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McMILLa'n, LATI raiTHH *OB«T FOK Tl« GOVE,»«OT Or UUmOtA. ^■lillX.^ ..-rl»fc.. ippppliipill Qo Y .D ' ^' J*" »' THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA AND THE YUKON. A Lecture delivered at the Imperial Institute^ London,, on December 6th^ iSgy, by A. J. McMiLi,AN, late British Agent for the Government of Manitoba. On Monday evening, December 6ih, the Hon. 1'". G. Vernon, Agent- General of British Columbia, presided at a lecture given by Mr. A. J. McMillan, late British Agent Tor the Government of Manitoba, at the Imperial Institute, on the mineral resources of British Columbia and the Yukon. The large hall was well fdled by gentlemen interested in the development of the Province and by City financiers. Amongst others in the audience were Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal, Sir Alfred Jephson, Sir Frederick Abel, Professor Dunstan, Mr. C. Duff Miller, General Webber, Mr. J. G. Colmer, Sir F. Blackwootl, Sir Bartle Fiere, Sir Hugh Gilzean-Reid, General Berkeley, Colonel Dansey (Southampton), Major Poore, Messrs. Philip H. Waterlow, G. S. Waterlow, J. P. (Fareham), M. Majbrick (Ryde), E. Pritchard, F.G.S. (Birtningham), J. G. Dickson (Southampton), James Starley (Coventry), Alfred McMillan (Kenilworth), F. E. Munt/. (L'mberslade), J. L. Hawes (China), Thomas Rickard, E. P. Rathbonc, Alfred Woodhouse, W. Bromwich, Hamilton Merritt (Toronto), D. M. Linnard (Rossland), J. Law (Vancouver), Henry McDowell. Letters regretting inability to attend were received from, amongst o'.hers, Sir Charles Tupper, Bart., Sir Henry Cunningham, Mr. A. D. Prjvand, M.P., Mr Alfred Baldwin, M.P. The Chairman, in opening the proceedings, said Mr. McMillan would be well known to most of those present, because oi.ly a year ago he gave them a most interesting lecture on Manitoba and the North-West Territories. Mr. McMillan had visited British Columbia on many occasions, and spent several months in the mining dis- tricts, aild whilst there had gathered a great deal of in''ormation which he would be able to put before them that evening. With regard 109762 ( ) to the Yukon locality, he would not be able to speak from personal experience, but the Government and other authorities had provided some excellent views, which would be of especial interest, seeing the great importance attaclied to recent discoveries. Mk. McMillan, who was heartily received, then delivered his lecture. He was distinctly heard in every part of the building, and the many interesting points were loudly applauded. He said ; Nearly two years since, I had the honour to address an audience from this plat- form, my subject on that occasion being "Manitoba." Since that time I have fretjuenlly crossed the Atlantic, and have made two or three trips across Canada to liritish Columbia, the most westerly Pro- vince of the Dominion. During the last three years I have had frequent opportunities to visit the newly-discovered goldfields in our Western heritage, and when it was suggested to me in British Columbia last summer that I should lecture here on "The Mineral Resources of British Columbia and the Yukon," I gladly consented, in the hope that I might be able to say something to-night of public interest, and something calculated to advance the interests of Canada, the land of my adoption, a land too little known and too little under- stood by my fellow-countrymen in the United Kingdom. AHUNDANT GENERAL WEALTH. In order to prevent disappointment, I should like to say al the outset of my remarks that I am not a mining expert, and the informa- tion I impart to-night will not be of a technical nature, but rather the opinions and observations of one who, from a commercial and financial point of view, has endeavoured correctly to estimate the conditions prevailing in the districts under consideration. I have with me to-night some sixty or seventy limelight views illustrative of life in British Columbia and Yukon, prepared from photographs furnished by the Canadian Government and the Govern- ment of British Columbia, most of them entirely new pictures prepared expressly for this lecture. But before we turn down the lights and I explain these various pictures, I should like to say a few words of a general nature regarding the country as a whole. Canada, as you no doubt all know, is the largest and most import- ant Colony in the British Empire. It stretches right across the North American Continent, a distance of 3,000 miles from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. Politically, it is divided i to a number of Provinces, the most westerly of which is British Columbia, extending from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. British Columl)ia is the largest Province in Canada, and has an area of 383,300 square miles — more than three times the size of the United Kingdom. ( 3 ) It is a country of slupcmloas in )uu ains, rich 'valleys, large rivers, and immense forests. It has a soiboard of about 1,000 miles in extent. It is a sportsman's paradise, and mjose, caribou, m ountiiii goats, bears and wolves may be found in many parts. Its fisheries must be counted amongst the finest in the world. The climate is healthy. In a country of such great extent the climate naturally varies, but with a few exceptions in'the north, and speaking in general terms, there are no great extremes of heat or cold. It is not in minerals alone that British Columbia is rich, as a glance at its exports will show. For the year ending 30th June, 1897, the total exports amounted to 14,184,000 djls. (^2,836,800). This sum is made up as follows : — Products of the Mine $^.909,000 ,, ,, Fisheries 3,567,000 ,, ,, Forest 742,000 Animals aisJ their Produce 308,000 Agricultural Products 105,000 Miscellaneous 552,000 /; 1, 780, GOO 713.000 150,000 62,000 21,000 1 10,000 The fisheries of British Columbia have scarcely been touched, and yet we find tliat last year over 600,000 cases of salmon alone were exported, and fish and fish products to the value of over /'700,ooo. The forests o*" British Columbia are to-day of considerable value, and will yet prove a source of immense wealth to the Province. The timber area is estimated to cover ?85,C)00 square miles of country, and there are forty diflferent kinds of timber. In 1856 no less than 113,000,000 feet of timber were cut in British Columbia, and during the first six months of this year 42,000,000 feet, valued at over /"ioo,coo, were exported, of which the bulk went to the following countries in the order named, viz. : Australia, China, South America, Great Britain and South Africa. And yet the forests of British Columbia are scarcely touched. In most parts trees are voted a nuisance, and men are only too anxious to burn them and get them out of the way. The presence of such large quantities of timber very widely scattered throughout the country can scarcely be overestim*' :;d from a mining point of view. I could speak at length of the agricultural wealth of British Columbia, though this is limited and shrinks into insignificance when conq)ared with the agricultural resources of the vast prairies of Manitoba and the Canadian North- West, lying immediately to the eastward. There are, however, some rich valleys, where, if only the British Columbian farmer will bestir himself, cattle, sheep, and horses, grain, butler, poultry, and eggs can be produced at great profit, and in ( 4 ) .sufficient quantities tu supply for years the ref(iiirenicnts of the miners who are Hocking into the country in annually incrcising numbers. THE EARLY I'l.ACER MINING. But, Mr. Chairman, I must not refer at greater length to the resources of British Columbia other than mining, and I have only done so for a few minutes to show how varied these are, and to emi)hasise the important bearing these have upon the development of the mineral resources of the country. British Columbia has for many years been known as a country rich in minerals, and ;^20,ooo,ooo worth of mineral wealth has already been extracted from its mountains, rivers, and valleys. So far back as 1857 ihe first great gold excitement occurred, and during that year 30,000 people left California for British Columbia, mostly for the Trastr Kiver. In i860 great numbers of men rushed into Cariboo, in the northern part of the Province, to w ork the placer mines there. For a time these were worked extensively, and provetl to be very rich. In 1865 there was a rush to the Wild Hurse diggings, and in 1866 the Big Bend excitement took thousands into the country immediately north of the present line of the Canadian Pacific Railway, so that discoveries of gold and : ilver and other minerals in British Columbia in paying (luan.ities are not altogether a new thing. The placer mines in the various districts to which I have referred soon met with the experience of placer mines in other countries and became, to a great extent, worked out — that is, they refused longer to yield rich returns to primitive treatment. To how great an extent this is the case may be inferred from the fact that whereas in 1863 the placer mines of British Columbia yielded 4,000,000 dols. (/'8oo,ooo), in 1S96 ihey yiekled only 544,000 dols. (;^i09,coo). Until quite recently it was impossible to take heavy machinery into or even near to the interior of British Columbia ; but with the advent of the Canadian Pacific Railway this has been altered, and to-day dredging operations and hydraulic mining on an immense scale are being commenced in the very districts where years ago so much gold was extracted l)y individual effort. This is specially true of the Phaser River and Cariboo districts. What success these will meet with remains yet to be proved. " THE iO;.E MININC. 0\ TO-DAV. It is, however, in an entirely dilTtrent direction that Britith Columbia mining has experienced development and attaiui^d a reputation which has attracted the attention of mining men throughout t!ie world. ( 5 ) This is in coniie:tion wiili the development of the lode mining. The Minister of Mines, in his last .annual report, states, "That lode mining ill this IVovince has just fairly begun, and that the progress now being made is decided and very satisfactory." 'J'lie following table shows this to be so : — Production of Lode Mines. Gold. SiLVKR. I. RAD. COI'PKR. 'I'oLlI EAK. cz. 07., lb. lb. V.iUies. 1897 . none 17,160 . . 1,768,420 none . ti39.440 1894 ■ 6,952 • • 746.379 ■ • 5,612,523 • 324,6f.o . 781.342 iS.j6 . • f".239 •• 3.'35.343 . • '-=4,«99>J77 • . 3.3i8,5S6 . . 4.»57.i79 IRAIL CREEK AND ROSSLANP. The part of British Columbia in which this remarkable development is mostly taking place is known as West Kootenay, a political division covering a large area running northward about 300 miles from the international boundary between Canada and the United States, to a point 100 miles north of the Canadian Pacific Railway. In this district there are nine mining divisions, and the three in which the greatest developments are taking place are known as Trail Creek, Nelson, and Slocan. In Trail Creek are found the rich goM- copper mines of which Rossland is the centre, and in the Slocan, some of the richest silver-lead mines in the world. In the division of East Kootenay, lying immediately to the east, considerable mining is carried on. I am anxious not to burden you with statistics, but it is absolutely necessary to mention some in order that you may appreciate the s'gnificance of the subject under review. Last year (1896) British Columbia produced 89,460 ounces of gold ; of this amount, 27,201 ounces was the product of the placer mines, situated for the most part in Cariboo and Yale. No less than 62,259 ounces was the product of the lode mines, and of this total 55,275 ounces, or nearly 90 per cent., was furnished by the Rossland Mines in the Trail Creek Mining division. The output for 1896 was greatly in excess of that for 1895 — nearly ilouble, in fact — and for 1897 the same remarkable increase is shown. From January 1st to November 6lh of this year, the mines in the vicinity of Rossland sent 63,600 tons of ore to the smeU rs. It is probab'y within the mark to say that this ore averages 1^2 ounce of gold per ton, in addition to a little silver and about 2*5 per cent, of copper. Rossland mines will this year produce over 100,000 ounces •f gold, or more than three times the output of the Transvaal in 1887, ten years ago, and development has scarcely yet commenced. One or two mines are shijiping extensively, but most of them are busy ( 6 ) developing, and getting rea when rates for treatment and transportaMitn are lower than to-day. One mine — ihe Le Koi — as yet iniperfecliy ct-vciopcl, may fairl"' '"^ ranked amongst the threat gold mino> of the world oj^ened up l»y men of limited means, who four or five years since commenced work in a small way ; it is to-day pa)ing;^lo,ooo per month in dividends. This mine is owned by Americans, and is consequently very little heard of in this country. Another great mine — the Centre Star — is being developed upc n an extensive scale ; and though it is sending practically nothing to the smelier, this is not on pcoount of its inability to do so. The owners are simply waiting i'.r better facilities for treatment, which will doubtless be secured'next year. There is every reason to suppose that this mine can supply 600 ton- per day at any time. I might mention the War Kagle, another j^reat mine, and nine or ten others within a radius of two miles of Rossland, on which sufficient development has been done to warrant the confident belief that they can easily furnish 2,000 tons of ore per'day, yielding upon a very low estimate 600,000 ounces of gold per annum. In addition to these, many other mines in a less advanced stage of development have given evidence of great wealth ; and all that is needed to make this portion of British Columbia take its place in the very front rank of gold-producing countries is the investment of British capital to remove the rocky barriers behind which is this golden wealth. The greatest depthso far attained is 600 feet, and it is characteristic of all the mines so far opened up that they improve with depth, both as regards the extent of the ore bcdy and the quality of the ore itself. Kminent geologists 'and mining men who have visited the district express the opinion that these mines will be worked to a very great depth. Professor Carlyle, mineralogist for the Province of British Columbia, in an official report, states that the ojjening up of the large mines near Kossland " have proved very remunerative, and as more extensive exploratory work and greater depth are obtained, promise permanency of large and profitable ore bodies." With one or two exceptions free milling ore]^has not yet been worked in the Rosslantl district. The sulphide ores usually found are refractory and have to be treated by the smelting process. Many men incline to the belief that many of these ores will concentrate, and that this process will ere long be largely resorted to. The last report of the Ceological Survey of Canada thus refers to the Trail Creek ores : — M *' The ores consist principally of sulphides of various metals ; of >l) ( 7 ) these, pyirhotite or magnetic iron-pyrites is \>y far the most abundant. This mineral constitutes the connmon Ros>,Ianil ore. . . . I lie pyrihotite contains gold and silver in varying ([uantity, a small per- centage of nickel, and traces of cobalt. . • • The pyrrhotite is usually accompanied by a certain amount of chalsopyritc, or copper pyrites intimately commingled with it. . . . Mispickel or sulph- arscnide of iron is found associated with the p;u:.otitc in a number of the mines, and in places occurs in considerable f the mines. . . . Ordinary iron pyrites is met with in great c. or le's quantities nearly evcty where." Mr. Carlyle, of the British Columbia Depuilment of Mines, reports thus : — ••The ores at Kossland, with the exceptional free nulling gold quartz of the O.K. mine, may be divided into three classes : — »' (a) Those large deposits of coarse-grained massive pyrrhotite, locally known as the • iron ore,' in which very little or no value in gold is carried. •' (/') The ore found in many claims on the south in belt, which the sulphides are not pyrrhotite, but iron pyrit s and marcasite (white iron), with, in some of these mines, much arseno- pyrite, and also zinc blended and even galena, in which case the silver value exceeds the gold, and the percentage of copper is very small or nothing. "(<•) The typical ore of the camp as sold by the Le Roi, War Eagle, Iron Mask, or Josie is divided into first-class and second-class. The first-class consists of nearly massive fine-grained pyrrhotite and copper pyrites, sometimes with a little magnetite, or mispickel, with more or less quartz and calcite. In this class of ore, as got from the lowest workings of the Le Roi, the amount of quartz is much higher, the smelter returns giving 41 to 52 8 per cent, silica, and 20-6 to 268 per cent. FeO. ; but this is proving the best ore in the mine— the av^;rage smelter returns were on 1,200 tons 2-6 ounces of gold, 18 ounce of silver, and 25 per cent, of copper, or 53 dols. 5 cents net per ton, while some shipments were as high as 4*06 ounces in gold." The second-class ore -and the bulk of the ore of the camp shipped will be most probably of this character and value— is a diorite, with a comparatively small percentage of these sulphides, but the value is ( 8 ) still very good ; i,8oo tons of the Le Roi, second-class, yielded by smelter returns an average of I '34 ounce of gold, i '4 ounce of silver, and I '6 per cent, copper, or 27 dols. 97 cents net per ton. Mr. Bellinger, of the Trail Smelter, kindly gave the average analysis of this ore to be — FeO., 22 percent. ; SiO„, 42*5 per cent. ; CaO., 7 per cent. ; MgO., 3 per cent. ; Al 0.„ 18 per cent. ; copper, i'5 percent. ; S, 6 per cent. But whilst the dis rict of which Rossland is the chief comnoercial and financial centre is one of phenomenal richness, and whilst two or three mines situated within twi miles of the centre of that town are yielding 100,000 ounces of gold per annum, and could easily yield 600,000 ounces per annum, other districts are rapidly coming to the front. , THE BOUNDARY DISTRICT. If we go thirty or forty mi'es westward into what is commonly known as the Boundaiy Country, we come across immense bodies of ore, larger, possibly, than those of the Rossland district, though gener- ally supposed to be of lower grade. Owing to the lack of trans- portation facilities, not much ore has yet been sent to the smelter from this district, though a large amount of development work has been done. Grand Forks, Greenwood, and Midway are the principal centres of this rich section, which last year fu nished 6,500 ounces of gold. Th's district is thus referred to in the last annual report of the Minister of Mines : — " The Boundary District is essentially a gold district. The great bulk of the ores is a mixture of the various iron sulphides with copper pyrites all more or less auriferous. . . . This class of ores has a wide range in values ; but, excluding the exttemes, may be slid to carry about 15 dols. in gold, with two or three ounces in silver, per ton, and 5 per cent, copper. ... In the granites along Boundary Creek, and in the siliceous rocks by which they are flanked — in other words, in the more acidic rocks — fissure veins of varying width are found, which afford qua tzo?e dry silver ores and some large bodies of presumably partly free milling gold quartz. In the former case the minerals present with the quartz include small amounts of galena, zinc, blende, and iron pyrites, with ruby, silver, &C., as in the Skylark Camp ; and in the vicinity of Long Lake, beside the above, tellurium and tellurides of gold and silver, with more or less free gold at the surface, are found. All these dry silver ores contain gold. Their veins are from a few inches to five or si.\ feet in width, and the greater part of the value is often concen- trated in a narrow pay streak. An idea of the values of this material is had from the statement that in 1894 a shipment of 85 tons of sorted \n ( 9 ) ore was made from one property, and the metal contents were 16,947 ounces silver, loi ounces gold, and 7,836 lb. of lead. Small shipments from other claims have been made, showing gross vahics of about 100 dols. per ton ; but the average value of unsorted ore m.ay be placed at about 50 dols. per ton." A long report in a recent issue of the Grand Forks Miner furnishes a list of mines with their supposed ore-producing capacity, from which it is made to appear that in this one section alone over 3,000 tons per day could easily be produced, provided a railway and smelter were present to give the necessary stimulus to further development. iit * THE NELSON DISTRICT. If we go in another direction— this time eastward from Rossland to the Columbia River (seven miles), and then start across to the Kootenay River, travelling about eighty miles from west to east ; and, say, sixty miles from south to north— we traverse a country much of which has been prospected for the first time during the last twelve or eighteen months. In this rich belt of country, south of Nelson and especially in the neighbourhood of Ymir are some remarkable deposits of quartz, carry- ing gold, silver and copper. Vigorous development has taken place on three or four of these mines, and from latest reports it is likely that next year these will enter the list of mines sending ore to the smelter. In some sections rich bodies of galena are also found. A great many miners and prospectors have this year penetrated to the Goat River mining division at the south end of Kootenay Lake, a country to be served next year by the Crow's Nest Pass Railway, and here some very rich claims have been staked out. The Nelson district has been known hitherto chiefly on account of its silver and copper deposits, but it will do.ibtless soo.i enter the rank of gold producers. British Columbia last year yielded 3,818,556 lb. of copper., the whole of which came from the Nelson and Rossland mines. SLOGAN. If we travel still farther north, twenty or thirty miles, we reach the renowned Slocan district, the centre of one of the richest silver-lead districts in the world. Professor Carlyle, in his report on the district, states that : — "In an area of fifteen by twenty-five miles there have been discovered many veins of high-grade silver-le: d ore, which are being developed with great vigour and suc^'ss, and among the mining men is every feeling of confidence and hopefulness. This ( lo ) winter nearly fifty of these properties are shipping high-grade ore that yields very profitable returns, and a large number of other claims are being opened up. "During 1896, 18,215 tons of ore yielded 2,141,088 ounces of silver and 19,210,666 lb. of lead, or an average of ii7'4 ounces of silver per ton and 527 per cent, lead, which would have a net profit of about 75 dols. per ton, while many carloads were shipped that yielded from 300 to 400 ounces of silver per ton." A number of the mines in this district are dividend-payers, and one mine is reported to pay ;i^20,ooo per month in dividends. The output of silver from British Columbia amounted last year to 3,135,343 ounces, of which 2,141,088 ounces came from the Slocan division, which also yielded 19,210,666 lb. of lead out of a total of 24,199,977 lb. produced in the Province. Go north from Rossland 200 miles, into the Big Bend country, and you will find great bodies of gold- and silver- bearing ore which are at present lying idle on account of lack of tranb- portation facilities. Go to Ashcroft, on the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and thence 250 miles north into Cariboo, and you reach a country famed for its placer and hydraulic mines. Last year the district yielded 20,000 ounces of gold. Large sums of money are being invested there in mining enterprises. StiM farther north and north-west there is Cassiar, with its promise of rich yields whenever railway enterprise shall open up the country. If you go down to the Pacific Coast, you will find the men of Vancouver and Victoria enthusiastic about the mineral resources of that part, and inclined to talk at length of Texada Island, and Alberni, and Phillips Arm, and other points requiring capital to develop them. Coal is also an important item in the mineral wealth of British Columbia, and last year 846,235 tons of coal were produced. Most of this was furnished by the mines on Vancouver Island. The coal deposits along the line of the Crow's Nest Pass Railway will soon furnish large supplies to Kootenay ; and it is known that coal of good coking quality exists in considerable quantities in the Boundary and Kettle River districts at points contiguous to the gold and copper mines in that section of the country. The value of these coal lands in the interior cannot well be over-estimated. And so over nearly every portion of this great Province wherever men have travelled we hear the same story of wonderful mineral wealth. The following table shows the remarkable incre-^se in the production of minerals in British Columbia for the years 1895 and 1896 : — 1 I Gold. Silver. Coi'l'EK. Lead. Year. oz. oz. lb. lb. 1895 . . 63,348 . . 1,496,52* . 952,840 . • 16.475,464 1896 . 89,460 . 3.135,343 • . 3,818,556 . • ^4,199,977 ( " ) I THE MINING LAWS. At this point, Mr. Chairman, I ought perhaps to say something r.s to the mining laws. Every man or woman who — otherwise than .is a shareholder in a company— is interested in mining to the extent of hold- ing a mineral claim, is required by law to hold a miner's certilicate or licence, for which an annual charge of 5 dols. is made. In the case of a company 100 dols. is charged for an annual licence. Having a licence the prospector goes into the hills to search for gold, and having discovered what he believes to be valuable mineral, he is permitted by Government to stake off a claim of fifty-two acres in extent, the main condition of holding it being that he shall do 100 dols. (j^2o) worth of work on the claim each year for five years, or, if he chooses, the whole of the work can be done at one time, or in lieu of work the miner can pay 500 dols. to the Government and at once obtain a Crown grant of his land. After this is secured the claim can be worked or not as the owner thinks fit, and 25 cents, (is.) per acre per annum has to be paid to the Government in case the claim is unworked. No troublesome residence or labour conditions are imposed by the authorities. i J AS YET THE SURFACE ONLY SCRATCHED. In 1896 about 12,000 mineral claims were staked out in British Columbia, in addition to those taken up in previous years, and of this number over 8,000 were staked out and recorded in West Kootenay alone. These figures give some idea of the vast development taking place in connection with the lode mines of British Columbia, and are an index to the life and energy being directed to the exploitation of thii^ hitherto neglected corner of the Empire. Great as this is, the work has only commenced, the surface has, so to speak, only just been scratched, and vast areas have not been prospected at all. This is not by any means my unsupported opinion. A few days ago I received a letter from the Hon. J. H. Turner, Premier of British Columbia, who writes thus : — "No one could live in British Columbia thirty-five years, as I have done, closely associated with its development, without sharing fully that confidence in the future which has carried our people successfully through many dark days of anxious waiting pnd hope oft deferred. We have passed the stage of ' prospects ' and « favourable indications ' into the actual work of mining. We have reached results which are more eloquent than any words of mine could be. Our lode mines produced 18,000 dols. in 1887, 140,000 dols. in 1892, 800,000 dols. in 1894- 2,500,000 dols. in ( 12 ) i895» 4,250,000 dols. in 1896, and 10,000,000 dols. are anticipated for this year. Tliree smelters are in full blast, and about fifty producing mines. Hydraulicing operations are being undertaken on a scale larger than in any other country, and we have at Nelson the largest copper smelter in existence. " As to the future, with the atmosphere laden with the odour of mines and mining propositions and prospects every wheie, I feel quite unequal to the rdle of prophecy. All I can say is that while I would be satisfied with a moderate and healthy expansion of the industry, taking into consideration the rapid strides of the first few years, nothing would surprise me in the way of output at the end of ten years. The Province is progressing so rapidly in this direction that it is really difficult to keep track of all that is going on. In nearly every part of the Province there is abundance of wood and water for mining purposes. Labour costs from 2 dols. 50 cents (lOs, 6d.) to 3 dols. (i2s. 6d.) per day. Indians and Chinese are not employed in the mines. OVERCOMING HINDRANCES. Hitherto the great hindrances to development have been the want of transportation and smelting facilities, but these are beJng quickly removed. Thanks to the enterprise of the Governments of the Dominion and of British Columbia, who recognise the imperative need for opening up the country, the transportation question is now in a fair way to be settled. The mining districts of West Ko jtenay can now for the most part be easily reached, though this was not so until within the last twelve or eighteen months. The Canadian Pacific Railway has just commenced to put on steamers and build railways into almost every part of Kootenay ; the great American railways also made connections via Spokane, south of the international boundary, and, as a matter of fact, it is possible to t.ike a Pullman car in Montreal or New York and go through to Rossland or Nelson in the very heart of the mining country. The building of the Crow's Nest Pass Railway, some 300 miles from Fort Macleod on the Canadian prairies to Kootenay, will open up a rich mineral country. One hundred miles of this railway is already built, and an additional 150 miles is expected to be finished by the end of 1898. With railways stretching into every part of the country, smelters will no doubt soon be erected at suitable points, and freight and treat- ment charges will be reduced. At present it costs li dols. (46s.) per ton for freight and treatment of Rossland ores, 9 dols. for smelter ( 13 ) cl ar^^Ls, and 2 dols. for llic carriage of ore a distance of thirteen mile?. There is good reason to believe that tliese charges will be reduced next year by 3 dols. (12s. 6d.) per ton. This will act as an incentive to the mine owners to market those vast bodies of high grade ore to which I referred a few minutes since, and will also make available immense bodies o' low grade ore which to-day cannot i)e mined at a profit. The transportation questiin is now practically settled, and this will help to solve the smelter question, the urgency of which may to some extent \x judged by the fact that the mine owners and citizens of the Trail Creek district last summer presented a memorial to the Governor-General in Council, from which the following extracts ai^e made: — "We ha^e mines in this camp which within a short period of time will be capable of shipping not less than 2.550 tons of ore per day. ... At the present time there are in West Kooteniy district tlnee smelters of a total capacity of 1,075 tons daily, representing an investment of more than 1,000,000 dols., and employing 560 men. ... In calculating the smelting capacity of plants for treating Rossland ores. Nelson and Pilot Bay may be justly eliminated, and we have left the Trail smelter, with a capacity of 250 tons, to treat the ores of a camp which will before long have a daily output of 2,550 tons, or an excess of 2,300 tons over the present smelter cap.icity of the district, or in fact of British Columbia. Since the memorial was presented it k announced that a very large smeller will be erected on the Columbia river, at or near RobsoTi, and a smelter is also in course of erection at Northport, some thirteen miles from Rossland. But even these will soon be totally inadequate to treii the ever-increasing supply of ore. At the present moment there is not a smelter in ihe whole of the Boundary Country, and yet there are mines there that, in the opinion of competent men, could without ditliculty supply 1,000 to 2,000 tons of ore per day. I do not know of any industrial enterprise in British Columbia offering such an excellent opportunity for the investment of capital as a smelter carefully planned and skil fully managed. THE YUKON. The time is passing, Mr. Chairman, and there is one other branch of my subject, viz. the Yukon, to which I must refer, and which many here are anxious to hear about. Popular interest appears to have centred in a remarkable degree around the Yukon, and in particu'ar the Klondike. Most extraordinary ideas are current regarding the country and the mode of getting there. A lady I met the other day told me she thought the Klondike goldfields were in California. A man I know proposes to travel to Dawson City next year in a balloon. ( '4 ) Another man suggests going on a water bicycle ; and a Western American, who i)2rhap3 found his horses unequ il to the task, comes forward to propose that wild geese — of which there are countless thou- sands on the Pacific Coast— should be harnessed and compelled to haul the miner and his supplies to the goldfields. This district prob- ably attracts more attention to-day than any other mining spot on earth, and it i* estimated that from 50,000 to iOD,ooo gold-seekers will start out next y*;ar with Klondike as their objective point. Of these, probably not 10 per cent, have any conception of what or where the country really is, or of the difficulties attendant upon getting there. The Yukon district of Canada is a portion of the vast North-West Territories of Canada, which was carved out into districts by order-in- council of October, 1895. It lies north of the Province of Britisli Columbia, and east of Alaska. Its area is nearly 200,000 square miles. The Yukon is one of the greatest rivers of North America, and runs through both Canadian and United States territory. The Klondike, as compared with the Yukon, is a small stream which enters the latter at Dawson City, some fifty miles east of the international boundary line between Canada and the United States. Very little gold has been found in the Yukon itself ; but as the whole world knows, some marvellous discoveries have been made on the Klondike, and a number of creeks tributary to it, such as Bonanza, Eldorado, and Ilunka creeks. In Too-Much-Gold creek, it is said by Klondike enthusiasts and by the Indians, that the gold is so plentiful they have to mix gravel with it to make it work. REMARKAHLE DISCOVERIES. That the Yukon district is rich in gold has been known for some years. In 1887, Dr. Dawson, the present head of the Canadian Geo- logical Survey, and Mr. William Ogilvie, the well-known surveyor and explorer, went on a trip to the Yukon to examine its resources. In 1894 t^he Canadian Government sent a detachment of Mounted Police to the country, and established a post at Fort Cudahy. In 1895 the out- put of gold was estimated by Inspector Constantine, of the Xorlh-West Mounted Police, at 250,000 dols., and in 1896 at 300,000 dols. ; but this was mainly from Miller ar:;l Glacier Creeks on the Canadian side of the Alaskan boundary. It is curious to note that the Klondike was prospected for gold in 1887, rnd again in 1893, but without success. The first rich discoveries of gold in the Klondike country were, I believe, made in August, 1896, and were made on Bonanza Creek. Writing on November 20th, 1896, Inspector Constantine reports : "Nearly 350 claims have been .already registered in this district." ( »5 ) ^ Mr. Oyilvie, than whom no man living is Ijclter (lu litie.l to give iv.j opinion, thus expresses himself on this subject: -Bonanza and Eldorado Creeks afford between them 278 claims, the several atBuences will yield as many more, and all of these claims are good. ... These two creeks will, I am confident, turn out from 60,000,000 doU. to 75,000,000 dols. "A fact that is easily demonstrated is that from Telegraph Cieek northward to the boundary line we have in the Dominion and in this Province an area of from 550 to 600 miles in length and from 100 to ISO miles in width, over the whole of which rich prospects have been found. We must have from 90,000 to loo.ooo square mdes, which, with proper care, judicious handling, and better facilities for the trans- portation of food and utensils, will be the largest, as it is the richest, gold-field the world has ever known." METHOD or WORKING. Placer mining is the only kind engaged in on the Klondike at present, though payable quartz is believed to exist in considerable quantities. Under the mining laws in force-and the mining laws in the Yukon, I may state, are administered by the Dominion Government and not that of British Columbia-a miner is entitled to stake out a claim 100 feet long across the bed of the creek. The method of working these is th.;s described by Mr. Ogilvie :- " The valleys of these creeks are generally wide at the bottom and flat, being seldom less than 300 feet to 400 feet. This is covered with a dense growth of underbrush and small spruce, with occasionally balsam, poplar, or cottonwood. Much of the wood is suitable for sluice-box purposes, which reciuire boards at least 10 in. wide and i in. thick. The rest is all suitable for fire- wood, which is an important factor in developing the mines of this region. The moss and ice covering a space 8 ft. or 10 ft. long by 7 ft. or 8 ft. wide are cleared away from the surface, or a hole some 6 ft. long by 4 ft. wide is dug and a fire built. During the night the ground is thawed to a depth of from 6 in. to 12 in. Next morning this thawed ground is pitched out, and the process is repeated until the bedrock is reached, which is generally at a depth of from 15 ft. to 20 ft. About 10 ft. down we leave the vegetable matter, the alluvial deposits, and enter a stratum of coarse gravel, the gravel showing very little rounding or wearing. At the bottom of this, close to the bedrock, the pay streak is found, and is seldom more than 3 ft. in depth, the best-paying part being immediately on ( i6 ) the bed rock. This is not solid rock, but a mass of angular, broken rock, lying, no doubt, in its original location in space. Bet veen these masses clay and fine gravel have become imbedded. Into this the miner proceeds a foot or more, where the pay streak stops. No one has yet gone down to the solid beds of rock, so that we cannot say what might be found below the so-called bed- rock. To burn the hole requires about three weeks' time and a good deal of labour. .... " Very few people have the good fortune to succeed with one shaft ; prospecting holes as many as twenty or thirty must be dug tmtil you cut the whole valley across before you find pay. The next man may strike it at the first hole. To give you an instance. One man put down eleven holes, and didn't find anything, and yet other men had confidence enough in the claim to pay 2,500 dols. for a half interest in it, knowing that the owner had put in eleven holes and found nothing, a fact which will go to prove the character of the covmtr... After you have worked until April or May the water begins to run, and the trouble is that the water accumulates and you cannot work, as it puts out the fires which have been used to thaw out and soften the ground. Then the timber is prepared and the sluice boxes put in." It is believed that quartz mines will be discovered and worked upon an extensive scale. Dr. Dawson, the head of the Canadian Geological Survey, who has visited the Klondike district, states : — " Where such large deposits of heavy placer gold have been found, there must have been at some time large quantities of gold in quartz at no very great distance, and these quartz veins still exist. It is not to be supposed that all the gold can have been washed out by the action of the water in long past ages. Quartz mining will be of slower growth than placer mining, but much more permanent" "A WILD, MAD RUSH." " I have read much on this subject, have conversed with returned miners, and with high officials of the Government, and whilst I believe that there is lots of gold in the Yukon district, I cannot but feel that the wild, mad rush to that country which seems likely to occur next spring is to be viewed with the very gravest apprehension. The stories ( 17 ) of marvellous wealth acquired in a short time, though j.eihaps true in a few instances, have been greatly exaggerated, and tlie reports skilfully served up by interested boomers and speculators should be carefully sifted and accepted with great reserve. Many of those who propose to start for the Yukon Iiave no concep- tion of the dilFiculties of transit. There are a number of difi'erent routes. In the first place it is advisable to go by the Canadian route to Vancouver or \'ictotia, and outfit at one of those cities. Thence it is possible to travel by St. Michael's and the Yukon RA-er — this is an all-water route — about 4,400 miles ; or steamer can be taken to Skagway or Dyea, and thence across one of the passes ; or another route, and one likely to be used very extensively next year, is via Yox\. \Vrangel and the Stickeen River. From Victoria or Vancouver to Klondike by this route is about 1.700 miles, and it is wholly through Canadian territory. Whichever route is taken, those who trn-el must be prepared to encounter great hardships. ]Men who have not been accustomed to roughing it, and men who are incapable of enduring great hardship', ought not to start for the Klondike. If they do, they will in most cases bitterly regret having done so. A very large percentage of those who are Yukon bound are physically unequal to the task before them, and will assuredly fail. A smaller percentage of those who brave the perils and can endure the hardships will meet vvitli success, and a few, no doubt, will acquire vast fortunes. The trip is an expensive one. A very moderate outfit will cost at \'ancouver or Victoria ;i^50, and when a man leaves either of those ports he ought to have at least three times that amount with him. It should not be forgotten that every foot of such creeks as Bonanza and Eldorado is staked out, and the man who goes there now must be prepared to buy a proved claim at a veiy high figure, or start off into the hills and prospect in new directions. Living and travel are both expensive. It is true that labourers have been in demand at 15 dols. per day, but it can scarcely be supposed that this will keep up in the face of the great influx of new men. Meals cost about 6s. each, and poor meals, too ; bacon. 2s. per pound ; flour, £1 per cwt., and other things in proportion. House accommoda- tion is scarce and difficult to obtain, and rents are tremendously high. New arrivals will mainly have to live in tents. The winter is long, lasting about seven months, with the thermo- meter ranging from zero to 60 deg. below during a considerable part of the time. In the summer time it is rather hot, and the mosquitoes and the bLck flies help the weary prospector along on his journey, enabling him to ejaculate fiercely and audibly even when there is no one in sight. ( i8 ) IJRllISII LAW AND ORDER. Mr. Cliainnan, 1 have detained this audience too long, and must finish my remarks preparatory to showing the pictures. It is a somewhat remarkable fact that almost all the great dis- cijveries of gild within the last two or three years on the North American continent have been in British territory. We have Mich'pi- coten and the Lake of the Woods in Ontario, we have Kootenay ami Vale in British Columbia, and Klondike in North- West Canada. In all these countries British law and order prevail, and British justice is administered, and that in such a manner as to command not only the admiration and respect of Britons themselves, but the unqualified approval of every American engaged in mining there with whom I have come in contact. And I should like to take this opportunity to publicly express my high appreciation of the iiianner in which citizens of the United States have aided in the opening up of the great mineral wealth of British Columbia. Had it not been for their dogged perse- verance, and their great enterprisv, !n developing the country in the face of tremendous obstacles when Kootenay was remote from railways and steamboats and the telegraph, this part of Canada would in all probability have remained to this day an uninhabited wilderness. In British Columbia the Americans and ourselves are the best of fiiends, and it is to be hoped these friendly relations may long continue. If only the United States Congress contained more Americans of the stamp of those we have with us in British Columbia — men of business and men of sense— we should hear less of those deplorable outbursts of anti-British j'ngoism which threaten at times to set back for a genera- tion the onward march of civilisation by precipitating a conflict between nations who, acknowledging one common ancestry, and having in every department of life much of common interest, ought always to be brothers and friends, and leaders in every good work for^ the uplifting of humanity. Money can be safely invested in Western Canada, and if wisely invested by men acquainted with the country and its people, it will yield a large return. So far as Yukon is concerned, I feel that, until the country is opened up by railways and the telegraph, most of the gold w.ll be secured by individual miners who, singly or in small parties, go in and work their own claims. No doubt large com- panies will, in the meantime, make considerable profit on trading and transportation, and, later, whcH the country is more accessible and the (juartz deposits which undoubtedly exist there are exploited, they may make large sums in mining. OI'EMNG.S FOR CAPITAL. In British Columbia, especially in Kootenay and Yale, there are • ( >9 ) many openings for the investment of capital. As regards mining, it is essentially a country for the operations of companies with largo cap'tal. Small companies or private individuals can, of course, acquire claims, develop them a little, and then resell to larger companies. New towns and villages are rising up all over the country, and fortunes will be made by those who invest discr'ietly in building lots and real estate. In this direction a great deal of money has already been made, and is being made to-day. Take the town of Rosdand as an illustra- tion. Three years since, the town was practically non-existent, and to-day it has a population of about 7,000. It has two railways, and in addition the Canadian Pacific Railway intend to build there next year. There are three banks, about 150 business establish- ments, exclusive of the mines, large hotels, churches, schools, two daily papers, electric light, telephones, etc. etc. The city is governed ;by a Mayor and Corporation, and its assessment amounts to about ;{;3oo,ooo. Lots in the principal street have been sold at ^i.ooo and ;^i,500 each, that two or three years since could have been bought for ;^20 or £^0. Rossland is likely to be a large city, and to experience still further appreciation in values. So in Nelson and other towns. What has occurred here will be repeated to some extent in other towns throughout the country. Owing to the fact that nearly every man i" «he country has his spare cash invested in mines, money can be loaned on first-class security, in first mortgages on city real estate, to return the investor 12 per cent, per annum. Surely, ladies and gentlemen, it is worth remembering that all these opportunities of which I speak are in one of our own British Colonies, and withm twelve days' journey of London, in a country where British institutions prevail, where our judges are elected for life, and justice is firmly and impartially administered. We have no native troubles of any kind, nor are we likely to have, for we treat our Indians with consideration. Practically every male British subject who is of age has a vote, and we have a Parliament elected by the people and not by an insignificant minority thereof, as in a certain country where Englishmen have poured out money like water. Tiiere will be no Jameson raid in British Columbia or the Yukon, nor are there likely to be any serious political troubles, for the people are free and govern themselves, and there can be no stronger guarantee than this for the permanence of political institutions. These surely are considerations to carry weight with British investors, as should the knowledge of this fact, that in every part of Canada are men and women who are loyal to the heart's core and ( 20 ) wlio proudly join with you in acivnowledying the sovereignty of our beloved (^ueen, and in sharini; ti\e citizenship of the greatest Empire the world has ever known. VOTE or THAN'KS. At the close of the lecture Mr. McMillan submitted a most Interesting series of limelight views of the cities of Canada and of th^^ mining districts, which he briefly described. The CilAiK.MAN said he was sure they had all, like himself, been very much interested in the lecture, (liear, hear.) Although he lad lived in British Columbia many years, he had not been to the Yukon country, and as to that district, it was one which admitted of much greater consideration than the lecturer had been able to give it. The Canadian Government was taking most energetic steps to deal with the difficulties which had been pointed out, and no doubt railway com- munication would be greatly extended next year. (Applause.) He had intended making some observations on the subject of the lecture, but as the hour was late he would net further detain them, but simply ask ihem to accord the lecturer a cordial vote of thanks for his kindness in giving the address to which they had listened with so much interest. The vote of thanks was accorded by acclamation. Mr. McMillan thanked the audience, and announced that he had arranged with the authorities of the Imperial Institute to be in the Canalian Conference Room on the following day to give any informa- tion which was required on the subject and to explain the various ores which had been exhibited in the hall during the evening. (Applause.) The proceedings then terminated. Pri.nteu by Cassbll & CcMi'ANV, LiMiiLD, La Bki.le Sauvaue, Lunuon, l^.C. 'w^^m^mm^^^i^mifi^'mmjimw I'^w i|W"liw^»"^pi