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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m«thode. 1 2 3 4 5 ««"C«ocory iBouniON tbt chart (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No 2) /APPLIED IM/CE I 1653 toil Hoin StrMl fOCh«l«r. New York 14609 USA (716) 482 - 0300 -Phon. (716) 28S-5989 - Fo« 'J , / 7.: > CANADA DEPARTMENT OF MINES OEOLOOIOAXi BUBVET Hon. Bonn Bogeis, Minister; A.P. Low, Depcty Minibtee; B. W. BiocK, DuEcioi. MEMOIR :No. 22 » PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE Sl riNE AND ASSOCIATED ROCKS OP SOUTHERN QUEBEC BY JOHN A. SBESSEB. OTTAWA GOVERNMENT PRINTING BUREAU 1913. No. ilflfl fj r CANADA DEPARTMENT OF MINES OBOUMHOAX. mVMVMT HOS. RtWUT RjXiOiS. MlXISTEB; A.I'. L()W , DkpiTV MlXL-TlR, R W. Bioci OiiiEaToi. MEMOIR No. 22 s 3 ? i S PRELIMINARY REPORT ox THE SERPENTINE AND ASSOCIATED ROCKS OK SOUTHERN QUEBEC BV JOHN A. SRESSEB. o ■ r A VV A GOVERNMENT PRINTING BUREAU 1913. 1H59-* No. 1190. To R. W. BRfKK, Esq., Director. (ieoloKical Survey. Department of Mines, Ottawa. Sib. — I beg to submit the followini; preliminary report on the Serpentine and ussociated rocks in southern Quebec. I have the honour to be. Sir, Your obedient 8er\-ant, (Sismed) John A. Dreuer. April 23, 1911. CONTENTS. I'AGK Introductory 1 General statement 1 Location anH area 2 History 2 General history : 2 Preyious work 3 Biblioftraphy 4 Summary and conclusions 6 General geology 6 Economic Reolotty 6 General character of the district 9 Topography 9 General account 9 Regional ' !) Local 11 Detailed account 11 Relief U Drainage 12 Climate 13 Agriculture 14 Transportation and communication 14 General geology 15 General statement IS Regional 15 Local • IT Sedimentary rocks 17 Igneous rocks IS Table of formations 10 Description of formations 1 R Sedimentary 19 Distribution 19. Lithological characters 20 L'IsIet 20 Sillery 20 Farnham 21 Quaternary 22 Structural relations 23 Internal 23 External 23 Relations' between Ordovician and Cuniliriiiii 24 Mode of origin 24 Cambrian 24 Ordovician 24 Age and correlation 25 Cambrian 25 Ordovician 25 Igneous 25 VI OEOLOOICAL HVRVEY, CAJiADA Thetford phase . Distribution Lithoio^ieal ehara;;;;; ^"idotite .... Serpentine ^yroxenite Oabbro .....' Diabase ..,[\ Porpbyrite "...■. tfranite •. Aplite *. .... ^'Oj'shton rhase .' ' "istribution ^'thoioxicai chaVa;;;;, ''•'•Pentine .... Soapsfone Greenstone schisil S'f.jctura, relation/ internal ... F'oliatioa ..." f'aultinir Jointing iJreccia .... Aniyffdaloid Ejternal Mo^S'::ii°'^"'^°-ati;>;;:-:r ^^andeorM.^„;;;;;;;;;---........... o„ 1 . ^"nolusion^ , Sa-;--;^eoMb;;;,- ;;;;;•;•• Z Economic geology ... [[ •Asbestos . ?;^-;^a.e;;;anni;.;;^ History Relations of tlil'j ." ^>-^i^of't,;^^--5H.eeo„nt;;-;o;;:::::: •■•vidence S::i::r'°-'op SEKPENTIXF.S, ETC., IN !*orTHERN iJlEBEC vn PitGI Status and possibilities of the industry 72 Occurreoces of asbestos 78 Chromite • 74 Production 74 History 75 DcTelopment in Canada 75 Characters of the ore 76 Minerals associated with chromite SO Magnetite SO Vesurianite SO Diamonds S2 Molybdenite 8t Relations to the country rock 8.1 Genesis Sf< Evidence ,sg Theoretical ^ Review of previous opinion 89 Conclusions 90 Mining 91 Concentration 91 Uses 91 Occurrences of chrome iron ore 92 Status and possibilities of the industry 92 Antimony 95 Character of deposit 95 Talc 96 Platinum 96 Copper 97 ILLrSTRATlONS. Photographs. Plate I. General view, Black lake Frontibpiece II. Sketch, Uanville slate quarry 22 III. Big Ham mountain 26 IV. MicrophotograiA— peridotite 26 V. Microphotograph— seri)entine 26 VI. Peridotite containing serpentine and asbesto* in veins... 5H VII. Microphotograph— asbestos vein (jo VIII. King mine, Thetford mines 70 IX. Ling mine. East Broughtoii 70 X. Mill and tramline, Frontenac mine, Kiist Broughton 70 XI. Microphotograph— chromite 7t; Draiiings. Fio. I. Diagrammatic section «cros> the serpentine belt, t'levelaud township. Que 3M " 2. Diagrammatic section across the serpentine belt. Melbourne township, (Jue. (Hange VI.) 39 viii (iKOI.OtiH Al. !SII!VKY. r.VNAT>A PtOI tiu. 3. Diagramma'.ic section across the serpentine belt, Melbourne township. Que. (Uanue I.) *•* " ♦. Diagrammbtic section across the serpentine belt, Brompton township, Que *' " 5. Sill of diabase, pyroxenite, and serpentine, (Jartliby township, tiue ♦* " I). Uiagrammatic section along power line between Thetford river and Bisby creek •* '• 7. Diagmm showinn relations of asbestos. serp?ntine. and peridotite at Black lake 59 Mails. No. 1134 (23») Map of Thetford-Black Lake mining district Knd •■ list (38*) Map of Danville mining district " 1302 (52*) Map of northeast part of serpentine belt, Quebec PRELIMINABY AEFORT ON THE SERPENTINES AND ASSOCIATED ROCKS IN SOUTHERN QUEBEC. INTRODUCTORY. General Statement. The district dt'Scribed in this report is distinguiiLeJ for the production of asbestos and ehroniite. It includes all the mines at present producing the^e minerals in Canada, and furnishes about three-fourths of the world's supply of asbestos. It also embraces larger areas which are being vigoro'isly prospected, and others of less probable value which it has been necessary to study iu order to find out the extent and relations of the mineral deposits, and to ascertain the geological structure of the series to which they belong. The report, therefore, deals, primarily, with the economic resources; but some attention is also given to the petrography and itructural geology of the district. The work has been greatly facilitated by assistance freely and courteously ren'i QuuLto. south cf the St. J.awrt'iiOL-, between the St. Fruuoi- ;uiil I'liauilii-re rivers. The aria ...ver which work was done is le— than lit iiiiKs in wi(hh. ami aliuut *ii miles in leiiirth. Tli ■ iioi-tlieru extnmity. near Beauceville. is 40 miles from the St. Lawrem-e riv.r, and the most ^outherl^• iioiiit to whieh the work has heeu carried is near IJiehmoiid about tjit miles from the St, Lawretve. History. Oiniral Jlit^lory.—'l'hv '-lose of the Freneli regime iu Canada — 17G:j — saw many jiarts of the St. Lawreuec (ilaiu opened for settle- ment; but the hiiiliiaiids were as yet initouehed, and remained to lor a generation later. i'oUowing the seiiaration of L'liper Canada (Ontario) from Ixiwer Canada (.Quebee) in IT'.'l. a more vigorous colonization policy was adopted by the latter rrovinee, and the purvey of the highlands was !iei ]5v the mode of survey then adopted, the land was divided into townships, approxin.ately square; and these were subdivided into ranges and lot;. The shape thus given to land holdings ,ii-tinguished the district from the portions previoudy surveyed in the plain, ii' whicli long ranges parallel to fo-uc line nf travel were subdivided into long, narrow farms. From the nioile of survey and the location of the district, it gained the name of the Ka-tcrn Townships. The ear'.iest settlements were made about tiie beginning of t:ie 19th century by emigrants from the neighbouring New Kngland States; a portion of wlioni Wi-re I'nited Kmiiire J-oyali?t-. 'I ho hr«t lands occupied were those alous;- Lakes Memphremagog and Ivlassawippi, and in the valley .if tb.- St. Franci? river. In onlcr to cinncct tli.-e e.irly settlcmi'iit- witli the city ot Quebec — both for commercial and strategic iiurjioses — a road, which still bears his name. \va^ pro.iei. ' 1 by (iovernor Craig in l>'i'). 1 was afterward built from. (Juebcc to the St. Francis river, at Ri'-li- mond. I'.y means of this road and the tio-ford road, which wa- built Some years later, farther to the eastward, emigrants from the ])i-iti-b Isles rapidly occnincil tlie northern part of the district. lii'twecn l^'ii' and l>>.">."i the main line of the firand Trnik rail- way was btiilt from Montreal to Portland; thus crossing the di-trict BBB ' iSKKPENTIXES, ETC., IS SOUTIIEEX QUEBEC o friii wo^r t'l cii-t. ;iiiil iil^'i ii l.rmiih irniii liii.-liiii<.>iiJ tu Ix'vi-, piirnUeliiii;- C'raiy;".* rond. Aluuit l«-'ii tin- Qiifln-f Central railway war (.•uiiii:k'tt.'J fruiii Slifrbrunlie tu Lcvij, rumiiii!^ t'or nearly half its Ifiiirth c!o.M.-:y paralli-1 to it aero-? tlie .-uriJentiiie lielt; and siuec tiiat ilati- the C'aiunliaii I'aeirie railway lia? cxtemleil lines aero-sand to various part- of the di-triet. The J.othiniere and ilegantii- rail- way has eunneeted the ( irand Trunk hraneli with the St. Lawrenoe river at St. .Jean des Chaillons. and a third line hetween Sherhrooke and (jueliee i.* v.vw jirojeeted. .Meanwhile, the tide of innnijrratiun from the British Isles has been diverted to western Cana of till- Eastern Townships are raiiidly followini: it. But the steadily inerea-ing Freneh-Canadiaii i>opulation ha\iug ..eeup;e'! the St. Lawrenee [ilain. ha- e.xtended to the hiiihland-. and now forn;s much the ^jreater part of the ]ioi)ulation. Pnvioiii W'l'ik. — The tir-t descriptions of this district WiTe hy Sir William Logan, in several of the early reports of the Geological Survey, and were later embodied in the Geology of Canada, published in iMj:!. In these, th" distriliuti>jn of the -erpentines and related roi'ks \'.-a- deseril.ed wi;h the admiralde earc and aeeuraey wliiidi eharaeteri/.ed Logan'- work; but the scale of the maps issued at that tinie did not admit of -howiug them in the atlas accompanying \\\r general report of l^ii:! .Mineralogical and litholoiiic-al examination.- accompanied liy .■licuiii-al analyse- were made at the sani.' time by T. Sterry Jlunt. and the results were piibli-hed in conjunction with tho^e of Logan's tield work. Accord in:.'- to the vi -ws of the rniformitarian si-l\ool .if pi.'l.ii;y. wliich at that time v.a- in the a^ci-ndancy, tlii' serpontinr^ of this di>trict were supposed to be altered sediments deriveil hirgv'y from ma:;ne-ian limestone. They were as-Igncd to a certain hori/oii of the rtralitieil v^tW. A small suite of -inidmens from the di-trict. the tii--t rock< t.i bo examin d in Canada by nii.ileru micr'-copic method-. \\a- ilctermiued in l^-"!' by Or. F. T>. \A-M\ — thcii liiliol.,u;i-t to the (le.ilogieal Survey — and til.' -ei-penliiiev \vrc -hown t.. be alt'.'red iinoous. not sedimentary 1 1 1 .■.:»—! >. i GEOLOGICAL srnVEV, CAXAD.V rocks.' The newly acn'iiri'l iut'irinati.Mi a* to the origin of the rocks necessitated a review of the stratigraphy, which was carried out by Dr. R. VT. Ells. Dr. Ells revised the areal geology of the entire' Eastern Townsiiii)* nnd piiWi^hed reports ^^ith maps on a scale of 4 miles = 1 ineh. Those which relate to this di-trict appeared in the annual volumes of the Geological Surve.v for th.e years l-^SC. 18y»; and mentions the ehro- niite depo-sits of Ham. .Afincral determinations and analyses from the eanie localities. ,Rfl>"rt of Progress, Geological Surrey, chemi- lal analy-es of rocks and minerals from the serpentine belt. .Itiport of Progress, Geological Survey: pre- sents separate reports on the geological structure, rock varieties and their distri- bution in the Eastern Townships. ■ Geological Survey, Canada. In a general repnit entitled 'Geology of Canada ' is (tiven a description of the serpentine*, with chemical analyses, and observations on tiii'ir economic importance and geological relations. ■Report of Prngress, Geological Surv.'y: gives onalvses of serpentines from Bolton and ^relbonrne, showing them to contain chromium, nickel, and cobalt. ■ Rrpnrt Second Geological Survey nf Penn- .iglrania: includes the rocks of this di-tricr, ill a discussion on the ' .Azoic Rocks and Tr.ip nvkes ' of Pennsylvania. .Report of Progress, Geological Survey, Part .1 : discusses the geological structure of the (JiihIicc Group. .Reiiort nf Progress, Genlogical Surrey, Part A: a further discussion of the Quebec Group. .Report of Progress, Geological Survey, Part .1: .\ppendix. Announces the igneous origin uf the serpentines and several associated rocks. • Oeologioiil Survey, Canada, lSSO-1-2. Part A. SERrEXTIXES, ETC., IN SOirilEKX IoKV "f tl'P di-trict eovereU by the (Jii(l>"i in.ip sheet, or the iiorihi-ast quar- ter -heet of the E.istern Townships map. A,i„iHil n,IH,rl, llflotlkul Ai.rrii/. Report on t'"- nuner.il r.-st.-ict describeu in the last two prereiling reports. A.iHital hnw't. (icoloijUtil Xurvc'j. R'^lj'"' "" ■ ■■ the L-eolo«v of the district covered by the Mniitr.al "map sl't*!, and the southwest quarter ^heet of the Eastern lownships /iiWh'f'i/i v» Asbestos, iitoloijicnl Survy. Re- ■ " views the history and progress of in* aslx'^tos industry. BnlUtin. ih-oU.yiaa Socictu of I '""•'"'• D-i,,...!., tlie nioile of occurrence of asbestos. lUl'url nj iliiHS branch: l)ii>arliiunt uj liii- ' " ]iitiri,ir. Discusses the mode ot occi.rreiice ,t asbestos, and de- mentioned— the progre-. in rain- ini: nsbc-.is and chromite is described, and the distribution of the mineral deposits . .. BriH.it vf nines Uranch: Department of Minis. Lanailn. Discusser the mode of oc- tmrence. mining, con(eiitrati<'n, and uses of chromite. .. ..-hrnuOKuc iui,l'>OiJ-' -Vc"' Uaren, tonn., \ul. li'. -Vo. 2. Describes mode of occur- rence of asbi-st-os, and discusses its origin. .I,'iiiii(il. Canadian Mininu Inslilnl', i ol. " " \ll. Review- the iiiiiieral re-ources ot the Serpentine belt, and discus-es the mode ,f (icurnnfc of asbe-tos and chromite. Jonrnal, Cunatlian Mining Institute, Vol. " " Mil. Discus-e- the mode of origin of as- i).-to-. .hninint. Canadian Mining Institnir, ] of. " " \;//. Discusses the geology of the asbestos d.positS. . , ^ ..Snnimaru Report of the Geolngical Su.-vey liir imiit- reprinted a- a separate. l)e«- fiibe- !lie geologv and mineral resources of ilie asbe-tos d strict of szoic age. In tho (ii:-trict I' irt'il by the ai(>iiiii)iiiiyini; iiiap?, tlif seilinieiuary rookj are upper Cambrian and lower Ordovioian; but, in adjacent areaa to the ^outh, Silurian aiiti>s occurs in -crpentine of two varieties, which are thought to lie of (!>L'rent age-. The two classes of asbestos- may be con- veniently called the Thetford and the IJroughton type-, and the rock- in which they occur, the Ihclford and the Uroughton pha-c-. from townships in which they are well known. Asbestos of the Thetford tyjie occurs in vein?, and ir ucnerallv longer and stronger than that of IJrougliton. C'hrnmite a!-o oi-curs in the Thetford phase. Tlie asl)cstos of Brouuhtou occurs principally as ■ >liii ■ tibn', or fibre arranged parallel to the cleavage faces of the Tock. It is more cheaply mined than that at Thetford, but being shorter and of less tensile strength, it has a lower nuirket value. Tlie IJrought.m asbestos deposits are often a!--ociateuitiii.1!X urEBEc i I„ l,..tli .lua.ifity ;ui.l .luality „i tlw min.TaU itmIu,',-.!. mu.ii lU ^.r.Mt..r value U nl,tai.„.l ir-m the ..•rt..ntin.- .,{ the TlK-tf..r.l fha^o^ It i- f...iii,l ill all tl,e vriiiripal part- -f tlie .eriniitine belt, and cmtaiii. the n-.ine- ..t rhetferl. I'.laek l-ake.au.l Danville, with the.r smaller .lei-.-it^ in the intervenin..' area^. an.l aU„ extend.. ,outhwar.l bev..n.| the St. Kran<-i- river. Tiie llrnui:ht..n -erpentin.- e,,i,tai.w the - ' •- and pr-peet- .it Ea-t l!r..si.dit.m a.id the vi-inity -f lt„hert-..n. 1 lie property ..t the I)-I-ri,'i Mininir (■.•nipany. l.iniite.l. in (iartlihy. and ^"iii,- pros- ,...-t- in ran.'e- I. IF. and lU. ..f Trin.. al-o hel„n.' t.. thi^ eh.-. The produ.thm ..f aJ-e-fs ha- iner. a.ed steadily from the bediming' of mining in the di.trie, thirty year- ai.-. t.. the pre-nt tim- It now has an annual value ..f =»i'..-.'"'. • Cl.n.n.it eur- in workable dep.-it. in the Thetf..rd terpen- tine, but not. as far as known, i.i that ..f Hrou.hto.u The value of the annual produetiun for s.^veral years was about «'O..XH). ■>„.,p-t..- ,.r tab' is f..:nd in iinp-rt -it .luantities a--...-iate,l with the l!r..u«lit..n -er.entine: but not with that of Thettord. Some -hipment- w -n- made from th.se depo-its over twenty y.ar, a-o but a -table ii dustry has not yet resulted. ^ The -erpet.tine of th,- Thetford pha-e ha- b.vn derived by alter- ation from peridotite. It is thouirht that the I'.roUK'hton -..rp,nf.ne ha- b<-,.n deriv.'d from pyroxenite. a eb,-ely allied roek. In botn ea-.- th.- ori'-'inal roek was a meml-er of a -'lies ot i„tru-ive ro.k- differentiated from a simrle mairma. The -eries ,.„„„,ri-es peridotite. pyroxenite. irabbro. ,liaba-e. porphyr.te. and honibl.nde granite, th.. latter -oinetinie- passing, int.. aplite. The .ranite has u-ually beon injeeted a little later than the other mem- ber- ..f the series, and. therefore, in nuiuy plaees form- dyke, and sill- or intru-ive -heet-. Tlie-e pr.,bab!y had a favouralde induence in th. formatb.n of asbe-to- depo-its. e-, ially in the vieuiity ot Thetford Mine-.. , , ,- i ,\ ■ i- The i-neous eomplex may be reiiarded as a batholith. or tlm-k laocoUth. in the area between Thetfor.l and Danville, where it presents many isolated -toeks. Kl-ewhere it is ehietly in she-.ts or Mils The sorpentine of the Thetf.T.l type o.-eurs both in s.lls nii-l Btoeks. while the serpentine of Brou^hio . is only in sheets or s,lls. The different ro,k varieties are arranged in order of ,le.rea-ui? den-itv: in -ills from the ba-e upwar.ls; in -t..eks from 5 OKuLot-icAi. r^^•I;vEv, caxaka till' .cntre ouiwaril. Tliis „nl.r i^ MTiJotitf, pyroxfiiiti". t'iil'i'ro. dialia-c, and porplivrite. Tlif iPtriJotite alters to ,-t. i- most likely to carrv asbestos mar the l.a-e of a sill, or the i-tiitre of u batliolithie mas-'. A ri'sult of this arrangeiu.nt (,f tli.. Igu. on- rocks is. that ulaii the strm-ture is km.wn. the l.MMtiou of the purest seriniitim- may be detenu iiietl. Most of tlio sheets ilip toward, the ?t« lliat .ivv bolieved to be priuiurv, in the vult-t imrt of tin- iieriJotitu or !i;i-iirimar.v j^rurigatinn-. Antimony occurs in South llani, as a itact depo-it in ^cllists. adja'-ent to M-rifntine and diabu^i-. The -. po-it contains naiivo antin.i'ny. kerniefite. valcntinite. and a littl.- -tilMitc. Platinum is known to o,'. ur in the dritt. and tliis ha- coiue from the direction of the ehromite deposits, which are the probable source of the metal. Several assays of ehromite ore for platinum, made by Mr. Harold I.everin of the Mine* llranch. hrve, however, yieldrd ncfrafive re-ults. Diamonds of gi>od quality, but too small to be of value n- i;. ni-, oecur in the ehromite. There i^ as yet too little known ab.nit their occurrenre to indicate whether or not they may le fouii.l ot lom- mercial value. GEXEK.VL CIIARACTEn OF THE DISTRICT. Topography. <:i:\K.ii.\i. Accdl NT. Eijional — That portion of the Province of Quebec which lies south of the St. Lawrence river consists of two partj which are ciuit di^tinct in their topographic features, the St. Lawrence valley and the Appalachian highlands. The St. Lav.-rcnce valley is so nearly level as lo pre--eiit to the eye the appearance of a plain. It, lio\ ever, ri?es in altitiuie from 101> feet above sea-level along the river to 4iJ0 feet near the U-cl of the hi^rhland-, and thus is properly regarded as a bror,d, flat valley, though it is often suitably referred to as a plain. Its brea'iih on tl.i ?outh shore varies from "lO miles near the Fouthern bounchiry of the Province, to 4 or 5 miles a short di-tance northeast of the c.;y of Quebec, where the highlands and river ehai nel clo-ely .\.uverge. The Ai^palachian highlands, sometime- known as the Notre Dame h'ils. are an exten-iou of tlie Cin-en mountain- of Vermont and of the White mountains of New Hampshire, which are the bordering If- (;Ki>I.lMi|( AI, SlIIVKV, CANADA ^tiitcs oil tlic Miuth uf till- I'roviii. f Quebec Tlie ln;ilil;iipl- ei.ii- •■i-t of riilu;e^ i>r sulMlneil liills (-ee froiiti-iiieee) which have a iiorth- la-terl.v treml, aiiU rather liroail iiiterviiiiiiii vaHevi wlmse altitiiile i- well ahdve that of tl;.' Sr. I.awreiiie plain. The iiill-. t'.irin three principal riiljies, or ranges, whicli aro about i5 miles apart. The large.-t nt' these is the Sutteii raiiye wliieh boriler> on the St. l.awrenee |ihiin. In Sutton mountain near the Vermont State line, it ri^es to a heifriit of :i.lo(» f,.,.t— the hifihest point in the cli-triet. Kartiier to the northi'a,-t, in tii<> counties of .\[.>j;antie, Arthaha.-ka. and Wolfe, this ranue i> >on;e l.> n.iles in wiilth and eonsideralile Iiortious of it have an altitude of more than l..">iH» feet. The ?eeond range, in a ilepression of whiih the city of Sherlirooke stands, fornn the Capelton and Stoke hills and tie hills of Weedon. The highest point in this raime is liald Teak at the northeast end of Stoke moun- tain, which is about l'.4e — which are due to ignes the valb'V. In the la-ins betwc.'u the Sutton ami Lake .Mciianlio ranges, there are -ix or -evi'U granitii' hill- of -imilar form to the .VIonteregian- altlui: gb ililfering from them in other features. Al-o on tlie -outhea-t -idi' of the .Sutton range and running near and parallel to it, iliere i- the -eric- of intrusive hills forming thi' -erpentine bell with which this report e— cutially d(>als. These last present various tojiograpbic form- and uuiy be bett..i' con-idi'red under a detai'ed description .if liic relief. Mc rciiiou as a wuoli' i - drained to the St. I., river means of the l!icbelie\i. ^■amaska. .St. I'rancis, Nicolet. lici.'ancour. and ('haus the Sherbrook.> bill- a- well, in eour-c- livncrally at right anii'es to tlit> trend of the rhlges. The valley- atv; .-oini^what narrowi'r and have steeper SEKl'KMINES, KTC, IN f^OlTIlKK.V yrKUKC 11 slopes wluTc tho riv.T. cwt tlirniiiili tlie ri.igo-, Imt uo fall- .t cvea iiiipurtuut rapi'ls are t'nriiicl. VifwoJ liroailly, then't'..ie. tli..- retrioii may be ri-gardoil a- a section of an -U coastal plain, uhi.li was f..nnt'.J arouml the .mI^cs of the I'ri'-Caniliriaii uplaml iii uarly PaUi'ozoie thins ami was later deformed by tlie folding of the Appalachian uplift. Tho St. Lawrence river in the Province of tiucbcc occupies the position of a sub- sc(iiient stream runninir parallel to the Laurentiaii oM lan.l. and not far from it. The belt of higher land alona the boundary line between the Province of (iuetiec and the State of New York repre- sents an an.'ient cuesta. n.)W well worn down in that vicinity, and which is lost in the Appalachian fol.liug and faulting farther to the northeast. The main rivers which drain this regb.n are thu, obse- quent streams Howin^' northwe-terly to the St. Lawrence down the inward sloping face of the old and deformed cuesta. Their tribii- taries, on the .>ther han.l. llow either northeasterly or southwesterly under the inthien.'c of the f.dding of the r.'iriou, au.l are often moditi.'d by glacial action. The tributaries more frciuently have falls or rapid-, and thus give rise to the principal water-pow.rs of the district. They are. th.Tcfore. thought to be later than the rivers into which they empty. /^o,.„/._The particular district in which thi- inve-tigation has been carried on lies on the southeast -'.M'-^ of the Sutton range, and betw.H'n the St. Franci. and fhaudiiTe rivers. Tb. untry on the southeast presents a uniform, nearly level, surface, the skyline being broken only by the i.rotile, of the hills of the Sherbrooke or Lake Megantic ram-'-'s in the distance. On the n..rthwe-t. howev.'r. the hills of the Sutton ran-e rise aluio-t innudiately from the boundary of the s,.rpentine lielt to a b.ight greater than is reached by most of the hills of tliat -cries, and usually limit the view to a .li-tanee .d" ;'. or i miles, or less. iii;i.\ii.r.i> M ' oi \ I. /;,,/„,;._Xhe country underlain by the -.■rpeutine belt ha- a rather di-liuctive rcli.^f. The hilU bav,. abrupt proriles and some- times steep, or ev,.u ,.verluni::iuL-. face- du,. to .lilbTcnt rate- of erosion of the various rocks of th ries. They ar,. thus in marked contrast to tlu- gentle -lope- and subdued outlines of older hills which compo-c the main raiii;cs. I 12 C.EOLOtilCAL sri;V£V, CA.VAUA The Quebec Central raiUvny. wliich follow- the course of the senienthie belt throughout the creator part of the ilistauce l.etwecn the St. Franris and Chau.liero river-, ha. au altitihle at Sher- hrooke of 4-0 feet. At D-I,raeli station the altitmie i- SCl. feet; at Black Lake WO feet; at Kobert.on l.-ju:, feet; at East Broiighton l.iiiM feet, and at Beauce .Ji:nction on the Chaudiere 491 feet. Above this the hills of the serpentine belt ri^o from KKi feet to 1.(100 feet. The surface of the belt is. therefore, arched ab ng its length in this district in agreement with n i.ronounccd dome structure in the Sutton range. 'J-he summit of tlii. dome, wliich shouLd be opposite Broughton station, has been removed by erosion probably aided by faulting and is now replaced by the transverse vallvy of a branch of the Tliames river, a tributary of the Bcjancour C..n-e(iueiitJv. Broughton station at ar . Ititude of I.Km) ico-.. is Iimi feet lower than Kobertsou. 4 miles to the southwe-t; or East Broughton, an equal distance to the northeast. The sides of this transverse valley, northwest of the raihva.v. arc steep, and rise some &W> feet above the bed of tlie stream. eN|i..-ing -ilU of serpentine. Ihairnvjc— The northern i.art of the di-trict-e'.xcept for a short distance from the Chaudiire— is draincl by the Begaucour river. The Thames rising on the southeast >ide of tlie Sutton range crosses it through the gap at JJroughton mentit.ned above, and joins with the Clyde at Lloyds W\\h in the township of Inverness to form the Becaneour. The Tlietford river ri-es in Becancour lake in tli- southern part of Thetford, and enters Black hike. Thence, under the name of Black .stream r crosses the Sutton ranse by a gap in the townships of Irclaml and Ilalifa.x, in wliieh a series of lake, are formed: Trout lake. Lake William, an,l the A.ldcrly lakes. From the-e t.. it- junctbin with the Thames, it is kn.iwu as the Clyile. Tlie Xicnl.'t riowcr for the principal industries and utilities of the city. The Ouatopekah joins the St. Francis at Windsor Mills, and by a nearly similar d'-'scent on the northeast -ide fnrni-lii- p.twcr for the industries which ■give rise to that town. The upper St. Francis river in Westbury has a rapid — where the river is confined in a deeply entrenched channel — which is about to 1)0 ileveb'ped for power purposes: whi!e at East Angus the water-power furnished by the river has led to the establishment of the niilU of the Royal Pulp and Paper Company; anil at Herring raiiids. power is obtained by the St. Francis Hydraulic Company, and tran-mitted ti> manv of the nunes of the district. Other tributaries of the larger riv r furnish small watcr-pi>wers: but lit nearly all instances they are in streams nmning northeast or southeast, or parallel to the folding of the ranges of hilh. Climate. The average temiieratiuro of the (listrict is al>out 4o' F. Extremes of summer heat rarely rise above W F., while the temper- ature in winter only occasionally falls below 25' F. The average temperature for July and August is 05' F., for January and February 15° F. 14 c.i:i>Lu(iiCAr. sii;vi:v. i anaha Tllcl-i- i~ ;lll ;lllllll;ll ]irt'i-ipir;lti..ll ct' UlM'llt 40 ilK-]li/>. of whit-ll !i- imicli a- :',o iiic-lic- fall as rain. The ri'iiiaiiukr calculatoJ as siiow tiivfs a total ^no\vfall of nO to luu inclios. The amount and fre- (|uoMry of MiowfalU i- an iniiiortant factor in the f..-t of niinins oinrationi-, which are larfrcly carried on Iiv oinni-cut method--. Agriculture. Tho sunaiier ^ca-on i- not loiiir. hut i- one of rapid vegetation. Si-ccliii^- i- u-nally done in ^lay; liay i- cur in July; ^rain harve-ted in Angus*, and root crops early in September. -Mi.Ncd farming' and dairying: arc the as-ricultural occupations. In the intervals hetui'cn ne<'e^sary farming ojierations farm labourers often find employment in the mine-. This practice is probably growing li>- owing to improved njcthods of farming, and more c-|iei'iall,v to the con-tant oocupati'in rM-c;i-ione.! by the dairy iui: industry. Transportation and Communication. The building of the railw^iy- of the district wa- mentioned in llio hi-torical cUctch wliii.-h form- an ei'vlier part of this report. The greater part of the di>trict i^ -crvid liy the (Quebec Central rail- way, now u portion of tiie Canadian Pacific llailw.iy >ysicin. The in'incijial -liijiping .-tafion- for thi' mine- on thi- liuo are 'i'hctford .Mine-. Jjiai-U J.ake. and Ea-t JJroughlon. Thctford .Miuc- i- Tii miles from (juelicc. i!T miles from .Slierbroolir. and liN from Montreal. Ithu'k Lake i- 1 mile- >oiith of 'I'liettMrd .Mines and East Jiroughlon, ]s luilf- xo the north. Sidini:- or -hort spurs lead t.i lb'' princi|ial mines. ■{'he mine- at .\-bc-tM< ;ivi' r. ac|i,..i by a lino of 4 nnlo- owned by llu' Danville A-bc-to- and .\-lio-ii.- CMUipany, T.imited, wiiich connect- the mine- with the llrand '{'run!; railway at Danvi'lo. »•> miles from Montreal and -i; mi]c< fi-oni (,)uclicc. I'ublic road- reacli all part- of tlio fli-trb't. Tlic-c arc ucncrally bicatccl on range line-, but freq-i.rutly arc adju-li'd \ > the topography of the di-trict. or to uivc -uitablo :icco.< lo thv railway. The lu-t of tbe-e roads arc maintained in :i conijiiiou that can be de-cribcd a- onl.v tolerably i; 1. The majority .^f tli'm arc poor. The cu-f.im •^El.'l'E.NTlNES, 1;Ti ... I.N >OLTUEI;X (iUEliEl' 1.: of ni'iiiriui;' rninl- Ij.v -tatute hil"'iir ,-lill .il.tiiiii^. iiii.l little it' ;iny iK-riiKiiiiut viid liiiil'liiiy i- ijiiK'. Tcl'--lili"ii'-' iiii'l ti'l<-L'r;iiili 1-..1U1II' nii-ati-ii i-;iu lie liml tliroUgli"iit the cli-triL-t. (iKNF.RAL (ii:()I.O(iV. General Statement. N.'"rtli nt till- Si, i.;i\vnur,. Viillcy tin- l'ri-(\imliriuii i>( tlie great C'liitiiieiital ijrvtiixi- I'Xtiiuls U'lrlliwiin! an. I uortiiwi-twanl to Hudr'^n sti-iiit- iiiiij till- Arctic uceiin. 'I'liu St. Lnwri-m-o valley is uuikr- laiii I'y strata el' I'ala-n/eic- ;ii;e wliieli raiiue I'ri.in I'air.briaii to Devo- liiaii. J-"reiii the eilge et the rre-l'ainbriau tu al"Kit the iiii'lille et' the valley the -trata are in a^eeiiiliiii;- enler atid little i.iitliea-ively exin.-iil with. .lit— a- far a- kii.iwn — any time break in the .-erie.-. Thi; ijortb.n ..f the valley i- separated fri.in the i-a-tcrn liart by a fault running fr..ni the head <■( i.aUe (.'hanuilain t.. tlu- St. Lawrence river near l^iiebee i-ity. whi-in-e it e.mtini.e^ in ..r near tin- river ehaiine! far to the n..rtheaitward. The total length of this dis- loeatien wa- e-tiniated by Sir William Lugau at n..t l.-?s than '.'00 mile-. The plain i- heavily drift eovere.l, and there i- rarely, if evi-r, tiiiy l..p..i:rapliri- r\i.n---i..ii ..f thi< fault in the I'r.iviiiee of l^uebrc .-..nth i.f (^uibi..- ,-ity. i'.iit the r..eli^ in the ea-tern -i.l.- ..f ili.- fault are di-tiuuni-liel fr.ni ili..-e .if tin- we-tmi part ..f tl .■ v:dl.-y plain by their being higliiy f.'.jed and greatly disturbed from their ..rii;iiial i...-iti..ii. al-.. by pala-..iit..l..:;i.- aii.l litli..!. .;;!.- .lili'.-renees. Till- lith..|..gi.- iliir.-nii.-.-. b.-iib-- tlie-e il.ie t.. dylianiie nieta- ini.rphi-iii. are -u.-li a- t.. in.lb-aie in Li.iieral. shallow waler depo^its en ll J-l.rii -i.l.- ■<( llie fault. Till- pala-..';' 1 -n.- fe:il;ir.-s wlliea di-lin;;ui-h t!ie .a-teni I1-..1H tlu- w.-tern p.irl .'f the vall.-y d.-n.ite .-.■l.l.-r wal.r in tlie f..r r an. I ar.- in!.-rpreti-.l by Selineli.-rt an 1 rii-i.-h ' ,.- in.lie.iiing a narr..w barrier in early Ord-'vLMan time ■ririeli aii.l .<. Iiii. ll -It, • r.il.-..7. -i. S,-,i- .111.1 H,'.i-i.r-,' N.Y. Sl.ito Atu-.-uii, Hull. 1111 -.J. pp. i:!:i-M.:i, l"".'. J 16 t.tiUI.UIiKAL SLli\i;V, (A.N ADA luiiniiig nurtluMjterly tliruuyli tlie cutitral part ot die ijresout vallej". The diu^tropliic liirtViviiL-ia ikaole tliut the C'hampLuii and St. Law- reaie fault tuuk phue iioar the western limit ot the Appalachian uplift. The strata in tlie i-;i^tern part of the valley are rei^arded as nearly conteniporaiieou-- with those in the western part. As the iiighlanj-, formed hy tile iireater nidift along the main anticlinal ridges, are approached, however, tiie lower formations are more largely e.xpojed. The eciitral portions of the main ranges of the highlands consist of highly metaniorphie rocks. A part of thesa are altered voleanies, ijorphyries, and greenstones — which are thought to be of Pre-Cam- Lrian age. Another considerable jinrtion is made up of altered -eiii- ments, and perliai's pyroelastic rocks, whose age is extremely uncer- tain. Occupying the basins between the main ranges, flanking the ridges. ;ind in places almost completely covering them, are sediments of I'aiieozoic age similar to those of the eastern part of the plain. llfrc. iiowever, there are distinct evidences of an eroiional uncon- formity between tlie Ordovician and tiie Cambrian; while no time break is thougbl to have occurri'd in tlie diposition of the -trata we-t of li'c ('liani|ilain and St. Lawrence fault. Through the sediments of both the plain and the liighlands there have been considerable intrusions of igneous rocks. Across the plain the intrusions of the alkaline rocks of the Monteregian scries form eight consiiieuous buttes. In the highlands isolated intrusions of granite occur chietly in the trough between the Sherbrooke and the Lake .Megantie ranges; the intrusives of the serpentine bi It are in the trough between the Sherbrooke and the Sutton ranges, near and parallel to the latter With the e.\ception of a part of the serpentine belt chiotly developed in the township of Broughton, all these intru- sive- aitpear to bo of about the same age; their iiitru-ion being assigned to late Devonian time, which is known to have l)ren a period of igneous activity in the Appalachians north of New York. Outlying remnants of sediments high uj) on the hills of intru- sive roi'ks indicate that the roirion has been deeply ero.led, and that the surface has licen considerably lowered by subsequent denudation. Small occurrences of Devonian strata at Lake Meniiphreii:agog anil Montreal show that that system had some distribution within tlie region and ha* now been all but completely removed. Rocks of Silurian Age are somewhat widely distributed, liut in small areas; SERPENTINES, ETC., IX SOUTKEKX (JfEBEC 17 while Oriloviciiiii sejinu'iits on ilount Knyal and Shofford mountains of the -Monturegiun series, indicate that the surface of the St. Lawrence plain has been eroded, at least, to a depth of tJ'XJ feet to 1.000 feet. Heavy glaeiation has come from the north-northwest, and the resulting land forms are modified in places hy late; local glaination in which there has been ice movement from the east of north generally following the structural valleys of the region. The St. Lawrence plain is heavily drift-covered and the same may be uen.'r- ally said of the troughs between the main ranges of hills. At l.iwer levels the drift has been reassorted by water showing submergence since the latest glacial period. In the St. Lawrence valley marine fossils up to 015 feet above present sea-level show that the sub- merg.'iiee extended to the ocean. Terraces in the valleys of the high- lands are found at a higher level, but evidence has not been found that the waters by which they were formed were marine. LOC.\L. Si-'limrnldfy Hocl.s. — The district occupied by tlie serpentine belt and the rocks a-sociated with it lies on the southeast side of the Sutton range. This range has an anticlinal structure, and consequently the strata of the district, with local e.NCi-pt i(jns. dip toward.s the southeast. The stratified rocks in the district cun-ist broadly of slates, quartzites. ami sandstones, all of which have been greatly deformed and altered by regional nietamori>hiim. Those Mcks which border on the seriientine series in the part of the district thus far studied, arc all cnnsidered to be of Cambrian age and the oldest in the district .vith the po:-sible exception of some out- lying occurrences of serpentine at ^onie di>tance northwest of the main belt. The (anibrian strata (••nsist of a coarse feldspathic sandstone or greywaeke and re.' -d green slates, underlain by quartzites and grey or greenish urey scliists and slates. The red slate and sandstone are a southward extension of the Sillery formation, which occurs typically at Sillery cove near (^tiebec city, and farther down the St. Lawrence river. The quartzites and giey slates are similar to the r.H-ks which underlie the Silicry in the region between the Chaudii-re river and Riviere du L.iup. for which the iinme L'lslet formation 11159—2 » IS OEOI.OC.ICAL SliiVEY, CANADA lias leou pruiioscd, t'n.in it- cxtoii-ivi.- orcurronc/L' in tiiiit ouuiity. It ajipears to underlie the Siilery cunturiualFly. but is ili-rtiiigui^iatl from it in the original character of tiie riPL-k?, in the dcyreu of alter- iitioii, as well as by stratifrrai'liical i"i-ition. The I'amhrian i* overlain on the s.iuthi'a--t by altered black slates of Orilovician age, Hhich are referred to the Farnhani seric'S or Uiwest Trenton. They have not yet been found in actual contact with the intrusive rock- in tlii- di-trie and rericitic schists. It is not known with certainty whether tiiese belong to tlie ?anic. or to an older fornnUion. But as the question is of no ecoiiomic inipurtance. and the rocks in ^lue^tion occupy a very small part of the area, they are nut di-tingui;hed on the accompanying map, in which all the sedi- n:enti are shown as unditfercntiutcd I*aia'"Z(pii>. lymoiis /i'o( /,>•.. — All the igneous rock-, with the possilde excep- tion- mentioned above, have been intruded into the Cambrian forma- tion. The area occu|iied by them nuiy be conveniently called the serpentine belt, since the serpentine, although not the most abiimdant in it. is the rock whidi contains the principal iniu'Tal depo^its. In this di>trict tliere are two phases of the igneous rocks in the serpentine belt which differ in economic importances in degree of alteration, and, pos-ibly, al>o in age. They arc dis- tinguished as the Thetford phase anil the Broughton pha^e from townsiiii>s in which they are characteristically developeil. All the igneous roi-ks arc in the form of sills, or of larger intrusive masses which are either batholitbs or thick lacooliths. The ditlerent rock varieties are generally differentiates from single intrusions. The granites, and in some cases portions of the por- phyrite-, h.ive apparently boi-n intruded a little later than the other rocks of the serie-. The rock- of an imlividual intru-iou usially become less basic from the ba-e of a ^ill upward, or from the centre of a stock outward. Ai-cordingly )ieri(b'tite and serpentine are usually founil near the ba-s. <.'niiKiom.T;it«*. Catiiljriaii Sillery Kfl ami (jr.-iii slattw, and Ll.-lft 'inartzcis... gr-y siliints, and (luanziti-. (Intrn>-i\e and ''f diffir. lit m:v»), r<»st Sillcry: in part at U-ast, l*t»Mt-Karnhatii and \t**^- siblv later than luwr D>- M.nian. Thitfurtl Series . . . . riwt-L'lsltt Siries Bruiightun. IVridiititc, altering ■ sir inntine ; pyrDwn. . gal) l>iu, dial>a.^e, and pur phyrite ; granite and ap- lite. SeriK-ntine. .Soajwtune. (ireenstnne schists. Description of Formations. XfitlKT the bciile (if tile iiuip accompaKyins; tliia report, uor the facilitk's lor iinpariusr it admit of a separation of the sedi- mentary formations from one another. Nor does the eeunoniie r^.^-on — for wliieh tliis inve-t Juration lias prinOlTIIEi;X lilEnEC ATiiil.v-i- i.t SilliT.v -I.itc. Iry T. Sf.rry IFnnt': — SiO, M-80 AljO, 23 15 21 MkO .. Ca() ... K.O.... Xa ,0 . . . u.,o ... !C5h 2-lt} 1 INi 3 3; 2 ZJ 3 !«• UIO 24 Tlio sanJjtone in the cuntlis ft" Beniifc. Mcgantic, and a part of Wulfo, has the general a-i>ect of the Sillery sandstone of the type luoality near Quehcc city. The hand specimi'n shows feld-par and quartz as tlie principal minora'^. Under the mii-rosooiH; .t shfiws the san.e minerals with the additiir if frraius of irfii ore cemented together by a finely crystalline mineral probably n'lartz. It is typically on arkose. In the southern part of the area under two varieties, since they form a single stratigrapiiic unit, an i frequently pass by gradation from one stage to the other. F'lnihnm. — The principal rock of the formation is a soft, fissile, argillaceous slate, of steel grey colour. In p:aces, it contains noticeable amounts of graphite, auil in many cases magnetite is quite plentiful in microscopic grains. Near igneous intrusions an/1 in places that have been e«peeial'y altered, it ha.s developod a small amount of secondary mica Uericite i and so becomes a true phyllite. Quartz stringers and veins are common in this rock, and the veins frequently contain small amounts of crystalline cab-ite interlocking with the quartz. Lenses or possilily small beds of feldspathie quartzite are occasionally found in tln.-e slates. Tlie following are chemical analyses - of two specimens of this rick from the Danville slate quarry. ' IJfiMirt Ural. Sniv., Cm.. ls:>2-n. ' B. .). IliirriiiRtoii Keport Utol. Smvev. Cano. 60 J. ' 22 OEOI.fWilf AT >I |;VKV, lAXADA rA 75 67 Vi i: k: !• II) II «7 11 U i» 7<' 1" 7!l 5 SI 3 2:) 1 14 lis 2!»r " U 1 12 1 (iO 5 20 4 M Analysis of slate from I>aiivi:ie:— SiO, Ai,<», ■:;::.:;:;.;;:.:: : .■ ■■ i' MnO Mgt) l'»« > . . . . K..() Xii,(» ii,o ■.■.■.■.■..;■. W ll!( If.) (<8 The ba^e of the i'anihaiu iuruiatiou consist, of iiebLles of grcywaike, -^aiKNton... and ands and gravei- l.K;,l!y stratitied, as in the vicinity of the Little Xicolet lakes near Dan- Tille. In this instance they are probably a delta depo-it ..f the Champlain period. In other pla>'es they occur as terraces around lakes, or along river channels. Like the clays, the sand and gravels are largely products of the assorting of the boulder day by water action since the last glacial period. Boulder clay is frequently found resting on the soliil rock where exposures are suitable for sh..wing it. It consists, as usual, of unassorted glacial debris, the boulders representing widely different rock formations. Boulders of Laurentian granite and gneiss and other rocks characteristic of the Pre-('ambrian highlands north of the St. Lawrence river, are quite ommon. but are nor numerous. The greater nund.er of erratics are from f.trmations that occur on t.S.'^^ «v jg^Vr* .-^ir; . ' i '■^^■M^- *."■ ?-jS^O-j C ~ ^£ a"" IS 11159~p. 22 SEIiPEXTIXES, ETC., IN SOUTHERN QUEBEC 23 tho south iliuro of the St. I.av.rciioe river, and many are ')f local origin. A general glacial movement from tlie north-northwi.'st U evidenced by nun.eroii; striLc am! a -ni.r- in the solid rocks, and by tlie distribution uf Laurenti; aid oihor t"-nu" '- from that direc- tion. There ha? also been l^'Ci gli-Jation l-ovci ■ -d by the present topography. Stria." from ea-t-; iii' • a~t iro c ■ nnon, and distinc- tive boulders, such a? serpent.;. ■ d i ■ roxi nite. are frequently found for a distance of -i .>r 4 miles south and west of occurrences of these rocks in place. .'e reliable evidences in this locality. But the ba^al conglomerate' and the discordant bedding indicate that an erosional, and in this locality, at lea?t, a stratigraphic unconformity exists between the Cambrian and the Or'ovician. The conglomerate is a general feature, and may be found in all occurrences of the formati..n. The ditTercuce in strike was clearly observed only in the townships of Ham. Wi.tton. and a part of Ship- ton; that is. in the vicinity of that part of the scrpeniine belt which swerve- to the eastward, out of the general direction of the belt. M'l'lr of Orliiiii. The Solidified sediments of the ■'■-trict were originally #inul- stones and shales, and accordingly are regarded as shallow water deposits. t'(jmfcnu/i.— The I'r. -Cambrian old lands, comprising tli,, p.,i- phyry-green^tone ridges and pos-ilily some early sediments, i,ave doubtless furnislutl mi.ch ..f the material of the sandstoni' or grey- wackc. which are distingui.-hcd from their e.juivalents farther t.) the northward and near the Laurentian. by a chloritic or mudily cement. But this source was probably not adecimito to sunply the material of the -hales of the period. These are geniTally similar to tho^e of the lower St. Lawrence, and are probably derived in con- siderable measure, at lea-t. from of! shore iletritii- of the Lauren- tian. Oiv/or/omji.— The conglomerate at the base of die Ordovician consists of pebbles of sandstone ami ipiartzife that are identiliable with bcd< in the Cambrian, in a matrix of black shales. Tile shales are comprised of material that raiglii have l>oen derived from the SE1!1'KXTINE<, ETC., l.N SOrrilKIIX QIEIUCC _.) Ciiiuliriaii il;ile~. with ! ■ nilclitinn ot suboriliuiitc aiuuuuti of ciir- boiiiK-fous, l'^■n•ui;ill.JU^, and i-iilcareous niattor. .1'/'- ('"(' (.'orrihilinn. C'liiil'iiaii The L'ljlct auil SiUtry formations are iJeiilitifd ill tlii= district l.y their litholot-'ical characters and stratigranhioal relatinii> to eaeli ..ther and to the overlviiij; f.irinatioii. They luive al^o been traced to the type occurrence <>( the Sillery near Qtie'uec fity where tliey cutain fosjils, and have been nuieli studied by earlier investigator^. They are a--signed to the upjier Cambrian, on tlie determination? of that aye for tlie Sillery by Klls and An'!.' Xo foi-ili have been found in the district in wliich this invest'j;?.- til in lias been carried on. The determination of the age of the:^e >trata. therefore, depends on the previous determination of the Cambrian luar Quebec on their identification by litholoyic and ;iratif,M-aphie evidences in the intervening distani-e; and on the a--unipticin that seI..^(.lC.\r. i-ntiiie, the southoa>tL'rn irriRTallv .lial.a-.- ,,r pyi-ux.Miitf. Thi^ arraiigena-nt is charac-tiTi>tic f a sill wiii.'li dips to tlio -.uthoa-t. After a drift covered interval of alM.ur a mile in which the lied-rock camint bo deter-nined. the lyrneous ro,-k. appeal in range I of Shipton and ooii- tinuo in an almost unlin.ken hand to Little Ham mountain in the couuty of Wolfe. This is a distance of about 10 miles and in a Course only .-lif^htly north of ea^t. Diabase is tiie prevuilinir r..ek in this >eetion, althou-li area< of :.erpentine are exp.jsed here and there on the north-n..rtl,we-t M.le of the belt. The igneous roeks ne.xt aiipear. in Biu' Ham n;oiiutain. .■; mile- to the southeast, the interval beinjr ce.-upied by (/anibrian and Ordovieian sediments. From the southwest end of IJiir Ham n^untain the igneous be.i again take^ a northea-terly trend, and extends with one or tv.c minor interruptions to the r..ad leadinu- from Coleraine station on the Quebec Central railway, to Wolfest.nvn. In thi- section the I)elt is in places more than a mile in width. The di-tance is IS miles. In the next HI mile- to the east-northeast, the jerpentine belt is very irregular, and in idaees becomes miK.h wider. Tiiese are batho- lithic, ,,r laccidilhic n i-^e-. and conipri-e the area which contains th. important m.... ..f Thctford and Black Lake. Broadly described, there are fvo nearly parallel belt- for a sh.irt distance here, eacli i' or o miles wide, and i miles apart: the hills from Woltestown t.j Thctf..rd mines form one; while tlie ridge- running from the vicinity of D'Israeli to Ad-tock mountain, form the other; but they are very irregular. Farther to the northeast the igneous rocks are chiclly dialni-c, and form a nearly connected but narrower belt past Clapham lake, and thence to Broughton moun- tain, a distance of V2 miles from Thctf..rd Mines. LitholugUal Clmnirteis.—The essential features of the two phases of igneous rocks can be best .-howu by a comparative view of the rocks which compose them: — 11159—1). 26 3 I I I Plats IV I nrt V > P.r.iught..n phase, while the greenstone schists of Broughtun are a mass of iijuco i- rocks, so altered that, the original rock varieties cannot be dis- tinguished with any digri f certainty. Peridotite. — Peridotite is dark greeu in colour, on a fresh sur- face, and weathers to a dull, or sometimes ru^ty brown. Grains of iron oxide, and the gli^teuin,- faces of pyroxcn.' cry-tals can .K-a- ionaliy be distinguished in the hand specimen. The rock consists e:H>ntially of olivine, with minor amount- of pyroxene, and accessory magnetite auil chromite. In i)laccs, the pyroxene is present only in accessory amounts and the rock becomes a 'te. Witli an e.xcess of pyroxene over olivine it becomes Xiyroxenite. The olivine is usually reduced to serpentine in thin ti'nn covering the faces of cry-tals. and in eon-ciuenc,. the sen't'ntin. and iieridotite rocks look ^o much alike that in the rield it is dilli- cult and often imi>ossible to distinguish them except on weathertnl surfaces. The differences in their mineralogi<-al composition and structlttie can be seen in the accompanying inicrophotographs shown in Plates IV and V. The olivine is in crystals of fairly uniform size, which appear to have been formed at about the same time. Iron o^^ where pre- sent, is the only earlier constituent. Pyroxene forms larger crystals than the olivine which they are sometimes fouti>i to enclose. 2S OEOLOGICVr. MltVEY, CAXADA Tlic I'll i..\viiiir ell. lu-nu.-a! aiuily-f, ,l,ow the .■uin|.ositi..!i vi t^i,;. fill s|..,iiiuii> ,.f tlie (liinite vnrietv:— Sill, ■|Vr. Al> Fe ,11 , K.0 .■ ., Mir<> CiKI K,ii Nil •• . . H 6 110. Ji." Ilii. , »>i u; .w :.'4 42 *J 2!l HI ^^ "7 ;{S 40 HOIK'. iiitiif". H'7ll 2 20 2 Ul :r. 1 I'J 6 •"! H .VI .-, li> " !I4 :i 42 II 411 4 X. 2 i;ii IW 41 !1J 11 lis 47 as 32 41 7 li'.t 27 :i2 li 2!l 45 2:i :i,j -M 21) M> 2") tit 11 I """' 11 ii>i II IDl 0.->7 1 (w 'ft 'M •7 «4 4 11 !i!rti its'lt. but eontains oeea.i.mal cry-tal- of pyro.xene, and irrain. .,f iron oxide. The roek is frequently fraetured and slickensided, .how- injr nii.venipnt of ihe ditfereiit parts of the rock against one another In tlie thin section reiiman..s of oivino are rarely found, though outlines of olivine er.vstals altered to seri^nih.e ea.i n.ore frequentlv be seen. ^Minute vein- of asbestos are frequently found runnincr iu courses that suffffest the ebnraeteristie lines of partins along wLieh SEKPEXTINES, ETC., IV !-OLTIlKi:.N »ilEBEC J!) o' ■.".'' :'. i-2 4.") •.':; .;:. II i»> 4 11 •."rpeiifiiiization is often sicn t« 1m uiu in iiartially altere.l cry-tali of olivine in pcridotite (sfe Plate IV i. The following analyses >lio\v the (■..iiiiM.-iti.»n ..f senifntiiic Iroiu this district 'lud from several other localities:— li>. li SiOj w '« Al4 -w Fe,0, II'* Feb 17" ISga '37 !« C»0 2r» K..0 I 010 N:l,0 / H.ri- iKf- 1 3r< H".'»-'-lH>° !;''*'■• 37 W tr. 1 tn i; i:. I t: u 32 II 2" or. 1 ,., 70 12 4'.t I '- ■" ;i9 14 a7 H2 , 41 13 43 40 2 <« 4 27 2 ••4 S'.l f»4 tr. PI 7 92 1 15 37 !'4 DM 3 s6 41 •« 3 (ai 40 110 noiii-. tr. tr. 1 7."i 1 12 6" \ 10 .ss 13 110 •IK 7(1 '.IIP 111 lOK 1-* mis'' I"« 00 • Mg II prol«bly low, (T) Serpentine near Black La!-- rtati.n. Analysis hy M. F. Connor. ('*) Serpentine, Garthl.y, ranuc II. l.-l W. Aiuily-is l>y M. F. Connor. (,0) Serpentine, Greenville, ri.iiiias Co.. California. De-cribe4 by ,T. S. Diller. (V)') Serpentine said to be derived fn.m en=;tatite. Granville, 'Mass. (11) Seriientine from .liinitc. T.e Bonhomme V.>^ges. Cited from Rosenbusch " Elemente Ge-ti-inslehre." (12) Serpentine, llani. range II. I't i. Wolfe county. Analysis by Hunt. ilesarding the origin of seri>entin\ the late T. Sterry II\int,' lja.*iiig his ..bservations on experiments by Daubrce on the crystalliza- tion of feldspar, said: — " The solution of silica by carbonate of soda and the conversi.m of carbonates of lime, magni-sia and iron into silicates, by its aid, may be elTected at the heat of boiling water The various siliceous minerals of crystalKno or mctamorpliic rocks may then be regardwl as having been farmed either by the crystal- lization and rearrangement of >ili.afos occurring in the se CEOI-OGICAL SUnVEY. CANADA itnitii. (.r l.y tlie iii)i..ii of silica, unooinliined. or uniteil with an- in-i.ffi,-ient nnioum ,.f l.aso, with oxi.le? oxi-ting in the >o(Jimeiits. i:oiiCT:.Ii.v in tlic -nif ,.f carlK.niito.. In thi-e reactions arc inchukMl tlie l-rnuition fr..ni the materials (if sedimentary rocks, of feldspars. mi.M-. scaiM.litc, epi.h.tc. sraniet, toiirmalim.. kyanite. amlalu^ite. >taurnti,le. chlorite, i.yroxene. lu.rnhlcn.le. , olivine, senxntine an.I talc.-' The relation ..f M-rpentine to iieriilotitc. as seen, hotli niegasco- picaily an,! micn-o.pically in tliis ami other parts of the world, ha> .-aiiscl the opinL.n of Hunt ami others who held like views, I,, 1,0 long >in<-e ahandoncd. The con.iant association of serpentine with if:ne(,i.s rocks, and the amiilc evidences of the alteration of pcrid<.tite and allied ro.'ks to serpentine abundantly prove it to be ail altered igneous rock, and not of seilimentary origin. Pyroxcnitc— This is a dark, green rock, holocrystalliue, and oUru very coar_-e in fxtiire. I'yn.xcne crystals, a small anionm of iiilcr^tltial serpentine, and grains of iron oxide can be se.n in the hand s-ecimen. The microscopic section shows little more. Kc.nnants of olivine are occasionally found in the serpentine, and portions of the pyroxene are sotnotimc^ altered to talc, and other decomposition pr.Hliict^. The pyro.xeiie. which is by far the mr.^t abundant mineral, i- largely diallage aUiiongh nim.erous cry>ta's liave the optical characters of enstatite. and others of augite. It frequently occov, i„ v.ry large cry-tals. in iilaces showing cloava^ie lace- as large a^ ,-. iurhe< by s inches. The following analvsis, Xo Vi. IS of pyroxene from a pyrosenite hill, a short distance south ..f the Danville .\.b,.-tos mines. The analy,is was made by Mr .M. 1". Connor. .Miii,> liraiich. Department of Mines, Ottawa.' <'hemical analy-e- of diallage: — .Xl.'ii, h'ril. ■Mk" . . . . Call K (I NTi II..,. II II IKI^ II II nil" 13. 14. v<. .Ml .■*! 47 20 ,'.0 41 4 12 :! (II 4 0.-. xi 20 s."i u :ti> 21 :!4 ll"t cj.'t. - 12 II ;i7 HM 111 ', so II 37 SHI 13 nil 211 mi tKI SEItrF.XTlXKS, KTC, IN SOITIIKKN QUt^UK' ni (in> Piiilhipe. lu'iir I>;niville A-bi-st..^ :Mim>. Kirhiiioii.l cmnty. Que. (14, •• nmii. Welti- .•ouiity. (n..!. t'niuTl;i. IM'.:!. p. 4C0. (^15) •• Wil.l-.li.'.iuui. 0:111:1 Sy-trm ■■<[ Miiurnl.'jry. VI edi- tion. ]'. '■'>>''"■ The r.u-k ].,vr.>xi'iiite Luiiiir .■..nipo-r.l -. liirjrely of ryruxeue miiuraU. it^ conllH.^iti..n. a- inii^lit li.- . nikiTcI. bears a goueral re>en.bUin.e to tl.at nf pymxeue. Tho piv- u.v ..t a subordinate amount of <.livine or -..rpontiiio K.wor. tli,- o.utoi.t of Vilioa and lime aii'l incna^'s tbe nias-'iie^ia iron. Cbtiiii<-al analy>e- of ]>yroxenite. IS. I SiO,,. . Till". , Al .0 ; K 11 . Na.ii. }i ,0 liii" H.OrllO" 4t; ;«) 52-. -.5 till.'-. (I 14 •J .■.« 2 71 Cr.ii 44 ;; 4.-. ' 1 27 ;(.■.; 4 !« '.';i IS •jci ;;'.• 1.J -.M It! r>2 15 1.27 Miiim.24 O t'.li 4 77 I (li) 4f>:io •j-.v.i 17 ;td 4 02 10(1 :<2 10. Analysis by if. F. (11!) IVroxonitc, (iarthby. ran}.'.' TI. l"t Connor. ,17) •• viir. Wob-lorito. r.alliinoiv. M'l.. r.!*.A. Diallagite (.iaispfa.lpa 1'.. Obcrwallis. Cited U^) Viir. vnr. bv Ko-tnbn-ch " Kkii.-nte liestoinslelire,"' p. (;.,ljl„.,,._C„,,r.o loxluiv.l rorks (•..ii-i-nnu r-mtially of diallaRO and plasrioolase. wliioli aro conuaonly found between pyroxenite and diabase, are referred to tbe j:abbro family. l:i plaees. tliey are much nltored. and uitli, or instead of dialia^e, .-outain colourless horn- blende, wliieli i- apparently ^eeolldary. and the auTreu'ate of deeom- po.itiou product- known r- -ausMirite. In mi.1i .'a^'S the rock is .■oiiveni.iitly "-ailed ^abbro diorito in tho -on-o that tlie frm was 32 GEOLOGICAL SLKVEY, CANADA used by G. 11. Williams ' to indicate the history as well as the composition of the rock. A specimen of gahhro from the townslii-) of Garthhy where the rock is well developed and is esiwcially well preserved, was described by Dr. F. D. Adams* as follows: 'This rock occurs associated with the serpentine. It is composed of diallage and i>lagioclase. The diallage is for the most part tolerably fresh, though in places it is decomposed. In addition to the prismatic cleavages, it has the usual perfect cleavage or ' theilbarkeit ' parallel to the orthopinaeoid. In most of the crystals occurring in the section which show this cleavage, the axes of elasticity make an angle with it; but several grains were foimd which were cut in a direction approximating the base or an orthodome, and in which, consequently, the extinction almost or quite coincided with the cleavage. By examining the axial figure seen in such sections, the plane of the optic axes was found to be at right angles to the cleavage, thus proving that the mineral was really diallage and not a rhombic pyroxene. The plagioelase in the section is now entirely decomposed, principally to a dull translucent mass with aggregate polarization (seussurite?). Numerous very minute scales of oxide of iron are scattered through the rock.' 'It l)ears a very close resemblance to a gabbro found near the head of the Fpsalquitch river in New Brunswick.' Diabase. — This i.s a fine grained rock, greyish-green in colour. Streaks and spots of epidote can be frequently seen in it. In the thin section little can bo seen of the primary character of the rock. Chlorite, epidote, quartz, calcile, and leucoxcne, all secondary minerals, are tiow the principal constituents. Actinolite forms tuft- like aggregates of fine crystals in a few places. Pyrite, and in places magnetite, are comnidu accessory minerals. Specks and strings of chalcop.vrite are not imcommon. In occasional sections, however, some primary plagioelase remains, and its relations to decomposition products of pyroxene iiulicato that ihe rock was originally diabase. A specimen taken on lot 40, range II of Garthby, Wolfe county, anal.vsed by ^fr. M. F. Connor, Alines Branch, Department of Mines, Ottawa, showed the composition given under Xo. 1!>. ' Biillptin Xo. 2S, U.S. GooloRicnl Snrvpy. ' Report Ooologicnl Siirvoj-, Ciiiaiin, 18.S0-S2, p. 12A. i.-.* SEKPENTIXES, ETC., IN' SOUTHERN QUEBEC 33 Chemical analyses of diabase: — 20. SiO Tio; AloO , *Va Fh) MgO c»o KjO N»iO HjO-llO' HjO + 110° 42 96 066 17 45 2 29 1104 9 77 6 80 1 81 1 93 47 45 4fi 19 94 15*! 8-71 10 12 3 81 2 12 21. 46 6« 17 12 21H 7 61 10 34 13 46 trmce. 1 75 475 220 88 99 63 100 02 (19) Diabase, Garthby, range 11, lot 40. Analysis by M. F. Connor. (20) '• Ausable Forks, X.V. Analysis by J. F. Kemp. . (21) " Gabbro-diorite. Windsor Road. Baltimore, Md. Analysis by L. McCay. The analysis No. 21, which is introduced for comparison, is from a gabbro-diorite near Baltimore which has been described by (i. II. Williams.' In the Baltimore area, Williams found the gabbros and gabbro-diorites to have the same general composition. In the district being described, the diabases and gabbros are thought to differ — 3 34 OEOLOOICAL SURVEY, CANADA biotite occurs even in essential amounts, but in general it does not occur at all. It is most abundant in the central parts of the larger bosses of granite such as are found between the Poudrier road and Thetford Alines. In such places it is also noticeable that the granite is often porph.vritic. There is a curious lithologic feature of this io<-k which seems worthy of note. The relation of the hornblende to the quartz indi- cates either an unusual mode of alteration of the former, or some form of magmatic corrosion between them. It was first observed in the granites of this belt from the township of Shipton, by Dr. F. D. Adams.' Dr. Adams thus described it : " The rock is no longer fresh. The feldspar, of which a very considerable proportion is plagioclase, is a good deal decomposed, and the hornblende is altered in a very peculiar and hitherto unobserved manner. Three stages of alteration can be clearly distinguished. (1) The hornblende changes to a scaly mass having all the appearance of chlorite. This zone is not always present. (2) There is a zone of fine needles, generally in tufts, with parallel extinction, and which have a brown ■ T yellow colour. This colour, however, probably do<% not belong to the needles themselves, but is due to the separation of hydrated oxide of iron on the decomposition of the hornblende molecule. (3) Running out from these tufts are long and exceedingly fine, hair- like needles which penetrate the i|uartz. These are colourless, and probably the same as those of the yellow zone, but longer and finer. Dr. George Williams, of John Hopkins University, remarks the curious fact of the ' constant relation existing between a hornblende and a quartz; while the edge of a hornblende crystal in contact with feldspar is quite sharp and fresh, or at most only fibrous, the edge of the same crj-stal in contact with quartz almost always presents the phenomena described.' Dr. Williams considers that there hat been a mutual reaction of these two minerals on each other, in a way exactly similar to that so often observed between plagioclase and olivine in the Scandinavian olivine diabases, in which a zone of silicates of undetermined character is formed along a line of contact between the two minerals." This peculiar relation of hornblende to the quartz is a very constant one in the granites of the serpentine belt. ' AnnviaJI Report of the Geological Survey, Canada, 1880, 1881, p. 8 A, 1882, k* 3B SEHPENTIXES, ETC., IS SOUTHER!? QUEBEC 35 Aplite. — Aplite occurs as dykes and small intrusive bodies apparently connected with the granite. It contain* no iron-magnesia minerals, but consists of quartz and orthoclase. and is so fine in texture that these minerals cannot be di:>tingiiishe shown in the working of the mines. The amount of blasting that is necessary to remove the rock from the pits of Broughton is much le>s than at Thetford. while the cyclones msed in the final pulverizing of the rock wear several times longer in the concentrating mills of Broughton than in those of Thetford. In parts of the Broughton serpentine which are not fractured there is no asbestos and the rock is harder and tougher. Thin sections from such parts, which are generally near the foot of the sills. u9ifally show the rock to be wholly reo«ition of i)Uiv talc. Si0.j I 6!t til) MrO 1 29 1.5 FeO i 4M 62 8 :« 5 Usually containK a little iron replacing MgO. Greenstone Schists. — These rocks, which occupy the position in the Broughton series taken by gabbro, diabase, and iwrphyrite amongst the rocks of *he Thetford phase, are so far altered that their original characters cannot be definitely determined. They consist principally of chlorite and epidote, with a smaller amount of quartz. In colour they are green or greyish green. They have been intensely foliated and narrow bands of epidote and chlorite run parallel for several feet without interruption. Their composition, and the fact that they form breccias with overlying r:ediments. show that they are of igneous origin. They are, therefore, regarded as highly altered equivalents of the diabases and nearly related rocks of the Thetford phase that are mentioned above. Structural Relations. Internal. — The different varieties of igneous rock.s are rarelv foun«; to be sharply distinguished from one another. In passin.? 'Oeolour of Canada, ITO. p. 470. i 8ERPE5TISE8, ETC., IN SOUTHEHN QUEBEC 37 upward fri.ni the base of a sill, or outward from the centre of a (.took the general order of -tone; and the other basic rooks are represented by greeii-tonc schists. Where one rock greatly exceeds the others in small intrusions, the arrangt-ment is nlacenients of several feet indicating movement of rock masses, are also frequently found. The asbestos v, ins are rarely, if ever, faulted. One fault of regional importance occurs in the suiithern part of the district under description, and extends for a greater distance southwanl, beyond the St. Francis river. It forms a well-marked trench from the Shipton Pinnacle in the county of Ki<-hmond. to the south end of Ung lake in the township of Orford. Sherbrooki county, a distance of 25 miles, and is trawal for 8 miles farther northeast, to the Little Nicolet lakes— a total distance of .'W miles Throughout much of this distance, the fawlt trench is from 200 feet to 400 feet deep, by 200 feet to 3(K) feet wide at the bottom, and has a steep wall on the southeast side. The vertical displacement has not been less than 400 feet near the line between ranges XII and XIII in Cleveland. The downthrow is on the northwest side, and an extensive sill of peridotite. serpentine, pyroxenite, diabase, etc.. 38 OEOLOOICAL Sl-RVEY, CANADA is exposed by the fault. Fign. 1, 2. 3, and 4 show scvertl section* taken across the fault. Jointing.— Joints in the peridotite have determined the position of many of the larger serpentine bands. In other cases the shattered condition of the serpentine obscures the joint system. The other rocks ilMi: Jl 2 I UJ 9) .Z V a- i oe - UJ c vi i Ul i 5 ^. •'I S (0 .S OS e 5 1 i \ < is of the igneous group are, as a rule, very distinctly and reg>ularly jointed. The inclination of the joints nearest the horizontal appears to vary somewhat in diflFerent intrusive ma!»ses, and excellent examples of joint planes, determined by the shape of the intrusive body, have been noted in a few places. Broughton mountain is an intrusive mass of diabase which rises amongst strata having a general dip of 75° to the northwest. In it the joints nearest the horizontal have i-': ectioQ? loaition altered T rocks 8EKPENTISE8, ETC., IS 80UTHEKS QUEBEC 39 . dip to the southeast of 15°. They are very clearly marked on a cliff face on the southwest side. In lot 13. range IV. of Broughton an intrusive sheet, or sill, of serpentine dip. to the southeast at an angle of 30». while the joint plane nearest the honrontal has an U4X uj K P::=l I 11 a. oe (/) S I u • UJ e CO » I? < £ oe o < i I i I •ularly 'ars to mples hare rusivo lip of have equal dip to the northwest. The jointing in both ca.c. ... a, would be normally expected, at right angles to the cooling sides. Breccia.-Several instances have been observed m which there have been successive intrusions of diabase or gabbro. Good examples may be seen where the Garthby road crosses Mount Louise. The older roek, here, is gabbro which has been shattered and recemented by fine-grained greenstone, probably diabase. Similar relations 40 OEOLOOICAL SrBVET, CANADA between these rocks are shown along the road between South Ham and Vezine comers, near the north end ..f Xicolet lake. The included fragments are angular and the contacts in all cases are closely Ui-U. ft 1 ^ i ] z * p 1 V) E S I < - I { i z s z *■ < s oe o rtrrrt welded, indicating that the earlier rock was still in a heated condi- tion when the later '-.s intruded. These rocks are, therefore, con- sidered not as repres ing separate periods of intrusion, but stages iu a single period of igneous activity. ^kH'X/^ |\ SOITIIKRN .i < i;iit > indicate that the diabase was. in places, br>u«ht ii. !>■ ■ "•< ■■ tv-v injections, a.-* was point«'d out ia the last paragraph, , iii i it .a* locally under very light pressure. T fernal. ■< .t; ... Th' (•'"♦ Relative to Oldf< h didbase with the sediti\ of sediirentar>- rock, r •'.>.!!• ii- feet inward horizoiit ■' v •>.«• M contact in overlyinit /ortion- loi' told. It is not probr •',■ thnt ; i u.. from the roof of the iatru.nii.n. Tlic sills appears to vary with the thicki t of the porphyrite or - ' - luted one. Fragments ces for a distance of 1,000 iitact; but th»; positiou of the •eniovtHi by erosion caanot be iafion extends to this depth icpth of the brecciated zone in u'-- of the sill. Actual thick- nes-ses of KKt feet may be sieen in different places. Dykes are rarely, if ever, present. The .-cdiments near the contact and the fragments iu the breccia zone are frequently found to be greatly altered and are probably much changed in chemical composition. On the whole the contact of the igneous with the sedimentary rocks i> clearly intru>ive, and indicates an intrusion that proceeded slowly and without violent djTiamic action. There are no colid formations younger than the. igneous rocks which come in contact with it in this district. Modf of Origin. The various rocks of the >erpentine belt have been formed by differentiation from a common magma, which has been intruded into the sedimentarj- rocks from unknown depths. The arrange- ment of the different classes of rf>cks with reference to one another depends principally upon the shape of the body of igneous rocks in any particular locality. The sha|>es of the igneous bodies are ascer- tained by the outline of the surface exposures, the attitude of the surrounding rock^, and in some cases by cross sections that are actually exposed by ero-ion or by mining operations. The igneous bodies tend to take one or other of two shapes: one is exposed in a long narrow band punning parallel to the strike 1 I < 8EBPENTINE8, ETC., IN SOHTHEKN QUEBEC 43 of the gedimenti which dip towards it on one side, and away from it on the other. Wbere exposed in cross swtion it can be plainly ^n to be a sill, or intrusive -Ik^t, as the other structural feature* would indicate. The other type shape is elliptical or irregular in surface section, the strata dip away from it, or stand vertical, locally. The alter- ation of the sediments and occasional cross sections ^how that such bodies widen in all directions with depth. Such bodies are thought to be either stocks or thick laccoliths. For convenience they will be referred to as -itoi'ks or batholithic masses. The arrangement of the various rock- is quito regularly dis- tinct in these two ciasse. of intrusive bodies. The rocks are arranged in order of decreasing basicity, viz., serpentine or peri- dotite. pyroxenite. gabbro or .liubase, porphyrite. aii.l «ometime* aplite. in sills from the base upwards: in stocks from the centre outwards. Where one variety of rock is greatly in excess of the others, as o^^^curs in some places, it may occupy any part or form the whole of an intrusion. But where different varieties are found they seem, invariably, to occupy the relative positions indicate.] above. Also where there are two sheets running parallel the .upper is more acid than the lower. Thus in ranges X and XI of Broughtou where two sheets are expose*! at intervals for 2 or a miles, the lower is composed of serpentine and a little soapstone; and the upper of soapstone and a smaller amount of greenstone schist— probably an altered diabase. Little if any serpentine is found in the upper sheet; no diabase in the lower. The sheets are from ,^0 feet to "5 feet in thickness, and about 75 feet apart vertically. Between the Shiptou Pinnacle and the St. Francis river— a distance of 8 miles— the serpentine Mt is in the fonn of a thick sill dipping to the southeast at a high angle. Serpentine fK-curs along the northwest or footwall -ide, and diaba^-e wherever present is on the southeast side or \ip\^r side. The mines at Asbestos are i.i similar position with regard to the pyroxenite and diabase hills on the southeast, and may b' on the northea-terly extension of th- same sheet. 44 GEOLOGICAL SCRVEY, CANADA SERPENTINES, ETC., IN SOUTHERN QUEBEC 45 Several exph.vrite may he seen in unbroken succession on an exposure some l,5. 340. BEUPENTINES, ETC., IN SOCTHERX QUEBEC 47 In uncovered portions of stocks, such as the hill between Thet- ford Mines and Black Luke, or between the side of Black Lake and the Wolfestown road, the Belniina road or the area about Little Lake St. Francis, serpentine occurs in the central part and is pat- tially or wholly enclosed by pyroxenite which in turn is generally bordered by a vein-like body of diabase. The outer edge of the dia- base usually contains fragments of the adjacent sediments, and so passes into breccia (Fig. 6). The accompanying cut shows the arrangement of the rocks as seen along a section from the Thetford river to Bisby creek. The section follows the power line of the St. Francis Hydraulic Company from the property of the Dominion Asbestos Company southward. A mile northwest of the northern end of this section the sedi- ments dip towards the southeast at an angle of 70°. and vfithin a few yards of the contact 4 miles northwest of the section the dip is 75° in the same direction. The first igneous rock is diabase which in the outer portion sometimes contains fragments of sedi- ments and thus forms breccia. The diabase may be seen near the Roman Catholic church in Black Lake. The section is there drift covered until the serp«-ntine is reached near Black Lake station, but on the lake road below the hous- of J. Johnston, about 400 yards west of the station, gabbro approaching pyroxenite in com- position is exposed. Following the line of section the serpentine continues southward across the hill above the Standard and Dom- inion mines, though with a considerable amount of pyroxene in the higher and southern part of the hill; and passes beneath heavy covering of drift. West of the last exposure of serpentine, and near the Quebec Central railway, ."ieo yards north of Chrome siding, there is an exposure of pyroxenite and diabase at the south side of the same serpentine area. The drift extend- f«.r 2 miles along the line of section where the second area of igneoiis rocks is met. These in succession are breccia, diabase. serp<>ntine. diabase and breccia. The succeeding sediments stand vertically for half a mile south of the contact, and at n distance of 2 miles dip towards the southeast at an angle of 75°. It will be noted that Thetford river and Bisby creek occupy similar positions in erosion valleys cut in the transition rock between the diabase and serpentine; that the general dip of the sediments on either side of the belt is south- easterly; and that the dip though practically vertical near the 48 OEOLOOICAL SURVEY, CANADA coii'uct on cither side is (renerally liigh^T ou the southeast thaa on 'he northwest. Xo scilimeiits have been found in tiie drift covered part of the se< tion. Three miles we.st of the section, the nearest exposure, sedimentary slates strike througli this area nearly at right angles to the line of section. They dip away from each of the igneous ridges thus indicating a synclinal trough between them, which has been deeply rilled with drift. The structure of the serjwntine belt, as shown in this section, suggests a thick laccolith similar to that which contains the' nickel deposits at Sudbury; but closer investigation does not support the comparison verj- well. Parallel ridges such as occur here are not common, being found in only a few instances in the distance of 100 miles thus far examined. Such casc= seem to represent the dying out of one ridge and the beginning of another near and parallel to it. The arrangement of liic rocks in t!i'< two ridges is the same, while if the.v were parts of one laocolithi<- sheet they should appear in reversed order in the two ridges. I', therefore, seems probable that the igneous ridges are foriiiod along two lines, perhaps minor anticlines, which have atTorded an easier ascent for the magma. They may be connectei at no great depth beneath the sediments, yet they diverge sufficiently to permit of similar effects from differentiation taking place in each. 'The arrangement of the rocks by which the most basic is at the centre and the mass becomes more acid towards the outer edge is a common one in igneous intrusions of this class. It" is theoretically accounted for by differentiation according to gravity taking place in a slowly rising nuigiua thus oringing the more acid material of the diabase and related rocks in contact with the sedi ments. As the intrusion gradually rises the acid margin is carried upward forming an envelope over the advancing stock or batholith This is seen in the district in such hills as Broughton, Adstock, or Big Ham mountains, which rise in cone or saddle shapes and are encased in diabase in the upper portions. Near the base the diabase passes into gabbro, and where erosion lias been especiall.v heavy, pyroxenite and sometimes serpentine are exposed. An excellent example of differentiation in a »ill is to be seen in lot 40 of range II of Oarthby (Fig. 5). Here « lill is exposed BH 8EKPEKTIXES, ETC., IX SOtJTHBRN QUEBEC 49 with horizontal breadth of 1.600 feet. The seJiments on the upper side dip to the northwest at an angle of 65'. The dip of the sedi- ments on the underlying side of the sill could not be found at the contact, but half a mile distant along the strike it was found to be also 65° in the same direction. The rock at the northwest side, the top of the sheet, is diabase; near the southeast side, pyroxenite; and at the southeast edge, 30 feet lower vertically, serpentine. The following are analyses of th,- specimens taken at the points shown in che accompanying dia- gram : — ^_ SiO,... TiO... Al.O, Fe,0,. FaO. No. 19. I No. 18. MiO. Ci5).. a K,0 N»,0 H,0-110». H,0 + 110V 42 96 066 17-46 329 U 04 9-77 6 80 1 51 1 93 0-47 4 75 99 6S 4H 30 trace. 3 58 S 45 3 57 23 18 15 20 16 066 4 77 No. 18. 37 66 trace. 1 61 6 15 1 87 38 66 022 20 75 12 49 99 86 9961 rh,. auove analyses have been already cited in the foregoing pages in the paragraphs treating of the classes to which these rocks are most closely allied. All the rocks are extremely altered. Under the microscope, however. No. 19 still shows the general characters of a gabbroid diabase; No. 16 is found to consist essentially of pyroxene, much of which is probably diallage; and No. 18 i* -er- pentine. The higher alumina and alkalies in No. 19 may be taken to indicate its content of feldspar. Lime seems to vary directly with the amount of pyroxene (diallage) in the rock, wiil-^ magnesia increases regularly towards the base of the sill. Ferric iron increase! in going downwards, and ferrous iron, in goirg upwards. The rocks are too much decomposed to admit of reliable quanti- tative calculation of the minerals of which they were originally composed. There is. however, evidence of a distinct increase of the silicates of lime. iron, and magnesium, that is of the heavier minertds, in passing from the top to the bottom of the sill. 11169—4 50 GEOLOGICAL SCEVETj CANADA Age and ComUtioii. Data.— The formations here referred to the Cambrian gysteA are distinctly separated from those belonging to the Ordovician by a conglomerate consisting of pebbles of the former in a matrix of the latter. This conglomerate is of very general occurrence, and its an important feature in the stratigraphy of the district, a» it provides a datum line for working out the succession of strata above and below it. The lithological characters of the rocks above and below the conglomerate are also quite distinctive. The calcareous and argil- laceous rocks of the upper system are dark iron-grey or nearly blaek; while the slates, schists, and sandstones underlying them are grey-green and red, or sometimes nearly black. In this case the dark schists of the L'Islet may be distinguished from the black slates of the Farnham by the fact that, while both are argillaceous, the Farnham carries nodules of grey limestone which are not found in the L'Islet. There is, ako, a diflference in the strike of the bedding between the rocks of the two systems in some parts of the district, especially in the townships of Ham and Wotton in the county of Wolfe. When they are exposed near together or in contact : as near the southeast end of Little Ham mountain, the Farnham slates strike nearly due east, while the rocks of the older series have a strike 30° north of east. The only fossils that have been found in the area covered by the accompanying map are a few obscure forms in the Ordovician on lot H of range XII of the township of Cleveland in Richmond county. No full description of these has ever been published; but they were referred to by Sir J. W. Dawson ' in an article on the ' Silicifieation of Palteozoic Fossils," as indicating the lower Silurian (Ordovician) age of the rocks. At present only a few frag- ments of crinoid stems could be found. At Castle brook in the township of Magog, 25 miles south of the limits of the accompanying map, there is a rich graptolite area of lower Trenton (Quebec City) age=. This locality is on the ' Q. J. G. 8., Feb., 187». p. 62. ~ "R. W. Ells, Report Oeol. Surv.. Canada, 1694, Part I, p. 38. H. If . Ami, Appradiz t« tb* abov*. SERPENTINES, ETC., IN .SOUTHER>' QUEBEC 51 exteu»ion of the black slates which constitute the Ordovician of thiB district and only a few feet above the conglomerate which fomm its base. Near the city of Quebec, 35 miles north of the limits of this nmp. the Sillery formation contains foijsil evidences of Cambrian ajfc ', Hiid is b«lieved by Dr. Ells to puss beneath the Levis. The Levis has been determined on palteontological evidence to be of Beekmantown ' (Calciferous) age. The L'Islet underlies the Sillery apparently conformably and to the south of this district, the Georgia (lower Cambrian) emerges from beneath the L'Islet near the boundary line of the ^tate of Vermont. The igneous rocks are all intrusive through, and hence younger than the sedimentary rocks with which they are in contact. The rocks of the Thetford phase alter Ordovician strata in this district, and 40 miles south of the district igneous rocks of the same series cut strata which underlie lower Devonian sediments, it is thought conformably. The igneous rocks of the Broughton phase penetrate scdi- nientaries of the L'Islet formation, but are not found in contact with any rock of later age. The Broughton phase shows greater alteration than the Thetford phase. It is fractured mechanically to a greater degree, and the serp«'ntinization is more complete. Conclusions. — From the data set forth above, it may be safely concluded that the highest sedimentary formation, except the Pleistocene, is of Ordovician age, and was deposited in early Trenton time; and that there is a pronounced unconformity between this and the next underlying formations. While it is not certainly proven, it is at least very probable that, the underlying formations are of Cambrian age.' The igneous rocks of the Thetforfl phase are from evidence in the district, certainly post-Ordovician. and if the similar rocks 40 miles to the southward were intruded at the same time, they may be later than early Devonian.* The Broughton phase is possibly of the same age as the Thetford phase, but the latest sediments that ^R. W. Ell8. G»ol. SuFT., Canada, 1887, pp. 63-68 K. ' Lapworth, Truns. Rc>Tal Socrety of Canada. 1886. • R. W. Ells, Report Oeol. Siirv., Can., 1887. p. 63 K. * Further evidence of the age of these intrn«ive« might be found on the east side of Lake Weedon in Wolfe county, a locality that was not Mtis- faitotily examined during thi? investigation.— .IAD. 11159— 4i ; 52 OEOLOOICAL HV&VEY, CANADA are cut by them are the L'lsiet. and they have suffered greater deformation and alteration than the Thetford phase. It ig, there- fore, considered advisable to state their age only as post-L'Islet. Oeolo^cal Strnctnre of the Begion. In the part of the St. Lawrence plain which lies west of the St. Lawrence and Champlain fault, the sediments form a conform- able series from the Potsdam to the Lorraine or Hudson river. They have been only locally disturbed from the position in which they were originally deposited. Broadly speaking, the structural features of the region east of the fault are three anticlinal folds separated by broad basins which have a general synclinal structure. The anticlinal folds form the principal ranges of hills in the district, the structure being thus fur expressed in the topography. In general, the strata are in ascending order from the crests of the ranges to the central portions of the valley basins. But minor folding and faulting, and differential erosion, bring about many exceptions. This is the case on the west side of the Sutton anticline, which is the most westerly of the three great folds, and is from 15 to 20 miles east of the St. Lawrence- Champlain fault, where the succession of formations is somewhat irregular. The most eastterly or Lake Mwgantic anticline, forms the boundary line between Canada and the United States, consequently a description of the eastern side of this fold is not included in this sketch. The middle or Sherbrooke anticline divides the area between the Sutton and the Lake Megantie folds into two nearly equal basins of about 5 miles in breadth. In the central parts of the main folds, igneous rocks of volcanic character, and older than the sediments, are exposed so generally as to strongly suggest that they generally form the axial ridges. Later intrusions of granite in the 1 aiin between the Sher- brooke and Lake Megantie anticlines, and of alkaline rocks the •ronteregian hills— occur in the St. Lawrence plain, but their dis- tribution bears no apparent relation to the general structure of the region. On the other hand the basic intrusives of the serpentiae belt closely follow t>i>' trend of the Sutton anticline, and are always on the southeast side. ""-'"^^ BEKFEMTINES, ETC., IN SOmiEKN QUEBEC 53 Geological History. (1) At the close of Pre-Cambrian time the present main azea of the Appalachian folding in this region must have been determined and the extrusion of the porphyry and greenstone magma had taken place. These had probably been considerably eroded, and sedi- mentary rocks may have already been solidified, at least along the flanks of the igneous masses. To what height above the general surface the axes had been raised it is. of course, impossible to say, nor can it be shown through what kind of walls the volcanic rocks were extruded. (2) A period of sedimentation followed; but there is ao yet no evidence to show that the submergence which brougnt it about took place before the later part of Cambrian time. It seems to have continued to the close of the Cambrian, when the region was again raised above sea-level. It was, perhaps, at the time of this uplift that the Broughto.i series of igneous rocks was intruded. (3) The region was then subjected to a period of erosion, prob- ably remaining above the sea until early Trenton (Famham) time. (4) A submergence followed, and the muddy sediments of the Famham series were deposited, and probably without interruption the Silurian and lower Devonian, of which remnants are found in the region. These prr bably covered the Pre-Cambrian ridges. (5) The elevation which brought this period of sedimentation to a close was accompanied or soon followed by a period of igneous activity. The Thetford series comprising a large part of the serpentine belt was intruded at this time; also the granites of the southern part of the Eastern Townships and the Monteiiegian hills of the St. Lawrence plain. Probably the St. Lewrence-Champlain fault was formed about this time. (6) These successive uplifts and depres^ions of the valley basin probably indicate slej::- in the elevation of the main ranges. The forces which produced the elevation seem to have ceased to act soon after the intrusions of latest igneous rocks, since these show little evidence of lateral i-ompression. (7) There is no record of the geolopual history of the region from Devriiiun time to Pleistocene, and sub-aerial erosion may be supposed to have advanced steadily and continuously during this long interval. 54 OEOLOOICAL SURVEY, CA.XAD4 (8) In the Pleistocene glaeial period the country waa swept and planed down by heavy gluciation which affected every part of the region. The trough-" between the main ranges received aceumu.^- tions of drift sometimes 100 feet or more in thickness and the crests of the resistant ridges were swept bare of all residual soil. The course^ of the smaller stream.*— those running transversely to tho Jnain ice movements-were changed, and lake* and rapids formed, and the «i:rface now took on much of it* present topo- graphy. (0) The retreat of the glacier was accomplished by a period of submergence (Champlaiu period). The boulder clay was In part assorted, and the stratitied clays, sands, and gravels were separated and re-djposited. giving the submerged areas a rather uniform surface. (10) An uplift followed, probably of not less than 600 feet, and since that time erosion and local deposition have given the lanfl surface its present features. ECONOMIC (JEOLOOY. The minerals of economic value that have been found in the serpentine belt are asbestos, chromite. talc, antimony, and copper. Platinum has also been found in gravels which probably had their origin in the rocks of the serpentine belt. Asbestos is much thd most important of the minerals here found and chromite i.* next in value. Both of these are being mined at present. Antimony and talc have been mined, and there has been some development of copper. Platinum is known only as a rare mineral occurrence. Aibeitos. CE.VERAL fll.\RACTER AND DI.STRIBrTIO.N. , The asbestos of this district is wholly of the chrygotile variety, that is, a h.vdrous silicate of magnesium, and occurs only in the serpentine rocks to which it is essentially similar in chemical com- position. There are two distinct forms of a9b.^stos known as 'cross fibre,' and 'slip fibre.' The cross fibre asbestos occurs in veins and consists of minute fibres, or crystals, arranged parallel to one another, and cross-wise of the vein. It is the principal form of asbestos found in the serpentine of the Thetford phase, which is the country rock of the mines of Thetford Mines, Black .Lake, 8KKPKNTINKS. ETC., IN SOOTHEBN QOKBBC 55 C<.lcrMinc, Wolfestown, and Danville. The length of the fibre is usually less than the width of the vein, and rarely exceeds 'H inchea. The HJip fibre asbestos Anon not form veins, but .x.eurs in serpen- tine without any definite arrangement, and in places makes up a large proportion of the roek. .Slip fibre is usually shorter than average troaa fibrw. It is the principal product of the serpentine of the Broughton pha'^e in which the mines of East Broughton are gituated. Although slip fibre occurs principally in the Brouarhton pha.se and cross fibre is the chief product of the Thetford phase of -ser- pentine, the rule of o<'currence is not invariable, as both kinds of fibre are found to some extent in both classes of rock. PBODUCTIOS. The asbestos mines of this district are the largest and most important of their kind that have ever been operated in the world. They have furnished the major part of the known production for the past fifteen years, and in 1907 contributed »4 per cent of the world's supply. The growth of the industry is well shown by the following statistics of production, which are taken from the Mineral Statistics of Canada." •Praoarad bj J. McUisfi. chief of th» Division of If Lneral Resource* aad 8Ut°"tic?. Miii«i Branch. Department of Mines. Ottawa 56 (.EOLOOICAI. KFRVEY. CAXADA Production. 1878 1879 1880 1881. I883L 1883. 1884. 1886. 1886. 1887. 1888. I88b. 1890 . laei. 1882.. 1893. 1894. 1896. Iwo. . 1897.. 1808. 1900. 1901. 1906.. 1908.. 1904. 1906.. 1906. 1907. 1908. 1909.. 1910.. 1911.. VMaw. Too. 1 BO 30O 19,600 SMO 34,700 640 3M0O 810 63,660 96S 68,780 1,141 7^«97 a.440 1^,441 3,468 206,361 4,619 836,976 4,404 306,007 Ml" 436,604 •,880 1,360,340 9l»» 999,878 6,fllB 380,463 6,331 310,166 7,630 420,836 8,766 368,175 10,882 423,066 13,302 399,638 16,134 475,131 17,790 468,686 31.621 729,886 33,8H2 1,248,646 30,219 1,126,688 31,129 91^888 36,611 1,318,603 60,669 1,486,369 60,761 2,086,438 62,341 3,484,768 66,648 2,666,361 87,300 2,301,776 100,386 2,476,668 103,294 3,036,306 The following tabulated statement by Mr. MeLeish shows the production and shipment** during 1910, and the stock on hand at the end of the .vear: — Pro- ductkiB. ShipmenU. Stock on hand Dec. 31. Toni. Tons. Value. Per ton. Toon Value. Crude No. 1 2. Mill Stock Nal 3. 3. 1,971 8,844 16,036 56,321 19,006 1,688 l,7ffl 12,830 42,612 16,816 $ 446.130 171,684 701,681 997,967 142,447 t 263 70 99 12 64 69 23 42 8 47 1,606 2,842 69,933 24,611 3,389 $ 426.782 406,419 718,766 691,762 29,988 ."otel ubettok A.b»«tic 96,168 7^678t 2,468,929 24,707 17,629 32 49 39,310 071 2,172,706 BEKlfSTf TIKES, ETC., IN SOCTHEBN QrEBEC 57 In 'he absence of a uniform cla^6itication of asbestot of iifferent fT*dec, riie abovf )iubdivigioii<< have Ut-n adopted purely on • tbIu- •tion b«»i«. (rude Xo. 1, comprising mafrial valued at $200 and upward*, and Crude No. :,' und»-r 1200. Mill Stock So. 1 includes stock valued at from IM.'. to $100; No. :i from $20 t. »40; Xo. i under 9iO. The 'hipments of asbestos in 1909 were in detail as follows: — Cr»ii*' No. 1, 912 tons, Talue $246,655. or $270.37 per ton; Crude No. 2, 2.162 tons, value $32^,855. or $152 ; 1 i^jr ton; Mill sto*k N' 1, 14,776 ions, value $7N'>.7:n, or -f 1' per ton; Mill «twk No. 2. 32.417 tons, value $>«00,728, (.r «:.'4.7(> pei i; Mill etos7, a\<-niging *:!«.'4i pt-r ton; asb*-«tic 23,951 tons, value *17.1^P. The exports of asbestos durinjt tn«' tn : months endint; December, 1910. are reported by the Customs DettarUiirnt .^ TI.IsS tons, valued at $2,U»**,6;J2, comprising : 57.939 ton- valio. at *.,5 a most valuable part of tho production, is relatively of null amount as can b' -een by the table of classified production quoted above. After considerable experimenting a method of ir.echanicul con- centration was at lenj^th devi>ed by some of the pioneer mine manamer.^ of the district, which with many miMlifications has been successfully i.se.i ever -ince. Ity beneficial eff-ct on the industrv is shown by the in'-rca-ed output since l.SH.'l and 18i>4. (Jreat credit is duo to the operators who developed this pro<-es8, which has given to the industry its present larure importance and its growing possibilities. The deimsit> arc so large that the principal mines seem to have almost inexhaustible reserves, and consequently the plants installed are of the most diniblc character possible. Around the principal mines substantially built towns have grown up. and the whol9 industry shows a >tability that is unusual for mining operations. IIKI.ATIilNs OK TlIK DKI-OSITS TO THK CdU.NTRV BCKK. While all the asbestos occurs in serpentine its relations to the country rwk ar- of two diflferent tyrn-s. These may be distinguislie.l as the Thetfon! type of deposit, and the Krotightoii type. The former consists principally of cross fibre, which o<'curs in veins; the latter gene.ully of slip fibre, which is not in veins. It is. therefore, advisable to consider the character and discuss the origin of these two cla.sses of deposits separately. DEl'OSITS OK THK TIIKTroRD TYPK. Evidence.— The country rock of the deposits of the Thetford t.vpe is a peridotite, in places so rich in olivine as to b.-come dunite, which contains narrow bands of serpentine along joints and any other crevices. The asbestos forms gash-veins within these bands or zones of serpentine, the asbestos vein being parallel to the ser- pentine bands in which it occurs. The veins usually develop along the joint planes of the ro<'k, and in any fissures or cracks due to dynamic or other deformation. The largest veins are often arranged with something approaching rectangular intersection; a parullel series of minor veins may develop normal to the direction of some pressure which has been exerted upon the rock; .vet smaller vein« fill the crevices formed in the pro- .^^i -'i i^ ■■^v. ' ir 1 •- • •* ? ni59-p. 58 i 8KUPENTIXE8, ETC., IN SOUTHERN QUEBEC 5» cett8 of rock disintesrratioii, when shells are cast off rectangular blocks, thus tending to reduce them to rouiideti and spheroidal masses. In Fig. 2, these fectures may be seen. The two vertical and the main horizontal veins ari evidently former joint planes of the rock The parallel oblique lines are incipient veins forming in pressure crucfc* due to regional dynamic metamorphism ; and rounding the corners of the blocks separated by the main veins, are sn-.all crescentic fractur,< in which asbestos fibre is beginning to appear. These latter are ti\e veins of the third class mentioned above. Another feature which this diagram is intended to show is that the asbestos veins are invariably accompanied by a band of pure serpentine on either side. ?au8, in the diagram (Plate IV) specin;eii i^iH. which represents* Kie. 7.- Diacraoi -Uowi«« relation, of asbesto*. serpentine, and pen- dotite at BU' k Lake the average ror cent olivine. The remainder of the rook consist* of orthorhonibi- pyroxene, and » few grains of feldtpar (Plate IV). Specimen 2049 is serpentine, which has resulted from the alter- ation of the adjacent rock (Plate V). The serpentine band is proportionate in width to the asbestos vein. In forty-nine measure- ments of vein* *«>lftc»ed at random in the principal pits, the wjith «0 GEOLOOICAl. SURVET, CANADA of the 88b«'stosi vein was a little more than one-sixth of the ser- pentine. To be exact, the ratio of the asbestos vein to the entire band of serpentine and asbestog was found to be 1:6-6; and aeventeen of the forty-nine measurements gave practically unanimity with that rati(i. Thef* measurement.- included veins varying in width from one- fourth to 2 inchesu Hence the proportion between the asbestos and serpentine in such rocks seems to be a fairly constant one. According to thene measurements, the serpentine should yield about 16 per cent nf asbestos. This is in excess of the actual pro- duction from riin-"f-mill rock; but the latter usually contains con- siderable peridotite as well as serpentine. Chemical analyses v.tr»' made by Mr. M. F. Connor of the Mines Branch, Department of Mines, of specimens of peridotite No. 2048, serpentine No. 2049, and of asbestos from the larjre vein shown in the diagram near Xo. 204i». The results of Mr. Connor's analyses are given below. The FCjO, found in asbestos by analysis E is probably due to impurities in the specimen, as grains of magnetite are not infrequently found amongst asbestos fibres. CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF SPECIMENS. (See Plates IV and V.) KiO,. A] A It' Na,0 no- 3049. F'ridotit*'. 3049. E. (■ j aerpcntine. ^(j^y as 1« nun*. 063 3 32 4 76 41 84 0« " 20 47 • 63 W 6» 40 08 non*. 2 II 1 13 1 70 •37 90 u ao 1 36 13 H9 m 46 39 62 81 4 62 1 90 39 73 trace. 10 nut dpt«>nn'd 43 13 82 1(10 33 •ProUbly low. •^j-^^b:^' Microphototjraph of asbestos vein. Polarized light X 20. Serpentine ran tie seen at left and right. Central parting and jther interstices are ' 'led by iron ore. 11159" :> 60 '"-"'•'-'" ■'— SEBPENTINES. ETC., IX 80UTHEBK QUEBEC 61 In a discussion of the chemical composition of asbestos. Dr. J. T. Donald has expre^tsed the opinion that, the flexibility of the fibre depends on the amount of combined water it contains. Dr. Donald writes' a« follows:— 'When har?K fibre is analysed we find it to contain less water than the soft fibre. In fibre of very fine quality from Black Lake, analysis showed 14 -38 per cent of v ater, whilst a harsh fibre sample gave only 11-70 per oent. It is well known that if soft fibre be heated to a temperature that will drive o£f a portion of the com- bined water there results a substance so brittle that it may be crumbled between thumb and finger. These is evidently some con- nexion between the consistency of the fibre and the amount of water in its composition.' iu» Op./«o/M.— The mode of occurrence of asbestos, and the or yn of the veins, have been discussed by various writers on the subject. In a bulletin of the Inited States Geological Survey, 1904. J. Flyde Pratt says: 'It can be conclusively shown in nearly all cases that the serpentine in which chrysotile asbestos is found is of igneous origin. The original rock in cooling would solidify first along its contact with any included masses of the country rock that had been broken off during the intrusion of the molten magma. The outer portions of the molten rock would thus cool much more .ludilenly than th» interior portions, and there would be a tendency for them to develop cracks and parting planes. In the alteration of these primary rocks to serpentine, through the agency of aqueous solutions, vapours, etc., there would be. perhaps, to some extent at least, a widening of these cracks, but in the end they would be filletl with serpentine deposited from aqueous solutions from their walls, and the resulting fibrous structure of the serpentine filling these seams represents the nearest approach to a true crystallization that the mineral serpen- tine assumes, except when it is found as a pseudomorph after another mineral. It is probable that this chrysotile asbestos may have been formed some time before the complete alteration of the primary rock into serpentine. This is emphasized by the fact that in the southern part of the United States, where the rock has been but partly altered to serpentine, seams of chrysotile asbestos are occasionally found, and that in other cases, seams of asbestos are found almost entirely enclosed by a peridotite rock which is altered but little into serpentine Then again, it may be that in the first alteration of the basic nwgiipsian rock the seams and crevices are filled with serpentine wBK.-h ha- been derived from the main mass of the basic ra«cne«ia: rock, and that later, during the process SERPENTlJiES, ETC.^ IN SOrTHER.N QUEBEC 63 of complete alteration of the rm-k into iserpentine, these seam:' bare bet'ome asbestiforni, due to the ai'tion of aqueous iiolutions.' Dr. O. P. Merrill ' I'on^iders the crevii-e!* which are now occupied by asbestox veins to be due to partial dehydration of the serpentine, jnd comparer them to the ora<'k*> in septarian nodules in clay-iron stone. Mr. F. Cirkel ' agrees with Dr. Merrill's views in part, but believes that the forces which produced the intrusion of the granite dykes have greatly aided in the formation of fissures. l)r. R. W. Ells' says: "In whatever way the fissures were caused, and it is very probable that they have been formed by the great processes of metaniorphisni to which the rocks were exposed in the change from diorite matter to serpentine, the vein asbestos appears more natur.Ijy to have been produce*! by a process of segregation of serpentinous matter from the sides of the fissure, very much iis ordinnry qiuirtz in many mineral veins is known to have be«'n prodiu-pil. the s,.jrr<-giitcil. or iiitiltriitcil matter gradually filling the. original fissure, and meeting al or near the centre; in proof of which the presence of a comb of particle-^ .it iron is very often found occupying the centre of the vein, and quite frequently these iron grains assume sufficient size to form a regular parting of iron ore in the fibre.' Dr. A. P. Ix)W, in a recent report' thus referred tn the origin of the asbestos deposits of Thetford Mines anil Black Lake: 'As il well known, the asl)estos of the«e plui-es is a fibrous variety of asbestos called chrysotile, and occurs as the filling niat« rial of >mall cracks in the rocks. 1 hese cracks were probably formed by shrink- age of the mass, and perhaps in part by the cru hing action of the same pressure whicli lengthened and flattened tlic gcrjx'ntine areas, and at the same time made the associated rocks sn developed in situ. Rrowing from a central crevice, and considers the scrpentinization to have been due to the action of hea'ed magmatic waters accompanying the intrusives, espec- sally the intrusion -f the granite, and that they grow in direct proportion to the amount of magmatic water supplied. Dr. C. If. Richardson" attributes the formUion of asbestos veins to the . rystallization of serpentine derived from peridotit« by the action of both magmatic and meteoric waters. " He recog- nizes the outward method of growth of the fibre from crevices within tilt- veins. Mr. W. J. Woolsey' pointe,! out the .exogenous' or outward growing character of asbestos veins. This v..in had been worked out independently by Mr. Woolsey sometime prev ously, but his materUl as not published until 1910. Mr. .]. .S. Dillcr' iu describing the asbestos deposits of Caspar mountains. Wyoming, points out that some of tno veins cut others and draws the conclusion that all were not formed at one time. He alsj draws attention to the proximity of granite to the asb-atos deposits of this area. Coneeming the asbestos of the (Jrand canon, Arizona, Mr. Diller concludes that ' The veins of asbestos were not deposited in open fissures but by replacement of serpentine in the plane of M.„V„|"S.^„^ut^MZtr*il1 ^o"""''' °' A»b«rtos.Wourn.l Can.dUn d.un'tt.Tns^u'Sr. I^,lJ*l''P""nK' in Asbestos Mining,' Journal Can^ '•'-""■"■ 8EKPKNTINE9, ETC., IN BODTHEBN QUEBEC 65 least strujigth somewhat later than the development of the serpentine Uidf.' ' Here, too,' he adds, ' wc have convincing eridence of the de> velopraent of asbestos by igneous intrusion. We may, therefore, the more readily accord to the granite dykes in Canada and elsewhere a decided infli nee in the formation of the asbestos near their con- tacts.' :> Conelusiont. The opinion has already been expressed by the writer ttiat asbestos reins are portions of the serpentinizod bands which have crystallized in situ, the crystals or fibres growing outward from fractures of the rock which are indicated by partings or films of iron ore in the veins ; that 'hese fractures have been the channels through which water has been brought which has been the principal agent in changing the dunite to serpentine; also that tl>e segregation of the dunite or olivine rich pcridotite from the other rocks of the serpentine beh is due to gravitational adjustment. The position, size, and number of asbestos veins in rich ground make it inconceivable that the spaces they now occupy were once open fissures, and especially that many of them were open at the same time. Open fissures up to 2 inches in width, running in all directions from vertical to horizontal, extending 100 feet or more iu length, and occupying in places as much as 10 per cent of the entire rock, wotild be a mechanical impossibility. The possibility remains of crevices having been enlarged and filled by replacement. But the asbestos of the veins is practically identical in chemical composition with the serpentine of the walls, which is strong evi- dence against the material composing the veins having been brought in either from above or below. Segregation from the walls also would imply a difference in chemical composition, which do«s not exist. In other words, the material removed would have been replaced by material of exactly the same chemical composition, which is altogether improbable if not impossible. •Jonrnal Can. Min. Institute. Montreal, 19(». Economic Geology, New Haven. Conn., Vol. IV. No. 6, 19W. ' Sammary Report on the Serpentine Belt of SontUern Qnebec, Geo- loBiol Survey. Ottawa, Canada, 1N9. .. ... ' JourBal of the Canadian jtining Institute. Montreal, IMO. 11159—6 immm NUatOCOTY RESOWTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) _J /APPLIED IIVMGE Inc BBT. 1653 £asi Uair Street B^ Rochester, N»* "..ik l«609 USA ■^SS (716) *82 - 0300 - PKone BS (716) 288 - 5989 - Fa. 66 OEOLCKilCAL SUEVEY, CANADA It is, therefore, concluded that the veins are crystallized portions of the serpentine walls, and that the crystals (fibres) have grown outwards from the original crevices which are now represented by partings of iron ore found near the centre of the veins. In cases where there is no such parting the growth of the crystals has taken place on one side of the fracture only. In most cases, however, there has been crystallization on both sides of the fracture, thu^ leaving a parting in the vein. The fractures :,-,• believed to be of three different modes of origin : — (a) Joints, due to contraction of the peridotite during the pro- cess of cooling. (i) Strain fractures caused by regional compression, (c) Fractures caused by exfoliation, or the casting off of con- centric shells from angular blocks which have been previously separ- ated from one another by fractures of the preceding classes. The increase in the volume of the rock when it is altered from peridotite to serpentine probably aids in forming fractures of this class. The essential changes in composition that take place when the rock is altered from peridotite to serpentine are an addition of water and a loss of iron. The principal a^ent required to bring about these changes is water, of which there are two possible sources, viz., niagmatic waters accompanying the intrusions of peri- dotite and granite, and surface or ground waters of meteoric origin. Meteoiic waters would have access to all three of the classes of fractures mentioned above. Alagmatic waters accompanying the peridotite would probably have access to the joints which were among the first fractures to be formed, but not to the Ipter fractures which w°re formed after the peridotite magma had completely cooled. If the granite intrusions took place as late as the regional disturbances which produced the strain fractures, the magmatic waters of the granite would have access both to the joints and the strain fractures. This was probably the case, as the granite is rarely found to be fractured. It does not seem likely that any but meteoric waters have entered the third class of fractures mentioned. Much tie greater proportion of asbestos is found along joints and strain fractures, but it also occurs beside the fractures due to exfoliation as well. It is. therefore, conclude., that serpentine and asbestos have been formed from peridotite by both magmatic and SEiU'EXTIXESj ETC., IX SOUTHERN QUEBEC 67 melecrif water-; but that the greater part 1;^ probably due to n:agmiitic waters, especially those that were derived from the g^fanite magma. In their distribution the asbesitos deposits of the Thetford type iidlow segregations of peridotite that are rieh in olivine. These Occur near the base of sills and in the central parts of stocks. Ero-' sion has uncovered stocks to a greater depth on the north than on the south side of stocks, and so has exposed more asbestos deposits on the north side of the hills which the stocks usually form. The jiresence of granite is an important factor in locating deposits of the Thetford type. Two practical deductions arise from these theoretical conclu- sions : — (1) The structure and mode of origin of tht deposits indicate that they may extend to a depth that is even greater than the limits of prc'fitnble mining. But on the other hand a detailed examination of the enclosing igneous rock n:ay show a deposi' to be of limited extent. ( -1 ) The position which the asbestos-bearing rock occupies in the series, especially in sills, and its readier erosion and removal tend to give it a lower surface than most of the rocks with which it is nsso^-iiited. Good areas are, therefore, frequently found on com- paratively low ground, and are more often covered by soil than the harder, barren rock. Consequently, drift-covered areas in the ■ .cinity of the mines .should be carefully prospected. The value of such areas as some in the neighoourhood of the Danville mines, and lands between Thetford Mines and the Poudrier road — where not occupied by granite — probably depends on the possibility of pros- pecting and working through the drift. DEPOSITS OK THE BROIGIITOX TYPE. i'ii(/frt(f. — The asbestos deposits of thi> type consist almost entirely of slip tibrc. and are wholly in serpentine rock. The rock is finely fractured, and being almost entirely reduced to serpentine there is little evidence of the character of the original rock. In a few sections, however, remnants of pyro.xene ari' traces of rectangu- lar cleavage can be distinguished under the microscope. The asbestos is generally in thin la.vcrs of < ' erlapping fibres which lie parallel to, and along the faces of the numerous fractures. 11159— 5i 68 GEOLOGICAL SCEVEY, CAXADA In places, almost the entire rock seems to be fibrous, and the only distinction between the asbestos recovered in the concentrating mills and the waste on the dump is in the length of the fibre in each. Veins of asbestos of average width and of excellent quality are occasionally found. • Talc is found in veins, and soapstone in masses, in the serpen- tine of this type. A good example is at the Fraser mine, where considerable talc was mined at one time. The deposits of the Broughton type are all found in compara- tively thin sills, usually from 100 feet to 600 feet in thickness. The lower portion of these sheets consists of a compact serpentine in places evidently derived from pyroxene, and which yields so little asbestos that it is not usually worked. Above the asbestos-bearing portion of the serpentine there is, in several cases, a band of green- stone schist which is of igneous origin, and forms a part of the sill. In some places where the greenstones are absent from the sill which carries the asbestos, they have been found in separate sills from 100 feet to several hundred feet above those which contain asbestos. In chemical composition, asbestos of the Broughton type is identical in aU essential respects with that from Thetford, as the following analyses show : — Chemical Analyaet. Sio, . . Al,o, MgO. H.O. .. Brouffhton, range VII, lot 14. Anftlviiiii by J. T. DoiuJd.* 40 87 090 281 41 60 IS 66 Black Ltke Ankljnik by M. F. Connor. 39-62 0-81 4S3 1-90 39 73 13 76 99 63 100 33 • Journal, General MininR Anociation of Quebec, 1891, p. 27. Granite, which is of very frequent occurrence in the Thetford deposits, has not been found at Broughton. Summary of Evidence.— The asbestos of the Broughton type is similar in chemical composition to the Thetford type, and like that 4ype it is found only in serpentine. It occurs, however, chiefly as SERPEXTINES, ETC., IS SOUTHERN QUEBEC 6& I ii it f slip fibre, and in places makes up a large proportion of the rock. The serpentine occurs only in sills, and shows microscopic evidence that it has been derived from pyroxene. The asbestosrbearing por- tions are not at the base of the sills in which they occur, but in the uF"er part of them, and are associated with talc and soapstone. There is no granite with the asbestos deposits. Theoretical. — Xo discussion of the causes of the peculiar features of the Broughton type of asbestos has been found in review- ing the literature of asbestos. The features to be accounted for are serpentine at the bottom of sills without asbestos; serpentine con- taining asbestos in the upper portions of sills; soapstone and talc with or more frequently above the asbestos-bearing part of a sill; and .occasionally sheared greenstone, probably diabase, at the top of the r-ill. The order in which the rocks are arranged indicates separation according to gravity, as in sills of the Thetford phase. The complete or nearly complete serpentinization of the greater part of the sill, however, obscures the original character of much of the rock. Serpentine, it is well known, may originate from the alteration of olivine, pyroxene, or hornblende. Also, it is well established that pyroxene may alter either to serpentine or to talc and soapstone. Microscopic evidence shows that a considerable part of the serpen- tine at Broughton hes been derived from pyroxene, while the origin of much of the reniainis of these complex cond-- tions, it is tentatively suggested that the sills tirst solidified as pyrox- er.ite. or a perid.>tite high in pyro.\ene; that the pyroxenite was altere.1 to serpentine «>r. in places, to soapstone; that the upper portions may have had a development of asl)estos in the form of ' mass fibre ' or asbestos irregularly distributed tlirough the rock, possibly due to a greater action of magn-.atic waters near the top of the sills; and that this fibrous structure weakened the resisting power of the rock and the .-.hear zone was thus localized. The hearing would thus bring the mass fibre into its parallel position with regard to the shearing planes, and give it the character of slip fibre. In any event the asbestos-bearing portion seems to be an estab- lished feature of the sills, and the shear zone doubtless extemls to great depths. t'onsebestos may also le cxpe-." 1 t'« continue at depth. .\tl.\l.\« AND MII.LIX!. Mining— AH the mines are worked by open-cut methods. The ground at the botton: of the pit is usually cut into a .series of benches, generally about 8 to 15 feet high, which afford a number of faces from which the rock cai. be quarried at the same time. At the Bell mne, Thetford. quite extensive underground work has been carried on in winter with apparent >ucces.s. (Jenerally. the mines are operated only by day. At the King mine, Thetford, work is carried on in the pit at night by the aid of search lights. At the Danville mine, some underground work has been carried on. Several of the pits have reached a depth of abo\it 200 feet, with two or 'hree times greater horizontal extension. 3 11159-p. 70 Plate IX Part of Ling asbestos mine, East Broughton, Que., The rock is loose and friable and may be removed with very little blasting. ■a 11159— p. 70 SKKPE.NTI.NKS, tT< ., IN .SOUTHERN and hoisted to the *iirfaf'e. A certain animint of haii'l cohbing is also done in fionie pits. In nio-t. Imwever. uU hand reparation i* done at the surfaee. Thr •, the separate proy small Joi'OMiotive engines; thi; dead rock is then taken to the waste dump, and the rm-k whieh will afford crude asbe-to.s. to thi' i-obbinj; sheils, where it is -eparated by hand work and put in bags. The remainder, iw,.ally :!,"> pi-r ci- • i 70 per cent of all the rock handled, poes to the ore bins, or, • . cyses, din-etly to the mill for mechanical concentration. This concentration is an inufiiious process, which has l)i'en devel- op*' i y some of the pioneer mine nipnaj^ers of the di:>trict. The esseiicial features are successive crushiiiirs and .screenings of the rock, and the removal of the asbe-tos thus liberated by means of suction fans. The crushing is effected by jaw and rotary crushers of th>^ standard ty|)es, and a tin'.' crushing is frequently effected i>y means of rolls. After the first cnishins much or all of the material i* dried in rotary drier-*, with direct heat. The rock is finely i)ulverized by a s|M'c;aliy dt-igiied inaciiinc known as the cyclone. This cousi-ts of two heavy screw-propeller- like fans of chilled iron, which .evolve at a speed of 2.000 revolu- tions per minute, ht more, in a closei' chamber. The .-mall rock fragments are thus driven together wit -ch force a* to reduce them to powder, and the -mallest particles asbestos are released and collected as before.' The fibre drawn of. at the rious stages of the milling process is collected in seti!:-"! chamb?. aud conveyed to a rotary classifier, by which the ^r.^dni t is separat.-d into various grades according to the length of the fiote. Suction fans for the removal of dust from the cyclone, the classi- fier, and sometimes from the mill are im.portant accessories to the equipment. Magnets are usually employed over the shaking screens to eliminate particles of iron ore, scrap etc ' An interestintr discussion of thp " Breaking of Asbestoi-bcarinif Rocks." by Edward Torrey, has lately appeared in the Bulletin of the Canadian Mining Institute. Montreal, 1911. 72 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, CANADA The various mills differ from one another in details, some of which are regarded a8 more or less secret features, but the general practice is essentially uniform. The milled fibre is classified into three or more grades, and the crude asbestos usually in two. The question of adopting a standard classification is under consideration. USES. A small proportion of the asbestos produced, all of the highest grades, is used in making asbestos cloth and various fireproof tex- tiles; while much the greater part is used for covering, and insula- tion purposes. Boards, shingles, and roofing felts for fireproof construction, materials for electric insulation and protection from acids, boiler and pipe coverings are among the products in common use. The manufacture of asbestos goods has hitherto been carried on practically only in Europe and the United States. Recently, however, a plant for the manufacture of asbestos shingles, mill-boards, and covering material has been established at Lachine, Quebec, by The Asbestos Ifanufacturing Company, a company allied to the long- established manufacturing firm of Keasbey and Mattison, of South Ambler, Pennsylvania. A plant for the manufacture of te-xtiles has just been added, and all forms of asbestos manufacture will now be made. STATUS AND POSSIBILITIES OF THE INDUSTRY. The assurance of large reserves which all of the principal minQS have, has led to most of them being well equipped. The machinery is generally the best known, and the buildings are usually suitable and substantial. As long as the mining can be done by open-cuts or quarrying, the costs will probably vary only with the nature of the ground, the management, the price of labour, and the conditions of equipment. But in the methods of concentrating, changes are more likely to take place. The present mill practice is the result of the experience of the past fifteen or twenty years, and varies considerably in different mills in details, and probably also in economy. The varying statements of the power required to operate diffe-»nt mills seems to indicate a wide diversity in the efficiency of the concentrating plants. The enlargement of the market for asbestos products depends mainly on the skill of the manufacturers and the supplv of substi- SERPENTINES, ETC., IN SOUTHEEN QUEBEC 73 tutes for asbestos. The steadily increasing price of lumber is con- tinually widening the field for asbestos boards and shingles, while the ingenious applications of asbestos for heat resisting and insul- ating materials seem likelv f give it a great advantage over any known substitutes. It is rather remarkable that no rival fields in the production of asbestos have yet appeared. The only field that has so far shown a sustained and growing production is that of the Ural district in Russia. The increase in output there for the last ten years has been about the same as that of Canada during the first ten years of the development of the Eastern Townships district. As far as can be learned, the Russian product is not adapted to many of the uses to which Canadian asbestos may be put. This fact, together with difficulties of work and transport, will doubtless keep that field for • a long time at least in a subordinate position to Canada in the world's market. 1. Wolfpstown, range 2. Coleraine, block 3. Wolfestown range 4. Coleraine, block 5. Ireland, range 6. Coleraine, block 7. '• tt 8. " It 9. A part of the^e ores is ii^ed by tlie Electric Reduction Company of Buckingham, Quebec, in the manufacture of ferro-chrome. Except fop occasional small shipments to Europe, the remainder — more than three-fourths of the total production — is shipped to the T'nittMl States. It is tiuTC used in the manufacture of bichromates for use in dyeing textile-, tanning leather, for pigments iiseii in printing and painting, in making chrome steel, and lower grades for lining furnaces. HISTORV. The element chromium was discovered in ITOT. by Vauquelin. a chemist at I.'Ecole Politechnique, Paris, in specimens of crocoisite or chromatc of lead from the I'ral mountains. In the following year. IT'.*^. the corresponding compound of chromium with iron — chron.ite — was tirst discovered by Meder. The first ores are said by W. Glenn ' to have been found nearly simultaneously in the northern I'rals by Soymonof, and in the southern Urals by Metsch- inskow, at about this time. Twenty years later, the use of chromium for dyeing was lcarne 10 34 45 30 13 y4 32 2 SO 16 70 2 46 12 lU 2 03 Molecular ratio. 109 101 30O 193 004 045 417 066 001 100 87 Molecular ratio. 4 10 068 11 34 110 48 20 0320 15 «6 217 036 0006 1 60 0027 15 66 0341 1 45 0033 12 0001 (008 11 97 100-44 Assigning to CO, in the above analyses all the C'aO, and an additional amount of MgO to satisfy it; and to SiO, enoujrh MgO to make bronzite, the results may be regarded as impurities. Con?- biuing the remaining constituents in the three molecules, FeO, CrO (MnO being added to FeO), MgO, Cr.O,, and MgO, Al^. there is only left an excess of MgO in A, of 85 molecules ; and in B, of 49. In other words, the ratios of the protoxide to the sesquioxide bases (exclusive of amounts entering into the impurities, calcite and bronzite) are as follows : in A, 494 :401, and in B, 489 :430. SEKPEXTI.NES, ETC., l.N SOUTHEKX QIEBEC 70 Th<.' difference in composition of these two sjieciinens. which seems to account for their difference in optical and physical character, is that magnesia is higher in A than in B; while ferrous iron is higher in B. Dr. Wadaworth, who made a microscopic study of chromite and picotite in peridotite.' has suggested that chromite may be an altered form of picotite. a variety of spinel in which chromium occurs to as much ns seven per cent. To this Pratt (Op. cit.) takes exception, and considers it probable that chromite con- sists of three isomorphoua molecules. FeO. Cr,0,; ilgO. ('r,0,; and MfcO, A1,0,. He says: 'With the increase of the ratio of the mole- cule MgO. A1,0„ and a corresponding decrease in the molecule FeO, Cr,0„ the ir.ore translucent the mineral will become.' It is a well known fact that pure chromite, answering the for- mula FeO. C'rO,, has not yet been found in nature, except in meteor- ites. But the FeO is replaced in part by MgO, and the Cr.O.. by A1,0,. This it is that has suggested an isomorphic relation of these molecules. The following are analyses of chromite from (I) Bolton, and (II) near Lake Memphremagog, Que., given by Hunt.' II. Cr,0, AljO,. VrO... M(fO.. 4S 90 49 76 320 ' 11 30 3568 ' 21 28 15 03 1813 iia 81 100'4li The analysis of specimen A clearly shows that the translucent portion of the sample in question cani.ot be picotite. even in some- what altered form, since it has more than si.x times as much chromic oxide as that n:ineral contains. Tn some sections (see Fig. 7) the relative positions of the translucent and opaque portions are such as to suggest that the opaque might be an altered form of the other, but in others both appear to be primary. It, therefore, seems mere probable that they arc intergrowtlus. and. as Pratt has suggested, that Cr,0, may have for its protoxide base either FeO or MgO, and ' Lithological Studies, CambridRe, Mass., 1884, p. 184. 'GeolopT of Canada, 1863, p. 501. so OEOLOOICAL SUBV£T, CANADA that the two molecules are commonly both present in an isomorphic relation. Accordingly, when the magnesia molecules are in excess the mineral has the properties of sipecimen A, and when the iron- bearing molecules increase to an amount nearly equal to the other the mineral takes the properties of specimen B. It has not yet been found possible to ascertain whether or not any difference in commercial values is to be looked for in the two classes of ores, namely, those whose bases are either iron, or mag- nesia. For the manufacture of bichromates it is not apparent that there could be any, but for steel alloys there might be a difference in the value of such bases. The microscopic study of chromite specimens from this district indicates that the greater portion of them are of the magnesian, or A class. The sample cho.«n for analysis was selected because the microscopic section showed some- what equal proportions of the two classes of mineral. MINERAL^: A890CUTED WITH CHROMITE. The principal ganguo in the chromite deposit is the country rock which consists essentially of olivine, pyroxene, and serpentine as already described. A few other minerals are alao found with the ores and although in small amounts are perhaps worthy of notice. Magnetite. — Magnetite occurs in the country rock as primary crystals and also in grains and small irregular masses and veina in serpentine. It is also found in grains in larger masses which appear to be primary, and intergrown with the chromite ore. . Vetuvianite. — At the Dominion and Caribou pits of the Black T^ake Consolidated Company's chrome properties and alao at the mine of the American Chrome Company there are shoots, veins, and irregular vuggs of vesuvianite. 'Small well formed crystals are found in places lining the interior walls of drusy cavities. Speci- mens were handed to Mr. R. P. D. Graham, Lecturer in Mineralogy at McGill University, who has kindly fumitaed the following analysis and description: — SKnPEXTIXES, ETC., IX SOLTirERN QrEBEC SI I.ila<--co>"iired Vi .cr.l:»r r.iti.i. SiO . t;i2 . . 3 M.i>, r'ai) Vviy 1!W 1 liB!t 1 9 • MnO Mk'J- Na.O K,0 ,|;7!«. 4 4ti' 2 Begarding the mineral as a lime alumina silicate, in which a part of the lime has been isomorphously repl8- 44--">S percent lime (O-TOti x ."lO), and the per- cental composition of the mineral recalculated from the above analysis on this basis is given in column I below. Column II gives the theoretical figures for 4CaO, A1,0„ SSiO.. SiO,. .\I.O3 CaO.. 3fi-2i5 ia77 43 97 100 00 II. 35 57 20 16 44 27 100 00 The mineral occurs in small transparent crystals up to 1 mm. in length, and having a high lustre. There is practically no loss in weight (0.05"^) after heating at 105'C. for an hour, and the colour 11159— C A 82 flKOt.tKilCAL SUKVEY, CAXAHA also remains unchaiigitl; at a higli-r tt'iii|j«'rature, fusion with Witer- nietM-t-nfc tuki-' place, ami if tlie uiiiieral lin* b«fii i«pw»lt're) wen' as follows, the corresponding values for vesuvianite U'ing Kiveti in brockets for coiniHirisoii : — «!■. 22 5' t.> 23' If,' (22^0)) rs. 11° 47' to 12° l.V (12-15'> ,;.. 29 ;«■ (ait-wt Owing to the small size of the faces, some o' tnc angles could only be obtained approximately, which accounts for the somewhat large limiting values. The specific gravity (3-32) and the optical character (uniaxial, negative) also agree with vesuvianite. Analyses of vesuvianite do not as a rule lead to any simple formula for the mineral, and specimens from different localities may vary considerably in composition. It is, roughly speaking, a lime- alumina silicate, in which varying proportions of the lime may be replaced by other monoxides, while ferric oxide may at the snuie time take the place of some of the alumina. It was shown by Rnmm- elsberg that the ratio K":R"' in vesuvianite is always 2:1; and he propo-sed. as a general fo>nnuln for the mineral, the type 4K",, SiO„ R', SiOj. In the case of the specimen described above, the ratio ('a":Ar" = 2:1. iis required for vesuvianite. but the composi- tion is most nearly represented by the general formula 2R', SiO,. R.SiO,, or 2CA„ SiO,. Al„ SiO,. Diamonds. — In view of the recent discovery of diamonds by Mr. R. A. A. Johnston, Mineralogist of the Geological Survey, in rocks containing chromite whiwh were found by Mr. Chas. Camseli in the Tulameen dist'.ct, Lriti-b Columbia, specimens from Black Lake were handed Air. .Johnston for examination. Four specimens •i>l rllKKN i/IKBKl s:5 wtff tukiii. (Jiif tta? of i-hromitc < n- In.ii. tlie Mf.iitrful pit of the I>ofiiiiiioii Cliroiiii' ('oiii|iaii.v. m «■ ll.i- iiripirty of tlio Hliii-k I^kke C'on-olicluttd .Mining ('oni|iuii.v ; om- of -irix'iitim- from the vicinity of the ore l.iily, and one of v«-uviaiiiti from tlie *anie pit. The fourth -iHiinien wh- a i.ie<-e of [Kridotile taken near Hhick Lake station. The la-r three 9|ieoinien- contain**! no U, Imt the »I>e(iin«'ii of chro ite ore was foinul to contain alioiit t».(Mj i)er cent of diatnonil-. wliich are small Imt (ptiier\vi?f of )fi>o• lo. mean- il coni|ilcte te-t of the whole deposit or of the chroniite of the "titire di-trict. Forty-tive loealitied in which chroniite i^ found an- .-iio%Mi .,ii the cccoiiiiianyin^r niap of the Thetford-Black Lake district, and inaiiy other? are known farther to the southward. The examination nf tlii-c »•• wcli as further test- ing of the deposit at the .Montreal pit. and an e.xaniinatiim of the gravels in the vicinity of any of the dcpo-it.- where this is practic- able. i:i mcc--ary before it can be safely told whether or not the diamonds are of commercial in;porti';ice in the district. The following is ifr. JohnstonV de^ciption of the i;roces.s he employed in e.xtracting the 'iamond-. and of the results attained: — • Kxnmination of s|H'cimcns from the vicinity of Black Lake, Quebec, with a view to ascertainiiifr tlic pre-ciice or ab-cnce in them of any form of diamond, by R. A. .\. .Ioli;i.-ton : — • Xo. 1. — This S[>ecimen consisted me pre.vish serpciitinoiis n;aterial.' ' A fragment was broken from this specimen and crushed to a powder passing a sieve of sixty meshes to the linear inch; this powder wa* then treated in a separatory tube with Thoulet solution of a !-pe<'ific gravity of about 3 0; the heavier -eparate which settled at the bottom of the tube weighed after washing and drying approxim- ately 11 grnmnies; this was mi.xetl with 'yO grammes of chemically pure dry carbonate of soda and the mixture fused in a large platinum crucible at a cherry red heat for four hours ; after cooling the melt was digested in distilled water to complete disintegrration, the super- natant liquid filtered off and the residue treated with hydrochloric acid to remove oxides of iron, magnesium, etc. About half of the m.-ifl— 61 £, 84 GEOLOGICAL Sl'KVEY, CANADA chroiiiite was removed iu these operations. This course- of proce- dure was repeated several limes. It soon became evident that this method was of little etiect upon the coarser particles of chromile that were being left after each set of operations; fusion with bisuipliate of pota.-sium was then resorted to, and the residue frnm this treat- ment which showed a number of minute diamonds along witli son.e imdecomposed cln-omite was freed from the latter by a tinal fusion with sodium carbonate.' ' The residue of diamonds obtained in the manner indicated above was found to weigh nearly .-even milligrammes or •'■00 per cent of the heavy separate operated upon, which constituted nearly the whole of the specimen.' ' These diamonds appear to the naked eye as nothing more than dust particles; under the microscope, however, with a moderate power they are soon to be jierfeetly transparent and beautifully crystalli/ed ; tlie most enir.mon form is that of the simple octahedron; many of them though, are apparently combinations of the cubn and octaheilron. Tlio liardness could not be determined with a>r\inicy owing to the very small amount of material available for experiment, but in the course of their removal from a lieaker with the aid of a camel's hair brush, it was noted that even such light pressure as wa.s occasioned in this way was sufficient to cause abundant fine scratches upon the glass.' 'When exposed to radium emanations they can be seen to fluoresce distinctly, a test which i-^ regarded as conclusive evidence of the character of the mineral.' ' From the Montreal Pit. Black Lake Consolidated Company. Black Lake. Quebec.' ' No. 2. — From the same locality as the preceding specimen. A dull greenish grey serpentine. 'I'reateearing rock too poor to be worked. The ore bodies are generally irregular in shape, though they oomnionly have an approach to ellipsoidal outlines in the surface section, indicating that they are more or less lense-shaped. In such ■;a30s the longer axes lie parallel to the general foliation of the .ouutry rock, that is N.E.-S.W., and so the form may be the result of regional pressure which has taken place after the ore bodies were formed. One of the largest bodies of ore yet proven is at the Xn. 1 pit of the Black Lake Chrome and Asln-stos Company. This ore body is some SO feet in length, from 5 to 50 feet wide, and has been Worked to a depth of 340 feet. It dips to the west at an angle of about Oi)'. In its general form this ore body appears to bo quite similar to the famous Wood mine, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which was one of the tirst elironiite mines to be worked in America. This tt:i~ tir-t ili'-cribeil by I'rof. Frazer' as follows: 'The country rock S..fnit(l Geological Survey of IVnnsylvanin, 1880. Ami 86 GKOI.OGICAr. SUIiVEY, CANADA is serpentine. The ore body as iiroven is almost 5n-cut of 100 v 40 feet, with a maximum depth of 60 feet. The original ore body, which dips towards the northwe-st at a low angle, has l>een followed all the way. It was 15 feet thick at the surface, and maintained that thickness at different places. Where this has been removed several bore-holes have been sunk to test the 11:, .1'. riving rock. The l:)gs of two of those holes are given below. The hole A is a vertical one, that at B dips northwest at 60^ This is the direction of the dip of the ore body, but at a consid~-ably higher angle. The hole? bogiti at practically the same place. A. 43 feet seriieiitiiie. K. 47 fet't MT|>eiitine. 4.S 4fi 1, ore. 46-K. 65-. ->8 .. ser|)entine. .. ore. 68 74 74 80 t. n*r|)entiiie. ore. 80 82 82-8."« r< Rer|tentine. ore. »eri>entine. Total (ire, 13 fe.t. s ome portions log.s, are granite; 47-.)0 ,. ore. eo^.'ii M neriieiitine. 51 Wt ,, ore. 59 (i3 .. seriientine. 62-63 M lire. RHit) .. Beriientine. 65 73 .. nre. 73-8.'? ,. ser|ieniine. S3- 84 .. ore. 84 ,SS M wriifiitiiii'. 88-98 .. ore. Heriieiitine. Tota ore, 31 feet. of tile rock. ila«sed as serjientine in the above but their measurements are not distinguished. Boring B being nearly parallel to the dip of the Jenses, shows the dimensions along the axes nearest to the vertical, which appear to be approximately two and a half times tlie thickness of the ore bodies. The Caribou pit (locality "7 nn the accompanying map of Black Lake mining district), of tiie Black Lake Chrome and Asbestos Company, shows some features nf interest, although the remo"al of the rock between the ore lodios. as well as *'ie ore, leaves little to show the relations of the original deposit. At present it is a pit 90 feet deep, showing small len-c^ of rich ore on either side. There is a SEUI'K.N r I. Nth, EK.., IX SOUTHEKX QUEBEC 87 wall of granite on the ^liUthoaat and northwest sides. On the south- west side the granite is a dyke 1 feet thick, on ihe opposite side about 2 feet thick, and less regular. The ore at present >-ecn is near but not touching the granite walls. Isolated bodies of ore are said to have been found between the dykes, and the amount of rock removed would certainly indi'-ate that -on.e values must have been obtained ia various parts of it. The history of the working liefore the pro- perty fell into the hands of the present owners could not be ascer- tained, but the best ore seems to have lieen near the sides of the present pit. Molybdenite occurs in small quantities with the chroni- ite at one place in this pit. The Canadian Chrome ('oinpany's mine (locality 32 on accom- panyinn niiip i';!A) is an open pit, of somewhat similar extent to the last. In the centnl part of the northeast wall a body of granite, some 10 feet in width at the surface, extends downward vertically for '.Ml feet, and is then replaced by serpentine. It is one of those places in which the ;iranitc has the appearance of being contem- poraneous with the peridotite from which the serpentine has been formed. The best ore seems to have bee. Dlitaine on accompanying map 23 A), near Breeches lake, appears to be similar to those men- tioned in the relations of the deposit to the country rock, liut the deposit is not well develope Vnii (iripiliieck ' iriid (llcii" urc iiiiioiigst tlw writir- ■ :i the subject who have held this opinion. The origin of chromite seems to have been connected with that of serpentine in the belief tha: chromite occurs only in serpentine. Since chromite occurs ir. unaltered peridotite and pyroxenite as well as in serpentine, this view is plainly untenable. (>0 Mennier" arrived at the opinion tliat vhroinite was f.rMi.d by pneumatolitic action from chemical experiments in which lie produced chromite ^vnthetically. By introducing hydrogen ii.tu ;i porcelain tube at red heat containing e view for th,. .n- of Quebec. .Mossrs. Pratt aiul Lewis ' have since siiowed iht- (l,-i..i-if, of the southern Appalachians to have a similar origin; while Pr.j- fessor T. II. L. Vogt' had previousiy established the primary origin of the chromite deposits of Ilcstniando, Norway. There, in fresii cr little altered i)eridotites, bodic* of chromite were found by Pr •.'■..- s.— Vogt, corresponding in shape and position to those previojr'v known to occur only in serporitiiio. F. I). Power' irmw a -tu :v of the chromite ores if New Caledonia considers chromite to l-e ar. ' ' Lehre von den Lagerst.Tttpn don Erzo,' 1879. "XVII Annual RiH"'i, US. Geological Siirvev. •Contribution & la hlstcire de fer Chrome, St. Meunicr Comptes Rendiis, vol. ('X, l*-90. 'Transactions of the Province of Quebco Mining Association. • Pratt, J. H., Trans. Am. Inst. Min. Eng., 1899. U.S.G.S., 19(.. Pratt, J. H., and Lewis, J. V., North Carolina Geo!. Survey 1905. is;n. 1900. " Zeitsohrift fjir Prakti^ohe GeoloKie, Oitober. 1S9». 'Transactions nf tlie Institution n? Mining and MetallurRy, Vol. VIII, Ip99'i90u. 90 (iKOI.OGICAI. SUUVEV, CANADA original oonstitiu-iit of tti<' oriiptivt- rock. But ho fiiiils the deposits arranged along joints and natural channels in the rock, and hence belifVfs the deimsits have b manufacture of bichromates for use in dyeing textiles, tanning leather, for pigments used in printing ami paint, and in making I'hrome st«>l, and the lower grades for lining furnaces. imi GEOLOGICAI- SV.A'E ■, CAXAOA OCCIRRESCES OF CHROME IROS ORE. 1. (iarthby, 4. H. Iri'ltnd n«n(te V, lot 36. .. V, .. 37. „ I. .. B. „ I, .. C. .. 11. .. 5, 6,7, X, llffeclie* lake, ranire II, N. lot 4. fl 1..* 'Ht !• 10. U ir. 13. u. l.J. If.. 17. IH, 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 2><. 29. ;«•. 31. 32. ;(;<. 34. 35. .Hti. .37. .%■<. 3;i 41. 42. t3. It. iri'ianu ■• 11, lot 2H, Ciileraine, block A, A, A. ., A._ range IV, „ IV, IV. IV, A, A, A. lot bluvk 9, 10, range X," lot 19 N. W., bUA A, A, range X, lot 9, block A, .. A, ., A, ,. A, ,. A, A, B, lot 28, range K, ■■ 2*i, .. A, .. 16, ,. A, .. 17. Ind. Rt'». range XIII, L. 8, range IV. lot 2r.. XIII, .. .Mnd.Kes. Ill II_. Wiilftxtown, run '.'. ., II.' ..26; W.ilftxtown. ranges II .-ind III, lot 24, Coler.-iine, block .\, . American Chrome Co. Black I..ake Chrome ft .Vsbestos C.>. •fanie!^ Reed. Black Lake Chrome ft .\«bf »to9 Co. •Tames Keetl. Black Lake Chrome ft A«be»tos C.>. Standard .VHlK-stoi* C< ». Blivck Lake Chrome ft A»lje?to» C > Standard A8l**Httrt Co. Bl.uk Lake Chrome ft .Vsbest.js Ci. I'nion mine. Ward and Ro»«. Canailian Chrome Co. .1. Lenielin. Stat Chrome Mining Co. F. K. Xargen. ,Star Chrome Mining O). .\. liondreau. Dominion Chrome Co., Montreal. IVll A«l»!to>-C... Bla.k Lake Chrome ami Asbestos ' \ A, B, XIII, Adam ami St. Onge. .Vmerican Chrome Co U. H. Uardiner. ST.\Ti;S .\NI) POSSIBILITIES OF THE lNI>t STUY. The position of Canada amongst other countries of the w.jrld ill regard to the production of chromite, from 1903 to 10<'T, is jhown by the following table of statistics also prepared by Mr. iMcL^ish.' It is also stated by Mr. McLeish that, " Turkey is one of the most important producers of chromite, the ore being found in many parts of Ixith European and Asiatic Turkey. Unfortunately no complete reoorils of production are available." ' Op. cit. >Ki;i'KXTl.\KS. ETC., IX SOfTHEUN QIF.BEC 03 World's Production of Chromite in Metric Tons (2.204-6 lbs.). I'MlS. i;i04. Il«i5. ii"!*;. r."'* Aiwtnli.i I.wi 4ia r)3 1.-. :«ii Ito^riia aii'i lIvr/^-^.A ina. . . U7 -Ts I si; 3211 :fiii Caiiatia ... 3,ih;< 5, Mil 7.77!' m:«; i;,.-.2« l7 lii,!»7i: Ni'iwav ir.i T iiit»'(i St;it»'-i . 152 125 22 1IP!I 2fl,i liirkt-y . Xli Lllllllll ■tf T I.HtlC?* avai)ul>l(-. For the i).rio.l between 10O.3 to 1907, Canada held either the third or fourth plnce amongst countries producing chromite. This is witii the f.\i-lu>ion of Turkey whose production, though douBtle?* soiii.'tiir.fs hirer.-, is variable, evidently owing to the cost of tran-portation lieing m-arly equal to recent current prices. Concerning the Turkish industry, T'nited States Consul Ernest L. Harris, Smyrna, reiintly pave the following notes on the outlook for chrome ore in .\sia Minor': 'Ciironie ore has declined sn mui-h in price that there is not much profit in mining it, and certainly not in ■districts far distant from the sea. As much as $100 per ton was paid for chrome ore 20 years ago. but the same quantity and quality cannot be sold delivered to-day, f.o.b. Smyrna, for more than $17 per ton; often it brings only $15.' ' The most important mines formerly worked were those of Daghardi. in Broiissa. The district which has produced an ' export' .1 the greator-t quantity of clironie ore in Asia Minor is that termed the basin of Macri, of which the port of that name was the chief point of shipment. This port is in the vilayet of Smyrna, en the southern coast of the peninsula. Considerable chrome is also shipiied through the port of Smyrna, The mines are situated in the mountains ne.ir Sarakoui. mi the .Vidin railway line. Then- nre al-" many other chrome pits which have been left unworked on account of the difficulties connected with transportation.' ' Chrome ore in Asia Minor is usually found on mountains from 4.no<> to .i.(XM:t ft. high. It is removed from the pit to the railroad Enifineerins and Minins .Tonriial. Xpw Yoi May 30, 1908 94 i.KOI.CM.KAl. SIKVKY. l ANAHA sfiilii'ii. or iimrkct, i>ii tin- bii"-k- i-t' iliiiiki\> iiiul luiiu'l?. tlii' surer- looted donkeys being used in the liighcr altitudes and the canjeLs for the phiiiis. This method u^uully iuvolveil two "r threi transfers between the point of origin and tlie port of Sinyrna. It usually takes one donkey a week to earry 4W ll'>. of chrome ore from the pit- on the niO'Untain-top> to tlie i:n\:i\ -tatioii lith.w: it then take- live eamels one day to trim-port a ton of chrome ore over a distance of 15 miles. The last jhipment:- of elirome ore n:ade from Smyrna ■M-T" 1..VI0 tons in VM»<. None of the mines has ever been worked with up-to-date nin<-hinery. As the ilironie ore of other euuntries comes on the world s market in in-rea-infr quantities, that of Turkey must neee^si^ily decline in the face of keen competition, not on account of tlie quality of the ore, hut from the difficulties of internal transportation, if for no other reason. The largest firm which ever handled chrome at Smyrna has returned all it.s mines to the Turkish government, as the annual tax upon the ownership .f tlii-.l to n:ore than they could he workeil for at profit.' The coiitrollinp producers of the world are evidently Xew Cale- donia, where a natural conc(>ntration of chroniite owing to the disin- tegration of the serpentine ocpuntry rwk gives more continuity to the ore bodies, and Russia, where ohromite was tirst discovered. The principal chromite properties in yuebec have recently changed ownership iiaving been accpiired by the newly formed Black Lake Consolidated Miiiin;; Company. In the interval of reorganiza- tion, work has been practically suspended, but it is to be hoped that the s\if pension is only temporary. In geographical position and means of transpor*iL:on, the Quebec district has great advantages over chromite bearing districts yet known in other part* f>f the world. Tile Quebec Central railwiiy passes through the centre of the dir-trict and gives communication to the lea-board. The distance from Black Lake staticm to Quebec ii so mile*: to Bost.-n. :U4 miles: and to Xew York. 447 miles. The obstacles of most importance in the operation of the chromite mines are the comparatively small size of individual ore bodies, and the necessity of concentrating much of the ore. The-e difficulties are general, and apparently apply to chromite mining in most other cn\intrie-. While the mining of a single lens of ore ^EKPENTINKS, F.TC, I.N SOlTlIEn.N" t^l EBEi^' 95 may be highly profitable, the amount of deud ruck to be passoed through l)ffore reaching aiiotlier is a very uncertain factor. In some plai'e» one ore body i< separated from another I y only a few inches of rock, in otliers, by nmny feet. Consequently, it i* ditticult to obtain a regular production from a .*i'";le pit except in the larger bodic-i. iiml in all cases ample exploraii'... work i< necessary-. -Much of the district s4-Ir. II. A. Leverin, of the Mines Branch, Tio!d ^nly a trace. Talc. Steatite or soapstone — as well as purer forms of talc — occurs in luiinerous places in the townships of East Broughton and Ireland. It ifenerally bears the same relation to the older serpentine that pyr.i.Kenite has to pt>ridotite. It is an aiten. ' form of i-yroxcnite au'!. in some places shows distinct pseudomorphs of steatite after pyroxene. Soapstone baa been quarried to a small e.vtent at the old Fraser mine, East Broughton, lot 14, range VII, and on lot 5, range V, of Thetford. A considerable quantity is easily available on lot 2, rai'iie XI. of Broughton, and Ham, lots 42. 4-3, and 50, range I. A better quality of talc is found on the farm of W. I. Porter, bt i. Craigs Road range of Ireland, where it probably occurs in workable quantity. Platinum. A small amount of platinum was reported to have been found in tl.e zP:ivels near the Chaudiere river, in the county of Beauce, by SERPEXTINEM, ETl., IN SOITIIEBN VltBE< 07 T. S«'rr>- Hunt, in 1S52. The natural habitat of platinum is in chrome bearing perirlotite*. Tln«e gravels are 30 mile* southeast of the terpentine he-' and it is altogether probable that they have been in part derived from it. A nugget of platinum has also been found at Plattsburg, X.Y., some 50 miles south of the serpentine belt in Brome. In the Tulameen district of British (olumliia, Mr. Camsell finds the platinum to occur with the chromitc. Two »p«Mi- iiiciis iiiit«- from Uliiik iiiki-, which have U-en us8aye<) by Mr. H. A. Leverin, Mine- Branch. Department of Mines, have .vielded no platinum. Copper. ('hulc()|iyritc is fnuml in smiall (|uantities. apparently as primary segregations, near the outer edges of the diaba«e in many places in this district. Most of them, however, are mere mineral oc<-Hrreni*», and not of commercial importance. On lot 22, range I, of (.Jarthby, is the property known as the Coulombre mine, on which a shaft was sunk over forty years ajro. The ore is a compact pyrite carrying a small copper content. It is extremely in-e from silica, and niifiht be useful in conjunction with some of the siliceous copper ores of the Capelton district. While there is little facility for finding the limits of the ore btidy. the extent over which isolated exposures are found, indicates the ||(p»^ibility nf an iniixirtiMit b'lily. perhaps like one of those found under similar conditions to the southwest of this district, at the lliintin^'don and I-ake Meniphreniapig mines. Smaller amounts of a l)etter grade copper ore occur near the north shore of Clapham lake, on lot 15, range VIII, of Thetford. This is also in diabase near the contact with slate. In lots 8 and J>. ranjre I, of Wotton, diabase carries a little disseminated pyrite over an area of some -'0 acres. It is possible that by stripping the soil from the rocks the ore might be found to be concentrated in places, into workable deposits. ni3i>--7 1NI>EX A,la .s I'. F 1' . .l.n ■•t.ri-tus of Rranit.. ot ^e.p."ti..H Wit 31 orii m of QnebM- (hroniite orf ■•• ,e! lenfines shown to lie altPrrd igneous, not sedi- ^ mtntary ., AKiiculture, conditioas of 12 Altitudes •••• ^ l-'lj 80 American rhrome Co.. vesiivianite at properti.s ot • • ■ ■ ^^ ■ ■ •' Co's minp -a Aiialv-i-. asbf-to-. Broiigliton type • .,., Danville slate .,., 4liabase -^ chromite .)- peridotite yn >erpentine, and a-bp'tos ^^ " (iv roxene jj pyroxenite 29 " serpentine oj Sillery slate ^ >oapstt)ne jo sundry ■■■' ^^■^ ves\ivianit»' ^ Antimony :'"\1\. H mineral of serpentine belt . . • • • ^^ only Oicurrence known in district j^, Aplite, o.( nrrence and characteristics .35, 67 Asbestos, Broughton phase ' g, (hemical composition of ^, (las»i uses of ■' A-iay untimony ore for gold ^ cliromito for platinum *' B Barlow, Dr. A. E., origin of asbe-tos ** Bibliography Black Lake Chrome and Asbestos Co., Caribou pit. features of interest W •• •• large body of chrome ore S.i Blixk Lake Consolidated Co., (hrome properties, vesuvianite at SO •• " chiomite tKaniined for diamonds S3 " " ohromite properties aca'iired by 94 Bronghton phase, igneous rocks "^ typi, deposits of "' C Cjii.idian Chrome Go's mine ^l Chalcopy rite '■ ^; Chrome iron ore, occurrences of Chromite, analysis of from Bolton '_ " annual production ' district distiiignishiMl for production of ^I found pure only in meteorites "' gangue of chromite deposit . . - J> important mineral of district ^ " metho 60 10 " " pyroxene '" Copper, mineral of serpentine belt **. 97 Coulombre mine O Diinville Asbestos and Asbestic Co '♦ Dawson, i5ir J. W.. reference to Palaeoioic fossils 50 Di:ibase, characteristics of ™ Diamonds ; ^ occurrence of in chromite SEEPEXTINES, ETC., IS SOUTHERN QUEBEC 101 64 Diller. J. S., origin of asbe-tos -j D'lsraeli Mining Co ^'j » ''JilmVnai. '^ Dommion Chrome Co., chromit. examined for diamond. ^ .. •• large body of ore ^j " chrome mine •■■■" ^ DonaM. Dr. J. T.. analysis Brooghton ^ype a.ben o> -— • g, chpmical compo-ition of asbestos ^^ Drainage— river* of di-trict Electric Bedu-tion Co.. manufacture of ferro^hrome ;■;;;; "'"4 ElU. Dr. R. W.. areal geobgy revved by ^ " ■• nrisin of asbestos ^^ Eve, Dr. A. S.. tehipm,nt of chromite by "6 Kicliardson. l»r. C. H.. origin of asbestos 64 Ro^e, R. R.. ticld assi-^tant _' Ru.ssia, a>^bestos pro-i _ ■' " Briinithtiin -ei ;ientine mineral of -eriientin-' belt ' •' niinierou- depo-it-i of ■^_ Tlietford phase, isneoi;* ro( k* -' Topography ; I^ Transportation and ( oiumrnication V ■ > U-e- of asbestos ,. '' , ^ .0, 91 ' chromite V 9 \alentinite „. " associated with antimony " Vesiiviunitft associated with chromite **•'*' W Wadsworth, Dr.. .siijiKestion as to nature of chro-nte ?» Waterpowera , ■'■■■" ,' [ ,, Willivms, Dr. Georjje. relation b.-tween hornblende and luartz n Woolsey. \V. J., origin of a>be-tos ' Wvomin,.. a-l)csto- .l.>i«.M!- ..t |-..-|mi. "'"'uraiii- b» CANADA DEPARTMENT OF MINES Hos. LO..S C0»™».. M...st™; a. p. Low. D.p«tv M.n»t«; GEOLOGICAL SURVEY R. W. B»orm. Di««rro«- ciAssiraB usT or m^»^^»™"' " oeoiomcai vent any nilsoonception^ ari^in? on tlm account. 11159—8 Memoirs and Reports Published During 1910. RErOKTS Rpiiort on « RPolnRical rpconnais-^ance of the ri-ftion traTer»*a by tho N.i'icni-l Transcontinental railway Ix-twfen Ijike NipiROn and (-lay lane, dm. Hy W. H. Collins. No. 1059. Renoit on the |{er,losi 11 p . \ reronnais-ance ai ro-s the Maokenzie mountains on the 1 elly. Kos», and Giav,.] livers, Yukon and North West Territories. By Jo-t'ph Keele. No. 1097. MEMOIRS-^iEOLOOirAL SF.RTKS. Memoir 1. No. 1. Geohiiiicul Seru.i. OeoIoRv of tlic NipiRon ba-ui. Hn- tario. Hv .Alfred W. O. Wilson. , „ ^ Memoir 2. No. t, Ueotonical Series. Geology and ore deposits of Hi. Nn. 8. Grnlmiicnl Series. The Fxlmonton coal held, Allifrta. Bv R. B. DowlinR. , . .,, , Memoir 'i No. 9, Geological Sertcs. Bighorn coal basin, Alberta. By O S. Malloch. , , ^^ Memoir 10 No. 10. Geolngicnf Series. An instrumental survey_ of the fhorelinee of the extinot lakes Alfronqnin and Nipissing in southwestern Ontario. Bv .T. V.'. neldthwait. k Ill Memoir 12. JVpo--itti of thi» southern interior of British Colnrobia. col- lected by Mr. Lawrence M. Lambe, in 1906. Bj Anton Handlirscli. llpinoir 15. No. It, Geological Srries. On a Trenton Ediinoderm Fann« •t KirkBeld, OntnriO; By Frank SprinKer. Iftmoir 16. No. 13. Orolniiirnl Series. The clay and 8hale i of New Brunswick. Bv Hein- rifh Kip!' a'^''i-^teT>. Memoir 21. IV<>. 15, tUolmjiitil .Vcrii <. Tin- kioIipjjv .in. I ore .|t|..i-it- nt Phoenix, Bo. ndarv diitrict. British Columbia. By O. \a. LeRov. Mamnir 24. No. 16. Clenlonirnl Series. Preliminary report on the clay and ehale deposits of the western provinces. By Heinrich Kie.3 f- :- a, i > CO DiabHKP hrmia. |ivroriil V) £5 la IL Sci'pi'iitiiK- Hiiil |i<-i-ipuluj{icnl liiiiiiiflarv fienlni{irn1 huundarv (>(j. Aitkin. AUiitniM myl n]i.fnS^am»x.J>iuu0lidmtH SerifTP.HUtxbllm* m {", f ' > .? Ji V ' v. ' '• I i " «^' I ...1 L- « y V ' r^ «•' V. ' ' ** vt^ ■* \ -^ i „ i \ r ' >V 1 J C /^ MAP 2;iA 'WT rHETFORD -BLACK HJkKE MDflNIJ I>IST1Untf*trr« m r^-v^mt i»-- fciiiTjijig-jCgiiLiw : I HILE TO I INCH GEOLOGY JOHN A.ORtSSeH IIS CHAR6£ I90T- 1909 AMfLCAM I90TI309 H. R. HOSl ISO/ G-eAITKlM MAP COMPIUR JJJ ECONOMIC GEOLOGY U-;(iKND ^y Oryiiavicimn tutd Catmbrum Cnuiitr aadnpUlr z < o > o ^^^^^D »- (0 Svipentiiw uaA pei-iHmitp g ;^-**-"^ Sprprntinr niul peridotitp ? Sviubola AiibpiitnH 9 D VntirKl •»■>• (f^ikk^k-Ml hnandu^' BHOMPTON Irpartmnit of llUiifs GEOLOGICAL SURVEY HoN.W.TcMPLEMAN. Minister; A. P.Low.Oeputy Minister. R.W.Brock, Director. 1911 Ifpattmrnt of Jlinrs GEOLOGICAL SURVev HOM.W.TtMPU«MAM.MlMI«TtR; A.P.LoW.DtPUTV MlNI»Tl*; R.W.B110CK. Director. i>;u QUEBEC I>ip anil Htribp Vi-itii-aJ atriiiH (ilitpiaJ •truw f'nktff^iiil hnundiuy aCAudkanw oWAJTCi .VflcUf, 10MiU» to Itnek, M A1» 3B A DANVIU.E MIXING DISTRICT Cxjiiuties of ARTHABASCA. RICHMOND and WOLFE gilKBEC Scalp , Ba.aeo MUCH -U KUoavtrva MILE TO INCH -mil IT: ^- ^T ^ MAi> aaA l>^i?miXE MINING DISTRICT ( oiinties of ARTHABASCA. RICHMOND and WOLFE Scale , aa.aoo Milea Kiloiiu*tj*f*a r »«l li^ *- PK»*- --t. i -_:--r---.-=:l I MILE TO I INCH OCOLOOY JOHN A. DHCSSCR. (IN CMARGCJ 1907, I909. A MfLCAN ,a09 0.9.AITKCN. MAf COKlPILeit. St aerompaii: Mitnnir .V^^V ^^^M. ««aoCOfV IBOIUTION TBT CHART (ANSI ond ISO TEST CHART No. 2) ^ /APPLIED IM/1GE I ^Fm '653 East Main Street r^ Rochester. New Yo'k U509 USA S (^16) 482 - 0300 - Phone S (^16) 288- 5989 -Fo« LECSIND by OrdovidfimM, mnd C^umkfimm, ^•duitmiUMj ECONOMIC GEOLOGY HoN.W.TtMPLE it o 1 K H a. lA O I- 0. C < Grmite and Mplif^* CO Aittbwae toeccia, f y raM Bgiit«> etc. Sct^OKtiiLe and poridotito u ■a Mridatite ? hut prvt^lr Hit d tw^tuit, fy Symbols ^iMBtOS ClmoDijto XbIc A Co|p«r JHf IHf tanl rtrikE _:!1J GEOLOGICAL SURVEY */.TtMPLEMAN.MiNi8TER ; A.P.Low.DeputyMinister: R.W.Brock.Director. 19U QUEBEC 'bOs A n 1 • C«»«r "~>5? D^ndMia. 1 ^ ^KotiedMrtta >a^ GUsiilMiaa ---- ktMlMUld. ft|ie«L /SuMM 3 ^ ^M /^Sf^^ .■> ^nl 33v F^ :-#ww«H.«wi.-.-r S£K] E ■/■ n mOm ml immlk. IZOZ M AP58 A iroTtli.east Vart of the ERPE:NTrN^ BELT EASTERN TOWNSHIPS QUEBEC OeOLOOY JOHN A.OKeSSC/f llN CHAIfOl) 1907-1909 A.mUAN 1907-1909 H.H.KOSC 1301 Scale, -wshuB ifik. I T t f 4 MILK* TO I INCH K^ZZ