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* ^ ’ -W » wEAT I OKTAGE GOLD MINES-Pneakia;? of the gold milieu on tlie Lake of the Woods, I'rof. Dawson says:A couole of days were sjwnt on tlie Lake of the Woods w ith the purpose Of seeing something of the progress of the gold mines there in course of develonment. Acknou ledgiuents are due to' Mr. K. H. Aim, for his kindness in assisting me in this endeavour: mid I had ziteo the pleasure of meeting. at Eat Portage, Mr. A. Blue, director of the Ontario bureau of mint's. In company with Mr- visits wore madei to several of the Jo rat ion s. The Sol-tana is the only one of those which . can be said to have, at the time, pass- 'ed the experimental srtnge. The shaft ,is there down a!cnit 200 feet, with ' levels run out on the vein to the north and south, w liiJe a considerable ; amount of ore has also been taken out from the outcrops of the veins.A ten stamp mill wiith Frue vanner* is in constant operation, the free gold only iieing obtained at present. Fyri-tous “concentrates” which amount toabout one-hundredth of the whole weight of quartz, and are said to carry $.0 to $60 worth of gold to tho ton, are put aside for future treatment. Through the kindness of Mr.J, F. Caldwell, the owner of tho Sultana, I am able to state that the total yield of gold from this mine to date, has been of the value of about §90,000.At the Gold Hill mine, a ten-stamp mill has been put in place and was nearly ready for operation at the time of my visit, while work wan actively in progress on the lodes. The Regina mine was not visited- but another ten stamp mill is now at work there, and very excellent specimens of auriferous quartz from the mine were shown to me by General Wilkinson. Projects are on foot for the installation of milling machinery on ether properties around tlie lake, and, generally speaking,-an encouraging amount of well-directed activity is being shown, such as to lead to the Ik*lief that the gold mining industry is likely to lie pursued in future in a business-like manner and with good results.Taken in connection with the later developments alxiut Rainy Lake, the Seine river and in the Manitou district-, the circumstances are such as toshow, more clearly than ever, the auriferous character of the Huronian rocks. Already the prospectors and miners have become accustomed to recognize this fact, over the w hole region, and the geological maps prepared by this department are valued by them as most important guides, while urgent demands -are made for tlie further extension of the work of the survey.Mr. W- Melmiis, assisted by Mr. Lawson, spent the summer in making a geological examination of the Rainy Lake region in which the formation and general conditions areidentical witli those existing on tho the Lake of the Woods. Mr. Melania thus describes the results of his investigations; A track survey was made of the Little Turtle river to Dovetail lako and thence to the Seine river. Manv gold locations have been taken up in the district, particularly in the region lying immediately to tlie east of Bud Vermilion Lake, which is included in the Rainy Like geological sheet, already published. In this neighborhood two stamp mills have been erected, but attention was wisely !e-ing directed chiefly to sinking on the tho properties to prove tho extent and value of the reins. At ‘Harold lake a five-starup mill was in operation,and the owners reported satisfactory results in free gold with promise of further profits from tho treatment of the tailings for the handling of which they are not yet provided wdtli machinery. Development work wn* being carried on upon n number of veinson this property.
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