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 EEPORT AND EXTRACTS 
 
 ON 
 
 THE BLACK RIVER 
 
 MINING LOCATIOISrS. 
 
 NoK. 1, 2, :!, & 4. 
 
 NORTH SHORE OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 
 
 TORONTO: 
 COPP, CLARK & CO., KING .STREET EA.ST. 
 
 1872. 
 
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REPOET AND EXTRACTS 
 
 ON 
 
 THE BLACK RIYER 
 
 MIl^IJN^G LOCATIONS, 
 
 Nos. 1, 2, 3, & 4. 
 
 NORTH SHORE OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 
 
 TORONTO: 
 COPP, CLARK & CO., KING STREET EAST. 
 
 1872. 
 
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 We, the undersigned, holders each of an undivided one- 
 fourth interest in the Black River Minin<^ Locations, Nos. i, 
 2, 3, and 4, North Shore of Lake Superior (the other half 
 being the property of the Royal Canadian l^ank), are desirous 
 of placing some facts with regard to said locations before the 
 public, which will draw the attention of Capitalists, with a 
 view to their development. 
 
 To this end, we herewith, by permission, publish copy of a 
 report recently made to Royal Canadian Bank, by a compe- 
 tent mineralogist and others, accompanied with some extracts 
 taken from reports formerly made to the Upper Canada 
 Mining Company. 
 
 We are willing to sell our interest therein, or to join with 
 J any Capitalists who may purchase the interest of the Bank, 
 in forming a Joint Stock Company for the developing and 
 working the mines. 
 
 ARCHIBALD C. THOMSON, 
 
 Barrii'. 
 
 JAMES McGEE, 
 
 31 Grenvillc Street, Toronto. 
 
REPORT 
 
 TO THE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTORS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ROYAL CANADIAN BANK, 
 
 Gentlemen, — In pursuance of your instructions, we pro- 
 ceeded lo Lake Superior, and had an opportunity, on our way, 
 of inspecting the "Wellington Copper Mines" and smelting 
 works on Lake Huron, now carried on successfully (being 
 wrought day and night) by Messrs. Taylor & Sons, of London, 
 England. Also of visiting Marquette, the seat of the Iron 
 trade of the south shore of Lake Superior. 
 
 The view here presented to the eye and mind of the tourist, 
 by this busy and well adapted shipping port, is that of the 
 enormous growth of the iron-mining industry of this section, 
 ar.d forms a contrast with the barren, uninhabited regions of 
 the north shore, which is reached in a run of a hundred miles 
 that is not very gratifying to a Canadian, But on reaching 
 Silver Islet, it is very suggestive of what the north shore will 
 be when the richness of its silver as well as its copper i.,nd 
 iron mines become fully known and developed. 
 
 The wharf at vdiich the steamer stops is on the mainland, 
 east of Thunder Cape, where the Silver Islet Company have 
 cleared a hundred acres of land, erected a wharf, about thirty 
 houses, and a church. They have had as many as 480 men 
 in their employ at one time. Opposite the wharf, to the south, 
 is Burnt Island, forming a breakwater that makes a safe har- 
 bour inside ; and outside of this, to the south agam, is that 
 speck of rock, scarcely rising above the waters of the lake, 
 known as Silver Islet, exposed to every Avind, 
 
On commencing operations, it was found necessary to 
 enclose the island with crib-work. The first cribs put down 
 were twenty feet wide, aiifi were soon carried away. New 
 ones had to be constructed, which arc sixty-five feet wide, 
 said to be the heaviest and strongest crib-work in Canada ; 
 and they would require to be so, to withstand the winter 
 storms of this latitude ; as a wharf constructed during the 
 winter at Prince Arthur's Landing was carried away when the 
 ice heaved, and the steamers have to lay out, and discharge 
 their freight into scows. 
 
 The Silver Islet Company own four small steamers or tugs, 
 which they employ solely in their own work, exclusive altoge- 
 ther of freight. As yet there are no roads, which will be very 
 difficult and costly to make, owing to the rocky nature of the 
 country ; so the lake is the present highway. On their wharf 
 we noticed quite a number of barrels containing ore, addressed 
 to the ** Wyandotte Silver Smelting Company, Mich." From 
 the weight marked on each, we found they ran about three 
 barrels to the ton ; and although some specimens of the ore 
 hiive proved an assay of $5,000 to the ton, yet, on the most 
 reliable authority we could obtain, the average value would be 
 $2,000 to the ton, or say $700 per barrel. By the end of this 
 season, 2,000 barrels will have been shipped, making an aggre- 
 gate of $1,400,000 worth of ore, as the product of this their 
 first year's operations. 
 
 The head of Black Bay is twenty miles to the north-east 
 from Silver Islet. Here a Mr. Gooding, of Chicago, is pros- 
 pecting a mine, and will have a road to make six miles to the 
 mine. 
 
 After visiting Fort William, and going some distance up 
 the Kaministiquia River, we returned to Prince Arthur's 
 Landing, which is head-quarters of the mining interest in this 
 locality. Through the kindness of friends, we had a good 
 opportunity of visiting and inspecting Jarvis and McKellar 
 Islands ; the Trowbridge, Shortiss, Carson, Bennett, Withers 
 
or Shuniah Mines ; the Savigiiy» Thompson, Slavvson, Mcn- 
 dlebaun and Beck Mines ; Cariboo Island, Amethyst Harbor, 
 Thunder Bay, Algoma and Ontario Mines, None of these 
 can be properly said, as yet, to deserve the name of ** mine," 
 as they are only being prospected and opened up. 
 
 The farthest advanced are the Shuniah and Beck Mines, 
 where the prospects are good. The ores from both these were 
 found to have about an equal value to those of Silver Islet, 
 taken at the same depth, and the surface indications to be 
 the same as the Black River locations. In none of these 
 has much native silver been found. When some pockets of 
 native silver have been found amongst the regular ore, it has 
 caused an assay to be made oi^ exceptional richness — say as 
 much as $5,000 to the ton has been obtained ; but the average 
 yield will fall much short of this. A mineralogist met with 
 here says : " The principal ranges of rocks in this section 
 (from which are many off-shoots or droppers from volcaic 
 action) are all mineral-bearing, and exhibit evidence of up- 
 heaval and dislocation. In these ranges, the existence of 
 copper, zinc and silver lead, has been definitely ascertained by 
 explorers. As regards the silver deposits, they usually occur 
 in combination with lead, small results at the surface increas- 
 ing as the vein is worked." 
 
 The Neii; York Financial Record, in an article lately, on the 
 Lake Superior Mining Region, inter alias, says : " It will be 
 found that the mines of L ake Superior have a great advantage 
 over those of the Western States, in the item of transporta- 
 tion ; the chain of lakes iud canals connecting quite to the 
 .seaboard, and enabling carriage of ore at not more than $12 
 per ton from here to New York, while from Ltah it costs from 
 $35 to $40." 
 
 Labourers' wages here at present are $1 per day gold, and 
 for mechanics from $1.50 to $2. Facilities for communication 
 are increasing constantly. 
 
8 
 
 The Colling\vood line have withdrawn the old steamer 
 Algoma, and substituted two new first-class steamers, the 
 Manitoba and Cumberland. These boats, with the Chicoray 
 form a regular line, leaving Collingwood every two days, 
 touching at various points on the Georgian Bay, Sault St. 
 Marie, Batchewauning Bay, Michipicoton, Marquette, crossing 
 thence to Silver Islet, Fort William, and passing along '.he 
 north shore to Duluth. 
 
 Captain Ward is, we believe, building an iron steamer, to 
 run from Marquette to Silver Islet, Black Bay, Nepigon Bay, 
 and other points of interest. Marquette, in Michigan, is the 
 regular stopping-place for all steamers, and is connected by 
 rail with Chicago and the south and east. Being only one 
 hundred miles distant from the North Shore and the Silver 
 Mines, the run is made in one night most pleasantly. 
 
 The Globe, of date 2nd June, 1871, says: "Silver Islet, 
 formerly the unproductive property of the Montreal Mining 
 Company, is now the scene of the most intense interest. 
 Through the solitary days of the past winter, miners have 
 been quietly working, and the revelations of this spring show 
 that their labours have not been magnified or wasted. Every 
 week large shipments of silver ore are made from these mines 
 and the supply would seem inexhaustible. Over 835 bairrels 
 of ore have already been shipped this spring." A few weeks 
 later, the Collingivood Bulletin says, on the information of 
 Mr. Nettleton, " Mining operations are going on vigorously at 
 the Islet, and the ore is exceedingly rich. The silver is con- 
 tained in ordinary quartz, and mixed with galena in large 
 quantities. The Chicora brought down thirty tons to the 
 Bruce Mines : one piece weighed 25 cwt., and was valued at 
 $3,000." Again, a fortnight later, the Globe, in a short article, 
 says : " We learn that great excitement exists in the silver 
 mining district. The .steamer Chicora, on her last trip from 
 Thunder Bay, brought down $15,000 worth of ore, which was 
 obtained from Silver Islet. One large piece alone was valued 
 
9 
 
 at $4,000. The Mining Company have at present 480 men 
 employed, and have in project to still further crib in four 
 acres around the ledge, which is now covered by the waters of 
 the lake." 
 
 It seems, then, established, on undoubted authority, that, 
 whilst native silver in small pockets is occasionally met with, 
 yet the ores of the Shuniah, Algoma, Ikck and Silver Islet 
 mines are ores of silver-bearing lead, or argentiferous galena ; 
 and when we turn to the reports of every geologist 'vho has 
 examined the North Shore, we find the four locations formerly 
 held by the Upper Canada Mining Company, and now by the 
 Royal Canadian Bank, and being locations Nos. i, 2, 3 & 4, 
 containing 400 acres each, or 1,600 in the aggregate, and 
 embracing the mouth of the Black River, extending from 
 thence westward to and embracing the best harbours on 
 Terrace Bay, are by them all more highly spoken of than any 
 points on Lake Superior, for the great number, continuity and 
 well-ascertained bearings of its veins or lodes of argentiferous 
 galena. 
 
 Convinced by the facts patent to our observation, that the 
 ores of the Black River locations are identical in type and 
 equal in value to those of Silver Islet, and that the surface 
 indications are much more abundant, we feel that our mission 
 is satisfactorily accomplished, and on this point quote the 
 opinion expressed by Sir William Logan, in his Geology of 
 Canada. Speaking of the galena of the north shore, he says : 
 " Veins holding lead ore are found in several localities on the 
 north shore of Lake Superior. Some of these traverse the 
 granitic gneiss of the Laurentian series, as on Granite Island 
 on Black Bay, where a vein of twelve inches in breadth carries 
 a considerable quantity of galena in a breccia of fragments 
 of the wall rock, cemented by drusy chrystalline quartz. This 
 ore does not appear to contain much silver. Farther to the 
 east, and at a mining location at the mouth of the Black 
 River, to the north of the Slate Islands, the Laurentian rocks 
 are seen near their contact with the Huronian series. Here a 
 

 10 
 
 vein of quartz occurs in the granitic gneiss. It runs nearly 
 east and west, with a breadth of from one and a half to five 
 feet, and holds galena and iron pyrites. The latter is more 
 abundant near the shore ; but about twenty rods beyond, in 
 the hill, the galena predominates. According to Professor 
 Hadley, this ore is extremely rich in silver." 
 
 Feeling satisfied that these locations will prove the richest 
 in argentiferous galena of any on the north shore, we prefer 
 turnishing you with some extracts on this point, taken from 
 the reports of Sir Wm. Logan and Professors Carlos, Cobb, 
 Hadley and P. Van Schneidau, rather than offer ' useless 
 opinions of our own. 
 
 To place any positive value on these locations, we cannot ; 
 but in the light of sales that have been made of other loca- 
 tions, we think their comparative value would be $100,000 
 each location. 
 
 •■I 
 
APPENDIX TO REPORT. 
 
 In introducing to the notice of the pubHc the mining loca- 
 tions on Lake Superior, known as the " Black River Mining 
 Location," it is thought that very little more is necessary 
 than to give a short resume of the notices already so favor- 
 ably made of it in the reports of some of the Geologists, and 
 others who have partially explored it. 
 
 The exceeding richness of the location in various minerals 
 was first noticed by Professor Agassiz, in 1846, when making 
 a geological survey of the North Shore of Lake Superior ; 
 and this induced the " Upper Canada Mining Company" 
 {then being formed) to engage the services of Professors 
 " Cobb," " Hadley," and " Schneidau," specially to visit the 
 *' Black River." All these gentlemen found the character 
 given of it by Professor Agassiz more than verified. Two 
 locations, covering the richest veins, were surveyed by them 
 and added to those already taken up by the Company. And 
 in the first report, submitted to the Company by the chair- 
 man of the " Board of Trustees" (I. J. Brondgeest, Esq.) he 
 thus speaks of this location : 
 
 " These reports will show that the chief objects intended 
 by the operations of the season have been fully accomplished. 
 Valuable locations have been discovered and secured ; and 
 although these may appear more numerous than was at first 
 proposed, it must be borne in mind that the discoveries were 
 of greater value as the exploratious continued. This applies 
 more particularly to Lake Superior, where the two last loca- 
 tions, at Black River, exceed in value all the rest, both for 
 quantity, value, and variety of minerals ; for the fitness of 
 
w 
 
 Metallic 
 Rocks. 
 
 12 
 
 the extensive terraces for agriculture ; for the abundance of 
 water power ; and for the vahiable fisheries," 
 
 So that of the eight locations taken up by the " Upper 
 Canada Mining Company," containing in all 51,200 acres, 
 these two locations on the Black River, of 1,600 acres, the 
 last taken up by them, were placed at a value equal to all 
 the rest put together, owing to the large number of veins 
 found on it, their great extent varying in width from one to 
 thirty feet. Their facility for work running all along the 
 shore, and cropping out in the precipitous river banks ; being 
 in the direct line of navigation ; with good safe harbours, 
 good fisheries, a large amount of fair farming land, and an 
 abundance of timber for all purposes. 
 
 Carlos Cobb, Esq., of Buffalo, N.Y., who had charge of an 
 exploring party, speaking of this portion of the North Shore 
 of Lake Superior, says : 
 
 " A highly metamorphic slate occurs at the various points 
 of junction with the trap or granite, loosing many of its 
 former external characteristics, resembling in many respects 
 a green stone. Rock of this character is observed at ' Gros 
 Cap," near the junction of the slate with porphyritic trap." 
 This is esteemed a favorite rock for metallic veins. 
 
 Various qualities of slate are found, micacious, talcose, and 
 argillacious ; among which roofing slates of good quality may 
 be procured. This rock is observed at " L'ance a la Bou- 
 teille," Slate Islands, and other localities, which also afford 
 metallic indications. 
 
 A red steatitic rock occurs here, underlying cliffs of green 
 stone, resembling the celebrated pipe stone of " St. Peters." 
 This rock is manufactured by the Indians into pipes, and, I 
 have no doubt, may be used in the construction of furnaces 
 as a fire stone. Granitic rocks are found in great abundance, 
 and in a great variety of forms. This rock, at no very distant 
 day, will probably be brought into use, upon the lower lakes, 
 as a beautiful and valuable building material. Any desired 
 shade may be selected, from a deep red to a light grey. The 
 
13 
 
 predominating mineral in this rock is feldspar, of a red color. 
 A light grey variety is found near " Black River," "Les Petits 
 Ecrits," and numerous other localities. This rock is esteemed 
 the most favorable for well defined metallic veins. Veins 
 occur in great number along the shore, exposed by action of 
 water and ice ; are particularly numerous in amygdaloidal 
 trap formations, frequently crossing and intersecting each 
 other like a net work ; generally of small size, but nearly all 
 are metallic, even at the surface. Native silver and copper mxer. 
 are met in this roch.. 
 
 The slate rocks are cut by veins of calc spar and quartz, 
 frequently of large size, with well-defined walls, lined with a 
 steatitic mineral. The ores of copper, lead, zinc, and argen- 
 tiferous galena, are met in these veins ; and pyratous copper 
 and iron are frequently disseminated in the surrounding 
 rocks. The granitic rocks are particularly interesting for the 
 great number and regular character of the veins, occurring in 
 several districts ; are frequently of great width, carrying the 
 ores of copper, zinc, molybdenite, and galena, which latter is Galena, 
 often highly argentiferous. The neighbourhood of a junction 
 between granitic and slate, or granitic and trap rocks, has 
 been found a favorite locality for the existence of metallic 
 
 veins. 
 
 The climate of this district is temperate and remarkably 
 healthy. The thermometer seldom falls to zero during the 
 winter ; and the influence of so laige a body of water upon 
 the atmosphere, during summer, renders that season cool and 
 admirably suited to manual labor. Snow covers the ground 
 about the middle of November, remaining until March ; the 
 ground unfrozen. During the whole year, the climate seems 
 such to which the human system becomes easily acclimated. 
 My own party, though mostly strangers to the mode of life 
 and climate, at no time having other shelter than tents, and 
 often without any, have not suffered from a common cold. 
 
 The Black River locations, as surveyed by the " Upper 
 Canada Mining Company," are numbered 4 and 5, having 
 each a lake frontage of two miles, with a depth of five miles, 
 
 
14 
 
 or ten square miles, niakiny^ 6,400 acres each. In again 
 locating this mining section, it was thought advisable not to 
 take up useless land. The same lake frontage has been pre- 
 served and divided into four locations, numbered i, 2, 3, & 
 4, having a sufficient depth inland to include all the veins in 
 the former survey, and containing 400 acres each, or i,6oa 
 acres in all. The descriptive survey made of lots Nos. 4 & 5 
 is now applicable, as follows: — No. 4 is now Nos. i & 2, 
 No. 5 is now Nos. 3 & 4. Carlos Cobb thus describes them : 
 
 LOCATIONS Nos. 1 & 2 
 
 Arc situated on the main shore of the lake, at the mouth of 
 the Black River, and nearly north from Slate Islands. 
 
 In passing along the .shore opposite them, high, rocky 
 points are observed, which seem the termination of ranges of 
 hills running interior. About one and a half miles from the 
 shore a steep bank is seen rising, about three hundred feet 
 above the Isvel of the lake, densely covered with timber, ter- 
 minating on the west in a sudden slope, where it is seen com- 
 posed of sand, the brow of which has from time to time 
 slidden off into a deep gorge, through which floAvs Black 
 River, opposite rocky cliffs, about four hundred feet perpen- 
 dicular. Several miles in the rear are seen a range of moun- 
 tains running nearly parallel with the shore, rising in cliffs, 
 apparently twelve or fifteen hundred feet above the level of 
 the lake, ivhich are said to be greenstone trap. Black River 
 empties into the lake near the west side of the location : its 
 source is far interior ; is the outlet of a number of small 
 lakes, and is a route taken by traders passing to and from 
 Long Lake, nearly two hundred miles interior. This river 
 abounds in some of the finest scenery upon the lake. Near 
 its mouth, and in view from the lake, occurs the first fall, 
 about twenty feet in height, where the stream is divided by 
 two small islands. Above this fall the river is enclosed be- 
 Secona Fall, tween bluff banks of rocks, aud falls over series of rapids ; 
 half a mile up a second fall occurs, about thirty feet in height, 
 below which the stream divides, lorminga large island. One 
 
 Bliick Ilivcv 
 
 Route to 
 interior. 
 
 First Fall. 
 
T 
 
 15 
 
 branch washes the foot of the high sand bank before de- hwpi fuiin. 
 scribed, causin;,' shdes of earth from time to time. One mile 
 up, the river falls one hundred feet, into a narrow chasm. 
 Above this occurs a series r'" rapids for half a mile, where the '^'"'''' *■"" 
 stream becomes deep and broad, running through an elevated 
 table land or terrace for several miles, and is navigable for 
 large boats. About tiiiCC miles up occur cla)' banks of a 
 reddish color, tenacious and of a fine qualit)-. This river 
 affords facilities for hydraulic uses which can scarcely be 
 equalled. At the high falls, the water may be taken from 
 the river above, through a n:itural race created b)' the decay- xntmai 
 ing out of a dike or vein to the water level. The river flows ^'""' *"*-^ 
 through this channel in high water, cutting off an island. An 
 excavation of fifty square yards of rock would throw any de- 
 sired amount, or the whole stream, through this channel, 
 affording a cheap and desirable water power, at about where 
 its use would particularly serve the wants of this location. 
 Good cedar, pine, spruce and birch grow abundantly in the 
 neighbourhood, sufficient for the demands of the location for 
 economical uses for many years. From this point to the lake 
 shore tlj^e ground is favorable for tlie construction of a road, i^'""'- 
 The terraces or table land before spoken of are composed of 
 sand and gravel, which seem here deposited by action of 
 water, and once to have been the level of the waters of the 
 lake. The highest of these slope at an angle of about forty 
 degrees, two hundred feet, where a series of terraces and 
 slopes occur towards the lake shore. These are covered with 
 a sparse growth of timber, consisting of fir, birch, tamarac 
 and pine, and seem a lighter soil than the high or upper ter- 
 race. This land may easily be cleared, is found to produce 
 
 J ,, -111- 1 Ciood lan.l. 
 
 good potatoes, and other crops suited to the chmatc, abun- 
 dantly, which is of very great importance to a mining settle- 
 ment at this point. I have estimated two full square miles 
 of land of this description, and is included in the boundaries 
 of this location, lying in one body. 
 
 One side of this tract would border upon the lake, the 
 west side upon Black River — a position unsurpassed for ^'^®''' 
 
i6 
 
 FislKM-y. 
 
 ffl' 
 
 beauty and healthfulncss. The river at its mouth is narrow ; 
 within it is about one hundred yards wide. Six feet of water 
 may be carried over the bar. Inside it is nine to twelve feet 
 deep, and is sheltered from the prevalent westerly winds by a 
 high rocky point projecting into the lake. This river may be 
 safely entered by vessels of light draught in ordinary weather; 
 
 Harbor. but tlic reliable harbor for this neighborhood occurs about 
 one mile west of this location, No. 5, hereinafter described. 
 
 The mouth of Black River affords one of the most esteemed 
 fisheries upon the lake, and has long been the resort of neigh- 
 boring Indians during the proper season. Our own little net, 
 scarcely twenty yards in length, supplied us abundantly, and 
 a large surplus. The fish here taken are the speckled and 
 salmon trout, white fish, siscowit, pike and herring. The 
 labor of one or two men, during the first run, would supply a 
 large .settlement with most excellent fish, and I believe three- 
 fourths of the provisions required far a mining settlement 
 could be derived from the soil and fishery at this point. 
 
 The rock of this location is a beautiful grey granite. A 
 stratification is ob.served,and a very considerable dip towards 
 the west. This rock continues for about six miles west, where 
 it meets metamorphic slate. A series of greenstone trap dikes 
 cross it from cast to west, several of which are of great width, 
 cutting the granite vertically, and arc traceable several miles 
 in a westerly direction, cutting also the metamorphic slate 
 range before mentioned, towards Nepigon Bay. The front of 
 this location exhibits an array of metallic veins seldom seen 
 upon the lake, and are remarkable for great regularity, their 
 well-defined character, their persistence in width and direc- 
 tion, together with the variety and excellence of their mineral 
 indications. Near the centre of the front occur two veins of 
 
 siie of veins larger size than I have before met with in granite rocks — one 
 of twenty-five and one of thirty feet wide, bearing yellow 
 sulphuret of copper and zinc blende, occupying a lode two 
 feet in width near the centre of the vein. These veins have 
 '/een traced about two miles, appearing in the river bluffs of 
 similar dimensions, and mineral indications as at the shore. 
 
 Cranite. 
 
 Slate. 
 
17 
 
 Several veins of Derbyshire spnr, of a beautiful purple, ap- 
 pear on the shore, and crossini;- the river blufls ncarl)' two 
 miles distant. lu^^htecn veins have been discovered upon the isvpIm 
 front of the location, bearing yellow and grey sulphurets of 
 various ores, each of which warrants a thorough exploration- 
 Resiues these occur a number of droppers or tributaries join- 
 ing the larger veins. On exploring the river, twenty-two ^^ ^^,j^^ 
 veins were discovered, besides very numerous droppers and 
 tributaries, several of which correspond in width, direction 
 and contents with those discovered upon the shore. 
 
 The gangue of the veins upon this location is generally 
 white quartz, occasionally accompanied by calc and fluor spar, 
 with walls frequently smooth and uniform, as if polished, and 
 generally lined with a soft steatitic mineral. Upon opening 
 two of these veins a few feet, two circumstances were observ- 
 able — an increased width of vein, and an increased quantity 
 of ore. For locality of veins, dimensions and ores carried by 
 eaeh, T beg to refer to the accompanying map. 
 
 Black River Locations, Nos. 3 & 4, correspond to Loca- 
 tion No. 5, Upper Canada Mining Company, and 
 immediately adjoin Locations Nos, i & 2 on the west, 
 and is thus described by Carlos Cobb. 
 
 Location No. 5 is situate npon the shore of the lake, ad- 
 joining No. 4 upon the west, and is bounded as follows : — 
 beginning at a point upon the shore, made by the intersection 
 of the west line of No, 4 with the same ; thence north upon 
 the west line of location No* 4, sufficient distance to give an 
 average depth to this location of five miles ; thence west at a 
 right angle to said line, running north two miles ; thence 
 south at a right angle to said line running west, parallel to 
 said line running north, two miles distant therefrom to the 
 lake shore ; thence easterly along the lake shore, following 
 the meanderings thereof, to the place of beginning, including i»iand8. 
 also the small islands opposite and contiguous. 
 
 The rock of this location is the same as that of No, 4, the 
 same stratification and westerly dip. 
 
Roada. 
 
 Pine 
 
 Terraces. 
 
 nil 
 
 I 
 
 J ji 
 
 1 
 
 
 i 
 i 
 
 ! 
 
 
 ■i 
 
 I 
 
 J i 
 
 i : 
 
 ! 
 
 i 
 
 f 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 1 - 
 
 i 
 
 Ita 
 
 1 
 
 Li 
 
 Veini, 
 
 8 
 
 A part of Terrace Bay is included within the bounds of 
 this location, running into ths west front, in which occurs 
 several small rocky islands, forming a large and safe harbor 
 in any weather, with good anchorage, easy access, and deep 
 water to a very few yards from shore, which is a sand beach. 
 From this harbor the ground is favorable for cutting roads to 
 almost any part of this and the adjoining location On the 
 east side of this harbor occurs about one square mile of land, 
 rising gradually from the bay, of good quality, covered with 
 timber, among which is a considerable quantity of pine of 
 su.lficient size for lumber. Terrace Bay is so named from a 
 remarkoble series of sand and gravel banks, rising like steps, 
 forming its north shore. For several hundred yards the 
 ground is composed of a series of lovv^curved ridges, parallel 
 to the shore, gradually rising, appearing like recent lake 
 beaches, A bank here rises at an angle of about forty de- 
 grees, one hundred feet, where occurs a terrace, from which 
 rises a third bank. In this manner five distinct terraces are 
 observed. On measuring the elevation of the highest, it was 
 found three hundred and eight feet above the present level 
 of the lake. These banks skirt the bay nearly three miles, 
 when they are intersected by a high mountain ridge running 
 interior. The view of these singular banks from the lake is 
 vast, imposing, and when standing upon the brow of the up- 
 permost terrace, appears like an immense amphitheatre be- 
 neath. Three miles to the north of Terrace Bay occurs a la.ce 
 several miles in length.'^the outlet to which is a tributary to 
 Black River, Upon the north side of this appear the perpen- 
 dicular cliffs of the greenstone mountains, before mentionad 
 in the description of No, 4. 
 
 The eastern side of this location is rocky and mountainous, 
 and is cut by numerous veins bearing ycUow and grey i;ul- 
 phurets, and other ores similar to those found on location 
 No, 4 adjoining. A vien occurs opposite the small islands in 
 the harbor, in a bluft bank, about fifty feet in height, runs 
 interior north fifteen degrees east, and has b.en traced into 
 the mountain ridge one and a half miles. At the bluff cut by 
 
19 
 
 this vein, the rock seems to dip each way, as from an anti- 
 clinal ridge, leaving a width of about twelve feet, in which 
 the rocks in their broken strata lie on their edge, or a vertical 
 position. Ihrough this runs a vein about eight inches in 
 width, with a gangue of white compact quartz, by the side of 
 wbich runs a vein of steatite. This vein carries a handsome 
 display of yellow ore, in proportion to the width of the vein, 
 well disseminated through the gangue. 
 
 This ore is accompanied by sulphuret of molybdenites. 
 Several droppers join the lode from various angles, mostly 
 running into the interior. 
 
 Polycarpus Van Schneidau, Mincralist of Chicago, ex- 
 amined these locations for the Upper Canada Mining Com- 
 pany, and describes them as follows in his report : 
 
 LOCATION No. 2. 
 
 The general charactCx- of the rocks in this location are 
 trap and slates. The slate often upheaved, standing on edge, 
 its layers running nearly east and west, and in some places 
 very much altered in character by the contiguity of trap. 
 On the shore were discovered seventeen veins of quartz or cal- JJl^alSJj 
 careous spar, all of them highly metaliferous. Inland the 
 rocks have the sam° character. One of the best defined 
 veins on the shore, is one five feet wide, of calcareous spar 
 and quartz, bearing north and west, carrying sulphurets of 
 copper, zinc and lead ; and another of calcareous spar,, with 
 sulphuret of lead containing silver. Other veins were found 
 carrying iron pyrites, with sulphuret of molybdena. 
 
 LOCATION No. 3. 
 
 The rocks in this location consist of granite, slate and 
 greenstone, rising, according to estimation, 800 feet high. 
 The principal vein is one of quartz running nearly east 
 and west, eighteen inches wide in the narrowest part, and 
 traverses the granite carrying iron pyrite«, and argentiferous 
 sulphuret of lead, very rich in silver. The iron pyrites, (so 
 
20 
 
 1 I 
 
 i 
 I 
 
 ■U 
 
 Milvui'. 
 
 called) which is very h'ght colored, might be angcutiferous, 
 Very rich in likc somc miiics ill Mcxico. (" See Ure's Dictionary, vol. 1 1 , 
 page I72."j On the shore the iron pyrites is prevalent in 
 the vein, but on opening this about twenty rods from the 
 shore, up in the mountain, the argentiferous lead was pre- 
 
 dominant. 
 
 LOCATION No. 4. 
 
 Argent! fer 
 ous ore. 
 
 The rock is granite. On the shore, and also inland, ap- 
 pear some heavy trap dikes. The ground rises inland about 
 6 to 8oo feet by estimation, partly in terraces and moun- 
 tains. Along the shore eighteen veins are discovc'-ed, mostly 
 quartz end calcareous spar, and in exploring the river banks, 
 twenty-two veins were found carrying the same ores. One of 
 these veins is twenty-five feet, and another thirty feet wide, 
 carrying calcareous and fluor spar, zinc blende, and a grey, 
 vitreous ore or pyrites, which, like the mines in Mexico, may 
 prove to be highly argentiferous. 
 
 Finally I add, that in my opinion every one of these loca- 
 tions encloses a great amount of mineral wealth, and that the 
 working of the veins must be greatly facilitated by the water 
 power afforded by the Black River, by its fisheries, by the 
 
 wnterpower abundaucc of timber for economical purposes, by the amount 
 
 timber, &u. ^^ ^^j^. ^j.3^]3[g land, and by its fine harbours. 
 
 Professor George Hadley, analytical chemist of Buffalo, 
 N. Y., also visited these locations, and thus reports of them : 
 
 "The whole location abounds in quartz veins, the rock 
 being granite. The granite is composed of glassy quartz ar.d 
 red feldspar, in moderately sized grains, with small particles 
 of hornblende, and will not yield to any granite in beauty, 
 and in all the other qualities which render this rock valuable 
 as a building stone. It should not be forgotten, in estimating 
 the expense of sinking in the veins, that it quarries and works 
 more easily than most of the hard traps in which the mines 
 of Lake Superior are mostly situated. Some heavy dikes of 
 black trap cut through the granite on the western side of the 
 
21 
 
 lutiferous, 
 
 y, vol. II, 
 
 ;valent in 
 
 from the 
 
 was pre- 
 
 land, ap- 
 ind about 
 id moun- 
 }d, mostly 
 vcr banks, 
 3. One of 
 feet wide, 
 id a grey, 
 xico, may 
 
 hese loca- 
 d that the 
 the water 
 is, by the 
 lie amount 
 
 f Buffalo, 
 of them : 
 
 the rock 
 uartz ar d 
 
 particles 
 n beauty, 
 : valuable 
 istimating 
 md works 
 :he mines 
 Y dikes of 
 de of the 
 
 Crass veins. 
 
 ontiiiuous 
 vuluij. 
 
 location, and on the eastern is an extensive fault, which seems 
 to have changed the direction of the great joints or fissures 
 in the rock," 
 
 About twenty veins have been discovered on the shore, in 
 a distance of two miles, and as many in the cliffs of the Black 
 River, and that not counting droppers or branches, but only 
 such as are distinct and continuous, and at the same time 
 metaliferous at the surface. Of these veins there seem to be 
 two distinct sets or kinds ; one of which is confined to the 
 set of joints or fissures by which the granite is divided into 
 blocks, running with these in an east or north-east direction, 
 ?nd dipping at an angle to the north-west. The other set of 
 veins are of more considerable size, varying from a few inches 
 up to twenty and even thirty feet in width. The general 
 course of these veins is from the shore directly into the interior; fuu or 
 
 ' isontimi 
 
 but they vary somewhat in different parts of the location 
 Many of them have been traced for a great distance inland, 
 and are uncommonly uniform in width and direction. Some 
 have even and smooth steatitic walls, and all seem to be 
 subject to very few dislocations or disturbances of continuity 
 from any cause whatever. I examined only one of these veins 
 carefully : it is three to five feet wide, well defined, and carries 
 in a gangue or veinstone of quartz fine large chrystals of iron 
 pyrites, and a highly argentiferous lead. 
 
 With the data at present in possession, it would be impos- 
 sible to make a reliable estimate of the profits of working Argcntifcr- 
 
 .1 • /-i-i 1 • 1 • • 1-1 ^^'^ lead. 
 
 these mmes. That the mdications on most of them warrant 
 thorough exploration, the e can be no doubt, as they would 
 be regarded by all explorers as highly favourable. To expend 
 large sums at once in erecting smelting v/orks and other fix- 
 tures, might not be the best course to pursue, involving the 
 outlay of very heavy capital, which for some time might be 
 unproductive of profit to the shareholders, and therefore pro- 
 duce dissatisfaction. I would recommend, therefore, that the 
 most favourable points be selected, and that they first be 
 worked by small parties of miners. In this way the amount 
 and quality of the ore, the cost of obtaining it, and all other 
 

 nil 
 
 I 
 
 
 s'r 
 
 22 
 
 points relating to the profitable working of the mines may 
 be ascertained with only the risk of a comparatively trifling 
 outlay. 
 
 Sir William Logan, in his " Geology of Canada," speaks 
 in several places of galena found in different localities on 
 Lake Superior, from which silver has been extracted : in one 
 case as low as two per cent., and in others four, ten, thirty, 
 thirty-seven, sixty-nin , and as high as 256 ounces to the ton 
 of lead. He says veins holding this lead are found in several 
 localities on the north shore of Lake Superior. Some of these 
 traverse the granitic gneiss of the Laurentian series, as on 
 "Granite Islet" on Black Bay, were a vein of twelve inches 
 in breadth carries a considerable quantity of galena in a 
 breccia of fragments of the wall rock, cemented by drusy 
 chrystalline quartz. This ore does not appear to contain 
 much silver. 
 
 Farther to the east, at a mining location at the mouth of 
 
 Black River, the Black Rivcr, to the north of the Slate Islands, the Lau- 
 rentian rocks are seen near theii' contact with the Huronian 
 series. Here a vein of quartz occurs in the granitic gneiss. 
 It runs nearly east and west, with a breadth of from one and 
 a half to five feet, and holds galena and iron pyrites : the 
 latter is more abundant near tiie shore ; but about twenty 
 rods beyond, in the hill, the galena predominates. According 
 
 Silver. ^Q i-h^ tgg^-g i-nade of it by Professor Hadley and others, this 
 ore is extremely rich in silver. 
 
 Again, in another part of his works, speaking of the copper- 
 bearing rocks of Lake Superior, he says : " Among the 
 copper-bearing veins of Lake Superior, those near the Black 
 River, which are described as cutting a strat^'fied granitoid 
 gneiss, composed of red feldspar and vitreous quartz, are sup- 
 posed to belong to the Laurentian series. They contain in a 
 gangue of quartz, sometimes with calcspar and fluorspar, 
 
 ouf gdemi" small portions of yellow and vitreous copper ores, with a little 
 molybdenite, blende and galena, the latter sometimes highly 
 argentiferous." 
 
 • \ 
 
o contain 
 
 Since the foregoing was put to press, we learn that, at the 
 close of navigation, the Mendlebaun and Beck Mines, under 
 the able development of Mr. Slawson, a practical miner, 
 formerly Captain of the " Cliff Copper Mines," are likely to 
 turn out well ; a shaft having been sunk on each, of sufficient 
 depth to test them ; and that an interest in them has been 
 
 sold for $150,000. 
 
 Also that the Savigny and Shortiss Mines are likely to 
 
 turn out well. 
 
 Also that the present proprietor of the Shuniah Mine, 
 Mr. Carson, who purchased the "Withers Location" last 
 spring for $15,000, has spent $25,000 in developing it, during 
 the season ; and, being successful in finding silver in the shaft 
 now sunk, has sold the East Shuniah claim for $200,000, and 
 intends the coming season to develop the West Shuniah 
 Location. 
 
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