37. Canada Minerals. From a country so vast and of such varied geological structure as Canada one expects a wide range of mineral deposits, and the expectation is not disappointed, for already most of the minerals known to exist elsewhere have been found in the Dominion, and often in important deposits, though only its southern fringe has been explored. However, up to the present, Canada's mineral production must be looked on as at the stage of promise rather than performance, except in a few substances where nature has given her the lead. For example, the world's supply of asbestos comes from the province of Quebec, and more than half of its supply of nickel is obtained from a single mine in Ontario, while rich placer mines have produced largely in the Yukon, and Cobalt has attained a great place in silver production. Canada is backward in the production of iron and steel, basic factors in the development of a country, and stands low as a producer of coal, though the fact that the only deposits of good coal on tide-water in America, both on the Atlantic and Pacific, are Canadian is a fact of much importance which has produced great metallurgical industries in Nova Scotia.

Until recently the exploitation of Canadian mineral resources has been largely due to foreigners, especially Americans; but Canadian and British capital are now turning in this direction. In 1903 the total value of the mineral products of Canada was $63,222,510, about $II for each inhabitant, as compared with $15 per capita in the United States, where the total reached $1,250,000,000 in 1902. The area of Canada is about equal to that of the United States, and in the parts best explored its mineral resources give promise of equaling in value those of corresponding States of the Union; so that an immense expansion in mining is to be looked for in the next generation.

The mineral production of Canada is very unequally distributed among the provinces, British Columbia coming first, followed by Ontario, Nova Scotia and Quebec with the remaining provinces far in the rear. In per capita production the order is different, Yukon territory, with its tiny population of 20,000 or 30,000, almost equaling Ontario with more than 2,000,000 inhabitants, while British Columbia stands second and Nova Scotia third.

Of the maritime provinces of eastern Canada only Nova Scotia can be described as a mining region, gold and coal having been produced there for nearly half a century. Quebec is not of great importance except for its asbestos mines. Ontario produces a variety of minerals, nickel and silver being foremost, while British Columbia provides gold, silver, copper, lead, and coal; and the Yukon gold.

Following the usual classification, the minerals of Canada may be taken up under three heads, metals, non-metallic minerals, and structural materials.

METALS.

Ores of 13 metals have been mined in Canada, antimony, chromium, cobalt, copper, gold, iron, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, platinum, silver, and zinc, and minerals containing a number of other metals have been found, though they have not yet been mined. Only six of these metals are prominent economically, gold, silver, nickel, copper, lead, and iron, and attention will be directed mainly to them.

Gold. The gold areas of Canada are widespread but the production has been very fluctuating, the value in recent years varying from $907,601 (in 1892) to $27,908,153 (in 1900), and standing at $9,790,000 in 1910. In 1900 Canada was third in rank as a producer of gold, being surpassed by the United States and Australia only; but has dropped to the fifth place since then, yielding to South Africa (see AFRICA Geology, Minerals; TRANSVAAL) and Russia (see RUSSIA - Minerals). Three provinces and one territory are gold producers at present. Nova Scotia has carried on quartz mining, on "saddle reefs" like those of the famous Bendigo region in Australia, for more than 40 years, and of late has exceeded $500,000 per annum, the value reaching $242,799 in 1908. Ontario also produces gold from quartz mines, but with less steadiness than Nova Scotia, the value running from $421,591 in 1899 to $66,389 in 1908. Before the sudden rise of the Klondike, British Columbia was the greatest gold region of Canada, its history beginning with the times of wild excitement in the '60s, when thousands of miners from California swarmed into the rich placers of the Fraser and Columbia rivers and washed out millions of dollars worth, reaching the climax of $3,913,563 in 1863. The easily available placers were gradually exhausted, the value falling in 1893 to $379,535, a little less than the output of Nova Scotia in the same year; but the production of lode gold, especially from the smelting ores of Rossland, on the southern edge of the province, once more placed British Columbia in the first rank. In 1908 the yield was $9,529,880, of which $3,600,000 came from placer mines, mostly in the Cariboo and Atlin districts in the north, the rest from smelting ores and a few quartz mines in the south.

The territories furnished a small amount of placer gold from bars on the Saskatchewan and other rivers for a number of years, but it was not until the working of the Klondike placers in 1897 that gold mining assumed importance in the north. This region, in lat. 64°, 500 miles below the head-waters of the great Yukon River, was unique as a placer mining country, reminding one of the famous placers of California and Australia, but surpassing them in difficulty of access and of working conditions, as well as in richness. For its length Eldorado Creek, a tributary of Bonanza Creek, was the most productive ever mined, but its gravels are nearly worked out, and the yield of gold, though still great for so small a region as the Klondike, which is about 40 miles square, has fallen since 1900, when it was estimated at $22,275,000, to $4.737,375 in 1910. The gold-bearing gravels are perpetually frozen and usually buried under several feet of frozen muck, so that the ground must be thawed before it can be worked. first this was done by building fires, but more recently steam delivered from steel pipes driven into the ground has been employed, and it is

At

found, also, that when stripped of moss the warm summer's sun thaws layer after layer, which may then be sluiced off in the ordinary way. As methods are improved and the cost of living diminishes, much poorer gravels can be worked profitably, so that the placers of Yukon territory and the quartz developments of a later day will produce for some time to come. It is probable, however, that the Klondike output will slowly diminish or only hold its own in the future, and that the British Columbia and Ontario (Porcupine) production will increase, leaving the total for Canada a somewhat variable quantity.

Silver. For many years Ontario was the chief province for silver, the mines at Silver Islet near Thunder Bay on the north shore of Lake Superior being credited with a yearly output $3,250,000, while several other mines to the west of Thunder Bay were also worked. For a while, British Columbia took the lead in the production of silver, beginning in 1892, and culminating in 1897 with an output of over $3,000,000. In 1897, Ontario produced only 5,000 ounces, worth about $3,000, but from that date onward there was a yearly increase in her output, until in 1909 it was over 25,000,000 ounces, valued at about $13,000,000. British Columbia's production was 2,600,000 ounces, in the same year. The re-establishment of a value for silver made it worth while to work mines that had been abandoned during the time of depression and low prices, and the output for the whole Dominion in 1909 was over 28,000,000 ounces, valued at $14,358,310. Of this amount, 65,000 ounces came from the Yukon, and 64,000 ounces from Quebec.

Nickel. This metal has become of practical value only within the last 20 years, and methods of reducing its ores are still somewhat in the experimental stage. The world's supply comes almost entirely from two regions, the Sudbury district in northern Ontario and the French penal colony of New Caledonia. Until the last year or two New Caledonia was somewhat in advance, but in 1903 Sudbury passed it in production and seems likely to hold its position in the future. The mines are all situated round the edge of a basin-shaped sheet of eruptive rock 37 miles long and 15 broad, and among them the Copper Cliff, which is about 1,000 feet deep, produces the richest ore, while the Creighton, a few miles to the west, is the greatest nickel mine in the world, supplying 18,000 tons of ore per month. Nearly as much copper as nickel is produced in these mines, and also small amounts of cobalt, gold, and platinum, the last metal occurring in the rare arsenide sperrylite, first found in the district. In 1909 matte smelted from the roasted ore contained 13,141 tons of nickel, mostly mined and treated by the Canadian Copper Company. The value of the nickel in the matte was placed at $2,790,798, while the refined metal was estimated to be worth $5,000,000.

Copper Copper has been mined in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia, but only the last two provinces are important producers. The copper of Quebec is a by-product of the iron pyrites of the Eastern Townships; and most of the copper from Ontario is, as shown above, produced as an accompaniment of the Sudbury nickel ores, though mines of copper

alone are worked at Massey and one or two other points in western Ontario, not far from the once well-known Bruce mines, north of Lake Huron, which were prosperous half a century ago but are no longer worked. British Columbia supplies more than three fourths of the copper mined in Canada, chiefly from the gold-copper ores of the Rossland region and the large low grade deposits of the Boundary district, but numerous other deposits are known along the Pacific coast of the province and in the White Horse district of Yukon territory. The total production of copper in the Dominion in 1909 was 54,061,106 pounds, valued at $7,081,213.

Lead. Almost the whole of the lead mined in Canada comes from the silver-lead ores of southern British Columbia, which began to be opened up extensively in 1893 and furnished 31,500 tons in 1900, in 1909 23,000 tons with a value of $1,959,590. The falling off is attributed to adverse conditions imposed by the smelters of the Western States, which had bought the ores at advantageous rates in former years. To stimulate lead mining and smelting in British Columbia the Dominion government has provided a bounty on lead smelted and refined in Canada.

Iron. In regard to the most important of all metals, iron, Canada is backward, largely from the fact that the ore deposits and the fuel for treating them are generally widely sundered. Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Ontario are producers of iron and steel, the first province having the great advantage of supplies of coking coal on the seaboard, at Sidney in Cape Breton Island and other points, so that two large iron and steel plants are in operation there. Most of the ore smelted is, however, in a sense foreign, coming from Bell Island, off the coast of Newfoundland. The province of Quebec has for generations smelted a small amount of bog iron ore in charcoal furnaces near Three Rivers, the product being of high grade and used for special purposes. Charcoal iron furnaces were operated on a small scale in different parts of Ontario, also, from 50 to 100 years ago, but when railways began to bring in British iron the industry ceased. Within the last few years large furnaces using American coke, and in part American ore, have sprung up at Hamilton, Midland, and the Sault Sainte Marie.

Deposits containing millions of tons of fair grade ore have been found in Hutton township, Michipicoton, and other points in northern Ontario in rocks similar to those of the great iron regions of Michigan and Minnesota, so that iron production is likely to increase in the future, particularly if the governments of the Dominion and of the province should continue the bounties for iron and steel of home production. British Columbia also possesses large deposits of iron ore and excellent coking coal, so that an iron industry like that of Nova Scotia may be expected to grow up as the province becomes more populous. In 1909 the amount of pig iron produced in Canada was 608,431 tons, valued at $3,742,710, of which, however, only 97,826 tons were from Canadian ore, the rest being from Newfoundland and American ores. The quantity of steel produced was 570,588 tons, on which a bounty of $838,100 was paid by the State.

NON-METALLIC MINERALS.

Twenty or more non-metallic minerals are reported in the statistics for 1909, and several others occur in lists of former years, but attention may be confined to a few of the more important ones, beginning with the mineral fuels. Coal. In 1909 the coal produced in the Dominion amounted to 10,411,955, tons, valued at $24,431,351. Of this, Nova Scotia supplied 5,583,750 tons, British Columbia 2,538,004 Alberta 2,000,000, Saskatchewan 163,000, and New Brunswick the rest. In 1908, Yukon produced 3,847 tons. The coal supply of the great manufacturing province of Ontario comes entirely from the United States; but, on the other hand, Nova Scotia exports 500,000 tons to the New England States and British Columbia 750,000 to California and other Western States. Besides the rich bituminous coal beds of Nova Scotia and of Nanaimo and the Crow's Nest Pass, in British Columbia, which are the most important producers in Canada, lignite or lignitic coal of poorer quality is mined at numerous points on the prairies, which are largely underlain with seams of the kind, and valuable mines are worked in the foot-hill region near the Rockies. A few small areas in Bow Pass, nipped in during mountain building, approach anthracite in quality. Great coal fields are known to exist near the Skeena River and at other points in northern British Columbia and the territories to the north and east. The coal fields of western Canada are mainly of Cretaceous age, unlike those of Nova Scotia and the Eastern and Southern States, which are Carboniferous. In all there are probably not less than 100,000 square miles of coal fields in Canada, and the extent may prove to be much greater than this. See COAL -Coal Fields of the World.

Petroleum and Natural Gas.-At present Ontario is the only producer of petroleum,

which comes from a small area in its south

western peninsula. Crude oil and its products to the value of $1,747,657 are reported in 1909, but the supply is slowly diminishing and before long will be exhausted unless other pools are struck. Petroleum is known from Gaspe in Quebec and from the Crow's Nest Pass in the Rockies, and great stretches of "tar sands" along the Saskatchewan and Athabasca suggest oil deposits, though productive wells have not yet been sunk in these regions. (See PETROLEUM INDUSTRY, THE.) Natural gas has been exploited in Essex and Welland counties of southwestern Ontario, but the yield of the Essex field has greatly fallen off in the last two or three years. In 1909 the wells of Ontario furnished gas to the value of $1,188,179. Gas is known also and slightly put to use at Medicine Hat and Langevin, on the prairies. (See GAS, NATURAL.) Peat bogs exist over thousands of square miles of northern Ontario and Quebec, a reserve of fuel that may some day be drawn upon, but which is barely touched at present, though a few plants have been successfully operated for drying and compressing peat to serviceable briquettes.

Minor Economic Minerals.- After the fuels come several less important minerals, asbestos being the chief one, with an output of 87,300 tons in 1909, valued at $2,301,775. The whole product, which means practically the world's

Next

supply, comes from a few mines in serpentine rocks in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. The value of this beautiful silky-fibred mineral depends on the fact that it is an incombustible material which can be spun and woven. in value is gypsum, the raw material of plaster of paris, of which 468,551 tons are reported, worth $667,816, mainly from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Salt is produced to the amount of 84,037 tons, valued at $415,209, from wells in southwestern Ontario; and mica is mined in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, to the value of $154,106, Ontario being the largest producer in the world of this mineral, so important as an insulator in electric machinery. Pyrites, used chiefly in the chemical industries, is produced to the value of $196,312 in Quebec; and a new item has recently appeared in the statistics of Ontario, corundum, the hardest mineral next to diamond. In 1909 the output was valued at $157,398, and the crushed material is beginning to replace emery as an abrasive. Although these deposits of corundum are the largest known, the gem varieties, ruby and sapphire, have not yet been found in the province. Among minor nonmetallic minerals may be mentioned chromite, mineral paints, graphite, feldspar, diatom earth, and arsenic, having an annual value of from $20,000 to $65,000 each.

STRUCTURAL MATERIALS.

Building-stone, clay for brick-making, and marl or limestone and clay for the manufacture of cement are, of course, found in all the provinces; but the greater part of the clay products and almost all the cement are manufactured in Ontario, which in 1909, according to the Bureau of Mines, made brick, tile, etc., natural rock cement worth $2,847,348. Quebec to the value of $3,410,276, and Portland and is the greatest producer of granite and other statistics regarding them are hard to obtain. In building and ornamental stones, but definite 1908 the Geological Survey gives the following statistics of structural products of the Dominion:

The vast mineral resources of Canada have not been drawn upon to any great degree. In 1886 the mineral production was $10,221,255; in 1908 it had increased to $85,927,802; in 1909 to over $91,000,000, and in 1910 to more than $105,000,000-a total value of over $1,100,000,000 in 25 years. The total exports of minerals in 1909 was over $37,000,000, of which $31,000,000 went to the U. S.; in 1910 the exports were over $47,000,000. Canada produces 80 per cent of the world's consumption of asbestos, practically all of the world's uses of amber-colored mica, and 65 per cent of the world's consumption of nickel. Prof. W. G. Miller, Ontario Geologist said (14 April 1910): "I think there is no doubt we have one of the greatest mineral countries in the world, and to-day we have beyond doubt the greatest undeveloped mineral resources of any country in the world."

Statistical information as to the mineral production of the country as a whole may be found in the annual reports of the Geological Survey of Canada (Section of Mines, compiled by Elfric Drew Ingall), and in the annual volumes of the 'Mineral Industry. The mining departments of the provinces of Nova Scotia, Ontario, and British Columbia also publish annual reports of much value, in which information is given as to their special mining industries. The statistical materials for this paper have been largely drawn from these sources.

Dominion control (not including the indian reserves in the old provinces or those in British Columbia) is 742,578 square miles, while that under the control of the Provincial governments is 506,220 square miles. It has been the policy for many years of both the Federal and Provincial governments to grant licenses permitting the holders to cut timber on certain areas of the Crown domain. These licenses are obtained by public competition, and only give the owners the exclusive right to cut within the areas specified. They get no rights to the land, and in addition to the bonus paid at the time the license is given a specified annual ground rent is collected, and also in most cases stumpage dues of a stated amount per thousand feet when the timber is cut.

The report of the Department of Trade and Commerce for the year ending 31 March 1910, shows the value of the exports of forest products of the Dominion for that year to be $45,439,057. The figures also show an average increase for the previous ten years of $1,300,000 per annum, while the increase of 19 10 over the year 1907 was more than $13,000,000. This trade is at present mostly confined to Great Britain and the United States, the export s to the former in 1910 being valued at $11,965,1_31, and to the latter at $28,785,427 while those to all other countries only amounted to $4,688,499. But with the increased demand for lumber in foreign countries, and especially of tho se bordering on the Pacific Ocean, both in South America and eastern Asia, and the ability of British Columbia to furnish a large supply, it is improbable that these proportions will be long maintained. This province is destined in a few years to take a prominent, if not a leading, place with her sister provinces of the East in the lumber trade of the country. It should be noted that the exports give only a comparatively small part of the total products of the forests, and as the census returns for 1901 are the only ones fully tabulated it is impossible to give as late information as is desirable. Those returns, however, give the value of the products of the saw and pulp-mills alone for the previ ous year as $53,051,865, while the capital invested was $67,164,226, the number of employees 54,726, and the wages paid $12,198,914 They also show the raw products to amount to $5!082,695, made up as follows: From Ontario, $21,351,898; Quebec, $18,969,716; Noca Scotia, $3,409,528; New Brunswick, $2,998,038; British Columbia, $2,634,157; Manitoba, $950,057; Northwest Territories, $484,263; Prince Edward Island, $285,038. The timber cut of 1909 was valued at $112,036,000. Figures, however, only express a part of the value. Timber is used by the backwoods pioneer in a rough state for his dwelling and other farm buildings, for fencing and fuel, and for numerous implements in his daily use, and it furnishes employment large section of the population in the facture of articles in which wood is the chief ingredient. Not only are the forests of Canada of vast extent, but the facilities for floating logs to the mills for manufacturing are perhaps un nently a land of forest, lake, and stream. stretches of country form the basins from which certain large rivers derive their waters. each of these is an almost endless num lakes of all dimensions, connected by streams

A. P. COLEMAN, Professor of Geology, University of Toronto, 38. Canada - The Forests and Lumber Industry. Until further explorations are made it will be impossible to give more than a rough estimate of the vast extent and value of the forests of Canada. The total area of the Dominion is estimated at 3,315,647 square miles. Of this about 40 per cent, or 1,326,258 square miles, is supposed to be in forest. Not only is the area of vast extent, but the varieties of trees are very numerous, and among them are found some of the most valuable species. Professor John Macoun gives 121 as the total number of indigenous species. Among these are the different varieties of the pine, spruce, fir, hemlock, cedar, oak, maple, beech, birch, poplar, basswood, elm, ash, hickory, walnut, and various others of more or less commercial value. The white pine is the tree that has brought most wealth to the people of the eastern provinces, while the fir, the cedar, the hemlock, and the spruce are the varieties of greatest value west of the Rocky Mountains. Within recent years the development of the pulp industry has brought into more general use the wood of the spruce, it being particularly well adapted for that purpose, and as it is one of the most widely distributed of Canadian trees, extending from the Atlantic on the east to Alaska on the west, and from about lat. 45° N. to the limit of tree growth, the Dominion holds an almost unlimited supply for this purpose. The Federal government has charge of the forests on Dominion lands proper. These embrace the province of Manitoba, the Northwest Territories,

to a

manu

the Railway Belt, the last named consisting of a district 40 miles wide, 20 miles on each side of the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and containing about 20,000 square miles. It is estimated that the area of forest thus under

Great

Within

ber of