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MONTREAL : PRINTED BY JOHN LOVELL, ST. NICHOLAS STREET. 1862. l-O.f'Jl THE ACTON MINE. Three years have elapsed since the opening of the Acton Cop- pev Mine, and probably few mines have in such a short time gained a greater or more merited celebrity. It has been my good fortane to be connected with it since September, 1861, in such ft capacity as enabled me to gain much experience as to the na- ture and value of the deposits of copper ore, which are here the objects of mining enterprise. Had it not been for this circum- stance I should not have ventured upon another description of the Acton Mine, seeing that so many valuable papers on the sub- ject are already in our possession. As il is, the few observations which I iiavc made, and which I now proceed to record, are only to be regarded as supplementary to former descriptions, especially to those cf Sir W. E. Logan, and the Rev. A. F. Kemp ; and as embracing a sketch of the progress of the mine from September 1861, when Messrs. DaviuH and Dunkin, the proprietors, received the mine back from the lessees who had previously worked it, until the first of October, 1862, when the mine was purchased by the South Eastern Mining Company of Canada. In the month of September, 1861, mining operations were being carried on in the following workings : Flowers's pit, Williams's pit, Harvey's pit, and No. 2 shaft. It is to be observed with regard to these names, that the word pit is applied to an open work- ing of irregular and very considerable dimensions, while the name of shaft is given only to regular sinkings of the usual and smaller dimensions. The position of the above named workings, and the character of the rocks in which they occur, and by which they are bounded, will be seen from the accompanying map. The whole of the open workings occur upon a bed of what has been called in former descriptions " copper limestone," the general strike of which is N.E. and S. W., with a dip more or less inclined to the N. W. Immediately underlying this cupriferous limestone, which is dolomitic, there occur from twenty to eighty feet of dark colored shales, in which, especially near the cupriferous limestone copper pyrites is frequently found disseminated in thin strings and layers. Beneath this occurs another bed of limestone, of very considerable thickness, the outcrop of which forms the hill nm- oing along the south-east side of the mine. Between the cupri- ferous limestone and the underlying shale, there is often intruded a fine-grained greenstone, which sometimes forms very con- H siderable and irregular masses, sometimes intersects the limestone strata, and often presents a peculiar banded structure, resembling more that produced by igneous flow, than that due to deposi- tion from water. This greenstone, although intruded most fre*. quently between the underlying shale and th^ cupriferous lime*, stone, is sometimes observed occurring between the latter and the . , hanging shale. This hanging shale, of a black color, which , overlies the cupriferous limestone, is also often impregnated.) with copper pyrites, and has a very considerable thickness. It' has not yet been ascertained what rock overlies the hanging shale- , in the immediate neighborhood of the mine, but from observa*.. tions elsewhere, it appears to be followed by lighter colored shalea, . containing small intersVTatified quartz veins. Upon these shales bi superposed a finely and evenly foliated clay-slate, with transversal > cleavage. At greater distances from the mino there ia found a considerable development of clay-slates and sandstones ; some of the latter possessing the characters of the grey wacke sandstone of German geologists. The whole of these rocks are apparently destitute of organic remains. According to Sir Wil'.iam E. Logan > they constitute a part of the Que^oc group of the Lower Silurian formation. Referred to the systems of continental geologists, they would appear to occupy a place between the primitive slate former . tion and the Silurian, in a formation corresponding to Barrande's Azoic formation in Bohemia, or to the Cambrian formation, as this is understood to be constituted by Cotta ; viz., of less orystalr line clay-slates and silicious slate, of non-fossiliferous grcywacke sandstone and conglomerate.* Having thus referred to the geological character and ago of the rocks in the neighbourhood of the mine, I proceed to describe the various workings above named. Flowera's pit, the most north-east- erly of the open workings, has a triangular shape, anaverage width of forty-five feet, and had in September, 186), a depth of twenty feet. The bottom of th^ excavation consia^ted, on ^e. south-easterly side, of shale, while the outcrop of the cupriferous limestone, hm^. ing a thickness of four feet, ran„along the north-west side. Thei original thickness of forty-five, feet of limestone, had thus,, oa account of a fold in the underlying shale, decreased to four feet,, as shown in the following section at No, 4 shaft. The excavation of the limestone at a was , continued, (the point. Co^fa: Die Flotz Formationen, p. 204. the the -eastr idth irenty iterly The ^ oa ' feetjv of shalo 6 having boon previously taken down) in the south- westerly half of the opening, along a diBtance of about sixty feot» and to an additional depth of seven feet. The limestone was more or less charged with ore along the whole of this distance ; but hav- ing in view the disadvantngcs which attend such large excavations In depth, it was resolved to sink a shaft, in order to examine the Section on the Line a-b, {See General Plan.) N. W. b A, mil limestonn, B, underlying shale, 0, cnprifarous limcBtone D hanging shule. ' ground before hand. Accordingly shaft No. 4 was commenced in the south-west end of the working, and sunk, at intervals, to a depth of seventy-five feot on the inclination of the bed. The first twenty-five feet sunk below the open working was in rock con- taining very good ore, of which rock eighteen and a half cubic 'athoras were excavated, and yielded — If Hi to"^ °^ fi''8t quality ore of 24.0 per cent of copper. 133^ J " crush " 2.0 " «* These quantities correspond, aflcr deducting the loss in dress- ing the crush ore (one-third of the copper contents), to 18.6 tons of 12 per cent ore, or about one ton per cubic fathom. Ttic coat of sinking these twenty-five feet, and bringing the rock to the surface, amounted to $482.94 ; or to $26.10 per cubic fathom of rock, and $25.96 per ton of 12 per cent ore. Below the twenty- five feet the ground ^as found to be poor ; and in June, 1862, the sinking was discontinued, in order to the stoping of the ore ground on eftch side of the shaft. Up to the end of July, 46.62 cubic fathoms were sloped out in the north-east side of the shaf^ and yielded — 10}f }f tons first qunlity ore of 22.0 per cent. 43111} " " " " 18'* " Iffi, " second " " 0.0 154 " crush •* 4.00 Those quantities, after deducting loss in dressing, correspond to llOlflf tons of 12 por cent ore, or 2.62 tons per cubic fathom. TliA total exponseR of excavation and bringing to surface, amounted to $674.10 ; equal to $12.69 per cubic fathom, and to $4.80 per ton of 12 por cent ore. The average thickness of the bed was here 10) feet, » 3^ fathoms. Consequently one square fathom of the bed yielded 8.61 tons of 12 percent ore, at an expense of $40.92. During the following months of August and September the stoping was continued, accompanied by drifting uudor the old road lead- ing into Flowcrs*8 pit (see map). Here were excavated 63.37 cubic fathoms of ground, which yielded — 40147 lbs. first quality ore of 21.2 per cent. 23860 " " " 7114 " second " 17600 " •♦ " 40320 " crush 134400 " " 22400 " smalls 128427 " " it li ti M tl (I (t 10.8 13.5 11.6 6.2 4.1 3.5 2.6 tt «( i( it tt tt u These quantities, after deducting one-fourth of the copper contents of the crush ore, correspond to 06f|}if tons of 12 per cent ore, or 1.6 tons per cubic fathom. The total expense of mining and raising this quantity was $873 ; equal to $13.77 por cutic fathom, or to $9.19 per ton of ore. The average thickness of the bed was at this place 2^ iathoms. Consequently a square fathom of the bed yielded 3.75 tuns of 12 per cent ore, at an expense of $34.32. As regards the north-east extremity of Flowers's pit, a shaft had been sunk in the limestone there previous to September, 1861, to a depth of twenty feet on the incline, below the bottom of the open work:.ig, and forty-four feet below the fioor, oa the present collar of the shaft, now called No. 6. At the bottom, a considerable quantity of copper pyrites was observable, partly in veins permeating the limestone, and partly impregnating the same. In order to the examination of the ground hero it was resolved om, a tly in same, iolved to sink this shaft* The ground gradually improved, and at a depth of fifty-four feet prosontod an appearance exactly similar to the rich deposits previously excavated on the surface. Thin ap- pearance has been roost suitably and accurately described by Sir W. E. Logan as " a breccia or conglomerate, with a paste com- " posed of variegated and vitreous sulphurets of copper, mingled " with f\ne grained silicious matter, enclosing fragments of lime> ** fitono, some angular and some rounded, some of them almost " wholly calcareous and others largely silicious."* The average thickness of thu bed in the ton feet thus sunk, was nine feet, the length of the shaft on the strilce of the limestone, twelve feet. From the five cubic fathoms thus excavated, there were produced HHf ^^°^ ^^^ quality ore of 22.0 per cent. Ssjj " crush " 4.6 " These quantities, after allowing for the loss, correspond to 23.1 tons of 12 per cent ore, or 4.6 tons to the cubic fathom. The costs of mining the above five cubic fathoms, and bringing them to the surface, amounted to $193.33, which is equal to $20.06 per cubio fathom, and to $0.03 per ton of 12 per cent ore. Calculated at the above mentioned thickness of 1^ fathoms, a square fathom of the bed yielded 6.0 tons of 12 per cent ore, and cost $40. The sinking of No. 6 shaft was discontinued during the winter, but re- sumed during the summer, and at the end of July attained a depth of seventy-six feet on the incline. From it, at a depth of sixty feet, a gallery was carried toward., the west, 30£ feet ; at which distance from the shaft the limestone was cut off by the hanging wall, every indication seeming to point out the presence here of a left-hand throw. This fault had a direction of N. 10° W. Some stoping was done both above and below this gallery. Up to the end of July there were excavated in shaft, drift and stopes, 65^ cubio fathoms of ground. These yielded 53ff}f tons first quality ore of 19.1 per cent. '^Uii " second " " 9.0 " aiem^ « crush « 3.95 « which quantities correspond to ISSfl^? tons of 12 per cent, ore, or 2.38 tons per cubic fathom. The total expense of mining and raising this quantity was $1512.04; or $23.17 per cubic * Report of Progresa for 1858, p. 59. •-*r«*>M * J!-.u-&.-. ..jfti,.^..,.. ,^ foihom, and ^d.72 pi^r ton of f^ii^^i. l^e- thiij^ess Qf the bed j»t this point was 16^ feet, -a 2 1 fathoms. Consequently ,a square fathom of the bed Qontaincd 6.64 tQnv of 12 per cevt ore, and cost ^26.73. The limestone in No. 5 shaft gene* rally maintained a dip of from 70*^ to 80**, and the charfctfiir of the ore was principally that despribo'l by Sir W. E. Logan, a» above quoted. The licheist specimen assayed from this ^aft contained 41.2 per cent copper, and 19.2 per.cent of silici,0U8 matter. It was not altogether free from limestoAe. The striloe pf the bed of limestone from shaft ITo. 4. to ^o. 5. is If. 8,4°. E. Friction grooves have been observed at the junction ^f both the foot and the hanging shale with the UmestoQe. Thep|» generally dip to the west at an angle of about 50^*. In August and September, No. 5 shaft was farther sunk fifeeen feet, thus reaching a depth of ninety-one feet. The ground between the shaft and the fault above nptic^iid was also t»toped out. It wi^ poorer than thi^t previously excavated, but the thickness of the bed increased to tweuty-four fe^t. Immediately to the west of Flowers's pit, there appears to 6z|8t one or more powerful faults, which have thrown the cupriferous limestone 140 feet to the right hand. These %re indicated on t|ie map, from which it will be seen that the principal one has a di> rection of about east and west, and com^ in at the east end of Harvey's pit, where the evidences of the existence of this right hand throw are very striking. It is worthy of remark, th^t a great accumulation of rich pre was excavated from Flowers's pit, at the point where this fault intersected the one described as oc^ curring in the drift to the west of No. 6 ; traces of this are al^ be found on the surface. These faults, the existence of whicb was, I believe, fiist pointed out by Principal Dawson, will doubt: less be found to influence considei-ably the ore-bearing qualities o^ the limestone bed. Harvey's pit is the next open working to the west of Flowers's pit. On the surface it has a length of one hundred, and a breath of eighty feet. The following is a section of the working, at right angles to the direction of the strike ; from which it will be seen that the same relations exist here as in Flowers'p i^'t, so far as the firchitecture of the limestone and the underlying shale is con- cerned:— The same contraction in the thickness of the limestone is visible ■8. <* le bed lily ,» r cevt geQQ- uracteir ilic^ouB strJhd . is N. :tiQV9f August letjthuB een the Itwi^ s of the itoeaqst pr^iarou* id on t^e las a di- end of lis right , th^t a ers's pit, i as oo- lareal^ )f vhidk 11 doubt- lalitiesi^ ?lowers'8 a breath at right be seen ar as the is con- is visible here, as at Flowers's pit. This rock, before its excavation, beQt over the point a, and constituted the arch of limestone mentioned in a former description of the mine, by the Rev. A. F. Kemp.* It was on this arch that the fitat excavation was made in opening th^ mine. Harvey's pit was last worked in September, 1861. The previous mining had been done very irregularly, and the cupriferous lirndstone had not been wholly removed ; but a con- siderable part of it was left agunst the hanging wall, as shewn in the preceding sketch. This limestone had, moreover, he&a sup* Section on the Line c-d. N. W. {See General Flan.) S. E. A, hill limestone ; B, nnderlTing shale ; 0, cupriferous limestone ; D, hanging shale ; E, greenstone. ported by heavy timbering, which again had been loaded with waste rock. To have taken down the whole of ^his limestone would have been expensive, and to have cut through it to the hanging wall beneath the timbering would have left the pit in a very unsafe condition. To have sunk a shaft at one end of the pit would probably have been the best plan, had it not been thought preferable to sink or drive from No. 1 shaft, 140 feet northwest of Harvey's pit. These considerations prevented any Mcavation from being made in this opening ; and, since September, 1801, it has been used as a reservoir for water employed in dress- ing the or ). There is still ore visible in Harvey's pit, nearly m the middle at the deepest point, and on the stope at the west end. The next open working of importance, to the west of Harvey** pit, is Williams's pit. In September, 1861, it was separated fron Pike's pit by a piece of ground, since removed, under whieh « *W*'^^W^'^«f^^W»'»W»»ii * See 0aQs41ai^ lic^turalisl, Yq\f Y. p4f9 9^0, very large drift had been excavated. The east side of Williams's pit, was worked in September, 1861, and 161^ cubic fathoms of rock excavated. These yielded : IG^jf, tons, first quality ore of 24.0 per cent. 211^ « crush " 4.6 " which, after deducting loss in dressing, correspond to 85 tons of 12 per cent ore. The eastern stope, consequently, contained 0.62 tons of 12 per cent ore per cubic fathom. The total expense of excavation was $1292.00; or $8 per cnbio fathom, and $16.1? per ton of 12 per cent. The distance from the underlying to the hanging wall, on the east slope of Williams's pit, is 136 feet ; which extraordinary width is wholly filled up by limestone of slightly different varieties. Next to the foot wall may be observed a fine grained, light grey limestone, with which thin leaves of slate are intercalated, the slate being the more cupriferous. Further to the north-west, there follows a limestone of a coarser grain and slightly darker color, in which the richest copper deposits seem t>> occur. Por- tions of this are also slaty, but less regularly so than the variety just mentioned. Still further to the northwest, the first mentioned N.w. 8.Ji. Mmi A, hill limestone ; B, underlying shale ; 0, cnprifeross limestone ; D, banging shale ; E, ^^enstone. slaty limestone again appears ; after which succeeds a cupriferous limestone, characterised by being impregnated with copper pyrites, and by containing here and thore patches, consisting of silicious matter and copper pyrites, which project from the surface of the limestone, wherever it has been exposed to the infiuence of the at- mosphere, in the form of moss-like effloresences. The extraor- dinary thickness which the limestone attains in Williams's pit, seems to be attributable to foldings in its strata. The stratification of the limestone is very obscure, and is rendered more so by innu- 11 merablo joints, and reins of calcspar, which ramify throngh the limestone in all directions. Judging however from the position which a certain narrow band of schistose limestone occupies, it appears as if the limestone of the east slope of Williams's pit was stratified as sketched in the preceding section : Between Williams's pit and Pike's pit there existed, as already mentioned, previous to January, 1862, an arch of limestone; which was perhaps the most picturesquf feature of the mine. During the winter, a large quantity of water having accumulated in Wil- liams's pit, and become frozen over, it was judged advantageous to takedown the arch, while the access to it by moans of the ice was convenient. The piece of ground on the south side of the arch, abutting against a huge mass of greenstone, together with the rock above the arch, contained 7*70 cubic yards = 96 cubic fathoms nearly. These produced : 4 ^111 tons first quality ore of 23.0 percent. 67 ^j " crush *• 4.1 « 164 ^j " " ** 2.1 " which quantities correspond to 60 J tons of 12 per cent ore. Consequently, a cubic fathom of this rock gave 0.72 tons of 12 per cent ore. The cost of mining and hauling was $539, or $5.61 per cubic fathom, and $7.75 per ton of 12 per cent ore. The following is a section of the limestone and the adjoining rocks at this point, as seen from the north-east side previous to the ex- cavation : Section on the Line e-f. , . .m {See General Flan.) ,_,.->:.-,. S.E. N.W. The letters denote the same rocks as in former sketches. Th^ dotted lines show the piece of ground mentioned above. It will be observed that here also there exist evidences of foldings in the mmmm Ml 12 limestone strata, and that towards the west end of the mine, the greenstoDe becomes extensively developed. Afk»r blasting down the arch, Williams's pit was not worked nn> til May, 1862. By that time, however, it Was completely filled with water ; and the quantity contained in it could not, consider- iug the immense area of the excavation, have been mach under a million of gallons. Previons to working the pit, it was emptied to within a few feet of the bottom, by means of a syphon made of a two-inch malleable iron pipe, 3^ feet in length, leading into No. 1 shaft ; from which the water was raised by the pump attached to the stationary engine there. Blasting was then commenced, and Up to the end of July there were excavated 1104 cubic yards «» 138 cubic fathoms of limestone, which yielded : ^ aaii ^o°B ^''st quality ore of 20.0 per cent. 56|fjf " « « 18.4 " 211. ^\ "crush « 5.2 " These quantities correspond to 175 ^^ tons of 12 per cent, ore, or 1.27 tons per cubic fathom. The total expense of emptying the pit, excavating the rock, and bringing it to the surface, amounted to $1092.29, or $7.91 per cubic fathom, and to $6.24 per ton of 12 per cent ore. Mining was continued in Williams's pit during the months of August and September, and a consider- able part of what constituted the floor of Pike's pit was removed. During these two months there were excavated in all 1468 cubic yards B= 183^ cubic fathoms of rock; of which about one-third was in the rich ore-ground on the south-east side of Pike's pit, and the other two-thirds in the much poorer rock situated between the old face of the western stope of Williams's pit and No. 3 shaft. The following lots of ore were produced from the above quantity of rock : 236215 lbs. first quality Oi-e of 19.3 per cent. 169200 28456 120000 454720 680960 143360 327040 (i " second " " crush " smalls M 19.8 13.5 11.5 5.0 3.5 2.8 3.5 (t These, after deducting one-fourth of the copper contents of th« crush ore, are equal to 507 ^f }f tons of 12 pet cent ore. Con- f f ine, the ■led nn- \y filled onsidei- ih under emptied lade of a to No. 1 <3d to the , and tip Is ». 138 cent, ore, emptying Q surface, to $6.24 ^Villiama's consider- removed. |468 cubic one-third I's pit, and between ). 3 shaft, quantity 18 sequently, a cubic fathom of this rock yielded 2.76 tons of 12 per cent ore. The total expense of mining and hauling to surface was $1*777.12, or $9.68 per cubic fathom, and $3.50 per ton of 12 per cent ore. The width of the limestone horizontally across Williams's pit, at this point, is 150 feet ; the width of the stope nine fathoms. If we assume the thickness of the limestone, at right angles to the underlying shale, to be twelve fathoms, which is evidently a moderate etitimate, thdn a square fathom, along the plane of the bed at this point, contains 33.12 tons of 12 per cent ore. In the upper part of Williams's pit, thie conglomerate charac- ter of the cupriferous limestone, referred to in describing No. 5 shaft, is beautifully developed. Masses of this character have fre- quently been blasted out, measuring at least eight cubic yards; A large mass of nearly the same dimensions was found loose on the surface of this deposit. On drilling a hole into it, preparatory to blasting it, the borings obtained were carefully collected and examined. They contained : Silica, 86.98 ^ ^ Carbonate of lime, 4.64 Alumina, 0.84 Iron, 7.01 Copper, , . 34.20 byassay. . Sulphur,...., 16.33 by differeiic«b.. 100.00 The three last ingredients cakulated to 100 parts give Iron, 12.18 Coj^r, 69.44 Sulphur, 28.38 100.00 Uts of th« ^e. Con- which figures approximate pretty closely to some analyses of pair, pie copper. In the bottom of Williar. s's pit, about forty feet below^. / where this mass was found, the ore is more solid, not so muclk. . diffosed through the limestone, but concentrated in reioa^ whioh.. are pretty distinctly separatied from thei side rock. In one of^.. these, of considerable thiokn^sa, I found the purest purple coppeT..i< whi<;hlhaye yet observed on the mine,. It contained ,neith«Bt. lime nor silica, and assayed 01.9 per cent of copper. At no great .^., . |lll^«p|l|Ll.|)lffl| J| I 14 distance from this vein, the limestone was destitute of copper, and had the following composition : Silica, 1.50 Alumina and peroxide of iron, 2.85 Carbonate of lime, '7 .10 Carbonate of magnesia, 24.12 ^ 09.57 l**^ Previous to September, 1861, No. 2 shaft had been sunk throng!* shale, and into the limestone to a depth of seventy-eight feet ; and a drift carried from it, at this depth, both towards the hanging wall, and towards the foot wall. The direction of this drift was N. 10° £. ; consequently not at all at right angles to the direction of the strike, (which in this part of the mine appears to be N. 20° E.) ; but rather parallel with it. The length of the drif^ from the sliaft to the hanging wall was forty-two feet, to the foot wall sixty feet. This latter, which was partially cut through, was found to be of greenstone, or rather a shaly greenstone, composed of alternate layers of that rock, and of shale with copper pyrites. This con- stituted at least the lower part of the face of the drift. The upper part was of limestone. In view of these circumstances, and although a gallery had been driven twenty-seven feet along this foot wall to the west, it was deemed proper to continue the main drift. This was done for a distance of sixty feet in the same direction of N. 10° E., always in limestone ; the bottom of the drift consisting almost the whole distance of the same shaly greenstone. Some good patches of purple copper were met with, and also some veins of calcspar with purple copper and copper pyrites, dropping down from above ; these veins led to the belief that the drift was being carried along underneath the ore. At the distance of 1 20 feet from the shaft, the direction of the drift was altered to N. 63° W. (in order to meet No. 3 shaft) ; the drift was then carried sixty-three feet further, al- ways on the foot w^all, which gradually rose, until the driving was dis- continued ; when it was found to nave an inclination to the N. W. of 40°. In driving this sixty-three feet, some little copper was discov- ered, principally in veins of calcspar from one to three inches thick. Shortly after the driving here was discontinued, No. 3 shaft, which was meanwhile being sunk, was carried down to the drift, and made to communicate with it. No. 3 shaft had, previous to Sep- tember, 1861, a depth under the floor of Pike's pit, of twenty- 15 six and a half feet. In March and April it was further sunk twenty-seven and a half feet, and at the depth of fifty-four feet it broke through into No. 2 drift. The last six feet sunk was in poor rock, but, previous wO this, twelve feet had been sunk through cupriferous limestone, permeated by veins of calcspar and quartz, containing purple copper. One of these veins seemed, in the southeast corner of the shaft, to have a dip of about 45° to the N. W., but on the opposite side it became very much flatter This circumstance seemed to confirm the opinion that No. 2' drift bad been carried along underneath the copper, so that it was determined to stope back from No. 3 shaft, overhead in the drift. In a short time the few feet of poor rock constituting the roof of the drift were removed, and a bed of limestone exposed, con- taining numerous veins consisting of purple copper and silicious matter, and presenting an appearance similar to that described as occurring in the bottom of Williams's pit. The following sketch is a section along a line running from No. 2 shaft to No. 8, and thence across Williams's pit : 8.E. N.W. and A, Hill limestone; B, underlying shale; 0, cupriferous limestone; D, banging shale ; E, greenstone ; 02, Dark coloured silicious lime- Stone, distinctly stratified, with impregnating copper pyrites. It will be observed that a jog or bend of the footwall occurs in No. 2 drift, similar to those occurring at the surface in Harvey's pit and Flowers's pit ; and that it was in the basin thus formed, and a little from the bottom of the same, that the rich ore at a was discovered. The excavation of ore at this point, by widening the drift and stoping overhead, oonmienced on the 1st. of June. From that date until the 8th of August, 673 cubic yards >« 71.6 cubic &thomB were excavated. ThesQ produced : '#' '•/ IB' HlH ^^^ ^^ qUflSity oM of 22.0 per cent. 13^/^\ " " « " 18.4 " 4Hi « « « «* 24.0 " '' 2^^ "second " " 9^0 " ' 269 "crush " 4.2 " corresponding to 101^,'«k'.'. t« »>. «t^%^ 89.65 0.95 Y.31 3l20 Copper. . , Sulphur, ....,ii,^%t%\%%\%^,, 16^89% diffeMM; 100.00 \ n "b s X '%^K a Q« ti'% 18 Tbe augular fragment contained no copper, but gave : Silteioos matter, 8.26 Alumina and peroxide of iron . . . t.76 Carbonate of lime 78.20 Carbonate of magnenia 16.50 99.7 Other specimens of veinstone examined contained as follows : — 1. 2. 3. 18.8 80.5 36.9 47.4 42.6 33.4 Silica Copper From the various analyses made of the purple copper, it does not seem to differ essentially from the variety of this mineral to which the formula Fe Cu^ S* has been given. I hf.ve thus described the progress of the mine, and tbe results obtained in the various productive workings during the thirteen months ending 30th September, 1862. If we take the average of these results, we find that the average produce per cubic fathom has been 1.6 tons of 12 per cent ore ; the average cost of mining and bringing to surface, $11.28 per cubic fathom, and $7.03 per ton of 12 per cent ore. These, it will be observed, are the results of mining in the productive part of the cupriferous bed, exclusive al- together of the cost of explorative work, of which latter it was only in No. 2 drift that any considerable amount was done. Pro- bably the cost of prospective work did not exceed llJSO on each ton of ore produced ; so that we may assume that the cost of searching for ore, mining and bringing it to the surfisce, was $8.50 per ton of 12 per cent. Before leaving this part of the subject, I may be permitted to make some remarks as to tbe nature of the deposit and the source of the ore. It will probably be admitted on all hands, that the bed of limestone in which the ore occurs, is of sedimentary origin, and originally possessed a horizontal position. Nor will it pro- bably be denied, that a part at least of Uie copper ; viz., that part which occurs in the form of copper pyrites, finely disseminated through some parts of the rock, was deposited, in some state or other, simultaneously with the limestone. That the limestone and the rocks adjoining it have, by certain powerful agencies, been raised from their horizontal position, and in this process been f ^*! ►w»: — it does ner»l to ) re»ults tbirteen erage of iiom hM ling and per ton esults of usive al- ar it was e. Pro- on each a cost of ras|8.50 luitted to le scarce that the ry origin, ill it pro- thatpart lenunated e state or limestone agencies, icessbeen ^ 1^ rent, broken, bent and twisted in the moBt violent manner, it evi- dent from the various phenomena presented in every part of the mine. Whether this upheaval was caused by the greenstones being thrown up from beneath, seems to be uncertain, but it is probably not unreasonable to suppose that this protrusion of the greenstone occurred simultaneously with the upheaval of the strata ; and that both may have been caused by certain more gen- eral and wide spread movements of the earth's cmst. Whatever may have caused the upheaval, it seems sufficiently evident that this upheaval caused the rending of the limestone, the formation of the fissures and crevices, in which the copper ore was subsequently deposited, and the partial filling up of these by detached fragments of limestone of all possible dimensions. With regard to the fill- ing up of the fissures by the copper ores, we may conceive three difforent modes in which this may have been effected : 1. The ores may have been injected into these fissures in a fused state. 2. They may have been removed firom the impregnated side rook by certain solvents, and re-deposited in the fissures. 3. They may have been brought up (torn beneath by springs. With re- gard to the first of these theories, it must be remarked that the general appearance of the veins, coupled with the presence of green- stone in the neighborhood, would seem to be in its favor. But when it is considered that the ore is intimately associated with quartz, or rather with chert, this view of the origin of the ore does not appear admissible. It is difficult to conceive of a fused material so homogeneous as thesubstance which forms the matrix of the brec- cia, consisting exclusively of metallic sulphurets and silica. And even although it were possible to imagine a fused mass of this composition, the dc^ee of heat required for its fusion would have been such as to exert an action on the adjoining limestone, simi- lar to that produced by certain igneous rocks, viz., a convernon of the greyish colored limestone into white crystalline marble. With regard to the second theory, the presence of sillica does not present any difficulty, because it is a well-known fact that that substance is deposited in large quantities from hot springs. It it not unreasonable to suppose that the water percolating through the rocks possessed a high temperature, because it is not unlikely that a higher temperature than the present preyailed after ih« Lower Silurian strata had been deposited. With r^;ard to the manner in which the copper may have been dissolved, and hild 20 in wlutioB bj the water, it Menu evident that it could not beve existed In the weter in the itate of eulpbete of copper, from tbe oxydetion of impregnated copper pyrites; because such a solution on coming in contact with limestone would have formed with It sulphate of lime and carbonate of copper. Nor is it poasible to ignore the physical properties of copper pyrites, aud suppoee it to have been, to however slight an extent, sulublo in water. The only solvents known for heavy metallic sulphurets, are the alka- line sulphnrets. Many heavy metallic sulphurets when fused with sulphuret of potassium or sodium, yield when treated with water, Holutions containing considerable quantities of the heavy metals ; and I have found that on fusing a regulus containing iron, copper, cobalt and nickel, with sulphate of soda and charcoal, and treat- ing the result with water, a dark green solution was obtained, containing, after careful filtration, all four of these metals. This Holution, on exposure to the air, gradually oxydized, became color- less, and deposited the metallic sulphurets as a black powder. I am not quite prepared to assert that the copper in tlie veins above referred to was deposited in this manner ; but I am of opinion that if we are to adopt the theory of secretion from the side rook,' this is the only explanation which is admissible. The third theory of the source of the copper is probably the correct one, and it is the one which is moat in accordance with generally received opinions. Cotta, for instiinoe, regaida it aa certain that mineral veins proper have been filled up by. infiltration, and that the material thus de- poiited came from beneath.^ If we however attempt to go a step beyond this general explanation, we must enquire ai to the nature of the solvent, and in doing so can scarcely arrive at other reenlta thim those mentioned in connection with the seqond the- ory. We must regard the alkidine sulphurets as the most pjrobfible iolventi under the oircnmstances ; and when we reflect that the eolphureta of platinum, gold, mercury, tin, tellurium, aptimony, aneiiict vimadiam, molybdenum, tungsten, nickel and iron, are «1I ioli|ble in alkaline sulpJlmrets, it will appear that the latter may have pli^ed a more important part in Uie formation of ore veins than haa been hitherto supposed. When moreover it is rem^- beredt how nnmeroue and diverse the double sulphur salts are, and hew many of these, eepeeially arsenic and antimonious sulphurets f Oelta: Brslagerst&tten, p. 127. 21 Id not b»?t ir, from th* liAtolntioQ m«d with U \ poMibU to uppoM it to rater. The re the alkA- n fuied with with water, la? y metal* ; iron, copper, i1, and ireat- ras obtained, oetals. This leoame color- k powder. I e veina above ' opinion that ide rook, this ^ird theory of and it is the ved opinions. Teine proper erial thus de- mpt to go a uire aa to the rrive at other » aeoond the- no«t probfible fleet iliat the m, antimony, d iron, are all le latter may of ore veins it is rem^- salt8are,and ras solphnreta nccar in ore vein*, the importance of the agency of the alkaline ■ulphurets in tho fliling up of such can Rcarcoly be overrated. This sketch of tho recent results of mining at Acion would scarcely be complete without a description of the nrocetses em- ployed for concoiitrntinpftlieore and a reference to certain experi- ments instituted fur tho purpose of nscertnining the nmonnt of copper lost in the procossen of crushing and jigging. As soon as the ore hnsbeon brought to the surface it utidcrgoes tbe process of coarse spnlling ; tliat is, it is separated from the waste rock, and broken into pieces having a diameter of from four to six inohen. These pieces are sorted, accor«ling to the quantity of copper they contain, into first quality ore, second quality ore, crash ore and fourths. The first three sorts then undergo the pro* ■cess of fine spalling. The first quality ore is broken into pieces •of the size of an egg, anpper 24.76 Sulphur, 11.22 by difference. 100.00 A sample of ragging gave : — SiliciouB matter. 16.92 Carbonate of lime 63.07 Carbonate of magnesia • « trace Iron 4.06 Copper 13.07 Sulphur 11.62 by difference* $2700.00 650.00 $2060.00 1700.00 $350.00 us appear D separate treat the stamping 100.00. A sample of hutch-work gave : — Silicious matter 24.32 Carbonate of lime 53.10 Carbonate of magnesia 2.10 Iron 3.36 Copper 9.96 Sulphur 7.17 by difference. 100.00 From these results, and from others previously given, it wiU ap> pear that silica and lime are almost the only slag