.<\i ^A^^^.o, IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V // // A C <;^ 1.0 I.I U£ 1^ 1 2.2 1.8 1!^ 1^ 11-25 IIIIII.4 IIIIII.6 V] /^ 7 'c?^l ^^^ a:' ^^>^^ >' 7 >^ iV V -b ^ \\ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 1980 Technical Notes / Notes techniques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Physical features of this copy which may alter any of the images in the reproduction are checked below. L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Certains d^fauts susceptibles de nuire d la quality de la reproduction sont not6s ci-dessous. Coloured covers/ Couvertures de couleur D Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur D Coloured maps/ Cartes gdographiques en couleur D Coloured plates/ Planches en couleur n Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages ddcolordes, tachetdes ou piqudes D Show through/ Transparence Tight binding (may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin)/ Reliure serrd (peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge int^rieure) D Pages damaged/ Pages endommagdes D Additional comments/ Commentaires suppldmentaires Bibliographic Notes / Notes bibliographiques n D D n Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible Bound with other material/ Relid avec d'autres documents Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque Plates missing/ Des planches manquent Additional comments/ Commentaires suppl6mentaires D D D Pagination incorrect/ Erreurs de pagination Pages missing/ Des pages manquent Maps missing/ Des cartes gdographiques manquent The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. Las images suivantes ont 6x6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition at de la nettet6 de I'exemplaire filmd, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol '^►(meaning CONTINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Un des symboles suivants apparattra sur la der- nidre Image de cheque microfiche, seion le ces: le symbole — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". The original copy was borrowed from, and filmed with, the kind consent of the following institution: National Library of Canada L'exemplaire filmd fut reproduit grflce 6 la g6n6rosit6 de l'6tablissement prdteur suivant : Bibliothdque nationals du Canada Maps or plates too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper Iflft hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes ou les planches trop grandes pour dtre reproduites en un seul clich6 sont filmdes d partir de Tangle sup6rieure gauche, de gauche 6 droite et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Le diagramme suivant illustre la m6thode : 1 2 3 1 2 3 r ' ' 4 8 6 THE GEOLOGY OF ONTARIO, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ECONOMIC MINERALS. BY ROBERT BELL, B.A.Sc, M.D., LL.D., A$n*tant Director of the Geological Survey of Canada, Member of the Royal Commusion on the Mineral Resources of Ontario, formerly Professor of Natural Sciences in Queen's University, etc. (REPRINTED FROM THE REPORT OF THE ROYAL COMMISSION.) TORONTO : PRINTED BT WARWICK A SONS, 68 AND 70 FRONT STREET \¥EST, 1889. ^am mm J T THE GEOLOGY OF ONTARIO, WITH SPECIAL REFERp:Nt'E TO ECOiNOMlC MINERALS. V BY I ROBERT BELL, B.A.Sc., M.D., LL.D.. Aisxiiiiid nirector of the Geolinjical Stirveij of Canada, Member of the Royal <'<>mminS'on on the Mineral Resources of Ontario, formerly I'rofensnr of Natural Sciences in Qhch's Uniri'r)>itii, vtc. (REPRINTED FROM THE REPORT OF THE ROYAL COMMISSION.) TORONTO: PRINTED BY WARWICK A SONS, 68 & 70 FRONT STREET WEST. 1889. 1 THE GEOLOGY OF ONTARIO. WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ECONOMIC MINERALS. : ' 'i BY ROBERT BELL, B.A.Sc, M.D., LL.D., Ajjsistant Director ok tuk (jEolouical Survey of Canada, Member of th! Royal Commission onthf. Mineral Resoi iues of Ontario, Etc., Ere. The following sketch of the Geology of Ontario being intended for the use of persona who may not be familiar with the techniaal terms of Technitui term*, geological science, the writer has endeavoured to avoid these as much as possible, but where it has been necessary to employ them their meanings huve been briefly given. For the same reason, sosue elementary geological explanations have been incorporated, and a shore glossary of technical words added at the end of the report, to save the non-scientitic reader the trouble of referring to geological manuals or text-books. On the other bar ' ' ile this report will contain many new- facta for geological readers, *..v-j >.»» expect to find them stated in simple language. The limits imposed on the writer have permitted only a brief reference to each part of the subject, but it has been his endeavour to allot the space impartially to all. If, therefore, those who may be most interested in any one branch should Qnd the description of it too short to satisfy them, they must consider the claims of all tho others. It is hoped that, should the demand warrant it, a fuller report may be issued at a future time. Owing to the uncertainty which has heretofore prevailed in reference to the northern boundary of the province, it will be necessary in attempting a BoumcIb of »he geological description of Ontario to state at the outset how far we understand our territory to extend in that direction. For the purposes of description we will assume that the Albany river is the northern boundary all the way to the sea, and that a meridian line from James bay to the head of lake Temiscam'ng, and the Ottawa river thence to Point Fortune, constitute the eastern boundary. In order to facilitate our description and to prevent repetition we will here present a table, showing in their proper order all tlie divisions of the rocks of the province. [See next page.} territory. 8Y8TKM. DIVISIONS OK THK HOCKS ol" ONTARId III ileHceiiUiniij: urdur. ' , Recent. . Soils, Peat, Sht^llitiarl. Laciititriiie and Flnviatile Clays, SandH, etc. Pleixtoceni'. Post TbRTIART.^ Saugeen Clay, Arteiuesia Gravel, Algoma Saii '. Sand, Gravel and Shingle of the country north of the (ireat I. ik*--.. Erie Clay, Calcareous and Non-calcareous Clays north of the G i <':it Lak^-n. Boulder-clay, Drift or Till. ' • Palaozoio. f Chemung and Portage. , Devonian SiLUHlAN -! Hamilton Formation. Comiferoufi Formation. Oriskany Formation. f Lower Helderberg Formation. Onondaga Formation. Guelph Formation. Niagara Formation. Clinton Formation. Medina and Oneida Formiitioii. Hudson River Formation. I Utica Formation. Trenton Koruiatiiin. Black River and Biris-eyp Formation. Chazy Formation. L Calciferous Formation. ( Potsdam Formation. I Oaubkian ■{ Nipigon Formation. LAnimikie Formation. HURONIAN Lauuentian. Axoic or Arehoean. 'ljpper(?) Huronian Formation. , Lower (?) Huronian Formation. ( Upper Laurentian Formation. 1 Lower Laurentian Formation. I^'neous or eruptive rocks may be of any geological age, and those which occur in Ontario will be noticed in desciibinu the systems or formations to Oapiinthe Svsttini. which they are supposed to belong. In the list in the table the divisions of the rocks of Ontario are presented in their natural order of succession. It does not by any raeanH represent the complete geological scale, comprising only the newest and some of the oldest systf-ms. There is an enormous gap between the Post Tertiary and the Devonian, which in a complete section of the earth's crust would be filled up (in descending order) with the Tertiary, Cretaceous, Triassic, Permian and Carboniferous. The whole of the geolo^'ical scale is not found in any one region of the surface of the earth, but the order of succession has been ascertained by tracing the connection of one with another, principally by the aid of the fossils or organic remains which they contain. Between the time of the disposition of the highest or newest > of our Devonian rocks and the oldest of the Post Tertiary a vast interval elapsed, during which this part of the world may have been dry land and little or nothing may have been deposited upon it. But it is far more likely that rocks of some, at 1 Jist, of the systems now wanting were laid down and have long since decayed and disappeared through the action of denud- ing agencies ; while elsewhere the conditions have been more favorable for the preservation of some of them in one countiy and others in another. In describing the rock-formations of Ontario we propose to begin at the bottom of the scale, or with the oldest, and proceed in the natural order or oeoioRic*! »iwi- that of their age. First, however, a few words may bo necessary in regard to the terms employed and the names of the divisions themselves. The term ' system ' in geology is used to designate great series of strata characterised by such sinjilarity that they may 'stand to{,ether,' as the system, word implies. In the Azoic or Archaean division the rocks themselves com- prising a system have certain points of resemblance in common, while among the fossiliferous strata each system is recognised by the remains of MOQip •^'•'^vui' in" forms of Q,nim n 1 fw TU jLiiG systcuis are interuieuiaite in comprehensiveness between the peiiods or ages and the formations, each system usually comprising several formations. The 'formation ' constitutes, as it were the unit, in the geological classi- fication or grouping of the rocks. Among fossiliferous rocks each formation Korm»tio». comprises strata which may be distinguished from all others by their organic forms, most of which are peculiar to such formation. Non-fossilifeious forma- tions comprise rocks which have a recognised position in the scale, or which possess some strong points of resemblance sufficient to distinguish them ; or they consist of rocks which have been formed under similar conditions and, as far as can be ascertained, at about the same time. Unfortunately the term formation has been employed by some geologists rather loosely, or with- out a uniform and definite signiGcaticn, and of late years an attempt is being made to give it a more extended meaning, by which it would take the place of the well-established term * system.' The word ' group,' whic'i is so often used in geological language, is another which does not yet enjoy a universally established meaning. Here- ^^^^ tofore Canadian geologists have been accustomed to use it as intermediate in comprehensiveness between system and formation. Thus we spoke of the St John group, the Quebec group, the Trenton group, the Anticosti group, each embracing a number of formations. At the jjresent time some European geologists are seeking to give the term a larger signification, equivalent to .systpin, or even period. But the word which has been used most loosely of all in geological language S«riM. is • st'ries,' which is still made to do duty wherever there is any uncertainty as to the rank of any set of rocks. In regard to the proper names for the various divisions of our rocks, the Ontario inracB lat? Sir William Logan, when he undertook the geological survey of the for Bystemg and . „^ , • ■, n m • ^ d .1 1 <•!,• .1 Pormatione. province of Canada in 1842, wisely toresaw the advantage of adopting the names already in use in the state of New York, adjoining us. In this way there was no confusion, and everyone understood without further explanation the positions of our various formations as described by Logan under these names. Geological fi rmations are distributed in the crust of the earth without reference to national boundaries, and true geologists are the most cosmo- politan of men, the whole earth being their field of research, as the very name ' geology ' implies. The New York state and other Amercian geologists had adopted the names for the Systems which had been given in England, such as Cambrian, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, etc., but as the sub- divisions of these or the formations in America could not be closely correlated with those of England, local names had to be adopted. Most of the f )rma- tions of Upper and Lower Canada were found to be continuous with those of the adjoining states, so that the names for these were applicable, on both sides of the international boundary line. In a few cases, such as that of the Hamilton formation, named after the village of Hamilton in Madison county, N. Y., some misconception has arisen from the supposition that the name is derived from our own city of Hamilton. Professor Chapman has proposed the alternative name Lambton formation, as it occurs chiefly in Lambton county in Ontario. One of our Ontario formations, the Guelph, is not represented in the state of New York, and the name which it bears was pro- posed for it in 1861 by the writer, after the city of Guelph, which is built upon it. The name Nipigon was also proposed by the writer for one of the formations of the lake Superior region, on account of its local importance and peculiarities, and because of a doubt as to its equivalency with any of the formations which had been already named. The Saugeen Clay, Artemesia Gravel, Algoma Sand and Erie Clay, the names of which were also proposed by the same geologist and adopted by Sir William Logan in tho ' Geology of Canada,' constitute formations which are distinguished mainly by the characters of the deposits themselves, although organic remains have been found in some of them. The name Animikie, for an important formation on the north-west shore of lake Superior, was proposed by Dr. T. Sterry Hunt in 1871, two days before Dr. Bell had suggested Lower Nipigon for the same formation, and the former term has been retained. The terras Huronian and Laurentian were given by Logan and Hunt early in the history of the Geological Survey, and have been followed by geologists, not only for Canada, but in all quarters of the globe where rocks of corresponding SyBtems exist. About the .same time the name ' Lawrentiaa' was suggested by another geologist for the Post Tertiary chiys and sands of Vermont and Lower ('anada, but it was soon after dropped, these deposits becoming known as the ( 'hamplain clays and sands. Other names for some d the systems and foimations represented in Ontario have been more or less employed by geologists, and these will be mentioned in the more detailed descriptions to follow ; but in order to pre- serve .simplicity they have not been given in the table. OKOORAPHIOAL DISTRIBUTION. Before proceeding with an account of the geological oi- lithological nature of each of our formations and of their economic minerals, we shall give a ooogrrtphicai brief outline of the leading geographical features of the principal divisions. iJ^tl^rdM?""' Along with the descriptions of the individual formations, the areas which '''°"^' they severally occupy will also be given in sufficient detail. The Recent and Pleistocene clays, sands, etc., are called superficial deposits, and the older and harder rocks below them in Ontario may be termed the fundamental rocks. The ordinary geological map of Canada represents the latter only, as if the superficial deposits did not exist. It would be difficult to show both at the same time, as these deposits are spread independently over all the older rocks alike. A separate map for the superficial deposits therefore became necessary, and such a map was prepared by the writer and published in the atlas which accompanied the 'Geology of Canada' in 1863. In order to form a clear idea of the general features of the geology of Ontario it will be desirable in our introductory remarks to go beyond the structuro of immediate borders of the province, and consider for a moment some points '**^ "'""t""'"'- bearing on the structure of the continent. The most northerly section of Ontario, or that bordering on the lowei part of the Albany river and James bay, resembles the most southerly portion, j.^^ Hudson or the peninsula between lake Huron and the lower lakes, in being underlaid B«y''i"i'«- by almost flat-lying Silurian and Devonian rocks, while the great intermediate tract is occupied by a part of the Azoic area which stretches to the Arctic regions. Most of this tract consists of Laurentian gneiss, but between lake Huron and James bay there is a very large district of Huronian rocks which are of much importance an account of the economic minerals they contain. Ihe Palaeozoic rooks coming within the province in the northern or James bay region occupy an area almost as great as those of the whole southern penin- sula of the province, and as they extend beyon>l the Albany river their total area on the west side of James bay is much greater. In both regions they are quite undisturbed, except in a few local cases, and remain in the almost horizontal positions in which they were originally deposited at the bottom of the sea. This is owing to the fact that they have been protected from move- ment by the massive and unyielding Azoic rock.s that form the foundations on which they lie. This protection has not been extended to the Palaeozoic rock.s of eastern Pennsylvania and the region lying east of a line running up the Hudson river, paisoozoic strat* through lake Champlain, and thence to the city of Quebec and down the lower " " ®** ■ St. Lawerence. To the east of this line a mighty force, supposed to be due to the gradual Bhrinkin,q[ of the earth, baa acted for ages from a south-easterly 8 direction, and has caused the {»reat undulations in the strata that now form the Appalachians, the Green and White mountains and the Isotre Dame rangei extending into the Gaspe peninsula. It has also produced great dislocations or faults and overturnings of the strata. The Palieozoic rocks of both the northern and southern extremities of Ontario having been sheltered from this force, their structure and geographical distribution are simple and have been worked out with comparative ease. But the Azoic rocks are highly disturbed, and much more folded and Foidiiiifs of the contorted than the Palaeozoic strata of the east. As a rule the foldings havrt been pressed together so completely that their anticlinals and synclinals have taken the form of sh>irp A's and V's, and the normal position of the strati- fieation is usually more nearly vertical than horizontal. Tiie lateral pressure which caused this has probably been due also to the shrinking of the whole globe. Beside.s folding tlie Azoic strata in the manner described, this pres- sure has developed in them a slaty cleavage, whenever their nature would permit of it, and has also aided in producing their prevailins^ cry.stalline texture. But all this took i)lace before the formation of the Pakeozoic stratu, which rest almost horizontally upon the truncated edges of the crystalline rocks. The unaltered fossilifeious beds of southern Ontario form pirt of a grt-at The Palwozoic Palaiozoic region that stretches over most of the northern states, while those southern of the northern extremity of the province appear, from their fossil evidence, to have been deposited in a part of the ancient sea whicn must liavH been separated from the main body, much as Hudson b ly is now separated from the Atlantic ocean. THK AZOIC PERIOD. This great divi.«ion is .so called because, as yet, no trace of either animal Azoic rooks of Of plant life has been found in it. It is also termed the Arch;e in period or age. In Ontario the rocks which belong to it may be grouped under the Laurentian and the FTuronian systems, although other divisions have from time to time been proposed for some of them. These two divisions are con- sidered suffici'mt by many geologists for the Azoic rocks of the whole world. Without taking local peculiarities into consideration, the primitive rocks of all countries may bo classitied under one or other of these great Systems, even if subordinate divisions should be found (sonvenient in some localities. The characters and proportions of the different rocks which make up the Laurentian and Huronian are naturally found to vary much in different regions, although they are everywhere essentially the same Systems and retain the same relative positions, representing similar conditions in the geological history of the globe. They form the foundations of the crust of the earth as far as we can obset ve or penetrate it, and are easily separable from any rocks lying above them. Their crystalline characters and generally disturbed condition are their dis- tinguishing features. At the same time it is true that, in some instances, newer rocks have been so altered locally or even over considerable tracts as to resemble the Azoic, but we generally find some means of distinguishing between them. In Canada and the United States the Laurentian and Huronian are usually intimately associated, but their lithological features, or the internal characters which distinguish rockq from one another, ar Ontario. sufficiently distinct to separate them. As they are for the most part included in one great area they must be to some extent described together. The Azoic rocks of Canada have been represented as extending from the region of liie great lakes in the form of two arms, one stretching north- JngtribuUmTlr eastward to the Atlantic coast of the Labrador peninsula and the other north- '^'°^'-' ""^^'" westward to the Arctic sea, east of the mouth of the Mack»mzie river, the intervening space being tilled up with Palaeozoic rocks. Further light on the subject has, however, shown that the geog- aphical outline of these rocks takes ^'VntMi outline the form, approximately, of an immense elli[)se which includes the north- eastern part of the continent, Baffinland, Greenland and many of the islands of the frozen sea. It comprises the whol3 of the Labrador peninsula, measuring a thousand miles each way. On the other side its boundary runs, with a westward curve, from lake Winnipeg to Coronation gulf, another thousand miles, with a spur towards the mouth of Mackenzie river. The PaUeozoic rocks of Hudson bay form a sort of broken fringe around that inland sea, and a belt of them extends thence northward across some of the islands to the Arctic ocean. The geographical depression of Hudson bay, to which the livers flow from all sides, forms the central drainage basin of this Azoic area of North America, and its origin is of very ancient geological date. At various periods of the earth's history it was probably covered by waters more or less separated from the outer ocean, and the newer rocks in its centre were deposited from these in the same way that deposits are forming in the bottom of the bay at the present time. Although the supe'ficial continuity of the Azoic region just described is broken in many places by channels of the sea, and by outlying patches ol Nuduus of tk« Palaeozoic rocks, it may be regarded as practically one area of compact out- line, and it forms the nucleus upon which the rest of the continent has been built. On the east it falls abruptly into the deep ocean, but on its landward sides it is flanked by the formations which have been successively deposited around it. The further we recede from it the newer the rocks become, till in one direction we reach the Rocky mountains, which h-ive broken up through a vast thickness of these succeeding strata. / As a rule the Huronian rocks are less contorted or corrugated qn the small scale than the Laurentian, but on the large scale they partake of the sam,! foldings which have aflfected the latter. At one time they were supposed to be less abruptly bent into anticlinal and synclinal forms, but this appears to have been a misconception, due to the fact that some of the highest beds happened to have been first studied in a district that is less disturbed than the average. In other localities some of the Laurentian rocks are quite as little disturbed. The greater part of the mixed Laurentian and Huronian region belongs to the former, and of it, the Lower Laurentian is the prevailing type, a r«Kiuri oi As represented on a map, the Huronian occurs in the midst of the Ijauren- uan »iid*Huro»- tian in the form of more or less completely separated areas, or with ""' "^"^ *" straggling connections between them. They seem to be in a manner inter- woven with the Laurentian as basins or troughs more or less elongated, and as tracts ct" angular and other forms filling spaces between great nuclei or rounded areas of Laurentian rocks. Patches of Huronian strata of com- ■M 10 paratively small size arfs numerous throughout this vast Azoic region of tho north-eastern part of the continent, and in addition to these there are a few of great extent. One of them is on the north-west side of Hudson bay, and appears to stretch far inland. Another lies to the north . and north-oast of lake Huron, reaching from the east end of lake Superior almost to lake Mistassini, a distance of 600 miles. In Wisconsin and Michi- gan also considerable areas ( xist, and in the country between lake Superior and lake Winnipeg, Huronian locks of many different basins are largely mixed with the Laurentian, constituting perhaps one-third of the whole area. In the country between the nortliern extren.ity of lake Winnipeg and Hudson bay the writer has described a Huronian trough 180 miles in length, and Mr. A. S. Cochrane found these rocks between the Saskatchewan and Churchill rivers and largely developed on the north side of lake Athabasca. THK LAL'KENTIaN SYSTEM. We have given the above brief account of the relations of the Laurentian and Huronian systems to each other, and of the distribution of the two in north-eastern America, in order that the reader may the better understand what is to follow in regard to the rocks that occupy the greater part of Ontario as now extended. The country formed by these two systems is sometimes refern d to as the Liiiircntian region, but it is n)ore correctly called the Azoic or Archiean when aieas of both classes of rock are included. We shall now proceed with a short description of the Laurentian alone. Ah indicated in the table already given, the Laurentian system has l»een Lower Liuren- divided into two formatioi s, the lower of which is sometimes also calhd the DneUs ««ie8. Primitive Gneiss series. The differences between tiiem can be best pointed out after having described the Lower Laurentian. iJoth formations give rise to the same kind of country which is so lamiliar to all Canadians. As a rule it is hilly, but not greatly elevated above the sea, and full of lakes. Within the regions which have been sufficiently explored to speak of with some degree of certainty these amount literally to tens of thousands, and occupy a very considerable proportion of the whole surface, eslimatt d iti .some sections at one-third and even one-half of the whole area. The cause of the existence of these lakes will be explained further on. Tlie high northern part uf tho coast range of eastern Labrador has not been glaciated, but almost < very where else there are unmistakable signs of this phenomenon. This has given rise to the peculiarity of the Laurentian country which Sir William Logan has so graphically described as mammillated. This vast hilly country, however, cannot properly be called "the Laurentian lange." LOWER LAUBKNTIAN FORMATION. The Lower Laurentian consists essentially of gneiss. In some localities Character of the its foliated or stratiform character is obscure, and it may be called giatiitic Lower Lauren- qj. gyp^j^ip The distinctly banded varieties diff'er from one another con- siderably in the proportions of their constituents. Typical gneiss is defined by lithologists to consist of quartz, felspar (orthoclase) and mica, but most of ^^e gneisses of both the Lower and Upper Laurentian contain horn- blende, often in large proportion. These would be called hornbbndic or gyenitic gneisacs. The proportions of these miaerals vary cons'aiitly, and 11 it is seldom that there is any great thickness having the same composi- tion. One layer may consist chieHy of felspar and quartz, the next may y^joMes of contain much hornblende or mica in addition, while a third may consist largely of any one of these alone. These aiinerals, in fact, enter into the composition of all the gneissoid rocks in every conceivable proportion. It is easy for the mere lithologiafc to select typical varieties ot rocks in a good cabinet collection, but in the case of the gneissoid rocks it is impossible for the field geologist to recognise these distinctions on a large scale. Jn the Lowt-r Liiurentian, hornblende is almost as generally diil'iised as the felspar, quartz and mica. It sometimes occurs as bands consisting principally of this mineral in both the lower and upper divisions. In the latter it has been noticed patticularly in proximity to the limestone bands and the iron ore ■deposits. The Laurentian hornblende rocks are usually blacker and more coarsely crystalline than those of the Huronian system. The prevailing colors of the Lower Laurentian gneisses are greyish and reddish, from very li-jht to very dark shades, depending partly on the colors color andform . ,. is r J of srneiss rooks. •and partly on the pro| tortious of the different constituents, iho felspar {orthocliise) is white, grey and red, or sometimes yellowish or greenish ; the -quartz is white to giey, and the mica and hornblende black, or very dark ^reen or brown. These rocks are generally distinctly foliated, or show a lamina- ion or parallelism in the arrangement of their constituent minerals easily raeeable by their colors. Where the latter are very distinct and the layers con- inuous and close together, the rock in cross-section is described as ribboned ; here the layers are further apart it is called banded. But the bars are ften broken into a series of tapering dashes which pass below or above ach other, or with an interlocking or "dovetail" arrangement, or the bars ay be connected by thin streaks or rows of dots. Even where the tendency o parallelism in the texture of gneiss ia not conspicuous, from the want of ontrasl in colors, it can always be seen on close inspection, and this kind f structure or "grain," which may bo compared to that of wood, is what dis- inguishes gneiss from granite, the latter having no such parallelism in the rrangement of its constituent minerals. On the supposition that this struc- ure of gneiss, even when the parallel bands of different kinds are quite thick, ay be accounted for in other ways than by stratification originally due to he action of water, some geologists hesitate to speak of it as stratification or bedding, notwithstanding its apparent identity with it. As a rule, in Canada the exposed surfaces of the gneiss rocks show little ign of decay, on account of their having been worn down by glaciers in com- Koiiatioii and aratively recent geological times, and they have an extremely massive appear- '"^ ***■ nee. When broken up, as by blasting, they fracture almost impartially in 11 directions, or show only a slight tendency to cleavage along the planes of heir foliation. This foliation in the gneisses of the Lower Laurentian is lusually contorted or bent in various directions on the small scale, and any ifferences in their composition or color do not appear to be sufficiently per- istent to trace them far in any direction on the ground; in other words, they re not sulBoiently differentiated into great bands of distinct kinds as to enable hem to be shown on a map of moderate scale, as is often the case with the ueisses and other rooks of the Upper Laurentian. Still, in those areas which 12 have beta most exaininfd, a general tendency has been observed to stiike 1 „ more nearly in a north-ejuiterly and south-westerly direction than in any otht*r. >| j In eastern Labrador, and also in Baliinland, the larger mountain ridges run ^ ^ north-westward, but it has not been ascertained that this is the direction of k ^ the strike of the gneiss in those regions. The monotonous grey and red a ^ massive and contorted gneiss above described prevails throughout the vast 1 g Lower Lauientian region, «trf tching from the grf at lakes of the St. Lawrence 1 j. to Hudson bay and thence to lake Winnipeg, as well as in the western und 1 i moat of the southe, n parts of the Labrador peninsula. 1 i In some districts the Lauientian rocks are cut by dykes of green- Jc Dykes iind veins gtone or trap, manv of them very large and affecling the geographical featuirs. I f ill the Lauren- _ r>. j a oorir «i. tian •ygtem. Rivers or long narrow lakes sometimes lie upon the courses of dykes which J g had become decomposed and yielded to glacial action, while falls ami 1 ^ rapids occur where hard dykes cross the courses of streams. Both m ^ the Lower and Upper Laurentian formations are cut by veins of two V ] classes, the first being much more ancient than the second. The fornur, 1 ^ which are numerous, are, as it were, fused into or amalgamated with the | « country lock and are composed of the same minerals. In some cases the 1 i gangue i.s almost entirely felspar, in others quartz, but of tenor the two | > minerals are mixed together and a little mica or hornblende is added. The larger veins of this class are very coarsely crystalline ; the smaller ones have a tendency to branch oflf or become reticulated. Although the division between them and the wall-rock is distinctly delined by the contrast of colois> there is no actual separation between them, the twj breaking like one rock. Metallic ores have not been found in these veins in economic quantities. Veins of this class may be seen in almost any locality where the gneisses are expost'd. The veins of the second class are not so common, and have been formed long subsequent to those of the first class. Their gangue, which is ' frequently calcspar, separates easily from the wall rock, and in apt to contain i galena, copper and iron pyrites and zinc blende ; but these minerals, like the veinstones themselves, have perhaps been derived from rocks resting on the gneiss, or which rested upon it at some former period when these veins were ; formed, but which have since been removed by denudation. The lead- bearing veins of the counties of Frontenac and Leeds, and those north of the Canadian PaciHc railway opposite the head of Black bay, lake Superior, are examples of the second clas.s. With the exception of the conte-nts of veins of this class and the coarsely crystalline felspar and quartz of those of the tiist class, no minerals of economic value are known to occur in Canada in the Lower Laurentian formation or primitive gneiss series above described. UPPER LACRKNTIAN FORMATION. Under this name Sir William Logan described a series of massive labra- i^iiestion of dorite and anorthosite rocks, such as those north of Montreal, in the region vonformity. ^^ ^j^^ upper Saugenay, on the north side of the St. Lawrence just below Quebec, and on the Moisie river ; and similar rocks are found on the west side of lake Ohamplain. He thought that they might be above and uncon- formable to the gneisses, or the interstratified gneisses and limestone nearest to them. Professor James Hall agrees with Logan's view. Dr. Selwyn thinks they may be interstratified with the gneisses and Umeatones. In Parry Sound 13 le lie vo he ve on IS) 3k. es. ire ^eu ia ain the tlie ■ere ud- the are s of tirst the giou I'low west I con- is t to links ound district, where the writer found anorthosite rocks, they are interstratified with gneisses, etc., with which limestones, similar to those of the county of Argenteuil, in Quebec, are also associated. It wou!d appear from the writer's observations over the vast Laurentian re^^ions of (Janada that for the present, at least, it will be convenient to designate as Upper Laurentian both tho anorthosite rocks such as those above referred to, and the limestone-l^faring series such as that which was so careful'y worked out by Sir William Logan in the county of Argenteuil and sometimes called the Grenville serit-s, as there are good reasons for this classification, and it is the most convenient one in the present state of our knowledge. In the counties of TerreI)oune, Mont- calm and Joliette, in Quebec, rooks similar to the Grenville series have been found since Logan's time to be interstratified with anorthosite giieiKsea. 1 )r. Selwyn regards the more massive anorthosites or labradorite rocks of Argenteuil, Terrebonne, etc., as probably of ign* ous oiigin, and as in some way incorporated with the adjacent limestone-bearing series as already stated. Professor Hall, the state geologist of New York, considers the similar rocks, which are largely developed on the west side of lake (/hamplain, to overlie the adjoining gneisses unconforniably. Both views may be correct. It is highly probable that volcanic activity went on more energetically and on a grander scale in these early days of the earth's history than now, and great outbursts of basic matter, such as these anorthosites, were of frequent occurrence in Laurentian times. After spreading out upon the surface of the earth or on the bottom of the sea, some of them became incorporateil in a conformable manner with the contemporaneous deposits, while others miiy have flowed over pre-exiyting rocks which were even then consolidated and disturbed. Tluv latter would form the unconformable massea of Logan and Hull. I There may be a general want of conformity between (ho primitive gneisses of the Lower Laurentian and all the rocks of the upper serjes which succeed Mineral-bearing , , _ ' ' character of the them, including both the massive anorthosites and the liine.stones with theii- "pp*"" series, jaccompanyiug gneisses. There is a considerable change of character in [passing from one to the other, and this is important from an economic point |of view. While the lower Laurentian is apparently barren of metallic ores, tiie upper series, as above defined, contains a considerable variety of them. In addition to the presence of the limestone and dolomite bands and the I anorthosite rocks which constitute their leading distinguishing features, the Upper Laurentian is characterised by the occurrence of iron ores, graphite, lapatite, pyroxene and hyperstheue rocks, quartzite and aryillite bands, granite, Isyenite and porphyry, and perhaps conglomerates, 'besides the above difier- [ences, Mr. W. C. Willimott enumerates the following sixty-one species of [minei als as found more or less commonly distributed in these rocks, in Canada, few or none of which have yet been detected in the Lower Laurentian : Achruitii. Axinite. Actiiiolite. Bnritu. Agate. Beryl. AUaiiite. UiHimitliinite. Amazon-stone. Bismuth carbonate. Anorthite. Blende, Aphrodite. Bornite. Aventurine felsimr, CeleHtite. Upper Iiauren- tiaii minerals. 14 Bouiiiir) of tliL' ITpiHT Liiiiroii- tiaii rcrii'K. aqiie >U8 uriKiii of ^ricisH ill the I'ppur Lniirentiiin, The Eozoon Caiiode ISO a •iMentiHe myth. Chabazite. (JhroiidtKlite. Chrome garnet. Chrniiiite. Chrysolilc. CoruiKluin (Hunt). KstioiiitH. Fhiorite. (}nl,l. (jirapliiti-. Heulanditf. Idocrast'. Jasper. Labradorite. Limonite. Malachite. Microcline. Mispickel. Molybdenite. Molybdite. Monazite. Oligoclaae. I'eriHterite. Perthite. I'icrolite. Pyrallolite. Fyriixeiie (and its varietieR, sahlite, diopside and couolite). Pyrrhotite. Rutile. >Sa)nariv that even the primitive gneisses may have been formed by the action of water during some early condition of the earth, of which we can form but little conception, judging by the later stages of its history. Minute globules of water have been found by microscopic examination in the centres of crystalline grains forming gneiss, and more or less water may be driven out of these rocks by means of heat. At one time, some geologists alleged that tbey had detected an organic form, to which they gave the name of •' Eozcon," in the Upper Laurentian rocks ; but on investigation by others the hypothetical discovery was not endorsed, and the organic nature of the supposed fossil has been repudiated by nearly all scientists. It is believed that organic life not only did not begin on our planet in Laurentian times, but that for ages afterwards the earth was not fitted for its reception, Forms like the branching structures which are the portions of the so-called eozoon, said to have a re.semblence to certain organ- isms, are assumed by a great variety of minerals, but in the ease of eozoon these forms are unlike any organic structure in the fact that they are al different one from another. 15 It has been asserted that the limestones, iron ores, graphite and apatite are also evidence of the existence of arimals or plants in Laurentian timeH. Such an argument, however, appears to have no (;ood foundation. The lime- LauTontianUuie- . . 8tonet and irou stones have been carefully examined by numerous geoloijists over immense orei. regions during the last forty or fifty yeais and have yielded no evidence to support this view, but rather the opposite, namely, that they are of chemical origin. The iron ores occur in greater masses than any of those deposits which appear to have been aided by organisms in their formation, and, besides, their modes of occurrence are opposed to any theory of this kind. The graphite and apatite occur principally as vein matter. The largest deposits of the latter have been derived from the pyroxene rocks, which are evidently of igneous origin. Apatite is a common constitutent of traps and granites of all kinds, and is widely diflfused in small grains even in gneiss. The argument as to its organic origin is based on the fact that phosphate of lime is the principal constituent of the bones of vertebrate animals; but, in the natural order of things, the phosphate must have existed first and the vertebrate animals later on. The converse of this is absurd. There is no evidence to show that phosphorus, carbon, iron and calcium did not enter into the original constitution of the earth as well as the other elements. ORIGIN OF LAURENTIAN BOCKS, It is rather singular that the numerous minerals above referred to should appear for the first time in the upper Launnitian rocks, and this fact also oni^iu ami moiie . . . , , f r »• rk "f fcrmntioii of suggests many questions as to the'r origin and mode or lormation. uiie the Launiiiian of the most remarkable feature's of the Lower Laurentian is the general uniformity in composition and character of the gneiss over so vast an area, almost Bemicontinental in extent. The comparatively fine-grained and even texture which prevails everywhere might not have been looked for in these ancient rocks, which have had such ample time to become coarsely crystal- line or to exhibit local varieties. These circumstancos seem to prove a uniformity of. origin as well as of the condition of the surface of the earth at the time they were formed, as similar rocks also crop up from under all others in various parts of the world. Without stopping to consider the great differences in the various classes of rocks belonging to the Upper Laurentian, some g(!ologists have suggested TJJejr^,7|;^;^»f,•^ a general igneous origin for the whole of them. On this hypothesis it is supposed that these rocks may be compared to slags which have formed on the surface of a molten r^.iss, and that instead of cooling quietly and homo- geneously some force has acted on them, giving a sort of flow-structure such as may be seen in slags which have run from a blast furnace. It is difficult, however, to conceive how such a minute and oven structure could have extended through so great a thickness, the depth of which i.s unknown, but which must amount to many miles in the Lower Laurentian alone. Others attempt to account for the stratiform condition of the Laurentian rocks by the agency of pressure, but it is impossible to imagine that this force could separate the rocks into immense bands of ditferent kinds such as those of the Upper Laurentian, which differ from each other as much and on as large a gCftle as do the rooks of any of the later Systems. When we consider the 16 Altered aotli- montary strata, Extent ot the ITjfjper l.iiui'- eiitian series. Lfthrmlor. A land of lakes. !' Lakes with double outlets. great VHriety and thickness of the Upper Laurentian, amounting to 50,000 feet or more, and including' great bands of different sorts of limestones, dolomites and gneisses, and sniiiller ones of schists or quartzites, argilliteM, bedded iron ores, etc., the conclusion appears irresistible that they are, prin- cipally at least, altered sedimentary ctrnta, as Logan so emphatically stated after having studied them for years in the field. The circumstance that many varieties of the Upper Laurentian gneisses arc uiidistiiiguishable from those of the lower series would indicate that, like the latter, they have been formed during a primitive and probably heated condition of the earth. Sir William Logan's painstaking investigations in the county of Argenteuil and other localities in the province of Quebec show the various thick belts, which he traced out in all their sinuo.sities, to conform in their geographical distri- bution to the stnictuTcil laws of ordinary stratified rocks, where these have been thrown into undulations, or anticlinals and synclinals, and afterwards denuded. The Upper Laurentian rocks .seem to be much more limited in geogra- phical extent than the lower. Including both the anorthosite and the lime- stone-benring portions under this designation as above described, the series, as already stated, may be said to extend from the lower St. Lawrence west- ward to lake Huron and northward in some places for about 150 miles, but beyond that distance it has not been recognised. It is largely developed between the Ottawa river and the Palaeozoic region north of lake Ontario, and again between Georgian bay and lake Nipissing. Some of the rocks of the Hastings and Lanark region which were formerly included in tins siirie-s are now believed by certain geologists to belong rather to the Huronian Anorthosite or labradorite rocks are extensively developed in eastern Labrador, and there are indications in that region of iron and other ores as well as of non-metallic minerals indicative of the upper series. On the .shores of some parts of Hudson straits the gneis.'^es are divided into great bands with distinctive characters, and here iron ore, iron pyrit'^s, graphite, sphene, sliei't mica and some of the other minerals of this series are found, and in one pliice the writer noticed a loose piece of crystalline limestone of one of the varieties peculiar to the Upper Launntian. The Laurentian and to an almo.st equal extent the Huronian districts of Canada are characterised by great numbers of lakes of all sizes, and mostly of very irregular forms. Throughout these vast but little explored regions they exist in tens of thousands It is estimated that, in some sections of this land of lakes, from one-third to on(?-half of the entire area is water. Some of them are one hundred mile.s and upwards in length, and many measure from twenty to fifty miles. They generally show a tendency to run in chains or groups in different courses, and thus they afford a means of travelling by canoe in almost any direction. They are nearly all rock- basins, and on the water-sheds they not infrequently have outlets in opposite directions, sending the water down either slope. One of the most remark- able examples of this phenomenon in Ontario occurs on the divide to the north-east of lake Nipigon, where rivers of equal size flow from each end of Summit lake, one into Hudson bay and the other into the St. Lawrence. Both 17 of th« I»ke*. streams are uninterruptedly navigable by canocs for some distance after leav- ing the lake, so that travellers may hero cross the water-shed V>y continuous Ontario « k.nup navigation." Teraagami lake, north of lake Nipissing, one of the most picturesque lakes in America and measuring thirty miles each way, is another striking example of this kind. Its northern outlet flows into the Ottawa by way of the Montreal river and its southern into the St. Lawrence by Sturgeon and French rivers. What is still more remarkable — this lake, as shown by the writer's explorations, had in former times an eastern outlet to the Ottawa and a western to the St. Lawrence, and if its level were now raised only a few feet these channels would again help to drain it, so that it might have four outlets flowing towards all tiie cardinal points of the compass, the two pairs of opposite discharges being each about thirty miles apart. No fewer than eight examples of lakes with double outlets are known among the upper brunches of the Ottawa. The question naturally arises — What was the probable origin of these innumeraV)le lakes ? Their ioniialiou au'l that of the boulder ciny, and the Glacial origin existence of the surface boulders consisting of primitive rocks that are ?o abundant over the Azoic regions and often beyond them, as well as the rounding, fluting and grooving of the rocl difft-rent bands are not often persistent for any great distance, and that they vary much in thickness and change in lithologicul character when followed out on their courses. It therefore becomes difficult to estimate their thickness, ♦ncn in a given area. From the sections measured by the late Mr. Alexander Murray, principally among the higher members of the series behind the Bruce Millets, that gentleman calculated that they have there a volume of about IcS.OOO feet. The total volume of the system must be very great — probably not far from 40,000 or 50,000 feet, or perhaps even more. In Canada, as far as our investigations have gone, the two systems appear conformity to be everywhere conformable to one another ; but in rocks of such ancient ?' *'"^ . . >' ' Lauruntian and date and which have undergone such profound structural changes, owing to Huronian rocks, pressure, etc., affecting alike the stratified and unstratified portions, this ap- jiearance may not (jverywhere indicate a truly conformable sequence. The manner in which the Huronian rocks occupy spaces with elongated or even angular outlines in the midst of the Laurentian areas has been already referred to. Both sets of rocks having been thrown by lateral pressure into sharp folds, standing at high angles to the horizon, the Huronian oftetx appear to dip under the older Laurentian, but this is merely the effect of overturning, and docs not show that a part of the Laurentian is newer than the locally under- lying Huronian. Notwithstanding the geographical relations of the two sets *" of rocks, their general difference in character and composition would indicate that some great change in terrestrial conditions had occurred wln-n the forma- tion of the one system ended and that of the other began. In the Laurentian an "acid" or silicious composition prevails, whereas the Huronian rocks as a whole are more basic, chemically speaking. The latter can be shown to be very I 20 largely of volcrtiiic origin, although this may not always be obvious at first sight. The name Huronian (derived from lake Htirou) was first j^iven by the Origin of ih« otficers of the Geological Survey of Canada more than forty years ago, and it **"*■ has been adopted by geologists in other countries as universally as the term Laurentian, and is made to include all the rocks lying between the Lau- rentian below it and the Cambrian or earliest fossiliferous rocks above. It thus forms an important and a convenient series, and its position in the geological scale is easy to recognise. HURONIAN AKEAH IN ONTARIO. The greatest of all our Huronian areas forms a wide belt extending from the south-eastern extremity of lake Superior eastward along the north tricU deiinsd. sliore of lake Huron, from which it runs north-eastward, widening out till it occupies the whole country between lake Pemiscaming and the head waters of the Montreal river, a breadth of one hundred miles. Beyond this it stretches north-westward across all the branches of the Moose river, northward beyoml lake Abittibi, and north-eastward almost to the southern extremity of lak« Mistaasini, a distance of over 600 miles from the outlet of lake Superior. The Huronian area along the Ground-hog river, and Mattagami lake on its course, appears to be more or less completely separated from the great area above described. The next important Huronian district lies around Michipi- coten at the north-east angle of lake Superior, running for sixty miles west and twenty miles south of that point, and extending inland to Dog lake, a distance of forty-five miles. Another large area stretches from the Pic river eastward or inland to Nottamasagami lake, and westward mingled with granites and green-stones, to Nipigon bay. Two extensive belts run eastward from lake Nipigon, one of which crosses Long lake. West of Thunder bay, and stretching to the international boundary line, there is a large area which gives off arras to the north-east and south-west ; and several belts and compact and straggling areas occur between this and the Lake-of-the -Woods basin, one of whi-^h follows the course of the Seine river. The Lake-of-the- Woods area, which has been already alluded to, occupies the whole breadth of the northern division of that lake. An important belt starts between Rainy lake and Lake-of-the- Woods, and running north-eastward has a breadth of forty-five miles where it crosses the line of the Canadian Pacific railway. Minnietakie and Sturgeon lakes lie within this belt. Huronian rocks occur at both ends of lake St. Josepli and along three sections of the Albany river, between it and the oominenci' ment of the Paheozoic basin of James bay. The probability that some of the rocks of the Hastings and Lanark region may be classed with the Huronian Xocai variations has been already mentioned. The rocks of these various areas, and of others ^' beyond the limits of Ontario, in some cases show considerable variations in the proportions of the different kinds of which they are made up. This is only what we would naturally expect where their origin has been local, as "* shown by the rapidly changing volumes of their different components, althougli ** they may have been nearly or quite contemporaneous. In one area steatites, *** serpentines and dolomites are abundant ; in another, conglomerates, breccias I 21 land 80IIR1 atuygdaloicis ; while in others we may find various crystalline ■•chists, ehfTty and argillaceouH slates, or it may l)ogreywackt?.s, quartz-dioritos ind (^uai'tzites, with slates and conglomerates. LOWEU AND UPPKU DIVISIONS. Althouj,'h it will he difficult or impossible to draw any precise line of livision aiiplicable in all cases between the lower and upper parts of the U'ldefliied lln«i ' ^ . "' "'Icerence. uronian rocks in Canada, yet lor the sake of convenience tlu^y may be found parable, in a general way, into a lower and an upper series or formation, o hori/on \\an yet been agreed upon at which to draw the lino even locally, *nd the difficulty of an exact ilelinition of a line is increased by the rapid changes of character in the lateral extension of any portion of the series. One of the United States geologists imagined that there was a general want of conformity between the lower and upper parts- of what we had always •called the Huronian rocks, and that a " basal conglomerate " was to be found *t the contact of the two divisions ; but there is no evidence whatever to bear •out this supposition. Uonglomeraies are found inditi'erently throughout both 4he lower and up|»er portions. It may be a long time liefore we shall have worked out those rocks sufficiently to enable us to represent them separately •on the map, but in th(* meantime it may perhaps be found convenient to «peak of one set in a general way as distinguished froui the other. Dr. Lawson proposed to call the Huronian rocks of the Lake-of-the-Woods region the " Keewatin " (more correctly s|ielled Kewaitin) series. This has t\w advan- tage of being a shorter name than the Huronian series of the Lake-of-the- Woodsi but there are scores of otlier Huronian areas within the Dominion which are •equally deserving of local names. Looking at the general geological map of tiie Dominion and the northern states, the Huronian as a whole is seen to ■occupy always the same place relatively to the rocks Ijelow and above it, and the general equivalency of ill these areas cannot be disputed. The lower division consists largely of a variety of crystalline schists, in •which the prevailing color is dark green or grey. Among these may be Peculiarities ol Numerated micaceous, dioritic, chloritic, argillaceous, hornblendic, talcoid, gj'o^'"'*^''^'''' fclsitic, epidotic, siliceous, dolomitic and plumbagenous. There are also crys- talline diorites or diabases of various shades of grey and greenish grey (mostly dark), argillaceous and dioritic slate-conglomerates, granites and syenites, impure, banded and schistose iron ores, dolomites and imperfect gneisses. Among the commoner of the rocks of this division are fine-^grained mica-schists, tfiMi dark-green dioritic or hornblendic schists. Two kinds of conglomerates , aire also abundant, one having an argillaceous matrix, with rounded pebbles Qf <9t' syenite and granite of various kinds and of some of the other Huronian ^j^ rpcks, but very seldom of gneiss ; the other vdth a dioritic matrix, and often j,^ with rounded pebbles also. But in perhaps the majority of cases what were • jj fdrmerly considered as pebbles are really concretions of a lenticular form, and ^g differing but slightly from the matrix in color and composition. They are ,^g best seen on wetted surfaces of cross sections of the rock, where they appear „jj as parallel elongated patches tapering to a point at each end. Both ^,j^ hematite and magnetic iron ores are common in these rocks, and they i;is 22 have been largely woiked in the Marquette and Republic districts in Mrieg*"' '^*"°*^ Michigan, and at Tower in northern Minnesota ; but it is only lately that rich and workable depcsic> have been found among them in Ontario, although poorer ones have iong been known in several localities. On the Antler river, about 100 miles west of Thunder bay, there is a very heavy deposit of rich and pure magnetite. Another is repjrtt^d near the mouth of the Seine, and an extensive de[)Osit of leaner ore to the east of AVabigoon lake. The late Professor R. D. Irving considered this feature of the Huronian so important that, for a short definition, he called it "a detrital ron-bearing series." But while the iron ores belong to the lower division, he attempted to I'estrict the name Huronian to some of the upper portions, which are not notably iron-bearing. The iron ores, whether workable or not, are generally accompanied by much red and dark jasper in thin layers. Gneiss is not common in the Huronian, and it differs from ordinary Laurentian gneiss in being imperfect, and also in being invariably slightly calcareous in all the numerous cases which have been tried by the writer. In some instances the felspar in it has l)een noticed to be triclinic, like thos'' of th,; Upper Liii- rentian. Although rocks such as have been describe I as belonging to ilie lower division are largely developed in the Huronian ar-^as to the west and north of lake Superior, they are by no means confined to these areas, but are met with in abundance in many parts of the great Huronian area north of lake Huron and elsewhere. In the upper division probably the most abundant rock in Ontario is ■what may be called a graywaoke, but which in the older reports was often styled a "slate-conglomerate;" but it also includes clay -slates, argillites, felsites, quartzites, ordinary conglomerates, jasper conglomerates, breccias, dolomites, serpentine, etc. In some localities the nearly vertical bands of quartzite, having withstood denudation better than the other rocks, remain as conspicuous hills or ridges, and this circumstance has caused their relative volume in the series to be over-rated by superlicial observers. Within the province of Ontario these quartzites are most strongly developed near the htight- quartzites. of-land between lakes Abittibi and Temiscaming, and from t!ie latter lake westward to the headwaters of the Montreal river. Ihey are also common in the belt along the north shore of lake Huron, especially in its eastern part. The greywacke .so abundant in tlu! Huronian regions where the quart/ites are chiefly found is compoired of a matrix of grains of felspar and (juartz, together with crystaline fragments of the two minerals (or a quartz-felspar rock) of all sizes from ruere grains and chij^s up to those of pebbles, cobble-stones and boul- ders. These may be widely scattered in the matri.x or crowded closely together, leaving only the interspaces to be lilled by the hn(U' del)ris. The fragments are sometimes quite angular ; at others more or less rounded. This is the pre- vailing rock around lake Temagami, and is also abundant in the whole region drained by the Montreal river. It is also found all the way southward to lake Huron, but in this direction it is often associated with st •atihed (juartzose- OriRin of Uio diorites and rocks intermediate between the two. The origin of the quartzites '^ appears to be connected with rocks of the; above kinds. The fact of their occur- rence chiefly in the same regions and in association with them would suggest Greywacke. 2:? this, but there is also direct proof leading to the same conclusion. The materials forming tliese greyvvack6s and the stratified quartzose-diorites have been derived from volcanic sources, and coming into contact with water the quartz grains have been by some process separated from the other constituents. In the immediate vicinity of the parent rocks, beds composed more or less com- pletely of these grains are to bo found interstratifying other beds formed out of the other constituents. Sometimes these beds are quite thin and shade off vertically into one another, or alternate in great numbers within a limited section. Numerous (.'xamples of this arrangement may be seen in the town- ship of Denison and lh(^ surrounding country. At greater distances the j.^^, ,,| j^^ quartz grains are concentrated in larger volume forming quartzites, while the 'I'l^rtzitee. other ingredients make up the associated fel.-^itic und argillaceous slates with layers of hornblende. Tlu* Huronian quartzites all contain grains of felspar in proportions varying from widf^ly scattered partich'S up to about one-half their volume. Hand specimens of the latter variety bear a strong resemblance both in color and compo.sition to rather fine-grained, reddish and greyish granites or quartz -syenites ; but, besides the stratification on the larger scale, the internal structure of the rock is distinctly clastic or fragraental. Examples of these highly felsitic quartzites are to be met with throughout the country north of lake Huron. The coarser varieties are strikingly developed in the highest of the quartzite mountains north-westward of the northern outlet of lake Temagami. In this connection it is worth mentioning that the quartzite beds often found in the vicinity of the phosphate deposits of the Upper Laiuentiari formation in the county of Ottawa also cnutain grains of felspar ii'ore or less abundantly disseminated, showing that they were probaljly deposited in a mechanically mixed condition. The formation of the quartzites being thus ap[)arently connected with the greywack^s and quartzose-diorites, they too would seem to partake of the •feneral igneous history of the whoh; system, which, however, is more isrneous » _ " ■^ _ . . . clmracter of tht obvious in many of its other varieties of rocks. This' igneous character is syBtem. further proved by the la*ge masses or areas of greenstones (dioriles or diabases), granites, syenit'^s and other eruptive rocks which are so largely mingled with both the lower and upper portions of the Huronian system in all parts of their distribution, forming indeed one of its characteristic features. The crystallines greenstones occur eitln^r as compact areas, wide elongated masses, dykes or thick interstratifying beds, in ne.irly all the Huronian areas. In many cases the dioritic schists may have been originally massive, but assumed the cleaved structure by pressure when incorporated among stratified masses. The connnonest position of the granite and syenite arens is within but towards the l)oi'ders of the Hui-onian tracta ; but they sometimes occur in the Laurentian country, in their immediate vicinity or at a distance from them in the; direction of the longer axis of the Huronian areas. An attempt has been made quite lately among some American geologists to restrict the name Huronian to rocks like some of those north of lake Huron, although Sir William Logan and his colleagues in introducing the term originally described it as applying ejjually to the dark greyish and greenish HchistH, conglomerates, diorites, etc. Tin; more extended investigations which 24 have since been marie in Canada and other parts of the world have confirmed the propriety and 'convenience of including under this name all the rocks which had been originally described as Huronian. THK JIETALMVKllOUS HKUIKS. The lluronian, as above defined, is the great metalliferous system of The metaiiifer- Ontario, and indeed of all ('anada, and hence its great importance in the 0U3 system of . ^ .. Ontario. economic geology of the country. The whole series is more or less metalliferoiH, but the various ores are not uniformly distributed, some occurring in one region or in some special stratum, while others may prevail ni another section of country or in a different horizon in the series. Besides metallic ores, tWe Huronian also contains various rocks and non-metallic minerals of value. IKON, Occurrence of Iron ores. Localities. Iron appears to occur most frequently in the lower or schistose portions of the system. At one place examined by the writer on tlie Antler river, about 100 miles west-north-west of Port Arthur, there is a large dei)0.sit of magnetite of fine quality. In the widest part tiiere are three l)eds, each about fifty feet in width, separated from each other by only narrow- bands of r jck, running with the general course of the belt to which tlmy belong. The deposit shows workable quantities of ore at intervals for about three miles, and is traceable for about five miles. No jasper was observed at this locality. Another rich deposit is reported to have been discovf^n'd on the Seine river, near its mouth, and one of lower grade ore at a straggling lake at no great distance south-eastward of VVabigoon lake. The iron ores associatfd with jasper which have been found on the southern part of Hunter's island and near Gunfiint lake iippear to belong to a continuation of the belt in which the rich deposit of Tower, in the adjoinuig state of Minnesota, occurs. A belt of fine-grained magnetite in thin layers, alternating with equally thin layers of red jasper, was found and described by the writer in 18G9 in the hills on the east side of the Kaministiquia river, just below the place where it is now crossed by the Canadian Pacific railway.* During the same season Mr. Peter McKellar, while assisting the writer to make a topographical and geological survey of lake Nipigon, found a deposit of hematite on its eastern side, near Sturgeon river. A common form of iron ore in the Huronian rocks consists of thin layers of magnetite, or occasionally of hematite, alternating with similar layers ot coua- pact or fine grained grey quartz in the same manner as the jasper just described. These layers vary from one-sixteenth of an inch to an inch and more in thickness, but are usually from about one eighth to one-half an inch, These ores sometimes occur in large quantities, and although too poor to work (unless some economic process should be discovered for separating the magnetiti; from the rock), they arc nevertheless worth careful examination in the hope of finding the ore in a more concenti'ated form in some parts. Ores of this character or of a similar class, as far as their economic value is concerned, have been found at the following localities : South-west arm of Bed lake, northward of Lako-of-the-woods. Township of Moss. Near the hoight-of-land, south-west of the head of lake St. Joseph, loose. ■ -■— - - .-.■■■'■ - I I — . I . 1 ~' ■ ..II a-i^a^^^mamk * See Geological Survey Report for 1809. 25 Neur Little Lon^ lake, west of the north end of Long lake. Albany river, near the junction of Etow-i-nianii river. The largest of tiie folate islands, lake 8iii)erior. (xros Cap, near Michipicoten. Oka or Pickerel liver, west of Michipicoten, reported. Jacktish bay, reported. Near Montreal river, lake Superior, reported. North of Batcliawana l)ay on the Peter Bell location, and in larger quantities at tile head of Pancake river. In one of the south- western liays of Teiuagaiiii lake. At a small lake north of the eastern arm of Teiiiagaiiii lake. Quin/e rapids and Opazatika hike, aliove lake Temiscaming. At Abittibi lake. The lean iron ores, composed of thin layers of magnetite interstratifying others of a siliceous rock, in the township of Dalhousie, Lanark county, and adjacent regions are also of this class, and they form another link connecting the rocks of. this district with the recognised Huronian. The iron mines of eastern Ontario which were visited by the Commissioners are described in another part of this report. COPPER AND NICKEL. Copper is very generally diffused throughout the Huronian rocks, but the principal deposits heretofore worked, those of the Bruce Mines and the vSudbury region, are associated with rocks of the supposed upper division. Copper of the At the former locality the workings extended for nearly two miles across the Bruce Mines aad Bruce, \yellington and Huron Copper Bay locations. They were carried on chiefly upon two east and west quartz lodes cutting greenstone, the Main lode varying from about three to fifteen feet in thickness, while the other, called the New or Fire lode, is a branch of this. The workings e.xtended to a depth of about seventy fathoms in many parts. The ore was mainly copper pyrites, but a good deal of the purple sulphide was found near the surface. Operations were carried on from 1846 to 1876, and the gross value of the out- put was ascertained by the writer (through the courtesy of Captain Plumraer and -^hers) to be about $3,300,000. Copper in the form of the yellow sulphide, associated witli pyrrhotite or grey magnetic iron pyrites, is met with in considerable quantities in a num- ber of localities around Sudbury Junction, on the Canadian Pacific railway, and thence along the Sault Ste. Marie branch to the Spanish river. As far as they have been tested these ores also contain sulphide of nickel, often in quantities which should pay to extract. The ore in this region is associated with an ug mode of obscurely stratified greenstone, and its mode of occurrence is apparently that the^'dbury" of large masses and " impregnations," having roughly lenticular forms which 'I'*'"'-''- resemble " stockwerks " and are rudely comformable with the general stratifi- cation of the country rocks. These masses enclose many " boulders " or frag- ments of all sizes of greenstones and greywackt^, which are often finely impregnated with copper and iron pyrites. Most of the ore is of low grade, but in the midst of this considerable bunches of pure copper pyiites occur, while on the other hand some portions consist of almost pure pyrrhotite. The country-rock in this neighborhood everywhere dips at high angles, or is nearly perpendicular, and the ore-masses follow those inclinations. An J 26 First discov- eries at Sud- bury. Stobie, Copper- cliff and Kvans mines. Denisoii town- ship veins. A eopiKT lielt extending: frcini lalie Huron to lally prove to be a copper-producing region of vast importance! in the future, of which the present discoveries are only the first indications. Copper has hinm found in many other places in the Huronian rocks of Ontario, and these will be referred to further on in the list of localities of this metal, but the foregoing short descriptions will serve to give an idea of its two principal modes of occurrence in these rocks. I./.- \ 27 OOLD. Gold proiiiiseH to become an important product of our Huronian rocks, notwithstanding^ the fact that only partial succi ss has attended the etl'orts heretofore made to mine and extract it. If we include the gold bearing rocks of'recenTgoM^* of the Hastings region amongst the Huronian, it becomes doubtful if the '''*''"^'^"®*- precious metal has been found, except in the merest traces, in any otiier formation. 2s' ot long ago the occurrence of gold was unknown in Ontario beyond the traces which liad l)een found in assaying the silver and copper ores of Prince's location, of Michipicoten island, and the vein-stuff' of the Bruce mines; but now it has been discovered in .'>o niany and such widely separated localities in the province, and in some cases under such promising conditions, that it is highly probable that .-iuccessful gold mines will be established after more thorough tests have been made. The tirst discovery of gold in notable quantity was made in 1871 by Mr. Peter McKellar (following up a clue obtained from an Indian) near Jackfish lake, at what is now called the Huronian mims situated on location The Huronian TTi • J.L 1 1 ■ ,. »«■ II • 1 • • Kins of transportation to the mine, operations are for the present suspended. Openings have been made and similar ore obtained from a continuation of the same vein, called the Highland mine. Cold was discovered on Lake-of-the- Woods in 1878, or earlier. In the writer's Geological Survey report for 1881, page 15c, it is stated that " in 1879 I was presented by Mr. J. Dewe with a specimen from Hay island, of goUI locations white (|uartz containing needle-like crystals of hornblende witli a little calc- woods, spar, which showed distinct specks of gold. It was assayed by Mr. Hoffmann, chemist to the survey, and lound to contain 37.318 ounces of gold and 1.431 ounces of silver to the ton of 2,000 pounds." During the succeeding four or five years some mining was done at a few places around the northern part of this lake, and in some instances with the prospect of ultimate success, but owing to the impossibility of obtaining titles, on account of the dispute between the Dominion and the Ontario governments as to the ownership of the 28 PartriJgo lake gold veiiiti. Victoria Cape location. Various other locations. Vermilion Mine location. territory, it was impossible to obtain sufficient capital and no thorough test has yet been made to determine the real productiveness or otherwise of any of the mines. Trials have been made at several promising places, such as Sultana island, the Winnipeg Consolidated and the Pine Portage proper- ties, and now that the matter of title is set at rest there is a probability that work will be prosecuted on a sufficient scale to determine the question wlnther gold is to be found in this region in paying (juantities or not. It occurs both free and in combination with sulphides in veins of quartz more or less split up and interrupted, cutting green schi.sts and not far from masses of .syenite. These deposits would appear to lie towards the bottom of the series as deve- loped at the Lake-of-the-AVoods. Specimens of free gold in quartz have been shown to the writer as having been obtaineil not far from Taohe, on the Canadian Paciiic railway. At Partridge lake, a short distance west of Lac-des-Mille-Lacs, gold was dis- covered in 1872 by Mr. Archibald McKellar in a large vein of quartz cutting Huronian schist on an islet, and also in large veins of the same material in the strike of this one on either side of the lake. Assays of the quartz from both the islet and the mainland, which were made by Dr. Girdwood, showed from 1 to 1| ounces of gold to the ton. A number of small nuggets were obtained by breaking up the (juartz on the islet by both Mr. McKellar and Mr. W. W. Iiu.s8ell, and shown at the Philadelphia exhibition in 1876. This locality was visited l)y the writer last summer on behalf of the Commission, and samples of the quartz and photographs of the outcrop of the vein were obtained. In 1875 Mr. Donald McKellar found small nuggets of gold in a vein of quartz cutting reddish granite at Victoria cape on the western side of Jacklish bay, on the north shore of lake Superior. Another vein of quartz li^ to 3^ feet thick, holding iron pyrites, galena and blende and cutting the granite in close proximity to slaty diorite at this locality, yielded on assay |27 worth of gold per ton. The Commissioners were credibly informed that gold associated with iron pyrites had been discovered in quartz veins between Goulaia and Bat- chawana bays, at the east end of lake Superior, and also ''u a small island near the shore of lake Huron, north of Lacloche island. Traces of the metal have been found by assay in the laboratory of the Geological Survey in quartz from veins near the north end of Temagami lake, and from Cross lake to the south of thi.s sheet of water. At the Vermilion gold mine on lot 6 in the 4th concession of the townshij) of Denison, iu the Sudbury district, coarse free gold was found at and near the surface in a vein of light grey granular quartz about two feet thick, run- ning north-(!astward, and cutting grey or ash-colored greywacke, bearing a close resemblanci! to tiie " whin-rock " of the Nova Scotia gold districts. The gold was so thickly disseminated in one part of the vein as to hold together fragments of the quartz after they had been fractured by the hammer. On the same lot a ridge of greyish diorite rises a short distance to the south- east of this vein, and a few specks of gold were seen by the writer in the midst of iron-stained spots on the weathered surface of this rock. Visible gold is said to have been found also in a quartz vein at the east end of the Indian reserve on the south side of the mouth of the Spanish river. Gold was discovered in the summer of 1888 on a point on the southern shvire of lake Wahnapitse, between the two deep bays on that side of the ^ ,, ^ ' tr J Qold on lake lake. It occurs, as far as could be observed by the writer, who visited the Wahnapitw. place in September, in several narrow veins of white quartz cutting a highly felspathic reddish quartzite, resembling fine grained granite, but distinctly clastic or fragmental in origin, ^o single vein or group of small veins could be traced far, but whoit; an} of them gave out others were observed to commence not far ofi. They are " bound " veins, or adhere closely to the wall-rock, or are, as it were, tased into it. One of these little veins shows a good deal of mispickel and some iron pyrites in crystals along one side of it. An assay of a sample from this vein, made by Mr. Hoffmann, chemist of the Geological Survey, yielded at the rate of 5.42.") ounces of gold and 0.2.33 of an ounce of silver to the ton of 2,000 pounds, while the quartz from another of these veins showed neither gold nor silver. The visible gold of these veins occurs as specks and small nuggets in the quart... It is also said to have been detected in the wall-rock apart from the veins, and, if so, this circum- stance may prove to be of great importance, for if it should be found to pay at all to treat the whole mass, great profits might be realised by doing so on a large scale. The rock at this locality re.sembles that of the famous Tread- Coinparison ° ■' with TreadweU well mine on Douglas island in Alaska, both in composition and in the manner niiMo,.Aia8ka. of the occurrence of the small adherent quartz veins, but the latter rock is almost white and is dotted with small particles of iron pyrites. A micro- scopic examination of the ore of the Treadwell mine, which has just been made by Mr. F. D. Adams of the Geological Survey, shows it to consist of a granite-Uke rock in which the clastic character may be due to a process of crushing after its solidification. Although the rook of the Treadwell mine yields only about $5 worth of gold to tho ton, immense profits are made by stamping and treating it in large quantities, and it is in this direction rather than in the great richness of small ([uantities that we must look for profitable gold mines in our Huronian rocks. It may be here remarked that gold is said to have been profitably extrasted from two mines in Huronian rocks on the south side of lake Superior, In tho early jjart of August, 1866, gold was discovered by a man named Powell and a Dutch miner on the eastern part of lot 18, range 5, in the township of Madoc, l^elonging to Mr. J. Richnrdson, who, however, did not ooM in the recognise it us the precious metai till informed of the fact by the late Mr. M. G. Veniior of the Geological Survey, who was then working in the neighborhood. Mr. Vennor in his report for that year, addressed to Sir William Logan, described the gold as occurring in "a series of crevices or openings in a Rkhardgou gold-bearing bed, formed of chloritic and epidotic gneiss (or schist) holding '""^'^" patches of dolomite and calcspar, the openings being nothing more than such as are so often met with in the dolomites and calc-schists of this region." The gold was found along with particles of black carbonaceous matter in a 3(i other localities of ^'old. OatUng mine. Gladstone and Feiglo mine. Dean and Williams min«. Guinard mine, Kaladar. Silver in Hu- ronian rocks. 3 A mine. brown forruginous earth filling the longitudinal crevices, paralled to the bedding;, one of which had been struck at a depth of 4 and another at 15 feet from the surface at the time of Mr. Vennor's visit. Numtirous small nuggets were also found enclosed in the adjacent dolomite and calcspar. The strata here dip nearly due north at an angle of 45^, and the gold-bearing bed is " over- laid by a siliceous ferruginous dolomite and underlaid by a band resembling an impure steatite." Its geological position is not far above the iron-bearing belt of that region. The Kichardson mine has been work'xl at diflerent times .since the above date, and a good deal of gold extracted from it. This discovery was followed by many others of the precious metal which have been made at different times in the townships of Marmora, Madoc, Elzevir, Kaladar, Lake and Tudor, and there is now a probability of gold- mining becoming an established industry in this region. One of the most notable of the attempts at gold mining in the district is that at the Gatling (since called the Canada Consolidated) mine in the township of Marmora. The gold here occurs in veins of quartz ^^ontaining much mispickei and cutting a crushed syenite or a mixture of schist and syenite, close to a large area of the latter rock. Assays of twelve different samples of the ores of this mine gave an average of 1.9107 ounces or $39.47 to the ton of 2,000 pounds. In spite of this richness, the difficulty of separating the goitl from the sulphide of arsenic is so great that only partial success has attended the working of the mine, after the expenditure of a largo sum of money in buildings, machinery, working the mine and experimenting. A considerable quantity of gold has been extracted from the Gladstone and Feigle mine, situated on the continuation of the same set of veins as the Canada Consolidated, at a distance of two or three miles to the northward of it. Another mine called the Dean and Williams on lot 8, range 9 of Marmora, about a mile and a-half southward of the Canada Consolidated, was worked for a time with some success. At present it is reported that from six to eight dollars worth of gold per ton are being extracted at the Guinaid mine, in Kaladar, from a set of small quartz veins cutting a rock which is described as a conglomerate with quartz pebbles in a matrix of micaceous schist. SILVER. Some veins have lieen discovered in the Huronian rocks containing silver in promising (luantities — sufficiently so at any rate to warrant the search for more. The vein at the Huronian mine is a case in point, but the silver there was pratically overlooked in the effiDrts to extract the geld. The 3A mine on the north shore of Thunder bay was opened on a vein of quartz and bitter-spar from IJ to 2| feet wid(; and running about east-north-east, or paru.llel to the strata, which, according to Mr. Peter McKellar, here " con- sist of thick beds of diorite and fine grained greenish-grey slates, some of which are chloritic, talcose, calcareous and ferruginous, with some serpentine alongside of and in the vein." Dark greyish red syenite is met with a short distance to the south. The silver occurs both native and in combination with aulphur and nickel, and it is associated with iron and copper pyrites, galena and blende, There is also a small proportion of gold along with the silver. 31 This vein was discovered in 1870. Active operations were begun early in the spring of 1873, and after having been worked to a depth of about 150 feet ami yielding several thousand dollars' worth of silver in the form of bunches of very rich ore, work was su8j)ended in the spring of 1874. Two veins were "'*'"'"''*>' discovered in 1872 within a mile of Heron bay and close to the Pic river, which, judging from the ore brought to the shore of lake Superior and examined by the writer, bear a strong resemblance to that of the liuronian mine. The width of each is given by Mr. I'eter McKellar as ranging from H foot to four feet at the surface. They lie in a large Huronian area and are described as cutting talcoid and chloritic schists, while a l)Oss of intrusive granite rises beside the Pic river at no great distance to the ea-stward, giving an additional point of resemblance to the surroundings of the Huronian mine. One of the veins runs east-north-east v/ith the stratification, while the other strikes nearly north and south. At a depth of 40 feet the latter had opened out to 5 or G feet in width. The gangue in l)oth veins consists of bitter-spar and quartz, and contains galena, blende, iron and copper pyrites, together with gold and silver, ranging from traces up to about $70 worth of each to the ton, according to assays made by iMr. iVicDer- mid, who was assayer at the Silver Islet mine at the time the above work was done. LE.M). The Victoria argentiferous galena vein, sicaated near Garden river and about eight miles north from its mouth, occurs in Huronian rocks. It runs about north-north-west, parallel to the western side of an extensive mass of Ganicn river. ' very fine-grained reddish-grey granite or quarlz-felspar rock, from which it is separated by a few feet of glossy green schist and tough green trappean rock, some of the latter approaching the character of an amygdaloid. Work was commenced at the Victoria mine in 1875, and at the time of the writer's visit in 1876 two shafts had been sunk, each to a depth of 15 feet, in the midst of a belt 36 feet thick, of glossy-surl'aced green schist, cleaving in all direc- tions aiid containing galena in strings, grains and small bunches. One of the shafts followed a \-ein of solid galena, mixed with considerable dark blonde « and a little copper and iron pyrites, from 8 to 19 inches thick, and the other a similar vein 10 inches thick, Ijut containing a mixture of quartz. This lead-bearing belt of schist is succeeded on the west by siliceous felsites and dark green and rather coarsely crystalline hornblende-rock, which is again followed by fine-grained light reddish oi' pinkish-grey granite. This belt of veins was afterwards worked to a considerable depth, and a large quantity of galena taken out and exjjorted. The proportion of silver varied from a few ounces up to 168 to the ton of 2,000 pounds, most of the ore being tolerably rich. The Cascade mine, a short distance to the northward of the Victoria, Cascado mine, is said to be on the same belt and to resemble the latter in most respects. Arg(!ntiferous galena has also been found in Huronian rocks in the 8ud- Sudbury dUtrict. bury district, a short distance south of Straight lake, and in the north- western part of the township of Creighton, and again near the north end of Lady Evelyn lake, which lies between Temagami lake and the Montreal river. p 82 other ^Icna veins. Zinc at Zcnitli mine. Blende laVie, Thiiniler hay. Antimony near Eclio lalie and Garden river. Other met.ila found in Uu- ronian roclis. The Victoriii and Cascade mines are the only places at which any lead mining has been done in Huronian rocks, unless the yalena veins of Tudor^ Limerick, etc. in the Hastings-Lanark region should [>iove to be situated iu rocks of this age. ZINC. Zinc, in the form of blende (or sulphide of the metal), was discovered in 1881 in large quantities at a place which hiis been named the Zenith mine, situated on the White Sand river, about ten miles northward of the shore of lake Superior opposite Wilson's island, eastward of Nipigon bay. The ore is black and crystalline, and is described as occurring principally in two large veins or lenticular masses in a hornblende rock or diorite of Huronian age. The ore could be mined with great facility, and some 400 or 500 tons are said to have been already excavated, but it cannot be lnought to market for want of a road. A specimen analysed by Mr. Hortiuann, chemist to the Geologica' Survey, f^avo 54^ per cent, of metallic zinc. This is the only locality at which zinc ore has been discovered in large masses in the Huronian system in Canada, and it is therefore interesting as an indication that the metal may be found in paying (juantities in these rocks in other places. Blende in large crystals occurs in a vein of coarse calcspar about eight feet wide at Blende lake, about 1| miles north-north-west of the head of Thunder bay. The south wall of the vein, which runs east and west, consists of dioritic schist of Huronian age, while the north wall is formed by ferruginous and siliceous clay-slates belonging to the Animikie series. The occurrence of blende with the galena of the Victoria mine has been already referred to. ANTIMONY. In the report of the writer for 187G, page 211 (Geological Survey Report) reference is made to a reputed discovery of sulphide of antimony in a vein of white (juartz cutting felspathic grey quartzite (Huronian) about one mile west of Fairy lake, near Echo lake. Mr. Joseph Cozens, of Sault Ste. Marie, states that he has discovered a vein eight inches wide, rich in this ore, among the Huronian rocks on Garden river. OTHKU IfETALS AND MINKltALS. The above descriptions will serve to show that the Huronian rocks con- tain ores of the various metals referred to in economic quantities. The occurrence in them of nickel, arsenic and tellurium has been incidentally mentioned. In addition to the metals already alluded to, platinum, tin, molybdenum, bismuth and cobalt have also been found among these rocks, but our space will not admit of a fuller description of them than that contained in the list further on. The number of discoveries of valuable ores already made must be regarded as very encouraging, considering how little knowledge we possess as to the geological relations and modes of occurrence of the metals in the Huronian system and the comparatively small amount of bo7ia fide and intelligent exploration which has yet been done, and leads to the belief that many districts situated on this extensive system will prove rich in metallic ores. 83 I'scfiil rocks and iion-me- tiillic ininoruU. Rocks c'linima- iiiK' the Ciiin- liriun syHteiii. Anione the rocks and non-metallic ntinerals of economic value to be met with in the Hiironian system, the following may be mentioned : tine gnuiites and syenites for buildings, monuments and ornamental purposes ; sandstones, quartzites and grey wuckes for construction ; flagstones, rooting slates, serpen- tine and doloniitifi marbles, ornamental argillites, jasper conglomerate ; white quartzite for glass-making ; asbestos ^chrysotile), graphite, actinolito and barytes. TlIK CAMBRIAN SYSTKM. This system was so called by the late Professor Sedgwick from Cambria, the ancient name for Wales. It is the oldest one in which the remains of organic life have been found, being the first above the Archican rocks. Besides ordinary sedimentary deposits, such as limestones, sandstones, shahs, etc., it comprises, in some regions, a large proportion of igneous and other non- fossiliferous rocks, the whole thickness of the system amounting to many thousands of feet. The fossils, when present, consist only of marine inverte- brate animals, among which trilobites are conspicuous, both as to size and the number of species. Remains of marine plants are also found in these rocks. The system is well developed in Bohemia, Wales, Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Ontario, as well as in some parts of the United States. A N I M I K I K !•' O K M A T I O N. The name Animikie is derived from the Outchipwai word for thunder, and is appropriate inasmuch as these rocks are most largely developed around Thunder bay. Althowgli no fossils have yet been found in the Animikie formation, it consists largely of undisturbed and unaltered sedimentary rocks and is classified with the Cambrian. It is the first formation above the Arclja^an, and rests almost horizontally upon the denuded edges of the up- turned Huronian and Laurentian strata of the region. Its thickness has not been clearly ascertained, but it probably amounts to 2,500 or 3,000 feet or more.* The Animikie strata in ascending order consist of : (1) Greenish arenaceous conglomerate with pebbles of quartz, jusper and slate — seen on the north shore of Thunder bay. (2) Thinly bedded cherts, mostly of dark colors J{fe"o^^.ki with argillaceous and dolomitic beds — seen at tlie lieadof Thunder bay and along the northern boundary of the formation in the township of Mclntyre. (3) Black and grey argillites and flaggy black shales with sandstones and ferru- ginous dolomitic bands and arenaceous beds, often rich in magnetic iron, * The Silver Tslet mine was sunk through 1,230 feetof these rocks lying almost horizontally below the level of lake Superior, and on the main shore opposite to the mine thev rise about 800 or ItOO feet above the lake, in addition to a trap overflow of 400 or 500 feet, which however may belong to the next higher fcjrmation ; ao that we have here an actual section of some 2,000 feet. Mr. K. I). Ingall says (Uei)ort of Geological Survey for 1887, page 2;-) H) : " If we assume the average dip to be in a south-south-east direction and measure the width of the outcrop of the formation from Urand Portage island where it passes under the overlying Keweenawan rocks north-north-west to near Woodside's vein in the Silver mountain area where the Archiuan appears from below them, which we find to be some 25 miles, we get a thickness for these rocks of over 12,000 feet." But on the same page he says, "As has been already mentioned, the formation lies nearly Hat, and it is very difficult to decide whether it really has any general dip or not. " Derivation of Animikie. 3 (G.o.) 84 together with layers and intruHive inaBses of trap (diabase). Tliis is by far the thickest division, constituting in fact the bulk of the formation. Lenticular and spheroidal concretions of various sizes, called also bombs, boulderH and kettles, are common throughout the black shales of this divinion. Geographically, the Animikie formation in Ontario occupies a triangular area, of which the base, 60 miles in length, extends from the mouth of I'igeon river westward along the international boundary to Gunflint lake, while one Oeofrriiphicai of the other sides is formed by the shore of lake Superior from Pigeon river ilistrilmtiipii of . _, ^ i ' , r\ •< ■ < i i i i • i • i i the foriimtidii. to Goose poHit on lliunder bay, 40 miles in length, and the third side l»y a line Joining this point and Guntlint lake, about 80 miles in length. The lower portions of the formation extend over the comparatively level ground within this area to the northward of the Kaministi(|uia and Whitefish rivers, while the higher measures, lying almost horizontally, occupy the mountainous country stretching from these streams southeastward to the shore of lake Superior. The summits of most of the hills in this district are capped with thick and nearly horizontal beds of trap, giving them a fiat or table-topped ■Table-topped appearance. If all these isolated areas of trap were represented on a geological map of the district it would have a " spotty " appearance, the total extent of the trap being much less than that of the underlying shales which occupy the hill-slopf s and the bottoms of the valleys between them. A good idea of the geology of this district may be formed if we suppose the crowning overflow to have been once continuous, but that afterwards extensive erosion of both the trap and the underlying shales took place, leaving only the detatched portions or islands we now see. There is evidence of some faulting in various parts of the district which may account for the difference in level of some of these trappean cappings. The crowning overflows are, however, not the only beds .Several beds oJ of trap which exist in the formation, as was pointed out many years ago by '^''''' Sir William Logan and the writer, and more recently by Mr. Ligall. Examples of this may be seen along the Pacific railway track east of Port Arthur, on the islands and points of the north side of Thunder bay, at the mouth of Current river, and between the Duncan mine and Port Arthur, as well as within the limits of that town itself. One of these beds of trap forms a conspicuous escarpment with a long slope to the southward on mining-lot L in the township of Mclntyre, which may be seen from Thunder bay. The nearly horizontal layers or masses of trap in these rocks may not have been surface-flows in all cases. Some of them appear as if tliey might have been injected under pressure between the bedding of the shales and other rocks, and in such cases they do not seem to extend very far. The Animikie rocks are found near the water's edge along the south-east side of Thunder bay, as far as Thunder cape and around its southern side, other locaiitieg including the islands to a point east of Silver islet ; also in places along the fock8°""''*'*^ main shore and on some of the islands about Rossport, east of Nipigon bay. They likewise form Pie island and the chain of islands extending thence near the coast to Pigeon river. The Animikie rocks do not appear to extend far into Minnesota, being replaced by higher strata south of the boundary. I 35 They are Haid, however, to recur on the south aide of lake Superior in the northern parts of WiHoonsin and Michigan, Uut in a disturbed condition and otherwise dirteriiig from the Canadian type. T H K S I I. V K U - li K A li 1 N y the writer in 1875, Ijut no silver could be detected. Further exploration along the course of these vciins may give 1)etter results. The vein of the Shuniah, afterwards called tlie Duncan )nine, was dis- covered to l)e silver-bearing by Mr. John McKellar and Mr. (Jeorge A, Mc- Shuniahor Vicar in May, 1867, or about a year niU'.r the discovery of th(! Tliunder May mine;. 'I'he vein is very large, being 20 to .30 feet in width, runs east and i west and consists of ijuartz and calcspar. The Duncan mining company j showed gn;at courage and perseverance in working this property, and only j abandoned it after sjHinding about halt a million dollars anrl sinking to a depth of 800 feet, with galleries at different levels. Oidy about $20,000 wofth of silver in all was obtained. Th(! Animikie rocks were here found to extend to about half the above depth, and below this were Hnronian schists with syenite on or near the north wall of the vein. A consid('ral)l(^ an;a of trap occurs on the surface to th7 paHScd into the hands of th<; Ontario Mineral Liinils company, by whotn it was worked till the hej^innin^ of 1884, when a di'i)th of 1,230 feet had l)(!en reached and silver to the value of $:V2^(),000 had Ixum extracted. Tlio vciin i>7rii.iion in the part work(;d would avcraj^*; ahout 8 to 10 feet in thickness, althou^^h in soin(! places it niciasured from 20 t') HO f('((t. Its course is north 32' to 'M^>' West, and it intersi.-cts a dyk*; of trap (dialtase) runuinj^ Ciist-north-east, which cuts th(i dark sliahjs and other nearly horizontal strata of the Animikie forniati(Ui. The silver was found only in and near the trap, whii.h no doulit had something' to do with its concentration at this plac(!. Its ilcposition Jiiso a|)p('arH to have heeu iriflmuiciHl hy j^rapliiUi, which was pn-scut in the richest jiaits of th(i vfdn. llydrocarhon j^aa and water holding chlorides of sodium, calcium and magnesium were struck in the deeper workings of the ndne. Graphite and itiflainmalde gas have since he(!ii met with in other silvi^r mines in the district. The Silver islet vein is easily traceable across Biiiiit island and upon the main shore opposite, but it was not found sufliciently rich in silver to be worth working except ;it the Islet. The discovery of silver-bejiring veins in the Jtalibit and Silviir mountain districts about 1882 was due to an Indian named Tchiatang who had worked with the writfir in the 'i'hunder 15 ly district and around lak(! Xipi''on in 180!). i)iHiiivLT\ of . . -^ . , lliililiit and lie. IS a native of unusual int(;lligence, and after observing our oix-rations and siivti Mountuin making many (Muiuirics al)out vciins, etc., he devtiloped a strong aml)ition to prospect foi' miiua'als. Whih; (ixploring in the ntnghltorhotid of R:ibbit moun- tain he discover(Ml the vein which was afteiwards worked there, but on account of an Indian superstition* he would not pci'sonally point it out to a white man. I\Ir. Oliver Daunais had married his daughter, and he got over th(; ditliculty by taking him lu'arly to tin; place and (ixplaining where he would Imd the vein, lie afterwards revealed in the same way other dis- coveries which he made in this district, and these liave led to all the present devtdopments, so that the lattfir are indirectly due to the operations of the Oeological Survey. Several mincis in this part of the Aniinikic! an^a "th'-r silver have been successfully worked and havt; yielded large amounts of silver, the most conspicuous (ixamphis being the, liabbit Mountain, the l>eav(!r, the Diidger and the West Knd Silver Mountain, but as tluise are all described along with the other mines of this section in anotlun- part of the present report they re((uiie no further notice hf Thundeii- quartz, calcspar and barytes, holding ({alena and a little copper pyrites and Lend veins ii» 11111 11! 1 •< 1 • • » Diirioii town- blende, has been traced tor more than two miles on and near the junction of siiip. the two rocks. It varies from fifteen to twenty-five feet in width and is very i 40 conspicuously exposed, owini^ to its standing the denuding agencies better than the enclosing marl. The locations of Mr. 0. J. Johnson and J. S. TurnbuU are situated on this vein. The Malhiot vein runs nearly parallel to the last, at a distance of about three miles to the south of it. It cuts Maihiot vein, crystalline trap rocks resting on nearly horizontal compact limestones and grey sandstones. Its width varies from six to eight feet, and towards the western part of its outcrop it is well charged with galena in a gangue of of calcsi)ar, quai-tz and baiytes. A large lead-bearing vein, also parallel to the two above described, crosses the lake at the head of Wolf river, [t cuts Laurentian gniess in the valley under the marls and trap which form the cliffs on either side of the lake. Another lead-bearing vein, which has been styled the Ogama, is reported in Dorion about five miles south-west of the Maihiot. In May, 1865, Messrs. Peter and Donald Mclvellar discover(;d an Lead veins near important vein of galena cutting the indurated red marl of this tbrmation at a place about three miles west of Black bay, on what is now called lot C in the township of McTavish. The property has been successively named the North Shore, Lead Hills and Enterprise mine. Tlie vein runs about north 60° east, and the red marl is here associated with grey sandstone ; but red granite, which is largely developed in this region, rises as a low bluff about 300 yards to the north of it and was encountered at a moderate depth in working the vein. The gangue is quartz, calcspar and barytes, and the total width of the vein is from six to eight feet, of which from three to four feet consisted for some distance of solid galena with a little copper pyrites and vein matter. The mine was worked for one year, and a consider- able quantity of rich ore was shipped to the United States. According to assays made by Prof. Chapman it Contained an average of $17 worth of gold and $2 worth of silver to the ton.* A vein carrying galena has been dis- covered in the Nipigon rocks between Pearl River station on the Pacific rail- way and the shore of Black bay. More than forty years ago Sir Wiliiam Logan found galena in the rock of Granite island in Black bay. Crystalline columnar traps similar to those which overlie the red marls, Lake Nipigon. etc., of Nipigon bay are largely developed around lake Nipigon, where they lie for the most part horizontally, and form the prominent bluffs and islands which give rise to the picturesque scenery of the lake. Compact limestones and grey sandstones are found under these traps in several places, and in the hill just behind Nipigon House, on the west side, a stratilied red felspar rock, studded with grains of vitreous quartz aud having a probal>le thickness of about a thousand feet, dips north-north-west at angles varying from 40 to 60°. A massive rock, but of a similar lithological character, occupies the lake shore from Nipigon House to English bay, a distance of three miles, f This rock resembles the red quartziferous porphyry, which forms so many of the pebbles in the native copper-bearing conglomerate of the Calumet mine. Michipicoten island may be described in a general way as consisting toiand^' °'^^" mainly of trappean beds, dipping about south by -east at an angle of 30°. •Dr. Bell in Geological Survey Rei)ort for 18G9, p. •t-Rei)ort of (Jeological Survey for 1871, ]>. 103. 359, and for 1872, p. 108. 41 Along its northern shore they are mostly atnygdaloidal, and are here dissociated with trap-conglomerates and red .sandstones and shales, passing below the trappean mass to the south. Approaching the southern side the ordinary varieties are overlaid by compact reddish trap, sometimes rendered porphyritic by crystals of red felspar and white quartz. Along the south side the trap becomes black and has a resinous fracture. In this part of the island there are some amygdaloidal beds, with fine agates suitable for orna- mental stones. The whole thickness of the strata on Michipicoten island probably amounts to about 12,000 feet. On the western end of the island a *''"«o' native mine has been opened on a bed carrying native copper, which is so fully described in the evidence of Mr. Joseph Cozens that no further notice of it is required. The promontory of Namainse on the east side of lake Superior is occupied 1)y rocks of the Nipigon formation. They comprise a variety of amygdaloids, I'ro'iiontory of volcanic tufas, folsites, cherts, sandstones, coarse conglomerates and crystalline traps. The dip is to the westward, or into lake Superior, at an average angle of 45'''. At a moderate calculation the tliickness of the strata on this pro- montory would amount to 22,400 feet. The conglomerate bands form one of the most striking features of these rocks, both on account of their coarse- 'o°n!lfo'^,uerate8 ness and the thickness of the bed.s. Five of them occurring among the amygdaloids, tufas and crystalline traps south of Point aux Mines measure respectively about 260, 85, 70, 80 and 450 feet. Most of the enclosed masses are well rounded and smooth, and from the large size of many of them these beds may be pro))erly called boulder conglomerates. They consist principally of dull reddish granite and greenish and greyish Huronian schists.* Nipigon rocks, like some of those on Namainse, are met with at Batchawana bay, and Uatchawanabay. a small patch of them at Gros Cap at the outlet of lake Superior. On the east side of Hudson bay and the islands lying off that coast j^j ^. ,^^^ ^^^ volcanic and sedimentary rocks are largely devehjped. They comprise reddish Animikio forma- conglomerates and sandstones, lead-bearing limestones, chert-breccias, black 'luJsou bay. shales, grey quartzites, dark argillites, porphyries, crystalline traps, amygdaloid.s, tufas, etc. The upper parts of this series may correspond to the Nipigon formation and the lower to the Animikie.f rOTSDAM FOUMATION. In Ontario thi.s formation consists almo.st entirely of hard grey and sometimes reddish sandstones. It derives its name from the town of Potsdam uard Haud- in the north-eastern part of the state of New York, and was called the Potsdam "*°"'*''- •sandstone by the American geologists, who often designated formations by their lithologioal characters only, as Calciferous sandrock, Utica shale, Medina marl, XT- !• T !• floographical rsiagara hmestone, etc. It frequently happens, however, that in the e.xtension diatribution. of strata into other regions their character changes, or they include beds for which the original lithological name would not be suitable. Sir Wm. Logan therefore considered it better to apply the term formation in all cases. The Potsdam formation skirts the borders of the Laurentian area in the counties *Dr. Bell in Report of Geological Survey (or 1876, p. 214. tSee Report of the Geological Survey for 1877. 42 Fo88il traeks. Economic, materials Lalce Superior region. of Frontenac, Leeds, Lanark and Carleton, and is well exposed in the town- ships to the north-east of Kingston and in many i)Iaces between the Thousand islands and the Ottawa river. Its total thickne.ss in this part of the province has not been ascertained, and it is variou.sly estimated at from 300 to 700 feet. Fossils are not abundant in these rocks, and shells of the genus Lingula are perhaps the most characteristic. Large trilobites are occasionally met with, and at Perth certain remarkable tracks, supposed to have been made by these animals when the present hard rock was in the state of soft sand, have been found on the surface of one of the beds. Tiacks left by creatures of a similar kind were found by the late Mr. Robert Abraham in 1847 in beds of the Potsdam sandstone near Beauharnois, in the province of Quebec. In the sandstones near Perth the late Dr. Wilson, nearly thirty years ago, found a number of long cylindrical casts like tree trunks from six inches to^ one foot in diamater. Last year attention was called to certain cylindrical bodies of larger size than the above which pass almost at right angles through the sandstone beds of this formation near the Rideau canal about eight miles from Kingston. The only economic materials furnished by the Potsdam formation consist of sandstones for building and glass-making. They are all too hard for grindstones or scythe-stones. The parliament buildings at Ottawa are constructed of Potsdam sandstone from the adjoining township. In the lake Superior region the sandstones of Sault Ste. Marie, the peninsula between Goulais and Batchawana bays. Isle Parisienne, etc., seem to be of Potsdam age. They are mostly red, with green spots thickly sprinkled over the bod-planes, and interstratified with greyish layers. Unlike the Nipigon formation, they appear to be free from local disturbances and lie almost flat. Although they resemble some of the sandstones of Namainse in being red, they are believed to be newer and are probably unconformable to them. THE SILURIAN SYSTEM. This system was named by Sir Roderick Murchison after the Silures, a^ peojile who inhabited a part of ancient Britain in the border land between England and Wales. It is one of the most important systems in the geological Extent and scale, Occurring in nearly all quarters of the globe, and is remarkable for the character of tlie ..' * .... to' Silurian system, uniform character of its fauna in widely separated countries. It is almost everywhere rich in fossils which consist j)rincipally of the remains of marine invertebrate animals and marine plants, although lishes and some land plants- make their appearance in the upper part of the system. These rocks were formerly divided by some geologists into a Lower and an Upper Silurian series. The former is now often called the Ordivician, thus restricting the term Silurian to t!ie upper division. For the present, however, we will retain the name Silurian for the whole system. The Silurian rocks appear to have been deposited during a generally quiet period of the earth's history. They embrace every variety of sediments, and occasionally include some igneous intrusions and beds of volcanic origin. They are divided into a number of formations, and the total volume of the system is very great in most regions. The thickness of each of the formations in Ontario will be given separately. 43 C A L (M F K R O D 8 F O U >[ A T I O N. The name of those rocks is derived from their lime-bearing character. The formation is not important in Ontario, and is found principally between formation! ' *^^ Brockville and Ottawa. It has a thickness of about 300 feet and consists for the most part of a bluish grey magnesian limestone, which has a giitty feel like sandstone, especially on weathered surfaces. The Ramsay lead vein near Carleton Place cuts this formation. C H A Z Y FORMATION. This formation derives its name from a town in Clinton county, in the state of New York. It is not an important formation in Ontario, and is Geoi?raphieai found principally in the valley of the Ottawa below Pembroke, and between this river and the St. Lawrence below Prescott. Two outliers occur in the county of Renfrew, one on the Bonnechere and the other on the Madawaska river. It consists of greyish limestones, sandstones and shales, and has a thickness of about 150 feet. Some of the Chazy limestones are very suitable for l)uilding, and in certain localities the sandstones are also used for this purpose, but they are generally rather too thinly bedded. BLACK R I V K U A N O B I U I) S - K Y E FORMATION. The formations known under the above names in the state of New York are not regarded in Canada as differing sufficiently, either palieontologically ori,non of tiio or lithologically, to require separation. The Black River formation derives "*""''*■ its name from a stream which enters the eastern extremity of lake Ontario in the state of New York, while the term Birds-eye has reference to the appearance of a fossil contained in the rocks bearing this name. The united formations have in Ontario a thickness of 150 to 200 feet, and consist of bluish and dark grey bituminous limestones with interstratitied grey shales. Goo^'ranhicai It occurs on some of the islands in the north channel of lake Huron between the Manitoulin group and the north shore. Further east it skirts the southern edge of the Laurentian area from Penetanguishene to Kingston, and it is found in patches in the Ottawa valley al)ove the city of the same name, and as a border surrounding the Trenton basin between the Ottawa and St. Lawrence further east. It is well developed around Kingston, and the build- Economics, ing stone of tlie Limestone City is derived from it. Part of the stone used at Ottawa and Cornwall are quarried from this formation. The lithographic stones of the Marmora and Madoc region also belong to it, TRENTON FOR JI A T I O N. This important set of rocks is named from Trenton in the state of New York. On lake Huron it is found on Lacloche island and about Little aistriimtion! Current in the northern {)art of Grand Manitoulin island. It occupies a broad belt between Georgian bay and lake Ontario, extending from Matchedash bay to Collingwood harbor on the former and from Newcastle to Amherst island on the latter. Lake Siracoe .is situated entirely on this formation, and the whole of the peninsula of Prince Edward is underlaid by it. There is a Trenton outlier in the county of Carleton and it forms the ^ uppermost rock in a geological basin, occupying the whole width of the country jA 44 between the St. Lawrence and Ottawa east of Ottawa city. The higher parts It ufuit'iiies the of the limestone clitis at the capital belong to this formation. Judging peniiwula. from tlic results of borings which have been made in various localities, as well as from its general regularity and persistence, the formation is supposed to extend at a moderate but increasing depth south- westerly under the whole of the peninsula between lake Huron on the one side and lakes Erie and Ontario on the other. It has also been shown by borings in Ohio to underlie the newer rocks over a large part of that state. In Ontario it has pr()l)ably a total thickness of about GOO feet and consists of fossiliferous bituminous limestones, usually Soine beds of a brownish pink color occurring Forks of Credit, at the Forks of the Credit are highly esteemed as building stones. C L I N T O N F O U M A T I O N . This is named from Clinton county in New York state, and consists in Ontario of gieenish and drab grev shales and thinly bedded siliceous and Nature of for- '. . . . niation. argillaceous limestones of similar colons, amounting to from 80 to 180 feet in uhickness, together with a very ferruginous red band which, near liochester, is called the "iron-ore bed," where it is said to have been used at one time as an ore of iron. The Clinton formation runs lengthwise through the centre of Distribution. Manitoulin island, along the south-west side of Georgian bay, and thence south- ward to the head of lake Ontario, from which it strikes eastward alone the base of ''the mountain" and crosses the Niagara river. In the county of Grey the "iron-ore bed" is bright led and chalky or marly, but near lake Ontario ■•'ono'"" ^'^d. it has become harder and more shaly, and contains a somewhat larger per- centage of iron. NIAOAKA KOIIMATION. This is one of the best marked of the fossiliferous formations of Ontario. It runs through all the Manitoulin group of islands, the Indian peninsula and 46 Thiukne88. Nature of formation. The Nia«ara «8carpn>ent. Blue mountains. I^iagara Falls. On lake Teniis- oaming. Vear James bay. Thickness and distribution. thence to tlie Niagara peninsula, crosses the Niagara river and ends in Herkimer county in New York. It appears to attain its maximum tliickness on Grand Manitoulin island, where the writer estimated it at 450 feet. At Owen Sound it is about 400 and at Hamilton 240 feet. It thus diminishes towards the south and east, while the underlying formations increase in tliese directions. Except along the Niagara river, where the lower 80 feet consist of bluish black shale, the formation is made up of dolomite or magnesian limestone. Northward of lake Ontario it becomes thickly bedded, of an open crystalline texture and a light grey color, but in the Niagara peninsula it is of a darker shade, closer texture and is more thinly bedded. The Niagara formation is remarkable for the promincmt escai-pment which marks the lower or eastern boundary in all parts of its distribution. It is a conspicuous feature all along the sinuous course of the base of the formation to the south-west of Georgian bay, and forms the upper part of the Blue mountains in the townships of Collingwood and Osprey, which have an eleva- tion, according to levels taken by the writer, of upwards of 1,200 feet over lake Huron, or about 1,800 feet above the sea. This is higher than the average altitude of the watershed between the great lakes and Hudson bay. From the Blue mountains the escarpment follows a general southerly course to the head of lake Ontario, and from thence it forms the crest of "the mountain" as far as Queenston. The gorge of the Niagara river, into which the falls pour their waters, cuts througli the formation, the upper or limestone part amounting to 164 feet in thickness, and the above mentioned shale at the bottom to 80 feet. The Niagara limestone everywhere in western Ontario affords an excellent building stone, and it also burns to good lime. At the head of lake Temiscaming, which is situated at the great bend of the Ottawa river, there is a large outlier of this formation consisting of from 300 to 500 feet of grey limestones, with arenaceous beds and coarse or boulder conglomerates at the base. In the northern part of the province, west of James bay, we meet with almost horizontal grey and yellowish-grey limestones, containing fossils, ■which, according to the late Mr. E. Billings, the celebrated palaeontologist, belong to the Niagara formation. These strata occur along the Albany river above its junction with the Kenogami, and also along the latter stream as far up as the first portage. The limestones are overlaid by a considerable thick- ness of chocolate-colored marls with greenish layers and patches, but without observed fossils. G C E L P H FORMATION. This formation, which occurs only in Ontario, was named at the sugges- tion of the writer after the town of Guelph, which is situated upon it. Its greatest thickness, about 160 feet, is attained in the central part of the western peninsula, from which it diminishes both south-eastward and north- westward, terminating about the Niagara river in the one direction and on the south side of the Manitoulin island in the other. Throughout the greater part of its distribution it consists of a light buff or cream-colored dolomite of a finely crystalline or granular texture, resembling sandstone, but in the Niagara peninsula it becomes dark grey and bituminous, and more distinctly 47 crystalline. It is well defined as a formation by a considerable number of u^onomjg, characteristic fossils. The Guelph ilolotuites form beautiful building stones, and they hive been largely used for this purpose in Gait, Guelph, Elora and Fergus. They also burn to lime of excellent quality. ONONDAGA (sALT) FOHMATION. fl Tills formation is named after Onondaga in the state of New York, and is celebrated for its salt-bearing character. It consists iirincipally of yellowish ., , " I rj J Nature of for- a.nd drab colored dolomites and greenish and drab shales, with some reddish '"'iti"!!. layers, especially near the base of the formation. It occurs along the east fhore of lake Huron from Goderich to the mouth of the Saugeen river, from ■^vhich it turns east and south, rounding the northern end of a wide synclinal " . "' Diatnbutioo. between Southampton and the head of Owen Sound, and running thence «outh-t asterly to the Grand river, from which it takes an easterly course to the Niagara. Tlie numerous borings which have been made through the formation in search of salt in the country to the east of lake Huron prove it to have a thickness of 775 feet at Goderich and 508 feet at Kincardine, ThickneM. but this has diminished to about 300 feet where it crosses the Niagara river above the falls. The beds of rock-salt which furnish the brine of salt. the wells at Kincardine, Wingham, lUyth, Clinton, Goderich, Exeter, Sea- lorth, etc., occur towards the base of the formation and are only reached by deep boring. The bore-holes for some of these salt wells have also passed Gypsum. through deposits of gypsum, Beds of this mineral occur likewise along the Grand river f r-om a short distance above Paris to near Cayuga. Most of it is of a grey color, useful as a mineral manure, but in some places it is white enough to calcine for stucco and alabastine. One of these localities is the Merritt mine, where there is a bed of white gypsum four. to six or seven feet in thickness. Further particulars of these deposits, contained in the evidence collected by the Commission, are published in another part of this report. In this formation on the east side of the Saugeen river, just above Walkerton, the writer in 1861 discovered lithographic stone of excellent Lithographic quality, but breaking transversely into pieces of too small size to be of much ^ °"^' value. The band forms the top of the bank of the river, and the beds associated with it burn into a remarkably white lime. On Moose river, banks of gypsum occur from ten to twenty feet high, especially on the north-west side below the junction of the Missinaibi, for a space of about seven miles, or from thirty-one up to thirty-eight miles above Gypsum on ^loose Factory. About ten feet of the lower part of the deposit consist of '^" *" solid gypsum of a light bluish grey color, but the upper portions are mixed with marl. In some sections of these banks a comparatively small propor- tion of the gypsum, but still large commercially speaking, is nearly white, and from this circumstance they have received the name of "the white banks." The geological age of these deposits cannot be far from the Onon- daga formation, and it would not be surprising if salt should also be found in the rocks with which they are associated. 48 Waterllnie divisioD. Old ami New red BaiulHtuiies Economics. LOWKH H KI. 1) K KBU RG FORMATION. A portion of the VVaterlinie division of t le Lower Ilelderburg formatioD of the state of New York reaches the township of Bertie on the Ontario side of the Niagara river, but as it is unimportant and closely connected with tlie Onondaga formation, it requires no further description in the present fchort sketch. THE DEVONIAN SYSTEM. This system, which derives its name from Devonshire in Englanj,,t„rp of marls, called " soapstone " by the well-borers, with some greyish limestones, '""'"'''"" and occasionally an arenaceous band. The total thickness of the formation in Ontario is estimated to be about three hundred feet, of which the lower 170 or 1 85 feet are found below the Drift clay and above the Corniferous lime- stone ill the oil territory of Enniskillen. This impervious rock has served to prevent the upward escape and lo.ss of the petroleum and gas of this region in past ages. CHKMUNG A N' I) POUT AG K F O U JI A T 1 O N . ' This is represented in Ontario by a few feet of black bituminous shales in the southern part of the county of Huron and the northern part of Lambton. Wack shales. '•A narrow border of the formation may also exist beneath the Drift on the Inortli shore of lake Erie, between Rondeau and Port Talljot. In the states f New York, Pennsylvania and Michigan these rocks are, however, exteii- ively developed, and constitute an important formation. •"The Petroleum Field of Ontario," by Dr. R. Bell in the Transactions of the Roy »! Society of Canada for 1887, page 109. tReport of the Geological Survey for 1876-76, page 321, 4 (n. O.) 50 The Post T.T tiarv svstuiii. Kviilenct's of g'liwial action. Kst'iii'imu'iits, how forinuil. Orijiii of (k't;|i ha.rs. TIIK POST TKRTIAUY SYSTKM. The rocks which liave been desciibed in the foregoing pages comprise all the ancient or I'uiulanicntal formations re[)resentod in Ontario, the remainder of the geological scale wliich is so largely developed in various ether parts of the world being entirely wanting till we come- to the Post Tertiary system, which includes our superficial (b'posits such as l)oulder-clay, stratified clay, sand, gravel, etc. Tiie oldest of these is called the Drift. rilK OKI FT. In a previous part of this section a desciiption was given of the exten- sive glaciation which took place in the Archiean regions of Ontario during the Drift period, so tiiat it will be unnecessary to dwell further on that part of the subject. The glacial phenomena are also very noticeable through- out the Palaozoic districts, so that everywhere in the province the surfaces of the solid rocks bear the ancient ice-marks in the shape of flutings or furrows and grooves or striie. With the exce[)tion of the high lands near the east coast of Labrador, no part of the Dominion on this side of the Rocky mountains, as far as known, apjjears to have escaped the action of glaciers in the Drift period. The rocks in the Archie in districts are every- where ground down and rounded, the evidence of the glacial action being usually as plain on the tops and sides of the hills as in the valleys. In the rala'ozoic regions, where the strata lie almost horizontally, the wearing down of the rocks luis tak(!n place p)'incipally along tlu; planes of bedding. Where the dip happcms to be in about the same direction as that which was taken by this great denuding force, the excavations naturally deepened until a point was -reached where the weight and solidity of the opposing rocks became sulhcient to resist the ice-mass, and in this way escarpments have been foruKHl. All the great lakes of the St. Lawrence, e.xcept 1 ike Superior, lie in basins of erosijn which have been hollowed out in the same manner. The basin of lake Superior, although its origin was of volcanic nature, has been much enlarged by glacial denudation. It has been sliown that the lakes of our .Vrchaian regions are all of glacial origin, and thit most of them lie in rock-basins excavated during ihe Drift period. A few of them owe their existence to moraines oi' dams of glacial debris, which hold up their waters. The fracturing of the sediuientary rocks along anticlinal lines lias greatly aided glacial erosion, and in this way long bays have been formed in the <'eo- graphical outlines of the formations, such as those on Manitoulin island, the Indian peninsula and thence to lake Ontario, and all along the base of the Black liivcr forniation from Matchedash bay to Kingston. A marked diil'eronce is observable in the etfects of glacial action on the opposite sides of the Arcluean nucleus on which the Paheozoic strata rest. V'alleys or water channels have been formed wherever the ancient glaciers plunged downward off the Arcluean highlands upon the opposing edges of the newer rocks, as all along the southern boundary of the Laurentian and Muronian rocks of the province. IJut no such action took place when the glacial mass was forced up the gentle slope of the Palaeozoic beds of the busiii of Hudson bay and thence upon the Archasau plateau to the south of it. 51 Here we find no physical features to mark the lino of contact between the Kmvts'if the two kinds of rock which differ so much from one another. On the east side ""^"^'"* triaoicrs. of Hudson bay deep channels and valleys with high escarpments facing inland have been formed by the descent of the old west-moving glaciers against the up-turned edges of the Cambrian rocks along that coast, while on tlu! opposite side of the bay they moved off the Devonian and Silurian rocks without leaving any impression on the geographical features of that region. In the metamorphic regions in the northern parts of Ontario, th(! rounded glaciated surfaces of the tops and sides of the hills have iiei-n left almost or quite Ijare in many parts, but in most districts and especi illy in |,,.|,f i,, ,i„, the Pala>o/,oic areas of the pro\ince the smoothed and grooved or striated i"\'if'V,a'i|[.ol',',u. rock-surfaces are covered by a thick deposit of stiff clay mi.xeii with sand, ''*'""J"~'- gravel, stones and boulders. This is known >is drift, l)ouliler clay, hard pan, etc. In Scotland it is called till, and this convt-iiient name is now being adopted in America and elsewhere. On the higher grounds north of lakes Snpc-rior J and Huron there is usually but little clay, the drift consisting of loose ' boulders, stones, gravel and sand. Tiie transportation of the boulders in the till, as well as those lying on bare surfaces, has been simultaneous with the planing and grooving of the oiifiai rocks, and due to the same, cause. An erroneous impression which is very prevalent attributes both these phenomena to icebergs. Although the latter / may have brought some boulders and dropped them among the Post Tertiary clays and sands, they appear to have had little influence on the formation of the underlying till, and they have had nothing to do with the wearing down , and grooving of the solid rocks. The ice-grooves are locally nearly ])arallel^ ■; except in cases where different sets cross one another. In pursuing their - course they will go up one side of a rounded ridge or knoll of rock and down the other, or they may curve around it and even pass under overhanging rocks, grooving both tlu; wall and roof in a manner quite impr)ssil)h> to have , been produced by a floating ic(!l)erg. Th(! glacial phenomena of the Drift ,, period in these latitudes correspond in every way with what may be observed K on a snitUl scale in connection with modern glaciers, and therc^ I'an be no doubt that they have been due to land ice. IMiese phenomena occuirei] nt this period in the north tem])erate zone all around the globe, and the gigantic scabs on which they operated constitutes one of the most extraordinary pha.s( s of the (sarth's history. The preval(Mice of ice was so general at this tiiiK; that it is also known as the Glacial Period. The general direction of the glacial movement over Ontario, as shown by the atria;, was southward, but it varied greatly to tlie ea.st and west of south in different regions. North of lakes Huron and Superior, and from tiiiVri'ici';!! the latter westward to Lake-of-the Woods, it was generally south-w( si ward, - but in some instances it varied greatly from this on account of local cansi s. i| In the western peninsula it was south-eastward, but around lake ( intario I south-westward ; in the lower Ottawa valley south-eastward, iiut north of it V the direction was south-south-westward. In the Eastern Townships it wa8 ia south-eastward, while around Montreal the course was south-westward. Ilill'cliiill (if Mil' irliciiil iiiovciiK^nl. o'^ Local caiiai'S infliionoing the course of glaciers. Lateral and terminal inuraitieti. Material of the drift. The stria; following the above courses may not have been all produced at the same time and by a continuous glacier. The ice-sheet would probably move in different courses in different parts, according to the general slope of the surface on which it rested, or according as it accumulated in one part and the resistance became relieved in another. When the maximum had pas.sed, the more its mass dimini.shed the more it would be influenced by the local form of the land. Finally, wlien it became divided into separate glaciers, these would follow the valleys or would be guided by their confining ridges. Hence in the bottoms of many valleys we find the stritc parallel to their general trend. There is reason to believe that the relative levels of some parts of this continent have changed considerably since the Drift period, and this circumstance must be taken into consideration in connection with the formation and the movements of the ice-sheets of glacial times. The local or final glaciers of the period sometimes ploughed their way into the mass of till which had been left by the more general one. They also left behind them lateral ridges or moraines of boulders and earth. Some fine examples of these are to be seen on either side of the southern part of Long lake, north of lake Superior, and along the upper parts of the valley of Steel river in the same region. In some cases the ancient glaciers also left terminal moraines, and these by damming up the waters have formed some of our smaller lakes in the north country. At any given locality the greater part of the materials of the drift usually consist of the debris of the rocks immediately underlying it, but it generally also contains a large amount of transported material, the percentage diminishin<^' about in proportion to the distance from which it has l)een carried, the harder rocks surviving the wearing action the longest, and thus travelling the furthest. On the generally lower levels of the province, and in local depres- sions elsewhere, we find stratified clay, sand and gravel resting upon the till. These sands an 1 gravels are utiiially above the clay. It is supposed that the cause of this was a submergence of the land after the Glacial period, during which the clays were deposited, and as the land rose again the sands were spread over them, and that both deposits were worn into terraces during stationary intervals while the general elevation was going on. In the eastern and northern parts of the province some of the clays and Marine fosaiis in sands contain sea shells and other fossils, indicating a marine origin. In the valley of the St. Lawrence these are found as far west as Brockville, and along the Ottawa they extend about as far up as the junction of the Bonne- chere river in clays and sands which constitute continuations of extensive deposits of the same character in the province of Quebec. But no marine fossils have as yet been found in any of the Post Tertiary deposits in the province west of these points and south of the watershed of Hudson bay. The writer has, however, discovered a variety of marine shells on the Albany, Kenogami, Missinaibi and Mattagami rivers up to heights of about 300 feet above the sea level and more than one hundred miles inland. West of the points above mentioned, south of the hoight-ofland, the marine deposits are replaced by others which appear to be in part, at Clay, Hand and )(ruvei strata. 53 least, of fresh water origin. One of the most important of these ia an extensive blue clay deposit which we have called the Erie clay, and which y![„g"ij' ",'"'. ^ has as yet yielded no organic remains of any kind. It burns to white bricks, while the marine clays to the east burn red. The Erie clay is often very calcareous, and is seldom or never entirely free from pebbles and stones, more or less thickly disseminated through it. Indeed it often seems to merge into the underlying boulder clay. It covers the whole of tlie south-we.stern part of the western peninsula, and is locally developed in nif^ny other parts of the province as far east as the line if railway from Brockville to Ottawa. Its greatest known depth is about 200 feet, but it is found at differences of levels amounting to 500 feet. When seen in fresh section it presents lines of strati- fication, and often a transversely jointed structure. In some localities its upper parts have been unevenly denuded before the deposition of the next higher formation, which consists of brownish clay yielding red bricks. This unconformable formation is well developed in the valley of the Saugeen river, and hence it has received the name of the Saugeen clay. Its thickness appears to be less than that of the Erie clay, but it is found in broken areas in all parts of the province except the most easterly and northerly. When seen in fresh section it is usually found to be very distinctly stratified in thin layers, sometimes with partings of fine sand between them. Meds of sand and gravel are occasionally found between the Erie and Saugeen clays, and these are of importance as affording good wells of water. Fr(>sh water shells have been detected in a few instances in the Saugeen clay. Tlie sand deposits overlying the Saugeen clay in the southern parts of Ontario are too irregular and varied in character to admit of classification Ai>;oiiia sand, for the present. Rut in the district of Algoma and between the great lakes and the Ottawa river a yellowish sand, to which the name of the Algoma sand has been given, is extensively distriVjuted in the more level areas, while on the higher grounds are found considerable accmnulations of gravel, stones and boulders, which have been already referred to. Deposits of clay resting on sand with clay again beneath are found over large areas in the extensive and comparatively level tracts beyond the height-of-land. These regions have been explored and reported upon for the provincial government by Mr, E. B. Borron, who has paid much attention to their surfac^e geology. In the western peninsula there is a remarkable and very extensive acicumulation of gravel above or west of the Niagara escarpment, which Artemesia extends from near Owen Sound to Bi-antford. It has been called the Artemesia *'''''^*' " gravel, after the townshij) of that name, and consists principally of the debris of the Niagara and Guelph formations, with some pebbles and boulders of Laurentian origin. The gravel, which has a considerable depth, is well rounded, often washed clean of finer material, and is extensivt-ly used for road metal. From an economic point of view the superficial deposits are important in relation to water supply, the nature of the soils which they afford, etc., and Economics of many of the clays have a direct value for the manufacture of bricks and drain **** '"^"*' tiles. The shell-marls and peat among the recent deposits also belong to this part of our subject. Lignite, associated with clay and sand, is found on the 54 Goulais river, and indications of it have also been met with on Rainy river and the southern part of Lake-of-the-Woods. North of tlie height-ofland the writer has found beds of this substance associated with the till and the over- lying deposits in several places on the Missinaibi river, and also on the Kenogami. Siippleiiieiitarv notes. The Dominion Mineral Oo's. proiierty. Parallel ranges. TIIKCOIM'KR AND NICKKL MINKS OK THE SIDHUKV DISTRICT. Since the foregoing chapter was written, considerable progress has been made in the development of the mineral weullh of the kSudbury district. Besides the Stobie, Copper-cliff and Evans mines, belonging to the Canadian Copper Company, which have been steadily worked and have yielded a large amount of copper and nickel ore, two other mines have been in operation and some new localities have been discovered. The writer has had opportunities for further study of the geological and lithological relations of these deposits, and the following notes are added to bring the subject up to date. It will be seen from these that the copper and nickel ore depo.sits of the district resemble one another closely, and that they all appear to occur under similar geo- logical and lithological conditions. The deposit which had been discovered on lot 4, range 2, of Blezard, about one mile north of the Stobie mine, has been acquired by a new organisa- tion called the Dominion Mineral Company, and is being vigorously worked. Three shafts are being sunk, each of which had reached a depth of about 40 feet in the middle of October. The ore consists of a body of mixed chalco- pyrite and nickeliferous pyrrhotite mingled with more or less rock matter, aiving the whole the appearance of a conglomerate. The general strike of the country rocks is here, as elsewhere in the vicinity, about north-east. The ore-bearing belt, which is associated with a dark quartz-diorite, is about 100 feet wide and dips north-west at an angle of 65 degrees. It is overlaid by a massive bed of ash-colored greywacke, the weathered surfaces of which present raised reticulating lines. Immediately to the north-west of the shafts there is a dyke from 30 to 50 feet wide, of dark brownish giey crystalline dialjase, weathering at the surface into rounded boulder-like masses, which scale off concentricially. At the place just indicated, the dyke runs south 35" west (mag.), but a short distance to tlie south-westward, what looks like its continuation, runs south 70" west and appears to be thrown a short distance northward by a dislocation. To the south-west of the Dominion mine similar ore has been found in the southern part of lot 5, in the 2nd range (Russel's), and also in the northern part of lot 6, in the 1st range (Stobie's) of Blezard. A large dial)a8e dyke runs near the latter, and both discoveries are near the nortii side of a quartz syenite ridge, which runs in a north-eastei-ly course from the town- ship of Snider, and appears to terminate })efore reaching the Dominion mine. The copper deposits of this mine, Russel location, Stobie location, Murray mine, McConnell mine, lot 10 in the 1st range of Snider, and lot 1 in- the 1st range of Oeighton would, therefore, all appear to be in the same run, on the north-west siile of the syenite and gneiss belt, while the Stobie mine, the 68 Frood, lot (number 7 in the 6th range of McKini), the Copper Cliff' mine and an outcrop of copper ore on lot 1, range 2 Snider, and another on lot 7, in the 6th range of Waters, would occupy a corresponding horizon on the opposite or south-east side of the ridge. The Murray mine, situated on the northern part of lot 11 in the 5th range of McKim, and on the main line of the Canadian Pacific railway, 3i miles north-west of Sudbury Junction, was prospected under a bond, by the 'I'Me Murmy Messrs H. H. Vivian and Company, of Swansea and London, and purchased by this firm on the 1st of October. At this locality the general strike is also north-easterly, and the ore body, which conforms with the stratification, is traceable for about quarter of a mile. A short distance south-west of the railway track, which crosses the north-eastern part of the deposit, it has a width of upwards of 100 feet. Here, as elsewhere, the ore is a mixture of chalcopyrite and nickeliferous pyrrhotite with incorporated masses of rock of all sizes, the deposit being, in fact, in all respects like those of the Stobie, Dominion and other mines. It is flanked on the north-west side by a very crystalline massive grey diorite, and on the south-east side by a dark greenish mottled variety of this rock, followed by alternate belts of more or less fissile amphibolite or hornblende rock and reddish grey quartz-syenite. Ten of these alternations occur in a breadth of 150 yai'ds. A cutting on the railway at about this dista,nce south-east of the mine, shows what may be either a con- glomerate or concretionary mixture of these two rocks. The main ridge of ' ^ quartz-syenite lies about half a mile to the eastward. A large dyke of crystalline diabase, with a west-north-western course and weathering into rounded masses may be seen on the railway just north-west of the mine, and again to the eastward a short distance north of the track. This and a parallel diabase dyke are seen in other places along and near the track between the Murray mine and Sudbury, and similar dykes occur on liamsay lake, which may be continuations of these. Late in the summer a discovery of mixed chalcopyrite and pyrrhotite, of which large and fine specimens were shown to the writer, was made at a spot situated about three-quarters of a mile north-east of the bay of Wahnapitee Discoveries in lake lying on the north side of the point and ridge between the east bay wnin^apu'a;"' and the main lake. The deposit, which is said to be large and promising, is ''''*''■ flanked by diorite on the south-east side. Those who discovered this ore-mass state that the surface indications consisted of nothing more than a black discoloration of the rock, and that it might have been easily passed over unnoticed. Another discovery of mixed chalcopyrite and nickeliferous pyrrhotite was made at the north-east end of Waddel's lake, which is the first of the small lakes on the canoe-route west from the western extremity of Walinapitii! lake. The ore occurs in diorite, which comes in contract witii (juartz syenite about half a mile to the south. Copper and iron pyrites, said to be nickeliferous, have been discovered on lot 3 in the 4th range of Levack. No work had been done at this locality at the time of the writer's visit, but the surface is coveretl by oxide of iron in the same way as at some of the other co[!ptr and nickel ore deposits of the district. The rock on the east side of the deposit is gneiss and on the west diorite. Similar ore in reported M to have been found on lot 6 in the 2nd range of the same township, but the locality was not visited. The copper deposit opened by the Vermillion Mining Oo. on lot 4 in the Gth range of Denison, and that of the Krean mine, about a mile to the The Vormiiiicm north of it, are both associated with brecciated diorito rocks, as well as the locations. Copper Cliff and the Stobie, while gneiss or quartz-syenite occurs at a short distance to one side in every case. A deposit of copper ore, similar to these, occurs in the south-west corner of Snider (lot 10 in the 1st range), which is said to be associated with diorite and flanked on the south by syenite. At this locality there is also said to be a large dyke of crystalline diabase, i| ' weathering into the characteristic rounded boulder-like masses. It will be seen from the foregoing that all the deposits of nickeliferous 1 copper ore of the district which have been examined, occur in diorite rocks, ' ' tiirinckeii'fLr()iis and further that in most cases the dioiite is brecciated or holds angular and diorite '"^^ " ^'^so rounded fragments of all sizes of rocks of various kinds, the prevailing varieties being other kinds of diorite, qnartz-syenites, crystalline schists, greywackds and quartzites. The general geological position of these ores is therefore in diorite, and more especially brecciated diorite, with either gneiss or quartz-syenite near one side. The ore masses further resemble one another in having an appproximate lense-shaped outline, parallel to the general strike of the country rocks, although they may not always be strictly conformable with them in dip, but may take a different anlge to the horizon, as if they had been connected with longitudinal fissures and were of the nature of great brecciated veins or " stockwerks." Thr) occurence of dykes of crystalline diabase near several of the deposits of copper and nickel ore has been referred to. Some of these dykes run west- north-west, others south-west, and one at the outlet of Ramsay lake runs i^lbMe*dykeg. about west, or towards the Copper-cliff mine. These dykes cut through all the stratified Huronian rocks of the district, and also the quartz-syenites, whether they occur as narrow bands or large areas. They are, therefore, newer than any of these rocks and they are found on microscopic examina- tion to be apparently identical with the diabase overflows of the Animikie formation of lake Superior. Their association with the ore deposits of this district suggests some connection with them ; and it may be found on fuller investigation that where they cut the ore-bearing belts they have had some- thing to do with their enrichment at these places. If this should prove to be the case, it will be important to trace these dykes, as well as the stratigraphical horizons along which the metals may have been originally deposited in a dif- fused form, as new discoveries may be looked for at these inter-sections. The smelting furnace which had been erected at the Copper-cliff mine, towards the close of 1888, has been steadily in blast and has reduced an The »iiieitiiig average of about 125 tons of roasted ore per day, the amount sometimes running up to over 150 tons. A second smelter, in every respect like the tirst which »va8 erected during the past summer (1889), commenced work on the 4th of September, and has now been running with equal success for two months. The Dominion Mineral company and the Messrs. H. H. Vivian and Company are erecting similar furnaces at their mines, 57 THE GOLD DISCOVERY ON LAKE 'VAHNAPIT.E. The gold raining location on the south side of lake Wahnapitfw was again visited in the month of October of the present year. Some work had been done and the true nature of the auriferous rock may now be studied to more advantage than when the locality was visited last year, before the Nature of the . . auriferous rocks ground had been broken. An excavation, measuring about 20 feet in length on luke > . . . . .7 Wuhi'apitSB. Ity 8 feet in depth and the same in width had been made. This opening shows that the gold-bearing portion of the ridge of felsitic quartzite follows a belt of quarztite boulder-conglomorate, which runs south-westerly. Some of the individual masses are sub-angular, but most of them are rounded and they vary from a few inches up to 10 feet in their greatest diameters, which are parallel to the walls. A few rounded greenish, somewhat schistose masse? are also included, and all are packed closely together. The interstices are tilled with a rather coarse glossy, greenish to yellowish grey hydro-mica or talcoid schist, which, on weathered surfaces, is seen to be full of pebbles of bluish «juartz and white quartzite, from the size of coarse gravel down to that of pease or smaller. The {jr.artzite boulders vary in texture from granular to compact or cherty. In color they present shades of light, dark and reddish grey ; also of greenish or olive grey. The last named contain bunches of crystals of mispickel. In the width of the excavation, there are four or five veins of white (juartz from two to three inches in thickness, or aggregating about a foot. These show specks or small nuggets of free golil and Mr. Ilichardson, the manager of the mine, informed the writer that he had detected visible gold also in the schistose filling, as well as in the quartzite itself. A band of fine-grained dark colored diorite runs parallel to the quartzite ridge at no great distance on either side of it. That on the north-west side appears as if it had flowed upon an uneven surface of "lumpy" quartzite. An attenq)t to extract the gold from the (juartz in this locality, liy means of a small arastra, had been commenced at the time of my visit. The ([uartz was first calcined in a wood lire, after which it was easily ground under the flat surfaces of two large stones attached to a b(;am drawn round by a horse. These stones, workful upon a smooth pavement of smaller ones, surrounded by a circular wall, which held in a few inches of water with some pounds of quicksilver in the bottom. o(G.o)