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(Atl rights reserved.) 
 ADVANCE PROOF-('S'u6/ec< to revision) 
 
 This proof is sent to jou for discussion only, and on the express 
 understanding tliat it is not to be used for any other purpose what- 
 ever. — (See Sec. 40 u/the Constitution.) 
 
 ,aQadiaij ^ocidy of ^IdII engineers. 
 INCORPORATED 1887. 
 
 TRANSACTIONS. 
 
 N. B. — This Society, as a body, does not bold itself responsible for the facts 
 and opinions stated in any of its publications. 
 
 NOTES ON GOLD AND SILVKR MINING IN THE 
 PROVINCE OP QUEBEC. 
 
 By John Feaser Torrance, B. A., Member Can. Soc. C.E., and 
 Member Am. lustitutt; M.E. 
 
 It is too much the fiishion with our local capitalists to seek for pro- 
 fitable mining invcKtmonts as far a.s possible from iiome in British Co- 
 lumbia, Colorado, the Black Hills or even in Mexico, while totally iiinor- 
 ing tiie vast wealth of precious metals lying neglected at their very 
 doors. I'erhaps a brief resume of some of the well-established facts 
 about these resources might prove of service to counteract this ten- 
 dency. 
 
 Quite recently a very valuable report on this subject drawn up by 
 my friend. Dr. 1{. W. Ells, LL.D,, etc., was publislied in Vol. IV of the 
 New Series' of Reports by the Geological Survey of Canada. It is a 
 matter much to be regretted that the general public rarely consult tiicse 
 volumes. N-^ ! )ubt this arisi^s in part from a vague impression that 
 such reports uust necessarily be too technical for any but trained 
 geologists to eoiiipreliend, but especially from the size and absurd price 
 of the volumes and all lack of public advertising of their contents. 
 
 In this paper 1 propose to use freely the tacts so carefully collected 
 by Dr. Ells and the other officers of the Survey, in the iiope that they 
 may thus reach some readers not familiar with the publications of the 
 Geological Survey. Some notes of my own observations and experiences 
 in this mining region are added. 
 
 My faith in the mineral resources of our central provinces was well 
 grounded by Principal Dawson. It was strengthened and confirmed 
 by the lectures of the famous geologist, Von Cotta, at tlie Saxon School 
 ot Mines. He pointed out very clearly that the forces to who.se influ- 
 ence we trace the formation of ore-dtposits have been operating ever 
 since tlie earliest geologic ages. And he drew the logical conclusion 
 that (other things being equal) the oldest geological formations should 
 be the richest in valuable mineral deposits, because they have been 
 subject to the action of those forces so very much longer tlian more 
 modern Ibrmations. 
 
 As these pahoozoie roeks are more widely distributed in tliis province 
 and Ontario than iir almost any other country, we might feel reason- 
 ably certain of the existence of many rich deposits of the precious 
 metals and other minerals of economic value — even before such 
 deposits were actually opened. 
 
 Comparatively little prospecting for minerals was carried on in 
 Quebec until quite recently. But the successful development of our 
 phosphate mines and tlie more recent exploitation ol'our valuable asbes- 
 tos deposits lead me to hope that brighter days may be at hand for 
 our gold and silver mines also. 
 
 The first published report of the existence of alluvia! (or placer) 
 gold on the (Jilbert River in Beauce Co. appeared as far back as 
 1835-— sixteen years before the first samples of gold dust and nugi^etB 
 from Australia created mah a profound s- isation in Great Britain. 
 It lias always puzzled me why the nuggets and dust from Beauce 
 Co. and Ditton never produee<l any similar efibot. 
 
Although Dr. T. Sterry Hunt published the results of an assay of 
 the quartz from a vein in the Devil's Rapid on the Chaudi^re River iis 
 far back as 185., and thus established the existence of {.'old in the 
 veins of that region, and other observers noted the striking lithol"gie;d 
 resemblance between the formations on the Gilbert River and in Ditton 
 etc., to the auriferous belt in Nova Scotia, yet many geologists dun;; 
 for a long time to the delusion that the placer gold of the district had 
 its source in some hidden veins among the Notre Dame range of hills 
 far to the North-East, and had been transported thence by glacial 
 action. The first map of the Geologiciil Hurvey that assigned those 
 auriferous rocks to the same geological horizon as the similar deposits 
 in Nova Scotia and Wales was not published iiutil about fivu years a'.'o 
 (dated 1886). It covers only a portion of the gold field. 
 
 On referring to this South-East sheet of the geological iiiai> of the 
 Eastern Townships, we notice that the area within its limits assigned to 
 the Cambrian rocks is about one thousand s(|iiare miles. Wc may 
 safely assume that the N. E. Quarter Sheet will show about ,is much 
 more. This leads me to estimate the gold aiea at 2,000 sq. miles. 
 One of the richest belts lies close along the frontier, which it, crosses 
 from the sources of the Indian Stream in New Hampshiro into Ditton 
 and passes north-eastwards close to the flank of Big Megantic Moiiiitaiu 
 across Lake Megantic, and embraces the head-waters of (he Samson 
 and DuLoup, This belt re-crosscp the United States liouudary in 
 the vicinity of the Penobscot Lakes ami about the head of Jamly Stream 
 Let me here note some of the chief facts already established about the 
 occurrence of gold and silver in this belt. We have the authority of Pro- 
 fessor Hitchcock for the report that placer gold has b.en found upon the 
 head-waters of Indian Stream in the Stite.of New Hauipshiie. He 
 says : — " The points examined were on and near Indian Stream about 3i 
 miles from the boundary. The stream here is quite rapid, and on either 
 side the hills rise 300 to 400 feet above its bed, while every few rods 
 either from the East or the West, it receives a tributary. The rods 
 here, as elsewhere on Indian Stream, consist of argillaceous >ehists. 
 These are often so wrinkled and corrugated that it is diflScult to deter- 
 mine the dip, whil elsewhere, especially where the rock is of a coarser 
 texture, the flexures and contortions are not seen. In every respect the 
 rooks are similar to those of Diitou. Immediately on Indian Stream 
 the gold is chiefly fou-d in the fissures of the schist, which is here so 
 fragile that it is easily broken up by picks. A quarter of a mile from 
 the stream we found the characteristic drift of tliis section. It con- 
 sists of a bluish clayey gravel, and contains boulders of schistose rocks 
 and it has a depth, where we excavated, of three to four feet. The 
 gold seems to be distributed through the entire mass, although it is 
 nowhere very abundant. The streams are rapid and the descent of 
 the bed rock is sufiicient to carry away the loosened sand, if the by. 
 draulio pre s is used." 
 
 The diht.i>,..se from the boundary to the Pope property in Little Dit- 
 ton is not more than four mile.-. But we find the .«uilace conditions 
 here quite different to those described by Prof. Hitchcock, although 
 the rock formations are the same. Here we find the country almo.st 
 level and the .'iurlace from six to fifteen feet in depth. Theie is no 
 chance of finding any suitible dumping ground for the ta:lin';s, eveti if 
 a su£Bcient head of water could be obtained tor hydrauliiiie;. Then' 
 is no question of the productive v.ilue of the alluvial dejxisits on this 
 stream, although no ofiioial returns have ever been nunie of the gold 
 obtained. It seems t;,iit the grant to the lion John Henry Pope wa„ 
 issued in such shape as to exempt him from the necessity of making 
 returns. At any rate the returns were not made. But it seems probable 
 that the total value of^old extracted there has exceeded §100,1)00. ( Mi 
 the death of Mr. Popo this gold property, embracing 47r)0 acres. pa.ssed 
 into the hands of his daughter, .Mrs. Ivr^, who leased it last .-^jirin"- to 
 some Toronto people. Shortly aft<'r they took pos.-^ession, J visited the 
 place, and on my return to Cookshii(! I .searched the title and found that 
 they had paid $b 000 for one year's lease of this property, Ijeitig lots 
 62 to 61 (inclusive) in Range 7. lots 39 to 44 (inelusive) and \nt t2 in 
 Range 8, with lots 34 to 53 (inclusive) in Range 9, and the South half 
 
of lot 14 in Range 10, with lot 8, part of lot 13 nnd the whole of lot 14 
 in Range 11 — Ditton. 
 
 There is no doubt th:it much gold has been extracted from those lote 
 by very primitive methods of washifig. Most of the gold sold was 
 very coarse. Tlie natural inference is that the inexperienced worLera 
 left fully as much gold iu their tailings as they aecured. Dr. Ells 
 reports that the coarstst and most abundant goil was always found 
 •immediately below where quartz veins crossed th': stream. But no- 
 . body seems to have tested any of Ihust reefs as yet.', 
 
 I have been thus particular in giving the numbers o" the bts included 
 in thiw Pope location and their total ;irca, becaUiic Di. Ells has 
 stated that " the Bitton area is inaccessible to the general miner and 
 explorer." But liis own map shows that ilie area of Cambrian rocks be- 
 tween Big Megantic Mountain and Cheshaiii village on the northoist 
 and the boundary o.i the south-west is fully 450 square miles, whereof 
 the I'lipe property covers less than 71 square miles. 
 
 The easiest way to reach this region is by Canadian Pacific Railway 
 to Scotstown. On my flying trij) I noticed a number of places that 
 looked well worth pro.-pecting. i feel ([uito satisfied that the Pope 
 location does not include all of the best [lacer diggings or all the rich 
 veins in that district. But a great obtaole in the way of prospecting 
 any of the numerous quartz veins is the absence of any quartz mill 
 in this province where working tests could be made. Tliere are no 
 available mills for this purpose nearer at hand than Nova Scotia. 
 
 Between Little Dittun and Lake Megantic no search for gold has 
 ever been recorded, although the experience of the quartz miners in 
 Australia would lead us to expect to find the richest veins in the iamie- 
 diatc vicinity of large masses of intrusive granite such as tho Big Me- 
 gantic Mountain. A few miles after cro.'-siug Lake Megantic tliis sauie 
 belt reaches the Samson stream, a rapid tributary of the Cliaudi^re. 
 In a hurried rtconnuissance thought this belt in the .summer of 1891 
 I noticed a number of very promising-looking quartz veins traversing 
 the black corrugated pyritiferous slates crossing the road near this 
 stream. The owner of the saw-mill told me that specimens containing 
 visible specks of gold had been repeatedly broken out of the quartz at 
 his datn. But he had never sent any for assay. I am not aware oi 
 any attempts to pro.spect this stream for placer deposits. Hut it 
 would be a very pron)ising field for a party of skilled miners to 
 explore. 
 
 The distance through the woods from the Samson to ti.. Armstrong 
 property on the Du Loup is only four or five miles. The same belt of 
 rocks extends all the way. This property covers 750 acres on the left 
 bank of the Du Loup. The main prospecting pits have been sunk on 
 the brow of a iiill about 400 ft. above the stream and hnlf a mile back 
 from it. In what was called the Main Shaft a veil; of quartz nvorug- 
 ing 11" in breadth has been tested to a depth of 36 feet. It contains 
 a good deal ol blende with high-grade leaching ores of silver. There 
 is very little galena to be seen. Our assays averaged about 30 ozs. 
 silver with traces of gold. 
 
 Two other parallel veins were opened close by, one to the N. W. and 
 the other to the S.E. Some of the assays ran high in silver. One piece 
 from the " North " vein as.'-ayed by Rev. Mr. Page of Laval yielded 
 430 ozs, per ton. But none of our other assays approached anywhere 
 near this. Tho eour.se of these veins is N. 60'^E. mag. The " South '' 
 vein is vertical and the " Main " vein dips towanls it a' an angle of 
 75°. If these attitudes were maintained in depth they would soon 
 come together and form quite a bonanza. 
 
 About a mile from these pits to the 8.W. a scries of silver-bearing 
 veins was uncovered and followed for 1000 ft. along tlieir course. The 
 two largest aud most persistent veins are tho outside ones of the series 
 The Armsiiong vein averages 14" iu width aud assays high in silver 
 with i oz. iu gold. Its strike isS. 40"]'! mag., dipping S.60° W. 45°. 
 At a distance of 173 ft, to the S. \V. tliere is a vein of similar siae 
 called the " New Discovery." Between them lie the " Senator " and 
 " Big Indian." An :is.say fnini the Seii:it.or gave 2i?0 ozs. per iou. 
 These veius all carry more galena than the veins previously mentioned. 
 By eouoentratiou they would yield a very valuable smelting ore. 
 
 3 
 
My ri'port on tliis property strong'y recomiuondcd its purcliasu at « 
 moJurjiu prico and itfiu-iuipmont with a first-clas-* modirn cdiiwiitrating 
 piput. But it wuM impossible to [j,vi my cinployors t'l act buf Td their 
 bond expired. 
 
 It is a tiict worth noting that both bells of veins arc aceompanied 
 by heavy dyiics ot'dioriie uud olivine, running parallel to tliem. I'ro 
 bably the same causes that led to their 'jnnation contributed liiruely 
 to llie origin and miueruiisalion ul' these voin<. The presence of Nimi- 
 lar dykes elsewhere in the Cambrian formations should encourage 
 prospeutort* to look ior valuable veins of gold and silver in their 
 vicinity. Such clues are often of very great service. 
 
 The ground along ,tho l>u Loup and its brandies in this locality 
 was all surveyed and laid iiff ill so called mining blocks of nbout hall 
 an acre each many )eais ago, and eagerly bought up by speculators 
 who never jad any intention of .-pending their own money in its devel- 
 opiaent. I believe that some gold Las been found in the beds of these 
 streams. But absentee proprietorship has been th' curse of this whole 
 region. I'ruspeeturs will not waste time and tiDuble in hunting for 
 "old that legally belongs t) 01 hers. Nearly all the Iribuiaries of the 
 Chaudiere and Du Loup have been surveyed in the same way, and the 
 mining blocks .sold tor a trifle to friends of the government of the hour. 
 The results of such queer methods of encouraging the arduous search 
 lor gold might easily have been foretold. The banks of all these 
 streams ha-e remained an untrodden wilderness, altlMugli our geolo- 
 gists all agree that immcusj wealth of virgin gold lies hi 1 in the pre- 
 historic channels of most of these streams. 
 
 If we pause to contrast this lonely region with the rich and busy 
 cities of the mining regions of Australia and California, we sec how 
 'dosely suitable mining laws or the reverse are connected with the 
 growth or stagnation of large territories. 
 
 1 have mentioned the presenci; of gold in the '' Armstrong " vein. 
 Two years igo I shijjped some barrels of ijuiirtz ti a Nova Seotian mill 
 from a vein near the Kennebec Uo.vd quite close to the boundary of 
 Maine. The milling test yielded $4.07 per ton, which is oousiderably 
 above the average yield of the quartz at the lamons Homestake Mine 
 in the Black Hills. As this vein is fully li ft. wide and has been traced 
 for 1^ miles, it is well worth some attention. 
 
 On the Maine side of the boundary, gold and black sand li.ive been 
 Ibuud on taudy stream. The u>ual stories are told of mysterious 
 hunters who always had plenty of mon^y although they never would 
 work. An intelligent luiaboiman working limits on the li^'ad waters 
 of the Penobscot told me that he had noticed much black sMiid in the 
 streams and numerous quaitz vein- in the banks, but he never 
 attempted any prospecting, not knowing how. The States of Malnt and 
 New llampshiru have one immense advantage over Quebec in the eyes 
 of gold hunters. Mining laws are unknown there. The man 
 that owns the .--oil owns eveiytliing under it. After coming to an under- 
 .stauding with the owner, there is oo danger of interlereneo with your 
 freedom by anybody i!se. 
 
 The second bell of Camb 'iau roeks shown on this geological (juarter 
 sheet appears on the W. Suiire of Lake Ma-siwippi and to the Hast 
 of Little Magog L. and along the valley of tlio Magog River. 
 It has been traced through Stoke and Dudsweil, etc., to Lake 
 Aylmer and across Lake St. Francis into the county of Beauce. Its 
 course is almost due northeast to the l>e Lery Seigniory with the 
 village of St. Francis in its centre. From Dr. KUs' report we learn 
 that several mining eompanies have done some wcu'k in the south- 
 western part oi this belt. The Goleonda Mining Co. and the Ascot 
 Gold Mining Co, report th.it they found good workings on lot 11 of 
 Range 11, Ascot, and on lots-' t'u 1 ;} of Range 1:5. The surface 
 wa.'! about six feet deep, i .^iliibitiiig the same seiiuence of stratified 
 gravel and elay as on the Gilbert ; hut a[ii)arently they did not striko 
 any old channel of the Magog. Dr. Ells does not state the reasons for 
 the winding-up of these companies. 
 
 Apparently the ground between Lakes Aylmer and St. Francis has 
 never ueeu tested, it is not until we enter the De Lery Seigniory 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
1 
 
 from tfci? side that wc learn of cliMCoveries ol i;olil onco more. Very 
 little prospectinj; lias been done on the south side of (he ChaudlArc in 
 this Seigniory corapaivd to the great ainoiint of work accomplished on 
 (he Oilbrit, J)i'H l'laiiti:s and other streams on the north side. But 
 enough giilil l:a.s been obtained on the Mill stream and elsewhere behind 
 the village of St. Francis to give us a high opinion of the val'ie of this 
 half of the Seigniory. Numerous laru'e (|uart,z veins are exposed in 
 the banks of (he streams and elsewhere. Inducements should be ofFen^d 
 to enterprising prospectors to test some of these veins properly, and to 
 hunt for rich alluviid deposits in their immediate vicinity. 
 
 Crossing the Cliaudiiire we come to the famous Gilbert River, 
 where fully tliree-lifths of all the gold mining in (his province has been 
 carried on. Gold was first discovered here by a French-Canaiiiim woman 
 about 60 years ago, but nobody seemed to trouble themselves looking 
 for mure until another woman ten years later found a nugget of 1,066 
 grains close to the same spot. 
 
 In 1846 tlie seignior, Mr. De Lery, was fortunate enough to obtain 
 from the Crown a perpetual grant of all the g(jld and silver mines 
 within his seigniory, on condition of piiying a royalty of ten per cent, 
 upon all the precious metals obtained by smelting in furn.iees. As no 
 gold is ever extracted in this way from any such deposits, this proviso 
 for royalty is. not likily ever to enrich the provincial trea-ury. 
 
 Aftei .several temporary leases to other people, Mr. JJe Lery leased 
 all his mining rights in ISOi to the JJe Lery Gold Mining Go. for a 
 term of thirty years, with right of renewal for another thirty years on 
 payment of fifty thousand dollars additional. The terms of this lease 
 are of some interest to miners just now, as the first period expires in 
 181I4 ; and it is exceedingly doubtful wliether the long-suffering share- 
 holders of tlio 1), L. G. .M. Co. will as.sess tlieni.selves to raise this fresh 
 capital. 
 
 At the outset this company .seemed inclined to work in a sensible 
 way. They selected a mill site near Devil's liapid on the Chaudidre 
 and built a snbstaniial (juartz mill, clo.se to the quartz veiu assayed 
 for gold and silver liy Dr. T. S. Hunt in iSal. Uufortuiuitely this 
 mill proved a uismal failuie from the very start. None of the 
 prospectors ever got back enough gold from their sample lots of quartz 
 to encourage tliem lo keep on mining. After almost 30 years, stories 
 are still rife of sceptical people throwing rich specimens and even gold 
 coins into the batteries without obtaining any amalgam. It seems 
 certain that a large part of the ■..old and quick-silver flowed oft' into the 
 tailings and was lost. The total amount of qu.irti! crushed iu this 
 mill can not have been large, although quite a number of large veins 
 yielding liigli as.says are kiiowu to exist within a radius of three miles. 
 
 This is greatly to be regretted, as all the miners on the Gilbert 
 Kiver are fully agreed in saying that the coarsest and most abundant 
 gold iu the old ehauuels was always found just below points where 
 ([uartz veins ex'sted in the .slates. Many of these veins are of such largo 
 size, give such good assays, and are so persistent that they might ea.sily 
 rival the great llomestake Mine of the iJlack Hilts in tlieir dividend- 
 paying powers, if they were operated with equal skill and on thi; same 
 scale. 
 
 The De Lery tiold Mining Co. began sub-lettiug portions of its 
 territory to other compauies from the very start. The amount of gold 
 obtained by some of these lessees would have attracted uotice in 
 Australia or California. In 1866 .some miners drove a tunnel across 
 lots 15, 16 and 17 iu the concession De Lery, and reported to the 
 inspectors gold valued at §142,581.00. Two of the heaviest nuggets 
 found by them were valued at nearly ?1,80((.00. In the following 
 summer Mr. John .MeUae took fully $15,000 out of ii claim of 75 sq 
 ft. ou tiie same stream. 
 
 It is no part of my pnrpo.se to write a history of ail these under- 
 takings. Bui r must call your attention to the operations of two 
 companies in particular, to enable you to account for the disrepute into 
 which the whole region has I'alleu, 
 
 An I'iiiglish corporation, named the Canada and Xorth West Land 
 and Mining Company, obtsiued a lease of no Icas than three large 
 sections of the seigniory. 
 
 5 
 
At the timo of Dr. ScK ■ 's fii-st visit to this district in June, 1871, 
 thoro was no mining f^oiiiv on (ajmrt from ,i little pro-pecting by the 
 local iiiliabitaiits) ixccpt by this company. Tin' amount of ca[)ital 
 permanently invested there was sumewbere about £50,000 sterling (if 
 I am not mistaken). 
 
 The only useful re.sult of these operations was o-itiblishinir the fact 
 that the richest iilliivial deposits about here arc found in ancient river 
 channels at considerable depths below the present level of the streams. 
 As an offset to this useful icnowlodge, we must charge a large part 
 of the discredit into which this whole gold fi Id has fallen to the reck- 
 less mismanagement and utter failure of this lar^e cnrporation. My 
 first meeting with its manager was very characteristic. Just as 
 I entered the little shanty ne.ir the Gilbert thiit he occupied as an office, 
 he was shouting angrily that he did not want any miner from Austra- 
 lia or California or anywhere else to uomo and try to teieh him how to 
 mine, that he knew all about gold-mining. On asking the gentlemanly 
 victim of this tirade afterwards what was the cause of all this uproar, 
 Mr. Attrill explained that he had ventured to suggest that, if the sluice 
 "boxes below the shaft were set in a straight line, they might savo more 
 gold than set ns tliey were, in a slovenly serpentine fashicm. Any 
 sensible man would have beon glad to receive such suggestions from 
 thic experienced Australian miner. 
 
 It did not surprise mo to learn that no record w.is kept at this mine 
 of tlie amount of dirt lioist.'d daily with the yield of gold per cubic foot 
 oryaid. 1 am afraid that the large majority of the Ejiglish shiiro- 
 holders never learned tlic real causes of their total loss, but were led 
 to attribute it to the poverty of the whole territory. 
 The entire district was condemned. 
 
 Other companies were ecjually to blame. One American com- 
 pany about the year 18G5 secured a large tract of l.uidon the Du Loup 
 just b.'low Marlow P. U., where the wreck of their immense twc-story 
 boarding-house still stands as a monumeni to tho folly of spendin" a 
 company's entire capital in preliminary building operations before 
 testing the mine in any way. 
 
 The notorious failure of a liydraulie mining enterprise u;'ar the 
 mouth of the Da Loup rendered the name of Beauce offensive in the 
 nostrils of many Englishmen of high rank. This eua'i'prisi was en- 
 trusted absolutely to the skill and judgment of a gentleman who had 
 been previously connected with the lumber trade in one way or aiiother. 
 lie was entrusted with the expenditure of about $200,000, involvin" 
 elaborate .surveys and the construction of a canal (or ditch) about 
 11 miles long, to furnish the necessary svater under sufficient pres.sure 
 to break down and di.sinttgrate the gravel benches. This ditch cost 
 more than would have been re(|uirod to build a first class railroad 
 along the same route. Alter it was finished, mining operations were 
 carried on for a remarkably short period and then totally abandonoJ, 
 
 The failure of this enterprise .seems to have led some others to regard 
 its manager as a very corapeleiit mining engineer. Shortly aftiT the 
 collapse of the Indiaulic compMny, 1 found him in charge of the opera- 
 tions of the St. Onge Com])any, on Slate Creek, rightbebiud the village 
 of St. George. The old channel here was 165 feet deep, and .sonic of 
 the oveilying strata of sand and gravel ^cie very wet. 
 
 More than a year's time and much mon ;y was .spent in sinking a 
 shaft here. It was finally accomplished by sinking a series of very 
 heavy wooden boxes by the aid of pumps, wdiieh removed a vast 
 quantity of semi-li((uid material. Every stroke of the pump increased 
 the fluidity of the surrounding mass, and threatened to collapse the 
 structure. After passing through such ground, when a denser stratum 
 fVas leached, the bo.\ lodged and could not be moved. Then a smaller box 
 had to be started inside of the first one ; and it was driven as far as 
 possible before it iod,i.'cd in turn. I believe that a third box was sent 
 down before dry ground was reaehed. The natural result of these 
 operations was the rapid diniinutiou of the area of the shaft, until it 
 was barely large enough for a tub to pass through. It was hard to 
 find men williuy to risk their lives in such a place. Hut the work 
 proceeded for some time and a cousiderahle amount of coarse gold was 
 
 
 
obtained. Ow. of tlio partnors tolj mo that the final iibaudonmcnt of 
 the work wiv* cm.ii'd l)y ttio rnan8i,'fir'H fjolislinass in hlaslini; a 
 piiss;i'.:o liuMiiu'li tlu! iidi-roclc of tiiacliiiiinel to try and r aeh an inia;,'in- 
 ary KIdorado buyoiid. All the rnniainins.r capital was exhaust 'il in thi8 
 attempt. TliiMi ihi; sheriff sold out their rij^hts. 
 
 I have gone Mouiewlial fully into tlic record of this costly fiilnre, 
 because it shows clearly that this eiinuot bo justly attributed to the 
 p<)Verty of the ground. There is no doubt in my mind that there are 
 rich alluvial deposits us well as very promising (juartz Icdircs on this 
 creek. Hut the skill of i;enuinc miuinj; ongineers will bu re<juirod to 
 exploit th<;m with sufficient economy to reward the sharohoMcrs. 
 
 It is a serious misfortune to this rej;ion tiiat no competent men ha,,; 
 been emplo) ed as yet to sink throu;,'h the deep wet f,'round whioli 
 overlies nearly all these channels. If one such shaft had ever been 
 sunk Id the district and earned a rich reward for its owners, there 
 would have been no lack of shafts sunk in search of similar channels. 
 As far buck as 1831 we find Dr. Hunt rep irtini,'on thof;old and silver 
 contents of the vein exposed in the Devil Kapids of the Cliaudiiiro. Id 
 the same year Sir Wni. Lo-.'in orij.inised a small mining company to 
 work fh(! deposits at the junetion of the Du Loup with the (Jhaudiere. 
 Their operations showed a fair ni irgin of profit, and were duly published 
 in the ripou.. jf the Survey 
 
 The joint report on our (iueboo i?old regions by Dr. Hunt and Mr, 
 Michel, publislK'd by the Geolo.,'ical Survey in 1866 clearly established 
 the wide distribution of placer deposits, while the accompanying assays of 
 samples from numerous (|uartz veins demonstrated clearly the local 
 origin of the gold. 
 
 When Dr. S -Iwyo arrive I in Oana la, fresh from the gold fields of 
 Australia, his attention wms at once directed to the gold fields of Nova 
 Scotia and t^uebi'c. His published reports show how much he was 
 impres.sed with the similarity of these formal ions to the auriferous z.onc 
 in Vietnria. The few points of difference are all in favor of our 
 ('iinadian ^'old fields. Our abun lant w.iter supply, our cheap labours 
 cheap food, low freights, etc., should stimulate mining operation 
 lu're. 
 
 The points of resemblance between the gold measures of Nova Seote 
 Jind those of Quebec have often been noted. But I have been often 
 struck with the dissimilarity in size of the auriferous (juarlz veins of 
 the two regions. It is comparatively rare in Nova Scotia to meet with 
 one over two feet thick. Probably the iiveriige size of all those mined 
 fur gold in that province does not much exceed one loot. But vu the 
 Gilbert River and el.sewhero in JJeance very large auriferous veins are 
 the rule ;md small ones are the exception. 
 
 The si<mples of (|uartz selected by Mr. Michel for assay by Dr. T. S. 
 Hunt were taken from veins ranging from three feet ia thickness up to 
 twenty feet and over. None of them showed any coarse gold where 
 eX|osed. Hut several samples when crushed fine in a mortar and 
 panned out yielded good " colours." The fire assays of many of them 
 gave a lar-e enough yield to justify the expenditure of large sums in 
 their proper development on a large scale. 
 
 It is well established by s:id experience that it is oidy 2 or 3 quartz 
 veins out of every 100 that carry enough gold to pay for working, even in 
 the richest gold regions. And it is eijuaily well recognised that such 
 veins generally carry their free gold in pay streaks or " chimneys," 
 separateil by large areas of comparatively barren (juartz. There is 
 no reason for con.sidering the quartz veins of this province to be any 
 exception to these general rules. 
 
 Dr. Seiwyn has pointed out that the richest (juartz veins in Victoria 
 are generally found not very far from a mass (d" intrusive granite. 
 
 Prof Hind was the first to point out the clo.se relationship between 
 the main aiili-cliiKds of the Nova Seotian gold fields and the richest 
 quartz veins. 
 
 It is a well-known axiom among conipetent engineers that the 
 mineral deposits of every new district have their o-,vn peculiarities and 
 are likely to present some charaeteristie variations from modes of deposit 
 studied clsewiiere. The prudent man will be cautious, therefore, about 
 
committing hiraHclf too far to any very di'finito proilictions about any 
 iiii(livcloin(l (irnH|MC*, •iiitil !»• \i:is liml opportunity to i>xiiiMinc .nd 
 ctu<ly cloHi'ly soiiii! niiiiin alrtuiJy opcratfil in liif ^^unii' disiriit. 
 
 11' we bear in mind thiH cai-.tion, we nay veiituri' to lay down a few 
 hints for prospi'ctors in thin rciiion. 
 
 Knoiinh woiit iia< U^i'ii already done on tlio plaoer deposits to nrovo 
 that the i idiei-t ^.Tound is alwiiys to bi lo.ik'jd for : ( 1 ) in nroaw oecupied 
 by the bl.ick, iireasty, hij,'hly contorted ulatts often iuiprejjnated with 
 ryrited ; (2) n'ore enpecially in the old chauueln buried d'ep below the 
 prewent beds of tlicr* hrreauis ; (.J) and rielient of all, just below the 
 points where heavy qcartz veins cross lliese channels. 
 
 Ic reu'ard to quartz veins, prospectors are n-ost likely to find paying 
 ones: (1) auioni; tlie-e bhick slides ; (2) close to the axis of an anti- 
 clinal ; (3) not very fur trum granite; (4) or associated \. ith dykes of 
 diorito and olivene. 
 
 Perhaps we might help to iivert so.ue very foolish undertakiugs by 
 addinj; that it is never wise to sink deep on any (|Uartz vein that 
 yields no fiold at the outcrop, in saniiuine hopes of fiiidinjr a boniinza 
 somewhere below. From what has been stated already, the ehaucea 
 are at least Sd to 1 against its proving to be a gold bearer. 
 
 Kvcn if you have a vein that carries some gold at the outcrop, but not 
 quite enough to pay the cost of iidning it, the chunces are always 
 a^'ainst its Decoiuing richer us depth increases We all know that 
 veins are sometimes found to gain in richness with depth. iJut such 
 cases are the exception. The general abandoument of the theory 
 of veiii-CUing by injection from below has destroyed all 'juse for 
 maintaining this costly delusion. 
 
 On the other h. id, if any company is iucky enough to secure a good 
 vein of paying qmn'/.. iind begins to exploit it successluUy, t' ' directors 
 should lose no time in establishing a substantial cash reserve, to 
 provide funds for the necessary dead work in sinking .shafts or di iving 
 "alleries to pass tlirough the inevitable barren zones between one pay- 
 streak or chimney ;ii:d the next adjacint one. 
 
 Fifteen years ago I published in the Gazette of this city my opinion 
 that, when capital and .skill combined should enter this Held, the 
 results wouhl astonish the world. I am slill of the same opinion. 
 
 But the investigations and r. ports of such men as i»ir Wm. Logan^ 
 Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, Dr. Selwyn and Dr. Ells of the Geological Survey 
 carry a far greater weight than the opinions of any private individual. 
 
 8