  the  preheating  of  the  charge  or  collected  for  other 
purposes. 

In  the  spring  of  last  year  Mr.  R.  H.  Wolff,  of  New  York, 
and  myself  decided  to  erect  a  plant  in  Canada,  in  order 
to  demonstrate  that  iron  ore  could  be  commercially  and  profitably 
smelted  in  the  electric  furnace.  It  was  decided  that  the  furnace 
should  be  of  3,000  h.p.  capacity,  with  an  expected  output  of  30 
tons  of  pig  per  day.  In  passing  it  may  be  mentioned  that  a  site 
was  found  at  Welland,  Ontario,  which  is  excellently  situated  in 
regard  to  transportation  facilities,  and,  being  near  Niagara  Falls, 
power  can  be  had  at  a  reasonably  low  cost.  Although  no  pro- 
duction of  pig  iron  has  yet  been  made,  several  electric  furnaces 
are  already  running,  the  product  at  present  being  mainly  of  ferro- 
silicon;  but  ere  long  it  is  expected  the  production  of  ferro-chrome 
and  ferro-tongstene  will  commence,  and  in  the  near  future,  if 
the  tests  about  to  be  made  are  satisfactory,  pigiron. 

As  the  large  furnace  was  designed  for  the  use  of  a  three-phase 
current,  the  work  thereon  was  not  prosecuted  until  results  from 
California  were  available,  to  make  sure  that  the  principle  was 
correct.  The  experiences  in  California,  as  related,  suggested 
the  advisability  of  caution,  and  work  on  the  furnace  was  meanwhile 
abandoned,  to  permit  of  the  testing  of  Dr.  Heroult's  new  style 
of  furnace,  which  he  is  erecting  at  his  own  expense,  and 
which  is  to  be  on  the  fixed  electrode  principle  with  special  trans- 
formers for  the  regulation  of  the  current. 

The  capacity  of  this  new  furnace  will  be  500  h.p.  It  is 
circular  in  shape  and  stands  about  seven  feet  high.  The  electrodes 
of  which  there  are  three,  one  corresponding  to  each  phase,  are 
arranged  radially  at  a  certain  distance  above  the  metal  bath. 
The  exact  height  at  which  these  electrodes  will  work  to  chief 
advantage  can  only  be  determined  by  practice.  This  also  will 
greatly  depend  on  the  possible  range  of  voltage  in  the  transfor- 
mers. The  design  permits  the  electrodes  to  be  entirely  protected 
from  the  charge,  and  at  no  time  are  they  embedded  in  it,  the  heat 
being  furnished  by  an  arc  which  strikes  between  the  electrode 
and  the  charge,  the  voltage  necessary  to  strike  this  arc  being 
regulated,  as  before  mentioned,  by  the  special  transformers.  The 
furnace,  which  is  being  built  at  our  Welland  works,  is  nearly 
completed  and  will  be  in  operation,  it  is  expected,  during  March. 

12 


178  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

In  conclusion  it  may  be  stated  that  three  main  points  have 
been  conclusively  established  since  the  Government  experiments 
at  Sault  Ste.  Marie  : — 

First:  The  amount  of  monoxide  gases  escaping  from  the 
furnace  will  not  only  suffice  for  a  preheating  of  the  charge  ap- 
proaching the  melting  point,  but  sufficient  will  still  remain  for 
accessory  work  outside  of  the  furnace. 

Second:  Special  basic  slags  for  the  elimination  of  sulphur 
are  entirely  unnecessary.  Tests  have  lately  been  made  by  us 
with  ores  containing  over  1%  in  sulphur,  with  a  resulting  product 
showing  only  from  a  trace  to  0.035%,  a  slightly  basic  slag  only 
being  used. 

Third:  Movable  electrodes  must  be  abandoned.  They  are 
not  only  a  mechanical  nuisance,  but,  as  the  main  point  at  which 
to  strive  in  the  electrical  reduction  of  ores  is  a  low  cost  of  the 
product,  there  will  always  be  anxiety  and  trouble  so  long  as  we 
have  the  electrodes  sticking  in  the  charge.  As  this  always 
means  extra  costs,  he  who  can  produce  an  efficient  electric  furnace 
with  a  practical  means  for  using  fixed  electrodes,  in  the  manner 
I  have  tried  to  indicate,  will  have  solved  the  problem  of  the 
smelting  of  iron  and  other  ores  electrically. 

DISCUSSION. 

Dr.  Stansfield: — I  must  thank  Mr.  Turnbull  for  the  details 
of  cost,  etc.,  which  he  has  given  in  his  paper.  Such  details  are 
generally  very  difficult  to  obtain,  as  gentlemen  engaged  commercially 
in  electric  smelting  do  not  care  to  publish  their  methods  or  re- 
sults. Mr.  Turnbull  referred  to  the  utilization  of  the  carbon  mon- 
oxide liberated  in  an  electric  iron  smelting  furnace.  I  have  dis- 
cussed this  point  at  length  in  my  own  paper  on  electric  smelting, 
and  so  I  shall  not  speak  about  it  at  present.  I  should  like  to  know 
whether  Mr.  Turnbull  uses  stuffing  boxes  around  the  electrodes 
to  keep  the  gases  in  the  furnace? 

Mr.  Turnbull: — No,  but  the  furnace  is  always  under  pres- 
sure, so  that  no  air  can  get  in,  which  keeps  a  reducing  atmosphere 
always  within  the  furnace;  otherwise  the  electrode  and  carbons 
would  be  eaten  awav. 


The  Reduction-  of  Iron  Ores.  179 

Dr.  Stansfield: — Would  you  give  us  any  figures  as  to  the 
costs  of  the  electrodes  and  their  consumption? 

Mr.  Turnbull: — I  do  not  know  by  our  latest  experiments. 
We  made  about  40  tons  of  pig  iron,  but  it  was  impossible  to  get 
any  data  as  to  the  consumption  of  power  or  electrodes.  I  do 
not  think  the  latter  will  go  over  the  figures  given  by  Dr.  Hanson 
in  his  report.  •   If  you  are  afraid  multiply  it  by  two. 

Dr.  Stansfield: — What  about  the  cost? 

Mr.  Turnbull: — That  depends  upon  the  cost  of  raw  ma- 
terial. They  could  be  produced,  I  should  say,  in  Canada  at  two 
cents  a  pound,  perhaps  a  little  less.  But  of  course  no  one  can  buy 
them  at  that.  You  have  to  know  the  process  of  making  them 
and  so  have  to  pay  probably  five  or  six  cents  a  pound. 


POSSIBILITIES  IN  THE  ELECTRIC  SMELTING  OF  IRON 

ORES. 

By  Alfred  Stansfield,  D.Sc,  Montreal. 

(Ottawa  Meeting,  March,  1908.) 

In  view  of  the  many  recent  attempts  that  have  been  made 
to  employ  electrical  energy  instead  of  fuel  for  the  smelting  of 
iron  ores,  it  appears  worth  while  to  indicate,  in  a  short  paper, 
what  can  probably  be  accomplished  in  this  direction,  the  manner 
in  which  successful  results  can  be  obtained,  and  the  advantages 
and  drawbacks  of  the  electrical  process. 

In  the  ordinary  metallurgy  of  iron  the  ore  is  smelted  in  a 
blast-furnace  with  coke,  producing  pig-iron.  This  is  an  alloy 
of  iron  with  some  2%  to  4+%  of  carbon,  \%  to  4%  of  silicon  and 
small  quantities  of  other  elements.  It  is  decidedly  more  fusible 
than  wrought  iron  or  steel,  and  on  this  account  is  very  suitable 
for  foundry  purposes.  Bessemer  steel  and  open-hearth  steel  are 
made  from  pig-iron  by  removing  from  it  in  the  Bessemer  converter, 
or  the  open-hearth  furnace,  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  carbon 
silicon,  etc.,  which  it  contains,  the  product  being  nearly  pure  iron 
retaining  a  little  carbon  and  some  manganese. 

Crucible  steel  is  used  for  tools.  It  contains  about  1%  of 
carbon,  and  is  made  by  adding  the  necessary  amount  of  this 
element  to  pure  varieties  of  iron  or  steel,  and  melting  the  material 
in  crucibles  so  as  to  obtain  a  perfectly  sound  product. 

Electrical  energy  has  recently  been  employed  to  replace,  in 
such  operations,  the  heat  which  is  ordinarily  obtained  by  burning 
fuel.  Electrical  energy  is  somewhat  expensive,  and  it  was 
naturally  employed  at  first  for  the  production  of  the  more  valu- 
able products,  such  as  crucible  steel,  where  the  cost  is  of  less 
importance.  The  electrical  production  of  cast  steel  for  tools 
and  similar  purposes  may  be  accomplished  in  two  ways — (1)  by 
melting  down  pure  varieties  of  iron  and  steel  with  suitable  addi- 


Electric  Smelting  of  Iron  Ores.  181 

tions  of  carbon  and  other  ingredients,  just  as  in  the  crucible 
process,  but  using  electrical  energy  for  heating  instead  of  coke 
or  gaa;  (2)  by  melting  a  mixture  of  pig-iron  and  scrap  steel  as 
in  the  open-hearth  process,  and  removing  the  impurities,  such 
as  sulphur  and  phosphorus,  so  thoroughly  by  repeated  washing 
with  basic  slags  that  a  pure  molten  iron  is  at  last  obtained.  This 
can  then  be  recarburised  and  poured  into  moulds.  Both  of 
these  methods  are  now  employed  commercially  for  the  produc- 
tion of  good  qualities  of  tool  steel.  The  larger  sizes  of  electrical 
furnace  that  have  already  been  constructed  hold  5  or  10  tons, 
while  the  crucible  will  only  hold  about  80  lbs.,  and  the  high 
efficiency  of  the  electrical  method  of  heating  more  than  com- 
pensates for  the  greater  initial  cost  of  electrical  energy  as  com- 
pared with  heat  derived  from  fuel.  The  resulting  steel  is  found 
to  be  even  better  than  crucible  steel,  and  can  be  produced  at  less 
cost.  It  is,  therefore,  only  a  question  of  time  until  the  crucible 
process  shall  be  entirely  replaced  by  the  electrical  process  in  all 
localities  where  electrical  energy  can  be  produced  at  a  moderate 
figure. 

Two  forms  of  electrical  furnace  have  been  used  for  making 
cast  steel: — (1)  the  Heroult  steel  furnace,  which  resembles  an 
open-hearth  furnace  through  the  roof  of  which  hang  two  large 
carbon  electrodes.  Electrical  connection  is  made  to  these  carbon 
electrodes  and  electric  arcs  are  maintained  between  the  lower  end 
of  each  electrode  and  the  molten  slag  in  the  furnace,  thus  pro- 
ducing the  necessary  heat.  This  form  of  furnace  has  been  found 
to  be  very  suitable  for  the  second  of  the  above  processes,  that  is, 
the  one  in  which  pig-iron  and  scrap  steel  are  melted  together  and 
refined  until  pure  enough  to  convert  into  cast  steel. 

An  entirely  different  form  of  furnace  has  been  devised  in 
which  no  electrodes  are  required.  This  furnace  consists  of  an 
annular  shaped  trough  containing  the  steel.  This  ring  of  steel 
acts  as  the  secondary  of  an  electrical  transformer.  An  alternating 
current  is  supplied  to  a  primary  winding,  and  the  primary  winding 
and  the  ring  of  steel  both  encircle  an  iron  core,  as  in  the  ordinary 
transformer.  The  alternating  current  in  the  primary  circuit 
induces  a  very  large  alternating  current  in  the  secondary  circuit, 
that  is,  in  the  ring  of  steel,  and  in  this  way  enough  heat  is  pro- 
duced to  melt  the  steel.     This  type  of  furnace  has  been  con- 


182  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

structed  lately  in  somewhat  large  sizes  holding  as  much  as  8 
tons  of  steel  and  consuming  1,000  electrical  h.p.  It  is  apparently 
well  suited  for  the  first  mentioned  process,  that  of  melting  down 
pure  varieties  of  iron  and  steel  just  as  in  the  crucible  process. 

The  amount  of  energy  needed  in  these  furnaces  amounts 
to  about  800  or  900  K.W.  hours  per  ton  of  steel,  using  cold  stock, 
or  600  or  700  K.W.  hours  when  the  pig-iron,  which  usually  forms 
part  of  the  charge,  is  supplied  molten.  This  amount  of  electrical 
energy  would  cost  more  than  the  coal  used  in  producing  the  same 
amount  of  steel  in  the  open-hearth  furnace,  but  the  resulting 
steel  is  far  more  valuable  than  the  open-hearth  steel. 

The  above  short  account  of  the  production  of  crucible  steel 
in  the  electric  furnace  has  been  introduced,  as  this  is  the  only 
commercial  process  for  the  production  of  iron  or  steel  which  is 
at  present  in  operation.  The  present  paper  deals  rather,  how- 
ever, with  the  electrical  smelting  of  iron  ores. 

In  reducing  iron  ore  to  a  metal,  iron  can  be  obtained  in  a 
relatively  pure  state,  such  as  wrought  iron,  and  this  was  the 
method  adopted  by  the  ancient  metallurgists  in  their  small 
furnaces  or  hearths;  but  in  the  modern  blast-furnace,  with  its 
higher  temperature,  the  coke  which  is  needed  for  the  production 
of  heat  carburises  the  resulting  iron,  producing  pig-iron.  In  the 
electric  furnace,  however,  fuel  is  not  used  for  the  production  of 
heat,  since  this  is  obtained  electrically.  Some  carbonaceous 
material  must  be  added  to  the  charge  in  order  to  eliminate  the 
oxygen  of  the  ore,  yielding  metallic  iron,  but  the  amount  of  this 
carbonaceous  material  can  be  regulated  so  as  to  yield  either  pure 
iron,  steel  or  pig-iron  at  will. 

Although  this  has  been  realized  by  the  pioneers  in  the  electric 
smelting  of  iron  ores,  certain  difficulties  in  the  operation  have 
led  them  to  smelt  the  ore  for  the  production  of  pig-iron  instead 
of  for  the  production  of  steel,  although  the  difference  in  price 
of  these  materials  would  be  sufficient  to  pay  for  all  the  electrical 
energy  needed  for  the  direct  production  of  steel  from  iron  ore, 
and  it  is  surprising  that  this  more  attractive  proposition  has  not 
gained  more  attention  from  metallurgists. 

A  number  of  experiments  have  been  made  on  the  direct 
reduction  of  steel  from  iron  ore  in  the  electric  furnace,  but  the 
most  satisfactory  work  that  has  been  accomplished  relates  to  the 


Electric  Smelting  of  Iron  Ores.  183 


production  of  pig-iron  from  the  ore,  and  this  will  be  described  first. 
This  work  has  been  carried  out  by  Heroult,  Keller  and  others.  The 
furnaces  they  have  adopted  are  similar  to  the  one  employed  by 
Heroult  recently  in  the  experiments  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie.  This 
consisted  of  a  vertical  shaft  similar  to  a  small  blast-furnace,  in 
which  hung  a  central  carbon  electrode.  The  crucible  of  the  f urnace 
was  lined  with  carbon  and  served  as  the  other  electrode,  the 
electric  current  passing  between  the  hanging  electrode  and  the 
molten  metal  in  the  crucible  of  the  furnace.  The  ore,  with  fluxes 
and  carbon  sufficient  for  its  chemical  requirements,  was  fed  in 
around  the  vertical  electrode,  and  became  heated  and  melted 
by  the  heat  produced  by  the  passage  of  the  current.  The  electric 
current  in  this  furnace  produces  enough  heat  to  carry  out  the 
chemical  reactions  involved  in  the  reduction  of  the  ore  to  metal, 
and  the  fusion  of  the  resulting  pig-iron  and  slag.  The  carbon  is 
required  for  the  reduction  of  iron  oxide  to  metal  and  for  the 
carburisation  of  the  metal  to  form  pig-iron. 

The  Keller  furnace  is  practically  the  same  as  the  Heroult 
furnace,  except  that  it  consists  of  two  shafts  instead  of  one  and 
that  these  two  shafts  are  worked  in  conjunction  with  one  another, 
the  current  entering  through  the  vertical  electrode  in  one  shaft  and 
leaving  by  the  vertical  electrode  in  the  other  shaft.  A  connecting 
trough  or  passage  enables  the  electric  current  to  flow  from  one  part 
of  the  furnace  to  the  other,  and  serves  to  collect  the  resulting  pig- 
iron  and  slag  from  both  of  the  shafts.  This  furnace  has  the 
advantage  of  using  a  higher  voltage  than  the  single  shaft  furnace 
of  Heroult.  The  results  of  operating  furnaces  of  this  class  show 
a  consumption  of  electrical  energy  of  about  0.3  h.p.  year,  and 
about  800  or  900  lbs.  of  coke  or  good  charcoal  per  long  ton  of  pig- 
iron.  Supposing  that  the  general  costs  of  operating  this  furnace 
and  the  blast-furnace  were  equal,  these  figures  would  indicate 
that  the  electrical  furnace  would  need  to  obtain  energy  at  a  cost 
per  h.p.  year  of  less  than  that  of  two  tons  of  coke  in  order  to  com- 
pete with  the  blast-furnace.  Thus,  if  coke  costs  $3.00  a  ton  and 
electrical  energy  $5.00  per  h.p.  year  the  cost  would  be  about  the 
same  by  the  two  processes,  and  with  power  at  $12.00  per  h.p.  year, 
the  electric  furnace  could  not  compete  with  the  blast-furnace 
unless  the  price  of  coke  were  as  high  as  $7.00  per  ton.  In  con- 
sidering these  figures  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  heating 


184  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

power  of  one  electrical  h.p.  year  is  about  the  same  as  that  of  three- 
quarters  of  a  ton  of  good  coal  or  coke,  assuming  that  the  latter 
is  completely  burned.  Looked  at  from  this  point  of  view,  it  will 
be  obvious  that  even  these  small  and  admittedly  imperfect 
electric  furnaces  are  more  economical,  that  is  to  say,  they  use 
the  heat  better  than  the  large  blast-furnaces. 

The  electrical  furnace  possesses  certain  advantages  over  the 
blast-furnace,  which  in  some  cases  may  over-ride  the  high  cost 
of  electrical  power.  One  is  its  ability  to  use  without  much 
trouble  ores  of  a  sandy  or  powdery  character.  This  ability 
depends  upon  the  absence  of  a  blast  in  the  electrical  furnace. 
In  the  blast-furnace  powdery  ores  are  liable  to  be  blown  out  of 
the  furnace  by  the  blast,  or  it  obstructs  the  passage  of  the  blast 
through  the  furnace.  In  the  electric  furnace  there  is  no  blast 
introduced,  and  these  difficulties  are  less  serious.  Another 
advantage  of  the  electric  furnace  is  in  regard  to  the  smelting  of 
titaniferous  and  other  difficultly  fusible  ores.  In  the  blast- 
furnace these  ores  are  liable  to  give  trouble  on  account  of  the 
slag  becoming  pasty,  but  in  the  electric  furnace  it  is  possible 
to  obtain  a  higher  temperature  and  thus  to  overcome  any  diffi- 
culty of  this  kind.  The  high  temperature  which  can  be  obtained 
in  the  electric  furnace  is  advantageous  in  regard  to  the  treatment 
of  sulphurous  ores.  In  the  iron  blast-furnace,  the  sulphur  con- 
tained in  the  coke  or  the  ore  is  prevented  from  entering  the  pig-iron 
by  the  presence  of  lime  and  by  maintaining  strongly  reducing  con- 
ditions in  the  furnace;  the  lime  then  forms  calcium  sulphide, 
which  passes  into  the  slag.  In  the  electric  furnace  it  is  possible 
to  obtain  higher  temperatures,  thus  enabling  a  larger  proportion 
of  lime  to  be  used,  and  even  more  strongly  reducing  conditions 
to  be  obtained  than  in  the  blast-furnace.  Large  amounts  of 
sulphur  can,  therefore,  be  eliminated  in  the  electric  furnace,  as 
has  been  shown  in  the  experiments  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie. 

Another  point  in  favour  of  the  electric  furnace  is  that  it 
does  not  require,  as  the  blast-furnace  does,  a  very  high  quality 
of  coke  for  fuel.  In  the  blast-furnace  a  soft  or  powdery  coke 
becomes  crushed  and  obstructs  the  action  of  the  furnace,  and  is 
less  efficient  than  a  harder  variet}';  but  in  the  electric  furnace, 
where  the  coke  or  charcoal  is  needed  merely  as  a  chemical  re-agent, 
any  convenient  form  of  carbon  can  be  employed — coke,  charcoal 


Electric  Smelting  of  Iron*  Ores  185 

or  small  anthracite — and  probably  in  improved  furnaces  even 
such  fuel  as  peat,  sawdust  or  soft  coal  could  be  utilised  for  re- 
duction. 

Looked  at  from  a  commercial  point  of  view  the  electric  fur- 
nace producing  pig-iron  has  many  difficulties  to  overcome  before 
it  can  compete  successfully  with  the  blast-furnace.  One  very 
important  difficulty  is  the  small  scale  on  which  the  electric  fur- 
nace has  so  far  been  constructed.  It  will  be  seen  from  the  account 
of  the  Heroult  furnace  that  the  height  of  the  shaft  of  this  furnace 
is  limited  by  the  length  of  the  electrode  which  is  introduced  into 
it.  More  recent  furnaces  have  been  designed  by  Dr.  Haanel 
and  by  Mr.  Turnbull,  in  which  this  difficulty  has  been  overcome 
by  a  system  of  inclined  or  lateral  shafts  down  which  the  ore 
passes,  so  that  the  electrode  does  not  hang  down  the  whole  height 
of  the  ore  column.  Another  weak  point  in  the  construction  of 
the  electric  furnace  is  that  no  provision  has  been  made  for  utilising 
the  carbonaceous  gases  which  escape  at  the  top  of  the  furnace. 
In  the  Turnbull  furnace  already  referred  to,  it  is  proposed  to 
utilise  the  gas  by  burning  it  in  a  rotating  tube  furnace  down  which 
the  ore  passes  before  it  enters  the  electric  furnace  and  is  mixed 
with  the  charcoal.  In  this  way  the  heat  available  in  this  gas 
will  be  utilised,  and  an  economy  in  the  working  of  the  furnace 
may  be  expected. 

In  view  of  the  importance  of  reducing  the  consumption  of 
fuel  and  electrical  energy  to  the  lowest  possible  point,  the  writer 
has  calculated  what  could  be  expected  in  this  way  if  the  gases 
arising  from  the  reaction  between  the  charcoal  and  the  ore  were 
used  partly  for  the  reduction  of  the  ore  and  partly  for  preheating 
the  ore.  Such  a  result  could  be  attained  in  a  furnace  consisting 
essentially  of  three  parts.  In  the  upper  part  the  otherwise  waste 
gases  are  burned  by  air  introduced  there  and  communicate  their 
heat  to  the  incoming  ore  to  which  tb°  fluxes  but  not  the  charcoal 
have  been  added.  In  the  middle  portion  of  the  furnace  the  gases 
arising  from  the  lowest  portion,  which  may  be  considered  to  be 
wholly  carbon  monoxide,  react  on  the  heated  ferric  oxide,  if  that 
were  the  variety  of  ore  to  be  treated,  and  reduces  it  to  ferrous 
oxide.  The  charcoal  is  introduced  in  the  lowest  section  of  the 
furnace  and  completes  the  reduction  of  the  ore  to  metal.  Electrical 
energy  is  introduced  into  this  section  of  the  furnace  and  serves 


186  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

to  melt  the  resulting  pig-iron  and  slag,  and  to  supply  the  heat 
necessary  for  the  preceding  chemical  reactions.  The  details 
of  the  construction  of  such  a  furnace  have  not  been  worked  out  at 
present.  In  a  furnace  of  this  kind  it  can  be  calculated  that  one 
ton  of  pig-iron  can  be  obtained  from  an  average  ore  by  the  use 
of  0.2  h.p.  years  of  electrical  energy  and  about  600  to  800  lbs. 
of  coke  or  good  charcoal.  This  includes  a  reasonable  allowance 
for  loss  of  heat.  A  further  allowance  should  be  made  for  irre- 
gularity in  the  use  of  the  electrical  power  and,  taking  this  into 
account,  we  may  consider  that  one-quarter  of  a  h.p.  year  and 
600  to  800  lbs.  of  coke  or  charcoal  would  be  required  for  one  long 
ton  of  pig-iron  from  the  ore. 

Considering  these  figures,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  use  of  J 
electrical  h.p.  year  will  save  about  §  of  a  ton  of  coke,  or  that  1 
electrical  h.p.  year  should  not  cost  more  than  2§  tons  of  coke  if 
the  electric  furnace  is  to  compete  with  the  blast-furnace.  Thus 
an  electrical  h.p.  year  at  $12.00  would  correspond  to  coke  at 
$4.50  a  ton.  The  considerations  previously  mentioned  in  regard 
to  the  use  of  cheaper  fuel  and  cheaper  ore  in  the  electric  furnace 
would  also  apply  in  this  case,  and  with  improved  design  and  con- 
struction the  size  of  the  electric  furnace  may  be  increased  so  as  to 
admit  of  a  large  and  economical  output  of  pig-iron. 

Electric  smelting  plants  on  a  small  commercial  scale  have 
been  put  up  at  Welland,  Ontario,  and  Baird,  California.  While 
very  little  has  been  heard  of  these,  the  writer  understands  that  at 
Baird  considerable  difficulties  have  been  met  with  in  the  operation 
of  the  furnace.  No  doubt  these  difficulties  will  ultimately  be 
overcome.  No  attempt  has  been  made  at  present  to  utilize  the 
waste  gases,  but  this  point  will  be  attended  to  later. 

The  direct  reduction  of  steel  from  the  ore  has  been  carried 
out  by  Stassano  and  others,  but  no  economical  scheme  for  this 
purpose  has  ever  been  put  into  operation  on  a  large  scale.  The 
Stassano  furnace  consists  of  a  chamber,  about  one  metre  cube, 
lined  with  magnesite  bricks.  The  ore,  mixed  with  the  necessary 
fluxes  and  charcoal  for  its  reduction  and  made  up  into  briquettes, 
is  placed  in  this  chamber,  and  is  heated  by  an  electric  arc  which  is 
maintained  above  the  ore.  In  this  furnace  it  is  possible  to  reduce 
the  ore  to  metal  and  to  remove  any  impurities,  such  as  sulphur  and 
phosphorus,  although  Stassano  did  not  actually  demonstrate  this 


Electric  Smelting  of  Iron  Ores.  187 

as  the  ores  he  employed  were  very  pure.  The  method  of  heating 
the  ore  is,  however,  uneconomical,  and  it  was  not  to  be  expected 
that  commercial  results  could  be  obtained.  Stassano  still  ex- 
periments with  his  furnace,  but  no  longer  uses  it  for  the  direct 
reduction  of  the  ore. 

Steel  has  also  been  obtained  directly  from  the  ore  by  Dr. 
Heroult  in  his  electric  steel  furnace  mentioned  in  the  early  part  of 
this  paper,  but  he  found  the  process  uneconomical  and  preferred  to 
use  pig  and  scrap  as  the  materials  for  making  steel  in  his  furnace. 
Experiments  in  the  laboratory  have  been  made  at  different  times 
with  a  view  to  the  direct  reduction  of  iron  ore  to  steel.  In  this 
connection  may  be  mentioned  the  experiments  of  Messrs.  Brown 
and  Lathe  in  the  Metallurgical  Laboratory  at  McGill,  which  were 
described  in  the  last  number  of  the  Institute  Journal.  These 
experiments  are  being  continued  this  year  and  the  writer  hopes 
to  be  able  to  communicate  some  interesting  results  at  a  later  date. 

In  any  operation  for  the  direct  reduction  of  iron  ore  to  steel 
the  following  difficulties  should  be  borne  in  mind: — 

1.  The  difficulty  of  eliminating  sulphur  when  this  is  present 
in  the  ore,  the  blast-furnace  producing  pig-iron  being  far  more 
efficient  in  this  particular  than  a  steel  furnace  such  as  the  open- 
hearth.  It  may  possibly  be  necessarjr  on  this  account  only  to 
use  ores  that  are  relatively  free  from  sulphur  in  the  direct  pro- 
duction of  steel. 

2.  Another  difficulty  lies  in  the  different  conditions  re- 
quired for  the  reduction  of  the  ore  and  the  final  refining  treatment 
to  which  the  resulting  steel  must  be  subjected.  Thus  the  opera- 
tion of  making  steel  must  always  be  intermittent  in  character, 
while  the  reduction  of  ore  in  the  blast-furnace  is  a  continuous 
operation. 

Until  these  and  other  difficulties  have  been  overcome,  it  is 
not  likely  that  we  shall  have  any  successful  production  of  steel 
directly  from  iron  ore  on  a  commercial  scale.  Nevertheless,  the 
high  price  of  steel  as  compared  with  pig-iron  renders  this  pro- 
position particularly  attractive  to  the  electro-metallurgist.  At 
present  the  most  satisfactory  method  appears  to  be  that  of  re- 
ducing the  ore  to  pig-iron  in  one  furnace,  and  turning  this  into 
steel  in  a  separate  furnace  as  in  ordinary  metallurgical  practice. 


188  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

DISCUSSION. 

Major  Leckie: — May  I  ask  about  the  sulphur  in  the  pig 
iron.  If  you  started  to  make  steel,  what  was  the  percentage  of 
reduction  and  how  much  remained  in  the  steel  product? 

Dr.  Stansfield: — The  steel  was  made  directly  from  ore 
which  was  intentionally  contaminated  with  1%  of  sulphur  and 
l%of  phosphorus.  The  steel  contained  some  ten  per  cent,  of 
sulphur,  a  considerable  elimination  of  this  element  having  been 
accomplished,  but  not  nearly  enough  for  high  quality  steel. 


PROGRESS    WITH   THE   GRONDAL    PROCESS    OF   CON- 
CENTRATING AND  BRIQUETTING  IRON  ORES. 

By  P.  McN.  Bennie,  Fitzgerald  and  Bennie  Laboratories, 
Niagara  Falls. 

(Ottawa  Meeting,  1908.) 

The  growth  of  an  art  is  reflected  in  the  broadening  meaning 
of  its  definitions.  Mining  and  Metallurgy  are  twin  arts  so  closely 
related  that  it  is  hardly  conceivable  how  they  could  have  had 
other  than  simultaneous  birth.  Mining  might  be  more  broadly 
defined  as  the  art  of  getting  minerals  and  ores  out  of  the  earth, 
while  metallurgy  is  the  art  of  getting  metals  out  of  ores.  They 
make  mutual  demands  upon  each  other,  as,  for  example,  when 
Mining  discloses  the  nickel-cobalt  arsenides  of  the  Cobalt  district, 
the  ores  are  laid  at  the  door  of  Metallurgy,  with  the  announce- 
ment. ''There's  something  new  for  you;  get  those  things  out  for  us." 

Metallurgy  makes  similar  requests  of  Mining,  and  it  is  within 
the  province  of  this  paper  to  recount  briefly  to  what  progress  the 
mining  of  certain  kinds  of  iron  ore  has  been  stimulated  by  the 
demands  of  metallurgy. 

Last  year  our  laboratories  prepared  a  paper  dealing  with  the 
magnetic  concentration  of  iron  ores  by  the  Grondal  process,  with 
some  remarks  upon  the  briquetting  of  such  concentrates.  This 
year  we  are  happy  to  report  considerable  progress  along  both  lines, 
as  having  great  interest  for  Canada,  and  as  indicating  that  the 
elements  of  a  very  important  industry,  as  yet  undeveloped,  exist 
within  her  borders. 

The  conditions  of  supply  in  the  iron  ore  markets  of  the  old 
world  are  in  a  measure  comparable  to  those  which  exist  on  this 
side,  and  particularly  in  the  States.  Recent  years  have  witnessed 
the  gradual  depletion  of  ores  best  suited  for  the  Bessemer  process, 
until  now  there  is  a  universal  appeal  from  the  metallurgical 
world  to  the  mining  world  for  relief  from  burdens  which  are  be- 


190 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


coming  heavier  year  by  year  upon  the  shoulders  of  pig-iron  and 
steel  makers.  The  only  visible  means  of  relief  seems  to  be  (aside, 
of  course,  from  the  discovery  of  new  ore  bodies)  some  method  of 
improving  the  quality  of  iron  ore  supply,  such  as  an  increased 
iron  content,  a  lowering  of  slag-forming  impurities,  with  reduction 
of  sulphur  and  phosphorus  to  the  lowest  limits.  Magnetic  iron 
ores  lend  themselves  readily  to  such  treatment. 

There  exist  in  Sweden  and  Norway  large  quantities  of  mag- 
netic ores  ranging  from  30  to  60  per  cent,  iron  content,  with 
varying  amounts  of  sulphur  and  phosphorus.  In  order  to  re- 
cover a  sufficient  percentage  of  iron  to  make  operations  profitable, 
fine  grinding  is  necessary.  With  fine  grinding  the  iron  can  be 
brought  up  by  concentration  to  between  63  and  68  per  cent. 
Under  these  conditions  the  Grondal  process  of  wet  concentration 
gives  very  satisfactory  results.  Last  year  the  Engineering  and 
Mining  Journal  published  a  list  of  19  magnetic  concentration 
plants  actively  in  operation  in  Sweden,  12  of  which  now  use 
Grondal  apparatus  entirely.  At  the  present  time  there  are  a 
number  of  additional  plants  under  construction,  destined  to 
use  Grondal  apparatus  for  concentration  and  briquetting.  To 
show  the  substantial  manner  in  which  treated  ores  are  coming 
to  the  relief  of  the  iron  ore  situation  abroad  the  following  is  a 
list  of  : 

WORKS  WHICH  ARE  USING  THE  GRONDAL  PROCESSES  FOR 
CONCENTRATING  AND  BRIQUETTING 


Works 


Tons  Ore 
Treated. 


Concentrates  !    Briquettes 


1.  Strassa 

2.  Bredsjo 

3.  Herrang 

4.  Guldsmedshyttan  . 

5.  Uttersbergs 

6.  Flogberget 

7.  Lulea 

8.  Sandvikens 

9.  Horndal 

10.  Helsingborg 

11.  Cwmavon  (Wales) 

12.  Alquife  (Spain)  .  .  . 

13.  Penn.  Steel  Co.  .  .  . 


150,000 
40,000 
60,000 
90,000 
24,000 
50,000 
60,  000 


75,000 


200,000 


45,000 


100,000 


60,000 
20,000 
30,000 
30,000 
12,000 
24,000 
50,000 
12,000 
12,000 
50,000 
36,000 
40,000 


Where  tons  of  concentrates  are  not  given,  the  whole  output  is  briquetted- 
Where  only  briquettes  are  given,  concentrates  or  fine  or  purple  ores  are  used. 


Concentrating  and  Briquetting  Iron  Ores. 


191 


There  are  also  under  construction  the  following  plants 
UNDER  CONSTRUCTION. 


Works 


Tons  Ore 
Treated 


Concentrates 


Briquettes 


1.  Hellefors 20,000 

2.  Vigelsbo 20,000 

3.  Salangen 300,000 

4.  Sydvaranger |  1,200,000 

5.  Traversella 50,000 

6.  Riddarhyttan 20,000 


10,000 
10,000 
100,000 
600,000 
25,000 
10,000 


755,000 


Sydvaranger  Development. 


The  plant  under  construction  at  Sydvaranger  is  an  interesting 
example  of  the  extent  to  which  the  exigencies  of  metallurgy  will 
drive  mining  into  the  remote  corners  of  the  globe.  If  anyone 
should  propose  to  this  Institute,  as  a  feasible  and  profitable  plan, 
the  mining  of  iron  ore  containing  only  38  per  cent,  metallic  iron, 
in  a  latitude  corresponding  to  that  of  our  scarcely  known  Baffin 
Land,  or  as  far  north  as  the  mouth  of  the  Mackenzie  river,  he 
would  probably  be  advised  to  take  a  complete  rest  for  his 
health's  sake. 

Yet  such  a  project  is  actually  under  way.  A  company  has 
been  fully  financed  by  powerful  German  interests,  all  arrange- 
ments made  with  the  Norwegian  Goverment,  and  comprehensive 
plans  perfected  whereby  a  minimum  production  of  600,000  tons 
of  concentrates  annually  will  be  produced,  shipments  to  begin 
in  1910.  The  plant  will  consist  of  40  units  each  containing  ball- 
mill,  crusher,  tube  mill  and  separators.  At  least  100  separators 
will  be  required.  It  has  been  found  that  standard  Grondal  ball 
mills  will  handle,  on  the  average,  135  tons  of  hard  magnetite  ore 
per  24  hours. 

The  company  at  Salangen,  Norway,  is  composed  of  certain 
German  iron  masteiswho  will  themselves  absorb  the  entire  annual 
production  of  100,000  tons. 

The  foregoing  has  had  to  do  with  the  commercial  develop- 


192 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


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Map  of  the  Central  Ontario  Railway  Valley 


Concentrating  and  Briquetting  Iron  Ores.  193 

nient  of  the  Grondal  processes.     There  have  been  some  technical 
Advances,  however,  of  considerable  interest,  as  follows  : 

(1)  The  introduction  of  heavy  rock  crushers,  of  the  Gates 
or  Blake  type,  for  preliminary  crushing,  thus  throwing  less  work 
upon  the  ball  mills. 

(2)  Where  the  ore  is  of  suitable  character  the  use  of  magnetic 
cobbing  machines  to  get  rid  of  such  rock  pieces  as  contain  little 
or  no  iron.  This  reduces  the  amount  of  ore  to  be  handled  in  all 
subsequent  operations,  per  ton  of  product. 

(3)  Somewhat  finer  grinding  in  the  Grondal  ball  mills.  It 
is  generally  found  that  the  magnetite  particles  reduce  more 
quickly  than  the  gangue  particles,  so  that  the  finer  grinding  does 
not  necessarily  involve  reducing  all  the  particles  to  pulpy  con- 
dition. The  practical  effect  of  such  finer  grinding  is  a  higher  per- 
centage of  recovery  and  a  higher  iron  content  in  the  concentrates. 
As  most  of  the  concentrated  material  is  destined  to  be  briquetted, 
the  fact  that  the  grains  are  smaller  is  of  no  moment. 

With  regard  to  briquetting,  the  following  may  be  noted 
as  improvements  : — 

(1)  Better  design  of  briquetting  presses,  reducing  the  wear. 
The  life  of  the  die  plates  has  been  quadrupled.  At  Cwmavon, 
working  on  pyrites  residues,  a  single  set  is  good  for  about  500 
tons  of  briquettes. 

(2)  The  original  briquetting  furnaces  and  cars  were  one 
metre  wide.  It  has  been  found  that  this  may  be  increased  to 
1 . 5  metres  without  materially  increasing  the  investment  The 
result  of  the  change  is  a  50  per  cent,  increase  in  the  daily  produc- 
tion of  the  furnace.  The  furnaces  therefore  will  give  a  tonnage 
approaching  the  nodulizing  kiln,  with  the  advantage  that  the 
briquettes  are  more  desirable  from  the  metallurgical  point  of 
view. 

(3)  The  fuel  consumption,  which  in  the  one-metre  furnaces 
had  reached  the  low  figure  of  7  per  cent,  of  the  weight  of  briquettes 
produced,  should  be  still  further  reduced  in  the  wider  furnaces. 

(4)  Bilbao  spathic  ore  has  been  treated  very  successfully. 
The  ore  was  first  ground  in  a  tube  mill  to  0.75  mm.  mesh.  The 
mill  will  grind  about  six  tons  per  hour,  using  75  horse-power  to 
drive  it.  The  ground  ore  was  mixed  with  a  little  water,  pressed 
and  burnt  in  the  usual  manner.     The  original  ore  ran  47  per  cent. 

13 


194  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

iron,  which,  with  the  loss  of  carbon  dioxide  in  the  briquetting 
furnace,  brought  the  iron  content  of  the  finished  briquette  up  to 
58  per  cent. 

Fuel  Economy. 

Last  year's  paper  referred  to  the  fuel  economy  introduced 
by  the  use  of  Grondal  briquettes  as  due  to  several  reasons. 

(1)  High  iron  content  and  consequent  small  amount  of 
material  to  be  slagged  off. 

(2)  Porosity  of  briquettes,  permitting  an  enormous  surface 
of  contact  between  reducing  gases  and  iron  oxide  (this  porosity 
averages  over  20  per  cent,  of  the  volume  of  briquettes). 

We  do  not  feel  that  our  tests  are  sufficiently  complete  to 
warrant  positive  figures  as  to  fuel  economy,  as  several  factors 
influence  the  results.  We  may  refer,  however,  to  one  test  of 
1,000  tons  of  Strassa  briquettes,  containing  65  per  cent.  Fe.,  put 
through  a  blast  furnace  at  Cockerills'  well  known  works,  Seraing, 
Belgium,  where  a  fuel  economy  of  15  per  cent,  was  claimed.  If 
such  results  turn  out  to  be  actually  realisable  in  practice  they 
would  have  great  significance  for  Canadian  furnace  men. 

Market  Prices. 

During  the  past  year  the  following  prices  have  been  paid  : 
For  Concentrates,  containing  68  per  cent.  Fe.,  for  home  consump- 
tion in  Sweden,  about  $3.65  per  ton,  on  cars  at  concentrators. 
For  export,  containing  65  per  cent,  iron  and  about  10  per  cent, 
water,  $4.25  at  port  of  export. 

For  Briquettes,  f.o.b.  port  of  export,  for  briquettes  containing 
65  per  cent.  Fe.,  sales  have  been  made  at  $5.45  per  ton. 

10,000  tons  have  been  engaged  for  Germany  for  this  year  at 
about  $5.25  at  same  port.  Purple  ore  briquettes  from  Helsing- 
borg  bring  about  $6.00  per  ton  c.i.f.  Stockton.  Pyrites  residues 
briquettes  from  the  South  Wales  works  command  from  $5 .  50  to 
$6 .  35  delivered,  according  to  cost  of  transport.  These  briquettes 
contain  about  62  per  cent.  Fe.  with  sulphur  down  to  0.044  per 
cent. 

The  following  table  is  shown,  giving  results  from  various 
ores  by  the  Grondal  concentrating  and  briquetting  methods  : 


Concentrating  and  Bbiquetting  Iron  Orks. 


195 


RESULTS  OF  GROXDAL  METHODS  OF  CONCENTRATING  AND 
BRIQUETTING 


Ores. 


Crude  Ore. 


Concentrates 


Fe. 
p.c 


S 
p.c. 


P 

p.c. 


Tail- 
ing 


Fe. 
p.c. 


S 
p.c. 


P 
p.c. 


Fe. 
p.c. 


Bredjso 35.0 

Flogberget.  27.3 
Guldsmed- 

shyttan .  .  50 . 7 

Helsingborg 

(purple  ore)  60.6 

Herrang  ...  40 .  2 

Hjulsjo  ....  39.7 

Lulea 58.2 

♦Riddarhyt- 

tan 52.8 

Salangen.  .  .  35.7 

Strassa 46.8 

Stripa 40.3 

*Sydva  ran- 
ger  38.0 

Uttersberg  34.5 
*Yigelsbo  .  .  35.2 
Cwmavon.  .  61.43 


0.15 
0.31 


0.010,67.2 

0.003167.4 


0.050    0.004 
0.040    0.003 


Briquettes 


Fe. 
p.c. 


S 
p.c. 


P 

p.c. 


6.9  65.1    0.020 
7.165.3    0.007 


0.004 
0.003 


3.0        0.00370.1    0.5        0.002  10.2  68.2    0.010    0.002 


0.17    

1.21  0.00367.3 

0.12  0.00867.1 

0.110  1.230  71.1 

0.025  0.006  64.2 

0.039  0.23    69.3 

0.030  0.01569.2 

0.030  0.01067.1 

0.066  0.030  68. 3 

0.020  0.024  62.6 

0.45  0.026  64.6 

1.65      0.019 


60.6 

0.170  0.002  6.4  65.5 
0.035  0.004  10.165.2 
0.015    0.005  12.069.3 


0.023  

0.003  0.002 
0.015  0.004 
0.005    0.005 


0.017  0.003    7.4.. 

0.019  0.009    4.9 I 

0.015  0.003    6.167.1    0.005 

0.020  0.002  12.2  65.2    0.005 


0.026  0.014 
0.020  0.016 
0.089    0.002 


5.568.0 
9.3  .... 
6.7  .... 
....  61.5 


0.003 
0.002 


0.006    0.014 


0.044 


*Under  construction. 

Importance  to  Canada. 


It  seems  to  us  that  these  results  contain  a  lesson  to  us  on 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic  well  worth  a  moment's  consideration. 
In  the  first  place,  there  are  in  Canada,  and  particularly  in  Ontario 
province,  numerous  bodies  of  magnetite  of  some  extent,  which 
to-day  are  practically  dormant.  There  is  a  rapidly  growing  pro- 
duction of  pig  iron  and  steel,  with  a  correspondingly  increased 
demand  for  ore.  Some  makers  have  even  had  to  resort  to  the 
use  of  imported  ores.  Yet  right  in  Canada  there  are  all  the  ele- 
ments of  a  vast  and  profitable  industry — an  industry  of  basic 
importance  to  a  country's  prosperity — requiring  only  the  awaken- 
ing touch  of  intelligent  capital  to  spring  into  active  being. 

Without  making  a  plea  for  any  particular  apparatus,  but 
assuming  that  the  Grondal  methods  are  employed,  two  locations 
present  themselves  as  promising.     These  are  shown  as  follows: — 


196 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


Map  of  the  Kingston  and   Pembroke   Railway  Valley. 


Concentrating  and  Briquetting  Irox  Ores.  197 

Central  Ontario  Valley. 

In  Fig.  1  is  shown  an  outline  of  the  CO.  railway,  upon  which 
we  have  marked  some  of  the  deposits  of  magnetic  ores.  At  some 
of  these  deposits  there  could  doubtless  be  mined  a  certain  amount 
of  shipping  ore,  but  all  of  them  contain  large  quantities  of  ore 
from  45  per  cent,  down  in  iron,  which  could  profitably  be  treated, 
The  distances  from  Trenton  are  approximately  as  follows: 

To  Marmora 30  miles 

"  Blairton 35  " 

"  Madoc 40  " 

"  Eldorado 40  " 

"  Belmont 35  " 

"  Coe  Hill  Mines 75  " 

"  Bessemer  Mines 85  " 

Xow  if  a  central  briquetting  plant  were  to  be  located  at 
Trenton,  to  which  all  materials  could  be  sent,  we  would  have  a 
plant  producing  marketable  products  within  an  average  distance 
of  50  miles  from  the  mines,  which  is  less  than  the  distance  from 
many  Lake  Superior  mines  to  nearest  lake  ports. 

Kixgstox  axd  Pembroke  Ry. 

Fig.  2  shows  a  similar  scheme,  with  Kingston  as  terminus, 
with  the  following  approximate  distances: 

To  Godfrey 29  miles 

"  Verona 25  " 

"  Glendower 35  " 

"  Clarendon 55  " 

"  Robertsville  59  " 

"  Wilbur G7  " 

"  Calabogie 89  " 

From  these  points  an  average  freight  rate  of  65  cents  a  ton 
could  probably  be  obtained.  A  central  plant  at  Kingston  would 
be  under  practically  similar  conditions  with  respect  to  its  sources 
of  supply  as  the  Trenton  location.  It  might  be  found  upon  close 
study  that  it  would  pay  to  ship  all  ores  to  a  central  point  where 
both  concentrating  and  briquetting  could  be  done  in  a  single 
plant  under  one  management. 


198  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

COST  OF  PRODUCTS. 

Based  upon  40  per  cent,  ore,  as  a  maximum  figure  of  80  cents 
per  ton  loaded  at  mines,  2  tons  would  be  needed  per  ton 
of  concentrates $1 .  60 

Average  cost  of  concentration  on  a  production  of  200  tons 

daily 40 

Cost  of  concentrates 2 .  00 

Average  cost  of  briquetting  on  200  ton  basis 45 

2.45 
Freight  on  2  tons  ore  at  65c 1 .  30 

Cost  of  briquettes $3 .  75 

Makket  Values. 

Under  the  above  conditions  we  would  have  for  sale  a  briquette 
containing  from  63  to  65  per  cent,  metallic  iron,  low  in  sulphur 
and  phosphorus,  easily  reducible  in  the  blast  furnace  with  economy 
of  fuel;  such  briquettes  would  be  superior  to  the  average  run  of 
Old  Range  Bessemer  ore,  on  which  the  guarantee  is  now  55  per 
cent.  iron.  The  present  price  for  such  ore  is  $5.00  per  ton, 
according  to  The  Iron  Trade  Review  of  February  13,  1908.  In 
European  and  United  States  markets  Grondal  briquettes  would 
readily  command  a  minimum  price  of  10  cents  a  unit,  or  $6.30 
delivered.  This  leaves  a  margin  of  $2 .  65  per  ton  to  cover  freights 
and  profits.  There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  equal  selling  prices 
could  not  be  realised  in  Canada.  The  Swedish  companies  using 
the  process  have  formed  the  Iron  Export  Association,  whose 
products  find  a  plentiful  and  profitable  market  in  Europe.  It 
is  interesting  to  note  that  every  operating  company  has  been  a 
financial  success  from  the  start. 

With  rich  ores  commanding  a  premium  and  the  iron  and 
steel  world  eager  for  them,  there  is  no  good  economic  reason  why 
many  idle  spots  in  Canada  should  not  teem  with  this  modern 
industry;  why  Mining  should  not  once  more  respond  to  the  call 
of  metallurgy. 


Concentrating  and  Briquetting  Iron  Ores.  199 

DISCUSSION. 

Mr.  Murray: — Can  you  adapt  this  process  to  a  complete 
outfit  for  supplying  a  hundred-ton  furnace.  Do  your  fixed  charges 
make  that  commercially  possible? 

Mr.  Bennie: — With  the  reduction  in  scope  there  is  an  in- 
crease in  the  cost  owing  to  the  fixed  charges,  but  with  a  multi- 
plicity of  units  that  would  be  reduced.  A  concentrator  No.  5 
will  take  care  of  100  tons  a  day,  and  two  of  them  will  handle  two 
hundred  tons,  while  one  of  the  modern  briquetting  furnaces  will 
do  fifty  tons,  so  that  it  is  possible  to  carry  on  operations  on  a 
fairly  small  scale. 

If  you  examine  the  third  column  of  the  diagram  you  will  find 
that  many  of  these  plants  produce  a  thousand  tons  a  month,  which 
is  about  35  tons  a  da}-,  a  little  under  the  capacity  of  an  oven  in 
a  single  unit  plant.  Others  of  them  produce  from  five  to  twelve 
thousand. 

Mr.  Gibson: — I  would  ask  if  the  Grondal  process  is  suited 
for  silicious  ores,  when  considerable  quantities  of  such  impurities 
as  sulphur  and  phosphorus  are  present? 

Mr.  Bennie: — Nearly  all  the  Swedish  ores  are  silicious,  but 
by  the  Grondal  process  there  is  no  trouble  separating  the  silicious 
particles  from  the  iron  by  magnetic  separation,  taking  the  one 
and  leaving  the  other  ;  but  when  it  comes  to  sulphur,  if  it  is  mag- 
netic sulphide,  it  will  go  into  the  concentrate.  The  briquetting 
is  in  itself  an  efficient  desulphurizer.  The  briquettes  are  made 
with  a  water  binder.  They  are  pressed,  and  the  oxidation  in 
the  process  of  burning  converts  them  from  magnetite  to  ferric 
oxide.  There  is  an  almost  complete  elimination  of  sulphur,  due 
to  the  enormous  area  of  contact  between  the  gases  and  the  surface 
of  each  particle  forming  the  briquette.  That  is  a  peculiar  feature 
of  the  Grondal  briquette,  the  porosity  and  reduction  of  sulphur. 
Phosphorus,  if  it  is  not  removed  during  concentration,  is  not  re- 
moved during  the  burning. 

Mr.  Gibson: — There  is  one  other  question.  What  is  the 
average  result  of  concentration,  so  far  as  the  metallic  contents 
of  the  iron  are  concerned?     How  much  is  lost  in  the  tailings? 

Mr.  Bennie: — It  varies  with  the  ore  from  12%  to  4.9.% 

Mr.  Murray: — What  is  the  loss  in  slipment? 


200  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Mr.  Bennie: — It  is  negligible.  The  records  show  that  the 
shipments  have  arrived  in  excellent  condition.  The  briquettes 
are  extremely  hard,  with  a  volume  porosity  of  21  or  22. 

Mr.  Obalski: — Has  the  Grondal  process  ever  been  tried  for 
titaniferous  ores?  Has  the  same  process  been  tried  for  concen- 
trating and  briquetting  the  magnetic  sands  of  Quebec  province? 
If  that  process  could  be  adapted  to  these  I  think  it  would  be  ad- 
vantageous. I  would  ask  if  Mr.  Bennie  knows  whether  any 
practical  test  1  as  been  made  on  these  two — the  titaniferous  ores 
and  the  magnetic  sands? 

Mr.  Bennie: — As  to  titanium,  when  you  mention  that  to 
a  blast  furnace  man,  he  generally  says  re  is  bored.  But  with 
our  advancing  necessities  for  iron  ore,  titanium  is  not  regarded 
as  the  same  bugaboo  it  used  to  be,  and  the  blast  furnace  managers 
have  been  sent  to  look  at  such  ores,  and  several  big  experiments 
have  been  successfully  made  with  it  in  slagging  off  the  titanium 
in  the  furnace. 

As  to  briquetting  these  ores,  the  Swedish  ores  are  not  so 
highly  titaniferous  as  those  of  Quebec.  I  lave  only  seen  refer- 
ence to  titanium  in  them  in  one  case,  where  a  gentleman  said  that 
the  reason  Swedish  steel  was  so  good  was  that  for  years  it  lad 
been  known  to  contain  "vanadium."  I  am  quite  certain  that 
what  he  referred  to  was  titanium,  although  he  was  an  expert 
employed  to  exploit  the  value  of  vanadium.  Experiments  with 
a  view  to  briquetting  black  river  sands  have  been  made,  using 
the  St.  Lawrence  River  sands,  and  a  company  has  been  forced 
with  considerable  capital  to  study  that  matter.  It  1  as  been  feared 
that  the  concentrates  from  the  river  sands  could  not  be  briquetted 
for  the  reason  that  they  are  all  water-worn  particles  of  different 
diameters  without  any  binding.  That  was  true,  but  by  simply 
crushing  these  particles  and  forcing  them  into  irregular  shapes  it 
has  been  found  possible  to  briquette  them.  I  have  no  fear  that 
briquettes  with  2%  titanium  would  not  be  deleterious  in  furnace 
operation  if  treated  carefully.  The  briquetting  process  is  one  of 
pressure;  the  briquettes  are  given  five  or  six  blows  with  1,800  lbs. 
falling  weight,  modelled  and  water-bound,  and  passed  by  cars  to 
the  furnaces  in  that  form. 

Dr.  Porter: — May  I  ask  as  to  the  tailings  value  whether 


Concentrating  and  Briquetting  Iron  Ores.  201 

that  is  the  percentage  of  iron  in  the  tailings  or  the  percentage 
lost  from  the  original  ore? 

Mr.  Bennie: — I  think  the  logical  conclusion  is  that  it  is  the 
percentage  of  iron  in  the  tailings. 

Dr.  Porter: — Then  the  actual  percentage  lost  would  be  far 
less. 

Mr.  Haultain: — What  is  the  content  of  the  original  ore? 

Mr.  Bennie: — I  understand  in  general  they  were  concentra- 
ted about  2  to  1. 

Mr.  Haultain: — Yes,  but  what  is  the  content  of  the  iron  ore 
originally  treated. 

Mr.  Bennie: — The  first  column  shows  that,  running  from 
27.3  to  58,  they  are  able  to  treat  ores  containing  30%  with 
profit. 

Mr.  Haultain: — The  percentage  lost,  then,  is  greater  than 
these  figures,  not  less. 

Mr.  Rowlands: — At  Herrang,  where  I  visited,  they  kept 
very  close  track  of  the  tailings  and  all  products.  The  losses  of 
iron  in  the  tailings  will  average  about  5%  according  to  my  re- 
collection. 

Mr.  Dixon  Craig: — In  Ontario  it  seems  that  nothing  1  as 
been  done  about  this  attractive  project.  So  far  as  I  know,  tl  ere 
is  no  really  large  deposit  of  iron  ore  in  the  Kingston  and  Pem- 
broke district,  which  may  possibly  be  the  reason.  Do  tie  Penn- 
sylvania company  treat  their  concentrates? 

Mr.  Bennie: — Yes.  Tfcey  lave  experimented  with  a  large 
rotary  kiln,  wl  ich  the}'  figured  would  be  cheaper,  but  tie  thing  to 
consider  is  the  metallurgical  value  of  a  nodule  as  con  pared  with 
that  of  a  porous  briquette.  The  nodules  rely  upon  a  sort  of  skin 
formed  upon  the  outside,  and  the  desulphurizing  is  1  indered  by 
the  non-porosity  of  that  skin.  I  do  not  consider  a  nodule  as  good 
a  metallurgical  product  for  the  furnace  as  tl  e  briquette.  It  is 
a  mere  matter  of  ultimate  economy. 

As  to  the  ore  in  tie  district  you  speak  of,  did  you  ever  try 
to  buy  any  of  those  mines?  I  was  assured  by  a  gentleman  claim- 
ing to  control  one  of  them  that  he  lad  3,000,000  tons  in  sight. 
Take  Bessemer  ore;  they  are  shipping  from  Wilbur,  and  Coe  Hill 
has  27,000  tons  they  would  like  to  ship  if  it  were  not  for  the  sulphur. 
With  regard  to  the  amount  of  investment,    if  anyone  wanted  to 


202  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

go  into  anything  of  that  sort,  $150,000  would  be  necessary  for  a 
central  concentrating  and  briquetting  plant  with  a  daily  capacity 
of  400  tons  of  briquettes. 

Dr.  Barlow: — In  Ontario  we  have  no  definite  criterion,  as 
there  has  been  practically  no  intelligent  prospecting.  At  Port 
Henry,  as  a  result  of  the  magnetic  surveys  recently  made  there, 
they  found  ore  bodies  every  week  in  a  district  supposed  to  have 
been  thoroughly  explored.  These  ore  bodies  resemble  our  central 
Ontario  ore  bodies  very  much. 

Mr.  Craig: — As  far  as  Bessemer  is  concerned,  two  ore  bodies 
have  shown  up  about  half  a  mile  apart,  and  the  owners  claimed 
they  were  continuous  and  had  a  hole  about  40  feet  down  on  each 
ore  body.  They  claim  a  tonnage  of  about  six  million,  but  these 
are  not  established  facts.  To  say  you  can  count  upon  millions  in 
any  deposit  in  this  region,  would  be  very  risky.  I  think  if  any 
have  half  a  million  tons  they  may  be  considered  good  deposits. 

Dr.  Barlow: — With  reference  to  the  Anglo-American  com- 
pany, I  know  they  have  some  very  good  properties,  but  many  of 
the  ore  bodies  were  underlaid  with  syenite,  and  I  do  not  think 
any  of  them  have  given  indication  of  being  of  economic  importance. 
I  refer  to  the  bodies  at  Coe  Hill,  Blairton  and  that  district,  where 
all  that  has  been  done  is  surface  stripping,  so  you  cannot  form 
any  intelligent  judgment.  I  would  like  to  see  some  more  light 
regarding  that  iron  ore  deposit  extending  from  Coe  Hill  in  a  south- 
westerly direction,  and  see  if  ore  in  larger  bodies  could  not  be 
located. 

Mr.  Hardman: — Mr.  Bennie  has  told  us  that  the  cost  of  a 
ton  of  cleaned  ore,  at  the  point  where  the  works  are  situated,  was 
$3.45,  and  that  the  market  price  was  $5.00  for  that  ore,  on  a 
basis  of  55%  metallic  iron — is  this  market  price  available  at  the 
-point  of  production  or  must  we  add  to  the  $3.45  the  cost  of  the 
freight  from  the  works  to  the  market,  where  the  $5.00  is  avail- 
able for  such  ore. 

Mr.  Bennie: — Yes,  there  is  $2.65  margin  between  the  cost 
I  assume  and  the  $5,  which  is  put  conservatively  low  for  that  ore — 
that  is  the  difference  between  tve  two,  and  I  say  that  $2 .  65  will 
amply  take  care  of  the  freight  and  profits.  But  I  count  upon 
$6 .  50  for  the  ore,  rather  than  $5,  counting  upon  the  higher  values. 
As  to  the  location  of  the  plant,  I  can  merely  suggest  it,  and  the 


Concentrating  and  Briquetting  Iron  Ores.  203 

reason  that  I  made  it  central  is  that  very  uncertainty  of  these 
lenticular  masses  of  magnetite.  With  the  exhaustion  of  one  and 
the  discovery  of  another,  you  always  have  a  source  of  supply; 
and  if  the  field  is  entirely  exhausted  it  is  not  such  an  awful  job 
to  go  somewhere  else  and  find  more  magnetite.  It  is  not  an  in- 
stallation of  the  same  character  as  a  blast  furnace  plant. 


THE  CARBONACEOUS  AND  BITUMINOUS  MINERALS 
OF  NEW  BRUNSWICK. 

By  R.  W.  Ells,  LL.  D.,  Ottawa,  Ont. 

Published  by  permission  of  the  Director  of  the  Geological  Survey. 
(Ottawa   Meeting,    1908.) 

The  great  central  Carboniferous  basin  of  New  Brunswick  has 
long  been  known  as  a  possible  field  for  the  production  of  coal,  and 
in  the  portion  known  as  the  Grand  Lake  basin  this  mineral  has 
been  mined  on  a  small  scale  for  over  100  years.  Such  mining  has, 
however,  been  done  till  within  a  very  few  years  in  the  crudest  way, 
under  the  supposition  that  owing  to  the  prevailing  thinness  of 
the  seam  there  found  a  regular  system  of  development  would  be 
unprofitable.  This  supposition  has,  however,  recently  been  shewn 
to  be  untenable,  and  within  the  last  half  dozen  years  coal  mining 
has  been  carried  on  in  a  more  scientific  manner  and  with  fairly 
profitable  results. 

The  great  extent  of  the  carboniferous  rocks  in  this  province 
earl}r  led  to  the  presumption  that  at  some  point  in  the  basin, 
which  comprises  over  10,000  square  miles,  thick  underlying  de- 
posits of  workable  coal  should  be  found.  This  hypothesis  was  in 
part  due  apparently  to  the  early  and  erroneous  views  expressed 
as  to  the  horizon  of  much  of  the  formation  itself,  since  in  the 
earlier  study  of  these  rocks  they  were  supposed  to  include,  above 
the  Lower  Carboniferous  portion,  not  only  the  Millstone-grit, 
but  a  considerable  thickness  of  the  Productive  measures  of  Nova 
Scotia  and  the  Upper  Carboniferous  as  well,  all  of  which  were  held 
to  occur  in  the  Grand  Lake  basin.  Later  and  more  detailed  study 
of  these  rocks,  however,  over  a  large  area  proved  conclusively 
that  in  no  portion  of  the  great  basin  could  any  sediments  which 
might  be  the  equivalents  of  the  coal-bearing  rocks  of  Nova  Scotia 
be  found,  but  that  there  was  a  stratigraphical  break  between  the 
Millstone-grit,  which  practically  constitutes  the  mass  of  the 
Carboniferous  basin,  and  the  upper  or  Permo-Carboniferous  series, 


Minerals  of  New  Brunswick.  205 

which  occurs  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  province,  in  the  county  of 
Westmorland  and  in  certain  small  areas  around  the  shores  of 
Northumberland  Strait  and  the  northern  part  of  the  Gulf  of 
St.  Lawrence,  as  at  Shippigan  and  Miscou.  These  outcrops  of 
the  newer  rocks  constitute  the  western  margin  of  the  Permo- 
Carboniferous  formation  which  occupies  the  whole  of  Prince 
Edward  Island. 

The  original  theory  that  somewhere  beneath  the  wide  spread 
but  generally  thin  stratum  of  coal  which  can  be  found  in  many 
portions  of  the  central  basin,  other  thick  seams  might  occur,  was 
also  disproved  some  years  ago  by  a  number  of  borings  made  at 
widely  separated  points  throughout  its  extent.  In  a  number  of 
cases  these  holes  pierced  the  Carboniferous  sediments  proper  to 
the  underlying  formations,  in  some  cases  the  Lower  Carboniferous 
red  beds,  in  others  into  the  Devonian  slates.  In  none  of  these 
borings  was  any  trace  of  workable  coals  found  beneath  the  seam 
which  has  been  worked  for  many  years. 

The  proximity  of  this  seam  to  the  surface  was  such  that  in 
some  cases  its  mining  was  effected  by  simply  stripping  off  the 
surface  drift  or  upper  shales  and  removing  the  coal  from  the 
exposed  bed.  It  was  found  that  this  could  be  done  with  profit 
where  the  covering  did  not  exceed  eight  to  ten  feet,  but  for  greater 
thickness  of  cover  small  drifts  were  driven  from  the  banks  of  the 
creeks  along  the  outcrops  of  the  seam,  and  this  work  was  carried 
on  whenever  the  duties  of  the  farm  permitted  a  few  days '  rest  from 
ordinary  agricultural  labor,  but  all  such  mining  was  done 
in  the  simplest  and  most  economical  way  possible.  No  attempt 
was  made  to  separate  the  associated  pyrite,  shale  or  other  impurity, 
and  the  output  sent  to  the  market  by  wood  boats  or  by  hauling 
overland  to  Fredericton,  as  rim  of  mine  coal,  proved  objectionable 
in  many  ways  for  domestic  or  steam  purposes,  the  unseparated 
sulphur  being  especially  hard  on  grate  bars,  while  the  associated 
shale  and  stone  produced  a  very  large  percentage  of  ash,  so  that 
in  quality  the  Grand  Lake  coal  was  regarded  as  being  very  far  from 
a  first-class  fuel. 

Quite  recently,  and  chiefly  through  the  agency  of  Mr.  King, 
of  Chipman,  mining  on  the  principal  seam  at  the  new  town  of 
Minto  was  undertaken  in  a  more  proper  fashion.  This  mine  was 
originally  known  as  the  Kennedy,  and  in  the  early  days  gave  the 


206  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

most  satisfactory  results  as  regards  output  of  any  in  the  district. 
A  shaft  was  sunk  to  a  depth  of  30  feet  to  the  seam,  a  certain 
thickness  of  the  roof  shale  being  removed  for  head  room,  and  the 
underground  workings  laid  off  in  proper  order  for  successful  mining. 
The  appointment  of  a  duly  qualified  inspector  by  the  Intercolonial 
railway,  and  the  fitting  up  of  proper  screening  appliances,  soon 
led  to  the  separation  of  the  objectionable  ingredients  in  the  output 
with  most  beneficial  results,  so  that  now  the  coal,  as  thus  prepared 
and  used  on  the  railways,  is  found  to  give  as  good  satisfaction 
for  a  steam  fuel  as  that  obtained  from  the  thick  beds  of  Nova  Scotia. 
The  thickness  of  the  coal  worked  in  the  King  mine  at  Minto, 
which  is  the  present  terminus  of  the  railway  from  Norton,  on  the 
Intercolonial,  is  33  inches,  the  section  being: — 

Top  coal 24  inches 

Shale  parting 3      " 

Bottom  coal 6      " 

thus  forming  a  workable  thickness  of  30  inches  of  coal. 

In  the  workings  when  examined  in  1906,  levels  had  been  driven 
off  from  the  shaft  for  800  feet  with  branch  drifts  every  35  feet. 
The  amount  of  coal  per  acre  is  estimated  at  4,000  tons.  The  mine 
is  quite  dry,  and  the  coal  on  arriving  at  the  bank  head  is  put 
through  the  screen  and  loaded  direct  on  the  cars.  The  men  are  paid 
by  the  chaldron  of  1£ tons,  at  a  cost  of  about  SI. 00  per  ton  for 
mining.  After  passing  the  inspector  it  is  hauled  to  Norton  station, 
a  distance  of  57  miles,  where  it  sells  for  $3.00  per  ton,  while  the 
unscreened  portion  of  the  output  brings  $2.25,  and  the  screenings, 
which  amount  to  about  34  per  cent,  of  the  output,  sell  for  90  cents, 
the  whole  being  mined  and  shipped  at  a  fair  margin  of  profit,  said 
to  average  50  cents  per  ton. 

The  coal  seam  at  this  place  is  nearly  horizontal.  It,  however, 
soon  dips  to  the  south,  but  rises  again  to  the  mines  in  this  direction, 
of  which  there  are  a  number  located  along  the  extension  of  the 
railway  from  King's  mine,  so  that  nearly  all  the  mines  in  this 
district  can  ship  direct  by  rail.  King's  mine  is  the  only  one  as  yet 
using  steam  power  for  hoisting,  the  other  mines  in  the  vicinity 
using  horse  whims. 

Owing  apparently  to  a  thickening  of  the  shale  parting  towards 
the  south,  most  of  the  mines  in  this  direction  confine  their  mining 


Minerals  of  New  Brunswick.  m  207 

at  present  to  the  upper  seam,  which  varies  from  20  to  24  inches. 
There  is  no  co-operation  between  the  several  mines  in  this  area, 
each  operator  apparently  preferring  to  work  independently. 
At  several  of  the  mines  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  King's  the 
thickness  of  the  coal  worked  ranges  from  26  to  28  inches,  and  if 
these  areas  were  combined  into  one,  operations  would  undoubtedly 
be  carried  on  with  a  larger  percentage  of  profit  to  the  operator. 

In  all  this  district  at  Minto,  formerly  known  as  Newcastle 
creek,  there  are  now  eight  mines  which  ship  their  output  by  rail. 
These  are  owned  by  George  King,  Harvey  Welton,  O'Leary  Bros., 
J.  Coakly,  J.  MacDonald,  Evans  Bros.,  Edward  Kelly,  and  J.  F. 
Gibbon.  These  areas  are  worked  continuously  all  the  year,  and 
the  output  is  of  about  the  same  general  good  quality  when  properly 
screened.  One  mine  of  this  group  still  continues  to  ship  by  water, 
the  output  being  hauled  by  team  to  the  wharf  on  Grand  Lake, 
about  four  miles  distant. 

Besides  these  there  are  a  number  of  mines  forming  group  2, 
and  apparently  working  on  the  extension  of  the  same  seam,  but 
nearer  Grand  Lake  to  the  eastward.  They  all  follow  the  old 
system  of  shipping  run  of  mines  by  water  in  barges  or  wood  boats 
to  St.  John  and  Fredericton,  and  the  mines  are  worked  at  intervals 
in  the  old  way,  the  coal  being  hauled  to  the  wharf  by  teams. 
This  necessitates  much  handling — from  mine  to  team,  from  team 
to  wharf,  unloading  and  loading  on  boats,  etc. — so  that  the  output 
in  all  is  shifted  some  six  to  eight  times.  As  a  consequence  much 
of  the  coal  becomes  badly  broken,  and  as  but  slight  attempt  is 
made  to  separate  either  the  stone  or  sulphur  the  quality  is  greatly 
inferior  to  that  shipped  by  rail.  In  all,  this  part  of  the  output 
ranges  from  3,500  to  4,000  tons  per  year.  Portions  of  this  eastern 
field  is  still  worked  by  the  process  of  stripping  and  open  cuts. 

A  royalty  of  10  cents  per  ton  is  paid  to  the  Government  on  all 
coal  shipped  by  rail,  that  going  by  water  being  exempt,  in  accord- 
ance with  an  agreement  made  many  years  ago.  In  1906  the 
average  shipments  by  rail  were  given  as  about  six  cars  of  20  tons 
each,  the  amount  raised  being  limited  by  the  scarcity  of  miners. 
This  shipment  includes  all  grades  of  the  output.  The  working  days 
average  300  per  year,  and  the  estimated  output  from  the 
district  in  1906  is  given  as  about  50,000  tons. 


208  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

This  amount  may  not  seem  very  large  when  compared  with 
that  from  the  mines  of  Nova  Scotia,  but  as  contrasted  with  the 
output  of  6,000  to  8,000  tons  of  a  dozen  years  ago  shews  a  very 
appreciable  improvement,  due  to  better  methods  of  working. 
There  is  ready  market  for  all  that  can  be  raised,  and  there  is  no 
doubt  that  if  an  amalgamation  of  the  several  mines  in  the  area 
could  be  effected,  with  a  sufficiency  of  men  these  mines  would 
supply  the  greater  part  of  the  coal  requirements  of  the  province  as 
regards  soft  or  bituminous  coal,  while  the  profits  on  the  mining  of 
the  whole  would  tend  to  be  more  satisfactory. 

Other  small  mining  areas  occur  around  the  head  of  the  lake, 
as  at  Coal  creek,  but  the  seam  here  is  also  thin  and  the  work 
desultory,  so  that  no  mining  on  a  large  or  permanent  basis  has 
as  yet  been  attempted. 

In  the  eastern  part  of  the  Carboniferous  basin,  on  a  branch 
of  the  Richibucto  river,  in  Kent  county,  a  seam  similar  to  that 
worked  at  Grand  Lake  was  opened  up  several  years  ago.  This 
seam  was  also  worked  to  a  very  limited  extent  in  former  years, 
merely  for  local  use.  It  has  a  thickness  of  about  16  to  18  inches. 
The  new  company  commenced  by  driving  a  level  into  the  face  of 
the  cliff  about  forty  feet  above  the  stream  which  is  known  as  Coal 
Branch,  which  in  1906  had  reached  a  distance  of  1,300  feet  in  the 
principal  opening,  and  a  second  had  been  driven  for  700  feet  with 
cross  drifts  every  25  feet.  A  capping  of  grey  shale  covers  the  coal, 
and  there  is  a  two-foot  bed  of  fire-clay  beneath.  In  mining,  about 
three  feet  of  the  roof  shale  is  removed  to  form  a  working  face.  The 
coal  is  taken  from  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel  to  the  bank  head,  a 
distance  upward  of  about  50  feet,  by  a  horse  whim  situated  at  the 
top  of  the  bluff,  and  there  loaded  direct  upon  cars  on  a  branch 
railway  running  to  Adamsville  station  on  the  Intercolonial  railway, 
a  distance  of  some  seven  miles.  In  character  this  coal  is  almost 
identical  with  that  mined  at  Minto,  but  is  not  screened,  being 
delivered  to  the  railway  as  run  of  mines. 

The  whim  or  hoist  is  run  by  three  horses,  which  can  raise  to 
the  bank  head  three  tons  at  a  load.  Though  the  seam  is  thin  the 
quantity  raised  in  the  three  months  of  1906,  between  March  1st 
and  June  1st,  aggregated  3,000  tons,  which  is  hauled  to  the  Interco- 
lonial for  40  cents  per  ton,  the  price  for  the  output  there  being  S3. 25 
per  ton. 


Minerals  op  New  Brunswick.  209 

The  miners  are  paid  38  cents  per  box  of  600  lbs.  and  work 
in  8-hour  shifts.  In  1906  from  6  to  8  men  were  employed  on  each 
shift.  The  seam  occasionally  swells  out  to  a  thickness  of  24  inches 
and  thin  local  partings  of  shale  occur  with  pyrite  in  the 
joints  and  thin  bands  as  well  as  in  nodules.  In  spite  of  the 
thinness  of  the  seam  the  men  on  the  shifts  mine  on  the  average 
four  boxes  or  2,400  lbs.  per  man.  The  coal  is  cleaty,  splitting 
readily  into  broad  flakes  of  an  inch  or  more,  burns  freely  with 
strong  heat,  generates  steam  readily,  and  is  reported  as  giving 
satisfactory  results  on  the  locomotives.  With  $1.75  per  ton  for 
mining  and  freight  to  the  Intercolonial,  the  percentage  of  profit, 
after  deducting  other  expenses,  is  not  large,  but  it  is  claimed 
to  yield,  wlith  present  appliances,  a  fair  margin.  It  has  thus 
been  established  that  even  with  the  thin  seams  found  at  various 
points  in  the  province,  with  due  regard  to  economy  in  handling, 
coal  can  be  mined  at  fairly  remunerative  rates,  and  here  as  at 
Minto,  the  output  is  only  limited  by  the  scarcity  of  miners. 

The  only  other  area  at  which  attempts  to  mine  coal  of  this 
formation  is  at  Dunsinane,  on  the  Intercolonial,  about  14  miles 
north  of  Sussex.  Here  also  the  conditions  are  very  similar  to 
those  already  stated,  and  two  seams  have  been  located  by  boring 
with  an  aggregate  thickness  of  28  to  30  inches.  The  presence  of 
a  shale  parting  of  variable  thickness,  sometimes  amounting  to 
12  to  14  feet,  has  hitherto  prevented  the  utilization  of  both 
seams.  In  several  of  the  bore-holes,  which  have  been  sunk  in  this 
basin  it  was  found  that  the  seams  tended  to  come  together  by  the 
thinning  out  of  the  shale  parting.  Attempts  by  boring  are  now 
in  contemplation  to  ascertain  if  at  some  point  these  two  seams  do 
not  coalesce,  in  which  case  it  should  be  possible  to  mine  a  seam 
similar  to  that  of  the  best  mine  at  Minto. 

The  thickness  of  the  main  or  upper  seam  at  the  outcrop  is 
about  18  to  20  inches,  and  that  of  the  lower  is  stated  as  9  inches, 
all  of  which  is  reported  as  good  coal,  and  in  one  boring  a  thickness 
of  12  inches  is  assigned  to  the  underlying  seam.  The  formation, 
which  is  Millstone-grit,  is  apparently  thin,  and  at  a  depth  of  300 
feet  the  drill  passed  down  into  a  series  of  purple  and  grey  grits 
and  shale,  apparently  of  Upper  Devonian  age. 

Attempts  to  mine  a  bed  of  supposed  anthracite  were  made 
about  thirty  years  ago  on  the  east  side  of  Lepreau  harbour  at 


210  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Belas  basin,  as  also  at  the  village  of  Musquash,  a  few  miles  to 
the  east,  on  the  line  of  the  N.B.  Southern  railway.  Several  bore- 
holes and  shafts  were  also  sunk  in  an  area  of  black  shales  a  short 
distance  south  of  the  latter  place,  near  the  road  -to  Beaver  harbour. 
The  rock  formation  in  all  these  places  is,  however,  of  Devonian 
age,  and  near  the  base  of  that  series  of  formations  in  what  is  known 
as  the  Dadoxylon  sandstone.  The  strata  consist  generally  of  hard 
quartzose  sandstone  with  interstratified  beds  of  black  graphitic 
shale  and  sometimes  brownish-tinted  beds,  generally  in  a  highly 
inclined  position. 

At  all  these  places  the  mining  was  done  in  the  black  shale, 
portions  of  which  contained  sufficient  carbonaceous  matter  to 
burn  quite  readily  under  strong  draft,  but  leaving  so  large  a 
percentage  of  ash,  ranging  from  35  to  near  40  per  cent.,  as  to 
render  the  product  unfit  for  domestic  or  steam  purposes,  so  that  all 
attempts  at  further  mining  have  long  since  been  abandoned  and 
the  workings  have  fallen  in. 

The  mining  of  this  deposit  at  Lepreau  consisted  of  four  shafts 
sunk  to  depths  of  95,  130,  135  and  140  feet.  The  thickness  of 
the  carbonaceous  band  was  stated  by  the  miners  to  average  20  feet, 
but  of  this  by  far  the  greater  portion  was  merely  a  black  graphitic 
shale  of  no  value  whatever  as  a  fuel.  The  rocks  are  highly 
inclined,  reaching  in  part  the  vertical,  and  the  main  shaft  was 
sunk  for  110  feet  on  an  angle  of  80  degrees,  when  it  inclined  to 
the  south  and  continued  downward  to  the  bottom.  In  places 
the  thickness  of  the  anthracit  c  portion  was  stated  to  reach  four 
feet  and  was  graphitic  throughout.  It  resembles  much  of  the 
product  from  the  so-called  coal  basins  of  Massachusetts  and  Rhode 
Island,  the  output  from  which  is  now  used  to  some  extent  for  the 
manufacture  of  graphite.  The  Lepreau  deposits  appear  to  occur 
along  a  line  of  fault  between  the  grey  sandstone  and  shales  and 
underlying  reddish  beds  of  a  lower  part  of  the  formation,  and  the 
rocks  in  the  vicinity  are  often  much  crushed  along  the  line  of  contact. 
The  mine  at  Musquash  village  is  in  a  similar  band  of  black 
graphitic  shale  at  or  near  a  similar  contact.  Here  an  inclined 
shaft  was  sunk  to  a  depth  of  over  300  feet,  but  beyond  the  pres- 
ence of  the  glazed  graphitic  shale  and  occasional  pieces  of  the 
graphitic  anthracite  nothing  of  the  nature  of  true  coal  was  found. 
On  the  road  south  to  Beaver  harbour,  at  what  is  known  as  Gilbert's 


Minerals  of  New  Brunswick.  211 

mine,  already  alluded  to,  a  similar  black  carbonaceous  shale  occurs, 
and  a  reported  expenditure  of  $40,000  to  $50,000  was  made  with  a 
similar  lack  of  economic  results.  It, however,  seems  probable  that 
in  some  of  these  areas,  owing  to  the  soft  and  highly  graphitic 
nature  of  the  shale  bands,  the  extraction  of  the  mineral  graphite 
might  be  carried  on  at  a  profit,  since,  with  the  exception  of  the 
black  graphitic  shales  at  the  Suspension  Bridge  over  the  St.  John 
River,  which  are  of  an  entirely  different  horizon,  no  attempts  at 
graphite  mining  have  been  made. 

Of  a  different  character  and  horizon  are  the  deposits  of  bitu- 
minous shale  found  in  Albert  and  Westmoreland  counties,  in  the 
south-eastern  portion  of  the  province,  which  have  been  for  many 
years  known  under  the  name  of  "Albert  shale."  For  a  long  time 
they  were  classed  in  the  geological  scale  as  a  portion  of  the  Lower 
Carboniferous  formation,  though  their  position  as  uncomform- 
ably  beneath  the  Lower  Carboniferous  limestone  and  gypsum 
division  has  long  been  recognised.  Recent  detailed  investigation 
in  this  province  has  now  clearly  demonstrated  the  fact  that  they 
are  an  integral  portion  of  the  Upper  Devonian  formations. 

The  Albert  shales  came  into  prominence  some  sixty  years 
ago,  through  the  discovery  by  Dr.  Gesner,  a  former  provincial 
geologist,  of  the  peculiar  mineral  known  as  Albertite,  the  mining  of 
which  for  nearly  thirty  years  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most  profitable 
of  the  mineral  developments  in  New  Brunswick.  Its  mode  of 
occurrence  has  been  stated  in  numerous  publications,  including  the 
official  report  of  the  Geological  Survey,  a  detailed  examination 
with  map  of  the  area  being  made  in  1876  by  Dr.  Bailey  and  the 
writer.  The  mineral  Albertite  was  found  to  occur  in  true  vein 
form,  with  a  length  of  about  half  a  mile,  and  was  followed  down- 
ward to  a  depth  of  1,500  feet. 

Although  the  greater  portion  of  the  Albert  vein  was  long  ago 
removed,  and  the  works  closed  down  as  a  producer  for  over  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century,  other  veins  are  known  to  exist  in  the  area,  and 
in  the  upper  portion  of  the  old  workings  a  large  mass  of  the 
mineral  still  remains  untouched,  owing  to  the  fact  that  in  the 
eastern  half  of  the  workings  all  that  part  above  the  450  feet 
level  was  not  extracted.  On  the  other  and  smaller  veins  nothing 
beyond  shallow  surface  prospecting  has  been  done,  the  uses  to 
which  the  output  was  formerly  applied,  which  was  chiefly  as  an 


212  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

enricher  of  bituminous  coals  in  the  manufacture  of  gas,  having 
ceased.  At  the  present  time  there  appears  to  be  no  means  by 
which  Albertite  can  be  utilised  on  the  large  scale,  other  than  for 
the  distillation  of  the  contained  bituminous  matter  in  the  form  of 
oil,  of  which  it  contains  over  100  gallons  per  ton. 

The  Albert  shale  beds  extend  from  east  to  west  for  over  70 
miles  through  the  counties  of  Westmorland,  Albert  and  Kings, 
and  their  peculiar  features  appear  to  be  continuous  throughout, 
though  in  certain  portions  the  percentage  of  bituminous  matter 
is  much  less  than  in  the  richer  beds  of  Albert  county.  They  are  in 
places  covered  over  b}T  more  recent  deposits  of  Lower  Carboniferous 
age,  such  as  conglomerates  and  shales  with  limestone  and  gypsum, 
which  unconformably  overly  the  shales.  In  Albert  and  West- 
morland counties,  more  especially  at  the  Albert  mines,  at  Bal- 
timore and  further  west  on  the  upper  part  of  Turtle  creek,  as  also 
to  the  east,  near  the  Memramcook  river,  north  of  Dorchester, 
these  shales,  which  are  often  thin  and  papery,  contain  beds  of 
a  brownish-black,  tough  and  massive  shale,  which  range  in  thick- 
ness from  two  to  five  feet,  while  on  Turtle  creek  the  color  of  these 
beds  becomes  grey  and  they  have  a  reported  thickness  in  places  of 
about  18  feet.  They  contain  an  even  larger  percentage  of  oils 
than  the  brown  beds,  and  splinters  of  the  material  kindle  readily 
from  the  flame  of  a  match  The  yield  of  oil  from  the  brown  beds 
is  somewhat  more  than  60  gallons  per  ton,  while  of  the  grey  the 
yield  by  analysis  is  given  at  over  80  gallons  They  are  all  clearly 
interstratified  portions  of  the  shale  formations,  occurring  after  the 
manner  of  beds  of  coal  in  the  Carboniferous,  but  without  dis- 
tinct fire  clays.  These  brown  bands  of  oil-shale,  which  have 
sometimes  been  styled  Cannelite,  are  tough,  breaking  with  a 
conchoidal  fracture,  giving  a  sound  like  wood  when  struck  with 
the  hammer.  As  far  back  as  1862-64  they  were  quite  extensively 
mined  for  the  distillation  of  petroleum,  a  plant  being  erected  at 
Baltimore,  which  was  operated  for  several  years,  or  until  the 
discovery  of  the  great  oil  fields  of  western  Ontario  and  of  the 
United  States  so  reduced  the  price  of  crude  oil  as  to  render  further 
distillation  of  these  rocks  unprofitable.  Large  quantities  of  the 
crude  shale  were  also  exported  from  Taylorville,  on  the  Mem- 
ramcook river,  to  ports  in  the  United  States  for  the  same  purpose, 
the  price  obtained  being  $6.00  per  ton. 


Minerals  of  New  Brunswick.  213 

Extensive  boring  operations  for  oil  in  these  shales  have  been 
carried  on  for  many  years,  culminating  some  seven  years  ago  in 
the  formation  of  a  new  company,  by  whom  control  was  obtained 
from  the  local  government  of  the  greater  part  of  the  supposed  oil- 
lands  in  the  province.  As  a  result  over  seventy  holes  were  bored, 
principally  in  the  area  between  the  Memramcook  and  Petitcodiac 
rivers,  on  a  somewhat  broad  belt  of  the  shales  which  extend 
across  from  Albert  county.  In  one  hole  at  least  a  reported  depth 
of  3,000  feet  was  reached,  but  no  trace  of  oil  was  found.  In 
about  50  per  cent,  of  the  holes,  oil  in  small  quantities  was  met  with. 
and  since  the  closing  down  of  boring  operations  a  certain  number 
of  these  have  been  pumped  from  time  to  time  with  a  small  yield 
of  crude  petroleum  and  water,  but  in  so  far  as  can  be  learned 
none  of  these  wells  has  as  yet  yielded  oil  in  commercial  quantities. 

Recently  a  new  company  has  been  organized  with  the  object 
of  producing  oil  by  distillation  from  the  bands  of  rich  oil-shales, 
which,  if  properly  conducted,  should  give  satisfactory  results. 
Testshavebeen  made  in  a  specially  constructed  distillation  plant 
in  Xew  York,  which  are  reported  as  being  eminently  satisfactory, 
both  as  regards  the  yield  of  crude  petroleum  and  the  percentage 
of  paraffine,  ammonium  sulphate,  etc.,  the  proposition  being 
made  to  erect  a  proper  distillation  plant  for  commercial  purposes 
on  the  rich  shales  of  Baltimore,  which  were  formerly  utilized. 

As  a  source  of  fuel  supply  the  oil-shales  have  been  used  locally 
to  some  extent  and  found  to  give  satisfactory  results  when  burned 
in  open  grates  or  for  the  generation  of  steam,  and  further  tests 
are  in  contemplation.  They  burn  very  freely,  give  out  an  intense 
heat,  are  comparatively  free  from  sulphur  and  are  clean  to  handle, 
while  the  resulting  ash,  though  considerable,  does  not  seem  to 
form  an  insuperable  objection  to  their  employment.  If  the  shale 
is  broken  to  suitable  sizes  it  burns  completely  to  a  fine  grey  ash 
without  any  trace  of  clinker.  It  generates  steam  more  rapidly 
than  ordinary  bituminous  coals,  and  the  ash  is  held  to  possess 
fertilizing  properties  which  are  valuable  for  the  production  of 
certain  crops,  so  much  so  that  at  Baltimore  for  some  years  the 
farmers  have  used  the  waste  from  the  old  dump  at  that  place  as 
a  top  dressing  for  their  lands,  with  reported  beneficial  results. 

Of  these  shale  bands  four  outcrop  at  the  surface  at  the 
Albert    mines,    five    at    Baltimore,    and    two  thick  beds  at  least 


214 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


on  the  waters  of  Turtle  creek,  about  two  miles  further  west.  The 
mining  of  these  shales  can  be  carried  on  after  the  manner  of  coal 
beds,  the  enclosing  shales  being  thin  and  papery,  excavate  easily, 
so  that  the  removal  of  the  oil-bands  is  comparatively  simple. 
The  percentage  of  oil  is  large,  exceeding  in  amount  that  obtained 
from  the  shales  of  Scotland  and  England,  which  have  been  so 
extensively  used  for  distillation  for  many  years,  and  from  which, 
to  judge  from  the  published  reports  on  that  industry,  very  large 
profits  are  obtained,  even  in  the  face  pf  competition  from  Russia 
and  the  United  States,  while  the  value  of  the  by-products  is  a 
very  important  feature.  As  regards  the  actual  processes  used 
in  the  shale  districts  in  Scotland,  but  little  information  can  be 
obtained,  as  the  several  companies  there  working  are  close  cor- 
porations in  so  far  as  giving  out  information  is  concerned;  but 
from  the  fact  that  the  industry  has  been  carried  on  for  half  a 
century  continuously,  and  from  the  scale  of  profits  which  have 
been  published,  the  enterprise  in  Scotland  has  clearly  been  a 
commercial  success.  The  yield  of  oil  from  the  Scotch  shales  now 
being  worked  is  given  as  from  20  to  rather  more  than  30  gallons 
per  ton  of  shale,  which  as  compared  with  the  known  oil  contents 
of  the  bands  in  the  Albert  shales,  which  yield  from  60  to  more 
than  80  gallons  per  ton  from  beds  equal  in  size  to  those  of  Scotland, 
and  in  some  places  even  larger,  is  a  very  encouraging  feature  as 
regards  the  proposed  development  of  the  Albert  county  fields. 

Several  years  ago  a  series  of  analyses  was  made  of  the  coals 
from  the  Minto  coal  basin  in  the  Grand  Lake  district,  which,*"  as 
compared  with  the  analysis  of  coal  from  Connellsville,  Pa.,  give 
the  following  results: — 


Mois- 
ture 

Vol. 

Matter 

Fixed 
Carb. 

Ash 

Sulphur 

Connellsville,  Pa 

1.10 
0.60 
0.80 
0.60 
0.58 
0.72 
0.65 
0.74 
0.67 
0.60 

32.75 
36.94 
36.58 
35.36 
33.90 
37.28 
33.85 
34.56 
37.13 
35.80 

57.08 
55.03 
52.94 
55.40 
52.37 
52.41 
56.58 
55.72 
52.89 
54.35 

9.07 
7.43 
9.68 
8.64 
13.14 
9.59 
8.92 
8.98 
9.31 
9.25 

0.85 

Evans 

4.48 
5.81 

Kings 

5.63 

Gibbons  

6.09 

O'Leary 

2.99 

Welton 

5.25 

Coakley 

8.46 

McDonald 

4.72 

Kelly 

3.92 

Dunsinane 

1.28 

34.18 

49.06 

7.58 

7.90 

Minerals  of  New  Brunswick.  215 

The  values  of  the  oil-bands  in  the  Albert  shales  from  Balti- 
more, X.B.,  can  be  seen  from  the  results  obtained  by  analyses  by 
Professor  Hislop,  of  England,  the  test  being  made  on  a  one  ton 
sample,  and  by  Dr.  Charles  Baskerville,  of  the  college  of  the  City 
of  New  York,  on  a  sample  of  eighty  pounds  weight. 

The  result  of  the  former  test  is  as  follows: — 

Lubricating  Oil 11  gals. 

Burning  Oil 25      " 

Paraffin  Wax 48  lbs. 

Sulphate  of  Ammonia 72     " 

The  result  of  Dr.  Baskerville's  analysis  is  as  follows: — 

Naptha 6  gals. 

Lubricating  Oil 9      " 

Burning  Oil 11      " 

Paraffin  Oil 5      " 

By-products,  containing  tar,  sulphur  compounds,  creosote,  etc ...  31      " 

62  gals. 


DISCUSSION. 

Dr.  Ells: — Might  I  ask  Dr.  Porter  if  he  has  any  specimens 
from  these  New  Brunswick  seams  in  the  experiments  he  is  making. 

Dr.  Porter: — We  have  some. 

Dr.  Ells: — Have  you  made  attempts  at  coking? 

Dr.  Porter: — No,  we  have  deferred  that. 

Dr.  Ells: — The  most  important  of  the  bituminous  rocks  are 
the  Albertite  shales  in  Albert  county.  These  form  a  belt  extend- 
ing 60  or  70  miles  from  near  St.  John  down  to  the  easterly  part 
of  the  province.  They  were  opened  first  in  1852  on  a  vein  of  Al- 
bertite which  ran  for  over  half  a  mile  with  a  width  in  places  of  15  or 
16  feet.  Although  the  greater  portion  of  the  Albert  vein  was 
long  ago  removed,  and  the  works  closed  over  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury ago,  other  veins  are  known  to  exist  in  the  area,  and  in  the 
upper  portion  of  the  old  workings  a  large  mass  of  the  mineral  still 
remains  untouched,  owing  to  the  fact  that  in  the  eastern  half  of 
the  workings  all  that  part  above  the  450  feet  level  was  not  ex- 
tracted. On  the  other  and  smaller  veins  nothing  beyond  shallow 
surface  prospecting  has  been  done,  the  uses  to  which  the  output 


216  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

was  formerly  applied,  which  was  chiefly  as  an  enricher  of  bitu- 
minous coals  in  the  manufacture  of  gas,  having  ceased.  At  the 
present  time  t'.ere  appears  to  be  no  means  by  which  Albertite 
can  be  utilized  on  the  large  scale,  other  than  for  the  distillation 
of  the  contained  bituminous  matter  in  the  form  of  oil,  of  which 
it  contains  over  100  gallons  per  ton. 

The  Albert  shale  beds  extend  from  east  to  west  for  over  70 
miles  through  the  Counties  of  Westmoreland,  Albert  and  Kings, 
and  their  peculiar  features  appear  to  be  continuous  throughout, 
though  in  certain  portions  the  percentage  of  bituminous  matter 
is  much  less  than  in  the  richer  beds  of  Albert  County. 

The  yield  of  oil  from  the  brown  oil  shale  bands  is  somewhat 
more  than  60  gallons  per  ton,  while  of  the  grey  oil  bands  the  yield 
by  analysis  is  given  at  over  80  gallons. 

Extensive  boring  operations  for  oil  in  these  shales  have  been 
carried  on  for  many  years,  culminating  some  seven  years  ago  in 
the  formation  of  a  new  company,  by  whom  control  was  obtained 
from  the  local  government  of  the  greater  part  of  the  supposed 
oil  lands  in  the  province.  As  a  result  over  70  holes  were  bored, 
principally  in  the  area  between  the  Memramcook  and  Petitcodiac 
rivers,  on  a  somewhat  broad  belt  of  the  shales,  which  extend  across 
from  Albert  County.  In  one  hole  at  least  a  reported  depth  of 
3,000  feet  was  reached,  but  no  trace  of  oil  was  found.  In  about 
50  per  cent,  of  the  holes,  oil  in  small  quantities  was  met  with,  and 
since  the  closing  down  of  boring  operations  a  certain  number  of 
these  have  been  pumped  from  time  to  time  affording  a  small  yield  of 
crude  petroleum  and  water,  but  in  so  far  as  can  be  learned  none 
of  these  wells  has  as  yet  yielded  oil  in  commercial  quantities. 

Recently  a  new  company  has  been  organized  with  the  object 
of  producing  oil  by  distillation  from  the  bands  of  rich  oil  shales 
which,  if  properly  conducted,  should  give  satisfactory  results. 

The  percentage  of  oil  is  large,  exceeding  in  amount  that 
obtained  from  the  shales  of  Scotland  and  England,  which  have 
been  so  extensively  used  for  distillation  for  many  years,  and  from 
which,  to  judge  from  the  published  reports  on  that  industry, 
very  large  profits  are  obtained,  even  in  the  face  of  competition 
from  Russia  and  the  United  States,  while  the  value  of  the  by- 
products is  a  very  important  feature. 


Minerals  op  New  Brunswick.  l'1  7 

The  yield  of  oil  from  the  Scotch  shales  now  being  worked  ie 
given  as  from  20  to  rather  more  than  30  gallons  per  ton  of  si  ale, 
which,  as  compared  with  the  known  oil  contents  of  the  bands  in 
the  Albert  shales,  which  yield  from  60  to  more  tl  an  80  gallons 
per  ton  from  beds  equal  in  size  to  those  of  Scotland,  and  in  some 
places  even  larger,  is  a  very  encouraging  feature  as  regards  tl  e 
proposed  development  of  the  Albert  County  fields.  Recently 
50  tons  lave  been  sent  to  Scotland  for  a  thorough  test,  and  tl  is 
should  be  satisfactory. 

Major  Leckie:— The  value  of  this  mineral  depends  very  much 
on  the  manner  in  which  it  is  treated.  There  are  large  deposits  near 
the  surface  there  which  can  be  worked  by  steam  shovel, and  this  coal 
if  washed  and  briquctted  would  make  a  first-class  fuel  for  loco- 
motive works,  but  if  used  as  produced,  when  freed  as  much  as 
possible  from  stone  it  makes  an  excellent  gas  producer  for  power 
purposes,  quite  as  good  as  the  coal  of  higher  grade  in  Xova  Scotia. 
The  shales  found  in  connection  with  the  Albertite  when  treated 
in  a  gas  producer  will  yield  up  their  hydrocarbons  and  add  to 
the  product  of  the  coal.  It  would  not  be  waste  material.  I 
remember  that  a  friend  of  mine,  in  St.  John,  mined  and  distilled 
the  shales  of  Albert  County  a  good  many  years  ago.  but  after  the 
discovery  of  the  petroleum  of  Ontario  and  the  United  States, 
the  works  for  the  distillation  of  the  si  ales  were  abandoned.  I 
understand  that  Mr.  Pearson,  of  Halifax,  and  some  others  are 
reviving  the  idea  of  again  treating  these  shales.  Tl  ere  are  very 
large  quantities  of  them  and  they  vary  in  richness  at  different 
points.  I  have  seen  these  sbale  deposits  in  Xew  South  Wales 
that  have  been  referred  to;  some  of  these  shales  have  been 
shipped  all  the  way  to  England  from  Australia;  some  of 
them  are  high  grade  and  some  low  grade.  At  our  Quebec 
meeting  some  years  ago  Mr.  Dowling  read  an  interesting  paper 
in  which  he  pointed  out  the  greater  value  of  the  lignites  of  the 
North- West  by  being  treated  not  by  firing  direct  in  the  furnace, 
but  by  conversion  into  gas.  The  moisture  itself  in  a  properly 
constructed  gas  producer  can  be  so  utilized  in  the  destruction  of 
the  carbon  that  it  will  add  very  much  to  the  quantity  of  effective 
gas.  Perhaps  this  committee  to  be  appointed  by  the  President 
might  bear  in  mind,  when  examining  different  kinds  of  coal,  the 
purpose  to  which  it  can  be   best   used   and  also  the   best   mode 


218  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

of  treating  it. 

Mr.  Coste. — May  I  say  a  few  words  upon  something  which 
does  not  appear  to  be  covered  by  the  paper  and  which  I  think  is 
important.  Dr.  Ells  has  included  the  carbonaceous  and  bitu- 
minous minerals  of  New  Brunswick  in  one  paper  and  he  gives  us  a 
great  deal  of  valuable  information  about  the  coals  and  the  bitu- 
minous shales  of  that  Province.  But  I  would  like  to  point  out  the 
very  great  difference  in  the  deposits  between  these  two  minerals. 
The  coal  is,  of  course,  forming  regular  beds  of  a  sedimentary  basin, 
while  the  bituminous  minerals  are  in  veins  like  the  Albertite  vein 
and  in  impregnations  through  portions  of  the  shales  and  other 
rocks  in  a  very  irregular  manner  and  these  bitumen  deposits  are 
along  fissured  zones  or  belts.  The  one  mineral  is  entirely  different 
from  the  other  so  far  as  the  nature  of  the  deposit  is  concerned. 
One  quarry  of  oil  shales  might  be  opened  in  one  horizon  and  another 
quarry  in  another  horizon  and  neither  of  the  horizons  would  be 
impregnated  with  oil  in  other  places,  as  in  the  oil  shales  fields  of 
Scotland,  and,  on  the  whole,  the  rich  oil  shales  in  New  Brunswick 
are  very  irregularly  distributed  along  several  distinct  belts.  The 
bitumen  in  these  shales  is  evidently  a  subsequent  foreign  impreg- 
nation, and  as  a  proof  of  that  I  wish  to  point  out,  it  is  not  only 
found  in  the  Albert  shales  but  it  is  also  found  in  the  lower  carbon- 
iferous strata  above  and  in  the  pre-Cambrian  below,  both  of 
which  formations  are  unconformable  on  the  Albert  Devonian 
shales.  Surely,  then,  the  bitumen  or  oil  are  impregnations  subse- 
quent to  the  youngest  formation  or  to  the  lower  carboniferous  and 
its  origin  cannot  have  anything  to  do  with  decomposition  of  or- 
ganic life  in  either  of  these  formations.  Of  course  coal  will  burn 
and  so  will  the  oil  shale,  but  that  is  the  only  point  of  resemblance 
there  is  between  them.  When  we  consider  the  nature  of  the  de- 
posits or  their  origin  there  is  no  resemblance.  I  would  like  also 
to  emphasize  the  fact  pointed  out  by  Dr.  Ells  that  the  Albert 
shales  impregnated  by  bitumen  extend  over  a  large  area.  Dr. 
Ells  mentioned  a  distance  of  70  miles  which  is  a  much  longer  belt 
than  they  have  in  Scotland,  and  as  Dr.  Ells  has  also  pointed  out, 
the  Albert  shales  are  richer  in  oil  than  the  Scotch  shales. 

Dr.  Ells  : — The  vein-like  nature  of  the  Albertite  is  so  well 
known  and  has  been  mentioned  in  so  many  papers  that  probably 
I  did  not  mention  it  in  this  paper. 


Minerals  of  New  Brunswick.  219 

Major  Leckie: — The  vein  cuts  the  s!  ale  right  across.  It 
is  a  true  vein,  and  is  not  impregnated  from  the  shale. 

Mr.  Coste: — I  merely  wanted  to  emphasize  the  great  differ- 
ence between  the  two  substances,  coal  and  bitumen,  as  these  two 
entirely  different  substances  are  generally  confused,  one  for  the 
other,  and  are  also  confused  with  organic  matter. 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  COAL. 

By  D.  B.  Dowling,  Ottawa,  Ont. 

(Ottawa  Meeting,  March,  1908.) 

Several  schemes  of  classification  have  been  advocated  from 
time  to  time,  and  these  have  served  the  need  of  various  regions, 
but  no  one  so  far  seems  to  have  been  applicable  to  the  majority 
of  the  coal  fields  of  America.  During  the  series  of  tests  carried 
out  by  the  U.S.  Geological  Survey  very  exhaustive  analyses  were 
made  of  a  great  variety  of  coals,  and  from  the  intimate  knowledge 
of  the  coal  fields  and  the  mass  of  chemical  results,  Mr.  Marius 
Campbell  constructed  a  scale  of  relative  values  bound  together 
by  a  simple  ratio,  namely,  the  total  Carbon  divided  by  the  total 
Hydrogen  in  the  fuel.  To  obtain  this  ratio  it  is  necessary  to  have 
an  ultimate  analysis  of  the  coal,  and  it  is  for  this  reason  alone 
that  the  scheme  outlined  has  for  us  little  present  value. 

A  criticism  of  this  classification  appears  in  the  Canadian 
Mining  Journal  for  May  1st,  1907,  by  S.  L.  MacCallum.  There 
are  evidently  some  omissions  in  the  published  form  as  it  is  difficult 
to  see  what  the  substituted  scheme  means,  and  so  its  merits  are 
not  apparent. 

The  Carbon-Hydrogen  ratio  proposed  by  Mr.  Campbell  is 
probably  not  far  from  the  ideal,  but,  as  remarked  before,  is  not 
of  present  value,  since  of  the  hundreds  of  analyses  of  Canadian 
coals  there  are  to  be  had  only  about  ten  ultimate  analyses  on  which 
to  work.  Another  objection  might  be  taken  from  the  prospector's 
standpoint.  The  ultimate  analysis  is  a  costly  one  and  takes  time, 
and  if  he  has  a  great  number  of  samples  he  will  be  impatient  at 
the  delay  and  also  apprehensive  as  to  the  cost.  The  ordinary 
proximate  analysis  has  from  long  usage  become  a  pretty  fair  rough 
index  of  the  value  of  the  coal. 

To  judge  of  the  fitness  of  any  scheme,  it  should  be  applied  to 
the  coals  that  we  know,  and  so  far  the  only  scheme  that  we  can 


Classification  of  Coal.  221 

try  with  a  wide  range  of  coals  must  be  dependent  on  the  proxi- 
mate analyses  which  we  have  in  abundance,  rather  than  the 
few  ultimate  ones.  For  this  reason  it  seems  possible  to  adopt 
some  empirical  rule  by  which  the  elements  of  a  proximate 
analysis  of  an  air-dried  coal  may  be  used,  for  such,  I  take  it,  our 
ordinary  run  of  samples  may  be  called.  We  have  for  comparison 
the  St.  Louis  analyses  of  both  air-dried  and  fresh  from  the  mine 
coal,  and  the  scale  dependent  on  the  Carbon-Hydrogen  ratio. 
Applying  the  fuel  ratio,  the  calorific  ratio,  etc.,  we  find  that  the 
fuel  ratio  fails  in  the  lignites.  Also  the  hygroscopic  moisture  fails 
for  the  higher  coals.  The  total  volatile  and  fixed  carbon  ratio 
does  not  discriminate  between  the  lignites  and  the  softer  dry  coals. 

I  have  made  several  scales  using  proportionate  parts  of  each 
of  the  items  given  in  the  proximate  analyses,  but  the  simplest 
that  approximates  to  the  Carbon-Hydrogen  ratio  is  one  that  I 
have  provisionally  called  the  "  split  volatile  "  ratio. 

Fixed  carbon  +  £  volatile  combustible 


Moisture  +  \  volatile  combustible. 

This  scheme  is  not  ideal,  but  will,  I  think,  be  useful  as  a  rough 
working  scale. 

The  question  then  comes  "How  close  does  this  work  out  using 
approximate  analyses  of  air-dried  coal  as  compared  with  that 
given  by  the  Carbon-Hydrogen  ratio?  "  From  the  annexed 
tables  prepared  from  the  St.  Louis  analyses  and  the  few 
complete  ones  of  Canadian  coals,  it  will  be  seen  that  in 
the  higher  grades  the  agreement  is  very  close  as  the  ratio 
proposed  is  approximately  more  than  double  the  fuel  ratio, 
and  therefore  is  in  sympathy   with  the  Pennsylvania  practice. 

In  the  lower  grades,  where  the  water  content  is  a  high  factor, 
this  is  given  more  prominence,  and  the  results  seem  to  conform 
quite  closely  to  the  order  in  which  the  calorific  values  run.  In 
the  middle  of  the  scale  there  is  considerable  variance  from  the 
order  of  arrangement  given  by  the  Carbon-Hydrogen  ratio,  but 
in  the  comments  on  the  tables  several  analyses  are  given  to  show 
that  it  is  hard  to  say  which  order  is  preferable. 


222 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


TABLE  I. 

Classification  of  a  Series  of  Coals,  by  Campbell's  scheme,  with  Calorific  and 

proposed  ratios. 


No. 

From 

C 
H 

B.T.U. 

FC.=*V 

Group. 

H20=JV 

1 

Pennsylvania  No.  3 

26.7 

20.7 

19.6 
18.9 
18.7 
17.8 
17.5 

16.9 
16.1 
15.5 
14.7 
14.4 

14.3 
14.0 
13.9 
13.6 
13.4 
13.2 
13.2 
13.0 
12.9 
12.6 
12.6 

12.4 
12.3 
12.2 
12.2 
11.5 
11.2 

11.2 
10.9 
10.4 
10.1 
9.4 

14.906 

15.270 

15.786 
15.393 
15.927 
15.743 
15.178 

15.072 
15.440 
15.325 
15.129 
15.048 

14.624 
15.422 
14.2S0 
14.896 
15 . 462 
13.872 
14.936 
12.376 
13.997 
13.702 
14.276 

13.471 
13.340 
12.498 
13.331 
12.139 
12.711 

12.309 
10.881 
11.098 
11.465 
10.990 

13.59 

10.40 

8.567 
7.348 
8.489 
7.245 
5.691 

4.53 
6.26 
4.56 
3.72 

3.28 

3.37 

3.292 

2.98 

2.876 

3.00 

2.90 

3.105 

2.623 

2.76 

2.69 

2.40 

2.647 

2.46 

2.49 

2.61 

2.53 

2.38 

2.267 

1.97 

1.83 

1.523 

1.448 

A.B.C. 

2 

Arkansas  No.  5 

D&E 

3 

W.  Virginia  No.  11 

F. 

4 

Arkansas  No.  1 

5 

W.  Virginia  No.  10 

6 

W.  Virginia  No.  6 : 

7 

8 
9 

Old  Man  River  n.br.  No.  29  . . . 

Mill  Creek  No.  39.  . . , 

W.  Virginia  No.  4 

G. 

10 

W.  Virginia  No.  3 

11 

W.  Virginia  No.  1 

12 

W.  Virginia  No.  2 

13 

Indian  Terr.  No.  2 

H. 

14 
15 

Kansas  No.  1 

16 

17 
18 

Upper  Belly  River  No.  32 

Old  Man  River  No.  31 

Bow  River  No.  28 

19 
20 

21 

Old  Man  River  No.  30 

Coal  Banks  Main  Seam  No.  26 
Missouri  No.  1 

22 

Kentucky  No.  3 

23 

Missouri  No.  4  .  .  .  , 

24 

Iowa  No.  2 

I. 

25 

Indiana  No.  2.  .  .  . 

26 

Belly  River  No.  22  .  . 

27 

Wyoming  No.  2 

28 

Montana  No.  1 

29 

Iowa  No.  5 

30 

New  Mexico  No.  1 

J. 

31 

Texas  No.  2 

32 
33 
34 

South  Saskatchewan  No.  2 .  .  .  . 

North  Dakota  No.  1 

Texas  No.  1 

In  the  above  table  the  U.S.  coals  are  given  the  names  used 
in  the  Report  of  the  coal  tests  in  Professional  Paper  No.  48.  The 
Canadian  coals,  the  number  given   in  Report   of  Progress,  G.S. 


Classification  of  Coal. 


223 


C,  1882-84,  part  M.  The  caloric  value  in  British  thermal  units 
is  for  theoretically  clean  coal,  but  in  the  Canadian  tests  a  differ- 
ent calorimeter  is  used,  and  these  may  not  be  in  accord  with  the 
scheme  of  values  given  the  American  coals. 

The  same  set  of  coals  arranged  in  the  order  which  they  would 
take  by  the  proposed  "Split  Volatile"  ratio  is  shown  in  Table  II., 
so  that  the  two  schemes  may  be  better  compared. 

TABLE  II. 
Classification  by  Split  Volatile  Ratio. 


1  Pennsylvania  No.  3.  .  . 

2  Arkansas  No.  5 

3  W.  Virginia  No.  11 

4  W.  Virginia  No.  10.  .  .  . 

5  Arkansas  No.  1 

6  W.  Virginia  No.  6 

7  W.  Virginia  No.  4 

8  Old  Man  R.N.Br.  29  .  . 

9  W.Virginia  No.  3 

10  MH1  Creek  No.  39 

11  W.  Virginia  No.  1 

12  In.  Territory  No.  2 

13  Nanaimo  33 

14  W.  Virginia  No.  2 

15  Old  Man  R.  No.  30.  .  .  . 

16  Old  Man  R.  No.  31.  ... 

17  Kansas  No.  1 

18  Bow  River  No.  28 

19  Upper  Belly  R.32 

20  Missouri  No.  1 

21  Kentucky  No.  3 

22  Iowa     No.     2    

23  Coal  Banks  No.  26 

24  Wyoming  No.  2 

2.5  Montana  No.  1 

26  Belly  RiverXo.  22    

27  Indiana  No.  2 

28  Missouri  No.  4  .  . 

29  Iowa  No.  5 

30  New  Mexico  No.  1 

31  Texas  No.  2.  ■ 

32  S.  Sask.  No.  2 

33  N.  Dakota  No.  1 

34  Texas  No.  1 


13.59  14 

10.40  15 

8.56  15 

8.48  15 
7.34  15 
7.34  15 
6.26  15 
5 .  69  15 
4.56  15 
4.53  15 
3.72.15 

3.37  14 
3.29  15 
3.28  15 
3.10  14 
3.00  15 
2.98  14 
2.90  13 
2.87  14 
2.76  13 
2.69  13 
2.64  13 
2.62  12 
2.61  13 
2.53  12 

2.49  12 
2 .  46  13 
2.40  14 

2.38  12 
2 .  26  12 
1  97  10 
1.83  11 
1.52  11 
1 .  44  10 


906  26. 
270  20. 
786  19. 
927  18. 
393  18 
743  17. 
440  16. 
178  17. 
325  15 
072  16. 
129  14. 
624  14 
422  14 
048  14 
936  13 
462  13 
280  13 
872  13 
896  13 
997  12 
702  12 
471  12. 
376  13 
331  12 
139  11 
498  12, 
340  12 
276  12 
711  11. 
309  11 
881  10 
098  10 
465  10 
990  9 


1 

2 

3 

5 

4 

6 

9 

7 

10 

8 

11 

13 

14 

12 

19 

17 

15 

18 

16 

21 

22 

24 

20 

27 

28 

26 

25 

23 

29 

30 

31 

32 

33 

34 


0 

0 

0 

up  1 

down  1 

0 

up  2 

down  1 

up  1 

down  2 

0 

up  1 

up  1 

down  2 

up  4 

up  1 

down  2 

0 
down 
up  1 
up  1 
up  2 
down  3 
up  3 
up  3 
0 
down  2 
down  5 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 


A.  B.&C 

D.  &  E. 

F. 

F. 

F. 

F. 

G. 

F. 

G. 

G. 

G, 

H. 

H. 

H. 

H. 

H. 

H. 

H. 

H. 

H. 

H. 

I. 

H. 

I. 

I. 

I. 

I- 

H. 

I. 

J. 

J. 

J. 

J. 

J. 


224 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


In  this  table  the  arrangement  is  by  the  proposed  Split  Volatile 
ratio,  and  in  the  last  three  columns  are  given  first  the  numbers 
of  the  arrangement  in  Table  I.  by  the  Carbon-Hydrogen  ratio,  with 
next  the  number  of  places  the  new  scheme  has  shifted  each  item 
whether  up  or  down.  If  it  remains  in  same  position  in  scale  this 
is  indicated  by  0.  The  last  column  gives  the  group  to  which  each 
item  belonged  in  Table  I. 

Comments. 
In  studying  this  table  it  will  be  seen  that  no  great  disagree- 
ment occurs  for  the  higher  class  coals,  but  that  through  the  inter- 
mediate grades  there  is  some  transposition.  Thus,  Nos.  7  to  10 
appeared  in  Table  I  in  the  order  9,  7,  10  and  8  of  Table  II.  To 
criticise  the  two  arrangements  the  analyses  are  here  given: — 


Vol. 

Fixed 

Fuel 

No. 

H20. 

Combust. 

Carbon 

Ash 

B.T.U. 

Ratio 

7 

0.98 

28.72 

61.87 

8.43 

15.440 

2.16 

8 

1.75 

19.99 

58.40 

19.86 

15.178 

2.92 

9 

1.00 

30.25 

58.38 

11.37 

15 . 325 

1.93 

10 

1.63 

28.43 

57.57 

12.37 

15.072 

2.02 

The  order  of  precedence  by  Carbon-Hydrogen  ratio  is: 


1.00 

30.25 

58.38 

10.37 

15.325 

1.93 

0.98 

28.72 

61.87 

8.43 

15.440 

2.16 

1.63 

28.43 

57.57 

12.37 

15.072 

2.02 

1.75 

19.99 

58.40 

19.86 

15.178 

2.92 

It  is  clear  by  the  calorific  values  that  neither  scheme  is  quite 
right,  but  the  rough  method  of  Table  II.  does  not  seem  to  be  out 
very  much. 

The  positions  of  the  Canadian  coals  in  the  series  are  somewhat 
unsettled,  but  the  two  schemes  of  analysis  may  account  for  this. 
The  Coal  Banks  sample  is  given  a  higher  position  by  the  C-H 
classification  than  it  would  have  by  either  the  "Split  Volatile" 
ratio   or   the   calorific   value. 

The  greatest  change  made  in  any  of  the  items  is  No.  28,  a 
coal  from  Morgan  Co.,  Missouri,  referred  to  as  Missouri  No.  4. 
This  deposit  is  what  might  be  called  a  freak  coal.  The  bed  is 
described  as  a  pocket  upwards  of  60  feet  thick,  and  the  extent  a 


Classification  of  Coal. 


225 


few  acres.  The  mine  is  not  developed,  and  the  coal  seems  to  have 
characters  that  might  point  to  a  different  life  history  than  the 
ordinary  coal  seam.  It  is  also  quite  evident  that  the  Cannel  coals 
cannot  be  classed  by  this  method. 

Near  the  lower  end  of  the  scale  the  agreement  is  complete. 

The  general  result  would  seem  to  be  near  enough  for  provision- 
ally classing  coals  whose  properties  are  known  only  by  proximate 
analyses  of  air-dried  samples.  The  last  column  of  Table  II.  shows 
that  the  classes  proposed  by  Mr.  Campbell  are  not  badly  dis- 
arranged, although  some  interchanging  is  to  be  found  at  the 
limits  of  each  class,  but  the  groups  can  be  distinguished. 

The  names  commonly  used  instead  of  the  letters  referred  to 
above  are  generally  acceptable,  except  perhaps  the  different  sense 
in  which  semi-anthracite  and  semi-bituminous  are  used,  and  I 
would  be  glad  to  see  the  latter  name  disappear. 

The  practice  heretofore  in  classif}ing  coals  has  depended 
almost  entirely  on  the  physical  characters,  such  as  for  weathering 
flame,  etc. 

Lignites  are  described  as  coals  having  a  brownish  powder, 
that  do  not  remmain  firm  on  exposure  to  dry  air  and  stain  a  boiling 
solution  of  caustic  potash  a  deep  brownish  red. 

Lignite  Coals  stand  weathering  better  and  do  not  colour  a 
potash  solution  so  deeply. 

Coals.  —The  lower  grades  impart  a  brownish  yellow  color  to 
the  potash  solution,  but  withstand  weathering. 

In  the  higher  grades  the  distinctions  are  rather  vague,  but 
it  is  generally  understood  that  anthracites  burn  with  very  little 
flame. 

In  classifying  lignites  by  the  potash  solution  we  sometimes 
have  coals  that  are  clearly  above  that  grade  in  other  properties. 
One  example  of  this  might  be  cited,  as  it  is  Xo.  21  in  the  Survey 
Report  above  referred  to.  Xo.  21  is  called  a  lignite,  while  Xo.  22 
is  lignitic  coal.     The  two  analyses  are: — 


Moisture 

Vol.  Combust! 

Fixed  Carb. 

Ash 

Lipnitic  Coal 

7.83 
9.18 

34.21 
34.97 

52.09 
49.00 

5.87 
6.85 

15 

226 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


The  lignite  stands  weathering  better  than  the  lignitic  coal. 
It  is  also  dry,  high  in  fixed  carbon  and  has  less  ash.  So  the  potash 
test  is  not  always  the  best  guide. 

The  Canadian  coals  that  have  been  selected  for  a  list  are 
pretty  well  known,  and  from  them  a  scheme  of  names  for  classes 
and  their  limits  is  submitted  below: — 


Split 
Vol. 
Ratio 


Seam  A,  Anthracite  Mine,  near  Banff 

Cowgitz,  Queen  Charlotte  Islands 

Bankhead,  Seam  No.  2,  B  level 

Canmore  Mine,  Seam  No.  3 , 

Hooper  Creek,  Skidegate  Channel,  Q.C.Is.  .  . 
Canmore  Mine,  Seam  No.  1 , 

Canmore  Mine,  Sedlock  Prospect 

Sheep  Creek,  Burn's  Location , 

Canmore  Mine,  Seam  No.  2 

Morrissey,  Seam  No.  2 , 

Canmore  Mine,  Seam  No.  4 

Canmore  Mine,  Seam  No.  5 

Canmore  Mine,  Seam  No.  6 

Coal  Creek,  Fernie,  No.  4 

Coleman,  Coking  Seam 

Michel  Mine,  No.  3 

Morrissey  Seam,  No.  1 , 

Coal  Creek,  Fernie,  Mine  No.  2 

North  Fork,  Old  Man  River,  near  Mts 

Union  Mine,  Comox,  B.C 

Coleman  Steam  Coal 

Acadia  Coal  Co.,  Ford  Pit,  Pictou,  N.S 

Hub  Seam,  Sydney,  N.S 

Hare  wood  Mine,  Comox,  B.C 

Wellington  Mine,  Nanaimo,  B.C 

Pincher  Creek,  Alta 

Coal  Creek,  Bow  River , 

Coal  Banks,  Main  Seam,  near  Lethbridge.  .  , 
Belly  River,  5  miles  below  Little  Bow  River 

Blackfoot  Crossing,  Little  Bow  River 

Seam  below  Edmonton 

Red  Deer  River,  Coal  Banks  Seam 

South  Saskatchewan,  near  Stair 

Sutherland's  Mine,  Souris  River 

Mouth  of  Long  Creek,  Souris  River 


24.17 
17.73 
15.79 
15.30 

14.53 
14.23 

12.64 
12.03 
11.82 
11.58 
11.00 
10.16 
10.40 

8.92 
7.73 
7.41 
7.32 
7.01 

5.69 
5.11 
5.04 
4.65 
4.35 
3.70 

3.29 
3.14 

2.90 
2.62 
2.49 

2.39 
2.26 
1.98 
1.94 
1.42 
1.28 


Anthracite. 


Semi- 
Anthracite. 


Anthracitic 
Coal. 


High  Carbon 
Bituminous. 


Bituminous. 


Low  Carbon 
Bituminous. 


Lignitic  Coal. 


Lignite. 
Lignite. 
Lignite. 
Lignite. 
Lignite. 
Lignite. 


Classification*  of  Coal. 


227 


The  scale  I  propose  would  be  that  coals  whose  proximate 
analyses  were  obtainable,  be  classed  by  dividing  the  fixed  carbon 
and  half  the  volatile  combustible  matter  by  the  moisture  and  half  the 
combustible  matter,  and  arranging  the  ratio  thus  obtained  under 
the   following   classes : — 

CLASSES. 


Anthracite 

St  mi- Anthracite 

A  nthraeitic  Coal 

High  Carbon  Bituminous 

Bituminous 

Low  Carbon  Bituminous 

Liqnitic  Coal 

L  ignite 


15 

up 

13 

15 

10 

13 

6 

10 

3.50 

6 

3 

3.50 

2.50 

3 

1.20 

2.50 

DISCUSSION. 


Mr.  J.  C.  Murray: — I  presume  your  ratio  would  fluctuate 
with  the  physical  conditions;  because  in  the  matter  of  size,  and 
in  the  matter  of  weathering,  the  samples  of  coal  would  not  have 
equal  absorbing  powers. 

Mr.  Dowlixg: — The  fluctuation  for  fresh  coals  would  be  very 
slight,  as  the  air  drying  could  be  done  on  coal  ground  to  a  standard 
size.  The  large  coal  takes  longer  to  lose  the  moisture  than  the 
smaller  size.  For  weathered  coal  the  impression  is  general  that 
the  coal  has  lost  in  volatile  matter;  but  the  evidence  gained  from 
experimentation  is  conflictory;  in  some  instances  the  outcrop 
showing  more  volatile  matter  than  the  unweathered  portions. 
This  might  form  a  subject  for  investigation  for  the  Mines  Branch 
of  the  Department  of  Mines.  Weathered  specimens  also  show  a 
marked  decline  in  calorific  value  from  those  obtained  from  inside 
the   mine. 

Dr.  Stansfield  (McGill  University) : — Can  you  say  how  far 
these  figures  would  vary  according  to  the  time  of  the  year? 

Mr.  Dowlixg  : — I  would  not  like  to  give  any  figures  for  that  ; 
but  in  the  American  reports  you  will  find  some  tables  showing  the 


228  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

difference  and  it  practically  varies  with  the  moisture  in  the  at- 
mosphere.    Coal  will  dry  to  the  humidity  of  the  air  and  no  more. 

Dr.  Stansfield: — Would  it  not  be  desirable  to  have  some- 
thing more  definite  than  merely  air  drying  in  giving  a  scheme 
of  classification? 

Mr.  Dowling: — It  certainly  would,  but  my  trouble  is  that 
the  analyses  I  have  are  dated  from  1859  to  1903  or  1904  and  I  do 
not  know  the  conditions  under  which  they  were  collected  nor 
under  which  the  analyses  were  made.  The  American  specimens 
are  possibly  sealed  and  shipped  direct  from  the  mine  and  then  are 
weighed  and  air  dried  immediately  to  ascertain  the  loss. 

Dr.  Porter  : — I  may  say  that  a  series'  of  tests  on  a  consider- 
able scale  is  now  being  carried  out  at  McGill  University,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Dominion  Government,  and  I  am  able  to  make 
some  explanation  of  the  methods  which  we  have  found  it  expedi- 
ent to  follow  in  connection  with  this  matter  of  air  drying.  We 
find,  as  would  be  expected,  that  a  sample  of  coal  air  dried  under  one 
condition  of  atmosphere  and  temperature  gives  an  altogether  dif- 
ferent result  from  a  sample  of  coal  dried  under  other  conditions. 
After  a  considerable  series  of  experiments  we  have  found  it  ex- 
pedient to  arrange  a  dry  box  or  cupboard  in  which  the  temperature 
is  kept  uniform  and  in  which  the  degree  of  moisture  is  kept  ap- 
proximately constant  by  means  of  a  chemical  solution.  We  can- 
not keep  it  absolutely  constant,  but  we  maintain  a  very  even  tem- 
perature and  secure  an  almost  perfectly  constant  humidity  by 
means  of  a  solution  which,  if  the  degree  of  moisture  falls  below  a 
certain  point,  yields  moisture  to  the  air  in  the  box,  whereas  if  it 
rises  it  absorbs  it.  All  the  samples  are  kept  under  these  conditions 
until  they  arrive  at  a  uniform  weight. 

This  method  is  not  perfect  because  if  we  had  adopted  some  dif- 
ferent temperature  and  some  different  degree  of  moisture  we  should 
have  different  results,  but  it  is  the  most  practical  plan  we  have 
been  able  to  work  out  and  it  will  make  the  results  Of  the  series  of 
tests  which  are  now  going  on  accurately  comparable  one  with 
another;  and  as  we  use  average  room  temperature  and  humidity, 
it  will,  I  think,  give  them  great  value  for  practical  purposes.  I  should 
like  to  be  able  to  give  you  further  information  in  regard  to  this 
work,  but  it  is  as  yet  in  such  an  unfinished  state  that  it  seems 
scarcely  proper  to  do  so,    and  I  am  sure  the  Government  would 


Classification*    of  Coal.  229 

not  wish  us  to  go  off  at  half  cock.  All  I  can  say  is  that  we  are 
working  in  the  line  of  the  work  that  has  already  been  done  by  the 
United  States.  We  are  not  so  rich  a  country  and  are  not  able  to 
spend  as  vast  sums  as  they  are  expending,  but  we  are  trying  to  do 
our  work,  at  least,  quite  as  well.  Indeed,  it  should  be  better, 
because  we  have  the  advantage  of  their  experience  to  go  upon, 
and  assuming  equality  of  ability  and  earnestness  we  should  pro- 
duce results  which  will  be  free  from  some  of  the  errors  of  ti  eir 
work.  At  all  events  our  investigation  will  be  a  serious  attempt 
at  a  careful  and  correct  and  reasonably  complete  study,  both  scien- 
tific and  technical,  of  the  coals  of  Canada.  I  look  upon  Mr.  Dowling 
in  the  work  he  has  been  doing  with  our  coals  as  our  best  friend, 
and  as  the  man  who  has  done  more  than  any  one  else  as  yet  to 
make  a  really  scientific  study  of  the  coals  of  Canada.    (Applause.) 

The  President: — In  respect  to  the  assaying  of  coal,  I  have 
often  noticed  in  the  course  of  our  work  in  British  Columbia  that 
no  two  assays  even  of  the  same  sample  would  tally.  It  is  quite 
evident  that  the  various  assayers  use  different  methods  for  deter- 
mining the  constituents  of  coal.  It  struck  me  that  it  might  be  a 
good  thing  for  the  Institute  to  appoint  a  committee  to  take  the 
matter  in  hand,  and,  at  the  next  annual  meeting,  recommend  an 
uniform  system  of  assaying  coal,  as  that  recommended  by  the 
Canadian  Mining  Institute,  so  that  all  our  coal  assays  would  be 
comparable  and  this  is  certainly  not  the  case  at  the  present  time. 
That  Committee  might  also  include  coke  within  the  scope  of  its 
investigation  (hear,  hear). 

Mr.  J.  C.  Murray: — The  chief  source  of  error  in  the  proximate 
analysis  of  coals  comes  in  during  the  determination  of  volatile 
combustibles.  The  usual  practice  calls  for  three  and  a  half  min- 
utes over  the  ordinary  bunsen  flame  and  three  and  a  half  minutes 
blast.  The  length  of  flame,  height  of  support,  protection  of  flame, 
etc.,  are  most  important  factors.  So  varying  is  laboratory  prac- 
tice in  these  respects  that  I  doubt  whether  any  two  determina- 
tions of  volatile  combustibles  made  in  different  laboratories  would 
agree.  In  my  own  work  I  have  found  the  Chaddoek  burner  the 
best  means  of  standardizing  conditions.  The  blast  is  not  to  my 
mind  a  necessity.  It  introduces  mechanical  errors  and  is  never 
exact. 

Dr.  Porter: — The  President  has  suggested  that  it  would  be 


230  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

well  to  have  a  committee  of  the  Institute  to  try  to  arrive  at  a 
standard  method  of  coal  analysis  which  could  be  followed  by  all 
analysts.  That  is  a  very  desirable  thing.  Anyone  who  is  making 
a  study  of  coals  finds  great  difficulty  in  interpreting  reports  of  an- 
alyses because  of  methods  at  present  in  use.  I  spoke  a  moment 
ago  of  our  work  in  connection  with  the  coal  tests  undertaken  for 
the  Mines  Department.  We  have  a  specially  trained  chemist  who 
has  for  years  been  working  exclusively  on  coals  and  who  is  giving 
this  subject  most  earnest  study.  We  have  at  last  arrived  at  a  series 
of  methods  which  seem  to  be  the  most  satisfactory  we  can  get,  and 
I  am  quite  sure  that  I  shall  be  granted  permission  to  give  all  our 
results  and  methods  to  a  committee,  if  one  is  appointed,  as  I  hope 
it  will  be,  and  I  think  in  the  end  we  can  arrive  at  methods  which 
will  be  simple  enough  to  be  easily  followed  by  any  chemist  and  yet 
be  far  more  satisfactory  than  those  commonly  used  at  present. 

Mr.  Murray  has  spoken  of  one  of  the  evils  of  the  proxirrate 
analysis  but  there  are  others.  The  classification  referred  to  by 
Mr.  Dowling,  which  is  Mr.  Campbell's  method  of  interpreting  ulti- 
mate analyses,  seems  to  be  the  best  yet  devised.  The  proximate 
analyses  as  ordinarily  done  cannot  be  made  a  standard  owing  to 
unavoidable  errors.  On  the  other  hand  absolute  accuracy  is  un- 
necessary in  many  cases,  especially  in  works  practice,  because  usu- 
ally the  works  themselves  make  tests  in  their  own  laboratory,  and 
although  a  chemist  here  and  another  chemist  there  cannot  get 
uniform  results  by  the  proximate  method,  a  chemist  working  in 
any  one  laboratory  and  with  the  same  appliances  does  get  fairly 
uniform  results  which  are  perfectly  satisfactory  for  the  compari- 
sons and  control  of  routine  operations. 

Mr.  J.  C.  Murray: — In  view  of  the  President's  suggestion  I 
have  much  pleasure  in  moving  that  a  committee  of  the  Institute 
be  appointed,  consisting  of  five  members,  to  take  up  the  matter  of 
standardizing  the  methods  of  coal  analysis. 

Dr.  Stansfield  seconded  the  motion,  which  was  agreed  to. 

The  President: — I  will  consider  the  matter  and  announce 
the  names  of  a  committee  at  a  later  meeting. 


THE    UTILIZATION    OF    PEAT    FOR    INDUSTRIAL    AND 
METALLURGICAL  PURPOSES. 

By  E.  Nystrom,  Ottawa,  Ont. 

(By  permission  of  the  Director  of  the  Mines  Branch  of  the 
Department  of  Mines.) 

The  utilization  of  the  peat  bogs  in  Canada  has  so  far  been 
rather  neglected.  Attempts  have  been  made,  however,  to  manu- 
facture peat  fuel  (mostly  peat  briquettes),  but  in  most  cases  these 
attempts  have  been  of  a  more  or  less  experimental  character,  and 
very  little  peat  fuel  has  been  placed  on  the  market. 

In  certain  European  countries,  on  the  other  hand,  peat  is 
used  to  a  large  extent,  and  the  manufacture  of  air-dried  peat  fuel 
there  is  a  sound  business  proposition.  The  conditions  in  Canada 
for  this  manufacture  are  quite  as  favourable  as  those  in  Europe, 
and  in  many  cases  even  better,  on  account  of  the  longer  and 
hotter  summers.  With  suitable  methods  and  machinery,  and 
especially  where  other  fuels  are  comparatively  expensive,  the 
manufacture  of  peat  fuel  in  Canada  ought  to  be  a  paying  under- 
taking. 

It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  a  careful  investi- 
gation of  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  bog,  as  well  as  of  local 
conditions,  such  as  labour  and  market,  are  of  the  utmost  import- 
ance, and  these  factors  should  be  carefully  considered  before 
operations  are  started. 

Tests  made  with  different  fuels  have  demonstrated  that  the 
fuel  value  of  one  ton  of  ordinary  coal  is  equal  to  that  of  1 . 8  tons 
of  air-dried  machine  peat  or  to  that  of  2.5  tons  of  wood. 

The  different  methods  and  machinery  used  in  Europe  and  the 
results  there  obtained  are  fully  described  in  the  report  on  peat 
which  will  shortly  be  issued  by  the  Mines  Branch  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Mines,  Ottawa. 

In  this  paper  attention  will  only  be  drawn  to  certain  methods 
permitting  the  utilization  of  peat  bogs  on  a  larger  scale. 


232  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Generation  of  Electric  Energy. — The  most  rational  utilization 
of  peat  bogs  is  probably  by  the  generation  of  electric  energy  at 
power  plants  located  close  to  the  bogs.  In  this  case  the  bulky 
peat  fuel  needs  to  be  transported  only  a  comparatively  short 
distance  without  re-handling.  Another  important  factor  is  that 
peat  fuel  in  the  producers  employed  can  be  used  with  a  moisture 
content  of  40-45%,  whereby  the  dependence  on  favorable  drying 
conditions  is  considerably  decreased.  A  peat  fuel  with  a  content 
of  20-30%  moisture  is,  however,  to  be  recommended  whenever 
it  can  be  obtained. 

The  firm  Gebriider  Korting,  of  Hanover,  Germany,  has  so 
far  erected  the  greatest  number  of  peat  gas  plants.  These  plants 
are  located  in  Sweden,  the  oldest  one  of  300  h.p.,  at  Skabersjo, 
and  the  newest  one,  of  1,000  h.p.,  at  Wisby. 

The  principal  parts  of  such  a  plant  are:  gas  producer,  scrub- 
ber, saw  dust  filter,  gas  engine  and  dynamo. 

The  gas  producer  is  a  suction  producer  in  which  the  gases 
drawn  off  from  the  freshly  charged  peat  are  drawn  from  the  upper 
part  of  the  producer  through  the  grate  and  carbonized  fuel  bed 
in  the  lower  part  to  the  gas  outlet  placed  a  little  below  the  middle 
of  the  shaft.  By  this  arrangement  most  of  the  water  vapours  and 
heavy  hydrocarbons  contained  in  these  gases  are  decomposed  into 
permanent  gases,  and  the  carbon  dioxide  mostly  reduced  to  mon- 
oxide. The  gases  pass  from  the  producer  through  the  scrubber 
and  saw  dust  filter  to  the  gas  engine. 

At  Skabersjo  the  consumption  of  peat,  containing  32.3% 
moisture,  and  with  a  calorific  value  of  5,364  B.T.U.,  was  three  lbs. 
per  eff.  h.p.  hour.  The  gas  produced  had  then  an  average  calor- 
ific value  of  132  B.T.U.  per  cubic  foot. 

The  consumption  of  peat  with  a  maximum  content  of  30% 
moisture  and  a  calorific  value  of  5,400  B.T.U.,  is  now  guaranteed, 
with  full  load  on  the  engine,  not  to  exceed  2.2  lbs.  per  eff.  h.p. 
hour. 

Lately  experiments  with  a  view  of  first  saving  the  ammonia 
contained  in  the  gases  before  they  are  used  in  the  gas  engines  have 
been  carried  out  by  Dr.  Caro  at  a  Mond  producer  plant  in  England, 
and  the  results  there  obtained  are  said  to  be  very  satisfactory. 

Manufacture  of  Peat  Coke. — In  older  days  peat  coke  was 
manufactured  in  the  same  manner  as  charcoal,  either  by  coking 


The  Utilization   of    Peat  233 

in  heaps  or  in  ovens  discontinuous  in  their  operation.  These 
methods  were  wasteful  and  at  the  best  only  a  small  part  of  the 
by-products  was  saved.  At  present  the  method  invented  by  the 
German  engineer,  M.  Ziegler,  is  the  one  mostly  employed,  and 
undoubtedly  the  one  best  suited  for  this  purpose. 

Ziegler  employs  retorts  or  ovens  continuous  in  their  operation 
and  saves  all  the  by-products. 

The  retorts  are  heated  from  the  outside  by  means  of  the 
non-condensible  gases  obtained  through  the  dry  distillation  of 
the  peat.  These  non-condensible  gases  are  quite  sufficient  for 
this  purpose  and,  as  a  rule,  where  several  retorts  are  employed,  an 
excess  of  gas  is  obtained,  which  can  be  Used  for  the  operation  of 
gas  engines  or  other  purposes.  The  retorts  are  charged  at  certain 
intervals  with  fresh  peat  bricks  (air-dried  machine  peat  contain- 
ing not  more  than  25%  moisture)  and  the  coke  is  also  drawn  off 
at  fixed  intervals  into  air-tight  steel  cars,  where  it  is  left  until 
thoroughly  cooled. 

The  peat  coke,  if  made  from  suitable  peat,  is  comparable 
with  charcoal,  and  can  be  used  in  blast  furnaces  or  for  other 
metallurgical  purposes. 

The  following  analysis  shows  the  average  composition  of 
good  peat  coke: 

Carbon 87.8% 

Hydrogen 2.0" 

Nitrogen 1.3" 

Oxygen 5.5" 

Sulphur 0.3" 

Aih 3.2" 

Calorific  value  about  14,100  B.T.U. 

At  present  three  peat  coking  plants  employing  the  Ziegler 
ovens  are  in  operation,  viz.,  at  Oldenburg  and  Beuerberg,  in 
Germany,  and  at  Redkino  in  Russia. 


234  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

The  Oldenburg  plant  was  investigated  on  behalf  of  the 
Prussian  Government,  and  the  following  results  were  obtained: 

Analysis  of  the  peat  used — 

Carbon 35.3% 

Hydrogen 3.4" 

Nitrogen 0.7" 

Sulphur 0.1" 

Oxygen 28.4" 

Ash 0.9" 

Moisture 31.0" 

Per  100  tons  of  such  peat  were  obtained: 

27.3  tons  peat  coke  (dry). 

4.5  tons  tar. 
31.2  tons  tar  water  (not  diluted). 
37.0     "     gases   (without  air). 

The  tar  produced: 

2      tons  light  oils. 

0.7      "  heavy  oils. 

0.3     "  paraffin. 

1.3     "  phenol. 

0.2     "  asphalt. 

The  tar  water  produced: 

0.34  tons   methyl  alcohol. 
0.16     "     ammonia. 
0.44     "     acetic  acid. 

Three  tons  of  air-dried  peat  are,  as  a  rule,  required  per  ton 
peat  coke.  M.  Ziegler  has  also  invented  retorts  in  which  the  peat 
is  only  partly  carbonized.  The  product  then  obtained  is  called 
peat  half  coke,  and  is  used  as  fuel  under  boilers  and  similar 
apparatus. 

In  this  case  44-48%  of  the  peat  charged  is  obtained  as  half 
coke.  The  commercial  manufacture  of  peat  coke  on  a  large  scale 
is  naturally  dependent  on  the  market  for  the  by-products;  where 
these  can  be  advantageously  disposed  of,  the  manufacture  of  peat 
coke  ought  to  be  a  paying  proposition. 


The    Utilization  of  Peat  235 

The  Wet  Carbonizing  Process. — A  promising  method  invented 
by  Dr.  M.  Ekenberg  for  the  manufacture  of  peat  fuel  is  at  present 
being  introduced. 

This  method  is  called  the  wet  carbonizing  process,  and  its 
principal  features  are  as  follows: — 

The  wet  peat  as  it  comes  from  the  bog  is  put  through  a  special 
pulping  machine  and  is  conveyed  from  there  by  means  of  a  pump 
to  a  carbonizing  oven.  The  oven  consists  of  a  number  of  double 
pipes.  The  wet  peat  mass  containing  some  85-90%  moisture 
is  forced  in  between  the  pipes  and  is  moved  forward  by  pressure 
and  by  the  revolving  inner  pipe,  which  is  provided  with  a  screw 
thread.  At  the  end  opposite  to  where  the  mass  is  brought  in  is 
a  fire  box,  and  the  temperature  there  is  highest.  The  carbonizing 
takes  place  at  a  temperature  of  150-175°  centigrade,  but  in  order 
that  no  steam  may  be  formed,  which  would  necessitate  the  pro- 
duction of  the  heat  required  to  transform  the  water  into  steam 
of  the  same  temperature  (latent  heat)  a  sufficient  pressure,  5-10 
atmospheres,  is  maintained.  One  half  of  the  pipe  system  works 
on  the  same  principle  as  a  recuperator.  The  heat  in  the  outgoing 
mass  is  here  transmitted  to  the  incoming  mass,  and  a  compara- 
tively small  loss  of  heat  is  obtained.  The  water  in  the  peat  mass 
acts  as  a  heat  conducting  medium,  and  a  uniform  charring  is 
obtained  throughout  the  whole  mass. 

The  carbonized  mass  is  pressed  in  special  filter  presses,  and 
product  then  obtained  is  further  artificially  dried  and  briquetted. 

The  peat  fuel  obtained  by  this  method  has  a  calorific  value 
approaching  that  of  ordinary  coal,  and  does  not  absorb  moisture. 

The  greatest  advantage  with  this  method  is,  however,  the 
independence  of  favourable  weather  conditions  for  drying,  and  the 
possibility  of  working  (he  bog  the  greater  part  of  the  year. 


MODES   OF    OCCURRENCE    OF    CANADIAN    GRAPHITE. 
H.  P.  H.  Brumell,  Buckingham,  Que. 

(Ottawa  Meeting,  1908.) 

Outside  of  those  directly  interested  in  the  mining  or  geology 
of  graphite  the  impression  seems  to  prevail  that  this  mineral 
invariably  occurs  in  veins  or  non-descript  masses.  In  view  of 
the  fact  that  all  our  deposits  of  permanent  value  are  those  of 
disseminated  ore,  the  writer  has  undertaken  to  put  together  this 
brief  paper  on  the  subject  with  the  hope  that  those  interested 
in  the  industry  will  devote  a  little  more  attention  to  the  develop- 
ment of  some  of  our  enormous  deposits  of  comparatively  low 
percentage  disseminated  ore,  rather  than  to.  the  exploitation  of 
the  higher  percentage,  and  almost  invariably  erratic,  deposits  of 
so-called  "  pure  lump." 

The  only  ore  under  consideration  in  this  paper  is  that  found 
in  the  Archsean  rocks  from  which,  solely,  do  we  obtain  any  of  the 
crystalline  or  flake  variety,  and  the  area  covered  will  be  that  in 
which  so  much  work  has  been  done  in  the  counties  of  Labelle 
and  Argenteuil,  in  the  Province  of  Quebec.  In  the  former  county 
.the  graphite  is  found  most  prominently  in  a  more  or  less  wide 
band  of  gneiss  appearing  near  the  front  of  the  township  of  Temple- 
ton  from  whence  it  extends  in  a  north  north-easterly  direction 
into  the  township  of  Buckingham  between  the  fourth  and  tenth 
ranges  across  which  it  sweeps,  in  a  general  easterly  direction,  into 
the  township  of  Lochaber,  where  it  turns  again  to  the  north-east, 
and  so  passes  into  the  township  of  Mulgrave.  In  the  county  of 
Argenteuil  the  graphite  occurs,  almost  invariably,  in  the  lime- 
stones which  are  very  strongly  developed  in  the  township  of 
Grenville  and  those  townships  to  the  north.  These  bands  of 
limestone  are  bounded  by  the  large  porphyry  and  syenite  mass  to 
the  east,  and  by  the  granites  of  the  Rouge  River  to  the  west.  It 
will  thus  be  seen  that  hi  these  two  counties  the  mineral  occurs 


Occurrence  of  Canadian  Graphite.  lMT 


in  two  very  distinctly  different  rocks.  Not  only  do  the  rocks 
differ,  but  the  ore  also,  that  of  Labelle  county  being  mainly  a 
disseminated  one,  while  that  of  Argenteuil  occurs  in  veins  and 
segregated  masses;  although  the  limestones,  in  the  vicinity  of 
these  deposits,  are  often  impregnated  with  disseminated  scales 
of  graphite  to  a  considerable  distance  from  the  ore  bod)r. 

To  treat  the  subject  in  a  broad  sense  and  for  convenience  in 
this  paper,  the  modes  of  occurrence  may  be  briefly  summarized 
as  follows : — 

1st.  As  disseminated  ore,  where  the  graphite  occurs  in 
small,  bright,  scaly  crypt o-cryst all ine  particles,  in  a  grey  or 
red  weathering  gneiss,  the  particles  lying  parallel  to  the 
apparent  stratification,  or  in  larger  similar  particles  in 
quart zite,  pyroxenite  or  coarse  grained  granite. 

2nd.  In  the  form  of  true  fissure  veins,  usually  cutting 
dioritc  or  other  eruptives. 

3rd.  As  veins  or  irregular  masses  and  contact  deposits 
in  limestone. 

Of  these  three  very  distinct  modes  of  occurrence  the  most 
important  is,  beyond  all  doubt,  the  first.  These  gneisses  are 
very  distinctly  foliated  and  consist  essentially  of  quartz  and 
orthoclase  with  sillimanite,  hornblende,  pyroxene  and  pyrite, 
the  latter  mineral  on  weathering  giving  a  reddish  rusty  appear- 
ance to  the  rocks.  Interstratified  with  the  gneisses  are  bands 
of  crystalline  limestone,  frequently  lenticular  and  not  usually  of 
great  thickness.  Dr.  R.  W.  Ells — "Bulletin  on  Graphite" — 
says  of  the  disseminated  ores  of  Labelle  county: — "The  occurrence 
and  association  of  the  mineral  are  to  a  large  extent  the  same 
at  most  of  the  places  indicated.  Certain  local  conditions  are 
found  here  and  there  which  must  be  considered  in  any  mining 
scheme  proposed,  but  generally  it  may  be  said  that  the  chief 
attention  as  regards  future  developments  must  be  made  in  con- 
nection with  large  bodies  of  the  disseminated  flake  graphite,  as 
promising  the  most  steadfast  returns.  Though  the  vein  form 
frequently  occurs  at  most  of  the  points  where  attempts  to  work 
the  graphite  have  been  made,  and  has  shown  in  such  cases  a  mineral 
of  great  purity,  the  uncertainty  of  such  deposit  is  such  that,  by 
itself,  the  employment  of  capital  on  a  large  scale  would  scarcely 
be  warranted 


238  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 


"The  most  persistent  of  the  graphite  deposits,  however,  are 
those  which  are  found  as  disseminated  flake.  In  the  Buckingham 
district  this  variety  is  found  usually  in  the  grey  mica  gneiss  in 
bands  or  beds  which  sometimes  have  a  thickness  of  from  ten  to 
fifteen  feet,  or  in  places  even  more  as  well  as  in  limestone.  In 
some  of  these  beds  the  graphite  is  very  thickly  distributed,  and 
the  rock  is  quite  black  from  its  presence,  indicating  a  high  per- 
centage of  the  mineral.  Several  assays  were  made  by  Dr.  Hoff- 
mann in  the  Survey  laboratory  some  years  ago,  which  were 
published  in  the  report  for  1876-77,  and  are  as  follows: — 

'A  specimen  of  disseminated  ore  from  lot  28,  range  VI, 
Buckingham,  owned  by  the  Montreal  Plumbago  Company,  the 
sample  being  regarded  as  a  fan  average  of  one  of  the  largest  and 
most  extensively  worked  beds  in  the  area  with  a  breadth  of 
eight  feet,  gave  by  assay,  graphite,  27.518;  rock  matter,  72.438 
per  cent.  A  sample  from  lot  22,  range  VI,  Buckingham  Mining 
Company,  gave  graphite  22.385,  rock  matter,  75.875  per  cent. 
Specimens  from  lot  20,  range  VIII,  gave  graphite  23.798,  rock 
matter,  75.026  per  cent.;  and  from  lot  23,  range  VI,  graphite 
30.516,  rock  matter,  69.349  per  cent.  In  all  the  above  occur- 
rences the  amount  of  disseminated  ore  seems  to  be  large,  and  in 
some  the  presence  of  the  vein  variety  is  also  recognized. 

'It  must  not  be  supposed  that  all  the  disseminated  ore 
occurs  in  beds  equally  as  rich  as  those  just  mentioned,  but  at 
very  many  points  deposits  exist  which  give  amounts  of  flake 
from  large  bodies  of  ore,  which  range  from  10  to  15  per  cent,  or 
even  higher.'". 

The  foregoing  is  a  very  terse  and  accurate  statement  of  facts 
and  it  is  to  ores  of  this  description  that  the  energies  of  those  at 
present  engaged  in  the  business  are  being  bent.  Already  several 
extensive  and  characteristic  deposits  have  been  developed,  not- 
ably those  of  the  late  North  American  Graphite  Company,  the 
Buckingham  Graphite  Company  and  the  Bell  Mines,  all  in 
Buckingham  township,  on  whose  properties  are  one  or  more 
extensive  beds  of  graphitic  gneiss,  assaying  from  20  to  30  per  cent, 
of  graphitic  carbon. 

A  very  noticeable  characteristic  of  most  of  the  beds  in  the 
district  is  found  at  or  near  their  contact  with  any  of  the  later 
eruptives  where  there  is  usually  a  very  pronounced  enrichment  in 


Occurrence  of  Canadian  Graphite.  239 


graphite.  This  phase  of  the  subject,  however,  need  not  be  dwelt 
upon  here. 

Regarding  the  second  or  vein  form  of  occurrence  but  little 
need  be  said  except  that  the  deposits  are  true  fissure  veins,  usually, 
in  Labelle  county,  in  diorite,  at  times  continuing  into  the  gneiss; 
in  rare  instances  these  veins  have  been  noted  in  granite,  pegmatite, 
pyroxenite  and  felsite.  The  graphite,  which  is  of  exceptional 
purity,  occurs  in  fibrous  and  foliated  forms,  the  fibres  and  plates 
lying  at  right  angles  to  the  enclosing  walls,  though  in  some  rare 
instances  the  fibres  and  plates  occur  almost  parallel  to  the  walls 
and  have  the  appearance  of  having  drawn  out  by  some  dynamic 
action.  In  the  latter  instance  the  ore  is  usually  harsh  and  lack- 
lustre. In  one  of  the  many  veins  opened  on  Lake  Terror,  where 
the  ore  occurs  in  a  felsite,  a  vein  of  fibrous  graphite  about  two 
inches  in  width  gave  every  evidence  of  intense  lateral  pressure, 
the  fibres  being  bent  at  the  centre  forming  an  angle  of  about  60° 
without  breaking  the  fibre.  Of  the  purity  of  the  vein  graphite  of 
Labelle  county,  the  following  assays  by  G.  C.  Hoffmann  bear  ample 
testimony. 

"Vein  graphite,  foliated. — From  a  vein  running  through  lots 
twenty-one  and  twenty-two  of  the  seventh  range  of  Buckingham. 
The  structure  of  this  graphite  was  massive,  dense,  made  up  of 
broad  and  thick  laminae.  Color  dark  steel-gray.  Lustre  metallic. 
Specific  gravity  2.2689,  (containing  0.147  per  cent.  ash).  Its 
composition  was  found  to  be  as  follows: — 

Carbon 99.675 

Ash 0.147 

Volatile  matter 0 .  178 


100.000 


"Vein  graphite,  columnar. — From  the  twenty-seventh  lot 
of  the  sixth  range  of  Buckingham.  Structure  of  the  graphite, 
compact,  columnar;  the  columnar  structure  is  usually  erect,  and  at 
right  angles  to  the  surface  upon  which  it  occurs;  in  some  instances, 
however,  it  is  curved  as  though  from  pressure.  The  graphite  breaks 
readily  in  the  direction  of  the  structure  into  more  or  less  angular 
aggregates,  each  aggregate  being  made  up  of  thin,  narrow  foliae  of 
very  uniform  width.     The  length  of  the  columns  varied  in  different 


240  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

specimens  from  about  one  and  a  half  to  eight  centimetres.  In  this 
specimen  the  foreign  mineral  matter  was  very  evenly  distributed 
through  the  structure  of,  and  as  a  film  upon,  the  graphite,  so  that  on 
incineration  the  residual  ash  formed  a  tolerably  perfect  cast  of  the 
fragment  employed.  Color  of  untarnished  foliae,  dark  steel- 
grey.  Lustre  metallic.  Specific  gravity  2.2679  (containing 
1 .  780  per  cent.  ash).    Its  composition  was  found  to  be  as  follows: — 

Carbon 97.626 

Ash 1.780 

Volatile  matter 0 .  594 


100.000 


Economically  this  form  of  graphite  has  not  proved  itself  of 
value.  The  veins  are  small  and  very  irregular,  in  no  instance  ex- 
hibiting any  appreciable  degree  of  persistence  as  to  size,  veins 
which,  on  discovery,  appeared  to  warrant  systematic  operations, 
invariably  pinching  out  or  running  off  into  numerous  small 
pockets  and  stringers.  Many  attempts  have  been  made  to 
operate  these  deposits,  but  in  no  instance,  within  the  knowledge 
of  the  writer,  has  the  venture  proved  profitable. 

In  treating  of  the  third  mode  of  occurrence,  that  of  deposits  in 
crystalline  limestone,  as  illustrated  by  all  of  those  of  Argenteuil 
county,  it  is,  by  reason  of  the  small  amount  of  development  work 
done,  extremely  difficult  to  accurately  describe  the  ore  bodies. 
Scattered  through  the  limestone  are  numerous  irregular  masses  of 
a  very  pure  foliated  graphite,  at  time  having  all  the  appearance  of 
true  veins,  though  more  frequently  appearing  as  contact  deposits 
in  the  neighborhood  of  small  eruptive  masses  and  dykes  which  cut 
the  limestones  at  many  points. 

In  writing  of  the  property  of  the  National  Graphite  Company 
lot  9,  range  V,  Grenville  township,  Dr.  R.  W.  Ells  describes  a  very 
typical  deposit  as  follows: — 

"  The  country  rock  is  for  the  most  part  crystalline  limestone 
which  is  cut  by  granite  and  other  intrusives.  The  graphite  usually 
occurs  irregularly  at,  or  near,  the  contact  of  the  limestone  with 
granite  or  diabase  dykes,  both  rocks  being  present  in  the  openings, 
also  in  irregular  vein  forms  which  are  massive  rather  than  columnar 


Occurrence  of  Canadian  Graphite.  241 

in  character,  ranging  in  thickness  from  fifteen  inches  to  two  feet. 
These  are  not  solid,  but  apparently  sometimes  in  dyke  matter. 

''Several  openings  have  been  made  on  the  property.  In  the 
main  pit  the  rocks  are  limestone  with  bands  of  rusty  gneiss 
which  are  traversed  by  a  white  granite  dyke  and  this  in  turn  by  a 
dyke  of  light  green  diabase.  The  graphite  occurs  principally  in 
two  irregular  veins,  and  also  in  the  granite  mass,  and  there  is  a 
small  vein  on  the  edge  of  the  diabase.  The  veins  are  shattered  and 
mixed  with  a  whitish,  sometimes  reddish,  granite. 

"The  granitic  looking  rock  has  somewhat  the  aspect  of  a  vein 
in  some  respects  rather  than  a  true  dyke.  It  carries  several  min- 
erals including  scapolite,  hornblende,  graphite,  pyroxene,  pyrite, 
apatite  and  others.  South  of  the  principal  opening,  where  mining 
has  been  carried  on,  the  surface  rocks  for  some  distance  appear  to  be 
all  limestone,  and  in  several  small  prospecting  pits,  sunk  in  this 
rock,  a  small  percentage  of  disseminated  flake  graphite  was  obser- 
ved." 

The  ore  of  Argenteuil  county  is  of  a  very  high  degree  of  purity 
as  is  evidenced  by  the  following  assays  by  G.  C.  Hoffmann: — 

"  Vein  graphite,  foliated.  From  the  north  half  of  the  third  lot 
of  the  second  range  of  the  Augmentation  of  Grenville.  An  ex- 
posure here  was  at  one  time  mined  to  a  small  extent.  At  the 
opening  of  the  excavation  it  showed  a  thickness  of  about  ten  in- 
ches, but  the  pure  graphite  was  found  to  form  a  lenticular  mass 
which  appeared  to  be  separated  from  other  masses  of  the  same 
character  by  intervals,  in  which  the  graphite  became  intermixed 
with  the  limestone.  Structure  massive,  dense,  made  up  of  broad 
and  thick  lamina?,  closely  interlocking  each  other  at  diverging 
angles,  thus  presenting  a  radiated  arrangement,  the  sides  of  the 
vein  forming  the  basal  line.  Color,  dark  steel-grey.  Lustre  metal- 
lic. Specific  gravity  2.2714  (containing  0.076  per  cent.  ash).  Its 
composition  was  found  to  be  as  follows: — 

Carbon 99 .  815 

Ash 0.07G 

Volatile  matter 0 .  109 


100.000 

16 


242  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

"Vein  graphite,  columnar.  From  lot  one  of  the  sixth  range 
of  the  Augmentation  of  Grenville.  Structure  massive,  dense, 
made  up  of  stout,  narrow  laminae,  interlocking  each  other  at  such 
an  angle  as  to  present  an  almost  columnar  appearance.  In  parts, 
viz.,  those  in  closest  proximity  to  the  vein  rock,  this  structure  was 
so  fine  as  to  appear  coarsely  fibrous.  Color,  dark  steel-grey.  Lus- 
tre metallic.  Specific  gravity  2.2659  (containing  0.135  per  cent. 
ash).     An  analysis  showed  it  to  contain: — 

Carbon 99 .  757 

Ash 0.135 

Volatile  matter 0. 108 


100.000 


The  graphite,  as  well  as  occurring  in  veins  and  contact  deposits 
of  various  forms,  is  found  at  times  in  the  limestone  in  the  shape  of 
almost  perfect  spheres,  concretionary  in  form,  the  plates  or  fibres 
of  graphite  radiating  from  a  centre  consisting  of  a  small  particle  of 
quartz  or  other  foreign  mineral.  These  concretionary  spheres  range 
in  size  from  about  one-tenth  of  an  inch  to  two  inches  in  diameter, 
and  do  not  appear  to  follow  any  apparent  bedding  of  the  lime- 
stone, but  to  be  scattered  irregularly  therein. 

In  summing  up  the  three  modes  of  occurrence  it  is  not  thought 
necessary  to  draw  attention  to  specific  failures  to  operate  profitably 
the  last  two  classes  of  deposits,  but  it  may  be  said,  in  a  general  way, 
that,  without  exception,  no  deposit  of  vein  or  "pure  lump" 
graphite  has  been  found,  on  development,  to  be  worthy  of  con- 
sideration as  a  commercial  venture. 

This  conclusion  was  foreshadowed  by  Sir  W.  E.  Logan  who,  in 
1866,  concluded  his  report  to  the  Geological  Survey  by  saying: — 
"The  veins  of  this  mineral  hitherto  found  in  the  rocks  of  this 
country,  although  affording  a  very  pure  material,  appear  to  be  too 
limited  and  too  irregular  to  be  exclusively  relied  on  for  mining  pur- 
poses, which  should  rather  be  directed  to  making  available  the  large 
quantities  of  graphite,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  are  disseminated  in 
certain  beds. " 


Occurrence  of  Canadian  Graphite,  24)> 

DISCUSSION. 

Mr.  Obalski: — This  has  been  a  very  interesting  paper,  the 
more  so  as  it  has  been  read  by  one  of  our  recognized  authorities 
on  Canadian  graphite.  It  appears  that  we  have  in  Canada  large 
resources  in  graphite  of  good  quality,  and  I  would  like,  there- 
fore, to  ask  Mr.  Brumell  why  there  should  have  been  so  mam- 
failures  in  an  industry  which  promises  so  well? 

Mr.  Brumell: — Mr.  Obalski  asks  a  very  comprehensive 
question,  which  I  will  try  and  answer  in  a  few  words.  I  object 
to  the  word  "failure,"  as  our  business  has  not  yet  reached  success 
publicly,  though  we  have  demonstrated  to  ourselves  that  we  can 
produce  high-grade  graphite  commercially.  The  prime  reason 
of  our  non-success  in  the  past  is  the  fact  that  our  ore  is  essentially 
a  milling  and  not  a  shipping  one,  the  industry,  in  point  of  fact, 
being  a  milling  rather  than  a  mining  one.  The  problem  of 
separation  is  not  a  simple  one,  and  we  have  been  working  on 
it  for  many  years.  In  the  early  '60 's  separation  was  made  by 
the  old  Cornish  system  of  buddling,  upon  which  we  Lave  been 
steadily  improving,  until  to-day  by  more  complicated  mechanical 
means  we  are  producing  stuff  of  a  higher  percentage  than  that 
from  any  other  portion  of  the  world.  I  refer,  of  course,  only  to 
that  variety  of  graphite  treated  in  my  paper,  namely,  flake.  Dur- 
ing the  early  days  of  the  industry  it  suffered  from  bad  manage- 
ment, ignorance  of  milling  practice  and  unscrupulous  business 
methods,  coupled  with  a  very  decided  prejudice  in  favor  of  the 
Ceylon  product,  which  occurs  in  lump  form  of  great  purity,  re- 
quiring no  further  treatment  than  crushing,  grinding  and  sizing 
for  the  various  uses  to  which  it  is  put.  This  latter,  combined 
with  cheap  native  labor,  cheap  ballast  freight  rates  and  a  small 
market,  were  difficult  to  overcome,  but  by  dint  of  perseverance 
and  the  expenditure  of  large  amounts  of  capital  we  have  succeeded 
in  producing  and  marketing  profitably  the  highest  grade  of  graph- 
ite on  the  market  to-day.  We  have  now  passed  the  experimental 
stage  and  are  simply  awaiting  the  necessary  working  capital  to 
enable  us  to  proceed  and  operate  extensively  the  properties  and 
mills  already  developed,  and  I  find  that  capital  is  very  shy  when 
it  has  to  deal  with  an  industry  which  had  earned  such  a  bad  name 
as  had  ours. 


244  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Mr.  Cirkel: — I  would  like  to  ask  Mr.  Brumell  whether,  as 
a  general  rule,  the  richness  of  the  graphite  deposits  close  to  the 
eruptive  dikes  to  which  he  refers,  is  such  as  to  invite  work.  Mr. 
Brumell  states  that  this  is  a  common  feature  in  the  case  of  dis- 
seminated graphite. 

Mr.  Brumell:— I  should  say  most  decidedly  so.  If  a  pros- 
pector goes  into  a  district  where  the  rocks  are  disturbed  by  erup- 
tive masses  he  will  find,  in  Labelle  county,  a  very  decided  enrich- 
ment at  or  near  the  point  of  contact.  Bands  which  run  from  10 
to  12%  away  from  these  points  are  often  enriched  to  as  high  as 
45%,  which  is  very  high.  At  times  where  the  diorites  cut  the 
gneisses  you  will  find  veins  of  pure  graphite  extending  out  of  the 
dyke  into  the  gneiss  itself. 

Dr.  Barlow: — These  gneisses  are  those  belonging  to  the 
Grenville  series  and  represent  the  extreme  phases  of  the  re- 
crystallization  of  slaty  rocks  containing  a  considerable  amount 
of  bituminous  matter.  The  bituminous  matter  in  the  Hastings 
series  has  been  altered  into  this  graphite,  which  often  forms  an 
important  constituent  of  the  sillimanite  gneiss.  Through  central 
Ontario  very  frequently  there  is  more  or  less  graphite  found  in 
this  gneiss,  but  it  has  apparently  not  reached  that  stage  of  en- 
richment in  which  it  becomes  really  the  ore. 

Mr.  Coste: — I  would  like  to  emphasize  the  conclusion  to  be 
drawn  from  the  distinctive  fact  observed  and  well  brought  out 
by  Mr.  Brumell,  that  the  gneiss  and  limestone  or  other  rocks  in 
contact  with  the  eruptive  rocks  are  very  much  enriched  with 
graphite.  This  shows  conclusively  that  the  old  idea  of  consider- 
ing graphite  as  a  product  of  organic  matter  must  be  given  up. 
From  what  I  read  and  see  I  conclude  more  and  more  every  day 
that  most  of  the  deposits  of  carbon  in  our  rock  strata,  except 
coal,  are  due  to  emanations  from  the  interior  of  the  earth  of 
hydrocarbons,  just  the  same  as  many  of  the  deposits  of  salts, 
metals  and  sulphur  are  due  to  emanations  of  chlorides,  sulphides 
and  other  gases  or  vapors  in  conjunction  with  the  coming  into 
the  strata  of  igneous  or  volcanic  rocks.  Magmatic  gases  and 
vapors,  as  it  is  now  conclusively  proven,  contain  in  a  high  degree 
hydrocarbons,  and  all  the  facts  elucidated  in  the  field  indicate 
that  this  graphitic  gneiss  is  nothing  else  than  an  old  sandstone 
impregnated  with  vapors  of  hydrocarbons  changed  to  graphite.    At 


Occurrence  of  Canadian  Graphite.  245 

the  meeting  of  this  morning  I  pointed  out  that  we  had  a  similar 
phenomenon  in  the  Albert  shales  of  New  Brunswick  which  were, 
subsequently  to  their  formation,  impregnated  with  hydrocarbons 
as  well  as  the  other  formations  of  that  district,  and  all  these 
formations  are  also  there  cut  up  by  solid  hydrocarbon  veins. 
There  the  final  stage  in  which  we  find  the  hydrocarbon  vapors 
are  Albertite  veins  or  impregnated  oil  shales.  In  less  altered 
Paleozoic  rocks,  such  as  in  Pennsylvania,  Ohio  and  West  Vir- 
ginia, and  in  younger  formations  such  as  the  Tertiary  of  Cali- 
fornia, we  find  the  hydrocarbon  emanations  in  extensive  oil  and 
gas  deposits,  which  are  evidently  also  extraneous  impregnations 
of  porous  rocks  along  fissured  lines  and  fissured  belts,  or  as  in 
Texas  and  Louisiana,  regular  mud  volcanoes  or  salses  not  extinct 
yet  as  much  of  the  oil  or  the  salt  waters  found  in  connection 
with  the  oil  in  these  States  are  hot  at  the  present  time. 

Mr.  Brumell:— I  do  not  agree  with  Mr.  Coste's  views  that 
the  origin  of  graphite  and  natural  gas  is  similar.  When  he  refers 
to  the  origin  of  graphite  as  being  inorganic  then  I  most  decidedly 
agree  with  him.  It  seems  to  me  that  such  a  change  as  he  describes 
should  take  place  where  the  erupt ives  cut  the  gneisses  at  which 
points  the  graphite  is  found  in  greatest  quantities.  Where  eruptives 
cut  the  limestone  there  is  invariably  found  a  silicate  of  lime,  and 
in  our  gneisses,  which  are  calcareous,  and  where  there  are  large 
quantities  of  iron  pyrites,  you  will  find  sulphate  of  lime.  I  would 
therefore  suggest  that  these  masses,  in  conjunction  with  silicious 
or  other  waters,  acted  upon  the  original  rocks  and  freeing  the 
carbon  while  forming  sulphates  and  silicates  redeposited  the  car- 
bon as  graphite  in  the  rock.  In  the  Grenville  field  tie  limestones 
where  not  graphitic  near  the  eruptive  masses  are  reticulated  with 
veins  or  vein-like  deposits  carrying  tremolite,  scapolite,  wollas- 
tonite,  hornblende,  pyroxene,  titanite,  zircon  and  other  silicates 
and  oxides.  In  Labelle  County,  where  most  of  the  gneisses  are 
calcareous,  the  existence  of  eruptives  is  evidenced  by  silicates  and 
minerals  other  than  the  original  gneiss  constituents,  such  as 
hornblende,  pyroxene,  scapolite,  apatite,  selenite,  tourmaline,  etc. 

Mr.  Bexxie: — I  am,  perhaps,  the  only  member  of  the  In- 
stitute who  has  been  professionally  engaged  in  the  manufacture 
of  artificial  graphite.  I  would  meanwhile  ask  Mr.  Coste  and  Mr. 
Brumell   by   what   agency  they  suppose   the    carbon   might   be 


246  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

deposited  in  the  graphitic  state.  My  experience  has  been  that 
the  carbon  so  deposited  is  in  the  amorphous  state,  and  high  tem- 
perature is  required  to  produce  carbide  and  decompose  it  to  ac- 
complish the  metamorphosis  to  a  graphitic  carbon. 

Mr.  Coste: — Answering  Mr.  Bennie,  I  would  say  that  the 
principal  agencies  no  doubt  were  high  temperatures  and  pressures 
and  changes  in  these,  inducing  deposition  in  the  amorphous  or 
crystallised  state. 

Mr.  Bennie: — We  have  never  tested  the  temperature,  but 
in  manufacturing  the  artificial  graphite  at  Niagara  Falls  we  use 
petroleum  coke,  the  residue  from  petroleum  distillation  and  per- 
haps a  hundred  different  kinds  of  anthracite  coal.  With  some 
anthracites  we  have  found  under  high  temperature  and  no  pres- 
sure other  than  the  ordinary,  a  graphitic  body,  which  physically 
and  optically  appears  to  be  the  same  as  the  Ceylon  graphite. 
We  have  two  samples,  one  of  Ceylon  graphite  and  one  made  from 
anthracite  coal,  which  cannot  be  distinguished. 

Mr.  Coste: — In  Africa  the  diamond,  pure  crystalline  carbon, 
is  found  in  volcanic  pipes,  and  there  are  also  found  in  these  dia- 
mond mines  hydrocarbon  gases  which  have  interfered  with  the 
work  in  the  mines  by  causing  explosions.  In  some  similar  way 
I  infer  that  the  graphite  alongside  of  these  igneous  masses  has 
been  formed  by  the  crystallization,  more  or  less  perfect,  of  hy- 
drocarbon vapors.  Mr.  Bennie  does  it,  he  says,  with  petroleum 
coke,  which  is  a  product  of  oil  or  hydrocarbon;  why  cannot 
nature  do  it  also?  When  the  igneous  intrusions  took  place 
through  the  sediments  of  the  Grenville  series,  enormous  quan- 
tities of  magmatic  vapors,  mostly  hydrocarbons,  chlorides  and 
sulphides,  also  invaded  the  sediments,  especially  near  the  contacts 
or  in  the  fissured  zones  of  these  sediments.  Mr.  Brumell 
has  also  pointed  out  the  association  of  pyrites  with  graphite; 
this  association  of  sulphur  and  carbon  strengthens  my  argument. 
It  is  always  found  in  the  oil  and  gas  fields,  as  I  have  pointed  out 
before  to  this  Institute  in  previous  papers  on  the  volcanic  origin  of 
petroleum  and  natural  gas. 

Mr.  Bennie: — Mr.  Coste's  theory  is  as  tenable  as  my  own. 
The  carbon  in  the  graphitic  state  is  in  a  certain  degree  of  crystal- 
lization, and  the  diamond  is  in  another  state  of  crystallization, 
but  they  are  not  hydrocarbons,  but  pure  carbons. 


Occurrence  of  Canadian  Graphite.  J47 

Mr.  Coste: — That  does  not  mean  that  the  final  origin  in 
both  cases  is  not  due  to  hydrocarbon  vapors.  When  one  sees  so 
mam-  facts  pointing  one  way,  though  he  may  not  know  the 
explanations  of  the  facts  in  all  their  details,  yet  he  may  be 
reasonably  sure  of  the  main  points,  and  in  this  case  I  claim  that 
enough  facts  in  nature  point  to  this  conclusion  that  outside  of 
the  coal  beds  most  of  the  carbon  in  our  rock  strata  (whether  in 
the  shape  of  diamond,  graphite,  solid  bitumen,  oil  or  natural  gas) 
is  due  to  magmatic  emanations  from  the  interior  of  the  earth. 

Mr.  Fritz  Cirkel: — I  have  studied  a  number  of  authorities 
on  the  subject  of  the  origin  of  graphite,  and  I  come  to  the  con- 
clusion that  it  is  a  most  difficult  problem  to  deal  with ;  if  we  com- 
mence to  discuss  these  theories  I  might  say  that  from  the  begin- 
ning we  all  disagree.  Mr.  Eugene  Coste  says  that  carbon,  oil 
and  gas  are  produced  by  emanations  from  the  interior  of  the  earth. 
I  cannot  see  very  well  how  this  theory  can  be  applied  to  the  dis- 
seminated condition  of  the  graphite,  especially  in  the  gneisses. 
As  we  all  know,  the  gneiss  is  not  an  eruptive  rock,  and  for  this 
reason  the  carbon  must  have  been  there  at  the  time  the  rocks 
were  formed.  We  know  that  the  carbon  originally  present  will 
be  changed  under  certain  circumstances  into  graphite.  Accord- 
ing to  my  studies  it  is  likely  that  this  carbon  has  been  deposited 
as  an  original  mineral  and  later  on  converted  through  agencies 
we  know  very  little  of,  such  as  heat,  pressure  or  electricity,  into 
graphite;  this  process  has  been  going  on  to  a  greater  extent,  it 
seems,  near  the  eruptive  dikes,  as  we  find  close  to  these  quite  a 
number  of  rich  deposits,  especially  in  Canada. 

Mr.  Coste: — Mr.  Cirkel  sa}'s  that  as  the  gneiss  is  a  sedimentary 
rock,  the  graphite  in  it  could  not  be  due  to  emanations  accom- 
panying igneous  volcanic  eruptions.  Surely  we  know  absolutely 
to-day  that  a  great  many  of  the  deposits  of  the  numerous  minerals 
we  have  to  deal  with,  though  in  sedimentary  rocks,  are  subse- 
quent impregnations  of  these  porous  sedimentar}'-  rocks.  The 
igneous  rocks  are  sometimes  plainly  seen  invading  these  sedimen- 
taries,  but  sometimes  not,  and  even  then  we  often  know  them  to 
be  not  far  distant  laterally  or  below.  We  also  know  (in  fact,  in 
the  geology  of  ore  deposition,  this  is  the  principal  acknowledged 
dogma  now)  that  the  invasion  of  the  sedimentaries  was  accom- 
panied by  invasion  of  magmatic  vapors  and  waters  carrying  the 


248  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

minerals,  including  carbon  in  many  cases.  That  carbon  belongs 
to  magmatic  waters  and  volcanic  emanations,  in  fact  forms  a  large 
proportion  of  them,  is  an  absolutely  established  scientific  fact. 

Mr.  Brock: — It  seems  to  me  that  in  the  discussion  of  the 
mode  of  occurrence  of  graphite  too  much  emphasis  is  placed  upon 
the  difference  between  the  chemical  composition  of  graphite  and 
of  ordinary  minerals,  and  not  sufficient  upon  the  resemblances 
between  graphite  and  ordinary  minerals  in  its  dissemination 
through  rocks.  One  striking  feature  in  the  occurrence  of  graphite 
in  Quebec  and  in  various  parts  of  Ontario  is  its  close  resemblance 
in  its  mode  of  occurrence  with  other  minerals  such  as  mica, 
apatite,  etc.  The  graphite  occurs  in  definite  veins  just  as  do 
the  other  minerals.  Graphite  is  a  characteristic  mineral  in  mica 
veins,  and  the  same  explanation  of  the  origin  of  the  one  might 
be  supposed  to  apply  to  the  other.  Graphite,  like  many  other 
minerals,  may  have  different  origins.  In  British  Columbia  in 
certain  parts  you  will  find  highly  carbonaceous  sedimentary  rocks 
invaded  by  igneous  rocks  and  heavily  metamorphosed.  In  some 
cases  their  dark  colour  is  due  to  the  carbon,  and  when  metamor- 
phosed, you  find  the  rock  bleached  and  the  carbon  now  in  the 
form  of  graphite.  Graphite  is  also  found  as  an  original  constituent 
of  certain  igneous  rocks.  It  may  be  difficult  to  account  for  these 
changes  and  to  reproduce  them  in  laboratories,  but  in  nature  I 
think  the  carbon  goes  through  chemical  and  physical  changes 
in  the  same  way  that  the  other  minerals  do. 

Mr.  Brumell: — I  would  ask  Dr.  Barlow  or  some  other  au- 
thority if  the  gneisses  we  have  down  there  are  sedimentary  rocks. 
You  can  trace  the  band  of  gneiss  along  and  find  that  at  a  certain 
point  it  loses  its  identity  as  gneiss  and  becomes  granitic.  It  is  not 
an  intrusive  granite,  but  instead  of  having  a  gneissic  character  it 
becomes  a  heterogeneous  mass  of  a  mica  quartz  character-the  usual 
granite.  If  the  gneisses  are  sedimentary  rocks  it  is  possible  the3r 
may  be  the  result  of  alteration.  I  think,  however,  that  they  are 
not  sedimentary  rocks,  but  other  rocks  metamorphosed  and  given 
a  gneissic  character  by  some  dynamic  action. 

Dr.  Barlow: — In  reference  to  the  sedimentary  character 
of  sillimanite  gneisses  we  have  traced  them  right  across  country 
into  undoubted  rocks  of  solid  character  highly  charged  with 
bituminous  matter,  and  gradually  become  lighter  in  color  as  they 


Occurrence  of  Canadian  Graphite.  249 

are  re-crystallized  and  the  bituminous  matter  is  segregated  into 
graphite.  When  you  ask  about  the  presence  of  graphite  in  other 
gneisses  and  the  tracing  into  granites,  that  is  one  of  the  most 
complicated  problems  of  geology.  We  say  one  gneiss  is  undoubt- 
edly sedimentary,  another  is  undoubtedly  due  to  eruptive  process 
through  pressure — in  fact  they  are,  as  Prof.  Cushing  in  the 
Adirondacks  called  them,  "damnified  gneisses,"  which  have 
unlike  structure  through  eruptive  process,  by  the  commingling 
of  the  two  by  actual  fusion,  and  as  in  the  Hastings  series  you  cannot 
say  what  they  are.  They  may  be  stratified  or  partly  igneous 
gneisses.  The  sillimanite  gneisses  with  which  the  graphite  is 
associated  are  in  the  main  sedimentary.  As  to  the  origin  of  the 
graphite  I  agree  with  Prof.  Brock  that  there  may  be  several  ex- 
planations. We  have  it  in  the  syenites  in  Ontario.  I  would  not 
say  that  it  was  a  foreign  mineral,  it  has  come  in  crystallized  with 
the  magnetite.  It  enters  into  all  parts  of  the  rock.  The 
slates  up  there  all  belong  to  the  Hastings  series,  and  there  are  no 
traces  of  fossil  remains  in  it,  but  there  is  a  large  amount  of  bitu- 
minous matter  in  it,  and  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  bitumen 
resulted  from  the  fossil  remains.  A  lot  of  these  rocks  are  cer- 
tainly from  fine  tuffs  of  volcanic  origin,  but  I  could  express  no 
opinion  as  to  where  the}'  got  their  bituminous  matter.  The  same 
happens  in  common  Chelmsford  and  anthraxolite,  winch  was 
distilled  through  certain  mineral  veins  of  secondary  action.  But 
there  is  no  doubt  it  got  it  from  the  rock  itself. 

Dr.  J.  E.  Woodman: — I  would  like  to  call  attention  to  one 
or  two  facts  which  emphasize  the  point  made  by  Mr.  Coste  and 
Dr.  Brock  that  graphite  may  have  widely  different  origins  in 
different  localities.  The  burden  of  all  the  remarks  made  on  the 
subject  to-day  is  the  association  of  graphite  with  igneous  rocks, 
whatever  may  be  the  rock  in  which  the  mineral  is  imbedded.  I 
recall  at  the  moment  two  localities  in  which  eruptives  are  so 
conspicuously  absent  as  to  indicate  that  the  graphite  can  have 
no  possible  connection  with  them. 

In  Nova  Scotia  we  have,  in  the  upper  or  Halifax  formation 
of  the  gold-bearing  series,  a  large  amount  of  graphitic  material. 
The  strata  are  black  slates,  with  here  and  there  thin  bands  of 
gray  quartzite.  The  graphite  is  in  most  places  so  finely  dissem- 
inated as  merely  to  give  a  dead  black  color  to  the  rock.     Here 


250  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

and  there,  however,  it  is  in  discontinuous  sheets  interbedded  with 
the  strata,  but  somewhat  vein-like  in  detail,  and  up  to  six  or  seven 
inches  in  thickness.  The  only  igneous  rocks  connected  with 
the  series  in  eastern  Nova  Scotia  are  granites,  which  occur  in  bosses 
and  larger  masses.  The  distribution  of  the  graphite  has  abso- 
lutely no  connection  with  that  of  the  granite. 

The  second  occurrence  is  still  more  important.  In  the 
State  of  Rhode  Island  we  have  a  small  coal  field,  the  strata  of 
which  are  highly  compressed,  contorted  and  dynamically  meta- 
morphosed. The  coal  has  passed  through  the  stages  of  metamor- 
phism  which  give  the  Pennsylvania  anthracite  and  has  become 
graphitic — so  highly  graphitic  indeed  as  to  render  it  practically 
unfit  for  combustion,  except  under  strong  forced  draft.  Igneous 
rocks  cannot  be  called  upon  to  account  for  the  presence  of  the 
mineral,  but  extreme  dynamo-met amorphism  can;  and  the  study 
of  the  field  conditions  would  convince  most  of  you,  I  am  sure, 
that  the  graphite  originates  from  the  coal  by  almost  complete 
loss  of  the  volatile  constituents  of  the  latter.  It  would  seem 
especially  that  Mr.  Coste's  volcanic  theory  could  have  no  place 
here.  ;<. 


GOLD  IN  THE  EASTERN  TOWNSHIPS  OF  THE  PROVINCE 
OF  QUEBEC. 

By  J.  Obalski,  Quebec. 
(Ottawa  Meeting,  March,  1908.) 

About  the  year  1863  much  excitement  was  created  in  con- 
sequence of  the  discovery  of  gold  in  the  form  of  large  nuggets, 
on  the  Gilbert  River,  in  the  Chaudiere  Valley.  Some  of  these 
nuggets  were  of  unusual  size,  weighing  up  to  45  ounces;  and  the 
finds  attracted  a  large  number  of  prospectors  and  miners  to  the 
locality,  where  active  work  was  conducted  until  1878.  But  after 
that  date  operations  became  intermittent,  and  these  were  on  an 
unimportant  scale.  In  all  the  yield  of  gold  from  the  area  worked 
on  the  Gilbert  River,  a  distance  of  about  two  miles,  was  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  two  million  dollars.  The  day  of  the  individual 
miner  has  now  passed,  however,  and  if  work  at  these  mines  is 
resumed,  that  can  only  be  successfully  attempted  on  a  large  scale 
and  by  the  outlay  of  considerable  capital. 

I  would  meanwhile  call  attention  to  the  following  points: — 
The  Gilbert  lead,  so-called,  follows  in  general  a  south-westerly 
course.  Operations  were  confined  to  claims  situated  at  an 
elevation  of  about  300  feet  above  the  Chaudiere  River,  which 
flows  towards  the  north-west.  The  discoveries  of  gold  were 
limited  to  the  middle  section  of  the  Gilbert,  at  the  altitude  men- 
tioned. From  that  point  following  along  the  heights  to  the 
north-east  of  the  Chaudiere  Valley,  gold  is  found  in  crossing  the 
Famine  River;  then  at  Slate  Creek,  where  some  work  was  done; 
and  again  upon  crossing  the  Riviere  du  Loup ;  not  far  from  its 
confluence  with  the  Chaudiere,  gold  is  found,  though  in  smaller 
quantities,  in  extensive  beds  of  gravel.  Again  some  of  the  gravels 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Chaudiere  River,  near  the  first  falls,  is 
auriferous.  In  a  north-westerly  direction  from  the  Gilbert,  gold 
has  been  found  at  Riviere  des  Plantes,  where  mining  has  been 


252  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

carried  on.  At  Beauce  Junction  are  immense  deposits  of  gravel, 
which  may  be  auriferous,  but  have  not  yet  been  prospected. 

From  the  foregoing,  the  conclusion  arrived  at  is  that  the 
distribution  of  gold  is  not  confined  to  a  few  isolated  sections  of 
the  region,  notably  that  of  the  Gilbert,  but  that  the  auriferous 
belt  may  be  traced  from  point  to  point  as  above  indicated. 
Prospecting,  therefore,  should  be  made  along  that  belt,  without 
regard  to  altitudes;  and  this  notwithstanding  the  prevailing 
belief  in  the  region  that  valuable  discoveries  could  not  be  ex- 
pected at  any  elevated  point. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  Chaudiere  River,  extensive  beds  of 
gravel  have  also  been  observed  between  the  Pozer  and  the  Riviere 
des  Meules.  The  discovery  of  gold  here,  especially  in  respect 
to  the  last  named  locality,  is  conducive  to  the  supposition  of 
another  belt  of  distribution,  perhaps  connecting  with  the  former 
near  the  great  falls  of  the  Chaudiere.  But  this  theory  would  need 
to  be  supported  by  facts  other  than  those  stated.  Meanwhile 
all  geological  investigation  in  the  region,  made  with  a  view  to 
ascertain  the  origin  of  gold,  has  as  yet  been  unproductive  of  satis- 
factory results.  Consequently  there  is  excuse  for  advancing 
an  hypothesis  which  may  induce  prospecting  in  localities  hereto- 
fore neglected. 

The  formation,  as  described  by  the  Geological  Survey  of 
Canada,  consists  of  Cambrian  and  Cambro-Silurian  schists  tra- 
versed by  dioritic  eruptions.  Numerous  veins  of  quartz,  some 
of  very  considerable  extent,  cut  through  this  formation.  Attempts 
have  been  made  to  work  these  quartz  veins,  stamp  mills  in  one 
or  two  instances  having  been  erected,  but  gold  was  never  found 
in  commercial  quantities.  In  fact,  the  writer  has  never,  in 
twenty-five  years,  found  the  quartz  from  this  region  to  contain 
visible  gold,  while  assays  made  under  his  supervision  have  never 
shown  values  beyond  a  trace.  Of  the  many  theories  put  forward 
to  explain  the  origin  of  the  alluvial  gold,  including  that  ascribing 
it  to  the  disintegration  of  rich  portions  of  these  quartz  veins, 
none  apparently  fit  the  problem.  The  writer  therefore  believes 
that  the  most  satisfactory  method  of  studying  the  alluvial  de- 
posits, would  be  to  conduct  a  series  of  tests  along  the  line  of 
distribution  by  boring,  employing  a  portable  drilling  machine. 
By  this  means  it  would  be  possible  to  ascertain  whether  any  of 


St.  Onge  Xugget. 

Nugiret  found  in  1877  on  the  Gilbert  river,  on  lot   12  of  the  St.  Charles  Conc< 
Weight.  42  ounces;  value,  $756.00;   photographed  from  the  original. 


Gold  in  the  Eastern  Townships  253 

the  ground  was  sufficiently  rich  to  work.  In  concluding  this, 
brief  note  reference  should  be  made  to  a  discovery  made  last 
year  at  the  head  of  the  Chaudiere  River,  in  Marston  Township. 

On  lot  20  of  range  IV  of  that  township,  about  2  miles  from 
Lake  Megantic,  a  vein  of  quartz  was  accidentally  discovered, 
which  showed  tolerably  good  gold  values.  Some  prospecting 
was  done,  and  a  quartzous,  slightly  calcareous  mass,  running 
with  the  stratification  of  the  accompanying  schists  and  streaked 
with  slight  quartzous  threads,  in  some  of  which  numerous  grains 
of  gold  could  be  seen,  was  uncovered.  It  would  seem  as  if  that 
strip  formed  part  of  the  formation,  but  had  subsequently  become 
silicified  and  partly  mineralized.  The  prospecting  that  may  be 
done  in  that  region  will,  undoubtedly,  afford  some  interesting 
information. 

Besides  the  Chaudiere  Vallej',  gold  in  small  quantities  has 
been  found  in  nearly  all  the  streams  of  the  southern  portion  of 
the  Eastern  Townships. 

In  the  streams  flowing  from  Stoke  mountain  in  the  townships 
of  Stoke,  Dudswell  and  Westbury,  alluvial  deposits  are  found 
in  which  pieces  of  quartz,  containing  gold,  are  met  with.  This  is 
not  the  case  with  the  Chaudiere  alluvial  deposits. 

On  lot  13,  in  the  range  VI  of  Westbury,  is  a  large  quartzous 
mass  or  quartzous  conglomerate,  resembling  the  Marston  rock 
and  streaked  with  quartzous  threads  in  which  gold  is  visible. 

In  the  township  of  Ditton,  alluvial  deposits  have  been 
worked,  which  may  be  compared  to  those  of  the  Chaudiere,  and 
which  have  yielded  good  results  to  their  owners,  but  no  gold  bear- 
ing quartz  has  been  found  there. 

In  the  neighbourhood  of  Sherbrooke,  in  Ascot  Township,  a 
little  work  has  been  done  on  the  alluvial  deposits,  and  in  the 
schists  forming  the  bed-rock,  small  lenses  of  quartz  containing 
visible  gold  are  found.  This  district  attracted  considerable 
attention  some  forty  years  ago,  but  it  was  neglected  until  recently 
when  the  alluvial  deposits  have  again  been  prospected. 

Thus,  as  we  have  seen,  alluvial  gold  has  been  found  in  many 
localities  in  the  Eastern  Townships,  frequently  in  paying  quan- 
tities; but  so  far  but  little  gold-bearing  quartz  has  been  discovered. 
The  region,  however,  is  easy  of  access,  and  the  indications  are 
sufficiently  promising  to  warrant  further  exploration. 


254  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


DISCUSSION. 

Mr.  Obalski  stated  in  reply  to  Mr.  Fritz  Cirkel  that  the  new 
gold  district  was  close  to  the  shore  of  Lake  Megantic. 

Mr.  Dresser: — Aside  from  any  intrinsic  importance  which 
this  discovery  of  gold  at  Lake  Megantic  may  have,  there  are  one 
or  two  points  of  a  great  deal  more  significance  than  at  first  appears. 
There  is  first  the  fact  that  alluvial  gold  in  important  quantities 
has  been  found  along  the  tributaries  of  the  Chaudiere  river  and 
its  original  source  has  never  perhaps  been  satisfactorily  determined. 
It  is,  however,  known  that  alluvial  gold  in  the  valley  of  the 
Chaudiere  has  never  been  found  at  an  elevation  of  more  than  300 
feet  above  the  river.  In  the  bed  of  these  tributaries  of  the 
Chaudiere,  the  country  rock  is  distinctly  different  from  that 
which  caps  the  hills.  On  the  tributaries  of  the  Chaudiere 
itself  the  greater  part  of  the  rock  is  volcanic,  through  which 
there  are  possibly  some  later  dykes.  There  is,  of  course,  the 
possibility  that  the  rock  carrying  this  gold  may  be  the 
source  of  the  alluvial  gold,  or  it  may  be  a  rock  of  different  formation. 
If  it  gives  the  source  of  the  alluvial  gold  it  certainly  adds  an  impor- 
tant fact  to  our  knowledge  and  one  which  would  be  valuable  in 
prospecting.  The  character  of  the  gold  found  in  the  Chaudiere 
indicates  either  a  long  continued  concentration  of  low  grade  gold 
values  or  concentration  for  a  shorter  period  of  higher  grade  ore. 

The  other  point,  which  is  perhaps  not  less  important,  is  the 
fact  that  the  geological  structure  on  the  boundary  line  and  the 
character  of  the  rocks  there  are  an  exact  reproduction  so  far  as 
they  are  known  of  those  on  the  Capelton  Hills.  The  Capelton  Hills 
on  which  are  situated  the  Capelton  and  Eustis  copper  mines  were 
first  exploited  for  their  gold  and,  while  copper  may  have  been 
found  in  small  quantities,  it  was  as  gold  mines  that  the  property 
was  taken  up.  It  would  therefore  seem  within  the  limits  of  pos- 
sibility that  if  these  are  not  proven  to  be  important  discoveries  of 
gold  in  rock,  they  may  lead  to  the  opening  of  copper  mines  as 
was  the  case  at  Capelton.  The  gold  values  in  the  Capelton  Hills 
in  the  first  opening  were  considerable,  but  the  gold  decreased 
and  the  copper  relatively  increased,  and  we  have  these  two  long 
lived  mines  which  have  been  in  operation  for  over  thirty  years.    It 


McDonald  Nugget. 


Nugget  found  in  1866  on  the  Gilbert  river,  lot  16  of  the  de  Lery  Concession;  weight, 
45  ounce-  12  dwt-.:  value,  8851.26;  photographed  from  a  fac-simile  in  the  museum  of  the 
Geological  Survey,  Ottawa. 


Gold  in  the  Eastern  Townships  255 


is,  therefore,  possible  that  this  gold,  if  not  important  for  its 
intrinsic  value,  may  be  an  important  indicator  of  the  existence 
of  copper  deposits  at  greater  depth.  I  mention  these  facts  to 
show  that  the  discovery  has  quite  an  important  bearing  in  view 
of  the  possibilities  as  well  as  with  respect  to  metal  values  of  the 
district. 

Mr.  Brock: — I  would  like  to  ask  if  these  gravels  in  which  the 
placer  gold  is  found  in  the  Chaudiere  district  are  not  pre-glacial 
gravels  and,  if  so,  has  it  been  determined  from  what  source  they 
were  derived  if  they  are  necessarily  local? 

Mr.  Obalski: — I  don't  suppose  they  are  local. 


THE   ORIGIN   OF  THE  SILVER  OF  JAMES  TOWNSHIP, 

MONTREAL  RIVER  MINING  DISTRICT 

By  Alfred  Ernest  Barlow,   D.Sc.,   Ottawa,   Ont. 

(Ottawa  Meeting,  March,  1908.) 

Early  in  the  season  of  1906,  all  available  territory  (from  the 
most  optimistic  of  view  points)  within  the  limits  of  the  silver- 
bearing  area  of  Cobalt  had  been  staked  and  recorded.  Hence  it 
became  necessary  for  the  new  comers,  who  had  been  attracted  to 
the  district  by  stories  of  its  unusual  richness,  to  turn  their  atten- 
tion either  to  the  possible  discovery  of  new  fields  or  to  the  much 
wider  extension  of  the  region  already  delimited  as  economically 
valuable.  In  their  proposed  quest,  they  were  encouraged  to  a 
large  extent  by  the  oft-repeated  expression  on  the  part  of  the 
government  geologists  that  other  mineral  areas  would  likely 
be  found  lying  much  further  to  the  south  and  west,  where  it  was 
known  that  the  geological  conditions  were  very  closely  analogous, 
if  not  identical  with  those  obtaining  in  the  vicinity  of  Cobalt. 
This  belief  was  further  strengthened  by  the  location  in  the  summer 
of  1905  of  a  vein  containing  both  cobalt  and  nickel  and  carry- 
ing very  substantial  values  in  gold  and  silver,  on  the  west  side 
of  Rabbit  Lake,  about  35  miles  south  of  Cobalt.  This  vein 
occupies  a  fissure  close  to  the  contact  between  a  conglomerate 
and  diabase,  whose  general  characters  and  geological  age  were 
practically  the  same  as  what  had  already  been  described  as  con- 
stituting the  silver-bearing  formations  of  Cobalt.  The  find 
attracted  a  number  of  prospectors,  who  hurried  to  the  new  terri- 
tory in  the  hope  of  finding  other  and  perhaps  wider  and  richer 
veins.  The  advent  of  the  snow,  however,  and  the  non-success 
of  these  initial  efforts  dampened  enthusiasm  and  postponed 
further  prospecting  in  this  direction. 

In  the  spring  of  1906,  while  the  snow  was  still  deep  over 
all  but  the  more  exposed  hills  and  precipices,  reports  were  per- 


DOWNEY  VEIN 
Mining  Claim  T.R.  189.     James  township. 

Specimens  from  this  vein  contained  about  75  per  cent,  of  silver.) 


!>'<= 


Outcrop  of  Big  \'cin,  with  native  Silver.  Smaltite,  etc. 
German  Development  Co.  Mining  Claim  M.R.  202,  James  township. 


Silver  of  James  Township  251 

sistent  of  the  discovery  of  silver-bearing  nickel-cobalt  veins 
in  the  districts  immediately  surrounding  Annima-nipissing  and 
Bay  lakes  and  Portage  Bay.  It  was  even  confidently  stated 
that  when  the  veins  were  properly  stripped  and  developed  they 
would  be  shown  to  rival  the  best  of  those  met  with  in  the  more 
immediate  vicinity  of  Cobalt.  Fired  by  these  statements,  many 
enthusiastic  prospectors  made  a  rush  up  the  Montreal  river, 
before  even  the  ice  had  moved,  eager  to  be  among  the  first  arrivals 
on  the  ground.  All  exposed  rock  surfaces  for  many  miles  above 
Latchford  were  subjected  to  eager  and  as  critical  examination 
as  the  unfavourable  circumstances  would  permit,  in  the  hope  of 
discovering  the  much  coveted  silver.  The  arrival  of  "fly  time," 
however,  and  the  lack  of  any  very  pronounced  success,  again 
drove  many  of  the  prospectors  out  of  the  woods,  and  decided 
them  to  wait  for  a  more  auspicious  time  and  more  favourable 
tidings  before  continuing  their  exploration. 

During  at  least  the  early  part  of  the  summer,  the  attention 
of  many  of  the  prospectors  was  largely  directed  to  the  region 
adjoining  Annima-nipissing  and  Bay  lakes,  although  parties  were 
distributed  on  either  side  of  the  Montreal  river  as  far  as  the 
"Big  Bend."  Much  of  the  diabase  which  overlies  the  Lower 
Huronian  conglomerates  and  slates  in  the  western  part  of  the 
township  of  Coleman,  in  the  area  surrounding  Portage  Bay,  was 
shown  to  be  considerably  shattered,  the  resultant  fissures  being 
occupied  by  veins  containing  certain  of  the  cobalt  minerals, 
accompanied  in  some  cases  by  a  considerable  proportion  of  nic- 
colite.  The  mining  development  work  subsequently  undertaken 
on  these  veins  was  somewhat  disappointing,  as  in  most  cases  little 
or  no  silver  was  encountered,  and  as  many  of  them  were  small 
they  were  not  considered  of  very  great  economic  importance. 
None  of  the  shafts  were  driven  through  the  diabase  into  the 
Lower  Huronian  conglomerate,  which,  there  is  every  reason  to 
believe,  underlies  the  diabase  at  no  very  great  depth.  A  com- 
bination of  the  interests  affected  in  this  particular  district  might 
reasonably  be  urged  to  undertake  to  sink  a  shaft  of  sufficient 
depth  or  to  conduct  such  diamond  drill  operations  as  would 
demonstrate  fully  not  only  the  continuity  or  otherwise  of  these  veins, 
but  also  the  precise  nature  of  their  mineral  contents.  I'ntil 
some  such  action  is  taken  there  will  alwavs  be  found  earnest 

17 


258  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

advocates  for,  and  also  against,  the  view  that  the  veins  will  be 
continuous  and  will  very  materially  increase  in  richness  when 
the  underlying  formations  are  encountered.  The  frequent  ex- 
pression and  emphasis,  however,  of  such  divergent  opinions  will 
not  advance  the  knowledge  in  this  regard  beyond  what  we  now 
possess. 

The  same  disappointment  was  apparently  the  result  of  the 
development  work  on  the  veins  occurring  in  the  area  to  the  east  of 
Trout  lake,  which  lies  a  short  distance  to  the  southwest  of  the 
head  of  Bay  lake.  At  a  few  places  near  Annima-nipissing  lake 
silver  has  been  found  in  notable  quantities,  but  no  great  success 
has  yet  attended  the  efforts  to  trace  the  veins  or  fissures  from 
which  nuggets  have  been  obtained,  either  in  their  vertical  or 
horizontal  position. 

In  August  of  the  same  year  (1906),  reports  were  prevalent 
that  cobalt,  nickel  and  silver  had  been  found,  associated  together 
in  the  same  veins  cutting  the  diabase  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Maple  Mountain,  to  the  west  of  Lady  Evelyn  lake.  These  were 
known  as  the  "Darby"  and  "White"  discoveries  respectively. 
Still  later  in  the  same  year  came  the  news  that  silver  had  been 
found  in  the  district  surrounding  and  covered  by  James  township. 
The  information  was  also  added  that  not  only  were  the  geological 
conditions  practically  identical  with  those  of  Cobalt,  but  that 
the  silver-bearing  area  covered  a  much  wider  stretch  of  territory. 
It  was  not,  however,  until  the  advent  of  winter  that  the  real 
rush  began  to  the  new  territory.  Prospectors  crowded  up  the 
river  using  every  means  of  conveyance  to  bring  in  their  supplies 
and  outfit,  so  that  before  the  snow  left  the  ground  in  the  spring 
of  1907,  all  the  promising  and  most  of  the  unpromising  territory 
in  and  for  miles  around  James  township  was  staked  and  re- 
corded. 

A  discovery  of  valuable  mineral  was  scarcely  possible  over 
most  of  this  country,  since  the  ground  was  covered  with  over 
four  feet  of  snow,  but  this  did  not  deter  the  hardy,  and  in  many 
cases,  unscrupulous  prospector  from  making  the  affidavit  neces- 
sary ere  he  could  record  his  claim.  Most  of  the  claims  were 
thus  recorded  without  discovery  and  in  direct  violation  of  the 
Mines  Act. 


Silver  of  James  Township  259 


Over  90  per  cent,  of  these  locations  were  afterwards  thrown 
open  by  the  Government  inspectors;  but  only  to  be  re-staked  and 
recorded  again  and  again,  either  by  members  of  the  same  pro- 
specting  party  or,  when  finally  abandoned,  by  the  later  arrivals 
in  the  district.  It  is  estimated  that  at  the  beginning  of  June, 
1907,  there  were  over  2,000  prospectors  working  in  the  country 
chained  by  the  Montreal  river  and  its  tributaries,  and  this  number 
was  considerably  augmented  later  in  the  season.  Many  of  those 
men  were  thoroughly  experienced  and  resourceful,  so  that  a  large 
part  of  the  region  was  subjected  to  very  intelligent  and  critical 
examination. 

The  mineral  occurrences  in  the  Montreal  river  district  above 
Hay  Lake  may  be  considered  as  belonging  to  three  distinct  areas: 

1.  Maple  Mountain  area. 

2.  James  Township  area. 

3.  Bloom  Lake  area. 

The  Maple  Mountain  area  consists  of  a  comparatively  narrow 
and  irregular  intrusion  of  diabase,  occurring  to  the  northwest  of 
Lady  Evelyn  lake. 

This  mass  of  diabase  extends,  with  almost  unbroken  con- 
tinuity, from  the  vicinity  of  Anvil  lake  on  the  boundary  between 
the  unsubdivided  townships  of  Whitson  and  Van  Nostrand, 
northward  for  nearly  nine  miles  to  a  point  a  little  east  of  Boucher 
lake,  near  the  dividing  line  between  Banks  and  Speight  townships. 
The  outcrops  of  this  diabase  cover  a  strip  of  country  varying  in 
width  from  about  a  quarter  to  half-a-mile,  flanked  on  either  side 
by  an  arkose  or  coarse  grained  quartzite  through  which  it  is 
intruded. 

The  James  township  mineral  area  is  very  much  more  ex- 
tensive, including  parts  of  the  townships  of  James,  Smyth,  Tud- 
hope,  Mickle,  Farr  and  Willet,  and  embracing  what  are  generally 
known  as  the  Silver  lake  and  Hubert  lake  districts.  The  total 
area  in  these  townships  underlaid  by  diabase  (silver-bearing 
formation)  is  very  nearly  40  square  miles. 

The  Bloom  lake  mineral  area  is  confined  to  a  mass  of  diabase 
outcropping  in  the  region  to  the  west  of  a  chain  of  lakes  of  which 
Bloom  lake  is  the  largest  and  most  important,  but  including  also 
Wigwam.  Lost  and  Calcite  lakes.  These  sheets  of  water  occupy  a 
valley,  running  nearly  north  and  south  a  little  over  12  miles  to 


260  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

the  west  of  the  west  town  line  of  James,  and  within  a  short  distance 
of  the  East  Branch  of  the  Montreal  river.  They  empty  into  the 
Montreal  river,  through  what  is  known  as  Stoney  or  Sydney  Creek, 
nearly  five  miles  above  Indian  Chute.  The  Bloom  lake  diabase 
is  a  mass  of  irregular  outline,  with  a  length  of  about  10  miles 
and  a  width  varying  from  half  a  mile  to  nearly  two  miles.  Most  of 
the  claims  so  far  staked  are  on  the  west  side  of  Bloom  lake,  but  a 
considerable  number  have  been  located  west  of  Lost  lake. 

The  region  in  the  vicinity  of  James  township  is  much  the 
most  important  of  these  mineral  areas,  for  it  not  only  far  exceeds 
the  others  in  extent,  but  also  in  the  comparative  richness  of 
the  deposits.  At  present  there  are  two  methods  of  ingress  to 
this  district.  The  land  or  winter  route  commences  at  Earlton 
on  the  Temiscaming  and  Northern  Ontario  Railway  (26  miles 
north  of  Cobalt)  and  crossing  the  northern  parts  of  the  townships 
of  Armstrong,  Beauchamp,  Bryce,  and  Tudhope,  reaches  Elk  lake 
(Elk  City)  opposite  the  mouth  of  Bear  River  in  the  fifth  concession 
of  James  township.  This  road  is  about  30  miles  in  length,  7  miles 
of  which  has  been  already  constructed  as  a  waggon  road.  The 
Ontario  Railway  Commission  has  likewise  under  consideration 
an  extension  of  the  Charlton  branch  of  the  Temiscaming  and 
Northern  Ontario  Railway,  but  this  will  not  be  made  until  such 
time  as  the  district  gives  undoubted  proofs  of  the  importance 
and  permanence  of  its  mineral  deposits. 

By  far  the  easier  and  more  popular  route,  however,  is  up  the 
Montreal  river  from  Latchford,  a  small  town  situated  at  its 
crossing  with,  the  T.  &  N.  O.  Ry.  Two  lines  of  steamers  plied 
on  the  route  all  last  summer,  but  were  quite  inadequate  for  the 
service  required  of  them,  so  that  break  downs  and  delays  were 
frequent  and  unavoidable.  The  most  pretentious  service  wTas 
carried  on  by  small  boats  propelled  by  steam,  and  owned  by  the 
Upper  Ontario  Steamboat  Company,  while  the  opposition  known 
as  the  Joy  Line  (so  called  after  the  name  of  the  owner  and  manager) 
operated  with  smaller  gasoline  launches  Starting  from  Latchford 
at  from  7  to  9  o'clock  in  the  morning,  it  was  generally  late  in  the 
evening  and  sometimes  even  midnight  before  the  end  of  the 
journey  was  reached.  The  distance  by  this  route  is  a  little 
over  50  miles,  but  navigation  is  interrupted  by  three  rapids  known 
in   ascending  order  as  Pork,   Flat  and  Mountain  rapids.     The 


Silver  of  James  Township  261 


following  are  the  approximate  distances  intervening  between 
these  obstructions: — Latchford  to  Pork  rapids,  9  miles;  Pork  to 
Flat  rapids,  27  miles;  Flat  rapids  to  Mountain  chute,  3  miles; 
Mountain  chute  to  mouth  of  Bear  river  11  miles. 

Two  rival  towns,  situated  on  either  side  of  Elk  lake  (an 
expansion  of  the  Montreal  river),  have  already  sprung  into 
existence,  the  tents  which  formed  the  first  residences  having 
now  given  place  to  more  substantial  log  structures.  "Elk  City." 
as  the  townsite  on  the  northeast  bank  of  the  river  has  been  called, 
already  contains  a  comfortable  hotel  and  several  stores.  On  the 
opposite  side  of  the  stream,  at  the  mouth  of  Bear  river  the  Ontario 
Government  have  surveyed  a  town  plot  which  they  have  named 
"  Smyth."  Last  autumn  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  moved 
their  store  form  Elk  City  into  more  commodious  quarters  along- 
side the  post  office  at  Smyth.  It  is  stated  to  be  the  intention  of 
the  Government  to  move  the  Recorder's  office,  belonging  to  the 
Montreal  River  Mining  Division,  from  Latchford  to  Smyth,  thus 
avoiding  the  many  inconveniences  and  delays  necessitated  by 
the  long  and  tedious  river  journe3r. 

The  Maple  mountain  mining  area  is  readily  accessible  by 
canoe  in  the  summer  months,  disembarking  from  the  Montreal 
river  steamers  at  the  Mattawapika  (the  outlet  of  Lad}'  Evelyn 
lake),  a  short  distance  below  "Mowats."  Thence  the  route  is  to 
the  south  and  west  through  Mattawapika  and  Lady  Evelyn  lakes, 
into  the  large  bay  on  the  west  side  of  the  latter  lake.  A  portage 
about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  long,  leaves  the  west  side  of  this 
bay  a  short  distance  north  of  Willow  Island  falls;  coming  out  near 
the  south  end  of  Emily  lake,  the  largest  of  a  chain  of  four  small 
lakes  before  Anvil  lake  is  reached.  Thence  the  route  follows 
northward  through  Hammer  and  Bergeron  lake  into  Niccolite 
and  Greenwater  lakes.  It  is  in  this  region,  between  Anvil  and 
Greenwater  lakes,  that  many  of  the  most  promising  mining  loca- 
tions are  situated.  Another  means  of  access  is  by  way  of  Spring 
Creek,  which  flows  into  the  Montreal  river  near  the  northeast 
corner  of  the  township  of  Speight,  but  the  portages  are  much 
longer  and  the  route  therefore  more  difficult  and  less  frequented. 

The  Bloom  lake  area  is  likewise  usually  reached  by  canoe  in 
the  summer,  the  customary  route  leaving  the  Montreal  river  at  a 
sharp  bend  in  this  stream  about  2  miles  below  Indian  chute  (or 


262  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

12  miles  above  Elk  City).  A  portage  starting  from  this  point 
runs  a  little  north  of  west  for  nearly  two  miles,  reaching  Stoney 
or  Sydney  Creek  at  an  elbow,  where  this  stream  suddenly  bends 
to  the  northward  before  emptying  into  the  Montreal  river  several 
miles  beyond.  The  route  then  continues  in  a  direction  a  little 
south  of  west  along  this  upper  part  of  Stoney  Creek,  passing 
through  a  series  of  small  lake-like  expansions  united  by  com- 
paratively short  though  rapid  discharging  channels,  thus  neces- 
sitating frequent  portaging.  About  8  miles  above  the  "  Long 
Portage,"  at  the  northern  end  of  Portage  lake  and  within  about 
three  quarters  of  a  mile  of  the  East  Branch  of  the  Montreal  river, 
the  upward  course  of  the  stream  again  changes  abruptly  to  a 
general  direction  a  little  east  of  south.  This  general  course 
is  followed  through  Portage,  Birch  and  Pike  lakes,  for  about  three 
and  a  half  miles  until  the  outlet  of  Bloom  lake  is  reached.  Follow- 
ing this  creek  westward  for  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile,  in 
which  two  small  portages  have  to  be  made,  Bloom  lake  is  reached 
about  half  a  mile  from  the  upper  or  northern  end. 

Bloom  lake  is  the  lowest  of  a  chain  of  lakes  of  which  Wigwam, 
Lost  and  Calcite  lakes  in  ascending  order  form  a  part.  The  first 
mentioned  is  the  largest,  measuring  about  3|  miles  long  with  an 
average  width  of  a  little  over  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  while  the  others 
vary  from  one  to  nearly  two  miles  in  length  with  an  average 
width  of  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  They  all  occupy  a  valley 
which  has  a  direction  very  nearly  north  and  south.  The  winter 
route  to  Bloom  lake  used  during  the  past  season,  begins  at  the 
portage  from  the  Montreal  river  into  Hubert  lake  about  7  miles 
above  Elk  City.  Thence  in  a  prevailing  direction  a  little  south  of 
west  it  crosses  the  southern  part  of  the  township  of  Farr  through 
Hubert,  Green,  Grassy  and  High  Bluff  lakes  reaching  Pike  lake  a 
little  south  of  the  outlet  from  Bloom  lake.  The  whole  distance 
from  the  beginning  of  the  portage  to  Bloom  lake  is  about  15  miles. 
The  whole  of  the  territory  included  within  the  boundaries  of  these 
several  mining  areas,  although  undoubtedly  picturesque,  becomes 
somewhat  monotonous,  not  only  on  account  of  the  sameness,  but 
also  because  of  the  want  of  any  great  accentuation  of  its  hill 
features.  The  surface  may  be  described  for  the  most  part  as 
exceedingly  rocky  and  uneven,  although  there  are  no  veiy  pro- 
minent mountains,  and  elevations  of  more  than  300  feet  are  rather 


Silver  of  James  Township  263 

unusual.  The  only  pronounced  exception  to  this  general  state- 
ment is  furnished  by  the  Maple  Mountain  mining  area,  where  the 
highest  point  of  a  ridge  of  quartzite,  and  one  from  which  the 
district  derives  its  name,  rises  to  a  height  of  about  1,100  feet  above 
Lady  Evelyn  lake  (2,033  feet  above  the  sea).  The  valleys  inter- 
vening between  these  rocky  hills  are  occupied  for  the  most  part 
by  swamps  and  lakes,  and  the  size,  number  and  disposition  of 
these  latter  make  travelling  by  means  of  canoe  through  much  of 
this  region  comparatively  easy  and  rapid.  Much  of  the  higher 
ground  shows  frequent  and  abundant  outcrops  of  the  underlying 
rock,  but  a  very  considerable  proportion  of  the  area,  especially 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  Montreal  river,  is  drift  covered,  rendering 
prospecting  difficult  and  expensive.  Large  areas  in  the  valley 
of  the  Montreal  river  are  quite  flat  and  heavily  drift  covered, 
and  could  no  doubt  with  advantage  be  cleared  for  farming  pur- 
poses, especially  if  this  region  develops  into  a  great  mining  area 
according  to  its  present  promise. 

All  of  the  ore  bodies  in  the  several  mining  areas  mentioned 
occur  in  the  form  of  veins  cutting  a  quartz-diabase  or  gabbro. 
Most  of  the  veins  in  James  and  surrounding  townships  occupy  two 
sets  of  fissures,  running  approximately  north  and  south  and  east 
and  west  respectively,  and  therefore  nearly  at  right  angles  to  one 
another.  These  fissures  are  regarded  as  contraction  cracks 
formed  by  the  cooling  laccolith,  which  have  been  filled  by  later 
and  more  acid  secretions  of  the  same  magma  from  which  the 
accompanying  diabase  has  solidified.  The  vein-filling  must 
therefore  be  ver  irded  as  of  pegmatitic  origin,  having  the  same 
genetic  relationsnip  to  diabase  that  ordinary  pegmatite  does  to 
granite.  For  purposes  of  discussion  and  correlation,  it  may 
therefore  be  referred  to  as  diabase-pegmatite  in  preference  to 
the  term  "aplite,"  by  which  the  material  in  these  veins  or  dykes 
is  now  known  to  the  prospectors  of  the  Montreal  river  district, 
for  the  latter  would  imply  the  formation  of  this  material  as  a 
differentiation  product  of  granite.  As  a  rule  these  veins  are 
more  or  less  irregular,  often  curving,  sometimes  faulted,  but 
surprisingly  persistent  over  long  distances.  The  fissures  which 
they  occupy  vary  from  a  fraction  of  an  inch,  or  a  mere  crack, 
to  two  feet  or  even  more  in  width.  Very  frequently,  too,  the 
same  vein  may  show  an   equal  variation   in  width  both   in  its 


264  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


horizontal  and  vertical  extension.  The  narrow  veins,  especially 
those  from  4  to  8  inches  in  width,  are  more  commonly  met  with 
and  are  as  a  rule  more  richly  charged  with  the  desirable  metallic 
minerals.  The  wider  veins  usually  contain  these  metallic  minerals 
either  in  fairly  uniform  and  continuous,  though  in  comparatively 
narrow  streaks  or  in  wider  and  larger  though  more  or  less  isolated 
patches.  Many  of  these  veins  possess  quite  sharp  and  distinct 
boundaries,  the  gangue  material  showing  very  little  if  any  con- 
nection with  or  transition  into  the  wall  rock.  In  some  instances 
also  the  vein  along  either  or  both  boundaries  breaks  easily  and 
freely  from  the  accompanying  country  rock,  the  ore  body  in 
such  cases  showing  quite  sharp  and  regular  hanging  and  foot  walls. 

In  other  and  quite  frequent  cases  precisely  similar  veins  show 
a  distinct  and,  at  times,  perfect  gradation  or  passage  into  the 
surrounding  diabase,  such  a  transition  being  characteristic  of 
either  or  both  walls.  Examples  are  not  lacking,  especially  in  the 
wider  occurrences,  where  there  is  a  pronounced  commingling  of  the 
material  of  the  vein  and  the  parent  plutonic  rock.  In  such  cases 
the  vein  may  contain  certain  vague  greenish  spots  or  masses,  which 
have  undoubtedly  been  derived  from  the  diabase  and  are  now  in  a 
more  or  less  altered  and  disintegrated  condition,  while  the  diabase 
in  the  more  immediate  vicinity  of  the  vein  is  relatively  more  acid 
in  composition,  with  abundant  quartz  and  patches  and  crystals  of 
the  same  acid  plagioclases  characteristic  of  the  vein.  Moreover,  the 
minerals,  which  together  make  up  the  diabase,  show  rather  pro- 
nounced decomposition  due  to  the  same  eruptive  after  actions  as  a 
result  of  which  the  accompanying  veins  have  been  formed.  The 
plagioclase  (labradorite)  has  been  largely  converted  to  a  pale 
yellowish  green  saussurite,  while  the  original  pyroxene  has  been 
replaced  b}r  an  aggregate  or  chlorite,  epidote  and  calcite. 

The  gange  of  these  veins,  in  the  simplest  form  of  their  develop- 
ment, shows  a  fine  to  moderately  coarse  grained  feldspathic 
material,  varying  in  colour  from  a  pale  pink  to  deep  flesh  red.  At 
first  sight  most  of  these  veins  are  remarkable  chiefly  for  the  pre- 
vailing absence  or  scarcity  of  quartz,  although  examples  are  not 
lacking  of  veins,  evidently  very  closely  related,  which  contain  this 
mineral  as  an  abundant  and  occasionally  predominant  constituent. 
Dr.  G.  A.  Young,  of  the  Geological  Survey,  at  the  writer's  suggestion, 
very  kindly  undertook  to  make  a  microscopical  examination  of  this 


German  Development  Co.  Claim  M.R.  202. 

Smaltite,  etc. 


18  inch  Win :  Native  Silver, 


Silver  of  James  Township  265 

feldspathic  material.  In  the  thin  sections  examined  by  him, 
representing  several  of  these  veins  from  the  western  part  of  Tud- 
hope  and  the  central  part  of  James  township,  by  far  the  largest 
proportion  at  least  was  plagioclase  varying  in  composition  from 
albite  through  oligoclase  to  andesine.  This  diagnosis  was  cor- 
roborated in  part  by  a  separation  of  the  mineral  constituents  by 
means  of  a  heavy  solution.  The  plagioclase  thus  separated  varied 
in  specific  gravity  from  2.609  to  2.635.  Some  of  this  plagioclase 
(albite)  had  distinct  rectangular  or  lath-like  outlines,  showing 
twinning  according  to  both  the  albite  and  pericline  laws,  which  in 
certain  cases  produced  a  fine  "cross-hatched  '  structure,  usually 
considered  characteristic  of  the  appearance  of  microcline  between 
crossed  nicols.  Most  of  these  grains  are  quite  turbid.  Another 
species  of  plagioclase  (oligoclase)  occurs  in  irregular,  untwinned 
and  clear  grains,  thus  resembling  quartz;  but  unlike  quartz  this 
mineral  is  readily  fusible.  Some  of  these  veins  contain  a  con- 
siderable admixture  of  quartz,  this  mineral  often  forming  graphic 
intergrowths  with  the  feldspars.  In  certain  of  these  cases,  the 
feldspar  has  acted  as  the  host,  but  in  others,  large  grains  of  quartz 
were  noticed  containing  only  a  few  shred-like  individuals  of  the 
plagioclase.  Calcite  is  usually  present  and  sometimes  very  abun- 
dant. This  mineral  frequently  occurs  in  fairly  large  grains,  or  in 
granular  aggregates  made  up  of  several  individuals,  disseminated 
through  the  more  abundant  feldspathic  material.  It  also  occurs 
in  more  or  less  continuous  vein-like  areas  or  masses,  anastomosing 
between,  and  sometimes  penetrating  through,  both  simple  and 
composite  individuals  of  feldspar.  Portions  of  the  vein,  where 
exposed  to  the  action  of  the  weather  or  percolating  waters,  fre- 
quently present  a  finely  cavernous  or  sponge-like  appearance,  due 
to  the  etching  and  removal  of  the  calcite,  thereby  leaving  small  and 
irregular  shaped  miarolitic  cavities  lined  with  minute  tabular  crys- 
tals of  feldspar.  Oxidation  of  the  iron  sulphides  usually  present, 
gives  a  prevailing  pale  brownish  to  an  almost  black  colour  to  these 
portions  of  the  vein.  Not  infrequently  barite,  usually  pale  pink  in 
colour,  and  occasionally  celestite  occur  with  or  replace  altogether 
the  calcite  and  feldspar.  Some  of  these  veins  are,  therefore,  made 
up  almost  wholly  of  red  feldspar,  almost  always  a  plagioclase  near 
the  acid  end  of  the  series,  together  with  a  very  subordinate  amount 
of  calcite  and  a  still    smaller    quantity    of  quartz.     Other   veins 


266  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

again  are  made  up  of  an  almost  equal  proportion  of  plagioclase  and 
calcite  and  sometimes  quartz,  while  still  other  veins  present  a  finer 
grained  feldspathic  portion  in  the  vicinity  of  the  walls,  with  the 
whole  mass  of  the  interior  made  up  of  comparatively  coarse  grained 
calcite,  with  sometimes  a  small  proportion  of  quartz.  The  stages 
represented  completely  by  the  vein  occurrences  in  these  districts 
show  a  perfect  and  practically  uninterrupted  continuity  during 
their  consolidation  from  an  original  condition  of  hydro-igneous 
fusion,  characteristic  of  the  magma  from  which  the  comparatively 
fine  and  even  grained  feldspathic  material  is  believed  to  have 
resulted,  to  conditions  of  igneo-aqueous  solution  which  must  have 
obtained  in  the  viscous  mass  from  which  the  latest  calcite  or 
quartzose  segregations  had  solidified. 

Chalcopyrite  is  the  most  abundant  and  common  of  the  metallic 
constituents,  but  bornite  is  also  very  frequently  encountered ;  both 
of  these  sulphides  often  occurring  side  by  side  in  the  same  vein. 
Covellite  also  occurs  but  much  less  frequently.  Galena  is  also  very 
common  and  usually  carries  silver  in  variable  quantity.  Many  of 
the  veins  contain  micaceous  or  specular  iron  ore  (hematite)  and 
some  of  them  are  entirely  made  up  of  this  material,  at  least  near  the 
surface.  Several  veins  were  noticed  made  up  of  alternations  of 
chalcopyrite  and  specular  iron  ore,  while  very  frequently  a  vein 
containing  specular  iron  ore  is  replaced  at  a  depth  sometimes  of 
only  a  few  feet  by  chalcopyrite,  smaltite  and  native  silver.  In  the 
Hubert  lake  area  veins  of  magnetite  have  been  found,  similar  to 
those  of  hematite  in  the  township  of  James.  Malachite  and 
azurite  are  both  common.  The  cobalt  minerals,  either  smaltite  or 
cobaltite  are  very  prevalent,  usually  in  association  with  more  or 
less  nicollite.  Erythrite  (cobalt  bloom)  and  Annabergite  (nickel 
bloom)  are  also  frequently  present  as  surface  decomposition  pro- 
ducts. The  smaltite-nicollite  veins  often  contain  the  white  bloom 
near  the  surface,  which  is  formed  by  the  reaction  of  these  minerals 
upon  one  another  when  subject  to  weathering  porcesses.  Most  of 
these  veins  will  give  assay  values  in  silver  varying  from  a  fraction 
of  an  ounce  to  thirty  ounces  or  even  more  per  ton,  although  the 
material  on  which  the  trials  were  conducted  showed  no  signs  of  the 
native  metal.  Silver  is  also  of  common  occurrence  in  these  veins, 
both  in  the  native  state  and  as  argentite  (sulphide  of  silver).  As 
native  silver  it  occurs  in  nuggets  of  various  shapes  and  sizes  as  well 


Silver  of  James  TOWNSHIP  Jf>< 

as  in  tine  flakes  and  scales  disseminated  through  any  of  the  various 
gangue  minerals,  feldspar,  calcite,  barite,  or  quartz.  Beautiful 
fern-like  skeleton  crystals  of  native  silver  are  frequently  found  in 
certain  cavities  in  these  veins  from  which  the  enclosing  calcite  has 
been  removed  as  a  result  of  weathering. 

It  would  be  unwise  in  this  connection  to  give  any  detailed  list 
of  the  many  mining  locations  on  which  native  silver  has  been  dis- 
covered or  to  mention  what  are  at  present  regarded  as  the  more 
promising  individual  discoveries.  It  may  be  sufficient  to  say  that 
several  veins  have  been  uncovered,  varying  in  width  from  4  to  8 
inches,  much  of  the  material  from  which  would  average  from  25  to 
75  per  cent,  of  native  silver,  while  alarge  numberof  other  veins  have 
been  proved  to  contain  silver  in  such  quantities  as  to  merit  further 
and  quite  extensive  mining  development  work.  The  mode  of 
occurrence  and  association  of  this  silver  in  some  of  these  veins  bears 
a  striking  resemblance  to  that  obtaining  in  the  veins  cutting  the 
diabase  in  the  vicinity  of  Kerr  Lake  near  Cobalt.  It  seems,  there- 
fore, very  reasonable  to  assume  that  many  and  possibly  wider  and 
richer  veins  will  be  revealed  as  a  result  of  this  season's  mining  opera- 
tions, when  conditions  should  be  much  more  favourable  for  pro- 
specting and  development  work. 

The  statement  sometimes  made  that  a  greater  or  even  a  second 
Cobalt  has  been  here  discovered,  is  not  warranted  in  the  present 
state  of  our  knowledge;  but  it  may  be  well  to  mention,  and  even 
to  emphasize,  some  of  the  points  which  should  strengthen  the 
opinion  that  the  James  township  mineral  area  will  become  in  the 
near  future  a  permanent  mining  camp: 

1.  The  wide  extent  of  country  over  which  these  mineral 
veins  have  already  been  found. 

2.  The  large  number,  width,  continuity  and  well  mineralized 
character  of  many  of  the  veins  so  far  located. 

3.  The  very  general  presence  of  native  silver  in  these  veins. 

4.  The  great  richness  of  some  of  the  ore  already  secured,  some 
of  which  compares  favourably  with  the  best  found  in  the  veins  of 
Cobalt.  The  region  is  certainly  one  of  great  promise  and  worthy 
of  the  most  earnest  and  intelligent  attention. 

All  of  these  veins  occur  in  diabase  or  gabbro,  a  rock  which 
represents  the  consolidation  of  a  lava  of  basic  composition,  which 
has  been  intruded  in  the  form  of  sills  or  laccoliths  and  dykes 


268  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

through  rocks  of  Huronian,  Keewatin,  and  Laurentian  ages.  The 
rocks  representative  of  the  Huronian  are  conglomerates,  slates  and 
arkoses  or  quartzites,  very  similar  in  structure  and  mineralogical 
composition,  to  rocks  of  the  same  geological  age  found  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Cobalt.  No  rocks  of  Keewatin  age  have  been 
found  in  James  township,  but  extensive  outcrops  occur  in  the 
central  and  eastern  portions  of  Tudhope  township.  The  Keewatin 
is  intruded  by  certain  granites  and  gneisses  which  are  usually 
referred  to  as  Laurentian.  These  two  rocks  form  an  igneous 
complex  lying  unconformable  beneath  and  furnishing  pebbles  and 
other  debrital  material  of  which  the  basal  conglomerates  of  the 
Lower  Huronian  are  composed.  These  gneisses  and  granites  cover 
large  areas  in  the  central  and  northern  portions  of  the  township  of 
Tudhope,  almost  the  whole  of  the  township  of  Smyth,  and  the 
northwest  corner  of  James  and  thence  west  and  northwest  to 
Hubert  Lake  and  beyond.  Smaller  patches  of  granite  are  also  ex- 
posed as  a  result  of  denudation  in  the  southern  part  of  James 
township. 

The  diabase  or  silver  bearing  formation  is  the  newest  rock  in 
the  district  as  it  is  intruded  through  all  the  other  series,  cutting 
even  the  arkoses  and  quartzites  which  are  at  the  summit  of  the 
sedimentaries.  The  distribution  of  these  several  formations  is  well 
shown  on  the  map  of  the  Montreal  river  and  Temagami  Forest 
Reserve,  lately  issued  by  the  Bureau  of  Mines  of  Ontario,  the 
necessary  geological  surveys  having  been  made  by  Mr.  Cyril 
W.  Knight  and  his  assistants  during  the  past  summer. 

All  of  the  veins  of  economic  importance,  so  far  discovered, 
appear  to  be  confined  to  this  diabase,  which  is  essentially  similar 
in  mineralogical  composition  and  geological  age  to  that  in  which 
occur  some  of  the  most  productive  silver  veins  of  the  Cobalt  district. 
Occasional  fissures,  some  of  them  rather  wide  and  continuous,  were 
noticed  in  the  conglomerate,  filled  with  calcite,  quartz  and  barite, 
and  carrying  galena,  but  the  assay  values  of  such  material  were 
disappointing.  It  is,  however,  reasonable  to  suppose  that  pro- 
ductive veins  will  yet  be  found  in  the  conglomerate,  although 
extensive  outcrops  of  this  rock  usually  show  very  little  Assuring. 
Most  of  the  hand  specimens  of  the  diabase,  given  to  Dr.  Young 
for  microscopical  examination,  were  collected  in  the  vicinity  of  one 
or  other  of  the  mineral  bearing  veins  and,  therefore,  doubtless  show 


Silver  of  James  Township  269 

more  advanced  decomposition  than  would  be  the  case  had  the 
material  been  secured  from  exposures  farther  removed  from  the 
influence  of  such  eruptive  after  action. 

The  hand  specimens  usually  show  a  dark  green,  more  rarely 
greyish,  medium  to  coarse  grained  rock,  made  up  of  irregular 
prisms  or  grains  of  a  very  dark  green  mineral  and  a  dull,  light  green- 
ish feldspar,  showing  only  an  occasional  cleavage  face.  One  of  the 
least  altered  of  these  specimens  was  obtained  from  the  Miller 
location  in  the  western  part  of  Tudhope.  Under  the  microscope 
the  rock  proved  to  be  a  rather  coarse  diabase  considerably  altered, 
but  with  its  typical  mineralogical  composition  and  structure  still 
very  distinct.  Originally  it  appears  to  have  been  composed  of 
nearly  colourless  pyroxene,  occurring  in  large  and  small  often 
twinned,  but  shapeless  plates  penetrated  by  laths  of  plagioclase. 
These  individuals  of  feldspar  are  twinned  according  to  the  albite 
law.  unaccompanied  by  carlsbad  twining  or  zonal  structures.  They 
vary  greatly  in  size,  the  interspaces  being  filled  with  irregular  grains 
of  quartz,  which  mineral  forms  no  small  proportion  of  the  rock,  a 
few  flakes  of  deep  brown,  highly  pleochroic  biotite  are  also  present. 
Much  of  the  feldspar,  often  in  the  central  part  of  the  individuals  is 
completely  altered,  apparently  to  epidote,  while  the  pyroxene  is 
associated  with  secondary  minerals  including  a  pale  green  some- 
what fibrous  hornblende.  The  rock  shows  no  abnormal  characters 
and  may  be  described  as  a  somewhat  decomposed  quartz  diabase. 
Another  specimen  from  a  claim  in  the  northwest  corner  of  Tudhope 
appeared  to  represent  a  diabase,  although  the  original  pyroxene 
has  been  completely  removed.  The  part  of  the  rock  represented 
l>v  the  slide  is  largely  composed  of  tabular  individuals  of  plagioclase 
sharply  idiomorphic  and  with  much  interstitial  quartz.  The 
plagioclase  shows  prominent  albite  twinning  sometimes  accom- 
panied by  carlsbad  twinning,  and  in  two  such  cases  the  values  of  the 
extinction  angles  indicated  an  acid  labradorite.  The  interstitial 
quartz  in  many  instances  almost  seemed  to  be  replacing  the  feld- 
spar, isolated  shreds  of  which  sometimes  lie  in  the  quartz  or  form 
skeleton-like  aggregates  similarly  orientated.  Occasionally  the 
relations  are  reversed,  and  the  feldspar  then  includes  a  number  of 
separate  grains  of  quartz  in  optical  continuity  with  one  another. 
Xo  evidence  was  afforded  that  the  quartz  was  of  more  than  one 
generation;  and  because  of  the  general  occurrence  of  this  mineral  in 


270  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

the  unaltered  diabase  of  the  district  it  was  concluded  that  the 
quartz  was  original.  Besides  this  feldspar  and  quartz,  calcite  and 
chlorite  compose  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  section.  The 
chlorite  occurs  in  small  aggregates  between,  or  distributed  through, 
the  feldspar.  The  calcite  forms  plates  and  granular  aggregates. 
Both  these  minerals  appear  to  replace  the  original  pyroxene. 

A  specimen  which  probably  represents  the  extreme  phase  of 
the  decomposition  of  this  diabase  forms  the  wall  rock  enclosing  the 
"Otisse  vein"  on  the  south  shore  of  Hubert  lake.  The  hand 
specimen  is  a  medium  grained  very  dark  altered  diabase,  in  which 
the  small  feldspar  laths  may  be  seen  imbedded  in  a  dull  dark  green 
matrix.  The  specimen  also  includes  part  of  a  vein  of  coarsely 
crystallized  calcite  at  least  half  an  inch  wide.  Occasional  small 
scales  and  plates  of  native  silver  are  disseminated  through  this 
diabase,  the  silver  being  more  conspicuous  and  apparently  more 
abundant  in  the  wall  rock  than  in  the  vein  itself.  The  thin  section 
shows  under  the  microscope  the  typical  ophitic  structure  consisting 
of  numerous  lath-shaped  crystals  of  plagioclase  lying  in  a  ground- 
mass  made  up  of  calcite  and  chlorite  in  varying  proportions,  which 
minerals  replace  the  original  coloured  constituent.  The  plagio- 
clase laths  are  almost  invariably  twinned  according  to  the  albite 
law,  and  except  where  they  interfere  with  one  another  are  rather 
shapely  idiomorphic  and  almost  perfectly  fresh,  except  that  they 
often  contain  minute  flakes  of  chlorite.  The  chlorite  and  calcite 
are  about  equally  abundant  and  comprise  a  large  part  of  the  rock. 
The  chlorite  occurs  in  matted  aggregates  of  somewhat  fibrous  forms. 
The  calcite  sometimes  builds  fairly  large  plate-like  areas  but  more 
often  is  finely  granular.  The  feldspar  is  as  sharply  idiomorphic 
against  the  calcite  as  against  the  chlorite.  It  seems  probable  that 
the  abundant  chlorite  and  calcite  have  been  formed  by  the  decom- 
position and  thus  at  the  expense  of  the  original  coloured  constituent, 
Very  little,  if  any  lime,  could  have  been  furnished  by  the  plagioclase 
as  most  of  the  individuals  of  this  mineral  are  surprisingly  fresh  and 
unaltered. 


Silveb  of  James  Township  271 


Summary  of  Conclusions. 

1.  The  diabase  of  the  Maple  Mountains,  James  township  and 
Bloom  lake  areas  is  essentially  and  prevailingly  a  quartz-diabase. 
In  many  instances  this  quartz  occurs  as  a  granophyric  or  graphic 
intergrowth  with  the  plagioclase,  which  is  usually  an  acid  labra- 
dorite.  The  presence  and  usual  abundance  of  this  original  or 
primary  quartz  marks  the  rock  as  a  rather  exceptional  type  and 
distinct  from  ordinary  diabase,  which  as  a  rule  contains  little  or 
none  of  this  mineral.  Diabase  and  similar  basic  igneous  rocks 
have  been  artifically  reproduced  in  the  laboratory  from  a  state  of 
simple  dry  fusion;  but  it  is  extremely  doubtful  whether  any 
extensive  intrusive  process  produced  by  natural  causes  is  ever 
unaccompanied  by  a  greater  or  less  abundance  of  superheated 
water  as  an  integral  portion  of  the  fused  mass.  This  condition  of 
dry  fusion,  however,  is  distinctly  approached  in  a  magma  from 
which  an  ordinary  diabase  has  been  formed.  During  the  intrusion 
and  subsequent  solidification  of  the  diabase  described  in  the 
present  paper,  however,  there  has  been  a  very  general  superabun- 
dance of  these  heated  waters  and  vapors,  which  not  only  accom- 
panied the  crystallization  of  the  great  mass  of  the  ordinary  parent 
plutonic,  but  were  especially  present  and  active  in  the  formation 
of  the  pegmatitic  mineral  veins  which  represent  the  expiring 
efforts  of  this  intrusion.  The  presence  of  the  abundant  original 
quartz,  often  in  graphic  intergrowth  with  the  plagioclase  and  the 
breaking  down  and  replacement  of  the  original  pyroxene  by 
chlorite  and  calcite,  is  distinct  evidence  of  the  presence  of  super- 
heated waters  and  steam  present  in  and  traversing  the  ordinary 
or  finer  grained  phases  of  the  diabase.  The  rock  is,  therefore,  more 
highly  quartzose  than  usual,  which  fact  accounts  in  the  main  for 
the  presence  of  the  associated  mineral-bearing  veins. 

2.  The  presence  of  these  veins  in  the  several  mining  districts 
mentioned  is  due  primarily  to  a  profound  Assuring  of  the  diabase 
itself,  formed  probably  as  a  result  of  the  contraction  of  the  rock 
in  cooling,  the  resultant  cracks  and  cavities  being  occupied  in  many 
cases  as  fast  as  they  were  formed  by  the  later,  more  acid  and 
hydrated  segregations  from  the  same  diabase  magma. 


272  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


3.  The  veins  in  their  simplest  forms  of  development  are,  there- 
fore, essentially  of  pegmatitic  type  although  some  of  the  more  com- 
plex types  and  those  at  the  other  extreme  made  up  almost  wholly 
of  calcite  or  quartz  show  little  or  no  evidence  of  such  an  origin. 

4.  The  various  stages  in  the  formation  of  these  veins  are  very 
completely  represented  in  these  several  mining  areas,  showing  a 
perfect  and  practically  uninterrupted  continuity  during  their  forma- 
tion from  an  original  condition  of  hydro-igneous  fusion  character- 
istic of  the  magma  from  which  the  comparatively  fine  and  even 
grained  feldspathic  material  is  believed  to  have  resulted  to  con- 
ditions of  ignes-aqueous  solution  which  must  have  obtained  in  the 
viscous  mass  from  which  latest  calcite  and  quartzose  segregations 
have  solidified. 

5.  The  feldspar  in  this  diabase-pegmatite  is  essentially  a 
plagioclase  near  the  acid  end  of  the  series,  chiefly  albite  and 
oligoclase  but  sometimes  andesine,  in  contradistinction  to  ordinary 
or  granite-pegmatite  which  contains  orthoclase,  microcline  and 
microperthite  as  the  predominent  and  characteristic  feldspar. 
Quartz  is  not  essential  and  some  of  the  more  representative  types 
of  this  diabase-pegmatite  in  these  veins  contain, less  than  5  per 
cent,  of  this  mineral.  Calcite  is  almost  invariably  present,  and  in 
extreme  phases  or  those  which  have  been  formed  as  a  result  of  very 
pronounced  secondary  action  completely  replaces  the  feldspar. 

6.  The  age  relations  of  the  mineral  constituents  of  the  gangue 
is  fairly  simple,  although  the  several  minerals  constantly  overlap 
in  their  periods  of  generation.  Plagioclase  in  the  main,  the  oldest 
or  first  mineral  to  form,  is  succeeded  by  calcite  and  this  in  turn  by 
quartz,  although  much  of  the  calcite  and  even  the  quartz  were 
formed  simultaneously  with  or  even  before  some  of  the  plagioclase. 

7.  All  of  the  gangue  minerals,  plagioclase,  calcite,  quartz,  and 
even  barite  and  celestite  as  well  as  the  various  metallic  minerals, 
appear  to  have  been  derived  from  the  surrounding  diabase.  The 
calcite  has  probably  been  derived  from  the  decomposition  of  the 
original  pyroxenic  constituent  as  much  of  the  plagioclase  shows 
little  or  no  signs  of  alteration.  The  native  silver  is  not  only  present 
in  association  with  all  of  the  gangue  minerals  already  mentioned, 
but  is  very  commonly  noticed  and  sometimes  abundant  in  the 
diabase  forming  the  wall  rock. 


Photo  A.M.C. 


The  Silver  Lake  Trail. 
(Brule  country  . 


Photo  A.M.r.        Grand  View  Hotel.  Elk  City.     (August,  1907 


Photo  A.M.'' 


Pioneer  Store. 
H.  B.  Co.,  Elk  City,  August,  1907 


Silver  of  James  Township   .  273 


DISCUSSION. 

Mr.  Tyrrell: — Do  you  consider  the  diabase  deposit  in  James 
Township  the  same  as  at  Cobalt? 

Dr.  Barlow: — Yes.  It  is  not  a  deposit,  but  a  batholitic 
mass. 

Dr.  Miller: — I  think  the  material  in  these  dykes  represents 
the  end  product  of  the  diabase  eruption.  The  cracks  now  oc- 
cupied by  pegmatites  were  evidently  formed  soon  after  the  diabase 
had  begun  to  cool,  and  the  material  now  in  them  was  below  son  e 
place  and  came  up.  It  contains  the  feldspar,  silver  and  other 
materials  which  belonged,  I  think,  to  the  same  magma  as  the 
diabase. 

As  to  the  inspectors,  to  whom  Dr.  Barlow  has  referred,  I 
had  trouble  last  spring  getting  a  corps  of  inspectors  for  that  area. 
We  had  to  get  eight  inspectors,  who  had  to  be  technical  graduates, 
men  of  experience  and  sense,  and  it  took  me  a  considerable 
time  to  get  them  together.  If  I  had  not  gone  to  that  trouble 
Dr.  Barlow  would  not  have  his  claims  there  now,  as  the  whole 
country  was  blanketted  in  the  winter.  You  must  remember  that 
the  townships  are  six  miles  square  and  the  mining  location  forty 
acres,  or  about  five  hundred  to  the  township.  The  prospectors 
covered  two  or  three  townships  on  snowshoes  and  often  ran  three 
lines  parallel,  three  men  going  abreast,  cutting  out  lines,  some- 
times tieing  their  posts  to  trees  where  they  were  afraid  to  merely 
.stick  them  up  in  the  snow.  That  was  the  problem  wl  ich  faced 
us  in  the  spring,  if  we  did  not  intend  to  allow  blanketting  on  a  large 
scale.  The  inspectors  tried  to  insist  upon  discovery,  and  Dr. 
Barlow,  being  a  late  comer,  reaped  the  benefit  of  their  work,  as 
they  threw  open  many  blanketted  claims. 


18 


ORIGIN  OF  COBALT-SILVER  ORES  OF  NORTHERN 

ONTARIO. 

By  R.  E.  Hore, 

University  of  Michigan,  Ann  Arbor,  Mich. 

The  rapidly  increasing  proved  area  of  silver  and  cobalt 
bearing  rocks  has  disclosed  new  types  of  deposits,  and  has  afforded 
additional  information  regarding  the  origin  of  the  deposits  and 
of  the  rocks  containing  them.  It  is  the  purpose  of  this  paper 
to  present  some  results  of  study  in  field  and  laboratory. 

In  Coleman  Township. 

The  majority  of  shipping  mines  are  located  in  the  eastern 
half  of  this  township,  and  are,  therefore,  within  a  few  miles  of  the 
town  of  Cobalt.  The  producing  veins  occur  in  graywacke  and 
feldspathic  quartzites  and  conglomerates  of  Lower  Huronian 
age,  in  metamorphosed  fine  grained  green  igneous  rocks  of  Kee- 
watin  age,  and  in  gray  diabase-gabbro  sills  of  Post  Middle 
Huronian.  In  the  Huronian  sediments  and  in  the  diabase, 
the  veins  are  nearly  vertical,  while  in  the  Keewatin  greenstones 
the  inclination  is  irregular  and  the  veins  less  well  defined. 

In  his  report*  on  the  camp,  Dr.  W.  G.  Miller  suggested  that 
the  fissures  now  occupied  by  the  cobalt-silver  ores  in  the  Lower 
Huronian  were  probably  formed  by  the  disturbance  which  accom- 
panied the  eruption  of  the  diabase  and  gabbro,  and  that  the  ores 
may  have  been  deposited  from  highly  heated  mineral  laden 
waters  associated  with  the  eruption.  In  a  second  edition  of  this 
report  he  has  suggested  that  the  ores  were  possibly  leached  from 
the  Keewatin  greenstones,  or  from  the  Laurentian  granites. 

I  >r.  Van  Hisef  also  concludes  that  the  diabase  is  the  source 
of  the  ore,  and  believes  that  the  Keewatin  and  the  conglomerates 

*\V.  fi.  Miller,  Ann.  Report  Bureau  of  Mines,  Ontario.     Vol.  V,  1905. 
tC.  R.  Van  Hise,  Jour,  of  Canadian  Mining  Inst.     Vol.  X,  1907. 


276  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


are  the  main  source  of  the  calcite  of  the  gangue  minerals.  He 
suggests  that  the  solutions  bearing  calcium  carbonate  were  a 
factor  in  the  precipitation  of  the  metalliferous  minerals. 

A  consideration  of  later  discoveries  seems  to  confirm  the  truth 
of  these  ideas  in  the  main. 

Recent  Discoveries. 

Cobalt  is  now  known  to  occur  in  several  areas  including  the 
following,  which  are  classed  according  to  the  country  rock: — 

In  Lower  Huronian  graywack^ — 

In  Casey  township,  15  miles  north  of  Cobalt. 

In  diabase-gabbro — 

In  Pense  and  Ingram  townships,  30  miles  north  of  Cobalt. 
In  Whitson  and  adjoining  townships,  25  miles  west  of 

Cobalt. 
In  James  and  adjoining  townships,   15  miles  north  of 

Whitson. 
In  the  vicinities  of  Portage  Bay,  of  Trout  Lake,  and  west 

of  Anima  Nipissing  Lake. 

In  Keewatin — 

South  of  Lorrain  township,  16  miles  south-east  of  Cobalt. 

Of  these  localities,  Casey  tp.,  Whitson  tp.,  James  tp., 
and  the  area  south  of  Lorrain  show  native  silver  in  addition 
to  cobalt  minerals. 

The  following  description  applies  to  the^ rocks  found 
over  the  large  area  including  these  deposits. 

Diabase-Gabbro. 

The  intimate  connection  of  this  rock  with  the  ore  deposits 
has  been  recognized  by  the  prospectors  for  some  time,  and  it  is 
becoming  more  apparent  as  exploration  advances. 

It  occurs  in  most  cases  in  the  form  of  large  sills,  a  few  hundred 


Origin  of  Cobalt-Silver  Ores.  277 


feet  in  thickness,  lying  nearly  horizontal  arid  parallel  to  the  bedding 
of  the  Huronian  sediments.  The  greater  pait  of  the  sills  is  dark 
gray  in  colour  and  holocrystalline.  The  chief  minerals  are  augite 
and  plagioclase  (labradorite  to  bytownite),  while  ilmenite  is 
generally  present  and  quartz  is  common.  At  the  edge  of  the 
sheets  the  rock  is  very  fine  grained,  and.  though  markedly  ophitic 
in  texture,  is  not  readily  distinguished  from  intruded  slates. 
A  few  feet  from  the  edge  the  grain  becomes  quite  noticeable, 
and  at  some  distance  veiy  coarse  textures  were  often  found. 
These  coarser  portions,  often  pink  in  colour,  show  a  considerable 
percentage  of  quartz  and  pink  feldspars,  often  in  micrographic 
intergrowth.  Barlow's  description*  of  numerous  occurrences 
of  this  rock  in  the  area  covered  by  the  Xipissing  and  Temiscaming 
map  shoots,  indicates  that  they  are  all  derivations  of  the  same 
magma. 

In  petrographical  character  and  in  their  relations  to  the 
Huronian  sediments  they  are  remarkably  similar  to  diabase  sills 
of  the  Lake  Superior  district,  which  are  regarded  as  of  Keween- 
awanf  (being  the  plutonic  equivalent  of  the  surface  flows  of  the 
copper  district)  or  of  Post-KeweenawanJ  age. 

Veins  in  Diabase-Gabbro. 

Veins  are  not  common  in  the  diabase,  and  of  these  caleite 
are  less  numerous  than  quartz.  Although  quartz  veins  carrying 
cobalt  ores  are  known,  the  silver  is  confined  to  veins  having 
caleite  gangue.  In  the  rich  deposits  in  Coleman  tp.,  there  is 
little  gangue,  the  veins  being  seldom  more  than  a  few  inches  in 
width  and  often  composed  entirely  of  ore.  In  some  cases  native 
silver  is  the  most  abundant  filling,  forming  thin  films  along  the 
joint  planes. 

The  quartz  veins  frequently  carry  small  amounts  of  pyrite 
and  chalcopyrite.  West  of  Wakemika  Lake  there  are  several 
quartz  veins,  one  to  two  feet  in  width,  which  carry  argentiferous 
galena  along  with  pyrite.  chalcopyrite,  and  a  later  filling  of  pale 
pink  caleite. 

Some  barite  veins  in  James  tp.  are  said  to  be  argentiferous. 

*A.  E.  Barlow.  GeoL  Sur.  Canada.     Ann.  Rep.     Vol.  V.,  Part  L,   1897. 
tA.  C.  Lane,  Geol.  Sur.  Michigan,  Vol.  VI,  Part  I,  pp.  219,  etc.,  1898. 
JA.  C.  Lawson,  Geol.  Sur.  Minnesota,  Bull.  No.  8,  pp.  47,  1893. 


278  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Intrusives  in  Diabase-Gabbro. 

There  occur  in  the  large  sills  small  intrusions,  some  more, 
others  less  silicious  than  the  main  mass. 

In  Coleman  tp.  there  are  fine  grained  dark  colored  dikes  of 
olivine  diabase,  while  near  Temagami  there  are  small  dikes  of 
diabase  porphyry. 

More  common  and  more  interesting  from  an  economic  stand- 
point are  the  light  coloured  aplite  veins.  The  width  of  most  of 
these  is  to  be  measured  in  inches,  and  they  are  generally  but  a 
few  hundred  feet  in  length.  They  are  fine  grained  and  usually 
of  a  pink  colour,  being  composed  largely  of  quartz  and  feldspars. 
The  proportions  of  quartz  and  feldspars  vary  considerably  in 
the  same  vein.  There  is  considerable  chlorite  in  darker  coloured 
portions,  and  calcite  fills  in  the  interstices.  Small  crystals  of 
apatite  and  titanite  are  inconspicuous  but  characteristic  con- 
stituents. 

Most  of  these  aplite  veins  carry  some  pyrite,  chalcopyrite, 
or  galena,  and  some  carry  cobalt  and  silver  ores.  It  was  noted 
in  some  cases  in  James  tp.  that  the  sulphides  occur  along  frac- 
tures in  the  narrow  veins  and  from  this  it  is  inferred  that  the 
metalliferous  solutions  followed  the  deposition  of  the  aplite. 
It  is  also  noted  that  the  feldspars  remain  rather  fresh,  and  that 
they  were  therefore  inactive  in  precipitating  the  ore.  The  dark 
coloured  silicate  present,  however,  is  chlorite,  and  is  probably  the 
result  of  the  action  of  these  solutions  on  pyroxene  or  amphibole, 
yielding  at  the  same  time  lime  for  the  formation  of  calcite  when 
carbon  dioxide  was  available. 

Disseminated  Ore  in  Diabase-Gabbro. 

In  the  diabase  which  extends  westwards  from  Anima-Nipis- 
sing  Lake  to  Lady  Evelyn  Lake,  there  are  several  showings 
of  cobalt  minerals,  both  in  calcite  veins  and  as  disseminated  crys- 
tals in  the  diabase.  There  is  generally  little  or  no  surface  indi- 
cation of  the  latter;  but  on  breaking  the  rock  traces  of  cobalt 
bloom  are  found. 

One  such  deposit,  west  of  Diabase  Lake,  is  associated  with  an 
aplite  vein.     This  vein  is  about  one  foot  in  width  and  is  exposed 


Origin  of  Cobalt-Silver  Ores.  279 


for  about  150  feet;  it  carries  some  pyrite  and  chalcopyrite,  but 
little  cobalt.  Parallel  to  the  vein  and  for  a  few  feet  from  its  walls, 
the  diabase  contains  disseminated  crystals  of  smaltite  which  arc 
more  abundant  along  the  joint  planes.  The  chief  unaltered 
constituent  of  the  ore-bearing  rock  is  feldspar.  The  crystals 
of  smaltite,  accompanied  by  some  small  titanite  crystals,  are 
embedded  in  calcite  and  chlorite,  and  more  rarely  in  the  feldspars. 
In  the  latter  case  it  is  to  be  noted  that  there  are  many  cracks, 
partly  rilled  with  calcite,  which  have  evidently  served  as  chan- 
nels for  the  introduction  of  the  smaltite. 

Another  cobaltiferous  specimen,  also  chloritic,  from  the  same 
region,  shows  some  kernels  of  augite  still  undecomposed,  and  a 
high  percentage  of  ilmenite. 

Origin  of  Disseminated  Ore. 

The  detection  by  the  naked  eye  of  scattered  smaltite  crystals 
in  the  diabase,  suggests  the  possibility  of  its  being  an  original 
constituent  in  the  rock.  On  the  other  hand,  the  association  with 
aplite  suggests  that  the  ore  had  its  origin  in  the  solutions  that 
accompanied  these  intrusions. 

The  microscopic  examination  outlined  above  shows  that  the 
smaltite  is  of  secondary  origin.  It  was  at  first  thought  that 
possibly  the  augite  was  cobaltiferous;  but,  on  examination,  a 
specimen  of  the  rock  containing  kernels  of  this  mineral  was 
found  to  contain  no  trace  of  cobalt. 

Accordingly  the  following  conclusion  may  be  drawn:  (1) 
that  the  smaltite  was  introduced  by  solutions  associated  with 
the  aplite  intrusion;  (2)  that  such  solutions  came  after  the  crys- 
tallization of  the  aplite;  (3)  that  the  intrusion  disturbed  the 
diabase  to  such  an  extent  that  a  zone  was  formed  in  the  latter 
which  was  more  permeable  to  the  solutions  than  was  the  aplite 
itself;  (4)  that  these  solutions  had  little  action  on  the  feldspars, 
but  found  other  silicates  quite  active  chemically.  Further  con- 
clusions may  be  deduced  from  a  consideration  of  the  origin  of 
the  aplite. 

Origin  of  the  Aplite. 

The  most  apparent  difference  between  the  aplite  and  the 
diabase  is  the  colour.    This  is  due  to  a  higher  percentage  of  quartz 


280  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

and  pink  feldspars,  and  a  corresponding  lower  percentage  of  dark 
coloured  silicates,  so  that  the  aplite  is  generally  light  pink  in  colour 
while  the  diabase  is  dark  gray. 

It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  portions  of  the  diabase 
still  at  some  distance  from  their  edge  are  coarse  in  texture  and 
sometimes  pink  in  colour.  Here  again  the  difference  in  colour  is 
due  to  a  greater  development  of  pink  feldspars  and  quartz  and 
less  augite.  The  distance  from  the  edge  of  the  sheet,  and  the 
coarse  texture  show  that  these  more  silicious  portions  have 
crystallized  later  than  the  main  mass.  This  shows  that  differen- 
tiation has  taken  place  in  such  a  way  that  the  melt  has  become 
more  silicious,  possibly  approaching  a  eutectic  mixture.  These 
pink  coarse  textured  portions  have  a  mineralogical  composition 
intermediate  between  that  of  the  gray  portion  and  that  of  the 
more  silicious  aplite. 

From  the  composition  and  the  field  relations  it  is  thought 
therefore  that  the  aplite  is  a  later  secretion  from  the  further 
differentiated  diabase  magma. 

The  relations  of  the  aplite  to  the  diabase  is  very  similar  to 
that  of  "contemporaneous  veins"  in  rocks  described  by  Waller 
and  Teal.*  It  is  thought  justifiable  therefore  to  apply  this  term 
to  the  aplite  occurrences. 

Origin  of  the  Metalliferous  Solutions. 

It  has  already  been  shown  that  the  ores  were  deposited  from 
solutions  which  followed  the  aplite  intrusions. 

The  origin  of  these  solutions  cannot  be  proven,  but  the 
association  with  aplite  suggests  a  genetic  connection.  It  seems 
that,  as  the  diabase  magma  cooled  and  crystallized,  the  melt  was 
approaching  a  eutectic  of  predominating  salic  composition. 
If  water  and  metallic  sulphides  and  arsenides  were  being  concen- 
trated as  the  temperature  fell,  this  was  probably  by  the  formation 
of  a  solution  whose  constituents  were  not  soluble  in  all  propor- 
tions in  the  fused  silicate  solution.  The  former  solution  was  not 
miscible  with  the  latter,  and  remained  liquid  or  gaseous  after 
temperatures  had  been  reached  at  which  the  latter  had  solidified. 
When  fractures  in  the  diabase  provided  means  of  escape,  part  of 

*J.  J.  H.  Teall.     British  Petrography,  London.     1888.     p.  275. 


Origin  of  Cobalt-Silver  Ores.  281 


the  metalliferous  solution  doubtless  accompanied  the  aplite 
solution,  and,  as  has  been  shown  above,  part  escaped  subsequent 
to  the  aplite  deposition. 

That  such  a  deposit  is  due  to  extreme  differentiation  in  the 
igneous  magma,  is  in  harmony  with  the  expressed  views  of  J; 
E.  Spurr*  regarding  the  origin  of  most  metalliferous  deposits. 

While  no  silver  was  found  in  the  rock  sections  examined,  the 
occurrence  of  native  silver  with  cobalt  minerals  in  aplite  in  James 
and  adjoining  townships,  indicates  a  similar  origin  for  the  silver. 

While  it  has  been  shown  fthat  in  the  veins  at  Cobalt,  silver 
solidified  later  than  cobalt  minerals,  the  occurrence  in  aplite 
indicates  that  there  was  no  great  time  interval. 

Influence  of  Keewatix  and  Huronian  Rocks. 

Having  concluded  that  the  cobalt-silver  bearing  solutions 
are  the  result  of  differentiation  in  the  diabase  magma,  we  have 
now  to  consider  the  role  of  the  intruded  rocks  in  precipitating 
the  ore. 

Van  Hise  has  stated  "that  the  calcite  gangue  could  not  be 
derived  from  the  diabase  since  it  contains  no  carbonates,  or  so 
small  a  quantity  that  it  is  negligible.  But  one  of  the  chief 
characteristics  of  the  Keewatin  rocks  is  the  presence  of  car- 
bonates, among  which  calcite  is  the  most  abundant.  Also  the 
conglomerate,  being  composed  of  debris  from  the  Keewatin. 
contains  much  carbonate."  He  infers  "that  the  Keewatin  and 
the  conglomerate  are  the  main  source  of  the  calcite  of  the  gangue 
minerals,"  and  suggests  "that  the  precipitation  of  the  ores  was 
produced  by  the  mingling  of  solutions,  some  of  which  came  from 
the  diabase  bearing  the  ores,  and  others  of  which  came  the  con- 
glomerate and  Keewatin  bringing  precipitating  agents;"  but 
"the  mere  cooling  of  the  solution  may  have  been  a  factor  in  the 
process." 

In  the  discussion  following  Van  Hise's  paperj,  Miller  pointed 
out  concerning  the  cobalt-silver  veins  west  of  Peterson  Lake, 
that  "  in  practically  all  cases  the  silver  values  disappear  in  passing 

*J.  E.  Spurr.  A  Theory  of  Ore  Deposition.  Econ.  Geol.  Vol.  II,  pp. 
781-795. 

t\Vm.  Campbell  and  C.  W.  Knight.     Econ.  Geol.     Vol.  I.     1906. 
X Journal  Canadian  Mining  lust.  Vol.  X.,  1907. 


282  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

from  the  conglomerate  to  Keewatin,  but  the  smaltite  and  nic- 
colite  continue  below  the  contact."  He  suggests  "that  during 
a  period  of  secondary  disturbance  the  silver  filled  in  the  cracks 
through  the  smaltite  or  older  minerals."  But  the  older  Keewatin 
"seems  to  have  escaped  the  effects  of  this  slight  disturbance, 
hence  there  were  no  cracks  in  it,  and  the  solutions  could  not  get 
through  the  Keewatin." 

A  clearer  idea  of  the  part  played  by  the  intruded  rocks,  is  to 
be  obtained  by  a  study  of  the  character  of  the  Keewatin  and 
Huronian  formations  over  the  wide  area  in  which  cobaltiferous 
diabase  is  now  known  to  occur. 

The  Keewatin. 

In  Coleman  township  this  formation  is  represented  by  igneous 
rocks  only.  Perhaps  the  most  abundant  type  is  a  fine  grained  green 
rock  in  which  there  is  considerable  feldspar,  chlorite  and  calcite, 
and  still  undecomposed  remnants  of  augite.  These  rocks  are 
apparently  altered  basalts.  There  are  also  intrusions  of  coarser 
textured  rocks  which  appear  to  be  altered  gabbros,  diabases,  &c. 

In  Casey  township  there  is  an  outcrop  of  a  dark  green,  fine 
grained  rock  which  appears  to  be  an  altered  basalt,  and  in  Tud- 
hope  township  a  coarse  textured  greenstone  intruded  by  Lauren- 
tian  granite  was  observed. 

In  other  areas  sedimentary  rocks  are  associated  with  those 
of  igneous  character.  At  Larder  Lake  there  are  auriferous 
cherty  carbonates,  while  at  Temagami  there  are  carbonates  and 
cherty  iron  ores. 

A  study  of  Miller's  map*  shows  that  none  of  the  ore  pro- 
ducing veins  are  located  more  than  a  few  hundred  feet  away  from 
igneous  Keewatin  rocks.  Equally  significant  is  the  fact  that  in 
areas  in  which  the  latter  are  not  found,  the  cobalt-silver  deposits 
are  less  extensive,  and  many  cobaltiferous  veins  contain  no  native 
silver. 

As  Van  Hise  has  indicated,  these  rocks  contain  a  considerable 
percentage  of  calcite  which  furnished  the  gangue.  It  is  also  to 
be  noted  that  there  are  present  many  relatively  unstable  minerals, 
e.g.,  pyroxene,  hornblende,  and  biotite,  which  are  readily  acted 

*W.  G.  Miller  and  C.  W.  Knight.     Map  of  Cobalt  Area.     Bureau  of  Mines, 
Ontario,  1907. 


Origin  of  Cobalt-Silveb  Ores.  283 

on  by  percolating  waters.  These  minerals  arc  active  chemical 
agents,  and  doubtless  by  their  reactions  with  ore  bearing  solutions 
aided  in  the  precipitation  of  the  ores.  From  the  field  study  it 
seems  beyond  doubt  that  such  has  been  the  case. 

The  Lower  Huronian. 

This  formation  is  represented  by  graywacke  slate,  felds- 
pathic  quartzite  or  arkose,  and  graywacke  conglomerate,  in 
ascending  order.  The  strata  have,  as  a  general  rule,  been  but 
slightly  disturbed  from  their  original  positions;  but  in  some 
places  are  inclined  as  much  as  45°.  Their  character  has  appar- 
ently been  but  little  changed  by  igneous  or  dynamical  agencies 
of  metamorphism,  except  at  the  immediate  border  of  the  diabase 
where  some  hardening  has  taken  place  by  a  recrystallization  of 
quartz. 

In  some  areas,  notably,  Temagami,  Cobalt,  Casey  tp.,  Wen- 
digo  Lake,  and  Larder  Lake,  the  graywacke  slate  and  conglom- 
erate predominate  over  the  arkose.  In  others,  notably  the  region 
from  James  tp.  to  Lady  Evelyn  Lake,  there  is  a  greater  thickness 
of  the  arkose. 

From  numerous  petrographical  descriptions  by  A.  E.  Barlow 
and  G.  H.  Williams  in  Barlow's  report,  supplemented  by  the 
writer's  examination  of  the  rocks  in  the  more  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  ore  deposits,  the  arkose  is  known  to  be  made  up  almost 
entirely  of  quartz,  orthoclase,  plagioclase,  sericite,  and  chlorite. 
Quartz  and  orthoclase  predominate,  and  of  the  plagioclases 
the  more  sodic  varieties  are  most  abundant.  The  grains  are  often 
subangular  and  much  fractured,  their  size  is  that  of  a  medium 
grained  granite. 

The  graywacke",  so  far  as  can  be  determined,  is  made  up  of 
similar  minerals  more  finely  pulverized.  The  percentage  of 
chlorite  is  higher;  but  there  is  an  absence  of  fragments  of  primary 
ferro-magnesian  minerals  and  the  rock  is  therefore  not  a  typical 
graywacke. 

The  pebbles  in  the  conglomerate  represent  numerous  types 
of  Keewatin  and  Laurentian  igneous  rocks,  and  occasional  cherty 
sediments.  Light  coloured  granites,  probably  Laurentian.  arc 
the  most  abundant  of  the  pebbles. 


284 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


From  the  character  and  composition  of  the  mineral  fragments 
which  constitute  them,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  arkoses 
were  formed  from  the  granitoid  Laurentian  rocks,  and  not  from 
the  metamorphosed  greenstones  of  the  Keewatin.  It  follows  also 
that  much  of  the  graywacke  is  the  finer  material  from  the  same 
source;  but  what  percentage  of  the  graywacke  is  made  up  of 
detritus  of  the  Keewatin,  cannot  be  determined. 

Dr.  A.  P.  Coleman*  has  shown  that  some  pebbles  in  the  con- 
glomerate at  Cobalt  have  suffered  from  glacial  action.  From 
the  examination  of  numerous  basal  unconformities,  however, 
one  must  conclude  that  they  are  not  due  to  morainal  deposition 
following  the  grinding  action  of  glaciers.  A  photograph  of  one 
of  these  unconformities  is  shown  in  Miller's  report. 

The  gradual  transition  from  slate  and  arkose  to  the  upper 
conglomerate  bed  shows  that  this  latter  is  not  of  the  common 
glacial  type.  The  boulders  of  the  upper  bed,  however,  may  be 
the  erratic  deposits  of  drifting  ice;  though  glacial  material  is 
apparently  a  minor  factor,  if  present  at  all. 

Bellf  describes  the  conglomerate  as  a  volcanic  breccia. 
Miller  suggests  that  "some  of  the  delicately  banded  graywacke 
slate  may  represent  volcanic  dust  or  line  grained  pyroclastic 
material,"  but  that  the  lower  conglomerate  is  not  pyroclastic 
and  is  made  up  of  fragments  of  the  adjacent  older  series. 

The  examination  of  thin  sections  of  graywacke  shows  an 
absence  of  glass  or  mineral  fragments  so  characteristic  of  vol- 
canic dust.  The  chemical  analysis  shows  it  to  be  of  a  composition 
similar  to  an  ordinary  paleozoic  shale. 


Si02 

A1203 

Fe203 

Ti02 

FeO 

CaO 

MgO 

A 

60.15 

16.45 

4.04 

.76 

2.09 

1.41 

2.32 

B 

62.74 

16.94 

5.07 

1.59 

1.39 

3.05 

*A.  P.  Coleman.     Jour.  Geol.,  1908. 

fDr.  Robert  Bell.     The  Cobalt  Mining  District.     Jour.  Can.  Mining  Inst. 
1907.     p.  64. 


Origin  of  Cobalt-Silvkk  Ores. 


285 


Na,0 

K20 

H20 

CO, 

so3 

C 

BaO 

I'M 

A 

.   1.01 

3.60 

4.71 

1.46 

.58 

.88 

.04 

1.") 

B 

6.07 

3.56 

(A)  is  a  composite  analysis  of  51  palezoic  shales,  by 
F.  N.  Stokes  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey. 

(B)  is  the  analysis  of  graywacke  slate  from  the  Little  Silver 
Mine,  made  by  A.  G.  Burrows  of  the  Ontario  Bureau  of  Alines. 

The  writer  concludes,  therefore,  "(1)  that  there  was  no 
volcanic  activity  contemporaneous  with  the  Lower  Huronian, 
(2)  that  these  rocks  were  formed  entirely  of  the  detritus  of  the 
Laurentian  and  Keewatin  formations,  (3)  that  the  arkoses, 
at  least,  are  primarily  of  Laurentian  origin. 

Influence  of  Lower  Huronian  Rocks. 


Attention  has  already  been  drawn  to  the  fact  that  the  feld- 
spars were  but  slightly,  if  at  all,  altered  by  the  ore  bearing  solu- 
tions. Chlorite,  sericite  and  quartz  are  well  known  to  be  stable 
minerals,  and  it  therefore  follows  that  the  arkoses  cannot  have 
been  active  agents  in  depositing  the  ores. 

The  graywacke  is  made  up  of  similar  minerals  with  a  larger 
percentage  of  secondary  products.  Calcite  is  sometimes  present 
in  very  small  amounts,  and  it  is  noteworthy  that  these  rocks  show 
a  marked  deficiency  in  lime,  as  compared  with  the  Keewatin. 
It  is  thought  therefore  that  while  the  Keewatin  greenstones  have 
probably,  by  virtue  of  their  mineralogical  composition,  played 
an  important  role  in  the  deposition  of  the  ores,  the  graywacke^ 
being  composed  of  more  stable  minerals  and  low  in  calcite,  played 
the  same  role  in  a  minor  way,  if  at  all.  The  pebbles  in  the  con- 
glomerate contain  numerous  primary  ferro-magnesian  minerals 
which  would  be  readily  decomposed,  and  so  the  coarse  conglomer- 
ate may  have  been  more  active  than  the  graywacke*  slate. 

Owing  to  their  regular  vertical  jointing  these  sediments  have 
afforded  the  most   suitable  place  for  the  deposition  of  the  ore. 


286  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


and  so  it  happens  that  many  of  the  most  valuable  veins  have  been 
found  in  them. 

Conclusion. 

It  has  been  shown  that  cobalt  ores  have  been  deposited 
from  solutions  which  followed  the  formation  of  a  vein  of  aplite  in 
the  diabase. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  in  all  the  silver  deposits  in  the  dis- 
trict the  silver  minerals  are  intimately  associated  with  cobalt 
minerals,  the  silver  is  believed  to  have  the  same  origin. 

It  is  suggested  that  the  metallic  sulphides  and  arsenides 
have  been  concentrated  from  the  diabase  magma  by  extreme 
differentiation. 

The  Keewatin  igneous  rocks  have  assisted  in  the  ore  deposition 
on  account  of  their  content  of  calcite  and  unstable  minerals. 

The  Huronian  sediments  are  composed  for  the  most  part  of 
stable  minerals  with  little  calcite,  and  their  chief  function  has 
been  that  of  a  recipient  for  the  ores. 

If  these  conclusions  are  correct,  we  may  expect  to  find 
similar  ore  deposits  where  the  diabase  sills  are  associated  with 
Keewatin  igneous  rocks,  and  especially  valuable  deposits  where 
Huronian  sediments  are  also  present.  The  region  from  Lake 
Temiscaming  to  Lake  Huron  doubtless  includes  many  such 
occurrences. 


THE  SAMPLING  OF  SILVER-COBALT  ORES  AT  COPPER 
CLIFF,  ONTARIO. 

By  Arthur  A.  Cole,  MA,  B.Sc,  Cobalt,  Ont. 

There  are  few  ores  that  present  greater  difficulty  in  sampling 
than  the  silver-cobalt  ores  of  the  Cobalt  Camp.  The  ore  consists 
generally  of  cobalt  and  nickel  arsenides  and  sulphides,  but  the 
trouble  is  caused  by  the  occurence  of  large  amounts  of  metallics 
composed  of  native  silver,  or  an  alloy  of  silver  and  arsenic,  which 
acts  in  the  mill  the  same  as  native  silver.  With  ores  of  this 
nature,  frequently  carrying  extremely  high  values,  the  subject 
of  sampling  is  of  more  than  ordinary  importance. 

The  ore  leaves  the  mine  in  heavy  jute  sacks  containing 
about  100  pounds  each,  and  is  shipped  to  Copper  Cliff  in  (1) 
Railway  Box-Cars  under  seal.  In  the  case  of  very  low  grade 
material  no  bags  are  used,  and  the  ore  is  shipped  in  bulk.  From 
the  car  it  is  trucked  to  the  (2)  Weighing  Scale,  where  it  is  weighed 
in  lots  of  10  sacks,  and  the  first  gross  weight  obtained.  The 
sacks  are  then  opened  and  the  ore  passed  through  a  (3)  Large  Jaw 
Crusher,  (Buchanan's  Patent  Rock  and  Ore  Crusher).  The 
empty  sacks  are  tied  up,  weighed,  and  returned  to  the  shipper. 
If  the  ore  is  dry  it  is  shovelled  directly  into  the  (5)  Ball  Mill.  If 
it  is  wet  it  is  spread  on  (4)  Steam  Drying  Plates  until  it  is  dry, 
and  then  it  too  goes  to  the  ball  mill. 

As  the  ore  comes  from  the  jaw  crusher  a  small  shovelful 
from  each  sackful  is  set  aside  for  a  preliminary  moisture  sample, 
representing  moisture  contained  in  the  ore  as  shipped. 

This  miosture  sample  is  coned  and  quartered  to  about  100 
pounds,  after  which  it  is  taken  to  the  sampling  room,  where  it  is 
passed  through  a  small  (15)  Jaw  Crusher,  (Allis-Chalmers  Labora- 
tory Crusher).  Then  it  is  cut  down  to  four  samples  of  five  kilos 
each,  which  are  placed  in  pans  in  a  (16)  Steam  Oven  for  about 


288  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

twenty  hours,  at  a  temperature  of  about  80  degrees  centigrade. 
This  material  eventually  returns  to  the  crushing  floor  and  goes 
through  the  ball  mill. 

The  (5)  Ball  Mill  (Plate  I)  is  of  Allis-Chalmers  make  and  re- 
quires 25  H.P.  to  run  it.  It  consists  of  a  large  metallic  cylinder 
which  revolves  horizontally  on  its  axis.  It  is  lined  with  three 
sets  of  screens,  the  finest  which  is  20  mesh,  being  farthest  from 
the  centre.  The  grinding  is  done  by  a  large  number  of  hardened 
steel  balls,  of  a  total  weight  of  If  tons,  which  are  carried  up  the 
side  of  the  cylinder  as  it  revolves,  and  then  drop  back  on  the  ore. 
As  the  ore  is  ground  to  20  mesh  it  is  discharged  below  to  an  (6) 
Automatic  Sampler.  Screen  tests  show  that  50%  of  the  milled 
ore  will  pass  a  100  mesh  sieve,  and  80%  will  pass  a  50  mesh  sieve. 
The  capacity  of  the  mill  is  about  1£  tons  per  hour. 

The  large  metallics  remain  in  the  ball  mill,  and  after  the  run 
is  complete,  they  are  removed,  weighed,  melted  in  a  (14)  Melting 
Furnace  and  run  into  bars  of  bullion.  The  speiss  and  the  slag 
from  this  are  combined  and  sampled  together,  while  the  bullion 
is  sampled  separately. 

The  (6)  Automatic  Sampler  (Plate  II),  which  is  a  27  inch 
Snyder,  cuts  out  one-tenth  of  the  milled  product.  It  consists 
merely  of  a  circular  casting  shaped  much  like  a  miner's  gold  pan, 
having  four  openings  in  its  sloping  flange,  and  revolving  on  the  end 
of  a  horizontal  shaft.  Two  opposite  openings  are  closed,  thus 
leaving  two  cuts  per  revolution.  The  material  to  be  sampled  is 
directed  by  a  spout  so  as  to  fall  inside  of  the  sloping  flange  of 
the  sampler.  The  rejections  slide  off  the  flange  and  the  sample 
drops  through  the  openings  as  they  pass  under  the  spout.  The 
sample  makes  25  revolutions  per  minute,  and  this  gives  3,000  cuts 
per  hour  for  about  1£  tons  of  ore,  or  one  cut  for  every  pound 
of  ore,  or  60,000  cuts  per  car  of  30  tons.  A  chain  drive  prevents 
slipping  so  that  the  cuts  are  regular. 

The  main  part  of  the  milled  product  (about  9  /10  of  the  whole), 
is  here  weighed  (7)  and  thence  passes  to  the  (8)  Storage  Bins  of 
the  smelter. 

The  sample  is  now  removed  from  the  (9)  Sample  Chamber  and 
weighed  (7)  and  this  weight  is  added  to  that  of  the  milled  product 


Plate  I.— Allis-Chalmers  Company,  Ball  Mill. 


Plate  II. — Snyder  Automatic  Ore  Sampler. 


Silver-Cobalt  Ores  at  Copper  Cliff..  289 

above.     Payment  is  made  on  these  combined  weights,  less  the 
moisture. 

Two  complete  weighings  of  the  shipment  are  thus  made  which 
should  agree  closely.  This  gives  the  shipper  a  check  on  his 
weights.  Thus  the  gross  weight  of  ore  in  sacks  should  be  the 
same  as  the  weight  of: — 

(a)  Milled  ore  including  sample. 

(b)  Sacks. 

(c)  Water  lost  on  drying  plates. 

A  sample  for  the  final  determination  of  moisture  is  taken  by 
tube-sampler  from  each  pailfull  as  it  is  removed  from  the  sample- 
chamber.  This  moisture  sample  is  cut  down  to  three  samples  of 
three  kilos,  each.  The  result  thus  obtained  is  used  in  the  cal- 
culation of  dry  weight.  The  weight  of  water  lost  on  the  drying 
plates  can  be  calculated  by  taking  the  difference  between  this  and 
the  first  moisture  result. 

The  main  sample  is  now  thrown  on  the  concrete  floor  of  the 
sample-room,  and  after  being  shovelled  over  twice,  is  coned  and 
quartered  into  two  halves  called  Sample  No.  1  and  Sample  No.  2. 
These  samples  are  treated  alike  so  that  a  description  of  one  will 
suffice  for  both. 

Sample  No.  1  is  (10)  Coned  and  Quartered  by  shovelling  on  the 
concrete  floor  down  to  about  100  pounds,  which  will  be  four 
or  five  cuts  according  to  the  size  of  the  original  sample.  Cutting 
down  is  continued  by  halving  in  a  (11)  Jones  Sampler  till  two 
samples  of  approximately  20  pounds  each  are  obtained.  One 
of  these  is  placed  in  a  box  and  sealed  by  the  shipper's  agent  for 
future  reference,  in  case  any  accident  should  happen  to  the  other 
samples.  The  other  sample  is  now  dried  thoroughly  and  ground 
in  a  (12)  Laboratory  Disc  Grinder,  (Plate  III)  (Sturtevant  Mill 
Company,  Boston),  till  the  fines  pass  through  a  (13)  100  Mesh 
Sieve  leaving  the  metallic  scales  on  the  sieve  bright  and  clean. 
Part  of  the  final  grinding  is  sometimes  assisted  by  a  Laboratory 
Pebble  Mill  (Plates  IV  and  V)  of  the  Abbe*  Engineering  Company 
of  New  York,  and  sometimes  by  a  Hance  Drug  Mill  manufactured 
by  Messrs.  Hance  Brothers  &  White,  of  Philadelphia. 

19 


290 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 


The  metallic  scales  and  fines  are  weighed  and  sampled 
separately.  The  fines  are  placed  in  a  pebble  mill  and  mixed  for 
an  hour  before  sampling. 

Sample  No.  2  is  handled  as  above  excepting  that  no  reference 
sample  is  retained. 

The  methods  of  sampling  as  described  above  are  according  to 
exceedingly  good  practice,  and  the  final  samples  should  be  about 
as  close  to  the  truth  as  it  is  possible  to  get  them.  The  first  cut 
is  made  by  an  automatic  sampler,  so  the  possibility  of  introducing 
a  personal  error  here  is  eliminated.  The  rest  of  the  sampling 
is  done  by  hand,  but  very  carefully,  as  is  proven  by  the  following 
results  shown  in  Tables  1  and  2.  The  sample  is  cut  in  two,  and 
each  half  is  sampled  and  assayed  separately. 

The  following  Table  No.  1  shows  the  results  in  ounces  of 
silver  of  13  cars,  being  a  complete  month's  run  of  the  Copper 
Cliff  Plant.  The  assays  were  made  by  the  chemist  at  the  works, 
and  I  am  indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  the  Superintendent,  Mr.  D. 
L.  Mackenzie,  for  these  figures. 

TABLE  I. 


Sample  1. 

Sample  2. 

Average. 

Difference . 

% 

Ozs. 

Ozs. 

Ozs. 

Ozs. 

196.7 

195.6 

196.15 

1.1 

.56 

313.6 

312.4 

313.00 

1.2 

.38 

554.4 

543.9 

549.15 

10.5 

1.91 

727.5 

729.8 

728.65 

2.3 

.31 

1108.9 

1107.3 

1108.15 

1.6 

.14 

1261.4 

1265.7 

1263.55 

4.3 

.34 

1481.6 

1477.5 

1479.55 

4.1 

.27 

2439.5 

2451 . 0 

2445.25 

11.5 

.47 

2700.9 

2683.2 

2692.05 

17.7 

.65 

2847.0 

2839.9 

2843.45 

7.1 

.25 

3137.4 

3137.4 

3137.40 

zero 

zero 

3572.4 

3563.5 

3567.95 

8.9 

.25 

4407.0 

4394.6 

2200.80 

12.4 

.28 

Table  No.  2  shows  six  more  shipments  illustrating  the  same 
point.  In  this  case  the  assays  were  made  by  Messrs.  Ledoux  & 
Company,  of  New  York  City. 


^ 


£6 


Platk  III. — Sturtevant  Laboratorv  Disc  Grinder. 


Silver-Cobalt  Ores  at  Copper  Cllff. 


291 


TABLE  2. 


Sample  1. 
Ozs. 


Sample  2. 
Ozs. 


Average. 
Ozs. 


Difference. 
Ozs. 


% 


311.9 

313.2 

312.55 

1.3 

.42 

402.1 

393.7 

397.90 

8.4 

2.11 

449.2 

449.0 

449.10 

.2 

.04 

552.9 

547.3 

550.10 

5.6 

1.02 

2684.8 

2610.6 

2647.70 

74.2 

2.80 

3115.9 

3143.3 

3129.60 

27.4 

.87 

The  average  difference  between  Sample  1  and  2  on  the  above 
19  shipments  is  .68%,  which  is  remarkably  small  considering  the 
grade  of  the  ore  and  the  amount  of  metallics  contained. 

The  capacity  of  the  smelting  plant  is  determined  by  that  of 
the  crushing  plant,  which  is  about  15  tons  per  day. 

It  requires  three  days  to  complete  the  sampling  of  a  thirty 
ton  car. 


292 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 


TABLE  3. 
GRAPHIC  TABLE  SHOWING  THE  SAMPLING  OF  SILVER- 
COBALT  ORES  BY  THE  CANADIAN  COPPER  COM- 
PANY, AT  COPPER  CLIFF,  ONT. 

(1)  Ore  in  Railroad  Car  as  shipped  from  mine. 


I 

(2)  Weighing  Scales. 

I 

(3)  Large  Jaw  Crusher. 


1 


Wet  Ore< 

1 
(4)  Steam  Drying  Plates. 

1 


Rough  Moisture  Sample. 

I 
►Dry  Ore         (15)  Small  Jaw  Crusher . 

I  i 

|  (16)  Steam  Oven. 

4^ 


Metallics.< 

i 
(14)  Melting  Furnace. 


—  (5)  Ball  Mill. 
(Sieves,  20  mesh) 


I 
Bullion. 


1 
Slag. 


(6)  Automatic  Sampler. 


9/10  of  whole  shipment. 


1/10  of  whole  shipment.  Sample. 


i 

(7)  Weighing  Scales 

1 

(8)  Storage  Bins. 


Sample  No.  1. 


I 
(9)  Sample  Chamber. 

I 
(7)  Weighing  Scales. 


Main  Sample. 


I 
Moisture  Sample.    (Final) . 

Sample  No.  2. 


I 

(10)  Coning  and  Quartering. 

1 

(11)  Jones  Sampler. 

I       ' 

(12)  Disc  Grinder. 

1 
—(13)  100  Mesh  Sieve. 


1 

(10)  Coning  and  Quartering. 

(11)  Jones  Sampler. 

I 

(12)  Disc  Grinder. 

-(13)  100  Mesh  Sieve. 


►Metallic  Scales. 


i 
Fines. 


►Metallic  Scales. 


i 

Fines. 


Note. — Final  samples  are  underlined. 


; 


Copyright,  1904.  by  Abb£  Engineering  Co 

Plate  IV.— Jar  Pebble  Mill 


Copynght,  1906,  by  Abbe  Engineering  Co. 
Plate  V. — Twelve  Jar  Laboratory  Pebble  Mill. 


METALLURGICAL  CONDITIONS  AT  COBALT,   ONTARIO, 

CANADA,  1908. 

By  F.  N.  Flynn,  Cobalt,  Ont. 
(Ottawa  Meeting,  March,  1908.) 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  there  exist,  in  the  mines  at  Cobalt 
and  its  neighboring  districts,  a  considerable  quantity  of  low-grade 
silver  ore  or  unmarketable  cobalt  ores,  which  have  only  a  pros- 
pective value,  it  would  appear  as  though  a  general  discussion 
of  the  subject  would  be  of  value  to  the  operators  of  the  camp 
as  well  as  to  metallurgists  in  general.  It  would  be  very  pro- 
fitable to  both  if  the  metallurgists  of  foreign  countries,  who  have 
treated  ores  of  cobalt  from  this  or  other  districts,  would  com- 
in  closer  touch  with  the  Canadian  district.  In  doing  so  it  would 
not  be  expected  that  they  would  publish  their  guarded  metale 
lurgical  secrets  of  a  generation;  but  should  they  do  so,  we  would 
congratulate  them  on  their  more  modern  and  more  American 
way  of  doing  business.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Canadian  miners 
would  be  content  to  increase  the  business  of  both  by  selling  them 
cobalt  ores  which  they  have  treated  successfully.  The  difficulty 
seems  to  be  that  there  is  no  connecting  link  to  facilitate  business 
intercourse  between  the  Canadian  miner  and  the  European 
metallurgist.  Let  us,  therefore,  interest  these  men  in  our  pro- 
blems by  discussions  and  bring  them  to  our  assistance  in  market- 
ing cobalt  ores,  of  which  we  have  more  than  any  other  country 
in  the  world.  It  is  with  this  object  in  view  and  for  their  special 
information  that  the  following  general  description  of  our  con- 
ditions has  been  written. 

With  the  discovery  of  the  Cobalt  camp,  there  were  presented 
to  mining  and  metallurgical  engineers  several  problems,  which 
made  even  the  most  capable  and  experienced  experts  pause 
before  passing  an  opinion.  These  problems  were  unusually  puzzling 
and  out  of  the  ordinary  rut  of  every  day  engineering  experiences. 
To  this  day  many  of  these  questions  are  as  yet  unanswered  to 
the  entire  satisfaction  of  those  who  are  developing  the  camp. 
The  mining  engineers  were  asked : — "  Will  these  narrow  veins 
go  down  through  the  changes  in  formation,  and  will  their  values 


294  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

continue  in  depth?"  The  metallurgists  were  asked: — "How 
can  we  get  the  most  dollars  from  our  ores?"  The  mining  engineer 
has  had  three  years  of  practical  demonstration  to  prove  his 
theories;  but  the  metallurgist,  aside  from  a  select  few  engaged 
with  the  large  custom  smelters,  has  had  little  opportunity  to  put 
his  ideas  to  the  test.  These  conditions  are  now  gradually  changing 
and  within  the  past  few  months  several  concentrating  plants 
have  commenced  the  solution  of  the  primary  problem.  Primary, 
because  it  is  always  advisable  to  reduce  the  bulk  of  the  material 
before  attempting  further  separation  of  the  values,  and  if  con- 
centration will  accomplish  this  end,  without  too  great  a  silver 
loss,  the  metallurgists  will  have  cause  for  congratulation.  The 
varying  degrees  of  metallurgical  success  will  depend  largely  on 
the  physical  constitution  of  the  vein  matter,  the  method  of  break- 
ing down  the  ore  in  the  vein,  and  the  efficiency  of  sizing,  hand 
sorting  and  cobbing. 

THE    FORMATION. 

The  veins  are  found  in  the  Keewatin,  Lower  Huronian, 
Post  Middle  Huronian,  Glacial  and  recent  formations.  Their 
pitch  is  nearly  vertical.  They  open  and  close  frequently,  both 
vertically  and  horizontally.  The  Lower  Huronian  veins  are  the 
most  constant,  the  Post  Middle  Huronian  ranking  a  close  second. 
The  veins  outcropping  in  the  Keewatin  cannot  be  referred  to 
in  a  general  way.  They  vary  considerably.  Some  of  the  best 
veins  are  found  in  this  formation.  It  is  generally  conceded  that 
veins  which  are  constant  in  the  other  formations,  are  apt  to  pinch 
out  when  they  enter  the  Keewatin. 

veins  and  minerals. 

The  veins  are  narrow,  all  under  28  inches,  probably  averaging 
4  inches  in  width,  and  according  to  the  Provincial  Geologists 
contain    the    following    minerals: — 

1.  NATIVE    ELEMENTS — 

Native  Silver,  Native  Bismuth,  Graphite. 

2.  ARSENIDES — 

Niccolite  or  Arsenide  of  Nickel  (NiAs).  Chloanthite 
or  Diarsenide  of  Nickel  (NiAs2).  Smaltite  or  Diarsenide  of  Co- 
balt    (Co  As2) . 


Metallurgical  Conditions  at  Cobalt.  295 

3.  arsenates — 

Erythrite  or  Cobalt  Bloom,  Co3As208  +  8H20. 
Annabergite  or  Nickel  Bloom,  Ni3As208  +  8H20. 

4.  sulphides — 

Argentite  or  Silver  Sulphide,  Ag2S. 
Millerite  or  Nickel  Sulphide,  NiS. 

5.  sulph-arsenides — 

Mispickel   or   Sulph-Arsenide   of   Iron,   FeAsS. 
Cobaltite  or  Sulph-Arsenide  of  Cobalt,  CoAsS. 

6.  ANTIMONIDE — 

Dyscrasite  or  Silver  Antimonide,  Ag6Sb. 

7.  SULPH-AXTIMONIDES — 

Pyrargyrite  or  dark  red  Silver  ore,  Ag3SbS3. 
Tetrahedrite  or  Sulph-Antimonide  of  Copper, 
Cu8Sb2S7. 

VEIN    CHARACTERISTICS. 

(a)  Some  of  the  veins  have  all  their  ore  concentrated  in  one 
seam,  lying  loosely  between  two  perfect  walls,  the  line  of  separa- 
tion being  distinctly  marked,  usually  by  a  film  of  mud.  Such 
veins,  physically  clean,  can  be  stripped  clean  in  mining,  pro- 
viding the  width  and  grade  justify  stripping  the  gangue  before 
taking  down  the  ore.  When  stripping  is  the  method  followed, 
the  wall  rock  material  is  usually  of  little  value,  and  the  ore  very 
free  from  gangue. 

(b)  Another  type  of  vein  will  have  its  ore  "frozen"  to  one 
wall. 

(c)  A  third  type  contains  several  "  stringers  "  of  ore  entering 
and  leaving  the  main  vein,  so  as  to  leave  several  inches  or  feet  of 
gangue  rock  between  them.  With  these  two  types  the  walls 
are  not  always  clearly  defined,  and  it  is  usual  to  drive,  in  the  ore 
that  is,  to  cut  behind  the  walls  with  the  main  drive,  sufficient 
to  take  down  the  outside  stringers.  By  keeping  the  drill  holes 
away  from  the  ore  and  loading  them  with  just  the  right  amount 
of  dynamite,  this  method  can  be  followed  without  an  undue 
amount  of  "  fines, "  but  sufficient  to  make  a  fair  grade  of  screenings. 
The  ore  from  such  veins  requires  considerable  "  cobbing  "  to  clean 
it. 

(d)  A   fourth   type   may   have   irregular   walls   and   consist 


296  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

mainly  of  calcite  and  native  silver,  with  sheets  and  flakes  of  silver 
penetrating  the  wall-rock  at  all  angles  from  the  main  vein.  The 
method  of  mining  varies  with  the  local  condition.  These  veins 
produce  a  large  quantity  of  "  cobbings. "  In  this  refuse  material 
the  flake  silver  is  quite  visible  before  crushing,  but  is  so  thin 
as  to  produce  little  or  no  "metallics"  after  crushing,  the  gangue 
being  very  hard. 

(e)  Another  similar  type  will  contain  the  bulk  of  its  wall- 
rock  crevice  values  as  argentite  instead  of  native,  or  a  mixture  of 
both.  These  veins  are  not  so  frequently  encountered  as  the 
preceding,  but  produce  as  large,  or  larger,  tonnage  of  mill-rock 
than  any  in  the  district. 

The  Jive  types  mentioned  are  but  a  few  of  the  many  va- 
rieties, but  serve  to  show  that  each  vein  or  the  wall-rock  from 
each  vein,  may  require  a  different  method  of  mining  and  milling. 
The  physical  distinctions  are  of  the  utmost  importance  to  milling 
operations,  especially  those  having  values  in  the  wall-rock 
material. 

SURFACE    TREATMENT. 

When  several  veins  of  different  character,  and  possibly 
mined  by  different  systems,  are  worked  through  one  shaft,  the 
complications  which  develop  at  the  head-house  become  a  matter 
of  importance.     There  is  hoisted: 

(a)  Clean  ore  from  different  veins,  the  composition  of  which 
varies  widely  and  must  be  kept  separate  on  account  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  market. 

(b)  Clean  waste  from  cross-cuts. 

(c)  Supposedly  clean  gangue  rock  from  "stripping".  Some 
of  these  veins  carry  values  in  the  wall-rock. 

(d)  Mixed  vein  matter  from  driving  in  the  vein,  and  from 
veins  the  ore  from  wrhich  must  be  kept  separate. 

The  clean  ores  from  the  various  veins  are  stored  separately, 
and  frequently  each  is  sorted  to  two  or  more  classes. 

The  clean  waste  must  be  kept  in  one  dump  to  facilitate  the 
grouping  of  mill  dumps. 

The  gangue  rock  from  "stripping"  must  be  closely  watched 
and  kept  in  separate  dumps,  one  as  possibly  worthless  or  doubt- 
ful, the  other  as  a  mill  dump  with  values. 


Metallurgical  Conditions  at  Cobalt.  297 

The  mixed  vein  matter  is  treated  on  one  or  more  bumping 
tables.  These  tables  are  frequently  4  ft.  x  15  ft.,  hung  by  inclined 
bolts  from  overhead  timbers.  They  have  a  fall  of  1  foot  in  15. 
The  forward  motion  is  about  4  inches,  and  is  driven  by  a  cam- 
shaft at  -varying  speed.  The  floor  of  the  table  consists  of  two 
steel  plates  and  one  perforated  plate;  the  latter  is  usually  the 
centre  plate.  The  material  is  fed  from  a  bin  at  one  end,  and 
sprayed  continuously  with  water  from  the  mine  pumps.  The 
perforated  plate  has  §•*  holes,  while  the  under  screen  has  \" 
holes.  This  gives  the  sorters,  washed  rock  |*  and  larger,  while 
the  undersize  f"  to  £"  and  \"  and  water,  along  with  the  coarse 
waste  from  the  end  of  the  table,  drop  into  their  respective  bins 
below.  One  table  handles  50  tons  per  shift  with  six  men  in- 
cluding car-men.  Each  of  these  three  waste  products  should 
be  stored  on  separate  dumps  for  future  treatment,  unless  the 
fine  screenings  have  a  present  market  value.  By  arranging 
separate  dumps  for  all  these  materials  they  can  be  more  readily 
marketed,  or  treated  by  different  processes,  and  may  mean 
the  recovery  of  dollars,  as  compared  with  cents  if  mixed  together. 
The  shipping  ore  is  usually  crushed  to  one  inch  and  sewed 
in  bags,  the  weights  of  which  vary  from  75  to   150  lbs. 

ore  values. 
The  following  statement,  from  a  paper*  read  by  Dr.  A.  R. 
Ledoux  at  the  Toronto  Meeting,  1907,  gives   the    only  accurate 
published  information  of  the  average  assays  of   Cobalt  silver  ores 
in  car-load  lots : — 

Per  cent. 

Over    6,000  ozs.  4  lots  (say)  1 

Between  5,000  ozs.  and  6,000  ozs.  3  "        0. 75 

4,000  ozs.  and  5,000  ozs.  12  "        3 

"       3,000  ozs.  and  4,000  ozs.  17  "        4.25 

2,000  ozs.  and  3,000  ozs.  30  "        . . .  • 10 

1,000  ozs.  and  2,000  ozs.  72  "        18 .  25 

900 ozs.  and  1,000  ozs.  11  "        2.75 

"           800  ozs.  and  900  ozs.  7  "        1 .  75 

"           700  ozs.  and  800  ozs.  12  "        3 

"           600  ozs.  and  700  ozs.  21  "        5 .  25 

"           SOOozs.and  600ozs.  10  "        2.5 

400ozs.and  500ozs.  13  "         3.25 

"           300  ozs.  and  400  ozs.  20  "        5 

"          200  ozs.  and  300  ozs.  44  "        11 .25 

100  ozs.  and  200  ozs.  66  "        17 

Less  than  100  ozs.  43  "        11 


Richness  of  Cobalt  Ores."     Trans.  CM. I.,  1907,  p.  72. 


298 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


"Silver,  of  course,  in  point  of  value,  is  the  more  important 
element.  The  highest  percentage  of  cobalt  found  in  any  one 
shipment  is  11.96  per  cent.,  the  average  being  5.99  per  cent. 
The  highest  assay  for  nickel  in  any  car  is  12.49  per  cent.,  the 
average  being  3.66  per  cent.  The  highest  percentage  of  arsenic 
is  59.32  per  cent.,   the  average  27.12." 

The  analyses  of  the  graded  ores  from  one  mine  working 
several  veins  are  as  follows: — 


Ins. 

'A" 5.75 

[B" 3.90 

'C" 18.48 

[D" 8.8 

'E" 8.2 

[F" 40.8 

«G" 69.0 

'H" 77.0 


Si02  Fe. 


CaO. 


4.512.34 

2.88,2.80 


14.30 


4.80 

3.7 

2.8 

6.2 

7.0 

5.5 


9.05 

10.0 

12.82 

9.3 

8.7 

11.9 

3.0 

1.5 


A1203 


1.42 
0.87 
4.45 


15.0 


MgO 


6.22 
7.13 

8.84 


Ni. 


6.62 
8.78 
5.06 


Co. 


7.11 

8.42 
4 


As.     Ag.  ozs. 


55  22 
42 


29.88 
34.48 
14 
3 

37.0 
6.1 
0.5 
0.3 


4786.10 

2014.01 

262.20 

183 . 66 

52.00 

72.33 

71.27 

53.30 


"A",  "B"  and  "C"  were  averages  for  one  year's  shipments. 
The  other  grades  carry  cobalt  and  nickel  proportionately  to  the 
relative  arsenic  contents.  "G"  and  "H"  are  wall-rock  ores, 
which  carry  values  in  the  crevices.  A  complete  analysis  of  two 
car-loads   was  found   to   contain: — 

After  Drying 


Silica 3.34% 

Iron 1 .78% 

Alumina 0.27% 

Lime 5.85% 

Magnesia 4. 63% 

Copper 1 0.09% 

Nickel 13.87% 

Cobalt 8.36% 

Bismuth trace 

Silver 5.31% 

Antimony 1 .  46% 

Arsenic 42 .  46% 

Carbonic  Acid 9.26% 

Chlorine 0.08% 

Sulphur 1 .89% 

Combined  water,  alkalies  and  oxygen,  by  difference    1 .  35% 


Mktallurgical  Conditions  at  Cobalt.  299 


PRODUCTION. 

The  camp  has  produced: — 

In  1904 158  tons. 

"  1905 2,144     " 

"  J906 5,129      " 

"  1907 14,828      " 

Total 22,259  tons. 

The  principal  shippers  in  1907  were: — 

La  Rose 2815 .  40  tons. 

Nipissing 2538.26  " 

Coniagas 2447.37  " 

O'Brien 1475.44  " 

Buffalo   1241 .  54  " 

Trethewey 833 .  58  " 

McKinley-Darragh 768. 13  " 

Silver  Queen 456 .  57  " 

Foster 345. 13  " 

Kerr  Lake  (Jacobs) 323.23  " 

Nova  Scotia 244. 11  " 

Temiskaming  &  Hudson  Bay 180 .  41  " 

Temiskaming 165.82  " 

Cobalt  Townsite 143 .  22  " 

Right  of  Way 129.37  " 

Drummond 104 .  13  " 

13  other  mines 416 .  95  " 

Total 14828.66  tons. 

MILLING    METHODS. 

For  the  moment  at  least,  the  main  object  in  milling  is  to 
win  more  ore  from  the  waste,  cobbings,  and  screenings.  The 
treatment  of  the  wall-rock  proper  will  be  the  second  step.  Take 
for  example  the  \"  undersize  from  the  bumping  tables:  this 
contains  ore  which  is  of  too  small  a  size  to  hand-pick.  It  is 
usually  clean  ore  in  separate  particles  from  the  gangue.  If  further 
sized,  jigs  and  tables  should  do  excellent  work.  Mixed  material 
difficult  to  "cob"  will  undoubtedly  add  considerably  to  the  out- 
put, but  on  account  of  its  physical  "make-up",  and  the  fact 
that  the  ores  of  the  district  occur  in  the  massive  form  (when 
they  are  crystallized  the  crystals  are  very  small),  the  crushing 
will  produce  a  considerable  quantity  of  slimes.  Stamp  crushing 
should  not  be  considered  in  concentration.  Roll  crushing,  with 
a  large  slime-treating  capacity,  may  serve  for  the  present,  but 
ample  provision  should  be  made  for  storing  the  slimes  separately. 
If  the  concentration  process  is  confined  entirely  to  the  recovery 


300  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

of  the  arsenides,  the  extraction,  plus  the  recovery  of  slimes  as 
such,  should  be  quite  satisfactory.  On  the  other  hand,  should  con- 
centration be  attempted  on  the  wall-rock  ores  carrying,  values 
as  native  silver  in  very  thin  flakes  and  as  argentite,  the  results 
cannot  possibly  prove  a  financial  success,  unless  the  tails  are 
to  be  re-treated  by  another  process.  The  native  silver  flakes 
and  argentite  ores  must  be  treated  chemically  if  milled,  preferably 
by  raw  amalgamation  for  the  native  silver  and  cyanide  for  the 
argentite  ores,  whereas  the  slimes  from  concentration  might- 
be  treated  by  the  "oil  process"  or  any  number  of  processes. 
It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  coarse  silver  can  be  concentrated. 
At  present  there  are  six  new  concentrators  in  the  camp,  three 
in  operation  and  three  nearly  completed.  One  plant  is  designed 
to  treat  the  tails  by  cyanide;  the  other  by  raw  amalgamation. 
It  is  sincerely  hoped  that  those  in  charge  will  make  public  the 
results  of  their  operations.  Whether  they  are  successful  or  not, 
the  knowledge  of  their  results  will  be  beneficial   to    the    camp. 

SAMPLING. 

The  bulk  of  the  shipments  from  the  camp  have  gone  to  the 
custom  smelters  of  New  Jersey,  and  as  the  ore  is  exceptionally 
rich,  and  special  facilities  are  required  in  the  sampling,  it  is 
almost  invariably  sampled  at  the  public  sampling  works.  Shovel 
sampling  is  preferred  to  mechanical  samplers.  Here  in  the 
presence  of  representatives  from  buyer  and  seller,  the  sacks  are 
weighed  in  lots  of  ten,  by  a  public  "sworn  weigher."  The  ore 
is  crushed,  rolled,  and  re-rolled,  the  nuggets  of  silver  being 
picked  out  by  hand  between  each  handling.  The  nuggets 
are  weighed  and  deductions  made.  These  are  usually  sold 
to  the  custom  refineries  as  a  separate  transaction.  The 
finely-crushed  and  thoroughly-mixed  material  is  now  completely 
sampled  four  successive  times.  The  smaller  samples  are  screened, 
and  the  metallics  are  subjected  to  a  further  grinding  in  small 
pebble  mills.  The  four  samples  vary  widely  in  their  values, 
in  spite  of  all  precautions. 

Cobalt  and  nickel  are  not  paid  for  by  the  custom  smelters 
in  the  States.  The  ore  carries  no  gold.  Silver  is  the  only  deter- 
mination necessary  in  most  cases.     This  is  determined  by  the 


Metallurgical  Conditions  at  Cobalt.  301 

combination  method,  wet  and  dry,  on  all  ores  carrying  arsenic 
in    quantity. 

The  nuggets  are  melted  in  large  crucibles  and  cast  into  bars. 
The  resulting  slag  and  speiss  are  weighed,  sampled  and  assayed 
as  usual.     The  bars  run  fiom  700  to  875  fine. 

The  sampling  of  a  mine  dump  at  the  mine,  by  the  grab- 
sampling  principle,  is  not  worth  the  cost;  the  values  are  not 
homogeneously  contained  in  the  rock.  The  "fines"  are  invariably 
the  richer.  The  values  in  the  coarse  rock  are  in  the  crevices; 
whereas  the  body  of  the  rock,  without  cleavage  planes,  is  barren, 
so  that,  in  chipping  pieces  from  the  larger  rocks,  one  invariably 
gets  a  greater  proportion  of  crevice  values  than  the  whole  rock 
contains.  To  determine  the  value  of  the  dump,  a  large  quantity 
in  natural  size  should  be  crushed  and  finely  ground  before  sampling 
is   commenced. 

MARKETS 

Let  us  assume  that  concentration,  followed  by  a  chemical 
process  in  special  cases,  will  solve  all  the  low-grade  ore  problems. 
This  means  a  larger  output  of  arsenical  ores  to  be  smelted.  In 
the  earlier  days  of  the  camp  a  considerable  tonnage  of  arsenical 
ore  was  shipped  to  Europe,  where,  in  some  cases,  the  four  metals — 
silver,  cobalt,  nickel  and  arsenic — were  paid  for  at  very  satisfactory 
prices.  For  various  reasons,  many  of  which  are  inexplainable 
at  this  end,  the  European  metallurgists  either  declined  to 
take  any  more  shipments,  or  declined  to  pay  for  all  four 
metals.  Others  later  on  declined  to  pay  for  nickel  and  arsenic, 
and  at  last  only  paid  for  the  cobalt.  The  result  is  that 
those  producing  smaltite  ores  without  silver  values  occasion- 
ally market  a  car  in  Europe.  The  silver  mines  have  practically 
discontinued  European  shipments.  The  New  York  ore  buyers 
paid  for  arsenic,  silver,  cobalt  and  nickel  values  as  late  as  Aug., 
1905,  when  they  discontinued  payments  for  the  arsenic,  cobalt 
and  nickel.  The  new  schedule,  which  came  out  at  that  time, 
by  t!  e  Xew  Jersey  smelters,  charged  6%  of  the  silver,  and  later 
they  imposed  a  treatment  charge  of  $8.00  per  ton.  As  the 
European  market  declined,  the  treatment  charge  was  raised  to 
from  S9.00  to  $15.00  per  ton,  with  a  silver  deduction  of  7%. 
Then  followed  the  penalty  for  insoluble  silica  and  arsenic.  Later 
one  half-a-cent  an  ounce  was  deducted  from  the  price  paid  for 


302  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

the  silver,  and  various  other  forms  of  deductions  followed,  until 
a  period  was  at  one  time  reached  with  one  smelter,  where,  unless 
the  mine  owners  would  make  a  time  contract  at  increased  treat- 
ment charges,  they  declined  to  accept  any  more  ore.  Strange 
to  say,  the  other  smelters,  including  the  European  plants,  were 
at  this  critical  time  "overstocked"  with  cobalt  ores.  After 
the  mines  had  accepted  the  inevitable,  the  smelters  broadened 
their  field  of  operation,  and  allowed  shipments  to  be  made  with- 
out restriction  as  to  tonnage  especially  for  wall-rock  ores,  which 
contained  little  or  no  arsenic.  The  new  schedules  still  impose 
the  heavy  arsenic  penalty  on  ores  under  1,500  ozs.  A  comparison 
of  European  and  American  market  conditions  is  best  made  by 
examples.  In  December,  1905,  a  car  of  ore  was  shipped  from 
Cobalt   to   England   direct.     The   liquidation   shows: — 

Weight— 17  tons,  16  cwt.,  3  qrs.,  3  lbs. 

Contents— Ag.  30,921 .  24  fine  ozs. 

Co.  4,275.0 lbs. 

Ni.  2,496.9  " 

As.  13,  679 . 0  lbs. 
Liquidation : — 
92%  of  silver  contained=  £     s.     d. 

30754. 11  standard  ozs.  at  30. 5187d.  (average) 3910  16     4 

4275  lbs.  Co.  at  2/- per  lb 427  10     - 

2496.9  lbs.  Ni.  at  6d.  per  lb 62     8     6 

13679  lbs.  As.  at  id.  per  lb 14     5     - 

Total  Credits £4414  19  10 

Freight,  Cobalt  to  Liverpool,  and  Insurance  ....  £51     3  2 

Ry.  Exps.  in  England 38     2  7 

Paris  Chgs.  Nickel,  etc 10     -  - 

Assaying , 35     -  6 

Silver  Refining  Expense 24  15  4 

Total  Debits £159     1     7 


Net  Credits £4255  18     3 

Expressing   the   above  transaction   in  American  terms,  we 
have  : — 

Ag.     1547 .  68  ozs.   at    92%=1423 .  86  ozs.  at  66§c $94^ .  24 

Co.       10 .  70%         at  100%=  214.0    lbs.  at  48Jc 103 .  79 

Ni.         6.25%         at  100%=  125.0     "    at  12|c 15.16 

As.       34.23%        at  100%=  684.6     "at      $c 3.43 

Gross  Value  per  short  ton $1,071 .  62 

Freight,  Treatment,  and  all  other  deductions 38 .  62 

Net  per  ton,  F.O.B.  Cobalt    $1,033 .  00 

19.979  Tons $20,638.30 


Metallurgical  Conditions  at  Cobalt.  303 

A  few  of  the  old  and  new  schedules  follow: — 

(2)  New  York  Ore  Buyers— 1905. 

Cobalt  ores,  at  Ledoux  &  Co's  plant,  Bergen  Junction,  X.J. 
Payments  : — 
Ag.  90%  at  N.Y.  quotation. 
As.  100%  at  Jc.  per  lb. 
Xi.  100%  at  12c.  per  lb. 
Co.  100%  at  65c.  per  lb. 

(3)  American  Smelting  and  Refining  Co.,  Maurer,  N.J. — 1908. 

For  ores  under  1,500  ozs. 

Pay  for  silver  93%  of  contents  at  N.Y.  quotation, 
less  £c.  per  oz.,  at  quotation  30  days  after  agree- 
ment   of    assays. 

Charge  for  insoluble  silica 7c.  per  unit 

"  arsenic  in  excess  of  5%.  ..25c       " 

"  treatment $9. 00  per  ton 

For  ores  over  1,500  ozs. — These  are  not  purchased  out- 
right. They  are  cupelled  in  their  refinery  and  paid 
for  as  follows: — 

Pay  for  bar  silver  recovered  from  cupellation  at 

N.Y.  quotation,  less   lc.  per  oz.,  for   100%    on 

date  of  agreement  of  assays. 
Pay  for   the   silver   contained   in   the   by-products 

from    cupellation    at     N.Y.    quotation,    less    £c. 

per  oz.,  for  98%  of  contents,  at  quotation   30 

days  after  agreement  of  assays. 
Charge    for    treatment,    $125.00    per    ton    of    ore. 

(4)  International  Nickel  Co.,  Copper  Cliff,  Ontario,   1908. 

Ag.  Pay  94%,  when  4,000  ozs.  or  over. 


"     93%, 

it 

1,200 

a 

"     92%, 

a 

800 

it 

"     90%, 

a 

500 

it 

"     85%, 

tt 

300 

(t 

"     80%, 

a 

150 

it 

Co.  Pay  $30.00 

perl 

;on  of  ore 

for  12%  or  over, 

"     $20.00 

a 

a 

8%     " 

"     $10.00 

tt 

a 

6%      " 

304 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


No  payment  for  less  than  6%  Cobalt,  nor  when  the  nickel 
contents  is  higher  than  that  of  Cobalt. 

Payment  is  to  be  made  in  two  instalments  of  45  and  90  days 
respectively,  after  sampling  the  ore,  and  is  based  on  the  official 
value  at  New  York  on  the  first  day  of  settlement.  The  purchaser 
reserves  the  right  to  pay  hi  silver  bullion  delivered  at  New  York 
in  place  of  cash. 

(5)     Deloro  Smelting  and  Refining  Co.,  Marmora,  Ontario,  1908: — 

Ag.  Pay  95%  when  2,000  ozs.  or  over. 


"  94% 

for 

1,000 

'  to  2,000  ozs 

"  93% 

u 

800 

"  "  1,000  " 

"  91% 

it 

500 

"  "   800  " 

"  90% 

il 

200 

"  "   500  " 

"  85% 

a 

100 

u  u     200  " 

At   N.Y.   quotations  30  days  after  agreement  of  assays. 
Co.  Pay  $20.00  per  ton  of  ore  for  10%  or  over. 

"   $10.00      "  "  6%  to  10%  ore. 

No  payment  for  less  than  6%. 
As.  Pay  l^c.  per  lb.  for  30%  or  over. 

"     lc  "  10%  to  30%  ore. 

Treatment,  $10.00  per  ton. 

(6)  1907.  The  Swansea  smelters  bought  low  silver  cobalt  ores, 
without  regard  for  silver  contents,  and  without  any  deduction, 
F.O.B.  cars  Cobalt,  as  follows: — 

8%  to  10%  cobalt 30c.  per  lb. 

10.1%  "12%       "  ' 35c.       " 

12.1%  "  14%       "     40c.       " 

14.1%  "  16%       "     45c.       " 

16%  or  over  "      50c.       " 

These  prices  give  net  returns  of  from  $48.00  to  $160.00 
per  ton. 

1908.  The  Swansea  smelters  have  raised  their  schedule  of 
payment  5  cents  per  lb. 

(7)  Very  recently,  German  buyers  have  entered  the  field,  and 
have  purchased  certain  classes,  of  ores  at  figures  which  are  satis- 


MlTALLURUICAL    CONDITIONS    AT    COBALT.  305 

factory   to   the   Cobalt   producers.     They   have    bought    several 
cars  of  ore  on  the  following  basis: — 

For  ores  containing  not  less  than  10.5%  of  cobalt ,  and 
not  less  than  30  ozs.  silver,  per  ton,  there  will  be 
paid  $81.82  per  ton,  on  the  following  conditions: — 

F.O.B.  cars,  Cobalt.  Purchaser  pays  freight. 
Sampling  by  Ledoux  &  Co.,  Bergen  Junction, 
N.J.  The  cost  of  sampling  to  be  divided. 
Ledoux   &   Co.   assays  will  govern   settlement. 

This  would  net  say  880.00  per  ton. 

Taking   such   an   ore   a    comparison    would    be    interesting 
however  certain  schedules  would  not  apply  in  this  case. 

The  ore:— Ag.  30  ozs.;    Co.   10.5%;   Xi.    4.5%;    As.    50%; 
Insoluble  15% ;  Silver  55c.  per  oz. 

Net  F.O.B.  Cobalt  :—  Cr. 

(1)  English  Market 1905 $  94 .  32 

(2)  New  York  Ore  Buyers 1905 155 .  95 

(3)  A.  S.  &R.Co.,  ..  . 1908 7.31 

(4 )  International  Nickel  Co 1908 28 .  00 

(5)  Deloro  Smelting  &  Refining  Co 1908 32 .  02 

(6)  Swansea  Smelters 1907 73 .  50 

Swansea  Smelters 1908 84 .  00 

(7)  German  Market 1908 80 .  00 


Difference  between  highest  and  lowest $148.00 

The  most  serious  difficulty  at  the  present  time  is  the  un- 
certainty of  the  cobalt  market.  The  European  buyers  occasional- 
ly cable  instructions  to  "ship  50  tons  cobalt  within  one  week," 
whereas  the  miner  is  not  prepared  to  deliver  in  so  short  a  time. 
It  is  not  mined  until  a  market  is  found  for  it.  Should  he  ship, 
he  might  wait  six  months  before  receiving  another  offer. 

In  order  to  compare  the  schedules,  on  silver  ores,  we  will 
take  the  shipment  to  England,  previously  referred  to,  with  the 
same  silver  price  for  comparison: — 

(2)     New  York  Ore  Buyers,  1905:— 

Ag.  1547.68 ozs.    at    90%=i.392.91  ozs.  at66}c $928.61 

As.       34  23%       at  100%=  684.6  lbs.     at      $c 3.42 

Ni.         6.25%       at  100%=  125.0  "        at    12c 15.00 

Co.       10.70%       at  100%=  214.0    "       at    65c 139. 10 


Total  Credits $1,086. 13 

Freight 1 1 .  20 


j.i 


Net  perton $1,074.93 


306  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

(3)  American  Smelting  and  Refining  Co.,  Maurer,  N.J.,  plant. 

Schedule   "A,"   present  schedule,   over    1,500  ozs. 
is   cupelled   direct. 

Schedule  "B, "  present  schedule,  under  1,500   ozs. 
will   be   used   to   illustrate   this   example: — 

Ag.  1547 .  68  ozs.  at  93%  =  1,439 .  34  ozs.,  price  66§c.  less  £c=66 .  17c  .    $952 .  41 
Insoluble  Silica  (estimated  for  this  example  at  7%)  at  7c.  .  .  .$  0. 49 

As.  34. 23%  less  5%  =  29. 23%  at  25c 7.31 

Treatment 9 .  00 

Freight 11 .20 

Total  debits 28.00 

Net  per  ton $924. 41 

(4)  International    Nickel    Co.,    Copper    Cliff,    Ontario; — 

Ag.  1,547 .  68  ozs.  at  93%  =  1,439 .  34  ozs.  at  66§c $959 .  56 

Co.  10.70% 20.00 

Total  credits 979 .  56 

Less  freight 5 .  20 

Net  per  ton $974.36 

(5)  Deloro  Smelting  &  Refining  Co.,  Marmora,  Ontario: — 

Ag.  1,547 .  68  ozs.  at  94%  =  1,454 .  82  ozs.  at  66§c $969 .  88 

As.  34. 23%  at  100%  =  684. 6  lbs.  at  l£c 10.27 

Co.  10.70% 20.00 

Total  credits $1,000.15 

Freight $  7.00 

Treatment 10.00 

Total  debits 17 .  00 

Net  per  ton $983. 15 

Summary    of   results : — 

(1)  English  Market 1905 $1,033 .  00 

(2)  New  York  Ore  Buyers 1905 1,074.93 

(3)  A.S.&R.Co 1908 924.41 

(4)  International  Nickel  Co 1908 974.36 

(5)  Deloro  Smelting  &  RefiningCo 1908 983. 15 

Difference  between  highest  and  lowest $150. 52 


Metallurgical  Conditions  at  Cobalt.  307 


Another   type   of  ore,   same   silver   price: — 

The  ore :—  Ag.  776 .  28  ozs. 
As.    44.26% 
Ni.  11.09% 
Co.  10.09% 
Ins.  5. 00% 

(1)  English  Market 1905 $566 .  69 

(2)  New  York  Ore  Buyers 1905 616 .  79 

(3)  A.S.&R.Co 1908 447.35 

(4)  International  Nickel  Co 1908 460.57 

(5)  Deloro  Smelting  &  Refining  Co 1908 487.22 


Difference  between  highest  and  lowest 169 .  44 

It  seems  scarcely  necessary  to  add  that  the  market  price 
of  silver  to-day — 55  cents — would  materially  change  these  results, 
and  that  contracts  for  time  or  tonnage  on  the  entire  output  of 
all  classes  of  ores  produced  would  result  in  slightly  better  terms. 

Comparing  the  lead  cupellation  process  with  direct  purchase, 
the  advantage  is  that  the  many  difficulties  and  uncertain  results 
in  sampling  and  assaying  the  rich  crude  ores  are  eliminated. 
The  disadvantage  is  that  the  losses  resulting  from  handling, 
flue  dust,  and  volatilization  falls  on  the  seller.  Roughly,  about 
60%  of  the  silver  is  recovered  in  bars.  The  advantage  of  elimin- 
ating an  uncertainty  in  sampling  and  assaying  is  as  beneficial 
to  the  smelter  as  to  the  seller.  On  the  other  hand,  the  metallur- 
gical losses  are  always  borne  by  the  seller.  This  loss,  in  addition 
to  a  treatment  charge  of  $125.00  per  ton  and  deductions  from 
the  percentage  of  silver  paid  for  in  by-products,  as  well  as  from 
the  market  price  paid  for  the  silver  in  both  instances,  and  to- 
gether with  the  fact  that  the  seller  is  not  at  this  late  date  paid 
for  his  cobalt,  nickel  and  arsenic,  by  the  New  Jersey  smelters, 
appears  to  the  average  miner  as  a  condition  wherein  the  term 
''Modern  Metallurgy"  is  a  delusion. 

METALLURGY. 

Market  conditions  are  such  as  to  compel  the  miner  to  study 
metallurgy.  There  are  to-day  at  least  a  dozen  prominent 
metallurgists  who  are  endeavoring  to  overcome  the  smelting 
difficulties.  Unfortunately,  the  good  work  which  they  are 
doing,  in  an  experimental  way,  is  underestimated  and  discounted 


308  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

by  the  average  miner  and  investor,  by  the  promises  held  out  of 
high  extraction,  low  costs,  and  good  markets,  by  some  of  the 
earlier  "  Promoting  Metallurgists. "  Many  of  these  earlier  "  Metal- 
lurgists" were  of  the  "patent-process  presto-change"  variety, 
whose  special  mission  was  to  boom  the  camp  indirectly,  for 
the  direct  profit  of  others.  Let  us  hope  that  this  class  have 
disappeared.  When  some  new  field  of  operation  has  sprung 
up,  we  are  sure  to  find  them  again,  for  they  make  a  specialty 
of  booms. 

The  ores  produced  may  be  conveniently  grouped  under 
four  classes: — 

1.  "Over  1,500  ozs.  silver  and  under  35%  arsenic 

2.  Under  1,500  "  "         40%       " 

3.  "         100  "  "         60%       " 

4.  "         100  "  "  2%       " 

The  tonnage  of  No.  1  is  very  small.  No.  2  may  be  considered 
the  representative  shipping  tonnage  of  the  camp.  The  tonnage 
shipped  of  No.  3  may  be  disregarded,  because  there  is  no  profitable 
market  for  it.  The  number  of  veins  of  this  character  in  the 
district  and  in  the  adjoining  townships  is  greater  than  the  silver 
veins.  This  ore  is  composed  almost  entirely  of  smaltite.  If  it 
could  be  marketed  steadily,  the  tonnage  would  exceed  all  other 
classes  combined.  No.  4  is  the  wall-rock  ore,  and  while  it  will 
be  treated  by  the  amalgamation  and  cyanide  processes  in  con- 
siderable tonnage,  it  must  nevertheless  be  counted  on  in  local 
smelting  as  one  of  the  slag-forming  elements  of  the  charge.  If 
the  other  ores  are  to  be  smelted  at  a  considerable  distance,  these 
may  be  disregarded.  At  present,  the  sentiments  of  the  miner 
may  be  described  as  follows: — He  is  disposed  to  sell  No.  1  classifi- 
cation to  the  refiners,  but  considers  the  conditions  too  severe. 
He  is  content  to  lose  the  other  valuable  metals  on  this  grade 
of  ore.  On  No.  2  classification — the  larger  tonnage  he  could 
console  himself  to  the  loss  of  the  cobalt  and  nickel,  if  the  smelters 
would  not  penalize  for  the  arsenic.  On  No.  3  ore,  he  dreams 
of  the  future,  when  cobalt  will  be  easily  refined.  On  No.  4  ore, 
his  former  dreams  are  about  to  be  realized  in  the  mills.  On  the 
whole,  he  criticizes  the  custom  smelters  because  they  do  not  appear 
to  be  doing  anything  to  relieve  the  situation.     Metallurgists  are 


Metallurgical  Conditions  at  Cobalt.  309 

frequently  asked  why  it  is  that  the  miners  do  not  smelt  I  heir 
own  ore,  even  on  a  very  small  scale?  The  answer  is  well  worth 
considering. 

"We  have  no  market  for  the  speiss.  This  alone  constitutes 
95%  of  the  reasons  why  we  don't  do  it". 

The  smelting  of  the  ore  is  not  as  difficult,  metallurgically,  as 
the  average  miner  may  have  been  led  to  believe.  The  trouble 
starts  after  smelting. 

SMELTING 

We  know  very  little  of  the  smelting  of  our  ores,  because 
we  have  had  no  opportunity  to  try  it.  The  custom  smelters 
have  told  us  little  about  it,  except  that  they  have  difficulty  with 
the  arsenic.  In  order  to  intelligently  exchange  ideas  on  this 
question,  and  to  bring  out  criticisms,  this  issue  will  be  discussed 
from  the  standpoint  of  a  purely  hypothetical  question. 

Suppose,  for  example,  that  all  the  custom  smelters  would 
refuse  to  buy  any  more  of  our  ores.  Instead  the  refiners  would 
buy  the  furnace  products  therefrom,  and  in  addition  to  the  silver, 
would  pay  just  sufficient  for  the  cobalt  and  nickel  in  the  resulting 
speiss  to  encourage  us  to  mine  and  smelt  the  "  cobalt "  ores  at  a 
very  small  profit.     They  would  not  pay  for  arsenic  in  any  form. 

On  the  other  hand,  let  us  suppose  that  the  arsenic  market 
was  sufficiently  stable  to  justify  us  in  entering  the  commercial 
market,   if  we  so  desired.     How  and   where   would   we  smelt? 

A  glance  at  our  tonnage  production  for  1907  would  convince 
us  that  any  individual  mine  could  not  produce  a  sufficient  tonnage 
of  all  classes  of  ores  and  concentrates  to  profitably  keep  one  small 
furnace  in  blast.  Every  producing  mine,  and  those  that  will 
produce  in  the  future,  would  be  compelled  by  necessity  to  join 
hands  in  a  co-operative  custom  smelting  industry.  We  would 
be  confronted  with  the  following  questions: 

(a)  What   classes  of  ore  have  we  to  smelt? 

(b)  What  is  the  estimated  annual  tonnage  of  each  class 
to  be  expected  during  the  life  of  the  district? 

(c)  Shall  we  enter  the  commercial  markets  with  our  arsenic 
by-products? 

(d)  What  type  of  smelting  should  we  adopt? 


310  The  Canadian  Mixing  Institute 

(e)  What  "base"  will  we  use  to  collect  the  precious  metals? 

(f)  What  type  of  furnace? 

(g)  What  fluxes  would  be  required? 

(h)     Where  should  the  plant  be  located? 

(a)  Ore  Classification. 

From  a  smelting  point  of  view,  three  general  classifications 
will  suffice. 

"  Silver  Ores. " — Those  ores  carrying  over  100  ozs.  silver  per 
ton.  This  silver  is  contained  mainly  as  native  silver.  The 
composition  of  the  ore  may  be  described  as  consisting  of  equal 
parts  of  metallic  arsenides  and  gangue,  the  principal  arsenide 
being  smaltite,  the  lesser  arsenide  as  niccolite.  The  gangue 
is  made  up  of  calcite,  with  varying  quantities  of  silicious  gangue 
or  wall-rock,  and  with  small  quantities  of  magnesia  and  very  little 
iron,  the  latter  as  mispickel. 

"Cobalt  Ores." — Those  ores  containing  less  than  100  ozs. 
silver,  per  ton,  and  over  5%  cobalt,  averaging  probably  7%  cobalt, 
as  smaltite,  with  a  much  smaller  quantity  of  nickel  as  niccolite. 
The  metallic  arsenides  and  gangue  rock  being  about  equal,  the 
gangue  consisting  mainly  of  wall-rock  material,  with  a  smaller 
quantity  of  calcite  than  the  silver  ores. 

"Wall-Rock  Ores." — An  aluminium  silicate,  with  "free" 
silica,  and  containing  as  high  as  15%  alumina,  5%  lime,  7%  iron, 
5%  magnesia,  and  2%  arsenic,  carrying  less  than  100  ozs.  silver, 
averaging  probably  40  ozs. 

(b)  Tonnage 

It  would  be  impossible  to  form  even  an  approximate  idea  of 
the  life  of  the  camp.  A  great  deal  would  depend  on  the  value  of 
the  smaltite  ores  low  in  silver.  There  being  no  ready  market 
for  such  ores  in  the  past,  they  have  not  been  developed,  and  the 
tonnage  is  problematical.  However,  for  the  sake  of  argument, 
we  will  place  the  life  of  the  camp  at  ten  years,  with  an  annual 
tonnage  of  ores  and  concentrates  to  be  smelted  at  12,000  tons. 
This  might  consist  of  5,000  tons  of  "silver"  ore,  5,000  tons  of 
"cobalt"  ore,  and  2,000  tons  of  "wall-rock"  ores,  an  average  of 
33  tons  per  day. 


Metallurgical  Conditions  at  Cobalt.  311 

(c)   Commercial  Arsenic 

The  recovery  of  the  arsenic,  whether  it  be  in  a  marketable 
condition  or  not,  is  a  matter  of  great  importance  for  many  reasons. 
Whether  we  wish  to  recover  or  lose  it,  we  will  not  meet  with  much 
success  in  either  direction.  If  we  decide  to  recover  it  by  mechanic- 
ally handling  all  of  the  gases  at  a  short  distance  from  the  entrance 
to  the  dust  chamber,  the  cost  of  doing  so  will  probably  exceed  its 
market  value,  aside  from  the  necessarily  heavy  cost  of  installation 
of  plant.  Unless  we  confine  the  gases  in  the  smelting  plant, 
the  workmen's  health  will  suffer.  Unless  we  release  the  gases 
at  a  considerable  distance  from  populated  districts  we  will  not 
be  permitted  to  operate.  If  we  roast  the  silver  ores,  the  silver 
volatilization  losses  would  probably  put  us  in  the  hands  of  a 
receiver  after  the  first  clean  up.  Considerable  difficulty  will 
be  experienced  in  roasting  the  arsenic  below  14%.  If  we  don't 
roast  them,  the  quantity  of  speiss  will  be  excessive,  and  its  cobalt- 
nickel  contents  low. 

After  due  consideration  of  the  importance  of  all  of  these 
points,  we  would  probably  decide 

(1)  To  roast  the  cobalt  ores  under  100  ozs.  in  silver. 

(2)  To  smelt  the  silver  ores,  ovec  100  ozs.  in  silver,  without 
roasting. 

(3)  To  roast  the  speiss  resulting  from  the  smelting  of  both 
classes  of  ore. 

(4)  Not  to  install  a  plant  for  direct  handling  of  the  roasting 
or  smelting  gases. 

(5)  To  construct  a  long  dust  chamber,  which  would  convey 
the  gases  to  a  stack  on  higher  ground  and  from  one  quarter  to 
one  half  mile  distant  from  the  smelter,  and  in  line  with  the  pre- 
vailing air  currents. 

(6)  At  some  later  date,  if  conditions  warranted,  to  install 
an  arsenic  refining  plant,  to  treat  the  condensed  arsenic  vapors 
deposited  naturally  in  the  long  dust  chamber. 

(7)  To  provide  ample  air  pipes,  connected  with  suction- 
fans,  at  all  points  around  the  works  where  arsenical  dust  or  gases 
would  be  encountered  by  employees. 

(8)  In  general,  to  forget  the  value  of  arsenic,  and  to  prevent 
as  far  as  possible  the  injury  it  might  cause  to  the  health  of  em- 


312  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

ployees,  and  to  locate  the  plant  so  as  to  do  as  little  damage  as 
possible  to  nearby  vegetation,  and  populated  districts. 

(d)  Type  of  Smelting 

We  have  decided  on  smelting  three  classes  of  ore.  One 
contains  no  arsenic  to  speak  of.  The  silver  ore  is  to  be  smelted 
raw.  The  cobalt  ore  is  to  be  roasted.  On  account  of  the  silver 
volatilization,  it  is  not  advisable  to  mix  any  more  arsenic  with 
the  silver  ores,  even  though  that  arsenic  be  partially  in  an  oxidized 
form,  such  as  the  resulting  product  from  the  roasting  of  the 
cobalt  ores.  These  two  classes  of  ore  should  be  smelted  separate^. 
The  speiss  from  the  treatment  of  both  classes  should  be  roasted 
and  re-smelted,  if  necessary,  until  a  point  of  enrichment  was 
reached,  wherein  the  cost  of  re-treating,  plus  the  metallurgical 
losses,  reached  the  point  of  economy  under  marketing  conditions. 
Smelting  methods  may  be  classified,  according  to  the  prevailing 
atmosphere  in  the  furnace,  as  neutral,  oxidizing,  or  reducing. 

Our  "Silver  Ores"  should  not  be  subjected  to  an  oxidizing 
atmosphere,  because  of  the  resulting  silver  loss.  A  neutral 
condition  might  be  acceptable  under  certain  conditions  for  the 
lower  grade  silver  ores,  but  for  all  grades  the  reducing  atmosphere 
is  ideal  in  so  far  as  silver  recovery  is  concerned. 

The  "Cobalt  Ores",  we  have  oxidized  as  far  as  practicable 
in  the  roasting  furnace.  The  same  conditions  must  be  aimed 
at  in  smelting  them,  in  order  to  eliminate  the  bulk  of  the  arsenic, 
reducing  the  quantity  of  speiss  formed,  thereby  enriching  it  in 
cobalt  and  nickel,  and  necessarily  increasing  its  silver  values. 
The  aim  of  course  being  to  keep  the  silver  out  of  our  marketable 
speiss,  and  to  recover  it  in  some  other  way. 

Having  decided  that  it  would  be  advantageous  to  smelt  one 
ore  in  a  reducing,  and  the  other  in  an  oxidizing  atmosphere, 
care  should  be  exercised  in  selecting  two  furnaces  in  which  to 
accomplish  these  reactions. 

Reverberatory  smelting  furnaces  are  subject  to  slight  changes 
in  atmospheric  conditions.  At  best  they  can  only  be  controlled 
so  as  to  produce  a  slightly  reducing  or  slightly  oxidizing  condition, 
and  are  usually  classified  as  "  neutral  atmosphere. "  Shaft 
furnaces  are  more  under  one's  control  in  so  far  as  the  atmospheric 
conditions    are    concerned,   and  greater  latitude    is    possible  in 


Metallurgical  Conditions   \t  Cobalt.  313 

securing  highly  oxidizing  or  strongly  reducing  conditions  ;  there- 
fore, we  would  select  a  shaft  furnace.  The  two  principal  sub- 
divisions of  shaft  furnaces  are  those  with  or  without  a  crucible. 
Before  deciding  this  feature,  we  must  know  the  "base"  or 
"carrier"  to  be  used  in  collecting  the  precious  metals. 

(e)   The  Smelting  Base 

In  selecting  a  certain  metallic  substance  as  a  collector  for 
the  precious  metals,  the  selection  should  be  carefully  considered; 
none  of  our  previous  decisions  are  as  important  as  this  one. 
We  are  all  more  or  less  familiar  with  the  bases  used  in  smelting 
common  types  of  ore,  such  as  lead  of  the  lead  smelters,  copper 
of  the  copper  smelters,  and  the  impure  iron  sulphide  mattes  of 
the  pyritic  smelters,  but  in  our  case  we  have  not  a  type  of  ore 
commonly  met  with.  Our  ores  do  not  contain  any,  or  but  frac- 
tional percentages  of  lead,  copper,  or  iron  sulphides.  Therefore 
we  cannot  follow  the  examples  set  by  others,  without  considerably 
modifying  the  conditions.  Furthermore,  in  the  nearby  districts, 
there  are  either  no  great  quantities  of  ores  carrying  lead  or  copper, 
or  if  in  quantity,  they  have  very  small  amounts  of  precious  metals. 
It  is  true  that  in  the  province  of  Ontario  we  have  all  of  those 
metals,  but  the  province  is  large,  and  we  cannot  afford  to  haul 
low  grade  ores  or  fluxes  across  the  province.  To  secure  a  furnace 
charge  made  up  of  such  fluxes  and  carrier  as  would  to  a  small 
degree  pay  their  way  through  the  furnace,  we  must  consider  mov- 
ing the  ores  as  well  as  the  fluxes  to  the  half-way  point.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  we  smelt  the  ores  locally,  we  would  have  to  do  so 
with  fluxes  carrying  little  or  no  precious  metal  values.  The  cost 
of  producing  and  smelting  barren  fluxes  would  then  be  a  direct 
charge  to  the  smelting  of  the  ore.  It  is  necessary  to  consider 
the  fluxes  along  with  the  base,  because  with  certain  bases  a  greater 
or  less  quantity  of  certain  fluxes  is  necessary.  Let  us  see  what 
we  have  available.  In  Coleman  Township,  we  have  neither 
flux  nor  base,  except  such  bases  as  are  contained  in  our  ores. 
On  navigable  waterways  or  railways  we  have,  within  a  distance  of: 

5    miles: — Quarries    of    calcium-magnesium    carbonates 
with  97%  of  those  elements. 

10  miles: — Quarries  of  calcium  carbonate  of  97%. 


314 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


12  miles:- An  ancient  lead  mine,  described  by  the 
Provincial  Geologist  in  part  as  follows: — 

"Some  of  the  rock  here  is  conglomerate,  associated 
"with  which  is  porphyry.  The  latter  is  similar  to  rock  in 
"Minnesota,  which  has  been  considered  to  be  of  doubtful 
"origin.  The  ore  body  lies  in  a  zone  of  fracture  which  pene- 
trates both  of  the  rocks  mentioned.  Angular  fragments  of  these 
"rocks,  sometimes  a  foot  or  more  in  diameter,  are  cemented 
"together  by  calcite  and  galena.  The  pure  galena  has  been 
"  found  to  contain  from  18  to  24  ozs.  of  silver  to  the  ton  of 
"2,000  lbs.  Iron  pyrites  is  found  in  small  quantities 
"associated  with  the  galena,  and  is  thought  to  be  the  source 
"of  the  trace  of  gold  usually  present  in  the  ore." 

20  miles: — A  six  foot  vein  of  clean  pyrites,  averaging 
40%  sulphur.  Also,  a  pyrrhotite  vein,  touching  the  pyrite 
vein,  which  is  also  6  feet  wide.  Samples  of  these  veins 
shewed : — 


Pyrites.  .  . , 
Pyrrhotite 


Cu.%. 

0.15 
0.49 


Also,  in  the  same  neighborhood,  there  are  numerous 
smaller  veins  of  pyrrhotite  carrying  up  to  3%  copper,  but 
not  developed.  But  these  could  be  safely  counted  on  as 
being  capable  of  producing  a  very  small  steady  tonnage. 
There  are  no  other  quantities  of  suitable  fluxes  along  the 
line  of  the  T.  &  N.  O.  Railway.  This  means  that  we  would  have 
to  go  much  farther  than  103  miles  from  Cobalt  for  other 
metals  or  fluxes.  This  would  take  us  into  Eastern  Ontario 
for  lead  and  copper  ores,  to  Western  or  Southern  Ontario 
for  clean  hematite  ores,  or  to  the  Sudbury  district  for  copper- 
nickel   pyrrhotite   ores. 

Before  going  further,  let  us  study  the  demands  of  our  ores, 
with  reference  to  the  carrier  and  the  fluxes. 

We  know  that  if  we  lead  smelt  the  ores,  as  do  the  custom 
smelters  in  the  States,  while  we  may  make  a  fair  silver  recovery, 
we  will  experience  heavy  lead  losses.     We  will  also  have  speiss 


Metallurgical  Conditions  at  Cobalt.  315 

troubles  with  the  lead- well  of  the  furnace.  The  lead  bullion 
will  be  foul  with  arsenical  impurities.  The  speiss  will  contain 
some  lead,  but  it  will  be  low  in  silver,  and  instead  of  lead-smelt in<r, 
we  will  be  speiss-smelting.  This  would  be  true  to  a  greater 
extent  than  it  is  at  the  custom  plants,  because  they  have  a  large 
variety  of  ores  witli  which  to  make  up  the  smelting  mixture. 
On  the  other  hand,  by  lead-smelting,  we  would  recover  the  silver 
values  in  an  easily  marketable  product.  Lead-smelting  might 
be  considered  for  our  silver  ores,  but  not  for  the  cobalt  ores. 
Copper-smelting,  from  a  metallurgical  view  point,  would  appear 
to  be  a  better  method  for  the  treatment  of  our  cobalt  ores,  but 
it  is  not  advisable  on  account  of  marketing  conditions  to  mix 
quantities  of  copper  with  arsenic,  nor  is  it  advisable  to  mix  cobalt 
or  nickel  with  other  valuable  metals. 

The  difficulty  of  securing  either  copper  or  lead  cheaply 
would  probably  decide  us  against  using  either  metal  if  it  could 
be  avoided.  Are  they  necessary?  Suppose  by  adding  a  small 
quantity  of  hematite  flux  to  our  cobalt  ores,  they  were  melted; 
what  would  be  the  result?  Clean  slag  and  heavy  speiss!  Should 
the  cobalt  ores  contain  silver  (the  silver  in  nearly  every  instance 
is  in  the  ore  as  native  silver),  we  would  find  under  the  speiss  a 
good  percentage  of  the  total  silver  contents  as  metallic  silver. 
From  this  experiment  we  would  conclude  that  lead  and  copper 
were  in  our  case,  luxuries,  which  we  could  not  afford  and  did 
not  need.  The  speiss  will  fulfil  the  mechanical  actions  of  the 
"collector",  without  absorbing  much  silver.  Therefore  we 
would  decide  to  smelt  with  speiss  as  a  base. 

(/)  The  Furnace 

If  we  are  not  to  use  lead,  then  we  do  not  need  a  lead  furnace, 
with  its  deep  crucible.  We  would  decide  on  a  shaft-furnace 
suitable  for  matting.  Two  of  such  furnaces  would  be  required, 
one  for  oxidizing  smelting  the  cobalt  ores,  the  other  for  the  re- 
duction of  the  silver  ores.  Briefly,  the  main  distinctions  may 
be  compared  with  standard  lead  and  pyritic  furnaces.  The 
furnace  for  smelting  the  silver  ores  would  be  a  lead  furnace  with- 
out a  deep  crucible,  with  good  height  of  shaft,  plenty  of  bosh, 
and  with  intermittent  slag  tap.     It  would  be  run  with  a  high  ore 


316  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

column,  plenty  of  coke,  and  would  discharge  its  liquid  products 
at  intervals  into  a  suitable  receiver.  The  volume  of  air  would 
compare  with  lead-smelting  practice.  What  is  known  as  "cold 
blast"  would  be  used,  but  in  this  cold  climate,  the  thermometer 
reaching  as  low  as  40°  below  zero,  it  would  be  advisable  to  warm 
the  blast  up  to  summer  temperature.  The  furnace  best  suited 
for  the  cobalt  ores  and  speiss  smelting  would  be  a  matting  furnace, 
similar  to  the  pyritic  furnaces.  It  would  differ  from  the  silver  fur- 
naces very  materially.  It  would  have  a  lower  shaft,  with  less 
bosh,  and  a  larger  tuyer  area.  It  would  be  run  with  a  lower 
ore  column,  and  with  less  coke.  The  volume  of  air  would  be 
very  much  greater,  and  would  compare  with  the  pyritic  practice. 
A  warmer  blast  would  be  used  at  all  times  to  assist  the  burning 
of  the  arsenic.  Each  furnace  would  be  provided  with  its  separate 
blower  and  air  line. 

(g)  Flux 

For  the  silver  ores,  which  contain  a  considerable  quantity 
of  calcite  and  a  little  magnesia  and  alumina,  a  small  quantity 
of  alkaline  earths  might  be  necessary.  Calcium  carbonate  would 
be  preferable  to  magnesia. 

For  the  metallic  oxide,  oxides  of  iron  or  manganese  must 
be  secured.  The  quantity  of  metallic  oxide  used  would  have  to 
be  small  on  account  of  its  cost,  being  brought  in  from  a  distance. 
The  most  important  consideration,  however,  would  be  to  aim 
to  put  the  iron  into  the  slag  in  preference  to  allowing  the  arsenic 
to  draw  large  quantities  of  it  into  the  speiss.  Magnetite  could 
be  made  use  of,  in  small  quantities,  but  its  use  is  not  to  be  re- 
commended, on  account  of  the  difficulty  experienced  in  making 
it  enter  the  slag.  In  a  strongly  reducing  atmosphere,  its  tendency 
is  to  reduce  with  the  speiss  or  matte  and  form  furnace  "sows". 
Dead  roasted  iron  ores  or  mattes  would  answer,  but  hematite  or 
oxide    of    manganese    is    recommended,    preferably    manganese. 

For  the  cobalt  ores  containing  a  smaller  quantity  of  calcite 
and  magnesia,  with  a  larger  quantity  of  silica  and  alumina, 
lime-rock  would  have  to  be  used  in  quantity.  A  silicious  lime 
slag  would  be  our  aim.  With  these  ores,  for  the  metallic  oxide, 
economy  must  be  considered. 


Metallurgical  Conditions  at  Cobalt.  317 

(h)  Locating  the  Smelter 

In  locating  the  plant,  we  would  be  influenced  by  many 
conditions.     Among  them  might  be  mentioned  the  following: — 

We  have  estimated  the  total  output  of  the  district  at  120,000 
tons  of  ore.  When  this  tonnage  was  smelted,  would  the  smelter 
be  so  situated  that  it  could  be  made  use  of  for  treating  custom 
ores  from  other  districts?  This  question  would  be  disposed  of 
without  further  consideration,  because  of  the  fact  that  the  cost 
of  the  plant  would  be  wiped  off  by  depreciation  charges  within 
ten  years. 

If  the  plant  was  centrally  located  in  the  Province,  on  account 
of  the  advantages  derived  from  securing  fluxing  ores  with  metal 
values,  in  this  way  paying  their  own  smelting  costs,  we  would  find 
ourselves  buying  ores  in  competition  with  larger  custom  smelters. 
We  would  also  find  that  the  mixing  of  our  arsenides  with  large 
quantities  of  copper  or  lead  ores  was  of  no  important  advantage 
to  our  ores,  and  a  detriment  to  the  purchased  ores. 

It  is  not  unlikely  that  oxidized  iron  ores  may  be  found  nearer 
to  us  than  we  now  imagine.  There  are  good  reasons  for  ex- 
pecting the  hematite  deposits  on  the  east  shores  of  Lake  Temis- 
kaming  to  more  than  supply  our  requirements. 

There  is  now  active  work  going  on  at  Ragged  Chutes,  on  the 
Montreal  River,  seven  miles  south  of  Cobalt,  which  will,  within 
two  years,  develop  3,500  horse  power,  in  the  form  of  compressed 
air,  by  the  Taylor  Hydraulic  System. 

The  Montreal  River  at  low  water,  in  the  dry  season,  delivers 
over  1,000  cu.  ft.  of  water  per  second. 

At  Hound  Chutes,  two  miles  farther  up  the  river,  is  another 
dam-site,  where  it  is  proposed  to  install  an  electrical  power  plant. 

These  two  power  plants  are  in  the  centre  of  a  timber  berth 
reserved  by  the  Provincial  Government;  both  its  surface  and 
mineral  rights  are  reserved.  The  area  forms  a  square  ten  miles 
by  ten,  or  approximately  one  hundred  square  miles.  A  smelter 
site  near  those  two  chutes  could  be  reached  by  extending  the 
railroad  from  Gillies  station  (four  miles  south  of  Cobalt),  following 
the  gradual  fall  of  the  river  all  the  way,  for  a  distance  say  of  three 
to  seven  miles.  Here,  with  numerous  ideal  sites,  where  the 
smoke  would  climb  the  surrounding  hills,  which  are  now  traversed 


318  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

by  the  moose  and  the  deer,  there  would  be  no  law-suits  from 
smoke  damages.  At  least  it  would  be  expected  of  the  Provincial 
Government  that  they  would  in  some  way  continue  to  reserve 
this  ground  from  settlement  in  order  to  encourage  a  home  industry. 
Here,  with  very  cheap  power,  an  abundance  of  water,  miles  of 
cheap  fuel  wood,  plenty  of  construction  timber,  seven  miles 
from  Cobalt,  near  to  the  proposed  west  shore  extension  of  the 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  is  a  smelter  site  beyond  comparison. 

conclusions 

We  would  produce  bar  silver  which  would  contain  probably 
85%  of  silver,  speiss  with  an  uncertain  amount  of  silver,  the  metal 
contents  of  which  might  vary  according  to  market  conditions  and 
metallurgical  difficulties,  between  8  and  12%  nickel,  and  from 
15  to  25%  cobalt.  We  have  no  desire  to  attempt  to  refine  this 
material.  The  refining  had  preferably  be  done  by  those  whose 
business  it  is.  All  we  wish  to  do  is  to  enrich  our  output,  so  that 
it  can  stand  the  expenses  of  shipment  to  distant  markets.  If  we 
could  improve  the  smelting  conditions,  or  put  the  product  in  a 
more  acceptable  form  for  refining,  it  would  be  advantageous. 
Furthermore,  if,  after  treating  our  products  successfully,  we 
could  persuade  the  refiners  to  come  to  our  district  and  establish 
their  works  in  the  field  of  production,  the  advantages  would  be 
incomprehensible.  With  these  objects  in  view,  let  us  make  a 
further   study   of   the  metallurgical    conditions   involved. 

To  improve  our  roasting  and  smelting  conditions,  we  must 
find  ways  and  means  of  getting  rid  of  more  of  the  arsenic.  We 
must  also  secure  oxidized  iron  cheaply. 

What  means  have  we  at  hand  for  doing  this  in  the  simplest, 
cheapest,  and  best  manner?  Let  us  study  the  metallurgy  of 
cobalt,  nickel,  arsenic  and  speiss,  and  see  what  effect  other  elements 
have  upon  them. 

SULPHUR    VS.    ARSENIC 

Let  us  study  the  effects  produced  by  mixing  sulphur  with 
arsenic. 

Consulting  the  second  volume  of  Schnabel's  "Metallurgy", 
we  gather  the  following  notes,  at  random  and  in  part. 


Metallurgical  Conditions  at  Cobalt.  319 


Arsenic. 

Arsenic. — According  to  Conechy,  arsenic  volatilizes  at  a 
temperature  of  449°  to  450°  C. 

When   heated   with   sulphur   it   forms   sulphide   of   arsenic. 

Arsenious  oxide  volatilizes  when  heated.  The  temperature 
at  which  it  volatilizes  is  given  by  Wurtz  at  200°  C. 

Arsenious  Oxide  is  a  Powerful  Reducing  Agent. — 

Sulphides  of  Arsenic. — Arsenic  forms  three  sulphides,  arsenic 
disulphide  As2S2,  arsenic  trisulphide  As2S3,  and  arsenic  penta- 
sulphide  As2S5. 

The  Extraction  of  Arsenic  by  the  dry  method. — When  mis- 
pickel  is  distilled  the  arsenic  is  driven  off  and  can  be  collected. 
The  following  equation  shows  theoretically  the  chemical  change 
which  takes  place: — 

2(FeAs2FeS2)  =  As4     4  FeS 

When  mispickel  is  treated  in  the  way  described  above,  sulphide 
of  arsenic  is  volatilized  at  the  beginning  of  the  process  and  collects 
in  the  receiver  (Freiberg). 

The  manufacture  of  Crude  Arsenious  Oxide. — Arsenical  pyrites, 
mispickel,  and  native  arsenic,  either  alone  or  mixed  with  other 
ores,  are  the  special  sources  of  arsenious  oxide.  The  changes  which 
occur  when  these  are  roasted  are  the  following: — 

Mispickel  (FeS2  FeAs2).  Below  red  heat  it  evolves  arsenic 
sulphide  vapor.  At  higher  temperatures  it  is  converted 
into  a  mixture  of  ferric  oxide,  ferric  sulphate,  and  ferric  arseniate, 
sulphurous  acid  and  arsenious  oxide  being  at  the  same  time 
liberated. 

At  Deloro,  in  Canada,  mispickel  which  contained  gold  was 
formerly  worked.  The  ore  contained  42  per  cent,  of  arsenic 
and  20  per  cent,  sulphur. 

The  production  of  Red  Arsenic  Glass  or  Realger. — It  is  not 
essential,  in  order  to  obtain  a  good  product,  that  the  sulphur  and 
arsenic  should  be  employed  in  the  correct  molecular  proportions. 
The  best  proportions  for  a  product  of  any  particular  shade  are 
discovered  by  trial. 


320  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Nickel. 

Nickelous  Oxide  NiO. — If  this  oxide  is  heated  with  iron 
sulphide  or  arsenide,  we  get  ferrous  oxide  and  nickel  sulphide 
or  arsenide.     Nickelous  oxide  and  copper  sulphide  do  not  react. 

Nickel  Monosulphide. — Nickel  sulphide  is  decomposed  by 
copper  with  the  separation  of  metallic  nickel.  When  the  sulphide 
is  melted  with  an  acid  iron  silicate,  a  very  small  quantity  of  nickel 
passes  into  the  slag.  If  cobalt  sulphide  is  present  a  considerably 
greater   quantity    thereof   passes   into   the   slag. 

If  nickelous  and  cobaltous  oxides  and  cupric  oxide  are  fused 
with  silica  and  iron  arsenide,  containing  sufficient  arsenic,  a  nickel- 
cobalt-copper  speiss  is  produced,  while  the  iron  forms  a  ferrous 
silicate. 

According  to  Badoureau,  when  nickelous  and  cobaltous  oxides 
are  fused  with  arsenic  or  arsenical  pyrites,  almost  the  whole  of 
the  nickel  and  only  part  of  the  cobalt  pass  into  the  speiss. 

If  a  nickel-iron  speiss  is  fused,  and  air  passed  over  it,  the 
iron  is  oxidized  first  and  converted  into  slag  by  the  addition  of 
silica.  The  nickel  is  oxidized  only  after  the  removal  of  the  iron. 
The  process  can  be  so  conducted  that  only  the  iron  is  removed, 
the  nickel  being  left  as  arsenide.  If  cobalt  is  present  in  this  speiss, 
it  is  oxidized  and  passes  into  slag  after  iron,  but  before  nickel. 
The  appearance  of  cobalt  in  the  slag  is  detected  by  its  blue  colour. 
Therefore  if  it  is  desired  to  keep  the  cobalt  in  the  speiss,  the 
the  process  of  oxidation  must  be  stopped  as  soon  as  the  blue 
colour  appears  in  the  slag.  As  a  certain  quantity  of  nickel  goes 
with  the  cobalt,  the  blue  coloration  shows  also  the  presence  of  some 
nickel  in  the  slag. 

If  heavy  spar,  instead  of  quartz,  is  added  during  this 
fusion,  the  iron  may  be  completely  separated,  for  heavy  spar 
and  iron  arsenide  react,  forming  iron  arseniateand  barium  sulphide, 
both  of  which  are  taken  into  the  slag.  Any  copper  present  is 
converted  into  sulphide  by  the  barium  sulphide,  and  separates 
as  a  matte  if  in  considerable  quantity. 

Silicates  of  Nickel. — When  the  silicate  is  smelted  with  iron 
pyrites,  with  copper  pyrites,  or  with  sulphides  of  the  alkalies  or 
alkaline  earths,  nickel  is  reduced,  and  forms  a  matte  or  mixture 
of  matte  and  metal. 


Metallurgical  Conditions  at  Cobalt.  321 

If  it  is  smelted  with  arsenic  or  arsenical  pyrites,  it  is  very 
incompletely  converted  into  nickel  speiss. 

Smelting  of  the  roasted  ore  to  produce  coarse  nickel  matte. 
Antimoniates  or  arsenides  are  reduced  to  metal  and  partly  vol- 
atilize as  such.  In  the  presence  of  undecomposed  pyrites  part 
of  the  arsenic  is  volatilized  as  sulphide.  The  remaining  arsenic 
and  antimony,  if  they  are  only  in  small  quantities,  pass  into  the 
matte;  otherwise  they  form  a  speiss,  combined  chiefly  with  nickel 
and  cobalt. 

Extraction  of  nickel  from  the  Silicate  (Garnierite) . — At  present 
all  the  ore  raised  in  New  Caledonia  is  exported.  The  greater 
part  comes  to  Europe,  and  there  is  smelted  into  a  matte  in  blast 
furnaces  with  the  addition  of  materials  containing  sulphur. 

Extraction  of  Nickel  from  Arsenical  Ores. — Roasting  the 
Ores.  When  the  ores  are  free  from  sulphur,  the  roasting  should 
be  regulated  so  that  the  arsenic  is  brought  down  to  the  quantity 
sufficient  to  combine  with  the  whole  of  the  nickel  to  form  Ni2As 
as  the  main  product  of  the  subsequent  smelting.  If  the  roasting 
is  carried  too  far,  and  the  quantity  of  arsenic  is  less  than  this, 
nickel  will  pass  into  the  slag.  When  sulphur  is  present,  the  roast- 
ing should  remove  it  as  completely  as  possible,  unless  there  is 
also  copper  enough  to  be  worth  extracting.  In  this  case  sulphur 
should  be  retained  in  such  quantity  that  a  copper  matte  is  formed 
during  smelting,  and  separates  from  the  speiss. 

During  the  roasting  arsenic  is  converted  partly  into  arsenic 
trioxide,  partly  into  pentoxide.  The  iron  and  the  nickel  arsenides 
lose  arsenic  and  become  converted  into  oxides.  The  higher 
compound  of  arsenic  is  formed  by  the  oxidation  of  the  trioxide 
where  it  is  contact  with  red-hot  masses  of  ore,  and  the  red-hot 
furnace  walls;  it  combines  partly  with  the  iron  and  nickel  oxides 
(with  cobalt  oxide  and  with  silver  also  if  present).  Further, 
part  of  this  arsenic  pentoxide  is  reduced  again  to  trioxide  by  con- 
tact with  undecomposed  arsenides,  and  with  the  lower  metallic 
oxides,  if  any  should  be  present.  Arseniate  of  nickel  is  much 
more  easily  produced  than  the  corresponding  salt  of  iron.  The 
arseniates  are  fairly  stable  at  a  high  temperature,  as  they  are  not 
readily  decomposable  by  heat  alone.     If  it  is  desired  to  remove 

the  arsenic  from  them,  powdered  coal  or  carbonaceous  matter 
21 


322  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

is  added.  By  these  means  iron  arseniate  is  somewhat  readily 
converted  into  ferric  oxide,  while  the  acid  radicle  is  con- 
verted into  arsenic  trioxide  and  suboxide,  with  the  formation 
of  carbon  dioxide.  Arseniates  of  cobalt  and  nickel  are  converted 
into  arsenides,  which,  in  a  current  of  air,  are  converted  into 
oxides  and  basic  arseniates,  with  a  loss  of  some  arsenic  as  trioxide. 
The  product  of  the  roasting  is  accordingly  a  mixture  of  undecompo- 
posed  arsenides,   oxides  and  basic  arseniates. 

If  metallic  sulphides  are  present  in  the  ores  they  are  oxidized 
to  sulphates.  Vapours  of  sulphur  trioxide  are  formed  from 
sulphur  dioxide  by  contact  action,  or  from  the  decomposition 
of  sulphates,  and  exert  an  oxidizing  action  on  arsenides,  which  are 
partly  converted  into  arseniates.  Any  arsenical  pyrites  (iron 
sulphide  and  arsenide)  present  in  the  ore,  gives  off  fumes  of  sul- 
phide of  arsenic;  at  a  red  heat  it  is  converted  into  a  mixture  of 
ferric  oxide,  sulphate  and  arseniate,  setting  free  sulphur  dioxide 
and  arsenic  trioxide. 

Carbonates  of  iron  and  calcium,  which  are  frequently  present 
in  nickel  ores,  are  changed  into  arseniates  of  those  metals, 
or  into  a  mixture  of  sulphates  and  arseniates  if  sulphides  are 
present.  During  this  heating  the  heat  must  not  be  carried  so  high 
that  any  silica  present  forms  silicate  with  nickel  monoxide,  be- 
cause this  nickel  silicate  is  but  imperfectly  decomposed  again, 
in  the  subsequent  smelting,  with  the  formation  of  arsenide  of 
nickel.  Thus,  if  sulphides  are  present  in  the  ore,  the  product 
of  roasting  is  a  mixture  of  metallic  sulphides,  arsenides,  oxides, 
sulphates   and  arseniates. 

The  roasting  may  be  performed  in  heaps,  stalls,  reverber- 
atory  or  shaft  furnaces,  or  muffles.  Since  the  complete  removal 
of  the  arsenic  is  not  really  necessary,  the  ores  are  roasted  in  stalls 
in  most  works,  these  stalls  allowing  of  the  collection  of  arsenic 
trioxide  in  the  chambers  attached. 

The  Smelting  of  Nickel  Ore  into  coarse  Speiss. — The  smelting 
is  conducted  so  that  a  monosilicate  containing  at  least  30  per  cent, 
of  ferrous  oxide  is  formed.  An  acid  slag  will  contain  nickel. 
(According  to  Badoureau,  when  nickel  and  cobalt  arsenides 
are  smelted  together  with  a  slag  containing  30  per  cent,  of  ferrous 
oxide,   the  two  former  metals  are  practically   absent  from  it). 


Mktu.h  hi.i.  \i.  Conditions  at  Cobalt.  323 

The  Dead  Roasting  of  refined  Nickel  Speiss. — Apart  from 
roasting,  arsenic  may  be  removed  also  by  smelting  the  speiss 
with  saltpetre  and  soda,  or  smelting  it  with  soda  and  sulphur, 
and  washing  out  the  salts  formed;  or  it  can  be  removed  in  the 
form  of  sulphide  of  arsenic  by  heating  the  speiss  with  sulphur 
in   absence  of  air. 

Cobalt. 

The  Extraction  of  Cobalt  Oxide. — The  matte  from  the  Sesia 
Works  at  Oberschlema,  in  Saxony,  is  similarly  treated.  It  con- 
tains 16%  Ni,  14%  Co,  50%  Cu,  and  20%  S. 

In  "Hoffmann's  Metallurgy  of  Lead"  we  find: — 

To  treat  speiss  so  as  to  extract  the  silver,  gold  and  copper 
economically  has  always  been  a  difficult  problem.  With  large 
quantities  the  cheapest  way  is  to  roast  it  in  a  heap  of  about  50  tons, 
which  burns  from  two  to  four  weeks.  The  imperfectly  roasted 
speiss  is  sorted  out,  crushed  and  roasted  in  a  calcining  furnace. 
The  whole  is  then  smelted  in  the  blast  furnace  with  pyrite  or  matte. 
The  result  will  be  base  bullion  and  a  matte  rich  in  copper  and  silver, 
and  perhaps  a  small  amount  of  speiss,  in  which  any  nickel  and 
cobalt  will  be  concentrated.  This  second  speiss  goes  to  a  new 
heap  of  first  speiss,  as  nickel  and  cobalt  occur  in  such  small  quanti- 
ties as  not  to  call  for  any  further  attention. 

With  the  small  amount  formed  to-day,  the  simplest  way  is 
to  crush  it  and  roast  it  with  sulphurets  in  the  proportion  of  1 .  10, 
in  the  reverberatory  furnace,  when  the  sulphur  trioxide  set  free 
will  decompose  the  arsenides  and  arsenates,  converting  them 
into  sulphates. 

In  Peters'  "Modern  Copper  Smelting"  we  find: — 

Speiss,  as  ordinarily  understood,  is  a  basic  arsenide,  or  anti- 
monide  of  iron,  often  with  nickel,  cobalt,  lead,  bismuth,  copper, 
etc.,  having  a  metallic  luster,  high  specific  gravity,  and  a  strong 
tendency  toward  crystallization.  It  takes  up  gold  with  avidity, 
but  has  a  less  affinity  for  silver  than  copper  matte  has. 

It  has  always  seemed  to  me  that  here  is  a  field  that  has  not 
been  sufficiently  exploited.  Especially  since  bessemerizing  and 
pyritic  smelting  are  becoming  so  important,  it  is  worth  while 
to  consider  to  what  degree,  and  with  what  advantages,  speise 
may  be  used  to  replace  sulphides  under  favorable  conditions. 


324 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


We  have  several  instances  where  it  has  been  used  to  collect  silver, 
gold  or  copper.  A  late  notable  example  in  the  Transvaal,  South 
Africa,  of  which,  I  regret  to  say,  I  have  no  personal  knowledge, 
is  described  by  Mr.  W.  Bettel  in  the  Chemical  News  of  June  26, 
1891.  He  describes  the  production  of  an  argentiferous,  antimonial 
copper  speiss  of  the  following  composition,  from  smelting  oxidized, 
ferruginous  ores,  containing  much  antimonate  of  iron,  and  4  per 
cent,  of  copper  in  the  shape  of  carbonates,  and  36  ounces  silver  per 
ton   (0. 123  per  cent.). 

Copper 52 .  50 

Antimony 38 .  00 

Arsenic 2 .  00 

Sulphur 2 .  06 

Iron 3.60 

Silver 1 .  59 

Lead 0.25 

100.00 

The  ore  is  smelted  in  reverberatory  furnaces,  and  some  91 
per  cent,  of  the  silver  and  copper  is  collected  in  the  speiss.  The 
concentration    averages    16.4    tons    into    one. 

In  Lang's   "Matte  Smelting"   we  find: — 

How  Mattes  are  classified. — The  classification  under  which  I 
prefer  for  the  present  purpose  to  place  both  the  mattes  and  speisses 
is  as  sulphide  mattes,  arsenide  mattes,  and  antimonide  mattes. 
Examples  of  each  will  be  found  in  their  appropriate  places  in 
the  Table  of  Smelting  Products  accompanying  this  article. 

The  Composition  of  Mattes. — Of  the  various  elements  which 
enter  into  the  composition  of  certain  mattes,  I  quote  the  highest 
percentages  and  the  lowest  which   are  found  therein: 


Highest 
70.47 
80. 
73. 
11.5 
55. 
54. 

3. 

5. 

0.11 

Lowest 
0.136 
0. 
0. 
0. 
0. 
0. 

S: 

0. 

Platinum 

Bismuth 

Highest 

0.0018 

1.26 

2.31 

7. 
22. 
44. 
52. 
60. 

Lowest 
0. 
0. 

Molybdenum  .... 
Calcium 

0. 
0. 

Nickel 

Barium 

0. 

Cobalt 

Sulphur 

trace 

Gold 

Arsenic 

0. 

Antimony 

0. 

Mktallurgical  Conditions  at  Cobalt.  325 

Arsenic  and  Antimony  as  Matte  Formers. — Given  molten 
metallic  arsenides  with  access  of  air,  and  contact  with  silicious 
material,  and  silicates  of  metals  result.  Pursuing  the  dependant 
train  of  reasoning  toward  its  logical  conclusion,  and  carrying  out 
the  processes  indicated,  we  are  led  to  an  application  of  the  pyritic 
smelting  and  bessemerizing  principles,  and  experiments  actually 
show  that  under  the  influence  of  the  air-blast  the  arsenides  are 
decomposed  with  ease,  more  readily  in  feet  than  the  sulphides  to 
which  those  principles  have  been  heretofore  adapted.  Experi- 
ments made  by  the  writer  on  mixtures  of  fused  sulphides  and  arse- 
nides show  conclusively  the  greater  facility  with  which  the  latter 
are  decomposed,  and  how  the  elimination  of  arsenic  takes  place  be- 
fore that  of  the  sulphur,  and  with  what  high  heat  it  is  accompanied. 

Conditions  Governing  the  Absorption  of  Metals. — The  useful 
result  of  the  matting  fusion  in  the  presence  of  sulphur  and  arsenic 
is  the  saving  of  the  valuable  metals  about  in  this  order,  beginning 
with  that  one  which  is  found  to  be  extracted  most  completely: 
gold,  copper,  nickel,  cobalt,  silver,  lead.  These,  with  iron,  which 
is  always  present,  constitute  the  metallic  portion  of  the  matte. 

Treatment  of  Molten  Mattes. — The  most  interesting  of  the 
arsenide  mattes  are  those  containing  cobalt  and  nickel,  metals 
which  have  a  strong  affinity  for  arsenic — an  affinity  which  is  taken 
advantage  of  sometimes  in  the  beneficiation  of  their  ores 
when  these  metals  are  sought  in  the  presence  of  substances  which 
exercise  an  opposing  influence.  It  has  been  found  advisable 
under  some  circumstances  to  make  such  an  addition  of  arsenic 
bearing  materials  to  cobalt  or  nickel  ore  as  serves  to  bring  about 
the  formation  of  cobalt  or  nickel  arsenide,  while  other  heavy 
metals  in  the  mixture  separate  therefrom  as  sulphides.  In  this 
manner  it  is  possible  to  effect  a  useful  separation  of  the  two,  even 
from   very   complex   and   difficult   combinations. 

Specific  Gravity  <f  Mattes. — The  arrangement  is  as  follows: — 

Group  1.  (Substances  having  a  specific  gravity  not  greater 
than  4.7).  The  sulphides  of  ziiu-.  molybdenum,  calcium  and 
manganese. 

roup  2.  (Specific  gravity  between  4  7  and  5.5).  The 
sulphides  of  barium,  iron,  cadmium,  nickel,  cobalt  and  copper,  and 
the   magnetic   oxide  of  iron. 


326  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Group  3.  (Specific  gravities  ranging  from  6  to  9).  The 
sulphides  of  silver,  lead  and  bismuth;  the  arsenides  and  anti- 
monides,  and  the  sulpharsenid.es  and  sulphantimonides  of  silver, 
copper,  bismuth,  lead,  iron,  cobalt  and  nickel,  and  metallic  lead, 
iron  and  copper. 

Losses  from  Volatilization. — It  is  my  impression  that  neither 
copper  nor  gold  suffers  loss  from  volatilization  while  undergoing 
the  pyritic  treatment;  ai*d  in  the  absence  of  all  testimony  upon 
the  matter  we  may  allowably  assume  from  the  known  character- 
istics of  nickel  and  cobalt  that  they  also  do  not.  It  would  appear 
then  that,  so  far  as  losses  by  volatilization  are  concerned,  the 
pyritic  process  is  better  adapted  to  ores  of  gold,  copper,  and  pro- 
ably  nickel  and  cobalt,  than  to  those  of  silver.  And  better  to 
silver  than  to  lead. 

In  "  Lead  and  Copper  Smelting "  by  Hixon  we  find  :  At 
Leadville,  Colo.,  Hixon  altered  a  lead  furnace  for  copper  matting. 
He  was  producing  10%  of  matte  with  15  to  40%  copper.  To 
the  copper  charge  he  added  roasted  speiss  from  the  lead  furnace, 
which  contained  15  to  20%  of  arsenic  with  about  the  same  amount 
of  sulphur.  He  roasted  one  part  of  speiss  to  two  parts  of  sulphide 
ore,  and  at  times  the  roasting  charge  contained  as  high  as  50% 
speiss.  He  smelted  3,000  tons  of  speiss  in  this  way.  In  con- 
clusion he  states: 

"It  would  naturally  be  expected  that  smelting  with  so  much 
speiss  on  the  charge  a  considerable  quantity  of  speiss  would  be 
produced  and  would  separate  from  the  resulting  matte.  But  such 
was  not  the  case.  When  the  furnaces  were  tapped  it  would  fre- 
quently spark  in  the  way  which  is  characteristic  of  speiss,  but 
after  cooling  there  would  be  no  line  of  separation  in  the  pots,  and 
upon  being  crushed  and  roasted  and  resmelted  the  product  was 
a  matte  of  very  clean  appearance  with  40  to  50  per  cent,  copper, 
the  arsenic  contents  of  which  did  not  exceed  5  per  cent. " 

In  "Pyritic  Smelting"  Dr.  E.  D.  Peters,  writing  under  the 
heading  "  Degree  of  Desulphurization  Attainable,  "  refers  to  Lang's 
results  as  follows: 

A  few  years  ago  Lang  made  a  run  on  the  ores  of  the  Blue 
Dick  mine,  near  Prescott,  Arizona,  and  obtained  such  remarkable 
results  in  the  removal  of  sulphur  and  arsenic  by  an  oxidizing 


Metallurgical  Conditions  at  Cobalt.  327 

smelting  in  the  blast  furnace,  that  it  will  be  instructive  to  refer 
to  it  in  this  review.  I  take  the  facts  from  his  letter  published  in 
the  Mining  and  Scientific  Press  of  March  29,  1902. 

The  ore  is  a  mixture  of  quartz  and  mispickel,  containing  a 
little  pyrite,  chalcopyrite,  tetrahedrite,  galena,  barite  and  spathic 
iron.  The  values  are  in  gold  and  silver.  As  it  was  received  at 
the  furnace,  its  approximate  composition  was:  Silica  45  per  cent.; 
iron,  17;  arsenic,  17;  sulphur,  17;  and  copper,  0.5  per  cent.  It 
was  necessary  to  add  about  50  per  cent,  limestone  to  form  the 
required  slag.  The  circular  trial-furnace  was  36  in.  in  diameter 
at  the  tuyeres,  and  the  cast-iron  water  jackets  were  only  30  in. 
high,  the  brick  shaft  extending  to  the  charge  door,  which  was 
11  ft.  above  the  tuyeres.  The  blast  was  cold,  and  the  pressure 
only  9oz.  per  sq.  in.  The  resulting  slag  contained:  Silica,  40  to 
45  per  cent.;  ferrous  oxide,  24  to  27;  and  lime,  20  to  24  per  cent. 
Fifty  tons  of  charge  were  smelted  per  24  hours,  being  over  7  tons 
per  sq.  ft.  of  hearth  area;  a  most  extraordinary  record  for  a  small 
furnace  run  with  cold  blast,  light  pressure,  and  an  acid  slag;  and 
due,  in  great  part,  to  the  unusual  proportion  of  volatile  constitu- 
ents in  the  stock.  The  rate  of  concentration  was  still  more 
remarkable  when  one  recollects  that  the  ore  contained  34  per 
cent,  sulphur  and  arsenic,  being  27  tons  of  ore  (ore  in  italics) 
into  one  ton  of  matte;  and  this  matte  was  free  from  arsenic, 
though  not  sufficient  in  quantity  to  entirely  cleanse  the  slags 
from  silver. 

Mr.  Lang  himself  was  evidently  surprised  at  this  unique 
result.  He  says:  "As  one-half  of  the  ore  consists  of  combustible 
matters  (the  iron  sulpho-arsenides  and  sulphides)  it  appears 
that  the  decomposition  was  very  extensive.  Nearly  90  per  cent, 
of  the  iron  was  oxidized  and  slagged  off.  Fifteen-sixteenths  of 
the  sulphur  went  up  the  chimney  or  into  the  slag;  while  all  the 
arsenic  was  volatilized  in  some  form  or  other.  Vast  quantities 
of  deep  yellow  or  red  sulphide  of  arsenic  presumably  orpiment, 
passed  out  of  the  smoke-stack,  succeeded  by  thick  masses  of  pearl 
gray  fumes  containing;  arsenious  oxide,  etc.  A  good  deal  of  metal- 
lic arsenic  also  is  sublimed,  but  this  speedily  becomes  oxidized, 
and  permeates  the  atmosphere  as  gray  smoke.  Not  a  single 
particle  of  speiss  or  any  other  indication  of  arsenic  appeared  at 
the  bottom  of  the  furnace.     The  matte  presents  no  peculiaritips 


32s  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

except  its  brittleness,  arising,  I  presume,  from  the  absence  of 
metallic  iron,  due  to  the  highly  oxidizing  action  of  the  blast.  It 
carries  about  10  per  cent,  copper,  which  is  not  enough  for  a  clean 
saving  of  the  silver.  Measures  are  being  taken  to  procure  a 
quantity  of  copper-bearing  ores  for  admixture,  so  as  to  bring  the 
copper  contents  of  the  matte  up  to  25  or  30  per  cent.,  which  will 
produce  a  cleaner  separation  of  the  silver". 

Lang  does  not  ascribe  these  results  entirely  to  the  oxidizing 
effects  of  the  smelting,  but  believes  that  there  happened  to  be  a 
peculiarly  favorable  ratio  between  the  proportions  of  sulphur  and 
arsenic  in  the  ore,  which  induced  the  extensive  sublimation  of  these 
volatile  substances,  leaving  the  iron  a  prey  to  the  oxygen  of  the 
blast.  Such  reactions  as  these  furnish  food  for  reflection  and 
further  experimentation. 

SMELTING    SMALTITE    WITH    PYRITES 

We  have  gathered  sufficient  evidence  of  the  advantages  of 
eliminating  arsenic  by  treating  it  with  sulphur  to  decide  us  to 
take  advantage  of  it.  In  doing  so  we  not  only  simplify  the 
metallurgical  conditions,  but  we  have  remaining  after  using  pyrites 
an  oxidized  iron  flux,  thus  avoiding  the  necessity  of  buying 
hematite.     Instead,  we  must  buy  pyrites. 

Twenty  miles  distant  by  the  railroad,  from  the  proposed 
smelter,  is  situated  the  Pyrite  Mine  previously  referred  to.  Near- 
by are  other  promising  properties.  There  are  less  important 
deposits  of  an  impure  pyrite  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of 
the  smelter  site.  The  larger  pyrite  deposit  is  very  clean,  running 
40%  sulphur.  A  very  small  quantity  of  this  would  answer  our 
requirements.  We  could  take  the  fines,  which  are  not  so  readily 
marketed,  to  the  sulphuric  acid  burners.  These  would  be  mixed 
with  the  cobalt  ores  and  the  speiss,  and  roasted  with  them. 
Sulphide  of  arsenic  would  be  driven  off  in  the  roasting  furnace. 
Theundecomposed  sulphides  and  sulphates  remaining  in  the  roasted 
mixture,  when  smelted  in  the  pyritic  blast  furnace,  would  have 
another  opportunity  to  volatilize  as  sulphide  of  arsenic.  The 
aim  would  be  to  leave  only  a  small  excess  of  arsenic  in  the  speiss 
produced  after  the  cobalt  and  nickel  had  been  satisfied,  in  this 
way  keeping  the  iron  in  the  speiss  low,  and  producing  a  high-grade 
cobalt-nickel  speiss  for  marketing. 


Metallurgical  Conditions   \t  Cobalt.  329 

metallurgical  manipulations. 

In  our  previous  calculations,  smelting  the  ore  with  hematite, 
we  had  planned  to  make  a  large  quantity  of  free  metallic  silver 
in  the  silver  furnace.  If  the  charge  of  cobalt,  ores  going  to  the 
cobalt  furnace  was  close  to  100  ozs.  silver,  we  would  expect  to 
have  made  a  very  small  quantity  of  free  metallic  silver  to  separate 
out.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  silver  contents  of  the  cobalt  charge 
contained  very  little  silver,  we  would  expect  it  not  to  liquate  from 
the  speiss,  but  to  be  mechanically  mixed  with  it,  and  therefore  re- 
quiring a  further  separation  in  order  to  recover  it.  Now  that  we 
have  decided  to  use  pyrite  on  our  cobalt  charge,  we  would 
modify  the  resulting  product  from  the  pyritic  furnace  treating 
these  ores.  We  would  eliminate  the  annoyance  caused  by  small 
quantities  of  silver  separating  from  the  speiss,  by  recovering 
in  a  matte  all  of  this  silver  and  a  good  percentage  of  the 
silver  which  the  speiss  would  otherwise  contain.  Pure  iron 
matte  is  not  a  good  absorbent  for  silver,  but  our  matte  would 
not  be  pure.  It  would  contain  most  of  the  bismuth  in 
the  charge.  The  ores  contain  fractional  percentages  of  bis- 
muth and  of  copper  Some  of  the  ores  contain  a  considerable 
quantity  of  bismuth.  The  bismuth  and  copper,  if  in  large  enough 
quantities,  would  recover  the  silver  in  this  impure  iron  matte.  We 
would  make  sure  of  this  by  purchasing  small  quantities  of  copper 
pyrrhotite,  which  can  be  obtained  near  by. 

As  modified,  the  pyritic  furnace  would  now  produce  clean 
slag,  a  cobalt-nickel  speiss  with  much  smaller  silver  contents,  and  an 
impure  iron  matte  containing  the  greater  part  of  the  silver  con- 
tents of  the  charge.  This  impure  matte,  in  its  crude  state,  would 
be  resmelted  in  the  same  furnace  a  second  or  third  time.  On 
each  occasion  its  retained  sulphur  would  volatilize  more  arsenic. 
Its  copper-bismuth  contents  would  lessen  the  demand  for  fresh 
copper  ores.  Its  silver  contents  would  increase.  When  the 
silver  reached  a  given  assay,  the  matte  would  be  crushed  and 
roasted.  If  necessary  the  roasted  matte  would  be  ground  fin  el- 
and roasted  a  second  time,  to  insure  a  dead  roast.  The  desul- 
phurized matte  containing  1'  ,  or  less  of  sulphur,  and  with  bess 
than  10%  copper  and  some  bismuth,  would  then  go  to  the  silver  fur- 
nace, where  its  silver  would  be  recovered,  and  the  iron  oxide  slagged. 


330  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

On  account  of  small  amounts  of  sulphur  going  to  the  silver 
furnace,  we  would  now  have  to  decide  whether  or  not  we  would 
aim  to  recover  the  silver  in  its  metallic  form  as  previously  de- 
scribed, or  as  silver-copper  matte.  Under  normal  conditions  the 
silver  furnace  will  produce  an  excessive  quantity  of  speiss,  on 
account  of  raw  smelting;  so  much  speiss  that  it  would  not  be 
advisable  to  make  matters  worse  by  burdening  the  furnace  with 
any  quantity  of  matte. 

If  we  recovered  the  silver  in  copper  matte,  we  would  have  to 
market  that  product.  We  would  then  have  to  buy  quantities 
of  copper  ores,  and  would  be  copper  smelting.  We  cannot  do 
either.  We  must  stand  by  our  original  decision  to  produce  metal- 
lic silver  and  speiss  in  the  silver  furnace.  The  speiss  produced 
will  be  low  grade  and  must  be  roasted  and  concentrated  in  the 
cobalt  furnace.  It  matters  not  whether  the  speiss  contains  copper 
matte.  All  we  are  concerned  about  is  to  keep  the  quantity  small, 
and  to  see  that  it  does  not  bring  with  it  too  much  silver  to  the 
cobalt  furnace.  What  silver  it  would  bring  would  be  subject  to 
further  smelting  losses,  though  the  remainder  would  eventually 
come  out  of  the  silver  furnace  in  time. 

In  considering  the  copper  question,  we  must  remember  that 
the  matte  produced  from  the  cobalt  furnace  will  always  contain 
less  than  10%  copper.  There  will  be  a  considerable  quantity  of 
this  iron-copper  matte,  and  its  gravity  will  be  so  much  less  than 
the  speiss  that  a  separation  will  take  place. 

When  this  roasted  matte  is  fed  to  the  silver  furnace,  there  will 
not  be  sufficient  sulphur  in  the  charge  to  combine  with  the  copper, 
therefore  the  copper  must  combine  with  the  arsenic  and  enter  the 
speiss.  However,  should  it  happen  that  our  silver  ores  would 
contain  more  sulphur  than  is  usual,  and  there  would  be  sufficient 
sulphur  to  make  matte,  we  would  expect  it  to  be  a  high  grade 
copper  matte,  small  in  quantity,  so  small  and  heavy  that  it  would 
not  separate  from  the  speiss.  If  a  greater  excess  of  sulphur  was 
present,  a  larger  quantity  of  lower  grade  copper-iron  matte  would 
separate  from  the  speiss,  and  would  have  to  be  treated  in  some 
other  way.  Under  such  conditions  we  would  not  make  any  free 
silver  in  the  silver  furnace.     It  is  doubtful  if  an  average  sulphur 


Metallurgical  Conditions  at  Cobalt.  331 

on  our  ores  would  exceed  half  of  one  per  cent.  The  furnace  will 
get  rid  of  some  sulphur.  We  have  every  reason  to  expect  the 
copper  to  enter  the  speiss  as  arsenide.  Therefore,  we  would  make 
copper  arsenide  in  the  silver  furnace,  and  copper  sulphide  in  the 
cobalt  furnace,  and  never  have  any  copper  to  sell.  We  would 
buy  a  copper  stock,  and  then  an  amount  equivalent  to  the  metal 
loss.  Such  details  as  these  present  themselves  in  every  line  of 
smelting.  The  question  of  successfully  handling  this  copper  matte 
can  be  met  and  conquered.  Approximately,  the  metallurgical 
problem  would  resolve  itself  into  the  following  system: — 

SMELTING    SYSTEM 

To  Roasting  Stalls. 

Lump  speiss  from  silver  f urnace — "  1st  Speiss  " 
Lump  speiss  from  cobalt  furnace — "  2nd  Speiss  " 

To  Mechanical  Roasters. 

(1)  Crushed  "  1st  Speiss  "  from  stall  roasters. 

(2)  "        "2nd  Speiss" 

(3)  "  Ore  Mixture  " — Cobalt  ores  with  pyrites. 

(4)  "  2nd  Matte  "  from  cobalt  furnace. 

To  Cobalt  Furnace  Products 

1st  Smelting — 

Roasted  Ore  Mixture  Clean  slag 

Roasted  1st  Speiss  2nd  Speiss 

Copper  Pyrrhotite  Ores  |       1st  Matte 
Lime-rock 

2nd  Smelting — 


Roasted  Ore  Mixture 
Roasted  2nd  Speiss 
Raw  1st  Matte 
Wall-rock  Ores 
Li  me -r  oe  k 


Clean  slag 

3rd  Speiss  (shipping  product) 

2nd  Matte 


332  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


To  Silver  Furnace  Products 


Silver  Ores 
Roasted  2nd  Matte 
Wall-rock  Ores 
Lime-rock 
Foul  slag: 


Some  foul  slag 

1st  Speiss  (containing  copper 

as  sulphide  or  arsenide) 
Silver  Bullion 


SULPHURIC    ACID 


The  output  of  the  Pyrites  property  referred  to  now  goes  to 
Buffalo  for  sulphuric  acid  manufacture.  Its  distance  by  rail  from 
the  proposed  smelter  site  would  be  about  20  miles.  With  the  cheap 
compressed  air  power  at  Ragged  Chutes,  there  is  no  reason  why 
acid  could  not  be  made  cheaper  there  than  in  Buffalo.  There  may 
or  may  not  be  commercial  reasons  for  not  wishing  to  manufacture 
it  in  this  district,  but  judging  from  the  new  manufacturing  indus- 
tries which  are  being  developed  along  the  lines  of  our  northern 
railways  it  would  appear  to  be  advantageous  to  have  it  nearer  to 
North  Bay  than  to  Buffalo.  We  could  afford  to  give  the  new  plant 
a  little  encouragement  to  locate  near  our  smelter,  by  buying  a 
small  portion  of  their  refuse  cinder  as  a  flux  for  our  ores. 

REFINING 

All  these  things  accomplished,  we  would  then  go  to  the 
"Refiners"   with  the  following  appeal: — 

We  are  smelting  33  tons  per  day  of  cobalt-nickel  ores,  in 
addition  to  a  small  tonnage  of  custom  ore  from  the  neighboring 
districts  of  Cobalt. 

We    are    producing ounces  of   silver  bullion  containing 

approximately  85%  silver,  with  bismuth  and  other  impurities. 

We  are  producing tons  of  cobalt-nickel  speiss  containing 

ounces  of  silver,  with  approximately  50%  of  cobalt  and  nickel 

combined.  The  other  50%  is  made  up  chiefly  of  combined  arsenic 
and  of  iron  arsenides,  free  from  lead,  and  with  fractional  percentages 
of  other  impurities. 

We  are  producing  large  quantities  of  arsenical  dust,  which 
can  be  easily  refined  and  sold  direct  to  the  trade. 

Our  plant  is  located  in  the  centre  of  a  large  tract  of  land 
reserved  by  the  Provincial  Government,  with  whom  we  arranged, 


Metallurgical  Conditions  at  Cobalt.  333 

before  building,  to  continue  to  reserve  from  public  settlement  for 
at  least  ten  years,  for  the  special  purpose  of  fostering  industrial 
enterprises  of  public  importance. 

Our  ore  supply  from  Coleman  Township  will  last  ten  years. 
We  have  every  reason  to  believe  that,  at  the  expiration  of  that  time, 
the  mining  districts  tributary  to  the  Montreal  River  will  be  pro- 
ducing an  equal  tonnage  of  ore  of  somewhat  similar  character,  and 
a  much  larger  tonnage  of  copper  ores,  with  precious  metal  values 

The  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  will  shortly  extend  their  line 
north,  along  the  west  shore  of  Lake  Temiskaming,  and  within  the 
Reserve. 

We  are  supplied  with  compressed  air  power  at  $ per  horse 

power  per  annum. 

Electrical  power  will  be  worth  $ 

Sulphuric  acid  can  be  delivered  for  $ per  ton. 

Other  chemicals  can  be  obtained  at  reasonable  prices  in  the 
Niagara  Falls  region. 

We  are  producers,  not  refiners.  We  are  in  need  of  a  refinery 
near  our  smelter.     If  satisfactory  terms  can  be  arranged,  we  will 

contract  to  sell,  for  a  period  of years,  all  our  output,  consisting 

of  valuable  metals  in  various  furnace  products. 

general  summary 

The  possible  success  of  the  smelting  process  outlined  will 
depend  upon  certain  metallurgical  problems.  These  problems 
should  form  an  interesting  discussion.  Given  the  two  furnace 
charges  and  conditions  as  outlined: — 

(1)  Approximately  what  percentage  of  silver  should  be  re- 
covered in  the  cobalt  furnace 

(a)  In  matte'.' 

(b)  In  speiss? 

(2)  Approximately  what  percentage  of  silver  should  be  re- 
covered in  the  silver  furnace 

(a)  In  matte? 

(b)  In  speiss? 

(c)  In  metal? 


334  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

(3)  Given  a  certain  percentage  of  silver  extracted  in  the 
silver  furnace  as  metal,  and  another  percentage  in  the  cobalt-nickel 

speiss, 

How  much  additional  silver  will  be  absorbed  by  the  speiss  if 
copper  were  added  to  the  furnace  charge? 

(4)  Is  the  process  as  outlined  feasible? 

Personally  the  writer  is  not  at  present  prepared  to  say,  but 
the  important  issues  at  stake  would,  at  least,  seem  to  justify 
further  research  and  experiment. 


MINING  AT  COBALT. 

By  Frank  C.  Loring,  Mining  Engineer,  Toronto,  Ont. 
(Ottawa  Meeting,  1908.) 

This  is  an  effort  to  consider  the  Cobalt  silver  mining  district 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  miner  and  mine  operator.  No  attempt 
is  made  to  discuss  geology  and  its  relation  to  the  probable  future 
of  ore  bodies.  Able  men  have  examined  and  reported  upon  the 
geology  of  the  district  as  indicated  by  surface  exposure,  and  have 
furnished  valuable  and  accurate  information.  As  to  future 
probabilities  in  depth,  I  shall  not  express  an  opinion. 

It  is  common  knowledge  that  during  the  first  two  years  of 
mining  at  Cobalt,  but  one  object  was  in  view,  namely,  to  extract 
the  rich  ore  found  at  the  surface  as  quickly  and  with  as  little  ex- 
pense as  possible.  This  was  done  so  easily  that  extreme  extra- 
vagance in  mining  and  sorting  ore  was  practised,  the  result  being 
that  many  thousand  dollars  worth  of  silver  lie  buried  in  dumps, 
often  covered  with  waste,  which,  had  more  economic  methods 
been  adopted,  would  have  largely  increased  the  output  of  the 
district.  Many  of  the  mines  were  discovered  and  operated  by 
men  entirely  inexperienced  in  mining,  whose  sole  object  appeared 
to  be  to  secure  as  much  of  their  easily  won  fortune  with  the 
minimum  of  effort  and  without  in  any  way  providing  for  future 
contingencies  or  reverses.  Often,  little  or  no  assaying  was  done. 
If  the  silver  could  not  be  recognised,  the  ore  was  not  saved.  Not 
until  recently  has  any  especial  effort  been  made  toward  operation 
in  a  miner-like,  scientific  manner  or  toward  provision  for  future 
development  and  regular,  lasting  production. 

To  near  the  close  of  1906  the  total  value  of  machinery  in 
the  camp  probably  did  not  exceed  $100,000,  and  the  number  of 
feet  of  cross-cuts,  shafts,  and  like  work  of  a  strictly  prospecting 
character  was  probably  less  than  a  thousand.     With  two  or  three 


336  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

exceptions,  there  was  not  a  shaft  in  the  district  exceeding  100 
feet  in  depth.  Ore  extraction  by  means  of  open  cuts  and  under- 
hand stoping  was  almost  the  universal  practice,  nor  do  I  pretend 
to  say  but  what,  under  the  circumstances,  this  was  advisable. 
There  were  no  adequate  sorting  facilities,  the  ore  being  almost 
universally  sorted  either  where  shot  down,  or,  without  washing, 
at  dump;  all  the  fine  material  and  ore  not  easily  recognised  being 
thrown  upon  the  waste  dump  and  often  mixed  with,  or  covered  by, 
barren  country  rock. 

So  crude  was  the  method  adopted,  that  the  report  of 
one  mining  company,  while  showing  the  cost  of  production 
to  be  less  than  10%  of  the  value  of  ore  extracted,  made  no 
reference  to  the  fact  that  no  dead  work  had  been  done  and  no 
attempt  made  to  provide  ore  reserves.  The  natural  inevitable 
result  of  the  policy  of  this  company,  as  well  as  of  others,  was  that 
although  a  considerable  tonnage  had  been  extracted,  practically 
no  ore  was  blocked  out  in  the  mine,  there  were  no  reserves,  and 
future  probabilities  became  more  than  usual  an  uncertain 
quantity. 

Since  that  time  a  radical  change  has  slowly  but  surely  taken 
place.  Machinery  for  power,  hoisting,  pumping,  and  other  pur- 
poses, amounting  in  value  to  possibly  one  million  dollars  has  been 
installed.  Adequate  buildings  have  been  erected  at  a  majority 
of  the  mines  for  the  accommodation  of  men  and  staff.  Consider- 
able surface  and  subterranean  exploration  has  been  done  for  the 
purpose  of  developing  veins  already  known,  and  blocking  out  ore 
thereon;  searching  for  other  veins  and  obtaining  knowledge  as  to 
probability  of  continuance  of  ore  bodies  longitudinally  and  at 
depth;  the  result  being  that  in  mines  already  in  operation,  many- 
additional  veins  have  been  discovered  at  the  surface,  and  many 
blind  leads  have  been  cut  underground.  The  former  practice 
was,  that  as  soon  as  an  ore  body  pinched  or  became  lean,  it  wafe 
immediately  dropped  and  another  was  picked  up  and  mined  to  the 
same  condition;  the  result  being  an  impression  which  still  exists 
with  many,  that  ore  bodies  are  but  superficial  and  that  veins  havid 
no  lasting  qualities.  Where  so  many  rich  veins  of  little  width 
exist,  it  is  but  reasonable  to  assume  that  a  majority  have  slight 
extent;  but  there  was  little  positive  evidence  to  show  whether 
or  not  veins  continued  further  than  the  workings  indicated,  and 


Mixing  at  Cobalt.  337 


whether  or  not  at  some  other  depth,  pay  ore  recurred.  All  infor- 
mation was  negative  in  this  regard. 

Many  assumed,  and  some  probably  still  maintain,  that  the 
veins  consist  solely  of  the  rich  pay  streaks,  that  these  are  the  only 
evidence  of  Assuring,  and  that,  with  their  disappearance,  the 
entire  vein  ceases.  In  many  cases  this  assumption  is  correct, 
but  it  does  not  follow  that  there  are  no,  possibly  many,  exceptions. 
Use  ally  no  comparison  has  been  made  between  the  history  of  the 
Cobalt  district  and  that  of  other  mining  districts.  Had  there 
been,  the  fact  that  the  same  prediction  has  been  made  of  nearly 
every  other  mining  district  in  the  worM  might  have  modified  the 
positive  opinion  expressed.  Thus  to  particularize  this  same 
doubt  was  expressed  in  the  case  of  the  deep  gold  quartz  veins  of 
Colorado  and  California,  now  developed  in  some  instances  to  more 
than  two  thousand  feet  in  depth;  and  it  was  repeated  in  the  history 
of  Leadville,  New  South  Wales,  British  Columbia,  and  notably, 
Cripple  Creek  and  Goldfield.  There  is  no  more  common  error 
than  the  assumption  that  an  unqualified  negation  is  indicative 
of  conservatism.  True  conservatism,  while  often  admitting  lack 
of  knowledge,  is  prepared  to  weigh  any  evidence,  and  to  take  any 
reasonable  chance  to  obtain  definite  information. 

During  the  new  era,  the  limits  of  the  producing  area  have 
been  considerably  extended;  extensive  and  deeper  explorations 
have  been  made;  and  although  the  quantity  of  silver  sold  in  1907 
is  about  double  that  sold  in  1906,  the  amount  of  ore  available  for 
future  extraction  has  increased  enormously,  attributable  to  the 
fact  that  underhand  stoping  and  open  cut  work  have  been  largely 
supplanted  by  sinking  shafts,  driving  levels,  and  adopting  those 
methods  of  mining  generally  employed  elsewhere.  There  are  also 
notable  instances  of  discovery  of  rich  ore-chutes  not  coming  to 
the  surface,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Temiskaming,  McKinley-Darragh, 
Nova  Scotia,  Silver  Queen,  Foster,  O'Brien,  Coniagas,  Trethewey, 
City  of  Cobalt,  and  probably  other  properties;  sometimes  in  the 
same  rock  existing  at  the  surface,  and  again  with  change  in  for- 
mation. 

Nevertheless,  astonishingly  slight  effort  has  been  made 
toward  deep  exploration.  There  are  often  probably  excellent 
economic  reasons  why  this  has  not  been  done,  but  the  fact  re- 
mains that  there  is  no  mining  region  in  the  world  approaching 


338  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

the  production  of  the  Cobalt  district,  where— with  two  or  three 
notable  exceptions — such  slight  depth  has  been  explored  and 
where  so  little  effort  has  been  made  to  attain  positive  knowledge 
as  to  the  continuation  of  veins  and  recurrence  of  ore  bodies  to 
depth,  and  where  less  prospecting  by  means  of  cross-cuts  has 
been  done. 

On  one  property,  which  has  been  in  operation  from  the 
earliest  history  of  the  camp,  one  of  the  largest  producers,  upon 
which  a  considerable  number  of  veins  containing  rich  ore  have 
been  discovered,  the  greatest  depth  attained  by  any  workings 
does  not  exceed  140  feet,  and  this,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
upon  this  property  are  some  of  the  strongest  evidences  of  deep 
Assuring  to  be  seen  in  the  district.  It  would  seem  that  even  a 
large  amount  expended  in  sinking  at  least  one  deep  shaft  and 
driving  cross-cuts  at  various  points  therefrom,  even  though  the 
work  should  result  in  discovering  nothing  of  value,  would  be 
money  well  expended  because  of  the  information  obtained. 

None  claims  positive  knowledge  as  to  the  nature  or  extent 
of  the  geological  formation  below  the  surface.  The  geology  of 
that  region  is  acknowledged  as  exceedingly  complex.  Deep 
exploration  either  by  means  of  shafts  or  by  borings,  might,  to 
some  extent,  solve  this  problem  and  might  result  in  the  admission 
that  there  is  at  least  a  fighting  chance  that  pay  ore  would  recur 
at  various  horizons,  or  with  change  in  country  rock. 

Some  of  the  veins  show  a  width  of  region  of  movement  or 
fracturing  of  several  feet  with  comparatively  well  denned  walls; 
and  although  between  these  walls,  material  is  usually  largely  the 
same  as  that  of  the  country  rock,  there  is  often  a  series  of  parallel 
faces  or  cracks,  distinguishing  it  from  the  structure  of  the  country 
rock.  In  these  veins  the  streaks  of  calcite  and  ore  are  simply  a 
secondary  and  minor  incident.  Occasionally  the  entire  material 
between  walls  is  silver  shot,  containing  leaves  of  silver  both  vertical 
and  horizontal,  there  being  no  silver  found  beyond  the  extreme 
walls.  These  fissures  sometimes  extend  to  a  considerable  dis- 
tance, and  are  probably  deep,  and  are  known  to  maintain  their 
strength  in  some  instances  through  varying  formations.  If  they 
are  followed,  probably  at  some  point,  either  with  change  of  for- 
mation or  perhaps  in  the  same  formation,  pay  ore  will  be  en- 
countered.    There  are  also  a  number  of  zones  of  weakness  and 


Mining  \t  Cobalt.  :;:>'.» 


faulting  which  contain  more  than  one  of  these  veins  and  often 
many  minor  cracks.  On  the  Nipissing  is  a  zone  upon  which 
exist  a  number  of  its  principal  ore  producing  veins,  and  which 
is  known  for  more  than  a  mile  in  length.  The  La  Rose-Cobalt 
Lake-MeKinley-Darragh  system  of  veins  is  probably  a  second. 
Another  exists  on  the  Coniagas,  Trethewey,  and  adjoining  Nipis- 
sing  and  Amalgamated  Cobalt  territory.  The  north-easterly, 
south-westerly  veins  on  the  Lawson,  Foster  and  University  are 
on  another  zone,  and  there  are  undoubtedly  a  number  of  others  in 
the  district.  These  are  worthy  of  deep  exploration  with  a  pro- 
bability of  success,  but  so  long  as  the  common  policy  holds  of 
dissipating  available  funds  in  dividends,  rather  than  as  elsewhere, 
providing  for  development,  Cobalt  will  never  attain  its  true 
position  as  a  permanent  producer. 

The  average  value  of  ore  marketed  is  something  over  600 
ounces  silver  per  ton.  There  are  great  extremes  of  value,  ranging 
from  six  thousand  ounces  or  even  more  in  carload  lots,  down  to 
less  than  one  hundred  ounces  a  ton,  but  the  margin  of  profit  on 
the  lower  grade  ore  is  so  small  on  account  of  expense  of  trans- 
portation and  treatment  that  to  attempt  to  dispose  of  it  at 
present  would  be  injudicious  and  extravagant. 

Aside  from  ore  marketed,  there  are  in  the  dumps,  many  times 
as  many  tons  carrying  from  20  to  100  ounces  silver,  which  are  not 
a  present  source  of  revenue. 

During  the  past  six  months,  three  concentrating  plants  have 
been  erected,  and  are  now,  it  is  reported,  in  successful  operation. 
Two  other  plants — for  custom  work — are  being  erected,  while 
other  mines  also  are  considering  the  adoption  of  concentration. 
Undoubtedly  nearly  all  of  the  principal  mines  will  eventually 
employ  concentration  as  a  necessary  factor  in  operation.  Par- 
tially successful  effort  has  been  made  to  find  markets  for  cobalt. 
Arsenic  may  in  time  be  another  source  of  profit.  These  metals 
should  eventually  materially  add  to  the  revenue  of  the  district. 

With  proper  attention  given  to  systematic  development  and 
provision  for  the  future,  with  concentration  adopted  when  pos- 
sible, with  a  market  for  all  of  the  metals  mined,  and  with  the  cost 
of  transportation  and  reduction  reduced  to  a  minimum,  there  is  a 
strong  probability  that  Cobalt  will  enjoy  a  long  and  prosperous 
era  of  production. 


METHODS  OF  CONCENTRATION  AT  COBALT,  ONTARIO. 

By  Geo.  E.  Sancton. 

(Cobalt  Branch  Meeting,  May,  1908.) 

At  the  present  time  there  are  three  concentrators  in  active 
operation  in  the  Cobalt  Camp;  namely,  those  at  the  Buffalo,  the 
Cobalt  Central  and"  Coniagas  Mines.  In  addition  has  been  estab- 
lished an  experimental  mill  at  the  McKinley-Darragh-Savage 
Mines  of  Cobalt,  not  at  present  in  use,  and  theMuggley  concentrator, 
a  customs  mill,  which  is  not  yet  in  readiness  for  operation.  All  of 
these  plants  are  wet  concentrators,  in  contradistinction  to  those  in 
which  the  ore  is  concentrated  in  a  perfectly  dry  state.  Of  this 
latter  class  of  mill  there  is  one  in  the  camp — a  custom  concen- 
trator which  has  not  yet  been  put  into  service. 

In  a  great  many  respects  all  of  the  three  first  mentioned  mills 
employ  the  same  method  of  treating  the  ores  from  the  mines.  The 
veins  in  the  camp  being  comparatively  narrow,  none  of  the  mines 
are  able  to  so  mine  their  ore  that  the  underground  work  is  done  in 
vein  matter  only.  At  the  mines  in  which  the  concentrators  are 
installed,  it  is  the  custom  to  make  in  the  mine  a  rough  separation 
of  the  high  grade  ore  from  the  rest  of  the  material.  This  high 
grade  ore  is  hoisted  to  the  surface  and  sacked,  as  on  account  of  its" 
richness  it  needs  no  concentration.  The  remainder  of  the  material 
is  composed  of  a  mixture  of  high  grade  ore,  rock  and  ore  of  low 
values,  and  is  hoisted  and  sent  to  the  mill  without  any  further 
picking  or  sorting.  From  this  point  the  methods  of  treatment 
vary  slightly  in  the  different  mills.  The  following  is  an  outline  of 
the  manner  in  which  the  ores  are  concentrated  in  the  three  mills 
which  are  now  working,  and  of  the  proposed  method  of  treatment 
at  the  Muggley  concentrator. 


Methods  of  Concentration  at  Cobalt  341 


THE    BUFFALO    MINE 

The  ore  to  be  concentrated  is  lifted  from  the  underground 
working  to  a  trestle, from  which  it  is  trammed  directly  in. over  the 
main  ore  bin,  at  the  highest  point  in  the  mill,  and  dumped  over  a 
1"  space  grizzly,  which  removes  some  of  the  fine  material,  which 
it  is  unnecessary  to  pass  through  the  coarse  crusher.  Passing 
through  the  main  crusher,  which  is  a  6  x  20  Blake  set  to  reduce  ore 
to  about  I"  size,  the  ore  is  elevated  to  a  revolving  trommel  fitted 
with  three  sets  of  screens.  These  screens  are  of  perforated  metal 
with  f,  \  and  \"  holes  respectively.  Oversize  from  the  f  screen 
and  the  product  of  the  1"  grizzly  pass  on  to  the  fine  rolls,  which 
are  spring  rolls  20"  dia.  by  20"  face.  The  material  under  §  and 
over  Y  and  the  material  under  \"  and  over  \"  is  treated  separately 
on  3  compartment  Hartz  jigs.  The  material  under  \"  passes  over 
an  impact  screen  fitted  with  20  mesh  wire  screen,  the  product  over 
the  screen  going  to  a  third  Hartz  jig  and  the  fines  through  the 
screen  going  to  cone  settler  and  thence  to  a  Wilfley  table.  The 
middlings  from  this  Wilfley  table  are  returned  to  the  table  ;the  tail- 
ings are  split  up,  the  coarser  portion  being  treated  on  a  Deister 
slime  table. 

The  tailings  from  all  the  jigs  feed,into  a  six  foot  Chilian  mill 
ami  are  reduced  so  as  to  pass  through  a  20  mesh  slotted  screen.  The 
product  of  the  Chilian  mill  passes  over  an  impact  screen  fitted  with 
80  mesh  wire  screen,  which  removes  the  greater  portion  of  the 
slimes,  to  be  treated  on  a  Deister  slime  table.  The  material  which 
passes  over  the  80  mesh  screen  is  fed  on  to  four  Deister  tables,  the 
tails  from  which,  being  of  low  value,  go  to  the  dump.  These  tails 
may  later  on  be  further  treated  by  the  cyanide  process  if  sufficient 
silver  remains  in  them  to  warrant  it.  At  the  present  time  about 
40-50  tons  of  ore  are  being  treated  per  twenty-four  hours,  the 
capacity  of  the  mill  being  limited  by  the  fine  rolls.  With  fine  rolls 
of  greater  capacity  the  mill  would  handle  over  75  tons  per  twenty- 
four  hours,  provided  more  concentrating  tables  were  installed  also. 
The  amount  of  ore  treated  in  a  given  time  varies  greatly,  as  ores 
from  some  parts  of  the  mine  will  go  through  the  mill  much  more 
quickly  than  ores  from  other  parts.  A  Corliss  engine  of  150  h.p.  is 
used  in  driving  the  machinery. 


342  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


THE  COBALT  CENTRAL  MINE 

The  ore  is  trammed  directly  from  the  mouth  of  the  shaft  to  a 
large  bin  from  which  the  main  crusher,  a  10"  x  20"  Blake,  is  fed, 
the  crusher  discharging  directly  into  the  mill  bin.  From  the  mill 
bin  the  ore  is  fed  by  a  plunger  feeder  to  the  roughing  rolls,  42" 
diameter  by  14"  face,  from  which  the  ore  is  elevated  to  a  2  mesh 
trommel.  The  oversize  from  this  trommel  is  returned  to  an  over- 
size bin.  When  a  sufficient  quantity  of  oversize  accumulates  in 
this  bin,  the  feed  from  the  mill  bin  is  shut  off  and  the  material  from 
the  oversize  bin  is  fed  into  the  large  roughing  rolls.  The  material 
passing  through  the  2  mesh  trommel  goes  on  to  a  No.  1  centripact 
screen  fitted  with  8  mesh  screen  cloth.  The  oversize  from  No.  1 
centripact  screen  is  treated  on  two  Hartz  jigs; the  tails  from  the 
first  are  dewatered  and  reground  by  10"  x  32"  finishing  rolls,  and 
the  tails  from  the  second  are  recrushed  by  14"  x  30"  rolls,  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  two  sets  of  rolls  uniting  and  being  carried  by  a  7  x  12 
elevator  to  the  No.  2  centripact  screen  fitted  with  six  mesh  wire 
screens.  This  product,  previous  to  being  elevated,  passes  through 
dewatering  screens  to  remove  excess  of  water.  The  oversize  from 
No.  3  centripact  screen  passes  to  one  of  these  dewatering  screens 
previous  to  being  reground  by  the  14"  x  30"  rolls.  The  undersize 
from  both  the  No.  1  centripact  and  the  No.  2  centripacts  feed  on  to 
No.  3  centripact  screen,  which  is  fitted  with  No.  16  wire  screening. 
The  oversize  from  this  screen  is  reground  in  the  10"  x  32"  rolls,  the 
material  under  16  mesh  meets  the  water  from  the  dewatering 
screens  and  goes  to  two  20"  hydraulic  classifiers  and  the  sands 
from  these  classifiers  are  treated  on  four  James  tables.  The  over- 
flow is  settled  in  two  Callow  settlers  and  the  thickened  pulp  is 
treated  on  two  other  James  tables.  The  overflow  from  the  Callow 
settlers,  being  practically  clear  water,  goes  to  waste.  The  mid- 
dlings from  all  six  James  tables  are  re-treated  on  the  7th  James 
table;  the  tails  from  which,  being  of  low  value,  go  to  the  dump. 

The  mill,  with  average  ore,  is  capable  of  handling  about  50-60 
tons  per  twenty-four  hours.  Of  the  values  extracted  about  70% 
are  recovered  by  the  jigs.  In  this  mill  all  the  fine  grinding  is  done 
by  rolls,  the  10"  x  32"  rolls  being  set  to  crush  to  not  over  16  mesh. 
The  James  tables  are  designed  to  also  handle  any  slimes  settling 
on  a  section  of  the  table,  which  is  left  smooth  and  practically  flat. 


Methods  of  Concentration  at  Cobalt  343 

On  this  section  of  the  table  most  of  the  values  in  the  slimes  are 
extracted.  There  is,  however,  very  little  work  for  this  part  of  the 
table  to  do  and  the  quantity  saved  on  it  is  not  great.  On  the 
average  the  tails  from  the  James  table  run  not  over  four  to  five 
ounces  per  ton.  This  mill  is  also  driven  by  a  125  h.p.  Corliss 
engine. 

THE    CONIAGAS    MINE 

The  ore  will  eventually  be  raised  from  the  mine  in  a  skip  and 
dumped  directly  into  the  mill  storage  bin  through  a  long  chute. 
Ore  is  first  crushed  in  a  10  x  16  crusher,  elevated,  passed  over  a 
grizzly,  recrushed  by  a  7  x  13  crusher  and  discharged  into  a 
storage  bin.     From  this  storage  bin  the  ore  is  reduced  to  £"  by  No. 

1  rolls  and  elevated  to  No.  1  trommel,  which  has  £"  and  5/16" 
perforated  steel  screens.  The  oversize  is  returned  to  Xo.  1  rolls, 
which  are  10  x  30;  the  oversize  from  the  5/16  and  under  \"  goes  to 
two  sets  of  Hartz  jigs,  the  tailings  from  which  are  recrushed  in  X". 

2  rolls.  The  undersize  from  the  5/16  screen  goes  to  No.  3  trommel 
fitted  with  3  millimeter  screens.  The  oversize  from  this  trommel 
goes  to  fine  jigs,  the  tails  from  which  go  to  a  5'  Huntington  mill 
fitted  with  about  20  mesh  slotted  screens.     The  product  from  the 

3  m.m.  trommel,  less  than  3  m.m.,  is  classified,  the  sands  being 
treated  on  a  Wilfley  table  and  the  slimes  on  a  Frue  vanner.  The 
tails  from  the  vanner  also  go  to  the  Huntington  mill.  The  tailings 
from  the  coarse  jigs,  after  being  recrushed  in  the  No.  2  rolls,  which 
are  also  10  x  30,  are  elevated  to  No.  2  trommel,  which  is  fitted  with 
Y  and  \"  perforated  metal  screens.  The  oversize  returns  to  No.  '_' 
rolls;  the  product  over  \"  and  under  \"  is  ground  in  a  ball  mill 
fitted  with  about  20  mesh  screen.  The  product  from  the  trommel, 
which  is  under  \",  goes  to  the  No.  3  trommel  previously  mentioned. 
The  materials  from  the  Huntington  mill  and  from  the  ball  mill, 
crushed  to  20  mesh  and  finer,  unite  and  go  to  a  classifier,  the 
coarser  product  from  which  is  treated  on  four  No.  2  Deister  tables. 
The  tailings  from  the  Deisters  go  to  waste,  the  middlings  being 
re-treated  on  a  Wilfley  table.  The  overflow  from  the  classifier  goes 
to  a  Callow  settling  tank  and  the  thickened  pulp  is  treated  on  a 
Frue  vanner.  This  mill  is  driven  by  a  Robb  engine  of  about  100 
h.p.  capacity. 


344  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

the  muggley  concentrator. 

Ore  to  be  concentrated  will  be  taken  up  the  incline  tramway 
to  the  top  of  the  mill  and  fed  into  a  No.  4  style  K.  Gates  crusher. 
From  the  crusher  the  ore  will  be  fed  into  a  set  of  Gates  economic 
rolls,  which  crush  to  £ "  and  under.  The  ore  will  then  pass  over 
a  screen  with  1J"  openings  and  go  to  a  two  compartment  bull  jig. 
The  tails  from  the  bull  jig  will  be  elevated  and  discharged  by  a 
belt  elevator  to  the  ore  bins  from  which  they  will  be  fed  by  Chal- 
lenge feeders  to  twenty  1,250  pound  stamps.  The  mortars  will 
be  fitted  with  screens  approx.  of  20  mesh  and  the  stamped  material 
will  be  elevated  to  Richards  annular  vortex  classifiers.  The 
spigot  product  will  be  treated  on  four  Wilfley  tables,  the  overflow 
going  to  two  8'  callow  tanks.  The  tails  from  the  Wilfleys  will  be 
re-treated  if  found  of  sufficient  value.  The  thickened  material 
from  the  callow  tanks  will  be  treated  on  corrugated  belt  vanners, 
the  tails  from  which  will  unite  with  the  middlings  from  the  Wilfley 
tables  and  go  to  8'  settling  tanks.  The  sands  from  the  settling 
tanks  will  go  to  8'  amalgam  pans  and  to  four  8'  settlers.  The  amal- 
gam will  be  retorted  and  the  tails  let  go  to  waste.  It  is  estimated 
that  the  complete  cost  of  treating  ores  in  this  mill  will  be  from 
$4.00  to  $12.00  per  ton.  It  may  be  found  necessary  to  roast  the 
ore  previous  to  amalgamation,  and  if  this  is  done  it  will  likely  reduce 
the  cost  of  treatment. 

When  the  subject  of  the  treatment  of  Cobalt  ores  was  first  con- 
sidered, the  main  difficulty  was  thought  to  lie  in  the  prevention  of 
the  crushed  material  from  sliming,  the  general  opinion  being  that 
the  ore  would  slime  to  such  an  extent  that  the  loss  of  values  in  the 
slimes  would  be  very  excessive,  while  the  actual  process  of  redu- 
cing the  ore  to  a  fine  state  was  not  considered  as  being  a  very  im- 
portant one.  B.ut  as  a  matter  of  fact  this  order  has  been  practically 
reversed,  as  there  appears  to  be  no  great  trouble  in  getting  a  good 
extraction,  though  the  actual  fine  grinding  of  the  material  has 
proved  a  problem  of  great  importance.  The  coarser  reductions 
give  little  trouble,  as  the  material  breaks  along  its  fractures  and, 
furthermore,  accurate  crushing  to  size  is  not  altogether  important. 
When  it  comes  to  the  fine  grinding,  the  rock  is  particularly  difficult 
to  reduce.     The  small  particles  seem  to  be  exceptionally  hard  and 


Methods  of  Concentration    \t  Cobalt  345 

the  wear  on  the  rolls  shells,  or  Chilian  mill  tyres,  as  the  case  may  be, 
is  very  great,  grooving  taking  place  to  such  an  extent  that  the 
capacity  of  the  machines  in  the  case  of  the  Chilian  mills  and  the 
capability  to  give  a  fine  product  in  the  case  of  the  rolls  is  greatly 
reduced. 

In  connection  with  the  fine  grinding  there  is  one  mill,  the 
erection  of  which  is  contemplated,  in  which  it  is  proposed  to  use 
stamps.  This  method  has  much  to  recommend  it.  The  cost  per 
ton  of  ore  crushed  would  not  likely  exceed  30  to  40  cents  per  ton, 
and  this  we  do  not  think  can  be  bettered  by  either  fine  grinding 
with  a  series  of  rolls  or  with  Chilian  or  Huntington  mills.  To 
drive  either  of  these  machines  a  much  greater  horse  power  is  re- 
quired and  the  upkeep  is  more  expensive  both  for  parts  and  the 
amount  of  labour  required  to  keep  the  machines  in  order.  Half  a 
day's  work  on  a  small  stamp  battery  putting  in  new  liners  and 
refitting  with  new  shoes  and  dies  will  make  the  battery  practically 
as  good  as  new.  To  overhaul  a  Chilian  or  Huntington  mill  thor- 
oughly would  probably  take  over  a  week  at  the  least.  Some  silver 
would  no  doubt  accumulate  in  the  mortar  boxes,  but  this  would 
be  no  serious  disadvantage  as  it  could  be  easily  and  quickly  cleared 
out  as  often  as  was  found  necessary. 

The  assertion  has  been  made  recently  by  one  of  the  mine 
operators  in  Cobalt  that  stamps  have  no  place  in  a  concentrator. 
This  statement,  in  the  writer's  opinion,  is  very  broad  and  possibly 
rash  in  view  of  the  number  of  stamps  working  with  apparent 
success  in  many  parts  of  the  world.  His  statement,  it  is  under- 
stood, covered  milling  in  general  and  not  only  the  reduction  of 
Cobalt  ores.  The  success  of  stamps  in  general  as  a  crushing  me- 
dium has  been  well  shown  at  the  Michigan  Copper  Company  and 
other  properties  in  the  Lake  Country.  For  the  fine  crushing  in 
connection  with  the  treatment  of  the  jig  tailings  on  tables,  we 
think  that  stamps  will  ultimately  prove  to  be  the  best  device. 

The  treatment  of  the  tailings  from  the  concentrating  tables 
from  the  various  mills  by  the  cyanide  process  is  a  matter  which  is 
open  to  a  large  amount  of  discussion.  In  Mexico  this  has  certainly 
proved  a  success,  but  the  conditions  in  that  country  are  much 
more  favourable  than  those  in  this  district.  Unless  the  tailings 
carry  much  higher  values  than  is  said  to  be  the  case,  it  will  require 
very  cheap  treatment  to  justify  the  installation  of  the  cyanide 


346  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

plants  for  the  treatment  of  tailings  solely.  In  Mexico  the  climatic 
conditions  are  more  suitable,  and  the  cheapness  of  labour  also 
beai's  a  strong  influence  on  the  success  of  the  process.  There  the 
operations  are  largely  in  the  hands  of  mining  engineers  from  the 
Rand,  who,  having  seen  the  great  success  of  cyaniding  in  South 
Africa,  have  carried  their  ideas  to  Mexico,  and  introduced  them 
there  in  the  treatment  of  silver  ores. 

In  the  Republic  Camp,  in  Washington,  they  are  treating  an 
ore  in  which  the  values  of  silver  and  gold  are  about  the  same.  It 
is  found  that  the  gold  is  easily  leached  out,  but  that  the  recovery 
of  the  silver  is  a  matter  of  three  or  four  days. 

The  actual  extraction  that  would  ultimately  be  made  on  the 
tailings  here  in  Cobalt  by  the  cyanide  process  is  not  questioned, 
but  it  will  be  at  the  expense  of  a  large  consumption  of  cyanide  and 
the  leaching  out  will  be  very  slow  on  account  of  the  comparatively 
large  pieces  of  silver — large  by  comparison  with  the  minute  state 
in  which  gold  is  disseminated  through  the  low  grade  ores  in  the 
Rand — which  will  require  to  be  dissolved.  At  a  great  many  of 
the  mines  in  Cobalt,  chalcopyrite  is  found  to  some  extent  and  it 
would  all  mix  with  the  ore  going  to  the  mills.  This,  when  it  finally 
reached  the  cyanide  tanks,  would  tend  to  increase  the  consumption 
of  cyanide.  The  question,  however,  of  the  actual  success  of  the 
cyanide  treatment  here  will  largely  depend  on  whether  the  tailings 
are  sufficiently  rich  to  stand  the  cost  of  treatment. 

In  connection  with  the  primary  crushing  of  the  rock  in  most 
of  the  mills  now  running,  and  in  most  of  the  mills  whose  erection 
is  contemplated,  the  Blake  type  of  crusher  seems  to  be  preferred 
in  preference  to  the  gyratory  crusher.  In  the  Blake  crusher 
the  wear  is  practically  confined  to  two  points,  that  is  to 
say,  at  the  lower  ends  of  the  jaw  and  wearing  plates.  For  this 
reason  the  plates  must  be  frequently  renewed.  In  the  gyratory 
crusher  the  wear  is  distributed  over  a  far  greater  surface  and  the 
renewal  of  the  concaves  and  the  mantles  is  not  necessary  to  the 
same  degree.  For  a  given  amount  of  ore  crushed  the  power  taken 
is  less;  and,  furthermore, the  crusher  head  having  a  circular  motion 
in  contrast  to  the  reciprocating  motion  of  the  jaw  in  the  jaw  crusher, 
the  strain  on  the  supports  for  the  gyratory  is  not  nearly  so  great; 
and  in  case  where  the  crusher  is  located  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
mill  building  the  shaking  and  vibration  due  to  the  crusher  is  far 


Mkthods  of  Concentration  at  Cobalt  347 


less.  This  would  enable  the  upper  portion  of  a  mill  building  to  1  e 
made  lighter,  as  it  would  not  have  to  be  so  strongly  braced  to  hold 
the  crusher  from  oscillating. 

For  treating  the  Cobalt  ores  the  simplest  form  of  mill  would 
first  crush  the  ore  to  about  \"  size  in  a  Gates  crusher.  This 
product  would  then  be  passed  over  a  bull  jig,  which  to  a  great  ex- 
tent would  displace  the  need  of  hand  sorting.  These  tailings 
would  then  be  crushed  with  rolls,  roughly  sized  and  treated  on  two 
jigs.  The  tailings  from  these  jigs  would  then  go  to  the  stamps, 
so  arranged  that  any  of  the  tailings  which  were  not  of  sufficient 
value  to  treat  could  be  run  directly  to  waste.  The  silver  which 
accumulates  in  the  mortars  could  be  removed  periodically,  and 
the  product  after  leaving  the  stamps,  treated  on  Wilfley  or  other 
suitable  tables  and  corrugated  belt  vanners.  As  the  actual  ton- 
nage of  concentrates  produced  would  be  comparatively  small,  it 
might  be  found  profitable  to  treat  these  concentrates  in  amal- 
gamating pans  fitted  with  mullers  for  grinding.  This  would  amal- 
gamate a  large  amount  of  the  native  silver  and  the  amalgam  could 
be  retorted  and  the  bullion  shipped.  The  concentrates  from 
which  most  of  native  silver  would  be  removed  could  then  be  shipped 
to  the  smelters  and  their  treatment  would  cost  far  less  than  if  the 
original  concentrates  had  been  shipped. 

In  this  scheme  very  little  mechanical  screening  is  used,  only 
a  coarse  sizing  for  the  jigs  being  made.  Xo  fine  jigging  would  be 
attempted  on  account  of  the  leanness  of  the  material; it  would  be 
better  to  allow  the  finer  material  to  go  direct  to  the  stamps.  Attri- 
tion of  the  small  pieces  might  also  be  an  objection  to  fine  jigging. 
The  extensive  use  of  trommels,  screens  and  other  mechanical  sizers, 
would  add  greatly  to  the  costs  of  the  upkeep  of  the  mill  as  there  is 
usually  a  great  amount  of  wear  attached  to  machines  of  this  class. 
On  account  of  the  hardness  of  the  ore  milled,  the  best  and  heaviest 
machinery  on  the  market  would  be,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  the 
cheapest  in  the  end. 


')<&■ 


MINERALS  AND  ORES  OF  NORTHERN  CANADA. 

By  J.  B.  Tyrrell,  Toronto,  Ontario. 

(Ottawa  Meeting,  March,  1908.) 

About  twenty-one  years  ago  the  late  Dr.  George  M.  Dawson 
published  a  paper  in  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Geological  Survey 
of  Canada  for  1886,  entitled  "  Notes  to  accompany  a  Geological 
Map  of  the  northern  portion  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  east  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,"  which  contained  a  synopsis  of  the  infor- 
mation at  that  time  available  on  the  geology  and  mineral  resources 
of  northern  Canada.  Attached  to  the  paper  is  a  coloured 
geological  map  depicting  in  graphic  form  the  information  collected 
together  in  the  "Notes." 

In  the  summer  of  1897,  nearly  eleven  years  ago,  I  read  a 
paper  at  the  Toronto  Meeting  of  the  British  Association,  on  the 
"  Natural  Resources  of  the  Barren  Lands  of  Canada,"  in  which, 
among  other  things,  a  summary  was  given  of  the  information  then 
at  hand  of  the  known  deposits  of  valuable  or  useful  minerals  in 
the  more  remote  and  inaccessible  parts  of  the  Dominion,  west  of 
Hudson  Bay. 

The  time  may  not  be  inopportune  to  again  review  our  know- 
ledge of  the  mineral  resources  of  northern  Canada,  including 
under  that  designation,  not  only  the  Barren  Lands,  but  in  a  general 
way  all  those  parts  of  the  country  which  are  north  of,  and  remote 
from,  the  main  lines  of  transportation. 

It  is  thought  that  such  a  review  may  be  interesting  and  use- 
ful to  the  mining  men  of  Canada,  and  may  form  a  useful  record 
in  the  Journal  of  the  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

No  attempt  at  originality  is  here  made.  Many  of  the  state- 
ments offered  have  already  been  recorded  in  the  two  papers  above 
mentioned,  but  some  additional  information,  which  has  been  ob- 
tained in  the  past  ten  years  has  been  added. 

In  such  a  review  it  is  not  necessary  to  include  the  gold  fields 
of  the  Klondike,  or  the  silver  mines  of  the  Cobalt  district  of 
Northern  Ontario,  as  those  have  already  been  very  fully  discussed 


No.  1.  Red  Conglomerate  on  the  shore  of  Dubawnt  Lake. 


No.  2.  Cliff  of  red  Conglomerate  <>n  the  shore  <>i    Dubawnl  Lake. 


Minerals  and  Ores  of  Northern  Canada.  :U9 

in  other  places,  and  besides  they  do  not  come  under  the  head  of 
undeveloped  minerals  and  ores  which  are  here  alone  referred 
to,  although  there  may  be  large  areas  in  their  vicinity  in  which 
future  development  will  produce  good  rich  mines. 

Northern  Canada,  as  here  roughly  understood  and  designated, 
is  very  largely  underlain  by  rocks  belonging  to  the  very  old  geo- 
logical formations,  most  of  which  were  included  under  what  has 
been  known  as  the  Archaean  Complex,  a  mixture  of  igneous  rocks 
and  highly  altered  sediments  melted  and  folded  together  in  a  very 
intricate  manner.  Underlying  these  more  or  less  crystalline  rocks 
are,  in  places,  much  less  altered  and  often  nearly  horizontal  Cam- 
brian, Cambro-Silurian  and  Devonian  sediments,  while  in  the 
Arctic  Islands  the  Carboniferous  rocks,  with  thick  beds  of  coal, 
are  conspicuous  and  widely  distributed. 

The  jecent  separation  of  the  Keewatin  and  Huronian  rocks 
throughout  the  northern  United  States  and  the  better  known 
parts  of  southern  Canada,  has  not  been  carried  out  or  attempted 
for  northern  Canada,  and  therefore  with  some  few  exceptions 
these  formations  will  be  considered  together. 

Dr.  G.  M.  Dawson,  in  referring  to  the  Huronian  (including 
Keewatin)  formation  writes  as  follows: 

"The  distribution  of  the  Huronian  is  important  from  an  eco- 
nomic point  of  view,  on  account  of  its  generally  metalliferous 
character,  which  may  eventually  give  value  to  tracts  of  country 
in  which  the  rigorous  nature  of  the  climate  entirely  precludes  the 
possibility  of  agriculture."* 

And  also  "There  can  now  be  very  little  doubt  that  every 
square  mile  of  the  Huronian  formation  of  Canada  will  sooner  or 
later  become  an  object  of  interest  to  the  prospector,  and  that 
industries  of  considerable  importance  may  yet  be  planted  upon 
this  formation  in  districts  far  to  the  north,  or  for  other  reasons 
at  present  regarded  as  barren  and  useless."! 

Gold. 

It  may  not  be  generally  known  that  gold  mining  is  one  of  the 
first,  if  it  is  not  actually  the  first  industry  started  in  Canada. 

In  1576.  a  quarter  of  a  century  before  Samuel  de  Champlain 

*C,oo\.  8XJ.  vol.  2.  p.  7  R. 
■  S.C.,  vol.  8,  J',  l-  \ 


350  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

first  saw  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  Martin  Frobisher,  one  of  the  great 
navigators  of  the  Elizabethan  era,  sailed  north-westward  from 
London,  in  search  of  a  north-west  passage  to  Cathay,  and  discovered 
Frobisher  Bay  on  the  east  side  of  Baffin  Island,  north  of  Hudson 
Strait. 

The  account  of  Frobisher's  three  voyages  to  Frobisher  Bay  is 
given  by  Sir  John  Barrow  in  "  A  Chronological  History  of  Voyages 
into  the  Arctic  Regions,  London,  1818,"  and  a  few  extracts  from 
this  book  will  indicate  something  of  the  work  then  done,  and  the 
success  or  failure  which  attended  it. 

Among  the  various  articles  which  Frobisher  brought  back  to 
England  was  a  piece  of  stone  "  much  like  to  a  sea  cole  in  colour." 
"  A  piece  of  this  black  stone  being  given  to  one  of  the  adventurers' 
wives,  by  chance  she  threw  it  into  the  fire;  and  whether  from 
accident  or  curiosity,  having  quenched  it  while  hot  with  vinegar, 
it  glistened  with  a  bright  marquesset  of  gold.  The  noise  of  this 
incident  was  soon  spread  abroad,  and  the  stone  was  assayed  by 
the  '  gold  finers  of  London,'  who  reported  that  it  contained  a 
considerable  quantity  of  gold.  A  new  voyage  was  immediately 
set  on  foot  for  the  following  year,  in  which  'the  captaine  was  speci- 
ally directed  by  commission  for  the  searching  of  more  of  this 
gold  ore  than  for  the  searching  any  further  discovery  of  the 
passage.'  "* 

"  Frobisher  was  now  openly  countenanced  by  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, and  on  taking  leave  had  the  honour  of  kissing  her  Majesty's 
hand,  who  dismissed  him  '  with  gracious  countenance  and  comfort- 
able words.' .  He  was,  besides,  furnished  with  one  '  toll  ship  of 
her  Majesty's,  named  the  Ayde,  of  nine-score  tunnes  or  there- 
abouts; and  two  other  little  barkes  likewise,  the  one  called  the 
Gabriel,  and  the  other  the  Michael,'  these  two  vessels  were  about 
thirty  tons  each.  On  the  27th  of  May,  (1577)  having  received 
the  sacrament,  and  prepared  themselves  '  as  good  christians  toward 
God,  and  resolute  men  for  all  fortunes,  they  left  Gravesend. 

"  They  arrived  off  the  north  foreland,  otherwise  Hall's  Island, 
so  called  after  the  man  who  had  picked  up  the  golden  ore,  and  who 
was  now  master  of  the  Gabriel. 

"They  proceeded  some  distance  up  the  strait,  when,  on  the 


*A   Chron.    Hist,    of   Voyages    into   the  Arctic  Regions,  by   (Sir)    John 
Barrow,  London,  1818,  p.  84. 


Minerals  and  Ores  of  Northern  Canada.  351 

1Mb  of  July,  the  general  taking  the  gold-finers  with  him,  lain  Id  I 
near  the  spot  where  the  ore  had  been  picked  up,  but  could  not 
find  in  the  whole  island  'a  piece  so  bigge  as  a  walnut.'  But  all 
the  neighbouring  islands  are  stated  to  have  good  store  of  the  ore. 
They  then  landed  on  Hall's  greater  island,  where  they  also  found 
a  great  quantity  of  the  ore. 

"They  now  stood  over  to  the  southern  shore  of  Frobisher*s 
Strait  (Bay)  and  landed  on  a  small  island  with  the  gold  finers  to 
search  for  ore;  and'  here  all  the  sands  and  cliffs  did  so  glisten  and 
had  so  bright  a  marquesite  that  it  seemed  all  to  be  gold,  but 
upon  tryall  made  it  proved  no  better  than  black-lead,  and  verified 
the  proverbe — all  is  not  gold  that  glisteneth.' 

"Another  small  island,  which  they  named  Smith's  Island, 
they  found  a  mine  of  silver,  and  four  sorts  of  ore  'to  holde  gold  in 
good  quantitie.' 

"  Ajb  the  season  was  far  advanced,  and  the  general's  commis- 
sion directed  him  to  search  for  gold  ore,  and  to  defer  the  further 
discovery  of  the  passage  till  another  time,  they  set  about  the  load- 
ing of  the  ships,  and  in  the  space  of  twenty  days,  with  the  help 
of  a  few  gentlemen  and  soldiers,  got  on  board  about  two  hundred 
tons  of  ore.  On  the  22nd  of  August,  after  making  bonfire  on 
the  highest  summit  on  this  island,  and  firing  a  volley  for  a  farewell 
'in  honour  of  the  right  Honourable  Lady  Anne,  Countess  of  War- 
wicke.  whose  name  it  beareth.'  they  set  sail  homewards,  and  after 
a  stormy  passage,  they  all  arrived  safe  in  different  ports  of  Great 
Britain,  with  the  loss  only  of  one  man  by  sickness  and  another 
who  was  washed  overboard. 

'"  With  respect  to  the  ore  brought  in  the  Ayde  and  Gabriel  it 
was  ordered  (by  Queen  Elizabeth)  that  this  should  be  stored  in 
Bristol  Castle:  and  that  it  should  be  carefully  weighed  and  placed 
under  four  locks,  the  four  keys  whereof  were  to  be  given  in  charge, 
one  each,  to  the  Mayor  of  Bristol.  Sir  Richard  Barkley.  Martin 
Frobisher  and  Michael  Lock.  The  ore  brought  in  the  Michael  was 
in  like  manner  stored  in  the  Tower  of  London,  the  keys  in  this 
instance  being  given  in  charge  to  the  Warden  of  the  Mint,  the 
Workmaster  of  the  Mint.  Martin  Frobisher  and  Michael  Lock. 
The  Queen  also  appointed  Special  Commissions  to  take  in  hand 
the  examination  of  the  ore  and  report  on  the  value  of  the  same.* 
*  Life  of  Sir  .Martin  Frobisher,  by  Frank  Jones,  London,  1878,  p.   19. 


352  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


"Portions  of  the  ore  were  from  time  to  time  charily  and  care- 
fully dealt  out  by  the  Commissioners,  under  certificate,  and  offi- 
cial returns  began  to  be  furnished.* 

But  the  assayers  and  "gold  finers"  squabbled  and  fought 
over  its  value;  one  Jonas  Shutz,  who  had  been  with  Frobisher  on 
his  second  voyage,  and  who  had  directed  the  mining,  claimed  that, 
if  properly  treated  and  coaxed,  it  would  yield  £40  to  the  ton,  while 
the  goldsmiths  of  London  said  that  they  could  not  find  any  gold 
at  all  in  it. 

But  most  of  the  people  interested  believed  firmly  in  the  rich- 
ness of  the  ore  and  "The  Queen  and  her  court  were  so  highly 
delighted  in  'finding  that  the  matter  of  the  gold  ore  had  appear- 
ance and  made  show  of  great  riches  and  profit,  and  the  hope  of 
the  passage  to  Cathaia  by  this  last  voyage  greatly  increased/  that 
after  a  minute  examination  by  the  commissioners  specially  ap- 
pointed, it  was  determined  that  the  voyage  was  highly  worthy  of 
being  followed  up.  The  Queen  gave  the  name  Meta  incognito 
1o  the  newly  discovered  country,  on  which  it  was  resolved  to 
establish  a  colony.  For  this  purpose  a  fleet  of  fifteen  ships  was 
got  ready,  and  one  hundred  persons  appointed  to  form  the  settle- 
ment, and  remain  there  the  whole  year,  keeping  with  them  three 
to  the  ships;  the  other  twelve  were  to  bring  back  cargoes  of  gold 
ore.  Frobisher  was  constituted  admiral  and  general,  and  on 
taking  leave,  received  from  the  Queen  (Elizabeth)  a  gold  chain, 
and  the  rest  of  the  captains  had  the  honour  of  kissing  her  Majesty's 
hand." 

"The  fleet  sailed  from  Harwich  on  the  31st  May,  1578."  On 
the  way  "the  bark  Dennis,  of  one  hundred  tons,  received  such 
a  blow  with  a  rock  of  ice,  that  she  sunk  instantly  in  sight  of  the 
whole  fleet,  but  the  people  were  all  saved.  Unfortunately,  how- 
ever, she  had  on  board  part  of  the  house  which  was  intended  to 
be  erected  for  the  winter  settlers. 

"At  length,  after  many  perils  from  storms,  fogs  and  floating 
ice,  the  general  and  part  of  the  fleet  assembled  in  the  Countess  of 
Warwick's  Sound  in  Frobisher' s  Bay,  when  a  council  was  held  on 
the  1st  of  August,  at  which  it  was  determined  to  send  all  persons 
and  things  on  shore  upon  Countess  of  Warick's  Island;  and  on 
the  2nd  August  orders  were  proclaimed  by  sound  of  trumpet  for 

(*ibid,  p.  93.) 


No.  3. — Rapids  above  the  Forks,  Telgoa  River,  in  Lat.  64°  25'. 


So.  4.     Kewenawan,  traps  on  Dubawnl  River. 


Minerals  and  Ores  of  Northern  Canada.  353 

the  guidance  of  the  company  during  their  abode  thereon.  It  was 
determined  in  council  that  no  habitation  should  be  there  this 
year.' 

"  Captain  Best  of  the  Ann  Frci7icis  discovered  'a  great  black 
island.'  where  such  plenty  of  black  ore  was  found  'as  might  rea- 
sonably suffice  all  the  gold  gluttons  of  the  world/  which  island 
for  cause  of  his  good  luck/  the  captain  called  after  his  own  name, 
Sest's  Blessing.  He  also  ascended  a  high  hill  called  Hatton's 
Headland,  where  he  erected  a  column  or  cross  of  stone  in  token  of 
'hristian  possession;  'here  also  he  found  plentie  of  black  ore, 
and  divers  pretie  stones.' "     (Ibid,  pp.  84-93.) 

The  work  of  loading  the  ships  went  on  all  through  the  month 
of  August,  and  towards  the  end  of  the  month  two  of  them  at 
least  were  fully  loaded  and  ready  to  sail  back  to  England,  and 
doubtless  most  of  the  other  ships  had  taken  on  some  of  the  ore. 

While  the  ore  was  being  mined  and  loaded  "the  mason  and 
carpenters,  who  had  been  brought  over  to  put  up  the  intended 
fort,  had  been  for  some  time  engaged  in  constructing  a  small  house 
of  lime  and  stone  upon  the  Countess'  Island.  Within  the  house 
was  built  an  oven,  and  to  indicate  the  use  of  it,  some  baked  bread 
was  placed  in  the  inside.  They  buried  the  remaining  timbers 
of  the  intended  fort,  together  with  many  barrels  of  meal,  peas, 
grist,  etc.,  being  the  provision  intended  for  the  colony."* 

On  the  last  day  of  August  the  ships  set  sail  for  England, 

where  they  arrived  about  the  first  of  October,  and  as  nothing  more 

is  heard  of  the  ore  which  they  brought  back  with  them,  it  may  be 

ied  to  have  been  of  no  value.     Certainly  the  Company  of 

Cathay,  which  undertook  this  enterprise,  met  financial  disaster, 

Such  is  a  brief  account  of  the  first  prospecting  expedition  under- 
taken into  Canada.  Whether  there  was  ever  any  reason,  however 
slight,  for  this  first  stampede  is  not  known,  but  the  known  oc- 
currence of  the  crystalline  limestones  of  the  Grenville  series  in 
that  region  would  indicate  the  possibility  of  the  occurrence  of 
ore  of  such  kinds  as  are  found  in  Eastern  Ontario. 

The  scene  of  Frobisher's  mining  operations  were  unvisited 
and  practically  unknown  for  nearly  three  hundred  years,  and  it 
remained  for  Captain  C.  F.  Hall,  in  1861  and  1862,  while  exploring 

*The  Life  of  Sir  Martin  Frobisher,  Rev.  Frank  Jones,  London,  1878, 
p.  146. 

-'3 


354  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

in  Frobisher's  Bay,  to  rediscover  all  that  was  left  of  Frobisher's 
stone  house,  and  of  the  pits  dug  by  him  in  his  mining  operations. 
Unfortunately,  Hall  seems  to  have  known  very  little  of  mineralogy 
or  geology,  and  the  specimens  of  rocks  brought  back  by  him,  were 
merely  different  varieties  of  mica  schist.* 

There  could  be  very  few  summer  journeys  more  interesting 
and  instructive  to  the  wealthy  yachtsman  than  a  visit  to  this 
part  of  Arctic  Canada,  and  perhaps  now  that  attention  is  drawn 
to  the  matter  some  yachtsman  will  visit  the  Countess  of  Warwick's 
Sound,  and  bring  back  an  account  with  photographs  of  what 
mining  was  done  there,  and  of  the  exact  character  of  the  rocks  in 
which  this  mining  was  undertaken. 

Dr.  A.  P.  Low  has  drawn  attention  to  the  extent  of  the  beds 
of  sands  and  gravels  on  Baffin  Land,  and  to  the  possibility  of  find- 
ing gold  bearing  placer  deposits  in  them.  The  existence  of  these 
gravels  should  furnish  an  additional  incentive  to  a  thorough 
investigation  of  the  mineral  resources  of  that  enormous  island, 
either  by  the  Government  of  Canada,  or  by  private  individuals. 

In  most  parts  of  northern  Canada,  except  in  the  Yukon  Terri- 
tory, prospecting  for  gold  is  difficult  and  uncertain  work.  The 
Klondike  district  was  not  overrun  by  the  vast  glaciers  of  the  Glacial 
Period,  and  therefore  beds  of  gravel  have  there  been  accumulating 
since  Tertiary  times  at  all  events,  and  any  gold  that  these  gravels 
may  have  contained,  has  been  the  result  of  slow  concentration  from 
the  surrounding  rocks  for  a  very  long  time,  rather  than  of  rapid 
concentration  from  rich  gold-bearing  lode  in  a  short  time.f  The 
Continental  portion  of  northern  Canada,  east  of  the  Rocky  Mount- 
ains was,  as  far  as  known,  completely  covered  by  ice  during  the 
Glacial  Period,  and  all  or  nearly  all  of  the  surface  deposits  that  had 
accumulated  up  to  that  time  were  removed  and  carried  away  by 
it  to  form  the  till  or  boulder-clay  of  the  country  further  south, 
and  consequently  gold  cannot  be  easily  traced  to  its  parent  rock 
or  vein  by  following  particles  of  float  gold  up  the  streams.  If  gold 
should  be  found  in  any  of  the  northern  streams  it  would  be  more 
likely  to  have  been  derived  immediately  from  the  boulder-clay 
on  the  banks,  than  from  veins  in  the  neighbouring  rock,     If,  there- 


*Life  with  the  Esquimaux,  by  Captain  C.  F.  Hall,  London,  1864. 
•("Concentration  of  Gold  in  the  Klondike,  by  J.B.Tyrrell,  Econ.  Geol., 
Vol.  2,  No.  4,  1897,  pp.  343-9. 


Minerals  and  Ores  of  Northern  Canada.  355 

fore,  it  was  desired  to  trace  the  gold  to  its  origin  in  the  rocks  it 
would  be  necessary  to  follow  back  the  course  of  the  glacier,  rather 
than  the  river  or  stream,  to  the  place  where  it  passed  over  these 
rocks.  In  practice,  however,  this  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  do  on 
account  of  the  many  changes  in  direction  which  it  has  undergone 
at  different  stages  of  its  development.  There  is  therefore  no 
rational  method  of  prospecting  in  that  country  but  to  search  for 
the  veins  or  lodes  themselves,  almost  irrespective  of  float,  and 
this  is  necessarily  very  tedious  and  laborious  work. 

.Most  of  the  gravel  deposits  of  northern  Canada,  east  of  the 
Yukon  Territory,  are  of  recent  origin,  and  could  not  be  expected 
to  be  rich  in  gold  unless  they  had  been  derived  from  rocks  con- 
taining very  rich  gold-bearing  lodes. 

Dr.  John  Rae  has  recorded  the  occurrence  of  gold-bearing 
quartz  veins  in  Wager  Inlet,  west  of  Roe's  Welcome,  and  north  of 
the  north-west  portion  of  Hudson  Bay. 

Gold  also  occurs  in  the  sands  of  the  Athabasca,  Peace,  McLeod 
and  other  rivers  flowing  from  the  east  side  of  the  Rocky  Mount- 
ains, having  probably  been  derived  from  the  wearing  down  of  the 
Laramie  sandstones  which  form  the  river  banks. 

Silver. 

Silver  is  very  rarely  seen  by  the  ordinary  traveller  or  prospec- 
tor when  passing  along  the  waterways  or  over  the  port- 
ages throughout  the  country.  It  has  few  highly  coloured  salts 
or  ores,  and  is  usually  associated  with  a  soft  gangue  which  will  be 
found  in  hollows  and  depressions  in  the  general  surface,  and  which 
consequently  will  in  most  cases  be  covered  over  writh  clay,  sand  or 
debris  of  some  kind.  The  veins  must  therefore  be  uncovered  with 
pick  and  shovel  before  their  true  nature  can  be  determined.  The 
discovery  in  this  way  of  such  a  large  number  of  silver-bearing  veins 
in  the  Cobalt  and  Elk  Lake  districts  of  Ontario  has  been  quite  a 
revelation  in  this  respect,  and  points  confidently  to  the  hope  that 
many  other  areas  of  Huronian  rocks,  when  correctly  prospected 
for  silver,  will  also  afford  satisfactory  results.  When  it  is  remem- 
bered that  probably  much  less  than  one  per  cent,  of  the  surface 
even  of  the  rocky  country  is  naturally  exposed  to  view,  and  that 
it  is  in  the  hollows  that  the  silver  is  to  be  found,  the  improbability 
of  finding  silver  veins  can  be  easily  understood. 


356  The  Canadian  Mixing  Institute 

On  the  east  coast  of  Hudson  Bay.  between  Little  Whale 
River  and  Richmond  Gulf,  silver  bearing  galena  occurs  in  a  band 
of  Magnesian  limestone.  Drs.  Bell  and  Low  record  this  galena  as 
assaying  from  5  to  12  oz.  to  the  ton. 

Copper. 

The  presence  of  copper  is  much  more  easily  recognized  than 
either  gold  or  silver,  for  many  of  its  salts  or  ores  are  highly  coloured, 
bright  green  being  very  prevalent,  and  many  of  its  ores  are  associ- 
ated with  harder  rock  or  vein  material,  so  that  they  may  often  be 
found  on  salient  points  or  distinct  elevations  of  the  surface. 

Bornite  has  been  recorded  by  C.  F.  Hall  as  occurring  in 
Frobisher  Bay,  and  copper  ore  is  spoken  of  by  Sir  John  Ross  as 
occurring  at  Agnew  River. 

On  the  north-west  side  of  Hudson  Bay,  between  Baker's 
Foreland  and  Cape  Eskimo,  the  Keewatin  greenstone  has  dissem- 
inated through  it  a  quantity  of  copper  pyrite.  No  large  deposit 
was  seen,  but  where  the  mineral  is  as  freely  distributed  through 
the  mass  of  the  rock,  it  is  not  at  all  improbable  that  large  deposits 
may  be  found  in  favourable  situations,  especially  near  contacts 
with  later  intrusions. 

Dr.  Robert  Bell  records  the  occurrence  of  copper  ore  on 
Great  Slave  Lake  as  follows  "  On  the  north-west  side  of  McLeod 
~Ba.y  small  interrupted  gash  veins  and  stringers  of  calc-spar  are  found 
in  the  primitive  gneiss  and  granite,  and  some  of  them  contain 
nuggets  of  chalcopyrite. 

Dr.  J.  M.  Bell  speaks  of  numerous  interrupted  stringers  of 
calc-spar  containing  chalcopyrite  in  the  greenstones  east  of  Mc- 
Tavish  Bay,  Great  Slave  Lake. 

Chalcopj'rite  was  found  by  the  writer  in  a  dike  of  diabase  on 
an  island  in  Pipstone  Lake,  Nelson  River. 

In  the  Yukon  Territory  the  copper-bearing  belt  at  Whitehorse 
would  appear  to  extend  westward  towards  Rainy  Hollow.  At 
this  latter  place  lodes  of  bornite  and  chalcopyrite  have  been 
located,  and  from  what  can  be  learned  of  them  from  others,  they 
only  await  reasonable  facilities  for  transportation,  in  order  to  be 
capable  of  being  developed  into  mines. 

On  the  White  and  Copper  Rivers,  near  the  Boundary  between 
Yukon  Territory  and  Alaska,  native  copper  occurs.     This  copper 


Minerals  and  Ores  of  Northern  Canada.  357 

is  found  loose  in  the  gravel  of  the  river  bed,  and  it  has  been 
proposed  to  work  some  of  these  gravel  beds  as  copper  placers, 
similar  in  most  respects  to  the  gold  placers,  except  in  the  character 
of  the  metallic  contents. 

But  the  most  interesting,  and  probably  the  most  extensive 
copper  deposits  in  Canada  are  contained  in  the  Keweenawan  traps 
and  sandstones  which  extend  along  south  of  the  Arctic  coast  from 
Coppermine  River  eastward  to  Bathurst  Inlet. 

The  occurrence  of  native  copper  in  that  country  has  been 
known  to  the  Indians,  and  Eskimos  from  time  immemorial,  and 
the  metal  has  been  commonly  used  by  them  to  make  knives  and 
other  implements.  The  first  journey  that  was  made  by  a  white 
man  into  the  northern  country,  137  years  ago,  was  made  in  search 
for  this  "mine"  of  copper. 

The  Copper  Mountains,  near  the  Coppermine  River,  were 
visited  by  Sir  John  Richardson  in  1821,  and  again  in  1826,  but 
there  is  no  record  that  they  have  been  visited  by  any  one  capable 
of  describing  them  since  that  date. 

His  description  of  them  is  as  follows:  "The  Copper  Mountains 
consist  principally  of  trap  rocks.  The  great  mass  of  the  rock  in  the 
mountains  seems  to  consist  of  felspar  in  various  conditions;  some 
times  in  the  form  of  felspar  rock  or  claystone,  but  most  generally 
in  the  form  of  dark  reddish  brown  amygdaloid.  The  amygdaloidal 
masses  contained  in  the  amygdaloid  are  either  entirely  pistacite 
(epidote),  or  pistacite  enclosing  calc-spar.  Scales  of  native  copper 
are  very  generally  disseminated  through  this  rock,  through  a 
species  of  trap  tuff  which  nearly  resembles  it.  and  also  through  a 
reddish  sandstone  on  which  it  appears  to  rest.  The  rough  and 
in  general  rounded  and  more  elevated  parts  of  the  mountain  are 
composed  of  the  amygdaloid,  but  between  the  eminences  there 
occur  many  narrow  and  deep  valleys,  which  are  bounded  by  per- 
pendicular mural  precipices  of  greenstone.  It  is  in  these  valleys, 
among  the  loose  soil,  that  the  Indians  search  for  copper.  Among 
the  specimens  we  picked  up  in  these  valleys  were  plates  of  native 
copper;  masses  of  pistacite  containing  native  copper;  of  trap  rock 
with  associated  native  copper;  green  malachite,  copper  glance  or 
variegated  copper  ore.  and  of  greenish  gray  prehnite  in  trap  with 
disseminated  native  copper;  the  copper  in  some  specimens  was 
crystallized  in  rhomboidal  dodecahedrons.     We  also  found  some 


358  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

large  tabular  fragments,  evidently  portions  of  a  vein  consisting  of 
prehnite,  associated  with  calcareous  spar  and  native  copper.  The 
Indians  dig  wherever  they  observe  the  prehnite  lying  on  the  soil, 
experience  having  taught  them  that  the  largest  pieces  of  copper 
are  found  associated  with  it.  We  did  not  observe  the  vein  in  its 
original  repository,  nor  does  it  appear  that  the  Indians  have  found 
it,  but  judging  from  the  specimens  just  mentioned,  it  most  prob- 
ably traverses  felspathose  trap.  We  also  picked  up  some  fragment 
of  a  greenish  grey  coloured  rock,  apparently  sandstone,  with  dis- 
seminated variegated  copper  ore  and  copper  glance;  likewise 
rhomboidal  fragments  of  white  calcareous  spar,  and  some  rock 
crystals.  The  Indians  report  that  they  have  found  copper  in 
every  part  of  this  range,  which  they  have  examined  for  thirty  or 
forty  miles  to  the  N.W.,  and  that  the  Esquimaux  come  hither  to 
search  for  that  metal.  We  afterwards  found  some  ice  chisels  in 
the  possession  of  the  latter  people,  twelve  or  fourteen  inches  long, 
and  half  an  inch  in  diameter,  formed  of  pure  copper.* 

In  1902,  Mr.  David  Hanbury  travelled  from  Chesterfield  Inlet 
to  Great  Bear  Lake,  passing  on  the  way  along  the  shore  of  the 
Arctic  Ocean,  and  up  the  Coppermine  River,  though  he  did  not 
visit  the  Copper  Mountains. 

He  describes  the  Rocks  of  Bathurst  Inlet  and  the  neighbour- 
ing parts  of  the  Arctic  Coast  as  follows: — 

"On  the  16th  (June,  1902)  we  reached  Barry  Island,  which 
one  of  my  Eskimo  had  described  as  the  best  place  for  copper.  He 
now  said  copper  was  more  plentiful  on  an  island  six  or  eight  miles 
north  of  Fowler  Bay.  However,  two  pieces  of  native  copper  were 
found  in  the  evening. 

"The  main  rock  of  the  island  is  a  fine-grained  basalt". 
It  is  in  this  rock  that  the  native  copper  occurs.  The  copper  is 
plentiful,  for  the  quantity  we  obtained  was  found  after  but  a  brief 
search,  and  on  a  neighbouring  island,  Kun-nu-Yuk,  a  mass  of 
copper  had  just  been  found  so  large  that  a  man  could  hardly  lift 
it.  There,  also,  copper  is  often  found  in  the  tide-way.  The 
whole  of  the  lower  levels  on  Barry  Island  are  covered  with  debris 
from  the  basalt,  and  when  the  rock   has  been  distinguished  by 

*  Narrative  of  "a  Journey  to  the  Shores  of  the  Polar  Sea,  by  Capt.  J. 
Franklin,  London,  4to.,  1823,  p.  528. 


Minerals  and  Ores  of  Northern  Canada.  359 

weathering,  copper  has  fallen  out,  so  that  flakes  of  the  metal  may 
be  found  along  the  sea  shore." 

Seven  days  later  he  says  "We  passed  a  small  basaltic  island, 
on  which  two  pieces  of  copper  ore  were  picked  up.  It  seem-  as 
if  copper  is  to  be  found  wherever  this  basalt  occurs." 

On  the  25th  June  he  camped  on  Lewis  Island.  "This  Island 
is  formed  of  the  same  partly  decomposed  basalt  as  Barry  Island. 
Although  we  did  not  find  so  much  copper  here,  the  green  marks 
on  the  rocks  were  more  numerous,  but  we  did  not  spend  an  hour 
altogether  in  the  search.  One  of  our  Eskimo  knew  of  a  large  mass 
of  copper  on  the  south-west  shore  of  the  island,  which  he  stated  to 
be  as  much  as  five  feet  in  length,  and  three  inches  thick,  it  pro- 
truded from  the  rocks  under  the  wrater,  it  was  said,  but  there  was 
too  much  ice  for  us  to  find  the  copper.  A  piece  of  quartz  with 
copper  ore  and  native  copper  was  picked  up  on  the  sea  shore. 

"On  the  27th  we  rested  at  the  north-west  point  of  Lewis 
Island,  where  we  again  found  the  copper-bearing  basalt,  and  ac- 
cordingly we  commenced  a  search  that  resulted  in  our  collecting 
about  two  pounds  weight  of  copper.  The  metal  appeared  to  be 
very  persistent  in  its  occurrence  in  the  partly  decomposed  basalt, 
of  which  the  islands  we  passed  that  day  consisted.  The  flakes  of 
copper  seemed  to  be  always  vertical  when  in  their  rock  matrix."* 

In  writing  of  his  journey  up  the  Coppermine  River,  he  sa 
"  While  tracking,  Sandy  was  nearly  tripped  up  by  a  chunk  of 
native  copper  on  the  shore.     It  weighed  about  twelve  pounds."f 

During  my  exploration  of  the  Dubawnt  River  in  1893,  the 
Keweenawan  rocks,  similar  to  those  of  the  Coppermine,  were  met 
with  about  the  middle  of  the  west  shore  of  Dubawnt  Lake,  whence 
they  were  found  to  extend  north-north-eastward  for  125  miles  to 
the  Forks  of  the  Dubawnt  River,  and  from  there  they  were 
traced  eastward  for  175  miles  to  the  outlet  of  Baker  Lake.  In 
1900,  James  W.  Tyrrell  traced  the  same  rocks  westward  up  the 
Thelon  River  for  about  125  miles. 

While  native  copper  was  nowhere  found  in  the  rock  forma- 
tions on  the  Dubawnt  River,  this  greal  extension  of  the  Ke- 
weenawan series  indicates  the  possibility  of  its  occurrence  through- 
out a  very  extensive  tract  of  that  northern  country,  and  when 


•Spoil  and  Travel  in  the  Northland  <>f  Canada,  by  D.  Hanbury,  p.  - 
f96  i-1.  p.  206. 


360  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

Hudson  Bay  becomes  easily  accessible  by  a  railway  to  Fort 
Churchill,  these  copper-bearing  rocks  should  prove  an  attractive 
field  to  prospectors. 

Lead. 

Veins  of  galena  have  been  noticed  at  a  few  places. 

Drs.  Bell  and  Low  record  the  occurrence  of  a  vein  of  galena 
on  the  east  side  of  Hudson  Bay,  near  Richmond  Gulf.  A  number 
of  years  ago  the  Hudson's  Bay  Co.  attempted  mining  here  for  a 
short  time,  but  apparently  without  much  success. 

Sir  John  Richardson  mentions  the  occurrence  of  a  "narrow 
vein  of  pure  galena"  cutting  gneissic  rock  at  Galena  Point,  14 
miles  south  of  Cape  Barrow,  on  Bathurst  Inlet  (on  the  Arctic 
Coast). 

Dr.  Robert  Bell  speaks  of  the  occurrence  of  galena  in  the 
Devonian  limestone  south-east  of  Great  Slave  Lake. 

In  describing  the  resources  of  the  valley  of  Mackenzie  River, 
Mr.  Von  Hammerstein  makes  the  following  statement:  "  At  Black 
Bay  on  Lake  Athabasca  there  is  a  first-class  galena,  none  better. 
It  carries  gold,  silver  and  copper.  Assays  $6  or  $7  in  gold. 
"  There  is  a  big  seam  near  Black  Bay,  and  you  can  follow  it  right 
along  till  you  come  to  an  island." 

Iron. 

In  the  Labrador  Peninsula,  and  in  the  District  of  Ungava, 
vast  deposits  of  hematite  and  magnetite  have  been  outlined  by 
Dr.  Low  as  extending  from  near  Hamilton  Inlet  northward  to 
Ungava  Bay,  but  here,  as  in  most  other  parts  of  Northern  Canada 
iron  ore  would  not  as  yet  stand  the  cost  of  transportation. 

On  the  Nastapoka  Islands,  which  extend  along  the  east  side 
of  Hudson  Bay  for  a  hundred  miles  north  of  Little  Whale  River, 
are  also  very  extensive  beds  of  banded  iron  ores.  For  a  descrip- 
tion of  these  deposits  I  would  refer  to  "  The  Cruise  of  the  Nep- 
tune," by  A.  P.  Low,  Ottawa,  Govt.,  1906,  pp.  239-245. 

On  the  Great  Fish  River,  Mr.  Warburton  Pike  speaks  of  the 
ironstone,  of  dark  fissile  slates  and  schists,  as  extending  down 
the  river  from  Musk  Ox  Lake  to  Beechey  Lake,  a  distance 
of  75  miles. 


No.  5.  —Exploring  the  shore  of  Hudson  Bay. 


No.  6. — Cliffs  of  Keewatin  greenstones,  Rankin  Inlet,  Hudson  Bay, 


Minerals  and  Ores  of  Northkrn  Canada.  361 

Captain  Dawson  is  reported  to  have  found  specular  iron  ore 
in  the  vicinity  of  Great  Slave  Lake. 

On  the  north  shore  of  Athabasca  Lake  I  found  what  seemed 
seemed  to  be  a  large  body  of  iron  ore,  but  the  necessity  of  rapid 
travel  prevented  its  exploration. 

Cobalt. 

Great  Bear  Lake. — In  the  greenstones,  East  of  MarTavish 
Hay,  occur  numerous  interrupted  stringers  of  calc-spar,  and  the 
steep  rocky  shores  which  here  present  themselves  to  the  lake  are 
often  stained  with  cobalt  bloom.    (J.  M.  Bell). 

Great  Slave  Lake. — On  the  north  shore  of  the  bay  west  of  the 
Narrows  between  Christie  and  MeLeod  Bays,  cobalt  bloom  was 
seen  in  the  cracks  in  the  greenstone.     (R.  Bell). 

Nickel. 

Norite  on  L'pper  Weenisk  River,  similar  to  the  norite  at 
Sudbury,  though  no  nickel  has  yet  been  found  in  it.       (Mclnnis). 

On  the  north  bank  of  Stone  River  east  of  Lake  Athabasca, 
there  is  also  a  high  ridge  of  norite.  which  should  be  well  worth 
careful  exploration. 

Pvrrhotite  on  the  east  coast  of  Hudson  Bay  was  found  to 
contain  small  quantities  of  nickel.     (Low). 

Antimony. 

During  the  past  two  years  some  important  discoveries  of 
high  grade  stibnite  have  been  made  in  the  Wheaton  district  in 
the  Yukon  Territory,  south-west  of  the  town  of  Whitehorse. 
The  veins  are  reported  to  be  large  and  some  very  nice  specimens 
of  ore  have  been  seen  from  them,  and  doubtless  some  of  them 
will  be  developed  before  long. 

Bismuth. 

Nuggets  of  native  bismuth  have  been  found  occurring  with 
gold  in  the  placers  of  the  Duncan  Creek  District,  Yukon  Territory. 

Tin. 

1      -iterite  or  Stream-tin  i-  found  in  small  quantities  in 
of  the  placers  in  the  Klondike  District.  Yukon  Territory. 


362  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

Tungsten. 

Scheelite  has  also  been  found  in  the  gold-bearing  sands  of 
the  Duncan  Creek  District,  Yukon  Territory. 

Coal. 

Coals  varying  in  character  from  excellent  bituminous  coals 
to  low  grade  lignites  are  found  in  the  vast  northern  wilderness. 

Bituminous  coals  of  Carboniferous  age  occur  in  many  of  the 
Arctic  Islands.  For  a  short  but  succinct  account  of  their  dis- 
tribution reference  may  be  made  to  The  Cruise  of  the  Neptune,  by 
A.  P.  Low.  pp.  222  to  229  and  247. 

Similar  coal,  though  in  this  case  of  Cretaceous  age,  has 
recently  been  traced  northward  from  the  Bow  River  Basin  in 
the  Rocky  Mountain  Range,  and  the  northern  limit  of  these  beds 
is  as  yet  quite  indefinite. 

An  interesting  possibility  of  the  existence  of  beds  of  bitumin- 
ous coal  of  Carboniferous  age  in  Manitoba  and  the  provinces  to 
the  north  and  west  was  suggested  by  the  writer  some  years  ago. 
In  Iowa,  about  400  miles  south  of  Manitoba,  the  geological  forma- 
tions extend  upwards  in  orderly  and  conformable  series  over- 
lapping each  other  from  east  to  west,  from  the  Cambro-Silurian 
up  through  the  Silurian  and  Devonian  to  the  Carboniferous. 
The  latter  terrain  contains  extensive  beds  of  coal  from  which 
millions  of  tons  are  mined  every  year.  North  of  the  State  of 
Iowa  in  Minnesota  these  Paleozoic  formations  are  very  largely 
covered  and  hidden  by  sandstones  and  shales  of  Cretaceous  age 
which  overlie  them  unconformably.  In  Manitoba  the  lower  por- 
tion of  the  Palaeozoic  series  is  again  exposed,  and  the  rocks  can 
be  followed  upwards  from  the  Cambro-Silurian  through  the  Silu- 
rian to  the  Devonian,  but  at  this  point  they  are  again  covered 
unconformably  by  Cretaceous  sandstones  and  shales.  In  North- 
western Manitoba  the  Upper  Devonian  limestones  can  be  seen 
close  to  the  edge  of  the  underh'ing  Cretaceous  beds. 

Whether  the  Garboniferous  Formation,  which  should  follow 
the  Devonian  in  ascending  order,  is  present  under  these  Cretaceous 
beds  or  not  is  not  known.  It  is  possible,  though  hardly  probable, 
that  it  may  have  never  been  deposited  in  that  region,  or  if  it  was 
deposited  it  may  have  been  removed,  partly  or  entirely,  by  erosion 


Minerals  and  Ores  of  Northern  Canada.  363 


in  the  long  period  between  the  close  of  the  Carboniferous  age 
and  the  beginning  of  the  Cretaceous.  But  on  the  contrary  it  is 
not  improbable  that  the  Carboniferous  formation  may  be  present, 
overlying  the  Devonian  in  regular  sequence,  beneath  the  covering 
of  Cretaceous  shales.  If  such  should  be  found  to  be  the  case, 
and  that  the  formation  here,  as  in  so  many  other  places,  should 
be  found  to  be  rich  in  beds  of  coal,  the  question  of  fuel  for  a  large 
portion  of  central  Canada  would  be  solved  for  many  years  to 
come.  The  possibility  of  the  existence  of  such  an  adequate  supply 
of  fuel,  when  it  is  so  much  needed,  should  be  thoroughly  investi- 
gated in  the  very  near  future. 

Lignites  of  Cretaceous  age  are  known  to  outcrop  in  many 
places  from  the  great  plains  northward  down  the  valley  of  the 
Mackenzie  River. 

Natural  Tar. 

Tar  or  maltha  occurs  in  the  sandstones  at  the  base  of  the 
Cretaceous  formation  for  long  distances  down  the  Athabasca 
River,  though  the  problem  of  how  it  can  be  utilized  in  its  present 
form  is  as  yet  unsolved.  The  hope  is  still  strong  and  prevalent 
that  liquid  oil  may  be  found  near  where  these  "Tar  Sands''  are 
now  known  to  outcrop. 

Other  minerals  are  known  to  occur  in  the  north,  but  it  is  not 
necessary  to  enumerate  them  here  as  they  would  not  bear  long 
inland  transportation  and  could  only  be  developed  as  the  country 
itself  becomes  populated. 

With  regard  to  the  possibility  of  living  and  making  a  home 
in  even  the  most  inhospitable  parts  of  northern  Canada.  I  wish  to 
emphasize  what  I  have  already  .said  in  a  paper  written  eleven 
years  ago,  that  no  part  of  that  country  is  as  cold  and  inhospitable 
as  many  inhabited  parts  of  Siberia.  The  mean  summer  (3  months) 
temperature  determines  the  limit  of  the  forest,  and  the  possibility 
of  the  growth  of  trees  and  cereals.  Mr.  Stupart,  Director  of  the 
Meteorological  Service  of  Canada,  places  the  summer  isotherm  of 
57.5°  as  the  northern  limit  of  the  successful  growth  of  wheat. 
and  this  is  the  mean  summer  temperature  of  Dawson,  Yukon 
Territory.  On  the  contrary  the  mean  winter,  or  perhaps  the 
mean  January  temperature  would  probably  determine  the  habit- 
ability  of  the  country  for  human  beings.     Now  Fort  Good  Hope, 


364  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

on  the  Mackenzie  river,  is  the  coldest  known  place  in  Canada,  with 
a  mean  January  temperature  of  -28°  F.,  and  Dawson  is  not  far 
behind  it  with  a  January  mean  of  -23.6°  F.,  while  Yakutsk,  a 
town  of  about  five  thousand  inhabitants,  in  Siberia,  has  a  mean 
January  temperature  of  -40.4°  F.,  and  many  other  places  in 
northern  Asia  are  still  colder,  one  town  having  a  mean  January 
temperature  of  -56 . 2°  F. 

It  is  thus  seen  that  inhabitants  of  the  old  world  live  and  thrive 
in  a  much  more  rigorous  climate  than  is  found  even  in  the  coldest 
parts  of  northern  Canada,  and  that  therefore  the  climate  does  not 
offer  any  insuperable  objection  to  settlement  if  minerals  or  ores 
are  anywhere  found  in  paying  quantities. 


DISCUSSION. 

Mr.  Campbell: — Did  you  see  any  coal  in  that  north  country? 

Mr.  Tyrrell: — The  coal  in  the  interior  is  all  lignitic.  But 
there  is  good  coal  in  the  Arctic  Islands.  I  have  never  seen  it,  but 
the  coal  has  been  used  by  some  of  the  whalers.  I  understand  it 
is  bituminous  coal. 

Dr.  Goodwin: — I  would  like  to  ask  how  the  conditions  of 
mining  would  compare  with  those  in  the  mining  districts  of  Siberia. 
Would  life  be  as  endurable  there,  and  are  there  any  railway  pos- 
sibilities? 

Mr.  Tyrrell: — The  conditions  of  life  up  to  tie  Arctic  circle 
in  Canada  are  fairly  easy.  Much  of  the  country  is  what  we  know 
as  "barren  lands,"  treeless  country,  but  bright  with  flowers  and 
abundant  grass  in  summer.  Tre  growth  of  vegetation  in  a 
country  depends  upon  the  warmth  of  tie  summer,  not  on  the 
coldness  of  the  winter.  One  of  the  coldest  parts  of  North  America 
in  the  winter  is  the  Klondyke.;  but  it  is  warm  in  summer,  so 
that  there  is  abundant  growth  of  trees,  and  no  one  there  suffers  any 
particular  hardship,  except  from  isolation.  In  the  Great  Slave 
Lake  or  Great  Bear  Lake  districts  the  winter  is  no  colder  than  in 
the  Klondyke.  The  conditions  that  make  life  hard  for  people 
are  not  nearly  as  bad  in  tie  very  coldest  parts  of  Canada  as  in 
many  parts  of  Siberia.  One  city  in  Siberia  las  a  mean  January 
temperature  of  56  deg.  below  zero.     There  is  no  such  mean  monthly 


Minerals  and  Ores  of  Northern  Canada.  365 

temperature  known  in  North  America  at  all.  If  a  mining  industry 
were  to  start  in  our  far  north  country,  there  would  be  no  particular 
difficulty  in  establishing  a  standard  of  comfort  equal  to  that 
enjoyed  in  many  parts  of  the  great  plains. 

With  regard  to  railways,  a  road  could  be  built  from  Churchill 
to  Athabasca  Lake  far  more  easily  than  in  many  parts  of  Ontario. 
The  distance  from  Churchill  to  the  Athabasca  River  could  prob- 
ably be  built  for  little  more  than  half  the  cost  per  mile  of  building 
the  Temiskaming  and  Northern  Ontario  railway.  It  is  an  easier 
country  to  build  through,  so  that  if  there  is  ever  any  object  in 
building  such  a  railway  the  factor  of  cost  will  not  be  very  great, 
though,  possibly,  the  suitability  of  a  country  for  human  habita- 
tion may  depend  on  its  winter  temperature. 

Dr.  Goodwin: — We  are  glad  to  hear  this  from  so  experienced 
an  explorer  as  Mr.  Tyrrell,  because  if  the  Russians  could  exploit 
the  mineral  riches  of  Siberia  and  build  cities  there,  surely  Canadians 
could  take  advantage  of  our  northern  country  to  which  Mr. 
Tyrrell  has  so  interestingly  alluded. 


THE  OCCURRENCE  OF    TUNGSTEN    ORES    IN    CANADA 
By  T.  L.  Walker,  University  of  Toronto. 
(Ottawa  Meeting,  March,  1908) 

In  1904  the  Geological  Survey  of  Canada  issued  a  bulletin  on 
the  occurrence  of  molybdenum  and  tungsten  (x)  in  Canada.  At 
that  time  the  known  occurrences  were  the  following:  Inverness 
and  Queens  Counties,  N.S.,  Beauce  County,  P.Q.,  and  a  reported 
occurrence  of  wolframite  in  a  boulder  on  Chief's  Island,  Lake 
Coutchiching,  Ontario.  More  recently  (2)  Mr.  R.  A.  A.  Johnston, 
curator  of  the  Geological  survey's  Museum,  has  recognized  scheel- 
ite  in  the  heavy  sands  from  gold  washings  in  the  Yukon,  while 
wolframite,  scheelite  and  hubernite  have  been  found  in  the  tin 
deposit  near  New  Ross,  Lunenburg  Co.,  N.  S. 

Since  the  appearance  of  this  bulletin  several  discoveries  of 
tungsten  minerals  have  been  recorded.  It  is  my  object  in  the  pre- 
sent statement  to  bring  together  the  information  regarding  recently 
recorded  discoveries  of  tungsten,  and  to  briefly  describe  some 
occurrences  not  hitherto  published. 

Occurrences  Already  Recorded. 

Slocan  district. — In  the  reports  of  the  Minister  of  Mines  for 
British  Columbia  several  localities  have  been  indicated.  The  re- 
port for  1903  (3)  mentions  the  discovery  of  masses  of  scheelite 
occurring  in  vein  quartz  in  the  form  of  lenses  at  the  Meteor  Mine  in 
the  Slocan  District.  The  lenses  vary  in  length  from  one  to  three 
feet,  a  total  of  500  pounds  being  saved  after  the  identification  of 
the  mineral. 


(1)  Molybdenum  and  Tungsten  by  R.  A.  A.  Johnston  and  C.  W.  \\ 'ill- 
mot  t,  1904. 

(2)  Summary  Report,  Geol.  Survey  of  Canada,  1907,  p.  82. 

(3)  Report  of  the  Minister  of  Mines,  1903,  p.  138. 


368  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

In  the  subsequent  reports  of  the  Minister  of  Mines  no  reference 
is  made  to  the  production  of  scheelite  in  this  district.  The  occur- 
rence of  scheelite  or  of  other  tungsten  minerals  in  silver  lead  veins 
is  unusual. 

Cariboo  District. — In  1904  an  important  discovery  of  scheelite 
was  made  on  Hardscrabble  Creek  in  the  Cariboo  District.  Mr. 
Akin  first  discovered  this  mineral  in  the  black  sands  obtained  in 
gold  washing  and  later  succeeded  in  locating  the  scheelite  in  place. 
He  describes  the  geological  occurrence  as  follows:  (*) 

"This  consists  of  highly  altered  country  rock,  the  scheelite 
being  scattered  through  it  in  small  patches,  but  it  is  in  the  quartz 
stringers  that  most  of  the  mineral  is  found.  Some  of  these,  vary- 
ing from  one  inch  to  four  inches  wide,  contain  about  one-third 
scheelite,  with  a  little  galena,  and  products  of  decomposition  of 
iron  pyrites.  This  zone  appears  to  be  from  12  to  20  feet  wide,  as 
determined  by  work  done  up  to  July,  1904,  and  gives  every  promise 
of  turning  out  a  valuable  deposit. " 

After  experimenting  on  the  concentration  of  the  scheelite  by 
washing,  a  quantity  was  sent  to  Chicago  to  be  tested  and  as  a 
result  of  these  tests  was  stated  to  be  worth  $460  per  ton  at  the 
prices  then  current. 

Promising  as  this  first  report  seemed  it  does  not  appear  from 
the  later  reports  of  the  Minister  of  Mines  to  have  been  followed  by 
active  development. 

Occurrences  Not  Previously  Reported. 

Wolframite — Sheep  Creek,  B.  C— In  the  vicinity  of  Salmo 
in  British  Columbia  some  of  the  gold  quartz  veins  carry 
considerable  proportions  of  wolframite,  specimens  of  which  were 
collected  recently  by  the  writer  from  mines  on  Sheep  Creek.  The 
wolframite  on  examination  in  the  laboratory  was  found  to  have  a 
specific  gravity  of  7.137.  With  it  are  associated  ferruginous 
quartz  and  wherever  the  mineral  has  been  exposed  to  secondary 
action,  yellow  more  or  less  powdery  tungstite  occurs.  On  chemical 
examination  the  following  result  was  obtained: 


(1)  Report  of  the  Minister  of  Mines,  1904. 


(>(  <   IKKKXri:  OF  TuNtiSTKN    OkF.S    IN   CANADA.  369 


W0> 74.90 

FeO 17.75 

MnO 2.75 

CaO 1   92 

MgO 2.66 

Si02 1.02 


Total 100 .  60 

So  far  as  I  am  aware  no  economic  use  has  been  made  of  this 
material.  I  had  not  an  opportunity  of  examining  the  mode  of 
occurrence  personally,  the  material  being  given  me  as  coining  from 
the  Kootenay  Belle  Mine,  though  its  nature  and  value  appear  to 
have  been  unknown  at  the  time. 

Tungstite  and  scheelite — Sheep  Creek. — The  writer  has  else- 
where (1)  described  in  detail  the  occurrence  of  masses  of  hydrated 
oxide  of  tungsten  in  the  gold  quartz  veins  of  the  Kootenay  Belle 
Mine.  The  tungstite  appears  in  more  or  less  reniform  concretionary 
masses  in  the  vein  associated  with  wolframite  and  scheelite,  from 
which  it  was  derived  by  alteration.  In  the  tungstite  specks  of 
native  gold  may  be  observed.  It  was  as  gold  ore  that  this  auiifer- 
OUS  tungstite  along  with  the  accompanying  goldquartz  wasshipped. 
I  have  reason  to  believe  that  in  the  subsequent  metallurgical  treat- 
ment the  tungsten  values  were  not  recovered  even  when  they  were 
very  much  more  valuable  than  the  gold  contents. 

From  an  analysis  of  the  tungstite-wolframite-scheelite  ore  in 
the  laboratory  the  following  results  were  obtained: — 

W03 86.20% 

FeO 120% 

CaO 54% 

Fe203 4.14% 

Water 7.72% 

Total 99.81% 

The  tungstite  is  golden  yellow  in  colour  and  very  heavy — pure 
tungstite  5.517  and  of  some  of  the  ore  specimens  nearly  as  heavy. 

St.  Mary's  River,  B.C. — Recently  Mr.  E.  Walter  Widdowson, 
assayer  of  Nelson.  B.C.,  showed  me  a  very  fine  specimen  of  crystal- 
lised wolframite  from  the  St.Marys  River  north  of  Cranbrook.  I 
do  not  know  anything  of  the  quantity  of  this  mineral  available 
and  am  unable  to  say  whether  it  be  an  economic  de'posit  or  not. 

(1)     American  Journal  of  Science,   1908. 
24 


370  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

Scheelite  from  Victoria  Mines,  Sudbury  District,  Ontario. — At 
the  Victoria  Mines  of  the  Mond  Nickel  Company  in  1904  Mr.  T.  M. 
Paris,  assayer  for  the  company,  presented  to  me  a  few  small  frag- 
ments which  he  had  determined  as  scheelite.  I  do  not  know  any- 
thing as  to  the  mode  of  occurrence,  but  so  far  as  I  know  this  is  the 
only  place  in  the  Sudbury  district  where  any  tungsten  mineral  has 
been  found.  The  general  studies  of  the  genesis  of  the  Sudbury  ore 
deposits  do  not  lead  us  to  anticipate  the  occurrence  of  such  minerals 
as  scheelite. 

The  mineral  is  quite  white  and  of  very  vitreous  lustre;  specific 
gravity  6.167.  On  the  fragments  in  my  possession  no  crystal 
surfaces  are  visible,  but  from  the  continuous  cleavage  surfaces  it  is 
probable  that  they  are  crystal  fragments. 

A  chemical  analysis  showed  that  the  mineral  is  exceedingly 
pure. 

W03 79.36% 

CaO 19.96% 

Total 99.32% 

Conclusion. — The  ever  inci easing  importance  of  tungsten  in 
the  industries  calls  for  an  examination  of  these  various  Canadian 
occurrences  with  a  view  to  determining  their  possible  economic 
value.  Within  the  past  year  the  government  of  the  United  States 
has  appointed  an  officer  to  examine  and  report  on  such  occurrences 
within  their  borders.  In  Canada  we  know  of  tungsten  minerals 
only  as  specimens  and  curiosities  and  as  those  engaged  in  develop- 
ing properties  do  not  know  these  minerals  or  their  value,  such  an 
appointment  might  be  beneficial  in  many  ways. 


DISCUSSION. 

Mr.  Haultain  (Toronto): — Dr.  Walker  has  cleared  up  a 
problem  which  has  been  irritating  me  for  some  years.  In  panning 
samples  for  gold  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Salmo  I  was  troubled 
with  a  tail  which  looked  like  gold  and  yet  did  not  look  altogether 
like  goldand-what  it  was  I  did  not  determine.  It  is  very  evident 
it  was  this  yellow  mineral  and  it  is  more  like  gold  in  a  pan  than 
anything  I  have  ever  seen.     It  is  the  only  thing  that  would  justify 


Occurrence  of  Tttngst]  n  Orbs  i\  Canada.  371 

a  man  in  thinking  twice  whether  it  was  gold.  I  know  several  men 
who  have  mistaken  this  tail  for  gold.  I  know  we  have  come  to 
the  conclusion  by  panning  that  a  rock  would  go  five  or  six  dollars 
when  only  a  trace  of  gold  could  be  found  in  it  by  assay,  and  I  see 
now  it  was  tins  yellow  mineral  tungstite. 

Mb.  J.  C.  Murray: — In  Langland.in  Ungava,we  had  the  same 
occurrence;  we  had  a  yellow  tail  in  the  pan  that  we  could  not 
explain. 

Mb.  Gibson: — Has  Dr.  Walker  a  specimen  of  the  boulder 
containing  wolf  a  mite  that  was  found  at  Couiching  in  Ontario? 

Mr.  Walker: — No. 

Mr.  Gibson: — Was  the  origin  of  that  boulder  ever  ascer- 
tained? 

Dr.  Walker: — I  do  riot  think  so. 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  METHODS  USED  FOR  THE  SPECIAL 
MAP  OF  ROSSLAND,  B.C. 

By  W.  H.  Boyd,  Ottawa. 
(Ottawa  Meeting,  1908.) 

The  special  map  of  Rossland,  on  the  scale  of  400  feet  to  an 
inch,  with  20-foot  contours,  is  a  special  detailed  mining  map. 

The  scale,  400  feet,  was  chosen  as  being  the  most  convenient 
to  show  the  area  mapped,  and  as  admitting  all  the  features  being 
shown  in  detail  without  appearing  too  small  or  crowded,  and  at 
the  same  time  allowing  the  geology,  veins,  etc.,  to  be  laid  down 
with  a  greater  degree  of  accuracy,  thus  adding  largely  to  the 
working  value  of  the  map. 

In  making  a  topographical  map  of  this  nature,  as  in  any 
other  topographical  map,  the  methods  employed  depend  upon 
the  scale,  the  instrumental  work  applicable  to  conditions  and 
locality,  what  the  map  is  to  be  used  for,  and  what  is  required  to 
be  shown;  these  last  two  conditions  directly  control  the  scale, 
which  must  be  so  chosen  as  to  show  all  the  necessary  features 
desired  in  the  map.  Another  important  item  is  the  systematic 
recording  of  field  notes. 

The  area  covered  by  the  special  map  is  about  1.9  square 
miles  (H  miles  x  1|  miles),  and  embraces  the  city  of  Rossland, 
and  the  principal  mines.  All  railways,  roads,  buildings,  shaft- 
houses,  shafts,  tunnels,  prospects  over  6  feet  deep,  mine  dumps, 
tramways,  flumes,  streams,  marshes,  etc.,  are  shown,  and,  as 
stated,  contours  are  represented  with  20-foot  intervals. 

On  this  map  are  shown  2,100  buildings,  50  shafts,  14  shaft 
houses,  33  tunnels,  200  prospects,  1\  miles  of  railway  and  15  miles 
of  road  outside  of  the  city  proper.  The  extreme  vertical  relief 
is  2,000  feet. 


Special  Map  of  Rossland,  B.  Cv 

The  amount  of  control  is  shown  in  the  accompanying  illus- 
tration which  is  a  rough  plot  of  the  triangulation  and  also  the 
traverse  stations  and  traverse  lines. 

All  the  work  in  connection  witli  the  surveying  and  plotting 
of  this  map  was  attempted  to  be  carried  out  with  a  degree  of 
accuracy  which  would  prevent  errors  of  appreciable  magnitude 
appearing  on  a  finished  map  of  the  scale  used. 

A  triangulation  formed  the  main  control  of  the  sheet,  Be- 
tween the  triangulation  stations,  transit-stadia  traverses  were  run 
along  railways,  roads  and  across  country;  between  these  traverses, 
branch  traverses  were  run  until  the  whole  area  was  covered  by 
a  network  of  traverses  all  tied  on  to  one  another  (see  Control 
Sheet).  While  these  traverses  were  being  carried  along,  side 
shots  to  locate  all  objects  and  for  contour  points  were  taken.  The 
plane  table  with  stadia  was  also  used  over  a  large  part  of  the  area. 
Elevations  of  the  triangulation  stations  were  obtained  by  vertical 
angulation.  On  the  traverses  the  elevations  were  carried  along 
by  means  of  the  stadia,  and  were  checked  at  all  tie  points. 

The  district  was  first  looked  over  and  a  suitable  locality  for 
a  base  line  selected,  also  the  best  points  for  the  triangulation 
stations  were  determined  upon.  On  these  stations,  signals  were 
erected,  consisting  of  an  upright  pole  carrying  a  white  flag,  sup- 
ported by  three  other  shorter  poles  in  the  form  of  a  tripod.  On 
the  uprights,  targets  of  white  cotton  were  fastened,  the  bottom 
of  the  target  being  placed  5  feet  above  the  ground.  Vertical 
angles  between  the  stations,  for  elevation,  were  measured  to  the 
bottom  of  these  targets.  Care  was  taken  in  setting  the  signals 
to  have  the  upright  perpendicularly  over  the  point  on  the  ground. 

The  triangulation  was  carried  over  the  district  embraced 
by  the  general  sheet,  which  is  on  a  scale  of  1,200  feet  to  an  inch 
and  is  not  published  yet.  The  special  map  forms  about  one-half 
the  area  covered  by  the  general  sheet.  Nine  of  the  triangulation 
stations  are  within  the  400-foot  sheet  and  form  its  main  control. 

Second  Avenue  was  chosen  as  the  best  site  for  a  base  line 
on  account  of  its  giving  the  longest  stretch  that  was  fairly  level. 
The  base  was  first  staked  out  with  the  aid  of  a  transit,  and  large 
hubs  driven  in  every  300  feet.  The  line  was  laid  out  along  the 
side  of  the  road  so  that  the  operations  in  connection  with  the 
measuring,  etc.,  would  not  interfere  with  the  traffic  and  also  that 


374 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


rftsfr 


*&<**&,  y&ov  p£*^     So~/*uc^ 


Special  Map  of  Rossland,  B.  ( 


the  hubs  would  be  preserved.  When  the  base  was  completely 
staked  out,  the  final  measurements  were  made  with  a  300-foot 
steel  tape,  between  the  hubs  set,  using  a  uniform  pull  of  16  pounds 
applied  at  one  end  of  the  tape  with  a  tension  handle.  Three 
measurements  were  made  of  the  whole  length  of  the  base  and 
the  three  results  for  the  total  length  were  found  to  differ  by 
a  very  slight  amount  that  it  was  not  considered  in  this  work.  A 
line  of  levels  was  run  over  the  hubs;  with  the  difference  in  ele- 
vation between  each  hub  thus  found,  each  300-foot  section  was 
reduced  to  the  horizontal.  The  total  horizontal  length  of  the 
base  was  2. 40.").  7  feet.  The  difference  in  elevation  between  the 
two  ends  was  27.2  feet.  A  very  short  line  of  levels  was  also  run 
from  the  base  line  to  the  Great  Northern  railway  track  opposite 
the  station  house,  and  the  elevation  of  this  point  was  used  as  the 
datum.  The  bench  mark  on  the  Bank  of  Montreal  was  taken 
from  the  same  datum,  and  is  the  bench  mark  used  by  the  mines. 

The  transit  used  in  the  triangulation  was  an  8-inch  Gurley 
Engineer's  Transit,  divided  to  quarter-degrees  with  vernier  read- 
ing to  one  minute;  telescope  11  inches,  with  fixed  stadia-hairs, 
magnifying  power  24  diameters;  vertical  circle  \\  inches  diam- 
eter, with  vernier  reading  to  single  minutes. 

The  triangulation  was  carried  out  in  the  usual  way,  by  oc- 
cupying each  station  and  measuring  all  the  angles  of  the  triangles. 
The  angles  were  measured  by  pointing  to  each  signal  in  turn  with 
telescope  direct,  and  then  a  second  time  after  reversing  the  tele- 
scope and  shifting  the  plates  about  60°.  At  the  end  of  each  set 
the  telescope  was  directed  around  again  to  the  first  signal  sighted 
and  the  instrument  read  to  see  that  the  instrument  had  not 
moved  during  the  operation.  Vertical  angles  were  also  read  at 
each  pointing,  direct  and  reverse.  On  leaving  a  station  the  signal 
was  carefully  set  back  in  its  proper  position. 

The  triangulation  when  completed  in  the  field  was  immedi- 
ately worked  out  in  the  office;  the  length  of  the  sides  and  their 
azimuths  computed,  as  well  as  the  elevations  of  each  station, 
before  any  traverse  work  was  started.  Observations  for  azimuth 
were  taken  on  the  sun  at  both  ends  of  the  base  line  and  at  one  of 
the  stations.  The  triangulation  stations  were  afterwards  plotted 
by  means  of  their  total  latitudes  and  departures  from  one  end  of 
the  base  line. 


376  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

The  accuracy  with  which  the  triangulation  was  done  is  shown 
by  the  following: — The  Station  L  was  one  of  the  farthest  points 
to  which  the  triangulation  was  carried,  and  lies  in  the  south-east 
corner  of  the  1,200  ft.  sheet.  The  Station  D  is  near  the  base  line 
and  lies  in  the  north-east  corner  of  the  1,200-ft.  sheet.  The 
length  of  the  side  D  L,  as  determined  from  three  different  triangles, 
gave  the  following  results — 10,626.9  feet,  10,625.5  feet  and 
10,625.7  feet,  the  greatest  difference  in  length  being  1.4  feet; 
thus  the  Station  L  is  located  much  closer  than  it  could  be  plotted 
on  the  map. 

The  degree  of  accuracy  obtained  for  the  elevations  by  ver- 
tical-angulation  is  shown  by  the  following: — 

Elev.  of  Sta.  D  from  Sta.  A  base— 4050' .  2  distance  3820.7  ft. 
Elev.  of  Sta.  D  from  Sta.  B  base— 4050' .  6  distance  5489.2  ft. 
Elev.  of  Sta.  D  from  Sta.  C  base— 4050' .  6     distance  3197.8  ft. 

Elev.  of  Sta.  F  from  Sta.  D— 42 10'. 2  distance  11162.8  feet 
Elev.  of  Sta.  F  from  Sta.  B— 4208'. 8  distance  5853.0  feet 
Elev.  of  Sta.  F  from  Sta.  A— 4209'. 6  distance  7455.0  feet 
Elev.  of  Sta.  F  from  Sta.  E— 4209' .  1  distance  8857 . 9  feet 
Average  of  the  four  gives  Elev.  as  4209' .  4. 

As  the  elevations  were  determined  with  just  sufficient  ac- 
curacy to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  work,  no  permanent 
bench  marks  were  left.  If  bench  marks  were  to  have  been  left, 
a  line  of  instrumental  levels  would  have  been  run  to  control  the 
elevations. 

The  transit  with  which  the  traverses  were  run  was  the  same 
as  used  for  the  triangulation.  The  requirements  of  a  transit  for 
stadia  work  are  that  it  should  have  a  good  telescope  with  a  flat 
field,  good  illumination  and  a  fair  magnifying  power.  The  transit 
used  was  found  to  meet  very  satisfactorily  these  requirements. 
The  stadia  wires  in  the  telescope  were  fixed  and  included  1  foot 
on  the  rod  at  a  distance  of  100  feet  plus  the  instrument  constant. 

The  rods  used  were  the  telescopic  English  self-reading  level- 
ling rods.  Each  rod  was  provided  with  a  circular  rod  level  to 
insure  the  rod  always  being  held  in  a  vertical  position.  In 
traversing  two  rod  men  were  used,  one  for  the  front,  the  other  for 
the  rear. 


Si'icivi.  Map  of  Rossland,  B.  C.  :;., 

The  traverses  were  first  started  from  a  triangulation  station; 
the  instrument  oriented  by  sighting  to  another  triangulation 
station  after  setting  the  plates  at  the  azimuth  to  that  station. 
In  this  way  true  azimuths  were  carried  throughout  all  the  traverses 

In  setting  hubs  and  sighting  on  them,  the  rod  was  held  with 
its  edge  towards  the  instrument,  and  then,  after  a  signal  from 
the  transit  man,  was  turned  with  its  face  to  the  instrument  for 
the  rod  reading.  In  taking  side  shots  the  face  of  the  rod  was 
kept  towards  the  instrument,  both  for  direction  and  distance. 

The  transit  was  always  set  on  a  back-sight  by  setting  the 
plates  at  the  back-azimuth  of  the  line  and  then  sighting  to  the  edge 
of  the  rod  held  at  the  back  station;  in  this  way  the  instrument 
was  always  used  in  the  same  position  throughout  the  work. 
The  rod  reading  and  vertical  angle  were  always  taken  on  the 
back-sight,  in  order  to  check  the  fore-sight  readings;  if  any 
difference  was  found  the  mean  of  the  two  readings  was  used. 

All  traverses  were  tied  either  to  triangulation  stations  or  to 
stadia  stations  already  set,  and  the  azimuth  checked  on  the  spot 
by  sighting  to  another  triangulation  station,  or  stadia  station,  as 
the  case  demanded.  If  the  azimuth  agreed  within  two  or  three 
minutes  on  a  two-mile  (or  over)  traverse,  it  was  considered  close 
enough  for  this  work.  Where  the  azimuth,  on  closing  a  tia 
was  found  in  error  above  the  allowable  amount,  the  traverse 
stations  were  quickly  run  over  again,  neglecting  the  rod  read- 
ings for  distance,  simply  to  locate  the  error. 

The  height  of  instrument  was  always  noted  (a  light  rod 
graduated  to  feet  and  tenths  of  a  foot  being  carried  for  this  pur- 
pose), and  in  reading  vertical  angles  the  cross-hairs  in  the  telescope 
were  directed  to  a  point  on  the  rod  at  the  same  height  above  ground 
as  the  instrument. 

While  carrying  on  a  traverse,  the  rodmen,  after  giving  the 
sights  to  the  hubs,  would  go  about  in  all  directions  giving  the 
side,  shots  to  the  various  objects  to  be  located,  as  well  as  side  shots 
for  contours.  The  side  shots  were  taken  to  the  bends  of  roads, 
road  crossings  and  road  forks,  road  crossing  streams,  stream  bends, 
corners  of  buildings,  prospects,  shafts,  tunnels,  along  the  tops  and 
at  the  bottoms  of  mine  dumps,  tramways,  etc.,  etc.,  in  short  to 
everything  that  was  to  be  shown  on  the  map. 


378  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

For  contour  points,  shots  were  taken  to  points  along  the  tops 
of  ridges,  the  bottoms  of  ravines,  at  changes  of  slope,  on  tops  and 
around  the  bottoms  of  knolls,  or  any  other  irregularity  in  the 
features  of  the  ground  that  would  show  on  the  map  scale. 

In  locating  buildings,  the  rodmen  would  give  two  adjacent 
corners  and  then  measure  up  the  shape  of  the  building  with  their 
rods;  keeping  a  diagram  with  measurements  of  the  same  on  a  small 
pad  provided  for  the  purpose.  These  diagrams  were  handed  to  the 
transitman  before  moving  to  the  next  station,  and  were  incorpora- 
ted in  his  notes. 

In  all  of  this  work  where  so  many  features  were  taken,  a 
system  of  signals  between  the  rodmen  and  transitman  was  used, 
in  order  that  the  transitman  could  tell  where  the  rod  was  being 
held,  when  the  distance  was  too  great  to  call  out. 

The  error  of  the  stadia  is  generally  given  as  being  1  in  600. 
With  a  good  telescope,  having  good  illumination  and  magnification, 
the  rod  can  be  read  fairly  easily  at  800  feet,  provided  the  atmos- 
phere is  not  too  tremulous  owing  to  the  heat.  The  best  days  for 
stadia  work  were  found  to  be  the  cloudy  days  with  a  clear  air; 
bright  sunlight  is  hard,  especially  if  the  light  is  behind  the  rod,  then 
it  is  sometimes  impossible  to  get  a  rod  reading  at  a  fair  distance. 
Taking  every  kind  of  day  into  consideration,  the  stadia  gives 
excellent  results  for  work  of  this  nature. 

The  limit  to  which  the  rods  used  could  be  accurately  read  was 
tried  on  the  base  line.  It  was  found  that  up  to  600  ft.  the  stadia 
gave  the  same  results;  at  907  feet  the  stadia  gave  905.  A  better 
idea  of  the  work  done  by  the  stadia  may  be  obtained  from  the 
following  example: — Traverse  from  Sta.  A  to  Sta.  K. — total 
distance  2\  miles — azimuth  checked  to  within  2  minutes. 

From  A  to  K  by  triangulation  South  6,722'. 8  and  West  2,001'. 5 

From  A  to  K  by  traverse  South  6,728'. 3  and  West  1,998'. 3 

Total  Error 5'. 5  and 3'. 2 

Elevation  of  K  by  triangulation 3,409' .  8 

Elevation  of  K  by  traverse 3,408' .  4 

Difference  1' .  5 

Longest  rod  reading  on  the  traverse  was  845  ft.  This  traverse 
was  run  on  a  rather  hot  day,  partly  along  a  railway  track  where 


Special  Map  of  Rosslaxd,  B.  C. 


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380  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

the  air  was  tremulous,  and  therefore  it  was  found  very  difficult  to 
always  get  a  proper  rod-reading. 

A  plot  of  all  traverses,  with  side  shots,  was  kept  in  the  note 
book  on  the  opposite  page  to  the  notes;  sketch  contours  were  drawn 
on  the  plot  to  give  the  shape  of  the  ground.  The  accompanying 
extract  from  one  of  the  field  note  books,  shows  the  method  of  keep- 
ing the  notes.  The  last  three  columns  in  the  notes  are  filled  in  the 
office.  A  few  only  of  the  side-shots  are  shown  in  the  sketch  so  as 
to  avoid  confusion. 

The  notes  were  reduced  in  the  office  by  means  of  tables  and 
Cox's  stadia  slide  rule.  This  slide  rule  is  a  very  useful  and  con- 
venient instrument  and  with  a  slight  amount  of  practice,  can  be 
used  very  quickly  and  gives  good  results. 

The  latitudes  and  departures  for  all  the  courses  of  the  main 
traverse  were  worked  out  with  Gurden's  traverse  tables;  the  total 
distances  checked  and  any  appreciable  error  was  distributed  in 
the  usual  way. 

The  elevations  between  the  traverse  stations  were  carried  out 
to  one  one-hundredth  of  a  foot  in  order  to  prevent  an  accumulation 
of  errors  on  the  line;  the  elevations  of  objects  were  taken  out  to  the 
nearest  tenth  of  a  foot,  and  for  contour  points  to  the  nearest  foot. 

The  reduction  and  plotting  of  the  traverses  in  the  office  was,  as 
far  as  possible,  kept  up  with  the  work  in  the  field,  so  that  in  case  of 
any  errors,  they  could  be  rectified  before  leaving  that  particular 
part  of  the  ground. 

The  stations  on  the  main  traverses  were  plotted  by  means  of 
their  total  latitudes  and  departures  from  the  starting  point.  On 
shorter  traverses  the  courses  were  plotted  by  protractor.  For 
plotting  side  shots  the  quickest  and  most  convenient  method  was 
found  to  be  as  follows: — A  very  thin  14  inch  cardboard  protractor 
reading  to  15  minutes  was  used.  The  centre  was  cut  out  to  with- 
in 2  inches  of  the  edge.  The  protractor  was  then  fastened  down  on 
the  map  over  the  area  to  be  filled  in  with  the  0°  and  180°  marks  coin- 
ciding with  the  true  north  line  through  one  of  the  stations,  and  the 
directions  of  the  side  shots  transferred,  with  a  parallel  ruler,  to 
their  corresponding  stations  on  the  plan.  As  soon  as  enough  side 
shots  and  contour  points  were  located  on  the  map  around  a  certain 
area,  the  contours  were  drawn  in,  using  the  note  book  sketch  as  a 
guide. 


Special  Map  of  Rossland,  B.  Q.  381 

The  plane  table  and  stadia  was  used  over  a  great  portion  of  the 
sheet  and  was  found  to  give  very  good  results.  For  this  work  two 
rodmen  were  used,  as  well  as  a  recorder  who  kept  the  notes  and 
reduced  all  the  readings  in  the  field,  with  the  aid  of  the  stadia  slide 
rule.  No  record  was  kept  of  the  contour  points;  only  the  readings 
to  buildings,  shafts,  tunnels  and  prospects  and  other  important 
features  were  recorded  for  the  sake  of  referring  to  their  elevations 
during  the  course  of  the  work.  The  form  of  record  in  the  note  book 
was  the  same  as  kept  for  the  transit  work,  with  the  exception  of  the 
azimuth  column,  it  being  omitted. 

The  methods  of  traversing  were  similar  to  those  used  in  the 
transit  work.  Long  traverses,  however,  were,  as  a  rule,  not  run 
with  the  table  as  sometimes  they  occasioned  a  little  difficulty  in 
tying  in  properly.  In  shorter  traverses,  if  there  was  any  closing 
error,  it  was  generally  found  to  be  so  small  that  it  might  be 
neglected. 

The  table  used  was  furnished  by  Keuffel  &  Esser,  and  was  one 
of  the  U.  S.  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey  Pattern.  The  board  was 
16"  x  20".  A  three  screw  levelling  arrangement  with  tangent  screw 
was  attached  to  the  tripod  head.  It  wras  provided  with  a  telescopic 
alidade  with  vertical  arc,  reading  to  30°  each  way,  with  vernier 
reading  to  1  minute;  the  blade  of  the  alidade  was  12"  x  2\"  with 
spirit  levels  attached;  the  telescope  wras  furnished  with  fixed 
stadia  hairs  including  1  foot  on  a  rod  at  a  distance  of  100  feet  plus 
the  instrument  constant. 

The  paper  used  was  two  sheets  of  paragon  paper  mounted  with 
the  grain  at  right  angles  and  with  cloth  between.  This  is  the  same 
kind  of  paper  as  used  by  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  and  reduces 
distortion,  owing  to  atmospheric  changes,  to  a  minimum.  Each 
sheet  was  prepared  for  the  field  by  laying  down  on  them  all  trian- 
gulation  points  that  would  fall  on  the  sheet  and  all  traverse  sta- 
tions around  the  part  to  be  filled  in.  The  scale  used  on  the 
sheets  was  the  same  as  for  the  finished  map,  namely,  400  feet  to 
1  inch.  As  one  hundredth  of  an  inch  is  as  close,  perhaps  closer, 
than  can  be  conveniently  plotted  in  the  field,  and  as  on  the  scale 
used  this  would  correspond  to  4  feet,  all  rod  readings  to  locate 
objects  were  taken  just  t<>  within  this  amount  and  no  closer, 
since  it  would  be  a  waste  of  time  to  locate  objects  more  accurately 
than  they  could  be  plotted. 


382  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

With  the  prepared  sheets,  the  table  was  taken  into  the  field  to 
one  of  the  stations  plotted,  set  up,  oriented  and  the  immediate 
neighbourhood  filled  in;  new  hubs  set  and  these  in  turn  occupied 
with  the  table  and  the  detail  filled  in,  and  so  on,  till  a  tie  point  was 
reached,  where  the  traverse  and  elevation  were  checked  up. 

A  good  feature  of  the  plane  table  is  that  it  enables  the  topo- 
grapher to  determine  his  position  at  an  unknown  point  easily  and 
fairly  rapidly,  by  the  graphic  solution  of  the  three-point  problem. 
This  can  only  be  done  when  the  country  is  open  and  three  or  more 
triangulation  stations  visible,  the  plotted  positions  of  which  are 
shewn  on  the  sheet.  This  method  was  used  very  frequently  and 
was  found  very  convenient,  as  well  as  saving  a  lot  of  time  in  places 
where  it  would  be  difficult  to  run  a  traverse  into.  Sometimes  in 
difficult  country  where  the  position  of  the  table  was  determined  by 
the  three  point  problem,  a  short  traverse  was  run  from  this  point 
to  get  the  detail,  the  end  of  such  a  traverse  being  also  tied  in  by 
the  three-point  problem. 

The  elevations  of  the  points  fixed  by  the  three-point  problem 
were  either  determined  from  the  triangulation  stations  them- 
selves, by  reading  the  vertical  angles  to  them  and  scaling  the 
distance  on  the  sheet,  or,  as  was  done  in  most  cases,  by  taking  a  rod 
reading  to  some  neighbouring  traverse  hub,  as  one  could  always 
be  found  near  at  hand.  Often  from  points  fixed  by  the  three-point 
problem,  after  the  elevation  had  been  determined,  hubs  were  set 
in  several  different  directions  by  the  stadia.  These  were  used  for 
elevation  only,  the  table  being  taken  to  a  good  situation  beyond 
these  hubs,  its  position  determined  by  the  three-point  and  the 
elevation  determined  by  taking  a  rod-reading  back  on  to  one  of 
these  hubs.  This  was  found  to  be  a  convenient  and  quick  way 
of  getting  the  elevations  for  points  near  at  hand  fixed  by  the 
three-point  problem.  Flags  were  left  on  all  points  fixed  by  the 
three-point  problem,  in  order  that  these  points  could  be  used  for 
fixing  one's  position  from  some  other  point,  where  it  was  impos- 
sible to  see  enough  triangulation  signals. 

A  very  satisfactory  way  of  using  the  table  for  filling  in  was 
found  to  be  as  follows: — Traverses  were  run  with  the  transit  and 
stadia,  hubs  set  at  suitable  points,  side  shots  were  neglected. 
These  traverses  were  then  plotted  in  the  office  and  transferred  to 


Special  Map  of  Rosslaxd,  B.  C*  383 

the  plane  table  sheet;  the  table  was  then  taken  into  the  field,  set  up 
over  each  of  the  hubs,  oriented  and  the  detail  filled  in. 

In  some  cases,  however,  as  around  the  larger  mines,  where 
there  was  a  large  amount  of  detail  to  be  shown,  such  as,  buildings, 
tramways,  etc.,  many  of  these  features  were  taken  while  running 
the  transit  stadia  line.  These  features  together  with  the  traverse 
stations  were  then  plotted  on  the  plane  table  sheet;  the  table  after- 
wards taken  into  the  field,  set  up  over  the  various  already  deter- 
mined hubs  and  the  remaining  features  and  contours  filled  in. 
This  combined  method  was  used  in  the  complicated  areas,  since  the 
crowded  main  features  could  be  plotted  and  drawn  to  scale  better 
in  the  office  than  on  the  table  in  the  field. 

In  all  of  the  work  done  with  the  table  it  was  found,  as  com- 
pared with  the  transit  stadia  method,  that  the  number  of  side  shots 
for  contours  was  reduced  to  a  very  great  extent,  and  also  that  the 
contours  themselves  could  be  sketched  in  far  more  accurately. 
For,  with  the  table,  the  recorder  gave  the  true  elevations  of  each 
point  as  it  was  taken  and  thus,  at  a  glance,  it  could  be  seen  where 
the  contours  would  come  on  the  ground  and  they  could  be  immedia- 
tely sketched  on  the  sheet  with  fewer  side  shots  and  much  greater 
ease  and  accuracy,  than  could  be  accomplished  in  the  office  from 
the  field  sketch  accompanying  the  transit  notes.  The  advantages 
of  the  plane  table,  for  this  class  of  work,  over  the  transit  are 
important.  With  the  transit,  where  only  a  sketch  is  kept,  and  no 
elevations  worked  out  in  the  field,  it  becomes  necessary  to  take  an 
excessive  number  of  points,  at  practically  any  slight  change  in  the 
nature  of  the  ground,  in  order  to  be  able  to  properly  interpolate  the 
contours  in  the  office.  The  office  work  in  connection  with  the 
reducing  and  plotting  of  the  transit  notes  is  very  long  and  tedious, 
in  using  the  plane  table,  however,  all  the  office  work  is  practically 
done  away  with  and  was  found  to  be  a  quicker  and  more  satis- 
factory way  of  filling  in  the  detail. 

Great  difficulty  was  encountered  at  times  in  getting  the  detail 
of  the  ground  on  account  of  the  heavy  growth  of  brush  on  some  of 
the  slopes.  The  rodmen  always  carried  axes  and  would  slash  out 
the  brush  in  case  a  shaft  or  prospect  was  to  be  located.  <  >wing  to 
this  heavy  brush,  the  rudman  could  not  see  all  the  prosped 
some  may  not  be  shown  on  the  map.  In  taking  contour  points 
in  brushy  ground,  the  rod  was  often  held  on  the  shoulder  or  knee 


384  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

of  the  rodman,  or  else  the  rodmen  stood  upon  some  object;  the 
distance  to  the  ground  in  each  case  being  called  out. 

In  order  to  get  shots  into  stream  bottoms  where  trees  in  the 
bottom  prevented  the  rod  from  being  seen,  the  rodman  would 
climb  up  one  of  the  trees  and  hold  the  rod  on  one  of  the  limbs  where 
it  could  be  seen  by  the  transit  man;  after  the  reading  was  taken,  he 
would  measure  the  distance  to  the  ground  and  note  how  far  the 
stream  was  from  the  bottom  of  the  tree  and  then  call  out  the 
measurements  to  the  transit  man.  In  this  way  much  time  was 
saved  in  getting  points  at  the  bottoms  of  timbered  draws. 

A  good  rodman  soon  learns  to  recognize  which  points  are  the 
best  to  give  in  order  to  get  the  shape  of  the  ground.  By  a  judi- 
cious selection  of  contour  points,  much  time  is  saved  and  better 
results  are  obtained. 

The  City  of  Rossland  was  resurveyed  with  transit  and  stadia 
and  was  blocked  out  from  these  surveys  with  the  aid  of  the  measure- 
ments of  the  blocks  as  given  on  a  plan  of  the  city.  About  one 
half  of  the  houses  were  fixed  from  these  surveys;  the  remainder 
were  taken  from  the  insurance  plan  of  the  city,  after  all  the 
positions  and  shapes  included  thereon  were  checked  in  the  field, 
and  others  inserted  that  were  not  shown. 


*N, 


7 


7 


/V- 


1 


A         Tria.ngula.tion   stations 
•  Transit-stadia  stations 

%         Plane-table-stadia,  stations 


CONTROL  SHEET 


C  AN  AliA 

DEPARTMENT     OF     MINES 

GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY  BRANCH 


Hon.W  Tcmpliman.  Minister;   A. PLow,  Diput 
R.WBbock.   Actino   DimcTod 


,    v\ ADA 

DEPARTMENT     OF     MINES 

GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY  BRANCH 


CD      4PLo».    DepuTv    Mini 

ick.   Acting   Dikcctor 


I 


ONTE  CHRISTO 


EVENING   SI  A 


'' 


"  PAUL  BOY 

•' 

„    CITY  or  SPOKANE 

8    . 

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f-                                                                      VIRGINIA 

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1       Si  ^*^  B  •  '    m,k  ***  M    ff  a    imii  "     « 


Topographical    Slwot 

SPECIAL  MAP  of  ROSSLAN1) 

BRITISB     COLUMBIA 

by 

W    H    Boyd 


Soale    Kin  I'oM  i..  I  In,  I, 


■      •    I    ■ 

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Topographical     Sheet 

SPECIAL  MAP  of  ROSSLAND 

BRITISH    COLUMBIA 

by 

W    H    Boyd 
S.I.I.-    Kin  I--,.,  ,„  i  i„,.|,        ,„'„„ 


NOUS  ON  COSTS  OF  DIAMOND  DRILLING  IN  THE 
BOUNDARY  DISTRICT. 

By  Frederic  Keffer,  Greenwood,  B.C. 

(Nelson  Meeting,  January,  1908). 

Two  years  ago  I  contributed  to  the  Institute  a  paper  on  the  re- 
sults of  diamond  drilling  as  carried  on  at  the  mines  of  the  British 
Columbia  Copper  Co.,  Ltd.,  during  1905.  That  paper  gave  some 
details  as  to  costs,  etc.,  and  the  period  covered  was  but  8£  months. 
Since  that  year  drilling  has  been  carried  on  more  or  less  continu- 
in  the  mines  of  the  Company,  and  the  results  of  this  work, 
so  far  as  progress  and  costs  are  concerned,  are  given  in  detail  in 
the  following  tables. 

The  Progress  Table  gives  the  monthly  results  of  work  as  well 
as  the  yearly  totals.  It  is  of  course  important  to  know  the  general 
character  of  the  rock  drilled  in  order  to  institute  comparisons  with 
other  localities.  In  the  narrow  limits  of  this  table  it  is  not  possible 
to  give  details  as  to  rocks,  but  so  near  as  possible  the  rocks  drilled 
are  classed  as  hard,  medium  hard,  and  soft.  The  hard  rocks  com- 
prise diorites,  compact  garnetites  and  certain  very  hard  and 
silii-ious  eruptives  occurring  in  Summit  camp.  The  medium 
hard  rocks  include  all  ores,  and,  in  Deadwood  camp,  much  of  the 
greenstone  country.  The  soft  rocks  are  the  limestones,  porphyries 
erpentines.  Of  all  rocks  drilled  the  garnetites  proved  much 
the  i:  re  in  diamond  consumption,  as  is  illustrated  by  the 

work  from  May  to  August,  1907,  which  was  mainly  conducted  in 
garnetite  with  some  silicious  limestones. 

f   hours  constitute  a  shift  underground,  and  nine  hours 
on  the  surface.     On  Sundays  no  work  is  done  apart  from  repairs  to 
In  May,  1906,  the  labour  was  contracted  as  an  experi- 
ment, but  was  abandoned  as  being  unsatisfactory. 

The  Cost  Table  uives  details  of  costs  under  the  four  groups  of 

Labc  i  sr,  Repairs,  Oils,  etc.,  and  Diamonds.     The  employees 

M 


386  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

were,  normally,  a  runner  and  a  setter.  Extra  help  was  required 
at  times  for  blasting  places  for  good  set  ups,  for  laying  pipe  lines, 
moving  plant,  etc.  In  August,  1907,  two  shifts  were  employed.  In 
June  and  July  of  that  year  the  increase  in  labour  costs  is  mainly  on 
account  of  the  long  pipe  lines  required.  The  power  consumed  is 
taken  as  being  equivalent  to  that  required  for  a  3J  inch  machine 
drill,  that  is  to  say  about  20-h.p.  When  drilling  at  a  mine,  where 
for  example  15  machines  are  used  on  each  shift,  the  diamond  drill 
is  charged  with  3\  of  the  total  power  costs — it  being  in  this  in- 
stance run  on  one  shaft  only. 

Where  steam  power  is  used  either  directly  or  through  a  steam 
driven  air  compressor,  the  costs  are  much  increased.  Where,  as 
in  some  cases,  an  isolated  24-h.p.  boiler  was  used,  the  power  costs 
are  still  higher,  as  an  engineer  has  to  be  provided  as  well  as  a  team 
to  haul  wood. 

Oils,  repairs,  etc.,  include  these  items  as  well  as  all  small 
miscellaneous  expenses.  The  increasing  cost  of  diamonds  added 
materially  to  cost  per  foot  in  1907. 

The  third  table  is  a  summary  of  the  first  two,  and  shows  an 
average  cost  per  foot  for  the  two  years  of  $1 .  705.  The  carats  used 
per  foot  are  °|J2,  or  in  more  intelligible  decimals,  .00893 
carats,  so  that  one  carat  on  the  average  drilled  111.9  feet.  All 
holes  over  30  degrees  dip  are  classed  as  vertical,  and  feet  per  hour 
in  horizontal  holes  is  about  15  per  cent,  greater  than  in  vertical 
ones.  The  average  depth  of  holes  is  81.3  feet,  and  diameter  of 
cores  is  f  inch. 

In  comparing  these  costs  with  contractors'  prices,  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  contractors  usually  require  air  (or  steam)  and 
water  to  be  piped  to  the  work,  and  the  mine  must  in  addition 
furnish  the  air  and  water  free  of  charge.  In  the  present  cost  sheets 
all  these  items  are  charged  against  costs  of  drilling. 


Notes  on  Costs  of  Diamond  Drilling 


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The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


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The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


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Notes  on  Costs  of  Diamond  Drilling  391 

DISCUSSION. 

Mr.  Wilmott: — I  would  like  to  point  out  one  item  in  this 
paper.  The  system  of  weighing  diamonds  by  the  carat  is  an 
interminable  nuisance,  particularly  the  dividing  of  the  carats  into 
sixteenths,  thirty-seconds  and  sixty-fourths.  In  order  to  avoid 
this  enormous  amount  of  calculation  I  have  had  a  set  of  weights 
constructed  (costing  only  a  few  dollars)  in  which  the  fractions  of  a 
carat  are  tenths,  etc. 

The  President: — We  have  kept  to  the  old  system  because 
we  buy  the  diamonds  in  that  way,  but  there  is  no  doubt  the  deci- 
mal system  is  better.  In  selecting  diamonds  we  usually  have  a 
lot  sent  to  us  by  dealers  from  which  to  select.  On  one  or  two 
occasions  we  found  that  the  stones  had  been  previously  soaked  in 
some  wax  or  paraffin  to  conceal  the  cracks.  Since  then  we  have 
always  boiled  the  diamonds  before  making  our  selections. 


1 


Is 


GRANBY  MINING  METHODS. 

By  C.  M.  Campbell,  Phoenix,  B.C. 

(Rossland  Meeting,  May  1908). 

The  Granby  Company  is  at  present  operating  in  Phoenix 
what  appears  to  be  two  distinct  groups  of  ore  bodies.  The  oldest 
workings  are  in  the  deposits  which  outcrop  on  the  Knob  Hill  and 
Old  Ironsides  claims  (Fig.  I),  while  the  later  workings  are  about 
half  a  mile  to  the  east  and  are  almost  entirely  on  the  Gold  Drop 
claim  (Fig.  II).  The  Knob  Hill-Ironsides  deposit  has  been  opened 
up,  at  one  hundred  foot  intervals,  by  several  levels.  The  upper 
one  of  these,  No.  1  Tunnel  (Fig.  Ill),  was  originally  a  shipping  level 
and  from  the  stopes  above  this  level  and  from  the  open  cuts  in 
which  a  steam  shovel  worked,  nearly  a  million  tons  have  been 
shipped.  When  the  crusher  at  the  mouth  of  this  tunnel  was 
destined  by  fire,  it  was  rebuilt  at  the  mouth  of  the  next  lower 
level  known  as  No.  2  Tunnel  (Fig.  IV).  No.  1  Tunnel  then  became 
nothing  more  than  an  intermediate  level,  all  the  ore  above  No.  2 
Tunnel  being  handled  through  that  outlet.  After  being  crushed 
this  ore  falls  directly  into  C.P.R.  cars,  or  if  none  are  at  hand  it  is 
diverted  into  a  pocket  which. is  reached  by  a  cross-cut  from  the 
next  lower  level  known  as  No.  3  Tunnel.  The  No.  3  Tunnel  equip- 
ment handles  all  the  ore  between  this  level  and  No.  2  Tunnel  and 
its  terminals  are  on  the  G.  N.  Ry.  (Fig.  V).  In  descending  order 
the  remaining  main  levels  are  known  as  200  ft.,  300  ft.  and  400 
ft.,  and  the  tonnage  from  all  these  levels  is  hoisted  through  the 
Victoria  Shaft.  The  bins  connected  with  this  shaft  are  served 
by  both  the  Canadian  Pacific  and  Great  Northern  railways  (Fig. 
VI).  The  Knob  Hill-Ironsides  mine  is  thus  divided  into  three  dis- 
tinct units  known  as  No.  2  Tunnel,  No.  3  Tunnel,  and  Victoria 
Shaft.  These  have  a  distinct  and  complete  equipment  of  rolling 
stock,  crushers  and  bins  and  are  manned  by  separate  crews  under 
s?parate  shift  bosses.     The  Gold  Drop  is  equipped  like  the  others 


(iiiWHY    Mi\i\<;  Mhthods-  393 

and  forms  a  fourth  unit.  The  output  from  this  mine  is  handled 
by  t  he  Canadian  Pacific,  and  a  view  of  the  terminals  is  shewn  in 
Fig.  VII.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  in  case  one  railway  is  unable 
to  operate,  the  shipments  from  at  least  three  outlets  can  be  han- 
dled by  the  other  road.  Also,  if  one  or  more  of  the  units  happen 
out  of  commission,  each  of  the  others  can  be  pushed  towards 
its  maximum  capacity  of  150  tons  per  hour  and  the  day's  ship- 
ment made  up. 

The  methods  of  underground  mining  are  largely  the  result 
of  evolution.  The  first  few  years  of  work  showed  decidedly  that 
the  ore  was  of  low  grade  character.  On  the  other  hand  it  also 
showed  the  ore  bodies  to  be  of  vast  size  with  values  uniformly 
distributed.  The  nature  of  the  ground  was  also  found  to  be  such 
that  timbering  could  be  almost  dispensed  with.  As  a  result  of 
this,  sorting  was  abandoned;  the  square  set  method  gave  place 
to  open  stopes  with  the  roof  supported  by  rock  pillars;  cheap 
electric  power  was  introduced  to  operate  air  compressors,  for 
pumping  and  for  haulage;  cars  up  to  ten  ton  capacity  and  running 
on  a  three  foot  gauge  took  the  place  of  the  small  mine  cars  pre- 
viously in  use,  and,  as  stated  above,  the  different  outlets  were 
equipped  with  up-to-date  shipping  facilities.  All  these  improve- 
ments have  had  the  end  in  view  of  giving  the  mine  a  large,  unin- 
terrupted, daily  tonnage. 

Nature  of  the  Deposit. — Figure  VIII  shows  a  transverse  vertical 
section  taken  about  the  middle  of  the  ore  body.  At  this  point 
it  shows  up  to,  perhaps,  the  best  advantage.  The  section  shows 
two  ore  bodies.  As  a  rule  the  area  between  these  ore  bodies  is 
absolutely  barren.  Some  drill  holes,  however,  have  shown  it  to 
contain  a  few  tenths  in  copper  and  in  this  section  part  of  the  area 
is  mineralized  sufficiently  to  place  it  in  the  shipping  class.  At 
the  place  where  t;  n  is  taken  a  cross-cut  could  be  started 

in  ore  at  the  foot  wall  and  driven  over  600  feet  before  again  en- 
countering waste  rock. 

The  ore  body  is  cut  by  Beveral  faults.     The  only  one  which 

-  to  throw  the  ore  body  to  any  extent  is  shown  in  the  section. 
This  has  been  traced  from  one  end  of  the  deposit  to  the  other  and 
shows  a  throw  of  from  nothing  to  one  hundred  feet.  This  fault 
plane  dips  to  The  wesT  at  an  angle  of  about  55  degrees.  Several 
other  fault  planes  occur  dipping  at  various  angles  tothe  east, but 


394  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

none  of  these  affect  the  continuity  of  the  ore.  In  some  cases  they 
apparently  do  so.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  strike  and  dip 
of  these  slips  is  much  the  same  as  the  ore  body  and  when  one 
occurs  close  to  the  hanging  wall  of  the  deposit  it  may  act  as  such 
for  a  hundred  or  two  hundred  feet.  Beyond  this  the  mineraliza- 
tion will  either  break  through  and  ore  be  found  on  each  side  of  the 
slip  or  it  will  fall  away  from  the  slip  and  waste  will  replace  the 
ore.  When  a  clean  slip  occurs  as  a  hanging  wall,  few  pillars  are 
needed  and  a  large  stope  can  be  made  with  a  safe  roof.  In  most 
parts  of  the  mine  the  division  between  ore  and  waste  is  more 
gradual.  Sometimes  it  may  be  a  few  inches;  it  is  seldom  more 
than  a  few  feet  and  can  usually  be  told  without  any  sampling. 

Scheme  of  Operations. — In  opening  up  a  level,  parallel  drifts, 
usually  about  75  feet  apart,  are  started  in  the  direction  of  the  strike 
of  the  deposit.  At  intervals  of  about  45  feet  along  the  drifts 
raises  are  begun.  An  eighteen  hole  round  is  drilled  and  blasted. 
Before  the  muck  is  cleared  away  the  bar  is  again  set  up  and 
another  round  drilled  and  blasted.  The  third  round  is  then  drilled 
but  the  cut  holes  only  are  blasted.  All  the  rock  is  then  shovelled 
up  and  the  chute  is  built.  The  remaining  holes  of  the  last  round 
are  then  blasted  and  as  these  throw  the  rock  to  the  sides  of  the 
raise  the  timbers  of  the  chute  are  uninjured.  The  raise  is  then 
carried  ahead  at  an  angle  of  about  45  degrees.  This  allows  the 
muck  to  run  and  also  enables  the  men  to  get  about  without  the 
aid  of  timbering.  For  ventilation  purposes  the  first  raise  of  a 
series  is  usually  carried  through  to  the  level  above  or  some  other 
convenient  opening.  In  the  case  of  the  highest  level  the  most 
convenient  opening  is  the  surface.  When  the  face  of  No.  2  raise 
is  about  30  feet  above  the  sill  floor,  stoping  is  commenced  and  it  is 
widened  out  till  it  connects  with  No.  1  Raise.  The  same  thing 
is  done  at  an  elevation  of  about  60  feet.  In  this  way  the  raises  are 
carried  ahead,  connecting  with  each  other  at  heights  of  30  feet 
and  60  feet  and  breaking  through  into  the  next  level  at  100  feet. 
The  only  small  work  is  in  the  first  30  feet.  This  is  charged  to 
development,  the  remaining  excavations  being  placed  in  the  stop- 
ing account.  In  this  way  a  network  of  pillars  is  left  throughout 
the  stope  So  far  a  column  only  has  been  used.  As  soon  as  the 
sill  floor  above  has  been  reached,  tripods  and  long  steel  can  be  used 
to  advantage.     In  this  way  a  glory  hole  is  started  and  the  opening 


m 


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Granby  Minim.  Methods  395 

can  he  widened  out  until  the  sides  of  the  glory  hole  get  too  flat 
for  the  ore  to  run.  Machines  are  also  put  to  work  where  the  con- 
nections lict  ween  the  raise-  have  been  made  and  at  other  ad- 
vantageoua  places.  The  stope  may  thus  be  turned  back  to  meet 
the  hanging  wall  and  the  pillars  reduced  in  size,  or  where  the  nature 
of  the  ground  permits,  a  pillar  may  be  eliminated  altogether. 
Reference  to  Figure  IX  shows  a  part  of  the  stopes  above 
No.  3  Tunnel  and  shows  the  progress  between  March,  1905  and 
March.  1908.  Figure  X  is  a  photograph  of  a  series  of  pillars 
above  No.  1  Tunnel  level. 

One  series  of  raises  is  seldom  sufficient  to  tap  all  the 
ore.  If  the  foot-wall  is  flat  a  parallel  drift  in  waste  with  ac- 
companying raises  will  have  to  be  driven.  There  will  also  be 
several  drifts  between  the  foot  and  the  hanging  walls.  At  one 
place  on  Xo.  3  Tunnel  level  there  are  five  parallel  drifts  now  operat- 
ing and  at  least  another  will  be  required.  In  this  case  the  pillars 
in  the  stopes  are  left  nearly  vertical  instead  of  at  an  angle  as  when 
the  deposit  is  steeper.  It  is  often  advisable  when  breaking  a 
raise  through  from  a  lower  level  to  make  the  connection  at  the 
back  of  the  chute  timbers.  The  timbers  can  be  taken  out  and  a 
glory  hole  started.  At  the  same  time  the  raise  can  be  carried 
ahead  as  a  stope  ten  to  fifteen  feet  beneath  the  foot  of  the  old 
stope.  While  stoping  ahead  upper  holes  are  drilled  into  the 
undercut  rock.  In  this  way  the  back  is  always  within  reach. 
In  fact  it  is  rarely  necessary  to  work  in  a  stope  at  any  great  dis- 
tance from  the  roof. 

When  raising  in  waste  no  connections  are  made  until  the  ore 
is  reached.  If  the  ore  is  at  any  considerable  distance  the  raises  are 
put  in  less  frequently  and  are  branched  so  as  to  tap  the  ore  at 
two  or  three  places.  After  the  ore  is  blasted  the  large  blocks 
that  can  be  reached  are  bulldozed.  Xo  blockholding  is  attempted. 
It  lias  been  found  cheaper  to  buy  more  powder  than  bother  with 
hand  or  air-hammer  drilling.  When  the  raises  are  in  ore  there  are 
always  convenient  temporarily  abandoned  chutes  which  have 
been  cleaned  out,  through  which  access  is  had  to  the  broken  ore 
in  the  raises.  In  the  case  of  raises  through  waste  where  no  con- 
nections have  previously  been  made  it  is  necessary  to  drive  man- 
ways.  To  do  this  a  staging  is  constructed  midway  between  two 
chutes  and  about  eight  feet  above  the  track,  high  enough  to  allow 


396  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

the  trolley  wire  to  pass  under.  The  planks  at  the  centre  of  the 
staging,  over  the  cars,  are  moveable.  A  miner  with  an  air  hammer 
drill  or  a  small  ordinary  drill  starts  a  raise  at  about  60  degrees  and 
continues  for  about  25  feet  when  he  branches  and  drifts  till  he 
connects  with  the  raises  on  each  side.  The  waste  with  a  little  help 
is  run  into  the  cars  without  interfering  with  traffic. 

The  abandonment  of  timbering  in  the  stopes  has  already 
been  referred  to.  The  only  other  timbering  required  is  for  chutes, 
tunnel  sets  and  occasional  posts  and  caps  on  the  sill  floor  where 
needed.  The  details  of  a  chute  are  shown  in  Figures  XI  and  XII. 
In  building  this  a  temporary  staging  is  constructed,  hitches  are 
cut  for  the  posts,  a  sprag  is  wedged  between  the  hanging  and  foot 
walls  of  the  raise,  a  block  and  tackle  attached  thereto  and  the  stulls 
raised  and  wedged  in  position.  The  stulls  are  then  lagged  up 
inside.  A  space  is  left  unlagged  for  the  chute  proper  and  at  the 
sides  of  this  space  and  inside  are  placed  posts  surmounted  by  a 
heavy  cap.  The  chute  is  built  in,  the  gate  placed  in  position,  a 
permanent  platform  built  for  the  chutemen  and  the  work  is  com- 
pleted. The  chute  opening  is  about  three  feet  square  and  any- 
thing that  can  go  through  the  chute  can  go  through  the  cars  and  be 
handled  by  the  crusher.  When  the  muck  is  drawn  through  the 
chute  from  the  raise  the  lagging  and  inside  posts  are  pretty  well 
protected  by  broken  rock.  The  cap,  however,  suffers  more  or  less 
from  blasting  and  in  course  of  time  is  replaced  if  necessary.  If 
convenient,  heavy  railroad  iron  covered  with  lagging  may  be  used 
instead  of  a  wooden  cap.  Chutes  have  been  built-lined  with  tank 
plates,  and  the  inside  timbers  armour-plated.  This,  however,  is 
seldom  done  as  the  life  of  an  ordinary  chute  is  usually  long  enough 
to  handle  all  the  ore  from  that  part  of  the  stope  of  which  it  is  the 
outlet.  The  chute  gate  is  a  solid  piece  of  sheet  iron,  and  is  oper- 
ated by  a  lever.  It  is  shown  in  section  in  the  drawing  of  a  chute. 
In  case  a  car  is  loaded  and  the  gate  is  prevented  from  closing  by  a 
large  rock,  a  plank  or  two  is  moved  along  the  staging  against  the 
mouth  of  the  chute  thus  preventing  any  loose  rock  from  running 
over.  Tunnel  sets  are  rarely  needed.  The  main  haulage  way  on 
the  400  ft.  level,  a  straight  run  of  about  1 ,000  feet,  has  no  timbers 
other  than  those  necessary  to  carry  the  electric  light  and  trolley 
wires.     This  is  the  usual  experience.     In  No.  3  Tunnel  there  is  a 


B  — 


0    u 


—    OJ 

c   u 


u  .- 


(iHA\i:v  Mining  Mkthods 


397 


398  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

double  tracked  stretch  of  900  feet  of  which  three  hundred  is  tim- 
bered with  sets  and  top  lagging. 

Sill  Floor  Work. — On  the  sill  floors  the  haulage  tunnels  are 
always  being  driven  ahead.  On  the  levels  where  the  big  cars  run 
these  are  about  9  ft.  x  11  ft.  in  size.  For  a  drift  of  this  size  a 
twenty  hole  round  is  used.  This  is  made  up  of  four  lifters,  four 
cuts,  eight  breast  holes  in  two  rows  and  four  back  holes.  All  the 
rock  broken  on  the  sill  floor  is  hand  shovelled.  For  handling  the 
ore  different  types  of  cars  are  in  use.  On  the  No.  3  Tunnel  level 
ten  ton,  steel,  hopper  bottom  and  seven  ton,  wooden,  gable  bot- 
tom cars  are  operated.  These  run  on  a  three  foot  gauge  and  are 
operated  by  an  electric  locomotive.  Owing  to  the  six  foot  height 
of  the  steel  cars  they  could  not  be  used  for  shovelling  into  from 
the  sill  floor  and  for  this  reason  the  lower  wooden  cars  were  built. 
They  are  not  adapted  for  loading  from  chutes  as  on  account  of 
their  low  height  the  muck  is  liable  to  shoot  over.  In  order  to 
deliver  the  large  tonnage  required  of  this  level  these  cars  were  an 
absolute  necessity.  There  are  fifteen  of  the  steel  ones  and  five 
wooden  ones  on  this  level  and  since  their  introduction  three  years 
ago  they  have  handled  close  to  a  million  tons  of  coarse  ore  besides 
a  large  amount  of  waste.  They  are  all  still  in  use  and  in  good 
working  condition.  They  have,  however,  their  defects.  The 
steel  cars  are  a  little  too  long  to  receive  a  full  load  without  being 
moved.  The  bottom  gates  do  not  always  close  tight  and  men 
have  to  be  kept  shovelling  off  the  track.  In  unloading,  the  large 
rocks  often  arch  over  in  the  car  and  when  they  cannot  be  dislodged 
with  a  pinch  bar,  dynamite  has  to  be  used.  As  this  is  hard  on  the 
rolling  stock  there  is  usually  a  car  or  two  in  the  repair  shop. 

Underground  the  ore  loading  is  in  the  hands  of  a  mucker  boss 
who  is  responsible  to  a  shift  boss  and  who  oversees  the  shovellers 
and  chutemen.  A  chuteman,  working  with  a  helper,  loads  the 
ore  from  the  chutes.  In  case  a  chute  gets  blocked  he  does  the 
blasting  necessary  to  clear  it.  The  train  crew  consists  of  a  motor- 
man  and  a  head  and  back  brakeman.  The  head  brakeman  is  in 
charge  of  the  train  and  does  whatever  blasting  is  necessary  in 
the  cars. 

On  the  No.  2  Tunnel  level  the  working  and  equipment  is 
practically  the  same  except  that  a  steam  locomotive  takes  the 
place  of  the  electric  one. 


Granby  Mining  Methods 


399 


\         40     „ - ■ 


\ 


flBh* -'no.3  Tunnel/ 


I       Y -' 


16  i  J" 


i  111"! 


Mai  cK,  10OS. 


Fig.  IX — Map  of  Stopes  between  No.  3  and  No.   2   Tunnel    Levels.     No.  3 
Tunnel  Level  is  shown  in  dotted  lines. 


400  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

In  order  to  overcome  the  defects  of  the  cars  in  use  and  those 
available,  a  special  steel  car  was  designed  at  the  works.  This  is 
used  on  the  400  ft.  level.  This  car,  shewn  in  section  in  Fig.  XIII, 
is  five  feet  high  and  can  be  used  for  sill  floor  shovelling  as  well  as 
loading  from  the  chutes.  The  box  has  a  five  ton  capacity,  and 
has  an  automatic  side  dumping  arrangement.  When  a  train 
comes  to  the  unloading  pocket,  the  motor  goes  ahead  with  slack- 
ened speed  and  a  side  wheel  attached  to  the  box  runs  up  an  in- 
clined plane,  the  box  tips,  dumps  its  load  and  closes  again.  Since 
its  installation  in  January,  1908,  this  arrangement  has  given  ex- 
cellent satisfaction.  Figures  XIV  and  XV  show  photographs  of 
the  dumping  arrangements. 

At  the  Gold  Drop  mine  the  entire  output  is  dropped  down  a 
raise  300  feet  long  to  the  Curlew  tunnel.  From  the  chutes  at  the 
bottom  of  the  raise  to  the  crusher  bins,  a  distance  of  800  feet  the 
ore  is  hauled  in  three  ton  capacity,  side  dump  wooden  cars  by  an 
electric  locomotive.     An  air  lift  is  used  to  dump  the  cars. 

The  Victoria  Shaft. — The  lower  levels  were  originally  worked 
by  Shafts  Nos.  1  and  2.  These  were  vertical,  of  small  size  and 
capacity  and  were  being  worked  to  their  limit.  Besides,  they  were 
not  centrally  located  for  future  workings.  In  order  to  materially 
increase  the  output  from  below,  the  Victoria  Shaft  was  constructed 
in  1905.  This  shaft  cuts  the  upper  ore  body  where  that  deposit 
crosses  the  400  ft.  level.  The  shaft  is  on  a  60  degree  incline  and 
connects  with  large  storage  pockets  below  the  400  ft.  level.  These 
pockets,  ore  and  waste,  are  connected  with  the  300  ft.  level  by 
raises,  thus  materially  increasing  their  capacity.  The  200  ft. 
level  will  eventually  be  connected  in  the  same  way  or  separate 
pockets  may  be  cut  out  below  that  level. 

The  skip  loading  device  is  shown  in  Figure  XVI.  The 
finger  gates  shown  in  the  drawing  is  supplemented  by  an  extra 
gate  made  out  of  a  piece  of  sheet  iron.  By  this  means  the  fines 
which  would  naturally  slip  through  the  fingers  of  the  main  gate 
are  caught  and  prevented  from  going  down  the  shaft. 

This  type  of  finger  gate,  the  sheet  iron  attachment  being 
omitted,  is  in  general  use  at  all  crushers  except  that  at  No.  3 
Tunnel  bins.  The  arrangement  at  the  Victoria  crusher  is  shown 
in  Figure  XVII.  In  the  case  of  the  No.  3  Tunnel  crusher  4  in.  x 
4  in.  square  steel  bars  running  in  guides  and  worked  by  an  air  lift 


GRANBT   Minim.    Mf.thods.  .  401 


are  used  as  shown  in  Fig.  XVIII.  These  do  as  good  work  as  the 
finger  gates,  but  no  better,  while  they  need  more  head  room  to  in- 
stall and  have  a  greater  initial  cost. 

A  classification  of  the  underground  force  employed  at  two 
different  periods  will  show  the  expansion  and  development  along 
new  lines  of  the  company's  operations.  The  figures  refer  to  the 
Knob  Hill-Ironsides  mine  only,  the  Gold  Drop  being  left  out  of 
consideration.  In  March,  1902,  the  average  24  hour  crew  consisted 
of  1  foreman.  .5  shift  bosses,  1  timber  boss,  92  miners,  26  timber- 
men,  139  muckers,  1  pumpman,  4  nippers,  2  trackmen,  2  samplers, 
4  Masters  and  2  cage  tenders.  This  makes  a  total  of  280  and 
during  this  time  the  shipments  averaged  about  1,000  tons  per  day. 
In  March,  1906,  this  crew  was  made  up  as  follows:  1  day  foreman, 
1  night  foreman,  7  shift  bosses,  1  timber  boss,  6  mucker  bosses, 
160  miners,  9  timbermen,  6  timbermen's  helpers,  46  chutemen, 
si  muckers  and  chutemen's  helpers,  12  nippers,  6  blasters,  10 
barmen,  3  trackmen,  3  trackmen's  helpers,  3  pumpmen  and  pipe- 
men,  1  ditcher,  6  motormen,  2  locomotive  engineers,  8  head 
brakemen,  6  back  brakemen,  2  car  repairers,  2  oilers  and  2  skip 
tenders,  a  total  of  387.  During  this  month  the  shipments  went 
Jitly  over  3,000  tons  per  day. 

Diamond  Drilling.-— vSince  starting  operations  over  30,000 
feet  of  holes  have  been  drilled.  Almost  all  of  this  has  been  of 
small  size  and  no  holes  have  been  deeper  than  600  feet.  All 
work  is  done  by  contract,  the  company  furnishing  power  and 
water.  The  mineralized  portion  of  the  core  is  sampled  and  the 
results  are  found  to  agree  remarkably  well  with  those  of  the  ore 
body  when  opened  up.  From  several  holes  the  cuttings  were 
collected  every  few  feet  and  analyzed.  As  the  values  were  away 
high  this  method  was  abandoned.  The  location  of  all  drill  holes 
is  surveyed  and  the  co-ordinates  and  elevation  above  sea-level  of 
the  collar  of  every  hole  noted.  If  the  hole  varies  from  the  vertical 
the  course  and  dip  are  also  kept.  Drill  holes  can  then  be  plotted 
independently  of  all  other  information.  These  figures  are  kept 
-et  of  books  together  with  all  other  fad.-  regarding 
this  work.  Several  holes  which  have  been  cut  underground  at 
distances  of  about  300  feet  below  the  collar  have  been  found  to  be 
from  two  to  four  feet  from  the  vertical  at  that  depth. 

26 


402 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


Fig.   XI— Section    showing-    Construction    of  Chute.       Dimensions    of    car 
Height,  6  feet  ;  Width,  6  feet ;  Length,  12  feet ;  Capacity,  10  tons. 


Granby  Mining  Methods  403 

Surveying  and  Mapping. — Where  the  conditions  are  the  same 
the  surveying  operations  are,  I  think,  much  like  those  in  other 
B.  C.  mines.  The  co-ordinates  of  all  important  stations  are  kept 
on  different  sheets  in  loose  leaf  ledgers.  Depending  on  the  im- 
portance of  a  piece  of  work  the  notes  may  be  plotted  by  co-ordin- 
ates, by  tangents  or  with  a  small  protractor.  It  has  been  found 
necessary  to  keep  a  considerable  number  of  maps  on  file.  A 
general  map  showing  the  bulk  of  the  company's  land,  buildings 
ami  underground  workings  is  made  to  a  scale  of  100  feet  to  the 
inch.  Combined  sill  floor  plans  on  a  scale  of  40  feet  to  the  inch 
are  made  of  t  he  Knob  Hill-Ironsides  and  Gold  Drop  mines.  Brown 
print  copies  of  these  are  placed  in  the  shift  bosses' offices.  It  has 
also  been  found  necessary  to  keep  the  stopes  above  each  level  on  a 
separate  map  and  separate  maps  are  made  of  each  level  showing 
the  geological  features,  especially  the  ore  boundaries.  Transverse 
vertical  sections  are  made  every  200  feet.  These  last  two  series 
of  maps  are  used  in  calculating  the  ore  in  sight.  The  permanent 
features  such  as  shafts,  side  lines,  drill  holes,  etc.,  are  put  on  in 
ink,  but  as  the  geography  of  a  level  changes  so  rapidly  the  rest  of 
the  workings  are  indicated  in  lead  pencil.  From  all  these  maps  a  set 
of  brown  prints  is  made  at  intervals.  From  the  sill  floor  plans 
a  irlass  model  of  the  Knob  Hill-Ironsides  is  kept  up-to-date.  This 
consists  of  sheets  of  glass  running  in  slides  in  a  plate  glass  frame. 
On  the  glass  sheets  are  outlined  the  different  levels,  areas  of  the 
ore  bodies,  faults,  etc.,  and  as  the  space  between  the  glasses  cor- 
responds to  the  space  between  the  levels  a  better  idea  of  the  ground 
can  be  obtained  than  when  all  the  plans  are  in  the  one  plane. 
This  arrangement  does  not  need  to  be  referred  to  often  but  when 
it  is  needed  it  is  found  to  be  of  very  considerable  help.  It  is  the 
intention  to  supplement  this  with  another  similar  arrangement 
having  vertical  glasses  instead  of  horizontal  ones.  These  will  have 
the  transverse  vertical  sections  marked  on  them. 

Stope  Maps. — The  method  of  mining  employed,  whatever 
other  advantages  it  may  have,  certainly  does  not  tend  towards 
simplicity  in  the  stope  maps.  These  are  necessary  to  show  the 
relation  of  the  pillars  to  the  level  below  and  the  level  above.  The 
vertical  sections  are  also  constructed  from  these  maps.  As  the 
stopes  consist  of  a  series  of  raises  and  glory  holes  with  all  the  in- 
termediate stages  and  with  the  pillars  standing  at  different  angles 


404  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

due  to  different  dips  of  the  ore  body,  it  is  not  a  simple  matter  to 
make  a  map  which  will  show  all  these  features  to  advantage. 
After  considerable  experiment  it  was  decided  to  adopt,  and  adapt 
somewhat,  what  is  known  as  the  hachure  method  of  map  construc- 
tion as  used  in  topography.  As  the  appearance  of  a  stope  soon 
changes  no  attempt  is  made  to  go  into  unnecessary  detail.  In 
surveying,  a  set-up  is  made  in  as  commanding  a  position  as  possible, 
sights  are  taken  to  the  governing  points  on  the  pillars  and  the 
ridges  between  the  glory  holes.  These  points  are  plotted  and 
when  the  tracing  is  made,  contour  lines,  afterwards  erased,  are 
drawn  in  pencil  on  the  tracing,  approximately  at  ten  foot  inter- 
vals. The  hachure  lines  are  then  inked  in,  their  extremities  being 
at  right  angles  to  the  adjacent  contour  lines.  Thus  when  the 
contour  lines  are  not  parallel  the  hachuring  has  a  radiating  appear- 
ance. This  is  shown  in  Figure  IX.  When  it  is  advisable  to 
know  the  exact  height  of  any  part  of  a  stope  the  elevation  above 
sea-level  is  marked  on  the  map  at  that  place. 

Ore  in  Sight. — Ore  in  Sight,  Ore  Developed,  Ore  Blocked  Out 
or  whatever  term  may  be  preferred  is  calculated  independently 
from  the  sill  floor  plans  and  from  the  transverse  vertical  sections. 
The  mean  of  these  estimates,  which  do  not  vary  to  any  consider- 
able extent,  is  then  taken.  The  horizontal  area  of  each  ore  body 
as  it  crosses  a  level  has  been  pretty  well  defined  by  drifts,  cross- 
cuts and  drill  holes.  The  average  of  this  area  and  the  area  on  the 
level  above  is  multiplied  by  the  vertical  distance  and  from  this 
product  the  tonnage  is  calculated.  Each  block  of  ground  is 
figured  out  separately  and  from  the  total  the  ore  shipped  is  de- 
ducted, the  balance  being  Ore  in  Sight.  The  ore  extracted 
between  shipping  levels  is  also  kept  track  of  and  the  Ore  in  Sight 
in  different  blocks  of  ground  can  thus  be  estimated. 

Brown  Prints. — As  a  considerable  number  of  technical  men 
who  have  visited  us  during  the  last  few  years  have  found  this 
process  to  be  a  novelty,  a  few  remarks  regarding  it  may  be  ex- 
cusable. The  process  is  used  chiefly  for  the  reproduction  of  mine 
maps,  blue  prints  being  used  for  mechanical  drawings.  A  tracing 
is  first  made  from  which  a  negative  on  thin  brown  print  paper  is  ob- 
tained. Using  paper  of  a  heavier  grade  a  positive  consisting  of  very 
dark  brown,  practically  black,  lines  on  white  background  is  pro- 
duced.   The  different  levels,  which  are  superimposed  in  part,  can 


(II— Photograph  of  Mine  Chute.     A  wooden,  gable-bottom  car  is  shewn  in  the 

figure.      This  is  used  specially  for  sill  floor  shovelling-. 


Granby  Minim;  Methods 


405 


to 


406  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

then  be  coloured  and  the  map  rendered  intelligible  to  others  besides 
the  draftsman.  There  are  also  other  advantages.  When  a  tracing 
has  to  be  brought  up  to  date  it  may  happen  that  some  pillars'^have 
been  removed,  drifts  widened,  etc.  No  erasures  are  made  on  the 
linen  but  the  extra  lines  needed  are  inked  in  and  the  lines  not 
needed  are  simply  inked  out  on  the  negative.  Another  advantage 
is  that  the  title,  and  other  important  lettering,  has  only  to  be 
made  once  and  traced  once.  On  subsequent  tracings  it  is  omitted. 
The  original  negative  is,  however,  kept  and  in  future  negatives  it 
is  only  necessary  to  cut  a  hole  where  required  and  attach  the  nega- 
tive of  the  title  or  whatever  it  has  not  been  advisable  to  alter. 
There  are  other  minor  advantages  which  will  show  themselves 
after  the  process  has  been  used  for  a  little  while. 


f^iS^^B 

v  x  ^p 

rHv 

1 

— .  -J 

— 

- 

v-  ^^ 

IpH^r 

.' 

Fig.  KIV     Ore  Train  approaching  Pocket.     The  incline  for  dumping 

the  cars  is  shewn  on  the  left. 


n 


a 


j_, 


1  I  III  1  I  I  II  [I 


<fc<- 


Fig.    XVII— Arrangement  of  Gates  at  Victoria  Cruslle 


Fig.  XVIII— Type  of  Gate  used  I 
Xo.  5  Tunnel  Crusher- 


Fig-.  XVI. — Skip  Loading-  Device  al  Victoria  Shaft  Pockets. 


HANDLING  THREE  THOUSAND  TONS  OF  ORE  PER  DAY 

AT  THE  GRANBY  MINES  AND  SMELTER,  PHCENIX 

AND  GRAND  FORKS,  B.C. 

A.  B.  W.  Hodges,  Grand  Forks,  B.C. 
(Nelson  Meeting,  January,  1908). 

Few  people  realize  the  amount  of  work  and  the  problems  to  be 
solved  in  handling  daily  3.000  tons  of  ore  from  the  Granby  mines 
at  Phoenix  to  the  smelter,  delivering  this  ore  to  the  smelter  (24 
inflefl  distant  and  nearly  3,000  ft.  lower  in  elevation)  all  crushed 
ready  for  the  furnaces,  then  discharging  it  into  the  furnaces, 
and  finally  taking  away  the  resulting  slag  and  putting  it  over  the 
dump. 

Before  going  into  methods  in  detail,  a  description  of  the 
machinery  necessary  for  this  work  may  be  afforded. 

To  bring  the  ore  out  of  the  mines  requires  one  14-ton  steam 
locomotive,  three  75-h.p.  electric  locomotives,  one  250-h.p.  electric 
hoist,  30  10-ton  steel  ore  cars,  40  5-ton  ore  cars,  20  1-ton  steel  mine 
cars,  and  about  10  horses. 

The  ore  is  crushed  at  the  mine  by  three  36  x  42  in.  Blake  type 
crushers,  operated  by  150-h.p.  induction  motors.  This  crushed 
ore  is  loaded  in  30  to  50-ton  steel  bottom  dump  railway  ore  cars. 
It  requires  about  eighty  50-ton  and  eighty  40-ton  ore  cars,  and 
five  or  six  150-ton  steam  locomotives  to  convey  this  amount  of 
material  from  the  mines  to  the  smelter  daily. 

The  ore  at  the  smelter  is  dumped  into  elevated  bins  directly 
from  the  railway  ore  dump  cars.  From  these  bins  it  is  drawn  into 
steel  charging  cars,  when,  with  the  proper  amount  of  coke,  it  is  run 
directly  into  the  ends  of  the  blast  furnaces  and  dumped. 

In  charging  3,000  tons  daily  four  charge  trains  of  three  cars 
each  are  required,  each  train  holding  four  tons  of  ore  and  the 
requisite  amount  of  coke  for  smelting  it.  Four  electric  locomotives 
of  30-h.p.  capacity  are  required  for  each  train.  There  are  also  two 
spare  trains. 


408  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

The  slag  is  carried  away  from  the  furnaces  in  slag  pots  holding 
five  tons  each,  and  three  pots  are  required  for  each  of  the  eight 
furnaces,  making  twenty-four  in  all.  It  requires  four  14-ton  steam 
locomotives  to  carry  the  slag  away  from  the  furnaces.  There  are  ten 
extra  slag  pots  and  one  extra  engine  ready  for  use  in  an  emergency. 

From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  seen  that  as  the  movement  of  ore 
must  go  on  in  the  different  departments  each  24  hours,  the  machin- 
ery and  equipment  must  be  large  and  in  first-class  condition  to 
handle  it. 

The  ore  from  the  different  levels  of  the  Granby  mines  is  taken 
from  No.  2  tunnel,  which  is  about  250  ft.  below  the  top  of  the  hill; 
No.  3  tunnel,  100  ft.  below  No.  2;  and  the  400-ft.  level,  which  is 
about  650  ft.  below  the  top  of  the  hill. 

No.  2  tunnel  has  about  3,800  ft.  of  3-ft.  gauge  30-lb. rails,  and 
the  ore  is  drawn  from  56  chutes  into  10  steel  ore  cars,  bottom-dump ; 
also  into  low  wooden  cars  holding  five  tons  each,  and  is  hauled  out 
by  a  14-ton  steam  locomotive  using  coke  for  fuel  to  avoid  smoke. 
Eight  to  ten  cars  are  hauled  in  a  trip,  and  in  two  shifts  of  16  hours 
1,000  tons  can  be  brought  out.  These  trains  come  out  from  under- 
ground and  run  over  the  bins  into  which  they  dump  the  ore,  and  it 
is  then  fed  into  a  very  large  Blake-type  crusher,  having  a  jaw 
opening  of  42  x  36  in.,  and  crushed  to  about  7  or  8  in.  in  thickness. 
This  crusher  can  handle  150  tons  of  ore  per  hour. 

Fig.  1  shows  No.  2  tunnel  train  passing  over  the  ore  bins.  The 
smoke  stack  and  cab  of  engine  are  cut  down  to  enable  it  to  go  into 
small  places. 

The  ore  bins  and  crusher  are  situated  about  700  ft.  from  the 
mouth  of  the  tunnel,  and  the  ore  from  the  crusher  is  delivered  to 
railway  ore  cars  built  specially  for  ore  hauling  and  having  movable 
doors  at  the  bottom  for  dumping  the  ore  after  it  arrives  at  the 
smelter  bins. 

No.  3  tunnel  has  3,800  ft.  of  3-ft.  gauge  30-lb.  rail  track,  and 
92  ore  chutes,  and  the  ore  is  taken  out  of  the  mines  with  the  same 
style  car  as  used  in  No.  2  tunnel,  only  electric  mine  locomotives  are 
used  to  haul  the  trains. 

Fig.  2  shows  two  of  these  trains,  looking  at  them  from  the  motor 
end.  These  locomotives  are  manufactured  by  the  Westinghouse 
Baldwin  Company,  and  have  two  35-h.p.  motors,  one  on  each  axle. 


Thk  Granbt  Minks  and  Smkltkr      •  409 

They  arc  run  at  500  volts  pressure,  direct  current,  the  current  being 
taken  from  a  motor  generator  set  near  the  tunnel  mouth. 

The  crusher  bins  for  this  tunnel  are  1,200  ft.  from  the  mouth  of 
the  tunnel,  and  the  trains  run  over  the  top  of  two  bins,  each  holding 
500  tons  of  coarse  ore.  These  bins  are  about  16  ft.  apart,  and  the 
crusher  is  placed  between  with  a  run-\vay  and  gates  from  each  bin 
into  the  crusher.  This  crusher  is  also  of  the  Blake-type,  having  an 
opening  42  x  30  in.,  and  a  capacity  of  150  tons  per  hour. 

The  crushed  ore  is  dropped  into  a  large  steel  continuous- 
bucket  elevator  and  is  elevated  at  an  angle  of  45  deg.  to  a  small 
chute,  where  it  is  fed  directly  into  53-ton  railway  steel  ore  cars,  with 
bottom  dump.  Two  thousand  tons  of  ore  have  been  hauled  out, 
crushed,  and  loaded  in  railway  cars  in  24  hours. 

All  the  ore  from  under  No.  3  tunnel  is  dropped  to  the  400-ft. 
level,  which  is  300  ft.  below,  and  then  taken  from  about  42  chutes  at 
the  present  time  to  the  Victoria  shaft, whence  it  is  hoisted  to  the 
surface. 

There  are  about  4,000  ft.  of  3-ft.  gauge  track  on  this  level.  The 
ore  is  hauled  in  5-ton  steel  cars.  These  cars  are  specially  designed 
for  this  level.  They  are  not  over  5  ft.  high,  but  are  wide  and  flat  at 
bottom,  the  body  is  hinged  on  one  side  of  the  running  gear  or 
trucks,  and  the  long  side  gate  is  opened  and  the  car  tipped,  both 
automatically,  when  directly  over  the  ore  pocket. 

The  ore  in  the  Granby  mines  is  rather  soft  and  breaks  in  large 
pieces,  hence  bottom-dump  cars  with  small  openings  must  be 
avoided.  We  have  found  a  side-dump  car  the  best,  although  our 
10-ton  steel  ore  car  has  a  3  x  3  ft.  opening  in  the  clear  in  the  bottom, 
but  the  hole  is  hardly  large  enough. 

The  cars  on  this  level  are  hauled  by  an  electric  locomotive,  of 
similar  power  and  voltage  to  that  in  No.  3  tunnel. 

The  ore  pockets  on  this  level  hold  about  400  tons  of  ore,  and 
extend  to  40  ft.  below  where  the  skip  is  filled.  There  is  also  a  pocket 
for  waste  rock. 

The  shaft  is  three-compartment,  having  a  man-way  4  x  6  ft. 
in  the  clear,  and  two  skip- ways  each  5  x  6  ft.  in  the  clear.  The  skips 
are  balanced,  hold  about  5  tons  of  ore,  and  run  at  a  speed  of  about 
900  ft.  per  minute.     This  will  hoist  2,000  tons  in  two  8-hour  shifts. 

The  sheave  wheels  of  the  gallows  frame  are  about  90  ft.  above 
the  ground  and  are  so  elevated  that  the  skip  can  dump  about  60  ft. 


410  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


up,  and  the  ore  run  into  either  one  or  other  of  two  coarse  ore  bins, 
each  holding  500  tons  of  ore.  These  show  at  the  right  of  Figure  3. 
Between  the  two  bins  is  a  large  crusher  of  similar  size  and  pattern 
to  the  others  mentioned;  it  is  driven  by  a  150-h.p.  2,000-volt  induc- 
tion motor.  This  motor  shaft  is  extended  on  one  side  about  16  ft. 
by  a  flexible  coupling  and  on  this  shaft  are  two  pulleys  of  suitable 
size,  which  drive  the  two  pulleys  on  the  crusher. 

It  would  seem  that  a  150-h.p.  motor  is  too  large  a  motor  for 
operating  the  crusher  which  only  takes  from  75  to  80-h.p.  to  crush 
the  ore,  but  the  crusher  is  so  big  and  the  moving  parts  so  heavy 
that  it  takes  280-h.p.  to  start  it. 

The  skips  are  hoisted  by  a  double  conical  drum  hoist  driven 
by  a  250-h.p.  variable  speed  induction  motor  at  2,000  volts  pressure. 
They  generally  run  in  balance,  but  can  be  operated  separately  in 
either  direction.     The  drums  are  large  enough  for  1,000  ft.  of  cable. 

Fig.  4  A.  is  a  photograph  showing  one  of  the  spouts  and 
finger  gates  where  the  coarse  ore  from  the  storage  bins  runs  into 
the  jaws  of  the  crusher.  These  finger  gates  are  used  in  all  ore 
crushers,  also  down  in  the  skip  ore  pockets,  and  are  best  suited  for 
handling  large  material.  The  four  fingers  are  each  made  of  two 
bars  of  1  x  4-in.  iron  and  all  are  raised  at  once  by  compressed  ah-  in 
the  cylinder  as  shown  in  the  picture,  and  are  also  let  down  by  air 
pressure,  but  each  of  the  four  fingers  is  independent,  and  one  or  two 
might  stay  half  way  up  on  account  of  a  large  piece  of  rock  getting 
in  the  way,  but  the  other  two  would  be  down  and  stop  small  rocks 
from  getting  through. 

The  ore  from  this  crusher  falls  directly  upon  a  belt  conveyer, 
travelling  at  a  speed  of  250  ft.  per  minute,  and  having  a  capacity  of 
200  tons  per  hour.  The  belt  is  42  in.  wide  and  241  ft.  centres;  it 
goes  up  at  angle  of  14  or  15  deg.  and  is  operated  by  a  50-h.p. 
induction  motor  suitably  geared  to  the  driving  pulley  which  is  at 
the  upper  end.  This  belt  conveys  ore  to  four  bins,  two  of  which 
discharge  into  Canadian  Pacific  railway  ore  cars  on  one  side, 
and  the  other  two  into  Great  Northern  railway  ore  cars  on  the 
other  side.  These  four  bins  have  a  capacity  of  700  tons  of  crushed 
ore.  ''■"'■ 

The  relative  positions  of  the  gallows  frame,  conveyer  and  ship- 
ping bins  are  illustrated  in  Figure  3. 


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Fig.  4. 


Fig.  5. 


The  Gran  by  Mix  is  and  Smki/tkr  411 

Fig.  4  shows  a  nearer  view  of  the  gallows  frame  coarse  ore  bins 
on  either  side  and  hoist  room  in  front.  The  gallows  frame  is  now 
entirely  covered  in. 

Fig.  5  shows  the  shipping  and  loading  bins  at  the  terminus  of 
No.  3  tunnel,  where  the  crushed  ore  is  loaded  into  Great  Northern 
railway  bottom-dump  53-ton  steel  ore  cars.  These  bins  are  ca- 
pable of  loading  900  tons  into  cars  in  half  an  hour. 

The  3,000  tons  of  crushed  ore  are  hauled  to  the  smelter,  24 
miles  distant ,  on  branch  lines  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  railway  and 
<  Sreal  Northern  railway,  in  special  steel  bottom-dump  ore  cars,  and 
the  65  or  70  cars  of  ore  required  daily  are  brought  down  in  four 
trains.  The  grade  from  the  mines  to  the  smelter  is  about  3  per 
cent,  and  the  great  difficulty  experienced  is  in  getting  the  empty 
cars  back  up  to  the  mines  again. 

These  ore  trains  are  weighed  at  the  smelter  on  track  scales 
and  are  run  out  over  the  ore  bunkers  and  the  ore  dropped  into  the 
different  bins.  Here  there  are  three  sets  of  ore  bunkers  parallel 
with  one  another  and  760  ft.  long,  and  each  holds  about  5,000  tons 
of  ore. 

About  one  car  in  ten  is  set  over  the  sampling  bin  and  the  ore 
from  this  is  re-crushed  and  a  sample  automatically  taken  which 
fairly  represents  the  day's  shipments.  The  metal  contents  of  the 
ore  being  so  uniform  very  careful  sampling  is  not  required  to  deter- 
mine its  contents,  in  fact,  one  lot  of  30,000  tons  will  not  vary  more 
than  20  cents  per  ton  over  or  under  another  of  similar  quantity. 

The  ore  chutes  at  the  bottom  of  these  bins  are  about  6  ft. 
above  the  furnace  charging  floor,  so  that  the  furnace  charge  cars 
are  run  under  these  spouts  and  receive  the  crushed  ore  by  gravity, 
and  these  can,  which  have  already  received  the  requisite  quantity 
of  coke  in  the  bottom,  are  weighed  again  to  get  the  proper  amount 
of  ore,  and  then  the  train  of  three  cars  is  pushed  on  a  20-in.  gauge 
track  into  the  end  of  the  blast  furnace,  when  the  charge  is  dumped 
into  the  proper  place,  these  cars  being  just  the  length  of  the  inside 
of  the  furnace.  Each  train  of  cars  feeds  two  44  x  210-in.  blast 
furnaces  and  handles  from  750  to  900  tons  of  ore  per  24  hours. 

Fig.  6  shows  the  furnace  charging  train  being  loaded  at  the 
ore  bunkers,  and  Fig.  7  shows  the  same  train  just  about  to  enter 
the  blast  furnace. 


412  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

The  track  rails  do  not  enter  the  furnace  but  the  cars  are 
carried  in  on  auxiliary  wheels  on  the  upper  corners  of  the  cars  and 
run  on  tracks  built  in  the  sides  of  the  furnace,  as  shown  in  Figure  6. 
These  cars  are  divided  longitudinally  in  the  centre,  and  the  doors 
open  on  each  side,  the  hinge  being  at  the  top.  This  spreads  the 
charge  along  each  side  of  the  furnace  in  the  proper  place.  These 
charging  cars  are  used  only  at  the  Granby  smelter  and  are  an  inven- 
tion of  the  writer's.  They  are  pushed  around  by  a  30-h.p.  electric 
locomotive,  250  volts  direct  current.  Each  train  holds  a  little 
more  than  four  tons  of  ore,  together  with  the  proper  amount  of 
fuel  at  the  bottom  of  each  car. 

The  final  work  in  the  handling  of  the  3,000  tons  of  ore  is  taking 
the  moulten  slag  and  matte  from  the  blast  furnaces.  The  matte, 
which  is  only  about  three  or  four  per  cent,  of  the  charge,  is  tapped 
out  of  the  settlers  in  front  of  the  furnaces  into  a  cast  steel  pot  hold- 
ing about  four  tons,  and  while  still  in  a  molten  state  is  taken  by 
an  overhead  electric  crane  to  the  converter  building  and  dumped 
into  the  converter.  The  slag  runs  from  the  first  settler  into  a 
second  one  in  front  and  thence  into  a  slag  pot  of  44  cubic  feet  capac- 
ity. The  second  settler  has  two  spouts,  one  on  either  side,  and 
there  are  two  slag  pots  on  one  side  and  one  on  the  other,  so  that 
there  is  always  one  in  place  for  the  slag  to  run  into. 

Fig.  8  shows  front  of  blast  furnace  on  furnace  floor,  also  both 
settlers,  electric  crane,  slag  pots,  etc. 

Fig.  9  shows  trains  of  slag  pots  going  to  the  slag  dump.  These 
slag  pots  dump  automatically,  that  is,  when  full  of  slag  the  centre 
of  gravity  is  above  the  trunnion,  therefore  by  removing  a  latch  the 
pot  dumps  itself,  and  after  the  slag  is  out,  comes  back  to  normal 
position  itself,  when  it  is  again  latched  in  place.  The  bowls  of 
these  slag  pots  are  cast  in  halves  and  bolted  together,  thus  pre- 
venting cracking  from  the  continual  expansion  and  contraction. 
These  pots  have  been  very  serviceable,  but  they  are  too  small  in 
capacity  after  the  furnace  gets  beyond  400  tons  per  day. 

The  slag  from  two  furnaces  is  drawn  away  by  one  14-ton  3-ft. 
gauge  steam  locomotive.  An  electric  locomotive  would  do  just  as 
well.  One  of  these  locomotives  and  six  slag  pots  will  handle  from 
800  to  850  tons  of  slag  per  24  hours,  provided  the  dump  is  not  more 
than  1,500  ft.  long. 


Thk  Granby  Minks  and  Smelter  413 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  foregoing  that  it  is  practically  neces- 
sary to  handle  nearly  all  of  the  3,000  tons  of  ore  four  different  times 
in  one  day  before  the  process  is  completed. 

Fig.  10  shows  a  general  view  of  the  Granby  Smelting  Works 
rand    Forks,  the    slag  dump,  and    general    arrangement  of 
buildings. 


DISCUSSION. 

.Mr.  D.  H.  Browne: — I  would  ask  Mr.  Hedley  if  this  reduc- 
tion has  not  been  greatly  increased?  I  understand  that  three 
thousand  tons  a  day  does  not  represent  the  maximum  output. 

Mr.  Hedley: — I  understand  that  since  this  paper  was  pre- 
pared tl  ey  have  since  reached  a  maximum  output  in  a  day  of 
twenty-four  hours,  of  3,450  tons.  Before  this  paper  was  presented 
the  company  had  made  an  average  for  a  week  of  3.200  tons  a  day. 
The}'  expect  to  increase  the  capacity  by  lengthening  the  furnaces. 

Mr.  Browne: — At  Copper  Cliff  we  are  running  two  furnaces 
each  of  204  by  50  inches,  wl  ich  figure  out  slightly  larger  than 
those  referred  to  in  this  paper.  At  the  present  time  we  are  putting 
through  every  day  over  900  tons  of  ore  with  an  additional  225  tons 
of  converted  slag.  That  is  why  I  wanted  to  ask  if  3,000  tons  was 
the  record  achievement  of  the  Granby  Company,  because  if  it  is 
our  record  in  Ontario  may  challenge  comparison. 

The  President: — The  B.C.  Copper  Co's  furnaces  at  Green- 
wood will  average  eight  tons  per  square  foot  of  hearth  area,  day  in 
and  day  out.  The  average  output  is  nearly  two  t!  ousand  tons 
a  day.  or  650  ton-  per  24  I  ours  for  each  furnace.  The  furnaces  are 
240  by  4s  inches,  or  twenty  feet  long  and  four  feet  in  diameter. 
The  furnaces  were  originally  48  by  240  inches,  but  we  1  ave  changed 
them  by  altering  r!  e  jacket  -  to  reduce  tl  e  consumption  of  sulphur. 

have, however, found  another  method  of  doing  t!  at  and  so 
intend  to  widen  tie  furnace-  to  t'  e  original  area.  They  are  now 
temporarily   44   inches   wide. 

The  President:  Mr.  Hodgee  states  in  lis  paper  thai  it 
is  found  necessary  to  use  .••■  150  1  orse  power  motor  to  -tart  tie 
crusher.     In  our  works  we  1  ave  tl  e  same  >'y/->  crusl  er  driven  by  a 


414  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

100  horse  power  motor.  We  get  over  the  trouble  of  starting  by 
drilling  a  hole  through  the  pitman  of  the  crusher  and  turning  on 
a  steam  jet,  which  warms  the  pitman  so  that  it  will  not  stick. 
Then  we  put  in  a  counter  shaft  between  the  crusher  and  the  motor, 
and  on  the  counter  shaft  we  put  a  heavy  fly-wheel  connected  di- 
rectly with  the  motor.  We  start  the  motor  until  we  get  the  fly- 
wheel going  at  full  speed  and  then  gradually  throw  on  the  crusher 
with  the  friction  clutch,  and  in  this  way  we  have  had  no  difficulty 
starting  it  with  a  100  horse  power  motor.  But  if  you  start  the 
crusher  directly  you  will  need  a  150   horse  power  motor. 


SOME     NOTES    ON    THE     COPPER    RIVER     DISTRICT, 

ALASKA. 

By  Wm.  M.  Brewer. 

(Ottawa  Meeting,  1908). 

Until  after  the  discovery  of  the  occurrences  of  native  copper 
and  copper-bearing  ores  in  the  British  Yukon  and  Alaska,  there 
had  always  been  considerable  speculation  as  to  the  source  from 
which  the  British  Columbian  and  Alaskan  Indians  had  procured 
the  native  copper  which  they  were  found  to  be  using.  Usually, 
this  native  copper  was  applied  to  the  manufacturing  of  large  plates 
engraved  with  Indian  symbols,  and  these  were  handed  down  from 
generation  to  generation  as  heirlooms.  The  dimensions  of  many 
of  these  copper  plates  are  from  one  and  a  half  to  three  feet  square, 
and  about  one-fourth  of  an  inch  in  thickness. 

Early  explorers  of  Northern  British  Columbia,  especially  of 
the  Queen  Charlotte  Islands  and  portions  of  Alaska,  have  called 
attention  in  their  writings  to  the  possession  of  these  copper  plates 
by  Indian  families,  and  many  of  the  best  specimens  of  this  character 
of  Indian  craft  are  preserved  in  the  Provincial  Museum  at  Victoria. 

Since  systematic  prospecting  for  copper  ore  has  been  carried 
on,  it  has  been  discovered  that  in  the  Rainy  Hollow  district,  about 
forty  miles  in  the  interior  from  Haines'  Mission  on  the  Lynn  Canal, 
also  in  the  Copper  River  district,  Alaska,  native  copper  occurs, 
and  is  very  often  found  in  nuggets  and  masses  of  quite  considerable 
weight.  The  first  named  of  these  districts  is  in  British  territory, 
and  the  latter  in  United  States. 

So  far  as  our  present  knowledge  goes,  the  first  prospecting  for 
copper-bearing  ores  in  this  portion  of  the  American  Continent  was 
contemporaneous  with  the  discovery  of  placer  gold  in  the  Klondike. 
Nuggets  of  native  copper  were  found  by  pioneers  in  the  streams 
flowing  from  the  glaciers  which  are  of  great  extent,  and  very 
numerous  in  the  district  referred  to.     Naturally,  the  finding  of 


416  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

these  nuggets  led  prospectors  to  endeavour  to  locate  their  source 
or  origin.  The  result  of  this  was  the  discovery  of  deposits  of  copper- 
bearing  ores  over  a  very  large  area  of  the  British- Yukon  and  Alaska. 
In  this  territory  are  the  districts  of  Rainy  Hollow,  Whitehorse,  and 
Kluahne,  all  in  the  Yukon,  the  last  named  being  situated  about 
two  hundred  miles  to  the  westward  from  Whitehorse.  In  Alaska, 
the  districts  in  which  copper-bearing  ores  were  discovered,  included 
many  of  the  islands  in  the  Pacific,  notably:  Prince  of  Wales,  La- 
touche,  and  Knight's  Island;  again  in  portions  of  the  Coast  Range 
of  mountains,  and  in  what  is  known  as  the  Copper  River  district, 
with  which  it  is  proposed  this  paper  shall  deal  in  particular. 

A  reference  to  the  accompanying  map  will  give  some  idea  of 
the  superficial  area,  and  also  the  possible  extent  of  the  district 
under  discussion. 

The  Copper  River  proper  is  a  stream  of  some  magnitude, 
being  navigable  for  stern-wheel  steamers  of  light  draft,  for  a  dis- 
tance of  some  two-hundred  miles  above  its  mouth,  except  through 
the  rapids  known  as  the  Abercrombie  Rapids.  The  principal 
tributary  of  this  river  is  the  Chitina,  which  is  also  navigable  for 
several  miles  above  the  confluence  of  the  two  rivers.  The  Copper 
River  flows  from  the  north  in  a  nearhr  due  southerly  direction, 
emptying  into  the  Pacific  Ocean  near  Catalla,  about  seventy-five 
miles  easterly  from  Cape  Hinchinbrook,  and  about  thirty-five 
miles  from  Cape  St.  Elias.  Its  main  tributary,  the  Chitina,  flows 
in  the  south-westerly  direction,  and  heads  among  the  glaciers  in  an 
unexplored  territory,  and  not  a  very  great  distance  from  the 
source  of  the  White  River,  which  flows  toward  the  east  and  north, 
and  empties  into  the  Yukon  River  near  the  mouth  of  the  Stewart 
River. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  occurrences  of  copper-bearing  ore  and 
native  copper  so  far  discovered,  are  more  closely  situated  into  the 
Chitina  River  than  to  the  Copper  River  itself,  and  it  is  believed 
that  the  Indians  always  recognized  the  Chitina  as  the  source  from 
which  they  procured  the  native  copper  they  hammered  into  plates  ; 
as  in  the  Indian  language,  the  meaning  of  the  word  Chitina  is 
copper  water — Chit — copper;  Ina — water. 

To  the  present  time,  the  only  discoveries  of  copper-bearing  ore 
in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  Copper  River  itself,  are 
near  Taral,  not  a  great  distance  from  the  Abercrombie  Rapids. 


o/i 


146* 


145 


144' 


143- 


14  Z" 


141* 


Some  Notks  on  the  Copper  Rivkr  District         417 

These  discoveries  have  not  provoked  as  much  discussion,  or  been 
as  thoroughly  advert  ised  as  those  made  near  the  Chit  ina  River  and 
its  tributaries.  In  fact,  till  last  year,  only  one  <>r  two  prospectors 
were  engaged  in  exploring  the  section  around  Taral,  while  in  the 

Ghitina  country  there  were  probably  all  told,  two  hundred  men, 

many  of  whom  were  engaged  in  prospeoting,  and  the  balance  em- 
ployed by  the  companies  owning  prospects  and  engaged  in  perform- 
ing representation  work  on  their  mineral  claims. 

The  Copper  River  district  extends  from  a  point  about  60 
miles  from  Elliott  Creek,  a  branch  of  the  Kotsina  River — where 
the  Hubbard  and  Elliott  group  of  claims  is  located — to  the  Kenni- 
cott  River  near  the  head  of  which  is  located  the  Bonanza  group  of 
mineral  claims.  From  this  latter  point,  it  is  about  80  miles  in  an 
air  line  to  the  boundary  line  between  Alaska  and  the  British 
Yukon  territory.  In  this  section  scattering  occurrences  of  copper- 
bearing  ore  have  been  discovered  towards  the  east  and  north-east 
from  the  Bonanza  mine,  especially  in  the  vicinity  of  the  head- 
waters of  the  White  River.  Some  of  the  latest  discoveries  of 
copper-bearing  ore  have  been  made  in  the  British- Yukon,  near  the 
White  River,  also  in  the  Ivluahne  Lake  district.  From  this  it 
would  appear  as  though  a  mineralized  zone  extended  from  what  is 
known  as  the  Copper  River  district  in  Alaska,  across  the  boundary 

rlv  to  the  Whitehorse  district,  and  that  the  territory,  especially 
near  the  head-waters  of  the  various  rivers  throughout  this  entire 
section  of  country,  would  well  repay  careful  prospecting. 

Until  now,  travel  into  the  Chitina  country  has  been  by  way 
of  Valdez,  at  the  head  of  Prince  of  Wales  Sound,  thence  by  trail, 
following  the  Valdez-Fair banks  trail  for  a  distance  of  about  80 
miles  to  the  telegraph  station  on  the  Tonsina  River,  a  tributary  of 
the  Copper  River.  At  that  point  a  trail  branches  off  towards  the 
east  from  the  main  Valdez-Fair  banks  trail.  This  trail  follows 
down  the  Tonsina  River,  and  crosses  Copper  River  at  about  two 
miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Tonsina,  where  a  crossing  is  made  by 
ford  or  boat-ferry.  From  this  point  the  trail  takes  a  general 
easterly  course,  and  crosses  the  Kotsina,  Strelna,  Kuskulana, 
Chokosna,  Lakina  and  Kennicott  Rivers,  all  of  which  are  tribu- 
taries of  the  Chitina  River,  and  head  in  the  mountain  range  where 
glaciers  are  so  extensive  and  numerous  that  although  each  one'of 
theserivers  is  comparatively  shorthand  under  ordinary  circumstances 

27 


418  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

and  elsewhere  would  be  regarded  as  insignificant  streams,  yet 
under  the  peculiar  local  conditions  any  of  these  streams  are  likely 
at  any  time  to  present  a  formidable  obstacle  to  travel,  since  heading 
as  they  do,  in  glaciers,  the  volume  of  water  between  their  banks  is 
so  variable,  and  is  subject  to  such  extremes  of  rise  and  fall  that 
crossings  are  dangerous  to  the  unwary  or  inexperienced .  A  few 
hours,  for  example,  of  hot  sunshine  will  change  any  of  these 'streams 
from  a  harmless  creek  into  a  mighty  torrent. 

The  distance  from  the  crossing  of  the  Copper  River  to  the 
Kennicott  River  by  the  route  of  the  present  trail,  is  about  fifty- 
five  miles. 

I  understand  that  during  the  coming  summer,  it  is  proposed 
by  the  J.  Pierpont  Morgan  interests,  who  are  building  a  line  of 
railroad  into  this  region,  to  place  stern-wheel  steamers  on  the 
Copper  River;  one  to  ply  from  the  mouth  to  the  Abercrombie 
Rapids,  and  the  other  from  above  the  Abercrombie  Rapids  to  the 
head  of  navigation  on  the  Chitina  River.  In  fact,  during  the  sum- 
mer of  1907,  a  steamer  was  taken  into  this  district,  packed  in 
sections,  from  Valdez  to  the  Copper  River,  over  the  winter  trail, 
put  together,  and  made  one  trip  on  the  Copper  River  from  Aber- 
crombie Rapids  up  to  Copper  Centre,  and  also  one  trip  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Chitina  River  to  the  neighbourhood  of  the  mouth  of 
the  Kennicott.  This  entire  trip  was  made  without  any  accident, 
under  the  pilotage  of  Indians  who  have  a  most  perfect  knowledge 
of  the  navigable  channels  of  these  rivers. 

If  this  proposed  steamer  route  is  adopted  then  travel  into 
this  new  copper-bearing  district,  at  least  during  the  summer 
months,  will  be  very  much  easier  than  it  has  been  in  the  past ;  for, 
although  the  use  of  horses  for  riding  is  possible  on  the  trails,  yet 
so  many  marshes  and  swamps  are  found  on  the  divides  between 
the  streams  crossing  the  route,  as  to  make  travel  especially  dis- 
agreeable for  the  Chi-cha-co,  or  tenderfoot.  Another  advantage 
that  will  accrue  from  navigation  on  the  rivers,  will  be  the  reduc- 
tion in  cost  of  freighting  supplies  and  machinery  into  the  country. 
At  the  present  time,  all  supplies  must  be  taken  in  over  the  snow 
and  ice  during  the  winter  months,  when,  owing  to  the  climatic 
conditions,  freighting  is  a  most  arduous  and  hazardous  undertak- 
ing, and  the  cost  is  naturally  proportionate.  During  the  summer 
months  freighting  over  the  trails  must  be  done   by   pack-horse, 


Some  Notes  on  the  Copper  River  District.         h*.i 

and  the  cost  for  this  service  is  so  great  that  only  absolutely 
necessary  supplies  can  be  thus  taken  in. 

So  far  as  m\  information  goes  tlu  earliest  exploration  of  this 
section  of  Alaska,  known  as  the  Copper  River  district,  was  under- 
taken by  the  Hubbard-Elliotl  party,  t  he  members  of  which  ascend- 
ed the  Copper  River  during  1898,  and  wintered  near  the  mouth  of 

i  oiisina  River.  The  sufferings  and  hardships  experienced  by 
the  members  of  this  party  were  so  great  that  most  of  the  men  died 
from  scurvy  and  other  diseases  during  the  winter,  but  the  remnant 
pushed  on  during  the  following  summer,  and  while  some  of  them 
made  discoveries  of  high  grade  copper-bearing  ore  on  Elliot  Creek, 
a  branch  of  the  Kotsina  River,  other  explorers  located  mineral 
claims  near  the  Kennicott  River.  Among  these  was  the  property 
known  as  the  Bonanza,  of  which  the  press  has  from  time  to  time 
published  very  glowing  reports,  taken  from  descriptions  furnished 
by  mining  engineers  and  prospectors  who  have  visited  this 
property. 

One  of  the  most  detailed  descriptions  of  this  property,  and 
undoubtedly  the  most  reliable,  having  regard  to  the  conditions  ex- 
isting at  the  time  the  examination  took  place,  was  that  made  by  the 
United  States'  geologists.  Messrs.  Schraeder  and  Mendenhall.  This 
report  applied  however,  to  conditions  in  1903,  at  a  time  when  very 
little  development  had  been  attempted,  and  since  then  a  con- 
siderable deal  of  work  has  been  done  in  opening  up  the  property. 

All  the  occurrences  of  copper  ore  so  far  discovered,  have  been 
found  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  foot-hills  adjacent  to  Mt. 
Blackburn,  the  altitude  of  which  is  given  in  the  Government 
reports  as  16, Hn  feel  :  Ml .  Regal,  altitude  13,400  feet,  and  Castle 
Peak,  altitude  about   10,000  fi 

The  area  that  can  be  described  as  copper  ore-bearing,  occupies 
a  semi-circle  partially  surrounding  the  bases  of  both  Mt.  Blackburn 
and  lit.  Regal. 

There  are  several  rather  unique  features  in  respect  to  this  zone 
of  copper-bearing  ore,  some  of  which  are:  (1)  As  yet  no  occur- 
rences of  ore  have  been  discovered  except  in  close  vicinity  to  the 
head-waters  of  the  various  streams.  (2)  Nearly  all  of  the  occur- 
rences of  copper-bearing  ores  are  above  timber  line,  which  in 
this  section  appears  to  reach  to  an  altitude  of  about  2,700  feet 
above  sea  level.     (3)  The  district  is  comparatively  easy  for  pros- 


420  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

pecting,  because  of  the  comparatively  low  elevation  at  which  all 
growth  of  timber  ceases,  the  ground  being  bare  during  the  summer, 
except  from  rock  slides.  (4)  The  head-waters  of  all  the  streams 
are  in  glaciers,  and  as  these  glaciers  have  receded  to  a  very  great 
extent,  the  erosion  on  the  ridges  and  bluffs  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
head-waters  of  the  streams  has  been  quite  extensive. 

Generally  speaking,  the  geology  of  this  zone  appears  quite 
simple,  and  the  series  of  rocks  occur  as  follows:  Most  of  the  peaks 
and  summits  of  the  ridges  and  bluffs  are  limestone.  This  has  very 
generally  suffered  from  erosion,  and  consequently  occurs  in  patches 
and  apparently  is  the  oldest  rock  formation  in  the  district.  This 
limestone  is  under-laid  by  greenstone  in  which,  especially  near 
the  head  waters  of  the  Lakina  River,  occur  intrusions  of  amygda- 
loidal  diabase.  These  intrusions  occur  as  dykes,  masses  and  blan- 
kets in  the  greenstone,  and  so  far  as  the  Lakina  River  camps  are 
concerned,  it  is  usual  to  find  that  the  intrusive  rock  carries  values 
of  native  copper.  This  native  copper  occurs  not  only  in  the  amyg- 
daloidal  diabase  itself,  but  sometimes  is  found  in  the  greenstone 
and  near  its  contact  with  the  intrusive  rock. 

So  far  as  my  own  observations  have  gone,  I  found  that  this 
native  copper  was  not  only  disseminated  through  the  rock  fairly 
regularly  in  small  grains,  but  that  it  also  occurred  as  nuggets, 
varying  in  weight  from  a  few  grains  up  to  several  pounds, 
In  fact,  in  running  one  small  open  cut  about  fifteen  feet  long,  five 
feet  wide  and  five  feet  high  in  the  face,  the  miners  took  out  about 
two  hundred  pounds  of  nuggets  of  variable  size,  while  the  rock 
itself,  as  mined,  carried  about  one  per  cent,  in  native  copper  in  small 
grains,  disseminated  through  it. 

Judging  from  present  mining  developments  in  this  district,  it 
would  appear  that  the  predominating  copper  ores  are  bornite  and 
chalcocite;  the  latter  being  found  in  a  remarkably  pure  state, 
often  carrying  upwards  of  seventy  per  cent,  in  copper. 

It  is  reported  that  the  showings  of  chalcocite  and  bornite  on 
Elliot  Creek,  and  on  the  Bonanza  property  are  quite  remarkable 
with  regard  to  both  extent  and  grade. 

The  writer  is,  of  course,  not  prepared  to  state  whether  the 
occurrences  of  copper-bearing  ore  in  these  localities  just  referred  to 
occur  under  the  same  geological  conditions,  as  is  the  case  with  those 
found  near  the  head-waters  of  the  Lakina  River,  but  from  available 


Some  Notes  on  the  Copper  Riveb  District  121 

information  is  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  the  geology  throughout 
the  entire  lone  is  very  similar,  and  that  a  general  description  of  one 
is  applicable  t<>  the  other  sect  inns,  except  thai  discoveries  of  native 
copper  in  amygdaloidal  diabase,  are  not  reported  as  having  been 
made  either  on  Elliot  Creek  or  on  the  Bonanza  property. 

rally  shaking,  near  the  head  of  the  Lakina  River,  the 
occur  I  bornite  and  chalcocite  copper  usually  found 

as  contact  deposits  bet  ween  the  limestone  and  greenstone,  but  this 
is  not  a  universal  rule.  In  fact  some  of  the  best  outcroppings 
occur  in  fissures  in  the  greenstone,  but  not  very  far  removed  from 
the  contact  between  the  greenstone  and  limestone. 

It  is  quite  difficult  to  make  an  examination  of  the  actual 
contact,  because  the  limestone  has  suffered  so  severely  from 
erosion,  that  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Lakina  River  most  oft  he  contacts 
are  close  to  the  summits  of  the  ridges  and  at  quite  high  altitudes 
and  precipitously  situated.  It  is  also  worthy  of  note  that  ac 
no  occurrence  of  bornite  or  chalcocite  ores  at  low  altitudes  in 
greenstone  is  reported. 

It  is  meanwhile  observed  that  these  different  copper  ores  all 
occur  on  the  same  mountain  on  the  west  side  of  the  head-wati 
the  Lakina  River;  the  bornite  and  chalcocite  occurring  in  veins  in 
the  greet  -  an  altitude  of  about  5,000  feet  above  sea  level, 

and  the  native  copper  in  amygdaloidal  diabase  and  also  in  the 
greenstone  at  the  contact  between  these  rocks  at  some  2,000  feet 
lower  altitude. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  explorations  have  been 

carried,  no  di-  have  yet  been  made  of  native  copper,  but 

the  bornite  and  chalcocite  ore-  occur  there  near  the  contact  of  the 
greenstone  and  lime-tone. 

During  the  summer  of  1907anumber  of  prospectors  wereengaged 
in  exploring  the  territory  between  the  head-waters  of  the  Lakina 
River  and  the  Bonanza  mine,  a  dist  the  crow  flies  of  about 

10  miles,  and  it  is  learned  that  many  locations  were  then  staked. 
Whether  the  mineral-bearing  zone  is  continuous  from  the  head  of 
the  Lakina  River  easterly  to  the  Bonanza  mine  is  a  question  that  is 
yet  to  be  answered.  Sormyown  part, while!  am  willing  to  concede 
that  there  is  apparently  a  mineral-bearing  zone  extending  easterly 
from  Elliot  Creek,  a  branch  of  the  Kotsina  River,  easterly  to  a 
distance  in  an  air  line  of  about  60  miles  to  the  Bonanza  mine,  yet  I 


422  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


believe  that  it  will  be  found  after  thorough  exploration  that  there 
are  large  areas  of  absolutely  barren  ground  in  this  territory. 

In  the  mountains  surrounding  the  head-waters  of  the  Lakina 
River  there  are  extensive  areas  of  so-called  iron  capping,  many  of 
which  have  been  located  as  mineral  claims  in  the  expectation  that 
the  capping  or  outcropping  indicated  the  occurrence  of  copper- 
bearing  ore,  but  a  closer  examination  of  some  of  these  proved  that 
this  capping  was  not  true  gossan,  but  merely  weathered  diorite, 
very  similar  to  occurrences  of  that  character  in  the  Appalachian 
Mountains  in  Georgia  and  Alabama,  where  it  is  locally  known  as 
brick-bat  formation,  because  of  the  great  similarity  this  weathered 
rock  bears  in  color  and  structure  to  ordinary  bricks. 

It  is  this  feature  which  gave  the  writer  the  impression  that 
quite  extensive  areas  in  the  mineralized  zone  will  be  found  to  be 
barren,  and  another  feature  was  observed  that  helps  to  confirm 
this  conclusion.  It  is  that  the  lines  of  strike  of  the  ore-bodies  so  far 
as  observed,  are  usually  north-westerly  and  south-easterly,  while 
the  zone  itself  in  which  discoveries  of  mineral  have  been  made, 
extends  from  west  to  east.  In  fact,  according  to  the  latest  published 
map,  a  line  drawn  from  the  Hubbard-Elliot  group  towards  the  east 
to  the  Bonanza  mine  would  intersect  nearly  every  prominent 
group  of  mineral  claims  in  the  zone. 

In  respect  to  the  width  of  the  zone  in  the  Copper  River  district 
it  may  be  said  that  at  the  present  time,  this  is  undetermined,  but 
from  the  locations  already  made,  I  estimate  the  width  from  north 
to  south  to  be  about  10  miles;  the  most  southerly  locations  of  min- 
eral claims  carrying  copper -bearing  ore  that  came  under  my  obser- 
vation, occur  on  the  Gilahena  River,  about  10  miles  south-westerly 
from  the  head  of  the  Lakina  River. 

Whether  future  exploration  will  develop  the  fact  that  there 
is  any  connection  between  the  copper-bearing  ores  found  near 
Taral,  on  the  Copper  River,  and  those  occurrences  near  the  Chitina 
River  and  its  tributaries,  can  only  be  demonstrated  by  exploration. 
The  Taral  district  occupies  territory  south  of,  and  about  10  miles 
from,  the  confluence  of  the  Chitina  and  Copper  Rivers.  At  the 
present  day  there  are  such  large  areas  of  unexplored  territory  in 
this  portion  of  Alaska,  an  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Chitina 
River  and  its  tributaries,  that  it  is  fruitless  to  speculate  as  to 
possible  relationship  between  the  various  known  occurrences  of 
copper-bearing  ore. 


OBSERVATIONS  OX  THE  GEOLOGY  AND  ORE  DEPOSITS 
OF  CAMP  HEDLEY,  BRITISH  COLUMBIA. 

By  Charles  Camsell,  Ottawa. 

(By  permission  of  the  Director  of  the  Geological  Survey  Depart- 
ment.) 

(Nelson  Meeting,  Jan.  loth,  1908.) 

Hedley  is  the  most  important  mining  camp  in  the  Osoyoos 
Mining  Division  of  Southern  British  Columbia,  and  is  situated  on 
the  Similkameen  River  at  the  mouth  of  Twentymile  Creek.  The 
history  of  mining  operations  at  this  place  dates  from  the  year  1896, 
so  that  the  camp  is  little  more  than  ten  years  old.  At  the  present 
time  there  are  about  110  surveyed  and  crown  granted  mineral 
claims  and  many  others  on  which  the  annual  assessment  work  is 
still  being  done.  Prospecting  and  development  work  on  these 
claims  were  carried  on  for  some  years,  but  it  was  not  until  early 
in  1904  that  actual  extraction  of  gold  began.  The  Nickel  Plate 
and  the  Sunnyside,  both  owned  by  the  Yale  Mining  Company, 
are  the  two  most  important  claims  and  the  only  two  on  which 
actual  mining  is  being  prosecuted,  so  that  the  total  production 
of  the  camp  is  to  be  attributed  to  these  two  claims.  The  ores 
from  these  two  claims  are  treated  by  the  Daly  Reduction  Company 
in  a  40-stamp  mill  and  a  cyanide  plant  in  the  valley  3,500  below 
the  mine.  Gold  is  the  only  metal  at  present  being  extracted 
from  the  ores  of  the  camp,  but  there  are  some  indications  pro- 
mising a  small  copper  production  from  other  parts  of  the  camp 
when  transportation  facilities  shall  be  improved  and  other  con- 
ditions are  more  favorable.  The  gold  ore  is  an  auriferous  arseno- 
pyrite,  and  of  such  a  grade  at  present  that  it  is  not  considered 
worth  while  to  extract  the  arsenic  at  the  same  time;  but  with  a 


424  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

gradually  decreasing  gold  content  and  the  exhaustion  of  the 
high  grade  surface  ores  such  a  contingency  might  eventually 
have  to  be  considered  by  the  mine  operators  of  the  district. 

During  the  summer  of  1907  the  writer  was  engaged  in  a 
survey  of  the  rocks  of  Camp  Hedley  for  the  Geological  Survey 
Department  and  considerable  study  was  given  to  the  occurrence 
of  the  ore  bodies.  The  work  was  not  completed,  but  sufficient 
information  was  obtained  to  outline  the  geological  history  of 
the  rocks  and  in  some  degree  to  work  out  the  relations  of  these 
rocks  to  the  ores. 

There  is  only  one  series  of  sedimentary  rocks,  and  these 
are  the  oldest  rocks  in  the  camp.  No  determinable  fossils  have 
yet  been  found  in  them,  but  from  their  lithological  characters 
they  have  been  referred  to  the  Cache  Creek  group  of  Dawson's 
classification,  and  are  therefore  presumably  Carboniferous.*  The 
series  in  ascending  order,  as  exposed  within  the  limits  of  the 
camp,  gives  the  following  succession:  (1)  red,  grey  and  black 
silicious  and  argillaceous  beds  interstratified  in  thin  bands;  (2) 
blue  and  white  limestone,  becoming  impure  at  the  top,  and 
breccia;  (3)  silicious  and  argillaceous  beds  like  the  lower  ones 
with  probably  some  tuffs. 

The  limestones  of  the  middle  division  hold  the  ore  bodies 
that  .  have  so  far  proved  to  be  of  economic  importance. 
These  sediments  dip  to  the  westward  at  an  angle  which 
increases  in  that  direction  from  12  to  90  degrees.  They 
are  cut  by  a  mass  of  monzonite  lying  in  the  central  part 
of  the  camp,  and  also  by  a  granite  which  is  later  than 
the  monzonite.  Dikes  and  sheets  emanating  from  these  two 
igneous  masses,  and  particularly  from  the  monzonite,  penetrate 
the  sediments  in  every  part  of  the  camp  and  alter  them 
to  such  a  degree  as  to  make  them  difficult  to  recognize 
in  the  field.  Some  of  these  sheets  may  perhaps  have  been  in- 
jected before  the  uplift  and  folding  of  the  sediments  took  place, 
but  it  is  likely  that  the  majority  of  the  igneous  intrusions  were 
later  than  these  events. 

Monzonite  is  the  next  rock  in  age  to  the  sediments.  This 
occurs  in  two  distinct  varieties  in  different  parts  of  the  same 
mass  with  all  stages  of  transition  between  them.  The  more 
*Geol.  Survey  of  Canada;  Report  of  Progress,  1877-78.  page  85  B. 


Our.  Deposits  of  Camp  Hkm.ky.  425 

basic  variety  covers  the  widest  area  and  occupies  the  central 
and  western  portions  of  the  mass,  while  the  acid  variety  lies 
along  the  eastern  side  and  sometimes  also  occurs  intrusive  in 
the  basic  variety.  The  constituent  minerals  of  the  normal 
phase  are  orthoclase  ;nnl  plagioclase  in  about  equal  quantities, 
with  hornblende,  augite,  quartz  and  biotite  in  varying  proportions. 
All  stages  of  transition  from  the  basic  to  the  acid  variety  can 
be  found.  Well  marked  contacts  too  are  common,  and  these 
always  show  the  acid  variety  as  cutting  the  basic.  From  this 
core  a  great  number  of  sheets  and  dikes  of  what  is  called  andesite 
have  been  given  off,  and  the  same  gradual  transition  in  com- 
position is  noted  in  them  as  in  the  mass  from  which  they  emanated, 
ire  1  is  a  diagrammatic  west  to  east  section  across  the 
camp,  showing  the  relation  of  the  monzonite  and  the  dikes  and 
sheets  which  it  gives  off  to  the  overlying  sediments.  The  mon- 
zonite is  shown  as  making  a  plunging  contact  with  the  sediments 
and  the  dip  of  the  sediments  on  the  east  side  is  such  that  off- 
shoots from  the  monzonite  could  readily  penetrate  the  sediments 
following  along  the  bedding  planes  of  the  latter  as  being  the 
lines  of  least  resistance.  The  section  also  shows  a  small  area 
of  the  sediments  lying  as  a  roof  pendant  in  the  monzonite  and 
which  was  not  entirely  absorbed  by  the  monzonite  before  it 
solidified. 

The  monzonite,  as  well  as  the  sheets  and  dikes,  have  exer  ed 
great  influence  in  altering  the  sediments  that  they  cut,  but  the 
metamorphic  action  is  stronger  in  the  acid  variety  than  in  the 
basic,  and  all  the  ore  bodies  now  being  worked  are  situated  at 
the  contact  of  this  acid  variety  with  the  sediments.  The  mon- 
zonite is  the  most  important  rock  in  the  camp  in  relation  to 
ore  bodies  and  appears  to  be  genetically  connected  with  their 
occunvi 

The  next  rock  in  age  is  a  body  of  granite  lying  at  the  foot 
of  the  hill  overlooking  the  Similkameen  River.  This  granite 
covers  a  very  extensive  area  of  country  outside  the  limits  of 
the  camp,  both  to  the  north  and  south,  as  well  as  for  about 
fifteen  miles  along  the  river  to  the  west.  This  large  area  of  granite 
is  separated  from  the  Coast  granite  bat  hold  h  by  an  intervening 
belt  of  other  rocks,  but  it  is  probable  that  the  two  may  be  closely 
connected  with  each  other  in  the  date  of  their  intrusion.     This 


426  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

granite  resembles  the  Nelson  granite  in  composition,  and  its 
constituent  minerals  are  orthoclase,  some  plagioclase  and  quartz, 
with  biotite  and  hornblende.  The  section  exposed  overlooking 
the  river  shows  the  granite  at  the  base  and  for  about  400  feet 
up.  Above  it  are  the  tilted  beds  of  the  older  sedimentary  rocks 
with  interbedded  andesite  sheets  dipping  into  the  granite  and 
truncated  by  it. 

Figure  2  is  the  actual  section  exposed  on  the  side  overlooking 
the  river.  It  shows  the  batholythic  character  of  the  granite 
body,  and  its  relation  to  the  sediments  and  the  interbedded 
andesite  flows  as  well  as  to  some  of  the  later  dikes.  The  section 
shows  unmistakeably  that  the  andesites  were  injected  and  the 
sediments  tilted  before  the  granite  came  up.  Also  in  its  irruption 
the  granite  magma  would  appear  to  have  absorbed  or  assimilated 
the  overlying  sediments  without  the  latter  having  undergone 
any  disturbance  or  dislocation  as  a  result  of  that  irruption. 

The  granite-monzonite  contact  is  well  shown  on  the  Metro- 
politan claim,  and  leaves  no  doubt  of  the  relation  between  the 
two  rocks.  Granite  boulders  showing  inclusions  of  monzonite 
are  also  commonly  found  in  the  bed  of  Twentymile  Creek. 

As  a  last  phase  of  the  granite  irruption  some  aplite  and 
quartz  porphyry  dikes  have  been  given  off. 

Neither  the  granite  nor  the  quartz  porphyry  dikes  are  thought 
to  have  been  in  any  way  instrumental  in  introducing  any  gold 
values.  A  quartz  porphyry  dike  is  associated  with  the  ore 
body  in  the  Nickel  Plate  mine,  and  in  such  a  way  that  for  some 
time  it  was  thought  to  have  some  bearing  on  the  values,  but  it 
appears  almost  certain  that  its  connection  with  the  ore  body  is 
accidental  and  it  merely  serves  as  a  boundary  to  one  of  its  sides. 

Following  the  granite  irruption,  but  with  nothing  to  mark 
the  period  of  their  injection  more  specifically,  are  a  great  number 
of  dikes  of  different  compositions.  These  are  rhyolites,  lampro- 
phyres,  soft  greenish  dikes  and  many  highly  mineralized  black 
dikes.  Same  of  these  have  a  fairly  well  defined  north  and  south 
trend;  while  the  black  dikes,  which  are  probably  the  most  im- 
portant of  all  the  dikes  in  the  camp,  strike  in  various  directions 
and  appear  to  radiate  from  a  common  centre. 

Gold  is  the  only  metal  at  present  being  extracted  from  the 
ores  of  Camp  Hedley,  and  the  Nickel  Plate  and  the  Sunnyside  are 


Ore  Deposits  of  Camp  Hedli:\.  427 

the  only  two  producing  claims.  Deductions  on  the  history  and 
mode  of  occurrence  of  the  ores  arc  drawn  largely  from  a  study 
of  the  deposits  being  worked  on  these  two  claims,  though  many 
others  were  personally  examined.    The  conditions  under  which 

gold  OCCUra  are  fairly  uniform  throughout  the  camp,  so  that  with 
perhaps  a  few  exceptions,  the  case  of  a  typical  occurrence  of  a 
proven  ore  body  would  be  found  to  be  repeated  in  other  parts 
of  the  camp.  The  variations  in  the  character  of  the  ore  bodies 
are  often  due  only  to  the  relative  proportions  in  which  the 
different  sulphides  are  found.  Arsenopyrite  is  common  to  them 
all,  but  in  some  cases  chalcopyrite  will  be  the  dominant  sulphide, 
and  in  others  pyrrhotite.  The  cases,  however,  in  which  arseno- 
pyrite is  the  principal  sulphide  are  those  which  have  proved  to 
be  the  richest  in  gold  values. 

The  ore  deposits  are  thought  to  be  primarily  of  contact 
met  amorphic  origin,  and  contact  metamorphic  deposits  properly 
so  called  are  di  posits  formed  on  the  contact  of  an  igneous  with 
a  sedimentary  rock  and  as  a  result  of  the  igneous  intrusion. 
Later  enrichment  has  however  evidently  taken  place  in  the  case 
of  the  Nickel  Plate  and  the  Sunnyside  ore  bodies  so  as  to  greatly 
increase  the  gold  content  in  certain  places,  but  at  the  same  time 
this  action  lias  had  the  tendency  to  throw  into  some  obscurity 
the  original  processes  by  which  the  values  were  first  introduced. 

As  arsenopyrite  is  the  most  prominent  sulphide  with  which 
the  gold  is  commonly  associated,  these  deposits  are  somewhat 
unique  in  so  far  as  arsenopyrite  has  never  yet  been  found  in 
such  proportion  to  the  other  sulphides  in  contact  deposits  of 
this  character.  Arsenopyrite  is  found  to  a  certain  extent  in 
a  great  many  contact  metamorphic  deposits,  but  in  this  case 
it  frequently  occurs  to  the  exclusion  of  the  other  sulphides. 
A-  a  rule  it  is  found  as  secondary  in  Importance  to  such  minerals 
as  chalcopyrite,  magnetite  or  pyrrhotite;  but  in  these  deposits 
it  occurs  so  abundantly  that  Weed  *  in  a  classification  of  ore 
deposits  them  to  a  distinct  type,  of  which  this  is  the 

only  representative. 

The  ore  bodies,  that  have  so  far  proved  to  be  of  economic 
value,  lie  in  the   middle  division  of  the  section  already  given, 


♦Reference  "Ore  Deposits  near  ipneous  Contacts".    Trans;  A.  I.M.  E., 
Vol.  XXXIII.  page  716. 


428  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

that  is  to  say  in  the  calcareous  beds  and  not  in  the  silicious 
and  argillaceous  beds  that  both  overlie  and  underlie  them.  The 
large  eruptive  mass  of  monzonite  lying  in  the  central  part  of 
the  camp  has  itself  been  the  cause  of  a  great  deal  of  metamorphism 
in  the  sediments  where  it  cuts  them,  but  besides  this  the  large 
number  of  sheets  and  dikes  of  andesite  which  had  their  origin 
in  the  monzonite  are  responsible  for  much  contact  metamorphism. 
It  is  along  these  contacts  and  in  the  zone  of  contact  metamorphism 
that  ore  bodies  occur,  and  as  limestone  lends  itself  most  readily 
to  alteration  and  metamorphism,  it  is  only  natural  to  expect  to 
find  them  there. 

The  granite  appears  to  have  had  very  little  effect  in  mineraliz- 
ing where  it  is  in  contact  with  the  sediments,  and  the  numerous 
later  dikes,  with  the  exception  of  perhaps  the  black  dikes,  are 
also  of  little  importance  in  this  respect. 

The  monzonite  is  the  most  active  mineralizer,  and  the  acid 
variety  probably  more  so  than  the  basic.  All  the  most  promising 
ore  bodies  are  situated  on  the  contact  of  the  monzonite  core  or 
of  one  of  its  more  acid  offshoots. 

The  width  of  the  zone  of  contact  metamorphism  varies 
with  the  composition  of  the  intruded  rock,  the  angle  at  which 
it  is  cut  and  the  size  of  the  igneous  body.  The  silicious  and 
argillaceous  beds  show  very  slight  alteration  as  compared  with 
the  limestones,  and  the  nearer  the  monzonite  core  the  greater 
the  alteration. 

The  monzonite  has  thrown  out  so  many  sheets  and  dikes 
in  all  directions,  that  it  is  almost  impossible  within  the  limits 
of  the  camp  to  obtain  sediments  that  have  not  been  affected  by 
it.  Near  the  central  core  the  metamorphic  action  has  been 
extreme.  The  lime  carbonates  become  altered  to  lime  silicates, 
and  the  result  is  garnetite,  a  rock  composed  almost  entirely  of 
garnets.  Farther  away  the  limestone  simply  becomes  crystalline 
or  is  slightly  altered  to  garnet,  epidote  and  other  lime  silicates. 

Locally  the  beds  in  which  the  ore  bodies  of  the  Nickel  Plate 
and  the  Sunnyside  occur  are  called  quartzites,  but  it  is  more 
likely  that  they  were  originally  impure  limestones  and  now 
altered  to  the  garnet-epidote-calcite  rock.  On  the  intrusion 
of  the  igneous  rock  which  caused  the  alteration  it  is  more  reason- 
able to    suppose  that    the    formation  of  the  new  lime  silicate 


Ore  Deposits  of  Camp  Hedley.  429 

minerals  waa  due  to  an  introduction  of  silica  from  the  igneous 
rock  rather  than  of  lime. 

The  contact  nictaiiiorpliic  minerals  developed  along 
contacts  are: — garnet,  epidote,  pyroxene,  tremolite,  quartz, 
calcite  and  some  axinite.  These  act  as  the  gangue  for  the  ores, 
and  in  this  gangue  we  find  such  ore  minerals  as  arsenopyrite, 
pyrrhotite,  chalcopyrite,  pyrite  and  some  sphalerite.  The 
arsenopyrite  and  the  pyrrhotite  arc  the  most  common,  and  are 
found  in  all  parts  of  the  camp.  Chalcopyrite  occurs  abundantly 
on  a  few  claims,  and  sphalerite  is  rare.  The  latter  mineral, 
however,  appears  on  the  footwall  in  some  of  the  Sunnyside  work- 
ings. Irregular  bodies  of  hard  cherty  rock  are  also  found  in  the 
zone  of  contact  metamorphism,  and  are  probably  the  result  of 
a  migration  of  silica  from  the  igneous  rock.  Frequently  the  ore 
body  shows  a  distinctly  banded  appearance  due  to  alternating 
layers  of  garnet  and  epidote,  and  this  same  effect  is  also  in  some 
measure  brought  about  by  the  sphalerite  occurring  in  well  defined 
bands. 

The  arsenopyrite  is  often  disseminated  through  the  gangue 
rock  in  crystallized  individuals  in  which  case  it  would  probably 
be  of  primary  origin.  In  the  same  specimen  it  will  also  be  found 
as  filling  small  narrow  lines  of  Assuring,  showing  that  some  second- 
ary action  has  taken  place.  The  latter  feature  is  often  a  good 
indication  of  high  grade  ore. 

Gold  values  appear  to  be  always  associated  with  arseno- 
pyrite, yet  much  arsenopyrite  occurs  throughout  the  rock  in 
which  little,  if  any,  gold  can  be  obtained.  An  assay  of  the  sample 
is  the  only  means  of  acquiring  the  slightest  information  as  to 
its  gold  content,  as  free  gold  is  rarely  visible.  In  many  cases 
it  is  impossible  to  distinguish  a  sample  which  will  assay  two 
dollars  to  the  ton  from  one  which  will  give  twenty  dollars. 
Again  in  the  oxidized  rock  of  the  surface  one  can  often  wash 
a  crushed  sample  and  get  a  great  number  of  very  fine  colours  of 
gold  in  the  bottom  of  the  pan.  In  another  sample  no  colours 
will  be  obtained,  yet  the  one  will  give  as  good  results  on  an  assay 
as  the  other.  As  a  rule,  however,  some  assay  values  in  gold  will 
be  obtained  when  arsenopyrite  occurs  in  the  altered  sediments 
where  they  are  cut  by  the  acid  variety  of  monzonite  or  its  dike 
equivalent. 


430  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

As  to  the  original  source  of  the  arsenopyrite  one  does  not 
have  to  look  farther  than  the  monzonite  itself.  It  occurs  in 
small  quantities  as  an  accessory  mineral  in  the  monzonite  mass, 
but  in  the  dikes  and  sheets  of  andesite  it  is  so  plentiful  as  to 
appear  almost  as  an  essential  constituent.  It  does  not  appear 
in  the  sediments  on  the  granite  contact,  but  always  at  or  near 
the  monzonite  and  andesite  contacts. 

In  a  study  of  the  original  source  of  the  gold  the  foregoing 
facts  are  significant,  if  we  can  be  absolutely  certain  that  the 
gold  only  occurs  with  the  arsenopyrite  and  not  alone  or  with 
some  other  sulphide  as  well.  The  solution,  however,  will  require 
a  more  extended  study  of  many  ore  bodies  in  different  parts  of 
the  camp.  The  theory  of  an  introduction  of  gold  from  the 
monzonite  or  its  offshoots  into  the  altered  sediments  at  the  time 
of  the  intrusion  has  much  evidence  in  support  of  it,  but  in  that 
case  the  values  would  probably  have  been  sparingly  disseminated 
throughout  the  contact  zone.  Developments  in  mining  tend, "to 
show  that  other  causes  have  since  been  instrumental  in  con- 
centrating these  values  to  make  them  of  economic  importance, 
for  the  ore  bodies  that  are  now  being  worked  are  undoubtedly 
the  result  of  secondary  enrichment.  Without  this  enrichment 
it  is  hard  to  say  whether  they  would  have  been  payable  deposits 
or  not. 

The  Nickel  Plate  ore  body  illustrates  to  a  remarkable  degree 
this  idea  of  secondary  enrichment  or  concentration  by  down- 
ward moving  waters.  This  claim  is  situated  on  the  eastern  slope 
of  the  hill  and  about  200  feet  vertically  below  the  summit.  This 
slope  is  regular  and  gentle,  and  is  uniformly  covered  with  wash 
so  that  rock  exposures  are  not  frequently  seen.  Erosive  action 
is  not  strong  and  the  rocks  as  well  as  the  ore  bodies  are  decom- 
posed in  place;  so  that  concentration  can  readily  take  place  in 
the  body  of  the  rock  without  much  of  the  heavier  substances 
being  carried  down  the  slope  of  the  hill  by  surface  waters.  In 
contrast  to  this,  the  western  or  Twentymile  slope  of  the  hill  is 
steep  and  generally  uncovered  by  wash  so  that  erosion  of  the 
rocks  goes  on  at  a  much  more  advanced  rate  than  on  the  other 
side,  and  decomposition  does  not  extend  to  such  depth. 

The   Nickel  Plate  ore  body  lies  in  the  sedimentary  rocks 


Orb  Deposits  of  Camp  Hkdi.ii.  431 


about  2,000  feet  away  from  the  edge  of  the  monzonite  core. 
These  sediments  are,  at  the  lower  side  of  the  claim,  limestones 
which  pass  upwards  into  silicious  beds.  They  dip  at  an  angle  of 
about  20  degrees  in  towards  the  monzonite.  Into  these  sediments 
intrusive  andesites  have  been  injected,  some  of  which  follow 
the  bedding  planes  of  the  sediments,  while  others  cut  the  beds 
at  different  angles.  The  intrusive  andesite  with  which  the  Nickel 
Plate  ore  body  is  associated  dips  in  the  same  direction  as  the 
sediments,  but  at  an  angle  of  about  40  degrees,  so  that  there  is 
an  angle  of  about  20  degrees  between  the  dip  of  the  igneous  and 
the  dip  of  the  sedimentary  rocks.  The  width  of  the  andesite 
on  the  surface  is  about  six  feet,  but  this  quickly  increases  with 
depth.  The  ore  body  lies  directly  on  the  andesite  and  extends 
upward  into  the  zone  of  contact  metamorphism.  The  rock 
in  this  zone  of  contact  metamorphism  is  a  greenish  epidote  rock 
which  often  carries  much  garnet  distributed  through  it  in  well 
defined  bands.  This  rock  is  also  the  gangue  of  the  ores.  A 
vertical  black  dike  cuts  the  sediments  and  the  andesite,  and 
with  the  latter  forms  a  V-shaped  trough  in  which  lies  the  ore 
body.  The  south  boundary  of  this  ore  body  follows  a  curving 
quartz  porphyry  dike,  while  to  the  north  of  the  ore  body  is  a 
zone  of  fracturing  striking  east  and  west,  beyond  which  no  pay 
ore  is  found.  The  gold  is  associated  with  arsenopyrite,  and 
other  sulphides  occur  sparingly.  The  highest  values  are  found 
on  the  andesite  footwall  and  there  is  a  gradual  diminution  in 
values  as  the  distance  from  the  footwall  increases.  The  position 
and  character  of  the  ore  body  point  to  downward  moving  waters 
as  the  dominant  cause  in  the  final  stages  of  its  formation,  and 
possibly  this  concentration  or  enrichment  represents  the  leached 
out  values  from  many  feet  of  overlying  gold  bearing  strata,  which 
have  since  been  eroded  away. 

In  all  sections  of  the  camp  and  in  some  of  the  outlying 
country  small  quantities  of  gold  are  known  to  be  disseminated 
throughout  certain  contact  metamorphic  rocks.  Often  this  gold 
content  is  very  small  and  not  sufficient  to  form  ore  bodies  that 
would  be  considered  payable,  yet  it  has  not  been  definitely 
determined  that  workable  deposits  which  are  primary  in  origin, 
and  not  concentrations,  do  not  occur  in  the  camp.  Such  primary 
deposits,  even  if  of  lower  grade,  have  the  advantage  over  the 


432  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

others  of  promising  greater  permanence  and  with  such  the  future 
of  the  camp  is  more  closely  connected. 

The  conditions  above  given  under  which  the  well  known 
Nickel  Plate  ore  body  occurs  are  known  to  exist  in  other  parts 
of  the  camp,  and  enrichments  are  found  in  practically  the  same 
manner.  With  a  general  uniformity  in  the  dip  of  the  sediments 
and  the  large  number  of  dikes  of  different  compositions  that  cut 
all  these,  the  conjunction  of  two  of  these  dikes  and  of  dipping 
strata  to  form  a  trough  should  not  be  very  difficult  to  find.  While 
enrichments  are  more  likely  to  be  formed  under  these  conditions, 
every  such  trough  should  not  be  expected  to  contain  an  ore  body, 
though  all  are  worth  prospecting  and  should  be  carefully  ex- 
amined. 

By  far  the  largest  amount  of  ore  mined  has  come  from  the 
Nickel  Plate  claim.  This  was  first  worked  as  a  glory  hole,  but 
at  present  all  the  ore  extracted  comes  from  underground.  The 
depth  obtained  has  not  yet  exceeded  150  feet  from  the  surface, 
and  in  the  four  Sunnyside  workings  the  mining  of  ore  is  carried 
on  within  a  few  feet  of  the  surface.  The  present  output  of  the 
camp  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  35,000  tons  annually,  all  of  which 
must  be  attributed  to  these  two  claims,  and  at  this  rate  many 
years  must  still  elapse  before  the  ore  bodies  now  known  to  exist 
are  exhausted. 

An  interesting  point  developed  in  connection  with  the 
treatment  of  these  ores  is  the  finding  at  the  end  of  a  month's 
run  of  the  mill  of  some  platinum  along  with  the  gold.  The 
manager  for  the  Daly  Reduction  Company,  Mr.  F.  A.  Ross,  from 
whom  the  information  was  obtained,  is  inclined  to  think  that 
platinum  occurs  sparingly  with  the  ores  in  the  form  of  the  arsenide, 
sperrylite. 


S  t  crmvinder 


-?£6 


*'* 


VLIKl 


r 


Fig.  2 


ACTUAL  SECTION 

across 

NICKEL  PLATE  MOUNTAIN 

Shewing   Granite  Contact 


Scale,  300feet=  I  inch 


300  200  100 


Dikes-   frm»  amd'  black 


A  PARTIAL  BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  PUBLICATIONS  REFER- 
[NG  TO  THE  GEOLOGY  AND  MINERAL  INDUS- 
TRY  OF  ALBERTA,  BKTTISB  COLUMBIA 
AND  THE  YUKON. 

By  .1.  C.  Gwillim,  Kingston,  Ont. 

The  following  classification  of  literature  dealing  with  the 
exploration,  geology  and  mining  of  these  regions,  is  not  complete. 
It  has  been  compiled  chiefly  from  three  relatively  accessible 
sources,  namely,  from  the  reports  of  the  Geological  Survey  of 
Canada  and  the  British  Columbia,  Provincial  Bureau  of  Mines, 
and  the  Canadian  Mining  Institute  "Transactions." 

The  inclusion  of  some  purely  geological  reports  of  the  more 
remote  districts  seemed  advisable,  as  offering  first  aid  to  those 
who  go  into  them  with  the  purpose  of  mining. 

The  reports  of  the  Geological  Survey  provide  our  chief  source 
of  information  in  respect  to  the  economic  geology  of  these  areas; 
and  it  may  be  stated  that  Alberta,  British  Columbia,  and  the 
Yukon,  have  received  a  greal  service  from  the  Canadian  Geological 
Survey,  from  the  days  of  Richardson  and  Dawson,  to  the  present 
summer  when  eight  Held  parties  were  working  in  these  provinces. 
The  publications  of  the  '  Seological  Survey  arc.  in  most  cases,  free, 
and  will  be  sent  on  application  by  the  librarian  of  the  depart- 
ment at  Ottawa. 

The  annual  reports  of  the  provincial  mineralogist,  contain 
much  statistical  information  relating  to  production  and  progress, 
together  with  reports  or  summaries  of  the  conditions  in  the  re- 
spective mining  divisions.  There  are  also  incorporated  in  these 
volumes,  special  reports  upon  mineral  or  coal  areas,  by  the  pro- 
vincial mineralogist,  the  provincial  asaayer,  and  others  competent 
to   iii  them.     The    British    Columbia    reports,    and    also 

various  bulletins  on, and  maps  of  the  mining  districts  of  the  Pro- 
vince can  be  obtained  free,  or  for  a  small  sum.  on  application  to 
the  Provincial  Bureau  of  Mines  at  Victoria. 


434  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

The  transactions  of  the  Canadian  Mining  Institute  appear  to 
round  out  our  field  of  information,  by  giving  detailed  studies  of 
mines,  mining  geology,  and  mining  operations.  This  is  a  source 
of  information  which  is  likely  to  increase  as  the  Provinces  develop. 
Volume  V  is  especially  valuable  in  papers  relating  to  operations 
in  British  Columbia.  It  would  make  this  paper  too  cumbersome 
if  one  ventured  into  a  description  of  the  material  within  the  titles 
cited.  Attention,  however,  may  be  called  to  those  having  an 
asterisk,  as  affording  much  detail  information  concerning  the 
area  or  areas  to  which  they  refer.  The  work  of  Dr.  G.  M.  Dawson 
is  always  valuable,  and  his  observations  cover  a  large  portion  of 
the  country  here  considered. 

Concerning  the  selection  of  papers  and  authors  in  this  com- 
pilation, I  am  largely  indebted  to  the  Geological  Indices  of  D.  B. 
Dowling  and  F.  J.  Nicolas,  also  to  the  index  of  the  Canadian  Mining 
Journal,  up  to  Volume  VI.  Any  important  omissions  may  be 
added.     The  list  is  lengthy,  but  it  is  a  tolerably  available  one. 

The  abbreviations  used,  are: — 

G.  S.  D. — Geological  Survey  Department,  Ottawa. 

M.  M. — Report  of  the  Minister  of  Mines,  Victoria. 

C.  M.  I. — Journal  of  the  Canadian  Mining  Institute,  Montreal. 

Western  Alberta. 

Cairnes,  D.  D. — Foothills  south  of  the  main  line  of  the  C.P.  R. 

G.  S.  D.  Summary,    1905  and  Moose  Mt.  Report,  No.  968, 

G.  S.  D.  1907. 
*Dawson,  G.  M. — Preliminary    Report    upon     the     Bow     and 

Belly  River  Region  with  special  reference  to   Coal  Deposits. 

G.  S.  D.  1880-1-2,  or  No.  167  and  Map  No.  171. 

Report  upon  the  Rocky  Mountains  between  the  International 
Boundary  and  Lat.  51°  30'.     G.  S.  D.  1886. 

Dowling,  D.  B.— Coal-fields    of     the    Foothills    from   Old  Man 
River  to  the   Athabasca.     G.  S.  D.  Summaries  1903-04-05- 
06,  and  maps    of  Sheep    Creek,  Cascade  and    Costigan  coal 
basins. 
Stratigraphy  of  the  Cascade  Coal  basin,  Vol.  VIII,  C.  M.  I. 


Geology  wd  Mineral  [ndttstrt..  r>~> 

Report  on  the   Cascade    Coal  Basin    of  Alberta  with  maps. 
G.  S.  D.     No.  949,  1907. 

Hi.MtETTA,  C.  M.— Bankhead  Coal  Mines,  Vol.  VIII,  C.  M.  I. 
CrWlLLiM,  J.  C. — Notes  on  the  Life  History  of  Coal  Seams,  Vol. 

VIII.  C.  M.  I. 

•Leach,   W.  W. — The    Blairmore-Frank    Coal-fields    with     map. 

<i.  S.  D.  Summary  I'll)'-'. 
♦McEvOT,  Jas. — The   Yellowhead   Pass  Route,  with    map,   from 

Edmonton  bo  Tete   Jaune  Cache.     G.  S.  D.  Summary  1898, 

or  No.  703  separate. 
Smith.  V.  H.     Coal    Mining   in   the   Northwest,  and  its  Probable 

Future.     Vol.  V,  ('.  M.  I. 
Stockett,  Lewis,  a.nd  Warden,  B.  R. — The  Anthracite  Breaker 

of  the  Pacific  Coal   Company,  at  Bankhead,  with  plans.  Vol. 

IX.  C.  M.  I. 

Tyrell,  J.  B.— Northern  Alberta  with  Map.     G.  S.  D.  1886. 
Whiteside,  0.  E.  S. — Across    the  Pitch  vs.  up  the  Pitch.   Vols. 
II  and  IV,  C.  M.  I. 

East  Kootenay. 

Blakemore,  Wm. — Pioneer  Work    in    the    Crow's    Nest    Areas. 

Vol.  IV.  C.  M.  I. 

Future  of  the  Coal  and  Coke  Supply  of  B.  C.  Vol.  VI,  C.  M.  I. 

Iron  Deposits  near  Kitchener.     Vol.  V,  C.  M.  I. 

Bull  River  Iron  Deposits.     M.  M.  1900. 
Carlyle,  W.  A.— Report  on  East  Kootenay.     M.  M.  1896. 
Corless,  C.  V. — The    Coal    Cnck    Colliery   of    the    Crow's    Nest 

Coal  Company.     Vol.  IV.  C.  M.  I. 

Notes  <>n   the  Geology  and  a  Few  Ore   Deposits  of   South 
in  British  Columbia.     Vol.  V.  C.  M.  I. 

Daly.  Dr.  R.  A. — Geology  of  the  International  Boundary.     G.  S. 

I ».  Summary  1904. 
♦DAWSON,    Dr.    <"i.    M. — Report     and      Map     upon    the    Rocky 

Mountains.     C.  S.  D.  1NS6. 
Dowling,  D.  B. — Northern    Extension  of    Elk  River   Coalfields. 

G.  S.  D.  Summary  1905. 
Lea™.  W.  W.— Crow's  Nest  and  Elk  River  Coalfields.    G.  S.  D 

Summary,  1901. 


436  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

McEvoy,  James — East  Kootenay  map  sheet.     G.  S.  D.  Summary, 

1899. 

Crow's  Nest  coal  field  and  map.     G.  S.  D.  Summary  1900. 

Notes  on  the  special  features  of  coal   mining  in  the  Crow's 
Nest  Pass.     Vol.  VII,  C.  M.  I. 

Robertson,  W.  F. — Report  on  East  Kootenay.  M.  M.  1898. 
Reports  including  observations  of  McEvoy,  Selwyn  and 
Leckie  and  Baker,  M.  M.  1901 ;  Bulletin  and  map  of  Flat- 
head Oilfields.     M.  M.  1903. 

Reports  on  Windermere  and  Fort  Steele.     M.  M.  1903. 
Report  on  the  Fernie  Coal  Mines  Explosion  (separate),  1902. 

Selwyn,  A.  R.  C. — Oilfields  of  South  Western  Alberta  and  South 
Eastern  British  Columbia.     G.  S.  D.  Summary  1891. 

West  Kootenay. 

Brock,  R.  W. — Reports  on  West  Kootenay.  G.  S.  D.  Sum- 
maries   1898-99-1900. 

Geological  Map  of  West  Kootenay.     G.  S.  D.  No.  792. 

Report    and    sketch  map  on    Lardeau  District.     G.  S.    D. 
Summary  1903-04. 

Report  (Preliminary)  upon  Rossland.     G.  S.  D.  No.  939. 

Report  upon  Rossland.     G.  S.  D.  Summary  1906. 

Poplar  Creek  and  other  Camps.     Vol.  VII,  C.  M.  I. 

West  Kootenay  Orebodies.     Vol.  2,  C.  M.  I. 

West  Kootenay  Notes.     Vol.  3,  C.  M.  I. 

Campbell,  C.  M. — Mining  in  Rossland  District.     Vol.  V,  C.M.I. 

Campbell-Johnson,  R.  C. — Dry  Ores  of  the  Slocan.  Vol.  V, 
C.  M.  I. 

Carlyle,  W.  A.— Bulletin  No.  2,  Trail  Creek.     M.  M.  1896. 

Bulletin   No.   3,     Slocan,   Ainsworth     and     Nelson     Mining 

divisions.     M.  M.,  1896. 
Cole,  L.  Heber. — Mine  Surveying  as  carried  on    at  the  Centre 

Star  Mine,  Rossland.     Vol.  VIII,  C.  M.  I. 

Dawson,  G.  M. — Report  on  West  Kootenay,  with  map  No.  303. 
G.  S.  D.  No.  294. 


Qbology  and  Mineral  Industry.  437 

Fell,  E.  Nelson  -Notes  to   Accompany  Sections  of  the   Atha- 
basca Mine.     \\,1.  \.  ( \  |f,  j. 

GoiaMHli,^   Practiceatthe   Athabasca   Mi,,,..  Nelson.    Vol. 

V,  C.  M.  I. 

Foran,  S -S.-Notes  on  the  Ymir   Mine   and   its    Mill  Practice. 
\  "1.   Ill,  C.  M.  I. 

tmcentiation  in  the  Slocan  District.    Vol  VI  CM  I 

Garde  A.  C.-Notes  on  the  British  Columbia  Zinc  Problem.   Vol 
\  II,  C.  M.  I. 

Gwili.im..F.(  '.-    West  Kootenay  Orebodies.  Vol.  Ill,  Fed  C   M  I 
Cnqall,  E.  D.-SUver    Mines    of  the  West   Kootenay.     Journal 

Mining  Society  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  III. 
•Ing  u.ls,  W.  K.- -Zinc  Resources  of  British  Columbia,  Department 

of  Mines,  Ottawa.  1906. 
Hall,  Olives— The  Le  Roi  Mine.     Vol.  V  C  M   I 
Hahdman J.   E. -Notes  on   Some   Mining    Districts  in    British 

Columbia.     Vol.  II,  C.  M.  I. 

HEDFed  RCR*M  ?e  ^SSibilitieS  f0r  SmeltinS in  British  Columbia. 

KlRBJ;w  B,T°re  DeP°SitS  °f  R088^^,  British  Columbia.     Vol 
VII,  C  M.  I. 

M<  CmlL9l^97~0n  ^^  K°°tenay  in  °-  S-  D-  Summ^ies 
McDonald,    BERNARD-Hoisting    and    Haulage    (a    description 
of  LeRoi  plant  at  Rossland,  British  Columbia).     Vol  V  C 
M.  I.  ' 

Mining     Possibilities  of    the     Canadian   Rockies.     Vol    VI 
(  .  M.  I.  ' 

Mine  Signalling  by  Compressed  Air.     Vol.  VI  C  M  I 

Mir,,   Timbering  by  Square  Sett   System  at  Rossland.     Vol. 

Parlke,^  Norman   W.-Rock    Drilling    and  Blasting.     Vol.  VI, 

Robertson-.  W.  F.-Report  on  Nelson  District.     M.  M  1900 
Lardeau,  Fish  Creek,  Poplar  Creek,  etc.     M.  M.  1903 
Ainsworth,  Slocan,  and  Slocan  City  Divisions.    M  M  1904 

Thompson'.  WM.-Comparison  of  Costs  of  Compressing  Air  with 
Steam  and  Electricity  at  Rossland.     Vol.  VI,  C.  M.  I. 


438  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

Boundary  and  Similkameen. 

Bauerman,  H. — Report    upon    the    Geology    of    the  Boundary 

line  West  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  also    Geological  Cross- 
section.     G.  S.  D.  1882-3-4. 
Brock,  R.  W—  Reports    G.    S.    D.    Summaries    1901-02,    also 

geological  map  No.  828. 

Ore  Deposits  of  the  Boundary  Creek  District.     Vol.  V,  C.  M.  I. 

Geology  of  Franklin  Camp,  Boundary  District,  Vol.  X,  C.  M.I. 
Camsell,  Charles — Similkameen  District.      G.  S.  D.  Summary, 

1906. 
Carlyle,  W.  A.— Report  on  Yale  District.     M.  M.  1897. 
Daly,  R.  A. — Geology  of  Boundary  Line.     G.  S.  D.  Summary, 

1903. 
Dawson,  G.  M. — Preliminary    Report    upon    the    Physical  and 

Geological    Features  of    the    Southern    Interior    of    British 

Columbia.    G.  S.  D.  1877-78,  also  maps  No.  127  and  No.  363. 
Keffer,  Frederic — A  Method   of  Mining   Low-grade   Ores    in 

the  Boundary  District  of  British  Columbia.     Vol.  V,  C.  M.  I. 

Mining  and  Smelting  in  the  Boundary.     Vol.  VII  C.  M.  I. 

Notes  on   Diamond   Drilling  in  the    Boundary.      Vol.    IX, 

C.  M.  I. 

The  Emma  Mine.     Vol.  X,  C.  M.  I. 
Ledoux,  A.  R. — Production  of  Copper  in  the  Boundary  District. 

Vol.  V,  C.  M.  I. 
De  Pencier,  H.   P. — Mine  Timbering    in     Knob  Hill  and  Old 

Ironsides   Mines,  at  Phoenix,   Boundary   District.      Vol.  V, 

C.M.I. 
Robertson,  W.  F. — Boundary  Creek,  etc.,  etc.   M.  M.  1900. 

Vernon,  Kettle  River,  Osoyoos  and  Similkameen  Divisions. 

M.  M.,  1901. 
Scott,  O.  N. — Ore  Deposits  of    Copper    Mountain,  Similkameen 

District.     Vol.  V,  C.  M.  I. 
Wickware,  F.  G. — The  British  Columbia  Copper  Company's  Mine 

and  Smelter,  Greenwood,  British  Columbia,  Vol.  IX,  C.  M.  I. 

Vancouver  Island  and  Coast. 

Best,  W.  F. — Notes  on  the    Economic   Minerals  of  Vancouver 

Island.     Vol.  V,  C.  M.  I. 
Brewer,  W.  M— West   Coast,  Vancouver   Island.     M.  M.  1899. 


Geology  and  Mix  ii;  \  i.  Industry.  139 

Mineral  Resources  of  Vancouver  Island.     Vol.  \  I.  C.  M.  1. 
Bornite  Ores  of  B.  ( J.  and  Yukon.     Vol.  VIII,  C.  M.  I. 
Copper  Ore  on  Vancouver  Island.     Vol.  IX,  r.  M.  I. 
Further  Observations  on,  etc.     Vol.  X,  C.  M.  I . 
Cabltlb,  W.  A.     Nanaimo   District,   British  Columbia.     M.   M. 
1900. 

Carmichael,     Herbert — Report,    Map,   and  Reference    List  of 

Mineral  Claims.  Southern  Vancouver  Island.     M.  M.  1899. 

Nanaimo    Division,    Queen    Charlotte   Islands    and    Skeena 

River  division.     M.  M.  1901. 

Quatsino  Sound.     M.  M.  1903. 

Mount  Baker  Mines.     M.  M.  1904. 

VY.  st    Coast  of  Vancouver  Island,  Great  Central   Mine,  etc. 

(bulletin).     M.  M.  1906. 
Daly,  R.  A. — International  Boundary,  Mount  Baker,  etc.  G.S.D. 

Summaries  1901-1902. 
♦Dawson,  G.  M. — North  Vancouver  Island  and  Adjacent  Coast, 

with  map.     G.  S.  D.  No.  235. 
Ells,  R.  W. — Preliminary    Report    on    Graham    Island   of  the 

Queen  Charlotte  Group,  British  Columbia.     G.  S.  D.  Sum- 
mary 1905,  and  No.  7-43. 
Haycock,    Ernest,    and    Webster,    Arthur — West   Coast    of 

Vancouver  Island.     G.  S.  D.  Summary  1902. 
♦Kirsopp,    John,  Jr. — The     Coalfields    of   Cook    Inlet,   Alaska 

and  the  Pacific  Coast.     Vol.  XXI,  Trans.  Mining  Engineers. 
LeRoy,  O.  E. — British    Columbia    Coast,    Texada    Island,    etc. 

G.  S.  D.     Summary  1906. 

Marble  Bay  Mine.     Vol.  X,  C.  M.  I. 

Preliminary  Report  of  a  portion  of  the  Main  Coast  of  British 

Columbia  and  adjacent  Islands.     No.  996.     G.  S.  D.  1907. 
Marshall,  Dr.  T.  R. — Coal  and  Iron  Deposits  of  Graham  Island, 

Queen  Charlotte  Group,  British  Columbia,  with  sketch   map. 

M.  M.  1902. 

..  G.  F.— Notes    on    Mining   on   the   Coast    of    British 

Columbia  and  the  Adjacent  Islands.     Vol.  Ill,  Fed.  C.  M.  I. 
Poole,  H.  S—  The    Nanaimo    Comox   Coalfield.     G.  S.  D.  Sum- 
mary, 1905,  also  M.  M.  1906. 
♦Richardson,  James — Coal     Measures,    East    Coast,  Vancouver 

Island.     G.  S.  D.  Vol's,  1871-72,  72-73,  76-77. 


440  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Robertson,  W.  F. — Victoria    and    Nanaimo  Districts.     M.  M. 

1899. 

Mount  Sicker  Camp.     M.  M.  1902. 

Iron  Ores  of  Coast  and  Vancouver  Island    (bulletin).    M.  M. 

1902. 

Britannia    Mine;    Sooke     Copper     Mines,    and    Vancouver 

Portland  Cement  Company.     M.  M.  1904. 
Wright,  Fred  Eugene — Unuk  River  Mining  Region  of  British 

Columbia.     M.  M.  1906. 

Kamloops,  Nicola,  Lillooet. 

Cirkel,    Fritz — Bridge    River    Gold  Mining   Camp.     Vol.    Ill, 

C.  M.  I. 
Colquhoun,  A.  J. — Notes  on  the  Occurrence  of  Quicksilver  in 

Canada.     Vol.  II,  C.  M.  I. 
Dawson,  G.  M. — On    Kamloops  District.     G.  S.   D.   Summary 

1894. 

♦Kamloops  map  sheet.     Separate  Report. 

G.  S.  D.  No.  573,  with  Economic  and  Geological  Maps. 
Ells,  Dr.  R.  W—  On  the  Nicola  Coalfields.     G.  S.  D.  Summary 

1904.     (Also  Johnson  R.  A.  A.  on   Aspen   Grove  and   Aber- 
deen) . 
Moncton,  G.  F. — Gold-bearing  Lodes  of  Cayoosh   Creek.     Jour. 

Fed.  M.  I.,  Vol.  II. 
Robertson,    W.   F. — Nicola  and   Aspen   Grove   Camps,   British 

Columbia,  M.  M.  1901, 
Satchell-Clarke,  F. — A    few    Notes    on    Gold    Dredging    on 

Thompson  and  Fraser  Rivers,  etc.     Vol.  V,  C.  M.  I. 
Selwyn,  A.  R.  C,   Dr. — On    the     Route    from    Kamloops    to 

Yellowhead  Pass.     G.  S.  D.  1871-72. 

Cariboo-Stuart  Lake  and  Skeena  River. 

Bowman,  Amos — Report  upon  Cariboo,  with  maps  of  the  creeks. 

G.  S.  D.  1887-88  or  No.  263. 
*Dawson,  G.  M. — Exploration   of   Blackwater,  Nechaco,  Stuart 

Lake,  Quesnelle  and  Cariboo,  also  map.     G.  S.  D.  1876-77. 

Expedition  from    Port    Simpson  to    Edmonton    via    Peace 
River.     G.  S.  D.  1879-80. 


Geology  and  Mineral  [nduotrt.  441 


Hydraulic  .Mining  in  Britwh  Columbia.   Jour.  General  Mining 
Association  of  Quebec.     Vol.  II. 

Dick,  W.  .1.-  BydrauKc  Mining  in  Cariboo.     Vol.  X,  C.  M.  I. 

°ARI;?nE;W;A-~Carib00  District  of  British  Columbia.     M.  M. 
189/.    (Special  Report.) 

Carmu  hael,  HKKHERT-Mineral  Locations,  Portland  Canal  Dis- 
trict.    M.  M.  190G  (Bulletin.) 

Hobson  J.  B.-Auriferous  Gravels  of  British  Columbia     Vol    II 
G.  M.  A.,  Quebec.  ' 

Leach,  W.  W.— The  Telkwa  Mining  District. 
G.  S.  D.  Summary  1906,  also  M.  M.  1906. 

Some  Notes  on  the  Economic  Geology  of  the  Skeena  River. 
Vol.  X,  C.  M.  I. 

McEyov,  JAMES-Hydrauhc  Mining  in  British  Columbia 
Journal  G.  M.  A.,  Quebec,  Vol.  I. 

MERRiTT,W^H.-Gold-bearing  Reefs   and   Placers   of  Northern 
British  Columbia.     Vol.  Ill,  Fed.  C.  M.  I. 

Robertson,  W.  F.-Report  Upon  Cariboo  District.  M.  M    1902 
(Special  Report.) 

Northern   Interior   Plateau    between     Fraser     and     Skeena 
Rivers.     M.  M.  1905.     (Special  Report). 

Omineca  and  Peace  River. 

Dawson,  G.  M.-From  Port  Simpson  to  Peace   River  and   Ed- 
monton.    G.  S.  D.  1879-80. 

♦McConnell,  R.  G.— Omineca  District,  with  map.     G.  S  D   No 
574,  also  Summary  1894,  and  M.  M.  1897. 

^ITln^^  Pr°SPeCting  Trip  in    Northern    0menica. 

Robertson,  W    F.-Essington   to   Edmonton,   also   fine  photo- 
graphs.    M.  M.  1906.     (Special  Report). 

Selwyn,  A.  R.  C,  Dr.— Exploration  of  Peace  River.     G.  S.  D 
1875-76. 

Valleau.  F.  W„  Gold  Commissioner.-A  Special  Report  upon 
Omineca  distnct.     M.  M.  1901. 


442  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Cassiar  and  Yukon. 

Brewer,  W.  M. — Bornite  Ores  of  British  Columbia  and  the 
Yukon.     Vol.  VIII,  C.  M.  I. 

Further    Observations  on  the   Copper   Deposits   of   British 
Columbia,  he  Yukon,  and  Alaskan  Coast.     Vol.  X,  C.  M.  I. 

Cairnes,  D.  D. — White  Horse  and  Yukon  (Windy  Arm  Dis- 
coveries).    G.  S.  D.  1906. 

Notes  on  Recent    Developments  in    Quartz    Mining  in  the 
Yukon.     Vol.  X,  C.  M.  I. 

Carlyle,  W.  A. — Cassiar  District  of  British  Columbia.  M.  M. 
1897. 

Camsell,  Chas. — Peel  River  in  the  Yukon  and  McKenzie  Dis- 
tricts.    G.  S.  D.  Summary  1905. 

Carmichael,  Herbert — Mineral  Locations  on  Portland  Canal. 
Bulletin  No.  2.     M.  M.  1906. 

*Dawson,  G.  M. — Exploration  of  the  Yukon  and  Portions  of 
Northern  British  Columbia,  with  maps.  G.  S.  D.  1887-88,  or 
No.  260. 

Gwillim,  J.  C. — Report  on  the  Atlin  District.  G.  S.  D.  Sum- 
maries 1899-1900. 

♦Separate    Report    on    Atlin  with  map.     No.  743,  also  in 
Vol.  XII,  1899,  G.  S.  D. 

Notes  on  the  Atlin  District.     Vol.  Ill,  C.  M.  I. 
Characteristics  of  the  Atlin  Gold  Fields.     Vol.  V,  C.  M.  I. 

Keele,  Jas. — Duncan  Creek  Mining  district,  Yukon,  also  sketch 
map.     G.  S.  D.  Summary   1904. 
Stewart  River  District.     G.  S.  D.  Summary  1905. 

McConnell,  R.  G. — Liard   River.     G.  S.  D.  1889,  also  resume 

in  M.  M.  1897. 

Klondike  District.     G.  S.  D.  Summaries  1898-99-1900. 

Yukon  District,  1901-02-03-04-05-06.  Summaries  G.  S.  D. 

Preliminary  Report  on  the    Klondike    Gold   Fields.  No.  687, 
with  map  No.  688.     G.  S.  D.  Summary  1900. 

McMillan  River,  with  map.     G.  S.  D.  Summary  1902. 

Kluane  Mining    District,  with  sketch  map.     1904. 

White  River  and  Windy  Arm  Districts,  1905. 

Old  Valley  Gravels  of  the  Yukon.     Vol.  Ill,  C.  M.  I. 


Geology  wn  .M  i \ i:k  \ l  I ndustry.  443 

Notes  on  the  Windy   Arm   Silver-bearing  Veins.     Vol.   IX, 
C.  M.  I. 

♦Report   on   Klondike.     Vol.  XIV,  G.  S.  1  >.  1901. 
Report  on  Gold   Values  in  the  Klondike  High-level  Gravels. 
G.S.D.     No.  979,  1907. 

Ogilyik.  W.   M.     (iold    Mining   in   the   Yukon.     Vol.    I,    Fed. 

C.  M.  I. 
Robertson,  W.  F.— Atlin,  Bennett  and  Chilkat  Divisions.     M.  M. 

1900. 

Atlin  and  Bennett  Mining  Divisions.     M.  M.,  1904. 

Notes  on  Windy  Arm  Mineral  Locations.     M.  M.  1905. 

Robinson,    A.    W. — Ste-nart     River     Gold    Dredge.     Vol.    VI, 

CM.  I.  I 

Tyrrell,  J.  B. — Dalton  trail  and  Klondike.     G.S.D.     Summary 

1898. 

The  Gold  Bearing  Alluvial  Deposits  of  the  Klondike.     Trans. 

M.  and  M.     Vol.  8. 

Placer  Mining  in  the  Klondike.     Trans.  Inst.  M.  E.  1906. 

Concentration  of  Gold  in  the  Klondike.     Economic  Geology 

June  1907. 
Wright,    F.    Eugene — Unuk  River,  Portland  Canal.     G.  S.  D. 

Summary  1905.     Also  in  M.  M.  1906. 

British  Columbia  (General). 

"British  Columbia  Mining  Record" — A  monthly  journal, 
chiefly  devoted  to  British  Columbia  mining.  E.  Jacobs, 
editor  and  manager,  Victoria. 

British  Columhm  'Report  of  Minister  of  Mines" — Contain- 
ing statistics,  annual  reports  from  the  mining  divisions 
and  special  reports  on  various  districts  by  the  provincial 
mineralogist,  the  provincial  assay er,  and  others.  W.  F. 
Robertson,  provincial  mineralogist. 

"Briti-h  Columbia  Year  Book" — Containing  a  resume  of  mining 
operations  and  reports  of  mining  districts.  R.  E.  Gosnell, 
Victoria. 

Cairnes,  D.  D. — Prospecting  in  Western  Canada.  Vol.  VIII, 
C.  M.  I. 


444  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Canadian    Geological    Survey  "Summary  Report" — Usually 

containing  six  or     seven     reports  upon     Western    geology 

and  mining. 
Dawson,  G.  M— The  Mineral  Wealth  of  British  Columbia.     Part 

II.     G.S.D.  1887-88. 
Gosnell,  R.  E. — Mining  in  British  Columbia.     Bulletin  No.  19. 

Bureau  of  Provincial  Information,  Victoria. 
Loring,  F.  C. — Mining  Law  and  its  Bearing  on  the  Development 

of   Mines   and   Mineral  Districts.     Jour.  Fed.  C.  M.  I.     Vol. 

III. 
McDonald,    Bernard — Mining    Possibilities    of    the    Canadian 

Rockies.     Vol.  VI,  C.  M.  I. 
Merritt,  Major  W.  H. — The  Occurrence    of   Free  Milling  Gold 

Veins  in  British  Columbia.     Vol.  II,  C.  M.  I. 


NOTES  ON  THE  PRACTICE  OF  ASSAYING    IN    BRITISH 

COLUMBIA. 

By  C.  S.  Baker,  Greenwood,  B.C. 
(Nelson,  B.C.,  Meeting,  January,  1908.) 

The  Government  of  British  Columbia  recognizing  the  rapid 
growth  of  the  mining  industry  and  the  importance  to  the  Province 
of  assayers,  in  whose  work  the  investing  public  and  the  mining 
community  could  place  confidence,  enacted  a  law  in  1899,  entitled 
the  "Bureau  of  Mines  Act  Amendment  Act,  1899."  This  Act 
requires  that  all  assayers,  who  intend  to  practice  in  the  Province, 
satisfy  a  board  of  examiners  on  their  proficiency  in  sampling  and 
assaying.  The  Board  accepts  certain  degrees  or  certificates  from 
Universities  and  Schools  of  Mines  in  the  Dominion  and  the  Em- 
pire as  tantamount  to  passing  the  examination.  Prior  to  this 
date  assayers  could  obtain,  for  their  own  satisfaction,  a  Govern- 
ment certificate  under  the  Bureau  of  Mines  Act,  1897. 

be  present  time  there  are  two  holding  the  certificate  under 
the  1897  Act, and  one  hundred  and  twenty-nine  under  that  of  1899. 

The  examination  is  held  twice  a  year  in  Victoria  and  in  Nelson, 
if  a  sufficient  number  of  candidates  enter  from  the  upper  country. 
It  continues  for  about  a  week  and  covers  those  determinations 
which  occur  in  day-to-day  work  and  written  papers  on  sampling, 
wet  and  fire  assaying. 

The  mining  regions  may  be  divided  roughly  into:  (i)  the 
silver-lead-zinc  ores  of  the  Slocan;  (ii)  the  copper-gold-silver 
ores  of  the  'Rossland,  boundary  and  coast  districts.  It  is  the 
purpose  of  this  paper  to  give  a  few  methods  of  treating  these  ores, 


446  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

and  although  they  do  not  as  a  rule  offer  any  serious  difficulties 
it  is  hoped  that  a  few  points  of  interest  may  be  brought  forward, 
(i)  The  silver-lead-zinc  ores  and  concentration  products  do 
not  carry  payable  quantities  of  gold,  so  that  silver,  lead,  zinc  and 
occasionally  iron  and  insoluble  are  the  determinations  usually 
made. 

Silver  is  assayed  by  either  the  pot  or  scorification  method. 
The  former  is  more  in  favour  in  the  district  since  it  is  found  to 
give  slightly  higher  results,  and  has  the  advantage  of  taking  less 
time  and  the  bead  may  be  parted  for  gold.  Scorification  has 
the  disadvantage  of  requiring  a  high  opening  up  heat  causing  a 
possible  loss  of  silver  and  the  use  of  less  pulp,  which  may  not 
give  as  correct  a  sample. 

The  usual  practice  is  to  take  0.5  A.T.  of  ore  and  nitre;  or 
0.2  A.T.,  which,  in  most  cases,  gives  a  button  of  the  required 
size.  An  excess  of  litharge  is  always  used  to  decompose  the 
sulphides.  The  button  should  weigh  from  20  to  25  grms.  and  be 
free  of  impurities.  The  heat  in  cupellation  should  be  such  as  to 
just  show  the  presence  of  "feathers";  it  is  preferable  to  cupel  at 
a  slightly  too  high  than  too  low  a  heat. 

In  control  work  for  the  lead  assay  the  fire  method  is  used,  as 
the  smelters  settle  on  that  result.  It  is,  however,  an  unsatis- 
factory assay  and  the  heat  must  be  carefully  regulated  during 
fusion,  which  takes  about  an  hour  and  a  half.  The  muffle  at  the 
start  should  be  at  a  low  red  heat  and  after  twenty  minutes  when 
a  violet  flame  can  be  seen  coming  from  the  crucible  the  heat  is 
gradually  increased  to  a  full  red  heat,  and  finally  the  fusion  is 
poured  very  hot. 

The  fluxes  used  are  the  mixed  carbonates  of  sodium  and 
potassium,  a  reducer  of  flour,  iron  nails  and  a  cover  of  borax. 
Borax  is  used  only  as  a  cover  in  order  to  reduce  the  possibility  of 
forming  borate  of  lead  to  a  minimum.  The  Battersea  10  grm. 
crucible  is  a  convenient  size  to  use. 

Zinc  is  estimated  by  titration  with  potassium  ferrosyanide 
and  is  found  to  give  excellent  results  on  medium  and  high  grade 
ores.  Low  grade  ores,  say  under  5  per  cent., are  not  so  satisfactory 
and  tend  to  come  somewhat  high.  The  zinc  occurs  as  blende  and 
is  completely  decomposed  by  a  saturated  solution  of  potassium 
chlorate  in  nitric  acid. 


Assaying  in  British  Columbia.  447 

The  procedure  is  to  take  0.5  grin,  of  ore,  dissolve  in  15  c.c. 
nitric-potassium  chlorate  solution  and  evaporate  down  to  com- 
plete dryness,  which  throws  out  manganese  as  the  oxide.  Cool 
and  add  7  grms.  of  ammonium  chloride,  15  c.c.  ammonia  and  25  c.c. 
hot  water.  Heat  to  boiling,  filter  and  wash  three  times  with  hot 
water.  Neutralize  with  hydrochloric  acid  and  add  exactly 
10  c.c.  in  excess.  If  necessary  bring  bulk  of  solution  up  to  150  c.c. 
and  add  test  lead  to  remove  copper,  a  small  amount  of  which  is 
usually  present.  Place  on  hot  plate  and  gradually  increase  tem- 
perature to  70°C  and  titrate.  Uranium  nitrate  or  acetate  may  be 
used  as  indicated.  The  traces  of  cadmium  can  be  neglected. 
Similar  conditions  as  to  bulk  of  solution,  excess  of  acid  and  heat, 
should  be  closely  adhered  to  in  the  standard. 

By  dissolving  the  ferric  hydrate,  which  has  been  filtered  off 
from  the  zinc  solution,  in  hydrochloric  acid,  iron  can  be  deter- 
mined by  the  Bichromate  method,  and  finally  the  well-washed 
residue,  when  dried,  ignited  and  weighed  will  give  silica. 

(ii).  The  copper-silver-gold  ores  of  the  Rossland,  boundary 
and  coast  districts. 

The  ores  of  these  districts  are  low  grade  in  copper  and  average 
from  one  to  two  per  cent .  • 

In  Rossland  the  gold  values  run  higher  than  in  the  boundary. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  cyanide  process  is  used  in  all  ordinary 
work,  such  as  hand  samples,  daily  smelter  mattes,  etc.;  and  the 
electrolytic  or  codide  for  control  work. 

The  Batter\-  method  is  simple  and  convenient,  requiring  less 
manipulation  than  the  other  methods  and  if  put  on  in  the  after- 
noon can  be  weighed  the  following  morning. 

When  no  metals  are  present  that  would  be  deposited  with 
the  copper  on  the  cathode,  simple  treatment  with  nitric  acid  is 
sufficient.  If,  however,  interferences  are  present,  precipitation 
with  potassium  Bulpho-cyanide  gives  excellent  results.  The 
following  method  ifl  to  be  recommended:  Treat  1  grm.  in  150 c.c. 
beaker  with  10  c.c.  nitric  acid.  Put  on  hot  plate  at  low  heat  and 
raise  temperature  gently  in  order  that  the  sulphur  may  be  clean. 

Take  down  carefully  to  a  syrupy  consistency,  if  possible  in  water 
bath  to  prevent  -pitting.  Cool  and  add  8  c.c.  hot  water  and  2  c.c. 
hydrochloric  acid;  heat,  and,  when  in  solution,  wash  down  watch 
glass  and  sides  of  beaker  with  20  c.c.  more  water.     Boil  and  filter; 


448  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

the  filtrate  should  not  exceed  70-80  c.c.  Heat  and  add  saturated 
solution  of  sodium  sulphite  to  reduce  iron — avoiding  a  large 
excess.  Now  add  5  c.c.  of  10%  solution  of  potassium  sulpho- 
cyanide.  A  white  precipitate  of  cupreous  thiocyanate  is  formed. 
Maintain  at  moderate  heat  until  precipitate  is  settled.  Some- 
times a  red  colouration  appears  notwithstanding  the  iron  being 
previously  reduced.  A  further  small  addition  of  sodium  sulphite 
will,  however,  remove  this  and  is  advisable.  Filter  very  carefully, 
using  two  filter  papers,  one  larger  than  the  other,  and  not  filling 
the  smaller  quite  full. 

This  precaution  prevents  the  precipitate  creeping  up  the 
paper.  Wash  with  boiling  water  and  gently  ignite  filters.  The 
precipitate  copper  is  easily  soluble  in  nitric  acid  and  can  be  de- 
termined by  placing  on  battery  or  titrating  by  the  iodide  method. 
All  interfering  metals  have  been  removed.  In  a  series  of  checks 
the  following  results  have  been  obtained : 

Taken  0.053  grms.  electrolytic  copper  found.  .  .  .52.93  mgrms. 
"       0.1232    "  "  "  "      ...123 

"      0.0107    "  "  "  "      ...    10.5 

When  copper  is  precipitated  from  a  solution  of  the  soluble 
sulphates  by  means  of  aluminium,  it  has  been  observed  that  it  is 
extremely  difficult  to  throw  down  the  last  traces  of  copper. 

This  may  be  obviated  by  the  addition  of  hydrogen  sulphide  in 
removing  the  aluminium;  about  15  c.c.  of  a  saturated  solution 
precipitates  the  last  traces  of  copper  and  prevents  oxidation  of 
the  finely  divided  metal. 

In  assaying  copper  ores  for  gold  and  silver  it  is  necessary  to 
flux  off  all  the  copper  in  order  to  obtain  a  pure  lead  button  and 
thus  prevent  the  absorption  of  gold  in  cupellation.  This  may  be 
done  by  either  first  dissolving  the  copper  in  nitric  acid,  precipita- 
ting the  silver  with  sodium  chloride  and  scorifying  the  residue; 
or  using  a  large  excess  of  litharge  in  the  pot  or  crucible  assay. 
The  latter  method  is  based  on  the  fact  that  oxide  of  lead  can  be 
used  in  a  crucible,  together  with  subsidiary  fluxes  such  as:  sodium 
carbonate,  potassium  carbonate,  nitre  and  flour  to  give  the  deter- 
mination of  gold  and  silver  results  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  scorifi- 
cation.  If  analysis  of  ore  be  known  approximately,  the  charges 
may  be  calculated  to  give  for  all  ores  and  mattes  an  uniform  slag. 

Experiments  in  control  work  prove  the  slag  that  gives  the 


Assaying  i\  British  Columbia.  449 

best  results  is  the  one  that  in  section  shown  by  breaking  cone 
after  cooling,  shows  a  silicate  of  lead,  copper  and  iron  on  outside, 
gradually  changing  to  crystalline  litharge  towards  the  centre. 
At  the  proper  temperature  the  slag  ia  very  fluid  and  gives  a  bright 
clean  button  and  slaj:  is  entirely  free  of  small  shots  of  lead.  The 
temperature  of  the  muffle  must  be  carefully  calculated  as  there  is 
danger  in  both  extremes.  If  furnace  is  too  cool  slag  will  be 
wholly  crystalline  and  will  not  pour  well;  if  too  hot,  slag  attacks 
crucible  by  taking  up  silica  and  leaves  small  pits  in  which  shots 
may  be  retained  and  overlooked;  it  also  increases  loss  by  volati- 
lization. The  correct  temperature  is  an  uniform  heat  at  starting, 
fairly  red,  and. a  rising  fire;  in  thirty  minutes  colour  of  muffle 
should  be  bright  red  with  charge  all  reduced  and  fusing  quietly. 
Hold  at  this  for  ten  minutes  and  pour. 

Analysis  of  ore  should  be  known  as  regards  copper,  silica, 
iron  and  sulphur.  Reducing  effects  of  sulphur  and  oxidising 
effects  of  nitre  should  be  ascertained  by  trial  assay.  A  trial  assay 
is  run  on  say  .25  A.T.  of  ore  using  certain  fluxes  and  button  is 
weighed,  from  which  the  necessary  amount  of  oxidising  or  reduc- 
ing agent  is  calculated  for  the  0.5  A.T.  charge.  It  is  advisable  to 
deduce  this  knowledge  from  experiments  on  variety  of  ore,  with 
which  one  comes  in  contact  and  strike  an  average  standard  or 
standards  for  stock  flu 

It  is  found  as  a  rule  with  boundary  ores  upon  0.5  A.T. 

1  grm.  of  flour  will  reduce  10  grms.  Ph  from  Pho. 

4'  ,  sulphur  will  reduce  16  grms.  Ph  from  Pho. 
antimony  will  reduce  3  grms.  Ph  from  Pho. 

4%  arsenic  will  reduce  6  grms.  Ph  from  Pho. 

1  grm.  of  nitre  will  oxidi/  PhtoPho. 

Amount  of  litharge  to  be  used  will  depend  on  impurities  to 
be  fluxed  off;  chief  of  these  is  copper,  which  must  be  eliminated 
to  reduce  cupel  losses — 

From  low  grade  ore-    \'2  to  4%  copper)    5  A.  T.  Pho  to  0.5 
A.T.  o, 

From  matte  (48-60r7  copper)  S  A.  T.  Pho  to  0. 1  A.  T.  matte 
removes  nearly  all  the  copper. 

To  get  a  slag  of  composition  previously  described,  silica 
must  be  added,  after  calculation  of  that  in  ore  to  make  up  tin- 
ratio  of  1  part  Sit).,  to  16  parts  Pho.        The  button  should  weigh 

29 


450  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

about  16  grms.,  but  will  vary  a  few  grms.  according  to  temperature 
of  muffle. 

As  an  example  an  ore  of  the  following  composition  may  be 
taken: — 

5.4%  Cu;  29.4%  Si02;  28.2%  Fe;  13.1%  CaO;  15.8%  S. 

This  ore  contains  a  considerable  amount  of  copper  and  sul- 
phur, which  would  require  much  nitre.  Therefore  it  is  advisable 
to  take  0 .  25  A.  T.  of  ore.  Add  8  A.T.  Pho,  0 . 5  A.T.  Na2  Co3  and 
K2C03  and  18.3  grms.  of  Si02.  Since  4%  S  would  reduce  16 
grms.  of  Ph  if  0.5  A.T.  of  ore  were  taken,  this  charge  contains 
nearly  16%  S,  but  being  only  half  as  large,  would  give  a  button  of 
about  32  grms.  To  obtain  a  button  of  16  grms.  we  must,  then, 
add  4  grms.  nitre. 

Mix  charge  thoroughly  and  cover  with  -J  inch  of  sodium 
chloride. 

As  regards  the  matter  of  covers,  with  same  flux  and  under 
similar  conditions  two  assays  of  a  high  grade  gold  ore  gave: 

With  salt  as  cover  20 .  16  ozs.  per  ton. 

With  borax  as  cover  19.9  ozs.  per  ton. 

It  would  seem  that  salt  is  the  most  satisfactory  cover.  Again 
buttons  vary  in  size  when  borax  is  used,  owing  to  its  action  varying 
at  different  temperatures. 

Combined  Wet  and  Dry  Process  for  Gold  and  Silver  in 
Blister  Copper,  Mattes  or  High  Grade  Copper  Ores. 

Weigh  out  3  A.T.  in  separate  portions  of  1  A.T.  for  silver. 
Place  in  large  beaker  with  100  c.c.  of  water  and  cover  with  watch 
glass.  Add  50  c.c.  HN03  (sp.  g.  1 .  42)  and  await  finish  of  strong 
action.  Now  add  50  c.c.  more  acid.  Boil  to  expel  red  fumes  and 
remove  from  heat.  Carefully  and  thoroughly  wash  down  sides  of 
beaker  and  watch  glass.  Add  sufficient  normal  salt  solution  to 
precipitate  silver,  avoiding  a  large  excess.  Stir  well  and  allow 
beaker  to  stand  over  night.  Filter  off  chlorides  through  double 
filter  papers  and  wash  with  cold  water  to  free  papers  of  copper. 
Wipe  out  beakers  with  moistened  filter  papers  and  add.  Transfer 
filter  papers  to  2\  inch  scorifiers  in  a  dish  of  test  lead  containing 
about  eight  grms.  Dry  at  about  300  C.  When  charring  of 
papsrs  is  complete  add  20  grms.  of  test  lead  and  \\  grms.  of  borax. 


Assaying  in  British  Columiuv.  451 

Scorify  down  to  button  of  about  7  grins,  and  save  slag. 

Cupel  buttons  a1  low  temperature  and  save  cupels.  If 
beads  check  to  0.75  ozs.  per  ton  unite  and  part. 

The  slags  and  cupels  are  fluxed  with  litharge,  glass  and  a 
reducer  and  button  cupelled.  This  silver  recovered,  divided  by 
3  is  added  as  a  correction.     (Usually  1 .4  to  1 .7  ozs.  per  ton.) 

Gold — Weigh  out  1  A.T.  and  divide  into  4  equal  portions  of 
|  A.T. 

Place  in  3-inch  scorifiers  with  90  grins,  of  lead.  Cover  with 
£  grm.  silica  and  borax  glass.  Scorify  until  closed  over  and  pour 
hot.     Save  slags. 

Make  up  buttons  to  65  grms.  with  lead  and  \  grm.  silica  and 
again  scorify  and  save  slag. 

Unite  two  and  two. 

Two  buttons  representing  0.5  A.T.  are  made  up  90  grms. 
with  lead  and  0.5  grm.  silica  and  scorified. 

Proceed  with  slags  and  cupels  as  with  silver  and  add  correction. 

X<»te. — Scorifiers  used  are  of  the  shallow  type.  It  may  be 
mentioned  that  for  mattes  and  ores  less  scorifying  will  serve  to 
remove  the  copper. 

As  regards  wet  work,  the  determinations  for  iron,  lead,  sul- 
phur, etc.,  used,  are  those  described  in  the  standard  text  books, 
but  a  method  for  insoluble  in  some  refractory  sulphide  and  car- 
bonate ores  may  be  described;  it  is  interesting  inasmuch  as  it 
gives  results  very  close  to  fusions  and  in  some  ores  the  insoluble 
can  be  reduced  as  much  as  6-7%  lower  than  by  the  nitro-hydro- 
chloric  acid  treatment.  0.5  grm.  is  weighed  in  3-inch  casserole, 
and  while  covered  with  wat  ch  glass  is  treated  with  10-15  c.c.  HC1. 

Most  of  the  sulphur  is  got  rid  of  as  H2S.  Evaporate  to  7  c.c. 
and  add  5  to  10  c.c.  according  to  the  amount  of  sulphides  present, 
boiling  nitric  acid.  The  action  is  somewhat  violent  and  during 
operation  casserole  should  be  closely  covered.  Evaporate  to 
dryness,  bake  a  little,  take  up  with  dilute  HC1,  filter,  dry,  ignite 
and  weigh. 


MINERAL  PRODUCTION  OF  BRITISH  COLUMBIA 
IN  1907. 

By  E.  Jacobs,  Editor  Mining  Record,  Victoria,  British  Columbia. 


The  following  notes  on  the  mineral  production  of  British 
Columbia,  in  so  far  as  they  relate  to  the  year  1907,  must  be  re- 
garded as  subject  to  correction  after  the  official  returns  shall  all  have 
been  received  by  the  Bureau  of  Mines  of  British  Columbia,  and  the 
customary  statistical  statement  prepared  by  the  Provincial 
Mineralogist  and  published  in  ordinary  course  in  the  "Annual 
Report  of  the  Minister  of  Mines  for  British  Columbia."  It  is 
believed  by  the  writer,  though,  that  when  the  finally  revised  figures 
shall  be  made  public,  it  will  be  found  that  those  given  herein  are 
not  far  from  indicating  the  actual  production  .of  the  year,  calcul- 
ated at  the  values  adopted  by  the  local  Bureau  of  Mines. 

Regarding  the  prices  of  metals,  it  may  be  observed  that  it  is 
usual  to  mention  each  year  in  the  "Annual  Report"  above  alluded 
to,  that  "In  calculating  the  values  of  the  products,  the  average 
prices  for  the  year  in  the  New  York  Metal  Market  has  been  used  as 
a  basis.  For  silver  95  per  cent,  and  for  lead  90  per  cent.,  of  such 
market  price  has  been  taken.  Treatment  and  other  charges  have 
not  been  deducted. " 

Following  this  custom,  the  prices  so  determined  at  which  the 
value  of  metalliferous  minerals  has  been  arrived  at  are  as  follows: 
Silver,  62.06  cents  per  oz. ;  lead,  4 . 8  cents  per  lb. ;  copper,  20  cents 
per  lb.  Gold  values  used  are  not  similarly  subject  to  change  each 
year;  they  are  $20  per  oz.  for  placer  and  $20 .  67  for  lode  gold.  For 
the  small  quantity  of  zinc  included  an  approximate  value  of  $25  per 
ton  has  been  taken.     Heretofore,  for  years,  coal  has  been  valued  at 


Mineral  Prodtt<  tion  of  B.C. 


I.-,:; 


$3  per  ton  of  2,240  lbs.:  thi  :  50  is  the  value  placed  upon  it 

whirl,  change  is  warranted  by  the  prevailing  selling  prices  in  the 
Province  during  the  year,  similarly,  the  price  of  coke  has  been 
advanced  from  $6  to  $6  per  Ion-  ton  for  valuation  purposes,  but  in 
the  opinion  of  the  writer,  the  latter  change  givee  a  higher  value  to 
this  product  than  market  conditions,  as  affecting  the  Crow's  Nest 
Coal  Company**  collieries,  which  rapply  by  far  the  greater 
parr  of  the  coke  included  in  the  following  estimate,  realty  justify. 
The  amounts  showing  the  value  of  each  metal  in  the  following 
table  are  in  round  figures;  they  are  nut  worked  out  in  accurate 
detail. 


APPROXIMATE  QUANTITY  AND  VALUE  OF  MINERAL 
PRODUCTION  IN   1907. 

-    :  iect  to  Revision) 


Customary  .Measure 


Quantity 


Gold,  placer Oz.tn.v 

'■oH,  lode m 


Silver 
Lead 


Total  gold. 


Oz. 
Lb. 


198,000 

"..500 
JS  nun 


Jr*" Lb.     47,000,000 

V?pper '        41,700,000 


Zinc 


Tons 


2,000 


Total  metalliferous 


•      Tons,  2,240  lb        1,800,000 

\;,l'\: • Tons,  2,240  lb.  ;,000 

Building  materials,  etc 


iaky: — 

Metalliferous  .... 

Non-metalliferous 


Total  \-alue  of  production. 


Value 


S      7.10,000 
4,090,000 

1,729.000 

2.2S0.000 

8,33s.ooo 

50,000 

17,237,000 

6,300.000 

1,:;:;s.mih) 
1.150,000 

8,788,rKX) 


17,287,000 

8,788,000 

$26,025,000 


454  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Compared  with  the  production  of  other  years,  the  foregoing 
total  value  would  appear  to  indicate  a  substantial  increase,  but,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  it  does  not  disclose  the  actual  position,  since  in 
quantity  all  the  metalliferous  minerals  show  a  decrease  (zinc  only 
excepted,  the  production  of  which  was  too  small  to  be  of  import- 
ance), while  in  value,  copper  was  practically  alone  in  reaching  a 
higher  total  than  in  1906.  The  total  decrease  in  value  of  these 
minerals  as  compared  with  1906  was  about  $1,213,000,  against 
which  there  was  an  increase  in  the  non-metalliferous  minerals  of 
$2,257,000,  so  that  there  was  on  the  combined  production  a  net 
increase  for  the  year  $1,044,000. 

Taking  the  several  minerals  separately,  the  following  comments 
may  serve  to  better  show  the  results  achieved: 

Gold. 

The  year's  production  of  placer  gold  was  the  smallest  of  any 
year  since  1898.  Cariboo,  Quesnel  and  Atlin  divisions,  in  which 
are  the  larger  placer  fields  of  the  Province,  each  showed  a  con- 
siderable decrease  in  production,  in  all  about  $200,000.  This 
result  was  particularly  disappointing  since  it  had  been  expected 
that  the  Guggenheim  companies  would  operate  at  Quesnel  and 
Atlin  on  a  large  scale  and  add  materially  to  the  output  of  those 
camps.  Not  only  did  they  not  do  so,  but  it  is  understood  they 
have  practically  abandoned  those  fields,  notwithstanding  that 
their  preparatory  expenditures  had  been  comparatively  large.  It 
is  considered  probable  that  the  Cariboo  division  will  make  a  better 
showing  next  season,  but  the  immediate  outlook  for  the  other 
placer  fields  is  not  regarded  as  promising  a  satisfactory  improve- 
ment or  increase  in  yield  of  gold. 

In  lode  gold  there  was  a  decrease  of  about  26,000  ozs.  Bound- 
ary mines  produced  13,500  ozs.  less  than  in  1906,  Rossland  mines 
8,400  ozs.,  mines  on  the  coast  5,400  ozs.,  and  several  other  districts 
made  smaller  decreases.  Against  these,  Nelson  division  increased 
its  yield  to  the  extent  of  1,600  ozs.  Similar  causes  to  those  which 
led  to  a  decrease  in  copper  production  adversely  affected  the  lode 
gold  output,  for  the  reason  that  gold  occurs  in  association  with 
copper  in  the  chief  producing  mines  of  the  Province,  so  that  when 
copper-mining  is   checked  the  yield   of  gold  is   proportionately 


Minium.   PRODUCTION   OF   B.C.  455 

smaller.  Nelson  mining  division  alone  showed  increased  activity 
in  lode  gold  mining,  and  its  prospects  are  favourable  for  a  further 
advance  in  this  connection.  The  Nickel  Plate  mine,  in  the  lower 
Similkanieen,  is  slated  to  have  about  maintained  its  average 
yearly  production  of  $400,000  or  thereabouts. 

Silver. 

There  was  a  net  decrease  in  the  yield  of  silver  of  about  202,000 
OIB.  The  chief  decreases  were:  East  Kootenay  246,000 OZS., Boundary 
224,000  ozs.,  andCoast32,000oss.,  total  502,000  ozs.  Against  this  the 

increases  were:  Slocan  (including  Ainsworth)  120,000  ozs. ,  Nelson 
98,000  ozs.,  Lardeau  79,000 ozs.,  Skeena  2,200  ozs.,  and  Rossland 800 
total  300,000  ozs.  The  decreases  in  both  East  Kootenay  and 
the  Boundary  were  in  part  due  to  stoppage  of  the  coke  supply  during 
a  part  of  the  year,  which  prevented  the  continuous  operation  of  the 
smelting  works.  The  current  year's  production  will  in  a  large 
measure  be  determined  by  the  result  of  the  endeavours  now  being 
made  to  secure  an  extension  of  the  period  during  which  the  bounty 
will  be  paid  on  lead  mined  in  Canada,  for  much  of  the  silver  pro- 
duced is  obtained  from  ores  mined  chiefly  for  their  lead  contents. 
The  market  price  of  this  metal  will  also  result  in  a  restricted  pro- 
duction if  it  remains  as  low  as  during  lecent  months. 

Lead. 

The  decrease  in  lead  produced  was  about  4,908,000  lbs.  East 
Kootenay,  chiefly  the  St.  Eugene  mine,  was  7,077,000  lbs.  less  than 
in  190»i.  while  the  Boundary  was  91,000 lbs.  short  owing  to  its 
smaller  mines,  in  which  some  lead  occurs,  having  shipped  but  little 
ore  during  the  year.  Against  these  decreases  there  were  increases 
approximately  as  follow.-:  Ainsworth  320,000  lbs.,  Slocan  1,100,000 
lbs.,  Nelson  (largely  from  the  La  Plata  mine)  750,000  lbs.,  and 
Lardeau  90,000  lbs.,  together  2,260,000  lbs.  The  fall  in  the  market 
price  of  lead  has  proved  discouraging  to  tin-  load  mine  owners,  who 
are  urging  the  Dominion  Government  to  continue  payment  of  the 
lead  bounty  beyond  the  period  now  provided  for.  Should  this  not 
be  done  the  production  of  lead  in  the  Province  may  be  expected  to 
further  da  nd  that  considerably. 


456  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Nearly  half  the  lead  produced  was  smelted  at  the  Consolidated 
Mining  and  Smelting  Company  of  Canada  smelter  at  Trail,  where 
a  refinery  is  also  in  regular  operation.  Approximate  production 
figures  are:  Consolidated  Company's  smelter,  Trail,  22,500,000  lbs. 
Sullivan  Company's  smelter,  Marysville,  East  Kootenay,  11,000,000 
lbs.;  Hall  Mining  and  Smelting  Company's  Smelter,  Nelson, 
6,000,000  lbs.;  contained  in  concentrates  exported  to  Europe, 
8,000,000  lbs. 

Copper. 

The  closing  of  the  Boundary  district  copper  mines,  and  others 
in  the  Nelson  and  Coast  districts,  respectively,  during  several  weeks 
of  November  and  December,  effectually  prevented  an  increase  in 
the  year's  production  of  copper  over  that  of  1906.  There  was  also 
a  restricted  output  during  the  spring,  owing  to  a  shortage  of  coke 
for  the  smelters  and  an  occasional  insufficiency  of  railway  cars  for 
ore  and  coke-hauling  purposes.  These  adverse  conditions  resulted  in 
a  decrease  of  1,302,000  lbs.  as  compared  with  1906.  When  it  is 
remembered  that  78  per  cent,  of  the  year's  production  came  from 
the  Boundary  District,  the  loss  resulting  from  the  closing  of  its 
mines  during  two  to  three  months  becomes  evident. 

Boundary's  proportion  of  the  total  production  of  41,688,000 
lbs.  was  32,535,000  lbs. ;  Rossland  (Trail  Creek  division)  produced 
5,075,000  lbs. ;  Nelson  division's  share  was  313,000  lbs.;  while  the 
districts  was  3,052,000  lbs.  Of  the  1,140,000  tons  of  copper  ore 
shipped  by  the  Boundary  mines  those  of  the  Granby  Company 
contributed  625,000  tons,  of  the  British  Columbia  Copper  Company 
235,000  tons,  of  the  Dominion  Copper  Company  155,000  tons;  and 
of  the  Consolidated  Mining  and  Smelting  Company  125,000  tons. 
Rossland  camp's  ore  tonnage  was  about  280,000  tons,  in  the  follow- 
ing approximate  proportions:  Consolidated  Mining  and  Smelting 
Company's  Centre  Star-War  Eagle  group  132,000  tons,  Le  Roi 
113,000  tons,  Le  Roi  No.  2,  23,000  tons,  and  sundry  smaller 
shippers  12,000  tons.  On  the  coast  the  tonnage  was  approximately 
100,000  tons,  as  follows:  Britannia  57,000  tons,  Tyee  12,000  tons, 
Outsiders  9,000  tons,  Marble  Bay  7,000  tons,  Richard  III  4,000 
tons,  Lenora  2,000  tons,  and  sundries  9,000  tons.  The  Queen 
Victoria,  near  Nelson;  the  Outsiders,  at  Portland  Canal,  and  the 


Mini  km.  Production  of  B.C.  457 

Ikeda,  on  one  of  the  Queen  <  Ihariotte  Islands,  were  new  producers, 
and  the  Richard  111  and  Lenora,  Mi.  sicker.  Vancouver  Island, 

resumed  ore  shipping  after  having  been  non-producers  for  several 

years. 

Iron  and  Zinc. 

There  was  no  considerable  quantity  of  either  iron  or  zinc 
shipped  during  1007.  On  Vancouver  ami  Texada  Islands  a  few 
thousand  tons  of  iron  ore  were  mined  and  shipped  to  [rondale, 
Timet  Sound,  Washington,  U.S.A.  Themosl  important  event  of  the 
year  in  connection  with  the  iron  ores  of  the  Province  was  the  ex- 
amination by  Kinar  Lindeman.  a  Swedish  iron  expert,  of  a  number  of 
claims  taken  up  for  iron  ore  on  Vancouver  Island  and  vicinity,  for 
the  purpose  of  reporting  on  them  to  the  Dominion  department  of 
mines.  Ottawa,  which  engaged  him  with  the  object  of  ascertaining 
whether  or  not  iron  ores  occur  in  suitable  quantity,  variety,  and 
quality,  on  the  Coast  to  warrant  the  expectation  that  an  iron- 
manufacturing  industry  will  eventually  be  established  there. 
Mr.  Lindeman's  report  has  not  yet  been  made. 

Shipments  of  zinc  ore  and  concentrate  were  not  large,  and 
those  made  were  from  Slocan  mines,  several  of  which  arc  however, 
continuing  to  store  the  zinc  concentrates  made  in  milling  ores  for 
silver  and  lead.  The  uncertainty  as  to  the  final  decision  regarding 
the  imposition  of  a  duty  on  zinc  ore  sent  to  the  United  States 
remain-  an  obstacle  to  much  of  this  product  being  shipped  to 
smelter.-  in  that  country.  A  comparatively  small  quantity  was 
exported  to  Europe  from  a  Slocan  mine.  No  recent  progress 
appears  to  have  been  made  in  the  direction  of  operating  on  a  com- 
mercial scale  the  Canadian  Metal  <  lompany's  zinc  smelter  at  Frank, 
southwest  Alberta.  Works  for  the  treatmenl  of  zinc  ores  by  the 
Snyder  electric  process  are  being  built  :it  Nelson,  B.C. 

Coal  and  Coke. 

production  of  coal  in  1007  was  the  largesl  in  the  history 
of  coal  mining  in  the  Province.  The  net  increase  over  1906  was 
282,000  tons  (2,240  lbs. i, this  bringing  the  year's  production  of  coal 
disposed  of  as  such  up  to  i.soii.dihi  tons.     All  three  of  the  larger 


458 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


companies  shared  in  this  increase.  There  were  about  419,000  tons 
made  into  coke.  The  respective  approximate  proportions  of  pro- 
duction were: 


Company 
Wemnp^on  CollieryOo », 

Western  Fuel  Co. — 

Nanaimo  and  Northfield  mines 

Total  for  Vancouver  Island 

Crow's  Nest  Pass  Coal  Co 

Nicola  Coal  and  Coke  Co.,  and  other  new 
mines 

Total  production  in  1907 


Gross 
Tons  of  2,240  lb. 
824,000 

504,000 


1,328,000 
876,000 

15,000 

2,219,000 


Net 

Tons  of  2,240  lb. 

727^000 

504,000 


1,231,000 
554,000 

15,000 

1,800,000 


The  Nicola  Coal  and  Coke  Company  has  been  operating  only 
about  a  year,  and  most  of  its  comparatively  small  production  was 
of  coal  taken  out  in  opening  its  mine.  Several  other  companies 
will  shortly  be  in  a  position  to  mine  coal  in  quantities  up  to  a  few 
hundred  tons  a  day  each. 

The  coke  output  of  the  year  was  223,000  tons— 207,000  from 
the  Crow's  Nest  Pass  Coal  Company's  ovens  at  Fernie  and  Michel, 
and  16,000  tons  from  the  Wellington  Colliery  Company's  ovens  at 
Union,  Vancouver  Island. 

Building  Materials,  Etc. 


Activity  in  building  operations  in  the  larger  cities  of  the 
Province  had  the  effect  of  increasing  the  production  of  building 
materials — stone,  brick  and  lime.  An  increase  was  also  made  in 
the  quantity  of  Portland  cement  manufactured,  the  Vancouver 
Portland  Cement  Company's  works  near  Victoria,  Vancouver 
Island,  having  been  enlarged  and  its  output  of  cement  considerably 
increased. 

The  official  returns  of  exports  of  these  materials  to  several 
Pacific  Coast  cities  of  the  United  States  indicate  a  larger  demand 
from  that  direction  for  the  several  varieties  of  excellent  building 
stone  occurring  on  the  British  Columbia  coast. 


Ml\l  RAl    r«i)I>r.  Tin  \    OP    B.C. 


i:,«) 


Conclusion. 

For   purposes   of   comparison   the   foil. .win-  table  showing 
mineral  production  for  the  years  1904,  1905  and  190G,  is  appended 


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A  FEW  NOTES  ON  THE  ELMORE  VACUUM  PROCESS 
OF  ORE  CONCENTRATION. 

By  H.  H.  Claudet,  Rossland,  B.C. 

Rossland  Meeting,  May,  1908. 

In  giving  these  few  notes  I  will  make  no  attempt  to  advance 
any  theories  concerning  the  process,  nor  give  a  reason  for  certain 
minerals  being  amenable  to  treatment  and  others  not.  All  I  wish 
to  do  is  to  give  a  general  outline  of  its  application  and  to  include 
some  of  the  most  interesting  cases. 

I  will  describe  the  principles  of  the  process  by  quoting  from 
Mr.  Elmore's  article  which  appeared  in  the  Engineering  and  Min- 
ing Journal,  issue  of  May  11,  1907.  "The  process  is  based  pri- 
marily upon  the  fact  that,  in  a  flowing  pulp  of  crushed  ore  and  water 
oil  has  a  selective  action  for  the  metallic  mineral  particles  as  distinct 
from  the  rocky  particles  or  gangue.  This  selective  action  is  mater- 
ially increased  in  some  cases  by  the  presence  of  an  acid;  and  second- 
ly upon  the  fact  that  the  air  or  gases  dissolved  in  water  are  liber- 
ated, partially  or  entirely,  upon  subjecting  the  same  to  a  pressure 
less  than  that  of  the  surrounding  atmosphere.  These  liberated 
gases  may  be  augmented  by  the  generation  of  gases  in  the  pulp 
or  by  introduction  from  an  external  source.  The  gases  attach 
themselves  to  the  greased  mineral  particles,  being  largely  increased 
in  volume  as  a  result  of  the  partial  vacuum  applied,  cause  the 
greased  particles  with  their  attendant  bubbles  of  air  or  gas  to 
float  to  the  surface  of  the  liquid." 

I  might  further  state  that,  for  the  purpose  of  explanation, 
one  can  regard  the  process  as  consisting  of  two  distinct  operations: 

(1)  Mixing  the  crushed  ore  with  oil  and  acid. 

(2)  Concentrating  or  separating. 

(1)  The  mixing  takes  place  in  a  wooden  trough  of  simple 
design,  with  revolving  paddles. 

(2)  The  concentrating  or  separation  takes  place  as  soon  as 
the  mixed  pulp  comes  under  the  influence  of  the  vacuum. 


Elmore  Va.ch  qm  Pro<  i  sa  of  Ore  Concentration.      401 

The  whole  operation  is  continuous  and  requires  very  little 
power  and  labour. 

The  process  can  be  applied  either  to: — 

(1)  Direct  concentration,  i.e.,  crushing  the  ore  to  the  desired 
mesh  and  treating  direct  without  the  aid  of  water  concentration. 

(2)  The  treatment  of  tailings. 

(3)  In  certain  cases,  the  separation  of  different   sulphides, 

such  as  lead  and  zinc,  zinc  and  iron. 

(1)  As  an  example  of  direct  concentration,  we  have  a  mill 
working  in  East  Kootenay  on  an  ore  composed  of  galena  in  baryta 
gangue,   and  the  separation  of  these  two  minerals  is    excellent. 

it  assays  of  mill  products  give  the  following: — Feed  14% 
Ph..  concentrates  ti!)'  ,  Pb.,  tailings  2*  <  Ph.  This  plant  has  not 
been  running  long  enough  to  allow  us  to  arrive  at  the  cost-  of 
operation,  which  necessarily  must  depend  on  local  conditions  to  a 
greal  extent.  The  operating  costs  of  two  different  vacuum  plants 
which  have  been  working  for  a  long  time  are  about  60  cents  per 
ton  of  ore  treated  in  one  case  and  75  cents  per  ton  of  ore  treated 
in  the  other,  exclusive  of  crushing.  These  figures  are  on  a  1  unit 
installation  and  in  bigger  plants  would  be  considerably  less. 

(2)  In  cases  where  mills  are  losing  values  in  their  tailings  it  is 
a  cheap  and  easy  matter  to  install  the  vacuum  process  without 
altering  the  original  mill.  This  is  being  done  with  great  success 
in  various  pla 

(3)  A  very  interesting  feature  of  the  Vacuum  Process  is  that 
in  certain  cases  it  can  be  applied  to  effect  a  separation  of  different 
sulphides.  I  have  here  some  samples  of  the  products  of  a  lead 
sine  ore  showing  the  separation  of  the  lead  from  the  zinc,  and 
you  will  see  the  excellent  separation  made  in  this  instance.  The 
ore  assayed  39.5%  Ph.  and  19.7%  Zn.  with  very  small  silver 
values.  The  lead  concentrate  assayed  81.0^  Pl>.  and  o  ">'  ,  Zn., 
representing  a  '.mi'  [  extraction  of  the  lead;  the  zinc  concentrate 

ed  Is  •">','  Zn.  and  4.1','  Pb.  representing  71%  saving  of 
the  total  zinc  eontei 

We  have  other  cases  of  lead  sine  ores  giving  equally  good 
result,  although  I  would  not  state  that  this  separation  can  be  made 
on  every  lead  zinc  ore;  the  only  thing  todoistotesl  each  individual 
sample  as  no  hard  and  fast  rules  can  be  laid  down. 


462  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

Another  interesting  case  was  the  separation  of  zinc  blende 
from  iron  sulphide.  The  ore  assayed  19.6%  Zn.  and  17.6%  Fe., 
and  the  concentrates  assayed  46.5%  Zn.  and  11.4%  Fe.,  repre- 
senting 91%  saving  of  the  total  zinc  contents. 

I  hope  to  supplement  the  above  brief  account  of  the  process 
with  a  more  comprehensive  paper  on  the  subject  at  some  future 
date. 


SECONDARY    TOPPER    ORES    OF    THE  LUDWIG   MINE, 
YERINGTON,  NEVADA. 

By  E.  P.  Jennings,  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah. 

(Ottawa  Meeting,  March,  1908.) 

The  Ludwig  Mine  is  located  near  the  western  base  of  the 
Mason  Valley  Mountains,  500  feet  above  the  desert  and  5,000  feet 
above  sea  level. 

The  general  geology  of  this  desert  range  has  been  described 
in  a  former  paper,*  and  it  will  be  sufficient  at  this  time  to  state 
that  the  portion  of  the  range  which  includes  the  ore  deposits  is  a 
highly  metamorphosed  series  of  limestones  and  clay  shales  resting 
on  a  central  core  of  intrusive  hornblende-granite. 

These  limestones  and  shales  present  the  usual  phenomena 
due  to  contact  metamorphism;  the  limestones  either  being  mar- 
bleized  or  changed  to  massive  garnet-epidote  rock  and  the  shales 
to  compact  aggregates  of  quartz,  lime-silicates,  tremolite,  horn- 
blende, biotite  and  muscovite,  with  tourmaline  near  the  granite 
contacts. 

Copper  ores  occur  disseminated  through  large  areas  of  the 
garnet-epidote  rock;  also  in  fissures  in  the  limestone  and  as 
bedded  deposits  between  the  limestone  and  metamorphic  slates. 
The  Ludwig  ore  body  is  a  bedded  deposit  of  iron  and  copper 
pyrites  in  a  quartz  gangue  replacing  limestone  at  its  contact  with 
a  massive  metamorphic  rock,  which  forms  the  hanging  wall. 

The  surface  croppings  of  iron-stained  quartz  indicate  an  ore 
body  700  feet  long  and  from  20  to  60  feet  wide.  The  strike  being 
X.  40  degrees  E.,  with  a  dip  of  GO  degrees  to  the  south  ea 

Masses  of  rich  oxidized  ore  consisting  of  malachite,  azurite, 
and  chrvsocolla,  outcropped  in  the  limestone  foot  wall  30  to  50 
feet  from  the  primary  ore  body  and  approximately  parallel  to  it. 


♦Genesis  of  the  Yerington  Copper  Deposits,  Jour.  CM. I.,  Vol.  x,  p.  257. 


464  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

These  ore  bodies  were  developed  and  mined  40  years  ago  by  an 
open  pit  and  a  shallow  tunnel  driven  along  the  strike  of  the  de- 
posit for  500  feet.  Later  a  vertical  shaft  400  feet  deep  was  sunk 
in  the  limestone  foot  wall  and  several  thousand  tons  of  oie,  ranging 
from  20  to  30  per  cent,  were  shipped  to  the  smelters.  Last  year 
the  mine  was  sold  to  the  Nevada-Douglas  Copper  Company,  and 
active  development  of  the  primary  ore  body  was  undertaken. 

The  original  shaft  is  located  at  the  north  end  of  the  ore  body; 
from  this  a  cross-cut  was  run  to  the  primary  ore  body,  and  from 
this  point  an  incline  was  sunk  which  crossed  the  ore  body  near 
its  northern  end  and  passed  into  the  hanging  wall  at  the  550  foot 
level. 

From  the  500  station  a  drift  was  run  300  feet  south  along  the 
contact  of  the  ore  body  and  the  foot  wall,  which  encountered 
small  bodies  of  rich  ore,  mostly  cuprite  with  iron  oxide.  Cross- 
cuts into  the  main  ore  body  showed  it  to  be  leached;  but  unaltered 
pyrite  and  chalcopyrite  was  found  in  two  winzes  sunk  20  feet 
below  these  cross-cuts.  A  small  amount  of  acid  copper  water 
came  into  one  of  the  winzes,  but  the  other,  at  the  same  depth,  was 
dry. 

No  sulphides  were  found  in  the  incline  from  the  500  to  the 
550  station,  as  the  primary  ore  body  was  small  and  broken  suffi- 
ciently to  admit  of  the  complete  oxidation  and  leaching  of  all 
sulphides. 

The  hanging  wall  is  a  massive,  fine-grained  rock,  composed 
of  quartz,  sericite,  and  lime-silicates,  together  with  finely  divided 
pyrite  containing  traces  of  copper. 

Drifts  were  advanced  north  and  south  from  the  550  station. 
The  north  drift  encountered  a  body  of  oxidized  ore  a  few  feet  from 
the  station,  which  proved  to  be  20  feet  wide  and  to  extend  upward 
20  feet;  a  winze  was  sunk  50  feet  in  this  ore  which  was  largely 
soft,  earthy,  oxides  of  copper  and  iron,  with  finely  divided  metallic 
copper  disseminated  through  the  mass.  Very  little  water  was 
encountered  in  the  winze. 

The  south  drift  was  advanced  15  feet  in  the  hanging  walls 
and  a  cross-cut  run  to  the  primary  ore  body,  which  was  found  to 
be  a  crushed. mass  of  quartz,  country  rock  and  unaltered  sulphides. 
From  this  cross-cut  the  south  drift  was  advanced  50  feet  in  the 
hanging  wall  near  its  junction  with  the  ore  body.     Bunches  of 


Copper  Ores  of  Tin.  LUDWlfl  Mini;.  465 

chaicocite  were  found  along  this  drift,  in  the  hanging  wall  rock. 
At  the  50  foot  point  the  main  drift  was  tuned  46  degrees  to  the 
right  and  passed  into  t lie  original  sulphide  ore  body  which,  for  the 
first  150  feet,  showed  no  signs  of  enrichment,  and  carried  4% 
copper;  recently  this  drift  has  encountered  bornite  as  a  coating 
on  chalcopyrite;  the  firsl  evidence  of  enrichment  of  the  primary 
ore  hody. 

The  chaicocite  was  followed  95  feet  into  the  hanging  wall  by  a 
cross-cut.  the  first  40  feet  being  in  rich  ore;  beyond  this  point, 
the  mineralization  gradually  decreased  and  the  character  of  the 
hanging  wall  changed  to  garnet-bearing  limestone.  A  raise  of  40 
feet  on  the  chaicocite  ore  body  showed  a  gradual  change  of  the 
chaicocite  to  covelite. 

The  close  proximity  of  the  Ludwig  vein  to  the  copper  deposits 
in  the  garnet  rock,  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  due  to  the 
action  of  mineralizing  magmatic  waters  whose  source  was  the 
intrusive  granite  that  metamorphosed  the  limestone  and  shales 
and  deposited  the  copper  in  the  garnet. 

The  Ludwig  may,  however,  represent  a  later  -tage  of  activity 
of  these  waters,  replacing  portions  of  the  limestone  along  zones  of 
weakness  at  the  contact  with  the  shales,  which  were  already 
more  or  less  changed  by  the  general  metamorphism  caused  by 
the  intrusive  granite 

The  Ludwig  ore  body  is  enclosed  by  an  easily  soluble  lime- 
stone foot  wall  and  a  more  or  less  shattered  hanging  wall,  both  of 
which  are  more  pervious  to  the  leach  waters  than  the  compact  ore 
body.  A  portion  of  the  arid,  copper  bearing  water  passed  into 
the  seams  of  the  foot  wall  where  it  was  precipitated  as  malachite, 
azurite  and  chrysocolla,  though  the  latter  mineral  may  lie  due  to 
an  alteration  of  malachite  by  alkaline  silicate  solution-. 

These  foot  wall  ores  have  furnished  beautiful  specimens; 
the  malachite,  azurite  and  chrysocolla  being  interbanded  in  deli- 
cate and  intricate  designs. 

The  leaching  waters  that  passed  into  the  hanging  wall 
deposited  copper  as  chaicocite;  pyrite  being  the  precipitant.  This 
chaicocite  was  oxidized  to  cuprite,  tenorite  and  metallic  copper, 
the  oxidization  being  complete  in  some  instances  and  partial  in 
others;    earthv  chaicocite  being  mixed  with  the  oxides. 

30 


466  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Covelite  appears  in  one  place  as  an  alteration  of  the  chalcocite, 
the  blue  sulphide  forming  a  coating  on  the  copper  glance. 

The  vertical  range  of  the  secondary  ores  is  not  fully  deter- 
mined, but  is  known  to  extend  to  the  600  foot  level,  and  recent 
deepening  of  the  incline  below  the  650  foot  level,  shows  the  chal- 
cocite to  extend,  at  least,  to  this  depth.  Small  amounts  of  water 
have  been  met  in  the  incline  and  winzes;  this  water  is  acid  and 
copper  bearing,  indicating  that  it  is  from  the  surface,  and  not  the 
permanent  ground  water. 

The  future  development,  in  depth,  may  furnish  valuable 
data  as  to  the  genesis  of  ore  deposits  in  fissures  and  contacts  that 
are  directly  connected  with  ore  bodies  formed  by  contact  me- 
tamorphism. 


THE  DUTIES  AND  RIGHTS  OF  ENGINEERS. 
By  J.  1).  Kendall,  London,  England. 

This  subject  is  introduced  with  the  object  of  creating  dis- 
cussion, so  that  some  common  understanding  may  be  reached  as 
to  what  are  the  duties  and  rights  of  Engineers  in  certain  frequently 
recurring  circumstances.  By  way  of  initiating  the  discussion 
the  writer  proposes  to  make  a  few  remarks  on  some  of  the  more 
prominent  branches  of  the  subject. 

The  knowledge  and  ability  possessed  by  Engineers  may  be 
utilized  in  different  ways.  (1)  They  may  act  for  themselves  only. 
(2)  They  may  act  for  themselves  and  others,  as  the  Engineers  of 
syndicates  or  public  or  private  Companies  of  which  they  are  mem- 
bers, or  (3)  They  may  act  for  others  only,  as  the  Engineers  of 
individuals,  or  of  syndicates  or  public  or  private  companies  of 
which  they  are  not  members. 

It  is  only  proposed  to  consider  this  question  under  the  second 
and  third  of  the  above  heads,  as  the  rights  and  duties  of  Engineers 
when  acting  for  themselves  do  not  differ  essentially  from  those  of 
other  members  of  the  community. 

The  subject  may,  perhaps,  be  best  dealt  with  under  different 
heads. 

Duties 

Ice*. — It  is  doubtless  unnecessary  to  say,  in  a  general  way, 
that  an  Engineer's  duty  to  his  client,  is  to  serve  him  honestly  and 
to  the  best  of  his  ability.  Unfortunately  this  course  of  conduct 
does  not  appear  to  be  always  followed. 

■  t  commissions. — When  an  Engineer  is  acting  for  another 
or  for  others,  he  should  not  accept  secret  commissions  in  connection 
with  the  business  he  has  in  hand.  The  very  fact  of  their  being 
secret  stamps  them  as  immoral,  and  yet  how  often  are  they  taken. 
Not  long  ago  the  writer  heard  of  an  Engineer  bargaining  for  a 
commission — from  makers  of  machinery — to  the  extent  of  25%  of 
the  pross  value  of  the  machinery  purchased,  through  him,  for  the 


468  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


mine  he  was  managing.  Men  known  to  be  guilty  of  accepting 
secret  commissions  should  not  be  permitted  to  claim  any  connec- 
tion with  this  Institute  or  any  other  associated  body  of  Engineers. 

Concealed  profits. — It  is  also  wrong  for  Engineers  to  purchase 
for  clients,  plant,  machinery  or  general  supplies  from  -companies 
in  which  they  are  interested  as  shareholders,  without  the  fact 
being  made  perfectly  clear  to  their  clients.  This  is  often  done  but 
should  not  be  permitted.  Engineers  should  not,  in  the  pursuance 
of  their  profession,  have  any  other  interest  than  that  of  their 
clients,  which,  in  this  particular  case,  is  to  buy  in  the  best  and 
cheapest  market.  A  man's  judgment  may  be  warped,  prejudicially 
to  his  employers,  if  he  has  conflicting  interests  of  his  own  to  serve. 

When  an  Engineer  is  asked  to  report  on  a  property  that  is 
offered  for  sale,  and  in  which  he  is  interested  as  vendor,  he  should 
state  the  fact  at  once  to  his  clients,  and  if  he  afterwards  make  a 
report  for  his  clients,  the  extent  of  his  interest  should  be  set  forth 
in  his  report. 

Share  interest. — Many  people  think  they  are  doing  good 
business  when  they  induce  their  Engineers  to  become  shareholders 
in  the  property  the  latter  are  managing.  In  private  companies  this 
doubtless  is  so,  but  in  public  companies  it  may  be  very  far  other- 
wise. A  man  who  is  a  large  shareholder  in  a  mine  or  smelter,  and 
who  is  in  a  position  to  make  reports  that  will  probably  become 
public,  may  use  his  position  to  increase  illegitimately  the  value  of 
the  shares,  if  he  wishes  to  sell,  or  to  depreciate  them  if  he  wishes  to 
buy.  An  honest  man  would  not,  of  course,  be  influenced  to  act  in 
the  way  indicated,  but  it  will  invariably  be  better  for  Engineers  to 
refrain  from  becoming  shareholders  of  any  Company  for  which  they 
are  likely  to  be  called  upon  to  make  reports  that  may  influence  the 
share  market.  If  it  be  necessary  that  he  should  become  a  share- 
holder in  order  to  give  confidence  to  others,  he  should  rigidly 
refrain  from  dealing  in  the  shares. 

Leakage  of  information. — When  an  Engineer  is  either  manag- 
ing a  property  or  reporting  on  it  for  an  intending  purchaser  he  has 
no  right  to  give  any  information  so  obtained  to  anyone,  without 
the  consent  of  his  client  or  clients.  Nor  has  any  Engineer  any 
right  to  communicate  to  another,  information  that  might  be  pre- 
judicial to  his  client  regarding  the  property  of  which  he  has  charge, 


The  Duties  wi>  Rights  of  Engineers  469 

or  business  with  which  he  is  in  any  way  professionally  connected, 
without  first  obtaining  the  consent  of  his  client  or  clients. 

Bribes. — Every  attempt  at  bribery  should  be  treated  as  an 
insult,  for  it  is  nothing  else  to  an  honest  man.  The  known  accept- 
ance of  a  bribe  will,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  always  be  considered  by  this 
Institute  a  sufficient  reason  for  the  exclusion  or  removal,  from  the 
list  of  members,  of  anyone  who  is  known  to  be  guilty  of  such  dis- 
honesty and  unnianliness.  Whenever  a  bribe  is  offered  to  a  report- 
ing Engineer  the  writer  would  strongly  urge  him  to  set  out  the 
fact  at  the  beginning  of  his  report. 

Adopting  r<  ports. — An  Engineer  should  not  sign  a  report  that 
has  been  prepared  by  another  without  making  it  perfectly  clear  to 
his  clients  in  what  capacity  he  signs.  Frequently  reports  are 
signed  by  persons  who  have  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the 
preparation  of  them,  but  the  fact  is  not  stated,  BO  that  clients  and 
the  public — if  the  reports  are  published — are  alike  deceived. 

Rights. 

The  Engineer  has  certain  duties  to  his  clients,  on  the  other 
hand  clients  have  certain  duties  to  their  Engineer.  The  latter  may 
not  inappropiately  be  looked  upon  as  rights  of  the  Engineer. 

Fees — For  competent  and  faithful  service  an  Engineer  is  entitled 
to  proper  remuneration.  He  should  not  be  asked  to  accept — and 
if  he  is  asked,  he  should  refuse — a  contingent  fee,  unless  the  <  "ii- 
tingency  be  such  that  it  cannot  possibly  be  affected  by  any  mis- 
representation on  his  part.  A  very  common  form  of  the  connit- 
gent  fee  is  this:  "If  I  don't  sell  the  property  I  will  give  you,  say 
6200  for  your  report,  if  I  do  sell  it  I  will  give  you  £800".  That 
is  a  kind  of  offer  which  should  never  be  made  to  an  Engineer,  but 
whenever  it  is  made  he  should  instantly  reject  it.  The  acceptance 
of  such  a  fee  will  destroy  the  value  of  his  report  in  the  mind  of  the 
public,  no  matter  how  much  he  may  strive  to  do  right. 

Mnttgled  reports. — There  is  a  common  practice  nowadays  of 
publishing  favourable  |  from  the  reports  of  Engineers,  but 

keeping  back  unfavourable  parts.  It  frequently  happens  that 
there  are  favourable  passages  in  an  Engineer's  report,  although  in 
its  entirety  it  is  decidedly  unfavourable.  For  that  and  other 
reasons  which  will  readily  occur  to  liming  haiidneers  it  is  essential 


470  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

that  the  whole  of  a  report  should  be  published  or  none  of  it.  The 
Institute  may  do  much  useful  work  in  protecting  its  members  and 
the  public  in  such  circumstances  by  calling  public  attention  to 
mangled  reports.  If  an  Engineer's  report  be  too  long  or  too 
technical  to  be  published  in  full  he  should  be  asked  to  make  an 
abbreviation,  but  whatever  is  published  should  bear  the  Engineer's 
signature  and  the  date  of  writing. 

I  think  that  the  membership  of  a  Mining  Institute  should  be 
somewhat  of  a  guarantee  to  the  public  of  competence  and  integrity 
and  the  Institute  should  do  its  utmost  to  protect  its  members  from 
unfair  practises  on  the  part  of  clients  and  the  public  from  irregular- 
ities in  the  conduct  of  Mining  Engineers.  To  do  this  there  must  be 
a  substantial  preponderance  of  opinion  as  to  what  are  unfair 
practises  and  irregularities.  The  knowledge  of  such  preponder- 
ance can,  I  think,  be  best  obtained  by  a  discussion  such  as  is  pro- 
posed by  the  foregoing  paper. 


METALLOGRAPHY  APPLIED  TO  ENGINEERING. 

By  William  Campbell,  Ph.D.,  Sc.  D.,  New  York 
(Ottawa  Meeting,  March,  1908) 

Metallography  has  been  termed  the  science  which  studies 
the  constitution  of  metals  and  alloys  from  the  point  of  view  of 
their  structure,  composition  and  physical  properties.  It  does 
not  necessarily  deal  with  their  extraction  or  formation  which 
come  under  the  art  of  metallurgy.  We  also  class  under  this 
heading  the  study  of  the  constitution  of  mattes  speisses,  the 
opaque  constituents  of  ore-bodies,  etc.,  rather  than  coin  such  new 
terms  as  mineralography  and  the  like. 

At  the  outset  it  ought  to  be  explained  that  the  following  paper 
should  really  be  entitled  a  few  examples  of  the  application  of 
metallography.  For  the  sake  of  those  who  are  not  familiar  with 
the  methods  used  in  the  microscopic  examination  of  opaque 
material,  a  few  remarks  introducing  the  subject  will  not  be  out 
of  place. 

The  preparation  of  the  specimen  consists  in  cutting  off  a 
suitable  sized  piece,  say  1  inch  square,  by  means  of  a  hacksaw  or 
sledge,  and  grinding  down  a  flat  surface  with  a  file  or  emery- 
wheel  or  revolving  disc  such  as  is  used  in  petrography.  If  a  file 
be  used  as  in  the  case  of  iron  and  steel  a  flat  surface  can  be  ob- 
tained by  clamping  the  file  (smooth  or  dead-smooth)  in  a  vise 
and  rubbing  the  specimen  on  it.  Next  the  scratches  from  the 
file  or  emery  are  taken  out  by  rubbing  on  emery  paper  No.  O  and 
00  commercial.  Then  the  specimen  is  rubbed  on  a  series  of 
French  emery  paper  No.  O  to  OOOO,  such  as  are  used  by  die- 
polishers,  changing  the  direction  of  rubbing  when  passing  from 
one  paper  to  the  next.  With  certain  material  some  of  the  papers 
may  be  omitted.  The  surface  will  now  show  a  series  of  very 
fine,  parallel  scratches  which  are  got  rid  of  by  polishing  on  a  flat 
board  or  revolving  disc  covered  with  broadcloth  and  armed  with 
well-washed  rouge*.     In  most  cases  this  final  polishing  can  be 

*\V.  Camp!..!],  Nbtea  on  Metallography.     S.  of  M.  Quarterly  xxv.  389. 


472  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute. 

done  wet,  but  occasionally  water  will  attack  the  specimen  as  in 
the  case  of  certain  alloys  rich  in  iron-sulphide,  etc.  It  is  then 
necessary  to  either  polish  dry  or  else  use  a  very  thin  oil.  In  most 
cases  after  washing  off  the  rouge  it  is  best  to  dry  by  covering  with 
alcohol  and  mopping  with  an  old  handkerchief. 

The  specimen  is  mounted  on  a  glass  slide  with  plastic  wax 
and  examined  for  black  or  colored  constituents  such  as  slag  in 
wrought  iron,  manganese  sulphide  and  silicate  in  steel,  graphite 
in  cast  iron,  temper  carbon  in  malleable,  copper  oxide  or  sulphide 
in  copper,  various  metallic  compounds  in  other  alloys. 

The  structure  may  be  further  developed  by  etching.  For 
steel  and  iron  three  reagents  give  satisfactory  results: — 

(1)  A    saturated    solution    of   picric    acid    in    alcohol.     The 

pearlite  is  attached. 

(2)  Ten  per  cent,  nitric  acid  in  water.     Shows  up  the  grain 

of  the  ferrite  or  pure  iron  in  wrought  iron  and  low 
carbon  steel. 

(3)  A  solution  of  picrate  of  soda  (2  per  cent,  picric  acid 

added  to  a  25  per  cent,  solution  of  caustic  soda)  used 
at  100°  c.  Near  the  eutectoid  point  (saturation  point) 
0.6  to  1  per  cent,  carbon  it  is  often  difficult  to  distin- 
guish between  the  veins  and  envelopes  of  pure  iron  or 
ferrite  and  the  carbide,  cementite.  In  the  above 
solution  cementite  darkens. 
By   heat-tinting   we   can   distinguish  between   carbide   and 

phosphide  of  iron,  also  by  etching  with  (3). 

For   alloys,   various   reagents   have   been   used.     For   most 

^ork  use: — 

(1)  Ten  per  cent,  nitric  acid:  white  metals,  bearing  metals, 

etc. 

(2)  Fifty   per   cent,    nitric    acid:  copper-rich   alloys,   brass, 

bronze,  blister  and  other  grades  of  copper.  Immerse 
till  the  structure  shows  up  clearly. 
Any  good  type  of  microscope  can  be  used.  It  ought  to  have 
a  fair  working  distance  between  the  objective  and  the  stage.  A 
revolving  stage  is  an  advantage  and  so  is  one  which  can  be  raised 
and  lowered  by  rack  and  pinion.  In  examining  opaque  material 
transmitted  light  cannot  be  used  and  the  specimen  must  be 
illuminated  from  above  by  means  of  reflectors.     With  a  one- 


■   ind  in. 


Fig.  11. 


i 


Figs.  14  and  11 


MeTALLOGRAPHT    A.PPLIED   TO    ENGINEERING.  473 


inch  objective  the  Sorby-Beck  reflector  can  be  used  and  with  it 
we  ca.,  get  both  vertical  and  oblique  illumination.    With  higher 
powers  the  illuminator  must  be  screwed  between  the  objective 
and  the  nose-piece.     It  consist,  of  a  th.n  glass  disc  or  a  prism 
Such  reflectors  are  made  by  Beck,  Nachet,  Zeiss,  Lertz    Bausch 
and  Lomb  and  other  makers.     The  principle  of  all  is  the  same 
The  beam  of  light  enters  at  an  opening  in  the  side  of  the  tube 
is  deflected    at  90°   through   the  objective   and   illuminates  the 
specimen. 

Special  types  of  microscopes  have  been  designed  for  metal- 
lograpbic  work,  such  as  the  Le  Chatelier,  Martens  and  Sauveur 
stands. 

For  illumination  a  Wellsbach  light  serves  for  low  power 
work,  whilst  a  Nernsl  lamp  or  arc-light  is  accessary  for  hi«*h- 
1  lower  work. 

w  the  final  structure  of  our  material  is  very  important 
but  we  are  often  liable  to  overlook  the  importance  of  the  influence 
of  all  those  changes  which  take  place  between  the  beginning  of 
solidification  and  the  final  state.  A  great  deal  of  information 
as  to  structure  can  be  obtained  from  an  examination  of  the  struc- 
tures of  the  more  fusible  metals*  such  as  tin,  lead,  antimony 
zinc,  etc.,  as  the  following  illustrations  will  show. 

When  ingots  of  metals  are  suitably  etched  they  are  seen  to 
possess  a  definite  granular  structure.  Fig.  1  shows  the  surfaces 
of  three  small  ingots,  that  on  the  left  being  pure  tin,  that  on  the 
right  pure  lead, whilst  the  centre  bar  is  impure  tin.  This  definite 
orientation  of  grain  is  seen  to  be  caused  by  differential  etching 
or.etch  figures,  the  rate  of  etching  depending  somewhat  on  the 
orientation  of  the  grain  with  respect  to  the  surface,  the  final 
result  being  to  show  up  the  internal  structure,  akin  to  cl< 
Fig  4  x  35  shows  the  structure  of  the  base  of  a  small  ingot  of 
toad,  five  or  more  distinct  grains  or  crystals  being  seen  each 
having  a  rough  surface  built  up  of  tetrahedra  with  distinct  orient- 
ati'.t,  in  c;  ,-h  grain. 

Many   metals  show   at  their  surface   a  definite   crystalline 
growth  m  the  form  of{skeleton  crystals  or  dendrites,  each  metal 

to-six?h  !^nPrtbel^.The  p'""'"  ,"'  ""'""  :u"i  "''  Annealing.    Appendix  iv 
tojtatb  R«port,  Aloys  Research  Committee,     met  Meek  En*   1904 
L  ber  das  ( Sefogfl  der  Metalle.     Meteilurgie  i  v 


474  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Having  its  own  characteristic  form.  They  owe  their  origin  to  the 
fact  that  they  are  the  framework  of  the  first  crystals  or  grains 
to  form  at  the  surface  and  subsequent  cooling  and  freezing  were 
accompanied  by  contraction  and  so  they  were  left  standing  out 
in  relief.  Those  on  the  surface  of  aluminium  are  very  character- 
istic. Fig.  2  x  40  shows  the  dendritic  structure  of  antimony, 
form  the  base  of  a  small  cake  cast  on  stone. 

The  dendrites  in  the  cavities  and  pipes  of  ingots  are  well 
known  to  all  engineers,  whilst  to  many  in  practice  their  appearance 
is  an  indication  of  the  composition  of  the  metal,  e.g.,  cake  anti- 
mony, test  ingots  of  tin,  test  ingots  in  lead  refining,  etc. 

The  effect  of  the  rate  of  cooling  especially  through  the  solidifi- 
cation range  of  temperature  is  of  great  influence  on  the  structure 
of  the  metal  or  alloy.  The  slower  the  freezing  the  coarser  the 
crystallization  as  in  aqueous  solutions.  Fig.  3  x  16.  shows  the 
surface  of  a  silver  button  cooled  slowly  in  the  crucible  under  a 
borax  cover,  whilst  Fig.  5  shows  the  same  silver  (x  33)  cast  in  a 
small  iron  mould.  In  Fig.  3  a  very  small  fraction  of  the  surface 
.of  a  single  grain  with  its  distinct  orientation  is  shown,  but  in 
Fig.  5  at  twice  the  magnification,  three  grains  are  shown,  also 
distinctly  oriented  by  what  have  been  called  by  some  authorities 
the  secondary  grains. 

A  great  deal  has  been  said  about  "casting  temperature" 
as  if  the  temperature  of  the  metal  were  a  direct  factor.  Of  course 
the  higher  the  temperature  of  a  metal  the  more  gas  it  is  capable 
of  absorbing,  &c.,but  apart  from  this  side  of  the  question,  the 
main  factor  involved  is  the  rate  of  freezing.  A  metal  cast  at  a 
very  high  temperature  would  carry  more  heat  into  the  mould 
and  therefore  freeze  more  slowly  than  one  cast  near  its  freezing 
point. 

Lastly,  in  regard  to  what  has  been  termed  ingotism  there 
has  been  great  discussion  as  to  how  metals,  especially  steel, 
freeze.  Fig.  9  shows  a  vertical  section  through  a  small  rectan- 
gular ingot  of  zinc,  cast  wide  end  up,  whilst  Fig.  10  shows  one 
cast  small  end  up.  Whereas  in  each  the  freezing  has  been  mainly 
perpendicular  to  the  cooling  surfaces,  the  pipes  and  central  cores 
are  quite  different,  due  in  part  to  the  location  of  the  last  liquid 
to  freeze. 

After  a  metal  (or  alloy)  has  solidified  there  are  other  factors 


Metallograi'hv  Applied  to  Engineering.  475 

which  tend  to  change  its  structure.     First  we  have  re-arrangement 

in  the  solid  state  as  the  metal  cools  down,  e.g.,  pure  iron,  steel, 
bronze,  brass,  etc.  Next  we  have  the  effect  of  strain  or  mechan- 
ical work  and  then  there  is  the  effect  of  heat  treatment  or  anneal- 
ing. 

When  a  metal  is  strained  beyond  its  clastic  limit,  a  slipping 
takes  place  within  the  grains.  We  have  the  "cry"  of  tin  and 
zinc.  This  slip  may  show  itself  merely  as  lines  or  we  may  find 
a  banded  structure  akin  to  twining.  Pig.  •'»  \  :;•>  shows  the  sur- 
face of  a  thin  slab  of  tin  cast  on  stone  and  strained  by  bending. 
Three  mains  are  shown,  but  within  each  we  sec  hands  of  different 
orientation  due  to  the  strain.  The  first  lines  or  bands  to  appear 
are  perpendicular  to  the  direction  of  strain,  but  as  the  latter 
increases  other  lines  and  bands  make  their  appearance,  three 
sets  of  parallel  bands  in  one  grain  being  common.  This  slipping 
is  intimately  related  to  the  orientation  of  the  dendrites  and 
etch  figures  and  is  therefore  in  some  cases  coincident  with  cleavage 
(c.p.  twining  of  calcite). 

When  the  strain  has  been  severe  as  in  the  case  of  forging  and 
rolling  the  grains  are  broken  up  and  the  coarse  structure  due  to 
the  original  cooling  is  replaced  by  a  much  finer  one,  whose  size 
depends  primarily  upon  the  amount  of  reduction.  Fig.  7  x  33 
shows  some  tin  (whose  original  structure  was  similar  to  Fig.  4) 
hammered  out  to  less  than  J  in.  thick.  The  coarse  crystallization 
has  entirely  disappeared.  Now  on  annealing  such  strained  mater- 
ial a  growth  of  grain  takes  place,  the  size  of  the  final  struct  ure 
depending  on  the  temperature,  the  time  and  the  mass  of  the  piece. 
Fig.  8  x  33  shows  some  hammered  tin  annealed  for  ten  days 
below  20(>°c.  There  has  !>een  an  enormous  growth  of  grain, 
in  this  case  equal  to  that  of  the  original  tin.  In  Fig.  8  the  in- 
terior of  the  grains  is  seen  to  be  finely  striated.  These  are  slip 
lines  due  to  the  strain  set  up  in  the  cutting  of  the  section.  The 
same  experiments  have  been  performed  with  zinc,  lead,  cadmium, 
copper,  nickel,  gold  and  silver,  etc.  Rolling  or  hammering 
breaks  down  the  grain,  annealing  restores  it.  The  breaking  of 
tie  rods  in  reverberatory  furnaces,  the  recrystallization  of  cold- 
rolled  material  and  certain  cases  of  "aging  of  mild  steel"  are  all 
typical  examples  of  this  growth  of  grain  in  strained  material. 

On  the  subject  of  alloys  metallography  has  shed  a  light  which 


476  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

has  helped  to  clear  up  most  of  our  curious  notions  of  their  con- 
stitution. In  the  old  days  no  one  had  examined  the  minute 
structure  of  an  alloy  and  therefore  one  was  unable  to  prove  that 
the  other  party's  "queer  ideas''  were  all  wrong.  To-day  we 
cut  our  specimen  open  and  examine  its  structure  to  the  limits 
of  the  microscope  and  we  can  as  a  rule  follow  its  genesis  step  by 
step  by  the  aid  of  pyrometric  research  and  heat  treatment.  We 
call  to  our  assistance  the  modern  theories  of  Physical  Chemistry 
on  the  subject  of  Solutions,  the  Phase  Rule  and  the  like.  The 
result  of  which  is  that  we  now  know  a  great  deal  about  alloys; 
more  than  the  engineer  of  to-day  appreciates. 

In  the  examination  of  alloys  we  find  them  to  be  composed 
of  pure  metals,  compounds  of  metals  and  solid  solutions,  which 
are  homogeneous  but  in  indefinite  proportions.  Guthrie  pointed 
out  that  the  freezing  point  curve  of  many  series  of  alloys  is  like 
that  of  the  ice-salt  series.  The  addition  of  one  metal  to  another 
lowers  the  freezing  point,  giving  us  two  curves  in  a  binary  series, 
which  intersect  at  a  point  indicating  the  alloy  with  the  lowest 
freezing  point  or  the  eutectic.  The  eutectic  of  copper  and  copper- 
oxide  contains  3£  per  cent.  Cu20  and  freezes  at  1064°  C,  some  20° 
below  the  freezing  point  of  pure  copper.  The  more  copper  oxide 
present,  the  greater  the  amount  of  eutectic  or  ground  mass  and 
the  lower  the  freezing  point  down  to  1064°  C  at  3?  per  cent. 
Cu20.  Fig.  11x60  shows  an  alloy  with  about  50  per  cent, 
free  copper  (bright)  surrounded  by  the  eutectic  (dark).  There- 
fore the  alloy  contains  about  1$  per  cent.  Cu20,  and  begins  to 
freeze  about  1074°  C,  ending  at  1064°  when  the  groundmass 
freezes.  On  the  other  hand  if  there  is  more  than  3£  per  cent. 
Cu20  present,  the  excess  will  freeze  out  first  as  dendritic  crystals 
as  seen  in  Fig.  13  x  60. 

The  copper-copper  sulphide  series  show  a  similar,  structure 
the  eutectic  occurring  at  about  4£  per  cent.  Cu2S,  but  above  9 
per  cent.  Cu2S,  they  separate  out  into  two  layers;  in  other  words 
we  have  copper  bottoms  produced.  Industrial  sulphides  or 
mattes  and  speisses  have  long  been  of  interest.  Text-books  give 
a  wonderful  series  of  compounds  and  definitions.  But  mattes 
and  speisses  follow  the  same  laws  as  alloys  of  metals  or  salts. 
For  example  lead  sulphide  (970°C)  and  iron  sulphide  (1137°C) 
form  an  eutectic  at  25£  per  cent.  Fe  S  at  784°C,  according  to 


Ml  TW.I.OGRAPHY    AlTl.ll BD   TO    ENGINEERING.  477 

Weidmann*.  Lead  sulphide  and  copper  sulphide  form  an  eutectic 
at  51  per  cent.    Cu2S  and  ceording  to   I'liedrichf.      I  '    B 

and  Cu,S  form  an  eutectic  at  14%  Cu,S  and  860°C  according  to 
HofmanJ.  Blast  furnace  mattes  are  usually  deficient  in  sulphur 
and  we  should  expect  some  free  metal.  A  first  matte  running 
3  per  cent.  Cu  showed  a  structure  composed  of  dendrites  and 
cubes  of  iron,  dendrites  of  Fe  S.  surrounded  by  the  eutectic  or 
groundmass.  A  second  matte  with  40  per  cent,  copper  showed 
cubes  of  free  iron,  dendrites  of  Cu._,S  in  the  eutectic. 

The  speisseslf  are  more  complicated.  Iron  and  arsenic  form 
a  compound  Fe,As.  which  forms  an  eutectic  with  iron  at  83(J°C 
and  30  per  cent.  As.  The  alleged  compounds  lV-As2  and  Fe5As 
do  not  exist,  as  can  be  seen  when  a  piece  of  ordinary  iron  speiss 
is  examined  under  the  microscope.  Similarly  nickel  and  arsenic 
form  a  compound  Nia  As2  (998°C)  which  forms  an  eutectic  with 
nickel  at  898°C  and  27  per  cent.  As.  Lead  and  arsenic  form  an 
eutectic  at  2£  per  cent.  As,  287°C.  Copper  and  arsenic  form  a 
compound  Cu3  As,  which  with  copper  forms  an  eutectic  «t  21  per 
cent.  As  and  683°C.     And  so  on. 

Amongst  the  industrial  alloys  the  bearing  metals  are  of 
great  interest.  In  the  binary  alloys  of  tin  and  antimony,  when 
more  than  8  per  cent,  of  Sb  is  present,  bright  hard  cubes  of  a  com- 
pound 8b  So  appear.  Fig,  14  i  35  shows  an  alloy  with  20  per 
cent.  Sb.  in  which  white  cubes  occur  in  a  dark  plastic  groundmass, 
which  is  a  solid  solution  of  about  8  per  cent,  antimony  in  tin. 
The  material  has  been  crushed  down  and  the  brittle  cubes  have 
broken  across.  To-day  babbitt  metal  containing  tin  antimony 
and  copper  is  in  great  demand.  Fig.  15  z  35  Bhows  an  alloy 
with  5  per  cent,  copper  which  shows  up  as  bright  needles  of 
Cu  Sn|.  According  To  many  authorities  the  best  alloy  of  this 
kind  contains  11  per  cent,  antimony.  o£  per  cent,  copper  and  the 
in.  Second  grade  babbitt  metal  frequently  runs  over  40 
per  cent,  lead  and  Less  than  40  tin.  the  antimony  reaching  over 
15  per  cent,     it-  structure  is  quite  distinct  from  that  of  No.  1. 

The  Cu  8n  needles  are  missing,  the  bright  cubes,  etc..  have  greatly 


Uuigieiii. 

illume.  1907,  671. 
tBulL  A.I.M.i:.  1907 
JFriedrich.     Metallurgie,  1907. 
§Jounia]  Ami.  <  hem.  Soc.  xxvi.      1904.      1306. 


478  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

increased  in  amount,  whilst  the  groundmass  is  now  very  coarse 
indeed  and  shows  up  the  ternary  eutectic  containing  lead.  The 
microscope  sometimes  proves  a  rapid  method  of  determination 
between  No.  1  and  No.  2  grades. 

The  brasses*  (Cu  +  Zn)  and  the  bronzesf  (Cu  +  Sn)  are  also 
of  special  interest  because  like  iron  and  steel  they  show  changes 
in  the  solid  state.  The  aluminium-bronzesj  show  the  same  thing. 
By  quenching  at  different  temperatures  we  can  materially  alter 
their  structure  and  properties. 

To  the  engineer,  however,  the  alloys  of  iron  and  carbon  are 
of  the  most  interest  due  to  their  vital  importance.  They  form 
one  continuous  series  from  wrought  iron,  mild  steel  for  pipes  and 
boiler  plate,  shafting,  structural  steel,  light  rails,  heavy  rails 
and  tyre  steels,  machinery  and  tool  steel,  cast  iron,  gray  white 
and  mottled,  pig  iron,  to  spiegel-eisen.  To-day  most  of  us 
know  all  about  analyses,  phosphorus  and  sulphur  must  not  be 
more  than  so  much,  we  know  the  physical  properties  or  some  of 
them.  We  know  what  certain  grades  are  good  for  and  when 
they  fail,  we  look  around  for  some  one  on  whom  to  lay  the  blame. 

Now  in  metallography  we  take  the  knowledge  yielded  by 
chemical  analyses,  physical  tests  and  so  forth  and  add  to  these 
an  intimate  knowledge  of  structure  or  constitution.  As  to  the 
constituents  of  iron  and  steel,  there  are  several: — Ferrite  or  pure 
iron;  cementite  or  iron  carbide,  Fe3C;  pearlite,  a  mechanical 
mixture  of  these  two,  containing  about  0.8  per  cent,  carbon  (a 
steel  of  0.8  per  cent,  carbon  slowly  cooled  consists  entirely  of 
pearlite) ;  graphite,  both  original  and  secondary  after  heat  treat- 
ment when  it  is  known  as  temper-carbon;  and  lastly  Austenite. 
When  steel  is  heated  above  its  critical  points,  700  to  900°C,  it 
becomes  a  solid  solution,  ferrite  and  cementite  mutually  dissolving 
each  other.  In  this  state  it  is  capable  of  being  hardened  by 
quenching.  This  solid  solution  we  call  Austenite.  In  addition 
we  find  a  whole  series  of  transition  products,  due  to  the  breaking 
down  of  Austenite  by  tempering  and  the  like,  which  are  called 
Martensite,  Troostite,  Sorbite  and  Osmondite.  Each  has  its 
own  characteristic  structure  and  properties. 


*Shepherd.     J.  Phys.  Chem.  viii.     421. 
fHeycock  and  Neville,  Phil.-Trans.  A.  1903. 
fCampbell  Min.  Industry  xi.     668. 


Metallography  Applied  to  Engineering.  479 

Just  below  solidification  the  series  can  exist  in  two  forms, 
(a)  The  Graphite-Austenite  series  which  is  stable,  (b)  the  Cemen- 
tite-Austenite  series  which  is  met  a-st  able.  Whilst  on  cooling 
down  a  series  of  transformations  occur  between  900  and  700°C 
and  the  Austenite  breaks  down  into  ferrite  and  pearlite,  pearlite 
alone  or  cementite  and  pearlite  depending  on  whether  it  contained 
less  than  0.8,  exactly  0.8  or  more  than  0.8  per  cent,  carbon  in 
solution.  Austenite  can  contain  a  maximum  of  2  per  cent. 
carbon  in  solution,  which  is  the  limit  of  steel,  and  when  the  carbon 
contents  is  above  this  amount  the  eutectic  makes  its  appearance 
and  we  enter  the  region  of  cast  iron.  If  this  eutectic  is  composed 
of  a  mechanical  mixture  of  steel  and  graphite  we  have  gray  cast 
iron,  if  of  steel  and  cementite  (Fe3C)  we  have  white  cast  iron, 
whilst  a  mixture  of  both  gives  us  the  mottled  variety. 

The  following  examples  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  different 
classes  of  material.  Fig.  12  x  40  is  a  section  of  a  piece  of  wrought 
iron  used  in  the  manufacture  of  pipe.  It  is  composed  of  poly- 
gonal grains  of  ferrite  and  lines  of  black  slag.  The  etching  with 
10  per  cent,  nitric  acid  in  water  has  revealed  the  structure  of 
the  ferrite.  When  such  material  is  strained  slip  lines  occur 
in  the  ferrite.  whilst  severe  strain  breaks  up  the  brittle  slag  ami 
elongates  the  ferrite  grains  and  on  rupture  produces  the  fibrous 
appearance  at  the  fracture.  As  can  be  seen  the  material  is  not 
fibrous  except  in  respect  to  the  included  slag.  Fig.  16  x  90, 
unetched,  shows  a  large  area  of  slag  with  its  characteristic  struc- 
ture of  light-colored  inclusions.  The  white  ground  mass  is  un- 
etched ferrite.  The  presence  of  too  much  >lag  is  a  source  of 
weakness.  Fig.  17  x  40  is  a  section  of  a  wrought  iron  boiler 
tube  (sold  as  steel)  which  failed,  undoubtedly  due  the  presence  of 
too  much  slag. 

The  main  difference  between  wrought  iron  and  low  carbon 
steel  is  the  absence  of  slag  and  the  presence  of  small  are 
pearlite  which  etch  up  dark  with  picric  acid  solution.  Fig.  18 
x  80  shows  the  structure  of  steel  containing  about  20  to  25  per 
cent,  pearlite  surrounded  by  white  ferrite  (0.16  to  0.20  per  cent. 
carbon).  Much  of  our  wTOUghi  iron  to-day  contains  areas  of 
similar  structure.  Their  presence  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  wrought  iron  absorbed  carbon  locally  during  the  process  of 
manufacture   in   the   puddling   furnace   or   finery    hearth,    which 


480  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

areas  were  rolled  out  during  the  subsequent  working  of  the  material. 
Or  it  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  the  iron  was  manufactured  by 
"piling"  of  mixtures  of  wrought  iron  and  scrap  steel.  In  the 
former  case  the  areas  of  "steel"  pass  gradually  into  the  true 
wrough  iron  by  diffusion,  in  the  latter  they  are  generally  separ- 
ated by  more  or  less  slag.  This  often  forms  an  easy  method  of 
distinguishing  between  these  two  classes  of  material. 

In  the  examination  of  pipe  the  microscope  offers  a  very 
certain  method  of  distinguishing  between  butt  and  lap  welding 
by  following  the  course  of  the  included  slag. 

In  steel,  as  the  carbon  increases  the  dark  etching  areas  of 
pearlite  increase  till  at  0.8  per  cent,  carbon  or  thereabouts ;  the 
whole  mass*  is  composed  of  grains  of  pearlite.  Above  0.8  per 
cent,  the  excess  cementite  separates  out  as  envelopes  around 
the  grain.  The  grain  size  is  of  great  importance  and  depends 
upon  the  amount  of  reduction  in  the  rolls  or  in  forging  or  upon 
the  heat  treatment  or  both.  Steel  as  cast  has  a  very  coarse 
structure,  a  medium  carbon  steel  showing  a  linear  arrangement 
of  the  ferrite  resembling  Weidmannstaten  figures.  On  annealing 
at  the  proper  temperature  such  a  structure  is  replaced  by  one 
of  fine  texture*.  Too  high  an  annealing  temperature  will  cause 
a  coarsening  of  the  grain.  As  an  example  of  poor  material  we 
can  take  a  case  of  an  8  inch  crank  shaft  which  failed.  The 
structure  of  properly  annealed  material  ought  to  resemble  that 
of  Fig.  18.  The  actual  structure  is  shown  in  Fig.  19  x  50  which 
shows  improper  heat  treatment.  In  the  centre  was  found  a  large 
area  of  slag  or  oxide  seen  in  Fig.  21,  unetched,  whilst  the  struc- 
ture of  the  central  part  is  seen  in  Fig.  20  x  50  where  we  have 
in  addition  to  a  coarse  grain,  a  structure  showing  far  too  much 
carbon,  say  0.5  to  0.6  per  cent.  In  other  words  the  steel  was 
badly  segregated. 

The  wear  of  steel  tyres  is  a  subject  of  some  importance. 
A  series  of  good  and  bad  tyres  of  different  makes  were  examined 
to  try  and  find  some  indications  of  the  cause  of  shelling  out. 
One  tyre  of  German  manufacture  showed  a  structure  whose 
grain  was  similar  to  that  of  Fig.  18.  Others  showed  a  grain 
size  as  large  as  that  in  Fig.  20  when  magnified  80-90  dias.     When 


*Uber  die  Warmebehandlung  von  Stahlen:  Metallurgie,  1907.     772 


f.-s 


Fig.  L6. 


-*i*n£   |  p 


Metallography  Applied  to  Engineering.  181 

the  faulty   material   was  examined   inclusions  of  slag  <>r  oxide 

found.     A  typical  example  is  Bhown  in  Fig.  22  \  90.    The 

groundmass  shows  a  small  grain  of  ferrite  and  pearlite,  with  lines 

of  black  oxide,  e'  •.,  undoubtedly  the  cause  of  failure.  An  ex- 
treme ease  is  Bho1  i  in  Fig.  23  \  90,  the  section  near  the  Burface 
of  the  tyre.  Such  a  structure  would  soon  break  off  and  yield  a 
flat  spot.  In  Bomg  cases  no  slag  or  oxide  was  present  bu1  a  fine 
line  of  division  u .-  a  -ecu  evidently  due  to  a  closed-up  Mow-hole 
-  inclusion  in  the  original  casting. 
The   examination   of   high   carbon    steels*   yields   much    infor- 

mati<  egards  to  cause  of  failure,  heat  treatment,  etc.     In 

al  heating  to  temperaturee  below   the  critical  point  (700  to 

any  tin  -  a  breaking  down  of  the  veins  of  cemen- 

g.  20:  \  500)  which  tend  to  assume  a  globular  form. 

.in  of  the  pearlite  does  not  change  until  the  critical 

point  has  been  passed.     Above  the  critical  point  the  higher  the 

temperature  the  coarser  the  grain  of  the  pearlite  and  the  more 

the  segregation  of  the  cementite  into  globules  until   at   above 

e   find   the   cementite   breaking  down   into   ferrite  and 

graphite. 

of  cementation,  case-hardening,  etc..  can  he  foi- 
ls withdrawn  from  the 
furnace  after    1.   2,   :'»        to    10   days,   the    carhurization   evidently 

taking  place  by  diffusion  through  the  solid  solution  Austenite. 

irons,  time  does  not  permit  to  deal 
with  their  constitution  by  discussing  the  temperature-composition 
curves  of  tic  A   few  examples,  however,  will  aerve  to 

illustrate  the  different    types  of  structure.      En  •    iron   we 

with    alloys    of    -teel    ami    graph]  24   \    10 

-how-  :.  pie.-.  iron  with  2  14%  g  Mn, 

unetched.     Lighl  dendrite*  '  are  surrounded  by  a  ground- 

eel  and  graphite  which  froze  a1  about   11:;.") 
1        It  high  temperatures  the  steel  was  in  the  form  of  Austenite 
which  of  ed  itself  into  pearlite,  etc.,  on  passing 

critical  i  With  increase  in  carbon  the 

dend  ad  finally  disappear  at    the  eutectic   point 


•W.Campbell.     P  -  I  M.  u  211:  Metalluigie.  1006      7)1 

lurgie,  ]'<• 
osfield.     .1.  I.  ii  :',I7. 

31 


482  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

(4%  +  C).  Fig.  25x50  shows  this  eutectic,  a  mechanical  mix- 
ture of  steel  and  graphite,  the  structure  of  very  gray  castings 
and  naturally  weak.  The  strength  of  gray  iron  will  depend  on 
the  amount  and  size  of  the  graphite  flakes  and  on  the  structure 
of  the  steel  background.  Slow  cooling,  high  silicon,  low  man- 
ganese, etc.,  all  tend  to  give  us  gray  iron.* 

In  white  iron  we  are  dealing  with  alloys  of  steel  and  cementite. 
Fig.  26  x  60  is  a  section  of  a  piece  of  washed  metal,  C=3.75%, 
S=0.03,  P=0.012,  S=0.02%  etched  with  picric  acid.  The  steel 
(pearlite)  shows  up  black,  the  cementite  white.  There  are  a 
few  grains  of  steel  in  excess  of  the  eutectic  which  forms  the 
groundmass  as  a  mechanical  mixture  as  before.  This  eutectic  of 
Austenite-cementite  freezes  at  1125°C — while  at  a  lower  temper- 
ature the  Austenite  is  transformed  into  pearlite,  etc.,  as  before. 
Rapid  cooling,  low  silicon,  high  manganese,  etc.,  all  tend  to  give 
us  white  iron. 

When  the  carbon  is  in  excess  of  the  eutectic  ratio  in  gray 
iron  it  separates  out  as  graphite  above  1135°C  (Kish).  In  white 
iron  it  forms  plates  of  massive  cementite  which  are  found  en- 
closed in  the  groundmass.  Fig.  27  x  60  illustrates  this  structure. 
It  is  a  section  of  a  piece  of  Spiegel-eisen,  C=5%,  Mn  10  —  20%. 
The  cementite  is  a  carbide  of  iron  and  manganese. 

Mottled  irons  show  grains  of  gray  iron  surrounded  by  en- 
velopes of  white,  the  gray  apparently  freezing  ahead  of  the 
white.  Some  cases,  however,  clearly  show  that  the  original 
structure  was  all  white,  but  subsequently  some  of  the  masses  of 
cementite  broke  down  into  plates  of  graphite  with  envelopes  of 
ferrite. 

The  process  of  malleablizingf  consists  in  breaking  down  the 
cementite  into  ferrite  and  graphite,  and  getting  rid  of  the  carbon 
in  solution  in  the  Austenite  by  diffusion. 

The  latest  development  of  metallography!  is  its  application 
to  economic  geology.  By  its  aid  we  can  distinguish  the  relative 
ages  of  the  various  opaque  constituents  of  ore  bodies  much  more 


*Wust.  Metallurgie  iii  p  1. 
fWust.  Metallurgie  v.  2. 

JW.  Campbell,  S.  M.  Quarterly  xxvii.     415;  Economic  Geology  vol.  i. 
751. 


Fig.  24. 


I 


Metallography  Applied  to  Engineering.  483 


easily  than  can  be  done  by  hand  specimens  or  in  the  petrographic 
slide,  when  dealing  with  complex  and  compact  mas 

The  ordinary  specimens  from  Butte,  Mont.,  are  composed 
of  iron-pyrites  with  more  or  less  copper.  Under  the  microscope 
the  pyrite  is  clearly  the  oldest  constituent.  It  has  been  broken 
and  fractured  and  then  eroded  by  solutions.  Then  in  the  inter- 
stitial spaces  were  deposited  bornite  and  chalcocite.  The  chal- 
cocite  is  apparently  younger  than  the  bornite  for  it  cuts  it  in 
pla.es.  Very  often  when  the  specimen  shows  chalcopyrite  this 
latter  was  the  last  to  form  because  it  is  the  groundmass  of  the 
pyrite,  bornite  and  chalcocite.  Fig.  28  x  40  shows  a  section  with 
rough  dark  pyrite  enclosed  in  a  lighter  mixture  of  bornite  and 
chalcocite  which  are  much  softer  and  leave  the  pyrite  standing 
out  in  relief. 

The  silver  deposits  of  Cobalt,  Ont..  have  been  studied*  in 
this  way.     We  find   that   the  first   mineral  to  crystallize  out  in 
the   vein   was  smaltite   and   this   was   followed   by   oiccolite,   for 
cubes  of  smaltite  are  found  embedded   in  niccolite.     Both  the 
mccolite  and  the  smaltite  show  signs  of  disturbance  and  are  cut 
by  veins  of  calcite.    Fig.  30  x  50  is  a  section  from  the  La  Rose 
mine.     Rough    smaltite    is    seen    enclosed    in    smooth-polishing 
niccolite,  both  of  which  are  cut  by  thin   veins  of  calcite  which 
appears  black  on  account  of  the  vertical  illumination.     Of  later 
age  still  is  the  argentite  which  cuts  the  calcite;  while  the  silver 
cuts  both  argentite  and  calcite.     The  bismuth  came  down  with 
or  a  little  later  than  the  native  silver.     Thus  we  can  establish 
the    order:  smaltite.    niccolite,    period    of    disturbance,    calcite, 
then  argentite.  native  silver  and  bismuth.     In  addition  we  find 
crystals  of  cobaltite   (?)    incrusted  on  the   rosettes  of  smaltite 
(cloanthite)  embedded  in  the  calcite,  therefore,  the  cobaltite  is 
slightly  younger  than  the  smaltite  and  older  than  the  calcite. 
Mispickel  occurs  like  cobaltite.      It   is  well   known  that    much  of 
the  silver  is  not  pure.     This  is  explained  when  it  occurs  as  veins, 
for  each  vein  has  a  thin  envelope  of  a  bluish  harder  substance 
which   polishes  somewhat    in   relief,   probably   a   native   alloy  of 
silver. 

Nickeliferous    pyrrhotites    have    long    been    the    subject    of 

♦Campbell  and  Knight:  Economic  Geolotry.     i  767. 


484  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

discussion.  Many  hold  that  the  nickel  replaces  the  iron  iso- 
morphously.  We  have  examined  specimens  from  widely  different 
localities  and  in  each  case  the  nickel  occurred  as  pentlandite.* 
Chalcopyrite  usually  occurs  also  and  we  find  the  following  order 
of  succession  holds  good:  pyrrhotite,  pentlandite,  chalcopyrite. 
Secondly,  their  origin  is  much  discussed.  Are  the  deposits  of 
direct  igneous  origin  or  have  they  been  deposited  through  the 
agency  of  solutions.  The  specimens  we  have  examined  show 
such  a  structure  that  they  could  not  have  separated  from  an 
igneous  mass.     They  show  no  resemblance  to  nickel-mattes. 

The  process  of  decomposition  and  of  secondary  enrichment 
can  be  studied  metallographically.  Fig.  31  x  40  is  a  section  of 
decomposing  chalcopyrite  from  the  Cochise  District,  Arizona. 
The  bright  areas  are  chalcopyrite,  surrounding  which  are  envelopes 
of  chalcocite,  the  whole  set  in  a  groundmass  of  iron  oxides.  On 
etching  with  nitric  acid  the  structure  is  even  more  pronounced. 
Fig.  29  x  40  shows  such  an  etched  section.  As  before  the  bright 
areas  are  chalcopyrite.  Around  them  the  envelope  of  chalcocite 
has  been  deeply  attacked,  whilst  the  black  areas  in  relief  are  the 
oxides  of  iron.  Veins  of  carbonate  of  copper  occur  at  intervals 
in  the  oxide  areas.  The  whole  structure  closely  resembles  that 
in  "  Kernal  Roasting." 

Another  important  line  of  work  is  the  study  of  certain  com- 
plex mineral  species  to  determine  their  constitution.  We  can 
ascertain  in  many  cases  whether  a  mineral  owes  its  peculiarity 
of  formula  to  a  definite  combination  or  to  the  presence  of  foreign 
bodies  as  in  the  case  of  a  mechanical  mixture.  In  the  majority 
of  specimens  examined  there  is  found  more  or  less  admixture  of 
foreign  matter.  Chalcopyrite  includes  chalcocite  or  pyrite, 
sometimes  even  galena.  Tetrahedrite  includes  quite  a  number 
of  other  minerals  and  so  on.  Steel  galena  when  examined  is 
found  in  many  cases  to  owe  its  fine  structure  to  the  presence 
of  a  second  mineral.  Each  grain  is  surrounded  by  a  fine  film  of 
quartz  in  one  case,  calcite  in  another,  tetrahedrite  in  another, 
blende  in  another  and  so  on.  In  many  cases  the  galena  was  de- 
posited, then  crushed  and  the  second  constituent  then  deposited. 


*Campbell  and  Knight :  Economic  Geology,     ii.     350. 


Metallography  Applied  to  Engineering.  185 


Minerals  often  show  the  effects  of  strain  when  etched,  especially 
galena  and  pyrrhotite. 

In  conclusion  an  apology  musl  be  made  for  the  heterogeneous 
nature  of  this  paper.  bu1  the  excuse  lies  in  the  heterogeneity  of 
engineering.  An  attempt  has  Keen  made  to  show  how  the  en- 
gineer may  make  use  of  metallography,  a  subjed  which  is  now 
part  of  the  regular  course  at  the  School  of  .Mines.  Columbia 
I  Diversity,  and  is  being  rapidly  developed  at  other  places,  i 
can  only  add  thai  I  shall  be  more  than  glad  to  demonstrate  the 
methods  and  their  application  to  any  of  the  members  of  the 
Institute  who  may  happen  to  be  in  New  York. 

Note— The  a  1). .\  .■  paper  was  illustrated  by  over  100  lantern 
slides,  a  few  of  which  are  here  reproduced. 


' 


NOTE   ON   A  SYSTEM   OF  CONVENTIONAL  SIGNS   FOR 
MINERAL  OCCURRENCE  MAPS. 

By  Elfric  Drew  Ingall,  A.R.S.M. 

(By  permission  of  the  Director  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Canada.) 

(Ottawa  Meeting,  1908.) 

Previous  to  the  inauguration  of  the  Exhibitions  Branch  of 
the  Department  of  Agriculture,  the  Geological  Survey  of  Canada 
was  entrusted  with  the  preparation  of  Exhibition  exhibits  of  ores, 
minerals,  etc.,  illustrative  of  Canada's  economic  resources  in  this 
respect. 

These  were  always  accompanied  by  maps  of  various  kinds 
whereon  the  locality  of  all  the  known  deposits  of  minerals  of 
commercial  value  were  shown.  These  were  mostly  large  manu- 
script wall  maps  upon  which  the  deposits  were  designated  by 
conventional  signs,  which  were  selected,  however,  largely  at 
haphazard,  and  depended  upon  the  inventiveness  of  the  par- 
ticular draughtsman  employed  for  the  occasion. 

On  being  entrusted  with  the  work  of  the  Mines  Section  of  the 
Survey — on  which,  after  its  inauguration,  devolved  the  prepara- 
tion of  such  maps,  etc.,  I  felt  that  the  method  of  using  such  con- 
ventional signs  might  be  systematized,  and  as  a  result  of  this  effort, 
submitted  the  schedule  herewith  illustrated  to  Dr.  A.  R.  C. 
Selwvn,  then  director  of  the  Survey.  His  endorsement  bears 
date  December,  1890. 

Since  then  this  set  of  signs  has  been  officially  used  by  the 
Geological  Survey  not  only  for  manuscript  maps  for  wall-exhibi- 
tion, but  on  the  regular  series  of  published  map 

So  far,  however,  thu  - igns  has  existed  in  manuscript 

only,  so  that  it  is  thought  advisable  to  publish  them  with  a  view 
to  their  wider  adoption  and  as  perhaps  useful  to  others  who  mi<rht 
find  them  suitable  for  similar  purp< 


488  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

The  general  principles  followed  are: — 

Firstly — All  well  established  signs  have  been  retained,  e.g., 
those  for  iron,  copper,  lead,  etc.  These,  which  chiefly  pertain 
to  the  metals,  have  been  used  in  the  past  on  maps  issued  by 
various  Surveys,  etc.,  and  originated  with  the  Alchemists  of  old. 
Whilst  retaining  these  signs,  however,  the  various  ores  of  the 
metals  are  shewn  throughout  the  system  by  addition  of  strokes, 
lines,  etc. 

Secondly — For  each  set  there  is  a  general  sign,  so  that  the 
useful  constituent  may  be  shewn  where  perhaps  that  is  all  that  is 
known  of  the  deposit,  e.g.,  where  a  copper  ore  deposit  is  known 
without  being  able  to  specify  whether  the  metal  occurs  in  the 
form  of  native,  sulphuret,  carbonate,  etc. 

Thirdly. — In  each  set  care  has  been  taken  to  retain  through- 
out the  general  appearance  of  the  main  sign  so  that  the  general 
nature  of  the  mineral  or  ore  occurring  at  the  spot  designated 
on  any  map  or  plan  will  be  plain  from  a  distance,  wThilst  a  closer 
inspection  will  reveal  the  specific  mineral,  ore  or  constituent. 

Fourthly. — It  will  be  noted  that  related  groups  have  a  gener- 
ally similar  appearance,  e.g.,  the  carbon  minerals  are  all  circles 
with  completely  or  partially  filled  in  centres.  Similarly  the  struc- 
tural minerals  are  all  squares  solidly  filled  in  for  the  heavier, 
such  as  granite,  &c,  and  hollow  for  the  carbonate  rocks  such  as 
limestone,   marble,  etc.,  etc.,   and  so  on. 

The  combination  of  signs  in  some  of  the  metallic  ores  may 
seem  rather  elaborate,  but  any  attempt  to  shew  them  by  groups 
of  chemical  symbols  would  be  even  more  so  and  this  method  has 
the  advantage  of  being  a  conformable  part  of  a  complete  system. 
Then,  too,  for  most  non-metallic  minerals  the  complexity  of 
their  chemical  formula  would  prohibit  this  method.  If  the 
method  herewith  illustrated  were  generally  adopted,  the 
preliminary  drawback  of  the  need  of  constant  reference  to 
the  explanatory  legend  of  the  map  would  soon  be  eliminated,  and 
as  the  signs  became  generally  known  no  more  difficulty  would  be 
encountered  than  in  the  reading  of  the  purely  conventional  signs 
of  the  alphabet  of  any  language. 

It  is  suggested  that  where  possible  or  advisable,  e.g.,  in 
large  manuscript  wall  maps — by  printing  the  signs  in  different 


Conventional  Signs  4s9 


colours  for  different  minerals  or  classes  of  minerals  still  greater 
clearness  might  be  attained.  This  method  would,  however,  be 
only  applicable  in  special  cases.  In  printed  maps,  however,  of 
regular  issues  it  might  be  ted  thai  well  authenticated  de- 

posits of  proved  value  might  appropriately  he  shewn  by  the 
proper  signs,  but  of  larger  size  than  those  used  for  more  doubtful 
deposits. 

In  making  up  the  map  signs  herewith  illustrated  care  has 
been  taken  in  designing  the  proportions  of  the  parts  of  each  sign 
so  as  to  make  the  detail  always  subordinate  to  the  general  ap- 
pearance. 

The  signs  are  illustrated  in  the  accompanying  engravings, 
and  are  arranged  into  four  main  groups  of  affiliated  minerals 
and  a  number  of  important  sub-groups.  These  groups  contain 
the  following  minerals:  — 

THE    METALLIC    CLASS. 

1.  — Gold — quartz. 

la. —    "   — placer. 

2  — Platinum. 

3  — Iridium. 

4  — Osmium. 

5*  — Silver — general  sign. 

6*  — Mercury — general  sign. 

7*  — Copper  — general  sign. 

7a —      "        — "native"  ores. 

7b  —     "       -=-8ulphuret  ores. 

7c —      "        — oxides  and  carbonate-. 

7d—     "        —unallotted. 


*  These  sisjus   have    been   extensively   used  and  originated  with   t he 
Alehen 


490 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


M 


T 


L 


r 


y^ 


ro 
o 


C.    |      «       O 


ro 


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H 
m 


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CD 
O 


5C  i  5«8 


^F     S> 


M 


Ns  =D 


5    w  O  o 

°t,; 

-a 

Z 

o 

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> 

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rn 

?0  » 

1=0 

z 

?  t^l 

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CO 

2 

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^+0- 

I  ?0 

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2"«o 

I  ?  0 

z 
c 

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O                                    > 
%        -    >/»     2 

^■K^- 

*—        •                   to 

rX 

^ 

?X 

?x 

Z 
— ^     ° 

00 


rv> 


fO; 


A 


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o 
00 
> 


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■0 

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-t 

z 
c 


a 

c 

o 

CO 


CO 

< 

m 

JO 


2 
m 

o 

c 


Conventional  Signs  491 


7e  — Copper  — sulphurets  with  gold. 

7f  —     "  "  silver. 

7g  —     "  "  gold  and  silver. 

7h—     "  "  nickel. 

8  — Nickel — general  sign. 

9  — Cobalt — general  sign. 

10*  — Lead  — general  sign. 

10a  —     "    — carbonate  ores. 

10b  —     "     — galena  ores. 

10c —     "     — argentiferous  ores. 

lOd  —     "     — galena  with  silver  and  gold  values. 

10e  —     "     — galena  with  copper,  silver  and  gold  values. 

11* — Zinc  — general  sign. 

11a —     "     — sulphuret  ores  (blende). 

lib —     "     — oxidized  ores. 

12*  — Tin — general  sign. 

13*  — Iron — general  sign. 

13a —     "     — hematite  ores. 

13b —     "    — magnetite  ores. 

13c  —     "     — limonite  and  other  hvdrated  ores. 

13d —     "     — carbonate  ores. 

13e  —     "     — clay  ironstone. 

14*  — Manganese  — general  sign. 

14a  —  — oxide  ores. 

14b —  "  — hvdrated  oxides. 

14c  —  — earthy  ores. 


*  These  signs  have  been  extensively  used   and   originated    with  the 
Alchemists. 


492  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

15  — Arsenic — general  sign. 

16  — Antimony — general  sign. 

17  — Bismuth — general  sign. 

18  — Aluminium — general  sign. 

19  — Chromium — general  sign. 

20  — Tungsten — general  sign. 

21  — Molybdenum — general  sign. 

22  — Uranium — general  sign. 

23  — Tellurium— general  sign. 

24  — Zirconium — general  sign. 

THE    NON-METALLIC    CLASS. 

Abrasive  Materials  Group. 

1  — General  sign. 

2  — Grindstone,  etc.,  quarries. 

3  — Inf  usorial  earth  (Tripolite). 

4  — Pumice  stone. 

5  — Emery  and  Corundum. 

Mineral  Pigment  Group. 

6  — General  sign. 

7  — Barite. 

8  — Ochres. 

9  —Unallotted. 


Conventional  Signs  ,',-; 


u 


u 

00 


CO 


NON      -      M  ETALLl  C 

A 


w    AA.2      [J 


b) 


_.      £  r  > 

<s  (DO 

"FT  c/>  m 

m  ^ 

r-      s©  ?<°-$-     *  © 

o 

5® 


°"U 


33 
3D 


© 


5  Vi^ 


m     V     )  O 


<t> 


□ 


CE 


OD 


«> 


^*7 


o 


494  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Mineral  Fertilisers  Group. 

10  — Phosphatic  (General  sign.) 

11  — Apatite. 


Refractory  Material  Group. 


12  — Nitrates. 

13  — Asbestus. 

14  — Actinolite. 

15  —Talc. 

16  —Unallotted. 

17  — Soapstone. 

18  — Potstone. 

19  — Graphite. 

20  —Mica. 

Miscellaneous  Group. 
(non-metallic). 

21  —Salt. 

22  —Salt  Springs. 

23  — Mineral  Springs. 

24  — Lithographic  Stone. 

25  — Borax. 

26  — Quartz. 

27  — Gypsum  (Plaster  Quarries). 

28  — Fluorite. 

29  —Unallotted. 

30  — Gems  and  Semi-Precious  Stones. 


Conventional  Signs  495 


31  — Sulphur  ores  (General  sign). 
31a  — Sulphur  (pyrites). 

31b  — Sulphur  (native  sulphur). 

32  — Selenium. 

33  — Bromine. 

34  — Iodine. 

35  —Unallotted. 

36  — Strontium. 

37  — Magnesium. 

38  —Felspar. 

CARBON    CLASS. 

Fuels  Group. 

1  — Coal  — general  sign. 
la  —  "  — bituminous, 
lb  —     "    —lignite. 

lc  —     "    — anthracite. 

2  —Peat. 

*3    — Petroleum. 
*4    — Natural  gas. 

Hydrocarbon  Group. 

5  — General  sign. 

6  — Bituminous  Shale. 

7  — Asphaltum  and  varieties  (hard). 

8  — Albertite  and  relatives  (Grahamite,  Gilsonite,  &c.) 


*  Petroleum  and  natural  gas  should  more  properly  be  classed  with 
the  hydrocarbons,  (i.e.,  mineralogically),  but  their  economic  affiliation  is 
with  the  fuels. 


496  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


CARBON     GROUP 

A 


©I  «■©!     # 


m  33                           i— 

3  o                           co 

>  o              ^ 

33  ^^        CD 

m  o 

*  -    -  « 


V 


Z  CO 

CO 


en 


00 


cc 


♦ 

* 
♦ 
* 


♦ 


ro 


u> 


ro 


(  <<w  i m  1. 1\  \i.  Sions  497 

9  — Anthraxolite. 

10  —Unallotted. 

11  — Ozocerite,  Elaterite  and  soft  plastic  variel 

12  —Maltha. 

Mineral  Resins  Group. 
Mostly  oxygenated  hydrocarbons) 

13  — General  sign. 

14  — Ta.-manito  =  Resiniferous  Shale  (See  Bituminous  shale 

above.) 

15  —Unallotted. 

16  —Unallotted. 

17  — Succinite  (Amber.) 

STRUCTURAL    MATBKIaJj    CLASS. 

*  Building  Stones  (irou-p. 

1  — General   sign   for   building    stones    (including    ornamental 

tes  and  quarries  of  sai 

2  — Sand-tone,  Quartzites,  etc 

3  — Granite.  Syeni-' 

4  — Serpen- 

5  — Slate. 

6  — Flagstones. 

7  — Limestone.  _ 

8  —Marble. 

9  —Chalk. 


*  It  will  Ik-  noted  that  the  heavier  buildii  :r<-  shewn  with 

solid  -  the  lighter  with  hollow  rectanglea 


498  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


STRUCTURAL       MATERIALS 


r  n 


01 *Ei ;fiB; -D 


S  't-    o 


CD 

c 


CP 


o 


i&    *&  -El 


(  '<>\\  !M  In\  \I.    S:  490 


10  — Calc-Tufa. 

11  — Dolomite. 

12  — Ankerite 


rlay$  Group. 


13  —Marl. 

14  — Clays   — (general  sign). 


14a  — 

tt 

— brick. 

14b  — 

n 

— Terra-cut  t  a. 

14c  — 

— China  (Kaolin). 

14d  — 

u 

—Fire. 

Sands 

Group, 

15    — Sands 

— (General  sign) . 

15a  — 

n 

— glass. 

15b  — 

(i 

— moulding. 

15c  — 

a 

— unallotted. 

15d  — 

tt 

— unallotted. 

16  — Cement  works  and  materials. 

17  — Lime  works  and  materials. 

OEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STO" 

Materials  Applicable  to  Jewellery.) 

In  regard  to  ugD  No.  30  of  the  Miscellaneous  Non-metallic 
class  the  triangle  there  shewn  is  the  general  sign  covering  all 
the  gems  and  semi-precious  stone-  i  to  the  jewellers'  art. 

This  class  comprises  such  a  wide  range  of  materia!  that  it  would  be 
impracticable  to  distinguish  between  the  varieties  by  any  modifi- 
cation of  •  -where  in  the  system.  To  meet  this 
need  a  classified  list  of  the  chief  gems  and  materials  applicable 
to  jewellery  is  given  below.     Each  species  has  a  capital  letter. 


500  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

The  varieties  are  further  distinguished  by  small  letters.  Thus  by 
using  the  triangle  sign  and  inserting  the  distinguishing  capital 
and  small  letters  in  its  centre  the  particular  gem,  &c,  as  well  as 
the  variety  can  be  shown. 

AA.  Diamond 

A.  Corundum — (A1203). 

a.  Sapphire        =     Blue 

b.  Ruby  =     Red. 

c.  Amethyst      =     Purple. 

B.  Beryl— (BeO,  A1203). 

a.  Emerald  =     Green. 

b.  Aquamarine      =     Pale-blue. 

(Also  yellow  and  white). 

C.  Chyrsoberyl— (BeO,  Si02,  Al203Si02) . 

(Different  shades  of  green,  yellowish  green  and  white.) 


D. 

Spinel— (MgO,Al203). 

a.  Spinel                     = 

Ruby-red. 

b.  Balas  Ruby           = 

Rose-red. 

c.   Rubicelle              = 

Orange-red 

d.  Almandine  Ruby  = 

Violet. 

e.   Sapphirine             = 

Blue. 

f.    Pleonaste              = 

Black. 

E. 

Topaz — (Fluo-silicate  of  A1203). 

F. 

Chrysolite^(MffO,  Fe02,SiO 

2). 

a.   "Peridote"           =  Yellowish-green. 

G.     Tourmaline— (Silicate  of  Al  +  Fe,  etc.,  with  B20    &  F  Y. 

a.  Peridot  of  Ceylon  =     Yellow. 

b.  Brazilian  Emerald  =     Green. 

c.  Rubellite  =     Carmine. 


('■>n\ ■i:\Tiu\.\L  Signs  501 


d.  Brazilian  Sapphire  =      Ligh'trblue. 

e.  Indicolite  =     [ndigo-bhie. 

H.     Zircon— (Zr02Si02) 

Byacinth  =     Transparent-red. 

b.  Jacinth 

c.  Jargoon  =     Colourless  and  smok) 

I.     Idocrase— (or  Vesuvianite)^6(2RO,  Si<  >,.>  L'AI.OjSiOj. 

J.    Qarnet  Group. 

a.   Pyrope  =  Deep.Crims.pn     M.-Al  (iarnet 

i).   Almamline  Fe  Al  Game 

1>.'   Precious  Garnet  =  Deep  red. 
b."  Melamte  =  Black. 

c.  Spessartite  =  Deep  Hyacinth 

or  Brownish  red  Mn  A I  ( lame' 

d.  Essonite  ("Cinnamon 

Stone")  —  Light  cinnamon 

brown  to  yellow- 
ish. I      \1  <  iarnet 

e.  Grossularite  =Green  CaAl Garnet 

f.  Ouvarovite  =  Greenish-white  CaCr Garnet 

Felspar  Group — 

K.    ( >rthoclase — 

a.  "Sunstone." 

b.  "  M  m  ostone." 

c.  Microcline. 

d.  Amazon  Stone  (green). 

e.  Pen 

L.   Alhite — 

Moonstone." 
!>.   Peristerite  (with  play  of  colours  like  Labfradorite). 


502 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


M.     Oligoclase — 

a.  "Sunstone." 

b.  "Moonstone." 

N.     Labradorite. 

0.    Sodalite— (Silicate  of  Al  +  Na  &  Na  CI). 

P.     Lapis-Lazuli — (Silicate  Al,  Ca  &   Na  with   Fe   &   Na   pro 
bably  as  sulphides) . 

Q.     Quartz—  (Si02). 

a.  Rock  crystal. 

b.  Amethyst  (purple). 

c.  Rose  quartz. 

d.  Cairngorm  (yellow  to  brown  smoky), 

e.  Cat's-eye. 

f .  Aventurine  (with  spangles  of  mica) 

g.  Chalcedony 

h.  Carnelian  or  Sard 

i.    Chrysoprase  (green) 

j.    Plasma  (leek  green  speckled  with  white) 

k.  Bloodstone  (green  with  red  specks) 

1.    Prase  (leek  green,  dull) 

m.  Agates 

n.  Onyx,  Sardonyx 
o.  Opal 

p.  Jasper 


Hydrated 
Si02 


Conventional  Signs  503 


R.  Thompsonite— (Hydrous  Silicate  of  Al,  Ca  &  fifg 

S.  Wilsonite— (Hydrous  Silicate  of  Al,  Fe,  K  &  Mg. 

T.  Chlorastrolite— (Hydrous  Silicate  Al  &  Ca). 

V.  Jade— (Silicate  MgO  &  CaO). 


SECONDARY    MINING    EDUCATION. 

By  H.  H.  Stoek,  Editor  Mines  and  Minerals,  Scranton,  Pa. 

Paper  read  before  the  Canadian  Mining  Institute,  Ottawa, 

March,  1908. 

The  title  Secondary  Mining  Education  means  a  less  advanced 
form  of  training  than  is  given  to  mining  engineers,  but  it  is  a  phase 
of  education  that  is  none  the  less  important.  The  term  is  applied 
to  the  education  of  foremen  and  bosses  in  distinction  to  the  training 
of  engineers,  just  as  the  lower  grades  of  the  public  schools  are  said 
to  be  secondary  to  the  High  School ;  it  thus  means  simply  a  difference 
in  degree  and  kind. 

It  is  not  necessary  at  this  date  to  argue  for  the  advisability 
and  necessity  of  such  secondary  training.  The  recent  activity 
along  this  line  of  mining  education  is  but  one  phase  of  the  very 
general  movement  for  industrial  education  which  has  been  so 
prominent  in  America  during  recent  years.  The  coal  mining- 
population  in  the  United  States  during  the  past  35  years  has 
changed  almost  completely,  and  now  the  work  at  the  face  is  very 
largely  being  done  by  men  from  South-eastern  Europe,  commonly 
known  as  Slavs,  but  including,  Huns,  Poles,  Italians,  etc.  These 
men  were  mainly  agriculturists  in  Europe  and  had  no  knowledge 
of  mining  prior  to  coming  to  America.  Still,  they  are  frequently 
put  into  the  mines  soon  after  landing,  and  even  before  they  can 
speak  English.  Hence,  there  is  a  great  need  of  an  unusually 
intelligent  grade  of  foremen  and  bosses. 

When  I  promised  the  Secretary  of  this  Institute  several  months 
ago  to  prepare  a  paper  upon  Secondary  Mining  Education  I  had 
in  mind  the  rather  ambitious  project  of  attempting  to  give  not 
only  an  account  of  the  developments  in  the  United  States  and  Can- 
ada, but  thought  of  giving  such  data  as  could  be  secured  by  cor- 
respondence from  Europe,  so  as  to  compare  the  foreign  progress 


-     ondari   Mining  Edi  6atiqn  505 


with  what  we  have  done  on  our  side  of  the  Atlantic .  Unexpected 
absence  from  the  offiee  has  made  it  impossible  for  me  to  secure 
the  desired  data  from  the  Continent  of  Europe.  This  will 
necessitate  therefore  a  description  of  what  has  been  done  in 
Canada  and  the  United  States,  based  mainly  upon  personal  observa- 
tion and  such  fragmentary  information  from  other  countries  as 
could  be  obtained  in  the  time  available. 

The  first  legal  necessity  in  the  United  States  for  secondary 
mining  education  was  the  passage  in  187]  of  the  first  general  mine 
law  for  the  anthracite  mines  of  Pennsylvania.  This  law  was  en- 
acted as  a  result  of  an  accident  at  the  A vondale  shaft  near  Wilkes- 
Barre,  by  which  108  men  were  killed  because  of  the  absence  of  a 
sec.nd  opening.  This  mine  law  provided  for  the  appointment  of 
mine  inspectors  based  upon  an  examination.  The  law  applied 
however,  only  to  the  anthracite  region  of  Pennsylvania,  and  as 
there  were  only  a  few  inspectors,  no  impetus  was  given  to  a  general 
movement  for  mining  education. 

Mr.  Eckley  B.  Coxe,  who  was  foremost  in  working  for  the  pas- 
Bage  of  a  mine  law  and  who  was  always  looking  toward  higher 
things  in  connection  with  mining,  was, also,  so  tar  as  1  can  find  out, 
the  pioneer  in  secondary  mining  education  in  America  as  he  was 
in  so  many  other  things  looking  to  the  betterment  of  mining 
conditions. 

In  1879,  Mr.  Coxe  in  a  presidential  a. hires-,  before  theAmeri- 
can  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers  outlined  a  plan  tor  a  nighl  school 
for  boys  and  men  who  had  to  work  during  the  day.     This  was  not 
intended  as  a  competitor  of  the  public  schools,  but  to  supplement 
them  and  was  meant  for  those  who  could  not   attend  the  public 
schools.     This  school  wa-  established  at   Drifton,  Pa.,  .Mr.  Ci 
home,  May  7.   1879,  being  patterned  after  the  German  Ste 
schule  and  has  been   in  continuous   operation  ever  since. 
school  was  moved  to  Freeland,  a  larger   town   about    one  mile 
from   Drifton.   in   1893,  and    in  1903  an  excellent    building  was 

ed   for    it.     Classes  in    Elementary   Mathematics,     pi,- 
Chemistry.   Mechanical   Drawing,   First   Aid  to  the    Injured   and 

Science  of  Mining  have  been  carried  on  by  a  resident  principal 

the  engineers  associated  with  the  mining 


506  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

with  which  Mr.  Coxe  was  connected.  Since  the  death  of 
Mr.  Coxe  and  the  absorption  of  his  mining  interests  by  the 
Lehigh  Valley  Coal  Co.,  this  school  has  been  supported  by  his 
widow,  and  by  other  contributors.  During  its  history  not 
only  have  large  numbers  of  young  men,  and  older  men  as  well, 
been  prepared  for  the  State  examinations  for  mine  inspector,  mine 
foreman  and  assistant  mine  foreman,  but  quite  a  number  of  young 
men  have  received  their  preliminary  training  for  entrance  into 
technical  institutions  of  higher  grade,  and  a  number  of  graduate 
engineers  point  back  with  pride  to  the  Drifton  school  not  only 
as  their  place  of  preparation,  but  also  as  having  given  them  the 
incentive  for  obtaining  a  higher  education  along  engineering  lines. 
The  courses  have  gradually  developed  until  now  there  is  not  only 
the  night  school  with  elementary  courses  in  Mining  and  Mechanical 
Engineering,  but  also  a  day  college  preparatory  course.  The 
tuition  is  50c  per  month  payable  in  advance.  There  is  no  age 
limit  and  no  particular  entrance  preparation  required,  entrance 
depending  largely  upon  the  judgment  of  the  principal. 

Secondary  mining  education  in  the  United  States  not  only 
had  its  inception  in  the  coal  regions,  but  it  has  undoubtedly  made 
greater  development  there  than  in  connection  with  metalliferous 
mining,  because  certificated  mine  positions  are  now  generally  found 
in  connection  with  coal  mining  in  nearly  all  of  our  important  coal 
mining  states,  while,  so  far  as  1  know,  there  are  no  certificated 
positions  in  connection  with  metalliferous  mining. 

The  greatest  impetus  to  secondary  technical  education  was 
undoubtedly  the  passage  of  a  general  mine  law  in  Pennsylvania  in 
the  year  1885  by  which  it  was  provided  that  mine  foremen,  assist- 
ant mine  foremen  and  fire  bosses  should  pass  an  examination 
before  being  allowed  to  act  in  such  positions.  This  law  has  served 
as  the  basis  for  similar  laws  that  have  since  been  passed  in  nearly  all 
of  the  coal  mining  states  of  the  United  States.  In  some  states 
hoisting  engineers  are  also  required  to  pass  such  an  examination. 
The  general  nature  of  these  examinations  is  similar  to  those 
held  in  Nova  Scotia  and  in  British  Columbia  for  similar 
positions. 


Secondary  Mining  Education  507 

The  means  of  preparation  for  such  examinations  as  well  as 
for  the  general  and  special  education  of  the  better  class  ol  miners 
and  mine  officials  are  the  following: — 

Short  Courses  in  Mining  Colleges, 
Secondary  Mining  Schools, 
Night  Classes, 
Lecture  Courses, 
Correspondence  Courses, 
Field  Courses  for  prospect  "is, 

Short  Courses  in  Mining  Colleges: — A  number  of  mining 
schools  have  short  courses  varying  in  length  from  a  few  weeks  to 
two  years.  The  courses  of  only  a  few  weeks  in  length  are  modeled 
after  the  short  agricultural  courses  given  by  many  institutions 
during  the  winter  months,  but  the  agricultural  and  mining  con- 
ditions are  by  no  means  the  same.  The  farmer  has  usually  a  slack 
period  in  the  middle  of  the  winter  when  he  can  easily  leave  home, 
but  there  is  no  such  definite  slack  time  in  most  mining  sections. 

The  more  extended  courses  usually  include  two  years  of  resi- 
dent work,  the  requirements  for  admission  being  merely  an  ele- 
mentary knowledge  of  mathematics  and  English.  The  subjects 
taken  up  are  usually  Surveying,  Mechanical  Drawing,  Elementary 
Physics,  Chemistry  and  Mechanics  and  General  Mining  Principles. 
Some  of  the  courses  thus  offered  are  well  planned  and  some  men 
have  undoubtedly  been  benefited  by  these  courses,  but  their  value 
is  limited,  because  so  few  of  the  men  for  whom  they  are  designed 
have  the  time  or  the  means  to  give  up  their  daily  work  to  carry  on 
such  courses,  especially  since  the  institutions  offering  them  are 
frequently  located  outside  the  mining  legions,  thus  rendering  night 
classes  and  Saturday  classes  such  as  carried  on  in  England  imprac- 
ticable. 

The  short  course  in  mining  established  by  the  Ohio  State 
University  about  1881  or  1882  was  one  of  the  pioneer  short  courses, 
if  not  the  earl 

Secondary  Mining  Schools. — The  only  school  of  this  kind 
which  has  thus  far  been  tried  out  is  that  at  Drifton,  already 
described,  and  the  results  there  obtained  are  certainly  worthy 
of  being  copied  by  others.  The  only  similar  effort  in  a  metalli- 
ferous region,  of  which  the  writer  is  aware,  is  the  mining  school  at 


508  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Platteville,  Wis.,  established  by  the  last  legislature  of  Wisconsin, 
and  put  in  force  January  1,  1908.  This  is  known  as  The  Wisconsin 
State  Mining  Trade  School.  It  is  under  the  control  and  manage- 
ment of  a  board  of  three  members  known  as  the  Wisconsin  Mining 
School  Board,  one  of  whom  is  the  State  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction,  and  the  other  two  are  required  to  be  residents  of  the 
district  in  which  the  school  is  located.  The  course  of  instruction 
as  provided  by  law  is  two  years  in  length  and  embraces  "Geology, 
Mineralogy,  Chemistry,  Assaying,  Mining  and  Mine  Surveying 
and  such  branches  of  practical  and  theoretical  knowledge  as  will 
in  the  opinion  of  the  Board  conduce  to  the  end  of  enabling  students 
of  said  school  to  obtain  a  knowledge  of  the  science,  art  and  prac- 
tice of  mining  and  the  application  of  machinery  thereto."  The 
course  of  study  is  under  the  general  direction  of  the  Dean  of  the 
College  of  Engineering  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  who  acts, 
however,  only  in  a  consultive  and  not  in  an  executive  capacity. 
No  fees  are  charged  to  students  from  the  State  of  Wisconsin. 
The  school  is  located  in  the  zinc  regions  of  Wisconsin  and  the 
intention  of  its  founders  was  evidently  to  cater  distinctly  to  the 
needs  of  this  region.  It  is,  however,  contiguous  to  the  coal 
regions  of  Illinois  and  Iowa  and  may  draw  from  the  coal  mining 
industries  of  these  States.  Thus  far  there  have  been  12  day  and 
3  night  students  registered.  As  an  experiment  in  secondary 
mining  education,  the  progress  and  development  of  the  school 
will  be  watched  with  much  interest. 

An  effort  made  to  incorporate  such  a  school  in  connection 
with  the  Colorado  School  of  Mines  met  with  such  opposition  from 
the  Alumni  of  that  institution  that  the  project  was  never  put  into 

force. 

Night  Classes. — In  Nova  Scotia  a  very  systematic  series  of  night 
classes  is  being  carried  on.  This  work  has  been  thus  described  for 
the  writer  by  Mr.  F.  H.  Sexton,  Director  of  the  Department  of 
Technical  Education  for  Nova  Scotia.  "For  purposes  of  instruc- 
tion there  are  five  colliery  districts,  and  in  each  district  there  has 
been  appointed  the  best  man  available  as  a  teacher,  the  salaries 
being  from  $1,000  to  $2,000  per  year  for  eight  months'  work,  the 
teacher  devoting  all  of  his  time  to  this  work.  He  holds  classes  for 
different  localities  in  his  territory  almost  altogether  in  the  evening, 
but  he  sometimes  has  day  classes  for  the  rnen  who  are  on  night 


indari   Mining   Em  i  Ltion  509 


shift,  providing  a  sufficient  number  apply  for  such  instruction  to 
warrant  the  forming  of  a  class.  The  instructors  must  be  practical 
men.  possessed  of  a  manager's  certificate  which  is  the  highest  grade 
attainable  in  Nova  Scotia,  ami  if  possible  shall  have  had  teaching 
experience  in  the  public  schools. "  "We  strive  to  carry  on  the 
Glasses  "ii  an  educational  basis  and  are  not  conducting  them 
with  a  view  of  cramming  the  men  to  pass  the  examination.  The 
examining  boards  arc  entirely  Beparate  and  are  not  connected 
with  the  schools  nor  are  they  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Director 
of  Technical  Education,  SO  that  there  can  he  no  charge  of  uni'air- 
iii  setting  the  examinations  so  as  to  include  a  limited  scope 
of  questions  based  on  a  narrow  field  of  instruction. 

Quoting  from  the  calendar  of  these  schools: — "The  coal 
minimi  schools  are  especially  intended  for  coal  miners  and  coal 
mining  officials  who  wish  to  acquire  a  greater  knowledge  of  the 
science  and  art  of  coal  mining,  and  for  those  who  wish  to  procure 
the  Government  certificates  of  competency  for  manager,  under- 
ground manager  or  overman.  The  instruction  is  offered  outside 
the  working  hours  of  the  men,  classes  beginning  at  7.30  p.m.  No 
fees  are  charged. 

"The  engineerhui  schools  offer  to  ambitious  men  who  operate 
the  machinery  around  the  different  collieries  a  chance  to  possess 
themselves  of  a  more  complete  grasp  of  the  principles  of  steam 
and  mechanical  engineering  and  provide  instruction  for  those  who 
are  working  for  first,  second  or  third  class  certificates  of  compe- 
tency as  stationary  engine* 

Preparatory  class*  ithmetic,  English  and  Composition 

are  held  in  each  locality  where  coal  mining  or  engineering  schools 
are  conducted  whenever  ten  or  more  applicants  apply  for  such'a 

■1  to  fit  them  for  entrance  into  the  technical  clast 

for  overmen  and  underground  managers  include 
the  following  subjects: — 

Modes  of  Working. — Sinking,  .Methods  of  (dining  Coal,  Sup- 
vations.   Haulage,    Bumping,    Winding  and  Surface 
Arrangement 

Motion. — Theory,    Practice,    Lighting   and    Dealing   with 
Gas. 


510  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Surveying. — General,  Land  Surveying,  Mine  Surveying. 

The  classes  for  managers  include  the  following: — 

Geology. — General  and  Structural. 

Mechanics. — General,  Properties  of  Steam,  Steam  Boilers, 
Steam  Engines,  Air  Compressors  and  Hydraulics. 

Mining  Act. — Special  Classes,  Mechanical  Drawing,  Electri- 
city, Steam  Engineering. 

General  Information. — Steam  Engines,  Boilers,  Pumps. 

Night  Classes  in  the  United  States  are  usually  held  under 
the  auspices  of  such  organizations  as  the  Y.M.C.  A.,  and  the  general 
character  of  this  work  is  so  well  known  that  it  does  not  need 
elaboration.  In  the  mining  regions  many  efforts  have  been  made 
to  give  courses  especially  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  miners  and 
foremen,  but  there  are  no  data  available  to  show  quantitative 
results  while  there  is  a  wide  variation  in  the  qualitative  results 
depending  on  local  conditions. 

The  first  systematic  and  distinctly  mining  work  of  this  kind 
has  been  carried  on  in  Pennsylvania  recently  by  a  special  Y.  M.  C. 
A.  Secretary  for  the  coal  mining  regions,  Mr.  C.  L.  Fay.  About 
two  years  ago  an  educational  movement  designed  for  coal  mining 
men  was  undertaken  by  Mr.  Fay  which  is  substantially  as  follows. 
The  bituminous  coal  fields  of  Pennsylvania  have  been  divided 
into  districts.  In  each  district  a  district  mining  institute  is  held 
annually  consisting  usually  of  an  afternoon  session  for  the  reading 
and  discussion  of  papers.  At  six  o'clock  a  supper  and  social 
session  is  held,  followed  by  a  number  of  after  dinner  addresses 
treating  upon  the  specific  work  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Institute.  An 
evening  session  is  then  held  which  may  consist  either  of  short 
papers  and  discussions  similar  to  those  held  during  the  afternoon, 
or  it  may  be  devoted  to  more  pretentious  addresses  on  educational 
or  mining  matters  by  well  known  local  men.  Music  is  sometimes 
introduced,  and  a  charge  of  $1.00  per  man  is  levied  to  pay  for 
the  supper,  printing,  etc. 

The  purpose  of  these  institutes  is  to  arouse  interest  in  mining 
education  and  the  immediate  result  aimed  at  is  the  appointment 
of  local  committees  to  establish  night  classes  in  various  centers 
throughout  the  region  affected  by  the  institute.  These  classes 
are  taught  by  local  mining  engineers,  superintendents,  foremen 
or  bosses,  or  other  qualified  teachers,  and  for  text  books  they 


dndart   Mining  Education  oil 


have  the  privilege  of  using  the  pamphlets  of  the  International 
Correspondence  Schools,  although  there  is  no  other  connection 
whatever  between  this  institute  movement  and  these  schools. 
meet  weekly,  and  in  addition  to  the  regular  class 
•n,  papers  are  read  upon  mining  subjects.  Local  in-titutes 
are  also  held  every  2  or  3  months.  This  movement  has  within 
the  past  few  months  been  extended  to  the  anthracite  region  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  the  following  statistics  regarding  the  growth 
of  it  have  been  furnished  by  .Mr.  Fay. 

Thus  far  twelve  district  institutes  have  been  organized  in  the 
bituminous  region  of  Pennsylvania  and  three  in  the  anthracite 

:i.  while  three  more  are  in  process  of  organization  in  the 
anthracite  region.  At  the  fifteen  district  institutes  thus  far  held 
there  has  been  an  average  attendance  of  over  one  hundred  men 
at  each.  As  an  outgrowth  from  the  district  institutes  five  local 
institutes  have  been  organized,  meeting  monthly,  with  an  average 
attendance  of  f<  irty.  There  have  also  been  formed  fourteen  mining 
classes,  meeting  weekly,  with  an  average  attendance  of  twelve 
men.  One  institute  has  been  formed  in  Ohio  and  a  movement  is 
on  foot  to  extend  the  movement  quite  generally.  A  similar 
series  of  institutes  has  been  formed  at  its  mines  in  the  North- 
by  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railroad. 

Lecture  Courses  under  th'  Auspices  of  Corporations. — The 
most  comprehensive  movement  of  this  kind  is  a  -cries  of  lectures 
inaugurated  by  the  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Coal  Co.  about  three 
Six  centers  are  chosen  at  central  points  throughout 
the  region  mainly  controlled  by  the  Philadelphia  &  Reading 
Coal  and  Iron  Co.  and  one  lecture  each  week  is  given  in  each  of 
these  centers.  The  same  lecturer  goes  from  place  to  place  and 
bis  lecture  each  night  in  a  different  place,  and  of  course,  to 
a  different  audience.  The  attendance  is  made  up  mainly  of 
superintendent-,  foremen.  ,1  the  better  grade  of  miners, 

and  while  not  compulsory,  it  is  very  generally  known  that  men 
are  expected  to  attend  whenever  possible.  In  this  way,  a 
m  audience  of  at  least  one  thousand  men  each 
week.  Many  of  the  lectures  are  illustrated  with  the  stereopticon 
and  the  schedule  of  subject-  includes  practical  topic-  Buch  as  the 
following:  Treatment  of  Mine  Timber;  the  Care  and  Management 


512  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

of  Colliery  Machinery;  the  Mine  Mule;  the  Generation  of  Elec- 
tricity; Mine  Pumps. 

The  lecturers  have  been  college  teachers,  outside  specialists 
and  the  engineers  connected  with  the  company.  The  aim  of  these 
lectures  has  been  not  so  much  the  fitting  the  men  to  pass  an 
examination  as  to  give  them  a  general  knowledge  of  mining,  and 
to  make  them  better  employees. 

A  number  of  the  other  anthracite  mining  companies  have  held 
occasional  lectures  upon  such  subjects  as  Explosives,  but  none  has 
taken  up  the  matter  systematically,  as  has  the  Philadelphia  & 
Reading,  excepting  along  the  line  of  drilling  and  training  first 
aid  to  the  injured  corps. 

A  number  of  the  companies  have  taken  up  this  rescue  or  first 
aid  work  and  the  success  attending  it  should  lead  to  more 
systematic  work  along  general  educational  lines  by  the  same 
corporations.  Other  corporations  throughout  the  country  have 
no  doubt  carried  on  similar  work,  but  there  is  no  record  of  it 
so  far  as  I  know. 

Correspondence  Instruction. — The  passage  of  the  Pennsylvania 
mine  law  of  1885  not  only  created  a  general  demand  for  secondary 
mining  education  in  the  United  States,  but  this  law  was  also  the 
cause  of  the  beginning  of  technical  instruction  by  correspondence 
in  America.  Mr.  T.  J.  Foster,  who  had  for  some  years  prior  to 
1885  been  editor  of  the  Mining  Herald  in  Shenandoah,  Pa.,  was 
very  active  in  having  an  educational  requirement  incorporated 
into  the  law  of  1885.  In  the  Mining  Herald  he  had  for  years 
printed  technical  articles  upon  mining  by  such  well  known  en- 
gineers as  Mr.  C.  M.  Percy  of  England,  and  others.  These  articles 
were  intended  to  assist  the  ambitious  and  studious  men  about  the 
mines,  and  after  the  passage  of  the  law  of  1885  they  were  especially 
designed  for  those  wishing  to  fit  themselves  to  pass  the  State 
examinations.  In  1887  the  Mining  Herald  which  had  been  pre- 
viously a  weekly  newspaper  with  a  technical  mining  department 
was  changed  to  the  Colliery  Engineer,  a  distinctly  technical  mining 
publication,  and  in  1888  the  headquarters  were  moved  to  Scranton, 
Pa.  Men  preparing  themselves  for  State  examinations  were 
urged  to  ask  questions  or  to  answer  such  questions  as  were  asked 
by  others  upon  subjects  pertaining  to  mining,  the  questions  and 


Secondary  Mining  Education  •  513 


answers  being  published  each  month  in   the  Colliery   Engineer. 
This  feature  oi  the  paper  immediately  became  so  popular  that  it 
was  apparent  that  this  medium  alone  could  not  supply  the  instruc- 
tion and  assistance  needed  in  connection  with  the  State  mining 
examinations.     Consequently,   in  August,  1891,  the  Colliery  En- 
gineer Company  began  the  preparation  of  leaflets  for  the  use  of 
men  studying  to  pass  1  he  examinations  for  foreman,  assistant  fore- 
man and  fire  boss.     The  subjects  of  these  leaflets  were  Mine 
Surveying,  Mine  Gases,  Ventilation,  .Mining  Methods    Mine  Ma- 
chinery, etc.     Since  October  16,  1891,  when  the  first  student  en- 
rolled in  mining  by  correspondence,  over  35,000  persons  have  taken 
up  correspondence  mining  courses  in  the  International  Corres- 
pondence Schools  alone.     These  men  are  about  equally  divided 
between   coal   and  ore  mining  and  are  scattered  through  every 
country  in  the  world,  large  numbers  especially  being  found  in 
South  Africa,  Australia  and  the  other  English  colonies. 

As  to  the  results  of  correspondence  instruction,  the  writer  does 
not  wish  to  give  a  personal  opinion,  but  will  quote  from  others 
In  connection  with  a  paper  upon  "The  Value  of  Correspondence 
Instruction  to  the  Mining  Man",  read  before  the  American  Minin*- 
Congress  held  in  Joplin,  Mo.,  November,  1907,  over  one  hundred 
letters  were  sent  to  prominent  mining  men  throughout  the  United 
States andCanadaaskingfor  answers  tocertain  questions  submitted 
to  them  Two  of  these  questions,  especially  applicable  to  the 
present  discussion,  were  as  follows: 

(1).  What  is  your  opinion  of  the  value  of  correspondence 
instruction  to  others  with  whom  you  have  come  in  contact  as 
regards  their  efficiency  about  the  mines? 

(2).  In  the  State  examinations,  how  do  students  of  mining 
by  correspondence  compare  with  other  applicants  who  have  not 
taken  correspondence  courses? 

It  is  difficult  to  tabulate  answers  received  to  question  (1) 
since  the  opinions  are  expressed  in  such  different  terms.  Fifteen 
answered  simply  that  they  have  the  highest  opinion  of  such 
instruction.  A  large  number  of  others  say  that  men  who  have 
taken  such  courses  are  more  reliable,  have  more  fixety  of  purpose 
are  more  ambitious,  take  a  greater  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the' 
company,  give  their  superiors  less  trouble,  are  up  to  date  in  their 


514  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


methods,  and  that  men  with  such  instruction  are  much  above  the 
average  of  their  fellow  workmen.  One  Chief  of  Department  of 
Mines  writes:  "It  has  brought  about  greater  efficiency  among 
mine  managers,  it  brings  young  men  to  the  front  who  would  other- 
wise remain  working  at  the  face,  and  enables  the  older  men  to  keep 
up  with  the  times  and  with  the  advancement  in  mining  life." 

The  replies  to  question  (2)  stated  without  exception  that 
students  of  mining  by  correspondence  lead  those  who  had  pre- 
pared by  themselves  for  such  examinations,  and  that  they  give 
better  answers  and  show  greater  reasoning  power.  A  member 
of  an  examining  board  from  British  Columbia  states  that  corres- 
pondence students  stand  foremost  in  the  examinations  in  that 
section. 

Correspondence  instruction  offers  a  successful  means  of  ob- 
taining a  technical  knowledge  of  mining  to  many  men  who  have  no 
other  way  of  obtaining  such  a  knowledge.  It  has  been  tried  out 
successfully  in  America,  in  England,  in  South  Africa,  and  in 
Australia  under  varying  conditions  and  must  be  considered  hence- 
forth in  connection  with  any  general  educational  scheme. 

Summer  Schools  for  Prospectors. 

So  far  as  the  writer  has  been  able  to  ascertain,  the  only 
attempt  made  in  America  to  provide  for  the  prospector  field 
instruction  by  a  teacher  has  been  carried  on  first  by  the  Kingston 
School  of  Mining  and  Agriculture,  of  Kingston,  Ontario,  and  later 
by  the  government  of  Ontario,  Canada.  In  1890  the  Government 
of  Ontario  appointed  a  Royal  Commission  on  the  Mineral  Resources 
of  Ontario.  In  the  report  of  this  commission,  published  about 
1893,  there  appears  the  following  recommendation: — 

"In  order  that  the  mineral  resources  of  the  province  may 
be  successfully  and  economically  developed  it  is  desirable  that 
measures  should  be  taken  for  the  practical  and  scientific  training 
of  all  who  may  engage  in  the  industry.  Prospectors  and  explorers 
are  found  to  be  very  deficient  in  the  kind  of  information  which 
would  enable  them  to  prosecute  their  arduous  labors  to  the  best 
advantage;  and  your  commissioners  recommend  for  that  purpose 
the  adoption  of  a  scheme  such  as  has  been  tried  with  gratifying 


-     ondary  Wining  Education  515 


results  in  the  colony  of  New  Zealand,  and  fully  explained  id  Ap- 
pendix L." 

The  work  was  first  taken  up  by  the  Kingston  School  of  Mining, 
and  the  following  quotatioo  from  the  first  annual  report  of  that 
school,  submitted  April  18,  1894,  is  of  inter* 

-   me   explanation    is   called    for   concerning    the   special 
( llasses  and  Courses  alluded  to. 

"The  Governors  felt  thai  in  the  circumstances  of  the  Pro- 
vince, it  was  well  to  consider  ool  only  the  few  who  aim  at  taking 
the  complete  course  thai  leads  to  the  degree  of  Mining  Engineer, 
but  also  the  many  practical  miners  scattered  over  the  country, 
who  desire  to  learn  something  more  than  they  have  gained  by  hard 
experience  of  the  industry  to  which  they  have  devoted  their  life- 
work.  They  therefore  (1)  advertised  a  Bpecial  eighl  weeks, 
course,  to  begin  od  January  9th  of  this  year,  for  mine  foremen, 
rs,  pros]  ectora  and  mining  men  generally,  and  od  the  day 
named  a  class  of  seven  men  presented  themselves  to  begin  work. 
The  number  may  seem  small,  but  the  school  is  only  beginning,  and 
is  therefore  not  widely  known  yet,  but  the  success  of  the  course 
has  been  so  marked  that  the  governors  are  well  satisfied  with  it, 
and  they  confidently  anticipate  a  much  larger  class  next  year. 
The  satisfaction  of  the  men  themselves  may  be  judged  from  the 
-  made  by  them  at  a  public  meeting  held  in  the  school,  at 
which  certificates  of  attendance  were  presented  to  them,  with 
expressions  of  approval  on  the  pari  of  the  faculty  of  their  great 
diligence  and  intelligence  and  their  assiduity  in  studying  daily 
from  morning  to  night.  (2)  In  the  next  place,  learning  thai  there 
were  men  who  wished  to  gain  some  knowledge  of  minerals  and 
mining,  but  who  could  QOl  attend  during  the  day.  lectures  were 
given  at  night,  illustrated  by  experiments,  diagrams  and  speci- 
mens. Twenty-three  registered  in  this  cl  In  the  next 
place,  it  was  felt  that  in  some  way  the  school  should  be  taken  to 
mining  men  unable  to  come  to  the  school.      As  the  result  of  a  visit 

to  Marmora  and  a  lecture  by  a  member  of  the  staff,  a  requisition 

was  sent  in  t<>  the  Bursar,  signed  by  seventeen,  who  agreed  to 

54 J         ch  for  a  fortnight's  course  of  practical  instruction. 

This   petition  uted,   and   the  ell  Marmora   proved   a 

decided  success.     Persons  interested  in  mining,  resident  in  Sud- 
bury, are  endeavouring  to  form  a  similar  class  there.     Thi 


516  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

periment  has  had  a  large  measure  of  success  in  New  Zealand, 
and  it  was  recommended  to  the  Legislature  in  the  report  of  the 
Royal  Commission  appointed  in  1890  by  the  Government  of 
Ontario." 

The  course  consisted  in: 

(1)  Enough  chemistry  (with  experiments)  to  make  the  class 
understand  what  a  mineral  is,  and  to  be  able  to  calculate  the 
metallic  contents  of  ores  from  their  formulse. 

(2)  Enough  mineralogy  to  enable  the  class  to  recognize  the 
more  common  minerals  by  simple  tests,  and  also  to  understand 
how  to  look  up  minerals  in  a  mineralogical  work  and  the  usual 
system  of  classification. 

(3)  Enough  geology  to  enable  the  prospector  to  know  how 
rocks  are  formed  and  the  names  and  composition  of  those  usually 
met  with. 

(4)  The  class  then  were  given  lectures  on  the  common  ores 
and  the  rocks  with  which  they  are  associated,  so  far  as  the  subject 
could  be  illustrated  by  specimens. 

(5)  Finally,  prospecting  and  boring  were  the  concluding  sub- 
jects of  the  course. 

Blowpipe  was  given  every  morning  from  9  to  11,  or  more 
often  until  near  12  o'clock.  Great  interest  was  taken  in  blow- 
piping,  and  before  concluding  the  class  understood  the  tests  for 
the  commoner  elements,  and  was  able  to  do  cupellation  of  gold 
or  silver  by  the  blowpipe. 

The  afternoon  was  occupied  by  a  lecture  from  4  to  6,  and  on 
some  days  between  1  and  4  o'clock  the  class  had  practical  work 
in  examining  the  ore  heaps  at  the  reduction  works,  crushing  and 
panning  ore,  and  short  trips  to  investigate  the  geological  forma- 
tion of  the  district  and  the  occurrence  of  ore  bodies  in  connec- 
tion therewith.  One  longer  excursion  was  taken  to  see  the  veins 
and  works  of  the  Consolidated  Gold  Mining  Company,  and  tests 
of  the  veins  at  some  places  were  made  by  panning.  The  class 
collected  many  samples  of  ore,  vein-matter  and  rocks. 

One  day  was  occupied  by  instruction  in  assaying  gold  and 
silver  ores,  both  by  the  crucible  and  by  scorification. 

The  lectures  were  illustrated  by  about  500  geological  and 
mineralogical  specimens,  including  ores  with  accompanying  rocks. 


S       ONDAItt    Ml\i\.;    EDUCATION  517 


A  good  many  colored  diagrams  were  also  used  and  greatly  assist- 
ed the  student. 

The  Legislature  of  Out  an.,  in  1894  appropriated  $2,000  to 
organize  summer  mining  schools  in  the  northern  districts  of  the 
province,  and  the  work  was  entrusted  to  the  faculty  of  the  School 
of  Practical  Science  of  Toronto.  Accordingly,  in  the  summer  of 
1894  the  Principal  of  the  school  inaugurated  the  work  at  Sudbury 
and  Copper  Cliff,  the  public  school  house  being  used  a1  Sudbury, 
and  the   Land  room   at   Copper  Cliff.     The  classes  were  held  in 

lbury  on  Monday,  Wednesday  and  Friday  at  seven  o'clock  p.m. 
At  copper  Cliff  classes  were  held  on  Tuesday,  Thursday  and  Sat- 
urday, and.  since  two  shifts  were  worked,  two  classes  per  day  were 
held  at  3.30  and  at  7.00  p.m.  respectively.  These  first  classes 
continued  from  July  9th  to  August  16th,  and  from  August  20th 
to  8  •  classes  were  held  at  Rat  Portage  on  Tuesday,  Wednes- 

day, Thursday  and  Friday  evenings  at  7.00  p.m.  Text-books  were 
used  at  first  and  until  the  classes  obtained  a  fair  idea  of  the  sub- 
jects taken  up,  when  certain  books  were  recommended  for  those 
who  seemed  to  advance  still  further.  Instruction  was  given  by 
lectures,  and  where  blackboards  were  not  available,  large  sheets 
of  blank  paper  and  colored  chalk  were  employed.  The  course  of 
instruction  included: 

Mining  Geology. 

Ore  Deposits. 

Mineralogy,  including  practical  blowpiping  and  the  identi- 
fication of  minerals. 

Lithology,  with  special  reference  to  the  rocks  of  the  reirfon. 

Lectures  were  also  given  in  Elementary  Chemistry  hearing 
upon  the  other  subjects  in  the  course. 

iharged  for  a  blow  piping 

outfit,  which  then  became  the  property  of  the  Btudent.  The 
time  was  divided  so  that  one-half  of  each  meeting  was  devoted  to 
practical  work  and  the  other  half  tolectun  S  i  ciaJ  stress  was  laid 
on  the  value  of  field  tests,  and  the  I  I  hroughout  were  illus- 

trated as  far  as  possible  with  Canadian  minerals.     The  Sudbury 
claw  contained  8,  the  Copper  Cliff  class  19,  and  the  Ral   Porl 
class  24.     In  addition  to  these  regular  attendants  many  ol 
attended  occasional  cla 

A  detailed  account  of  the  instruction  under  the  various  head- 


5 18  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

ings  given  above  can  be  found  in  the  Fourth  Annual  Report  of 
the  Bureau  of  Mines  of  Ontario  for  1894,  page  218. 

At  various  times  during  the  early  years  the  instruction  was 
jointly  under  the  School  of  Applied  Sciences  in  Toronto  and  the 
Kingston  School  of  Mines,  but  since  1902  it  has  been  mainly  in 
charge  of  Dr.  W.  L.  Goodwin,  President  of  the  Kingston  School  of 
Mining.  In  his  report  in  1899,  Dr.  Goodwin  said:  "There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  these  outside  mining  classes  are  serving  at  least  two 
purposes,  first,  to  call  attention  to  minerals  in  general,  and  the 
valuable  minerals  in  particular,  and  secondly,  to  give  professional 
and  occasional  prospectors  correct  ideas  as  to  how  to  find  out  the 
value  of  a  discovery." 

The  identification  of  mineral  specimens  has  always  formed 
the  ground  work  of  the  instruction  in  these  summer  schools.  As 
carried  on  at  present,  forty  mineral  specimens  are  furnished  to 
each  student,  and  an  effort  is  made  to  familiarize  him  with  the 
macroscopic  determination  of  these  minerals.  From  ten  days 
to  two  weeks  is  devoted  to  each  camp.  In  his  report  for  1904, 
Dr.  Goodwin  says:  "It  is  evident  that  summer  schools  succeed 
better  in  the  more  isolated  camps  of  moderate  size  than  they  do 
in  most  places  which  have  grown  to  the  dimensions  of  villages  or 
towns.  In  the  smaller  camps  the  men  live  together  and  move  as 
one  body.  In  the  larger  camps  they  are  more  or  less  scattered, 
and  it  is  hard  to  get  them  to  assemble  after  a  day's  work."  In 
1905  Dr.  Goodwin  reports  that  about  550  received  instruction  in 
summer  classes,  nearly  all  of  whom  received  sets  of  forty  speci- 
mens each.  In  connection  with  the  work  additional  sets  of  minerals 
were  distributed  to  many  who  had  heard  of  the  work,  but  who 
could  not  attend  the  classes.  During  1906,  930  received  instruc- 
tion, and  about  30,000  mineral  specimens  were  distributed.  In 
his  report  for  1907,  Dr.  Goodwin  says:  "  Now  that  the  high  schools 
have  taken  up  the  study  of  Geology  and  Mineralogy,  it  becomes 
necessary  to  consider  whether  the  summer  mining  classes  may 
not  be  discontinued  in  the  near  future,  or  their  character  be 
changed  so  as  to  convert  them  into  summer  schools  of  Applied 
Mineralogy  and  Geology,  held  in  some  mining  centre  or  centres 
during  the  months  of  July  and  August,  so  that  they  might  be 
attended  by  teachers.  The  older  prospectors  and  miners  of  the 
province  have  been  pretty  generally  reached  during  the  twelve 


Si  <  uNDAin    Mixixii    Em  i  \ti<>\  519 


year-  since  the  classes  were  started.  It  may  be  urged  that  very  few 
prospectors  and  miners  ever  reach  the  high  schools.  For  this 
reason  and  on  account  of  the  great  importance  of  the  subject, 
sumo  steps  might  be  taken  to  put  a  practical  acquaintance  with 
the  elements  of  mineralogy  and  geology  within  the  reach  of  every 
boy  in  Ontario.  There  are  boys  in  every  county  who  take  to 
such  studies  naturally  and  eagerly.  It  is  not  necessary  to  make 
such  subjects  a  accessary  part  of  the  curriculum  required  for 
high  school  entrance.  An  enterprising  teacher  in  a  country  or 
village  school  will  find  time  and  energy  to  lead  a  willing  lad  through 
a  simple  course  of  observation  and  testing,  if  the  specimens  and 
a  good  book  are  available." 

\ucabion  in  Km/land. — The   conditions  in 
England  are  somewhat  different  from  those  in   the  United  Si 
since  mine  foremen  or  overmen  are  not  required  to  i  vern- 

ment  examination,  although  mine  managers  are.  The  managers 
are  responsible  for  the  control,  management  and  direction  of  the 
mines,  and  in  the  absence  of  the  manager  the  under-manager  has 
the  same  responsibilities  and  is  subject  to  the  Etame  liabilities  as 
the  manager. 

In  response  to  a  letter  of  inquiry  addressed  to  the  late  M. 
Walton  Brown,  Secretary  of  the  Institution  of  Mining  Engineers, 
asking  for  information  upon  secondary  education  in  <  Jreal  Britain, 
Mr.  Brown  wrote  as  follows: — 

■'The  education  of  managers  and  under-managers  respec- 
tively, who  hold  first  and  second-class  certificates,  is  supplied  (1) 
by    attendance    at    universities,    mining   colleges    ami    schools,    (2) 

by  night  classes  provided  by  the  universities,  mining  colleges  or 

schools,   or  by  the  county  councils  who  have  a  well   worked  out 

system  of  county  lect  3)  by  correspondence;  ami   i-li  by 

home  study  without  outsit  nee.      In  addition,  the  county 

council-  ami  many  of  the  large  mining  companies  inaugurate 
Courses  of  lecture.-  on  first  aid  to  the  injured,  and  a  smaller  number 

facilitate  education  by  classes  in  mining  and  engineering  subjects." 

It    will  thus  be  seen   that    with   the  exception  of    the  lectures 

carried  out  by  the  county  councils  iti  England,  the  same  methods 

the  United  Si  ing  courses  at  the 

m  Mining  ami  Technical  College  are  probably  representative 

of  the  genera]  evening  method.     These  include   three  exercises 


520  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

per  week  of  two  to  two  and  one-half  hours  each  from  seven  to  nine 
o'clock,  one  subject  being  considered  each  evening.  The  course 
for  the  four  years  includes  the  following  subjects: — 

First    year,    Mining    Mathematics,    Mining    Drawing,    Coal 
Mining.     Fee  Is.  6d. 

Second    year,    Mining    Mathematics,    Mining    Physics    and 
Chemistry,  Coal  Mining.     Fee  12s.  6d. 

Third  year,  Mining  Mechanics,  Mine  Surveying,  Coal  Mining. 
Fee  15s. 

Fourth  year,  Mining  Electricity,  Geology,  Coal  Mining,  in- 
cluding laboratory.     Fee  15s. 

In  addition  an  ambulance  class  for  mining  students  meets  on 
Saturdays  at  6 .30  p.m.     The  fee  for  a  course  of  ten  lessons  is  2s.  6d. 

As  an  example  of  Saturday  lecture  courses,  those  carried  on 
by  Armstrong  College,  Newcastle-upon-Tyne  are  probably  repre- 
sentative. This  course  extends  over  three  winter  sessions  and 
involves  attendance  for  about  twenty-four  Saturday  afternoons 
from  three  to  five  o'clock  or  from  four  to  six.  Each  series  is  as 
far  as  possible  independent  of  the  others  so  that  the  student  may 
enter  any  of  the  courses.  The  fee  for  the  series  of  four  courses 
given  each  session  is  £1  10s.  It  is  desirable  that  the  students  be 
not  less  than  17  years  of  age,  and  students  entering  the  course 
must  possess  a  knowledge  of  Arithmetic,  Algebra  and  Mensuration. 
Colliery  owners  very  frequently  pay  the  fees  and  the  train  fares  for 
some  of  their  employees  attending  these  lectures.  The  subjects 
are  arranged  as  follows: — 
Term  beginning: —  Time 

Oct.  5th,  1907— Steam  Engines,  3-3.50 

Theoretical  Electricity.  4.5-4.55 

Jan.,  1908 — Electrical  Engineering,  4-4.55 

Haulage  &  Winding.  5.10-6  p.m. 

Oct.,  1908 — Transmission  of  Power, 

Pumps  &  Ventilation. 

Jan.,  1909— Metallurgy  of  Iron  &  Steel, 

Mining  Machinery. 

Oct.,  1909 — Machine  Drawing, 

Chemistry  of  Fuels. 

Jan.,  1910 — Strength  of  Materials, 

Experimental  Mechanics. 


ondary  Mining  Edtjcatii  521 


DISCUSSION. 

Kb.  Thomas  V7.  Gibson  (Deputy  Minister  of  Mines,  On- 
tario):— I  would  like  to  Bay  thai  some  effort  lias  already  been 
made  in  Ontario  in  the  direction  of  Secondary  Education.  Inthe 
summer  season,  the  Ontario  Department  of  Minos  has  been  scnd- 

bo  the  mining  camps  instructors  who  hold  classes  among 
prospectors  and  miners  and  who  ,<;ive  instruction  in  elementary 
geology  and  chemistry,  especially  in  the  practical  work  of  mineral 
nination.  The  instructors  deliver  lectures  occasionally 
at  the  villages  and  towns  and  in  the  mining  camps,  but  their  main 
work  is  to  instruct  classes  of  miners  and  prospectors.  The  in- 
struction is  continued  for  a  week  or  ten  days  at  a  time  in  partic- 
ular centres,  and  has  been  found  to  be  of  considerable  value  in 
giving  the  miners  and  prospectors  a  more  systematic  and  intelli- 
gent idea  of  the  minerals  in  which  they  are  interested.  The  work 
has  been  going  on  for  some  ten  or  twelve  years,  and   1   think  it 

l>een  successful. 

Dr.  Porter: — One  point  made  by  Mr.  Stoek,  is  of  such  great 
importance  that  it  seems  to  me  it  should  be  accent  uated  if  possible. 
He  spoke  of  the  change  in  the  attitude  of  the  labouring  class  in 
Pennsylvania  particularly;  but  what  he  said  applies  to  the  whole 
mining  industry  of  North  America.  I  doubt  whether  many  of 
us  have  realized,  as  clearly  as  does  evidently  Mr.  Stoek  the  im- 
portance of  educating  our  foremen  and  other  subordinate  mine 
officers  in  order  to  make  them  more  efficient  for  their  work.     It 

-  to  me  this  work  of  secondary  education  is  of  almost  equal 
important  at  may  be  called  higher  education.     Mr.  Stoek 

ointed  out  that  several  a  have  been  made  to  carry 

on  both  higher  and  secondary  education  in  certain  of  the  higher 
seats  of  learning.  It  is  a  most  worthy  aim,  but,  as  one  profes- 
sionally engaged  in  the  higher  education  of  mining,  I  can  see  very 
great  difficulty  in  doing  two  such  different  classes  of  work  well. 
Therefore,  while  we  should  strive  to  do  what  we  can.  I  imagine 
the  best   worl  organizations  such  as  that  of  the 

Reading  Railway  System  and  by  the  correspondence  Bchools  to 
which  Mr.  Stock  has  referred.  I  should  like  him  to  give  us  as 
full  information  on  this  subject  'an,  because  it  is  quite    as 

important  to  ('at:.  o  the  United  States.     Wie  are  only 


522  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


a  little  way  behind  the  United  States  in  our  difficulties.  In  the 
course  of  a  few  years  we  shall  have  here  the  same  class  of  people, 
and  a  discussion  of  the  methods  adopted  in  the  United  States  and 
of  the  methods  which  have  been  attempted  abroad  must  neces- 
sarily be  of  interest  to  Canadians.  As  Mr.  Stoek  is  no  doubt 
better  informed  on  this  question  than  the  rest  of  us,  I  would  ask 
him  whether  he  would  not  try  to  apply  the  same  method  of  edu- 
cation to  metal  mining.  It  is  a  common  idea  that  any  one  can 
do  metal  mining,  and  that  it  is  only  in  coal  mining  that  the  special 
education  of  foremen  is  necessary.  Of  course,  owing  to  the  great 
danger  of  gas  in  coal  mining,  the  State  first  insists  upon  an  educa- 
tional standard  in  colliery  foremen.  But  it  would  be  a  good  thing  if 
a  standard  should  also  be  established  for  metal  mining.  I  believe 
it  would  be  for  the  benefit  of  the  industry.  I  am  sure  the  Insti- 
tute is  grateful  to  Mr.  Stoek  for  the  manner  in  which  he  has 
treated  this  subject. 

Mr.  J.  C.  Murray: — There  are  several  very  important  move- 
ments in  this  direction  about  maturing  now.  Mr.  Stoek  referred  to 
the  development  of  technical  education  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  Dr. 
Porter  himself  is  identified  with  a  very  important  movement  in 
British  Columbia.  The  University  Bill  has  received  its  second 
reading  in  the  B.  C.  Legislature,  and  apparently  a  provincial 
university  there  will  become  an  accomplished  fact.  I  would  like 
to  hear  from  Dr.  Porter  as  to  what  the  immediate  probabilities 
are  in  British  Columbia.  We  Lave  also  Dr.  Woodman  here,  who 
has  been  identified  with  technical  education  in  Nova  Scotia,  and 
possibly  both  of  these  gentlemen  could  give  us  information  on 
this  point. 

Dr.  Porter: — I  am  afraid  I  have  nothing  to  say  with  regard 
to  the  proposals  in  British  Columbia.  Certain  members  of  the 
Government  of  British  Columbia  have  done  me  the  honour  to 
consult  me  to  a  certain  extent  with  regard  to  the  extension  of 
technical  education.  The  Government  now  has  a  bill  before  the 
Legislature  of  British  Columbia,  but  as  it  has  not  yet  passed,  I 
do  not  think  it  would  be  proper  to  discuss  its  provisions,  still  less 
to  attempt  to  say  what  the  bill  will  accomplish.  My  connection 
with  this  matter  in  British  Columbia  is  almost  a  fortuitous  one. 
For  many  years  I  have  been  engaged  not  only  in  university  teach- 


indari    Mining   Edi  i  \  i  [on  528 


in-,  bul  also  in  a  certain  sort  of  field  teac  ing,  and  on  several 
occasions  I  have  taken  field  classes  into  the  British  Columbia 
mining  districts.  The  authorities  in  thai  province  happened  to 
on  me  as  someone  whose  advice  might  be  of  value,  bul  I  am 
not  authorized  to  speak  for  the  British  Columbia  Government  or 
Educational  Department,  r  en  is  no  doubt,  however,  thai  they 
are  in  earnest  and  that  t!  ey  are  beginning  a  work  w!  ich  will  I  ave 
far-read  ing  con 

Mi;.  Donnelly  (Kingston):-   Queen's  College,  Kingston,  was 
first  college  in  Canada  to  institute  a  system  of  education  along 
these  lines.     In  1895  they  commenced  a  course  for  prospectors- 
and  I  happened  t<  r  of  the  first  class.     We  had  four, 

teen   members    -  South        erica  and 

California,  and  we  i,rut  ;i  course  in  cl  en  istry,  geology,  mineralogy 
and  assaying.     1  never  saw  more  earnest   men  tl  an  there  were 
in  that  class.     TV.e  university  gave  that  course  for  several 
with  great  benefit  to  prospectors  and  mining  men.  but  the  cl 

oe  bo  large  t'at.  notwithstanding  the  increased  building 
accommodation,  the  college  had  to  cancel  the  .  I  lave  met  a 
number  of  men  who  .1  their  knowledge  of  mining 

in  tl  is  manner,  and  it  has  don<  deal  for  those  w  o,  either 

because  they  have  not  the  means  or  have  not  the  educational 
foundation  necessary,  have  been  prevented  in>  taking  a  college 
course,     lu  a  number  of  cases,  I  <>v  use  wl  o  came  for  only 

a  prospector's  course  changed  their  minds  and  took  a  full  course 
and  obtained  1 1  eir  di 

Db.  J.    E.   Woodman   (Dal  ousie  Collet;.).   Nova  Scot 
I  have  no  autl  ority  to  speak  regarding  the  system  of  tec!  nical 
education  in  Nova  Scotia;  but,  doubtless,  many  of  you  know  tl  at 
i    Nova  Scotia  Mines  Department   has  carried 
on  nig  ils  in  colliery  centers,  for  candidal  -  for  tl  e  positions 

of  overman  and  undergroui  51  p.  Tl  ere  w&a  oev<  rasufficienl 

tig  force  of  students'  body  to  admit  of  stead}   cl 

the  position  of  colliery  manager,  and  tl  e  candidates  always  studied 

individually  with  ;         yrstem   I  ad  n  any 

drawbacks,  b  been  tl  e  1"  st  possible  at  the  tii  e. 

T  e   first    attei   p     at    collegiate   instruction  0     ave 

in  1902,  w!  en  Dalhousie  University  fumed  the  basis  for  a 


524  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

modest  mining  school,  which  soon  expanded  to  include  civil 
engineering.  This  was  good  and  thorough  as  far  as  it  went;  but 
it  was  soon  found  that  the  province  was  not  in  a  position  to  sup- 
port a  technical  school  by  private  subscription.  Hence,  a  year 
or  two  ago,  the  local  government  took  up  the  question  with  a 
view  to  forming  a  complete  system  of  its  own.  As  now  planned, 
this  system  includes  a  two-year  collegiate  course  in  mining,  civil, 
mechanical  and  electrical  engineering  and  two  varieties  of  second- 
ary schools.  The  former  has  a  curriculum  covering  the  last  two 
years  of  training,  other  colleges  furnishing  the  non-professional 
first  two  years.  The  secondary  system  consists,  first,  of  a  series  of 
trade  schools  in  industrial  centers,  and  second,  a  reorganization 
of  the  old  miners'  night  schools  in  colliery  towns.  Both  these 
appear  to  be  making  satisfactory  progress.  The  college  has  of 
necessity  not  j*et  started,  but  may  do  so  in  a  small  way  within 
a  year.  The  chief  defect  in  the  system  at  present  appears  to  con- 
sist in  the  lack  of  continuity  between  the  various  types  of  second- 
ary schools  and  the  college.  For  the  miner,  who  is  often  a  man 
of  family  and  always  dependent  upon  his  daily  wage,  cannot  afford 
two  years  away  from  work  to  attend  one  of  the  several  provincial 
colleges.  This  defect,  however,  may  be  remedied  when  the  whole 
system  gets  into  working  order. 


STUDENTS'  PAPERS 


THE  "WHITE  BEAB   MINE,"  ROSSLAND,  B.C.* 
By    II.    II.    Yrn.i..    McGiU    University,    Montreal. 

The  "White  Bear  Claim"  adjoins  the  "Black  Hear  Claim" 

of  the  Le  Roi  grant  to  the  west,  and  covers  the  locality  through 
wlm-h  the  westerly  extension  of  the  Le  Roi  and  Black  Bear  veins 

should  pass  if  these  veins  preserved  their  general  course  in  this 
direction. 

There  has  been  a  considerable  amount  of  exploratory  work 
done  in  trying  to  find  the  extensions  of  these  veins.  In  1902, 
when  the  present  management  took  charge,  a  shaft  had  been 
sunk  to  350  ft.,  and  an  aggregate  of  1,000  ft.  of  cross-cutting 
done  on  the  150,  200  and  350  ft.  levels.  These  workings  were 
all  in  a  formation  in  which  none  of  the  pay  veins  of  the  camp 
had  been  found,  and,  as  no  ore  had  been  encountered,  the  company 
decided  to  sink  the  shaft  deeper.  At  420  ft.  they  passed  out 
of  the  overlying  formation,  which  is  an  overflow  of  altered  basic 
volcanic  rock,  into  the  porphyrite  formation  in  which  the  pay 
ores  of  the  camp  occur.  A  station  was  cut  at  680  feet,  called 
the  700  ft.  station,  and  cross-cuts  were  run  easterly  and  westerly 
from  the  shaft. 

In  the  westerly  cross-cut  a  low  grade  vein  was  found,  which 
was  called  the  "  Wesl  Vein."  It  has  a  northwesterly  and  southe- 
rly course  or  strike.  This  "West"  vein  belongs  to  the 
second  system  of  veins  found  in  the  Rossland  Camp,  that  is,  it 
is  part  of  a  different  system  from  that  to  which  the  Le  Roi,  Black 
Bear  veins  belong,  as  the  latter  have  a  general  south-westerly 
and  north-easterly  strike,  practically  at  right  angles  to  the  West 
Vein.  The  strike  of  the  West  Vein  corresponds  very  closely 
to  that  of  the  vein  encountered  in  the  Evening  and  Giant  Claims. 
It  may  be  the  south-easterly  extension  of  one  of  these. 

In  the  easterly  cross-cut  three  veins  were  encountered. 
No.  1  and  No.  2  were  small  and  of  low  grade  ore.  No.  3  was  a 
large  vein  of  low  grade  ore  with  a  few  streaks  of  higher  grade 

♦Paper  entered  for  the  "Student  MemberV  Competition,  1908,"  and  awarded 
Prize  and  President's  Gold  Medal. 


526  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

ore  in  it.  These  veins  have  the  same  general  strike  as  the  West 
Vein,  and  undoubtedly  belong  to  the  same  system,  although 
a  contrary  opinion  was  held  by  the  consulting  engineer  of  the 
company  at  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  these  veins,  Nov.,  1902. 
The  following  extract  from  his  report  will  be  of  interest  in  this 
connection: 

"At  this  time  there  are  in  round  figures  about  twelve  hun- 
"dred  linear  feet  of  workings  on  the  700  ft.  level.  These  work- 
"  ings  have  run  through  and  exposed  large  bodies  of  low  grade 
"  ore  in  which  streaks  of  higher  grade  ore  were  occasionally 
"encountered.  From  a  study  of  the  work  done  on  this  level  I 
"  have  reached  the  conclusion  that  it  is  a  wide  fissure  zone,  pro- 
"bably  250  feet  in  width,  running  through  the  'White  Bear 
"Claim'  in  the  gabbro  formation,  occupying  the  position  that 
"the  westerly  extension  of  the  Le  Roi  and  Black  Bear  veins 
" should. 

"  It  is  possible  that  this  wide  fissure  is  the  junction  or  union 
"of  these  two  veins  mentioned,  in  their  westerly  continuation, 
"and  that  in  the  interstices  of  the  broken  rock  filling  this  fissure 
"  zone  has  been  deposited  making  the  mass,  taken  as  a  whole, 
"  a  very  low  grade  ore  body.  Streaks  and  bunches  of  high  grade 
"ore  here  and  there  through  the  low  grade  mass  have  not  been 
"found  of  sufficient  size  to  be  extracted  by  themselves. 

"If  this  view  of  the  behavior  of  the  Black  Bear  and  Le 
"Roi  veins  within  the  White  Bear  Aline  be  correct,  it  is  pro- 
"bable  that  the  values  disseminated  through  the  wide  zone 
"developed  on  the  700  ft.  level  will  become  concentrated  within 
"narrower  limits  at  greater  depths  and  make  into  bodies  of 
u  paving  ore. 

"  The  behaviour  of  the  ore  shoots  in  other  veins  in  this  camp 
"shows  that  they  generally  scatter  through  the  country  rock 
"as  they  approach  the  surface.  This  fact  tends  to  strengthen 
"the  opinion  that  the  values  may  be  concentrated  at  a  greater 
"depth  in  the  White  Bear." 

The  management,  acting  on  this  report,  sunk  the  shaft 
to  900  ft.,  cut  stations  at  800  ft.  and  950  ft.,  and  ran  cross-cuts 
easterly  and  westerly  as  on  the  700  ft.  level.  (See  map.)  They 
developed  the  West  Vein,  but,  finding  it  to  be  very  low  grade, 
directed  all  their  energies  to  locating  the  ore  bodies  east  of  the 


Tin      •  \\ 'nrir    I'.imc    Mix,; 


527 


528 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


ORE  POCKETS 

WHITE     BEAR      MIKE 


Sca.C*    W'mt* 


■***+**  3*s*-*^e. 


7AO  F«qT    PttAtT 


Plate  II. 


Rossland,  Central  Transformer  Station 
60,000  V      20,000  V. 


The  "White  Beab  Mine"  •">-"•» 


shaft.  The  veins  of  the  700  ft.  level"  were  found  to  continue 
to  the  800  and  two  of  them  to  the  950  ft.  level,  but  No.  3  was 
not  located  on  the  950  ft.  level.  Therefore,  the  management 
raised  to  the  800  ft.  level  from  where  they  thought  ore  should  be 
if  it  were  continuous  and  in  place.  At  900  ft.  they  struck  ore 
and  ran  a  drift.  The  highest  grade  ore  in  the  mine  has  been 
taken  from  this  intermediate  level. 

The  greater  part  of  the  work  done  prior  to  the  summer  of 
1907  had  been  development  work,  consisting  mainly  in  cross- 
cutting  and  diamond  drilling,  but  as  the  surveys  mid  maps  were 
not  kept  up  to  date,  it  was  perhaps  not  as  effective  as  it  might 
have  been  This  summer,  after  the  maps  had  been  made  com- 
plete, it  was  seen  that  the  old  workings  did  not  open  up  the 
locality  on  the  950  ft.  level,  through  which  the  No.  3  vein  should 
A  couple  of  machines  were  then  put  to  work  on  the  950  ft. 
level,  and  after  driving  about  35  ft.  the  ore  body  was  located 
(Aug.  1). 

This  ore  is  as  high  grade  as  that  in  the  intermediate.  I 
think  this  incident  demonstrates  the  advantage  of  prompt  sur- 
veying and  mapping.  The  cost  of  the  raise  might  have  been 
saved  and  the  time  could  have  been  utilized  in  stoping  the  ore, 
which  would  not  only  have  paid  for  itself  but  would  also  have 
helped  to  defray  the  expense  of  some  further  development  work. 

The  ore  consists  of  country  rock  more  or  less  impregnated 
by  pyrrhotite,  accompanied  in  places  by  small  proportions  of 
chalcopyrite,  pyrite,  arsenopyrite  and  quartz.  The  pyrrho- 
tite when  it  occurs  by  itself,  even  in  solid  masses,  as  it  does  on 
the  700  ft.  level,  carries  but  little  gold.  The  chalcopyrite  is  the 
principal  carrier  of  Hold,  and  ore  of  commercial  value  occurs 
only  in  those  localities  whore  chalcopyrite  and  pyrite,  sometimes 
with  arsenopyrite,  have  been  deposited  with  the  pyrrhotite. 
In  certain  parts  of  the  mine  the  ore  carries  some  lime  which 
slacks  when  exposed  to  the  air. 

Afl  is  the  case  in  all  the  other  mines  of  the  camp,  innumer- 
able shattered  zones  and  dyl  encountered,  often  accom- 
panied  by   faults,   which   in    -  it    the   ore  off.     Fre- 
quently,  however,   the  ore  continues  right  through  the  d 
Two  kinds  of  dykes  are  found:    Isl      The  hard  mica  dykes  which 

are  mica  lamprophyres,  i.e.,  basic  dykes  in  which  mica  is  the 

34 


530  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

conspicuous  mineral.  2nd — The  soft  or  black  dykes,  which  are 
so  greatly  altered  and  decomposed  that  their  identification  is 
difficult.  Possibly  they  are  mica  dykes  which  have  decomposed 
to  chlorite,  but  if  so  they  are  barely  recognisable  as  such.  The 
dykes  are  all  mapped  by  the  following  method.  Tracings  are 
taken  of  each  level  from  the  mine  map,  and  the  dykes,  faults 
and  ore  bodies  are  accurately  plotted  on  their  respective  tra- 
cings, as  encountered  on  each  level  by  drifting,  stoping  or  dia- 
mond drilling.  Then,  by  placing  any  tracing  over  that  of  the 
level  below  the  relative  positions  of  the  dykes,  etc.,  may  be 
ascertained.  These  so-called  "Structural  Maps"  are  found  to 
be  indispensable,  and  in  ground  of  this  character  should  always 
be  kept  up  to  date.     (See  Structural  Plan  of  850  level,  Plate  I.) 

The  rock  is  firm,  and  timbering  does  not  have  to  be  re- 
sorted to,  except  in  drifts  where  fissure  zones  are  encountered 
and  in  stopes  where,  whatever  the  strength  of  the  ground,  timber- 
ing is  of  convenience  in  mining.  When  an  ore  shoot  is  located, 
the  sill  floor  is  excavated  and  square  sets  are  put  in  if  the  shoot 
is  more  than  15  feet  wide;  if  15  feet  wide  or  less,  stulls  are  used 
instead  of  square  sets.  Until  recently  the  timbering  was  ad- 
vanced stage  by  stage  as  the  stoping  progressed.  However, 
the  following  method  has  been  found  to  be  cheaper  and  no  less 
satisfactory.  One  floor  only  is  timbered  to  allow  for  trams 
and  chutes  and  to  hold  up  the  broken  ore.  The  stoping  is  done 
from  the  top  of  the  broken  ore,  enough  being  drawn  to  keep  it  a 
convenient  distance  from  the  backs.  The  ore  is  run  from  the 
chutes  into  mine  cars,  which  are  trammed  by  hand  to  the  station 
where  they  are  loaded  on  to  the  cage  and  hoisted.  The  manage- 
ment are  now  cutting  ore  pockets  at  the  stations  and  propose  to 
install  a  skip  as  soon  as  the  ore  pockets  are  ready.  (For  plans 
and  elevations  of  these  pockets  see  Plate  II.) 

The  shaft  was  sunk  vertically  in  a  large  soft  dyke,  called 
the  shaft  dyke,  and  is  well  timbered.  It  is  5'  x  8'  clear  of  the 
timbers,  giving  two  compartments;  one  4'  x  5'  for  the  cage, 
the  other  4'  x  2'  in  which  the  manway,  air  pipes,  water  pipes, 
electric  wires  and  ladders  have  all  been  crowded.  The  timber, 
which  is  10'  x  10',  is  well  preserved  by  the  water,  which  is  con- 
stantly running  down  the  sides.  This  shaft  is  the  only  means 
of  entry  or  exit  to  the  mine,  and,  as  a  consequence,  the  number 


Thk  "White  Beah  Mine"  - 


531 


LOHQ/TODfftAL     SECT/ON     NO  J    VEIN 


y^         f^\       ^ 


•Sc«./t   Jo- 


Plate  III. 


JiaH^y  W^Ut 


532  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

of  men  the  company  may  work  underground  is  restricted  by 
regulations  in  the  Mining  Laws  of  British  Columbia. 

The  management  have  decided  either  to  make  a  connection 
with  the  Le  Roi  workings  on  the  Black  Bear  claim  or  to  make  an 
upraise  to  the  surface  from  some  point  in  the  workings.  The 
cost  would  be  about  the  same  for  either.  It  would  take  about 
1,000  ft.  of  drifting  from  working  No.  6  of  the  850  ft.  level  (see 
Plate  I)  to  connect  with  the  Le  Roi.  The  1,050  ft.  level  in  the 
Le  Roi  corresponds  roughly  with  the  800  ft.  level  in  the  White 
Bear  mine.  The  chief  difficulty  in  making  this  connection 
would  be  the  surveying.  The  surveyor  would  have  to  carry  his 
bearing  for  over  3,000  feet  from  a  base  line  of  not  more  than 
2 — 2\  ft.  in  length.  This  would  render  a  connection  with  a 
drift  in  the  Le  Roi  ground  rather  uncertain  to  say  the  least. 
Therefore,  if  this  connection  is  attempted  the  drive  will  be  aimed 
for  one  of  the  large  stopes.  This,  although  it  would  entail  about 
500  feet  more  work,  would  make  the  connection  reasonably  sure 
if  the  surveys  of  the  two  mines  were  properly  connected. 

The  mine  is  equipped  with  five  "Sullivan"  3f"  air  drills, 
each  weighing  380  lbs.,  one  Rand  3£",  weighing  360  lbs.,  one 
Rand  3J",  and  one  Sullivan  2".  The  Rand  drills,  owing  to  the 
action  of  their  rocker  valve,  give  a  very  heavy  forward  thrust, 
but  as  the  rock  is  very  often  much  fissured  the  drills  stick.  The 
Sullivan  drill  has  given  better  satisfaction  because  this  difficulty 
is  to  a  great  extent  overcome,  as  it  has  a  much  stronger  lift. 
The  Sullivan  machine  also  seems  to  keep  in  repair  better  than 
the  Rand.  Air  is  supplied  to  the  drills  at  a  pressure  of  90  lbs. 
to  the  square  inch. 

The  miners  work  an  eight  hour  shift.  No  work  is  done 
in  the  mine  on  Sunday.  Twenty-five  feet  of  drilling  a  shift  is 
considered  a  day's  work;  this  includes  setting  up,  tearing  down 
and  blasting.  It  takes  about  1^  hours  to  set  up  in  a  drift.  Each 
machine  drills  27  drills  more  or  less  per  shift.  The  drills  range 
in  size  from  the  2%"  dia.  starters  to  the  finishers  which  are  \\" 
dia.     A  tripod  is  used  only  where  it  is  impossible  to  use  a  bar. 

60%  Gelignite  is  the  powder  most  used,  although  40% 
and  60%  giant  powder  are  used  occasionally.  The  Gelignite 
does  not  fill  the  workings  with  gas  nearly  as  much  as  the  other. 
As  a  general  rule,  one  stick  of  powder  is  used  for  every  foot  of 


The  "White  Beab  Mink".  533 


drill  hole.  A  five  foot  fuse  is  used,  which  burns  at  the  rate  of 
two  feel  per  minute.  The  cap  is  put  in  the  second  stick  of  powder 
from  the  face,  and  the  tamping  employed  is  the  paper  from  the 
box  in  which  the  Gelignite  is  packed. 

Mine  fires  are  nearly  always  detected  as  each  man  has  to 
count  the  reports  from  his  blast  before  he  leaves  the  workings. 
The  most  frequent  causes  of  miss  fire  arc:  (1)  Fuse  spitting  and 
igniting  the  powder.  (2)  Fuse  not  properly  put  in  the  cap.-,. 
(3)  Caps  not  properly  greased  before  being  used  in  water  holes. 
When  it  is  not  possible  to  reshoot  missed  holes  with  safety 
the  greatest  care  is  taken  not  to  drill  too  near  the  charged 
hole. 

One  sail  accident  occurred  last  spring  in  the  mine.  Two 
miners,  after  they  had  drilled  their  round  and  loaded  the  holes, 
had  some  sticks  of  powder  left  over.  Instead  of  taking  them 
back  to  the  powder  store  room  they  put  them  in  a  hole  which 
was  not  to  be  fired  that  shift.  They  then  fired  the  other  holes 
and  left  the  fresh  powder  in  this  one  hole,  contrary  to  explicit 
orders.  It  happened  next  shift  that  they  were  transferred  to 
another  part  of  the  mine  and  another  pair  of  miners  set  to  work 
in  this  place.  The  first  thing  one  of  the  new  men  did  was  to 
thrust  a  drill  into  this  hole  to  see  how  deep  it  was.  The  powder 
exploded,  blew  him  to  pieces  and  knocked  his  companion  un- 
conscious. 


534 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


In  drifting  it  takes  two  shifts  to  drill  and  blast  a  6-foot 
round.  The  following  are  the  details  of  costs  per  foot  for  drift- 
ing taken  from  the  work  done  by  contractors  for  the  month  of 
July,  1907:— 


Detail. 


Cost   per   foot. 


Contract  price 

Powder 

Fuse 

Smithy 

Power 

Wear  and  tear 

Hoist  wear  and  tear 

Hoist  engineer  and  surveyor.  . 
Cage  man  and  superintendent 
Top  man 

Total 


$  6.50 
3.09 

.13 
1.00 
1.00 

.25 

.10 
1.21 
1.15 

.30 


$14.73 


During  the  month  the  drift  was  extended  sixty-one  feet. 
The  contractors  did  their  own  blasting  and  paid  their  muckers. 

The  details  of  work  during  August  were  as  follows: — 
DRIFTING. 


Mach- 

Shov- 

Powder 

Ad- 

Working 

Level 

ine 

Car 

ell-         in 

Fuse 

vance 

Cars 

Cars 

Tons 

men 

men 

ers      sticks 

feet 

feet 

ore 

waste 

ore 

North  drift 

1000 

52 

7 

21 

1147 

460 

41.0' 

260 

247 

East  drift  . 

1000 

50 

2* 

32 

1323 

455 

42.0' 

305 

228 

Totals  .... 

102 

9* 

53 

2470 

915 

83' 

565 

475 

363 

The  "  White  Beab  Mine" 


536 


The  costs  of  drifting  were: — 

102  Machine  men,  at $4.00  =  $408.00 

9£  Car  men,  al 3 . 25  =  30.85 

53  Muckers,  a1 3.25  172.25 

2470  §-tt>.  stickB  powder,  at 261b.  =  162.00 

915' Fuse,  at  per  100' 12£  =  1.15 

$774.25 

77  1   25 

Total  cost  per  foot  = +   $5.01,  which  covers  power, 

83 
smithy,  superintendence,  etc.,  —  $14.33  per  foot. 

STOPING     August). 


Mach- 

Tim- 

Working 

Level 

ine 

ber 

Car 

Shov- 

Powder 

Fuse 

Cars 

men 

men 

men 

ellers 

sticks 

feet 

ore 

No.  39 

850 

57 

4 

5* 

8* 

924 

640 

284 

No.  4  Stope.  . 

850 

54 

1H 

4* 

29 

568 

510 

171 

45°  Stope 

850 

28 

10 

39 

311 

245 

562 

No.  2  Slope.  .. 

850 

14 

2} 

* 

280 

200 

13 

Intermediate 

1000 

38 

18 

8 

42 

669 

420 

331 

No.  3  Stope.  .. 

850 

19 

-4* 

3 

234 

180 

32 

Totals 

210 

403 

28 

122 

2989 

2195 

1693 

Costs: — 

210  Machine  men,  at $4.00  =  $84imio 

40|  Timber  men,  at 4.00  =  1H3.00 

28  '  'ar  men,  at 3.25  =  101 .00 

122  Shovellers,  at 3. •_'•">  =  407.50 

2989  §-tt>.  sticks  powder,  at 261b.  =  _'.".s.96 

2195 ft. fuse, at  .  12£ per  100' =  2.75 

Total $1,773  21 


The  1693  cars  =  1,200  tons.  .".  cost  per  ton  = 


1.773.21 


lL'llll 


+   .88=  2.17-. 

The  $0.88  includes  hoisting,  smithy,  >up<-iintendence,  etc. 


536 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


Machine  Work  (Underground). 


Electric  H  <  >  i  ~  t . 


y  >fe 


» >re  Bins. 


Compressor  and  Shaft       Crusher 

Hoist  House  II"  ise       House 


trating  Mill 


The  "  White  Bi  lb  Mine1 


.->:;: 


It  will  be  seen  from  these  tables  that  1,563  tons  of  ore  were 
hoisted  in  August.  Of  this,  563  tons  were  shipping  ore,  200 
tons  waste  and  800  tons  milling  ore  which  gave  80  tons  of  con- 
centrate. 

The  ore  is  hoisted  in  cars  to  the  third  floor  of  the  shaft  house, 
or  head  frame  (see  Plate  IV),  which  is  50  feet  above  the  collar 
of  the  shaft.  It  is  then  trammed  across  an  overhead  passage 
(see  photograph)  45'  long,  to  the  mill  where  it  is  dumped  on  to 
a  2"  grizzly.  The  tines  go  to  the  bin  containing  the  first-class 
ore  and  the  rest  on  to  picking  tables,  of  which  there  are  six. 
It  is  then  washed  clean  and  sorted  into  three  classes,  namely, 
first-class  or  shipping  ore,  second-class  or  milling  ore  and  waste. 
The  shipping  ore  is  put  in  bins  from  which  railroad  cars  can  be 
loaded  by  chines,  the  waste  is  trammed  to  the  dumps.  The 
second-class  ore  is  put  through  two  Blake  crushers  set  to  reduce 
to  2"  (see  Plate  IV),  before  going  to  the  mill,  which  consists  of 
three  10-stamp  batteries  (see  Plate  V)  fitted  with  20  mesh  screens. 
It  then  passes  through  sizers  (note  accompanying  sketch)  and 
on  to  the  Wilfley  tables,  of  which  there  are  six,  three  for  fines 
and  three  for  coarser  material.  The  middles  are  elevated  back 
to  the  tables  and  re-treated. 

An  Elmore  oil  concentrating  plant  was  installed  to  treat 
the  tailings,  but  the  saving  did  not  counterbalance  the  additional 
cost,  consequently,  the  use  of  the  plant  was  abandoned. 

The  following  is  the  result  of  some  experiments  made  in 
this  mill  by  the  representatives  of  the  Elmore  Concentration 
Company  when  the  oil  plant  was  first  installed.  They  claimed 
that  they  saved  80%  of  the  values  in  the  tailings  from  the  Wilfley 

»: — 


Gold 
oz. 

Silver 
oz. 

( tapper 

Gross 
Assay 
Value. 

Feed 09 

Wilfley  concentrates 72 

Wilfley  tails  and  oil  plant  feed 03 

Oil  concentrates 27 

Oil  tails .01 


1.6 

3.5 


.6 

2.9 

.5 

10.3 

.2 


$  3.60 

24.00 

2.10 

48.40 

.80 


538 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


Wilfley  concentrates  from $3 .  60  feed   =        $24 .  00 

Oil  concentrates  from 2 .  10     "      =  48 .  40 

The  following  brief  description  of  the  oil  plant  is  condensed 
from  published  sources  of  information: — 

"The  plant  consists  of  four  units.     The  tailings,  which  were 
elevated  from  the  tailings  tank  by   means  of  two   centrifugal 


Fr.  „    sra*,/*  ~~Vt 


S  IZ£^.     V^hfe    BearM 


A7,U 


■*t~r^rj. 


pumps,  were  led  into  mixers,  of  which  there  are  three  in  each 
unit,  one  below  the  other.  These  mixers  are  long  iron  cylinders 
with  inside  baffle  plates  which  slowly  revolve,  thoroughly  mixing 
the  charge  with  water  and  with  a  constant  feed  of  oil  from  the 
oil  storage  tank. 

"The  oil,  which  has  the  property  of  picking  up  and  re- 
taining free  gold  and  metallic  sulphides,  escapes  through  the 
pipe,  while  the  tailings,  wormed  to  the  lower  end,  are  discharged 


The  -Whiti    Beab  Mn  ■".:,.,.» 

into  the  Becond  mixer  below,  similarly  to  the  third.  The  tailings 
from  the  third  mixer  go  to  the  two  settling  tanks  where  any 
oil  may  float  off  and  be  recovered.  The  tailings  escape  through 
the  bottom.  The  heads  (mineral  charged  oil)  and  oil  from  the 
Bottling  tanks  are  pumped  to  a  tank,  where  a  steam  pipe  heats 
the  oil.  then  dropped  into  the  first  oil  extractor.  'This  is  a  cen- 
trifugal machine  revolving  at  a  high  speed  which  separates  the 
water  and  oil  from  the  concentrates,  the  oil  and  water  flowing 
into  an  oil  Bottling  tank  from  which  it    is  returned  to  the  storage 

tank.     'The  oil  consumption  was  l.l  gallons  per  ton." 

The  shipping  ore  and  concentrates  are  shipped  to  the  Cana- 
dian Mining  &  Smelting  Company's  smelter  at  Trail,  7  miles 
from  Rossland.  The  freight  and  treatment  charges  average 
s:;  _'.")  pci-  ton.  '.i.v  ,  of  the  gold  and  silver  values  are  paid,  and 
100'  ,  of  the  copper  values  Less  4  cents  per  lb.  of  copper,  which 
is  the  charge  for  marketing  it. 

The  following  is  the  form  in  which  the  smelter  returns  are 
reported;  (the  assays  are  checked  by  means  of  control  samples 
which  are  taken  at  the  smelter): — 


Our  Serial  No Trail,  B.C.  190. 

Shipper's  Lot  No 


Tin    Consolidated  Minim.  &  Smelting  Co.  of 
Can  \i)A,  Ltd. 


In    A.OCOUNT    WITH 


Spot  Settlement  of  Ore.  Quotation  of 190.... 

Arrived  rs No.  Sacks  Wt.  Sacks lbs. 

-   Weight  of  Ore Lbs.     Moisture  per  cent.     Dry 

wt.  Ore  lbs.     Car  Numbers 


540  The  Canadian  Mixing  Institute 


Assaj' : — 

Gold oz.  per  ton,  Silver ...oz.  per  ton,  Copper  per 

cent,  less  P.C ,  Lead p.c,  Zinc ..p.c, 

P-c,  p.c. 


Quotations: — 

New  York  Silver New  York  Copper  (elect.) less 

4c.  per  lb London  Lead  £ less  $20.00  per  2,000 

lbs.  = ..per  100  lbs. 

Value. 
Contents: —  $        c. 

Ounces  Gold  at  820.00  per  oz.,  for     95  p.c. 

Ounces  Silver  at per  oz.,  for      95  p.c 

Pounds  Copper  at per  lb.,  for  100  p.c 

Total  Gross  Value 

Less  Freight  and  Treatment  at per  ton  


Basis  Freight  and  Treatment: 


Remarks: — 

The  Consolidated  Mining  &  Smelting  Co.  of  Canada,  Ltd. 

Per 

The  average  assay  of  shipping  ore  for  10  shipments  made 
last  spring  was:— Gold,  .173  oz.;  Silver,  .77  oz.;  Copper,  2.2%; 
moisture,  2.0%. 

Concentrates: — Gold,  .4  oz.;  Silver,  .5  oz.;  Copper,  1.8%; 
moisture,  12.1%. 

Owing  to  the  great  scarcity  of  mill  men  this  summer  the 
mill  was  run  during  a  great  portion  of  the  time  by  men  inex- 
perienced in  mill  practice.  As  a  result  the  concentrates  were 
not  uniform,  although  mill  samples  for  assay  were  taken  re- 
gularly and  systematically,  and  changes  made  in  the  adjustment 
of  the  tables  and  water  flows  when  considered  necessary. 


The  '•  White  Beak  Mini.-' 


541 


Below   are  the   results  of   samples  taken    when    the   mill   had 
been  running  for  only  a  few  days  after  having  been  shut  down 

for  repairs.     (1)  "Fines"  table,  (2)  "Coarse"  table. 


Sample 


Copper 


•ry  bed 

( ioncetttratee  feed 

Sut>.  middles   silica)     (1) 

middles  (silica)    (2) 

Middlee (1) 

Middles - 

Tails (1) 

Concentrates 1 

i-ntrates 


.2 
.01 

.01 
.03 

.04 


.40 

10 
.16 

.15 
.44 

.27 

.39 

1.84 

l.NS 


The  sub.  middles  were  clean  silicious  matter  that  formed 
quite  distinct  from  the  middles  proper.  It  may  be  seen  from 
the  above  figures  that  the  tables  were  not  working  very  efficiently. 

-  impling  and  readjusting  ami  then  sampling  and  readjusting 
several  times  the  tables  did  better  work  than  this. 

The  management  have  decided  to  regrind  the  middlee 
send  them  on  to  another  table  instead  of  passing  them  back  to 
the  same  table  without  regrinding. 

itricity  is  the  motive  power  used;  it  is  supplied  by  the 
Kootenay   Power  Company's  plant   at    Bonningtou   Falls. 
The  cost  is  about  $30.00  a  horse-power  year. 

The   hoist    is   driven   by   an   induction   motor,    1!  I'M.    600, 
volts  220,   H.l'.   150.     The  speed  of  the  hoist  is  governed  by  a 
controller  similar  to  the  fontroller  used   in   street    railway 
with  a   very  larp  ace  made  up  of  east   iron   grids. 

photograph.) 

The  40  drill  air  compressor  i-  a  cr08S-COmpound  Canadian 
Rand   Drill  (  thine.      Air  M)\n   x  24".      It    is  driven  by  a 

4<hi  H.I',  induction  motor,  volts 220,  R.P.M. 300, phase 3, cycl 


542  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Motors  ranging  in  h.p.  from  10-150  are  used  to  run  the 
crushers,  stamp  mill,  concentrators  and  machine  shop.  Elec- 
tricity is  also  used  to  light  the  plant  and  stations  underground 
and  for  signalling. 

Apart  from  the  shaft  the  mine  is  dry,  and  pumping  is 
necessitated  only  by  the  water  which  runs  down  the  shaft. 
This  water  is  pumped  into  the  tank  shown  in  the  drawing  of  the 
"  Head  Frame,"  and  is  used  to  cool  the  compressor.  The  pumping 
is  done  by  compressed  air  with  very  satisfactory  results  and 
low  repair  costs.  The  water  used  in  the  mill  is  pumped  by  a 
centrifugal  motor  driven  pump  from  a  pond  formed  by  the  ex- 
haust from  the  Le  Roi  steam  plant. 

The  superintendent,  Mr.   F.   Demuth,   has  complete  charge 
of  the   running  operations.     He  was  formerly   foreman   at  the 
Le  Roi  for  some  time,  and  previously  had  had  a  long  and  varied 
experience   in   mining   in   the   different   camps   of  the   Western 
States. 

The  men  underground  are  under  the  immediate  control  of 
a  shift  boss,  who  reports  to  the  superintendent  at  the  end  of 
each  shift. 

The  surveyor  does  the  assaying  and  the  clerical  work,  and 
acts  as  a  general  assistant  to  the  superintendent. 

Many  improvements  and  extensions  are  being  planned 
with  a  view  to  obtaining  an  increased  output.  Work  is  now 
being  done  in  two  shifts.  When  another  means  of  exit  is  secured 
more  men  will  be  employed,  and  possibly  the  shaft  will  be  en- 
larged, which  will  permit  two  skips  to  run  balanced. 

As  stated  before,  up  to  the  present  all  energies  have  been 
directed  to  finding  the  ore  and  proving  the  mine.  Now  that 
this  has  been  done,  the  management  find  themselves  very  much 
handicapped  by  the  fact  that  they  have  but  one  connection  to 
the  surface,  and  it  is  a  one  compartment  shaft. 

The  only  way  a  low  grade  mine  like  the  White  Bear  can  be 
made  a  good  paying  proposition,  is  by  having  a  large  output 
at  a  low  cost  per  ton.  It  is,  therefore,  evident  that  the  condi- 
tions under  which  the  mine  is  being  operated  at  present  must 
be  changed  in  order  to  do  justice  to  the  mine  itself  and  to  the 
interests  of  the  shareholders. 


The  "White  Bear  Mine"  :>-i:i 


The  author  was  employed  as  surveyor  at  the  White  Bear 
mine  during  the  summer  of  1907.  All  maps,  drawings  and  photo- 
graphs are  made  from  original  surveys  and  measurements  made 
during  the  summer.  The  assay  values  are  from  author's  assays 
(except  where  otherwise  stated).  All  cost  and  other  data  are 
also  taken  from  personal  observations. 


<s 


General  Arrangement  of  the  Si  ri  \<  i    Plant, 


The  high  building  is  the  shafl  house,  the  low  buildings  to  the  righl  a 
"Blacksmith  and  Machine  Sh<>]».''     Next  to  the  left  of  the 'shafl  h«>u 


an-  the 
use  arc 
tin-  "<  >rc  Bins."  Then  the  concentrating  mill  begins,  the  crushers  being  con- 
tained in  the  building  adjoining  the  ore  bins.  The  other  buildings  contain 
iln-  Stamps,  Wilfley  Tables  and  the  Elmore <  >il  Plants. 


( lompressor  Motor  (400  H.P.) 


3IK 


WK! 


MINIM  i   .WD  ^MINING    METHODS  OF  THE   YUKON.* 

By  A.  A.  I'\kk. 
M.<  iili  University,  Montreal. 

-pent  three  months  in  the  Yukon  Distrid  last 

id  under  rather  favourable  circumstances.  The  object  of 
this  visit  was  to  become  acquainted  with  the  placer  and  gravel 
mining  methods  in  the  neighborhood  of  Dawson;  also  to  visit 
the  White  Borse  copper  belt,  the  Windy  Arm  District  and  the 
WheatoD  and  Watson  River  country. 

In  the  following  notes  an  attempt  will  be  made  to  characterize 
«.n  the  first  two  of  these  districts  in  the  order  in  which  they  were 
visited,  giving  short  geological  sketches  and,  where  possible,  a 
short  history;  and  in  some  cases  details  of  methods  and  cost 
of  mining  and  of  the  extent  of  the  workings. 

The  Yukon  Territory  comprises  nearly  200,000  square  miles 
and  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Arctic  Ocean,  on  the  east  by 
the  Mackenzie  District,  on  the  west  by  Alaska  and  on  the  south 
by  British  Columbia  and  a  narrow  fringe  of  Alaska. 

The  Yukon  River  heads  in  the  Coasl  Range,  near  Skagway, 
and  for  a  distance  of  1,950  miles  serpents  its  way  through  a  very 
varied  country,  now  widening  out  into  a  lake  with  extensive 
timber  lands  on  either  side,  now  dashing  madly  through  dizzy 
canyons  and  narrow  valleys  shut  in  by  mountain  ranges  from  1,000 
it,  or  peacefully  winding  its  way  through 
wide  valleys  with  steep  boulder-clay  banks,  finally  to  discharge 
itself  in  the  BehringSea  near  St.  Michaels. 

This  river  forms  the  main  water  way  of  the  Yukon  and 
would  be  navigable  from  source  to  mouth  for  4£  months  of  the 
year,  were  it  not  for  the  break  made  in  it  by  a  very  narrow  canyon 
and  the  White  Horse  Rapids  a  little  over  100  miles  from  its  source, 
and,  together,  five  mile-  in  extent. 

•Paper entered  f..r  the  "Student  Competition,  1908,"  and  awarded  the 
second  prize  of  $25 
35 


546  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

the  white  horse  copper  belt. 

The  White  Horse  copper  belt  is  about  twenty  miles  in  extent, 
beginning  7  miles  N.W.  of  White  Horse  and  extending  cres- 
cent-like to  the  S.E.,  crossing  the  White  Pass  and  Yukon  Railway 
at  Dugdale  9  miles  south  of  White  Horse.  About  three  miles 
almost  directly  north  of  the  track  the  formation  dips  to  the 
north  under  a  range  of  Black  Limestone  mountains  some  20  to 
25  miles  in  width,  which  run  in  a  N.W.  direction  paralleling  the 
Yukon  River  for  a  distance  of  over  200  miles  from  White  Horse, 
and  cut  through  by  the  river  in  a  number  of  places. 

The  geology  of  this  copper  belt  has  not  as  yet  been  deter- 
mined. Mr.  McConnell,  whom  the  author  had  the  pleasure  of 
meeting  while  visiting  the  White  Horse  Copper  mines,  was  then 
working  up  the  geology  of  that  district.  The  author  also  had  the 
pleasure  of  accompanying  Professor  Mynard  (geologist  sent  out 
by  some  large  Philadelphia  capitalists  to  make  a  report  on  the 
country).  He  did  not,  of  course,  get  much  information  from 
them  except  of  a  general  character,  but  the  conclusions  here  drawn 
are  from  what  the  author  observed  himself  in  going  through  the 
country,  assisted  by  his  very  limited  knowledge  of  geology. 

The  eastern  fringe  of  the  copper  belt  is  what  is  commonly 
known  there  as  the  Coast  granites,  the  southern  end  of  which  is 
overlaid  with  scoria  of  recent  eruption.  Overlying  the  granites 
is  a  bluish  white  limestone  very  much  cut  up  by  intrusive  dykes 
of  what  appeared  to  be  diorites  and  porphyrites.  The  limestone 
was  so  shattered  and  altered  that  one  would  at  first  sight  be 
inclined  to  look  upon  the  limestone  as  intrusive,  if  such  were 
possible. 

In  some  parts  of  the  district  garnetite  forms  the  gangue 
of  the  ore;  in  other  parts  what  appeared  to  be  an  altered  limestone, 
but  what  is  locally  called  a  felsite;  and,  again,  in  some  other 
parts  magnetite  and  hematite  form  the  gangue  of  the  ores.  In 
some  localities  bornite  occurred  in  tremolite.  The  copper  here 
occurs  as  bornite  chiefly,  but  chalcopyrite,  chalcocite  and  cuprite 
also  occur.     Native  copper  is  found  in  very  small  quantities. 

Copper  was  first  discovered  at  White  Horse  in  1898,  two 
years  before  the  town  of  White  Horse  existed  and  three  years 
before  the  White  Pass  &  Yukon  Railway  reached  there.     The 


Mi\i\<,  Methods  of  the  Yi  kon  54*3 

discoverers  were  Jack  Mackintire  and  Hanly  (two  prospectors 
From  cin-lc  City,  Alaska),  who  staked  ou1  the  Copper  King  and 
Aura  respectively.  Jack  Mackintire  was  frozen  to  death  driving 
the  mail  stage  on  the  Atlin  route  aboul  five  years  afterwards  and 
Hanly  left  the  country  some  years  ago. 

In  the  fall  id  1898  Granger  Located  the  Copper  Queen  and 
boughl  a  Large  share  in  the  Copper  Kins:  ami  also  re-located  the 
Aura. 

In  1899  the  Pueblo  was  staked  by  E.  G.  Porter.  The  British 
American  Corporation  staked  ou1  the  whole  country  in  concessions 
and  took  an  option  on  the  Pueblo  for  $1,000,000  ami  that  year 
ami  the  following  spent  some  $25,000  doing  development  work. 
In  1900,  however,  t  te  parent  corporation  in  London  went  into 
liquidation. 

In    the    meantime    bucket.    Ward.    O'Neil    and    Olie    Dickson, 

prospectors  and  traders,  staked  the  Anaconda  and  Rabbit's  Foot, 

and  diil  much  fruitless  work  on  both. 

Not  Long  after  these  discoveries  Sam  Met  ice  and  Jim  Lauder- 
dale staked  the  War  Eagle  and  the  I.e  Roi.  Robert  Lowe  (M.P. 
for  that  district)  purchased  an  interest  in  the  last  mentioned  mines, 
or  rather  claims,  and  did  a  certain  amount  of  representative 
work  on  each,  ami  is  said  to  have  bonded  them  to  a  "roup  of 

aiic  people  for  $75,000. 

hi  1901  Byron  White,  oJ  Spokane.  Wash.,  (a  capitalist  very 

ly  interested  in  Slocan  Mining  District  in  British  Columbia), 
it  up  the  old  British  American  Corporation — the  principal 
mines  being  the  Pueblo,  Tammerac  and  Carlyle. 

<  hit  of  the  first  hundred  tons  of  ore  shipped  from  the  ( larlyle, 
Mr.  White  is  said  to  have  cleared  all  his  expenses,  amounting  to 
some  $10,000.  Later  shipments  were  also  profitable  ami  prepara- 
tions are  now  being  made  to  -hip  on  a  large  scale. 

All   the  above   mentioned    mines   lie  in    the   north   end   of  the 

Cop] 

tic  Chief  Group   was  the  first    property   staked   in 

the  middle  of  the  district.     The  owners,  Bill  Clark  and  Captain 

John  [rving,  did  considerable  work  on  this  property.     Bill  Wood- 

Irafter,  and  Angus  McKinnon,  the  Best  Chance; 

taked  the  Valerie.     Desultory  work  has  been  done 

on  most  of  these  claim-  at   some  time  or  other  until  this  year. 


548  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Bill  Woodney  bonded  the  Grafter  to  several  parties,  of 
whom  the  principals  are  Witney,  Pedlar,  Robert  Lowe,  George 
Armstrong  and  others,  and  the  property  has  been  bonded  in 
turn  to  Robert  Lowe  for  $105,000. 

Last  year  Mr.  Elmendorf,  mining  engineer  from  Spokane, 
bonded  the  Arctic  Chief  and  Best  Chance  for  some  Spokane 
people. 

Last  winter  Colonel  Thomas  (representing  a  Pennsylvania 
Syndicate,  the  principal  men  of  which  are  said  to  be  Messrs. 
Guffrey  and  Gayley,  of  Pittsburg)  came  to  White  Horse  and  bought 
up  about  300  undeveloped  properties  and  took  options  on  about 
100  claims — the  principal  ones  being  Copper  King  and  Queen, 
which  were  said  to  be  bonded  for  $120,000;  Anaconda,  Rabbit's 
Foot  and  a  host  of  others  adjoining  these,  bonded  for  $210,000. 

The  Corvet  Group  adjoining  the  Arctic  Chief  bonded  for 
$20,000.  The  Iron  Horse,  Helena  and  Florence,  occupying  the 
ground  between  the  Grafter  and  Arctic  Chief,  were  also  said  to  be 
bonded  to  Colonel  Thomas. 

At  the  extreme  south  end  of  the  district  Mr.  Trethewey,  a 
cousin  of  the  pioneer  of  Cobalt,  staked  the  Keewenaw  Group, 
but  no  development  was  done  on  this  group  by  him.  The  next 
claims  to  be  staked  in  this  district  were  the  Black  Bear  and 
Brown  Cub  by  F.  F.  McNaughton.  As  nothing  was  done  on  these 
also,  they  were  re-located  by  Dr.  Nicholson  and  Mr.  Baxter  and 
bonded  by  Colonel  Thomas  for  a  sum  said  to  be  about  $20,000, 
very  little  work  except  surface  stripping  having  been  done  on 
them,  however. 

The  Keewenaw  Group  was  re-located  by  a  German,  Carl 
Weik,  who  has  done  considerable  development  work  on  some  of 
the  most  promising  claims  of  this  group. 

The  extent  of  development  on  the  most  important  mines  of 
this  district  can  be  judged  from  the  following  statistics  of  output. 

Copper  King. — The  Copper  King  has  shipped  500  tons  up  to 
date,  but  has  for  the  present  stopped  shipment,  and  plans  are 
being  developed  for  shipment  on  a  larger  scale.  They  are  in- 
stalling a  five  drill  compressor  and  steam  hoist  and  are  also 
putting  up  several  good  substantial  buildings.  Transportation 
to  railway  from  mine  is  at  present  done  in  waggons  at  an  extrav- 
agant cost  of  $2.00  per  ton. 


Mining  Methods  of  thk  Yukon  549 

Grafter. — Up   to  date  the  Grafter   has  shipped   some  1,500 
and  is  Bhipping  now  at  the  rate  of  30  to  40  tons  per  day. 
A  shaft  has  hern  sunk  about   L50  feet  and  considerable  drifting 
done.     Average  value  of  ore  is  about  130.00  per  ton.    Transpor- 
tation to  railway  alone  costs  $2.50  per  ton. 

has  shipped   700  tons  up  to  date,   but  is  not 
Bhipping  at  p  -  considerable  improvement  is  being  made. 

They  have  about  400  feet  of  tunnel  and  two  or  three  short  winzes. 
It  costs  $2.50  also  to  ship  to  railway. 

Pueblo  up  to  date  ha.-  shipped   1.000  tons  and 
preparations    for    large    shipments       -       »on    as    transportation 

facilities  are  improved,  are  being  made.  The  Pueblo  ore  is  a 
hematite  carrying  from  :-}  per  cent,  to  7  per  cent,  copper,  the  aver- 
age, however,  is  about  4  per  cent.  It  costs  at  present  $4.00  per 
ton  to  ship  in  waggons  from  mine  to  railway,  a  distance  of  six 
miles. 

Should  a  spur  of  the  W.  P.  &  Y.  Ry.  Tap  this  mine,  the  oper- 

-•    te  that  they  would  ship  500  tons  per  day.     The  author 

has  no  fears  to  the  contrary  as  there  i-  such  a  large  surface  showing 

the  method  of  mining  at  present  would  be  very  much  that   of 

open  cutting. 

The  average  cost  of  mining  in  this  district  may  be  roughly 

-  follows: — 

-    aft  sinking.  5'  x  0'  timbered,  $40.00  per  ft. 
Drifting  V  not  timbered,  $10.00  per  ft. 

Wages    Shr.  shifts),  on  surface,  $3.50  and  board. 
Wages  (8  hr.  shifts),  underground,  $4.00  and  board. 
Shipping  to  R.R.,  $2.00-$4.00  per  ton. 
Freight  from  White  Horse  to  Smelters.  SO. 00  per  ton. 

-     "     |>er  ton. 
8      Iter  rharges  1 .3=10  per  cent,  loss  on  cu.  ores. 

[  3c.  per  pound  for  marketing. 

All  the  ores  are  shipped  to  the  Ladysmith  and  Britannia 
smeh 

COAL. 

red  a  little  over  a  year  ago  about  18  miles 
S.W.  of  White  Horse  and  10  miles  from  the  railwav  line.     The 


550  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

strike  appears  to  be  about  N.  74°  W.  with  a  dip  of  about  42°  to 
the  N.W. 

This  coal  area  can  be  traced  for  about  ten  miles  in  extent, 
and  occupies  a  strip  about  a  mile  wide.  Except  for  a  few  small 
cross  cuts,  and  a  tunnel  some  70  ft.  long  on  a  9'  8"  seam,  virtually 
no  development  has  been  done.  There  is  another  10'  4"  seam 
above  the  one  already  mentioned  and  several  smaller  seams 
showing  outcrops. 

The  coal  is  a  semi-anthracite  running  as  high  as  83  per  cent, 
carbon  but  also  giving  a  very  high  percentage  of  ash.  Seven 
per  cent,  ash  is  the  lowest  result  yet  obtained  and  from  this  it 
ranges  to  23  per  cent,  in  ash. 

DAWSON    DISTRICT. 

In  the  Dawson  District  the  author  was  able  to  visit  the 
majority  of  the  important  properties  on  Bonanza,  Eldorado, 
Hunker,  Quartz  and  Bear  Creeks,  also  the  Twelve  Mile  River 
district  where  the  Yukon  Consolidated  Gold  Field  Company  have 
their  sawmill,  power  plant  and  intake  of  their  ditch.  The  visits 
to  Bonanza,  Eldorado  and  Quartz  Creeks  were  made  in  the 
company  of  Mr.  A.  Beaudette,  the  Government  Consulting 
Engineer  at  Dawson,  to  whom  the  author  is  indebted  for  most 
of  his  information. 

The  auriferous  gravels  of  the  Yukon  Territory  have  not  by 
any  means  been  thoroughly  explored,  so  no  accurate  information 
as  to  the  extent  of  these  can  be  had.  The  most  probable  esti- 
mate is  put  at  about  2,000  square  miles,  warranting  either  or 
both  placer  and  gravel  mining.  Of  this  whole  area  the  Dawson 
District  is  by  far  the  most  important  and  has  an  area  of  about 
800  square  miles. 

Mr.  McConnell  places  the  deposition  as  Post  Tertiary  and 
Tertiary  periods  and  claims  that  only  part  of  these  deposits  show 
glaciation.  The  origin  of  the  bench  gravels  is  explained  sub- 
stantially as  follows: — 

The  gravels  were  deposited  in  the  beds  of  large  rivers  and 
creeks;  subsequently  elevation  took  place,  which  contorted  the 
schists  and  caused  the  waters  to  take  new  channels,  leaving  the 


Minim.   Methods  of  tiii:   Vikon  551 

gold-bearing  gravels  behind;  Finally,  the  present  streams  cut 
their  way  to  depths  of  :'>(>•)  feet  or  so.  making  the  present  valleys 

and  in  some  places  cutting  through  their  former  channels  and 
washing  these  down  into  the  stream  bed.  These  gravels  are 
known  as  Creek  gravels,  while  the  original  ones  are  known  as 
Bench  gravels. 

A  very  strange  and  interesting  tact  in  connection  with  the 
gold-bearing  gravels  in  the  Dawson  District  is  that  some  are 
frozen  even  as  far  down  as  250  feet  and  some  only  to  the  depth 
reached  by  a  single  season  of  frost;  and  another  strange  fact  is 
that  in  the  frozen  gravels  the  ice  is  free  from  detritus.  The 
presence  of  ice  to  such  great  depths  suggests  a  long  period  of 
very  severe  frost.  The  exact  time  of  this  severe  frost  is  would  be 
impossible  to  say,  but  it  must  have  been  previous  to  the  formation 
of  the  creek  deposits,  which  are  not  frozen.  The  absence  of 
detritus  in  the  ice,  it  is  said,  would  suggest  that  the  water  was 
not  in  motion. 

The  gold-bearing  creeks  in  this  district  which  have  suffered 
the  elevation  before  mentioned  are  Bonanza.  Eldorado,  Hunker, 
Bear  and  Quartz  Creeks,  and  those  which  do  not  show  signs  of 
such  an  upheaval  are  Dominion,  Sulphur  and  Gold  Run.  The 
first  mentioned  have  both  creek  and  bench  claims,  while  the  latter 
have  creek  claims  only;  the  composition  of  gravels,  however,  in 
both  hill  and  bench  claims  is  the  same  on  all  of  the  creeks. 

The  gold-bearing  rocks  all  over  the  placer  area  are  sericite 
schists  containing  small  stringers  or  bands  of  quartz  which  are 
often  mistaken  for  veins  or  lodes.  In  many  places  these  schists 
are  cut  by  andesites  and  porphyry  dikes,  which  might  have 
something  to  do  with  concentrating  the  gold.  The  gold  does 
not  occur  disseminated  through  the  quartz  stringers,  as  might 
have  been  expected,  but  is  found  on  the  contact  between  the 
quarts  and  the  Bchists.  These  quartz  pebbles,  of  which  the  gravels 
mainly  consist,  contain  little  or  no  gold,  so  that  what  cannot  be 
recovered  by  placer  or  gravel  mining  would  not  pay  to  lode  mine. 

There  are  aeveral  met  hods  of  prospecting  in  vogue  in  the  Yukon, 
and  the  ri<dit  one  to  be  used  in  a  particular  case  depends  on  the 
extent  and  position  of  the  ground  and  the  character  and  depth 
of  the  overlying  -oil. 


552 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


The  following  is  a  list  of  the  methods  most  generally  used: — 
Adits,  open  cuts,  drill  holes,  shaft  sinking.  An  attempt  will  be 
made  to  give  a  short  sketch  of  the  particular  conditions  to  which 
each  is  most  suited. 


Cross-section  of  a  Creek  Bed. 


To  do  this  let  us  consider  the  above  cross-section  of  a  creek 
bed.  First  we  have  a  muck  composed  of  frozen  organic  matter 
containing  about  75  per  cent,  ice  and  varying  from  2  to  30  feet 
in  depth.  In  almost  all  cases  this  is  quite  solidly  frozen.  Below 
this  we  have  a  layer  of  frozen  gravel  or  silt,  varying  from  2  to  15 
feet  and  carrying  a  few  colours.  Underlying  all  this  we  have 
from  2  to  4  feet  of  "  bed-rock  pay,"  which  is  composed  of  the  heav- 
iest wash  in  the  creek  beds  and  contains  the  best  pay.  From 
the  above  section  it  is  quite  plain  that  before  we  can  get  any  idea 
at  all  as  to.  what  we  have  we  must  get  down  through  from  6  to 
50  feet  of  waste  material.  The  methods  of  attack  here  would 
depend  simply  on  the  depth.  For  all  prospects  where  bedrock 
is  not  over  15  feet  open  cutting  and  ground  sluicing  would  be 
used;  when  more  than  15  feet  deep  shaft  sinking  and  drifting 
would  be  resorted  to — the  Keystone  drill  could  be  used  here  also. 

The  dangers  met  with  in  shaft  sinking  are,  first,  the  possi- 
bility of  water  getting  in  through  partly  frozen  ground  and 
drowning  out  the  works;  secondly,  the  possibility  of  asphixiation 
from  the  accumulation  of  gases  produced  by  wood  fires  where 
wood  is  used  for  thawing  the  gravels,  or  gases  produced  by  the 
decomposition  of  organic  matter. 


S&f4«^~j*~<y6^  CL4£~^ 


T&5 


Surface  development  on  the  Pueblo  Claim. 


Marion  Steam  shovel. 


The  discharge  from  the  Peltons. 


Mining  Methods  op  the  Yukon 


553 


3-eection  of  a  Hill  or  licnch  Claim. 


The  above  cro — ection  is  thai  of  a  hill  or  bench  claim. 
First  we  have  a  little  moss  or  muck  varying  from  6  inches  to  lfoot 
in  depth;  below  this,  fine  sand  and  quartz  pebbles  varying  from 

.">  to  50  feci  in  depth  and  carrying  a  few  colors;  below  this  again 
we  have  a  coarser  material  containing  fairly  large  boulders  of 
quartz,  diorite,  granite,  etc.,  and  varying  in  depth  from  20  to  50 
feet  and  increasing  in  value  as  bed-rock  is  readied.  There  is 
generally  from  4  to  6  feet  on  bed-rock  which  carries  the 
best  pay.  Such  ground  would  be  prospected  by  adits  and 
tunnels. 

In     prospecting     large    tracts    of     land     for    dredging    pur- 
s    the    Keystone   drill    has   proved    a    most    efficient    means 

of   getting   information  as  to  extent    and  value   of  gold-bearing 

gravels. 

The  following  is  an  approximation  to  the  average  cost  of 
prospecting: — 


Shaft  singing 
Shaft  sinking. 
Adits  or  tunnels 
Adits  or  tunnels 


without  timbering,  $4.00  per  ft. 

with  timbering         |8  50  per  ft. 

.ithout  timbering  $1.00  per  ft. 

I'x8'  with  timbering         $7.00  per  ft. 


Thawing  the  frozen  ground  is  quite  a  large  item  in  the  cost 
of  shaft  sinking;  if  this  is  done  with  wood  d>out  60c.  per 

cubic  yard;  if  steam  is  used  it   can  lie  done  as  low  as  35c.  per 

cubic  yard. 

A   prosp  itfil   for  two  men.  including  provisions  for 

one  year,  thawing  apparatus,  tools,  etc,   would   be  estimated 
■       i  and  $750. 


554  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Provisions —  Tools — 

Flour 350  lbs.  1  8-H.P.  boiler. 

Sugar 100  lbs.  2  steam  points. 

Rice 50  lbs.  2  axes. 

Beans 50  lbs.  3  shovels. 

Rolled  oats  .  .  .  100  lbs.  2  gold  pans. 

Bacon 100  lbs.  1  stove. 

Ham 100  lbs.  1  whipsaw  and  files. 

Butter 50  lbs.  2  picks. 

Milk 2  cases.  Planes. 

Dried  fruit  ....  100  lbs.  Brace  and  bits. 

Pepper £  lbs.  Saws,  hammer  and  nails. 

Tea 10  lbs.  Dishes. 

Coffee 10  lbs.  Candles. 

Salt 5  lbs.  Large  tub. 

Spring  operations  in  the  Dawson  District  commence  about 
April  20th  and  continue  on  till  June  15th,  this  period  being 
known  as  the  spring  freshet.  The  dry  season  lasts  from  about 
June  15th  till  August  1st,  and  during  this  period  only  creek 
propositions  can  be  operated.  The  fall  freshet  begins  somewhere 
about  August  1st  and  lasts  on  until  end  of  open  season,  which 
usually  means  about  the  end  of  September. 

The  duration  of  the  spring  freshet  is  getting  shorter  and 
shorter  every  year  as  development  on  hill  and  bench  claims 
goes  on,  and  the  lumber  industry  increases.  The  moss  and  trees 
are  removed  from  the  hillsides  exposing  the  snows  and  small 
glaciers  formed  during  the  long  winter  months  to  the  sun's  heat. 

Several  methods  have  been  tried  to  obtain  sufficient  water 
during  the  dry  season  for  a  few  hours  run  each  day.  One  of 
these  was  the  installation  of  a  pumping  plant,  but  because  of  the 
excessive  cost  of  fuel  it  proved  a  failure. 

A  very  extensive  piece  of  work  is  at  the  present  time  in  the 
course  of  construction  which  will  furnish  a  water  system  whereby 
a  constant  water  supply  can  be  had  to  operate  certain  of  the 
gold-bearing  gravels  in  the  Klondike  district  during  the  open 
season. 

From  the  immense  amount  of  data  obtained  by  the  Yukon 
Consolidated  Gold  Field  Company,  who  have  acquired  all  the 


Mining  Methods  ot  the  Yukon 

mosl  Important  gravel  areas  on  Bonanza,  Eldorado  and  Hunker, 

and  who  arc  now  carrying  out  thia  gigantic  piece  of  work,  it  Was 
found  that  a  constant  summer  water  supply  of  10,000  miner's 
inches  can  be  brought  from  Twelve  Mile  River  and  its  tributaries, 
a  distance  of  some  50  miles,  and  that  the  cost  of  this  enormous 
undertaking  will  not  l>e  prohibitive;  also  it   was  found  that  it 

will  furnish   water  at   sufficient   elevation  for  hydraulic  purposes. 

The  company  expert  to  complete  this  work  about  October  1st, 
1908,  and  have  everything  ready  for  extensive  operations  in  the 
spring  of  1909. 

At  the  time  the  author  visited  the  Y.  < '.  G.  1\  Cos  workings 
on  Twelve  Mile  River  a  flume  4'  x  3'  had  been  constructed  from 
one  of  the  intakes,  of  which  there  are  two;  the  one  just  referred 
situated  above  the  power  plant  on  Little  Twelve  Mile  Creek, 
the  right  fork  of  Twelve  Mile  River;  the  water  from  this  flume 
_  used  at  that  time  solely  in  driving  the  Pelton  wheels 
of  their  Electric  Power  Generating  Plant.  An  iron  pipe  or 
penstock  about  30"  in  diameter  at  intake,  \"  thick,  tapering  down 
to  26"  at  Peltons.  and  2.000  ft.  in  length,  with  a  fall  in  that  dis- 
tance of  674  ft.,  was  used  to  convey  the  water  from  the  flume  to 
the  power  house. 

The  second  intake  to  the  main  ditch  is  situated  five  and  a 
half  miles  above  the  power  plant  <>n  Tombstone  (feck,  the  left 
fork  of  Twelve  Mile  River.  The  dimensions  of  thia  flume  are  the 
as  those  of  the  Little  Twelve  Mile  Creek  flume.  These 
two  flumes  discharge  into  a  common  flume  at  a  point  200  ft. 
above  the  intake  of  the  penstock  conveying  the  water  to  the  Peltons. 

Two  six-foot  Pelton  wheels  working  under  a  pressure  of 
300  lb.-,  per  .-<(.  in.  are  used  to  drive  two  Westinghouse  Alter- 
nating current  motors,  K.W.  625,  volt.  2200.  amp.  per  ter.  164, 
phase 3, cycle 60,  R.l'.M.  150. 

-mailer  Pelton  wheel-  about  3  ft.  in  diameter  are 

Irive  the  direct  current  generator-  K.  \V.  17.  volt.  125, 
amp.  135,  R.l'.M.  112.5—  which  are  the  exciters  for  the  large 
alternate 

The  voltage  for  transmission  i-  stepped  up  to  33,000  volts 

and  is  carried   by  air  line  33  miles  in   length  to  a  distributing 

i!  on  the  Klondike  River.     It    i-  received  at   the  dredges 

at    1,000  volt-  and  there  stepped  down  to  400  volts.     Only  one 


556  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

of  the  Peltons  is  at  present  in  use  and  is  generating  sufficient 
power  for  three  dredges,  also  four  large  hoists  which  are  being 
used  to  convey  the  lumber  necessary  for  the  construction  of  flumes 
— these  are  also  used  for  installing  the  syphons.  By  next  spring 
the  power  plant  will  be  called  upon  to  operate  seven  dredges  as 
well  as  to  drive  the  machinery  for  three  hydraulic  pumps.  The 
cost  of  this  whole  electric  plant  is  estimated  at  somewhere  in  the 
neighborhood  of  $230,000.00. 

The  main  ditch,  which  is  now  well  under  way,  will  be  about 
59  miles  in  length,  19,400  ft.  of  which  will  be  of  iron  piping,  5 
miles  of  redwood  piping,  15  miles  of  flume  and  the  remainder 
ditching. 

The  inverted  syphon  to  be  installed  across  the  Klondike 
River  valley  will  be  of  \"  iron,  42"  diameter  and  15,000  ft.  long, 
under  a  maximum  pressure  of  250  lbs.  per  sq.  in.  The  inverted 
syphon  to  be  installed  across  the  Little  Twelve  Mile  Creek  in 
order  to  convey  the  water  from  Tombstone  Creek  into  main  flume 
will  be  of  \"  iron,  48"  in  diameter  and  4,400  ft.  long,  under  a 
pressure  of  300  lbs.  per  sq.  in. 

A  third  syphon,  to  be  installed  across  a  valley  about  5  miles 
wide  and  125  ft.  below  grade,  will  be  of  2\"  redwood  staves,  dia- 
meter of  pipe  48  inches,  and  the  greatest  pressure  to  which  it 
will  be  subjected  will  be  about  55  lbs.  per  sq.  in. 

The  author  could  not  secure  any  accurate  information  as  to 
extent  of  flume,  but  it  will  be  somewhere  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
15  miles. 

Width  of  flume.  ...   6  ft. 

Height  of  flume.  ...   4  ft. 

Grade  of  flume  ....  15  ft.  per  mile. 

Capacity  of  flume.  .  10,000  miner's  inches. 

Size  of  sills 8"x8" 

Size  of  caps 4"x4" 

Size  of  posts 4"x4" 

Size  of  lagging.  .  .  .  .2"xl0"xl6' 

Frames  placed  at  8-ft.  intervals. 

Estimate  per  16  ft,  of  flume=l,000  sq.  ft.  of  timber. 

The  timber  used  is  native  spruce  from  the  valley  of  the 
Twelve  Mile.       The  company's  sawmill  is  situated  on  Twelve 


Minim;   M  i  thods  of  the  Yukon 


.v,7' 


Mile  River  five  milea  below  their  power  bouse.  Capacity  of  mill 
is  estimated  al  30,000  ft.  per  day  and  it  is  run  by  steam,  having 
been  installed  a  year  or  bo  before  the  installation  <>f  their  electric 
power  generating  plant.  This  mill  is  expected  to  turn  out  some 
7,000,000   ft.   of  Lumber,  which   is  all   that  can  be  cut  in  that 


f    '     ♦ 


t  i  S     i i  >         v       I 


district.  This  amount  will  not,  however,  prove  ^sufficient  and 
they  count  on  having  to  purchase  between  2,000,000  and  3,000,000 
feet  more. 

The  remaining  35  miles  of  this  water-way  will  consist  of 
ditching,  the  data  of  which  is  given  in  tabulated  form  below. 

Width  of  ditch  at  top 18  to  22  ft. 

Width  of  ditch  at  bottom 12  to  16  ft. 

Average  of  depth  required 4  ft. 

I  Greatest  depth  of  excavation 12  ft. 

Grade 1  in  1,000. 

Side  slopes 1  in  1. 

Method  of  excavation Steam  shovel. 

No.  of  shovels  working 2. 

of  excavation 15c.  per  cu.  yd. 

Cu.  yardage  per  2  1  In-,  per  shovel  .800  to  1100. 

The  type  of  shovel  used  is  the  Marion  steam  shovel — nominal 
capacity  1,080  cu.  yds.,  dipper  capacity  1$  cu.  yds.  The  shovel 
is  run  on  temporary  rails  and  will  do  5  ft.  of  length  from  one 

ion.  With  the  unskilled  labour  provided  each  shovel  advanced 
from  250  to  300  ft.  per  shift  of  ten  hour-. 


558  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

The  writer  also  had  the  pleasure  of  visiting  the  Rothschild 
Co.  dredging  plant  (known  as  the  Canadian  Klondike  Mining  Co.) 
at  the  mouth  of  Bear  Creek.  The  extent  of  dredging  property 
owned  by  this  company  is  estimated  at  48  square  miles. 

The  electric  power  is  generated  by  steam  and  the  lay  out 
of  the  plant  is  as  follows : — 

Three  boilers  of  150  H.P.  capacity  each,  and  burning  in 
all  13  to  14  colds  of  wood  per  day,  produce  all  the  power  required 
to  operate  the  dredge  and  everything  about  the  plant. 

One  Westinghouse  Parson's  steam  turbine,  rated  at  400  K.W. 
and  a  speed  of  3,600  R.P.M.,  to  which  was  attached  an  Alberger 
condenser  containing  681  tubes  giving  a  cooling  surface  of  1,600 
sq.  ft.  and  working  under  a  vacuum  of  29  inches. 

One  generator,  revolving  field,  capacity  400  K.W.,  2,300  volts, 
3  phase,  60  cycles,  at  a  speed  of  3,600  R.P.M.,  directly  connected 
to  the  Parson's  steam  turbine. 

One  exciter,  capacity  17  K.W.,  125  volts,  133  amp.,  running 
at  a  speed  of  1,125  R.P.M.,  and  directly  connected  to  the  Parson's 
steam  turbine. 

They  also  have  an  induction  motor  for  supplying  power  for 
pumping,  etc.,  doing  odd  jobs  about  the  plant. 

The  type  of  dredge  used  by  this  company  is  the  Marion 
bucket  dredge,  operated  by  means  of  spuds  and  side  lines  and 
close  linked  buckets — 64  buckets  to  the  belt  with  a  capacity  of 
5£  cu.  ft.  each.  The  average  monthly  capacity  is  about  83,000 
cu.  yds.,  capacity  under  favorable  conditions  3,500  cu.  yds. 
per  24  hrs.  The  lips  of  the  buckets  are  made  of  manganese  steel 
and  have  to  be  renewed  every  four  months. 

The  stacker  of  the  link  belt  type  uses  a  belt  conveyer  about 
3  ft.  wide  and  made  of  a  rubber  composition.  The  life  of  this 
belt  unprotected  is  from  5  to  6  months.  If,  however,  an  18-inch 
belt  is  used  over  the  large  one,  the  life  of  the  large  belt  is  trebled. 

The  gravel  is  dumped  from  the  buckets  at  the  top  of  the 
dredge  into  an  inclined  rotating  screen  with  four  different  sized 
perforations  increasing  in  size  as  we  reach  the  lower  end  of  the 
screen.  The  inner  surface  of  the  screen  was  supplied  with  small 
flanges  set  at  an  angle  to  the  longer  axis  of  the  screen,  which 
prevented  the  materials  from  simply  sliding  down  the  incline 


Mining  Methods  Of  the  Yukon  "i.v.i 

Afforded  them.  It  no1  only  served  thai  purpose  but  was  a  very 
efficient  mean  of  shaking  up  the  gravels  thoroughly. 

The  longer  axis  of  this  BCreen  had  a  hollow  jacket  studded 
with  perforations  which  admitted  water  under  great  pressure 
to  the  interior  of  the  drum,  thus  assisting  very  materially  in  the 
disintegration  of  the  fine  sands  and  clays. 

The  rotating  screen  discharged  all  the  coarse  gravels  directly 
on  to   the   tailings  heir.     The  sand   and   gravels   which   \< 
through    were    distributed    into    is    sluices.     These  sluices  were 
from  2()  to  2.5  feet  in  length  and  had  sharp  elbow.     The 

first  44''  of  riffle  was  of  protected  cocoa-matting,  30"  wide,  and 
the  remaining  portion  was  of  1}"  Hungarian  angle  iron  riffles 
laid  on  wood.  A  cocoa-matting  generally  lasts  one  season;  that 
would  mean  in  the  Yukon  about  5  to  6  months. 

A  clean  up  is  made  every  8  hours,  during  which  intervals 
all  the  machinery  ;-  stopped  and  every  part  thoroughly  oiled. 

The  matting  is  taken  to  the  panning  house  and  there  thor- 
oughly washed  in  a  trough.  All  the  coarse  sands  and  gravels 
are  sieved  and  thrown  away  after  the  coarse  gold  has  been  re- 
moved. The  fine  sands  and  silts  are  panned  most  thoroughly, 
sometimes  twice  over.  After  as  much  gold  as  possible  has  been 
removed  in  this  manner  the  fine  sands  are  run  through  a  Muller 
containing  mercury.  As  soon  as  the  amalgam  becomes  thick 
enough  the  sand  is  run  off  over  an  amalgam  plate,  which  catches 
any  fine  gold  that  has  not  been  caught  in  the  Muller.  The  amal- 
gam i-  also  run  over  this  amalgam  plate  and  thoroughly  cleaned, 
then  transferred  to  a  retort.  The  sponge  then  formed  is 
converted  into  a  gold  brick  by  being  fused  in  graphite  pots,  and 
poured  into  mou 

An  approximation  of  the  cost  of  dredging  i  below: 

Amount  of  wood  per  L'4  hours 12  at  $12  per  cord. 

Labour,  including  board $4.")i). 

Number  of  men  per  24  hour- 

Number  of  men  at  power  station  ...  .8. 

A  pacity  of  dredge  per  24  hre.  .2,850  cu.  yds. 

ibic  yard I3jc. 

I    et  "f  installing  dredge 1150,000. 

ilant $150,000. 


560  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

No  work  can  be  done  on  frozen  ground  and  pebbles  larger 
than  12"  in  diameter  cannot  be  lifted. 

Hydraulicing  is  a  term  given  to  that  form  of  mining  by 
which  water  under  pressure  is  used  against  a  natural  bank. 

The  conditions  for  hydraulicing  are  grade,  water  supply 
and  dumping  ground.  Without  all  these  three  hydraulicing  is 
only  possible  under  great  difficulties  and  at  great  expense.  A 
condition  most  unfavourable  in  this  country  to  hydraulicing  is  the 
frost  in  the  ground.  The  sun's  heat  is  the  only  economic  means 
of  overcoming  this  fact.  If  it  is  found  that  the  gravels  do  not 
thaw  quickly  enough  by  the  sun,  a  jet  of  water  is  shifted  from 
one  part  of  the  face  to  the  other  at  intervals  of  from  4  to  5  hours. 

Hydraulicing  is  by  far  the  cheapest  method  of  removing 
the  gold-bearing  gravels  when  the  water  supply  is  ample  and  the 
head  good.  The  greatest  difficulty  met  with  in  this  country  is 
the  short  water  supply,  and  in  some  parts  of  the  Klondike  district 
pumping  hydraulicing  is  resorted  to.  One  of  these  pumping 
plants  is  on  Cheechaco  Hill  on  Bonanza  Creek  and  is  known  as 
the  Pacific  Coast  Mining  Co.  The  water  is  diverted  from  Bonanza 
at  a  point  about  half  a  mile  above  the  plant  and  conducted  to  a 
sump  hole  by  means  of  a  flume  with  a  capacity  of  over  500  miner's 
inches. 

CONCISE    DATA. 

Capacity  of  pump 3,000  gallons  per  minute. 

H.  P.  required 150  H.  P. 

Vertical  height  to  be  pumped  .  .  .  360  ft. 

Length  of  transmission  pipe 1,750  ft. 

Diameter  of  pipe  12"  to  15". 

Cost  of  plant  installed $150,000.00. 

Pressure  at  nozzle 160  ft.=69.44,  approx.  70. 

Sluices 24"x24". 

Grade 1"-1.5"  to  1'. 

Sluices  are  provided  with  block  and  rock  riffles.  The  tailings 
are  kept  on  the  side  of  the  hill  by  means  of  cribbing  shown  in 
photo  attached. 


Ground  Sluicing  on  29  al  ove  Eldorado. 


Vm4ck 


Self  Dumper  on  No.  9  Quartz  Creek,  Dawson,  Y.T. 


Mining  Methods  of  the  Yukon  561 

cost  of  upkeep  of  plant  per  24  hours. 

1  engineer  per  day $10.00 

_'  assistanl  engineers  per  day 12.00 

2  stokers  per  day 10.00 

2  roustabouts  per  day 8.00 

8  tons  fuel  at  $10  per  ton 80 .  00 

Board  for  7  men  at  $2  per  day 14.00 

Total $134.00 

OST    OP    BYDBAULIC   OPERATIONS   PER   24   HOURS. 

1  foreman  per  day $  7.00 

'2  labourers  per  day 8.00 

Labourers  in    cuts  1-10  average  4 16.00 

Cribbing — at    about   5c.  per  cu.  yd 32.00 

Board   for    9  men  at  $2  per  day 18 .  00 

Total  cost  of  upkeep    of   plant 81 .00 

Cost   of    operation  per  day $215.00 

Capacity,  1,500  cu.  yds.  per  24  hours  at  $223.00.  Not  including 
oil  waste  and  repairs,  etc.,  approximately  15c.  per  cu.  yd.  Taking 
everything  into  account,  cost  equals  approximately  20c.  per  cu.  yd. 

The  difference  in  cost  between  pumping  hydraulicing  and 
gravity  hydraulicing  is  the  difference  in  cost  of  upkeep,  which 
would  bring  the  cost  down  to  about  7c.  per  cu.  yd.  for  gravity 
hydraulicing. 

The  placer  mining  methods  in  vogue  here  are  only  the  old 
crude  methods  used  in  other  placer  mining  camps  sufficiently 
altered  to  suit  existing  conditions. 

A  very  interesting  fact  to  notice  here  is  that  the  most  im- 
portant gold-bearing  creeks  have  very  little  grade,  short  water 
supply  and  are  denude  of  timber;  while  those  of  less  importance 
have  conditions  exceedingly  favorable  to  placer  mining. 

The  met  In  >ds  and  costs  of  mining  even  on  the  same  stream 
vary  considerably,  so  that  the  best  way  to  treat  of  them  will  be 
to  explain  aome  of  the  methods  used  and  quote  costs  in  a  few 
special  cases.  The  main  cost,  however,  in  any  ease  is  '<>  excavate 
the  material  and  place  it  in  the  washing  plant. 

36 


562  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

The  mechanical  devices  now  constantly  in  use  have  de- 
creased the  cost  of  mining  over  75  per  cent,  from  the  cost  in  for- 
mer years. 

In  the  Dawson  District  most  of  the  gravels  are  frozen  to 
bed-rock  and  it  is  only  in  exceptional  places  that  pumping  has 
to  be  resorted  to  in  drifting  operations.  The  creek  gravels  are 
shallow,  and  since  the  introduction  of  the  open  cut  method  very 
little  drifting  is  done  when  the  depth  to  bed-rock  does  not  exceed 
15  ft.  This  changes  much  of  the  winter  works  into  summer 
workings. 

By  the  method  of  open  cut  the  miners  take  advantage  of 
the  water  available  during  the  freshets  of  the  spring  to  ground 
sluice  the  overburden  and  expose  the  gravels  to  the  sun  to  thaw. 
Very  little  grade  is  needed  to  allow  the  water  to  remove  this 
silt  or  muck  as  the  existing  conditions  are  more  or  less  favorable. 

The  considerable  depth  of  the  gravel  deposits  of  Bonanza, 
Eldorado  and  Hunker  Creeks  made  it  necessary  to  work  them 
originally  by  drifting.  The  values  left  therein  do  not  warrant 
placer  mining,  although  they  would  pay  and  are  paying  as  dredging 
propositions. 

Dominion  Creek  is  one  of  the  most  important  gold-bearing 
streams.  Bed-rock  here  is  very  shallow  and  for  the  most  part 
under  15  ft.,  so  most  of  the  work  is  open  cut  work,  although  con- 
siderable drifting  has  been  done.  It  would  make  good  dredging 
ground.  The  water  supply  is  very  short  here,  however,  as  on 
most  of  the  creeks,  but  timber  for  fuel  and  timbering  is  quite 
abundant. 

The  same  might  be  said  of  Sulphur  and  Quartz  Creeks  as 
was  said  of  Dominion,  except  that  on  these  two  the  ground  is 
deeper  and  thus  drifting  is  resorted  to  rather  than  open  cutting. 

Twenty  thousand  square  feet  is  about  the  average  area  of 
ground  drifted  from  one  shaft.  The  approximate  cost  of  mining 
such  a  piece  of  ground  would  be,  taking  average  depth  of  ground 
at  35  ft.,  the  shaft  to  be  timbered: — 


Minim.   Methods  of  thk  Yukon  563 

Shaft  sinking  at  14  per  ft.  for  35  ft $     140.00 

Timbering  and  drifting 170.00 

Average  output  per  day  about  360  sq.  ft,  of  bed 

rock  for  56  days 

Firewood,  2  cords  per  day  for  56  days  at  $10  per 

cord 1,120.00 

\V  tgee  for  10  men: — Foreman, engineer, pointman, 

fireman  and  l)  miners  at  $66  for  56  days    3,696.00 

$5,126.00 

This  does  not  include  prospecting  and  locating  of  pay, 
cabins,  hotter  house  and  plant,  wear  and  tear  on  machinery,  etc.; 
to  cover  these  30  per  cent,  to  40  per  cent,  would  have  to  be  added 
to  the  bill  of  expense.  This  would  give  the  following  approxi- 
mate costs: — 

To  work  ground  (20,000  sq.  ft.) $5,126 .00 

To  plant,  etc 1,538.00 


$6,664.00 

which  amounts  to  33.25c.  per  sq.  ft.  or  7.5c.  per  cu.  ft.     This 
would  be  working  with  steam  hoist  and  self  dumper. 

If  instead  of  a  steam  hoist  and  self  dumper  a  windlass  is 
the  men  work  in  pairs,  one  underground  and  one  on  the 
windlass,  and  unless  the  ground  is  deep  the  shafts  should  be  not 
more  than  100  ft.  apart.  Windlass  drifts  are  very  much  smaller 
and  lower  than  steam  hoist  drifts.  The  usual  pay  in  these  drifts 
would  be  taken  as  about  3£  ft.;  the  average  number  of  buckets 
on  a  3£  ft.  face  would  be  about  200  per  day,  and  the  average 
bucket  would  contain  about  7  pans.  Two  hundred  buckets 
would  mean  about  235  cu.  ft.,  or  an  area  of  about  67  sq.  ft.  of 
bed-rock. 

The  following  is  an  approximation  of  the  cost  of  drifting 
30,000  sq.  ft.  of  ground  in  this  manner,  working  from  4  shafts 
of  from  20  to  25 


564  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

4  shafts  at  $95.00  per $       380.00 

Odd  timbering,  probably 20.00 

800  buckets  per  day  will  strip  about  270  sq.  ft. 

and  require 

12  men:  foreman,  engineer,  pointman,  fireman 

and  8  miners  at  $78.00  for  112  days 8,746.00 

Firewood  per  day,  1£  cords  at  $10.00=15x112.  1,780.00 

Total $10,926.00 

Add  15  per  cent,  for  tools,  steam  fittings  and  dead  work,  etc. 

To  work  ground $10,926 .  00 

To  plant 1,637.40 

Total $12,563.40 

which  amounts  to  41.847c.  per  sq.  ft.  or  11.95c.  per  cu.  ft. 

Drifting  operations  during  the  winter  consist  in  first  sinking 
the  shaft  to  bed-rock  and  then  running  drifts  across  the  pay 
within  limits  of  the  property.  At  the  end  of  the  drifts  the  ground 
is  breasted  out  at  right  angles  to  the  drifts,  and  if  frozen  very 
hard  steam  points  are  set  in  and  left  for  10  hours,  then  the  thawed 
material  is  excavated,  wheeled  to  the  shaft,  hoisted  to  the  surface 
and  placed  in  dumps  and  left  there  till  spring.  Excavation 
always  proceeds  towards  the  shaft,  the  miners  filling  in  behind 
them  with  waste  material  and  large  rocks,  as  a  protection  to 
themselves  and  the  unexcavated  material.  As  a  rule  very 
little  timbering  is  needed. 

Drifting  operations  in  the  summer  are  the  same  as  for  winter 
with  a  slight  difference  due  to  direct  sluicing. 

When  there  is  very  little  water  available,  and  while  it  ac- 
cumulates or  is  being  used  by  another,  a  hopper  built  on  top 
of  the  sluice  boxes  is  filled  with  pay  ready  to  be  washed  when 
there  is  a  sluice  head  of  water  available. 

Where  there  is  plenty  of  water  the  material  is  hoisted  by 
means  of  a  self  dumper  and  dumped  out  on  to  an  apron  inclined 
so  that  the  material  when  dumped  thereon  will  slide  on  to  the 
sluices  by  gravity. 


Mining  Mkthods  of  the  Yukon  565 

All  solidly  frozen  deposits  of  less  than  15  ft.  in  depth  should 
he  open  rut.  If  this  is  done  by  manual  labor  it  is  classified 
as  placer  mining,  if  mechanical  contrivances  are  used  it  i-  classi- 
fied under  the  head  of  gravel  mining. 

The  operation  consists  in  first  stripping  the  ground  of  moss 
and  muck  by  directing  the  stream  into  a  ditch,  ami  men  with 
picks  and  shovels  move  the  material  into  the  stream  which 
carries  it  away.  This  special  method  is  known  as  stripping 
by  ground  Bluicing,  and  is  by  far  the  cheapest  when  there  is 
sufficient  water  available. 

If  there  is  not  sufficient  water  for  ground  sluicing,  stripping 
and  scraping  of  waste  may  he  done  by  either  steam  or  horse 
scrapers,  at  a  cost  of  about  55c.  per  cu.  yd.  for  steam  and  60c. 
to  70c.  for  horses.  The  water  in  these  workings  is  controlled 
by  means  of  duplex  pumps,  or  when  a  stream  is  available  Chinese 
pumps  are  often  employed. 

In  open  cut  work  sometimes  the  pay  can  be  shovelled  di- 
rectly into  the  sluices,  or  may  be  shovelled  on  to  a  platform 
and  then  into  sluices,  or  shovelled  into  wheelbarrows  and  wheeled 
up  to  a  self-feeding  hopper,  or  hoisted  to  these  hoppers  by  means 
of  self-dumpers. 

Shovelling  directly  into  a  sluice  not  over  b\  ft.  in  height 
and  using  a  pick  to  loosen  bed-rock,  one  man  will  do  4£  cu-  yds. 
in  10  hours. 

Shovelling  into  a  wheelbarrow  and  wheeling  to  self-feeding 
hopper  a  distance  of  50  ft.,  one  man  wall  do  3.5  cu.  yds.  in  10 
hours. 

Shovelling  from  a  scaffold  not  over  6  ft.  in  height  is  the 
same  as  that  of  two  men  shovelling  on  to  the  scaffold,  i.e.,  S  cu. 
yds.  in  24  hours. 

The  duty  of  a  man  shovelling  in  a  dump  is  9  cu.  yds.  in  10 
hours. 

The  author  wishes  to  express  his  indebtedness  to  Mr.  Beau- 
dette,  Government  Consulting  Kngineer  of  the  Dawson  District, 
and  to  Mr.  ( \eo.  Armstrong,  for  their  kindness  in  giving  information 
and  cost 


L' 


V-  ''    GoWfields  Co's   Dredge  on    Klondike   Basin. 


Staining  Wall  and  Cribbing  on  Cheechaco  Hill,   Bonanza. 


THE  CREIGHTOX  MINE  OF  THE  CANADIAN  COPPER  CO.. 
SUDBURY   DISTRICT,  ONTARIO.* 

By  L.  Stewart,  McGill  University,  Montreal,  Que. 

Introduction 

The  Sudbury  nickel-copper  district  centres  about  the  town 
of  Sudbury,  at  the  junction  point  of  the  Soo  and  main  lines  of 
the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  in  Northern  Ontario.  Sudbury 
is  440  miles  west  of  Montreal  and  182  miles  east  of  Sault  Ste. 
Marie.  The  Algoma  Central  Railway  runs  out  of  Sudbury  into 
the  mining  district  for  a  distance  of  13  miles,  terminating  at  the 
Gertrude  Mine  of  the  Lake  Superior  Power  Co.,  who  own  the 
railroad. 

In  the  year  1907  this  district  mined  343,814  tons  of  ore,  pro- 
ducing 10,530,000  lbs.  copper  and  21,490,000  lbs.  nickel,  making 
the  Sudbury  region  the  greatest  nickel  producer  in  the  world. 
The  only  other  competing  region.  New  Caledonia,  produced  in 
1907  about  20,000,000  lbs.,  exact  figures  not  being  available. 
It  might  also  be  remarked  that  for  ore  reserves  and  undeveloped 
prospects  the  Sudbury  region  also  lead<. 

The  entire  output  of  1907  was  mined  and  smelted  by  two 
companies.  The  first  and  larger  of  these,  the  Canadian  Copper 
Co.,  a  subsidiary  company  of  the  International  Nickel  Co.,  X.V.. 
has  its  headquarters,  roast  yards  and  smelter  at  Copper  Cliff, 
four  miles  west  of  Sudbury  on  the  Soo  line  of  the  C.P.R.  It 
owns  many  mines  and  prospects  in  the  district,  but  in  1907  only 
three  of  these  were  worked;  No.  2  mine  at  Copper  Cliff  worked 
for  a  few  months,  the  Creighton  mine,  six  miles  west  of  Copper 
Cliff,  and  the  Crean  Hill  mine,  eighteen  miles  south-west  of  Copper 
Cliff. 


•Paper  entered  for  the  "Student  Competition,  1908," and  awarded  third 
prise  t>y  the  judges. 


568 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


The  Canadian  Copper  Co.  produces  about  four-fifths  of  the 
entire  output  of  the  district,  and  of  this,  80%  or  about  60% 
of  the  output  of  the  district,  comes  from  the  Creighton  Mine. 

The  other  company  working  in  the  district,  the  Mond  Nickel 
Co.,  has  its  smelter  and  headquarters  at  Victoria  Mines,  twenty- 
two  miles  west  of  Sudbury  on  the  Soo  line  of  the  C.P.R.  Its 
mines  are  three  miles  north  of  the  station. 

The  purpose  of  this  paper  is  to  describe  the  Creighton  Mine, 
which  boasts  the  distinction  of  being  the  largest  and  most  valuable 
nickel  deposit  in  the  world. 


«**-- 


yards 


COPPE 


R  Cuff 


Suo&uRY 


To     MO~THEAl_ 


CReiOHTON 
MiME 


Copper  Cliff 
Station 


NflU&MTEN 


F,3   1 

Mab       of     CreiqfitoK     Location 

I         ■/>..       O  I  1  3 

SCALE  OF  MILES     L    n    1 1 — . i I 


T'" 


Fig.  I.  is  a  map  of  Sudbury  and  the  vicinity,  showing  the 
Creighton  and  Crean  Hill  Mines. 

Geology  of  the  Sudbury  District 

The  oldest  rocks  in  the  Sudbury  region  belong  to  the  Lauren- 
tian  and  Huronian  divisions  and  are  classed  together  by  the 
Ontario  Bureau  of  Mines  as  Archean. 


The  Creiohton  Mine      -  ."><;<• 

The  Laurentiao  conaistfl  of  a  very  coarse,  flesh-coloured, 
granitoid  gneiss  and  covers  the  greater  part  of  the  district  to 

the  north  and  west  of  Sudbury,  also  it  appears  beyond  the  Huron- 
ian  eruptives  in  the  south-west.  It  is.  in  fact,  the  most  pro- 
minent formation  in  the  region. 

The  Huronian  (Lower)  formation  in  the  vicinity  of  Sudbury 
itself  extends  in  a  broad  Land  about  twenty  miles  wide  to  the 
north-east  and  south-west,  it  contains  many  varieties  of  erup- 
tive basic  locks,  such  as  diorite  and  gabbro,  along  with  highly 
metamorphosed  arkose,  quartzites  and  gray  waekes.  Numerous 
diabase  dikes  cut  all  of  these  formations. 

All  of  these  older  rocks  are  greatly  faulted  and  broken  up. 
The  region  in  general  is  very  rocky,  with  here  and  there  a  very 
sparse  covering  of  glacial  drift. 

Eti  sting  on  these  older  rocks,  and  having  an  eruptive  contact 
with  them,  is  a  huge  laccolithic  sheet  of  what  is  known  as  the 
"nickel-eruptive,"  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  thick,  thirty-six 
miles  long  and  sixteen  miles  wide.  This  sheet  is  in  the  form  of 
a  boat-shaped  syncline  with  its  pointed  end  to  the  north-east  and 
its  square  end  to  the  south-west.  It  is  generally  called  the  "  nickel 
basin. " 

The  rock  in  this  sheet  is  norite  (a  variety  of  gabbro  in  which 
hypersthene  has  replaced  hornblende)  on  the  outer  or  under 
edge,  and  merges  with  gradual  transition  into  a  form  of  granite 
called  micropegmetite  on  the  inner  or  upper  edge.  Numerous 
dike-like  offsets  from  the  basic  edge  are  found  running  into  the 
surrounding  country,  some  of  them  for  a  distance  of  eight  miles. 

ing  in  the  synclinal  trough  of  the  "nickel-eruptive" 
are  more  recent  rocks  of  the  Upper  Huronian  formation.  These 
are  of  sedimentary  origin  and  are  conglomerates,  tuffs,  slates 
and  sandstones. 

A  section  along  a  north-easterly  line  across  the  middle  of 
the  "nickel  basin"  is  shown  in  Fig.  2.  This  line  if  produced 
a  few  miles  would  intersect  the  town  of  Sudbury,  which  is  south- 
east of  the  centre  of  the  "  basin.  " 

Ore  Deposits 

All  the  ore  bodies  so  far  discovered  have  been  found  around 
the  basic  margin  of  the  "nickel-eruptive"  or  along  the  dike-like 


570 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


offsets  from  it.  There  has  been  considerable  controversy  over 
the  origin  of  the  ore  bodies  and  their  relation  to  the  norite. 
One  school  of  geologists  claims  that  the  ore  has  been  deposited 
and  concentrated  by  percolating  waters.  The  best  authorities, 
however,  including  Professor  Kemp,  Dr.  Barlow  and  Dr.  Adams, 
favor  Vogt's  theory  of  magmatic  segregation,  that  is  to  say, 
that  the  ore  and  basic  material  of  the  molten  magma  by  reason 
of  their  higher  specific  gravity  accumulated  at  the  outer  or  under 
edge  of  the  eruptive  mass  while  it  was  still  molten,  and  that  the 
ore,  copper,  nickel  and  iron  sulphides,  being  the  heavier,  sank 
into  the  bays  and  hollows  in  the  country  rock,  forming  the  ore 
bodies  of  to-day. 


Geological     Section     across    Nickel  Basin 


SCALE   OF  MILES 


3: 


In  favour  of  this  view  are  the  following  facts: — 

1.  The  ore  is  always  found  in  the  norite.  No  ore  occurs 
without  being  associated  with  norite,  and  no  norite  along  the 
lower  or  outer  fringe  of  the  nickel  basin  or  in  the  offsets  is  entirely 
devoid  of  ore. 

2.  Norite  and  ore  are  mixed  in  every  ratio  from  almost 
barren  rock  at  the  inner  side  to  almost  pure  ore  at  the  outside  of 
the  eruptive.     This  is  the  case  at  all  of  the  ore  deposits. 

3.  The  adjoining  gneiss,  gray  wacke,  etc.,  has  no  ore  spotted 
through  it,  although  veinlets  of  ore  penetrate  it  at  places  from 
deposits  in  the  norite. 

4.  The  freshest  norite  is  found  close  to  the  ore  deposits, 
while  percolating  waters  would  have  altered  the  hypersthene 
in  it. 


The  Creighton  Mine       .  571 

5.  Very  few  minerals  accompanying  water  depositions  are 
present  in  the  ore  deposits. 

0.  The  ore  deposits  all  over  the  district  and  in  contact  with 
different  kinds  of  country  rock  are  very  similar. 

7.  The  Largest  deposits  are  where  bays  or  offsets  of  norite 
project  into  the  country  rock. 

N.B.-  The  above  account  of  the  geology  of  the  district  is 
largely  summarised  from  Report  XXV.  of  the  Ontario  Bureau 
of  Mines. 

MlM   i:  VLOGY 

The  ores  of  the  Sudbury  district  are  very  uniform,  three 
sulphides  making  up  the  whole  of  most  of  the  ore  bodies,  and  of 
these  only  two  noticeable,  pyrrhotite  or  magnetic  iron  pyrites  and 
chalcopyrite  or  copper  pyrites.  The  most  important  mineral, 
pentlandite  or  nickel  pyrites,  is  scarcely  ever  seen  free,  it  being 
usually  enclosed  in  the  pyrrhotite. 

Pyrrhotite,  the  most  abundant  mineral,  has  a  composition 
varying  from  Fe5S6  to  Fe16S17.  It  has  a  pale  bronze  colour  with 
bright  metallic  lustre  but  quickly  tarnishes  and  weathers  to  the 
rusty  gossan  that  is  so  conspicuous  about  all  of  the  ore  bodies. 

The  chalcopyrite,  Cu  Fe  S2,  is  bright  yellow  with  metallic 
lustre.  It  readily  weathers  to  azurite,  malachite  and  peacock 
copper,  but  no  deposits  of  these  latter  are  found.  The  chalcopy- 
rite and  pyrrhotite  are  usually  mixed  in  the  ratio  of  1:10  res- 
pectively. 

Pentlandite  is  occasionally  found  free  in  small  amounts 
in  some  of  the  richest  mines  in  the  region,  notably  the  Creighton. 
It  i<  not  easily  distinguished  from  the  pyrrhotite.  Its  formula 
i-  (Fe  Xi)  S  with  varying  proportions  of  nickel,  usually  about 
:;.">'  ,  .  It  is  contained  in  the  pyrrhotite  in  varying  amounts  but 
usually  so  that  the  pyrrhotite  has  an  average  value  of  3.5% 
nickel. 

The  Creighton  Mine 

Bistort 

In  the  year  1855  great  magnetic  disturbances  were  noticed 
near  the  present  Creighton  Mine  by  Salter,  an  early  land  surveyor. 
and  were  put  down  to  "the  presence  of  an  immense  amount  of 


572  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

magnetic  trap."  Samples  of  this  trap  were  sent  to  Dr.  Sterry 
Hunt  for  analysis,  and  he  reported  the  presence  of  magnetic 
iron  pyrites  and  magnetic  iron  ore  generally  disseminated  through 
the  rock;  also  the  presence  of  titaniferous  iron  ore  and  a  small 
quantity  of  nickel  and  copper.  Nothing  was  done,  however, 
towards  prospecting  the  district,  and  it  was  not  until  the  year 
1884  that  this  large  deposit  of  ore  was  discovered  by  the  well 
known  Sudbury  prospector,  Henry  Ranger.  In  1886  the  Canadian 
Copper  Co.  secured  the  property  and  in  1900  they  started  to  open 
it  up.  The  first  ore  was  shipped  in  1901,  and  last  summer,  1907, 
it  was  shipping  over  1,000  tons  of  ore  a  day. 

Location 

The  location  of  the  Creighton  Mine  is  seen  from  the  map, 
Fig.  1.  The  mine  is  situated  six  miles  west  of  Copper  Cliff  on  the 
line  of  the  Algoma  Central  Railroad,  and  exactly  on  the  line 
separating  Snider  and  Creighton  townships.  The  mine  buildings 
and  most  of  the  workings  are  in  Snider  township.  The  Algoma 
Central  R.R.  and  a  good  highway  road  give  connections  with 
Copper  Cliff  and  Sudbury. 

Ore  Deposit 

The  position  of  the  mine  with  reference  to  the  nickel  eruptive 
is  of  interest,  since  it  is  thought  that  this  accounts  for  the  great 
size  and  richness  of  the  deposit.  The  immense  open  pit  shown 
in  Fig.  3  is  situated  at  the  south-eastern  corner  of  the  largest 
and  deepest  bay  of  norite  in  the  district,  the  width  of  the  eruptive 
here  being  four  and  one-eighth  miles.  Here  also  is  the  greatest 
width  of  the  whole  nickel  basin.  It  is  thought  that  "  the  greatest 
amount  of  fluid  ore  accumulated  beneath  the  greatest  thickness 
of  the  overlying  magma  is  at  this  point  and  was  caught  in  the 
extreme  end  of  the  bay,  which  had  no  funnel-shaped  outlet  along 
a  plane  of  faulting  to  allow  the  ore  to  push  out  as  separate  ore 
bodies  along  an  offset." 

Fig.  3  shows  the  location  of  the  mine  with  reference  to  the 
norite  on  the  north-west  and  the  granitoid  gneiss  on  the  south- 
west.    Fig.  4  shows  a  section  across  the  great  open  pit. 


The  Creighton  Mine 


573 


574 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


The  granite  dips  about  50°  to  the  north-west,  but  the  dip 
varies  considerably  at  different  places  and  at  different  depths. 
It  is  coarse,  flesh-coloured,  granitoid  gneiss,  often  porphyritic. 

I  The  norite  on  the  north-west  of  the  ore  body  is  the  usual 
coarse,  dark  gray  variety,  containing  blebs  of  quartz  and  flakes 
of  biotite.  Much  pitting  of  the  surface  is  noticeable,  due  to  the 
weathering  of  spots  of  ore. 


^<J  C/V£/SS 


Section      oc toss   />//    on    Line    fj B 

SCALE   OF  FFET       f°\    .    .    .  *?' .    ■    .    ■   ?'  ~ 


There  is  no  sharp  dividing  line  between  the  norite  and  the  ore. 
The  one  appears  to  merge  into  the  other  by  gradual  transition. 
The  ore  itself,  as  already  mentioned,  is  the  richest  in  the  district 
and  consists  of  almost  pure  chalcopyrite  and  pyrrhotite,  contain- 
ing an  average  of  5%  nickel  and  2%  copper.  An  occasional 
horse  of  rock  several  feet  in  thickness  is  met  with,  but  such 
occurrences  are  not  usual. 

The  ore  body  extends  to  the  south-west  following  approx- 
imately the  outcrop  of  the  norite,  as  shown  in  Fig.  3.     A  lot  of 


The  Creiohton  Mini  575 


careful  diamond  drilling  lias  been  done  on  it  and  the  results 
indicate  that  the  ore  body  is  several  hundred  feet  in  length, 
with  a  width  oi  about  three  hundred  and  depth  of  over  five 
hundred  feet.  Abort  4,000,000  tons  of  ore  was  blocked  out  by 
the  diamond  drills  before  operations  were  suspended  in  this  work. 
To  the  west  and  south  the  ore  body  is  covered  with  about 
eight  feet  of  glacial  drift  and  boulder  clay,  which  is  always  stripped 
off  before  extending  the  edge  of  the  pit.  The  ore  runs  right  to  the 
surface  of  deposit  practically,  as  there  is  very  little  oxidized 
capping,  the  boulder  clay  having  protected  the  minerals. 

Mining  Operations.     (1)  Shafts. 

The  first  shaft  at  Creighton  was  sunk  in  the  granite  with  a 
dip  of  60°  to  the  horizontal  and  in  a  north-westerly  direction 
more  or  less  at  right  angles  to  the  outcrop  of  the  norite.  This 
shaft  contains  three  compartments,  two  for  1}  ton  skips,  and  one 
for  a  ladderway  and  the  different  pipe  lines  and  signal  tubes. 
It  is  heavily  timbered  in  pine,  the  sets  being  eight  feet  apart 
and  connected  by  four  lines  of  stringers  8  x  10"  deep  on  foot 
and  6  x  8  on  hanging  wall. 

The  skip  tracks  are  made  by  laying  a  strip  of  f"  thick  and 
3  V'  wide  along  the  top  edges  of  the  lower  stringers.  These  tracks 
run  from  the  bottom  of  the  shaft  right  up  to  where  the  skip  dump 
is  placed  at  the  top  of  the  rock  house,  at  the  same  inclination. 
The  dump  is  merely  a  curve  downwards  of  the  end  of  the  skip 
track,  thus  tipping  the  car  forward  as  it  is  pulled  up. 

•  !s  were  driven  from  this  -haft  at  60  and  160  feet  vertical 
depth. 

Mining  Operations.     (2)  Stoping. 

From  the  shaft  on  the  (id  foot  and  lti'l  foot  levels,  cross-cuts 
were  run  into  the  ore  body  and  raises  run  from  1st  level  to  surface, 
and  from  2nd.  level  to  1st.  level.  Stoping  was  then  started  in  the 
walls  of  these  raises  and  the  ore  broken  down  on  to  the  level 
below  and  trammed  to  the  shaft  and  hoisted.     In  time  the  1st 

level   was   entirely    opened    to    the   surface   and.    somewhat    later, 
the   2nd  level    lil  •  result   of  these  operations  there  is 

now  a  huge  open  pit  about  350  feet  in  diameter  and  lti'l  feet    deep 
>wn  in  Figs,  3  and  4. 


576  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

The  sloping  operations  of  the  present  day  are  similar  to  those 
already  mentioned.  From  the  bottom  of  the  pit  the  stopes  rise  in 
irregular  steps  to  the  surface.  On  these  steps  or  ledges  the  miner 
sets  his  drill  and  drills  vertical  holes  10  feet  deep  into  the  ore  body. 
The  holes  are  spaced  differently  depending  on  the  amount  of  rock 
in  the  ore. 

The  drills  used  are  3£"  Rand  type  working  under  95  lbs. 
air  pressure  per  sq.  inch.  With  one  of  these  a  good  machine  man 
can  drill  and  blast  30  to  40  feet  per  shift  of  10  hours.  Each 
machine  man  has  an  assistant  or  "  helper. " 

The  men  go  to  work  at  7  o'clock  each  shift,  and  drill  until 
about  5.15.  The  holes  are  measured  by  the  foreman  and  powder 
checker,  and  the  men  then  go  up  to  the  powder  house  where  the 
powder  man  gives  them  such  powder  as  the  foreman  has  estimated. 
They  then  go  down  and  load  up  the  holes  and  are  ready  to  fire 
them  at  6  o'clock  after  the  men  in  the  pit  below  have  left  off  work. 
After  blasting,  the  machine  men  and  helpers  go  back  to  see  that 
there  are  no  misfires  and  also  to  scale  down  any  loose  particles 
that  have  not  fallen  down  into  the  pit. 

Blasting  is  done  by  40%  dynamite.  It  takes  an  average  of 
9  sticks  of  dynamite  for  each  10  foot  hole.  One  of  the  sticks 
of  dynamite  in  each  hole  has  a  detonating  cap  in  it  with  fuse 
connected  to  it.     The  fuse  burns  at  the  rate  of  2  feet  per  minute. 

The  sticks  of  dynamite  are  rammed  into  the  hole,  which  has 
been  blown  clear  of  water,  and  fine  muck,  djrt,  etc.,  is  tamped 
down  on  top  of  them.  The  end  of  the  fuse  has  been  slit  previously 
and  a  pinch  of  dynamite  stuck  into  the  slit  to  assist  in  lighting. 
A  torch  made  of  the  wrappers  of  the  dynamite  sticks  is  used  for 
lighting  the  fuses. 

After  lighting  the  fuses  the  men  run  to  the  nearest  shelter, 
the  buildings  above  ground  or  the  tunnel  on  the  pit  level,  for  the 
blasting  throws  particles  of  rock  and  ore  in  every  direction  within 
a  radius  of  300  feet. 

There  is  never  any  delay  in  the  drilling  in  order  to  muck  the 
stopes,  for  most  of  the  material  is  thrown  into  the  pit  in  blasting 
and  what  remains  is  scaled  off  by  the  machine  men  after  the 
holes  are  fired,  before  the  next  shift  comes  on. 


The  i Srbighton  Mim.  r.77 

Mining  Operate  I    Sandblasting. 

The  ore  from  the  Btopee  ia  blast*  d  down  on  to  the  floor  of  the 
pit  in  irregular  masses  varying  from  )  a  fool  to  4  or  ~>  feet  in 
thickness.  Anything  Larger  than  about  1  foot  cube  is  broken 
on  the  pit  floor  before  Loading,     Generally  speaking  about  one- 

tbird  "i  the  ore  from  the  stupes  requires  this  treatment,  which  is 

locally  called  "sandblasting." 

The  operation  of  sandblasting  consists  in  placing  the  nece 
amount  of  dynamite  on  top  of  the  chunk  of  ore.  patting  it  into 
a  small  heap,  sticking  a  3  foot  fuse  capped  at  one  end  into  it. 
and  covering  the  dynamite  with  muck  or  sand  from  which  is 
derived  the  name  sandblasting.  The  end  of  the  fuse  is  slit  and 
small  pinch  of  dynamite  inserted  therein  to  aid  in  lighting. 

The  sandblasting  is  done  by  "block  holers"  and  their  assist- 
ants. There  is  a  "'Mock  holer"  to  each  mine  track  in  the  pit  and 
it  is  his  duty  to  keep  his  track  clear  of  large  pieces  of  material. 
His  assistant  follows  him  around  and  covers  the  charge  with  muck 
as  it  is  loaded  on  to  the  pieces  of  ore. 

Sandblasting  is  done  at  7  o'clock  as  each  shift  goes  to  work, 
the  shots  being  tired  as  soon  as  they  are  all  loaded,  which  takes 
about  25  minutes.  Another  sandblast  takes  place  at  12  o'clock 
after  the  plant  has  shut  down  for  noon  hour.  The  object  of  the 
sandblasting  is  to  break  up  such  material  as  cannot  easily  be 
sledged.  The  "block  holers"  and  their  assistants  sledge  when 
they  are  not  sandblasting,  the  ore  being  broken  small  enough 
to  admit  of  its  being  -hovelled  into  the  tram  cars  by  the  trammers. 

A  partial  separation  of  ore  and  rock  is  made  down  in  the  pit, 
the  pieces  of  barren  rock  being  piled  together  beside  the  different 
tracl  sandblasted  ami  hoisted,  which  is  done  once  a  week. 

Mining  Operations.     (4)  Tramming. 

From  the  shaft  on  the  pit  level  a  cross-cut  20  feet  wide,  8  feet 
high   and    40    feet   long,   extends   to   the   wall   of   the   pit.      From 
opposite  the  two  skip  track-  at  the  shaft,  two  main  19  inch  g 
mine  tracks  extend  along  the  tunnel   and  are  connected   by  a 
double  diamond   crossover   with  the  necessary  .-witches.     From 

two   track-   there   branch   at    the   edge   of   the   pit    tlr 
37 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


tracks  extending  to  all  corners  of  the  pit,  as  shown  in  Fig.  3. 
On  these  tracks  run  rectangular  sheet  iron  1\  ton  tramcars  with 
a  gang  of  four  to  six  men  to  load,  and  2  or  3  men  to  push  them. 
After  shovelling  their  car  full,  the  men  push  it  towards  the  shaft, 
and  as  the  tracks  have  a  down  grade  of  8  inches  per  100  feet  the 
car  is  easily  moved.  At  the  shaft  the  back  of  the  car  is  hoisted, 
sliding  the  muck  towards  the  front,  which  is  an  iron  plate  hinged 
at  the  top.  The  lower  end  of  this  is  released  before  up-ending, 
thus  allowing  the  contents  to  slide  out  into  the  skip  on  the  track 
below. 

Nine  or  ten  tramcars  are  usually  in  operation. 

Mining  Operations.     (5)  In  General. 

The  water  from  the  pit  and  the  shaft  drains  into  a  large  sump 
in  a  short  gallery  back  of  the  shaft.  On  a  platform  above  the 
sump  is  a  3  cylinder  pump  geared  to  a  15  H.P.  3  phase  550  volt 
induction  motor.  This  raises  the  water  to  the  surface  through 
a  4  inch  iron  pipe. 

All  signalling  is  done  by  electricity.  A  bell  circuit  runs  up 
the  shaft  connecting  with  a  bell  in  the  power  house  above.  The 
wires  are  taken  down  the  shaft  in  a  f  inch  iron  pipe.  Signal 
boxes  are  placed  at  the  bottom  of  the  shaft  and  at  the  surface 
level. 

The  shaft  and  the  tunnel  at  the  bottom  of  it  are  lit  by  in- 
candescent lamps  set  in  water-tight  sockets.  The  wires  are 
taken  down  in  iron  pipes  similar  to  the  signal  wires. 

The  big  open  pit  is  lit  at  night  by  acetylene  lamps  placed 
between  the  tracks.  The  machine  men  and  most  of  the  pit  men 
carry  small  oil  torches  in  their  caps. 

The  mine  is  worked  continuously  day  and  night  in  ten  hour 
shifts  from  7  a.m.  Monday  until  11  p.m.  Saturday.  On  Sunday 
the  stopes  are  thoroughly  scaled  down  and  such  repair  work 
as  is  necessary  executed. 

ROCKHOUSE.      No.    1    BEFORE    BEING    REMODELLED    IN    1907. 

The  stringers  carrying  the  skip  tracks  are  extended  past  the 
collar  of  the  shaft  to  the  top  of  the  rockhouse,  60  feet  vertical 
height.  These  skip  tracks  are  supported  on  a  trestle  work  of 
timbers. 


Tfi      I  HTON    Mini         •  579 

There  is  a  break  in  the  skip  tracks  about  half  way  from 
the  collar  <>f  the  shaft  to  the  rockhouse,  and  the  tracks  are  l>ent 

down  to  dump  the  skij»  into  chutes  1  •  ■ : i « I i 1 1 *r  t<>  cars  on  a  rail- 
way track  below.  This  is  used  only  in  hoisting  waste  from 
the  mine,  and  the  breaks  are  closed  by  blocks  making  a  continuous 

track  when  ore  is  to  be  hoi-ted  up  to  the  rockhouE 

The  skip  discharges  its  contents  upon  a  grizzly  {.laced  below 
the  dump  at   the  top  of  the  rockhouse.     This  grizzly  consisl 
rails  lo  feet  long  placed  2  inches  apart  in  the  clear  and  sloping 
down  towards  the  crusher  floor  at  an  angle  of  j.~ 

The  finer   material   goes   through   the  grizzly  into   a   hopper 
below,  while  the  larger  stuff  slides  down  the  rails  and  drops  on 
to  the  crusher  floor  which  forms  the  top  storey  of  the  rockhouse. 
separation  of  rock  and  ore  takes  place,  any  low  tirade 
material  being  Le  and  trammed  out  along  a  trestle  to  the 

rock  dumps.  The  material  in  these  dumps  averages  .">' }  copper 
and  .4'  ,'  nickel. 

The  large  pieces  of  ore  are  shovelled  into  two  Blake  crushers, 
one  30  x  18  inches  and  one  28  x  16  inches  in  size.  A  gang  of 
eleven  men  does  this  work. 

Below  each  crusher  is  a  hopper  leading  to  a  revolving  screen. 
There  is  a  revolving  screen  under  the  hopper  from  the  grizzly 
also. 

These  screens  are  about  18  inches  diameter  and  8  feet  Long. 
The}'  slope  away  from  the  hopper  at  an  angle  i  >f  25°.  The  holes 
in  the  screens  are  £  inches  in  diameter,  and  as  it  slowly  revolves 
the  fines  drop  through  into  ore  bins  placed  below.  The  larger 
crushed  ore  is  emptied  on  to  a  picking  table  at  the  lower  end  of 
the  screen. 

se  picking  tables  are  made  of  sheet  iron  lb"  feet  long  by 
3  feet  wide,  with  an  edge  2  inches  turned  up  along  the  sides. 
They  slope  away  from  the  screens  at  an  angle  of  8°  and  are  given 
a  forward  bumping  movement  which  jolts  the  ore  along.  Six 
pickers  sit  along  the  sides  of  each  table  and  pick  out  any  rock 
that  appears  ami  throw  it  down  into  bins  beside  them.  The 
picked  ore  drops  over  the  end  of  the  tables  into  large  ore  bins. 
-  :i  plan  of  the  operations  in  the  rockhouse. 

Under  the  bins  in  the  lower  part  of  the  rockhouse  run  two 
railway  tracks.      Empty  card  are  run  underneath  and  loaded  bv 


580 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


opening  a  gate  on  the  bottom  of  the  bins.  About  twenty  cars  per 
shift  are  loaded  in  this  manner.  Two  trains  of  ore  go  to  Copper 
Cliff  each  day  via  the  Algoma  Central. 

All  machinery  in  the  rockhouse  is  driven  by  belting  and 
shafting  from  a  50  H.P.  3  phase  induction  motor  set  on  the  ground 
floor  of  the  building. 

■S/t/'/b    Dump    at  tofr   o/  Rock  flot/se 


\  Fin  e  s 
Hok)>  e  t 


Grizzly    o(    rails      Z"  apart 


Over 3i  re 

Crusher    Floor 


RtrolrtnCj   Screen     3/4'  tlo/es 


2    Blake.  Crushers 


Rock  Dumfr 
Rirolrma      Screens     "*A"  holes 


£_ 


P/ckmq    Table 


Pick/ny 
Table 


Picking 
Ta  blei. 


Ore  din        Ore  Bin 
(Fines) 


Rock  bin    Rock  Bin      Ore  Bin  Ore  dm  Ore  din      Rock  8m 
(Fin  es) 


fig   5 

Plan    of  operations   0/    Rockhouse 

The  rockhouse  is  a  wooden  structure  42  x  46  feet  and  72  feet 
high.  It  contains  two  floors,  the  crushing  floor  and  the  picking 
floor,  the  lower  part  of  it  being  occupied  by  the  ore  and  rock  bins. 

Power  House  and  Hoisting 

All  machinery  at  Creighton,  and  for  that  matter  in  all 
departments  of  the  Canadian  Copper  Co.,  is  run  by  electricity. 

Power  at  Creighton  is  received  from  the  main  sub-station 
at  Copper  Cliff  at  35,000  volts,  over  a  3  phase  transmission^line. 


Tin   Crbiohton  Mine     .  581 


Phree  275  K.W.  transformers  reduce  this  voltage  to  550  volts 
for  use  around  the  plant.  Power  is  distributed  from  a  large 
switchboard  to  the  compressors  and  hoists  in  the  power  house, 
to  the  pockhouses,  mine  pumps,  and  to  a  pump  at  a  hike  one 
quarter  of  a  mile  away;  also  for  lighting  the  works. 

The  hoisting  equipmenl  consists  of  two  Denver  Engineering 
Co.  :;  drum  hoisting  sets.  The  drums  are  18  inches  in  diameter 
and  are  connected  by  mean-  of  friction  clinches  to  a  main  driving 
shaft,  which  is  geared  to  a  variable  speed  150  E.P.  3  phase  in- 
duction motor. 

The   hoisting  Bets  are   placed   at    rigb.1   angles,  there   being 

«»ne  for  the  shaft  already  described  and  another  for  a    new  shaft 

to  be  described  later.  The  skips  are  hoi-ted  at  the  rate  of  six 
hundred  feet  per  minute. 

Bach  hoist  is  operated  by  five  lever-,  one  to  control  the  motor, 
three  for  the  friction  clutches  connecting  the  drums  to  the  driving 
shaft,  and  the  fifth  to  apply  a  brake  for  stoping.  Three  systems 
of  rotating  rings  and  a  pointer  are  set  in  front  of  the  operator, 
one  geared  to  each  drum,  and  he  knows  the  position  of  each  skip 
by  the  position  of  the  pointer  in  reference  to  the  rn 

In    the  shaft   just    described   there  are  only   two  skips  and   a 

system  of  balanced  hoisting  is  employed,  two  of  the  drums  in  the 
hoisting  set  being  run  simultaneously,  the  other  not  hem-  used 
at  all.  In  the  second  or  new  -haft,  which  was  beginning  to  hoist 
at  the  close  of  the  summer  ^f  L907,  three  skips  are  working  and 
are  hoisted  independently. 

<•  compressor   furnishes  air   tor   the   whole   plant    and   i- 

situated  beside  the  hoisting  sets  in  the  power  bouse.     It  is  a  Hand 

engine  and  furnishes  air  at  100  lbs.  pressure,  at  the  rate  of  i.e.:;:. 

•  r  minute,  to  a  cylindrical  reservoir  outside  of  the  power 

house.     Air   regulation    is   effected    by    automatic   Corliss   stop 

vah  i 

The  compressor  is  driven   from  a  shaft  directly  connected  to 

a  300  U.\'.  :;  phase  induction  motor  running  at  500  R.P.M.     Air 

is  piped  from  the  power  house  by  S  inch  iron  main  pipe  lines  to 
the  principal  centre-  of  distribution. 

There   i<   in   the   power  house  a    1.000   gallon   li   inch  :•!   st  i .. 

turbine  fire  pump  directly  connected  to  a  150  H.P.  3  phase  in- 
duction motor.    This  pump  is  fed  from  a  steel  stand  pipe  of  60,000 


582  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

gallons  capacity,  situated  just  outside  of  the  power  house.  The 
stand  pipe  is  fed  from  another  electrically  driven  turbine  pump 
situated  near  a  small  lake  one  quarter  of  a  mile  away,  which 
works  continuously.  The  necessary  water  for  use  around  the 
plant  is  piped  from  the  stand  pipe. 

New  Work 
No.  2  Shaft 

The  company  at  the  close  of  the  summer  of  1907  had  just 
completed  and  was  starting  to  put  into  operation  a  new  shaft 
and  rockhouse  at  Creighton. 

The  new  shaft  is  a  four  compartment  one,  containing  three 
skipways  and  a  ladderway.  It  is  sunk  at  an  angle  of  47°  to  the 
horizontal  in  a  parallel  direction  to  the  old  shaft,  which  is  300  feet 
north-east  of  it,  as  shown  in  Fig.  3.  It  is  fitted  for  3  ton  skip  cars 
and  has  wider  compartments  than  has  the  old  shaft.  The  timber- 
ing is  similar  to  that  of  the  latter,  except  that  the  first  50  feet  are 
finished  in  concrete 

At  the  level  of  the  big  pit  a  cross-cut  40  feet  long  was  driven 
in  to  the  ore  body.  A  raise  was  then  started  to  the  surface  and 
a  winze  sunk  to  meet  it.  This  connection  has  already  been  made. 
A  drift  was  also  started  towards  the  pit,  which  work  was  not 
finished  when  the  mine  was  last  seen,  August,  1907.  The  idea 
is  to  tram  the  greater  part  of  the  ore  from  the  pit  through  this 
drift  to  the  new  shaft,  and  to  work  both  of  the  shafts  continuously. 

Below  the  level  of  the  pit  the  new  shaft  has  been  sunk  another 
100  feet  and  a  cross-cut  was  being  driven  from  it  to  the  ore  body. 

No.  2    Rockhouse. 

The  3-ton  skips  run  up  the  new  shaft  and  dump  on  to  the 
large  grizzly  at  the  top  of  the  new  rockhouse.  This  grizzly  is 
similar  to  the  one  in  the  old  rockhouse  and  several  feet  wider, 
but  instead  of  leading  to  the  crusher  floor  it  leads  into  two  chutes 
running  directly  to  the  two  Blake  30  x  18"  crushers.  By  this 
system  the  necessary  labour  is  greatly  cut  down,  only  one  man 
being  needed  to  watch  the  chutes  instead  of  the  eleven  men  which 
are  required  to  feed  the  crushers  in  the  old  rockhouse.  The  ore 
from  the  grizzly  and  from  the  crushers  goes  through  the  usual 


The  Creighton   Mine      .  583 


revolving  screens,  but  the  Bcreens  empty  on  to  rubber  belt  con- 
veyors instead  of  picking  babies.  The  belts,  3  feet  wide,  move 
very  slowly  and  the  rock  pickers  remove  the  rock  as  the  bell 
carries  the  material  past  them.    The  bell  empties  its  Load  of  ore 

into  an  ore  bin,  and  if  necessary  it  can  empty  into  a  clmte  dropping 
on  to  a  second  Kelt  which  feeds  a  second  bin.  In  this  way  the 
new  rockhouse  is  given  double  the  capacity  of  the  old. 

The  building  and  bins  are  of  wood  and  rest  upon  heavy 
concrete  arches  spanning  the  two  railway  bracks  that  pass  under- 
neath it.  The  usual  rock  chutes  with  their  track  are  placed  below 
the  skip  tracks  in  front  of  the  rockhouse. 

There  is  a  50  H.P.  3  phase  induction  motor  connected  to 
crusher  and  its  dependent  equipment,  screens,  belts,  etc. 

Yards 

The  Algoma  Central  R.R.  runs  close  to  the  workings,  as  is 
shown  in  Fig.  3.  On  it,  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards 
north  of  the  new  rockhouse,  is  situated  the  switch  trom  which 
run  the  tracks  to  the  mine.  The  tracks  leave  this  switch  on  a 
sharp  up  grade  for  the  first  two  hundred  feet  and  run  from  this 
point  on  along  easy  down  grade  underneath  both  rockhouses, 
curving  back  to  the  main  line  of  tne  railway  at  the  lower  end 
of  the  yard. 

By  this  arrangement  of  tracks  all  moving  of  cars  is  done  by 
gravity.  The  Algoma  Central  shunt-  the  empty  cars  in  over  the 
hump  at  the  upper  end  of  the  yard,  and  the  car  loaders,  when  they 
require  empties,  merely  release  the  brakes  and  start  them  rolling 
down  to  the  rockhouses.  When  loaded  the  cars  are  run  on  to  the 
curve  at  the  lower  end  of  the  yard,  and  are  drawn  out  by  the 
Algoma  Central  engine  on  its  way  out  of  Creighton.  All  cars  are 
weighed  on  their  way  out  at  a  scale  house  placed  on  a  siding  be- 
side the  main  line  of  the  Algoma  Central. 

Buildings 

V  'he  mine  there  has  just  been  finished  a  set  of  brick  steel 
framed  buildings.  There  is  a  6)  x  :;  i  fool  office  and  warehouse 
building;  an  si  \  36  toot  wash  house  or  "Dry"  for  the  men  to 

change  their  clothe-  and  wa>h  up  in.  and  in  which  are  1  15  lockers, 


584  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

several  long  enamelled  wash  troughs,  shower  baths,  etc.  The 
power  house  has  already  been  mentioned. 

The  company  also  has  a  house  for  the  mine  superintendent, 
close  to  the  mine,  and  owns  all  the  houses  and  buildings  in  the 
village  behind  the  mine. 

The  buildings  at  the  mine  are  heated  by  a  steam  heating 
plant  placed  at  the  basement  of  the  warehouse. 

Organization 

Under  the  mine  superintendent,  or  mine  captain,  come  the 
foremen  of  the  mine,  the  No.  2  shaft,  the  yard,  and  the  No.  1 
and  No.  2  rockhouses.  The  mine  foreman  has  charge  of  all 
operations  in  the  big  pit  and  under  him  is  a  "  straw  boss  "  in  charge 
of  the  trammers.  The  rockhouse  foremen  are  assisted  by  "  straw 
bosses"  in  charge  of  the  rock  pickers.  The  yard  'foreman  has 
charge  of  all  surface  labour,  tracks,  rolling  stock,  etc.,  and  is  only 
on  duty  during  the  day.  The  foremen  take  the  time  of  the  men 
working  in  their  departments,  which  time  is  checked  by  an  out- 
side timekeeper,  who  takes  the  time  of  all  the  employees  on  each 
shift. 

The  rockhouse  foremen  make  out  reports  for  each  shift, 
showing  the  amount  of  rock  trammed  out  to  the  dumps  and  the 
amount  of  rock  unloaded  from  the  bins.  The  hoistmen  send  in 
reports  giving  the  number  of  skips  of  rock  or  ore  hoisted  on  each 
shift. 

From  these  reports  and  the  time  books  of  the  foremen  the 
clerk  in  the  office  makes  out  each  day  what  is  termed  the  "  Product 
and  Labour"  report.  This  report  shows  the  number  of  men 
working  in  the  different  departments  of  the  works,  day  shift 
and  night  shift,  their  rate  of  pay  and  total  wages;  also  the  tonnage 
of  ore  and  rock  hoisted  on  the  different  shifts  including  the  waste 
rock  sent  to  the  dumps.  Totals  of  cost  and  of  production  are 
brought  down,  and  the  cost  per  ton  of  labour  for  the  day  of  twenty- 
four  hours  is  tabulated. 

In  addition  to  this  report,  detailed  reports  on  the  blasting 
operations  are  filled  out  by  the  outside  time  and  powder  checkers. 
One  of  these  reports  deals  with  stoping  and  shows  the  number 
and  depth  of  the  holes  drilled  by  each  machine  man,  along  with 
the  dynamite  fuse  and  caps  allotted  to  each  hole.     The  other 


The  Creighton  Mine       .  .->*.-> 


report  covers  the  sandblasting  and  gives  the  dynamite,  fuse  and 
caps  used  on  each  rook  along  with  the  total  Dumber  of  shuts. 

Special  reporta  on  construction  and  development,  similar 
to  the  above,  are  also  made  out  each  morning 

All  oi  these  reports  are  phoned  into  Copper  Cliff  in  detail 
:mi1  there  are  filed  and  entered  up  along  with  similar  reports 
from  all  oi  the  other  workings.  The  reports  are  also  filed  at  the 
mine  office. 

In  Geneb  \i. 

The  Creighton  Mine  is  entering  upon  a  period  of  incr< 
Production-     For  the  past  year  the  company  has  been  remodelling 
the  plant  with  this  end  in  view.     The  old  steam  power  plant  was 
replaced  in  March,  1907,  by  the  electric  pla.it   already  described, 
rhe  new  shaft  and  rockhouse  were  jusl  being  completed  it.  August, 

As  the  plant  derives  its  power  from  a  large  hydro-electric 
installation  ,m  the  Spanish  River,  owned  by  the  Canadian  Copper 
Co.,  this  item  of  cost  is  greatly  reduced. 

When  both  shafts  and  rockhouses  are  working  at  their  full 
capacity,  the  present  output  of  about  1,000  tons  per  day  oughl 
to  be  increased  to  something  like  2,400  tons,  making  the  Creighton 
Mine  one  of  the  largest  mines  in  the  Dominion  of  Canada. 


REFINING  OF  SILVER  BULLION  CONTAINING  ARSENIC 
AND  ANTIMONY.* 

By  B.  Neilly,  University  of  Toronto,  Toronto. 

The  following  work  was  suggested  by  a  paper  on  The  Refining 
of  Gold  Bullion,  read  by  Dr.  T.  Kirk  Rose  in  1905,  and  found  in 
Vol.  XIV,  Transactions  of  the  Institution  of  Mining  and  Metallurgy. 

In  his  experimental  work,  Dr.  Rose  did  not  confine  himself 
wholly  to  gold  bullion,  but  proceeded  to  show  that  even  in  the 
case  of  silver  bullion,  the  base  metals  could  be  oxidized  off  by 
passing  a  stream  of  oxygen  through  the  metal.  In  his  early  work 
he  used  only  pure  oxygen,  but  in  subsequent  experiments  he  used 
air  and  found  the  results  obtained  were  quite  as  satisfactory.  In 
the  case  of  gold,  he  found  that  by  this  method  it  could  be  reduced 
to  the  pure  state  with  very  small  losses. 

The  writer  applied  Dr.  Rose's  method  to  the  refining  of  silver 
bullion  containing  arsenic  and  antimony,  but  found  that  it  re- 
quired very  careful  manipulation  to  prevent  spitting.  The  pipe 
immersed  in  the  molten  metal  gradually  corroded  away,  the  end 
broke  off  suddenly  and  the  pressure  being  reduced,  particles  of 
silver  were  projected  out  of  the  crucible.  In  addition  to  this, 
the  method  was  slow.  After  passing  a  current  of  air  through  the 
metal  until  the  fumes  apparently  ceased  to  come  off,  it  was  cast 
and  assayed  only  92%  silver.  It  was  again  melted  down  and 
air  passed  through.  At  the  end  of  ten  minutes  no  fumes  were 
visible,  but  on  withdrawing  the  pipe  and  allowing  the  air  to  play 
upon  the  surface,  copious  fumes  began  to  rise  at  once.  This 
method  was  continued  and,  from  the  results  that  follow,  it  would 
appear  that  blowing  on  the  surface  rather  than  through  the  metal 
is  much  more  satisfactory. 

The  apparatus  at  our  disposal  consisted  of  a  crucible  furnace 


*Paper  entered   for  the   "Student  Member's   Competition    1908"   and 
awarded  an  "Honourable  Mention"  by  the  judges. 


Refining  op  Sil>  bh  Bullion  "-s< 

No.  '>  and  a  cyclone  crucible  furnace  with  air  blasl  as  manufac- 
tured by  Fletcher,  Elussel  &  Co.  The  bullion  was  fused  in  Batter- 
aphite  crucibles  and  the  air  was  conveyed  by  a  rubber  hose 
from  a  Eloots  No.  us  blower  driven  by  -J  h.p.  motor.  To  the  end 
of  the  hose  was  attached  a  22-inch  fire-clay  pipe,  1-inch  in  dia- 
meter, to  convey  the  air  down  to  the  surface  of  the  metal.  This 
was  then  suspended  from  above  in  such  a  way  thai  it  could  be 
I  nr  Lowered  through  a  hole  in  the  asbestos  top  to  any  re- 
quired position. 

In  order  to  gel  ri<l  of  any  nickel,  copper  or  cobalt  present, 
along  with  as  much  arsenic  and  antimony  as  possible,  it  was  de- 
cided to  form  a  speiss.  The  bullion  was  melted  down  in  the 
cyclone  furnace  at  a  icmperature  of  about  1140°C,  and  iron  in  the 
form  of  nails  added  until  they  were  unattached  by  the  arsenic 
and  antimony  present. 

The  crucible  was  then  removed  and  cooled  suddenly.  Under 
these  conditions  the  speiss  separated  cleanly  from  the  bullion. 

This  bullion  was  again  melted  down  (temperature  about 
1098°C)  with  enough  flux  composed  of  sand  and  borax  (2:1)  to 
form  a  thin  covering  on  the  top  of  the  molten  metal.  The  air 
with  sufficient  pressure  to  cause  a  depression  of  say  \  inch  on  the 
surface  was  then  blown  on  the  metal  until  the  arsenic  first  and 
then  antimony  were  all  oxidized  off  and  the  bullion  pure. 

The  end  point  is  easily  determined.  Samples  are  dipped  out 
and.  after  cooling,  hammered.  If  they  are  inclined  to  be  brittle 
to  the  least  degree  the  metal  still  retains  some  impurities.  Even 
a  small  fraction  of  one  per  cent,  impurity  will  cause  it  to  crack. 
Again  on  becoming  pure  the  metal  changes  from  a  white  to  a  clear 
sea  green  colour. 

The  bullion  used  in  the  first   four  experiments  assayed  as 

follows: — 

Silver. 80.9% 

\i  senic 7 .4% 

Antimony 9.6% 

Nickel,  cobalt  and  copper  not  determined. 

The  charge  used  in  each  case  was  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
6  lbs. 


588  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

Experiment  No.  1. 

General  method  used  and  time  required  for  blowing,  3  hours 
and  40  minutes. 

Loss  sustained  up  to  the  end  of  speissing  where  it 

assayed  83.8%  silver 0.11% 

Loss  due  to  volatilization,  slag,  etc 0  .66% 

Total  loss  for  all  reasons 0  .77% 

Experiment  No.  2. 

Used  same  method  as  before  but  tried  to  speiss  with  magne- 
tite, without  success,  in  the  end  having  to  remove  it.  Again  used 
pure  borax  as  flux.  Time  required  for  blowing  was  3  hours  50 
minutes. 

Loss  including  everything 0  .91% 

Note. — The  crucible  in  this  case  was  badly  corroded  and  no 
doubt  some  of  the  loss  occurred  in  removing  the  magnetite. 

Experiment  No.  3. 

In  this  case  did  not  speiss,  but  began  blowing  at  once.  At 
the  end  of  1  hour  20  minutes  it  assayed  87 . 8%,  and  at  the  end  of 
4  hours  it  ran  96%.  It  still  required  2  hours  to  bring  it  to  the 
final  stage. 

Loss  including  everything 0  .9% 

The  time  was  long  and  it  would  appear  that  the  speiss  is 
useful  if  only  for  the  removal  of  some  of  the  antimony. 

Experiment  No.  4. 

Followed  general  plan  carefully  assaying  slag  and  speiss. 
Time  required  for  blowing  was  3  hours  45  minutes. 

Total  loss  allowing  for  everything  was 1 .08% 

Speiss  assayed  0.46%  and  accounted  for  a  loss  of  .0.08% 
Slag  assayed  0.79%  and  accounted  for  a  loss  of.  .0. 13% 
Loss  due  to  volatilization,  etc 0  .87% 

Note. — In  this  case  the  crucible  broke  and  in  recovering  the 
bullion  there  must  have  been  some  mechanical  loss. 


i;  i  pining  of  Sn.\  in  Bullion.  ">s'» 

Kxckkimi  \t  No.  5. 

The  bullion  used  here  assayed  sv  7'  ,  silver  and  the  impurity 
nt  was  mostly  arsenic  with  very  little  antimony.    Time  re- 
quired t<>  Mow  :'>  hours. 

After  speissing  it  assayed 94  02*  ,   silver. 

Total  loss  for  everything 0.98% 

Speiss    assayed    0.40'','     and    accounted 

for  a  loss  of 0.13% 

Loss  due  to  slag  volatilization,  etc 0.85%' 

Experiment  No.  6. 

This  was  by  all  odds  the  most  careful  determination  made. 
Starting  with  a  bullion  assaying  80.15%  silver  the  impurities 
being  arsenic  and  antimony.     Time  required  for  blowing  4  hours. 

Total  loss 0 .79% 

Speiss  assayed  0.45%  and  accounted  for  a 

loss  of 0.08% 

Sla  <1  4  s'  [  and  accounted  for  a  loss 

of 0.12%) 

0.20% 

Loss  due  to  volatilization 0.59% 

In  the  first  four  experiments  the  bullion  after  speissing  assayed 
between  83.2%  and  83  8'  ,  .  and  on  remelting  and  adding  more 
iron  it  was  found  impossible  to  raise  the  silver  content.  Ap- 
parently the  affinity  of  iron  and  silver  for  arsenic  and  antimony 
at  this  stage  is  equal. 

In  the  case  of  the  bullion  containing  arsenic  almost  entirely 
as  its  impurity:  it  could  lie  speissed  up  to  94'  <  but  no  further. 

Summarizing  the  results,  it  is  found  that  the  average  total 

allowing  f<>r  everything  was  0.88%.     Of  this  (say)  the  Bpeiss 

contributed    Ml','     and    the   -hit:   0.12%.      Then    1  he    loss   due  to 
volatilization  and  mechanical  means  is  placed  at  n.06%. 

No  attempt  was  made  to  collect  the  Hue  dust,  but  on  discon- 
necting the  furnace  and  scraping  out  the  flue,  a  sample  of  200  grs. 


590  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 

was  collected  that  assayed  2.2%  silver.  On  volatilizing  this  in 
an  open  tube  small  particles  of  metallic  silver  were  left  behind, 
showing  that  some  of  the  silver  had  been  carried  over  mechanically. 

In  Plattner's  Rostprozesse,  losses  due  to  the  oxidization  of 
silver  at  high  temperatures  are  dealt  with  largely. 

First  he  records  that  in  passing  hydrogen  or  carbon  dioxide 
over  silver  at  high  temperatures  there  was  no  loss.  In  heating 
silver  in  the  presence  of  oxygen  and  arsenic  or  antimony  the  losses 
were  not  so  high  as  where  sulphur,  iron  or  copper  were  present. 
He  reasoned  that  the  silver  on  being  heated  first  changes  to  the 
oxide.  Now*  when  arsenic  and  antimony  are  present  they  unite 
to  form  arsenates  and  antimonates  and  are  themselves  oxidized, 
thus  protecting  the  silver.  After  the  arsenic  and  antimony  have 
been  removed  the  loss  becomes  heavy.  Dr.  Rose  found  that  on 
passing  oxygen  through  10  qrs.  of  molten  silver  for  40  minutes  the 
loss  was  as  high  as  8%. 

Plattner  exposed  a  finely  powdered  smaltite  ore  carrying 
about  50  oz.  to  the  ton  in  silver  to  a  high  temperature  and  collected 
the  flue  dust  in  a  long  pipe. 

2  feet  from  furnace  residue  assayed  10%  silver  value  of  ore. 

36  "  "  "         "         2£% 

98  "  "  "         "     1/10% 

In  this  dust  he  found  a  portion  of  the  finely  divided  ore  and 
on  investigating  concluded  that  the  mechanical  loss  was  propor- 
tional to  the  amount  of  finely  divided  material  carried  over. 
Later  he  mixed  the  finely  divided  silver  with  powdered  quartz 
and  his  loss  was  over  10%. 

After  many  experiments  such  as  these,  Plattner  concluded 
that  the  loss  due  to  volatilization  and  mechanical  means  was  in- 
fluenced by  the  amount  of  surface  exposed. 

Now  in  the  method  described  in  this  paper  only  a  thin  cover- 
ing of  acid  slag  is  used  and  the  surface  exposed  is  small,  since  it 
depends  on  the  amount  of  slag  displaced  by  the  air  blast. 

About  70%  of  the  total  loss  is  charged  to  volatilization,  and 
from  Plattner's  experiment  with  flue  dust  it  would  appear  that 
this  could  be  greatly  reduced  by  the  use  of  a  dust  chamber. 


R     PINING    OF    SlLVEB    BULLION*  591 

No  difficulty  was  experienced  in  refining  the  bullion  to 
99.985%,  and  since  the  loss  is  exceedingly  low  and  the  cost  of 
refining  small,  it  looks  as  though  it  might  be  made  use  of  com- 
mercially. 

Section  No.   1   assays: — 

[  Ag...80.9% 
Origin!  bullion    j  Sb.  ..   9.6% 

1  As.  ..   7.4% 

Co  and  Ni  not   determined. 

Section  No.  2  assays: — 

f  Ag..88.33% 
Bullion  blown       \  As.  .  2   1 

1  hr.  20  min.     [  Sb.  .  9.54%  by  diff. 

Section  Xo.  3  assays: — 

f  Ag..99.985% 

Refined  bullion    \  As 

[Sb 

Section  No.  4  assays: — 

Bullion  from  As  ore     f  Ag.  .94 .02% 
after  speissing    .  . .  {  As.  .  3.00% 

[Sb.  .  2.98%,  by  diff. 


y<i* 


Bar  Broken  at  96r" 


Section  No. 


Ml     NO.    2 


Section   Xo.  3 


v        ;.>n    Xo.  4 


GENERAL    INDEX 


Compiled  by  F.  J.  Nicolas. 


rombie   tmpid,   Copper   river.    Alarirn 

4  It',.- lis 

Aberdeen  (Coffin)  tp.,  Ale    .    .197,113,120 

Atritibi  lake.  «  Int.  .-in< i  Que 120 

Abrasive  materials — 

Conventional  sign  for 492,  493 

Acadia  Coal  Co 226 

A i  r.  .unts 16,  17 

Actinolite — - 

Conventional  sign  for 493,494 

Adams,  Dr.  F.  D 8, 13, 87,  570 

Adamsville,  N.B. 208 

Adtrondaeks,  N.Y 94 

Adter,  A.  D.  V 19 

A -'■■■'-  - 502 

Agnew  river.  Mack gS6 

Ainsworth  div.,  B.C. — 

Mineral  production,  1907 455 

Akin,  Mr 368 

Alaska — 

Copper  in,  paper  by  Brewer I 

Albert  shales  and  Albertite 

211-218,495.490 

Alberta — 

gical  reports  on,  partial 

Albite 501 

Aldridge,  W.  H     83 

Algoma  Mills,  Ont 107 

Algfmia  Steel  Co. — 

Charcoal  fuel  used  by I  • 

Description  of  works L25— 133 

Minor  r«-f    

l  \r, 

Alkaline  earths — 

As  flux  for  Cobalt  ores 

Allen.  K.  C 7-. 

Almandine. Mil 

Alfjuife.  Spain. 

Aluminium 
Conventional  sign  for i" 

tmalgai  •  -ilv.-r  iiuii. 

kanason  (tone .*.ni 

Amber. 

Amendment-  to  I,;.  - 

Smelting  and  Refining  <k>. — 
Charge!  by.  for  Cobalt 

Amethyst     


PAG] 

Amphibole 9;j 

Anaconda  copper  mine,  Whitehorse,  Yukon 



Analysis — 

Albert  shales,  N.I'. 215 

Coals,  N.B 214 

Graphite,  Que 239-242 

Greywacke,  Cobalt  dist 284,  285 

Iron  ores,  Colorado 174 

N.B 160,161 

<>nr 107-110,149 

Pest  ooke 23 

Silver  ore,  Cobalt 

Wolframite,  B.  C 

Ont 370 

Animikie  formation — 

Iron  ranges  in 114 

L,  Superior H8 

Siderite  in no 

Animikie  iron  range — 

Character 97 

Tonnage. 103 

Anjigomi,  Ont 119 

Ankerite 498,  499 

' 'Ann  Francis"  (barque) 353 

Atin.ilit  nrite — 

Cobalt,  Ont 

James  tp 

A nnrma-Nipissing  lake.  Nip. 



Anthracite  colliery,  near  Banff 

Anthraxolite .• 

Antimonide — 

Cobalt .  (  hit 

Antima  ■ 

oatte  for. hit. 

!""■-.   .  !'• 

In  silver  bullion,  extraction  ■  I 

ikon.  35] 

Anvil  lake,  Nip.. 

For. . 
W  lib  i"  gmatite  iron  oret 

114,  1 1  ."> 
■  rine.  . 

Ar<  b.i-an 

<  Intario  'ii\  isiona  of  .  1 1 1 

Scandinavia  114 

Su.ll  ui 


594 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


PAGE 

Arctic  Chief  copper  mine,  Yukon.  .547,  549 
Arctic  islands — 

Coal  in 362 

Arctic  ocean — 

Mineral  exploration  in 348-359 

Argenteuil  co.,  Que. — 

Graphite  in 236-242 

Argentite — 

Cobalt,  Ont 295,483 

Arkansas,  U.S. — 

Coal  of,  character 222,  223 

Armstrong,  George 548,  565 

Armstrong  college,  Newcastle,  Eng  .  .  .  .520 
A  rsenic — 

See  also  Mispickel. 

As  a  matte  former 325 

Conventional  sign  for 490,  492 

Cobalt  ores 301-303,  308,  309 

Extract  of  nickel  in  ores  containing.  .  .321 
Extraction  of,  from  silver  bullion. 586-591 

Mixed  with  sulphur,  notes 318,  319 

Ontario  production,  1907 35 

Percentage  of,  in  mattes 324 

Arsenides — 

Cobalt,  Ont 294 

Arsenopyrite.     See  Mispickel. 
Asbestic — 

Canadian  and  Quebec  output,  1907 

30,38,39 

Asbestus — 

Canadian  output,  1907 30 

Conventional  sign  for 493,  494 

Quebec  output 38 

Ascot  tp.,  Sherbrooke  co.,  Que 253 

Asphaltum 495,  496 

Assaying — 

British  Columbia,   notes  on  the  practice 

in 4i:> 

Assays — 

Cobalt,  Ont.,  ores 290,  291 

Athabaska  lake,  Alta.  and  Sask.  .  .360,361 

Athabaska  river,  Alta 355,  363 

Atikokan  Furnace  Co 117 

Atikokan  Iron  Co. — 

Minor  ref 108 

Notes 135,  137 

Statistics 145 

Atikokan  iron  range 93,  94,  103,  108 

Atikokan  river,  Ont 117 

Atlin  div.,  B.C. — 

Mineral  output,  1907 454 

Aubertot-? 152 

Austenite 478-481 

Austin  brook,  Gloucester  co.,  N.B 160 

Aventurine 502 

"Ayde"  (barque) 350,351 

Azurite 463,  465,  571 


B  PAGE 

Babbit  metal — 

Notes  on,  by  Campbell 477 

Backs   (Great   Fish)  river,  Mack,  and  Kee. 

360 

Bacon,  F 13 

Bacon,  T.  B 13 

Badoureau,-? 320,  322 

Baffin  island,  Frank 354 

Baird,  California 186 

Baker,  C.  S.— 

Paper  by,  on  Assaying  in  British  Columbia 

445 

Baker  foreland,  Hudson  bay,  Kee 356 

Baker  lake,  Dubawnt  river,  Kee 359 

Baltimore,  N.B 212-215 

Bankhead  colliery,  Alta 226 

Bannockburn  pyrites  mine,  Ont 109 

Banquets — 

Montreal 87 

Ottawa 61-71 

Barium  sulphate — 

Conventional  sign  for 492,  493 

James  tp 277 

Percentage  of,  in  mattes 324 

Barkley,  Sir  Richard 351 

Barlow,  Alfred  E  — 

Minor  refs.  to.  .  .22,  44,  202,  277,  283,  570 
Paper  by,  on  silver  of  James  tp.  ..256-273 

Vice-president 61 

Views  of,  on — 

Graphite  deposits 244,  248 

Headquarters  of  institute 45,  46 

Mining  laws 53 

Barlow,  Samuel 151 

Barnes,  Thomas 13 

Barrow,  Sir  John 350 

Barry  island,  Arctic  ocean 358,  359 

Basalt — 

Arctic  ocean 359 

Baskerville,  Dr.  Charles 215 

Bastard  tp.,  Leeds  co 151 

Batchawana,  Ont 119 

Bathurst,  N.B 95 

Bathurst  inlet,  Mack 357-360 

Bathurst  tp.,  Gloucester  co.,  N.B 162 

Bauerman,  H 438 

Baxter,  Mr    548 

Bay  de  Chaleur.     See  Chaleur  bay. 

Bay  lake,  Montreal  river 257 

Bear  creek,  Dawson,  Yukon 550,  551 

Beauce  co.,  Que. — 

Tungsten  in 367 

Beauce  junction,  Que 252 

Beaudette,  A :  .  .  .551),  565 

BeaveT  harbour,  N.B 210 

Beechey  lake,  Backs  river,  Mack 360 

Belas  basin,  N.B 210 


General  India 


595 


PAQ1 

Mill.  B.  T.  A 18 

Ball,  J.  M 

Ball,  .1.  w !_■ 

Bell.  Dr.  Robert     

Hi'll  graphite  mine 

Belle  tale,  Newfoundland  .00,  LOO,  mi 

Belleville.  Onl 163 

Belly  river,  Alta 222.  223 

Belmont,  Onl 107 

Belmonl  tp.,  Onl 108 

Beading  lake,  «  ml 116 

Beanie,  P.  Kc  N.— 

M iiior  raf.  1 II 

tin  origin  of  graphite. 245,  246 

Paper  by,  on  Grondal  process.  .  .189-203 
Bergen  junction,  N.J. — 
Cobalt  ores  at,  cost  of  treatment     .    .303 

Bergeron  lake.  Nip 261 

Beryl 500 

r  iron  mines,  Ont 197,203 

apt 353 

Beet,  w.  I    438 

Best  Chance  copper  mine,  Yukon  .  547,  548 

Bettel,  W 324 

Beuerberg,  Germany 233 

B  ibl  iography — 

Geology  and   mineral   industry  of  Alta.. 

B.C.  and  Yukon 433-444 

Bilbao,  Spain 193 

Birch  lake,  Nip. 262 

Bishop,  W.  B 77,  79 

Bismuth — 

H  ores 300,329,483 

Duncan  creek  dist.,  Yukon 381 

Percentage  of.  in  mattes :i_'l 

Sign  for,  on  maps 490,  492 

Bituminous  minerals — 

Brunswick,  paper  by  Ells.  .  .204—215 

.Discussion 215-219 

for,  on  maps 495,  490 

Black  bay,  Athabaska  lake.  . 
Black  Bear  mine,  Rosaland,  B.C. 

Black  Bear  mine,  Whitehoree  'li-t..  Yukon 

548 

Black  8tnrgeon  river.  Part 118 

Blackburn  mi..  Alas  4l!» 

Bsackfool  ri mailing;.  Little  Bow  river, 
Blairton  iron  mine.  Marmora  tp.,  Ont. 

work  on l  52 

Blakemore,  William.     . 
furnacea — 

(  liareoal  for.  pa- 


i-  v.i 
Tor  lead,  British  Columbia,  statist ics.,  166 
Oranby,  notes  by  Hodges  412,413 

Ladysmith,  V.I. ,  S3 

Leadville,  CoL 

<  Intai  lo,  early 151     1  56 

Papet  bj  Parmelee 126—148 

Shasta  oo.,  Cal 174 

Welland,  Onl 68 

Blaylo.k.  S.  G 72,78 

Bloodstone 502 

Bl a  lake,  Nip 260-262,271 

Blue.  John. 12 

Blue  Dirk  mine,  Arizona 326 

Bog  iron  ore.     See  Limonite. 

Bonanza  copper  claim,  Alaska 417—422 

Bonanza  creek,  Klondike  river 

550,551,555,562 

Bonar,  Dr.  .) 6,62,71 

Bonnington  falls,  B.C 541 

Borax 493,  494 

Boring — 

Albert  co.,  N.B.,  for  Albert  shale. 213,  216 

Gloucester  Co.,  N.B.,  for  coal 160 

Granby,  B.C.,  notes  by  C.  M.  Campbell 

401 

Bornite — 

Elliot  creek,  Alaska 420,  421 

Frobisher  bay 350 

Whitehorse  dist.,  Yukon 546 

Yerrington,  Nev 165 

Bostock,  Hon.  Mr 62,  64 

Boston  tp.,  Nip 120 

Boundary  dist.,  B.C. — 

Diamond  drilling  in,  notes  on  i 

386-301 

i  Geological  reports  on,  partial  li-t  .  .  -  .43S 

Mineral  production,  1907. 455,456 

Bounties — 
Lead.     See  Lead  Bounty  Act. 

Pig  iron 130,  143 

Bow  river,  Alta 222,  223 

Bowman,  Amos 140 

Boyce,  A.  <'. .    . 
Boy,  I.  \Y.  H.— 

Minor  ref 6 

Paper  by,  on  ipeoiaJ  map  of  Rossland 
872 

Hover  lake.  Ont        .  .  97 

1 1 .!«•  i j  iron  mine. 
Branches  of  Institute.     >'<<  Cobalt,  Nelson, 

••mto 

.    .  100,  m"> 
Brennan,  C.  V 

in  M. 

pper  river 

I! 

6 


596 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


PAGE 

Bribes  to  engineers 469 

Bricks — 

Ontario  and  Quebec  production,  1907. 

35,38 

Bridget  lake,  Ont 119 

Brigstock,  R.  W 86 

Britannia  copper  mine,  B.C 456 

British  American  Corporation 547 

British  Columbia — 

Assaying  in,  notes  on  the  practice  .  .  .445 
Geological  reports  on,  partial  list..435-444 

Graphitic  rocks  in 248 

Iron  ores  of 92,  93,  103 

Lead  industry  of 24-26 

Mineral  production,  1904-6 459 

1907 81 

Paper  by  Jacobs 452-458 

Mining  laws  in 64,  65 

Tungsten  ores  in 367-369 

British  Columbia  Copper  Co.— 

Boring  by,  notes  on  cost 385-391 

Output,  1907 456 

Smelting  by,  statistics 413 

Brock,  R.  W  — 

Banqueted  at  Montreal 87 

Minor  refs.  to 

.  .  14,  21,  62,  66,  69,  85,  94,  254,  436,  438 

Views  of,  on  graphitic  rocks 248 

Bromine 493,  495 

Brown,  Hal 87 

Brown,  J.  Stevenson — 

Elected  treasurer 60 

Minor  ref 87, 187 

Report  by,  as  treasurer 16-18 

Brown,  M.  Walton 519 

Brown  Cub  copper  mine,  Yukon 548 

Brown  (hydrated)  iron  ores 100-102 

Brown  prints 404 

Browne,  D.  H . 19,  413 

Browne,  D.  J 79 

Brumell,  H.  P.— 

Paper  by,  on  Canadian  graphite .  .  236-241 

Discussion 243-250 

Ref.  to 6 

Buckingham  Graphite  Co 238 

Buckingham  Mining  Co 238 

Buckingham  tp.,  Que 236-239 

Buckley,  E.  R 99 

Budd,  J.  P 152 

Buffalo  silver  mine.  Cobalt — ; 

Concentration  at 340,  341 

Production,  1907 299 

Building  materials — - 

British  Columbia,  output,  1904-6 459 

1907 453 

Conventional  signs  for 497-499 

Ontario  production,  1907 35 


PAGE 

Bullion.     See  Silver  bullion. 

Burchard,  E.  F 100 

Burns,  T.  M 159 

Burrows,  A.  G 285 

Burwash  lake,  Alg 120 

Butte,  Montana 483 

By-laws,  amendments  to 22,  23 


Cabot  head,  Ont 112 

Cairnes,  D.  D 434,  442,  443 

Cairngorm 502 

Calabogie  iron  mine,  Ont 197 

Calc  Tufa 498,  499 

Calcite  lake,  Nip 259 

Calcium  carbide 35 

Calcium  carbonate — 

As  flux  for  Cobalt  ores 316 

Caldwell,  W 13 

Caldwell-Mulock  iron  claim,  Nip 120 

California,  U.S. — 

Electric  smelting  in 173-177,  186 

Gold  in,  depth 337 

Camp  Hedley.     See  Hedley,  B.C. 
Campbell,  C.  M.— 

Minor  refs 84,  86,  364,  436 

Paper  by,  on  Granby  mining  methods. 

392-406 

Campbell,  J.  J 13 

Campbell,  Marius 220,  222,  225,  230 

Campbell,  Dr.  William — 

Minor  refs.  to 7,  8,  71,  77 

Paper  by,  on  Metallography  applied  to 

Engineering 471-485 

Campbell-Johnson,  R.  C 436 

Camsell,  Charles — 

Minor  refs 438,  442 

Paper  by,  on  Camp  Hedley,  B.C.    423r432 
Canada- 
Climate  of  northern 363 

Coals  of,  character 220 

Geological    reports    on    western,    partial 

list 433-444 

Graphite  in,  paper  by  Brumell.  .  236—250 

Iron  ores  of,  report  by  Leith 91—105 

Minerals  and  ores  of  northern.  .  .348—365 

Mining  statistics 29,  30,  62,  63 

Mining  laws 52—60 

Tungsten  ores  in 367'-371 

Canada  Iron  Furnace  Co. — 

Bessemer  ore  used  by 124 

Notes  on 132, 133,  137,  141 

Statistics 138 

Canada  Zinc  Co 77 

Canadian  Copper  Co 567,  568,  574,  585 

Canadian  Klondike  Mg.  Co 558 


(!km  k  \i.  I  \di  \ 


597 


PAGE 

Canadian  Metal  Oo 457 

an  Mining  In-tiHi 

\      rota 18—18 

1  of 3 

Headquarters  of 44—52 

Canadian  Society  of  Civil  Kngineers.  .50,  51 

Canmore,  Alta 226 

Capelton  hills.  Quo 254 

Capron,  Hiram 152 

Carlioii — 

Convt  us  for 495-497 

Carbon-Hydrogen  ratio  for  coal  .  .  .220—224 
Carbonaceous  minerals — 

New  Brunswick,  paper  by  Ells.  .204-205 

Discussion 215-219 

Carbonate  iron  ores 100, 102 

Carboniferous 158 

Cariboo  dist.,  B.C. — 

Tungsten  ores  in 368 

Geological  reports  on,  partial  list  ..  .  .440 

Gold  production,  1907 454 

Cariboo  lake,  Ont 118 

Carlyle,  W.  A 435-442 

Carlyle  copper  mine,  Yukon 547 

Cartier,  Alg 120 

Casey  tp.,  Nip 276,  282,  283 

Cassiar  dist.,  B.C. — 

Geological  reports  on,  partial  list  ..  .  .442 
Caaaiterite — 

Klondike,  Yukon 

Castle  Peak.  Alaska 419 

Catalla.  Alaska 416 

eye 502 

Cavers,  T.  W 79 

Cement — 

See  also  Portland  cement. 

Conventional  sign  for. 498,  499 

Ontario  production,  1907 35 

Quebec  production,  1907 28 

Cementite 8,  478 

Central  Ontario  Railway — 

Iron  ore  along 197 

Map  of  route 192 

Centre  Stai  mine,  B.C 166 

("haffey  iron  mine,  Ont 109 

Chalcedony         MS 

Chalcocite.      See  Copper  glance. 

Chalcopyrite— 

Canada,  northern" 356 

Cobalt  or.-  

•..    \nz.it,a 

Had* 

Budburj  dist  

Whil  •  M6 

Yerrington,  Sc: 


PAflK 

Chaleur  bay,  VI'. 156 

Chalk 497,498 

Chambers,  W.J 13 

Champlain,  Samuel  de 349 

Chapleau,  Ont 109 

Charcoal — 

As  blast  furnace  fuel,  paper  by  Sweet  zer 

165-169 

Chariot teville  tp.,  Ont 139, 151 

Chaudiere  river,  Que. — 

Gold  in 251-255 

Chesterfield  inlet,  Kee 538 

Chitina  river,  Copper  river,  Alaska. .416— 422 
Chloanthite — 

Cobalt,  Ont 294 

Chlorastrolite 503 

Chokosna  river,  Alaska 417 

Choye  cape,  Ont 119 

Chromite 28,  38,  39,  490,  492 

Chrysoberyl 500 

Chrysocolla 463,  465 

Chrysolite 500 

Chrysoprase 502 

Churchill.     See  Fort  Churchill. 
Chute — 

Section  of,  Knob  Hill  mine 402 

Cirkel,  F 244,  247,  254,  440 

City  of  Cobalt  silver  mine.  Cobalt 337 

Clarendon  iron  mine,  Ont 197 

Clark,  Bill 547 

Clark,  J.  M 56,  59 

Claudet,  H.  H  — 

Minor  ref.  to 79 

Paper   by,    on    Elmore    vacuum    process 

460-462 

Clays- 
Conventional  sign  for 498,  499 

Climate  of  North-West 363 

Clinton  sedimentary  iron  ores 99-104 

Coakly,  J 207,214 

Coal 

British  Columbia,  price 452,453 

product  Loo 

153,  r.7,459 

royalty 28 

■  rific  power 231 

Classification  of,  paper  by  Dowling. 

221 

Canada,  northern,  notes 36 

production  29,  30 

Conventional  sign  for  . 495,496 

Brunswiok 204-208,214 

Rhode  island,  <haracter 

Yukon,  notes  by  Part"-  .  19,  560 

t'oal   Hanks.      S, ,    Let  hbridge. 

c.al  Branch,  \  r.  209 

i  loal  creek,  Bon  rival .  Uta. 


598 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


PAGE 

Coal  creek,  N.B 208 

Cobalt- 
Cobalt,  Ont.,  metallurgy 294-332 

Great  Bear  lake 361 

Great  Slave  lake 361 

Metallurgy  of 323 

Ontario  production,  1907 35 

Origin  of  ores  of,  northern  Ont.  .  .  275-286 

Rabbit  lake,  Nip 257 

Cobalt,  Ont.— 

Branch  of  Institute  at 12 

Report 86 

Concentration  at,  paper  by  Sancton 

340-347 

Conventional  sign  for 490,  491 

Metallurgical    conditions    at,    paper    by 

Flynn 293-334 

Mining  at,  paper  by  Loring 335-340 

Ores  from,   sampling  of  at   Copper   Cliff 

287^291 

Silver  deposits  of,  notes  by  W.   Camp- 
bell   483 

Silver  output  of,  1907 30 

Cobalt  bloom.     See  Erythrite. 
Cobalt  Central  silver  mine,  Cobalt — - 

Concentration  at 341,  343 

Cobalt  Lake  silver  mine,  Cobalt 339 

Cobalt  Townsite  silver  mine.  Cobalt.  .  .  .299 

Cobaltite 260,  295,  483 

Cochise  dist.,  Arizona 484 

Cochrane,  Hon.  Frank 13 

Cockerill's  works,  Belgium 194 

Cockshutt,  W.  F. 62,  65 

Coe  Hill,  Ont 197,  201 

Coffin  tp.     See  Aberdeen  tp. 
Coinage — 

Use  of  Canadian  metals  for 74 

Coke- 
British  Columbia,  royalty  on 28 

production    and    price 

453,457,459 

Colchester  tp.,  Ont 140 

Cole,  Arthur  A. — 

Chairman,  Cobalt  dist 12 

Minor  refs.  to 52,  86 

Paper  by,  sampling  of  silver  cobalt   ores 

at  Copper  Cliff 287-291 

Cole,  L.  Heber 436 

Coleman,  A.  P 97,  103,  284 

Coleman  tp.t  Nip. — 

Cobalt  silver  ores  of,  origin. 275,  276 

Rocks  in 257,  278,  282 

Veins  in,  character 277 

Coll,  H.  E 13 

Collis,  J.  West 79,  83 

Colorado,  U.S 337 

Colquhoun,  A.  J 440 


PAGE 

Comox,  V.  1 226 

Concentration  of  ores — 

By  Elmore  process,  notes 460-462 

Cobalt,  paper  by  Sancton 340-347 

Coniagas  silver  mine,  Cobalt — 

Concentration  at 341,  343 

Minor  ref 337,  339 

Production,  1907 299 

Connellsville,  Pa. — 

Analysis  of  coal  from 214 

Consolidated  Mining  and  Smelting  Co. 

74,  75,  456,  539,  540 

Copper- 
Assaying  of,  Rossland 447 

British  Columbia,  price 452 

production 

453,456,459 

Canada,  northern,  notes  by  Tyrrell. 

356-360 

production 29,  30 

Capelton  hills,  Que .254 

Conventional  sign  for 489-491 

Copper  River  dist.,  Alaska 415-421 

In  pegmatite  ores 93 

James  tp 266 

Ontario  production 34 

Quebec  production 38 

Sudbury  dist.,  method  of  computing  out- 
put  41 

Whitehorso  dist.,  Yukon 546-549 

Yerrington,  Nevada 463—466 

Copper  Centre,  Alaska 418 

Copper  Cliff,  Ont. — 

Cobalt  ores  treated  at,  cost  of 303 

Sampling,  paper  by  Cole 287-290 

Smelting  at,  statistics 413 

Copper  glance — 

Copper  mts.,  Mack 357 

Elliot  creek,  Alaska 420,  421 

Whitehorse  dist.,  Yukon 546 

Yerrington,  Nevada 465,  466 

Copper  King  mine,  Yukon 547,  548 

Copper  mts.,  Mack 357 

Copper  pyrites.     See  Chalcopyrite. 

Copper  Queen  mine,  Yukon 547,  548 

Copper  river,  Alaska — 

Copper  on     356 

Notes  by  Brewer 415-422 

Coppermine  river,  Mack 357—359 

Corless,  C.  V 435 

Cornwall,  Pa 94 

Corundum — 

Canadian  production 29,  30 

Conventional  sign  for 492,  493,  500 

Ontario  production 35 

Corvet  copper  mine,  Yukon 548 


General  Ism  \ 


599 


PAOl 

■  >■ 
On  eoal  and  oil  -hale-  218,  219 

On  origin  of  graphite,  -' 1 1   2  17 

Couchiching  lake,  out :;• 

Could  r.       i     -  72.78 

Coulter,  Dr.  R.  \I 

Coulthard.  K.  W 82 

Qounteea  of  Warwick  ad.,  Frank 354 

t'ovelite    

Oewgita,  Q.C  1 

Oaaa,  Eekfey  B 606,  606 

Craig,  Dixon 124,201,309 

Cramp  Steal  Co       134 

Cranberry.  N.C 94 

t'raiilirook.  B.C 369 

Creighton  mine,  Sudbury  diat. — 

Paper  on,  by  L.  Stewart 567-585 

Crow's  Nest  Pass  Coal  Co. — 

Minor  refs 152 

Output,  1907 168 

Qrnjckahank,  Ciraham 79,85 

Cuprite 465,546 

Cushing,  Prof 24<J 

(  'u-pilll    .  lul  if-.         >.  ,     DUl 


1) 


Dndoxyloo  sandstone 210 

Dalhousie  iron  mine,  Ont 95,  107 

PalhminiB  nniTnrnity.  N.ft, 

Daly.  K.  A.  . 

Daly  Reduction  Co 42H.  424 

Damnified  gnei--e-.  249 

ii.  W.  A 77,78 

(apt.  .  361 

•    \l       348 
.  Yukon — 

Climate  .  .  ::■ 

Gold  mining  in  diat.  of,  notes  .  .  .  .•">•■■ 
Pea  J  wood  camp.  Bounder)  diet.,  B.( 
Mm,  Ow  319 

Deloro  Smelting  ami  Refining  Co. — 

.it  nre>  treated  at,  cost    305—307 

Demeuth.  F .MJ 

■  Den  m-      barque) 362 

■uerit  of  Mines.     Si,  llinca  Depart- 
ment. 
De  Peneier,  H.  1'. 

I  : 

iL'.  1 13,  1 19 

•  'tit — 

I  . 
o. — 

133,  I 

146 
Devlin,  11. .n.  t'liarle-  .  .  .  .66 

Deyell.  11.  .1.  . 


PAOI 

M  lake.  Nip.    ........ 

Diamonds— - 

Conventional  sign  fur 

Coal  "f.  for  drills.  . 388,391 

Origin  of. 246 

Diamond  drilling.     .S>e  Boring. 
Diarsenide  of  nickel — 

Cobalt,  o,,f 294 

Dick.  W.  J 14.  1.-..441 

Dickinson,  H.  P 79 

1  rickaon,  Olie 647 

Dominion  Copper  Co 166 

Dominion  Government  — 
See  also  Lead  Bounty  Act. 

Deputations  to   13 

Grant  from 16,  81 

Dominion  Iron  and  Steel  Co 14_'.  lid 

Dominion  iron  seam.  Belle  Isle 100 

Donnelly,  Mr ">_':i 

Dowling,  D.  B.— 

Minor  refs.  to 6.217,434,  !:;:> 

Paper  by,  on  classification  of  coal.-' 

Drain  tiles 

Dredging  for  gold  in  Klondike  658,  559 

Dresser,  John  A .  — 

Minor  ref 79 

On  gold  in  Eastern  tps -'"'4 

Drifting  at  Rossland •"> 

Drift  on.  Pa 505,507 

Drummond,  G.  D 15 

Drummoml.  George  E 12,60,87 

Dnimmond.  T.  J. 87 

Drummond.  Dr.  W.  H 12 

Drummoml  Mine-.  Ltd 164 

Drummond  silver  mine.  Cobalt 299 

Dryden.  Ont 1 1 « i 

Dubawnt   river.   Kee 

Dlld-well    tp..   Wolfe   .-,,..   Que   .  263 

Dugdale.  Yukon  5 16 

Dumping  tablea 

Cobalt,  <  tat.,  description 
Duncan  Creek  diat.,  Yuk 

Hi-mutl...  

Tungaten 

Dunn.  <  ieorge  W.  T'.i 

Dun-mat, e    M3. 

Damns.  . .  .92 

I  )Ut  tl   - 

I'tnt.  id,  -dver,  tin 

1. 

n  Townships,  Que. — 
Gold  in,  paper  by  Obalaki. 

Kcl„,  I  J 

100 


600 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


PAGE 

Ekenberg,  D.  M 235 

Elaterite 496,  497 

Eldorado,  Ont 197 

Eldorado  creek,     Bonanza     creek,     Yukon 

550,551,555,562 

Electric  smelting  of  iron  ores — 

Haanel's  views 67 

Paper  by  Stansfield 237-247 

Turnbull 173-178 

Sault  Ste.  Marie 136, 138 

Elizabeth,  Queen 350-352 

Elk  city,  Nip 261,  262 

Elliot  copper  claim,  Alaska 417 

Elliot  creek,  Kotsina  river,  Alaska. .419,  421 

Ellis  iron  claim,  N.B 157 

Ells,  Dr.  R.  W.— 

Minor  ref 6, 156,  237,  240,  439,  440 

Paper  by,  on  Minerals  of  New  Brunswick 

215-219 

Elmendorf,  Mr 548 

Elmore  vacuum  process — 

Paper  on,  by  Claudet 460-462 

Rossland,  notes 537 

Emerald 500 

Emery.     See  Corundum. 

Emmons,  S.  F 5 

Engineering — 

Metallography  applied  to,   paper  by  W. 

Campbell 471-485 

Engineers — 

Duties  ami  rights  of,   paper  by  Kendall 

467-470 

England.     See  Great  Britain. 
Erythrite — 

Great  Slave  lake 361 

•lames  tp.,  Ont 266 

Cobalt,  Ont 295 

Eskimo  cape,  Hudson  bay 356 

Essonite 501 

Europe — 

Cobalt  ores  to,  terms  of  sale 301 

Eustis  copper  mine,  Que 254 

Evans  Bros 207,  214 


Famine  river,  Que 251 

Farnum  iron  mine 108 

Farr,  Mr 71 

Farr  tp.,  Nip 259,  262 

Fay,  C.  L 510,511 

Fees  to  mining  engineers  .  . .  : 469 

Feldspar- 
Canadian  production 30 

Conventional  sign  for 493,  495,  501 

Ontario  production 35 

Fell,  E.  Nelson     437 

Ferrite 478.  479 


Fertilizers — 

Conventional  signs  for 493,  494 

Fielding,  Hon.  W.  S 13 

Fierro,  Mexico 92 

Fire-steel  river,  Ont 117 

Flagstones — 

Conventional  sign  for 497,  498 

Quebec  output 38 

Flat  rapid,  Montreal  river 260,  261 

"Flax  seed"  iron  ores 99 

Flogberget,  Sweden 190, 195 

Florence  copper  mine,  Yukon 548 

Fluorite 493,  494 

Fluxes — 

For  Cobalt  ores 313-316 

Flying  post,  Mattagami  river 120 

Flynn,  F.  N.— - 

Paper  by,  on  Metallurgical  conditions  at 

Cobalt 293-334 

Ford,  D 13 

Fort  Churchill,  Kee 360,  365 

Fort  Frances,  Ont 117 

Fort  Good  Hope,  Mack 363 

Fortier,  C 88 

Foster,  T.  J 

Foster  silver  mine,  Cobalt 299,  337,  339 

Fowler,  S.  S 70-73,  79,  83-85 

Fowler  bay,  Mack 358 

Fox,  Mr 58 

Fraleck,  E.  L. — 

Minor  ref.  to   86 

On  computing  statistics 42 

Paper  by,  on  early     mining     in     Ontario 

151-155 

Frances  iron  mine,  Ontj 107,  119 

Frank,  Alta 457 

Franklin,  Sir  John   358 

Fraser,  J.  S.  C 79,  85 

Freeland,  Pa 505 

Freights — 

Iron  ores,  Eastern  Ont 197 

Frobisher,  Martin 350-352 

Frobisher  bay,  Baffin  island 350,  356 

Fuels — 

Conventional  signs  for 495-497 

Fuller,  J.  C 79 

Furnace  Falls.     See  Lyndhurst. 
Furnaces.     See  Blast  furnaces. 

Electric  smelting. 
Smelting,  etc. 

G 

"Gabriel"  (barque) 350,  351 

Galena.     See  Lead. 

Galena  pt.,  Bathurst  inlet 360 

Ganonoque  river,  Ont. — 

Blast  furnace  on 139,  151 


HAL     1m.|   \ 


till] 


\    '  

Garni 

aal  sign  for 

93 

Yerr  

<  larnierite.  ....... 



John  W  |  t7 

N..I. 


-  for tfl 

rmations — 

i  IP  I  Manitoba 362 

r> 111-113 

568, 569 

■  al  Survey  of  Canada 7  t 

<  iwlllllllj)  — 

Cobalt   ami  -ilver  ores  bought  by,  terms 
.304.305 

Dr.  A l' 1 1 

Gibbon,  J.  F. . .    

.  T.  M. 

Minor  ref.  . 199 

On  collecting  statistics 34-37 

On  mining  schools 521 

Gilbert  river,  Que 251,  252 

Gilchena  river.  Alaska 

Gillies  station,  Coleman  tp.,  Nip 317 

Gillis.  H.  B 88 

Gilpin.  Or.  E.  J 1_< 

Glaciar  • 

.•lian  iron  deposits      !-'•: 

Northern  Canada   

Glendower  iron  mine 197 

..  N.B. — 
Ir":i  .156-164 

Godfrey,  •  >nt 1^7 

trie  iron  ranee,  U.S. — 

Character 97 

114 

Goine.  Charles  B 14 

Gold  an.i  IT..]. I  .,r.  . 

147 

Columbia.  Medley  .  ;. 

product  ion.         r 

::i.  northern,  notes'  by  Tyrrell 



;  I'M'.ri.  -'9,30 

lor. .  ;- 

kel.  .  .319 

ul   smelter 

37] 

D. 

■natte-. 


PAOl 

Gold  Drop  nine,  Phoenix,  B.C    . 
Gold-run  sroak,  Dominion  m-.-k.  Vkn.    .  109 

srham,  ( ini  ](,<( 

■in,  Dr.  W.  L.— 

'  reft 

<  ta  computing  mineral  statist  )o 

On  headquarters  of  Institute is 

'■"..  <  tat.  1  to 

I;    1  ( 1 1 

Goudreaa  lab  109 

Goulaia  bay,  1  Int.  ...  1 19 

Gourlay,  Robert     151 

Governments  irram-.  .  .16,81 

Grafter  copper   mine.   Whitehorse,    Yukon 

547-549 

Granby,  B.C. — 

Mining  methods  at: — 

paper  by  Campbell 392-406 

Hodges 407-413 

Gianby  (' 1.-,,, 

Grand  falls.  Mattacami  river 120 

'  tread  Porks,  B.C. — 

Minintr  methods  at 407-41:^ 

Grand  lake.  Queens  co..  X.B 204 

Grandes  Piles,  Que 132 

Granger.  Mr 547 

Granite — 

Conventional  -i?n  for ;■■ 

Hedley.  B.C 426,  427 

Quebec  output 

Btructure  of  graphic ^ 

Oram-  to  Institute 16.81 

Graphic  granite 

Grapbit 

la,  paper  by  Brumell. 
.... 

Conventional  sign  for. 493.  494 



N   LP 

Gravels,  auriferous.     8ee  Klondike. 

Great  Bear  lake,  Mack.  35* 

1  lr<  mi   Britain — 

treated  in.  ro*t    31 
Mining  education  in.. 

Oil  -hales  of.  . 
Vi-it  of  mining  re] 

■  ••:.      81 .    Back  -   river, 
lck. — 
Climate.  . 

Minerals 

Green  lake.  Nip. 

Greenalit- 91 

iter  lake.  1  >nt.  117 

Greenw 

Minor  ref.  .  .  711 

113 


602 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


PAGE 

Grenville  series — 

Hudson  strait 353 

Iron  in 94,  104 

Position  of 113 

Grenville  tp.,  Que. — 

Graphite  in,  notes  and  analysis.  .240-243 

Grindstones 492,  493 

Grondal  process — 

Paper  on,  by  Bennie 189-198 

Grossularite 501 

Gue,  T.  R 12 

Guernsey,  F.  W 79,  82-85 

Guggenheim,  Messrs 454 

Guldsmedshyttan,  Sweden 190, 195 

Guthrie,  Mr 476 

Gwillim,  J.  C.— 

List  by,  of  some  reports  on  Geology  of 

Western  Canada 433-444 

Minor  ref 435,  437,  442 

On  mining  laws 53 

On  headquarters  of  Institute 49 

Gypsum — 

Canadian  production 29,  30 

Conventional  sign  for 493,  494 

Ontario  production 35 


11 


Haanel,  Dr.  Eugene — 

Minor  ref 14,  62,  159,  185 

Smelting  experiments  by,  at  Soo..l36,  173 

Speech  at  banquet 67 

Haas,  J.  C 73,78 

Halkirk  tp.,  Out 117 

Hall,  Capt.  C.  F 353-356 

Hall,  Oliver 437 

Hall  island,  Hudson  strait 350 

Hall  Mining  and  Smelting  Co 456 

Hanbury,  David 358,  359 

Harder,  Mr 92 

Hamilton,  Ont 30,  109,  140 

Hamilton  Blast  Furnace  Co 140 

Hamilton  Iron  Forging  Co 140 

Hamilton  Steel  and  Iron  Co. — 

Minor  ref 1 40 

Notes : 132,137 

Statistics 145 

Hammer  lake,  Nip 261 

Hanley ,  Mr 547 

Hanbury,  David 358,  359 

Harder,  Mr 92 

Hardman,  John  E. — 

Minor  refs 19,  24,  30,  44,  60,  202,  437 

Paper  by,  on  A  new  Iron  Ore  field  in  N.B. 

156-164 

Speech  at  Montreal  banquet 87 

Ottawa  banquet 70 


PAGE 

Views   of,    on  headquarters   of    Institute 

46-48 

Views  of,  on  Lead  Bounty  Act 24 

Hardscrabble  creek,  B.C 368 

Hardy,  G.  D 86 

Hardy,  G.  R.— 

Report  by,  on  Cobalt  branch 86 

Secretary,  Cobalt  branch 12 

Harewood  colliery,  V.I 226 

Harkin,  Edwin 65 

Harrow  tp.,  Alg 113 

Hastings  co.,  Ont 120 

Hatton  cape,  Hudson  strait 353 

Haultain,  Mr 201 ,  367 

Hay,  Col.  A.  M 19,  50,  58 

Haycock,  Ernest 439 

Hays,-? 152 

Headquarters  of  Institute — 

Discussion  on 44-52 

Hedley,  R.  R 6,  27,  61 ,  74,  87,  413,  437 

Hedley,  B.C.— 

Geology  and  ore  deposits  of,   paper  by 

Camsell 423-432 

Helen  iron  mine,  Ont .  107, 110, 119, 125,  140 
See  also  Boyer  lake. 

Helena  copper  mine,  Yukon 548 

Hellefors,  Sweden 191 

Helsingborg,  Sweden 190,  195 

Hematite — 

As  flux  for  Cobalt  ores 315 

Gloucester  co.,  N.B 157 

James  tp 266 

Michipicoten  div 95 

Ontario,  notes  by  Willmott.,106,  107, 118 

Timiskaming  lake 317 

Whitehorse  dist.,  Yukon 546 

Henratta,  CM 435 

HeVoult,  Dr.— 

Furnace  of,  description 181-183 

for  steel 187 

Minor  refs 176,  177 

Herrang,  Sweden 190,  195 

High  Bluff  lake,  Nip 262 

Hill.  C.  P 72 

Hill,  L 73 

Hille,  F 108,124 

Hislop,  Prof 215 

Bixon,  H.  W 13 

Hjulsjo,  Sweden 195 

Hobart,  Frederick 14,  21,  71 

Hobson,  J.  B 441 

Hodges,  A.  B.  W.— 

Acknowledgments  to 77 

Elected  president,  western  branch.  .10,  72 

Minor  refs 6,  12,  79,  83-85 

Paper  by,  on  Granby  mines  and  smelter 
407-413 


General   [ndex 


803 


PAOl 

•sl ill  at    Nelson 7;( 

Hoffmann,  Dr.  C.  C     2 

Booper  creek,  Q.G.] 286 

lli.|.|>,  John 73 

H ore.  H.   I-:.— 

Paper  by,  on  Origin  of  Cobait-sih. 
of  Northern  <  mtario 27 

Horndal.  Sweden     190 

Boiighton  tp .- 139 

Hound  chute,  Montreal  river 817 

Bub  eosi  Beam,  Sydney,  NJ3 326 

Hubbard  copper  claims,  Alaska 417 

Hubbard-Klliot  exploring  party 419 

Hubernite 367 

Hubert  lake,  Nip 259,  262,  266,  271 

Hudson  Bay 355,  356,  360 

Hudson's  Bay  Co 360 

Hunker  creek,  Yukon    .    .550,551,555,562 

Hunt,  D.  Sterry 572 

Hunter  island,  Ont 117 

Huronian — 

I  r<  hi  ore  in 99 

Lake  Huron,  north  of 112 

Lake  Superior,  iron  production  from. .  1  14 

Northern  Canada 349 

Sudbury  dist 569 

Hussey,  William 159 

Hutton  iron  range,  Ont 93,  94,  103 

Hutton  tp.,  Ont. — 

Iron  ore  in,  paper  by  Leach 147-150 

Hyacinth 501 

Hydrated  (Brown)  iron  ores KM) 

Hydraulic  mining  in  Klondike.  560   562 

I 

Ikeda  eopper  mine,  Q.C.I 157 

Indiana,  VJB 

Infusorial  earth — 

Conventional  sign  for.  I'.u    l;i.; 

Ingall,  K.  D  — 

Minor  refs 9,  21.  C!7 

Paper  by,  on  signs  for  mineral  occurrence 
"n'pa 487-503 

by,  on  iron  ores.  K.  Ontario. 108,  109 

tngalk,  W.  K 

Ingram  tp.,  Nip _.;,, 

International   Committee   on  Pre-Cambrian 

nomenclature. \\  _> 

International  Nickel  Co. — 

Charge- by,  for  Cobalt  ores.  .  80S    807 

town,  I 

Coal  of,  character 222 

Geological  formation-  in    .«;_' 

Iridium — 

•  nttonal  ngn  for. 489,  490 

Iron  and  Iron  ores — 
British  Columbia,  output .        .    ...      157 


1  lanada,  northern,  notes  860  861 

paper  by   l.eith  111     lir, 

production. 20,  80 

Conventional  sicns  for 490,491 

Kleetrie  smelting  of 67 

paper  by  Stansfield ISO    iss 

Turnbull 173-176 

Qrondal    process   for,   paper   by    Bonnie 

189-198 

Metallurgy  of.  note-  by  .lenning.-. 478-482 
Moose  Ml.  range,  paper  by  Leach. 147-150 
New  Brunswick,  paper  by  Bardman.  .  156 

Ontario,  early  mining 151-15.5 

paper  by  Parmelee 125 

Willmott.  .  .  .106-124 

production 34 

method  of  computing.  .37,  43 

Percentage  of,  in  mattes 324 

Timiskaming  lake 317 

Vancouver  island 458 

Iron  dam,  Vermilion  river,  Ont 147 

Iron  Expert  Assn 198 

Iron  Horse  copper  mine.  Yukon 548 

Iron  pyrites — 

Conventional  sign  for 493,  495 

For  Cobalt  smelter 314 

Goudreau  lake 109 

Hedley,  B.C ij'j 

In  pegmatite  ores 93 

L.  Superior,  north  of 116 

Ontario,  production  35 

Bmaltiie  smelting  with 328 

W  lute  Bear  mine,  Rossland 529 

Ironsides  mine.     See    Knob    Bill-Ironsides 
mine. 

Irving,  John .",17 

Irving,  John  Duer .", 


Jacinth :,iii 

Jacobs,  E. 

Elected      Secretary-Treasurer      W 

branch 10,   12,  72 

Minor  refs.  to  IS,  77-79 

Paper  by,  on  Mineral  Production  of  B.C. 

162    159 

!■•  1  ortfi  by, on  Nelson  and  Rossland  1 it- 

"ig* 72 — 85 

■bide  508 

.lame-  bay,  Budson  bay 

Animilria  -,-,,,.,  ,,,,  ...  1  12 

James   tp.,    Nip 

Cobalt  in 276 

Silver  in,  paper  by  Barkm 

Jargoon 501 

laioiiite)  — 
Conventional  sign  for .  .  502 


604 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


PAGE 

Gloucester  co.,  N.B 157 

Mesabi  range 110 

Jasper  conglomerate 119 

Jennings,  E.  P. — 

Paper    by,    on    Ludwig    mine,    Nevada 

463-466 

Johnston,  R.  A.  A 367 

Jones,  E.  Freeman 151 

Josephine  iron  mine,  Ont..  ..107-110,   119 
Journal  of  the  Institute 11 


Kaiarskons  lake,  Ont 116 

Kamloops  dist.,  B.  C. — 

Geological  reports  on,  partial  list 440 

Keele,  Jas 442 

Keewatin  formation — 

Hudson  bay 356 

Hunter  island 117 

Iron  ore  in 98,  113-115 

Keewenawan  copper  mine,  Ykn 548 

Keffer,  Frederic — 

Acknowledgments  to 12,  53,  77 

Annual  address  of 9 

Early  mining  experiences 70 

Minor  refs 7,  62,  70,  76-78,  438 

Paper  by,  on   costs  of   boring,  Boundary 

dist.,  B.C 385-391 

Speech  at  annual  meeting 3 

Nelson 73,74 

Keith,  Arthur 94 

Keller,  furnace 183, 184 

Kelly,  Edward 207 

Kemp,  Dr.  J.  F 5,  94,  570 

Kendall,  J.  D.— 

Paper  by,    on    the    duties   and    rights   of 

engineers 467-470 

Kennedy  coal  mine.     See  King,  George. 

Kennicott  river,  Alaska 417-419 

Kentucky,  U.  S. — 

Coal  of,  character 222,  22:5 

Kerr  Lake  (Jacobs)  silver  mine,  Cobalt  299 

Keweenawan  formation 112,  359 

Key  inlet,  Georgian  bay 148 

Keystone  drill 532,  533 

Kiddie,  Thomas 74-84 

Killarney,  Ont 107 

King,  George 205-207,  214 

Kingston  and  Pembroke  Ry. — 

Iron  ores  along,  magnetic 108 

map 196 

notes 197 

quality 108 

Kingston  School  of  Mining 514,  51.5 

Kirsopp,  John ; 439 

Kirby,  E.  B 437 


PAGE 

Klondike,  Ykn.— 

Absence  of  glaciation  in 354 

Climate.  t 363,  364 

Mining  in,  notes  by  Pare1 550-565 

Kluane  dist.,  Ykn 417 

Knight,  Cyril  W 268 

Knight  island,  Alaska 416 

Knob  Hill-Ironsides  mine.  Phoenix,  B.C. — 

Met  hod  of  Mining  at 392-400 

Kootenay  Belle  mine,  B.C 369 

Kootenay  dist.,  B.C. — 

Geological  reports  on,  partial  list 

435-437 

Mineral  output,  1907 455,  456 

Korting,  Gebruder 232 

Kotsina  river,  Alaska 417 

Kunnuyuk  island,  Arctic  ocean 358 

Kuskulana  river,  Alaska 417 

Kussnuyuk  island,  Arctic  ocean 358 


La  Plata  lead  mine,  B.C 455 

Labelle  co.,  Que. — 

Graphite  in 236-242 

Labrador — 

Iron  in 360 

Labradorite 502 

Lac  Pierre,  Que 132 

Lac-a-la-Tortue,  Que 132 

Lac  aux  Sables,  Que 132 

Lady  Evelyn  lake,  Nip 263,  278,  283 

Ladysmith,  V.  1 83 

Lake  Champlain,  U.S 115 

Lake  Erie Ill 

Lake  Huron — 

Iron  ores  of 96 

Lake  Superior — 

Animikie  on 

Iron  ores  on 112-114 

magnetic  sands Ill 

notes 123 

production 121,122 

Lake   Superior    Corporation.     See    Algoma 
Steel  Co. 

Lake  Superior  Iron  and  Steel  Co 145 

Lake  Superior  sedimentary  iron  ores 

95,96,102,103 

Lakina  river,  Alaska 417,420-422 

Lamb,  H.  Mortimer — 

Minor  refs 11,22 

On  deputation  to  Govt 13 

On  headquarters  of  Institute 50,  51 

On  lead  mining  in  B.  C 27.  28 

Report  by,  as  secretary 11-15 

Visit  to  West 72 

Lane,  Alfred  C 5,  277 


General  I  mm  \ 


(i();-) 


Laos,  Mr..  .  . 

I.:mirl;tiul,  Lab 371 

towns  tp.,  Leeda  ■•<•..  Out.  151 

Lantern  slides  — 

ookwring  of 8 

Lapis  Lazuli 502 

Lardeau  dist.,  B.C I",". 

Larder  lake,  Nip 

silver  mine,  Cobalt.  .  . 

\.  i i 

Latehford,  Nip 300,  261 

Lathe,  Frank  E 14.  15,  79,84, 187 

Latouche  island,  Alaska 416 

Lauderdale,  Jim 547 

Lauren  tian 569 

Laurier,  Sir  Wilfrid 4,  62 

Law  son.  Dr.  A.  C 277 

Lawson  silver  mine,  Cebatt 339 

Leach,  Neman  L. — 

Paper  by,  on  Moose  Mt.  Iron  range 

147-150 

Leach,  VV.  W 435,  441 

Lead — 

See  also  Lead  Bounty  An. 

British  Columbia  output  .  .  .453,455,459 

Canada,  northern,  notes 360 

production 29,  30 

•ntional  sign  for 490,  491 

For  smelting  Cobalt  ores 314.  315 

Hudson  bay,  auriferous 

James  tp 266 

ntage  of,  in  mattes 

Priee  of 152 

ition  of,  from  line 461 

~     can  div.,  assaying  of 

Lead  Bounty  Act — 

Discussion  on 24-27 

Effect  of 

Leadville,  Col 326 

I  Okie,  Major 86,  188 

On  albertite 217,219 

computing  statistics 40 

mining  laws. 57,  58 

Ledoux,  Dr.  A.  R 297 

Leech,  X.  E 42.  60 

Lehigh  Valley  Coal  Co 506 

Leirh,  Dr.  C.  K.— 

Minor  refs 23,97 

Paper  by,  on  Iron  ores  of  Canada.  91-105 

Lenora  copper  mine,  VI 457 

Leonard,  EL  W  — 

On  headquarters  <>f  Institute 49,  .",(> 

Report  by,  as  chairman  of  committee 

19-21 

Lepreau  harbour,  N.B. 209,  210 

Le  Roi  eoppsi  mine,  TThilnkinii.  JTka  ,547 
Le  Roi  mine.  B.f'..  . ...  J6,  532 


PAOI 

Le  Roi  mine,  No.  2,  B.  C (56 

139 

Lethbridge  (Coal  Banks),  Alta 222.  223 

Lewis  island,  Antic  ocean 

Library  of  Institute 13,  16 

Lignite 303 

Lillooet  diet.,  B.C.— 
t  leolegical  reports  on,  partial  list. .    .440 

Lime 

Conventional  sign  for 498,  190 

Ontario  production 36 

Quebec  production 38 

Limestone — 

As  flux 153,  ir,7 

for  Cobalt  ores :;|t, 

Associated  with  graphite 236,  237 

Conventional  sign  for 497,  498 

Copper  River  dist..  Alaska  .  .         120    121 
Coal  of,  at  Boo I3.s 

<  treat   Slave  lake,  south  of 

Hedley,  B.C 124 

Parry  Smmd  dist.,  with  magnetite.  . .  120 

Quebec  production 38 

Whitehorse  di>t.,  Ykn 546 

Verrington,  Nevada 46 

Lirnonite — 

Canada,  production 102 

("oli-hester  and  Gosfield  tps 140 

1  mtario,  notes    109, 110 

•  ■<■  character 100 

production 

I'nited  States,  production 102 

Lindeman,  Kinar 159-1  6 

Lithographic  stone 493,494 

Little  IV  River,  (Jut UK 

Lit t le  Pike  Lake,  Ont lis 

Little  Pine  lake.  Ont lis 

3ilver  mine,  Coball  dist.    .  285 

Little  Twelve-mile  river,  Ykn.  555 

Liverpool,  Kng. — 

Cobalt  ores  to,  eost  of  freight.  .  .         302 

Locbaber  t  p.,  Que 

Lock,  Ifichael  .  . 

Logan,  Sir  W.K 242 

Londonderry.  N.S 101 

Long  creek,  Souris  river,  Sask..  .     . 

Long  lake.  N.  of  L.  Bnperior. 113,  11* 

Long  tp.,  \li/.  113,  120 

Loon  lake.  I ■'.  of  Port  Arthur        .       108,118 
Loring,  Frank,  C. — 

Minor  refs Ill 

Paper  by,  on  Mining  at  Cobalt.  .  335-340 

Lost  lake-,  Nip  

Low.  I)r.  A.  P.  ...  I  :  I  0,361 

Low  e.  Robert 547, 648 

Ludwig  mine.  Nevada  — 

Paper  on,  by  Jennings U 


6'J6 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


PAGE 

Luginmara,  T 62 

Lulea.  Sweden 190,  195 

Lyndhurst,  Leeds  co 151 

M 

McConnell,  R.  G 437,441,442,546,550 

MacCullum,  S.  L 220 

McDonald,  Bernard 437,  444 

Macdonald,  J 207,  214 

McDonald.  J.  A 62,  65,  79-82,  85 

MacDougall,  Mr 87 

McEvoy,  J 72,  435,  436,  441 

McGee,  Sam 547 

McGill,  Hon.  Peter 152 

McGill  Mining  Society 88 

Maclnnes,  H.  W 13 

Mclnnes.  William 361 

MeKellar  iron  mine,  Ont 114,  117 

MacKenzie,  A.  B 79 

MaeKenzie  and  Mann 147,  148 

Mackenzie  prov. — 

Climate  of 363 

Copper  in 357 

MaeKenzie  river,  Mack 65,  363 

McKinley  -  Darragh  mine,  Cobalt 

299,337,341 

McKinnon,  Angus 547 

MacKintire,  Jack 547 

McLaren,  G.  R 14.  15 

McLeish,  J. — 

Paper  by,  on  Mining  Statistics 29-33 

McLeod  bay,  Great  Slave  lake  .  .  .  .356,  361 

McLeod  river,  Alta 355 

McLeod  river,  California 173 

McMillan,  A.J 79-85 

McNab,  Ont 95,  107 

McXaughton,  F.  F 548 

McNaughton,  Mr 26 

McTavish  bay,  Gt.  Slave  lake 356,  361 

Madoc,  Ont 153,  197 

Magrnatic  segregation  ores  ...  .91,  102,  570 

Magnesite 38,  546 

Magnesium 493,  495 

Magnetic  lake,  Ont 117 

Magnetic  sands 101,  111,  200 

Magnetite — 

See  also  Titaniferous  magnetite. 

As  flux  for  Cobalt  ores 316 

British  Columbia 92 

Canada  and  United  States 94,  95 

Labrador '. 360 

N  ew  Jersey 94 

Ontario 108-120 

Scandinavia,  statistics 190,  191 

Shasta  co.,  Cal 173,  174 

Magnetite-hematite — 

Gloucester  co.,  N.B 157 


PAGE 

Malachite — 

Copper  mts.,  Mack 357 

James  tp,,  Ont 266 

Sudbury  dist 571 

Yerrington,  Nevada 463,  465 

Maltha.     See  Tar. 

Manahan,  Mr 152 

Manganese — 

As  flux  for  Cobalt  ores 316 

Conventional  sign  for 490,  491 

Percentage  of,  in  mattes 324 

Map — 

Central  Ontario  Ry.  valley 192 

Creighton  mine 573 

Granby  mines,  method  of  making 

403,404 

Kingston-Pembroke  Ry.  valley 194 

Knob  Hill-Ironsides  mine  slopes 399 

Of  mineral   occurrences,  paper  by   Ingall 

487-503 

Rossland,  paper  on  compilation  of 

372-384 

Sudbury  dist 568 

White  Bear  mine 527 

Maple  mt.,  Nip 258-263 

Marble 497,  498 

Marble  Bay  copper  mine,  B.C 456 

Marks,  George  T 12 

Marl- 
Conventional  sign  for 498,  499 

Marmora,  Ont. — 

Blast  furnace  at 140 

Cobalt  ores  treated  at,  cost 304-307 

Marmora  Iron  Foundry 152,  153 

Marmora  tp.,  Ont 152 

Marquette  iron  range,  U.S 114 

Marshall,  Mr 87 

Marshall,  Dr.  T.  R 439 

Marston  tp.,  Compton  co.,  Que 253 

Martensite 478 

Marysville,  B.C 456 

Mason,  John 151-155 

Matawin  iron  range,  Ont. — 

Analysis  of  ore 117 

Notes  by  Hille 124 

Quartz  banded  ore  of 115 

Mattagami  river,  Ont 109,  110,  120 

Mattes — 

Classification,  composition  and  treatment 

324-328 

Notes  on,  by  W.  Campbell 477 

Treatment  of,  at  Ladysmith,  V.I 83 

Matthews  iron  mine,  Ont 109 

Maurer,  N.J. — 

Cobalt  ores  treated  at,  cost 303 

Medina  formation 112 

Megantic  lake,  Que 254 


IERAL    Km  \ 


607 


Mclaiiitc 

■hip  of  lii-unir, •  .  Ll,17 

icook  river,  VB  .  212,  813,  216 

Mendenhall,  Mr,  .  119 

Menominee  iron  ranee,  (J.8.  in 

Mereurj  .  189,  190 

Major  w  .  II.  .  .  i  ii,  in 

Minn. — 

Character.  97 

Stati-n.  -  114 

Metallic  minerali 

Conventional  sinus  fur 189    192 

Metallography 

plied  i" engineering  .  7   s 

Paper  by  W.  Campbell  . ..  171    185 

Metallui 

Coball   ores,  paper  by  l'lynn.  .   .  .293-334 

Difference  between,  and  minim: 189 

mine,  Sloean  div.,  B.C 367 

Metropolitan  claim.  Bediey  B.C 42G 

\|,  u< 

Cyaniding  in 346,  :i  16 

Iron  deposits  in 92 

Mica — 

Conventional  sign  for 493,494 

Statistics  of  production..  35,38,39 

"Michael"  (barque) 350 

Michel  colliery.   B.C 226 

Michigan  Copper  Co 345 

Michipicoten  div.,  Ont. — 

Iron  or,  s  ,,f  .  <.<.",.  97,  1  14.  1  15,  1  \'.t 

Mickle,  G.  k.  .  . 

Mickle  tp.,  Nip 

Microrine 

Mi, Hand.  Ol  • 

Blast  furnace  at 124,13 

Mill  creek.  Oldman  river 

Mill  stream,  Chaleur  bay,  N.B 156 

Miller.  Prof.  \V.  (i.— 
Analysis  by.  of  iron  ore.  Belmont  tp.  .108 

Banqueted  at  Montreal 87 

Minor  r,fs.     .52,60,61    27  91,282 

•  in  ,  229 

ining  law  - 58 

■ti  of  ( irenviUe  series  given  by  ..111 

'i  of.  at  (  Jttawa  banquet    .  ,66 

Miller.  W.  St.  John 79 

Miller  location,  Tudhope  tp.,  Nip 
- 
.  '  hi'.  .  .    .295 

MJBetoni  158 

la,  northern  j  rrell. 

i.      iv?  503 

i  ■ 


CM. I 

Mineral  Range  Iron  Mg.  Co,  .  .  i  1 1 

Mineral  ipringa 193,  I'.'i 

-i  ice, 
Ifineralogj  of  Sudburj  dial    ">~i 

Mill,  -    I  'cpal  I  llient 

Creation  of 14,74,75 

nsion  of 4,  ."■ 

Met  ho,  I  by,  of  computing  statistic; 

Minette  iron  .list.,  Prance 121 

Mining — 

At  Cobalt,  paper  by  Boring  .  .  .  .335-340 
Difference  between,  and  metallurgy  .  189 

Education  in,  paper  by  Stoek 504 

Cr>  ighton  mine,  methods 575  580 

i  iranby,  methods 392-413 

White  Hear  mine,  methods 525-543 

Yukon,  paper  by  Pard 546   565 

Mini nc  companies  in  (  Intario 21 

Mining  engineers.     See  Engineers. 

Mining  laws — 

British  Columbia 64,66 

Canada 

Ontario 19-21 

Mining  statistics 

British  Columbia. 81,  452-459 

<  'anada. 

N.B -ii7 

Iron,  Ont 106,  122.  I.V, 

I      Superior 111.121 

Method  of  collecting. 

Ontario  .  .  

Quebec 

United  Stat.  -  63 

Minnesota.  UJB        1-'-' 

Minto,  N.B.  ,  ,    ,  205,207,21  I 

Miscou.  N.B.  206 

kel — 

Cobalt,  Out.  . 

Deloro,  auriferous 319 

Hedley.  B.C.,  auriferous  .  i. 

White  Hear  mine 

Missouri,  CS. — 

Clinton  iron  ore  in 99 

Coal  of.  character 222.  223 

Mitchell,  C.  T 77,79 

Molybdenum — 

( lonventional  sign  for 490,  492 

Percentage  of,  in  mattes 

Moncton,  G.  F 4:;'.>.  140 

Montana.  I'.S. — 

Coal  of,  character 

Montery,  Mezic 92 

Montgomery,  H 1.3 

Montreal,  (Jue. — 

A  -  headquarters  for  institute 

Branch  of  Institute  at 12 

rt. ..  --7 


608 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


PAGE 

Montreal  Plumbago  Co 238 

Montreal  river,  Nip. — 

Silver    in    district    of,    paper   by    Barlow 
256-273 

Waterpower  on 317 

Monzonite 424,  425,  428 

Moonstone 501,  502 

Moose  Mountain  iron  mine,  Ont. — 

Analysis  of  ore 109 

Character  of  ore 120, 141, 142 

Moose  Mountain  iron  range — 

Paper  on,  by  Leach 147-150 

Moose  river,  James  bay 110,  112 

Morgan,  J.  Pierpont 418 

Morgan  co.,  Missouri 224 

Morrissey  colliery,  Crowsnest  coal-field. ..226 
Mountain     rapid,     Montreal     river,     Nip. 

260,261 

Mud  river,  Ont 118 

Muggley  concentrator 344-347 

Mulgrave  tp.,  Que 236 

Mulock,  Sir  William.     See  Caldwell-Mulock 

claim. 
Murray,  J.  C. — 

Minor  refs 71,199,371,522 

On  classification  of  coal 227-230 

On  Lead  Bounty  Act 28 

Murray,  Robert 13 

Musgrave,  E.  C 72,  441 

Musk-ox  lake,  Kee 360 

Musquash,  N.B 210 

Mynard,  Prof 546 

N 

Nanaimo,  B.C 226 

Nanaimo  coal-field 458 

Nastapoka  islands,  Lab 112,360 

National  Graphite  Co 240 

Natural  gas — 

Canadian  production,  1907 29,  30 

Conventional  sign  for 495,  496 

Ontario  production 35 

Neilly,  B.— 

Paper     by,     on     refining    silver     bullion 
586-591 

Neilson,  J.  B 152 

Nelson,  B.C.— 

Assaying  examination  at 445 

Branch  organized  at 9-12 

report  of  meeting 72-78 

Zinc  works  at ■ 457 

Nelson  div.,  B.C.— 
.  Mineral  output,  1907 454-456 

Nelson  river,  Kee 356 

Nevada,  U.S. — 

Copper  mining  in.     See  Ludwig  mine. 

Nevada-Douglas  Copper  Co 464 


PAGE 

New  Brunswick — 

Iron  ore  in,  paper  by  Hardman. .  156-164 

Minerals  of,  paper  by  Ells 204-219 

Newcastle  creek,  N.B.     See  Minto. 
Newfoundland — 

Iron  ores  of 91-104 

New  Jersey,  U.S. — 

Cobalt  ores  for,  terms  of  sale 301 

Magnetites 94 

New  Mexico — 

Coal  of,  character 222,  223 

New  Ross,  N.S 367 

New  York — 

Cobalt  ores  for,  terms  of  sale 301 

New  York  Ore  Buyers — 

Charges  by,  for  Cobalt  ores 303-307 

Niagara  falls 134,  177 

Niccolite 294,  483 

Niccolite  lake,  Nip 261 

Nicholson,  Dr.  . 548 

Nickel  and  Nickel  ores — 

Canadian  production 29,  30,  34,  567 

Conventional  sign  for 490,  491 

Creighton      mine,      paper      by      Stewart 

567-585 

Hudson  bay 361 

Metallurgy  of 320,  321 

New  Caledonia  production 567 

Percentage  of,  in  mattes 324 

Rabbit  lake,  Nip 256 

Statistics  of,  method  of  computing 36 

Stone  river 361 

Value  of,  in  Cobalt  ores 298 

VVinisk  river,  Kee 361 

Nickel  Plate  mine,  Hedley  B.C. 

423,  426-432, 455 

Nickel  sulphide — 

Cobalt,  Ont 295 

Nicola  Coal  and  Coke  Co 458 

Nicola  dist.,  B.C.— 

Geological  reports  on,  partial  list.  .  .  .400 

Nicolas,  Frank  J 593 

Nictaux  dist.,  N.S 99,  100 

Nipigon  formation.     See  Keweenawan    for- 
mation. 

Nipigon  lake,  Ont 113,  118 

Nipisiguit  river,  N.B. — 

Iron  deposits  on 157-162 

Nipissing  silver  mine,  Cobalt 299,  339 

Nitrates 493,494 

Noble,  H.  H 173-176 

Non-metallic  minerals — 

Conventional  signs  for 492-495 

Norfolk  co.,  Ont 109,  139,  151 

Norite 570,571 

Normandale,  Ont 109,  111 

North  American  Graphite  Co 238 


I  RAL    l\l>i  \ 


609 


North  Dak 

Northern  Iron  and  St.-, 
Co, 

N..rtlirtp|.|  coalfield,  V.  I.  r.s 

Northumberland  (trait,  N.B,  .  .  •_•< > -, 

N..ru 

H 191,  ] 93 

J  I'.i 
Iron  one  at..  s»»—  1 0 1 

in .-.(is 

industry i,i, 

statistics,  method  of  computing  :<2 
Tuiil- 

ii j i ii.- .  Cobalt,  . 
l  . 
by,  .'ii  peat 

«  ' 
Ohalski.  J.  — 

Minor  ref .,,,   j,M|.  _•».; 

Paper  by,  on  gold  in  Eastern 

rat  to      

Quebec  mineral  output  given  by. 

Oberschlniiia.  Saxony 

O'Brien  silver  mine,  Cobalt 299,  :«7 

Ochre — 

■i  for 492 

Queber  output 

OftV-  ute gO 

Ogflvie,  u  .  M..  .  ........... 

Oil.     Set  I'etn ileum. 

<  til  (ha 

Old    i  me.     8«  Knob   Hill-Iroo- 

Oldenburg.  Germany l':<.'( 

Oldman  river,  Alta 

O'Leary  Bros JQ7   _>i  ( 

Olijroi  i ess 

Omim  |  ,C. — 

-  on,  partial  li-t  of     ill 
OnapiriK  lake,  '  int..  .  . 

A.Mr...  M7 

Ontar. 

>f,  origin 
Early  minim?  in.  : 

.■•ii-  in  . ill 

■  i. . 

Iron  ore*  of . . 

Iron  and  .-■• 

B,   . 

er  mining  1 1 

Ontar  ,-jg 

39 


Ontario  Etolling  Mill-  Co..  i  m 

'     ■ .  l  in 

•  -.— 

Canada,  northern,  paper  by  Tyrrell 



nitration  .if,  by  Elm.. re  proi  i  i 
per  by  Claudel  ...         p.  . 

ethod  ..f  caleulal 

<  trthoclase  .  .  .-,,,i 

« lrt,,n  ir..n  mine,  i  >nt log 

117 

' '- "" 

1  'amondite     |7N 

Min.   Hiil.ert    lake.  Nip. 

I  a  — 
A-  headqaarteri  ..i"  [natitute. 

i  tttercove,  I..  Superior no 

i  'nt-i,|rr-  copper  mine,  Portland  oanal,  B.C. 

( ruvarovite.  .  501 

Oxford  00.,  Out.  109 

»y«,  497 

P 

Paint  lake.  Om 109 

Paleozoic — 

Divisions  of j  1 1 

Pare-,  A.  A.— 

Paper  by,  on  liming  in  Yukon     ,64 
Paris,  T.  \l. 

Parkin  tp.,  Nip.  109 

Parlee.  Norman  W. 
Parmelee,  Jas.  Gram 
Paper  by,  on  Iron  and  steel  industry  of 
<  tntario.  .  .  1  j.-)-l4;i 

Parry,  Georgi  .  . 
Parr 

Iron  nre  in  ]  _-,, 

I  .  «  . 

■T,  H.c.  and  Alta  .  .  .         355,  hi 
■     Mr. 

17s    tsi 

I-, 
<  Intario  production,  . 

trom.  .  . 
Proposed  report  on 
Pegmatite  iron  ores.  .  .  92  102 

Js  harbour,  L.  Superior 1 1 1 

Penney,  J...  ss 

lary  mining  education  in 

■ 
190 


610 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


PAGE 

Pense  tp.,  Nip 276 

Pentlandite 571 

Percy,  CM 512 

Peristerite 501 

Peters,  Dr.  E.  D 232 

Peters,  F.  S 79 

Peterson  lake,  Nip 281 

Petitcodiac  river,  N.B 213,  216 

Petrography — 

Cobalt  dist.  and  James  tp 263-286 

Petroleum — 

Conventional  sign  for 494,  496 

Statistics 29,30,35 

Phipps,  Tyndall 12 

Phoenix,  B.C.— 

Mining  methods  at,  papers  by    Campbell 

and  Hodges 392-413 

Phosphate  of  lime.     See  Apatite. 
Phosphorus — 

Percentage  of,  in  iron  ores 

100,  107,  108,  117, 160-163,  199 

Pic  river,  L.  Superior    119 

Pig  iron.     See  Bounties,     Blast     furnaces, 

Iron,  etc. 

Pike,  Warburton 360 

Pike  lake,  Nip 262 

Pincher  Creek,  Alta 226 

Pipestone  lake,  Nelson  river 356 

Pitt  river,  Cal 173 

Plasma 502 

Platinum — 

Conventional  sign  for 489,  490 

Percentage  of,  in  mattes 324 

Platteville,  Wis 508 

Pleistocene 112 

Pleonaste 500 

Plumbago.     See  Graphite. 

Poole,  H.    S 439 

Pork  rapid,  Montreal  river,  Nip.     .260,  261 
Phorphyry — 

Scandinavia,  ferriferous 114 

Port  Arthur,  Ont. — 

Blast  furnace  at 30,  142 

description 135 

Siderite  near 110 

Port  Colborne,  Ont 134 

Portage  Bay,  Montreal  river,  Nip.  257,  276 

Portage  lake,  Montreal  river,  Nip 262 

Porter,  E.  G 547 

Porter,  Dr.  J.  Bonsall — 

Minor  refs.  to 6,  79,  83,  85,  200,  201 

On  amendments  to  by-laws 22 

coal  tests 228 

deputations  to  Govt 13 

headquarters  of  Institute 48,  51 

metallography 7 

mining  schools 521-523 


PAGE 

Portland  cement — ■ 

Statistics 29,  30,  35 

Vancouver  island 458 

Potsdam  formation 112 

Potstone.  .  . 493,  494 

Pottery  statistics 35,  38 

Pozer  river,  Chaudiere  river,  Que 252 

Prase 502 

Pratt,  Louis 25,  26,  70,  78 

Pre-Cambrian.     See  Archaean. 
Prehnite — 

Copper  mts.,  Mack 357,  358 

Preseott,  Arizona 326 

Prest.  W.  H 86 

Prince  of  Wales  island,  Alaska 416 

Prince  of  Wales  sd.,  Alaska 417 

Prospectors — 

As  pioneers  of  Canada 64 

Outfit  for,  in  Yukon 554 

Transportation  for 43,  4(1 

Publications  of  Institute 16 

Pucket,  Mr ". 547 

Pueblo  copper  mine,  Whitehorse.  .  .547-549 

Pugsley,  Hon.  Wm 62 

Pumice  stone — 

Conventional  sign  for 492-493 

Purcell,  M.  E 79,  83-85 

Pyrargyrite — 

Cobalt,  Ont 295 

Pyrite  mine,  Timagami  dist..  Ont.  328,  329 
Pyrites.     See  Iron  Pyrites 

Pyrope 50 1 

Pyrrhotite — 

For  cobalt  smelter 314 

Hedley,  B.C 429 

Hudson  bay 361 

Metallurgy  of  nickeliferous 484 

Ontario  output 35 

Sudbury  dist 571 

Sulphur  from,  for  sulphide  pulp 135 

White  Bear  mine 529 

Q 

Quartz — 

Conventional  sign  for.  .  493,  494,  502,  503 

Quartz  creek,  Klondike 550,  551,  562 

Quebec — 

Bog  ore  of,  character 101 

Gold  in  Eastern  tps 251-255 

Graphite  in 236-242 

Mineral  output  of 38 

Queen  Charlotte  islands,  B.C. — 

Copper  mining  in 457 

Queen  Victoria  copper  mine,  B.C 456 

Queens  co.,  N.S.  — 

Tungsten  in 367 

Quesnel  div.,  B.C. — 

Gold  production,  1907 454 


: .    I  \  i .  i .  x 


611 


PAOl 

i; 

■  lain,  Nip, 
Rabbi-  per  mine,  Ykn.  .  . 

Radnor,  Que, 

.  . 

•  '        M    MT.':il  riv.-r.  .   . 
K:i.: 

Mill-  !"'•! .  Hamilton I  in 

insumption i  u 

nsumption 1  l_! 

Rainy  Hollow,  Ykn.. ...... 

Rainy  1-ikc.  ( int..  .  .  117 

v- 

iding  in 

Ranger,  Henry 

Reading  room  of  Institute 1 :{ 

Red  an  

er  river,  Al'a..  .  . 
Lint  river.  <  >nt..  1  Is 

Reilki:  

Regal  int.,  Alaska 11!) 

It.  Carl g{J 

Republic  Camp,  Washington 

• 
Retallack,  John  I.. 

U.8.  250 

;  ■  mine,  V.  I.  t 

Richardson,  James  136 

Richardson,  Sir  John 
Richibucto  river,  N.B..  .  . 
Richmond  trulf.  Lab.  .  . 

Riddarhyttan,  Swe.icn     .  191,106 

Right-of-way  silver  mine.  Cobalt  . 

Que 

Riviere  dee  1 

In  Loup,  Que    . 
Robb.  R.  W 

i  I  -•■  ille  iron  mine,  <  hit  .  .  1 07 

W,  11; 

l>r.  T.  Kirk 

1 1 
■ 

- 
Roseie.  NY. 

I 

9.  ; 


I  Commissi  •  ■ 
<  >n  mininfl  ited  . 

Royalt 

VM 

GeneraL  . 
Ruby.  500 

W.  - 
■is — 
Charooal  fuel  in.  im, 

Rutherford  tj>..  Ug    .  1 1.:.  120 

8 

■•  lead  mine,  K<'     ...  i.v. 

St.  Lawrence  river 92. 101.200 

•  river,  B.( !. 

1 26 

Ste.  Theele,  Que     

Bakemure,  Mr.  71 

Salangen,  Norway.     191,195 

Sal  mo,  B.C 

Baiter,  Albert  P.  

Sapphire 500 

Ball 

Conventional  .*iirn  for 493,494 

<  tatario  production 

Sand  E. — 

1  by,    "ii    concentration    at  Cobalt. 

Sandblasting  .  577 

Bands,  J.  M.  .  79 

Sandstone. 497,  49s 

Bandviki  a .    [go 

in 
•  '":il  of  oharaoter. 

1  In 
8aull  Ste.  Marie   I  int.— 

Blast  furnace  at 167—170 

rie  smelting  at  .        68   173,  183,  184 
Savant  lake,  <  tat,  1  is 

Una  via — 
Iron  on  114, 115 

Beheelitc 

Duncan  <Y.-.-k  diet.,  Yukon.  . .  .362 

Schraeder,  ?  .  419 
nd — 

<  )il  "bales  of.  .  21  1  -j]  s 

Scrutineers.  .  21 

iry  mining .  : 

srj — 

ti'n  Lamb,  M 
Appointment  of. 

Chute,  Knob  Hill- 1  102 

674 
Klondike  daimi  . 


612 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


PAGE 

Knob  Hill-Ironsides  mine 397 

Mine  car,  Granby  mines 405 

Nickel  basin,  Sudbury  dist 570 

White  Bear  mine 528,  531 

Seine  river,  Ont 117 

Selenium 493,  495 

Selwyn,  A.  R.  C 436,  440,  441,  487 

Seraing,  Belgium 194 

Serpentine 497,  498 

Sesifl  works,  Saxony 323 

Sewer  pipes — 

Ontario  production 35 

Sexton,  F.  H 508 

Seymour,  Uriah 153, 155 

Shasta  co„  Col. — 

Iron  ore  in 173,  174 

Sheep  creek,  Highwood  river,  Alta 226 

Sheep  creek,  Kootenay  dist.,  B.C. .  .368,  369 

Sherbrooke,  Que 253 

Sherwood,  Daniel 151 

Shining-tree  lake,  Alg 120 

Shippigan,  N.B 205 

Shutz,  Jonas 352 

Siberia — 

Climate  of 363 

Sicker  mt.,  V.I 457 

Siderite 110 

Sifton,  Clifford 62 

Signs  for  minerals — 

Paper  on,  by  Ingall 487-503 

Silver  and  silver  ores — 

Assaying  of,  in  Slocan  div 446,  447 

Athabaska  lake 360 

British  Columbia,  production 

453,455,459 

Canada,  northern 355,  356 

production 29,  30 

Cobalt,  notes  by  W.  Campbell 483 

Cobalt,  metallurgy  of 300-332 

Conventional  sign  for 489,  490 

Duty  on,  into  U.S 25 

Fineness  of,  at  Trail  smelter 75 

James  tp 256-273 

Ontario,  northern 275-286 

production 34 

Price  of,  1907 452 

Sampling  of,  at  Copper  Cliff 287 

Smith  island,  Hudson  strait 351 

Silver  bullion — 

Refining  of,  paper  by  Neilly 586-591 

Silver  lake,  James  tp.,  Nip 259 

Silver  Queen  silver  mine,  Cobalt  .  .299,337 
Similkameen  dist.,  B.C. — 

Geological  reports  on,  partiallist 438 

Similkameen  river,  B.C. — 
Mining  on.     See  Hedley. 


PAGE 

Sjorgen,  Prof 113 

Sjostedt,  Ernst  A 135, 139 

Skabersjo,  Sweden 232 

Skarn  ores 114 

Skeena  River  dist.,  B.C. — 

Geological  reports  on,  partial  list 440 

Silver  production  ,  1907 455 

Slate- 
Conventional  sign  for 497,  498 

Quebec  output 38 

Slate  creek,  Chaudiere  river,  Que 251 

Slocan  div.,  B.C. — 

Assaying  in,  notes 446 

Mineral  production,  1907 455 

Tungsten  ores  in 367 

Zinc  mining  in 457 

Smaltite — 

Cobalt,  Ont 483 

James  tp 266 

Smelting  of,  with  pyrites 328 

Smelters.     See  Blast  furnaces  and  Electric 

smelting. 
Smelting — 

Cobalt  ores,  paper  on 309-318 

Copper  Cliff,  statistics 413 

Granby,  methods 412,  413 

Prescott,  Arizona,  notes 326,  327 

Smith,  F.  B 435 

Smith,  Georga  R 6,  24 

Smith,  O.  B 61 

Smith  island,  Hudson  strait 351 

Smoking  concert 24 

Smyth,  Nip 261 

Smyth  tp.,  Nip 259 

Snider  tp.     See  Creighton  mine. 
Soapstone — 

Conventional  sign  for 493,  494 

Society  of  Civil  Engineers 50,  51 

Sodalite 502 

Sorbite 478 

Souris  river,  Sask 226 

South  Africa — 

Cyaniding  in 346 

Specific  gravity  of  mattes 325,  326 

Speiss — 

Extraction  of  metals  from 323 

Notes  by  W.  Campbell 477 

Speller,  F.  N 13 

Spencer,  A.  C 94 

Spinel 500 

Split  volatile  ratio  for  coal 223,  224 

Spessartite 501 

Sphalerite.     See  Zinc-blende. 

Spring  creek,  Montreal  river,  Nip 261 

Spurr,  J.  E 281 

Stair,  Sask 226 


General  Index 


613 


Btanafield,  Alfred 

Minor  refs.  23,  17s 

-  by,  on  w  in.  Campbell's  pap< 
Paper  by,  on  electric  ■na»'*t"ig  .    :  - 

■  I— 

Character  of,  f..r  tools  .    . 
From  electric  furnaces  is?,  188 

Uurgy  of.  ; . 

Ontario  industry. , 106   144 

(took  iri.n  mine,  » tat 107 

rock  lake,  <  >nt 109,  1  hi,  1 17 

. — 
Paper  by,  on  the  Creightoa  mine..'' 
Stewart.  1!.  II.  ,, 

Btibnite 361 

Btillaon,  <  leorge 152 

II.  II. 
Paper   by,   on   Beoondary   Mining   Edu- 
cation   504 

Ref.  to 6 

tnt.,  Que 

Stoke  tp.,  Richmond  eo.,  Que 

Stokes,  P.  N 

river,  E.  of  L.  Athabaska 361 

Stoney  creek,  Montreal  river,  Nip.. 260,  262 

■iiaps  at  Granby 

St  opes — 
Knob  Hill-Ironsidea  mine,  B.C. 
White  Bear  mine,  Rosslnnd. 
Strangway,  Mr 

-  ■    len 

Strawhat  lake,  Ont 117 

Stream  tin — 

Klondike  disl 

Strelna  river,  Alaska 417 

Stripa,  Sweden  .  195 

Strontium — 

Conventional  siun  for.  .  | 

Structural  material.     .S>,  Building  -• 
Student  paper-  .  .14, 13,44 

Stupart  . 

Babm  ■•■ n, 

Succinite 

Sudbury,  Out. — 
Animikie  formation  neai  112 

<  'utpiit     

meti.  iting.  .41 

•■ 
Sullivan  1    • 
Sulphides — 
Cobalt.  1  Int.  . 

W  .  Campbell  . 

Rainy  lake  117 


Sulphur 

Conventional  sign  for  .  . 

I  or  sulphite  pulp  .  135 

Pero  atage  of,  in  iron  ores 

04,95,  107.  108,  117.  160 
■f,  in  matti  - 
Sulphur  crck,  Yukon  . 
Sulphuric  acid 

Bummer  schools  for  prospectors,  .  ,614-?519 
Summit  Camp.  Boundary  creek,  B.I 

Sunnyaide  gold  mine,  Hi  dk  y,  B.C 



ne 501,502 

Surveying 

'  iranby  mines,  method 103 

-Ian. I.  bj  Survey tthod 

Sutherland,  Wallace i:,i 

Sutherland  colliery,  Bask.     . 
Swansea,  u  ales 

Cobalt  ores  treated  at,  cost.  804-307 

Swedi 
<iri.ii.lal  p-  di  tails  .100,  191 

■r.   K.   II. 

Paper  by,  on  charooal  in  Ontario..  16S    169 

Sydney.  N.- 
Coal of,  character 226 

Sydney  creek.  Montreal  river.  260,  262 

Sydvaranger,  Norwaj  101,106 

U 

T 
Taconite.     n. .  Jasper. 

•  mtario  production. 

for.  ... .,  ...  ;  l 

Tammerac  copper  mine,  Yukon.  .  . 

Conventional  sign  for.  . 

Mackenzie  valley.  n..t,  -  .  . 
Taral,  Alaska. 
Tariff.-.     > 

ite  .  ;  ■ 

Taylorville    \.l'..  .  212 

Teal],  J.  J.  II.  .  280 

Tellurium 

•  Dtional  sign  for  .  .  tfi 

I  iming  and   B  mine. 

Cobalt.  . 

Tempk  William 

18 

anquel  . 

'IL'.  I 

|      I      . 

Terror  I 


614 


The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


PAGE 

Tetrahedrite — 

Cobalt,  Ont 295 

Texada  island,  B.C. — 

Iron  ores  in 92 

Mining 457 

Texas,  U.S. — 

Coal  of,  character 222,  223 

Thomas,  Col 548 

Thompson,  William 437 

Thompsonite 503 

Three  Rivers,  Que 1 32 

Timagami  iron  range 115 

Timagami  lake,  Nip 120,  282,  283 

Timbering — 

Knob  Hill-Ironsides  mine 393,  396 

White  Bear  mine 530 

Timiskaming  lake,  Ont.  and  Que 317 

Tin- 
Klondike  dist 361 

New  Ross 367 

Tires,  steel 480,  481 

Titaniferous  magnesite — 

Ontario,  notes  by  Willmott 109 

Titanium — 

Percentage  in  Ontario  iron  ores. 

108,109,117 

Tombstone  creek,  Klondike 555 

Tonsina  river,  Alaska 417,  419 

Topaz 500 

Topographical  methods — 

For  map  of  Rossland,    paper    by  Boyd 

372-384 

Torbrook  dist.,  N.S 99, 100 

Toronto 19,  144 

Tourmaline 500 

Trail,  B.C 456 

Trail  Creek  div.,  B.C.— 

Copper  output,  1907 456 

Transportation  for  prospectors 43,  44 

Transvaal — 

Analysis  of  speiss  in 324 

Cyaniding  in   346 

Traversella,  Sweden 191 

Treasurer — 

Appointment  of 23 

Statement  of 16,  17 

See  also  Brown,  J.  Stevenson. 

Trethewey,  Mr 548 

Trethewey  silver  mine,  Cobalt..299,  337,  339 

Tripolite .  .492,  493 

Troostite 478 

Trout  lake,  Latour  creek 258,  276 

Tudhope  tp.,  Nip 259,  268,  269,  282 

Tungsten — 

Canada,  paper  by  Walker 367-371 

Conventional  sign  for 490,  492 

Duncan  creek  dist.,  Yukon 362 


PAGE 

Turnbull,  J.  M 79 

Turnbull,  R 23. 185 

Turriff,  Mr 71 

Turtle  creek,  N.B 212,  214 

Twelve-mile  river,  Yukon 555,  556 

Twenty     mile    creek,     Similkameen     river. 
See  Hedley,  B.C. 

Tyee  copper  mine,  B.C 83,  84,  456 

Tyres.     See  Tires. 
Tyrrell,  J.  B.— 

Minor  refs.  to 19,  44,  273,  435,  443 

Paper    by,    on    Minerals    and    Ores    of 

Northern  Canada 348-365 

Views  of,  on — - 

Computing  mining  statistics 41 

Mining  laws 54 

Transportation  for  prospectors 43 

Tyrrell,  James  W 359 

U 

Ungava 361 

Union,  V.I 458 

Union  colliery,  V.I 226 

United  States — 

Coals  of,  character 222,  223 

Duties  in,  on  lead,  zinc,  etc 25,82 

Iron    ores   of,   compared    with    Canadian 

91-105 

Mineral  output   63 

Rail  output 142 

United  States  Steel  Corporation 117 

University  silver  mine,  Cobalt 339 

Uranium 490,  492 

Uttersberg,  Sweden 190, 195 


Vacuum  process — 

For    concentration    of    ores,     paper    by 

Claudet .460-462 

Used  at  Rossland 

Valdez,  Alaska 417,  418 

Valerie  copper  mine,  Yukon 547 

Valleau,  F.  W 441 

Van  Hise 97,98,121,275,281,283 

Vanadium 200 

Vancouver  island,  B.O. — 

Coal  production,  1907 458 

Copper  and  iron  in 92,  457 

Geological  reports  on,  partial  list.  .  .  .438 

Vancouver  Portland  Cement  Co 458 

Vanorman,  Joseph 152-154 

Varcoe,  C 79 

Vein  characteristics  at  Cobalt 295 

Vermilion  iron  range,  U.S.   ...  114,  116,  122 
Verona,  Ont 197 


E  RA  L    I  \ I  I  i  \ 


615 


<:i.   B.C. 

'li  in  :it.  .  II. 

Til    u..rk-  Ml. 

DUTJ 

■  ■   mine 
191,  195 

W 

'  '  iio 

Diet,  Hudson  bay. 

Wakemika  lake,  Nip 

Walker,  Dr.  T.  L.— 
Minor  refa. 

■  by,  on  Tungsten  in  Canada  * 



'  'Willi  Rook  310 

Wallbridge,  Ont 

Wanapitei  lake,  i  Int.     -  i!7 

ipper  mine,  Yukon 

.~'le  mine,  B.C I".'. 

Ward,  Mr .-,  17 

Warden,  B.  R.   . 

p.,  Oil!  .  117 

Warwick  island,  Hudson  strait  .  .    .351,352 

Waterpower  for  Cobalt  smelter 317 

iwer  tor  Creighton  mine.  . . 

■  .  W .  .1 . 

tp.,  <  int .117 

'  .  Arthur. 

ktr.  .  127 

1   :irl    ,  :,  (^ 

Welland,  Ont.— 
Bmelting  at  .  .68, 134,  17 

Wellington  Colliery  Co 

Walton,  Harvi  207,  -'I » 

Weadigo  lake,  Nip  283 

i;.-  Power  < '".  . 
hi.  White  Bear  mine  . 
- 

Coal  of,  character 

iry  tp.,  Oompton  co..  Que  . . 
'■  branch  of  Instit 

'  •     '•!.. 

Fuel  Co 

n  northern  Canada..  .  . 
■  ■  i<t .  Yukon. 
White,  B]  r. «n  .17 

Roaatand 
Paper  on,  by  Yuill   ,  . 
White  Karth  hike.  (int.  117 

I 

Whitehorae,  Yukon 
Copper  bell  of. 

!  .  -  ; 


PAOI 

W  bitaon  tp„  Nip. 

Ill  ft  .  .",  I!l 

1  Int.  .  .    . 
W  ilbui  in 

. 
Willet  tp.,  Nip. 
Williama,  G.  H. . 

W  illiama  iron  mint  ins 

Willmott,  A.  B. 
Minor  refa.  to.. 

■  by,  on  in.n  ores  of  <  lntai  io   -M.-i  23 
of,  "ii   bomputin  i  ; 

diamonds  for  boring 
mining  \:t\\    . 
Willmott,  •'.  w 

Wilson,  Dr.  A.  W.  O.  .  21 

Wilaonite  .-,a; 

Winiak  river,  Kee 

Mining  education  in ;,ns 

Wolff.  I!.  II.    .     .  |77 

Wolframite 

nan  occurrences.       .    . 

W  oman  river,  <  Int    120 

W  oodman,  I  >r.  .1.  I  . 

imputing  stal  i_\  r; 

mining  education  .  522,  523 

origin  of  graphite 249 

W  oodney,  Bill  547, .-,  is 

Wright,  I  red.  Eugene  .  1 10,  )  13 

Wright  . .  .59 

■' 
Coal  of,  chai 


k.  Siberia 

123 

Yerruuj  da 1., .; 

Young,  l>r.  1 ;.  \. 
Yuill,  II.  II. 

Minor  ref.  io  .  ss 

Paper  by,  on  White  Bear  mi 
Yukon — 

•lion  in.  ; 

bismuth  and  tin  in  . . . 

igfeal  report  -< ..  i  u.  1 1:; 

Yukon  ■  <  iold  I  ieldi  1  I 


618  The  Canadian  Mining  Institute 


PAGE  PAGE 

Z  Percentage  of,  in  mattes 'A-4 

Price  of,  1907 452 

Ziegler,  Mr 233,234  Separation    of,    from    lead,    by    Elmore 

Zinc —  process 461 

Assaying  of,  in  Slocan  div 446       Zinc-blende 429 

British  Columbia,  production  .  .  .453,  457        Zinc  commission 

Conventional  .skii  for 490,491        Zircon 501 

Duty  on,  into  United  States 82        Zirconium 490,  492 


The  Mortimer  Press 
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