REPORT 
 
 ON 
 
 SEA AREA "A 153." 
 
 Cumberland County, 
 ^inm Scotia. 
 
 ALBERT J. HILL, 
 
 Member Canadian Society, Civil Engineers. 
 
 1 • 
 
 ,. , ' f ' ^ ♦ > ' . 
 
 ! I » C I. fc «.»».,.-* 
 
 SYDNEY, C. B. . 
 
 THK WLAXD REPORTER JOB PRINT. 
 
 1888. 
 
I?,ET=OI?,T 
 
 ON 
 
 BMM MMM^ **^ iSS.** 
 
 Siu.— I li;ive the lioii'trto -icknowledge the reci^ipt f)f your 
 instill :i ions to exMuii lie ami report on your Coal Area 153, ad- 
 joining the properties of tlie .Joi/gina Coal Mining C«>., and Jog- 
 gins Coil Minin.,' Association in the County of Cumberland, and 
 having carefully collated all available information on the sub- 
 ject with the experience gained during an extended management 
 of t o tifst named ccdliery, I beg leave to submit the following 
 
 REPORT: 
 
 Your property is known as "Sea Area A 153," and is des- 
 cribed in the Mines Office as follows: 
 
 "Beginning iit a squared post marked 1857, on the bank (»f 
 the shora of Cumbeiland Basin -the beginning bound of the 
 Joggins tract leased to the General Mining Association, thence 
 by the course of their western line N. 16° 30' E. 130 chains, 
 thence N. 73° 30' W. 120 chains, thence 8. 16° 30' W. to the shore, 
 shenc by rhe shoie easterly and northerly to the place begin- 
 ning." 
 
 With the excejition of a small portion centrally and conven- 
 iently situateil on the eastern boundary, the area is entirely ma- 
 rine, comprising three square miles on Cumberland Basin, though 
 at low water a very considerable portion of it is exposed, and an 
 opportunity is aJHForded of tracing the outcrop seawards for a long 
 distance. 
 
 Except two small breaks, tall cliffs extend from Ragged 
 Keef to a mile nort.i of Cumberland Mine, exhibiting a fine ex- 
 posure across the coal measuri^s, and rising perpendicularly from 
 
high water iii:uk, in iimuy plucos, to »he height of two huiulretl 
 
 Umt. 
 
 The tides have an extreme xeitical range of about seventy 
 fee', exi>«»sing near the diti' a shingle and gravel beach graduat- 
 ing outwards into an almost level flat of stiff clay, of no great 
 depth, but proVKibly sufficit'nt to form an impervious covering 
 to the strata beneath. 
 
 Your c aim covers ixirtiona of several workable seams of 
 coal, ranging from seven to two feet in extreme thickness, tw<» 
 of which, the "Main" and Cumberland, have been extensively 
 worked, and one at least— the Coal Mine Point seam proved 
 to b« capable (.f successful operaticm, while the "Five-foot" 
 seam, eighteen feet above the Cumberland, and several minor 
 seams underlying it, are ku<twn t«.> contain large (juantities of 
 excellent fuel. 
 
 The acconiimnyinji comi)arative sections of the "Five-foot" 
 seam exhibit its improvement westwards, and indicate that up- 
 on your area it may prove to be solid coal. 
 
 Your claim also contains large quantities of 
 
 IRON ORE (iron STONE), 
 
 which, under skilful management, ccmld no doubt be made » 
 source of large revenue by smelting alone, or with the richer 
 ores of Colchester or Annapolis, to which object every facility 
 is offered by existing conveniences of rail and water transport. 
 
 From a number of analyses made of similar ores from the 
 Nova Scotia Coal Measures, this may be regarded as containing 
 about 33% of metallic iron. 
 
 I may also mention the black 
 
 BITUM1NOU.S LIMESTONES 
 
 which occur at several horizons on your |tro^)«rty, and of which 
 Sir William Dawson— an eminent authority says: "Tliiy .sub- 
 stance is the most valuable limestone in the country for ai)pli- 
 cation as a manure in consequence of the (jiiantity of phosphate 
 of lime contained in it in the form of scales and bones of tish. 
 In consequence of its containing this valuab e ingiedient it is 
 worth more than three times the price of ordinary limestone, 
 and I have no doubt it will be extensively worked for agricul- 
 tural purposes when the use of mineral manures becomes more 
 
 general." 
 
 The winning of this valuable commodity will bw referred to 
 
 further on. 
 
 Lastly in this connection I ma> refer to the item of 
 
 FIRECLAY, 
 
 which, pending a scientific analysis and practical test, appears 
 
to he oftii'Rt r)ite<|Ualiiy and is ahgolutuly iimxh;iustihle in (inuii- 
 tity. Thu iineqimllud facilitieB for iiinnufacture aiul shipiiitiiit 
 make thiH, withotit exception the Hnest looalir.y in Nova Scotia 
 foi the I Btablishtiient of brickyards and potteries, which given 
 u great prosptctive value to your property. 
 
 Flaving thun enumerated some of the hvteral sources of 
 revenue upon whicli you may confidently reckon, I will now, as 
 succinctly as jHtssihie, lay befitre you the character of y<iur 
 claim, with regard t<» its great staple, 
 
 COAL, 
 
 and for this purjKJse will.take the seams in the order of their 
 apparent importance, and give, as far as possible, the known 
 facts concerning each. 
 
 THE *'MA1K SKAM" 
 
 has been worked continuously by the (Jeneia! Mining Associi- 
 ti(m and Joggins Coal Mining Association for some sixty years. 
 The system of working has been by slopes driven from the out" 
 crop to the deep, the water being discharut-d by an adit to high 
 water level at the cliflf The government has expended a cou- 
 8 der.ble amount on the erecti<jn <!f an efficient pier and break- 
 water at which vesselK of fifteei feet draught can load safely in 
 all weathers, from March to December. This would be the 
 natural shipping place of your sea-borne traffic, your several 
 works being within easy reach by shoit lines of easily cons ruct- 
 ed tramway to be operated by endless ropes and gravity. Re- 
 cently estfiblished railway connection wiih the Intercolonial also 
 affords now dirt'Ct access to the interior market, and establishes 
 the i)racticability of continuous working as against the old time 
 expensive winter idleness. 
 
 The Main Seam nny be estimated as yielding five feet of 
 clean coal of first-rate quality for steam purposes, and already 
 we 1 established in the New Brunswick and American markets, 
 fts analysis is as follows: 
 
 Moisture and volatile matter 38.80 
 
 Fixed C'ub<m 56.00 
 
 Ash. 5.20 
 
 100.00 
 
 Assunjing the seam to be persistent, y.»n have betv\een the 
 ]evpl indicated 1,240 fee below high wate.- and the legal limit 
 for <! 'ver, 676 acres of coal containing over five millions of ton«. 
 This alone represents a large output for many years. The coal 
 from this seani has commanded from $3.50 tj $4.00 per t<m in 
 
e 
 
 the iiiiirket. Itn coat to the Joggins Coal Mining AsBOciation 
 «lulivurud at St. John, N. B., luay bo stated approximatuly as 
 followH: 
 
 Fieo on board at pier $1.00 
 
 Freight to St. John «6 
 
 Incidental charges 10 
 
 Max. cost $1.76 
 
 Min. return 350 
 
 Min. piofit $1.74 
 
 In the pro8i)ectiis of the JoLfgins Coal Mining Company 
 1874 I find the following: "Something may be judged as to 
 what the payin.; qualities of the mine will be from the results of 
 the seam now being worked by the Joggins Coal Mining A»- 
 BociaMon, which paid its stockholders 8 per cent, during the 
 past year besides )>lacing 2 per cent, to rest account or contin- 
 gent food, thus earning 10 per cent, on its entire capital stock." 
 
 The above quotation is important in this connection as 
 exhibiting the paying qualities of the Main Seam, even when 
 worked on the comparatively small sc;ile of 15,000 tons annually. 
 I have every confidence that opened to the deep of the seam, 
 as proposed, and operated on a large scale the advanta(.'es enjcjy- 
 td of proximity to market and of unequalled transport facilities 
 would, in still larger degree, prcvo it to be renmnerative, es- 
 pi'cially in view of the prospect of improved trade conditions. 
 
 The so:im has been tested by a borehole as indicated of 
 upwards of 1,000 feet in depth, which establishes its persistency 
 to the <leep, and is s ifficient evidence without further outlay to 
 warrant the sinking of a shaft as pioposed, from which the coal 
 to the rise could be won a^t usual, and that to the deep by a 
 slope drift as far as deemel practicable. 
 
 Sh«'uld early returns be especially desirable, a slope drift 
 from the outcrop might be driven to serve all present purposes, 
 and as future upcast and pumping shaft, and t(j which the main 
 working shaft would be sunk dry. Either method would com- 
 mand t!ie western district of the adjoining area with obvious 
 pecuniary advantai^M to your company. 
 
 At two hundred feet above the coal the shaft would inter- 
 sect a bed of bituminous limestone — the nutst valuable in the 
 field— to which reference has already been made, the extraction 
 of which, for agricultural purposes, could proceed simultaneous- 
 ly with the colliery operations. 
 
 A few of the bands of limestone and ironstone have been 
 placed in their proper positions on the section. 
 
 A tramway of half a mile in length over level ground will 
 
 f. 
 
convey the output from the proponud Hhtift to tlif pier and th.t 
 Jog^iuA r.'iil way ^ives in)me<liate connection with ih'f mirkotn 
 of the Intercuiunial line eaHt and west. 
 
 '•CUMBERLAND HEAM." 
 
 This Ream has Ween uxtensi/e^y workeil, first by a di-i t 
 from high water at the cliff, and Bubsociuently by a slop; 72<> 
 feet in length on the full <lip of the iieam, which, tis in th'j cine 
 of all the li.eusures in thin vicinity, is at an angle of 19° or about 
 1 in 3. 
 
 The {jersistency of this seam is regardeil as certain, and it 
 may be estimated as ct^mtaining a thickness of three foet of coat 
 of exceptiimally good quality as a domestic fuel — bright bumin^; 
 and of great heating jK)wer. 
 
 It may be effectively tapped by a shaft at a distance of ^ 
 mile north of the pier, and contains between 1,040 feet below 
 high water and legal cover limit noarly two and one half mil- 
 lions of tons of coal upon your area. 
 
 By sinking as indicated your area may be reached by a 
 level drift from which the rise coal can be won, and the deep 
 by a diagonal drift or otherwise as may be deemed most exjiedi- 
 ent. 
 
 This shaft would intersect, besides, a heavy bed of bitumi 
 nous limestone, the Coal Mine Point and Five Foot Seams be- 
 fore mentioned, which could all be economioilly operated from 
 the same shaft, and as fast as intersected. In a<1dition to the 
 beven and a half millions of tons in the Main and Cumb Hand 
 seams upcm your area, a minimum estimate i*f two and one ha f 
 millions of tons may fairly be given as available from the re- 
 maining seams, and as winning will be practiciible below the 
 levels of 1,240 and 1,040 feet respectively in the Main and 
 Cumberland, a total estimate of twelve millions of tons of coal 
 upon your area will not be an extravagant, one. In this the 
 persistency of the s* ams is assumed, which there aj)pe}irs to be 
 no room to doubt, indeed experience goes to prove the rapid 
 improvement of all the sasinis westward. 
 
 As in the case of the proposed shaft on the Main Seam, the 
 command by this of a large district of coal on the adjoining 
 area should be resolvable int<» great pecuniary advantage t<» 
 your company in rental or royalty from the Joggina company, 
 who would naturally avail themselves of this mode of access to 
 the main body of their best coal. 
 
 MARKETS. 
 
 A railway is now in operation connecting the Jo'^^ins are;i« 
 with the Intt^i'ooJo^iM,! railiy.iy at Ma<?V,^njst{^iQiv. throwing open 
 
 the extensive an(i )cojristai>tiy extehdiag lyiaVketJ jipon this splei.- 
 
 '.>.•..,.' .' .' I . • ••* * • • 
 
 ' •••• •••• III 
 
 ^ ''. : ;. ; 'I' .••- 
 
 t • 1 1 I 
 
 ■''',' • • 1 1 ' < , . 11 I 
 
 • ' • ' * * ■ J I I 
 
8 
 
 did highwHy east hikI west. This not only pIuouH thu .Uuii'mn 
 Held ui BUucuMful competition with the othur provincial niinuH 
 for the HUpply of the government railways, but for their ne i- 
 horno trHue secures the very iiriportant atlvanta'^e «if rotinn 
 freights from Portland and American ports generally for 
 Northern Nova Scotia to which this short lino becomes the 
 natural inlet for a rapidly j^rowinK traffic. From official re- 
 turns of 1886— the latest to which I at this moment have ucc<ss. 
 I observe that New Brunswick im|M)rted of Nova Scotia coal in 
 th«t year 1W7,02H t«>n8. Of this not more tlian 2r>,0(X) tons were 
 drawn from the mines of West Cumberland — its natural point 
 of HUpply. Without a labored argument, these figures alone 
 show some of the iK)8sibilities and uiuloveloped opportunities of 
 this field which re<juires (mly the enlightened use of a modi<raU' 
 capital to secure and hold this already respectable and rapidly 
 ex]>anding market. And when it is remembered that from their 
 l)osition tlie Cumberland Mines command the markets of HOO 
 miles of seaboard from Cape Cod throughout the Bay of Fundy 
 to Yarmouth, as well as the Island market reached by rail 
 and river, the great discrepancy between supply and demand 
 will be at once apparent and the opportunity that exists for the 
 profitable investment of capital in this area will need no further 
 e'ucidation. 
 
 The discrimination effected by diifevence of freights alone in 
 favor of the introduction of Joggins coal to all the ports in- 
 dicated anntunts to a prohibitory tariff on the product of £astern 
 mines and of itself would constitute, exclusive of othir decided 
 advantages, a very fair pi ofit on expenditure. • > 
 
 I have the honor to be, sir, 
 l'* .:ri, n: Your very obedient servant. 
 
 ,i 
 
 ilrk^^ »t"^v . ALBERT J. HILL, M. A. 
 
 M. Can. Soc. C. E. 
 
 JoHKPU A. OiLLiES, Esq. 
 
 
 '• V - - t . ' «,, 
 
 >. ( -