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I'RINUN*! ,•; im im.imii \(.. roNirvw 1867. -4 ,, f .* •: REPORT UPON THE PROPERTY OF TH Nova Scotia Gold Mining Compan Y IN THE SHERB^.OOKE GOLD DISTRICT I'RUVINCI:; OF NOVA bCOTIA, HY ALEXANDER HEATHERINGTO J, Esq, Mining Engineer, Author of "A Guide to the Gold Fields of Nova Scotia," "CosmonoHtes Statistical Chart of the Gold Miucs of Nova Scotia," &c, &c. MONTREAL : PRINTFD P.V THE MONTREAL PRINTING .t PUBLISHING COMPANY 7867. !' !' SHERBROOKE, Nova Scotia, ^th Septetfiber, 1867, To THE IIux. JAMES I'ATTOX, Kingston, Province of Ontario. Sir : At your request, I liave visited and carefully examined the Property known as that of the Nova Scotia Gold Mining Company, in the Sherbrooke Gold District, Province of Nova Scotia, and beg leave to submit the accompanying Report thereon. I have the honor to be, Vour obedient servant, ALEX. HEATHERINGTON, Mining Engineer. t REPORT. Jk'forc entering upon a deseription of the within property, it may not be amiss to submit some o-eneral details concerning the district in which the same is situated, It having been my privilege, while engaged in preparing my Statistical Charts now adopted and circulated by the Provincial Government, to obtain an amount of useiul information accorded to few in the country, and a great part ot which none but myself has taken the pains to collect and place himself in a position readilv to furnish. The first discovery of go.d in Sherbrooke was made on the 23rd August 1861, by Mr. Nelson Nickcrson a resident of St. Mary's, in that part of the district ni.u- known as Goldenville. The discoverer operated for some time in secret upon his own account, his practice being to break up quart/ boulders in the forest and hand-mortar the contents or pieces, by which means he earned from three to twenty dollars a day. This went quietly on until the last week in October, when parties came upon his track, and a general hunt for gold ensued. It is averred that nearly two hundred persons dispersed through the woods, and among them, found about twenty ounces of gold on that day. The intelligence being reported to Pfalifax, a surveyor was directly sent down to lay off areas and grant leases, and active mining operations were commenced before the close of the year. liere, as in other districts, the f^iilure of the inex- perienced and improvident few created a temporary prejudice against quartz-mining; but when the extra- ordmary results attained by skilled labour, judicious ♦3 selection of ground, and systcnialic working began to be felt, a reaction took pkicc in public sentiment, and since tbc fall of 1863, Sberbrooke has made continuous :ind satisfactory progress. The first official records begin with January 1862, but the system did not work harmoniously until July 1863, from which period only reliance may be placed upon the published data ; not that it is here imi)lied that the returns were falsified previous to that date, but their compilation was entrusted to inexperienced and often incompetent persons, and the obligatory returns from mill-owners and lessees were not enforced. It is a well ascertained fact that large quantities of g(;ld were mined without being reported to the Commissioners, until the checks and penalties introduced by the Act of May 1863 made it the interest of all concerned to render faithful returns of everything produced. The gross yield of gold from Sberbrooke District from January 1862 to the 31st August 1867, was as follows: i ozs. dwts. grs. jj ' 1862 — 1st January to 31st Dec'r, - 2,023 o o ! 1863— " " - 3,304 14 12 i 1864 — " " - 3,419 14 20 1865— " " - 3,424 I 21 1866— " " - 5.829 13 8 • I867 — " to 31st August, 5,906 9 o 23.907 13 13 The intrinsic value of Nova Scotian gold is /^4 2s. lod. (sterling) per ounce ; but, assuming an average of only i £4, the value of this yield amounts to ;^95,630 14s 2d., |l sterling, or 1^478,153.55 Colonial currency. % It will be observed, too, that there is a gradual and, in 8 the last two years, extraordinary increase of production. The product of 1866 was the result of only seventy-four men's daily labour, while the average for 1864 was one hundred and four men. llOcl Diily |2C1., I, ill lion, [bur lone For the present year, the average daily number of miners has been one hundred and ten (actually 109.9), of whom thirty-seven have been constantly engaged in prospecting and other unproductive pursuits, yet the product for icSf)/, for ciglit niont/is only, considerably exceeds that for the whole of the previous year ; and if the same rate be sustained until December, Sherbrookc will contribute about eight thousand ounces to the general total. The maximum yield is no safe indication of a generally rich distribution, but where occasional extraordinary yields do occur, they manifest at least the existence of large deposits. The maximum for Sherbrooke for each succes- sive year reads thus : t)zs. dwts. grs. 1862 - - - 13 . 8 20 1863 - - - 1864 - - - 1865 - - - 1866 - - - 1867 - - - so that. this district has the distinction of having returned tJic maximum for the Province. The parcel of quartz which gave this large yield was raised from the Hewitt claim on the famous " Biue Lode," and passed through the crusher on the 17th June, I863. Hitherto Oldham was supposed to have given the largest special yield of any district, a c[uarter of a ton of quartz crushed there having jiroduced at the rate of 1 16 ozs. 2 dwts. 21 grains per l^ritish ton ; but the writer, during his present visit to Halifax, has had his attention directed to the original entry, corroborated by oath, of the crushing above referred to. A correction has, therefore, to be made in the returns at the chief office, and in subsequent editions of the statistical chart. The average yield of gold })er ton of quartz has been con- tinuously high in Sherbrooke, and as improved proccsscj? fo 146 8 19 23 10 9 5 20 16 6 16 13 -7 4 f 8 extracting and saving gold arc discovered, is likely to become still higher. The subjoined statement, however, could hardly be more satisfactory : — .Shcrl)i(»( kc of Nova collcctiv 11 leis Scotici cly. \'ictuiia, Australia. O/fe. Duts. Grs. Ozs Dwts . Grs. ()/.s Dwts. Grs. 1862 - 2 12 15 I 3 2 1863 - - I I 6 18 10 T864 I 8 14 I 20 10 6.9 1865 - I 10 13 I 3 6 II 17.4 1866 2 5 iS 17 13 10 16.2 1867 - I 10 12 19 10 The septennial average for Victoria for the years 1859- 1865 inclusive was only twelve pennyweights, six grains, and four-tenths (12 dwts. 6.375 grs.) per ton, while the quin- quennial mean for Sherbrookc amounted to no less than one oiuicc, twelve pennyweights, thirteen grains and seven- tenths (I oz. 12 dwts. 13.730 grs.) per ton, or very nearly three times as much as the most vaunted mines of Australia. The most celebrated lodes in Shei-brooke, as yet exploited, arc the " lilue," "Hewitt," " Curamingcr," "llayden," and " McCrae," each of which are supposed to traverse the areas forming the subject of this report. The course of the l^lue lode is south, 75 ® east, and its di}) is 40 ^ noi'th. The name is derived from the color of the quartz, which is of a dark blue, and thoroughly impreg- nated with fine gold. Besides the large yield of 146 ozs. 8 dwts. 19 grs., already referred to as the maximum for the Province, the quartz from, this lode has often given as much as ten ounces to the ton, and its average has seldom fallen below three. The Hewitt is vertical, and is composed of two veins separated by a thin seam of slate. The larger vein is the least productive ; but this lode has given larger and more profitable returns than any in the district, the average being four ounces to the ton. >.• 1) >.* _ The Jfaydcn lode is composed o^ several small but very rich veins, and has sustained an avcraoe of 2 J ounces to the ton. The Cummino-er lode dips 45 ^ north, has a band of slate to the north, which has jjroved exceedinoly rich oivin<.- a contniuous yield of two and a half to three r,unces"per t")n to the depth of two hundred feet. A new lode, lately struck, known as the Zwickel, and i-unnmo- almost parallel with the Cunnuin-er, yielded 683 ozs. of -old from 455 tons of quartz raised durin-last month and several other promising lodes have been recentlv opened' 1 he average yield for each man, in any wav engaged about the mmcs, is the safest criterion of the prosperity'of a gold district, and in this respect Sherbrooke takes precedence of any m the world. The results for each year rate as follow :— AXMAI. KAKMXCS I'l.R MAX. SlIKKllKooKr,. X'iCl'ORI.V, ArSlRAI.IA. 1862 186:} 1864 1865 1866 1867 (at the rate of) Mean - - _ £ s. 4 o - 202 3 The contrast with Australia is important, for it should be remembered that that colony has had fifteen years' experience in gold mining, and possesses all the appliances which capital and intelligence can procure, while here, in Sherbrooke, nearly two-thirds of the miners are self-taught, and many of the overseers are without the requisite knowledge, scientific or acquired, to aid and direct them in their work ; yet, as it has been shown, both in its average per ton and per' man, this district yields almost treble that of Australia. Having explained the particular advantages of Sherbrooke over other districts in the Province, and also over Victoria 10 in Australia, I would briefly record my views respecting the property comprised within the areas distinguished by a green colored border in the accompanying plan, and numbered respectively as follows : — IMock 4.— Nos. 469, 470, 471, 472, 474, 475, 476, 477, 478, 479.480, 500, 501, 502. 503, 504, 505, 506, 507, 508, 509, 510, 529,530,531,532,533,534,535, 536, 537, 538, 539, 540, 565, 566, 567, 568, 569, 570, 595, 596, 597, 598, 599, 600. The site is well chosen ; the eastern boundary of the pro- perty is only a short distance from the St. Mary's Kivcr, and thus aftords excellent opportunity for obtaining cheap water-power. Its extent is also another great advantage, for it gives room for working and following lodes in the direction of their course. Not a few mining companies have been embarrassed, and have had to cease their operations when coming perhaps to the most profitable part of the lode, because they had not secured working space on the allot- ment of their territory. On property so little developed, it is impossible to give any detailed report ; it remains only to add that several excellent lodes, such as the " Blue," " Cumminger," "Johnstone," and "Stevenson," have been traced across these areas, and that other new and seemingly productive veins have been bared during recent prospecting. As an investment, therefore, the acquisition of this property may be pronounced as judicious as any that could be made in Gold Mines in any part of Nova Scotia. ALKX. MKATIIl'.RIXGTON. Sherbrookk, N. S., 7th September, 1867,