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B—'-r^t. i^-T-^-'n '■"X.^ ~'S'^3e>|gi!t^3q^ i»' /s?cB ^■S!-' 5 >.■ <_^ ■ • P ■■■ f5^*' *.'.v »• '.••:>-' . v'.-. 1^ •y I W"*. , «v%. V.^i'^.W)- ANTI H J5 «.' ' V REPORT O* THB ANTIGONISH OIL-COAL MINES, THB PBOrXBTT OV HON. JOHN McKINNON, m.ehj.. .AMD WM. CJHISHOLM, Esq., NOVA SCOTIA. M ■ . \ H < 4 1 im Intett Cixoila&nt \ H 1 \ 1 1 . • -1 » 1 . '\ r \ ~*H V \ • t \ p^M w , Mt^^ 1 *. \ i^ii' < i >■ . i wt .»*■'%' . I -. >»*C« .«&*., w. .Jai >..■ .JtS.WViiWjI^Htei fel«^ \ ' y^ ■ fV. :) ■% >;'T.!.-. f ' . .'• . 1 . ».-■'. \ y^) e f ##rxT- :J!t; idwLcl.-»c,> «^' .- V Honorable Jobi HoEiimoii, M. £• Oi \' uid William Obisholm, Eiq, Gektlembk, — Having examined the greater part of the Antigonish Oil Qoal Basin, I b% to make tiie following Report of such facta as came under my observation while there, and also submit my own views regarding theValue of such deposits as have already been discovered, and also as regards the prospects of still more valuable dis- coveries being made when that district is subjected to a more thorough exploration. I have not been able, while there, to discover any re- liable indications of workable beds of Bituminous Ck>al ; still, it is possible that they may be there, fbr I have failed to discover anything that should be regarded as con. elusive endence of their non-existence in that district. The gruup of strata in which the beds of Oil Coal, or Curlcy Cannel, are seen, resembles very much the group m which beds of a similar character are found in the Albion Coal Basin ; but it does not necefuurily follow that they should on that account be regarded as of the same age. The fact that the centre of the Antigoni<§h Basin ia oc- cupied by highly bituminous Limestone, overlying the Oil Coal, and Oil Shale Beds, may possibly indicate that %h» whole group is Upper Devonian, or Lower Carboniferous rOoks, which arc not known in this country tocH^Mkin Coal beds of any value. Should this prove to be the case, workable beds of bitu^ miTOu* €o*l aw y- not be^bttnd) alt^oug^^fa» amall yeai i»^= 4 good Coal disOovcretl among beda lying near the t|Dttoi& / .\ >,. 1 i,i**^ ' t^cfc »onno ^* appear tA L ^- • , "» lower tfro-n ' " \ *"»«8t„„e, ^j "-""MS, 20 feet of „ki„. "* "Wfut 70 or «n . ^« »PBer hf 7 "*' "<■ <5"*v c3^ *" e°»d oil '•entr-flre Mill '".'"' Pn>b.bUity vieM i, l^*"' '"x>«t Though iST '° "« 'o-- '^*».'»e„^ ,„ «■> believe tl,«r'^'^^»"»>arougb, 3f rec- 5 over Fields uriey ^ gal- '5 forty to fifty Gallon^ per ton, a^d farther In towards tie oentre of the basin, where the Coal will bo likely to ImpvoVy In quality the .yield, per ton, will in all probability roach to as much as seventy or eighty Gjillon*. Torbano Hill Cannol, of Scotland, gives from a huA(ired to a hundred and twenty five' Gallons per ton, which is about the highest yield obtained from any of the oil yielding Rocks. The Curley Cannel beds of the Albion and Antigonish basins, resemble in all respects the Torbaae Hill Cannol, ^ and had, evidently, a similar oiigin. - Torbane Hill Cannel cbiitaihs a larger percentage < f bitumen, or oily matter,— and less lixcd carbon, than the AU)ion and Antigdnish Cannels do, but it contain^* t\ much larger percentage of earthy matter than cither < f them, in this respect it resembles more clospJy the oil Itatl obtained in the la.tter' localities. Analyses made by i\ very competent Chemist, Rofessor Howe, of King's Col- lege, Windsor, Show this in a vtiy clear light as niay Iw seen by the following statements of results obtriiued by him. Oil Batt from the Albidn measures gave, of volatile matter '. 30: 6.->. ...10. U8^ 58. 74. Fixcd^Carbon. Ash or Earthy Matter iWbane Hill Cannel gave, the following rcult. Volatile Matter 7]. Fixed Carbon .., 7 Ash or Earthy Matter ./..... 21. Curley Cannel from th^ Fraser Mine, in the Albion basin gave, of ; / Volatile Matter /i.. ..,..,.; .,...^.:..... M. tk' Fixed Carbon......... ."S.. ...... .....25. SS*' 17. G5. 18. ^AsffTr r From those results* it appcairs tliat an oil Coal, may -tfrSTT ''/..,.■: i <^nfc«in a very J ' "ftW element^"'- ^' " *«« noT^ '" " « ""Ir "bich in exteiST ^'»' ^ "Swerved h *! '"'«'"'• ««tertained on fV ' ^ '^•"ove aij I {. '^'•' »'»*« true •^^.plish this 1^^ ^^-'^^tone wouiulf^r ** *^ Strata to be p»s,^d1f' where the,^ is a J^*' «'• To **« good ser^oe .o ^"""S^^' * «'«a]I ll*' '"' ^^^P*^ of •' ^'X*, as to T""^' '^^ «very do^" *i^. ^« in the 'Whether oJ^bW^' '^'^'"^ «^ the df^^.' '^ '^P^^mor^ «''^tt,^ugh3^«J^"«u.gifadeep^^^^^^ o^i Batt ^"jntiUes sm^i^"^, ^ the dia^ov^^f /J *^« «««tre «bJo to "'*» M thb t of. To ne,t]iecavitiea ^"^^■«- Imme, '^®*-gi-oup of 'S^iy charged ■^ta groups ia 20Q feet, and 'I'cli hold the .*« the State IS known as ^«88 there; as the. Ge- '^ess, and group of '^e. ftbcfnt '■oup, into eJIs of oil . t^e oil in. *» is still ales and ' shown tie low- f those, Strata, >ot the 'ries. Jap^g )t le^^ It Jtt L ■ tlie Slate, the lower, and cv^u, the mlUie rqil mcasurtvs are yielding large quantities of <)i:,:a;j tAiilm Mow>pgaUeI|a - riyer, and otbei^ streams. i . , IT ■ ■•'''■'. ', '• .•■•■■.nil These facts showfUuit oilfiiwiy be lookcil for Witly a faJr ehance ofsuccesstn any group: of Stfata, lying lietween the lower Devoniap Rocks, and the upper €oal Seriei. ; : There is therefore ve>;jn good reason for suspecting tiw existence of oil jn.eoime loottlitie* in ttiis I'TOTiBce, in rockf of itbo,sam^,age»».and^in selecting ground for ihaking the first trials, great flkJU /should be. exceed] atid mUWi pains taken, be?aua«! a few faihirea in ulFfirfet instafloe njight be very discouraging, and jierhapa lea«i to the aban- donment of the searebi whilst there in*y exist many chancejsofitsprcn^ingsuccessfuly, ; i As Ksgards the Antigonish basin, even on the hKpposi- tioB tha£ no Fetroleum > ,, In the first pljaoe tiiere is thereia five foot seam of Cut-ley Cannel, vWch wiEyield at least 40 Gallons of Crtide Oil to the ton; awl U,8^1,888 tons, ca» be got fttom 2000 acres of this bed ; which at id Gallons per ton wiU yield 592^853,320 GaUons of oil worth at; least 26 icenta per GaUoa, 'whiqb would anwuiit to ' $148,21 8,880. Add to this what could be obtouied fttun »iiy,-*flft^n feet of the best section of the oil Batt, which' will yield at Jea^ twenty GaUons of oil per ton* As before 2000 acres don- tains 44*463,999 tons which xjan be mined, and this quanp tity at 2aiGaUons per ton, will give «89,279,9a0 GaUpns of oily whioh should be worth 2$i icenwperf Qallon, at the Shipping Port, which would equal #222,319,995, a«d we have in aU 1870,588,326- wor th of oU which can beobtalii. rts<^f MDrom Twenty feet in thickness of Strata, under iying two thouaand aores of hmdrrrontof eighteen thousand,-- .-..^ttt-^'-^ 10 crease of the demand, Jwarids^rifK ""* «on«eqnent i„ "tuize, and bring their nrodnT • ""J' "ntlertake b. l*etroleum for stean, *7r"* ""« Praoticabiliw ^VT ft h '*'^'"' ''*™™''«' will b, (j,,,,^ "P«r^ ,'^^iki^fAiJ* .! f^yftetfn thick! ago, that the • The experimental Boilej^ made in the Factory at Woolwich Dock-3'ard, and which has been at work at intervals during the lost fifteen mouths, in testing Petroleum, Shale, and other oils for steam purposes, to superset!^ the use of coals, has been given over to the Admiralty authorities, by Mr. Richard- son on the^mpletion of his experiments, 'which it is stat- ed have thoroughly matured the principal, and proved his theory correct beyond any doubt." .^ ' **■ Mr. Richardson has likewise, at the I'equest of their Lordships, submitted plans for the conversion of the ordi- nary ships' Boilers into BoileiB for which Petroleum can he used. This it is stated can be done at small cost, (we shall be enabled to give some interesting particulars i-e- specting the Boiler and experiments in onr next.)" In connection with the above, see the following remarks on the subject of Shale oils copied fipom vol. 85, page 787, of the same Journal, — '^ About a twelve-month ago the Patent under which the oil was extracted from the Tor- bane Hill mineral expired, and it was not sought to be renewed, as much from the fact that the material itsell^ was well nigh exhausted, as from any higher motive." ^\ In granting the lease originally a reservation of about ten acres was made on which the Mansion-Houae of 1i» pToprtetor-wirBitnai^dE fifeoeiitly i80.<)W ed for this ten acres, but it is still held for a highei? offer." 4 *4iJ&^*Ka^«v!.~j. ,tU f '1. Aili^filS'. t . i'w . / v',^iiv^.^'r<»< wllich whin completed L^„ ''"'«'' "■" «PPlL onehMdred tho,«tadTuSl «?r^' "■*«■ -P"""!, „f worb have b.,„ constS iilr'Hl- ''*" ""'"e' »• "Memand a W„t,Jr; -T*""^" "" «he Forth, and f «'0^ > amllar istah^ln?' 'f •"'»« '""■''i «>r •Id Coatbridg..." "'•»°"'n' It a pomt between AnJri, ," At the latter place' flinW. ! oonibined; the SI „|e ia ™!,rtj """" "^ "'»'« ""d Coal '?«-^is a ,.an sea,L?;^"7/ '^' ''"'""^' "•" Ortallfepo,,, lifcethe sn,a^«T„f ;r""" "'"°«- '"-"roundatthePoiJilfV''*""'- ^'»'« >«« «1^ "t"crricl,i„.,il.a„dr.a,L^ n '^"'1 *'"""^» <"»■»'. B'foad c.„„„, I, i,,,::;:!;*;:^^' '» "■■-•,T„ri»i,ebiir. „; "■i- oil Shale a^X fc„w""" """« """^ 'V«" of "'•ian,i do«ert<,l piW Jr " ''"°° ' *' °'°"*» »' t'-aciag their 8,.,p, tS Z™*'; '■•"■'"'"ter, are no# re. '« .l.e f.™,e,./,ri7ca'S dS" -T""^' '"«»«- ■™='i"S.ham.« to wirL ov? ,^ 2^' "I;'"™ «™ '- «riesr™„„„„ ,:iJ,''»^-^^-'["« ,i„ man theV^d te^L "'»'"«"f' » « ™"ch of mutej, ha, dri fen l^ZJ^l^'^ ^^ '^ t I >atenl it iraa ofltable per »j; and the now adding » and applL upwards of 'her smaller i Bathgate Forth, and formed for een Ardrie and Coal lality, but tr nature, b Basin,) has also the west I cannel, hehili; or ayerg of outfasof led aind now re- gather are re- >rmerly works gallons »9 and rising much gjate US almost ev<*y acre, the borer ha. bMn pronKWtliigi^aiiA if his divining rod indicates the existwioe of thentuoh 09ve. ted Shale, the land is forthwith let for 200 u^ mm cent of increase. ' ' '_i-j' i Although we do not expect that aU will drow pA^iSk ,in enterprise of this nature, itis npt too maehto say, that, on both sides of the Tweed, as well as on the *i»ter lalanA massive fbrtunes may bemade out of th«jaiMnifaot«r»iOf. these bituminous Shales, into valuable oil), «fld,piiw«n* ^!. In view of these facts, the course that capitaUflta , o«ght< ^ to pursue in this Province is quite ckiir ^tb«y\ should, J#«^ ^ as little time as possible in making arrangeme«tfl lbr,.QOinr^ .nenting the manufacture of Oil in all the most &^owable localities that can be found in: the proTritce,ibeft>re .tbe, ground is occupied by foreign speculators* ,. . . n i .. MmwIS Next to the Albion Basin, perhaps no ptherilocftUiy.to. this countrj' offers greater facilities or better l?roapoQtn oil Huwuiss for such a busiiiess than -tliB ; AntigomAh, Bmi^ There the supply of raw material may very. aaftlyb6,oon*t sidered as inexhaustible for many ages to vallt-y will ^^-e flue drainage, and also w»ndetfUl fcciUti<». lor the working of the mineral on both sides. ot.il?j^i ]^«| could nature be expecfted td do more, in opeAiigA passago; for a Rail lload into this basin, whero her- ruflM?fi lire ^i prodigally heaped up, than she has done by aittingthis valley. A Rail Road from the South Lakeaboiit tw^. miles and a half along this valley,ean be btoilt chca|dy, aa tlie t.ml«r is growing on the land and the exbavAtioii on; the iiicllni'd bank will be easy, and «heat>^ and no bridging- will l« ree, frim a hunai-edi and fifty* i to' two^ httWtWt foet, below the general le^el of th© surroiuldiug Country. Hand Over iMViiMfij,!,?.., »iS*.'r"A'S':;^ S'^.rs^T^.r ■:ii;' H""^- ^-y Irontf few. tat it >n» L^ ^ " *'^* » "•»■>' de.p«,J^"Tj'f^„f ?••"<' "i'" the oh«,„eI i, W^„o^t«.y windsL'^wX"" "• 1 .iH»udon.o'a^^\^t:;" z w-^t f:'^°" tatiom and also th« r-«;^i '^ ^ topertyof Jo l^f V i "^^^P^'^^^ity to meet with a Fi v|n;ny or 8o great value so fevpurablv aitnAf^ f\ <».««»pii^e»a^^it^^,^^^^ y pend on ttebi own Jd5Smmts md L! ^ L -^ ' w otftidactuiff thdr wor^ i ^ , . ^ "■'tiug up, and "d P«Sl. pj^Zf' " '" '^'^"^ '"o ««''- 8««)«i«liMt.