W4*^e. (.• REPORT ox THE lYES MI:N^E BOULTON TOWNSHIP, P. Q. lo C, S. GZOWSKl, Esq., ^0. i-c, Toronto. Snt,— Having r'eceived youf instructions to make a careful ekamination df the Ives Mine and Mineral Location, with a view, mot*e esj)6cially, to determine the amdtiiit of Ore ready tor stopiiig, arid the average richfaess 6f the ote, I have carried out these iristructiotis to the best of my ability, and I now beg to offer the annexed summary of the results of my inspection. The small plan and section which accompany these statements are merely hand sketches, it will be understood, given simply to assist the explanations. My time at the mine was limited to a couple of days, but I passesd several hoUrs underground, a,nd'made careful measuretiicJnts of the heaps of orfe up6n the surface. I extended riiy obserVatious also to tli6 Huntingdon location, the copper-bearing beds of the lattcf:^ b6ing evideiitly a continuation of those of the Ives mine. 1 Tiie Ives' ittinerial location cdiiiprised 4b6'a6're'^ 6f liSAViljr timbered laitid lying in the 8th and 9th Ranges of Boltbri, due of the Eastern Townships of the Province of Quebec. It is % situated at a distance ot about 12 miles from tbe Village ot Waterloo, and 10 miles from Frost Village, the present termi- nus of the Stanstead, Sheflford and Charably Eailway, which communicates with Montreal, Portland, Boston, &c., via St. Johns. The River Missisquoi, a comparatively narrow stream, flows through a portion of the property, and along the western limit of the location generally. The east bank of this stream rises into a long escarpment or bluff, running, roughly, north and south ; and the copper-bearing ground lies on the eastern edge of this bluff, thronghont the ejitire length of the location. The country-rock consists essentially of magnesian slates belonging to Sir William Logan's Lauzun Division of the Quebec Series of strata, and forming an intermediate part of one of the remarkable synclinals which the officers of the Geological Survey have traced out in that section of the Pro- vince. The strike, dip, and mineral characters of these mag- nesian beds are given below. ,' • .r,..,j 2. The copper ore, which consists essentially of the ordinary or yellow pyrites, mixed more or less with cubical and mag- netic pyrites, does not occur in a vein, but is disseminated through a bed of chloritic slate bounded on its western edge by a bed of slaty talc, locally known as the " soapstone bed." 3. These strata have a general strike in the direction of N, 26° to 30° E., and they dip towards the sotith-east at an angle of T7» or 78". ■ix'^^.^ 4. They can be traced entirely across the location, a length of about 125 chains, or rather more than a njile-and-a-half ; and they evidently form a continuation of the copper-bearing beds of the Himtmgdon mme. ^ ^; . , ... 5. The copper ore, although disseminated through a thick- ness of probably 50 feet, or even more,, appears to run chiefly, in two bands, or lodes parallel with, the BLti'atificatiDii...ii;.. ,u.:v:fa 8 ■ (>. One of tliese bunds is in close proximity to the soapstone bed : it averages about C feet in thickness. The other band runs parallel with this, at a distance of about 5 fathoms, and exhibits an average width of about 8 feet. It carries, at one part of its course, a solid mass of copper ore, averaging at least 20 per cent, of metal, and varying in width from two to three feet. 7. Bunches and strings of ore occur here and there within the intermediate space, but as these are of more or let's partial and irregular occurrence, thc}'^ have not been taken into cour siderution in the calculations which follow. Other bands of ore may also be found to the east of the 8-feet band, but the calculations, given below, refer only to the two bands already mentioned. 8. The copper-bearing slates are cut in one place, almost at right angles, by a dyke of trap of about two feet in thickness ;■ but this has caused no practical interruption of the copper bands, as these continue on each side of it ; nor has it displaced the beds beyond the extent of an inch or two. 9. The workings at the mine belong to two, at present, dis-. tinct areas. The first shsift was put down on the 8th Range, to a depth of about^ IT* ft fathoms. This is known as the " Ferrier Shaft." The sinking at this spot was subsequently stopped, and new workings were opened about two-thirds of a? mile farther north, on Lot 2 of the 9th Range. Here two shafts have been carried down: one, the "Brydges Shaft," to a depth of ilBBi fathoms, and the other, or "Gait Shaft," (farther north) to a depth of 2ft. fathoms. These are being, united at the 15-fathoni level by a drift on the run of the 8-feet band of ore, and cross-cuts have been cai'ried from them in a westerly direction to the 6-feet band on the edge of the soap- stone, another drift having been carried along the course of this over a length of about 50 fathoms. Eails are laid down in these drifts, and solid timbering has been put up where necessary. Other cross-cuts have also been taken across the intervening ground ; and one has been carried eastwards, to the distance of a few fathoms, from the Brydges Shaft, in or- der to test the ground in that direction. The shafts are well housed, and each is provided with a horse-whim,* carrying a drum of 8-feet diameter. The Brydges Shaft is braticed off and provided with ladders from the surface ; but in the Gait Shaft the ladders coipmence only at the 15-fathom level. These works have been carried on under the superintendence of Capt. Kogan, who has shewn much skill and judgment in their exe- cution. A blacksmith's shop, powder-house, stables, and good "buildings for the accommodation of the superintendent and miners, have also been erected in the vicinity of these shafts. 10. To obtain a thoroughly satisfactory estimate of the actual percentage of metal carried by these bands of ore, it would be necessary to crush and dress several tons of material. To get, however, as close an approximation as possible to the average percentage of copper, I sub-divided the area of these bands within the present workings into six distinct parts, and took samples in fair proportions from each. The samples, united, amounted to just 451b8. The whole was then carefully crushed, and the particles were thoroughly mixed together. Portions' subjected to wet assay (in which the copper was weighed as black oxide) gave the following results : No. 1. Metallic Copper. .5*22 per ct. No. 2. " . .5-36 per ct. } Av. yield=5-24 per ct. ^p.3. " ..5-14perct r.-f* Captain Kogan, the superintendent of die mine, has made an innovation ui ^ the arrangement of these whims, which cannot be too highly recommended. The hofae works without shafts. There is thus no strain or drag upon it when stop-_ |>ing, and it can be turned with great ease and rapidity. i^ccomfinny Hepvrt on the Iv-e^s Mini}. chloritic sLclUs. rap di^ke. Fig.f. Sketc7i-Ptun cU /S- fathom Uvel. ( § /J ) A. Soapstone Drift. B , Galirund Biydxfcs drift. Fig, :?. Sketchy -SevOony at 0aU? shcifi^, sh&w-in^ dip of stf^CLtcL, ccrvci /JiJsitiijrL af sooLTjston^ hed^ o'^rid' co/t/fer dunds. (U2,3.S.6). ifecl Hfed- I ^ /proiied rfvoysscs of for stop ifig (see § J 2) . This result, referred to its corresponding dry-assay value, may bo taken as oquivalont to about 4 per cent. It must be observed, liowovor, that the value thus obtained refers only to tlio bands of pay-ore within the comparatively limited spaoo now opened out. Richer and also poorer ore may bo met with in other parts of 4ho copper-bearing slates. But, comparing this result with the ore taken from the Ferrier Shaft, two thirds of a milo farther south, and with that from the Huntingdon Mine, beyond the limits of the property in the same directioii, I thmk it may be regarded as likely to prove a fair average of the general yield of the Ives ore. Tlio present workings at the Gait Shaft appear to be in a comparatively rich part of tliq band. 11. In the portion of ore taken for assay No. 2, the other components were also determiaed. The complete analysis shewed the following results : • Sulphur 12-33 Copper 536 Iron 10-79 Rock matter 71-28 12. As these copper deposits are not in the form of a true vein, but are contained in altered and folded beds of sedi- mentary rock, their e.'jtension in a vertical direction is un- doubtedly more or less limited. But, confining our calculations to the two bands of ore within the workings now opened out or in progress around the Gait and Brydges shafts, we may legitimately assume that the 6-feet or soapstone band will hold good to a depth of at least 50 fathoms, and the length now exposed for atoping may also be taken at 50 fathoms. Assuming, as above, that the ore in these bands will only average 4 per cent, metal, and taking the specific gravity at 3*10, this 6-feet band will carry within the indicated limits ^bout 46,573 tons, which, at 4 per cent., should yield 1,863 tons of metallic copper. : TIio Galt-and-Brydfjea, or 8-foot band, is laid open to a lengtli of about 85 fathoms, and its proved doptli may bo a'^eragod at 40 fathoms, a lower value being hero taken on account of a pointed mass of apparently barren ground which comes up in the form of a so-called " liArso " near the bottom of the Brydges shaft. With these dimensions, vo obtain 84:,452 tons of ore, which at 4 percent, should yield 3,378 tona of copper. "We have, consequently, within this comparatively liiuitcd area, now undcf stoping, 131,023 tons of ore, carrying 5,241 tons of metallic copper. Fig. 3 may servo to convey an idea of the relative positions, &c., of the two rectangular masses of ore referred to in these calculations. 13. The amount of slack ore, id est^ ore that cannot bo profitably? hand-dressed for transportation — on the ground at the time of my visit (Juno 10th, 1869), was approximatively as follows : 540 tons of about 6 per cent, ore (" smalls"). 3,570 tons of about 4 per cent, ore, in several heaps. To these, which are being constantly increased, must be '' added a small parcel of dressed ore, about 4|^ tons of 12 or 12J^ per cent., and another of 9 tons of undressed 3 per cent, ore, or thereabouts, lying at the Ferrier shaft. A considerable * amount of ore, roughly dressed by hand to about 13 or 14 per ceTit., has also been boxed for market within the last ten'- months. ^ •h . . ■•. ^ 14. Estimating the ore to average, as above, 14 feet of payr.^ ground, and to contain 4 per cent., copper (with sp. gr.=3'l)j , a square or running fathom will carry 43J tons of 2,240 lbs., or about one ton and three-fourths metallic copper. Assuming further, that the ore run only to a depth of 25 fathoms — aa, assumption certainly much within the true limits, as the Galt.j shaft has proved the ground to that depth, with increasing"* richness of ore — the entire band of copper-holding slnto throii