mine. W. N. Montgomery-Crown Point mine is location 95 R., consisting of 165 acres on the east side of Silver mountain. We began to develop the mine three Crown Point years ago, and have driven two drifts, one about 128 and the other about 275 feet. I think they are both on the same vein, but there is no connection between them yet. The width of the vein where I struck it first in drifting is eight or ten inches, and a short distance from that it widened to 3 feet and then narrowed down to 2 feet again. There have been several variations of the width of the vein. assays of the ore have been made, the result of one being 165 oz. to the ton. took some out of the drift without picking which went $16.40 silver and $1.60 gold to the ton. The vein is in slate; sometimes the wall is clear and sometimes it is mixed. The distance between the drifts is 65 feet, but I think the ore is better in the lower than in the upper one. The upper drift is in the slate, above which is trap. We have both native silver and sulphurets. Two Our Mountain mine. T. H. Trethewey-I have been at East Silver Mountain mine since a year ago last October, and have been connected with mining operations since 1865. I worked formerly at Cape Mamainse. Our company, known as Silver Mountain East Silver mining company, was organised a year ago last October and commenced operations right away. Before this company acquired the property a Cleveland company worked it for some time. I think the stock of the company is $150,000, but I cannot tell you who the stockholders are; it is an English company. The property comprises locations R 53 and R 54, Lybster, and having an area of 1,158 acres. We have two levels, one of 700 feet and the other 1,400 feet. The 700 level is from 110 to 120 feet below the top of the mountain; the other is 74 feet below that, and from the bottom of one level to the bottom of the other is 81 feet. We have two shafts, one 110 feet deep and the other something over 400 feet. That work has been mainly done since I have been in charge. The Cleveland company had one drift of 160 feet, and that is included in the 700 feet level. There is Development of also what we call No. 1 shaft, 80 feet. Our company has spent in labor and machinery the property. about $86.000 or $90,000, and the Cleveland company spent about $20,000, making about $100,000 altogether. There has been shipped about four on five tons, which would average about $1,000 a ton. We have 1,200 to 1,500 tons on hand. mill rock runs from 10 to 18 oz. per ton, 10 oz. being the poorest. Assays of selected specimens have gone about $4,000 or $5,000 a ton. The width of the vein varies; at 400 feet down it is 12 feet wide, and there is some very good ore down there, but the best so far has been got near the surface. I cannot say how much ore we have in sight, as we have not yet developed enough; my idea is to develop till we have two years' stock of ore on the dump and two years' in sight; before that I do not propose to erect a stamp mill. We intend to ship our richest ores. I think we are going to have some very fine mines in this country. The developments so far have been very satisfactory. There is some gold in our ore, from $1 to $3 and $4 a ton, but it is only very occasionally that we test for gold. I do not think it would pay to treat our ores for gold. The course of the vein is about east and west. It does not outcrop through the trap. The mountain here is about 300 feet high. We have made six openings on the plain below, and traced the vein about 300 feet; it is there from four to six feet wide. The mill rock from the plain is about the same in character as from the mountain, and will pay about $14 a ton. The rock that bears the silver here is the same as that of the Beaver and Rabbit Mountain mines, and the gangue is also the same. It is chiefly calcspar, flourspar, heavy spar and quartz bearing iron pyrites, blende and silver. The silver occurs as native silver and silver glance. As we get down the best mineral-bearing rock is on the hanging wall. It is calespar, flourspar, and heavy spar, but chiefly calespar. The vein is richest where the width is from three inches to three feet. Our vein. shaft is down about 400 feet, and that is about the junction of the slate with the cherty limestone on the hanging wall. The depth of the trap is about twenty feet, and I think the depth of the slate is about 300 feet. The vein is generally richer in the trap, but after reaching the cherty limestone we got a better average, the vein being more massive and more uniform in width. It is a true fissure vein; we have not got any cross veins as yet; we get a few little stringers occasionally; the vein matter at the junction of these little stringers is about the same; it is not particularly rich at the point of contact. We have 45 men working now, 24 of whom are working underground. We pay miners from $52 to $65 per month-$52 by the day and about $65 by contract, and to outside men we pay $45. For drifting by contract we pay from $5 to $14 a foot, the men paying for caps, fuse, powder and candles. Wages and Our drifts are six by seven feet. In the slate the drifting costs about $5, but where machinery. the vein is massive we pay about $14. We have not done any stoping yet. The Character of the West Silver Mountain mine. Character of boiler and air compressor cost about $2,500; the hoisting engine and boilers, $3,000; four drills, $1,000; two pumps, $450; 3,000 feet of pipe, $1,000. Counting machinery and tools, all would come to about $10,000. We have two teams of horses, sleighs and waggons. The hoisting engine is 60-horse power, and the compressor about 20-horse power. Henry H. Nicols-The property of West Silver Mountain mine is held by my brother, H. M. Nicols of Denver, and is composed of 55, 56, and 57 R in the township of Lybster, 240 acres. I came here about the 1st of June as manager. The shaft is down about 45 feet. I cannot say how much has been expended here, but we have not drifted any. The vein is well defined, and as exposed is 8 feet wide, but we have only tonched one wall. so it must be another foot anyway. The wall is slate but the cap of the mountain is trap. We took out about a ton and a half of what I consider very good ore from the excavation we were making for the shaft house. When I came here there had been a cross-cut of about 25 feet, and the shaft had been sunk about 25 feet. We have assays made of the ore which run all the way from 50 to 7,000 and 8,000 oz to the ton. I think the lowest assay I got was 27 oz. There is silver glance, some native silver and a trace of gold; but there is no galena. In Colorado we have but very little trap, and the veins are blanket instead of fissure veins. All the high grade ore there carries more or less galena ; particularly is that the case at Leadville, where nearly all the silver bands carry Colorada veins. lead, which is useful as a flux in smelting. There is in Colorado one mine that paid a dividend of $30,000 a month for the last nine months before I left, and the richness varies very much there as here. We employ about 22 men here, and we are working another claim of 80 acres at the west end of Whitefish lake. At this place we employ 6 men, underground at $2.25 per day and outside laborers $1 75 to $2. On the other claim we have 12 men, but very little as been done there yet. We had to commence there in the woods, and have to pack back three and a half miles from the end of the lake; that is claim 264T; it is 14 miles from here. The vein looks Other locations. Very promising. There are two other claims further west in which they say they trace our vein. Most of the capital invested in this district is American I think. Ambrose Cyrette-I have been in this country since 1862, and during that time I have paid a great deal of attention to minerals, and have explored the shore of lake Superior. I discovered the 3 A mine and got $7,000 for the property. The vein was 12 feet wide. There has not been any work done on it for some years, as there has been a lawsuit about it. If the matter were arranged and the mine worked, I think there would be a splendid return. It is 12 miles from here to the mine. I took up a location at Little Pic river and had assays made that showed as much as $218 of silver. There are a great many veins there, but no developement work has been done. Rate of Wages. 3 A mine. Silver on Little Silver Hill and Silver Falls locations. John C. Haskins--I came to Port Arthur in 1872, and am familiar with the mining carried on in this country. We worked four men in 1872 and till the close of navigation in 1873. We found silver and gold and had assays made. The best ore was $13 to the ton in silver, and $7 in gold, and the deepest pit would not be more than 15 feet. The veins are in green slate and the main one is about 4 feet wide; there are three or four others. I am interested in Silver Hill and Silver Falls locations and have spent $6,000, all of which but about $800 was for development. I had to stop a little over a year ago on account of the want of capital. The trap there is about 50 feet deep. Work commenced in the trap and went down to the slate; we have just come to the slate now, but we had to abandon one shaft at 27 feet down on account of the water. The vein is a remarkably fine one, and is fully 13 feet wide where we struck it, just where four veins join. I think this is one of the finest mining regions in the world, and I have been working at mining since I was twelve years of age. William Murdoch-A rich vein has been opened by the Silver Islet company Edward's island at Edward's island, from which arsenical silver was got. Large works have been erected there, but nothing is being done at present. The whole matter is at a standstill on account of legal aud financial embarrassments. location. Walpole Roland--I am interested as agent in a property known as the Silver Glance. It is on the west boundary of Strange, in the unsurveyed district. We have sunk 30 feet in one place and 15 feet in two other places, and the vein varies in width from 4 to 6 feet. The assays go from 50 to 20,000 oz. per ton. It is fully equal to anything we have in this country. An English company is prepared to put up $20,600 at once. There is a loca ion to the south of that about three miles, near Wolverine lake, owned by the same parties. One pit as been sunk 30 feet, they are both in the same kind of black slate. There are two veins upon this property, one running Locations in east and west and one north-east and south-west, the width in both cases being 4 unsurveyed terfeet, but opening up in places to eight feet. Assays show from 29 to 2,000 oz to ritory. the ton. West Silver Glance is the property of W. A. Allan of Ottawa, and consists of 19 and 20E and 238R. There is a strong lode on the property, assaying 511 oz. to the ton of black and native silver. William Russell-We have a north-west and south-east system of silver veins to which the Beaver and Silver islet belong, and an east and west system to which the Silver Mountain mines belong. The Badger is the same as the Beaver, but the majority are east and west, or a little north of east. The thickness of the veins varies very much; one I am interested in is only nine inches in width, yet I think a great deal of it. It carries sulphuret of silver, native silver, zincblende and galena; the systems of veins vein so far is quartz with a little spar. Assays vary very much in the same vein; I have had them where the result was almost nothing, and sometimes they would go as high as $3,000 or $4,000 to the ton; but there is not such great difference as that in the same vein as a rule. We have not got a steady low grade ore in this country. It occurs in bunches; we may find ore for over 100 feet that will pay well, and then we may find a long stretch of the vein that is worth nothing. The galena here is not as a rule argentiferous, being generally 87 lead and 123 sulphur. The galena from Bunchy charaethe Silver Islet vein will not go more than $3 per ton. In a few cases, as in the Beaver mine, we find the galena apparently rich in silver, but I do not think it is chemically associated with the silver; I think the silver occurs in the cleavages. Zineblende is sometimes rich in silver, as shown at the Porcupine and the Silver Hill mines (70R). ter of the ore. Silver in the location. James Millar-We have come across galena at Silver creek; the vein runs east and west and the surroundings are about the same as at the Victoria mine. We own two locations at Thessalon, near the dock; the vein runs east and west and district. carries galena; the gangue is calespar and one can hardly tell it from Silver islet spar. The country rock is trap. This galena carries silver. An assay from the Silver creek vein shows $82 silver and a trace of gold; other assays show $38, $39, $48, and as low as $2.50. The vein is from twenty to twenty-four inches wide, principally slate. We sank two shafts on different veins, one 42 feet and the Silver creek other 12 feet; there are five veins on the property close together. The vein matter is mainly chloritic slate and the walls granite. I have heard that lead has been found on the Goulais river, back from the front some 15 miles. The Indians bring specimens of iron pyrites, galena and copper pyrites, but I cannot say where from as they will not tell. The location on Thessalon river is on the Indian reserve, but I cannot tell the number of the lot; there are 84 acres on the main land, and we district. have a small island half a mile east of the river. The matrix is altogether spar, rather soft and of a pink color; I don't think there is any quartz. The vein is about 2 feet wide on the surface, but we have only gone down three feet; the assays show silver $7.25 and gold $2.25. James Dobie is interested in this property with me and it is our intention to develop it. On lot 1 in the 5th concession Silver in Drury of Drury, we found a silver-lead vein that runs $40 to the ton. R. E. Bailey-My company has a property on Garden river, west of the Victoria Thessalon river mine about four miles; it is silver-lead, and it shows as high as $90 a ton in the Garden river pure lead without taking the quartz with it. The vein runs north-west and south- location. east but is not regular; the country rock is trap, with some greenstone; it is of a different character from the Victoria mine. The vein matter is in places 20 feet wide, where the quartz is stratified with the rock. E. Norris-From what I have seen and learned I think lead and silver will pay the Sault Ste. Marie district. At Batchawana I have seen a great many really good specimens brought in by a man named Frank Vallequette, who has been exploring An explorer's the district for the last ten or twelve years; but he has had a claim jumped once and will not tell where he got them. He showed me one specimen he got ten miles back from the lake that was really wonderful. specimens. R. Hedley-I have seen some galena in the Sudbury district, but rarely, and I cannot say whether it exists in paying quantities. I had one sample of galena carrying 24 oz. of silver per ton, and the galena would run 60 per cent. lead. I have seen quartzose ores with a sprinkling of galena. One in Lorne township has Silver shows in the Sudbury diorite on one side and something between diorite and greenstone on the other; district. the vein is from fourteen to twenty inches wide. Another vein in the same township is in hornblendic schist on both sides. In Denison a vein has been traced a considerable distance which gives 4 dwt., and is in a micaceous slate. W. T. Newman-I found a silver vein on an island in the west end of lake In lake Nipiss- Nipissing. The island is very small, about the size and shape of Silver islet; the ing. vein is four to six feet wide and carries silver sulphuret. There is nothing else but granite on the island. the Port Arthur district. ZINC. Zincblende occurs in nearly all the silver-carrying veins in the Port Its occurence in Arthur district, and, as already pointed out, usually holds silver. It is believed that the silver in this blende is altogether in a mechanical and not a chemical association with it. There is reported to be at least one large deposit of zincblende which it is believed could be worked profitably, but the Commissioners were not able to visit the place. A COLLECTION OF MINERALS. The Commissioners made it part of their duty to collect typical specimens of minerals, with accompanying rocks from the mines, mineral locations and works which they visited. As has been before stated lack of time made it impossible to make this collection as complete as might be desired, but it is believed that the accompanying wall rocks and country rocks, which were The peculiarity obtained wherever available, will make the collection as far as it goes of peculiar interest and value to mining men and scientists. Should the gov of the collection. ernment entertain with favor the suggestion of a provincial museum, or collection of minerals, it would be advisable to take into consideration the importance of associating accompanying minerals, the wall rocks and the country rocks, with the various ores collected. This would add to the scientific value of the collection a practical utility which would commend itself at once to the mining man and prospector. SECTION III. INFLUENCE OF COMMERCIAL CONDITIONS UPON THE MINING INDUSTRY. variety of the mineral re sources of Ontario. The mineral deposits of the province of Ontario are widely spread, varied in character, and cover almost the entire list of economic minerals with the exception of coal. The counties of Leeds, Lanark, Renfrew, Frontenac, Addington, Hastings, Peterborough, the districts of Nipissing and Extent and Algoma East and other portions of eastern and central Ontario contain numerous deposits of magnetic and hematite iron ores, and the discoveries now made over a wide area of country would seem to warrant the belief that as development proceeds the iron mines of this region will be found to be of great extent and value. It also appears that this region is rich in phosphates, gold, silver, copper, lead, plumbago, nickel, arsenic, mica Eastern Ontario and asbestos; granite, marble and freestone in great variety and of excellent quality; apatite, barytes and lithographic stone; while even rubies, saphires and emeralds have been found. In the Sudbury region enormous deposits of copper and nickel ore have been discovered, and mines on an extensive scale are being developed. In the township of Denison, between Sudbury The Sudbury and lake Huron and lake Huron, rich specimens of gold-bearing quartz have been taken from district. the Vermilion and other mining locations, and promising deposits of copper and nickel have also been discovered. On the north shore of lake Huron, from Killarney to Sault Ste. Marie, and convenient to navigation, are found iron, copper, lead and immense quarries of marble. Northward of the Sudbury district prospectors report a mineral region of great extent and prospective value, but which can only be developed through the construction of a railway. The entire region north and west of lake Superior abounds The Northern in minerals and valuable quarries. Gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, nickel, plumbago and zinc are found; agates and amethysts are abundant; while valu- The lake Suable building stone of different kinds is spread over a large area. On Black bay is an immense quantity of granite of finer grain than the Aberdeen; a red sandstone is found in great bodies at Nipigon bay, and a white Building stones. sandstone at the head of Thunder bay which is of the finest quality. Brown sandstone of excellent quality is found in abundance, also soapstone, serpentine and marble of different colors. The Port Arthur silver district, extending south-west from Port Arthur to the east end of Arrow lake, promises to be an argentiferous region of great richness. Mines have Port Arthur been opened over a breadth of country extending twenty miles from northeast to south-west, and the range stretches some distance beyond the present limit of development. West of the silver range the Minnesota iron range, it is believed, projects into the territory of Ontario, and it seems certain region. perior country. silver range. |