districts. be a great improvement. In the past, and even yet, attention has been drawn nearly altogether to the Port Arthur district, and that to a large extent accounts for the overlooking of this section by capitalists. In fact there has been a general apathy displayed hitherto in reference to the resources of northern Ontario. It has been reported for some time that on the south side of the Lacloche mountains, from Killarney to Lacloche, silver exists. Several specimens of silver and copper have been given me by lumbermen as having been found in this range, and I would not be surprised at any time to find silver, copper and possibly gold. R. E. Bailey-At Batchawana bay and Goulais bay we get gold and silver; Minerals in the at Garden river, silver lead, and at Macbeth, copper. Those properties are in the Goulais Bay and unsurveyed district, and are on Indian lands. We acquired the property from the Batchawana Bay Government. At Goulais bay we have two shafts, one twenty-six feet and the other twenty feet deep; it is a fissure vein. At Batchawana bay the vein is sixteen feet wide; the gangue is quartz. I have found gold in it that could be seen with the eye, and some sulphurets, including traces of copper. The vein runs north-east and south-west. It is about half a mile inland from Batchawana bay. The Goulais bay location is about three miles north of the north point of that bay. The veins run towards each other. The one at Goulais bay is about fifteen feet wide. The gangue is quartz, containing gold and silver. We have had assays of both with about the same results; gold from $4 to $28, and silver from $2 to $8. The assays were made by reliable men in Milwaukee and in Idaho, with the same results. Gold and silver Marie district. Eneas McCharles-I have been looking for the mother lode, which I believe to be somewhere in the district, but I cannot say how far back. On the northin the Sault Ste. east quarter of 27 in Korah we got gold and copper, which together went $27. That is, taking copper at the price before it went up; there is 6 per cent. copper. I think the gold was from $2 to $4.50. We put some blasts in at the Everett mine, on the south-east quarter of 13 in Prince; it assayed, gold $32, silver $1.16. I have had a good deal of assaying done, and I don't know of any that did not show gold from a trace up. One showed $60; that was from the west of here. All the iron from this section carries more or less silver. There is a four foot vein of galena in a maple bush on the Goulais river, somewhere about 14 in Vankoughnet. T. A. P. Towers-I think more prospecting has been done this year than for Increased activ- the last twenty-two years, and I do not think it is likely to prove a flash in ity in prospect the pan" this time. There is no doubt that there is a great amount of mineral in this country, and more interest is being taken now than ever before in this immediate neighborhood. A great many people go to the registry office to get maps, and I know they want them for exploring purposes. I am the deputy registrar. ing. Michipicoten Early explorations. MICHIPICOTEN ISLAND. Joseph Cozens-In July last I purchased in conjunction with an American friend the Charles Jones, Bonner and Harbor locations on Michipicoten island. Island locations. These locations contain altogether about 13,000 acres of land, and a very large amount of money has been spent upon them in improvement and development. The money has not always been judiciously spent, stili an enormous amount of work has been done. The expenditure has been chiefly made upon the Charles Jones location, which is situated on the west end of the island. The first work of any consequence appears to have been done about the years 1860-61 by Mr. H. Fletcher on behalf of some New York parties. He sank several exploring shafts and did more or less cross-cutting and drifting, with very encouraging results; so encourag ing indeed that he erected a small stamp mill, etc., and produced several barrels of copper. Some trouble that arose about the payment for the machinery resulted in its being seized and taken away. In consequence the work was stopped and the property practically abandoned for the time. About 1875 the Quebec and Lake Superior mining association made further explorations, and between that date and 1880 they made large clearings and erected substantial barns and farm dwellings upon the property. At the same time G. A. Phillips, of Milwaukee, Wis., did a considerable amount of exploring on and near the east boundary of the location, sinking several exploring shafts from 90 to 150 feet in depth, and finding heavy copper in all of them. In 1880 the Michipicoten Native Copper company was formed in England with a subscribed capital of $220,000, and work was commenced on a very extravagant scale. During the spring of 1883 the company was reorganised with $100,000 additional capital. After the expenditure of these amounts a further sum Working on an extravagant scale. of $50,000 was borrowed on debentures, and also spent. In the fall of 1884 the company, being heavily in debt, went into liquidation, and the property was purchased in 1885 by the late Mr. Matthew Curtis, then mayor of Manchester, England. Mr. Curtis spent about $70,000 in further improvement and development, when his sudden death in 1887 caused the stoppage of the work, which was being pushed forward with vigor. I had charge of the work for him, and upon the executors to his estate making me an offer of the whole property I purchased it at once, being intimately acquainted with it and fully convinced of its great value. The bulk of Depth of shafts. the work has been done on an amygdaloidal bed, similar in character to the lode at the Quincy mine on the south shore of lake Superior. At the present time the main shaft is sunk to a depth of 520 feet, Batler's shaft 360 feet, and about 1,500 feet of drifts and crosscuts have been run, opening up a large extent of rich stoping ground. The discovery in 1887 of a conglomerate lode similar in character to that of the celebrated Calumet and Hecla mine has added greatly to the value of the property. This lode is situated about a mile and a quarter to the westward of the main working, and is about 8 feet in width; its course is north-east and south-west, and the dip about 50° to the south-west. A shaft about 40 feet deep has been sunk on the underlie, showing at the bottom a pay streak of about 2 feet carrying 5 per cent. of copper. A number of crosscuts have been made at various depths up to 200 feet by the diamond drill, proving the extent and continuity of the lode and the increase in width of the pay streak as depth is attained. At 200 feet the whole width of the lode carried copper. The timber on the island is chiefly maple, with more or less valuable spruce, cedar, etc., on the lower lands. Cordwood for fuel can be produced at a cost of from $1.25 to $1.50 per cord. All the timber and lumber used in the construction of the various buildings have been cut at the saw mill on the location. On the Bonner location some work was done many years ago-report The Bonner says on rich veins of native silver and nickel ore. I have myself found nuggets of native silver on the beach in front of the location. LAKE SUPERIOR REGION. location. S. J. Dawson, M.P.-Silver is in large quantities, and exists over an extensive area in this country. Iron is in paying quantities, and has been Minerals and discovered in many places throughout the district. Gold has been discovered building stones and is reported to be in paying quantities in different sections. Zinc blende of the Lake Suhas been discovered in quantities sufficient to pay for the manufacture of perior district. zine; it is in very considerable quantities, and very generally distributed over the district. Galena is in large quantities throughout the district, especially near Black bay. Building stone of excellent quality is found in different parts of this district, from Verte island to Nipigon bay. Stone of excellent quality, color and texture is now shipped to Chicago and other American ports, and a considerable trade is arising. Granite of fine quality is found in different places. About twelve miles east of here, in McGregor, there is a grey granite very like the Aberdeen. At Jackfish bay there is a stone of a beautiful quality, the nicest I ever saw; it is of dark color, and exists in large quantities. Samples of it have been polished. On the Black river a stone occurs that takes a high polish, and is very beautiful. It is of white color, spotted with crimson, and is of a felspathic character. Molybdenite occurs in considerable quantities at the Black river, but the market is not extensive enough to make it pay at present; the quality is very good and the quantity is large. As to the existence of copper in this district in paying quantities, I do not know enough to speak at present. We have the most beautiful amethysts in large quantities, and agates of a superior quality are found about the shore. present, as far as known, the most extensively diffused minerals in this district are iron and silver. As far as we know at present the iron deposits are very large, and at Antler river of very good quality. In the Mattawa district I understand there are large lodes of very superior quality of iron ore. Iron ore also occurs on the Kaministiqua, near the railway crossing. It is reported, and I think ascertained for a fact, that the great Minnesota iron range extends past Gunflint lake. It is also reported that large deposits of iron ore have been found at Hunter's island. I believe that range of iron extends clear through our country, and that the iron deposits of the Mattawa are really a continuation of it. I believe the deposits of iron to be inexhaustible. At Peter McKellar-I came here in 1863 and have spent most of my time since then in this district. I have been engaged in exploring for minerals, An extensive and have done so to a great extent during the time I have been here. I have mineral bearing region. prospected all along the shores of lake Superior, from Michipicoten to the American boundary, and back as far as the height-of-land. I have been to Lake-of-the-Woods, lake Nipigon, the Whitefish-all over in fact. I have a knowledge of a large extent of country. Gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc and iron exist in such quantities that they will ultimately pay, though some of them may not do so at the present time. There are also telurium, bismuth and molybdenite, besides a great number of other economic minerals. Stone of different kinds and marbles are found. There is a great variety of crystalline rocks, such as granite and syenite, in large quantities. At Black bay there is an immense quantity of granite that takes a beautiful polish. It is finer grain than the Aberdeen granite, and is in great bodies. There is a fine red sandstone in Nipigon bay. These quarries of sandstone, granite, etc., are handy for shipping, as wharves may be built right alongside them. There is a white sandstone in large Marbles, gran quantities at the foot of Thunder bay that is of the finest quality. There is also a bed of marble and a very good quality of soapstone. It turns, further back, into marble of different colors, some banded, some clouded, and all very easy to quarry. It is in the Nipigon formation. The brown sandstone will prove very lasting, but ites and sand stone. Silver occurrenees in trap and slate. Gold-bearing rocks. it is not as hard as the white. In this section we look for silver veins in black clay slates; galena and zincblende especially are a good indication, being generally associated with silver in the vein. At McKellar island the blende will go from $800 to $900 of silver. I notice, as a general thing, that the veins are rich beneath the trap overflow. They usually run up through the trap, but are not so rich in it; they carry silver, but not much. The bed below the trap seems to be the richest. Bonanzas are often found immediately below the trap, in the first layer. It is hard to say whether it is the trap overflow or the underlying Huronian beds that cause the richness. The gold-bearing rock occurs in the Huronian schists, the chloritic schists. In many different places in this formation gold has been discovered. At Heron bay a vein shows well. At Jackfish bay they have got gold, but one cannot tell without a regular mining test whether it will pay. We sank on ole vein twelve feet; it was rich in gold all the way down. We had half a ton of the ore from Jackfish bay put through a mill, and it concentrated as high as $1,000 and $1,200 to the ton. The Jackfish vein is in the syenite, and the Heron Bay vein in the Huronian formation. W. W. Russell-We have a north-west and south-east system to which the Systems of veins. Beaver and Silver Islet mines belong, and an east and west system to which the Silver Mountain mines belong. The Badger belongs to the same as the Beaver, but the majority are east and west, or a little north of east. An old explorer's opinion of the Lake Superior region. The Huronian J. C. Haskins-I think this Thunder Bay district is one of the finest mining regions in the world, and I have been working at mining since I was twelve years old. One Walpole Roland-I have spent fourteen years continuously exploring in this region. I have been in Nova Scotia, British Columbia, and the Northwest generally, from two and a half to three years in the inland mines of India, and in other parts of the world, and this region, in my opinion, is without a rival. old mining gentleman that I met from the west said, "If we had such ores and prospects in our country our people would simply lose their heads," and he said he had never seen anything like it. The testimony of Americans generally has been uniformly in the same direction. T. A. Keefer-Gold has been found chiefly in the rocks of Huronian age in the Lake Superior district. The discoveries made in veins in the stratified rocks, and other gold especially in the talcose and chloritic schists, are in my judgment those which are mining loca tions. Silver occur rences in the Thunder Bay district. most likely to be successfully operated. Development works in the gold-bearing the sulphurets usually being richer in silver when found in close proximity to silver either in its native state or in the ore or argentite. The best results obtained from mining work in this district have been from the developments made on veins in the argillites or Animikie series of the Lower Cambrian formation, here more commonly called the black silver-bearing slates of the Thunder Bay district. Some failures have occurred in the past where work was started in this formation in its lower beds, where the cherts and dolomites are so common, and generally along the edge or skirt of the formation where the bed of the slates is thin, and where it has been soon penetrated by mining work. The syenite has not as yet shown itself to be a rock congenial to the production of silver in this district where veins occur in it. If more attention was paid to locality and to the results of these past as well as more recent developments, and if this theory was better understood, I am convinced that better results would follow like the good ones obtained where mining has been carried on in the proper silver-bearing horizon of this formation. Some efforts, where the slates are thick and higher geologically, have not been successful for various reasons. I may mention one. The veins are not rich everywhere, but the middle or upper portions of these Lower Cambrian shales have their rich ore shoots and deposits which when discovered are usually very productive. The Silver Islet mine, on a vein which cuts a large trap dyke at its junction with the dyke and the silver slates in comparatively a higher portion of the slates than where other efforts failed, produced upwards of $3,000,000 of silver. You probably have the records of production from the Rabbit Mountain and Beaver mines, while you know of the very rich ore produced in smaller quantities and the showings visible at other mines in the district, such as the Porcupine, Silver Creek and others which could be mentioned. Since the Commission took evidence here, the Badger mine, which, like the others mentioned, is relatively in a higher geological position than some which have not produced so well, has made a valuable shipment of a very high grade of ore. I am told on reliable authority that a recent shipment of a car load of about fifteen tons of hand-picked high grade ore from this mine returned over $35,000, and that another car load of a similar grade of ore is now ready for shipment. In addition, there is on its dumps, it is claimed, about one thousand tons of mill rock awaiting the starting of its mill before this ore can be turned into money. It is unnecessary to refer to assays or mill tests of the silver mines to prove the richness of their veins when the eye can see the silver in such quantities in its metallic or native state, as well as in its rich ores so readily discernible. I am of opinion that the trap dykes and overflows of the country have materially assisted the mineralisation of the veins, and that the silver bearing veins are more likely to be rich in the neighborhood of dykes, as at Silver Islet and Rabbit Mountain mines, or in the slates in their higher positions which have had the influence of the trap overflows, as at Beaver, Badger, Porcupine and others. These opinions may afford ground for further investigation by the geological authorities, while experience and results hereafter may establish facts which will be better understood. I believe them worthy of consideration from the experience I have had and observations I have made in the district. To give an idea of the grades of hand-picked Surface pickings ore from the silver mines in this district, I may state that when opening the from Rabbit Rabbit Mountain mine I shipped 5,580 lb. of ore from the surface pickings which yielded, on being sold to the well known smelters, Messrs. Balbach & Son of Newark, New Jersey, 775 oz. in silver to the ton of 2,000 lb.; and that from a pit sunk on the vein to the depth of ten feet I made a further shipment of a car load of ore which on being sold to the same smelters yielded $640.41, or after deducting smelting charges, $590.40 per ton of 2,000 lb. Copper exists in the district in its native state, in pyrites and as grey copper. The pyrites Copper. sometimes also carries either gold or silver, and sometimes both. The pyrites usually occurs in veins in the Huronian rocks. Nothing but preliminary work has been done to my knowledge on these veins. Besides the vein at the Tip-Top mine, I know of a deposit near Little Pic river the ore of which carries from five to twenty per cent. of copper, and usually gold and silver in varying quantities. Galena exists in the district, but the veins of it have not been developed. They occur in different places, the most I know of being in the neighborhood of Black bay. Should smelters be established in the district these veins may become remunerative. They usually carry some silver. Zinc has also been discovered in the form of massive zincblende, or "black jack," the most notable Zinc. deposit I know of being that at the Zenith zinc mine, north of Nipigon bay. Rich ores. Mountain mine. Galena. Lake-of-the- Iron on Eagle Gold in Lake-ofthe-Woods re gion. Lake-of-the Gold-bearing quartz. Iron ore. Minerals on LAKE OF-THE-WOODS REGION. George Mitchell-I have noticed that in the several shafts sunk in the Lakeof-the-Woods region free gold is found near the surface, fine and coarse, and in the leafy form, the latter especially in the Pine Portage vein. Below the influence of the atmosphere the gold is invariably found with sulphurets. In the Winnipeg Consolidated the richest part of the vein was in the sulphurets. I cannot tell the results of the concentrates, but assays of them were made by Prof. Chapman, of Toronto, and J. B. Berryman, secretary of the company, of Minneapolis. Dr. Henson-I have seen a deposit of magnetic iron ore about fifty miles north of the Canadian Pacific railway, on Eagle river. There seemed to be a large deposit as seen from the river (a sample of which is produced). I saw specimens of gold taken from a location on Seine river, in the possession of Mr. Pither, Indian agent at Fort Francis, which was quite rich in free gold. Wm. Murdoch-I have visited Sultana island, Lake-of-the-Woods. There are six different veins I visited, and ten foot holes have been made on them. These specimens are from Hand and McMicken's location, Sultana island. There are two veins within forty feet of each other; the veins are three or four feet wide, and they widen as you go down. Gold seems to be disseminated through all the veins on Sultana island, and I think the indications are very good. I have seen very fine specimens from Hay island, but there is nothing doing on account of the want of capital. John McQuarrie-I reside at Rat Portage and am engaged in lumbering on Rainy river. I have been six years in that part of the country, and have had Woods region. plenty of opportunity of exploring it. Although not a mining prospector I have gone over the country a good deal, and made it my business to investigate its resources for general information, and I have a general knowledge of the mineral wealth of that region. There is gold-bearing quartz and silver there; the gold predominates. i have been on some of the mining locations, among them being the Winnipeg Consolidated, Minerva, Gold Hill, Sultana and others on the same leads. I made a personal examination of these locations and discovered gold on three of them. There is iron in that district also, and I have been on one of the locations. It is north of Rat Portage, on the east side of the Winnipeg river, between Lake-of-the-Woods and English river. I examined this property in 1884. The discoverer was a man named Miles, and he believed from what he heard from those who tested the ore that there was a fortune in it for him. The property at first sight appeared to be a solid mound of black rock, and I could hardly believe it was iron. It was about 70 feet in height and about the same in width. We went to the top of it and could observe the ridge for nearly half a mile. The iron lies in a dark rock of the nature of slate. We took half a canoe load to Rat Portage. It is magnetic ore. There are some fine specimens of gold, iron and silver on Rainy lake. Mr. Alex. Baker, of Fort Francis, has some splendid specimens of gold and silver which he claims came from there, and also lignite. They were found on the north shore of Rainy lake. Mr. Thomas Sheppard also had specimens. The quartz was claimed to be gold-bearing, although it does not show free gold, and on analysis there proved to be considerable silver as well. Several specimens have been brought in by Indians, but they want money before they will tell where the deposits are. There is silver about three miles north of Rat Portage, near Lake-of-the Woods and not far from the Canadian Pacific railway. This discovery was made on the 2nd of January last by Mr. Charles Moore, of Port Arthur. There are three locations taken up on the one lead. Mr. McKay, of Calgarry, told me the lead was 40 feet wide. It is the only silver ore I have seen in that country that looked like the ores around Port Arthur. No development work has been done there beyond Mineral paints. exploring, testing and getting claims registered. I have seen some yellow ochre brought in by bagfuls from the Lake-of-the-Woods of just as good quality as that sold by the druggists, and also some Venetian red. It could be used upon outside walls without grinding, and would make a splendid mineral paint. There are also large quantities of mica of a very clear quality in the Lake-of-the-Woods district. I have noticed pieces 6 by 8 and 8 by 8 inches quite clear. I saw one vein which has been taken up by Mr. Parsons and Mr. A. Matheson, the Hudson Bay company's factor. The property is about fifty miles from Rat Portage, and the vein is about eight feet wide. It is claimed that the iron on Rainy lake is one of the most valuable mineral deposits in the country. A gentleman named Fraser came there from the Red lake iron range in Minnesota, and he said he discovered a continuation of the range on the Canadian side of Rainy lake; he believed it was as rich or richer than the Discovery of silver. Mica. Continuation of the Minnesota iron range. |