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 BLACK KIVF/R 
 
 COPPER MINING COMPANY. 
 
 1 ■- ' - < 
 
 Ge()L()(;ical Survey and REi»oiiT, 
 
 J3Y Jm. C. T. .lAUKSON, 
 
 OCTDUKU 22. 1862. - 
 
 1 
 
 1 .,. . - 
 
 j -■; . 
 i 
 
 BOSTON; 
 
 I'KKSS OK (lEO. C. HAiNM) S: \\FA\Y, 3 COllNIlILL, 
 
 1862. 
 
:0t»^ 
 
 B 
 
REPORT 
 
 UPON TlIK PllOPKKTY OF THK 
 
 BLACK RIVER MINES, 
 
 SITUATED IN LOTBENIERE COUNTY, C. E. 
 
 BY DR. C. T. JACKSON. 
 
 OCTOBER 22, 1862. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 PRESS OF GEO. C. RAND & AVERY, 3 CORNHILL. 
 
 1862. 
 
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 iX^"^ ^'^^ 
 
 ^C,TRUN.<T0 
 
 VVWHAM MINE 
 
 ^^'''illll.llll .Sli) 
 
 ACtON MINE 
 
 
 Sllil'liril 
 
 Sull 
 
 
 SlhWnifl //li /If, si/ I nil III III 
 
 BLACK RIVER COPPER MINE. 
 
 in Ciiiiiiilii KiiKl. 
 
 
DR. JACKSON'S REPORT. 
 
 N 
 
 Boston, Oct. 22, 1862. 
 Edward G. Tileston, Esq. 
 
 Dear Sir: At your request and in your company,! visited 
 and examined the Black River Copper Mines in Canada East, 
 and would now record my observations on the same. 
 
 / 
 
 NK TO 
 
 
 ''•iiiinil 
 
 situation op the mines. 
 
 The B.-ack River Copper Mines are situated in the parish 
 of St. Flavien, Lotbeniere County, in latitude 46°25' north 
 and longitude 71°30' west of Greenwich, as appears from the 
 map of Canada, and are in a well-known cupriferous belt, 
 which crosses the country in a nearly north-east and south- 
 west direction. The mineral land comprises 220 acres, 100 
 of which ia Shaw's lot, and 120 is called the Company lot. 
 
 Sir William Logan, chief of the Canadian Geological Sur- 
 vey, in his Descriptive Catalogue of the economic minerals 
 of Canada, sent to the London International Exhibition for 
 1862, states, on page 13 : — 
 
 BLACK mVEB MINE. 
 
 " At St Flavien, about five leagues above the Cbaudiere, and two leagues 
 from the St. Lawrence, red shales occur, underlaid by a band of amygda- 
 loidal diorite ; this appears to occupy the place of the magnesian limestone, to 
 which the band at Acton belongs. It is between a quarter and half a mile 
 wide, and limestones occur both at the summit and at the base of the band, 
 which in those parts appear to be of a concretionary or conglomerate and 
 brecciated character ; being composed, particularly at the base, of rounded 
 and angular masses of an'ygdaloidal diorite, varying in diameter from two 
 inches to two feet. 
 
 " Many of these are calcareous, and much of the rock is red. The interstices 
 among the masses are filled with caic spar, which is transversely fibrous 
 towanls the walls and incloses crystallized quartz iu the centre. This band 
 
I 
 
 iii hi^'hly ounrifuroiiM, nnd oruH of copper occur l)oth in tho Iwds and in vninH 
 or lodi'H wlnt'li cut tlioni: tho hcarinjif of flio vcinn, howcvur, iicin;^ with tho 
 fltriko. Tlio oro in tho IkkIs in copper pyritcM, Iivrjj;o niaHsoH of which, Himi- 
 lar to th(! one cxhibitod, aro ONHOciatod with tho liinuHtonoH »t tho top. Tho 
 veinf, in addition to coppor pyritcH, hold tho variogiitod and vitroouH huI- 
 phuretH. 
 
 " In ono ipot, nntivo copper occurs in small uiaHHCH in tho confiiomerato at 
 the base of the dinrito. Tnc whole hand has a Htrikniu; reMoniblaucte to houio 
 of tho rocks of tin; upper uoppur-buaring sorios of Laku Superior. Quebeu 
 group, Lower Silurian." 
 
 Sir William states that " six coppor-boarinf;^ ])cdg or veins, 
 incluilin<jf those of Black River, are all included in the Lau/on 
 and Farnhani synclinal." They all bclonf!^ to the ^^rcat cupri- 
 ferous belt above mentioned, as will bo seen by the annexed 
 map of tho copper rc<;ion. 
 
 The Black River Mines aro very favorably situated, not 
 only for mining, but also for convenient transportation of the 
 ores to market, tho distance from the Grand Trunk Railway 
 station, at Black River settlement, being only six miles. The 
 country around is settled by Canadian French people, who 
 seek employment in the fascinating business of mining, and 
 who labor for unusually moderate wages. 
 
 # 
 
 OEOLOOT OP THE REGION. 
 
 It will hardly be necessary for me to say much on the ge- 
 ology of the Black River Mines after having quoted tho com- 
 pact statement by the distinguished chief of tho Canadian 
 Geological Survey. I would merely add that my observations 
 coincide very nearly with his; especially if tho lower Silurian 
 is regarded as belonging to tho Taconic system of Emmons. 
 The amygdaloidal trap, which is so liberally intermixed with, 
 and even interstratiQed with tho red slates at these mines, 
 resembles tho toadstono of Derbyshire, England ; the vesicles 
 are very small, and are filled generally with calcareous spar, 
 the removal of which, by tho agency of tho weather, gives to 
 the surface of the rock that peculiar pitted or variolous aspect, 
 marking it as an ancient lava, or plutonic rock. Those trap- 
 
pcari masacB ore very irrej^ularly diHposed in the slatca, and 
 do not appear to form rnj^idur dykes, Imt seem to have lieoii 
 poured out upon, or in the niidstof the strata,, anterior to their 
 elevation from their orij^inal horizontal Hituation. There 
 appears to have been Imt little cliomieal ed'ci-vesence produced 
 by the intrusions of the trappcan roeks into arj^illaeoous strata, 
 a fact 1 have for many years observetl, and one that is stronj^- 
 ly in contrast with the violent chemieal reaction which took 
 place when trap rocks, in a state of iuiioous fusion, were 
 poured out amid sandstone strata, as shown in \ova Scotia, 
 Maine, and on Keweenaw Point and Isle lloyaie. Lake Supe- 
 rior. Ar«j;illaccous materials do not appear to have formed 
 amyjjjdaloid and trappcan breccias with tlie i<:;ncous rocks so 
 readily as the sandstones have done. We observe, however, 
 that the o.xido of iron in the slates is all per-oxidizcd, or con- 
 verted into the red oxide of iroi , as seen in the red shales or 
 slates of these mines. This chemical action is very marked, 
 and bears some relation to the {gaseous emanations which 
 l)rought in the copper ores, or the materials which produced 
 these ores. Chloride of copper and ses(|ui-chloride of iron 
 are very volatile, rising in vapor at a temperature a little 
 above that of boiling water. These chlorides, if they came 
 in contact with another very abundant volcanic exhalation, 
 sulphuretted hydrogen, would be decomposed, and sulphides of 
 iron and of copper would result, and these, by their combina- 
 tion in different proportions, would form vitreous, purple 
 and yellow copper ores, such as we lind in the Canadian 
 mines, while both chlorine and thechlorliydric acid would tend 
 to produce from the nrotoxide, and to diffuse in the soft 
 materials of slaty sedimcut, the ncr-oxide of iron. Thus 
 chemistry offers a ready solution to the geological problem of 
 the origin and mode of formation of copper ores, and tliei:* 
 deposition in veins and beds in sedimentary rocks. It is 
 highly probable that all metalliferous veins were derived from 
 igneous vapors, exhaled from the interior of the globe. It is 
 
6 
 
 J 
 
 /i- ' 
 
 obvious that the theory of sublimation of some ores, as such, 
 cannot be maintained, for they arc not volatile, but the matter? 
 from wliich they might be formed are highly volatile, and by 
 double decomposition with other gases and vapors we can 
 see how the ores may have been formed. Galena and cinna- 
 bar may be easily sublimed unaltered. 
 
 Tlic theory of Werner, which some have lately attempted to 
 revive, is simply absurd, for the ores are not soluble in water. 
 Nor can we galvanize a non-cupriferous rock so as to make it 
 segregate copper. The copper ores must all have been de- 
 rived from below, and probably by vaporous sublimation. This 
 volcanoes prove in the most positive manner, as may be seen 
 at their fumaroles and in volcanic craters. 
 
 Iron ores, copper ores, lead ores, and even gold have been 
 brought up from below by metalliferous vapors. Gold pro- 
 bably was conveyed by the sesqui-chloride of iron, the decom- 
 position of which, by the action ot water, produced specular 
 and magnetic iron ores, and the go -.d was deposited with them 
 in its metallic state. The oxides of iron we see in the form 
 of black sand everywhere found in gold washings. 
 
 The Chaudicre region is also auriferous ; and I obtained 
 Bome scales of gold from a handful of gravel taken from a 
 small stream near the Black River Copper Mines. I have no 
 doubt that gold will also be found in the copper ores of these 
 mines. 
 
 CHARACTER OP TUB COPPER VEINS. 
 
 Black River Mines show an abundance of rich copper 
 pyrites at their very ouicrops, and the superficial openings 
 that have been made by explorers exhibit the ore to such an 
 extent as to leave no doubt ad to the richness of the mineral 
 ground. Some of the veins contain calcai-eous spar as a vein- 
 stone, and eopj)er ores of various kinds are mixed with it. 
 Other veins have a quartz gangue, or matrix, and the yellow 
 copper pyrites is sometimes intimately mixed with this min- 
 eral. All the ores, however, present a good workable appear- 
 
anco, and moat of them are sufficiently pure to send to market 
 without any dressing. 
 
 Masses of clean ore, some hundreds of pounds in weight, 
 have been taken from these veins, and several tons of rich 
 copper pyrites in large lumps may now be scon on bank at 
 the mines. Some of these masses, at present before me, are 
 six inches thick, and one of them nearly a foot square, and 
 are very clean copper ore. 
 
 The course of the copper veins was found to be N. 63° E. 
 S. 63" W., and their general dip is 85°, or very nearly ver- 
 tical. 
 
 This position of the veins is very favorable for mining 
 operations, since perpendicular shafts will keep long in the 
 lode, and the expense of many extensive cross-cuts and 
 winzes in de^d ground will be avoided. 
 
 I should think, from what I saw, that there was a prospect 
 at this locality for extensive mining operations with reason- 
 able expectations of success. The work done thus far is 
 very superficial, and is such as is usually performed for mere 
 explorations preparatcy to mining. 
 
 I would add, that the Black River ores may be dressed, 
 like those from Acton and Wickhatn, to from 15 to 20 percent, 
 very easily, and much of the ore needs no dressing at all. It 
 may be broken to egg size and be sent to the smelters at once. 
 
 Those ores which are mixed with veinstone or rock will, 
 of course, bo dret;^od in tlie usual way, so as to get clear of 
 all the superfluous rock before sending them to market. 
 
 I would also remark, that, since these mines produce two 
 kinds of ores, one mixed with limestone, or calc spar, and 
 the other with quartz, they will llux each other in the smelt- 
 ing furnacr. 
 
 Respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 Chari-es T. Jackson, M.D. 
 Geologist and State Assayer. 
 
 ■if 
 
^' 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Boston, Nov. 12, 1862. 
 
 t H 
 
 Edward U. Tilrston, Esq. 
 
 Dear Sir : I have made a chemical assay of a portion of 
 the mass of solid ore taken from the Company lot, and find 
 that it consists of 84.5 per cent, of copper pyrites, mixed 
 with a little iron pyrites, and the copper contained in 100 
 parts by weight of the ore — taken without separation from 
 tlio rock — is 21.7 per cent., and on the ore free from the 
 rock it yields 24.5 per cent, of metallic copper. 
 
 One hundred grains of this ore, searched for gold, did not 
 yield a trace of that metal. If it is found in the Black River 
 Mines it will probably be in the iron pyrites, and in the 
 "'ossan or decayed walls of the lodes, though it is possible 
 thru, it may exist in some portions of the copper pyvites also. 
 
 Respectfully, your obedisn* servant, 
 
 CHARLES T. JACKSON, M.L., 
 
 State Assayer. 
 
12, 1862. 
 
 portion of 
 t, and find 
 ites, mixed 
 ned in 100 
 ration from 
 je from the 
 
 Did, did not 
 Jlack River 
 and in the 
 lis possible 
 lyvites also. 
 
 EDWARD G. TILESTON & CO. 
 
 %\\i gauiT <^tcanuJu}i (|ompani) g^grnta, 
 
 No. 74 FRANKLIN STREET, 
 
 Assayer.