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ADODT CANADA'S MINESREPORTS OP EXPLORERS ON THEGOLD FIELDS.! Opinion* or tieolotfUt*—Notable Progrfil In Ibr DrTr|»pmru( of Miuiue-Ontput lo bf li?rrr«Hclt;l.The annual report of Mr. Dawson, thedirector of the Geological Survey .which ia .just issued from the press, is particularly interesting this year, as giving the opinion of the department and its geologists upon the mining activity of the past season in Ontario and British Columbia. Mr. Dawson has ■ summarized the reports of his staff.. and presents them to the public in condensed shape. Speaking generally on the mining boom, the chief of the survey makes the following observations :—** During the past year very notable progress has been made in the development of the mineral resources of Canada, both in the way of actual work and in attracting the attention and interest of capital. British Columbia has begun to evidence its value as a permanent producer of the precious metals In a manner long foreseen by those who have paid attention to its geological structure and position. In Ontario, wherever the Huroniansystem is developed and has been examined, valuable mines, more particularly those of gold, are being discovered and opened up. In Nova Scotta renewed interest has been shown in gold mining, and. with improved machinery and methods, the output is likely soon to be greatly increased. Other mineral industries throughout the country, whether already established or in course of development, share in a general appreciation.”THE KOOTENAY DISTRICT.The details of the investigations of the department during the past year are given in the reports of the explorers. Mr. R. G. McConnell, w ho had charge of the work in Kootenay district, says:— Mining has made satisfactory advances on all sides in West Kootenay during the past season. Prospectors, the pioneers of the industry. swarmed over the country, making numberless locations everywhere. A fair percentage of the prospects of previous years, on which development work has been done, promise to become mint’s, and the older mines show' no signs of deterioration as developed. Several new' camps, notably Waterloo. Champion Creek, the North Fork of the Salmon, and the Springer Creek district, have come into prominence, while the older ones have developed into recognized mining oentres. The output of ore has largely increased, and the capacity of the smelters has been more than doubled in order to meet the demand. Favourable reports from competent men have been received in regard to a numlier of outlying districts which have not yet been examined. and it is altogether probable that with the advent of easy communication t he successes of Trail creek and the Slocan will be repeated in East Kootenay. Boundary Creek, the Lar-do. the Big Bend, and other places. Capital has flowed freely into the district during tne season Out it is to be feared that an undue proportion of it has found its way into the. pockets of speculators rather than into legitimate mining, in itossland and vicinity, although there has lieen a good deal of scarcely warranted speculation, much conscientious development and prospecting work is lieiiig carried on, the result of which in large part will not te known for some time yet, as the hard eruptive rocks of the district necessarily make mining a slow and expensive operation.COMPRESSOR PLANTShave, however, been erected at a dozen or more of the principal mines, and machine drills with their quicker results are rapidly supplanting hand labour. The Le ltoi and War Eagle are still the principal producing mines in the camp, but considerable shipments at irregular intervals have also l**en made from the Josie, Iron Mask. Cliff, Evening Star. Crown Point, and others, and it Is highly probable that with the extensive development work now in progress the output from these will !e largely increased in the near future. The Holland ores as a rule are notof high grade, and a large proportion of those iu sight cannot l*e profitably worked under present, conditions. The •x»st of freight and treatment is given at 910 to $11 per ton. If the cost of mining, a variable factor. Is added to this, it will be evident that ores carrying less value than $15 per ton can only be worked at present at a slender profit.* if at all. In order to utilize this material, reductions in both freight and smelting charges are imperative .andwill doubtless be made as the. treatment of the ore liecornes better understood and competing lines of communication are opened up. Should the railway now projected through the Crow’s Nest pass be built and the mines connected with the extensive coal fields known to exist in the Rocky mountain range, fuel, the principle item in the expense of smelting, could be obtained at a much lower figure than at present. and the smelting charges reduced in proportion. A large percentage of the ores are too low grade to !e worked under any circumstances, but it is believed that with smelters built on the spot, cheap fuel, and improved processes. those with a valuation 01 $8 and upwards will eventually be profitably treated.”ONTARIO'S GOLD FIELDS.Regarding the gold fields of Ontario some interesting information is given by Mr. W. Mcinnis. He says: While in the Iake-of-the-Woods, the Regina and Sultana mines wfere visited. The vein in the case of the former of these traverses both an intrusive area of alternate hornblende granit.and a Kee-watin diabase, the Jine of contact between the two cutting the. drifts in the mine, and showing an overlap of the diabase by the granite. At the Sultana the vein occurs in a very much crushed and sheared hornblende granite, which occurs here, as it does generally, as an intrusive mass not far from the eoutact !etween the biotite-gneiss area and an area of Keewatin rocks. The Scramble mine, which lies to the north of the railway, within six or crushed diorites, and close to the miles of Rat Portage, occurs in a band of Keewatin hornblende schists, edge of the Rossland granite area. Some surface stripping has leen done here, and a shallow shaft has been sunk on a band 25 to 35 feet in wddth. made up largely of quartz and heavily charged with iron pyrites, occurring both in thin sheets along the planes ofcleavage and irregularly distributed through its mass. Parts of the band were found to pan well, and an average value of more than twenty dollars to the ton is claimed for the whole band. Considerable activity has been shown in developing and exploiting gold properties about Lake of the Woods generally, and attention is being again devoted to various properties w'btch have lain undeveloped for years.NEW DISCOVERIESof gold-bearing veins have been made in various places in the district, notably about Shoal lake, where the Mikado and other properties have been attracting attention. Here, as in the Seine river country, the gold has been found in every case of which wre have any record at no great distance from the contact between the Keewatin and intrusive granitoid rocks, which occur most frequently as narrow rims along the edge of the more extensive areas l^,te Rneiss, but which also invade the Keewatin rocks, as isolated instru-sive masses. I know of no case where gold-bearing veins have been found to occur in the main body of the biotite£neiss areas, which we have classed as aurentian. On a preliminary editionr*v«r sheet, the rocks, in which the Saw Bill vein occurs, were so classed, but this was owing to a mis-interpretation of the notes of the late1 . *** and it has been corrected on the regular edition of the map.” Mr. Mcinnis also reports that promising veins of gold have been reported north of the C. P. R.. along 1 Jl'naitake .lake, Keewatin belt, which is a continuation north-easterly of the Wabigoon lake area. Specimens assayed gave small quantities of gold, enough at least to confirm the 00-currenoe of gold in the region. A num-«er of claims have, been located along the shores of Manitou lake, as well as about little Manitou lake.
Newspaper Details
Durham Grey Review
Durham, Ontario, CA
Thu, Mar 18, 1897
Page 6
Full Page
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Anonymous
CA 27 May 2023
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