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'^IM.it- 1 ' A^* f ^ ' ^ •c ■T •"A ■? FJ^^, THE ^tv GOLD SEEKER'S GUIDE. A FBACTICAL DISECTOst IN THE SEARCH FOR GOLD, ESPECIALLY IN NOVA -SCOTIA; WITH AN EXPLANATION OF TERMS, ABSTRACT OF OFFICIAL AND OTHER REPORTS, AND OTHER VALUABLE INFORMATION AS TO 3:- !.i VTM feijt.' YARMOUTH, N. S. : R. HUNTINQTON, PRINTER. 1862. &.TS ^l^^^^^^^^^^^l^g^ ^. \ I INTKODUOTION. During the perusal of several works on Mineralogy, the Compiler peroeived that the use of technical terms, and enlarging upon the more scientific portions ot that science, rendered much of their contents comparatively useless to ordinary readers. We hope that the following little work may accomplish his chief desire — that of im- parting intelligible and practical information to Gold seekers, the number of whom is becoming so extensive. He adds a Chapter in explanation of the more difficult terms, and hau resorted to various sources for informa- [tion, and drawn freely upon editorials and communi** nations, which attract but a passing interest, and are too often mislaid or destroyed.' His best exertions have )een used in making the selections, and in abbreviating the articles themselves. We respectfully adopt the fol- >wing portions of the introduction to ** Metals in Cana- fa," by Wilson and Ross: — ** In introducing this short essay to public notice, it lay seem presumptuous to expect a favorable considera- fon for it, when so many able and learned treatises have m published, on Minerology. But, for the v/ante of [he practical explorer, they are, for the most part, too miky and expensive, and presuppose a more intimate ac- juaintance with theoretical science than usually falls to she lot of that useful class, who act as the pioneers in leveloping the metallic resources of a country." The compiler hopes to be excused for a word of timely rarning to others as to himself. While diligently seek- log, as we rightfully may, for the gold with which the Almighty Giver may have blessed our oountry, let us take heed to avoid that over-hasting to be rioh, whioh **is a snare/' and not to neglect the anxious search for that hidden treasure^ which endures for ever, and which per- ishes not, but increases in the using. Just a century ago, in this very Province, the busy gold-seeker dug and delv- ed as we do now, and their very names, their plans, their disappointments are alike unknown. Yarmouth, N.S., May, 1862. THE GOLD-SEEKER'S GUIDE. CHAPTER I. BOW GOLD IB DISCOVERED IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. In the southern fields of Victoria, in Australia, the gold- miner seeks for stony ridges with quartz, as an indication of the precious metal, which is usually confined to the black soil that results from the decomposition of the ser- pentine rock forming the matrix of the metal, which usually lies near its original position, not having been acted on by the violent currents which seem to have de- posited the rich loads of gold in the deep sinkings to the south. Granite is not largely developed, but it is frequently found forming the eastern bases and lower hills of the ranges near the coast, at intervals along the whole line from Taylor *8 range, near Brisbane, to the head of the [Burdekin, on which river it is more largely developed than ^in the more southern districts. Thick beck is the source of the deposits of gold which have been found so widely diffused over the country already pros- 5ted. In British Columbia, near the banks of the Fraser, Thompson, Similkameen, Okanaga, and Quesnelle, gold las been found in the form of dust and scales, and in suf- icient quantitv to pay well when richer districts shall lave been worked out. For the present the attention ot the miner has been turned principally to a number of creeks running in all directions, about sixty miles north of the QuesnelTe Lake. Early in the summer, reports were abroad of marvellous doinss. When a Mr. Beedy left Antler Greek, on the 13th Aueust, both sides of it were flumed, and from 200 to 300 claims were paying largely. •» Berger & Oo.'s claim," he says, •♦ is probably the rich- est. In one Utile crevice were found oO or 70 ounces. The pay dirt is twelve feet deep in the bed of the earth. Captain Bower & Co. estimBted that they would take from their claim £5,000 for the season's wo?k. Cain & Co. were making from £60 to £80 a day to the hand. At Williams* Creek claims were paying from an ounce to 100 ounces each day. In a small flat the pay was so rich that Abbott & Co. were taking out from 100 to 200 ounces with sluices.*' The people at Antler and other creeks are in a great state of excitement, and prospecting parties are out in all directions. When a party starts out on a voyage of dis- covery, merchants agree to furnish the food free of charge, provided an interest in the claims, when found, is given them. I'he Times^ correspondent's account is no whit less glowine : — A miner writes that his gains far surpass anything produced in California, and cites the fact of $1,700 hav- ing been dug out of two crevices in the rock, less than three feet under the surface. In fact, the explanation of the enormous yield is, as I before stated, the large, solid, nuggety character of the gold, and its proximity to the surface. Men who had never mined before—^tradesmen, mechanics, and laborers new to the work — did just as well as the old, practised miner. This result will cease as the efflorescence of gold near the surface becomes ex- hausted. Then some skill and much labor will be re- quired to produce far less results than paid the exeitions of the Cariboo men last season. Veins and boulders of quartz are seen in every direction in the hills, such as would of themselves cret^te f^q excitement in any other country, but they are here neglected for the placers, which are so much more easily worked. A person writ- ing from the diggings, says, ** The country is covered with quartz, and with indications of Tolcanic action,'' and concludes '* that this is the richest gold country in the world." Another chapter will show localitiea of Gold in Nova Scotia, to whicti may be added that at Allen's farm, on the Truro road, gold was found on the surface of the boulders, although the quartz veins did not appear to be enriched by it. Haifa mile away, a horizontal stratum of Quartz had been discovered. The vein in the parts which have been uncovered lies from three to six feet below the surface, being covered with compact whinstone. The color of the quartz is dark iron-grey freely mixed with very dark brown porous ?uartz, which has the appearance of being rusty or rotten, t is easily taken from the vein with ordinary tools, and without blasting. In several of the claims the whinstone has been so far ^quarried as to expose a considerable surface of the quartz, |xhe removal of which, to any extent, has not yet com- lenced. Its appearance is quite singular, resembling in |color, surface, and size, a number of sticks of unhewn ipruce timber with the bark on, lying closely together, fcneir diameter ranging from one to three feet. These are »t separate veins, as the logs are connected together like >uble-gun barrels. The same peculiarity exists on the rider side of the vein. These ridges are not exactly on le same level, the inequality being about as great as in py equal number of spars, of various sizes, lying side by ^de on the ground. In the Isle of Man, at Foxdale mines, a piece of gold IS been found in the neighborhood of these mines. The >ld is pure, and was found in a neighboring stream. •Iv- : : CHAPTER II. BOW GOLD IS DISCOVERED IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES. OF DR. URE^S TREATISE. ABSTRACT The reader will doubtless highly value the results of the celebrated Dr. Ure^s researches, od this subject. He informs us, that gold is found only in the metallic state, sometimes crystallized in the cube. It occurs also in threads of various sizes, twisted and interlaced into crystal, as also in spangles, or roundish grains. Even the small grains are not fragments, but in their original state. Its mineral formations occur, in the crystalline J)rimitive rocks, the compact transition rocks, and in al- uvial grounds. Sometimes it is spread abroad in stony masses, or in thin plates or grains, on the 'surface, or implanted in their cavities, or open space. The minerals of which the veins are composed, are quartz — cab. spar, or sulphate of baryta. We may here mention, that quartz is either what is known as rock crystal or crystal- ized quartz, of various colours. Calc. spar is carbonate of lime, in its purest state, assuming various appearances. Sulphate of baryta, after being burnt, and exposed to the rays of the sun, and then taken to a dark room, shows a reddish phosphorescent light. In auriferous pyrites gold is sometimes invisible, until decomposed or dissolved — or it may be extracted by amalgamation with mercury. In the primitive strata it is found in small grains, spangles, and crystals. The true primitive locality of gold, is among the trap rocks of fiery origin, in the sides of the fissures, or throughout the veins. It is much more common in alluvial grounds, in plains and rivers, especi- ally at the angles of the latter. In some rivers it is more plentifully found at low tides, and after storms and tem- porary floods. It is supposed that the gold found in the beds of rivers, has been torn up by the waters, from the veins and primitive rocks in their neighborhood. 9 The greater part of the golden sands, in each of the [continents, is black or red. and consequently partaking [of the qualities of iron. Gold ore and fossil wood, exist Itoi^ether in South America. When of alluvial formation , ;old is purer than that extracted from rocks. CHAPTER III. HELPS TO GO^D-SEEKERS. The following extracts will still more clearly aid the rold-seeker in his researches. It is taken from ** Metals In Canada," by J. L. Wilson ??ad Charles Ross, a. d. ' 161 :— "• The greatest proportion is derived from superficial )r alluvial deposits. It must be looked for in the soil, knd ravines, and banks of streams, and in countries con- ^guous to mountains of the older crystalline or metamor- ^hic rocks. The metal will be most concentrated in the |al leys and channels of streams. If the soil be sand or ravel, and the particles of gold fine, they will be found the clay or rock beneath it ; after removing the sand eravel, the top of the rock should be scraped for the )la ; or if clay, a thin slice should be taken off and care- Illy washed. If the gold is heavy enough to remain in pan or shovel after the clay and sand are removed, it ly be worked to profit, but if it floats off in the water. Is of no use. It should be remarked that the heaviest most valuable particles will always be found the ipest seated ; and, where the edges of the slatey rook, iich usually underlies the gold-producing regions, come to the surface, the fine particles of gold gradually rk themselves down between them, reaching sometimes leep as three feet. Native gold is that form of com- iation in which almost the whole amount of this metal Lined in tiie woria is round ; of the others, graphic- ■mtem'- 10 ' tellurium is the only one which exists in sufficient quan- tity to be of economical importance, and that only in one district. Native gold is easily distinguished from all other metals by its splendid yellow color, malleability, and density, when compared to water. It cuts like pure lead, and is unacted on by simple acids. In the ores called auriferous pyrites, gold occurs either in a visible or in- visible form, and though invisible in the fresh pyrites, becomes visible by its decomposition. *' Gold exists among primitive strata, disseminated in small grains, spangles, and crystals. It has never been observed in any secondary formation ; but pretty abun- dantly in its true and primary locality among the trap rocks of igneous origin, implanted on tiiS sides of fissures, or disseminated in the veins. '*The auriferous quartz veins, which are themselves worked for gold in various parts of the world, and in which that obtained from washings originated, seem al- most invariably to belong to the class of segregated veins. The masses of quartz rock of which they are composed, have the same dip and strike as the slatey rocks in which they are enclosed, and they exhibit no appearance of oc- cupying a pre-existing fissure. ** Where the paloeozoic rocks remain in nearly the same condition in which they were originally deposited, there is but little probability of finding gold. ** In Canada gold has been obtained by a laborious pro-i cess of washing or stream-work, the material subjected! to this process consisting of drift clay and gravel, the de-l bris of the rocks, on which they rep )8e. These rocks consist of clay-sla^;es, and interstratified gray sand-stonesj associated with conglomerates, taloose slate and serpen- tine, and with various ores of iron. The gold has no-| where been found in place, with the exception of a merej trace discovered in a quartz vein near Sherbrooke." 11 What follows is f^ .the Colonial Mining Journal , ^published at MelboufL :;, Australia, on prospecting for [quartz : — *^ The first step to be taken is to ascertain the direction [of the strata of the bed-rocks and quartz veins imbedded therein. Then take a common pick, shovel, and good [iron pan, and prospect the surface dirt along, and just [under the break of the veins every few yards, thus fol- lowing the vein as far as it shows itself, either by its )utcrop or loose fragments ; and, if gold is found in the surface along the vein, it is good presumptive evidence l;hat the vein is gold-bearing. Then ascertain the point m the vein that gives the best prospect, and make a cut icross it deep enough to show the vein as it is enclosed in the bed or wall lock ; then make a careful examina- tion of every part of the vein, so as to determine what )art of it is gold-bearing. The casing of the vein where It joins the wall rock should be carefully tested, also ; it irequently occurs that the casing is richer than the vein Itself. The best mode of testing the rock is to pound it Inely in a hand mortar, and wash it out in a pan or horn ipoon. If a satisfactory result is obtained, then sink a paft so as to cut the vein at the point where the best prospect is obtained, and follow it down say forty or fifty 'jet. The character of the wall rock should be closely Ibserved, to ascertain the line of its texture. The smoott) kces that separate the veins from the quartz rock should carefully examined . These smooth faces have n umerous lall ridges and grooves upon them, that show the line its projection, or the direction from which the vein IS forced up between the walls enclosing it. The ridg- and fine groves on the faces of the veins will, in most ises, be found to have the same direction of the texture the^wall rock ; and the rich section of the vein will iost generally continue rich in the line of its projection. \ is frequently the case that a vein will have a section of [few feet that will be rich, and the balance of it be poor; ^erefore, it is very important to learn the line of its 12 projection, for the rich sections always follow the course indicated by the line of projection and the line of texture of the wall rock." CHAPTER IV. LOCALITIES OF GOLD-DIGGINGS IN NOVA SCOTIA. Abridged from ** Letter of P. 8, Hamilton^ Esq. of Halifax^ JV. S., dated January 9th, 1862, published in the London Times : The peninsula of Nova Scotia proper approaches, in its coast outlines, the form of a right-aneled triangle, the hypothenuse of which is presented to the Atlantic. The coast of this longest side has a direction nearly north-east and south-west. Its length, from Gape Sable to Cape Canseau, is about 250 miles ; and Halifax, the metropo- lis, is situated about midway between those points. That portion of the area oi Nova Scotia which is known to be of auriferous formation consists of a band extending along the Atlantic coast for the whole of this 250 miles, but of irregular width ; at its western termination it is some 60 miles wide, but gradually narrows as we follow it eastward, until it almost terminates in a point at Cape Canseau. The whole district is classed by geologists as of the lower silurian formation. A large part of this Atlantic coast district is too rocky to be cultivable agriculturally ; consequently, a large proportion of it is still in a wilderness state, and the set- tlements of those who have peopled it are, for the most part, confined to the vicinity of the coast, and the banks of streams flowing into the Atlantic. This fact may ac- count in some degree for the gold discoveries not having been made until this late period. Within the summer of 1861 — gold has been found at points 250 miles apart, and at various intermediate 'places far removed from each other. The probabilities are that nearly the whole of 13 this extensive district, already described, is more or less auriferous. Generally spaaking, there has not been a sufficient denudation of the rocks of this district to afford a hope that any ** alluvial' ' diggings will be discovered which shall prove at once rich and extensive. Spots are, indeed, found upon the lower grounds in the vicinity of the quartz reefs, where the surface earth is exceedingly rich in gold-dust ; but these spots are, so far as yet known, of moderate extent, and the surface earth is but of slight depth. The greater part of the gold yet obtain- ed in Nova Scotia has been extracted from quartz veins, which are found imbedded in slate or quartzite. The site of the first gold discoveries m Nova Scotia, and that on which mining operations have been carried on to the greatest extent, is Tansier. This name is ap- plied to a river, and also to a harbour into which the river empties, the latter being on the Atlantic coast, from 50 to 60 miles eastward of Halifax. The mines at this place extend from within half a mile to within two miles of the head of the harbour. Mining operations com- menced here in the latter part of April last, but for months gold-hunters came into the now mines but slowly. At the best part of the season the number of miners at Tangier did not probably exceed 1,000. The Tangier miners — and they comprise among their number many men of Californian ana Australian expe- rience — with very few exceptions, express themselves well satisfied with the results of their labours hitherto, and with their prospects for the future. Yet the greater part of the gold obtained has been extracted from the quartz by merely breaking it up with hammers, the frag- ments remaining on hand, to be afterwards ground in % quartz-mill, and containing, of course, a large proportion of gold. Lots of quartz from the Tangier gold leads have yielded, under rude crushing process, £8 sterling per ton. Other seams in which no gold was discernible to the naked eye, have been found on experiment, to contain gold in sufficient quantity to pay the miner a fair profit on the labour required for obtaining it. The gold taken u at Tangier has been procured at a very small cost. The quartz seams from which it is obtained, usually follow the plane of the cleavage of the enclosing rock, dip at a high angle, being almost vertical, and the greater num- ber of those which have been worked, crop out at the surface of the ground. These quartz veins vary in thick- ness from an inch, and even less, up to 1^ feet. They have been traced for several miles in length, but their longitudinal limits have not been ascertained, and they are probably continuations of gold-bearing quartz veins found many miles distant from there, both east and west, at other localities. There is now a bustlinf^ mining vil- lage at Tangier, where there were only a few fishermen's houses. The place is easily accessible, being upon the shore of a f^ood harbour, and within six hours' steaming distance of Halifax. Present indications favor the belief that Tangier will be the site of extensive and profitable gold-mining operations for many years to come. At Sheet Harbour, which is one of the safest and most capacious on this coast, some 15 miles eastward of Tan- gier, very fine specimens of gold have been taken from quartz veins, which seem to be a continuation of those of Tangier. It may be observed Liiat all these veins follow a direction nearly parallel with the line of the coast. Three men used upon a daily average to clean up 2 oz. of gold from one sluice. One of the earliest miners upon this ground declares that upon an area of 30 feet by 33 feet, from boulders and fragments of quartz found on the surface, he obtained £100 worth of gold. At various other points along the St. Mary's river, from its mouth to 20 miles up stream, fair ** prospects" have been obtained, and there are good indications of more important discoveries. Again, upon the coast, four miles eastward of the mouth of the St. Mary's river, at Wine Harbour, there is a thriving mining field, resem- bling Tangier in many characteristics. Gold-bearing quartz veins are here found extending along the shore for about three miles, while they have also been discovered at various spots extending back from the shori shore to a dis- 15 taDce of a mile, or even more. The surface earth in this neighborhood is, as a general rule, found to be more or less auriferous ; but the greater part of the gold yet ob- tained there has been taken from quartz veins. From one of the earliest occupied mining lots, upon which six men, on an average, had worked daily for six weeks, there had been taken — and, as usual, without any quartz- crushing machinery — gold to the value of £500 sterling. Proceeding still farther eastward, about 100 miles from Halifax, we come to the mouth of the St. Mary's River, Near the western bank of this river, about nine miles from its mouth, is the Sherbrooke gold-field. This gold- field was not discovered until October last, but it promis- es to be one of the richest and most reliable yet discover- ed. Not less than one hundred acres have already been taken up in mining lots, and applications for ** claims'' still continue. At one spot here the Government mining agent took the trouble to number and measure the thick- ness of the parallel quartz veins cropping out upon the surface within a distance of 250 feet. There were 21 of them, varying iu thickness from one to fifteen inches, and averaging six inches. These had all been ascertained to be gold-bearing. On either side of this band of 250 feet in width, the rock, wherever exposed npon the sur- face, exhibited numerous quartz veins, following the same direction as those already named. These veins have been traced, both laterally and longitudinally, as far as explo- rations have yet gone. One of these veins was eight inches in thickness. From a trench 15 feet in length and 8 feet in depth, the mining proprietor had taken out over 6 lbs. of gold. This had been extracted by means of the hand hammer and such rude appliances. New ** leads" have been discovered at Wine Harbour, said to excel in richness any previously known to exist there. From 10 to 15 miles eastward of Wine Harbour is a deep inlet called Country Harbour. — Up this inlet, near the head of tide water in Country Harbour Proper, and also up an arm of the inlet, known as Isaac's Harbour , there are gold mines, 16 The Lawrencetown mines are only about 12 miles east- ward of Halifax, and near the coast. The prospects at this place are good. The Ovens, or Lunenburg mines^are about as far to the westward of Halifax as Tangier is to the eastward. They are situated upon a peninsula, forming the western side of Lunenburg Harbour, and the first discoveries there, were made about the cliffs of the shore near some shallow caves called the Oventi. Upon a strip of sea beach at this spot, the gold, in the form of coarse ''dust,'* is found mixed with the sand, from which it is easily washed. The rictiest of these ** washings" is surpassed by those of few places in the world. Unfortunately, the beach, which 18 composed in great part of these gold-bearing sands, is of small extent; but, after every violent storm, from the Atlantic, the sands thrown up by the surf at this spot, contain a new crop of the precious metal. Upon the uplands in the vicinity of the Ovens, quartz mininff is carried on as in other localities. Laidlaw^s Farm is about 10 miles north of Halifax, and within a few hundred yards of the main post road leading to New Brunswick. The quartz is here found a few feet below the surface of the enclosing rock, in broad, compact, and nearly horizontal beds of, as yet, unknown thickness. Some of the richest specimens of gold-bearing quartz have been obtained here ; but the gold seems to be less evenly distributed through the quartz, than it is at some of the other mines. A half a ton of quartz from this place was put through the crusher, and the gold ex- tracted from it. The yield of gold was at the rate of £100 sterling per ton of quartz. With a moderate outlay of capital and scientifically directed labour, there seems every reason to believe that the Nova Scotian gold mines will compare favourably, as sources of profit, with those of any other part of the world. I use the epithet moderate advisedly. In the Nova Scotian gold-fields, so far as understood, no deep shafts seem to be rea aired in order to reach sold-bearins quartz. The cost of conveying materials to and from any of the mines yet in operation is very trifling. Near- ly all of those mentioned above are accessible, at all sea- sons of the year, by good roads or by navigable water, and most of them by both means of transit. Partly owing to this fact, and partly to the fact that Nova Sco- tia is not altogether a wilderness country, but produces all the staple articles of food in abundance, the expense of living at the mines is inconsiderable. The past sum- mer labouring men could live comfortably at Taneier for 5s. sterling per week. At the same time 5s. was just the price of a pound of flour or a pound of bacon at the Gari^ Doo gold mines of British Columbia. The newly-disoo* vered gold mines at the latter place, are rich beyond all question, and beyond all parallel ; but, everything con- sidered, it admits of a question whether an intending miner from Europe, or the eastern coast of North Ameri* oa, would not profit more in the end by trying his luck in the gold-fields of Nova Scotia. CHAPTER V. OinCIAL C0RRB8P0NDKNCB AS TO GOLD IV NOVA SCOTIA. Extracts from letter of Hon. Jos. Howe, Provincial Secretary, to Qovernor Mulgrave, 8th Sept., 1861 :— • ** The existence of auriferous deposits in Nova Scotia was unsuspected till 1860. It is strange that thev should not have been turned up by the agriculturist or the road- maker, still stranger that they have escaped the vigilance of the early pioneers of natural science — Titus Smith, George Duncan, Dr. Qesner, Dr. Webster, Alger, and Jackson, all of whom were laborious and painstaking investigators, and some of them elaborate writers on the mineralogy of this country. Dr. Dawson, in 1855, sug- |;ested the possibility of finding gold in Nova Scotia, and indicated with some accuracy the region where it might be discovered.. But the doctor had found none, and no 9 i' ; 18 interest was taken in the subject until gold was disoover- ed, last summer, in Tangier. The discoveries made in Sept. 1860, were unimportant. Some hundreds of persons rushed into the woods near the head-waters of the Tangier, 10 miles from the sea coast, and proved the existence of gold, it is true, but in quan- tities so small, and at such a distance from roads and navigation, as to promise no return to the most indus- trious miner. The facts having been investigated and made public, the excitement suMided, and the people re- turned to their ordinary pursuits. In March this year a man stooping to drink at a brook found a piece of gold shining among the pebbles over which the stream flowed. He pickea it up, and, searching, found more. This was about half a mile to the eastward of the debouchemeut of the Tangier River, a stream of no great magnitude, taking its rise not very far from the sources of the Musquodoboit, flowing through a chain of lakes, which drain, for many miles on either side, a rugged aud wilderness country, and fall into the Atlantic about 40 miles to the eastward of Halifax. The locality was most favorable for mining operations, being within half a mile of navigation and surrounded by a hardy population engaged in the fisheries, whose small craft could readily transport everything that the miners might require. In May, two men had taken from a pit, dug four feet wide by five deep, $75 worth of gold — they had made a profit of $69 in three days. Thio profit was not derived from the chance discovery of a nugget, but from crush- ing the quartz, veins of which, there was good reason to believe, ran for miles along the sea coast ; or from wash- ing the crumbling rock or soil by which they were sur- rounded. The surveyor was instructed to reduce the price of tbo lots from $40 to $20, and to expend the money received in draining the mines and making a road to the shore. From this period confidence in the resources of Tangier has isteadily increased. The numbers who have found 19 - uoTTA Taneed between .mt>l07meBt there all the ""fT^tu loU. token up « BOVf »*^"*:^^oKd taken out it w "Xns are "lade. The q**""*? °' if, S exacted, and no wtutns »re ^^^ ""^^V""/^ ri out of his own olw" i^ToukM to this Everybody dip out the quantities brougn ^„ieB It a^«y ; ^^^4 i„ other part* of the i-r ^^ ?'Xlnna^St that S very l«ge aaou"* of gol^^^ , £rhrfeU^:,-^nVer countr- without any, of the aiae yt The quana v^'"** • 2D montorj, and are Tisible to the nu^od eye without labor. Theee and the circummcent soil were discovered lo be auriferous in June, d a ^reat number of persons rushed in and began to stake oflf claims. Wbile attention was ;enerally directed to the upland, Mr. John Campbell, rightly judging that the olifis with the quartz veins running through them having been for ages washed and crumbled by the soa, gold might be found among the sands which surrounded the seashore, tried the experiment, and was successful beyond his hopes. About the same time that publio attention was at- tracted to the auriferous deposits at Lunenburg, gold was discovered in several other places — at Dartmouth, at Sheet Harbor, and at Lawrencetown. Quartz rock was found all alon^ the southern coast, and running for miles back into the interior. From what was known of the geological structure of the country, the presumption wan reasonable that quartz would, and that gold mieht, bo found in at least 10 of the 18 counties into which Nova Scotia i!* divided. Lawrencetown is a scattered settlement, named after Governor Lawrence, on a small stream that rises in the granite region behind, and, falling through a chain of bkes, finds its outlet to the sea, between salt-marshes, protected by an aboiteau. It is about 10 miles east ot Halifax, with boat navigation to the shore ; but the har- bor is a poor one, with only shelter for small vessels. Gold having been discovered near this stream in June last, quartz-digging and placer- washing were commf need in a rude way, and anybody who chose, or who could get permission from the proprietors, dug, and washed, and prospected. Quartz was found upon the surface, and in veins beneath the soil. On 28th October, 1861, tht' ?i .^^inelul Secretary pub- lished bis second official letter, luix^avjncing further dis- ooverles, the partioulars of which are turnished in this 21 CHAPTER VI. DR. DAWBON ON OUR GOLD FIELDS. Thb following 18 an abridgment of a valuable editorial ot the Halifax Chronicle, 12th November, 1861 :— • We have been irvo'^d with a perusal of the proof sheets of a pane; , iri ifdvance of its publication in the ** Canadian Na< irolisi. aud Qeologist" for December, con- tributed b} <)ui ji aguished countryman, Dr. Dawson, to the proc: ^i jgs of the Natural History Society of Cana- da. The materials forming the groundwork of the paper are chiefly the geological observations made during per- sonal researches in former years, together with informa- tion obtained from the subsequent communications of other observers. The paper sets out with a description of that great metamorphic district on the Atlantic coast, condensed from the more extended notice in ** Acadian Geology," — in which clayslate and quartz are shewn to be the pre^ vailing stratified rocks, varying occasionally in feature to as to mark, in Dr. Dawson^s opinion, different stages of metamorphism^ and penetrated by granite seemingly of the Devonian age. This metamorphic district has a range of about 250 miles along the coast, and inland in some places to 20 or 30 miles ; and seems ** to belong to one geological system — and this probably the lower part of the Lower Silurian.^' In this case these strata are ** on .liC geological horizon of the auriferous and oupri* ferous rocks of Lower Canada, as the age of these rocks has recently been settled by Sir W. E. Logan.'' By a reference to his previous writings, and especially to his ** Supplementary Chapter to Acadian Geology" (p. 53J, it will be seen that Dr. Dawson was aware of the simi- larity in mineral c^ aracter of our Nova Scotia coast series to the Canadian deposit ; but an incorrect impression among geologists, that the latter belonged to the Hudson River group7 made him hesitate about admitting anj U 1 22 parts of this more modern group as equivalents of our series ; and the recent change in opinion has proved the soundness of his views, by detaching from the Hudson River group those deposits which are evidently coeval with ours. Dr. Dawson has not visited Tangier, though he has examined parts of the neighboring country pos- sessing, apparently, the same geological character. JBut he has seen specimens of the auriferous rock precisely similar in character to specimens collected by Mr. Rich- ardson, ot the Geological Survey of Canada. ** The gold^'*^ says Dr, D.,'* occurs , disseminated in irregular grains and masses, in whiie^ milky or translucent quartz, often stained by the hydrated peroxide of iron, derived from small qaantities of iron pyrites present in the veins, . . . The gold seems to occur most abundantly at or near the walls of the vein, and appears to have been de- posited in cavities of the quartz, — for in some very rich specimens exhibited in Montreal by the Government Railway Delegation, the gold is impressed by the faces of quartz crystal on which it has been moulded. Mr. Poole has also sent to me specimens of yellow ** gosson" or oxide of iron, said to contain particles of gold. He has also found at Tangier, in quartz veins similar to those containing the gold, small quantities of arsenical pyrites (mispickel). No other metallic mineral has hitherto, in so far as I am aware, been discovered, — though the analogy of other gold regions would suggest the probabi- lity that others may occur." With respect to the alleged discoveries of gold in the more inland metamorphic district of Pictou, Gobequid Mountains, &c., it is observed by Dr. Dawson that since these are of the Upper Silurian series, and consequently not formed at the same epoch as were the metamorphic strata 0.4 the Southern coast, the discovery of gold in the latter aflFords no evidence, by itself, that it will be found in that other. Still, as the veins of quartz piercing two distinct series of strata need not be dissimilar in origin or date ; as, moreover, the coast^line has been considered, till recently, barren of metallic deposits, while the rocks 23 inland have yielded iron orei^ abundantly, and shown yeiag, numerous though small, of copper pyrites, and as gold and copper have been found associated in Canada, ** the probabilities," thinks Dr. D., ** are in favor of the inland series ; though it is possible that this may prove cupriferous instead, and the coast series alone auriferous." There is a view in this paper tending most powerfully to harmonize the geological aspects ot North America, es- pecially of its gold-bearing deposits, and leading the way to fresh discoveries of these; the view, namely, taken of Nova Scotia's deposits as <* strictly a continua- tion of those which run along the Appalachian slope as far as Alabama. It is to be anticipated that the connec- tion with the auriferous deposits of the United States may soon be effected by the discovery of gold in New Brunswick." The following extract is of the highest practical value at the present moment : ** There is little room to doubt that gold will be found throughout the coast metamorphic district of Nova Sco- tia : more especially the slaty rocks of southern Guysboro, Halifax, Lunenburg, ane the northern parts of Queen's, Shelburne, and Yarmouth, may be expected to be auri- ferous. In short this applies to all the districts colored li^ht bluQ in the map attached to my *• Acadian Geology.' Careful examination may shew that the gold occurs chiefly or entirely, in the veins traversing certain bands of the thick beds of slate and quartz rock in these dis- tricts ; and these may be recognized by their mineral character, especially if defined in their relation to the other beds by a detailed survey of the productive locali- ties. Still the indications in one locality may not be un- failing when applied to another ; and in the mean time it would be the best course for explorers to ^ook at all quartz veins, and especially at those occurring in soft dark slaty beds, particularly near the junction of these 'beds with other rocks. Further, it would seem that the narrower veins, those following the strike of the rocks, and those stained with iron rust, are most likely to be productive. Minute examination should be madei.as 24 gold often occurs in very small grains, which may still bo sufficiently numerous to pay for extraction. Nor should the washing of the sands and gravels in the beds of rivers, and of the alluvial deposits on their banks be neglected, for it may happen in many cases that gold may occur in these, when the vein*) originally containing it have had their outcrops worn away or concealed. Exploring for gold in new localities cannot be expected to be remunera- tive, except in rare cases ; but it would be well at least that persons residing in the district above referred to, would embrace such opportunities as may occur, of ex- amining the quartz veins in their vicinity. It is to be hoped that in a short time a geological survey will place within their reach greater facilities than those which now exist, for making discoveries, and improving thost already made." CHAPTER VII. DB. QXSNXB's pamphlet ON ** THB GOLD FIELDS 07 MOTA SCOTIA. !• The compiler's omits local references, and other in- formation already furnished, but carefully retains what- ever may help the Gold-seeker in his researches : Nova Scotia, including the island of Cape Breton, is about 350 miles ^n length, and 90 miles in breadth. Through the central parts of the Province, all the south- ern counties, Cumberland and northern part of Cape Breton, there are extensive ranges of the varieties of granite, and other igneous rocks, forming anticlinal ridges. These ridges seldom rise higher than 500 feet above the level of the sea, except at the most northerly part of Cape Breton, where they have attained an eleva- tion of 1000 feet and upwards. Leaning against the granite there are strata of metamorphio rookS of great 26 thickness : these are again succeeded by the Silurian sys- tem, the coal formations and trap rooks. At the present time gold has only been discovered in the metamorphio rocks, which touch the eranite on one side, and the lower Silurian on the other, rfot one of the sites where gold is now found had ever been examined by the writer pre- vious to his recent visits to the mines. Like dalifornia, Australia and Oregon, the existence of gold had escaped the observation of their early geological explorers. TANGIER. The rocks in which the gold appears at Tangier are quartzite, and metamorphic. LAWRENCETOWN. The road from Wine Harbor to Tangier and thence to Ship Harbor and Dartmouth, runs over a thinly inhabit- ed country, abounding in lakes and whortleberry barrens. The rocks are chiefly metamorphic slate, and quartzite, with here and there an intruding spur of the granite and its associate rocks. The former contain enormous veins of quartz, some of which are auriferous. At Ohizzencook barrens these veins are seen running parallel with the layers of rock, and it is not improbable that some of them contain gold. In May last, gold was discovered in Lawrencetown, a small harbor 10 miles eastward of Halifax. It has been washed from the decomposed slate, and found in the quartz veins of that settlement. LAIDLAW'S AND ALLEN*S FARMS. Gold was first discovered at those places in the boulders of drift quartz on the surface, and from which it is un- derstood a small amount of gold has been realized. At Allen's farm six men were employed, and they had trenched along the surface, through the debris, five feet, down to the slate and quartzite. The strata of those rooks are almost perpendicular, and they have been - 4 'X"3 -^-'-'^^r- 26 much fractured 'at the sarfaoe ; narrow yoins of quarti penetrate them in all directions. They are coated with a fine argillaceous slate, or the oxides of iron. Some of the slates and quartz contain gold with the sulphides ot iron and mispickel with mica and sometimes talc. The true gold-bearing vein had not been reached, and the purchasers of the tract were somewhat discouraged. The auriferous quartz was first discovered at Laidlaw*0 farm at the top ot a thinly wooded hill bearing North 80^ East, halt a mile from the lakes. The quartz is more abundant here than at Allen's, and a number of pits and trenches have been dug through the soil and drift down to the upturned edges of the subjacent strata. Singular masses of auriferous quartz had been uncovered to the distance of fifty yards m length and fifty feet in breadth, and a depth of five feet. Ttiey appear to be long fluted beds from six to sixteen feet wide, and from one to three feet in thickness, resting upon the edges of the quartzite and slate containing quartz veins with gold. The hori- zontal quartz veins are singularly grooved, or fluted, as if they had been planed by a mechanic, and the grooves are from six inches to one U)ot in depth. From all the facts taken together, as they appear in the early stage of their being mined, these horizontal fluted or wavelike beds seem to have been an overflow of the ^old-bearing sili- ceous mineral, and the places that ^ave it vent may here- after be discovered. Ihe quartz is cellular, the cells being frequently filled with the oxides of iron, and which frequently contain particles of visible gold. Several nuggets have been found at this locality, and the **show" of the precious metal holds out high encouragement to a number of Companies and individuals who have taken out mining leases in this district. The place is very fa- vorable for mining, as the shafts and levels may be drained into the lakes 150 feet below. LUNENBURG. — *' THE GYENS.'' The road from the Northwest Arm, near the city of Halifax, to within two miles of Chester, is over granite and its associates. Slate, graywacke and qoartzite ex- tend to Lunenburg, 60 miles. ** The Ovens,'* now oele- brated for gold, are four miles by water, and 13 miles by land from the latter town, and on a point of land jut- tine out into Lunenburg Bay, a most spaeious and safe baroor. ** The Ovens"' are inconsiderable ezcavatioDs worn out of the rocks by the sea, and they have given a name to a peninsula about a mile in length and a half a mile in breadth. The northern side of this peninsula is a ridge composed chiefly of quartzite and slate, whose strata have been uplifted and iractured by the introduc- tion of a trap dike, from which the strata dipNS at hish angles in opposite directions. The southern side of the peninsula is |»rincipally composed of metamorphic slate, containing thin seams of quartz. It is quite level, and the whole presents to the sea cliffi from twenty to fifty feet in height. The elevated edges of the strata on the southern side of the tract is occupied by four small farms. Much of the land is cleared and the scenery is aereeable. The ordinary strike of the rocky beds is south 80^ vrest, with a dip of 70^. The quartz veins, from one half an inch to twelve inches in thickness, run parallel with and at right angles to the strata of quartzite. These veins abound in the ridge forming the promontory, but they are thin and parallel in the slates southward. The quartz veins of the little headland and the slates contain gold, which IS here also accompanied by the sulphurets of iron, mispickel, mica, and the oxides of iron. From the more rapid disintesration of the slates, a small cove about 250 yards wide has been worn out by the sea, and into which the sand of the shore and debris of the slate with gold have been collected. By being washed this sand has supplied much of the almost pure metal, and it still continues to be productive. During the past sum- mer a few lots of twenty-five by fifty feet each, were sold by Mr. Cunard for $4,800, under a reservation of one anarter, and after, as it is believed, a large amount of gold bad been removed. It was also stated that ten IV 28 men obtained eighteen ounces of gold bj hand-washing in a single day. All the sands of the adjacent shores contain gold, and during the past summer washing has been carried on with great inaustry. The quartz yeins of the higher grounds are also productive. The quartz was piled in heaps, awaiting the introduction of crushers and other means of extraotine the gold from its gangue. Several nuggets have been discovered. The largest of these shown to the writer was found in a crevice in the slate at the south shore. It was attached^ on one side, to a piece of reddish colored quartz, and weighed one and a half ounces. Whether obtained from the quartz or slate, the metal at the ^* Ovens " appears as at Tangier and other places, in jagged grains and scales, as if it had been melted and suddenly cooled. It is accompanied by iron and arseni- cal pyrites, the oxides of iron, mica, and occasionally talc. The shore lots leased by the Government were only 20 by 50 feet in area ; but a number of lots laid out on the uplands embrace each three-quarters of an acre. It had been supposed that the golden sand was washed up by the sea. Of this the writer found but tew evi- dences. All the rocks beneath the lowest level of the tide are thickly covered by sea weeds. The sands and old which collect upon the border of the water line ave, evidently, been derived from the crumbling down and decomposition of the rocks of the shores, and the softer slates have yielded more rapidly to disintegration than the quartzites. So far, therefore, their water front has produced the gieatest quantity of the metal. It will be found hereafter that each succeeding winter, with its severe frosts, and spring, with its alternate freezings and thawings, will produce an annual crop of the precious metal upon the shores. The writer washed gold from the soil. Iron pyrites in small cubic crystals is widely scat- tered through the argillaceous slates, and frequently aid in the work of dilapidation. About 800 men were em- ployed. . , V , n 29 PARALLEL LINES. The gold of Nova Scotia appears chiefly to exist in cer- tain parallel lines, which probably extend in some instan- ces almost the entire length of the Province, or to the distance of 200 miles in the direction of the strata. The most southerly, or seaboard line, embraces the auriferous strata of Wine Harbour, St. Mary's, Tangier, Lawrence- town, Dartmouth, Halifax, the ^^ Ovens,"* and Lahave. A more northerly line would touch the first <* diggiDgs" near the Tangier Lakes, Musquodoboit, Laidlaw'sFarm, and Gold River. The lines still further north are at present almost unknown, and those here laid down may hereafter require adjustment on the map. The idea must not, however, be entertained that gold exists in all the quartz found upon those lines, or at other sites. There are numerous veins of that mineral everywhere that con- tain no gold, and it recjuires a practised eye and careful assay to detect it even m rich varieties of the rock. The metamorphic group of rooks before mentioned as being extensively developed in the mainland of Nova Scotia, also appears in Cape Breton Island, where gold at some future time may meet the eye of the careful ob- server. The same strata flank the mountains of New- foundland and Labrador. From samples obtained at those places, the writer is inclined to the opinion that auriferous quartz is disused along a most extended line of the British North American seaboard, and where the strata have been uplifted and entered by eruptive masses^ and dikes of Plutonic origin. It is a peculiar feature of the gold regions of Nova Scotia, that regarding recent discoveries the rocks con- taining the gold in the highest per centage, are near the Atlantic coast, and intersect a number of the smaller rivers and harbours, whereby facilities are afibrded to supply the requirements of mining. It is not at all pro- bahle that the richest gold deposits in Nova Scotia have yet been discovered ; but there is enough known to satis- fy the most sceptical that the Province contains an ample m Amount of the precious metal to warrant the most ezten- •ive operations and the construction of machinery for its mining and purification. ASSAT OF GOLD. An assay of a sample of gold from Tangier gate the following result from 100 parts : Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead, Iron, 96.50 2.00 0.08 0.06 0.05 98.69 The gold from the ** Ovens,'* Lunenburg : Gold, . . . . 93.06 Silver, 6.60 Copper, 0.09 Iron, a trace. 99.75 A sample of gold assayed by J. F. Baker, Esq., Gradu- ate of the Government School of Mines, London, after separation of the lareer particles of visible eold, gave 18 02. 2dwt. 14gr. of g(Md per ton, containing 97.3 fine gold. Silver 2.7 equal to 23.35 carats fine, and containing, therefore, of fine gold 17oz. 12dwt. 19gr., $352.66, and fine silver 2dwt. 19gr., equal to 50 cents, total $353.16. Nuggets of gold, weighing several ounces each, have been found by the miners at Wine Harbour, Taneier, Laidlaw's and the *< Ovens." The largest of these nave he&a purchased by the Nova Scotia Government to be displayed at the approaching Industrial Exhibition of London. 31 CHAPTER VIII. •TNOFfn OF PHILIPS* ON ** GOLD MINING AND ASSAYING.*' Editorial of the Halifax Chronicle, March 11, 1862. There is a work before us which treats of the practioal features of Gold Mining and Assaying ; and although its author, Mr. Philips (well known as a metallurgist) , des- oribes his treatise as a guide to Australian emigrants, it eannot but prove interesting to those employed or about to be employed in gold mining in Nova Scotia. From the avowed object of the manual, — to instruct Australian miners mainly, — and from the fact that the auriferous rooks of Australia have been most particularly and ex- tensively studied by British geologists and metallurgists, most of the arguments and illustrations turn upon obser- vations made in the great Australian gold fields. Even on this account, however, the work under review must contain much that is appropriate to our gold fields and the modes of mining them, — since the Nova Scotian miners have been called to exercise their skill more, as yet, upon auriferous reefs, as in Australia, rather than on alluvial deposits, as in California. The first portion treats of the sources of gold; and under this head we find several countries ranged accord- ing to their native richness in this respect, from the minute, thread-like veins in the hills of Britain, and the shining spangles in the valley of the Rhine — whose ex- traction would cost far beyond their value — to the nugget- stored reefs of Ballarat, and the golden gravel of the Sacramento. This portion of the work is merely a sum- mary of districts without anythm^ like a scientific ge- neralization of the range or peculiarities of auriferous regions, or any attempt to infer the existence of gold in countries where it had not then been found, from the resemblance of such in geological struoturo to oountrief p. 7ed to be auriferous. 32 > In the chapter on the '* Method of examining Aurife- roas Deposits," there are so many suggestions of the utmost value to our Provincial miners, especially to such as are employed ** prospecting*' — and- to every one, in- deed, who is casting a glance round for traces of gold in his neighborhood — that we hasten to give an extract here and there. ** When a country," says the author, *< is expected to contain gold, the points to be most carefully examined are the sands of the streams and rivers flowing through it, as well as the particles of disintegrated rock which often accumulate in the eddies of ravines Tormed on the sides of the hills, by the action ot water during great floods. . . . . It is usually found, that if a river or creek produces fine scaly gold in those parts of its course which fie through a flat, open country, it will, if followed to the mountainous districts in the direction of its source, become more productive and yield gold in the form of nuggets and less finely divided grains. As a general rule, in looking for gold, the rocks in the district to be examined should be either granite, porphy- ritic, or quartzose, although it is also found in other for- mations, and particularly in clay slate. The quartz in auriferous localities is often stained of a rusty brown >«ii^color, from the presence of peroxide of iron, and in many instances presents a cellular or honeycombed appearance. . . . . River diggings are, generally speaKing, most productive, and in these the larger fragments or nuggets are most frequently found. In such localities, however, a very careful examination is required, as the gold is very seldom found at the surface, but at a greater or less distance below the present bed of the river, and the nug- gets and larger grafns are most frequently obtained from oles and crevices in the rocks on which the sand and gravel repose. When the surface consists of a loose gravel, the precious metal will, in most instances, have subsided beneath this coarse deposit, and is found mixed with a blue tenacious day, which is not readily disinte- grated by the current. On the surface of this second bed 33 the gold is usually distributed in a thin stratum, whiol. must, therefore, be carefully cullected and washed. With this view trenches are dug, and by means of what are called back troughs, the course of the stream is en- tirely diverted. When the bed of the creek has thus been exposed, and all the larger gravel and pebbles re- moved, the exposed stratum of blue clay is collected and washed. ♦* Parties prospecting the country should carefully ex- amine the surface in crder to discover the beds of any old stream, now become dry through the river which they formerly conveyed having chosen other channels. By carefully examining these old water courses it is easy to ascertain the points at which eddies formerly existed; ar.ci in such places search is often well repaid. Here the earth and sand must be removed until the original bed of the stream has been reached ; the firm blue clay is collect- ed and washed, as in the case of that which occurs in existing rivers. When these situations prove productive, the pits are sometimes sunk to a considerable depth ; and from such holes hundreds of pounds worth of gold have been collected in a single day by persons with only the most rudimentary knowledge of mining." Directions such as these, at once so explicit and so easy in their application, are well calculated to win the confidence and direct the intelligence of our Provincial explorers. We have purposely selected such as treat of alluvial diggings, that these may obtain greater publicity — because discoveries of gold in alluvial districts have not been so frequent in Nova Scotia, as yet, as those in rock — because, again, it is mostly in alluvial claims that the humbler class of miners, as well as individual workers, can most profitably seek the golden ore — leaving quartz reefs to the higher power of companies or of capital ; and, finally, because in a land so intersected with streams as Nova Scotia is — so full of rivers, that rush through rocky ledges, veined with quartz and crossed by ledges of it — of brooks that, swollen with spring freshets, sweep and hollow the hill-sides, and deposit the debris in the 5 f' 34 eddies of their ohannela on loamy beds at lower levels — it is evident that the gold vfhioh is found piercing its rocks must also be found glittering in the sands or mingled in rough lumps in the gravel or its streams, and even in dry river channels. We have little doubt that important dis- coveries of this nature will occur in various localities. That portion of the book which treats of the assaying of gold, &o., does not call for any special notice at pres- ent ; and we can only add our cordial recommendation of Mr. Philips^ manual, which will be found a valuable companion in the pocket ot the prospector, the shanty ot the miner, and the workshop of the gold assayer and ro« finer. CHAPTER IX. TESTIMONY OP 0. C. MARSH, ESQ., A. R., OP SHEFFIELD SCI- ENTIFIC SCHOOL OF YALE COLLEGE. Extract of a Letter to the ** American Journal of Science and Arts,** JVbvember, 1861. On the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia is a belt of meta- morphic rocks extending the whole length of the Province, and varying in width from ten to fifteen miles. It is mainly composed of clay slate and quartzite, but in some parts of the district these are replaced by mica slate, gneiss and granite. These strata nave a general N. E. ^nd S. W. course, and are highly inclined. They have received but little attention from geologists, and no fossils have yet been found in them. The general resemblance of these strata to the gold- bearing rocks in other parts of the world had occasionally been noticed, and various explorations for the precious metals had from time to time been made iu their vicinity, but I cannot ascertain that gold was actually discovered in this Province earlier than March, 1860. I visited Tangier and Lunenburg, the most important of th^ localities, and had an opportunity of examining 35 the gold-boaring strata at theau places, and in their vi- uinity. The Tangier mines are situated sixty-seven miles east of Halifax, and a))OUt half a nile from the coast. Here the out-cropping rocks form a series of low hills, which are covered with a thick growth of spruce and hemlock. The strata which contain the eold consists of clay slate, traversed in various directions dv veins of quartz, which is generally very compact. The cellular variety, dis- colored by ozyd of iron, so commonly found with the sold in Cfalifornia, appeared to be wanting at this loca- lity. The strata, which are here very much disturbed, had been well exposed in many places by the recent ex- plorations, but the nature of the surrounding country prevented any extensive examination of them. At one point they had a strike of S. 84^ E., and a dip of 67° S. The excavations at Tangier were carefully examined for fossils, but without success, as the igneous action to which these rocks have been subjected, has probably ob- literated all traces of those they once contained. The gold at Tangier occurs mainly in the quartz veins, which are in most cases less than a foot in width, but in one instance I noticed it in the argillite, near its junction with the quartz. It is disseminated through the matrix in the usual manner — frequently in isolated particles and masses, and where the quartz is white, furnishes speci- mens of great beauty. One of the largest obtained was prized at three hundred dollars, whith was but little above its intrinsic value. Gold has al^o been found in the soil, and in the bed of a small stream near the mines; but not in sufficient quantity to attract much attention. The minerals noticed in association with the gold at this locality were mostly iron pyrites and mispickel. The former appears to be quite abundant, and I have examin- ed a specimen and find that it contains a considerable quantity of gold. The exact amount was not estimated, but it is sufficient to make its separation profitable, if conducted with skill and economy. The mispickel at Tangier is frequently found underlying the gold in the m m 36 quartz veins, and in some cases enclosing it. Chalcopy- rite, magnetite, hematite, and galena, also occur in small quantities. Nearly the same minerals which were noticed at Tan- gier, also occur with the gold at the ** Ovens." The mispickel is more abundant, and is usually in very per- fect octahedral crystals, some of which are twins and highly modified. The large amount of this substance in the sand on the beach, makes the gold- washing somewhat difficult, and with the rude apparatus employed, much ot the fine dust is lost. Mercury has not yet been used in separating the gold, either here or at the other locAlities. The Tangier specimen was taken irom a quartz vein, and is very remarkable for its purity. I think it is sur- f massed in this respect, by the gold in only one other loca- ity, viz., Schabrowski, near Katharinenburg, in Siberia. The Lunenburg gold was in small particles, washed from the sand on the shore. An analysis of Tangier gold, specific gravity 18.95, gave— Gold, ...... 98.13 Silver, 1.76 Copper, . . . . . .05 Iron, , trace. An analysis of Lunenburg gold, spe. gravity 18.37, gave— Gold 92.04 ^ Silver, . . . . . . 7.76 Copper, .11 Iron, trace. 99.91 In some specimens of auriferous quartz from Lawrence- town, I found mispickel, iron pyrites, galena, and mag- netite, associated with the gold in the same manner as at the other localities. In one instance a crvstal of mis- pickel had a small particle ot gold passing directly through its centre. The specific gravity of the gold from this place was 18.00, which would indicate a degree of 37 ^^^ )urity between that of the Tangier and Lunenburg spe- amens. The quantity obtained was not sufficient for satisfactory analyses. Mr. Eraser made explorations for gold on Sable Island, and found a small quantity in the eand of which it is composed. As this island is more than one hundred miles from the coast, this discovery would appear to in- dicate that the gold-bearing strata of Nova Scotia extend for a considerable distance beneath the Atlantic ocean. There is another belt of metamorphic rocks in the northern part of this Province, which resembles in many respects that on the i^tlantic coast, although it probably belongs to a more recent formation. The Cobequid mountains are in this district, and are mainly composed of talcose and chloritic slates, penetrated by dikes of green-stone, sienite, and granite. While passing this range in August last, in company with Mr. W. Ketcham of New York, I noticed a close resemblance between these rocks and the auriferons strata which I had just examined at Tangier and Lunenburg. The quartz veins were of "similar size and appearance, and contained some of the same minerals which are there associated with the gold. I think it probable that these strata also will be found to contain this metal. Among the specimens of gold obtained at Tangier, I noticed three isolated crystals, which resemble in general appearance, those brought from California. The largest of these was about one third of an inch in diameter. It was a rhombic dodecahedron, with its edges slightly be- veled, and although its faces were marked with delicate striae, several of them were unusually brilliant. The other two crystals were octahedrons, with dull and some- what rounded faces. One of these was flattened and also much- elongated. The smallest crystal was about two lines in length and quite perfect. In August, about seven hundred men were working ** claims,*' and a large amount of gold had been taken from the quartz veins, although in many cases at least one third of what they contained was lost, by the rude apd upsatisfactor^ methods emploved in its extraction, ;.■'::'/..--,'■ ..V. 38 . ;.^;^,;,;:;^,;-,.: ■.•. At Lunenburg, which is about seventy miles west of Halifax, and one hundred and thirty from Tangier, the gold also occurs in quartz veins traversing the clay slate, which here forms a high bluff, but it is most abundant in the sands of the adjacent beach. Those who first com- menced explorations at this place, obtained large quanti- ties of gold with very little labor, ana their success soon attracted others from all parts of the Province. This lo- cality is known in the neighborhood as ** The Ovens." from some deep caverns which have been worn in the bluff by the action of the sea. It is this denuding power which has torn the gold from its bed and collected it on the beach . There )s some reason to believe that a large amount of gold derived from the same source, exists in the bottom of the harbor, as the seaweed which is washed on shore, has occasionally small particles of the precious metal attached to it. The strata at this place are similar in appearance and structure to those at Tangier, and seem to have been equally disturbed. At one point near the shore, where they were well exposed, the strike was S. 80® W., and the dip about 75° N. Quartz veins pass through the slate in many directions, and are generally found to con- tain gold, especially those running north and south. Several dikes of basaltic trap were also observed, one of which was seven feet in width, and appeared to be con- formable to the strata. The auriferous sand on the shore rests on the edges of the upturned slate, which has hero been worn out into ** pockets" of various sizes, well adapted to contain the gold as it is washed over them. CHAPTER X. A Brief Synopsis of the Report of Mr, Poole on the Gold Fields, SfC. of JVova Scotia: January^ 1862. Although this Report embraces information as to the minAra] rpannrnpn crAnArfl.11v. nf thin Prnvin«*o trt^t. thtk fnl. lowing extract refers merely to those portions which apply to gold. Mr. Poole explored from Halifax to Dighy. 39 Blandford — Deep Cove. — ^Veins of felspar, and also qaartz, are visible through the rocks, but he could not detect any gold in them. Gold River. — Many men had been prospecting, but he could not learn that much gold had been obtained. White quartz boulders, and thick beds of quartzite rocks. Trenches had been cut, below Biscoe's camp, bearing S. 60 W. and some gold obtained by washing. Block-house Road. — A little gold has been found. Lunenburg — ** Ovens,'' — We have already inserted so much as to these rich diggings, that we now add merely Mr. P.'s general observations. Ovens peninsula is not more than three quarters of a mile wide and about two miles in length. Yield is more abundant where the arse- nical pyrites prevail. The strike is S. 75® W. to N. 75° E., bands dipping to the N. at an angle of 75°. An an- ticlinal axis showed in the slates W. side of Cunard's claims, and was traced by Mr. Poole upwards of a mile, by the bearing S. 80° W. to Rose bay. Slates have slight dip to the N., with the strike S. 80° W. Cross Island — Gold was found on the Point, and there are prospects of washings in the Cove, and along the reefs. Bridgewater Cross. — Veins very thin. Some gold has been found. Branchpoint. — All the indications are encouraging. For gold, the dirt in the trench should be flumed. . Greenfield — On Port Medway i?iuer.—' Slate bands dip to N. E. with strike S. 60 W., and the slaty cleavage dips S. 88. The quartz and slate give good indications of gold, but the bip,nds are low. Westfield Brook. — Quartz veins bear S. 87 W. dipping S. 72. Specs of gold have been found ; indications good, the veins running with the slates E. of the river. The quartz should be tested for gold, as it is similar to Tan- gier. Harmony. — Long ridge of slate, with quartz veins run- ning S. 75 W., dipping N. 53. Copper might be found ; also at the Big Fall. _ Shelburnb— ZJpjaer i^a//*. — Parties had been digging, b|it no gold as yet discovered. i 40 The next reference to gold that we find in this report is Kemptville — County of Yarmouth. — So far, there is not much chance of discovering gold here. Prospects brighten somewhat at Ohebooue Point — near Yarmouth. — Veins of pipe-clay found, with white slate, and large veins of white quartz. All the indications are good, and similar to those at the Ovens, excepting that the cleavage of the slate is nearer S. than W. Foote's Cove. — Half bushel of sand yielded 40 specs of gold, with black magnetic sand. Ridges not very high, but may yield gold ; specs of gold have been washed out. Slates dip 60 to 72 S. K. and bearing S. 45 W. The vein yielding gold, is of white and grey mottled character ; in some places the sides are decomposed, and small cavities filled with gossan. The underlying slate, ne2.t to the quartz, is full of pyrites, and very soft. Gold is very fine ; vein is N. W. Avour's Head — Clare. — Good indications of gold. The sandy cove would probably yield washings. CHAPTER XI. WORKING GOLD ORE. What follows is an abstract of a valuable letter, re- cently published in the Halifax Morning Chronicle: — Hancock House, Boston, April Sthy 1862. I have given very great study to the working of gold ores, for many years, and understand most of the modes employed in various parts of the world, and although the results of my own experiments have led me to exclude water in all the manipulatory and chemical branches of working the ores of gold and silver, yet, as I have no plans of my own to advance, I will confine the advice I would give, to the conditions of that mode. th is 41 lis lis of t. Water is, and has always been, employed in working ores of both gold and silver, but in materially different ways. In the central South American States, in Peru, Mexico, and Brazil, water is used in crushing the ore ; then the ore is decomposed, then it is re-moistened (made only pasty); next the mercury is added, and amalgama- tion pushed forward by long and thorough intermixture ; and finally the amalgam is separated from the ore, by water. It is only in this last stage that a large volume of water is employed. The amount of loss by this care- ful and protracted mode, is about fifty per cent, of the precious metal. But in some parts of Mexico, Brazil, &c., as well as in Hungary, Transylvania, &c., what is called the *' barrel process," is employed. That is, af- ter the ore has been properly prepared, the ore, with a certain per cent, each of water and mercury, is put into barrels, which aie revolved about twenty-two times per minute, for from 16 to 24 hours. In some cases, an enormous churn, with a ponderous dasher, is used. In the United States, California and Australia, how- ever, a large body of rushing water flows into the ore, both in the crushing and amalgamating stages, and car- ries off, with impartial industry, all the ore, and most of the gold besides. This last is the mode likely to be in- troduced more generally into your new gold region. The more simple and direct are the appliances in at- tempts to obtain gold from its ores, by means of a rush- ing and agitated column of water, the more satisfactory the result will be — and bad enough it will be at the best. I judge that for the present, at least, the gold found in the west of Nova Scotia, will be decidedly coarse — which is exceedingly gratifying. In all gold ores, even in the ^'pocket" formations, much microscopic gold prevails; but as your people are not likely to learn this, except by the startling difference between analysis and the working yield, it will make no great difference to them. As the gold will be coarse, the crushing^ in any of the usual modeSt should not be very fine. The finer it is reduced, beyond a certain degree, the more gold will be carried 6 &im 42 away by the water. Besides, too elaborate crushing beats the coarse gold into thin leaves, which cannot sink in the water, and are lost. Nobody would expect even a large sq^uare of gold-leaf to sink, very rapidly, in water — certainly not a minute film, that a strong lens would scarcely discover. Amalgamation follows the crushing. The e:^erience of hundreds, bought with a great many millions of dol- lars, shows that none of the scores of modern amalgama- tors are a particle of improvement upon the simple de- vMes which they supplanted. CHAPTER XII. * ABSTRACT OP THE PROVINCIAL ACT RELATING TO THE GOLD FIELDS OF NOVA SCOTIA. Clause 1. All rules, regulations and orders of Council re- lating to the gold fields of Nova Scotia and the claims of ap- plicants, shall cease, saving and reserving the rights of all persons created thereby. 2. The word ** mine" shall mean any locality in which any vein, stratum, or natural bed of auriferous earth or rock, shall be worked. 3. Gold bearing quartz shall be held to mean all auriferous rock in situ. 4. Gold elsewhere than in the rock in situ^ shall mean al- luvial or placer diggings. 5. The term uncultivated land, shall mean, if upland, un- ploughed lands; if intervale or meadow lands, such as are in a natural state, or have not been stumped or grubbed, and thereby made fit for swarth. It shall not be held to mean marsh, dyked or undyked. 6. The Governor is authorized to appoint a chief Gold Commissioner for the Province, and suitable persons to act as Deputy Gold Commissioners, in the several districts, and to define the limits of their jurisdiction; such Gold Commis- sioner or Deputy within the districts to which he is appoint- ed, shall exercise the power of a Justice of the PeaceY such 43 its [in a ter lid Commisfiioner shall act as a justice /or the administering of affidavits, the preservation of the peaoe, the prevention of crimes, the detection and commitment of oflfenders, and in carrying out this Act. 7. Commissioner and Deputies to give Bonds. Salary of Commissioner $2000, of Deputies, not exceeding $S a day, while actually employed. * 8. 9. 10. These offices ineligible to be elected to Assembly or to vote or take part in Elections, or to be interested in any Gold Mine. 11. 12. 18. Duties of Commissioner and Deputies enume- rated. '*** 14. The form of an application for a mining area shall be as in Schedule B., and deputy Commissioner shall endorse precise time when received ; application in writing, defining the area applied for, and accompanied (except in case of free claims by discovery or otherwise,) by payment of first instal- ment; or, in case of a lot of 1000 square feet in alluvial or placer diggings, by payment of entire yearly rental. 16. Quartz mines shall, so far as circumstances may per- mit, be in general laid off in areas, and be subject to the rents and royalties hereinafter specified. Area No. 1 shall be 150 feet along a lead by 250 ft. across; Area No. 2 shall be 150 feet along a lead by 500 ft. across; Area No. 3 shall be 300 feet along a lead by 500 ft. across ; Area No. 4 shall be 450 ft. along a lead by 500 ft. across. 16. Areas shall be laid out as far as possible uniformly, and in quadrilateral and rectangular shapes. Measurements of areas shall be horizontal, and each area shall be bounded by lines vertical to the horizon. 17. The rents per annum of these areas shall be, for area No. 1, $40; area No. 2, $80; areaNc. 8, $160; and for area No. 4, $240. 18. No more than one area shall be included in one lease, but such area may be of any of the classes above named. 19. Under special circumstances leases of larger areas, and on modified terms, may be granted. 20. In lands not lying within any proclaimed gold dis- trict, the rights of parties shall be governed as far as possi- ble by the provisions of this Act. Parties occupying and ' '^taking off areas, corresponding in size with those prescribed hereby, shall be entitled to priority in the order of their oc- 44 oupation, so as each occupant shall apply to the chief Gold Commissioner for the area occupied by him, and pay for the same at the rate within the time allowed hereby. Every such applicant shall be entitled to one week, and thereafter to twenty-four hours time for making his application, for e%ery fifteen miles distance of the mine applied for, from the Oftoe* of the chief Gold Commissioner at Halifkx. 21. When any alluvial or placer diggings are discovered, it shall be the duty of the Gold Commissioner, or some other person duly appointed by the Governor, to examine and re- port upon the same, and upon such report the Governor may declare the same to be sufficiently auriferous to be worked in small lots, and order them to be laid off accordingly. In such case the diggings shall be laid off in lots of one thousand square feet, but the shape of the lots in each locality shall be governed by the circumstances of the locality. 22. Alluvial or placer diggings, not ordered to be laid off in lots of 1000 square feet, shall be laid out as far as local peculiarities will allow, as directed in case of quartz mines, east and west lines being substituted for length along a lead. 28. The rents of lots of 1000 square feet in alluvial dig- gings, shall hereafter be five dollars per vear, in advance. The rents of lots in quartz already granted, of 1000 square feet, shall be two dollars per year, in advance. 24. All rents except those of lots of 1000 square feet, shall be payable, quarterly, in advance. 25. On all grants or leases of gold mines, there shall be reserved a royalty of three per cent, upon the gross amount of the gold mined. If the royalty exceeds the rent, the roy- alty only shall be paid. If it does not exceed the rent, the rent only shall be paid. 26. Leases of alluvial lots containing 1000 square feet, shall be for one year, only, but shall be renewable, from year to year, at the option of the lessee or his assigns, on payment, at or before the termination of the existing year, of the rent of a succeeding year. 27. All other leases shall 1 3 for the term of twenty- one years, renewable (subject to reservations and modifications,) at the option of the lessee or his assigns. Such leases shall contain all the ordinary provisions of mining leases, and shall be forfeited on failure to pay the stipulated rents and royalties, or to keep employed annually, on the premises de* 45 lid le }h |to fry ice mised, the amount of days' labor specified herein, that is to say : On area No. 1, 100 days; on area No. 2, 200 days; on area No. 8, 4C0 days; on area No. 4, 600 days; or on &ilure to perform any other condition. 28. Leases shall be in the form annexed to the Act. 29. The discoverer of any new mine shall be entitled, ac- cording to the nature of the mine discoTered, to a lease for 21 years, free from rent or royalty, of a lot of 1000 square feet, or of an area of class No. 1, as prescribed by Sec. 15. 80. No person shall be considered the discoverer of a new quartz mine, unless the place of the alleged discovery shall be distant, if on a lead, at least three miles from the nearest known mine on the same lead, and if not on a lead, at least one mile at right angles from the course of the lead ; if in alluvial workings, at least two miles distant from any pre- viously discovered mine. 81. In leases of areas reservations shall be made of neces- sary ways and watercourses over the area. 82. The rents and royalties are irrespective of the rights of, and compensation to, private proprietors. The damages of such proprietors, when asoertained, shall be a charge on the public treasury, and payable within thirty days. 88. The Governor may declare locality to be a gold dis- trict, and assign limits and boundaries. 84. Wherever the title to the soil of any uncultivated lands in such district shall not be in the Crown, but the gold therein shall belong to the Crown or its lessees, it shall be the duty of the Gold Commissioner to visit and examine the district, and to make a report on the same to the Gov- ernor in Council. 85. When lands are ordered to be revested, and in any other case when thereto required, the Commissioner, or Deputy, shall negotiate with the owners, if they can be found, for the purchase of their lands, on the terms of pay- ment for the same out of the Treasury, as each area shall be leased at a certain fixed rate per area, of class No. 1, and as regards any cultivated or other lands for ascertaining the amount to be paid in full, in respect of any damage there- after to accrue from the working of the mines. In case the Commissioner cannot agree with a proprietor, he shall make an appraisement in writing of the actual value per area, of uncultivated land, and of the damage per class ao. 46 acre of the rest of the land required tor mining parposes. 86. In case of such assent, not being signified, the Gover- nor shall appoint one arbitrator, and the proprietor another, who shall be sworn, to the impartial discharge of the duties assigned them, and who shall award the compensation per area to be paid, estimating the value of the same irrespec- tively of any enhancement thereof from the supposed exist- ence of gold therein, or in the neighborhood. In case the arbitrators cannot agree, they may select a third arbitrator. If they cannot agree in such selection, the Custos shall name the third arbitrator, who shall be sworn, and the award of any two of the three arbitrators, made in writing, shall be valid. 87. When the proprietor cannot be found, or upon notice refuses or declines to appoint an arbitrator, or when for any other reason no arbitrator is appointed by the proprietor, the Custos may appoint one for him. 88. Persons jointly interested in the land may unite in the appointment of an arbitrator; on failure to do so, the Custos may nominate an arbitrator for them. 89. On the award being returned to the Gold Commisaion- er, he shall transmit the same to the Governor, who may confirm or reject the same. « 40. In case of the same being rejected, the proceedings may commence de novo. In case of confirmation, the award shall be entered by the Gold Commissioner on record. 41. The proprietor of the soil shall be entitled as each area is leased, to the amount fixed by the agreement with the Commissioner, or in case of an award, to the amount fixed thereby together in the last case with twenty-five per cent, additional. 42. When any agreement or award shall have been con- firmed, the title to the soil of each area shall pass to the Crown, and thereupon the lessee shall be tenant for the period of the lease, as well of the soil as of the mines of the area. 43. Lessees of mines leased before the passing of this Act, or before the confirmation of any agreement or award, shall, firom and after the date of such confirmation, possess the lame rights over the soil as if the lease had passed after such confirmation. 44. If the amount per area awarded by the arbitrators, together with twenty-five per cent additional, shall exceed 47 by one-sixth the amount fixed by the Gold Commissioner, the proprietor of the soil shall be entitled to receive a free mine of class number one for every twenty-five acres of land which shall be revested. 46. Commissioner may make agreement for the purchase of Land, subject to assent of Government. 46. Holder of Lease may surrender, on which his interest shall revert to Crown, but he shall be liable for rent then due, and any covenant broken. 47. When a gold district shall have been proclaimed, any person found mining in any lands therein belonging to the Crown, or a private proprietor, the gold in which belongs to the Crown, or entering for the purpose of mining after being forbidden by the Gold Commissioner by notice, shall be liable to a penalty for each offence of not less than ten, nor more than fifty dollars. 48. Parties shall be considered guilty of a distinct offence for every day they shall unlawfully mine. 49 and 50 direct proceedings before Justice in cases of un- lawful mining, and regelates appeal. 61. Gold, unlawfully mined on the property of any lessee of the Crown, shall be the personal property of the owner of the mine, and a search warrant may be issued for the same as for stolen goods; and upon the recovery of any gold, under such warrant, the Justice shall make order for the restora- tion thereof. 62. Nothing herein contained shall deprive the Crown les- see of the mine, or any proprietor of the soil, of any remedy existing before passing of this Act for damages or redress in respect of the matters above specified. 63. The lessee of gold mines in lands of private propr!C*or8, shall be entitled to use the area within the limits of his lease for all purposes necessary for the convenient working of the mines therein. 64. The lessee of any gold mine in the lands of the Crown, shall be a lessee of the soil for the term for which he holds the mine. 66 to 62, both inclusive, regulate decision of disputes by Commissioner or Deputy, and appeals therefrom. 63, 64, & 66, regulate appointment of Bailiffs, and Police Constables, and their duties, and as to Lock-up Houses. u p: w ^>- 15^ ^k CHAPTER Xlll. EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED IN MINERALOGT. Alluvium. Deposits of loose gravel, sand, or mud, chiefly in low grounds, as if cast there by a flood or stream. Ptbites (pronounced /)e-ri- ■iptra ^0..' V" T-jM ■j':-'im Cio>? ^'< .,* ■* '1 ■'■' ' ''^si^SHiHHI^^^^^^^^^^^^^I . ,¥.. -^^i^^^^^^^^^^l ' '" ' 1 ■■ i ^' 'V, " ^^L^^^^^^^^^^^^H .'.'', L^ '""■' '^i^M!|^^^^^^^^^^■ ' 'v' .■'■-■ "t ,V i.T-^H^^HHHHHI ^ * '^I^^^^^^^HHRRp^ipPffi^^B^ ' '■:">(-■ ■^ .*■' , - ...,^^-. ^■v i f' - <.*■ ^ j| . ■ -t' Jit- _ S '^ *K>