IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) /. <.'. 1.0 I.I 1.25 1.4 llllli^ IIIIM IIIM 1.6 V] <^ /a %. '<^1 V V/Ty^ //^^. ■■"i'i'i'iiriiii- ill: "Wm. ■' ■iilif' '/T-y^crjT <:!^->?,^^/^c '>!k/,,^ .tii' GOLD FIELDS, QUEBEC D18TK1(!T JUNE, 1864. BOSTON: PRINTED UY E. L. MITCHEU.. 24 CONGRESS STREET. 1864. liMk /K,T,: As'ire- Z06- ^arti S^*^' Hor. .i'/Y//f /rtu/f A ///r/t/s. irft !■*■'? i.-*-»i^ '■^■A %fMf> l ,-w«' - <, ~'a r \ in' / 'J/J ^'^V liJ'liifffl'fj AilJi /iiM/nii ^>C^ 1 1^ .X'-^n •^■.j^-- - jg»— — - - e-tf.-^ ^i-^- y 1 wmkr^^- \ "t^ to /^ T5 ,r/V////vr/>//;//-v/. 5 -^^u*^ -««»««*■>■'"'« ■'^mm^^ REPORT ^attifctfoas Sisliriti RIVIERE DU LOUP AND TRIBUTARIES, HENRY YOULE HIND, M. A., F. R. G. S. (ENG.) REPORT OF EXAMINING COMMIHEE, AND EXTRACTS FROM SIR WILLIAM LOGAN'S REPORTS. BOSTON: E. L. MITCHELL, PRINTER, 24 CONGRESS STREET. 1864. 11 KEPOKT. To the siihsrrihcrs In Ihi coiiilitiniial a^rctiiirnt. Jilted at Jinnlon, ^f'ly 6^//, 18GI. for the jiuirliusc of certain IninJn osits of gold-bearing earth, which are so wklely spread over southeastern Canada, will be made econom- ically available." ^'" '"•• '■" •'''"''""»'"//, Band Sargent (hniis. Pa. C. Ihooks, Jr S. L Frrnrl,, Urun, U. W„rf a greater thickness than two or three inches. Tliey may be associated with them, aud consist of their ramifications, but sufficient details respecting their relationship has not yet been obtained to admit of the expression of a positive opin- ion respecting them. 3(/. The Newest Veins. Cutting through the main veins, which run with the strike, either at right angles to them or obliquely, are a multitude of small and continuous veins of quartz, whicli are of more recent origin than eitlier of the two systems described. They cut straight through the older veins of two inches and more in diameter, but none were observed of a greater thickness than one inch, and by far the greater number were from half an inch to a line or less in diameter ; they also appeared to form this 17 ied reef of slates to be intersected • 55° N. E. Six 'tz, and having a pd in an exposure uid in a liorizon- n would thin out exposure, to two ating course and I. These oblique main veins which I'ike of the slates. } by these oblique rface in the river, first described ; cv thickness than ; associated with )ns, but sufficient has not yet been f a positive opin- .'liich run with the 3r obliquely, are a veins of quartz, either of the two through the older lanieter, but none ban one inch, and half an inch to a (cared to form this sheet of unknown breadth, and were generally found to be free from foreign materials, and to consist of quartz alone. In a few instances, small crystals and specks of iron pyrites were discovered in tliern ; they wore seen at a distance from the main or older veins as well as near to and intersectiii<; them. '■. ITll. llOtT.DKHS IX THK niVF.K. By f;ir tlie largest ntunber of the boulders in the bed of the J)u Loup are of local origin, and consist of the upper Silurian clay slates. There are, however, occasion- ally seen boulders partaking of the nature of a conirlom- ei-ate, holding pebbles of slate, l)lack in color and of very even fracture. A fine quartz-like conglomerate is also met witli, as well as fragments of serpentine. Both of these conglomerates were observed in place in the rear of the Montreal House in the village of St. Francis, about twenty-four miles north of the spot where the boulders were seen in the bed of the du Loup ; the same rocks, which belong to the Quebec group, were also observed in the banks of the river opposite the Montreal House. .\ few boulders of syenite gneiss and epidosite "ere also recognized associated with those already (l"scribed. These facts show that drift, not only from the Quebec group of rocks, w hich is known to be aurif- erous, has come from the north, and been distributed over the valley of the du Loup, but also boulders from the Laurentian series which lies to the north of the river St. Lawrence, distant some sixty miles in an air line. Fragments and rough masses of quartz are also very numerous in the bed of the stream ; these may be, 3 18 iuid probably are, in the majority of cases, of local origin, beinj,' (Icrivod from the (luart/ veins in the im- mediate neii^hborhdod, or at least orii,nnating from the upper Silurian day slates ; but. since boulders derived from the Quebec group (lower silurian), have been ulreadv stated to occur in the bed of the stream, and because qnart/ veins are known to intersect the rocks of the Quebec group in tlie parish of vSt. Francis, 24 miles north, it is more than probable that some of the ,puutz fragments may be derived from that source. The imi)ortance of this supposition will appear when the source or origin of the gold in the valley of the lliviere du Loup is discussed. d. TIIK nUIFT CLAYS, OUAVKLS AND SANDS. The valleys of the Kiviere du Loup and its tributaries are covered" with drift clays, gravels and sands, which may be separated into two divisions, the glacial drift and the remodelled drift. The alhivial fiats on the river banks are derived from these older deposits and the wearing away of the rocks in the beds of the streams. The glacial drift is represented by the unstratified blue clay with its associated lioulders of northern origin. This drift must not be confounded with the stratified blue clay which is occasionally found in the bed and on the alluvial banks of the Riviere du Loup, and lias been produced by tlie re-arrangement of the materials of the older drift. The glacial drift is capped by beds of gravel, gravell. clay and stratified sand, and constitutes the remodelled drift. Fine and coarse sand beautifully stratified was found forming mounds on the east side of 19 es, of local is in the im- ng fro til the ilcrs derived , have been stroain, and >ct tlie rocks , Francis, 24 some of the source. The ar when the f tlic llivicre VNOS. its tribntaries sands, which ! glacial drift ts on the river osits and the ■ the streams, le unstratified n-thern origin, the stratified, he bed and on , and lias been laterials of the L>d by bods of and constitutes and beautifully the east side of the Riviere du Loup one hundred and fifty feet above its present level, or upwards of 1,000 feet above the sea. The underlying blue clays and the newer over- lying yellowish gravelly clays contain numerous frag- ments of quartz, both worn and unworn. While the greatest thickness of the drift observed in the immediate valley of the river was about sixty feet, it is probable that its deptli does not on an average exceed fifteen or twenty feet on t]»e plateaux and hillsides east and west of these well marked limits of the ancient river valley. The upper silurian slates appear to have contributed the largest portion of material to the drift of both deposits, the agents which produced them being proba- bly ice in tlie one case, water in the other, thus giving rise to the difference in their composition and general character. Tlie blue clay is excessively tenacious, and consists of very fine materials mixed with boulders, peb- bles and fragments of foreign and local rocks, — much fine mica, iron pyrites and black sand in fine particles. 'J'he fine nuid may have been produced by the grinding process of glacial ice, which agent was also instrumental in bringing the rock fragments of northern origin to their present position. The upper or remodelled drift was probably produced in part from the wearing away of the slates occupying the higher portions of the coun- try, and the introduction of foreign material by the action of water, fioating ice and suba'rial denudation. Whatever may have been the nature of the forces which produced these different drift deposits, it is enough for present purposes to know tlint both contain not only materials of local origin but also a considerable propor- 20 tion of foreign detritus of northern origin, and suscepti- ble of being identified with rocks in position lying from 24 to 60 or 70 miles north of the area where they are now found. il II III. THE GOLD OF THE RIVEll DU LOUP AiND ITS TRIBUTARIF.S. Before proceeding to discuss the origin of the gold which is found in the area lo which this report reftrs, it will be convenient to describe a number of experi- mental trials which were made during the first and second week of June of the present year under the eye of the writer, for the express purpose of ascertaining the auriferous, or non-auriferous, character of the rocks in position, as well as of the overlying drift. a. TIIK METGERMEITE. No. 1, June 4th. Panned drift taken from ten feet above the river, found fine gold and scales, with a con- siderable quantity of black sand. No. 2. Found gold in fine particles in the sand and gravel of the stream. No. 3. Made several trials of the gravel between the slates which form reefs across the Metgermette, and, in every instance, found gold, estimated to the pan to be worth from one dollar downwards. The larger fragments, or coarse gold, was generally found in the crevices between the slates and the gravel taken from them. [The specimens are in the possession of Mr. Ward, or other gentlemen belonging to the Com- 21 I snsccpti- Ivins from ' they are IND ITS f the gold ort reffrs, of experi- ( first and Icr the eye sccrtainmg ■ the rocks m ten feet ivith a con- e sand and si betuoen stgermette, to the pan j generally the gravel possession the Com- mittee, with the exception of one set which are in the possession of the writer, for the purpose of estimating roughly the auriferous value of the npper drift. 'I'his will be noticed subsequently.] RIVIERE PIT roup. June fi. No. 4. Pounded some quartz taken from a vein on the Riviere du Loup, and found in it seven small pieces of gold. Five of these were very slightly rounded at the edges, the other two were filiform masses ; long, unworn and jagged. No. 5. Crushed some quartz taken by the writer from the vein on the l)u Loup opposite Hay's house. Washed the quartz before pounding to remove any adhering clay. The cracked mass of (luartz yielded three unworn pointed or jagged scales. The quartz in both instances was crushed with a hammer on a flat stone previously cleaned, and the quantity operated on was about 15 pounds in weight, rather under than over. No. 6. Pulled up by the roots a pan full of grass growing on the banks of the river, and found in the washings two small pieces of pounded gold. THE UPPER DRIFT. Took three bushels of sand and gravel from the upper drift near the edge of the No. 1 Plateau on the Du Loup, about 120 feet above the level of the river. The earth was washed in ten pans, successively, and yielded as follows : 22 No. 7. Pan No. I. One scale of yellow f^old, not water worn ; also fine gold. Pan No. '2. Fine particles of gold. Pan No. ;]. Three scales two-tenths of an inch in diameter, slightly water-worn, and one scale one-tenth of an inch in diameter, not water-worn. Pan No. 4. Yielded no visible gold. Pan No. o. Two scales. Pan No. (). Yielded seven scales fro.i! two-tenths lo one-tenth of an inch in diameter. Pan No. 7. Fine gold. Pan No. 8. Several scales and one Avater-worn frag- ment three-eighths of au inch in length, and a line and a half in diameter, — dark yellow geld. Pan No. 9 One scale >[' bright yellow gold. Pan No. 10. Two small water-worn nnggets, ot dark-yellow gold, wortli 25 cents each ; also, small scales of the bright yellow gold. {N. B. The bright yellow, unworn and jagged gold is supposed to come from the denuded quartz veins in position on the ]3u Loup, — the darker colored and worn gold from a northern source. The gravel washed from the sand and clay contained numerous fragments of quartz, generally jagged and unworn, but some worn pebbles and small masses of quartz were scv n. It also contained fragments, sharp- edged, of local slate and much black sand. The bright yellow or pale gold occurred in the form of unworn scales, and in one or two instances in the form of fine threads, also unworn, as seen through a good magnify- ing glass. The darker colored gold was always rounded 1/8 or watiT-woni. 'Vhv liolo from whicii the sand and gravel was taken, was abont tliice feet deep, apparently unstrafitied, and was capped by ten inehes of loam and deeajinH; leaves Tl,e whole platean is densely wooded. No. >"<. Tanned on a stream in the rear of lot ;J1, in the Nth range of Jersey, at an elevation of al)ont 400 foot above the J)n J^onj), and abont one mile and three ([narters west of the river. Konnd the slates in place, intersected with heavy (pnutz veins rnnning with the strike. Koinul Hake f>;o]d, (l.irk colored, well water worn. No. !). Panned one pan of gravel in the same stream nt the extremity of lot 81, on the line of the 8th range of .lersey, estimated to be '2:A) feet above the Dn Lonp, or 1,1.')0 abo\e the sea. This jian yielded one ronnded or water-worn scale 1.^ lines in diameter. No. 10. A second ])an from the clays in the same locality, taken clo.se to the water's edge, gave no visible gold. '/. Till', MKTOEHMF.TTE — WITH THE CHAPI.E. June 7. No. 11. Cradled on the Metgermctte, just al)Ove the bridge on the Kennebec road. Took gravel and cliiy from the crevices between the slates. Two cradlings gave successively a considerable qnantity of very fine gold, and nnmerons scales ; this " prospect " was considered by two experienced Californian miners, and one Australian miner, who assisted in or witnessed the operations, but who had no interest in the results, to be " excellent pay." The cradle produced a large quantity of black sand, and with it there was minsled •24 nuifh title gold, which could not he separated by panning. No. IV. Cradled ahont !.')() yards ahovc the hridgc on the Kennehee road. The result gave one small water- worn fragment of gold, with a considerable quantity of fine gold and much black sand. The nugget was esti- mated to be worth 'M) cents. cHAin.ixd ON Till, itivKU nr i.oii'. No. \'i. Excavated a new hole on the plateau oppo- site Ray's house, on the west side of the river, about I'iO feet above it, and about five yards from the excavation made on the previous day. Found a hard gravelly pan eighteen inches below the surface ; ciu-ried the clay and gravel down to the river. The cradle produced numerous scales of gold from half a line to a line in diameter, pale colored and bright. The (piantity of earth cradled was about four bushels. A considerable quantity of gold in very fine particles remained in the black sand, which is in the possessioii of ^Ir. Ward No. 14. Excavated a hole half way down the escarp- ment or cliff about (iO feet above the river ; panned and found in two puns imworn gold in ragged, bright yellow scales, and very fine gold in the black sand. June 8th. No. 15. Visited the Portage river, on the east side of the Du Loup and beyond the limits of the area specially described in this report. At a house near the bridge, about 50 feet above the Portage, observed a quantity of clay thrown out in excavating a cellar ; panned a portion of the clay and found " the color." No. 1(). I'aiiiird on the Portiifro, niso beyond the limits of the iwax muh-r review. The first pan yielded two scales ; one a line lon-r. the other a third of a line. The gold was of the l.nle hri<.ht yellow variety, not much water-worn. The second pun gave " the color." No. 17. Tannetl at the southeastern extremity of the area under review, from blue gravelly clay, seven feet above the J)u Loup at its present stage; found a water- worn flat nugget of dark-colored gold, three linos long and one and a half in diameter. No. IS. At the same locality. .)() feet above the river, panned a yellowish !)rown gravelly day, lying almve the bluish clay. At one and a half feet below the surface of the alluvial plateau found a small water-worn nugget of the dark colored variety, estimated to )>e vorth 75 cents. No. 19. A second pan from the same gravelly clay yielded a water-worn dark yellow and round particle a line in diameter. No. 20. A third pan taken from just beneath the vegetable mould giive several small specks and fine gold of the bright yellow variety.* The gravelly clay here (oO feet above the ])n Loup) contains numerous fragments of quartz and many peb- bles of slate, and unworn masses of local origin. *The reader will understand that the terms "bright yellow vari- ety," and " dark-colorr'd gold" are used to distinguish one variety of gold from another ; but the real difference in color is very trifling. It will be shown that the " pale unworn gold" is of local origin, and the "dark-colored gold" has travelled from the north, — an important distinction, as it reveals the existence of two gold fields overlapping one another. 26 .luiR' !>. Sfvriiil iucinl)t'r.s of the Comiuittec panned clay and i;iavel iVoni the Met<,'erinette and the Kivieie ])u Loup with favoiahle residts ; but, as the writer was not an eyewitness, it is unuceessary to make any further allusion to these experimental trials in this report. No. '21. With the assistance of one of the members of the Committee (Mr. French), the writer jjounded some (piart/. brought up from the vein iu place opposite Kay's house on the J)u Loup. 'I'he (juartz was crushed on a slab of slate which hail been previously cleaned. About a (juart of the partially crushed (piart/ was ])anned, and yielded nuuierous particles and scales of gold, of the pale variety ; some of the i)articles were filiform and not perceptibly worn, when viewed through a i)0werful magnifying glass. The scales were in some instances three-ipuirters of a line in length and with jagged edges. There was also some fine gold present. No. 2'i, A pan of "dirt" taken from between the three branches of the quartz vein exposed on the J)n Loup opposite Kay's house, gave several particles of unworn gold with jagged edges, and some particles of apparently slightly worn gold. No. 2'J completes the series of trials made under the inspection of the writer. A nugget which had been taken from the bed of the llivierc du Loup opposite Ray's house, was shown to the writer; also miggets recently taken by working miners on the Gilbert river. The value of these nuggets was from ten to fifteen dollars each. IV. 27 ESTIMATE OF THE VALUE OF THE DRIFT. BASED OX EXPERIMENT Xu. 7. The wc'ffht of the ij:old obtained from three bushels of fj;roup opposite Ray's house, was seen by the writer, and, in a eavity, a particle of gokl was dis- tinctly visible with the naked eye, occupying its lower extremity, and into which it could not have been placed by artificial means. The gentleman who pro- cured the fragment of quartz, a few days before the arrival of the writer on the spot, is worthy of the utmost confidence. Nevertheless, although a careful inspection was made of a large number of fragments broken from the veins of quartz on the area in question no gold was seen in the quartz ; but the results of the crushing process described are sufficient to convince the writer, without any other testimony, that the quartz veins in the u[)per silurian slates exposed on the lvivl:re du Loup are auriferous. It must also be borne in mind that it is extremely difficult to detect gold in auriferous quartz of known value ; and, although the quartz veins in Nova Scotia arc worked at a large profit, it is a rare occurrence for gold to be seen in place. Thfrt' is, moreover, the evidence of SirW. I-ogan, the director of the Geological Survey of Canada, that gold exists in the quartz veins of the upper silurian slates. " Native gold," he says, '• has, however, been found in small grains with galena, blende, and pyrites, in a well-defined quartz vein, cutting slates which are su[)posed to be of upper silurian age, at the rapids of St. Francis on the Chaudiere.* " (Page .5 18-5*20 Geol- ogy of Canada, liSli:].) * 'In 18()2, another (nuiit/ vein was opcnod about 100 yards from the last, and has yielded tine specimens ol" native gold, associated with arsenical pyrites." Si e i.lsu Kepcrt for 1863. page.s 70 to 73. 29 The scales of gold of the bright pale yellow variety found everywhere in the drift on the l)u J.onp and the Mctgormette, both near and remote from those rivers, arc considered by the writer to originate from the decomposed and decomposing ruins of the quartz veins, which penetrate the upper silurian slates, and are con- sequently of local origin. It is not intended to assert that all the gold belonging to the pale variety is derived from local rocks above, below, or even some distance from the place where the gold is found. It is probable that some portion may be derived from the travelled quartz fragments, some of which have come with the northern drift from the Quebec group of rocks, which lie to the north tf the upper silurian slates below the St. Francis Eapids on the Chaudiere. It is thought, also, that the dark colored gold, which is always rounded by attrition, has in great part come from the north, and that the quartz veins of the Quebec group were its original seat. This view suggests an important conclu- sion, namely, that the auriferous drift clays and gravels of the Riviere Du Loup really enclose the products of two distinct series of gold-bearing rocks, the upper silurian slates and the lower silurian schists, represented on the Chaudiere, north of a few miles above the Guil- laume river, in the parish of St. Francis, by the Quebec group. It has been stated in the section describing the drift clays and gravels of this area, that boulders of northern origin are not uncommon, and the same agent which brought these boulders, nameh', glacial ice, would also convey the material of broken down quartz veins, belonging to the rocks north of the upper silurian slates. 30 VI. THK BLACK SAND. Every washing showed the existence of ii considerable quantity of bhxck sand in tlie gravels, chiys, and alluvial deposits. A magnet passed tluougli the black sand, shows the presence of a considerable quantity of mag- netic oxide of iron. Dr. Hunt, of the Geological Sur- vey of Canada has at different times examined this black sand and found it to consist of magnetic iron ; hematite, botli specular and compact, chromic iron and ilmenite, with occasional grains of garnet rutile, and more rarely zircon and corundum. Portions of native platinum and iridosmine have also been obtained. It is very difficult by the ordinary [)rocess of washing to separate the fine gold from the black sand, and in exten- sive works for the extraction of the gold from the drift, the black sand should alwavs be saved. VII. CONX'IA'SION. The opinion which the writer is now enabled to express respecting the commercial value of the area described in this report as a gold-yielding tract of coun- try, is very favorable. So many conditions appear to unite in conferring on it advantages rarely met with in auriferous districts, that no doubt can be entertained respecting the commercial success of properly conducted works for the separation of the goW It may be advis- able to specify these advantages with some detail. They are, 1. Tlie •niiform distribution of the gold in the drift clays and gravels in the valleys and or. the uplands. 31 2. The occurrence of rapid streams with ahundance of water for shiicin^'. thiining. or power throughout the entire area under jcvicw. 3. 'J'he existence of numerous quartz veins which have heen shown to he auriferous, and which can he worked during the entire year. 4. Tlie comparative shallowness of the drift on the uplands which will admit of the clay slates being easily reached, where the coarse or heavy gold will most probably be found in the tissurcs of the slates exposed. 5. The facility with which the Metgcrmette, the small streams flowing into the Riviere du Loup and the Uu Loup itself can l)e diverted from their channels, and the present beds of these rivers exposed and worked, 'jhe beds of these rivers may be regarded as sluices on a gigantic scale which have been engaged in the opera- tion of separating the gold from the drift for ages, and which have treasured up the products of their labor in the beds where they now flow, the gold being caught by the numerous reefs of slates which stretch across the river, and is thus protected from the weaving action of attrition. HENRY Y. HIND. Quebec. June 115, 1864. 32 K X T R A O T From a spefch of I/is Exrclli'nri/, (he Governor General of Canada, June 80, lHG-1, delivered at the Proroyatton of Parliament. The discoveries of mines of the precious metals, within our territory, have rendered necessary new regu- hjtions in reference to the management of that part of the pubHc property, and I confidently expect that the enactments of the Gold Mining Bill of this session will be found effectual for the protection of the Revenue, and will stimulate the development ')f this important branch of the Provincial resources. k ~j£^ "^