the Province. The numerous complaints heard by the Commission respecting the mining laws of the Province made a careful enquiry into that subject necessary, and in addition to the information given and the suggestions offered by many witnesses the mining laws and regulations of the principal countries of the Mining laws of world have been examined and digests of them prepared, so that our own laws might be considered in the light of a wide experience. It does not appear to your Commissioners however that very radical changes are demanded. The provisions of the Act which relate to "mining claims" are found by experience to be unsuited to the occurrence of minerals in this Province, where no alluvial deposits of minerals are known to exist, and it does not appear that any properties are being secured under them. It is only in the provisions which relate to "mining locations" that changes in the law are felt to be desirable. and mines used The custom of terming a mining location a mine is itself misleading and mischievous, and unfortunately the terms are synonymous as defined by the Act. Mining men and capitalists have not infrequently met with disappoint- Mining locations ment in this Province by being brought to see a "mine" which has turned as synonymous out to be only an undeveloped location, and to prevent the recurrence of such mistakes it is desirable that the term should be clearly and accurately defined. terms. explorers. The prospector and the explorer have special claims for consideration at the hands of the Government, for without their services many years may elapse before the mineral riches of the country are made known. They Prospectors and should have easy access to sources of information ; geological and topographical maps of the territory they propose to examine should be placed in their hands if available; records of every transaction in mining locations should be open to their inspection, and they should be permitted to file and prove claims at the local agencies. The right of staking out claims might also be conceded in unsurveyed districts, under proper regulations. But in all cases it is desirable that proof of discovery of a mineral vein or deposit within the limits of the location applied for should be furnished before a claim is filed. The extent and number of locations which one person or company may claim or hold cannot easily be regulated in practice, and while in all cases the tenure of mineral lands should be subject to working conditions, it does not seem to your Commissioners that a wise or useful purpose can be served by a provision the effect of which would be to bar the profitable investment of capital. One strong company, if not hindered by a too narrow Extent and area, may employ more men and raise more minerals than half a dozen tions, and workweaker concerns. But prospectors, explorers and miners deserve to be encouraged in the acquisition of locations of small area, and if their con number of loca ing conditions. veniences are better suited with the privilege of buying forty or even twenty acres instead of the present minimum of eighty acres, subject to working conditions, the country stands to gain rather than to lose by the sale of the smaller area. The Commissioners have been impressed with the danger which threatens one of the chief sources of revenue possessed by the Province in prospecting for minerals. They were struck with the appearance of many scenes of desolation where forest fires had swept over wide districts, leaving blackened tree trunks and fire-scorched wastes in the place of hills and valleys once Danger of forest covered with valuable timber. The loss to the Province from this cause has fires in prospecting for minerals. reached many millions of dollars within the last thirty years, and constant Health and danger of further disaster attends the business of prospecting for minerals in the forest regions. Moss and leaves often conceal mineral veins, and in addition to the danger arising from carelessness there is reason to believe that unscrupulous persons sometimes set out fires and burn valuable tracts of timberland merely to facilitate their own work of search for minerals; and still oftener fires are started by the carelessness and even recklessness of sportsmen, tourists, missionaries, surveyors and others. This new danger to our forest wealth is one which may well engage the attention of the Government and the Legislature, and perhaps there is no simpler plan of keeping a check upon prospectors and explorers than to require each one to take out a license at the nearest land office, upon payment of a nominal fee, granting him permission to search for minerals within a district of defined. boundaries. The Act contains no provision for the health and safety of miners, and although no law can ensure workmen against the occurrence of accidents or and collection of the effects of foul air, it is none the less necessary that every possible precauNeither is there any provi safety of miners, wages. Mining and smelting of iron ores. tion for their health and safety should be taken. The mining industry may be carried on in a country, as it is in many sections of countries, without the smelting of metallic ores being undertaken. Great Britain imports large quantities of iron ores for her furnaces from Spain, Elba, Sweden and elsewhere, and almost the whole of the iron ores raised in the mines of the lake Superior ranges are shipped to furnaces in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburg and other centres of iron-making in the United States. This practice has the advantage of enabling iron masters to make mixtures of ores suitable for free smelting, as well as to produce the various grades of iron required by the manufacturers. But wherever the conditions are favorable, mining and smelting may be carried on most advantageously as the complements of each other. If sufficient supplies of fuel, flux and a suitable quality of ore are found close together, the best location for a furnace is at the mine, especially if there are facilities for shipping the product to market. It is unquestionably in a country's interest not only to smelt its own ores, but to refine and manufacture the metals, providing always that the various operations can be carried on economically and without taxing other interests indefinitely for their maintenance. of processes. The history of the iron industry in Great Britain proves conclusively that its growth and prosperity have depended upon a knowledge of methods and processes. Towards the middle of the last century, before mineral fuel began to be used in blast furnaces, the total yearly make of pig iron Growth and prosperity dependent in that country did not equal the production of one furnace of medium on a knowledge capacity at the present day. The industry was threatened with extinction, from which it was saved by the genius of Abraham Darby, who discovered the means of using bituminous coal as furnace fuel by converting it into coke. He worked out the problem in the sweat of a sleepless brain, and the narrative of his achievement is one of the most touching in the long story of the triumphs of man over matter. Darby's discovery was the beginning of Britain's career as the chief iron producing and iron manufacturing country of the world, and she owes that position to the service of processes and appliances begotten by the ingenuity of her sons. The cylindrical bellows of Smeaton, the steam-engine of Watt, the puddling process and the puddle rolls of Cort, the hot blast of Neilson, the steam hammer of Nasmyth, the various processes of Huntsman, Heath, Bessemer, Mushet, Siemens and others for the conversion of iron into steel, the utilisation of furnace gases and the improvements in furnace construction, mark every step in the progressive stages of the industry along its wonderful course. And it is mainly upon a knowledge of processes and skill in the use of them, conjoined with capital and prudent enterprise, that we must rely if a prosperous and stable iron industry is ever to be established in this country. We may begin with the best appliances, and with skill and capital we can start upon even terms with the iron men of the United States and Great Britain. But we should begin right-with experienced management, the best working plant, a sufficiency of capital, and not unmindful of the wants of the home market or our trade relations with other countries. The industry is of first class importance, and every proper means should be taken to secure its establishment in Ontario. The course which a wise policy would naturally suggest is, to begin with The prospect for whatever branch of the industry promises to give the largest profits and making coke, anthracite, and surest results. We have neither anthracite nor bituminous coal, and if one charcoal pig iron in Ontario. Mining and nickel ores in or other of these fuels were used it would require to be hauled long distances at a charge for freight dependent on our ability to furnish return cargoes. Besides, the margin of profit on coke and anthracite iron is never large, and the price is subject to frequent fluctuations as a consequence of the great capacity of British and American furnaces to produce supplies. With charcoal iron the case is different. The supply is limited, the demand is usually constant, superior quality causes it to be indispensable for certain purposes, and where ore, fuel and flux are found in proximity the margin of profit may be regarded as fairly liberal. From data presented in Section v, some of which have been furnished by metallurgists and others by iron masters or the managers of furnaces, it appears that the cost of producing charcoal iron in Ontario would be about $13.60 per long ton, the figures of ten estimates ranging from $9.08 for a hot blast furnace of 60 tons daily capacity to $18.50 for one of five tons capacity. There is no charcoal iron made in Ontario however, and all that is required for the manufacture of malleable castings is imported from the United States at a cost ranging from $26 to $38 per long ton according to quality-freight and duty paid. These prices ought to be considered as affording a liberal margin of profit on the cost of production, especially when the statement is made upon expert authority that a furnace of 9,000 tons yearly capacity would earn ten per cent. on a capital of $200,000 at a profit of $2.25 per ton of pig iron produced. Furnaces located at favorable points should be able to supply the home market with all the charcoal iron it wants, and, besides, keep out much of the poorer coke iron imported from other countries. The iron masters might even hope to make sales at good prices in the British and American markets, notwithstanding the freight charges on shipments to the one and the high duties which guard entrance to the other. The most promising mineral works in the Province at present are the mining and smelting of copper and nickel ores in the vicinity of Sudbury. The Canadian Copper company began operations there in the latter part of 1886 and shafts were sunk on three separate locations, one of which had reached a depth of over 500 feet at the close of 1889. The ore body is proven to be very extensive, and large quantities have been raised at each of the mines. One water-jacketed furnace was set up by this company in 1888 and a second in 1889. Each has a capacity of smelting 120 tons of roasted ore per day, producing a matte which carries about 13 per cent. of nickel and 18 per cent. of copper. Computed upon the basis of work in 1889, the annual yield will average 500 tons of refined nickel and 700 tons of refined copper per furnace, and for nickel alone this represents a market value of $500,000. During 1889 mining operations were commenced in the same district by the Dominion Mineral company of Montreal and Vivian & Co. of Swansea, Wales, the latter being owners of the largest copper smelting and refining works in the world. It is understood that furnaces are being erected by these companies at their respective mines, and that smelting operations will begin at an early day. and steel. The experiments recently carried on in England and Scotland with alloys of nickel and steel, to which reference is made in Section v, cause great Alloys of nickel interest to be attached to Ontario's deposits of nickeliferous ores. If the results already obtained are verified by further tests, and if the claims made for the alloys are fully borne out by practical application in the metallic arts, the importance of the inventions to this Province can hardly be over-estimated. The ranges already discovered in the region north of Georgian bay are more extensive than any which have been found elsewhere, and only a small portion of the formation carrying nickel and copper ores has yet been explored. It does not appear unlikely, indeed, that in spite of its unattractive aspect this may prove to be the most valuable portion of territory in the whole of Ontario, and your Commissioners venture to recommend to your Government the importance of carefully investigating its resources and encouraging by every legitimate means their development. The construction of new railway lines may be found necessary for opening new locations; and possibly a practicable scheme can be devised whereby not only the smelting of ores may be carried on upon a large scale, but also that the matte may be refined in the country instead of shipping it to distant places, and that our rich magnetic ores may be utilised in the manufacture of nickel steel. Practical and struction in metallurgy 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. scientific inProspectors and explorers are found to be very deficient in the kind of mining and 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 results in the colony of New Zealand, and fully explained in Appendix L. But for the education of mining engineers and metallurgists a thorough system of instruction is called for, which can only be provided by establishing a School of Mines or enlarging the course of studies at the School of Practical Science in connection with the Provincial University. It is the opinion of your Com |