CANADA DEPARTMENT OF MINES MINES BRANCH Hon. Robert Rogers, Minister; A. P. Low, LL.D., Deputy Minister; Eugene Haanel, Director. THE NICKEL INDUSTRY: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE SUDBURY REGION, ONTARIO BY A. P. Coleman, Ph.D. OTTAWA GOVERNMENT PRINTING BUREAU 1913 No. 170 LIDRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNM ■n- tj SAiNTA BARBARA LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. To Dr. Eugene Haanel, Director of Mines Branch, Department of Mines, Ottawa. Sir : — I have the honour to transmit to j'ou a Alonograph on the Nickel Industry, with special reference to the Sudbury region, with a general geological map, and special maps of the more important mines, the whole representing the advances made in our knowledge of the region due to three summers' work in thg field. In addition to descriptions of all the known nickel ore deposits in Ontario, there are accounts of methods of mining and smelting the ores, and of the chief nickel regions of other countries. The work has been greatly aided by the hearty assistance afforded by all engaged in mining and smelting nickel ores in the Sudbury region. I have the honour to be, sir. Your obedient servant, (Signed) A. P. Coleman. Geological Department, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario. :\Iarch 28, 1912. 25873— U iii CONTENTS. PAGE. Introduction 1 Position and means of communication 2 Physiograph}' of the nickel legion 3 Outline of general geology 5 The Keewatin 5 Grenville series 6 Sudbury series 6 Basic eruptives of the Sudbury series 7 Acid eruptives of the Sudbury series 8 The Laurent ian 8 The lower Huronian 8 The upper Hm-onian or Animikie 9 The norite-micropegmatite sheet 10 Later dykes 11 Historical .sketch of the development of the Sudbmy nickel region 11 The Canadian Copper Company 13 H. H. Vivian and Comjiany 1& Dominion Alining Company 17 Alond Xickel Company . 17 Other mining and sm( Iting operations 19 The Dominion Xickel Copper Company 19 Desciiption of the Sudbury nickel ores 20 Pvrrhotite 20 Pvrite 21 Alarcasite 22 Pentlandite 22 Other nickel minerals, polydymite, milleritc, gersdorffite, and nickelite 23 Chalcopyi-ite and other copper minerals 2'5 Magnetite and oth?r oxides 26 Later metallic minerals 26 Natural gas 27 Gossan minerals 27 Minerals of the precious metals 28 Sperryhte 28 Source of the ores 29 Hocks associated with the ores 30 Transition from norite to micropegmatite 33 T\pes of ore deposits 33 Marginal deposits 34 ( )fTset deposits 35 Individual deposits of the Sudbury nickel region 38 The Sultana mine 39 The Chicago mine 40 C'hicago to Victoria mine 41 A'ictoria mine .■ 42 ^'ermili()n mine 44 Tiie Worthington offset 46 The Crean Hill mine 48 From Crean Hill to Gertrude mine 52 ( Jertrudc mine '. 53 The Creighl on mine 54 Xorth Star mine 59 The Co])per Cliff off.srt 61 Copper ClifT mine •. 65 Other mines on the offset 68 Evans mine 68 Elsie mine 69 Murray mine 70 Murray mine to Mt. Nickel 71 V VI CONTENTS— Continued. PAGE The Frood-Stobie offset 73 Frood or No. 3 mine 74 Stobie mine 77 Blezard mine 78 From Blezard to Garson mine 79 Garson mine 80 The Eastern Nickel range 83 The Blue Lake region 84 The Whistle mine 87 The Northern range 88 The Foy offset 89 The Levack and Strathcona mines 91 Nickel range in Trill 94 The acid edge of the nickel eruptive 96 Southern range 97 Eastern and Northern ranges 99 Economic minerals of the Interior Basin 101 Quartz mines 103 Composition of the Sudbury nickel eruptive 104 Proportions of metals in the Sudbury ores 108 The precious metals 108 Other Canadian nickel deposits Ill Nickel ores of the Cobalt region 112 The Alexo mine 112 Nickel deposits in the United States 114 Nickeliferous iron ore in Cuba 115 Nickel ores in Europe 116 Norwegian mines 116 Other European deposits 117 Nickel ores of New Caledonia 118 Nickel ores of Cape Colony 122 Statistics of nickel production 123 Sudbury district 123 New Caledonia 124 Methods of prospecting and exploration 125 Use of the diamond drill 126 Methods of mining 127 Mechanical treatment of Sudbury ores 132 Magnetic separation 133 Hand picking 135 Metallurgical processes 135 Roasting the ore 136 Smelting plant, Copper Cliff 138 Smelting in blast furnaces 142 Recent improvements at Copper Cliff 143 Reverberatory furnace 146 Thj power plant, Canadian Copper Co 148 Refining processes of the Orford and Mond companies 153 Methods at Evje and Kristiansand 162 Treatment of New Caledonian ores 164 Uses of nickel 165 Monel metal 166 APPENDIX. Patents relating to the separation of nickel and copper, and the refining of nickel. . . 169 (a) Method of separacing nickel and copper sulfids 171 (b) Process for refining copper-nickel matte . 174 (c) Hybinette process for the economic separation of alloys into their constit- uents, by electrolysis 178 (d) Process for treating nickel and copper containing magnetic pyrites, and the separation of the nickel and copper contained in such ores 186 Index List of Mines Branch Publications. Vll CONTENTS— Continued. ILLUSTRATIONS. Photographs. Frontispiece — Birdseye view, and ideal section through Sudbury Nickel region: looking southwest. Page. Plate I. Clear lake, edge of Nickel basin. Eastern range 6 II. Grenville Crystalline Limestone, one mile north of Wanup 6 III. Lower Huronian Quartzite, Wanapitei 8 IV. Laurentian Gneiss, north of Quartz. 8 V. Thin section of volcanic glass (Vitrophyre Tuff) Onaping 10 VI. Interior basin from inner edge of Nickel eruptive, Azilda 12 VII. Copper Cliff mine 14 VIII. Mond snv Iter, Victoria Mines 18 IX. Converters: Mond smelter, Victoria Mines 18 X. Polished sections of Pyrrhotite ores: after Campbell and Knight 20 XI. Thin sections of Norite, etc 30 XII. Diagram showing typical marginal deposit 34 XIII. Diagram showing faulted marginal deposit 34 XIV. Diagram (a) showing possible arrangement for offset deposit 36 XV. Diagram (b) showing possible arrangement for offset deposit 36 XVI. Diagram showing parallel offset deposit 38 XVII. Victoria mine: showing rockhouse. Ore bucket on cable-way 42 XVIII. Boulders of Greenstone in Pyrrhotite: Howland mine 46 XIX. Crean Hill mine 50 XX. Creighton mine: open pit, 2nd level 54 XXI. Creighton mine: shaft houses 56 XXII. Creighton mine: air drill, open pit 58 XXIII. North Star mine: showing dip of footwall 60 XXIV. Crush conglomerate, south of Nickel range 66 XXV. Fault, south of Nickel range 72 XXVI. Crush conglomerate, Copper Cliff 72 XXVII. Frood, or No. 3 mine, 1910 74 XXVIII. Garson mine 74 XXIX. Whistle mine 88 XXX. Crush breccia under norite. Trill 88 XXXI. Olivine crystals (changed to serpentine and magnetite) enclosed in pyrrhotite, Alexo mine 112 XXXII. Flaad mine, Saetersdal, Norway 116 XXXIII. Air operated chute gates 128 XXXIV. Crean Hill mine: dry wall 130 XXXV. Crean Hill mine: 4th level 132 XXXVI. Canadian Coi)i)er Company's roast yard, Copper Cliff 136 XXXVII. Victoria Mines: building roast beds 136 XXXVIII. Roast beds. Copper Cliff 136 XXXIX. Canadian Copper Company's steam shovel at roast yard. Copper Cliff.. 136 XL. Rain erosion whore vegetetion has been killed by sulphur fumes. Copper Cliff 138 XLI. Canadian Copper Company's smelter, Copper Cliff 138 XLII. Cliarging floor: Canadian Copper Company's smelter, Copi)er Cliff. . 140 XLIIl. Settler: Canadian Copper Company's smelter, Copper Cliff 140 XLIV. Interior of Blast Furnace building: Canadian Copper Companv's smel- ler, Coppcn- Cliff. .' 142 XLV. Pouring slag: Canadian Copper Company's smolter. Copper (^liff 142 XLVI. Slag cooling machine: Canadian Copi)er Company's smelter, Copjier Cliff 142 XLVII. Matte shed:. Canadian Copper Company's smelter. Copper Cliff 142 XLVIII. Blast-furnace flue: Canadian Copper Company's smelter. Copper Cliff 142 XLIX. Old acid converter plant: Canadian Copper Company's smelter. Copper Cliff 144 L. Basic converter: Canadian Copper Company's smelter, Copper Cliff . . 144 LI. Basic converters: Canadian Copper Company's smelter, Co])per Cliff 144 LII. Reverberatorv furnace plant: Canadian Copper Company's smelter. Copper Cliff 146 CO XTE y:TS—Contin ued. ILLUSTRATIONS— Cori/mwed. Photographs — Continued. Page. LIIL Interior reverberatory furnace building: Canadian Copper Company's smelter, Copper Cliff 146 Plate LIV. Canadian Copper Company's plant, High Falls, Spanish rivei 148 LV. Generators : High P^alls 148 LVI. Sub-st?tion : Copper Cliff 148 LVII. Power plant : Crean Hill mine 150 LVIII. General view of Mond Nickel Works, Clydach, near Swansea 154 LIX. Evje smelter: Saetersdal, N^orway 162 LX. Evje smelter. Saetersdal, Norway 162 LXI. Reduction Works: Kristiansand, Norway 162 LXII. Water jacket furnaces: Evje, Norway 162 LXIII. Furnaces for high grad^ matte: Evje, Norwaj' 162 Drrni'ings. Fig. 1 Plan of 4th level: Crean Hill mine 49 2. Section through Creighton mine: showing dip of ore body 55 3 . Shaft section, No. 2 mine 64 4. Vertical sections through Copper Cliff mine 67 5. D.D. section through No. 3 mine 75 6 . Section of Ale.xo mine 1 13 7 . Back stoping in the Crean Hill mine 131 8 . Layout of smelter at Copper Cliff 139 9. Diagram illustrating the five operations in the Mond process 153 10 . Vertical sections through decomposer : ^lond process : after Roberts-Austen 155 11. General arrangement of ^lond process plant: after Roberts- Austen 157 12. Arrangement of reducers and volatilizers for e.xtraction of nickel: elevation and plan: after Robert.s-Austen 159 13 . Cross sectional elevation of reducers and volatilizers : after Roberts- Austen 161 14. Apparatus for the economical separation of alloys into their constituents by electroh'sis 180 Maps. Xo. 171 . Geological map of Sudbury nickel region, Ont 172. Geological map of Victoria mine, Sudbury district, Ont 173. Geological map of Crean HiU mine, Sudburj- district, Ont 174. Geological map of Creighton mine, Sudbiu-y district, Ont 175 . Geological map showing contact of Norite and Laurentian in the vicinit}' of Creighton mine, Sudburj- district, Ont 176. Geological map of Copper Cliff offset, Sudbury district, Ont 177. Geological map of Xo. 3 mine, Sudbury district, Ont 178. Geological map of Stobieand Xo. 3 mines, and vicinity, Sudbury district, Ont THE NICKEL INDUSTRY: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE SUDBURY REGION, ONTARIO BY A. P. Coleman, Ph. D. INTRODUCTION In accordance with the instructions of Dr. Eugene Haanel, Director of Mines, the work of revising the map of the Sudbury Nickel Region, and of obtaining materials for the preparation of a monograph on the sub- ject of nickel, was undertaken in the summer of 1911. During the two pre- vious summers the writer had studied and mapped the geology of several important working mines for the Canadian Copper Company; and, owing to the generosity of that company, the materials thus obtained were made available for the purposes of the present monograph. Every mine which has been worked along the nickel ranges was visited and examined, as far as possible, and most of the prospects where ore or gossan occur were also visited during a succession of journeys covering the greater part of the bound- ary of the norite with which all the ore deposits are connected. In this work the map of the region prepared by the present writer for the Bureau of Mines of Ontario in 1904, and various maps made at about the same time by Dr. Barlow, served as a foundation, to be modified or added to. It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge the cheerful assistance rendered by every one interested in nickel mining, to whom application was made, without which the monograph would be much less complete. All the comjoanies working in the district aided in this respect: the largest of them — the Canadian Copper Company — being naturally of the greatest importance; and I wish to thank the President and officers of the Company for the assistance given, particularly Mr. David H. Browne, who is not only a skilful and experienced metallurgist, but a man of science interested in all the problems of the region, and well acquainted with its history. With the permission of Mr. A. P. Turner, President of the Company, Mr. Browne, Superintendent John Lawson, and others of the staff have supplied me with much useful information. In connexion with the Alond Company, Mr. C. V. Corliss, IManager, and Mr. O. Hall, Mines Superintendent, rendered valuable aid, is far as the policy of their company permitted. Mr. J. A. Holmes, General Manager of the l^ominion Nickel Copper Company, assisted personally in the field work, and in various other ways: especially in regard to the Eastern and Northern Ranges; and Mr. Kirby Thomas — then in the employ of the Nickel Alloys Co., of New York — assisted greatly in the examination of the Trillabelle locations at the southwest end of the ranges. To all these gentlemen, and many others, thanks are due. In addition, acknowletlgment should be made of the skilful services of the late ]\Ir. M. T. Culbert, and of Dr. E. S. Moore, who were my chief field assistants during the earlier work, and aided in the preparation of the first detailed geological map of the nickel region, which served as j basis for the map acc()m]>anying the ])rescnt monograph. CJreat assistance was also rendered by the Ontario Bureau of Mines, in the way of necessary infornuition furnished directly, or obtained indirectly from their reports. The compiling of the accompanying maps and plans has been the work of Mr. R. R. Rose, who has had much experience in field work and mapping in the Sudbury district. Position and Means of Communication. Sudbury — from which the mining region takes its name — is in Lat. 46° 30', W. Long. 81°, and lies about 35 miles north of Georgian bay, the north- eastern part of Lake Huron. It may be reached from Montreal by a journey of 439 miles westward on the main line of the Canadian Pacific railway, or from Toronto by a journey of 260 miles north on a branch of the Canadian Pacific railway, or the Canadian Northern railway. Sudbury itself — the largest town in the region — is a little southeast of the most important nickel range, the nearest mines being two miles to the north and three miles to the west. The nickel region has sharply defined boundaries of a geological nature; since all the ore deposits are connected with a single great sheet of eruptive rock, roughly boat-shaped, with a blunt bow to the southwest and a square stern to the northeast, conforming to the general strike of the Archaean rocks of the district. Only the upturned edges of the sheet are exposed, since it is basin-shaped and has its interior filled with sediment- ar}^ rocks. The basin is 36 miles long, from southwest to northeast, and 16 miles wide, and the known ore deposits are all either along the edge of the sheet or less than four miles away from it on projections or ' 'offsets. " The nickel region is served by six lines of railway. The main line of the Canadian Pacific railway crosses the basin diagonally from southeast to northwest, and the "Soo" branch runs southwest from Sudbury, parallel to its southern edge and touching the Worthington mine on one of the offsets. The Algoma Central runs west from Sudbury to Victoria Mines touching a number of important mines, and the Canadian Northern crosses the basin from north to south toward the east end, sending a branch to Garson mine and connecting with the Nickel Range railway, which runs to the Whistle mine at the northeast corner of the basin. In addition the Canadian Copper Company has private lines to some of its mines and is now building a line four miles long to connect Copper Cliff with the Frood or No* 3 mine to the northeast. Every mine which has produced more than a few thou- sand tons of ore has had railway connexions, though a few of tLese'branch lines have been removed on the shutting down of the mines which they served. In early days the nickel deposits were grouped in two ranges, a main or southern range and a northern range, but, since it was proved that the ores are all connected with the edges of a single sheet of eruptive rock, one might think of them all as belonging to a single oval range. It is found, however, that the important deposits are not distributed uniformly round the basin but that there are rich portions separated by barren portions. It is probable that in the future a third or eastern range will be recognized, and possibly a fourth or western range, though thus far the ore deposits at that end are not known to be of much importance. At present the main nickel range may be defined as running from the Sultana mine six miles southeast to Victoria mine, then turning northeast for 23 miles to the Sheppard mine, and finally east for four miles to the Garson mine. There is, however, a gap of about five miles toward the south- eait between the Crean Hill and Gertrude mines where no ore has been found. Along this somewhat irregular line of 33 miles on the southern margin of the nickel-bearing eruptive seventeen mines have produced ore, and within two or three miles to the south of it ten other mines have been worked. Practically all the ore hitherto mined and smelted in the region must be credited to the main or southern range. The northern range is not so continuous as the southern but is generally reckoned as extending from cer- tain deposits in Levack township to the Whistle mine at the northeast corner of the basin, a distance of 25 miles. There are, however, two gaps of six miles each within this extent, one between Levack and the southwest corner of Bowell township, and the other extending from the middle of Wisner township to the Whistle mine in Norman township; so that on the northern range there are only 13 miles of the margin of the nickel eruptive which are ore bearing. In addition, however, some ore has been found for six miles west along an offset beginning about the middle of Bowell township and ending at about the middle of Foy. In reality it would conform better to the known arrangement of the ore deposits to detach the Whistle mine from the northern range, which would then extend for only about 18 miles, and make it the north end of an eastern range extending for 13^ miles south to the Falconbridge properties. The three ranges are at very unequal stages of development, the southern range being followed for almost its whole length by railways to transport its ores, while only one other mine, the Whistle at the north end of the eastern range, has rail connexions. The outlying properties of the southern range can almost all be reached by roads, some well built and used by automobiles, others rough lumber roads with bridges and corduroy falling into decay. Much of the northern range is best reached on foot or by water, and the eastern range is almost as inaccessible. The small western range can be visited by a lumber road on the south, but the northern outcrops are besi approached by canoe. The central valley of the nickel basin consists largely of agricultural land, now divided into farms and well settled. It is crossed by the main line of the Canadian Pacific railway, and the northern branch as well as the main line of the Canadian Northern railway, so that it is well provided with mean.: of communication. On the other hand it is cut off by rugged ranges of hills from the nickel mines to the north and south, the natural market^ for its produce. The whole nickel basin includes an area of 550 square miles, divided among twenty-four townships of the regular size and shape. Mining has taken place in eight of these townships, while important ore deposits are known to exist in .several others. Omitting the villages c(mnected with the farming region of the interior basin, the nickel mining industry supports two towns, Sud])ury and Copper Cliff, and four villages, all told with a population of perhaps 10,000 people. Physiography of the Nickel Region. The physiography of the region is very closely bound up with the geology of the nickel-bearing eruptive and often serves as a guide to the position of ore deposits. The lower Huronian and Laurentian rocks enclosing the l)asin present the usual irregiihir Archaean r'urface, with hard granites or gabbros or quartzites standing up as rugged hills or short ridges without any definite order except for a general strike of the structures in a direction of N. (30° or 70° E. The nickel eruptive sheet, on the other hand, expresses itself with surprising uniformity. Its outer (and lower) edge con- sists of the easily weathered rock norite,. often more vuhiera])le because charged with sulphides, while its inner (and upper) portion is formed of micropegmatite, a strong, resistant rock, which commonly stands up as high hills. Just within this belt of granite hills come conglomerate and tuff, the lowest members of the series of sediments occupying the basin; and these rocks have been metamorphosed and thus greatly strengthened by the action of the eruptive rock beneath, thus forming a band of even more ragged hills than the micropegmatite. The interior of the basin is floored with soft sediments, tuff and slate, with some low anticlinal hills of arkose or sandstone toward the centre. The resulting land forms are characteristic. All round the outside of the basin rise the tumultuous hills of older Archaean rock, followed by a valley representing the basic, easily decomposed, edge of the nickel erup- tive, wide on the southern side where the norite is wide; but relatively narrow on the northern and eastern sides. Frequentlj^ the basic margin has been eaten into hollows, now filled with drift or muskegs or small lakes, hiding the actual edge of the norite and making the exploration for ore deposits more difficult. Patches of ore are commonly found on the slopes of harder rocks surrounding this belt of low ground. Besides the narrow lakes of the basic margin there are many larger bodies of water entangled among the hills of the granitic or acid edge of the eruptive. A glance at the map shows how frequently lakes have this position, often furnishing the only convenient gateways between the flat interior of the basin and the narrow valley of the basic edge. Parts of the northern nickel range are best reached, after leaving the end of the wagon roads of the interior basin, by boats on a lake or by winter roads on the ice. Many of the lakes along the basic edge of the nickel eruptive on the northern range are so small that they have not received names. Thirteen of them have been noted on the map but many ponds are almost too small to appear on the scale employed. On the eastern range these marginal lakes are larger and include from north to south Lake Selwyn, Lake Wad- dell, Ella lake, Clear lake. Blue lake and Pyrrhotite lake, beside several small unnamed ponds. The southern nickel range with its wider band of norite has cg)mpara- tively few lakes; but in all there cannot be less than 30 small bodies of water along the basic edge of the norite, often with ore bodies ^dipping under them from the slope of country rock behind. Occasionally these lakes have been taken up as nickel locations. »• The lakes belonging to the acid portion of the nickel eruptive are generally larger than those of the l)asic edge, and include Cameron, Fair- bank, Whitewater, Whitson, and Garson lakes on the south side; and Joes lake, Trout lake and Moose lake on the north range; while Windy lake extends almost across the nickel eruptive. These lakes are of conse- quence to the nickel miners, partly as indicating points where ore has been deeply attacked, and partly as a water supply for mining camps or smelters. The nickel basin is drained almost entirely by Vermilion river and its tributaries; Rapid river, Nelson river. Sand Cherry creek and Onaping river coming in from the north and west; Cameron creek from the south- west; Levy river and W^hitson creek from the east. The whole system of lakes and rivers is controlled by the basin shape of the nickel eruptive and the relative hardness or softness of the sediments deposited within it. Vermilion river enters the basin by a low pass near the northeast corner and leaves it bj^ a still lower pass near the southwest end. On entering the interior of the basin it expands to Onwatin lake at the east end, and just before passing out it widens to Vermilion lake at the west end. The rest of the interior basin is almost free from lakes, making a strong contrast with the nickel-bearing eruptive which encloses it. Outline of the General Geology of the Sudbury Region. The Sudlniry region includes rocks belonging probably to all the sub- divisions of the Pre-Cambrian as recognized in America, but the nearest fossiliferous sedimentary rocks are nearly 40 miles away on Manitoulin island in Lake Huron, and no direct relationship can be followed up in the intervening rocks. While the solid formations of the region end pro- bably with the Pre-Cambrian, much of the surface is covered with glacial and old lake deposits of the Pleistocene. The ore deposits are often very closely bound up with the structures of the older rocks, which have greatly affected their size, shape and position. The accepted classification of the Pre-Cambrian of the Upper Lakes region is as follows : — Keweenawan. Upper Huronian or Animikie. Middle Huronian. Lower Huronian. Keewatin. Laurentian. In this system the Laurentian is looked upon as entirely eruptive, always later in age than the Keewatin, and sometimes later than lower Huronian. There are rocks belonging to all of the sub-divisions given above in the region mapped, except the middle Huronian, and also probably rocks representing the Grenville series of southeastern Ontario. The latter are dis tinctly older than the Laurentian, but whether they are the equivalents of the Keewatin is not quite certain. The rocks underlying the sheet of nickel eruptive may be divided broadly into a crystalline group mainly eruptive, including the Keewatin, Grenville series, and Laurentian, and a mainly sedimentary group con- sisting *of the lower Huronian, and a newly defined Sudbury series, now tilted at high angles and penetrated by various erupt ives. The rocks above (the nickel eruptive sheet make a third group, almost wholly sedi- mentary, though partly pyroclastic, and bent into a sjaicline, but not steeply inclined. The noritc-micropegmatite sheet is later than any of them, and ]:)ro])ably of Keweenawan age, while certain dykes which cut all the other rocks are perhaps Palaeozoic in age. In this brief account of the geology the different formations will be described as nearly as may be in the order of their age. THE KEEWATIN. In this district the Keewatin includes greenstones and green schists' and in its ui)])er part small amounts of the iron formaticm. The green- stone was probably once gab])ro, but it and the green schists are now largely changed to hornblende. Many bands and irregular areas of green- stone are included in the part mapped as Laurentian, since on the scale of the map it would be impossible to separate them in detail. Frequently they form the foot-wall of ore bodies and a breccia of their fragments is often cemented with norite and ore. The iron formation included in the region mapped consists of small outcrops of quartzitic silica interbanded with magnetite near Clear lake in Wisner township and a pond to the south. It is enclosed in Laurentian gneiss and has no practical value, though the Hutton township deposits of a similar kind a few miles north are of considerable importance. GRENVILLE SERIES Hitherto the Grenville series has not been recognized in the Sudbury region; but certain rocks in the township of Dill associated with a quartz mine worked there by the Canadian Copper Company have all the char- acteristics of that series, as found 60 miles to the southeast in the township of Mills and extending south for more than 40 miles to Parry Sound. The rocks in Dill township, which it is proposed to call Grenville, include the coarse white quartzite which is mined, and also fine grained grey gneiss and schist having in part a distinct granular structure in thin sections. Less than two miles to the north there is a small band of crystalline lime- stone containing rounded grains of green serpentine, exactly like the crys- talline limestones of Parry Sound. The grey gneiss is not unlike the Couchiching of Western Ontario, but the hmestones of the Huronian in that region are entirely unlike the Dill outcrop and are far more modern in appearance. SUDBURY SERIES. Later in age than the Grenville and Keewatin, but earlier than the Laurentian, is a great series of sediments, chiefly quartzite, but including also arkose, greywacke, slate, and some thin sheets of conglome- rate. These are steeply tilted and sometimes folded, and have been penetrated and partly metamorphosed by acid and basic eruptives. They have hitherto been called lower Huronian, but they differ so much in attitude and relationship from the typical lower Huronian not far to the west that they probably belong to an earlier period, equivalent perhaps to the Timiskaming series, described by Dr. Miller and other geologists in the Cobalt region as lower than the Huronian. It is proposed^ to call them the Sudbury series. The Timiskaming series and the rocks here referred to are not to be looked upon as a "Lowest Huronian," beneath the usually recognized bottom of that series, but as a new division of the Archaean equal in rank to the Huronian and Keewatin. If these rocks are put in the position suggested il" will imply also that the conglomerate near Ramsay lake, hitherto called middle Huronian, must be lowered one stage and be named lower Huronian. The Ramsay Lake conglomerate is more like the Cobalt and Echo Lake conglomerates of the lower Huronian regions hitherto carefully studied than are the sedi- mentary rocks underlying, giving support to the suggested change. These rocks form a band 10 or 12 miles wide, extending all across the district, just to the southeast of the main nickel range; generally separ- ated from the norite, however, by a very irregular belt of basic and acid erupcive rocks of various kinds somewhat later in age, but, for the present, included with them. The southeastern side of the band of sediments consists mainly of quartzite, more or less metamorphosed, but still retain- ing a very distinct bedding and often cross bedchng, and having in the Plate 1. Clear lake, edge of Nickel basin — Eastern range. Plate ll. Grcnvillc crystalline limestone, one mile north of Wanup. main a tilt of 45° degrees to the southeast, with many local variations, including one indistinct anticline on Ramsay lake. The beds of quartzite are often parted by thin sheets of slate or greywacke; and several bosses or bands of greenstone penetrate them and interfere with the reg ilarity of their structure. These quartzites have a width of from 3| to 6 miles, and if they have not been reduplicated by faulting, of which there is no evidence, have a maximum thickness of 15,000 or 20,000 feet, making them one of the greatest well defined sedimentary formations in Ontario. Apparently beneath the quartzites there is a thinner, but still important band of grej^wacke and slate, also well stratified and showing its original structures when not too much affected by adjoining eruptives. It has a width of two miles or more and a thickness of several thousand feet, and, in various places it comes in contact w^th offset ore deposits but scarcely touches the main nickel range. A third, and probably lower division of the sediments is more enig- matic, since it ha^ undergone much greater changes, largely obliterating its original structure. This consists of quartzite or arkose, pink in colour and greatly recrystallized, running northeast and southwest as a band of hills not more than half a mile wide from near Frood mine to a point southeast of Creighton. This rock touches Copper Cliff mine and was described earlier as felsite. The three sedimentary formations may have a total thickness oi 30,000 feet. In places they are of economic importance as supplying quartz for the smelters and building stone used in Sudbury and at other points. BASIC ERUPTIVES OF THE SUDBURY SERIES. In many places greenstones and coarse hornblende porphy rites of indeterminate origin rise through the sedimentary rocks mentioned above; and there are also two belts of better defined basic eruptives of considerable continuity, one the Sudbury laccolithic belt, beginning at a group of hills east of the town and stretching southwest for nine miles to the lower end of Kcllcy lake, and the other following with interruptions the basic edge of the southern nickel range from its east end to Little Stol^ie mine. This is separated at intervals from the norite by a band of granites as far as a point a mile east of Crean Hill mine, after which if follows the basic edge of the norite to its end near Sultana mine. These basic eruptives are of great variety. The Sudbury chain of laccolithic hills consists of gabbro which pushed up the greywacke on each side, and whicli contains along its irregular summit ridge a number of quartz deposits, segregations or inclusions of quartzite, one of which has been mined for flux. A little nickeliferous pyrrhotite has b(>en found at two or three points in these hills, and the 'gabbro is probably an earlier segregation from the nick(>l bearing magma than the great norite sheet. The long irregular band of greenstones following the southern nickel range consists of rocks of extraordinary variety, the least modified being lava streams showing pillow and amygclaloidal structures. They are often formed of perfectly fresh norite, much more basic than the nickeliferous rock, seamed with' ribs of green hornblende, and passing into por])hyrites of several kinds that are sometimes very like those found in the quartzites to the south. All of these rocks have carried off masses of greywacke or quartzite, which are commonly more or less transformed into gneiss or 25873—2 schist, while the adjoining greywacke has developed immense numbers of staurolite crystals as a result of contact metamorphism. The "older norite" lava streams seem to have supplied a plane of weakness followed later by the nickel-bearing eruptive, and it is frequently the foot-wall for ore bodies on the southern range. ACID ERUPTIVES OF THE SUDBURY SERIES. Later than the "older norite" lava streams came eruptions of deep seated acid rocks, coarse granite, syenite, and granitoid gneiss, generally flesh coloured, and frequently carrying off fragments of the greenstones just mentioned and also of greywacke, and sending dykes into these rocks. The most important area of granite runs from Copper Cliff southwest to near Crean Hill, as a band from one to two and a half miles wide, forming the country rock of the nickel range for more than half of this distance, which includes the famous Creighton mine. These rocks are of various textures and ages, some being undoubtedly older than the nickel eruptive and others younger, since the ore sometimes cooled against them as a foot- wall and was sometimes cut by dykes of the later granite, which is usually finer grained than the earlier eruptions. THE LAURENTIAN. The southeastern edge of the lower Huronian is bounded by granitoid gneiss and hornblende schist, etc., later in age, but generally called Lau- rentian; and the whole weitern, northwestern, and northern parts of the region are occupied by similar rocks, usually coarse granitoid gneisses streaked with dark green stripes and lenses, no doubt rolled out greenstones of Keewatin age. The schistose structure of these rocks commonly has the usual strike of the region, 60° to 80° east of north, and a vertical or steeply inclined dip. They are monotonous and of no great practical importance except as the country rock supplying the foot-wall for many of the ore deposits of the northern range. The norite and ore often seem plastered up against the slopes of these Laurentian hills, remnants left when the greater part of the deposit has been eroded and removed. Except along the brecciated edges of the ore deposits at the basic edge of the norite, the Laurentian has been little studied; but its gneisses and granites appear to be younger than the Timiskaming or lower Huron- ian sediments, though perhaps of about the same age as the bulk of the lower Huronian eruptives, from which they are nearly always separated in the field. They are, however, far older than the nickel eruptive and the sediments that overlie it; for the Laurentian gneisses and hornblende schists, as well as all the other rocks thus far described, had been consolidated, thrust into mountain folds, and eroded to a peneplain before the upper Huronian sediments were laid down. The gap in time must have been enormous. THE LOWER HURONIAN. What was described as the middle Huronian in previous reports, now considered lower Huronian, is developed in only one small part of the immediate Sudbury region, just north of Ramsay lake, where a peculiar boulder conglomerate extends for about two miles and a half, with a greatest Plate III. Lower Huronian quartzite, Wanapitei. Plate IV. Laurcntian gneiss — north of Quartz. 25873— 2i 9 width of about half a mile. This rock has a dark grey ground mass of greywacke with no visible stratification, in which are imbedded pebbles and boulders of the older rocks, especially granite and quartzite. The boulders are angular or subangular or well rounded, and of all sizes up to tons in weight; and the whole appearance suggests an ancient tillite or boulder clay, though no striated stones have been found. Rocks of the same kind but covering a much larger area are found in the Wana- pitei region to the east. As the boulders of quartzite are like the quartzite of the Timiska- ming or lower Huronian to the southeast it is inferred that these rocks are of later age. Since there is scarcely a suggestion of stratification to- be found, their attitude \x\ih reference to the lower rocks is not always ver>^ certain, though at one point on the north shore of Ramsay lake a basal conglomerate may be seen resting uncomformably upon the quartzite here referred to as older. If this conglomerate is transferred to the lower Huronian, the middle Huronian seems to drop out altogether, since the next series of rocks has in general the characters of the upper Huronian or Animikie. THE UPPER HURONIAN OR ANIMIKIE. ]\Iuch later than the Timiskaming or lower Huronian and the Lau- rentian there was deposited on their planed down surface a second great series of sediments, whose exact age is not certain, owing to the absence of fossiliferous rocks, though they resemble in many respects the western Animikie, now referred to the upper Huronian, and may, at least pro- visionally, be placed in that position. In the Sudbury region these rocks occupy a basin in the nickel eruptive, and have })een found nowhere else; they are therefore not at present in contact with the lower Huronian and Laurentian, since the nickel eruptive came in as a later sheet, separating the younger from the older rocks. These rocks form a well defined series beginning Avith a basal conglom- erate and passing on to tuff, slate and sandstone, and they have been given sep irate formational names taken from characteristic localities, as follows: — Chelmsford sandstone 800—1,500 feet Onwatin slate 3,700 OnapingtufT 3,800 Trout Lake conglomerate 450 8,750—9,450 The Trout Lake conglomerate makes a continuous band round the basin immediately overlying the acid side of the nickel eruptive, but it varies greatly in width, in one case being a mile across, in most others a few hundred feet, and in a few instances sinking to less than 100 feet. The rock is found in its least changed form, as a boulder conglomerate with a matrix of dark green, fine grained rock, north of Sultana mine, where the micropegmatite is at its narrowest, and the thin edge of the (Tuptive had comparatively little power of metamorphism. Along other ]mrts of the acirl edge the conglomerate is greatly changed and in some ])laces has been squeezed or sheared into schist conglomerate. The ()na])ing tuff is mainly formed of tiny glass fragments rained down as volcanic ash, but includes a good deal of ordinary sediment also. 10 such as granite and quart zite pebbles. It also forms a continuous band, in most places rising as steep hills, round the interior basin. The Onwatin slate is a mud rock charged with carbon enough to give it a dark colour, and as it is the softest rock of the series it is generally buried under drift deposits taken up as farms, though it occasionally forms low hills. In it the curious veins of anthraxolite occur. Finally, the Chelmsford sandstone runs as a disjointed range of low hills down the centre of the basin. Though it was originally named sand- stone it might almost be called arkose or even greywacke, since the quartz grains are mixed with a good deal of other matter. The whole series of sediments is now bent into a synclinal basin with an average dip inwards of about 30°; while the Chelmsford sandstone in the middle has been forced into small dome-shaped anticlines in the process. As shown in a table on an earlier page the upper Huronian sediments are of considerable thickness, and their general relationships, such as dip, and width, are more completely known than those of the older for- mations and justify a more exact statement. Their great thickness of nearly 10,000 feet probably had an important bearing on the segregation of the ore bodies, since that process must have demanded a lengthened period of fluidity of the nickel bearing magma; and this huge blanket of sediments must have greatly retarded the rate of cooling. THE NORITE-MICROPEGMATITE SHEET. After the succession of sediments just mentioned had been deposited the vast mass of molten rock of the nickel eruptive ascended, mostly from beneath an area near the middle of the southern range, as will be shown later. As the molten magma welled up from below, the cr^^stalline rocks forming the roof of the great crucible gradually collapsed as a block 12 or 15 miles long and several miles broad, giving rise to extensive faulting and fissuring. The flood of molten material found an opportunity to spread out between the ancient surface of the older rocks and the basal conglomerate of the sediments, producing a laccolithic sheet having an area of over 500 square miles. Since thousands of feet of rock have been eroded from the region in later times, the original area of the sheet must have been much greater than that. An extension of one mile in all directions would add about 100 square miles to the area and probably more than a mile has been removed from the rim since Cambrian times. The eruptive sheet cooled extremely slowly, partly because of the great bulk of molten material and partly because of the thick mantle of sedimentary rocks above; and during the cooling much of the ore sank to the bottom, though its upper part remained mixed ^vith norite, which finally blended into micropegmatite or granite on top, the three materials arranging them- selves according to their specific gravities. The collapse of the foundations of older rock caused the cooling sheet of magma to settle into a basin shape, and the once nearly fiat sediments above it took the same form, cradled in the plastic micropegmatite, which ate into and greatly metamorphosed the Trout Lake conglomerate just above. The norite-micropegmatite sheet is one of the largest laccolithic sheets known, containing not less than 600 cubic miles at the present time, and probably having had a much greater bulk in the beginning. Just when this tremendous mass of molten material reached its present position is uncertain, though the event probably took place during Keeween- awan times. Plate V. Thin section of volcanic glass (vitrophyre tuff), Onaping. 11 LATER DYKES. After the norite and ore had completely cooled, the region was cut by long fissures, and dykes of diabase penetrated impartially all the rocks mentioned above. Dozens of these dykes are known, especially in and near the large ore bodies where the geology has been most carefully worked out; and some of them are 100 or more yards in width and as much as seven miles in length, so that the total amount of diabase is by no means insignificant. This last eruption probably took place somewhere in Palaeozoic times; and except for cutting across the ore and so causing more or less trouble to the miner, the dykes have had no appreciable effect on the mines. Some little dykes of granite cut the diabase itself and so are the latest rock in the region. The history just outlined is one of the most complex on record, includ- ing almost all the Pre-Cambrian formations and a long succession of erup- tive rocks of the most varied kinds and of all ages up to the Palaeozoic. From that time till the Pleistocene destructive forces were active, removing thousands of cubic miles of the solid rock. During the Pleistocene import- ant beds of morainic material, boulder clay, and lake deposits were laid down, covering considerable areas of the surface. Historical Sketch of the Development of the Sudbury Nickel Region. A large literature has sprung up in regard to the Sudbury nickel mines and their associations, but the earlier history of the region may be found summed up in two reports, that of Dr. Barlow on the "Nickel and Copper Deposits of the Sudbury Mining District," ^ and the final report on "The Sudbury Nickel Field" by the present writer. - Dr. Barlow's report gives in much detail the various stages in the development up to 1903, describing unsuccessful as well as successful ventures in mining and smelting the ores; and many of the less important features referred to may be omitted from the present monograph. Since 1905 perhaps the most important contribution to the subject has been an account of "The Nickel-Copper Industry of Ontario", by Alex. Gray,^ which however is confined to the development of the Canadian Copper Company's mines and smelters, much the most important of the reg'on, but not the only ones. Even more important from the practical side than the written reports on the region have been the successive geological maps preparetl^by the Survey at Ottawa and the Bureau of Mines of Ontario, embodying the advances in our knowledge of the field relations of the ore bodies. In connexion with the Geological Survey Report of 1890, four years after real mining had begun, a map prepared by Dr. Bell with the assistance of Dr. Barlow and others showed the geological relations of parts of the southern and northern nickel ranges, indicating belts of dioritc which accompanied the ore deposits. This map, though on the small scale of four miles to an inch, proved very useful; and was republished by the Bureau of Mines in 1902 with few changes, but on the scale of two miles to the inch. 'Gcol. Sur. Ciin. Part H, Vol. XIV, 1904. Miuroau of Minos. Ont., Vol. XIV, Part III, 1905. 'MininK World, Vol. XXXII, Xos. 20, 21 and 22, 1910. 12 In 1904 the Bureau of ]\Iines published on the same scale a map pre- pared by the present writer showing the northern Nickel Range and indic- at'ng the continuous character of the nickel eruptive, now known to be norite, its outcrop extending as an ellipse round the area of sedimentary rocks placed between the two nickel ranges on Dr. Bell's map. The nickel- bearing sheet of eruptive rock had been proved to form a synclinal basin. The map showed also the inner or acid edge of the differentiated eruptive, and brought out the important facts that ore deposits were connected chiefly with bay-like projections or narrow offsets from the basic edge of the eruptive and were most frecjuent and important where the width of the outcrop of norite and micropegmatite was greatest. In the same year Dr. Barlow published two map sheets on the scale of one mile to an inch covering the Copper Cliff and Victoria Mines areas; and two other maps, of Copper Cliff and Murray mine, on the scale of 400 feet to the inch. The Victoria Mines sheet was defective in not separating the nickel-bearing norite rom the adjoining greenstones, but the other maps are excellent. In 1905 the first fairly complete map of the geology of the region was published by the Bureau of Mines on a scale of one and a half miles to the inch. This map has been of great service, but requires numerous small corrections and is now almost out of print, Nickel was first reported from the Sudbury region ])y Murray in 1856.^ The well known land surveyor, Salter, had found a disturbance of the compass on a meridian line north of Whitefish lake, and suggested that Murray should examine the place. He found "an immense mass of magnetic trap," specimens of which were sent to Sterry Hunt for analysis. Magnetic pyrites was found disseminated through the rock and the analysis showed the presence of some nickel and copper. Salter's line is now the boundary between Creighton and Snider townships and the rock with pyrrhotite was obtained a little west of the famous Creighton mine, the greatest nickel mine in the world. However, the discovery attracted little attention, since at that time the metal nickel was a rarity of little practical importance and the region was a wilderness without roads, where canoes were the only practicable means of travel. In 1883 the Canadian Pacific railway reached the Sudbury region, and the stretch of flat plain in the interior of the nickel ba.:in attracted the railway engineers, who brought the line by a steep grade up from Sudbury to what later became the Murray mine, from which the rail- way descends to Azilda between hills belonging to the acid edge of the eruptive. It is said that at this time Dr. Ho^vie discovered on the summit of the pass a low hill of pyrrhotite with some chalcopyrite.- Specimens shown to Dr. Selwyn, then Director of the Geological Survey, were pro- nounced valueless, since pyrrhotite from Canadian localities had not hitherto been found to contain more than a fraction of a per cent of nickel. Early in 1884 the railway reached this deposit and a cutting disclosed copper pyrites at whao was afterwards known as the Murray mine. Other discoveries soon followed at what became the Lady Macdonald, Evans, Copper Cliff, Stobie, and Blezard mines; all taken up for copper, the presence of nickel being at first overlooked. The Creighton mine was rediscovered not long after by another land surveyor, John McAree, who surveyed an adjoining township, though the mine was not opened up till several years later owing to its difficulty of access. 'G.S.C, 1853-6, pp. 180-181. 2Dr. Barlow, G.S.C, Vol. XIV, Part H, pp. 23-24. Plate VI. Interior basin from inner edge of Nickel eruptive, Azilda. Prospectors swarmed over the region searching everywhere for the gossan which showed the presence of ore, and men like Tliomas Frood, Henry Ranger, William McVittie, A. McCharles, and others quickly learned that gossan and ore accompanied only one kind of rock, then called diorite, but now known to be norite. In a short time almost all the main deposits had been located, and two ranges, a southern or main range, and a northern, began to be distinguished. The first important mining was done in 1886 at the Copper Cliff, where an open cut was made against the side of a steep gossan covered hill, the work being carried on by the newly formed Canadian Copper Company, which soon opened up also the Stobie and Evans mines. The first ore mined was supposed to be simply copper ore, as the name of the mine and company suggest; and until 3000 tons were shipped to Constable Hook for treatment, the presence of nickel was not suspecced. There, however, difficulties were met in smelting the ore, and assays showed that nickel was the disturbing element. The first ore mined is reported to have been unusually high in copper, running from 15 to 20 per cent, probably because enriched above water level. Later the tenor of the ore was lower, but it still averaged higher in copper than in nickel. This has been true also of another mine, the Crean Hill. The history of mining and smelting in the Sudbury region is so closely bound up with the Canadian Copper Company that its progress may be followed first, and other, later formed companies may be taken up after- wards. THE CANADIAN COPPER COMPANy. In 1888 Dr. Peters was put in charge of smelting operations at Copper Cliff, roast beds were got under way, and near the end of the year a Herres- hoff water jacket furnace was blown in to produce copper-nickel matte, so as to reduce freight expenses. For ten years the same three mines produced most of the ore that was smelted at Copper Cliff; but in 1899 the Evans closed down and in 1901 the Stobie ceased working, after producing more than 400,000 tons of ore, low in grade but high in sulphides and supplying a useful fluxing mixture with the rocky ore from Copper Cliff mine. New mines were being developed in the mean time, No. 1, south- west of Copper Cliff mine and No. 2 north of it, beginning in 1898; the former proving to be a small but rich deposit, while the latter is large, though of average grade. In addition No. 4 and No. 5 mines, northwest of No. 2, yielded some ore in 1899; and in 1900 the Frood mine, since called No. 3, a mile southwest of the Stobie, began operations, and the ore from the two was ship])ed by rail to Copper Cliff where it was mixed \\dth ore from other mines on the roast beds. The great Creighton mine, six miles west of Copper Clift", was one of the last to be opened Uj>, for lack of railway cormexions; but in 1900 stripping was commenced upon it, and in the following year it began to ship ore by the Algoma Central railway to Copper Cliff. As the deposit is immense and the ore of higher grade than that of most other large mines, and mixed with little rock, the Creighton mine for some years supplied most of the ore smelted by the Canadian Copper Company, and their other mines were closed down one after another iji consefjuence, the Copper Cliff after reaching the 14th level at a depth of 1052 feet. Since its ()])ejiing the Creighton mine with its great supplies of rich sulphides has dominated the situation, but it was found advisi])le to have 14 a supply of rockier ore with a larger percentage of copper to mix with it for fluxing purposes antl to give a convenient proportion for the separation of the metals, nickel and copper. On this account Crean Hill mine, eight or nine miles southwest of Creighton, and about 14 miles from Copper Cliff, was opened up in 1905, and in 1906 began to ship ore to Copper Cliff over the "Soo" branch of the Canadian Pacific railway. For some years these two mines supplied the whole of the ore for the company; but the demand for nickel was increasing, and in 1910 No. 2 mine, which had been closed since 1902, once more began operations. At this time the rich little Vermilion mine, a mile southwest of Crean Hill, also supplied 1200 tons of ore almost as high in nickel and copper as some grades of matte. To provide for a future increase in the output of nickel No. 3 mine, sometimes called the Frood, was carefully explored with the diamond drill, showing reserves of ore estimated by Mr. Alex. Gray at 30,000,000 or 35,000,000 of tons, ^ and in 1911 work was begun in sinking a shaft to tap this great body of ore, and a railway four miles long was commenced to connect it directly with Copper Cliff. As Creighton mine has been proved by drilling to contain 5,000,000 tons of ore, it will be seen that it and No. 3, without reference to several other deposits which are by no means exhausted, contain a supply of ore sufficient for many years to come even if the rate of production is con- siderably increased. The first smelting works at Copper Cliff was erected in 1888 under the direction of Dr. Peters, well known as a metallurgist of copper, Mr. James Mc Arthur and Mr. J. D. Evans being his assistants. This was the East smelter which began to ship matte the following year. The plant was added to in a rather haphazard way as years went on and the need for accommodation increased, and in 1891 and 1892 a bessemer plant was provided. In 1890 Dr. Peters severed his connexion with the company and Mr. Woodbury became manager for three months, when he was succeeded by Mr. Evans, who occupied the position till 1893. Mr. McArthur then took charge of the works and remained manager till 1902. During his regime a new West smelter was put up in 1899, near No. 2 mine, and three years later the East smelter suspended opera- tions, and some time after was burned. In 1900 a new method of producing high grade matte from standard matte was introduced by the Orford Copper Company, which put up the Ontario Smelting Works a half mile southwest of Copper Cliff mine. Here the standard or furnace matte was roasted in Brown calciners, and then smelted a second time in a water jacket furnace, thus changing matte containing about 30 per cent of nickel and copper into matte averaging 75 per cent of the two metals, corresponding nearly to the former Ijessemer matte. In April 1902 the whole organization of the Company was changed and the Canadian Copper Company became subsidiary to the Interna- tional Nickel Company, which hacl been formed to combine a number of companies interested in the mining, smelting and refining of nickel and copper. In conj-exion with this change Mr. A. P. Turner was made president of the Canadian Copper Company, and Mr. John Lawson general superintendent. In its second Annual Report the International Nickel Compa • described as a consolidation of mines and smelters in the United State Canada, Great Britain, and New Caledonia, including the Canadian Copp? iThe Mining World, Vol. XXXII, 1910, p. 1025. 15 Company, Orford Copper Company, Anglo-American Iron Company, Vermilion Mining Company, American Nickel Works, Nickel Corporation, Limited, and the Societe Miniere Caledonienne. According to its state- menc of capital account in 1904, " the total assets of the Company were $30,896,167, divided as follows: Property of constituent companies, $26,864,275; Ray Copper Mine, $40,000; " advances to New Caledonia companies, $348,363; inventories, $2,827,774; cash and accounts, $815,755; total assets, $30,896,167; common stock, $8,912,626; preferred stock, $8,912,626; stock of constituent companies, $55,643; first mortgage 5 per cent bonds, $10,221,836; loans, accounts, etc., $1,617,476; depreciatioa fund, $412,709; surplus account, $763,251; total, $30,896,167. The income account for the year shows the following receipts: Earnings from constituent companie,-:, $936,471; other income, $29,754. Charges were: For general expenses, $112,185; interest,. $512,938; total, $625,123. The net balance carried to surplus account amounted to $341,102."' Following the combination just mentioned many changes took place in the work of the company. Mining was gradually limited to the Creigh- ton mine, and experiments were made in regard to new methods of treating the ore, such as pyritic smelting in place of roasting the ore before smelting. Many improvements were made in the town of Copper Cliff, and the removal of most of the roast beds from the vicinity of the town to a swamp behind the hills to the north permitted to some extent the growth of vege- tation, so that the town was once more in sight of grass and green trees. It was decided to ]:)uild a new smelter on much improved and extended plans half a mile to the east of the West smelter, and the work was brought to completion in the fall of 1904. Meantime both the Ontario Smelting Works and the West smelter were burned, hampering operations for the time. After this the low grade matte was shipped to Victoria Mines, whose smelter had been leased for six months from the Mond company, and there bessemerized, pending the completion of the converter plant of the new smelter. An account of the new smelter is given in the section on smelting so that no description of it is required here. Since 1904 the most important advances have been the introduction of a few large basic converters instead of numerous small quartz lined acid converters, and the erection of a reverberatory plant to treat fines and flue dust. The cost of fuel for power })urposes is very high in the Siulbury region and the Canadian Copper Company acquired rights for the development of power at High Falls on Spanish river, 23 miles west of Copper Cliff, in 1904; and since then from a head of 85 feet electric power has been genera- ted not only for the needs of the smelter but also for the mines of the com- pany. This effects a most important saving in expense. In its early years tiie Canadian Copper Company had an uphill struggle with the difficulties that always beset a new and complicated enterprise until the best methods of treatment have been devised. Fortunately the company owned some extremely large and valuable mines, so that the problem of an ore supply has not greatly troubled them. With a reserve of ore sufficient for 60 years and a smelting plant probably second to none in America for completeness ^nd efficiency the prospects of the company are bright. In 1909, according to Mr. Gray's account of the comimny, the ore mined averaged $5 or $() ])er ton in value of nickel and copper, allowing on a conservative (if unauthorized) estimate a profit of $1.50 to $2.00 'Mineral Industry, 190;}, p. 27G. 25873—3 16 per ton mined, which "would mean a yearly profit of $522,900 or $697,200." "The 13,000,000 lbs. of nickel disposed of in 1909, it is claimed, brought a profit of 7| cents per pound spread oyer mining, .uneKing and refining charges," which implies a "total profit of $1,027,000."' On the same basis for 1910, Mr. Gibson in the Bureau of Mines Report estimates the profit on the ore smelted at from $726,253 or $968,338, and on the nickel marketed of $2,377,100.- In its 6th Annual Report the company states that a dividend of 6 per cent was paid on its preferred stock and 7 on its common stock, after an extra dividend of 25 per cent on. the common stock. The value of its investments and plant is put at $27,262,138, and the statement is made that the demand for th^ Company's products is the greatest in its history, largely because of the development of the motor vehicle industry.'^ It is evident that this pioneer company, after a number of years of little or no returns for the capital invested, has in recent years been very prosperous; and since for a long time it was the mainstay of mining in the Province of Ontario under depressing conditions, its present good fortune seems well deserved. H. H. MVIAN AND COMPANY. The next company to operate a mine and smelter in the Sudbury region was that of the Vivians from Swansea, Wales, celebrated for their great metallurgical plant. They acquired the Murray mine, the first discovered in the district, and began to develop it in 1889, continuing operations with one or two short interruptions until 1894. In 1890 the first blast furnace waj blown in, and the ore was treated in the usual way, by roasting in heaps, smelting in water jacketed furnaces to a low grade matte, and bessemerising this to a high grade matte. The Manhes con- verter was first used in the concentration of nickel matte at the Murray smelter. The low grade matte is said to have contained only 9-4 per cent of nickel and 4 • 7 per cent of copper, giving cleaner slags than by the Copper Cliff method, which produced matte containing about 30 or 35 per cent of the two metals. The bessemer matte at the Murray reached nearly the same grade as that of the Copper Cliff, running from 70 to 75 per cent of the two metals. This was shipped to Swansea for final treat- ment. Since 1894 the mine has remained closed down, but 5,000 or 6,000 tons of roasted ore were smelted in 1896, the matte being sent to the Whar- tons of New Jersey. The ore is said to have contained 35 per cent of iron, 23 per cent of sulphur, 2 per cent of nickel, 0-8 per cent of copper, and about 40 per cent of matrix. The pure sulphides averaged 3-6 to 3-75 of nickel and nearly half as much copper. In 1912 it was purchased by the Dominion Nickel Copper Co., and it is said that at least 4,000,000 tons of ore have been disclosed by their diamond drilhng operations. Though the Murray mine was not one of the richest, it is probable that competent local management would have given better results than were attained by direction from England. The failure of this venture made by so famous a company for some year.j exerted a depressing effect on the development of the nickel industry.^ iMining World, Vol. XXXII, 1910, pp. 1022-3. Should this not be $975,000? ^Bureau of Mines, Vol. XX, Part I, 1911, p. 28. 'E.M.J., Vol. 92, July- Dc, 1911, p. 458. «Bur. Mines, Vol. XIV, ePart III, pp. 141-2. DOMINION MINING COMPANY. The Blezard mine, a mile north of Stobie, in lot 4, con. II of the town- ship of the same name, and the Worthington mine 25 miles west of Sudbury on the "Soo" line, were worked for some time by the Dominion Mining Company, who opened the former mine in 1889 and the latter in 1890. A smelter constructed at Blezard mine served to treat the ore from both the mines, producing in Herreshoff furnaces a matte averaging 27 per cent of nickel and 12^ per cent of copper, which was marketed without bessemerising. Some of the Worthington ore is said to have been rich enough for shipment without smelting. The Blezard mine was shut down in 1893, and the Worthington in the year following. Mr. Robert McBride, who was in charge of the Blezard mine in 1892, states that about 100,000 tons of ore came from it in all, averaging from 5 to 7 per cent of nickel and copper, the nickel being more than double the copper in amount; so that the ore resembled that from Creighton in value, and much surpassed that of Murray mine. The ore from Worthington is reported at only about 25,000 tons, but it was the richest mined in the region, with the exception of that from the still smaller Vermilion mine, and is said to have carried from 8 per cent upwards of nickel and copper. Except for some diamond drilling and the unwatering of the mines for examination little has been done on these properties since the closing down of the smelter ; though a few carloads of ore were obtained from the Worth- ington in 1908 and sent to the Victoria Mines smelter three miles to the east. THE MONO NICKEL COMPANY. The carbon monoxide process of refining nickel, by which a volatile compound of nickel could be produced and afterwards decomposed, thus depositing the metal, was discovered by Dr. Carl Langer while working on other problems in the laboratory of Dr. Mond. Having found a method of refining the metal Dr. Mond naturiUj looked for a deposit of nickel ore and in 1899 bought what was then called the McConnell mine, on the north half of lot 8, con. IV, of Denison township, about 3 miles north- east of Worthington. Smelting works were established beside the "Soo" branch of the Can- adian Pacific raihvay two miles south of the Victoria mine, as the deposit was named, and a cable tramway was constructed to transport the ore 1 1,000 feet from the mine to the smelter. In 1900 the Mond Nickel Company was formed with a capital of £600,000, to take over the mine and smelter, and in the following year bessemer matte was being produced under the ma- nagement of Mr. Hiram W. Hixon, who had obt lined experience as a cop- per smelter in the Western States. Th(^ roast yards were at first near the smelter and village but after a fire at the landing station of the ore, necessitating more or less reconstruc- tion, the roast beds were removed to a flat half way between the mine and the smelter.^ Trouble with the refining works at Clydach, near Swansea, Wales, caused delays on this side of the water also, but ultimately the Mond pro- cess was brought into good working order, and the comjiany began to look for new sources of ore, since Victoria mine is not a very large deposit. 'G.S.C., Vol. XIV, Part H. pp. 40^3. 25873—3^ 18 After testing some small deposits^, such as the North Star and the Little Stobie, in 1907 a larger one was purchased toward the east end of the main nickel range and ?Tamed the Garson mine, from the township in which it occurs, on lot 5, con. III. Mr. C. Y. Corliss, who had been mine superintendent, became manager on the resignation of Mr. Hixon in 1908, and Mr. 0. B. Hall w^as made mine superintendent. During this year the Garson mine began shipping ore to Victoria Mines, by the Canadian Northern railway to Sudbury, and then by the "Soo" branch of the Can- adian Pacific to the smelter. By this time Victoria mine and smelter were equipped with electric power, from Wabageshik falls on Vermilion river nine miles to the southwest; and Garson mine was operated with current from Wanapitei river. In 1910 diamond drilling was done to test the Cochrane and McVittie property, which covers a corner of the great Frood deposit, and this was purchased to furnish an additional supply of ore. Also plans were made to l:)uild a new smelter at Coniston, where 3,700 acres were secured as a site at a poi it much nearer to their chief mines, the Garson and Frood extension. The Mond Company has the distinction of working the deepest mine in Ontario, and in spite of rather small ore deposits the Company is prospering, so that it is planning not alone to build much larger smelting works in Canada but to double its refinery in Clydach. The following statement has recently been made as to the financial conditions of the company :^ — The original capital of the company was £600,000, divided into £250,- 000 7 per cent cumulative preference £5 shares, £300,000 ordinary, and £50,000 deferred shares of £1 each, without debentures or other prior charges. The ordinary shares carried a preferential dividend of 7 per cent, thereafter sharing with the deferred share.i in surplus earnings. In 1908 the capital was increased to £850,000 })y the creation of 50,000 cumulative preference shares, of which 30,000 were issued, raising the preference share capital to £400,000. It was not until 1905 that the profits of the company provided any return to the ordinary shareholders, since when they have gone up by constant increases, and the returns for the past three years have been: — YEAR TO APRIL 30. Net profit Pref. div. 7 p.c Orel, dividend Ord. rate p.c Deferred div Def. rate p.c Balance of year Brought in For reserve, etc To reserve Carried forward 1909. 111,320 22,716 42,751 15 22,800 48 23,053 29,923 52,976 20, 000 .32,976 1910. 1911. 114,107 26,. 367 42,. 375 15 22,600 48 140,803 26,367 45,906 16Ji 26,131 551^ 22,765 42,399 32,976 j 20,741 55,741 35,000 63,140 35,000 20.741 : 28,140 Plate IX. Converters: Mond smelter, Victoria Mines. 19 In 1906 the ordinary shareholders first received a dividend over their stipulated 7 p.c., when 10 p.c. was paid, followed l)y 12h per cent in 1907, 15 per cent for the next three years, and now 16 j per cent for the past twelve months, while the holders of deferred shares received 18 per cent in 1906, 33 per cent in 1907, 48 per cent for the next three years, and now 55 J per cent. OTHER MINING AND SMELTING OPERATIONS. Several other companies have opened mines and either produced matte or attempted to separate the nickel by various experimental processes. The earliest of these was the Drury Nickel Company, which owned the Travers or Chicago mine and roasted and smelted some thousands of tons of its ore in 1891 and in 1896, shipping the matte to the United States. More important was the venture of the Lake Superior Power Company, or Lake Superior Corporation, of Sault Ste. Marie, which opened the Ger- trude mine a mile or two west of Creighton in 1899, and shortly after the Elsie mine, near ]\Iurray mine. The ore from the Gertrude was intended as a source, first of sulphur for their sulphite pulp mill, and later of nickel and iron for the production of ferro-nickel from the roasted ore. Lt was pres- ently found, however, that there was too much copper in the ore for this ])urpose; and the usual method of heap roasting and smelting in a water- jacket furnace was adopted. The roast beds and smelter for the ores of both mines were located at Gertrude, the two mines being connected ^vith one another and with Sudbury by their own railway, the Manitoulin and North Shore, or Algoma Central, as it is now generally called Operations ceased with the financial collapse of the parent company, and apparently none of their furnace matte was bessemerised or refined except in an experimental way. At several other mines shafts have been sunk and considerable develop- ment work done, but none of them have raised any large amount of ore, nor have any of them operated smelters on a large scale. References to them will be found in Dr. Barlow's very complete history of the develop- ment of the region; so that details need not be given here. Two attempts at novel methods of smelting and refining the ores should perhaps be mentioned. The Great Lakes Copper Company made an exiieriment of this kind at the Mount Nickel mine, on lots 5 and 6, con. II, of Blezard, between the Little Stobie and Blezard mines. The mine is stated to be well supplied with ore but the smelting works, planned by Anton Graf, of Vienna, were a failure, and work soon ceased. The IIo(>pfner Refining Company, of Hamilton, undertook the electrolytic refining of nickel and copper in 1899, and constructed works just west of Worthington, but the process was unsuccessful; and a later attempt by Mr. Hans A. Frasch was likewise a failure, so that operations ended in 1901. THE DOMINION NICKEL COPPER COMPANY. An important advance in the development of the region has been made uithin the last three years in the formation of a strong company for the opening u]) of the eastern and northern nickel ranges, which had for some time received little attention. The Dominion Nickel Copper ('onrpany was formed for this ])urp()s(^ by Ottawa capitalists. Mr. J. N. Glidden serving as manager for tlie first year or two, though recently Mr. J. A. Holmes has been placed in that posicion. Their most nnportaht property is tlie Whistle mine, at the northeast corner of the nickel bearing eruptive, and this was exam ned in 1910 bv diamond drilling and the sinking of a 20 shaft on one of its ore bodies. The short Nickel Range railway was built to connect the mine w th the Canadian Northern, and connexion was made with the "Wanapitei Power Company's transmission line, so as to supply cheap electric power for mining purposes. During the past year the ore ])odies at the Whistle have been systematically prospected by diamond drill and drifting, disclosing a large body of ore, and the village of Nickelton has begun to rise on a drift plain to the north. On several other properties to the south and also along the northern range west of the Canadian Nor- thern railway considerable bodies of ore have been proved to exist by diamond drilling; and before long it is expected that a site for a smelter will be chosen and work will begin on the third plant for the production of nickel in the Sudbury region. During 1912 the Murray mine has been ac- quired, adding largely to their ore supplies. With strong financial support and an ample supply of ore the prospects for the new company seem bright. Description of the Sudbury Nickel Ores. A considerable number of nickel-bearing minerals have l^een reported from the Sudbury region, the list inc Aiding pyrrhotite, pyrite, marcasite, pcntlandite, polyd^-mite, gersdorffite, millerite, and nickelite; but the number having any important relation to the ore deposits is verj^ ?mall, pyrrhotite and pentlandite being the only ones commonly found, and pyr- rhotite the only one visibly present in all the ore deposits. There is some doubt, however, as to whether pyrrhotite is nickel-bearing in itself, since its nickel contents may be due to finely disseminated pentlandite. If this is correct the latter is the onlj^ nickeliferous mineral of importance in the region, though it cannot be seen in the ore at most of the mines. It will be observed that all of the minerals mentioned are compounds of iron or nickel or both metals AAith sulphur or arsenic. Secondary nickel minerals are almost unknowTi in the region, though the green silicate genthite is reported from the Wallace mine farther west. In thi^ respect the Sudbury deposits reseml^le those of Norway and differ fundament illj' from the next source of nickel in importance. New Caledonia, where sul- phides or arsenides of nickel seem ilmost unknown. PYPiRHOTITE As the commonest of all the metallic minerals, pyrrhotite is naturally discussed first. Pyrrhotite or magnetic pyrites forms much the largest part of the sulphides at every mine in the district, with the one exception of the ^"ermilion, a remarkably rich but small deposit unique in many ways. The composition of pyrrhotite is somewhat variable, running, according to Dana, from Fes Se to Feis Sn, the iron atoms never quite equaling in number those of the sulphur. It is difficult to separate the pyrrhotite from small amounts of other ingredients, such as pentlandite, chalcopyrite, and magnetite, which occur more or less in most specimens of the ore. After careful magnetic separation repeated several times, followed by treatment with dilute nitric acid to dissolve the pyrrhotite, leaving any magnetite behind. Dr. C. W. Dickson found that most analyses of the Sudbur}^ pyrrhotite worked out to Fes Sg, which may be looked on as the typical proportion of iron to sulphur in the region. The pyrrhotite rarely shows any hint of crystal form, the only example reported^being an imperfect crystal obtained by Mr. G. R. Mickle from a miner at Worthington. As described by him "The crystal is evidently a hexagonal prism showing strongly marked basal cleavage; two of the sides are intact and portions of two others rem An. The dimensions are 1 3-10 inch, or 32 mm., by | inch, or 13 mm.; the weight 26-4 grams and an Plate X. Piilislicil iScctions of pyrrhotitc with pcnthinditc and clialcopyritc: ( 'oppor Cliff ore. After Messrs. Campboll and Knifiht. X 50 under microscope. Pyrrhotitc dark and rough surface. Pentlandito light in Nos. 1 and 2. ("halcopyrite, also light, at top of Xo. 4. 21 analysis of a very small fragment from the crystal gave 2 • 3 per cent of nickel". This unique specimen is in the mineralogical collection of the University of Toronto. While crystals are always lacking, one finds at i number of localities distinct platy cleavage, probably basal, as in Levack township, and at the Crean Hill mine, examples from Levack showing" cleavage surfaces two inches wide. Some good authorities believe that the coarse textured platy ore is richer than the finer grained varieties, but it is doubtful if this rule holds everywhere in the region, since at most of the mines, even when the ore is rich, this basal cleavage can hardly be noticed. On fresh surfaces the ore is bright steel grey Avith a touch of bronze, but it quickly' weathers to a distinct bronze colour. The Sudbury pyrrhotite seems to vary greatly in magnetism, some examples being feebly magnetic, scarceh' affecting a compass needle, while certain specimens from near Blue lake on the eastern range show distinct polarity and attract iron filings. Generally smill pieces of the pyrrnotite affect a compass needle only at very short distances. The cause of this variation has not been determined, but it is possible that finely disseminated magnetite plays a part in the most strongly magnetic varieties. Occasion- ally considerable quantities of magnetite are found mixed with the pyrrho- tite, and the difference in the strength ol the magnetism of the two minerals makes it possible to separate them magnetically by careful adjustment. As pure pyrrhotite contains 60 per cent of iron, it surpasses in percent- age many workable ores of that metal and might naturally be looked on as a possible source of iron as well as nickel. The only attempt thus far made to use it so proved a failure, however. Ore from the Gertrude mine in its earlier days was unusually free from copper pyrites, and was smelted on a small scale for ferro-nickel by the Lake Superior Power Co., after it had been roasted sweet and the SOo used in the plant for sulphite pulp. However, it was found that copper pyrites increased so much in amount as the mine was developed that the process was given up. A small amount of copper is no longer looked upon as specially inju.ious in steel, and it may be that deposits will yet be found low enough in copper to be used in this way. The ore from one of the northern range properties is thought to be suitable for such uses. It certainly seems unfortunate that a metal destined to be combined with iron should first have all the iron with which it naturally occurs carefully slagged off from it by expensive processes. If the chalcojiyrite found Avith pyrrhotite were not so intimately mixed as it is in most cases, the two minerals might be separated magnetically. As the Sudbury pyrrhotite always contains small amounts of rock or of rock-forming minerals, even when carefully selected, probably 40 or 45 per c(Mit of iron is all that could be hoped for from any of the mines worked on a large scale; but this is equal to many iron ores which are now mined and smelted in other parts of the world. PYRITE. Iron i)yrites, Fe Sj, is found at many of the mines, its hardness, resis- tance to weathering and pale brassy yellow colour nuiking it rcadilj^ dis- tinguishable from ])yrrhotite. It may be more widely spread than is supposed, disseminated through the pyrrhotite. At Blue lake and some other localities well formed octahedra of pjTite are fou)id eml)edded in the pyrrhotite; but in most cases it occurs in separate masses, often as part of the filling of veins cross ng the ore deposits and therefore later in age. In the latter case it appears to carry no nickel, as was shown, 22 for example, by an assay of cubical pyrite found with quartz and calcite at Elsie mine; but the pyrite associated with pyrrhotite and of the same age appears to be nickeliferous. Prof. T. L. Walker found 4 -34 per cent of nickel, 39 -70 of iron, and 49-31 per cent of sulphur, with 5-76 per cent of insoluble matter in pyrite from Murray mine; and expresses the opinion that the nickel replaces part of the iron in the pyrite, since the amount of sulphur present is too great for any other compound of nickel than Ni 82-^ Dana also states that nickel and cobalt sometimes replace part of the iron in pyrite or else occur as mixtures. Pyrite is rather common in rusty Huronian greywacke and schist to the south of the nickel eruptive, but is not known to contain nickel, though some of these fahlbands have been taken up as locations, with the idea that they were connected with offsets from the range. Pyrite from later veins crossing nickel ore bodies is frequently well crystallized and often shows faces of the cube and pentagonal dodeca- hedron; but pyrite originally forming part of the nickel ore seems, as a rule, to be octahedral, or else, like the pyrrhotite, to show no crystal forms. MARCASITE. The rhombic species, marcasite, occurs at a number of the mines, sometimes largely replacing pyrrhotite, as along parts of the Worth- ington offset to the northeast of Worthington mine. Though no crystals have been found here, the whitish colour and general appearance of the mineral show that it is not ordinary pyrite. An assay made by Prof. T. L. Walker showed it to contain 4-5 per cent of nickel; and a more complete analj^sis by Dr. Hildebrand of the U. S. Geological Survey gave: Iron 38-36 Nickel 4-57 Sulphur 45-11 The rest of the contents of the ore were mainly insoluble except for two per cent of calcite. The suggestion is made that a little poly- dymite is mixed with the marcasite to account for the nickel, though there is no proof of this.^ While crystals are not found near Worthington, Prof. Walker reports good crystals of marcasite from a narrow vein crossing ore at Murray mine. This contained no nickel, however, and was no doubt of later origin than the nickel ore proper, having a relation similar to that of the crystals of pyrite mentioned above. One would hardly expect to find pentlandite or polydymite, -with their low proportions of sulphur, intimately mixed with an iron compound containing two atoms of sulphur to one of iron; so that probably the nickel found in pyrite and marcasite really replaces iron in these minerals in the form of Ni 83, as suggested by Prof. Walker. PENTLANDITE. By all means the most important mineral in the Sudbury deposits is pentlandite (Fe Ni) S, since in the great majority of cases this is con- sidered to be the real nickel-bearing mineral; nevertheless it is rather rarely seen in the ores and has not been found in quite a number of mines. lAm. Jour. Sc, 3rd Series, Vol. XLVII, pp. 312-14. 2G.S.C., 1890-91, p. 116 SS. 23 If carefully looked over, the Crean Hill and Creighton ores often show it, and the old Evans and Worthington mines furnished it also. The pent- landite of the Sudbury region is without crystal forms but has a character- istic octahedral cleavage which distinguishes it from the enclosing pyrrhotite, which generally has no definite cleavage planes. On fresh surfaces the two minerals are almost the same in colour, and the pentlandite is hard to recog- nize unless ones eye is well trained; but it soon weathers to a brassy yellow easily picked out from the bronzy background of pyrrhotite. Cleavage surfaces are sometimes an inch or more in diameter though this is by no means common. The proportions of iron to nickel in pentlandite are quite variable, the mineral as first described by Scheerer having only 18-35 per cent of nickel, while some Sudbury examples contain nearly 40 per cent of the metal, as may be seen from the following analyses: I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. Ni Co Fe 18-35 42-70 36-45 1-16 21-07 40-21 36-64 1-78 34-23 0-85 30-25 33-42 34-82 0-84 30 00 32-90 33-70 0-78 29-17 32-30 34-98 0-85 30 04 33-30 39-85 traces 25-81 s 34-35 Cu 0-67 98-66 99-70 99-42 98-56 95-95 99-17 100-15 The first two are from Lillehammer, analysed by Scheerer; III is from Sudbury, analysed by J. K. Mackenzie (Dana, 6th Ed., p. 65); IV by Prof. Penfield; V, VI, and VII by Dr. Dickson. ^ Pentlandite was first recognized in Sudbury ores in 1891, by Prof. Walker, then chemist at Murray mine, who named a specimen sent to him from Worthington by Dr. Barlow Eise?i nickel kies, the German term for the mineral.- As pentlandite is practically non-magnetic and pyrrhotite is usually decidedly attracted by the magnet it was natural to think that the two minerals could be separated magnetically, and elaborate attempts at such a separation were made by Browne, Barlow, Dickson and others; but it has been found that the minerals are too intimately mixed to permit of a complete separation except by methods too costly to be of practical value. Reference will be made later to work of this kind. Some of the analyses show that -78 to -85 per cent of cobalt occurs in the pentlandite, accounting probably for the cobalt contents of the stan- dard matte of the region. The three closely related metals, iron, nickel, and cobalt, replace one another more or less in their compounds. POLYDYMITE. Polydymite, Nii S5, according to Dana, as described from Griinau, Wcsti)halia, is a sulphide of nickel with a small amount of iron and a very small amount of cobalt replacing part of the nickel.^ The example ^ ana- 'Trans. Am. Inst. Min. Eng., 1903. 'G.S.C, Vol. XIV, Fart H. p. 13. 3Dana, 6th Ed., p. 75. 24 lysed from the Sudbury region contain from 15 to 18 per cent of iron, l)ut a^ they agree in other respects with the properties of the original mineral, they may be included also under the name. The proportions of nickel and iron to sulphur approach those found for iron and sulphur in pyrrho- tite, bu: while pyrrhotite crystallizes in hexagon d forms, polydymite, like pentlandite, is isometric. No cryst ds have been reported, hue thjre is a well marked cubic cleavage making the system of crystallization certaio. Polydymite from our region is dark iron grey in colour with good metallic lustre on fresh surfaces, but it very quickly tarnishes and soon falls to powder in the weather. The only place where it has been found with certainty is at the Ver- milion mine, where it is associated w^ith copper pyrite.--, often intimately intergrown, though large masses may sometimes be found nearly free from it. The lollowing analyses show its composition: Xi. Fe. Co. 5.3-51 3-84 0-61 S 40-27 Sb : 0-57 As... Cu... SiOe. 1-04 99-78 III. 41-96 15-57 39-20 I 40-80 1-15 I 2-30 0-62 1-02 99-90 I 99-97 IV 36-85 18-17 38-43 4-47 98-45 Nos. I and II are rom Griinau, bj^ Laspej-res, as quoted by Dana, No. Ill from Clark and Catlett,^ and No. IV from David Browned It is possible that polydymite instead of pentlandite supplies the nickel in some of the mines where the latter mineral has not been found. From its relations of metal to sulphur it would more naturally accompany pyrrhotite than pentlandite would; and if finely disseminated it would easily escape notice in pyrrhotite. It would be surprising if this mineral should occur to the amount of hundreds of tons at one mine and not at all in any of the other ore deposits of the region. MILLERITE. MiKerite, Ni S, is the richest in nickel of all the ores, containing when pure 64-6 per cent. It was thought, in the earlier development of the region, to be disseminated through the pyrrhotite and so to form the real nickel carrier; but the discovery of pentlandite in several of the mines makes this quite improbable. Millerite has been reported from the Copper lAm. Jour. Sc. Vol. XXXVII, 1889, pp. 372-4. ^Engineering and Mining Journal, Vol. LVI, p. 566. Cliff mine by Dr. Peters and Dr. Dickson, the latter considering it second- ary after pentlandite. It has been reported also from the Sheppard mine, lot, 1, con. 3, of Blezard township, and Prof. Walker and the writer found a few small blade-like crystals of it on the dump of Vermilion mine some years ago; but it is evidently cjuite unimportant as a source of nickel. GERSDORFFITE. All the minerals referred to thus far are compounds of the same ele- ents, nickel, cobalt, and iron with sulphur, but in varying proportions and with very different physical characters. In m my other regions where sulphides are prominent there are found also some arsenic minerals; but so far as known these are almost entirely absent in the Sudbury district, except at a few unimportant outcrops along the Worthington offset south- west of Victoria mines. One of these minerals, gersdorffite, Ni S As, contains both sulphur and arsenic. It is a white or steel grey, highly metallic looking mineral, containing when pure 35-4 per cent of nickel, and occurs especially northeast of Worthington where it is more or less mixed with nickelite. A prospect has been named the Gersdorffite mine from its presence. NICKELITE OR NICCOLITE. Nickelite, the German Kupfer nickel, Ni As, contains 43-9 per cent of the metal, and was the earliest source of nickel. Its pale copper colour and high metallic lustre make it a very handsome mineral. It is found in the Sudbury region only on the Worthington offset, mainly associated with gersdorffite, Imt has no practical importance as a source of the metal. CHALCOPYRITE. In addition to the sulphides containing nickel and iron there is one very imi)ortant ore of copper almost invariably present, chalcopyrite or cojjper pyrites, Cu Fe S?. Unlike most of the nickel minerals mentioned above chalcopyrite is practically constant in composition, containing when pure 34-5 per cent of copper, 30-5 per cent of iron, and 35 percent of sul])hur. Ghalcopyrite comes next in amount to pyrrhotite and pent- landite and is always a more conspicuous component of the ore than the latter mineral because of its striking greenish brassy hue and its liability to tarnish with irridescent colours. Good crystals of the minerals appear to be lacking. Copper pyrites may either be intimately mixed with the pyrrhotite or form considerable masses by itself. It appears to be more easily dissolved and redepositcnl than i)yrrhotite and so is more frequently found in fissures in the country rock; and it is especially comincm near the walls of ore bodies or associated with masses of rock enclosed in the sul- phides, so that as a rule rocky ore contains a higher percentage of copper than ore rich in sulphide^. In two im])ortant mines, the C()i)per Cliff and the Crean Hill, copper is present in larger amounts than nickel, and at Garson and Victoria mines it about equals the nickel; but all the other mines contain more nickel than cojiper. As the percentage of copper in chalcopyrite is about ecjual to the percentage of nickel in pentlandite, we may assume according to the usual theory, that pentlandite occurs in larger quantities than copper ])^•rites in most ores, though it is so rarely seen. 25873—1 26 OTHER COPPER MINERALS. Bornite and chalcocite were reported from the Vermilion mine in earlier days, but neither was to l)e seen when the mine was freshly opened up on a large scale in 1910; so that probably they were secondary minerals formed by surface waters and did not reach very deep. Malachite too occurs as green stains at many of the mines, but is, of course, entirely superficial and due to the weathering of copper pyrites. Native copper has been found rather frequently at the Vermilion mine, and has been obtained at depths of probably fifteen feet; but it is mostly in thin films too fragile to preserve. It has no doubt been pre- cipitated from the sulphate solution by some reducing agent, probably organic matter carried by descending water>^. The same may be true also of the native copper reported from Copper Cliff mine; though this was found a thousand feet below the surface, which makes its origin doubtful. All these copper minerals are of secondary origin, derived from the primary copper pyrites. MAGNETITE. Though the sulphides greatly preponderate among the Sudbury minerals, oxides occur also, particularly magnetite, FcsO^; which is some- times seen as scattered crystals in the pyrrhotite, and occasionally forms masses of ore even tons in weight, as at Clarabelle mine north of Copper Cliff. It is highly magnetic and not the titaniferous variety. The crystals, where distinguishable in the pyrrhotite, have octahedral and other forms, polished and a little rounded, as if the sharp edges had been somewhat dissolved away. In ore from one outcrop in Levack township the magnetic crystals make up about ten per cent of the whole; and diamond drill cores from parts of the Northern range show enough magnetite to have importance as an iron ore if the deposits are of large enough dimensions. TITANIFEROUS MAGNETITE. The titaniterous variety of magnecite is almost always lound in basic igneous rocks and is of frequent occurrence in th ; nickel-bearing norite, as shown by a whitish rim of leucoxene round the crystals in thin sections. Prof. Walker has found titaniferous iron ore in small quantities in i-he pyrrhotite from Murray mine, but it seems much less common in the ore than the more magnetic variety mentioned above. CASSITERITE. Cassiterite, the oxide of tin, is the only other oxide of interest in the nickel ores, but occurs in quite insignificant amounts, and has been reported only from Vermilion mine, where Messrs. Penfield and Wells found it along with sperrylite. LATER METALLIC MINERALS. With the exception of millerite and copper ores other than chal- copyrite, all the minerals mentioned above seem to be original parts of the deposits in which they are found. The more important of them, pyrrhotite, pj^rite, marcasite, pentlandite, and chalcopyrite, appear to have been regular constituents of the norite-micropegmatite magma which slowly settled to the bottom of the molten mass, somewhat as matte sepa- rates from slag in ^melting furnaces. They are in a sense rock-forming minerals associated with the magnetite and silicates of the norite at its lower or basic edge, and reached their present position before the eruptive sheet finally cooled. There has been some rearrangement since, especially in offset deposits, but the materials dissolved, transported, and redepocited were obtained from the norite itself and were not shifted far from their source. They are not associated with water formed minerals such as quartz and calcite. There are, however, on the other hand, in most of the ore deposits later veins of characteristic aqueous formation, including quartz, carbonates, and a few metallic sulphides other than thosedescribed above. N« Pyrite or mavcasite, galena, zinc blende and molybdenite are found in such veins at several of the mines, especially on offsets. They are known from Creighton, Crean Hill, Copper Cliff and Garson mines, and would probably be found at others if looked for. These veins, usually very narrrow, cut right across both'norite and ore and were evidently formed under totally different conditions from the typical minerals of the ore. Their source may have been the overlying or underlying rocks; since the same sulphides and gangue minerals have been found in the underlying Huronian slate and greywacke, and also in the sedimentary rocks of the basin above the acid phase of the nickel eruptive. Zinc blende, brownish Ijlack in colour and coarse textured, is rather often found at Crean Hill, and is known at one or two other points. It is the only known compound of zinc. Gilena is somewhat more common and occurs in considerable amounts at Garson mine, a vein several inches wide cutting the ore body. Here it is very coarsely crystalline. It is found too at Copper Cliff and Creigh- ton in very small quantities, always apparently of later deposit than the ore. It has been suggested that the galena present in some of the ores might account for the small quantity of silver always to be found in the matte, but galena is too infrequent and too irregularly distributed to be of importance in this respect, particularly since specimens assayed prove very low in silver, Molybdenite has been reported only once, from the Worthington offset, which has a greater variety of minerals than any other part of the region. NATURAL GAS. In the Copper Cliff mine at the lower levels an odorless combustible gas was ol)served, but no careful examination seems to have been made of it. This suggests a reducing agent capable of producing the native copper found on the 12th level of the mine. A little graphite has been picked up on the dump at the Lady Mac- d(mald mine, north of Copper Cliff. The source of the carbon and hydro- carbons is unknown, unless it could have been derived in some way from the once bituminous slate overlying the nickel eruptive. THE GOSSAN MINERALS. Pyrrliotite s readily attacked by the processes of weathering, and chalcopyrite also soon tarnishes and yields to surface acton; so that. 25873— 4i 28 a number o- iron, nickel and copper compounds are formed, mostly of a fugitive kind. Everyone familiar with the nickel region remembers the peculiar copperas smell of the nickel deposits, especially after damp weather. The first stage in the process is the formation of hydrous sulphates of the three metals, w^hich may often be seen as crusts or short icicle-like forms where there are projecting or overhanging masses of ore. The sulphates are bluish green when completelj- hjxlrated, but turn w^hite b}' loss of moisture. These sulphates are quite evanescent compounds, scarcely deserving the name of minerals. They are very soluble and give their peculiar bluish green colour to the water of pools on the ore or filling the open pits of abandoned mines. The chief sulphate is, of course, that of iron, FeSOj THjO, (melanterite or copperas); but that of copper, CuSOi 5H2O (chalcanthite), of nickel, XiS04 TH^O (morenosite), and probably also of cobalt, C0SO4 TH-jO. (bieberite) must occur also. The next stage is the formation of limonite, the hydrated sesqui- oxide of iron, which is the typical gossan product of the region. What becomes of the sulphates of nickel and copper is unknown, though occasion- ally a film of green malachite ma}' be found where the ore is rich in copper. A permanent secondary compound of nickel has not been reported from the region. The brownish red gossan is the most characteristic sign of nickel deposits on the ranges, and where the gossan is widespread and thick there is almost certainly ore of importance beneath it. The limonite is a very stable mineral and often stands up as mounds or hills, but a very few years are safficient to transform pyrrhoiite ore on the mine clumps into a crumbling mass of rusty fragments from which most of the copper and nickel has been leached away. It is therefore unwise to open up deposits on a large scale before the ore is required for smelting unless it can be stored under cover. Probably millions of tons of nickel and copper have been dissolved and carried away by the drainage of the region since its first exposure to the weather in Palaeozoic times; and this age long wastage seems nowhere to have resulted in the concentration of the metals in workable secondary deposits. They have probably passed in solution to the sea and are lost to man forever. MINERALS OF THE PRECIOUS METALS. All of tlie Sudburj' ores contain small amounts of the precious metals, but these are seldom found in recognizable minerals. Native gold was early found in the gossan of the Vermilion mine, which was first taken up as a gold mine; and soon after it was obtained from Victoria mine a mile or two west. A little was found also at Crean Hill when the mine was discovered. Of the other precious metals, silver, platinum, and palladium, the source of only one is known, the platinum. SPERRYLITE. Sperryhte, Pt As 2, the arsenide of platinum, was first obtained from the gossan of Vermilion mine, and later from the Victoria mine, then called the McConnell property. The name was given by the Messrs. Wells and Penfield in honour of Mr. F. L. Sperry, chemist of the Canadian Copper Co., who had sent it to them for examination. The mineral was found during the crushing and washing of the material for gold in a miniature stamp 29 mill, where it collected with the gold on a blanket over which the pulp was passed. Its brilliant silvery colour and lustre naturally surprised the gold miners. It crystallizes in tiny cubes and octahedra with a few other forms of the isometric system, and is very hard (from 6 to 7) and resists weather ing perfectly. As its specific gravity is 10-6 it is concentrated along with the gold in the gossanj' deljris above ore deposits. The mean of two ana- lyses b}' Wells and Penfield give the following composition: Arsenic 40-98 Antimony 0-50 Platinuni 52-57 Rhodium 0-72 Palladium trace. Iron 0-07 Cassiterite (SnOa) 4-62 Total 99-46 The sperrylite of the ores is mainly contained in copper pyrites, and may be obtained from it by dissolving the latter mineral with acid, as shown by Mr. Mickle and later by Dr. Dickson, but it occurs more sparingly in the other sulphides, such as polydymite. This mineral has not been found at the other mines, though the platinum ol)tained from matte made from their ores suggests that it is really present. It is known that palladium occurs in the Sudbur\' ores in larger amounts than platinum; but no palladium compound has yet been discovered. The silver, also, is not accounted for unless contained in the copper pyrites. The Source of the Ores. From the foregoing description it is evident that in most of the Sud- bury mines the ores are very few in number and very monotonous in char- acter, pyrrhotite, pentlandite, and chalcopyrite making up most of them almost exclusively; and even these three minerals practically never show crj^stal forms. Further we know that they are invariably associated with a single rock, norite, which i- almost as monotonous in its habit asthc sulphides, and mixes with them in every gradation. The association is so impressive to the field geologist that he inevi abl}' looks for a causal connexion between them; and it ma}^ be added that all geologists who have studied the relationships in the field are convinced that the causal connexion is mag- mat ic segregation. The molten mass of eruptive rock was charged with the sal})hides of iron, nickel and copper, which separated out before cooling was com])l('t('. It is, however, interesting to find that certain metallurgists and others who have studied the ores chiefly in the laboratory or with the microscope JKjld a totally different view, believing that the ores have been brought in hy water, re])lacing the rock-forming minerals. The first to state this opinion in a decided way was Dr. C. W. Dickson,* who studied sections of rock and ore; but the work of Messrs. Wm. ('am])bell and C. W. Knight, illustrated by beautiful microphotographs of polished sections, is perhaps the more important"-. They have 'Trans. Am. Inst. Min. Eng., 1904, p. '.id. 2Econ. (ieol., Vol. II, No. 4, 1907, p. 350-.3«G. 30 shown conelusively from the study of specimens of ore from several of the Sudbury mines, as well as from Norway and other regions, that a definite order of succession can be recognized among the sulphides, pyrrhotite being oldest, pentlandite next, and chalcopyrite last. Where rock forming minerals are present also, the order is, magnetite, silicates, pyrrhotite, pentlandite, ancl chalcopyrite. These results may be accepted without opposition by those who hold the magmatic theory, since the study of polished sections shows simply the final disposition of the minerals. It can throw no light on the origin of these minerals beyond affirming that a certain amount of fractur- ing of pyrrhotite allowed pentlandite or chalcopj^ite to migrate into the fissures; but where the later minerals came from is still an unsolved problem. The magmatic segregation theory provides for all the ores as separating more or less completely from the molten rock, but does not deny that there may have been later rearrangements among them, so that the two theories are in reality complementary and harmonious. The numerous lines of evidence in favor of the magmatic theory are well given by Dr Barlow\ who seems to have been the first to reach such a conclusion, though a number of others, including ^^on Foullon, Vogt, Adams, Browne, Walker, Kemp, and the present writer, have argued in its favour. The evidence for the magmatic theory hardly needs to be repeated here, since most geologists and mining engineers interested in the Sudbury deposits are already satisfied of its correctness. In the course of the fol- lowing account of the region the soundness of the theory will become clear without any formal summing up of the arguments. Rocks Associated with the Ore. The Sudbury pyrrhotites always contain small amounts of ordinary rock forming minerals, such as pyroxene and plagioclase feldspar, and these may increase until the silicates equal the sulphides in amount, when the mixture may be called pyrrhotite-norite. Such intermediate rocks are found at every ore deposit, so far as known, and form a transition towards ordinary norite. In fresh examples some blebs or specks of the sulphides, pyrrhotite, and in less amount chalcopyrite, are seen disseminated through the usual grej- rock. When weathered the sulphides are dissolved or turned to iron oxide, and the brownish surface of the rock is spotted with limonite or has many rustj^ holes from which the sulphides have been removed. This 'pock marked' surface is characteristic of the norite near ore bodies. A few blebs of ore or tiny rusty cavities are often found in the rock hundreds of yards away, and occasionally even a mile or two from the basic edge of the norite. This often serves as a guide in field work, since no other rock in the region has the same peculiarity. For this and other reasons the pyrrhotite, almost always associated with some copper pyrites, may be looked on as itself a part of the succession of differentiation products of the great laccolithic sheet mentioned earlier. The norite of the basic edge accompanying the ore varies greatly in freshness and in appearance, so that the prospector or mining engineer requires to have a certain range of experience in order to recognize it in different localities. The typical norite of the southern range is a rather coarse, dark grey massive rock in which one can distinguish a little brown biotite and also bluish quartz in scattered blebs, though the bulk of the rock 'G.S.C., Vol. XIV., Part H, pp. 124, etc. Plate XI. 1 . — Mirropegmatite. Polarized light X 10. Quartz light, andcsine pale grey, blende dark grey. 2. — Norite: Creighton mine. Ordinary light X 10, Lahradorite pale grey, hypersthene darker grey. 3.— Pyrrhotite-noritc X 10. Labradorite pale grey, hypor.sthene dark grey, pyrrhotite black. 31 is clearly made up of grey feldspar and a darker grey or green miner il in smaller amounts. The darker mineral often has the character of horn- blende, so that the name diorite was applied to the rock in the beginning, and most prospectors still use the term. Fresh examples however prove to contain two varieties of pyroxene, ordinary augite and hypersthene; the latter usually in large amounts; so that the hornblende is evidently of secondary origin. That the fresh rock is norite and not diorite or gabbro was proved first by Baron von Foullon^ who visited Murray mine in 1891; and Avas confirmed by Dr. T. L. Walker two years later from the same mine and from Blezard mine-. This was of much interest as bringing the Sudbury deposits in line with those of Norway previously investigated by Prof. Vogt. Through the work of Dr. Barlow and the present writer the presence of fresh norite has been shown at many other places, including the great Creighton mine, and the rock forming minerals are often found unchanged in contact with disseminated masses of the ore. In thin sections of the pyrrhotite-norite the ore itself, when unaffected by later changes, is grouped with the more basic minerals as might be expected. It is often close beside magnetite, the two opaque minerals making a . ingle mass, or it may enclose magnetite, or be enclosed by it. It is frequently found along.- ide of hypersthene or augite crystals and also beside or imbedded in mica. It may, however, lie between the dark coloured minerals and the feldspars. Where the rock is least changed the outlines of the ore masses are as sharp and apparently undisturbed as those of the other minerals, and the inference is natural that the pyrrhotite assumed its position in the same way as the other rock forming minerals. All are strikingly fresh, even the hyper- sthenes, which are usually among the first of the silicates to be attacked and rearranged. When hypersthene has begun to change into fibrous hornblende, however, the pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite usually show signs of disturbance, penetrating cracks in the adjoining p^.rtif lly decomposed minerals. To one unacquainted with the general geological associations this might be interpreted as replacement, though it is not really so, and implies only a rearrangement of materials already present in the rock, and not a t''ansport of materials from a distance to take the place of ingredients which had b"en dissolved. Even in the greatly weath'-rcd specimens of the rock where the pyrox- enes are transformed to uralite the ore l^lebs are found completely enclosed, often far apart from one another, and the microscope shows no channels through which solutions might circulate from a distance. That there has been a certain amount of solution and redeposition in many of the ore deposits is admitted by all, but this was of the na.ure of a rearrangement of the minerals of the rock, and not due to the introduction of new materials. It is therefore quite consistent with the accepted theory of magmatic segregation. Admitting this theory, and admitting also that gravity playetl a pre- ])ond(Tating part in the separation of or(> from rock, as it does of matte from slag in metallurgical practice, conclusions of great practical import- ance may be drawn. The chief ore Ixxlies will be found where there are large depressions in the floor on which the molten norite rested, so a? to concentrate the ore in one place instead of allowing it to spread out thinly on an even bottom. In addition, where the thickness of molten magma ■Jahrbuch dor K.K. Gcol. Rcifbs-.mstalt, Vienna, 1892, pp. 223-310. Hiuur. Journ. Gcol. 8of. \iA. I, III, pp. 40-40. 32 was greatest there will be the largest accumulation of ore, .supposing that it was evenly dissolved in the original magma. Both points have been con- clusively proved by the field work. On the other hand no ore need be looked for on upward or inward bend^ of the floor, since the molten sulphides would settle down into the hollows on each side. This too is confirmed by the results of the field work. It is evidenc then that the careful working out of the boundary of the norite and ot the thickness of different parts of the norite-micropegmatite sheet is of fundamental importance in determining the position and size of the accumulations of ore. It has been proved that nickel ore is always accomp jiied by norite for the good reason that it formed a part of the common magma. Though there is no ore without norite, the reverse is not true, since there are wide stretches of norite with little or no ore, in accordance with the arrangement of the underlying country rock, as shown before. The typical coarse grej" norite with a little mica and blue quartz described above occurs along the most productive part of the main nickel range, frcm Victoria mine to Blezard mine; but along other parts of the basic edge the rock changco somewhat in appearance, being lighter in colour and showing less of the two accessory minerals. In some places, as near Gar.-on mine, it has been sheared or squeezed into a rather pale grey schist which contains none of the original norice minerals and would never be recognized as belooging to that rock if the contact had not been followed up without a break from the typical region to the southwest. On the northern and eastern ranges the norite is about as coarse grained but paler in colour. The basic edge of the norite and the marginal ore bodies everywhere dip inwards toward the central axis of the syncline and rest unconformably en the truncated edges of the older rocks, which may be of any description without affecting the ore deposits. On the northern range the country rock is chiefly greyish or pinkish granitoid gneiss with bands of green schist and dykes oi pegmatite — the characteristic Laurentian gneiss of the Cana- dian Archaean. On tne eastern range the underlying rock is chiefly green schist or greenstone with dyk^s of granite, probably of Keewatin age. The country rocks of the southern range present the greatest variety. Beginning at the southwest corner of the syncline there are green, tone.-' and granites intermixed, perhaps Laurentian, or perhaps ot later age. At the Chicago mine the greenstones are largely replaced by pale grey or white anorthosite, followed by greenstones at Victoria mine and Crean Hill. To the east of this a later granite makes the boundary for a mile or two, followed by greenstone penetrated by granite. At Gertrude mine a band of confused volcanic rocks, incluchng an oldec norite, extends nearly to Creighton, where coarse graiitoid gneiss lies beneath the norite and ore. Coarse and fine granitoid rocks extend from this to the Copper Cliff region; after which there are more volcanics, including the older norite and pillow lava. Then come two or three miles of a medium grained granite probably later than the norite, succeeded at Little Stobie by older norites and lava flows, which reach to the Blezird mine. After this the country rock is mainly g eenstone with some greywacke or quartzite. The norite and ore along chfferent parts of the boundary rest upon at lea t a dozen types of rock as foot wall, mostly eruptives, but varying in composition from acid granite to a very basic norite or greenstone with not more than 50 per cent of silica. These rocks are partly coarse plutonics which cooled at great depthr% and partly lava streams. At certain points the ore comes against sediments also. None of these rocks has the slightest effect on the norite or ore except as a solid foundation with an irregular surface on wh^ch both ore and rock might solidify. The magma of che nickel eruptive was the parent of the ore, and the country rock beyond and below was a purely accidental thing influencing the formation of the ore bodies only by its shape and other physical features, not by its compo- sition or chemical properties. In various places, as at Murray and Creighton mines, both ore and norite become finer grained against the country rock beneath, showing that it was then cold and chilled the molten materials where they came in contact with it. TRANSITION FROM NORITE TO MICROPEGMATITE. As mentioned before there is no break between the norite of the basic edge of •''he nickel-bearing eruptive and the micropegmatite of its acid edge. If one crosses it at one of the widest parts, for instance, near Murray mine or Creighton, one passes from ore to pyrrhotite-norite in one or two hundred teet, and witliin a few hundred yards reaches typical norite, the coarse grey rock with a few rusty spot? where round blebs of ore have weathered out, which has been mentioned before. For one and a half or two miles there is little change in the appearance of the rock except that th.re are f,^,w, ii any, Ijlebs of ore in it, and for this distance it weathers someAvhat rapidly in rounded masses enclosed in coarpe sand and gravel resulting from its own decomposition. The microscope shows no great change in the rock up to this, except an increase in the quartz incergrown with thj feldspars; but beyond this the eruptive becomes reddish on weathered surfaces and looks like a dark syenite, though the microscope shows mainly plagioclase as the feldspar, with a considerable amount of micropegmatite between the crystal ?. There is little orthoclase to be seen, though analyses prove that this phase of the rock contains almost as much potash as soda. The coarse reddish variety seldom continues to the actual acid edge, where the rock usually becomes finer grained, grey or greenish in colour and often somewhat schistose, so that it has been mapped as gneiss or Huronian schist. The feldspar crystals are seen, under the microscope, to be andesine as well as orthoclase, generally having platy shapes suggesting the trachitic structure. The micropegmatite has increased in amouot, and crystals of andesine arc apt to be enclosed in a wide border of plumy iutergrowths of quartz and fL4dspir which can hardly be resolved even with high powers of the microscope. Analyses show little change in the chemical compo- sition except a slight increase of silica. Types of Ore Deposits in the Sudbury Region. When the Sudbury ores first attracted attention magmatic segregations were scarcely recognized as ore deposits and the terms used for the Sudbury ore bodies were naturally those applying to the better known deposits formed by circulating waters. They were spoken of as "veins" or "stock- works" or "lensjs" since th.' forms in which they occur sometimes suggest these terms. It was supposed by some, however, that they might be "replacements" or "contact deposits"; and there are points which might !)(' thought favorable to such a view. Occasionally the deposits have (lefijiite walls and a somewhat vein-hke form, as near the Orford works, ('()])])er Cliff; and most of the ore bo(li(>s have ]>arts that resemble stock- works, where the ore reticulates about fragments of country rock; but in 34 both cases the ore penetrated the small fissuies while molten, under pres- sure irom the magma above. The fissures themselves and the crush breccias in which the ore plays the part of matrix were due to the faulting and smashing of the underlying rock owing to the motions of the nickel- bearing magma in reaching its present position. Again the ore bodies sometimes have a rude lenticular shape, though they are not symmetrical as they should be in typical lenses. The side toward the country rock may be fairly well defined, but the side toward the norite has no definite boundary. Where secondary action of circulating waters is pronounced the ores have to some extent the appearance- of materials deposited by replacement; although this is deceptive, since the ores have not been introduced from without, and have merel}' been rearranged in practically the place where they originated. The ore bodies often have the look of contact deposits, lying as they commonly do, between country rock, such as granite or greenstone, and the never failing norite; but they are not contact deposits ia the usual sense, implj'jng that the country rock has been a necessary reagent causing the precipitation of the ore. It is evident that none of the foregoing terms, drawn from studies of ore deposits made by circulating waters, will apply properly to masses ot ore having an origin so essentially different as magmatic segregation. To meet this difficulty the two main varieties of ore bodies in the region were distinguished by the present writer as ''marginal" and "offset" deposits, terms having no connexion with those used for water formed deposits.^ MARGINAL DEPOSITS, Many of the more important nickel deposits occur at the basic margin of the norite, lying between it and the adjoining country rock. They are commonly irregular sheets of ore occupying the lowest parts of the country rock, penetrating all its fissures and enclosing blocks of it of all shapes and sizes. They may, however, have a veiy distinct foot wall where the country lock was not shattered by the influx of ore and norite or where faulting has brought a -■mooth surface of country rock against the ore. After a varying thickness of pure ore containing very little of the rock minerals the blending ot rock and ore called pyrrhotite-norite occurs, passing finally into norite with a few blebs of ore. The inner and upper margin is very indefinite, being fixed in mining simply where the amount of rock matter pri-sent is too great to be profitably worked. The thickness of workable ore may vary from a few feet to 100 feet or more as in the Creighton mine. The length is equally variable, ranging from one or two hundred to seven hundred feet, but is usually several times the thickness. Often the ends thin out without ceasing entirely, and a very rusty rock may connect one deposit with another, as happens with the Elsie and Murray mines, so that more or less ore continues for half a mile or more. The depth to which marginal deposits go is unknown. The Creighton has been found by mining 700 feet below the surface and is known by the results of diamond drilling to extend to at least 900 feet. Theoretically there is no reason why these ore bodies should not go down indefinitely provided the depression in the underlying country rock continues. 1 Bur. Mines, Ont., Vol. XIV, 1905. pp. 19, etc. Plate XII. m^ ■ 1 ifc£' ■.- /'Zr/ro/^Y ^/r//// 7/ □ ■ ^ ^^^Hmi^i' ' A/cny7/ □ ^Uli fcHi^' Om n ^^ Biji^r ' (^/t/JWTf [^-n ^^iK '^I'ypical marginal deposit. Pl..\TE XIII. l''aiillril marginal deposit. 35 Marginal ore bodies usually dip at moderate angles inwards toward the axis of the syncline, the inclinations commonly observed running from 20° to 65°, with an average of 30° or 35°. At the Creighton mine i,he dip of the foot-wall is 34° in the upper part and flattens to 32° in the lower levels. Since there are marginal deposit ^ on all sides of the nickel basin, there are ore bodies inclined in every direction, those of the southern range dip- ping northward or northwestward, and those of the northern dipping south- eastward; those on the east end dipping west, and vice versa. Occasionally faulting interferes with the regularity of the arrangement, but in general the deposits conform surprisingly well with the outline just given. These ore bodies may be symmetrical to a vertical plane at right angles to the d'p, but they are never symmetrical as to their upper and lower sides, since the lower side is generally well defined, while the upper merges into the general body of norite. There is usually a good foot -wall but no defiaite hanging wall. FAULTED MARGINAL DEPOSITS. Since the former survey of the region was made two very interesting deposits have been opened up, disclosing features quite different from those of ordinary marginal deposits, yet so closely bound up with the norite edge as to be marginal in position. These are the Crean Hill and Garson mines. In each case the deposit was formed, or at least begun, as the usual marginal type, occupying a hollow in the underlying country rock; but later faults of various kinds have carried masses of country rock over or into the basic edge of the norite, greatly confusing the relations and giving risv- to ore much richer in copper than that of the regular marginal mines. During the faulting the country rock was more or les.? crushed and split into small and large blocks, and the ore wandered into the fissures be 'ween the blocks, either at the time as molten sulphides, or later through water transport. As chalcopyrite is everywhere the more transferable of the sulphides, it has entered the fissures more largely than the pyrrhotite. Unusually large amounts of quartz, carbonates, and sulphides of zinc or le id are found in these two mines as a result of circul iting waters, and these 1 iter processes have played a larger part than in most other ore bodies of the region whether marginal or offset. OFFSET DEPOSITS. The term "off.ret" was introduced to include ore bodies connected with dyke-like projections from the basic edge of the norite, or more or less separate masses of ore and norite not visibly connected with the main body of rock, but almost certainly having underground connexions. Dr. Barlow prefers to separate the isolated ore ])odies as a third type, and there is something to be said for this view,^ but the general character of tne two is so nmch alike that they may be discussed together. The marginal deposits occupy depressions in the country rock below the norite, but often these bays or depressions end funnel-like in a projec- tion somewhat resembling a dyke, though usually more irregular in shape and boundaries. Because of this irregularity and al ^o because of the trequent interruptions in these ])ands of norite and ore it seems preferable to use the Avord offset rather than dyke for descriptive purjioses. One must think of the underlying country rock as having Ijeen broken and shattered in many places Ijy collapse during the removal of the molten •G.S.C., Part H, Vol. XIV, p. 120. 36 rock from beneath, and also by the mechanical action of the laccolithic sheet spreading out above. The fissures and devious channels between the blocks would be flooded by the highly fluid norite and ore acting under the pressure of three miles of overlying magma and solid rock. The bottom norite highly charged with sulphides entered and filled every existing channel and forced it.-- way in places through belts of shattered and weakened rock, enclosing many fragments torn off on the way. Doubtless there was much grinding of one surface upon another in the process, accounting for the many rounded boulder-like rock fragments enclosed in the ore. Ofi^sets may sometimes extend continuously from the basic edge of the norite for a distance of a mile or two, as at Copper Cliff, first as a funnel irregularly narrowing, then in a dyke-like manner with a width of only 100 cr 200 feet. At length it ceases abruptly. More or less ore appears along the lunnel-shaped part, resembling in its arrangement the marginal deposits mentioned above; Avhile along the narrow projection from the funnel the norite is highly charged with orp, and small bodies of solid ore occur, but usually not of great importance. When the band of pyrrhotite-norite ends, however, there is apt to be a large and important ore body, a typical offset deposit, as at No. 2 mine, Copper Cliff. It is as though advance was arrested and the sulphides could accumulate. After a longer or shorter interruption of barren couiitry rock, .norite and ore appear again, sometimes as small isolated bodies, at others as elongated outcrops with mosi of the ore at the outer end. These separate outcrops may be very definitely aligned, as in the Worthington offset, or may be scattered quite irregularly, as at Copper Cliff; since the arrangement was due to the accidents of the conduits into which the ore and magma w^ere forced. The relationship has been aptly expressed by Dr. Peters as "like sausages on a string, })ut with a long bit cf string between the sausages."^ The word offset is used for the whole series of outcrops, which may be short, with only a single ore deposit, or long, iacluding as many as foar or five distinct ore bodies, and containing in all hundreds of thousands of tons of ore. As might be expected, when a depression beyond the basic edge ends in an offset, there ire no important marginal deposits, most of the ore having passed on to halt before various obstructions as offset deposits. COLUMNAR OFFSET DEPOSITS. In form typical offset deposits differ completely from the marginal deposits described on an earlier page. They may be fairly symmetrical as they appear on the surface, and have usually a longer diameter in the direction of the offset, and a shorter one across it. Occasionally ore may fill almost the whole width between the walls of country reck, though there is al- ways more or less norite spotted with ore associated with it . When followed down in mining operations they prove to be among tlie most extraordinary ore deposits in the world, and may be looked upon as quite unique in the light of recent developments. In the last report on the nickel region the Copper Cliff depo.-it was known to go down for 1,000 feet without interruption as a rude oval pipe with diameters varying from 50 to 200 feet, and a dip of 77 1° to the northeast. Since that time the two ore bodies of Victoria mine, though smaller in diameter, have been followed to the depth of 1,400 feet with no indica- 'Mineral Resources of Ontario, p. 104. Plate XIV. / t --^ ^L*. wIk.< » mL ■^^^i^^.^r^ % ^ ; ^ % 1 1 I j I /Vo/f/7£L p^? —•^ (9/f^ ^ Oyr£/rA'6/C/VL i,;i Possible arrangement for offset deposit. Plate XV. 1 ^v - ( ' 1 ' 1 * ^** -^ , L> ^-^— ^^'^^-^ _Jgk^ mtff^'* W' I'll ; i M ^^ M V\ * 1: 1 11. 1^^*^**%^;'- ■ ': ' ' ' • ^^1^1^- ki^ ^*^..' L- 1 nr] O^c ^3 Gr-c, ' s. /•vS To^ii IMjliI P()ssil)l(' a rranKcnient for offset deposit. 25873— a tion that they may not continue indefinitely. These two small cylinders ot ore, more than 1,400 feet in length and close together, bat never meecing, are not at all easy to account for on a ay other theory than the magmatic one, and this continuance to io great a depth was not anticipated in earlier studies of the region. The much larger cylinder of No. 2 mine at Copper Cliff is known to reach a depth of 700 feet, descending nearly vertically. In shape and attitude these curious deposits remind one .-omewhat ot ihe Souch African diamond pipes, though with much smaller diameters and with a filling that was much more fluid than th^ vole mic materials of the diamond fields. The contents of these pipe-like bodies differ considerably from those of marginal deposits, being more rocky, as might be expected, and con- taining usually more copper ore, as well as more of the precious metals, gold, silver, platinum, md palladium. The rock matter is mainly spotted norite, but includes also fragments of the adjoining country rocks, often pretty well rounded. There is usually more evidence of water action than in the marginal mines, and often a certain amount of quartz and of rusty weathering carbonates is mixed with the ore, probably as later effects of magmatic waters. Th'^ mode by which these relatively narrow and not far from vertical columns of ore reached their present position must have been completely different from that suggested for the marginal deposits, where the ore set- tled by gravity as pools in the hollows of the country rock below. It is l)robable that after such a gravitational separation the lower and more fluid part of the magma was, in a sense, injected into every available o])ening })y the hydraulic pressure of the molten mass ibove weighted still further by the thick overlying sediments of the basin. It would be natural to sjppose that the heavier and more fluid sulphides sank from above in^o the openings presented in the country rock, in which case the separate columns of ore might have been fed by overhead conduits now removed by the tremendous erosicn to which the region has been subjected. On the other hind, however, it is possible that ihe most fluid part oi the magma, the pyrrhorite-norite, entering all the fissures produced by the collapse of the underlying rock, rose from beneath under hydraulic pressure and was able, in a sense, to drill holes up through the crushed zones of rock above. The latter explanation is the one that seems to fit best, chough our knowledge is not yet complete enough to settle the matter finally. What- ever their cause, these nearly vertical columns of ore must be distinguished from all others as a well-marked type, which mav l)e called "Columnar Offsets." The word "pipe" would have been more appro])riate and descriptive than "column," but its prior use in "diamoncl pipes" with a definite signification of quite a different sort, made it unadvisable. PARALLEL OFFSETS. Another type of offset, with very different features from the columnar type, should be set apart for tiie greatest mass of nickel ore in the district and in the world — the Frood-Stobie offset. In this case there is no observable communication with the basic norite edge; so far as can be seen on the surface, the })an(l of ore is entirely unconnected with the main nickel range. 2.5873— oi 38 The Frood-Stobie offset runs nearly parallel tc the basic edge., but at a distance of from | of a mile to 1| miles to the southeast. The ore more nearly resembles that of a marginal deposit than that of the ordinary offsets; and the ore body dips at an angle of 60° toward the basic edge. It is a long irregular sheet enclosing much rock, and its connexion with the edge of the norite is probaljly at a considerable depth below the sur- face. The margin of the norite parallel to it shows compar itively little ore, the sulphides belonging to it having been drained off" through a com- plex set of fissures to the Frood-Stobie deposit. The ore is known by diamond drilling to extend northwest beneath the country rocks to a depth of more than 1,000 feet, and at the lower points it distinctly flattens toward the basic edge of the norite. No other deposit of this type has so far been discovered; but the Frood-Stobie belt of ore is so important and so very distinct from the other types that it deserves a pi ice by itself. The various types of deposits may be summarized as follows: TYPES OF SUDBURY ORE DEPOSITS. Marginal — a. Dipping tcward the axis of the basin — ores with compara- tively little rock and more than twice as much nickel as copper. h. Faulted marginal — irregular in shape and character — usually mixed with much rock and carrying as much copper as nickel, or sometimes more. Offsets — a. Columnar offsets, roughly cylindrical bodies nearly vertical and going to great depths. Ore usually rich in copper and the precious metals. b. Parallel offsets — not columnar, Init sheet-like, dipping inward toward the basic edge. Ore like that of the usual marginal deposits. Individual Deposits of the Sudbury Nickel Region. Having discussed the general relations of the Sudbury laccolithic sheet to the bodies of nickel copper ore associated with it, and having defined the more important classes of ore bodies found in the district the individual deposits may now be taken up in detail. As they are so closely bound up with the outer or basic edge of the norite it will be desirable to follow this edge from point to point along the margin of the boat-shaped syncline, referring not only to deposits already worked or thought to be of workable extent, but also to other features of interest, some of them not of economic importance, but having a bearing on the history and structure of the region. For this purpose the different ranges will be taken up not in the order of their importance but in such a way as to give a connected treatment of the whole circumference of the basic edge of the norite. As prospecting and the development of ore bodies are closely bound up with certain features of the geology, these will be described briefly along those parts of the margin Avhere no bodies of ore are known. The survey will begin at the southwest end of the syncline and follow its edge east and northeast along the Southern or Main nickel range; then north along the Eastern range; then west and southwest along the Northern range, finally arriving at the starting point at the southwest end of the syncline. Plate XVI. ^/.v'>''^'^ ^k ^^ ^^^at.' ^ !^^ ^^^" i^^m^S^ fc||: ^ NaffnE 1 1 ^^^ 0.aL ^^ Gtv»,\'TL |.'-;| G/r€CN6TO/VL\ . 1 Parallel ol'l'.-;t't deposit. 39 THE SULTANA MINE. At the southwest end of the syncline unusual conditions exist, since the norite feathers out upon hills of older rocks, so that the boundary of the two is almost impossible to fix exactly. The basic edge has, therefore, a much more irregular outline than in most other parts of the nickel region. On the earlier map this portion of the margin was swept in with very little detail, as its importance did not seem to be great and the wooded character of the country exposed comparatively few outcrops. Since then fire and the lumberman have removed most of the woods, and last summer the work could be done in much greater detail. The country rock on the southwest boundary consists of mixed green- stones, probably Keewatin in age, penetrated by granite, perhaps Lauren- tian, rising as hills just to the southwest and west of a swampy valley in which a few hills of norite occur. The sides of the hills are here and there plastered with patches of ore in the hollows, and some fine grained norite occurs in patches on the face of the hills, partly as a matrix enclosing masses of the greenstone. Some of these norite patches are hundreds of feet west of the gossan covered ore bodies. Evidently the underlying rock was greatly crushed as the norite and ore pushed outwards above it, so that solid and molten materials were mixed in puzzling ways. Southeast of the outcrops of ore, an iron post marks the boundary lietween lots 7 and 8 in con. VI of Drury township, and most of the ore is in lot 8, con. I of the township of Trill. The workings were chained out from this point in a former examination of the property, and it was found that three small shafts had been sunk about 100 yards east of the line between lots 7 and 8, 3t distances of 13, 19 and 22| chains north oi the boundary between Drury and Trill townships. The deepest shaft is reported to go down 110 or 120 feet, and there is a considerable qumtity of ore on the dump beside it. A drill hole sunk to the ei^t of the 1 ist snaft showed 30 feet of clay and sand, then ncrite followed by some ore, and finally greenstone with more or less ore. In addition to the small ore bodies opened up by the shafts on tne side of the hill there are thin bands of ore on the upper slopes, running up 9 chains from a poinr a little north of the corner post and reaching a height of 117 feet above the valley. Ore occurs at one or two points along the hillside to the south of the concession line, in the trwnship of Drury, also, though not in important amounts; so that gossan or ore extends for 30 chains ( tnree-eighths of a mile) from north to south along the hillside. The thin irregular sheets of Jre dip eastwards at angles running from 12° to 35° or 40°, the latter dips being found toward the foot of the hill. None of the ore bodies exposed by stripping or in the small shafts seem large, but there is i possibility that more may occur below the swamp which extends eastwards from the foot of the hill. The fact that the norite projects as a considerable bay into the country rock is favourable, but the totil width, and therefore the probable thickness of the eruptive at tins point, is not very great, which may be looked on as an unfavorable feature. As may be seen from the map, the acid edge of the eruptive runs westward from Cameron lake, giving a width of only about a mile and three-quarters for the whole eruptive, so that the probable thickness of magma from which the ore could settle is much less than in most other parts of the basin. The Sultujia mine is separated from the Sultana East mine by a broad swamp from which a hill of norite i)rojects. Half a mile east of the workings just (lescribed a similar hill of mixed greenstones rises st('('])l>' from the 40 muskeg, facing northwest and north, with small patches and sheets of gossan and ore along its flanks and at its foot dipping 35° or 40° under the swamp. Some stripping has been done here and there along its slope for about 230 yards. This outcrop is just within the township of Trill, in lots 7 and 6; bat the edge of the norite presently bends to the south in lot 6, entering the township of Drury, still showing a few gossan stains but no ore. On the top of the high hills extending as a promontory northwards into the swamp there are many basal patches of norite, as on the hill west of the main Sultana mine, showing that the nickel-bearing eruptive once covered the whole region, probably to a depth of nearly a mile, as esti- mated from the dip and width of the outcrop at the Sultana East. This with whatever ore it may have contained has been completely removed by erosion except in the patches mentioned. The ore at the Sultana, so far as can be seen on the badly weathered dump, was chiefly pyrrhotite, very little chalcopyrite occurring. The houses built when the work was done at the main Sultana have been burnt with the exception of one, now in ruins, but the road out to the railway at Worthington, six miles southeast, has been kept in tolerable repair by the lumber companies working in Trill and other townships to the north. Leaving Sultana East the basic edge of the norite can be traced, with many small irregularities, for about half a mile to the southeast, when widespread swamps and drift plains hide it from view. THE CHICAGO MINE. The boundary of the norite against Laurentian looking granite and gneiss is once more exposed a mile and a quarter southeast, not far from the Chicago, or Travers, or Inez mine, on lot 3, con. V of Drury town- ship. Here, along the road north from Worthington station to Fairbank lake, a low mound of the older rocks rises above the drift, with coarse grey norite, showing some rusty patches, leaning against it. The mine is just beside the road about a third of a mile to the south of the margin. The granitoid gneiss between is largely mixed with greenstone, forming a crush breccia, and the ore bodies occur in the latter rock. As no con- nexion has been traced between the mine and the edge of the norite, it is evidently a small offset. To the south and for some distance east and west the greenstone changes to very coarse gabbro, often white and feldspathic enough to be called anorthosite, and mixed with schistose and porphyritic varieties. The workings include a small pit west of the road and an open cut and a shaft said to reach a depth of 160 feet a little to the east. Close by are the small roast beds and just to the northwest is the smelter in which the roasted ore was reduced to matte. The boarding house and office stand near the basic edge of the norite to the north. The coke and other supplies for the mine and smelter were brought in and the matte shipped out by a mono rail tramway of timber and strap iron, on which a horse could haul cars swung beneath the rail; but the tramway has long ago fallen and is now almost lost beneath the bushes along the road to Worthington, four or five miles to the southeast. According to Dr. Barlow mining began in 1891, and most of the ore was got from open cuts, one of which was 60 feet long and 30 feet wide and deep, and another 80 by 40 feet with a depth of 30 feet. 3,500 tons 41 of ore had been mined and smelted when the mine closed down in 1892, l)ut in the following year also some ore was raised and turned into mat'te, before the plant was once more shut down. It was finally reopened in 1896, by the Trill Nickel Mining and Manufacturing Company, under the new name of the Inez mine, only to close again before August 1897. The ore deposit appears to have been too small to justify a complete mining and smelting plant, probably because the basic edge of the nickel eruptive is here nearly straight with no funnel-shaped depression to accu- mulate a large body of ore. FROM CHICAGO MINE TO VICTORIA MINE. For three quarters of a mile to the southeast of the Chicago mine the norite edge is lost beneath swamps and drift, though hills of the grey, coarse grained rock rise a quarter of a mile to the northeast. The boundary seems to follow the foot of a very steep ridge of greenstones of varied kinds, and near the southeast corner of lot 2, con. V of Drury, norite with some lusty spots once more shows itself, rising as a fairly high hill. Near the line between concessions 4 and 5 the hill slopes south to low ground and the norite becomes mixed with blocks of greenstone. On this hillside there are considerable stretches of gossan, and some stripping has been done. As the edge of the norite here turns from southeast to nearly east and the band of eruptive is wide, the conditions favor a deposit of ore, and one would expect a larger one than anything disclosed by the stripping and small pits, which extend for 200 or 300 yards. From this point the basic edge runs nearly east to the line between Drury and Denison townships, which it crosses a few paces south of concession V, but beyond this it is lost for half a mile beneath the drift. In lot 12, con. IV of Denison a sharp ridge of greywacke with a ver- tical dip and a strike of 60° east of north may be followed for nearly a mile, while norite is found a short distance north, but the two cannot be seen in contact. About a quarter of a mile west of the line between lots 12 and 11, and an eighth of a mile south of con. V the edge of the norite shows against some low lying greenstone as a gossan covered ridge, where ore has been disclosed in several pits on the southward dip of the hill, as in the last case. In the next lot to the east, near the north end of concession IV and not far from the steep northern end of the ridge of greywacke, there is a larger display of gossan and ore, where half a dozen pits and strippings have been made on a deposit dipping 30° or 35° to the north. Here the arrangement is the normal one, the norite and ore occupying the lower ground and leaning up against the hill of country rock, which is formed of greywacke with greenstone to the east. This mine was worked to a small extent in earlier j'cars, and two large pits were opened up quite extensively, but the ore is a good deal mixed with rock matter, such as greenstones and green schist, with some actinolite and a little ({uartz. The coarse norite to the north is in ])laces crushed and sheared into a conglomerate with a schistose matrix; and a (juartz vein 10 or 15 feet wide in green schist to the south was minetl years ago to furnish (juartz for converter linings at Victoria Mines smelter; but a supply for this purpose was obtained later not far from the village, and this mine, a mile and a half west and reached only by a rough road, was abandoned. The body of ore described above occurs in a small southward bay ol the norite, where the l)oundary bends northeastwards, so that it conforms to tlie usual rule in the nickel region. 42 Beyond this point the edge of the norite bends to the northeast, but is largely concealed by swamps, while the rocks to the south, as shown along the wagon road to Victoria mine, are mainly greenstones and greywacke, often intricately mixed. At a point about half a mile north of con. IV on the line between lots 10 and 9 the norite boundary turns southeast, but is once more largely hidden by swamps and drift. Along this inward bend of the contact, as might be expected, no ore has been found, but as one advances southeast toward Victoria mine, gossan shows itself where the norite edge meets the neighbouring greenstones. VICTORIA MINE. About a third of a mile northwest of Victoria mine toward the south- ern end of lot 9, con. V, a good deal of ore oatcrops and No. 3 shaft has been sunk; and another outcrop of ore on which some work has been done occurs on the line between lots 9 and 8 to the east of shaft No. 3. In both cases greenstone has been crushed beneath the eruptive, and ore extends fifty feet or more into the fissures beyond the characteristic norite, which dips away from the older rocks; so that a band of gossan covers part of the country rock. Beyond the second gossany surface the edge of the norite swings southeast toward Victoria mine, though the exact boundary is covered by marshy ground enclosing a small lake to the northeast. Across the marsh and lake a ridge of very rusty rock, mostly green- stone, rises 20 or 30 feet, running northeastwards from Victoria mine, and a number of strippings and pits show very similar relations to those men- tioned above for a distance of a quarter of a mile, when low ground covers the margin of the norite once more. To the north of the marsh and pond one finds typical grey, coarse grained norite and this continues with no perceptible change for a mile or two. On each side of the basin just mentioned we find norite with a fringe of ore dipping inwards on a floor of shattered greenstone, the two bands of gossan converging as a funnel at a point just north of the open pits of Vic- toria mine. Low ground prevents the tracing of the two sides of the funnel quite to the mine, and it appears to be sepj,rated from the main body of norite by a small extent of country rock. This open pit and a smaller one to the southeast of the rock dump represent two small offset deposits, evidently due to the accumulation of ore in the norite funnel to the north. The rocks enclosing the mine to the west, south., and east are green- stones of various kinds, having the appearance of diorite, hornblende porphyrite, and green schist, followed to the south by slate or greywacke with thick bands of quartzite, the latter rocks being well stratified. On the rock dump at Victoria mine there are fragments of all these rocks, as well as fine grained norite and actinolite probably resulting from its alter- ation, and it is stated that small diabase dykes cut the eastern ore body between the 8th and 10th levels. The ore masses on the two sides of the funnel to the northeast and northwest dip at about 45° into the swamp, and are small but character- istic marginal deposits, while the two ore bodies at the mine are equally typical offset deposits, sinking as steeply inclined columns of somewhat irregular shape to a depth, it is said of more than 1600 feet. They are about 169 feet apart and dip uniformly to the east at an angle of about 70°, according to the report of the mine inspector. The open pits are followed toward the southeast by two small gossan- covered hills reaching for a quarter of a mile, and one of them, where a shaft 43 has been sunk and a considerable amount of ore obtained, is connected by a tramwaj' with the main shaft house. Whether this offset sweeps a curve to the southwest and continues as the row of deposits near Worthington is not certain though probaljle. It may also be joined with the Vermilion mine a mile and a half to the southeast, and some of the local prospectors believe that the Worthington row of deposits is connected with Vermilion and Crean Hill mines rather than Victoria mine, though the interval between them is long and without any surface indication of an underground connexion. The nickel eruptive has a width of a little more than 4| miles at Vic- toria mine, which is not surpassed at any other part of the laccolithic sheet, but though the ore of the offset is rich, the amount appears much smaller than the thickness of the eruptive would suggest. Mctoria mine, like most other offset mines, shows evidence of later circulating waters in the presence of quartz and carbonates with the ore; and Mr. H. W. Hixon, former manager of the mine, is firmly convinced that the deposit is entirely due to aqueous action; and, in fact, objects to the theory of magmatic segregation as accounting for any of the nickel ore deposits of the region. The geological evidence in its favour is so over- whelming, however, that all geologists who have studied the district are convinced of its correctness. The Mctoria mine was first developed by Air. Rinaldo McConnell, by means of strippings and test pits opening up the gossan-covered areas mentioned alcove, so that the property became known as the McConnell mine. In 1897 it was one of the properties visited by the geological section of the British Association after their Toronto meeting; and great interest was aroused by the panning of gold and sperrylite from the gossan. Sperry- lite had been found previously at the neighbouring ^'ermilion mine, so that this was the second locality for the mineral, but the McConnell mine was the first distinctively nickel mine in which gold and platinum had been found, since the \>rmilion mine was taken up for gold and not for nickel and copper. During the same year, Mr. G. R. Mickle made an examination of the McConnell mine and demonstrated that gold and s])errylite occurred not only in the go.ssan, but, as might be expected, in the unweathered sulphides as well. His assays showed that the platinum is mainly associated with the copper pyrites, though the pyrrhotite contains some also. The aver- age of six samples of solid ore gave a little over 3 dwt. of platinum and a trace of gold, while i)yrrhotite with little chalcopyrite gave considerably less than the average, and one sample of ore with nnich chalcopyrite gave 7 dwt. 12 gr. of platinum and a trace of gold. His highest assay showed 1 oz. 3 dwt. of platinum and 3 dwt. of gold, from decomposed ore resting on the solid ore.^ In 1899 the property was purchased by Dr. Mond and was named the Victoria mine; and in 1901 the mine and smelter came into operation undcT the management of Mr. Hixon. The smelter was placed on Fairbank creek, two miles south of the mine, near the "Soo" railway; and the ore was trajis])orted to the roast beds near the smelter by a cable trimway 11.000 feet long. Later the roast beds were removed to a flat of old lake dejiosits half way between mine and smelter; and the surroundings of the village which had grown ■Mun-au of .Minc-.s, Vol. XIV, Part III, p. Ifil 44 up at the railway station began to recover from the desolation caused by the sulphur fumes. The Algoma Central railway now passes between the mine and the roast beds, and before long the old smelter and the cable tramway will be abandoned and the ore will be taken by rail to the new smelter at Coniston. A little north of the present smelter a mine or quarry has been opened up for quartzite as a flux and for lining the bessemer converters. VERMILION MINE. A mile and a half southeast of Victoria mine, in lot 6, con. IV of the township of Denison, is Vermilion mine, close to the short railway con- necting the "Soo" branch at Victoria mines with Crean Hill, and about two miles northeast of the village. The deposit is a small offset more than a mile from the nearest part of the norite, but the character of its ore suggests that it is, or was, probably connected in some way with Victoria mine. A small patch of norite spotted with sulphides rises on a hill made up of a crushed mixture of ancient lava (now greenstone with pillow and amygdaloidal structure), a little felsite, and some greywacke, and these materials have been ground and rolled together into bouldery forms with the norite and ore squeezing up between them. The Vermilion was first taken up as a gold mine in 1887, and a shaft was sunk by Messrs. Tough and Stobie on a small cjuartz vein the following year, on the low ground 930 feet north of the present mine and just beyoncl the Crean Hill railway, the name coming from Vermilion river, which flows 2 or 3 miles to the southeast. A shaft was sunk 40 feet on the quartz vein and some very rich ore (wure gold) was found on the surface and also to some extent in the w^all rock. Mr. B. Charlton, president of the Vermilion Gold Mining Co., states that several thousand dollars worth of gold was obtained by means of a three stamp prospecting mill while sinking the shaft. The rich ore presently ran out and then gold was found in the gossan on the hill at the present mine, w^hich was put through the little mill. The men in charge were puzzled to find the carpet used to collect the coarse gold w^hitened by shining grains of a tin white mineral, afterwards named sperrylite, as already described on a previous page. Since the owners were in search of gold, and not platinum, the mine w^as sold in 1890 to the Canadian Copper Co. It was presently found that the gossan contained palladium, as well as platinum and gold, and the Canadian Copper Company made attempts to dispose of the mineral to various firms dealing in the rare metals, such as Balbach & Co., and Johnson, Matthej^ & Co. In 1896 the two firms mentioned reported that the ore contained from 6 to 9 ozs. of platinum and from 8 to 14 ozs. of palladium. In 1897 a consignment of 14 casks (5 tons) of platinum sand w^as made to Johnson, Matthey & Co., who found its treatment a matter of extreme difficulty, "as the ore could not be levigated nor treated successfully by any acid process, and in smelting the palladium contents are sacrificed. The platinum contents could only be recovered by smelting with a large proportion of silver ore, involving considerable cost in its subsequent separation." In 1899 they paid for the ore at the rate of £8 per ton, and after deducting various charges, the net return from the consignment was at the rate of $22 per ton. An offer was made to buj^ the ore at the rate of £9 5s. per ton if quantities of 100 tons or more were shipped; but no more seems to have been sent to them, 45 probably because the price was so low for ore running on the average 7 ozs. of platinum and 11 ozs. of palladium per ton. Platinum was worth about $16 per oz. at the time. Negotiations were carried on in 1899 and 1900 with a French company on the basis of 35 per cent of the value of the two metals, palladium to be taken as equal to platinum in value, but apparently without result. In 1902 a small amount of platinum sand was sent to the Orford works at Bayonne, and in September, according to Mr. A. Wadhams, experiments were carried on under the direction of Mr. Hybinette for the separation of the precious metals. They seem not to have been ver^- successful, and finally the material was turned in Avith the ordinary nickel-copper matte, so that only a small percentage of the platinum metals was recovered. In October, 1903, 155-65 tons of "platinum dirt" were shipped to the Orford works, according to official records at Copper Cliff, and Air. Browne states that 90 barrels of gossan were removed in 1903, containing 6-88 per cent copper, and 2-91 per cent of nickel, with 6-5 ozs. of pal- ladium, 41 ozs. of platinum, 4-3 ozs. of silver, and 0-28oz. of gold per ton. Since sperrylite and gold are very easily separated from the gossan by panning, there is no doubt that most of the platinum and gold could have been saved by sluices or cradles, and it is surprising to find Johnson, Matthey & Co. stating that the ore could not be "levigated." The source of the palladium is not known, since analyses of sperrylite show only traces of that metal. In 1902 the Canadian Copper Company began taking out unwe ithered ore, sinking the main shaft to about 50 feet and drifting in various direc- tions to follow the ore underground, and there is a record of 198-28 tons having been shipped in February, 1905. This was very rich in nickel and copper, averaging 20 to 25 per cent of the combined metals. Assays made, apparently in 1903, show that the ore contained 4 ozs. of silver, 4 ozs. of palladium, 1 -5 ozs. of platinum, and f oz. of gold per ton. An assay of clean chalcopyrite, made by Mr. Waern in the labor- atory of the Canadian Copper Co., in September, 1909, showed a trace of gold, 0-79 oz. platinum, 3 -62 ozs. of palladium, and 3-78 ozs. of silver — a total of 8-13 ozs. per ton of the precious metals. Assays of its ores gave the following results to the same chemist : Average Ore Average Ore Sept. 6-11 Sept. 12-18. Polydymite. Cu.. Ni.. Fe.. S... SiOs 10-65 11-70 Cu 0.50 S-80 1515 Co. 0-50 IS -30 20-70 Ni 42-35 19 -80 2:M() Fe 12-45 28-45 16-60 1 S 38-75 Balance Insoluble.. 94-55 Within the last three years the mine on the hill has yielded a con- siderable amount of ore containing much polydymite and running from two to four times as high in nickel and co])])er as that of mo.st other mines. This ore has in part been smelted sei)arately to avoid loss, but there are difficulties in the way of recovering and se])arating the i)recious metals it contains, since the gold and ])latinuni could be saved by ordinary stamp 46 mill methods, but the palladium has not been found associated with any definite compound, like sperrylite, and so would l)e lost. The finding of gold and sperrylite in both the Victoria and Vermilion mines affords evidence of a relation between them, though there is no surface indication of this, and there is no positive evidence as to the mode by which the small amount of norite and ore reached its position. However this came about, the ore was greatly enriched in the precious metals before reaching Vermilion mine. The Vermilion ore is so rich in nickel and copper as to equal some grades of matte, and much of the product of the mine has been sent directly to the converters without a preliminary smelting in a water-jacket furnace. The Bureau of Alines of Ontario reports that 1,229 tons of ore were obtained from this mine in 1910. THE WORTHINGTON OFFSET. Small outcrops of ore occur at Victoria mine about 600 yards south- east of the pits near the shaft, and it was believed by the late Mr. M. T. Culbert my assistant when the region was first surveyed for the Bureau of Mines, that a curved line of gossan stains could be traced up from point to point to the Worthington offset. The first mining development on the offset is found in lot 10, con. Ill of Denison township, where two pits have been sunk on ore mixed with spotted norite. A quarter of a mile southwest, just within lot 11, and 50 j^ards south of a meandering creek, there is a larger pit at the Mclntyre mine, where the ore and norite enclose numerous rounded masses of coun- try, rock, mostly greenstone, near the foot of a high hill to the south, con- sisting of greenstone and diabase. Much oi the surrounding country is drift covered, but hills and ridges of greenstone, green schist and grey- wacke frequently rise above the general level. From the high hilltop 50 paces south oi the opening one gets a good view of the offset, several gossan-covered hills standing nearly in line with the rockhouse at Wor- thington, two miles to the southwest. The next outcrops of ore are at the Gersdorffite and Robinson mines, beyond the northwest end of a small lake; and just past the line between the townships of Denison and Drury, near the north end of con. II, is the Rowland mine, where a pit displays an interesting crush conglomerate with greenstone boulders two or three feet through, enclosed in ore. A smill diabase dyke cuts the ore body steeply, running northwest and southeast. From the Howland mine to the Worthington, a distance of a mile, there is a succession of gossan-stained hills, interrupted in one place by an irregular band of later diabase. This row of small ore outcrops is marked by an interesting set of minerals, including much marcasite, and a little gersdorffite and nickelite, probably deposited by circulatirg water and accompanied by quartz as a gangue mineral. No sperrylite is known from the offset, but the arsenical nickel minerals ^\^th quartz show, perhaps, a further separation of mater- ials, in which heated waters played a large part. At the Worthington mine, which is much the most important ore body on the offset wdiich takes its name, a low but steep ridge of gossan- covered greenstone rises just to the north of the station on the "Soo" line. The mine, which was discovered during the construction of the rail- way, like a number of other mines in northern Ontario, became the property of the Dominion Mineral Co., and mining was started, according to Dr. Plate XVIII. Boulders of greenstone in pyrrhotite: Rowland mine. 2r)873— 6 47 Barlow, in 1890, and continued till September 1894, two shafts being sunk, one to the depth of 175 feet and the other to 100 feet. It is stated that about 25,000 tons of very rich ore were obtained, and were sent to Blezard smelter for treatment. ' When the mine was opened up for examination some years later, the lower workings were found filled with ice, which had to be blasted out before it could be removed. It was in ore from the Worthington mine that Dr. Walker first recog- nized pentlandite, the only important nickel mineral in the Sudbury region ; and its ore has been surpassed in richness only by the much smaller deposit at Vermilion mine. In 1891 a shipment of 123 tons contained 10 per cent nickel and 3 per cent copper; and manager Attwood has stated that a considerable quantity of selected copper pyrites was shipped, assaying 18 per cent copper and 2-5 per cent nickel. As gersdorffite and nickelite, as well as pentlandite, occur at the Worthington, it has the greatest variety of nickel ores known in the region. The rock dump includes very little spotted norite, but a considerable amount of actinolite rock, probably a product of the re-arrangement of norite or some other basic rock, owing to the crushing and shearing which is so pronounced along the offset. Continuing southwest across the railway from Worthington mine, a shaft 60 feet deep has been sunk on a gossan-covered hill a few hundred yards away, and a good deal of work has been done on the Totten mine, about half a mile away, both in lot 2, con. I of Drury township. Here the pyrrhotite, as in so many other cases, forms the matrix of a crush conglomerate. A quarter of a mile to the southwest the gossan-stained ridge of the Totten mine sinks into a swamp followed by a small lake. On the other side of the lake rusty stains may be followed into the town- ship of Lome, and these have been traced for perhaps a mile beyond Totten mine, but no ore bodies of any account have been found on this extension. The country rocks southwest of Worthington vary greatly, including greenstone, greywacke, slate and quartzite; all of which occur as rounded fragments or boulders along a narrow belt of shearing, with fine grained norite and ore as a matrix. This offset has been traced for fully four miles in nearly a straight line, and represents one of the main zones of dis- location at the time the nickel eruptive reached its present position. Except from the Worthington mine comparatively little ore has been produced from this row of (leposits. A few hundred tons have been taken from the Totten mine and used for experimental ]nirposes in two plants west of Worthington station, one of which, on the steep hillside north of the railway, was extensive, but neither process proved satis- factory. In addition to the ore bodies along the offset a number of small outcro})s are known at various other points near by, and several of these on the northern side of lots 5 and 6, con. Ill of Drury, were visited under the guidance of Mr. Hermann, who gave nmch assistance also iji looking up the i)roi)erties along the offset. There are about eight showings of ore, small ])at('lies of i)yrrhotite and chalcopyrite running roughly east ancl west along a group of high hills of greenstone and greywacke with some diorite. Some i)its have been sunk in the ore, and in one case a small shaft; but the amount of ore seen was not important. Many other small outcrops of pyrrhotite are known from the town- ships of Lome and Nairn to the southwest, and one might think of the norite and ore of the offset as having been squeezed through a num])er of 25873—61 48 small channels among the dislocated blocks of country rock, channels too narrow to allow any large quantity of the magma to accumulate at one place. In a general way the direction of the offset corresponds to the strike of the sedimentary and schistose rocks adjoining, and no doubt the plane of fracture and faulting has been much influenced by the structures of the rocks beneath. THE CREAX HILL REGION. Beyond the funnel-shaped southward bend of the norite edge at Vic- toria mine the basic margin continues for about a mile northeastwards, and then bends to the east to Crean Hill (or Krean Hill) mine on the south half of lot 0, con. V of Denison township. Between the two points the country rocks are greenstone, green schist and small amounts of intermixed quartzite. The norite is of the grey, coarse grained variety usual on the southern range, and is sometimes pitted with spots where pyrrhotite has weathered out, though no ore of importance is known along this part of the basic edge. In lot 6 there is a group of high hills which deflect the Algoma Central railway to the south; but these fall away in lot 5 so that the railway sweeps north near the western edge of the lot and then turns east to Crean Hill mine, which is near the other side of the lot. The line in this part follows the edge of the norite and continues in this relation for a few hundred yards into lot 4. The Crean Hill mine has the situation corresponding to a marginal nickel deposit, and its western part conforms to the usual characteristics of such deposits. Its southeastern end, however, has features suggesting an offset deposit and present.^ some very interesting problems. According to the classification of ore deposits given in a former chapter it is a "faulted marginal deposit". Approaching the deposit from the west one comes upon gossany sur- faces of norite against greenstone just beyond i small stream and ravine to the north of the bend in the Algoma Central railway. Here a consider- able amount of ore was obtained from an open pit in the early days of the mine and near by is a quartz vein in wnich free gold was found in small amounts. Beyond this on the southward slopes of a hill sinking into swampy ground, rusty greenstone and norite with strippings and one fairly large pit extend to the main workings of the mine on a separate gossan- covered hill For this distance, about 1,400 feet, the arrangement is that of a normal marginal deposit. The eastern hill, where the important part of the mine is found, though gossan-covered and with much ore, consists almost entirely of greenstone and other country rocks; while the norite rising to the north of a small ravine, though somewhat spotted with gossan, contains no ore. The opening up of the mine in depth by the Canadian Copper Co. has provided a solution of the puzzle, which with their kind permission will be given. Though discovered fairly early in the history of the nickel region, before 1906 it was opened up only by stripping and the sinking of test pits. In February of 1906 the first ore was shipped on sleighs to the "Soo" line and thence by rail to Copper Cliff, but soon after a branch railway was built to connect it with the "Soo" line three miles southwest. In 1910 the 49 Algoma Central [railway reached it from Creighton and gave a shorter haul to Copper Cliff, when the branch to Victoria Mines village was dis- continued. CCCo. Cco/e Jo O' JO P'-' Fig. 1. Though the mine was wcjrked first as open pits, not long afterward underground levels Avere ])egun, and the shaft has now reached the 7th level, about 600 feet below the surface. 50 The hill itself sinks on all sides with rather ^^teep slopes to lower ground, the top consisting mainly of greenstone and green schist with some bands of greywacke and quartzite, all broken into smsll or large blocks and often rolled md mashed against one another, with ore surrounding the blocks. Toward the north the crushing has been more complete than toward the south, and northward there is a steep cliff facing a narrow ravine with a gentler slope of norite beyond. In the open pit,.- only the green- stones and the surrounding ore are disclosed, but in the rock damp spotted norite is found also, showing that at greater depths this universal accompani- ment of ores in the region is not wanting. The norite is found in place, as shown by Mr. Bedford, at various points on the 4th and 5th levels. From the geological point of view, as well as from that of the miner, one of the most interesting features of the mine is the occurrence or two zones of crushing about twenty feet apart, indicated by clay slips sloping diagonally upward through the mine, where the rock has been ground into small fragments mixed with clay. These clay slips begin in the shaft 35 feet below the 3rd level and after cutting that level reach the 2nd level toward the northeast side, rising at the rate of 23° 40' in that direction. The upper cf these planes of slipping comes to the surface in the narrow valley northeast of the gossan-covered hill; and the valley evidently shows the line of weakness where this zone of crushing and slipping separates the mixed greenstones of the hill from the norite sloping up towards the north. The clay slips no doubt represent fault planes having an unusually low angle with the horizon; and it is probable that the many examples of slips and slickensides in other parts of the mine indicate less regular fault planes. It is estimated that the horizontal throw of the fault is not less than 200 feet, and it may be very much more. When the greenstones and sediments making up the hill were thrust bodily northwards over the edge of the norite there must have been tre- mendous crushing and grinding among the blocks toward the lower part where there was friction against the norite below; accouiiting for the brecciated character of the hill. The presence of the slip planes referred to above caused great difficulty and danger in mining operations because of looseness of the rock, until the workings got below this zone of weakness. Evidences of the effects of the faulting process just mentioned are found on the rock dump, where there are all gradations from fairly sound and fresh rocks to actinolite and talc representing materials completely rearranged during the squeezing and shearing due to the thrust of the faults. The shaft was still in greenstone at the 6th level and had not reached norite, though this may be expected at greater depths. How deep the crushing and faulting extends has not yet been determined. Apparently the latest geological event recorded in the bed rocks of the region was the welling up of a great dyke of diabase through all the other rocks, along the southwest side of the hill containing the main ore body. This dyke, 50 or 60 feet wide, and dipping 80° to the southwest, runs nearly due southeast through the norite, jogs a little to the south at the open pit, and pursues an irregular course beyond this. It came into position later than the fault and seems to have been somewhat disturbed in its direction by the confusion resulting from the faulting. ORES OF CREAN HILL MINE. There is more variety in the minerals at Crean Hill mine than in most nickel mines of the region, though pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite are more common than other sulphides. The pyrrhotite is often in very platy forms, 51 sometimes having cleavage surfaces an inch across; and the chalcopyrite is present in much larger amounts than in any other large mine in the region except the Copper Cliff. Pentlanclite occurs in excellent specimens, and a little gersdorffite has been found; but polydymite, so important at Vermilion mine a mile to the southwest, seems wanting. Among other metallic minerals marcasite is plentiful where water could circulate, as near the claj' slips; zinc blende occurs in smaller quan- tities, and magnetite has turned up in large masses. As gangue minerals quartz and calcite or ankerite are quite common; but often the ore is dis- seminated among the blades of actinolite so characteristic of the sheared zones between the less changed rock masses. Tourmaline occurs mixed with ore in one specimen, and there has evidently been a large amount of secondary action in this ore body. Panning of the gossan at several points on the hill disclosed a few fine particles of sperrylite and still fewer and finer colours of gold; but the mine is much poorer in this respect than the Victoria or Vermilion mines to the M'est and south. The Crean Hill mine has been a larger producer of copper than of nickel, reversing the proportions of the two metals at Creighton mine, which are about 2 per cent of copper to 5 per cent of nickel. In 1907 Crean Hill ore averaged 4-84 per cent of copper and 2-35 per cent of nickel. Since chalcopyrite contains 34 per cent of copper while the ordinary sulphides of the region average only from 3 to 5 per cent of nickel, it is evident that Crean Hill ore with the above amount ot copper will contain far more rock, and hence be leaner in appearance than that, for instance, of the Creighton mine. It may be three-fourths rock and yet run 5 per cent of copper and 2 per cent of nickel. There is much less regularity in the distribution of the ore at Crean Hill than at most of the mines of the region, and there are not many stopes where more than a few feet of solid ore can be seen. Generally the copper pyrites is more greatly mixed with rock matter than the pyrrhotite. and fragments of various rocks may be enclosed in it, the ore forming a matrix for angular or rounded pebbles and boulders of all sizes. In some stopes well rounded masses of greenstone or hornblende porphyrite three or four feet in diameter may be seen surrounded by narrow belts of sulphides, often making the winning of the ore a serious problem, and rounded pebbles completely encrusted with ore sometimes puzzle the rock pickers when sorting the ore. The common rule of the region that copper pyrites is present in largest amounts near the country rock is speci dly well exemplified at Crean Hill since rich masses of copper ore are found on all the levels in the angle between the foot-wall and the barren rock to the southeast, as may be seen from the diagram of the 4th level. The arrangement is roughly that of a right angled triangle with rich copper ore at the apex, gradually passing into pyrrhotite toward the hypothenuse of the triangle. The body of rich ore dips about 60° to the ease, so that in the lower levels it i.^ 100 feet or more eist of the open pit where the ore body was first opened up. The nickel ore is generally associated with norite, and the copper ore with greenstones and other rocks; and the boundaries of the richer copper ore are pretty well defined to the south and west, but the limits of the nickel ore toward the north and east are much less definite, patches extending to the northe ist side of the hill as shown by the strippings. Though the Crean Hill mine has many of the characters of an offset deposit, it is of an unusual kind, since the movement of ore seems to have been upwards from the underlying norite margin some hundreds or perhaps thousands of feet below, instead of outwards from the basic edge of the 52 norite. In the offset deposits thus far described the norite and ore pushed laterally or downwards through irregular fissures leading off from bay- like projections of the norite into the country rock. Here there is scarcely any visible bay of the norite though there probably is one underground, and the ore ascended to its present position, at least in the upper parts of the mine, unaccompanied by norite, the onh' instance of the kind known. Whether it came up molten into the fissures between the blocks or was carried upwards later bj- hot circalating waters is not certain, but that water played a large part is shown by the presence of quartz and carbonates and of hydrous secondary minerals like talc. As a general rule in offset deposits the longer and more difficult the route followed by the ore in reaching 'ts final position the' larger the per- centage of copper, since chalcopyrite seems more easih' transported than pyrrhotite. Here the distance upwards was probably not very long, but heated waters ascending from the basic edge of the norite below may have effected an unusually complete separation of the copper from the nickel ore. If this is the case one might expect the percentage of nickel to copper in the ore to increase with depth until at length ore rich in nickel as in ordinary marginal deposits is reached. Down to the 6th level, how- ever, there is little indication cf such a change. Up to July 1909 Crean Hill had produced more than 250,000 tons of ore and in 1910 it added 89,211 tons, so that it must be considered one of the great mines of the region. A large part of the copper produced in Ontario, as shown in the statistics of the Bureau of Mines of recent years, must have come from this mine, which has supplied probably 15,000 tons of metal. Of late the proportion of copper to nickel and also the grade of the ore have been falling off somewhat, .since in 1909 the per- centage of copper was 3-97 and of nickel 2-30. FROM CREAN HILL TO GERTRUDE MINE. Beyond Crean Hill the margin of the eruptive remains gossany for some distance and turns northeast, with quartzite as a country rock to the south. About two-thirds of the way across lot 4 it turns southeast and at its edge or in the quartzite close by patches of gossan and ore occur, the occasion for several small test pits in the latter rock to the north of the railway. About on the line between lots 4 and 3, midway in con. V, the basic edge crosses the railway southeastwards and is then concealed for nearly half a mile by a muskeg. Rising above the swamp toward the east as one follows the railway, norite spotted with ore is encountered and about a sixth of a mile south gossan-covered hills can be seen. The highest hill represents a turning point in the basic edge, having greenstone to the south and granite to the east, the latter enclosing a small lake 200 yards from the slope of the hill. This lake is cut nearly- midway by the line between lots 2 and 1 toward the south side of con. V. A considerable amount of stripping has been done on the hills and apparently there is a respectable volume of ore, but it is said to be low grade, and therefore has not been developed by its owners, the Canadian Copper Company. From this point the boundary of the norite turns northeast with granite as country rock, and no evidence of ore is to be seen for some distance, but in lot 1 of Denison, 400 y&Tds northeast of a sharp southward bend of the railway', gossan surfaces occur and continue eastwards for about 400 yards, passing into lot 12 of Graham township, where some work was done 3'ears ago by ]\Ir. Wm. McVittie. 53 Beyond this the margui of the norite runs somewhat north of east to the low drift-covered ground near Vermilion river and no ore nor gossan was observed along this part of its course. The granite to the south becomes coarse and red and markedly porphyritic as one approaches the river, and is probably older than the norite, though this is not positively proved. Crossing the Vermilion, granite and swamp extend about 650 paces north of the railway before coarse grey norite of the normal type is found, and along this part of the margin a few spots of gossan occur but no con- tinuous areas. The boundary has minor irregularities but runs on the whole nearly straight to the northeast corner of lot 8, in concession VI of Graham township, when it passes into Creighton toAvnship, still follow- ing about the same course of 60° east of north. The rocks to the south- east consist of greenstone much cut up by dykes and masses of red granite. GERTRUDE MINE. At a small creek on lot 5, con. I of Creighton township the first sug- gestion of the Gertrude ore bodies shows itself in a small tunnel run into the side of the valley. The norite varies from coarse to fine grained, form- ing an irregular mixture, and the ore lies against greenstone and pene- trates fissures in the latter rock. From this point eastward there is more or less gossan along the norite edge until the main shaft is reached, about on the line between lots 4 and 3, and less than a quarter of a mile north of the boundary of Creighton township. There are three shafts and several open pits along this line of gossan which extends from west to east for about three-fifths of a mile, and the diamond drill shows that at least one other deposit exists to the north of the main shaft, where in a drill hole reaching a depth of 120 feet, 15 feet of mixed ore and 20 feet of solid ore were found with a dip of from 55° to 67° to the north. The relationships of the two ore bodies are probably due to faulting. South of the nickel-bearing norite at Gertrude one encounters for the first time a narrow fringe of older, finer grained and more basic norite, apparently an earlier eruption from the same magma, which reached the surface as lava streams instead of cooling at great depths. Henceforth this is found from point to point along the southern range, often in the neighbourhood of important ore bodies, and seems to have opened up the way for the more important laccolithic sheet which brought the ore; though the earlier norite itself seems devoid of ore. Still farther to the south there are hills of greenstone much cut by granite, and in less than a mile granite becomes the predominant rock. The Gertrude mine Avas purchased by the Lake Superior Power Co. of Sault Ste. Marie in 1899, and two shafts were sunk, one to the depth ot 120 feet and the other to 80. In the spring of 1901 the Manitoalin and North Shore railway, now generally called the Algoma Central railway, reached the mine, making further development possible, so that roast beds could be arranged and a smelter erected, and ore from the Elsie mine, some miles farther to the east, was treated along with that from Gertrude. After a few months run the mine and smelter closed down in 1902, and in the following year the parent company collapsed for the time, putting a final stop tc operations at Gertrude^ Some of the l)uildings in the village have been burned, but several of them, including the smelter, are still >G.S.C.. Vol. XIV, pp. 3!M0. 54 standing. It is said that the Gertrude ore was very rich in nickel, some of it containing over 6 per cent of that metal and less than 1 of copper. Just east of the line between lots 3 and 2 the edge of the norite turns north, and then curves ease and southeast toward a small lake at the west end of the Creighton hill. Where the northward bend takes place there is a small offset to the south on which some ore has been disclosed by stripping, but along the bend to the north no ore and little gossan are to be seen. The rock filling the space to the south of the bend is mainly a fine grained variety of the "older norite" mixed with greenstone, but there are also some granite and re-crystallised arkose. Near the small lake from which the water supply of Creighton is pumped the surroundings are mostly swamp, though weathered norite crops up at one place, and at another northeast of the lake it is seen in contact with gneissoid rocks dipping under the swamp. THE CREIGHTON MINE. Soon after the norite margin turns eastwards a rusty slope of hill rises northeast of the small lake, the beginning of the Creighton outcrop of gossan and ore. The steep hill slopes southeast and becomes more com- pletely gossan-covered as one advances toward the mine itself. Beyond the great open pit of the mine the boundary of the norite turns sharplj^ a little west of north for half a mile, and then bends off to the northeast. A glance at the map shows an unusual combination of circumstances. The nickel eruptive is here about at its widest, stretching for 4| miles northwest of the mine, and the mine occupies the best defined bay of the norite, without an outlet into an offset, along the whole southern nickel range. This bay lies between the two largest offsets, those of Victoria mine and of Copper Cliff, and is nearer to the larger of the two. Copper Cliff. We have here all the conditions for a great body of ore, and find as a result the greatest nickel mine in the Sudbury region or in the world. The great thickness of molten magma provided a large amount of sulphides. and the deep and wide mouthed depression in the country rock furnished a capacious basin into which the ore could settle; while no important fissure in the rocks beneath gave an exit for the melted ore. The Creighton mine is properly regarded as the typical marginal deposit. The mine is near the west side of lot 10, con. I of the township of Snider, but the band of gossan and probably the ore beneath extend into lot 1 of concession I of Creighton, giving some justification for the name. The mine is about midway between the "Soo" branch and the main line of the Canadian Pacific railway, but is separated from both by rugged, hilly country, so that its only outlets are by the Algoma Central railway, running eleven miles east to Sudbury, or by a wagon road eight miles long to Copper Cliff. The ore is shipped by the Algoma Central to Clarabelle Junction, from which it goes south to the roast beds or the smelter at Copper Cliff. The Creighton, though the earliest found of the nickel deposits, was one of the latest to be developed, owing to its inaccessibility before the railway reached it. It became the property of the Canadian Copper Co. in 1890, but it was ten years later before it was so far opened up as to ship H[^H fpr^^^BB H Bi i ' * -^jf .'>y ''is- a^^^^^^K 1 ^^^^^^. /f8?c' 1 ^ ,IHB--— -^uiiiiiiiiinii^iiraH^^H 1 ^H 1 o 55 ore. From that time to the present the mine has been of great importance, because of the quantity and richness of its ore, so that for some time it supplied almost all the ore used by the company. GEOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONS. As the most im]K)rtant mine in the district its geological relationships should be considered somewhat in detail. The great extent of norite, running for al)Out two mih's to the northwest before merging into micro- ])egmatite, is of the typical kind, consisting mainly of labradorite, hyper- sthene and ordinary pj-roxene, with more scattered bits of brown mica and bluish Cjuartz. It is in general coarse grained, but becomes finer grained as it approaches the margin, and half a mile away from the margin 56 it begins to show the round rusty spots indicating blebs of ore, and these increase as the ore body is approached, though not in a very regular way. Near the edge of the steep slope of the hill towards the low ground with its swamps and pond where the great pit was opened, there is a marked tendency for the gossan to occur in several bands parallel to the brow of the hill, as if there were irregular sheets of the rock heavilj^ charged and others less heavily charged with ore blebs. Near the open pit in earlier days the gossan was thick and continuous except where drift deposits covered the rock. When the somewhat sandy boulder clay was being removed north of the pit in 1904 beautifully polished and striated surfaces of perfectly fresh pyrrhotite were exposed, but these have now been all mined away. The large pit while being opened presented a wall of almost pure sulphides 60 feet high on the north side, a most impressive spectacle when the sun shone upon it. This great outcrop of ore came sharply against a foot-wall of coarse granitoid gneiss to the northeast and southeast, and a huge block of the same rock was enclosed in ore and pyrrhotite norite on the northeast side of the deposit, probably having slipped in while the materials were still molten, unless it reached its place by faulting at a later time. Through the granitoid gneiss, the ore and the norite, impartially, a number of diabase dykes made their way at a later time, when all was cold and solid. The diabase, which is beautifully fresh and often por- phyritic, cooled very rapidly against the ore, causing a glassy selvage, but less rapidly against gneiss and norite, showing that the solid ore was a better conductor than the rock. The dykes were from a foot or two to twenty feet wide, but often sent off apophyses only a few inches in width, and occasionally curious wen-like or boulder-like projections extended into the ore, having the same chilled surface as the dyke they were attached to. Most of these dykes have now been removed in mining operations. In one case two intersecting dj^kes completely walled off a large body of ore from the main deposit, but this was obtained by breaking through the walls. Within I he past year or two a large northeast and southwest dyke, formerly hidden by gossan, has been encountered on the north side of the much enlarged open pit. Mr. Hambly, the manager of the mine, states that it descends vertically to the 4th level, and then bends off at an angle of 45° or 50° toward the north. This tangle of dykes cutting the ore body might be expected to influence it in some way, but there is no evidence to show that this was the case beyond a small amount of faulting and readjustment at the time the dykes made their way in. There seem to be far fewer dykes at other points, perhaps because the angle between the two walls of country rock and the great sheet of ore provided a region of weakness more easily fractured than others. The general arrangement of norite merging into ore to the southeast, enclosed on two sides by granitoid gneiss, and cut by a tangle of later diabase dykes, was readily observed during the earliest study of the mine, and seemed fairly simple;^ but during later years as the surroundings were opened up and mining and diamond drilling progressed, the arrange- ment has been found to be somewhat more complex than was believed at first. The norite near the ore body contains large bands or blocks of fine grained greenstone and green schist, one which was pierced by the diamond iBur. Mines, Ont., Vol. XIV, part III, pp. 33-34. 25873—7 57 drill having a thickness of 500 feet; and the granitoid gneiss varies in character from granite to syenite or diorite, all cut by later granite redder in colour and finer grained. Part of the foot-wall of the ore consists of a dark green, fine grained rock, which turns out to be "older norite", and must have reached its place and become solid long before the ore arrived. This may be seen at one place on the 1st level near No. 1 shaft house, and the ore encloses blocks of this older norite and of the granitoid rocks to a considerable extent near the foot-wall and penetrates the rock beneath as narrow veinlets. On the hill southeast of the mine the older rocks are found to be tre- mendously crushed and mixed up, the coarse flesh coloured gneiss being mixed with masses of greenstone and cut by finer grained syenite or gneiss. There was clearly some faulting and much readjustment among the underlying rocks when the ore and norite pushed their way outward from the centre of eruption toward the edges; but no channel of escape seems to have been opened for the floods of molten materials to distribute themselves along an offset. THE CREIGHTON ORE BODY. The minerals of the Creighton ore body are few in number and monot- onous in character, including as important constituents only pyrrhotite, pentlandite, and chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite making the bulk of the ore with the other two minerals disseminated through it. On fresh surfaces the pentlandite so much resembles pyrrhotite in colour as to be easily over- looked, while the greenish yellow of the chalcopyrite is readily spotted, but in reality, pentlandite makes up about 15 per cent of the ore and chalcopyrite only 6 per cent. A small amount of magnetite as tiny octahedra rounded on the edges occurs also, and there are everywhere, even in the purest sulphides, particles or crystals of the rock-forming minerals of the norite, especially plagioclase and the pyroxenes. In addition there are insignificant amounts of later, water-borne minerals, galena, pyrite, quartz, and carbonates. Beside distinct minerals there are always smaller or larger fragments of rock, granite or older norite from the foot-wall or portions of spotted norite from the parent rock in the ore; and near the foot-wall a trifling amount of graphic granite has been found, due to the interaction of norite and granite, and, as a rarety, fluorite. The copper pyrites is present in largest amounts against the foot-wall and as small seams penetrating the country rock, and sometimes considerable masses of it are found in this position. The ores, like the norite, grow finer grained against the foot-wall and evidently cooled in their present position; and it is important to note in this connexion that perfectly fresh norite, the freshest in the neighbourhood, is found in the open pit beside the ore and spotted with blebs of ore. There has, however, been a little secondary rearrangement by water as shown by the water-borne minerals mentioned above and by the films of chalcopy- rite, and less often pyrrhotite, in tiny fissures in the diabase dykes. These sulphides must have migrated into the minute fissures after the dykes had cooled and shruiiken a liLtle. The Creighton ore up to Septeml)er, 1910, contained on the average 5-08 per cent of nickel and 1 -63 of cop])er with a total for the two metals of 6-71 per cent, making it the richest of the large mines with the exception of Copper Clifi". Crean Hill ore api^roaches it, but with the proportions of the two metals about reversed. It is also the richest in sulphides of all 25873— 7 J 58 the large mines, or, in other words, contains less rock matter than the otiiers, 75 or 80 per cent of the ore being sulphides. It has shown a slight falling off in grade since the earlier years, since more rock is ]iow included with the ore, but the sulphides seem to be very uniform in their average -contents of nickel and copper. In 1891 when the open pit was begun and almost pure sulphides were mined the percentages were nickel 5-11 and copper 2 19. If 25 per cent of rock matter be deducted from the ore, the sulphides contain the three metals in about the following proportions: — Fe— 56-44 Ni— 6-77 Cu— 2 17 and the sulphides are present to the extent of al)out 80 per cent pyrrhotite, 20 per cent pentlandite, and less than 10 per cent chalcopyrite. GENERAL SHAPE OF THE ORE BODY. Like other marginal nickel deposits the Creighton ore Ijody is unsym- metrical, having quite different features on the foot -wall from those of the hanging wall. It is not a vein deposit nor a replacement, and though it occurs between two different rocks, norite and granitoid gneiss, it is not a contact deposit in the ordinar}^ sense. On the surface the ore body appeared as a somewhat pear-shaped mass with its broad end toward the northeast. The present open pit has a length of 570 feet from northeast to southwest and a greatest breadth along the plane of No. 1 shaft, of 355 feet, with an average breadth of about 300 feet. Deducting the part of the hanging wall removed in mining operations, the original surface of the ore body must have had about two- thirds of these dimensions, about 380 by 240 feet. Allowing for the dip of the ore body, the width of 240 feet means a thickness of about 180 feet. The pear-shaped cross section shown by the present open pit does not, however, give a very correct idea of the shape or area of the ore body as it appeared in the early workings. The pit down to the 1st and 2nd levels shows a somewhat irregular but cjuite definite foot-wall of granite with a dip of 42° to the west, while the hanging wall was indefinite, being simply the limit where the mixture of ore and norite proved too low in grade to mine profitably. In the lower levels the dip of the foot-wall has changed to about 34° and the thickness of ore has diminished to about 50 or 60 feet. Below the mine workings the only means of determining the inclination of the foot-wall and ore body are several diamond drill holes, reaching a depth in one case of 672 feet. These data indicate that the dip of the deposit flattens to about 32°, and that the thickness diminishes somewhat, varying from 36 to 52 feet, while the diamond drill work has proved that the ore extends at least 1250 feet iii a nearly west- ward direction. It appears that the ore body thins rapidly in the upper part, and then remains of nearly the same thickness so far as it has been followed by the drill, while the width seems to be increasing at greater •depths. It is of interest to find that a new ore body of considerable dimen- sions has recently been opened up by mining operations at a short distance southwest of the main workings, showing that some deposits have not reached the surface at all. Since its diminution at the bottom of the open pit, the Creighton deposit has continued so uniformly and regularly, as shown by mining and the damond drill, that one naturally expects it to extend far beyond Plate XXII. Air drill, open pit, ( 'rcigliton. 59 the present known limits, and theoretically there is no reason wh}^ it should not go on indefinitely so long as the furrow in the country rock in which it collected continues. Mr. McCaulley of the engineers department at Copper Cliff makes the interesting suggestion that the remarkable thickening of the ore body at the surface represents a sort of spilling over of the molten ore. It is probable, however, that the ore once extended much higher than the present surface of the country, and that many millions of tons of it have been removed during the ages that have elapsed since weathering removed the edge of the nickel eruptive. The Creighton has of late years been by far the most productive nickel mine in the world, with its annual output of more than 200,000 tons of ore containing on the average 4 • 68 per cent of nickel and 1-65 of copper. The total production up to the end of 1910 was 2,088,531 tons, and mining at the regular rate has gone on steadily since that time. The annual production of nickel from this mine has probably surpassed that of all the other nickel mines in the world. In the month of July, 1909, 32,348 tons of ore were raised, and the cost of production was only 34'4 cents per ton, the output per man employed at the mine being 6| tons. There are probably few mines that surpass these results for economy of labour and costs. The Creighton was worked first as an open pit. No. 1 shaft being sunk later on an incline of 59° in the country rock to the southeast to handle the ore. The second and third levels were presently opened up to the first, and the fourth is now opened to the bottom of the pit, which is about 260 feet deep. In order to keep pace with the required output No. 2 shaft was sunk 330 feet to the southwest on an incline of 47°, and most of the third level and the parts below it require underground work, owing to the dip of the ore body mentioned above. NORTH STAR MINE. The basic edge of the norite, after turning a little west of north beyond the Creighton open pit, bends northeastward for a mile and a half through swamps and low ground before reaching the North Star mine in the south half of lot 9, con. Ill, Snider township. The rock to the southeast is mainly coarse granite or syenite, flesh red to grey in colour, and often por- phyritic and gneissoid, though there are patches of greenstone, and as one approaches the mine there is some crush conglomerate including blocks of greenstone and an irregular strip of "older norite" like that found near Gertrude and Creighton. The edge of the norite becomes rustier as the structures of the mine come into view. The coarse granitic rocks are older than the norite, since the latter grows finer grained against them, but a dyke of fine grained granite a foot wide can be followed for some distance through the norite, showing that there were later granite erup- tions. The North Star mine was opened in 1902 by the Mond Company, first as a narrow open pit, and later (in 1904) by a shaft 170 feet deep. The deposit has a dip of 75° or 80° toward the northwest, the steepest known in the marginal mines of the region. As reported by Mr. Corliss, then in charge of the mine, the ore is fairly solid and sharply defined against the steep foot-wall, though it contains rounded boulders and angular masses of granite and greenstone; but toward the jiorite it fades out in the usual way. As the foot-wall is unusually clean cut, and is slickcnsided, it may be that the steep dip is due to faulting. 60 The North Star ore when free from rock matter is unusually rich, and it is worthy of note that the great Creighton mine with its rich ore is flanked on each side by smaller deposits, the Gertrude and the North Star, having ore of similar grade; the smaller deposits occupying only slight embayments of the norite edge, while the great ore bodj^ was accu- mulated in a deep depression of the norite into the Archaean substratum. The North Star which had not been M'orked for some time, has be( n reopened in 1912 by the Mond Company. For a mile beyond North Star the branch and the main line of the raihvay follow approximately the norite edge, which runs northeastwards and is more or less rusty but shows no ore bodies. The rock to the south is mainly granite, though there are patches of greenstone mixed with it. In lot 8, con. Ill of Snider township the edge of the norite goes south of the railway and turns to the east; and after a drift-covered stretch ore shows on a hillside of granite, in lot 7. Upon this a test pit was sunk years ago, and apparently abandoned, since it was restaked in 1911 by Messrs. Kirby Thomas and H. L. Carpenter. Not far beyond this a large patch of granite is included in the norite, near its edge; and the country is much more hilly than between Creighton and North Star. In lot 6, con. Ill the basic edge once more turns northeast and the amount of greenstone in the country rock surpasses that of the granite. At the shallow bay where the northeastward bend occurs there are several small outcrops of ore on which test pits have been sunk, and a little "older norite" occiirs just to the southeast. The edge now turns nearly east for half a mile, and not far from the line between lots 6 and 5, but probably within the latter lot, there is another northeastward bend with a small outcrop of ore on which test pits have Vjeen sunk. From this point to a small lake near the southern end of lot 5, con. IV, the northeast trend of the norite margin continues, with greenstone as country rock, and no ore in sight. Beyond the lake the margin follows the same direction, crossing the railway and reaching its most northern point nearly on the line between lots 4 and 3, and about a quarter of a mile south of con. V o ' the township of Snider. The boundary then turns southeast, crosses the railway in a swamp near mile 5, bends east- ward for a short distance, and then south and southeast toward Clarabelle lake. At its northern point this promontory of granite and gneiss is less than 2^ miles from the acid edge of the nickel eruptive, which is here narrower than anywhere else on the southern range, except near Whitson lake, some miles to the northeast. The almost complete absence of ore or gossan along this part of the basic edge conforms to the rule observed elsewhere. The norite is coarse textured but grows finer grained towards the edge, where it is more or less mixed with fragments of the country rock, mostly coarse porphyritic granite or granitoid gneiss, so that it is evidently the later rock of the two. The granitoid gneiss rises as a group of steep hills in the re-entrant angle of the norite edge, but occasionally at the very edge, the norite forms a hilltop with the granite dipping under it, relations which are well seen near a small lake south of the railway on the line between lots 2 and 3, con. IV of Sjiider. Southeast of this pond the basic edge may be looked on as merging into the Copper Cliff offset. Plate XXIII. ^^p^'^TJIj wnjfK'* ^^Hr '''"' ^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^ r ^^Hff ^^^^^^m ^i ^/^ ' * ^ ig. ^ ^^^^^^fi^nr ^ UMMjUMMMH^MMMjV A^ ^^^ ^^^H^^^^Hv' I'hf J" » #^sf^ ^Jjmr North Star niirc, gliowirg dip of foot-wall. 61 THE COPPER CLIFF OFFSET. The basic edge of the norite curves southeast from the ba" ren region just described, and by walking half a mile eastward along the railway and just to the south of Pump lake one reaches the other side of the norite of the ofTset, which half encloses a small area of red granite, sending a tongue northeast from the Lady Violet mine. From this mine the margin runs south to No. 6 or Clarabelle mine, close to the north side of the lake of the same name, where the offset is only about 600 feet wide; but just to the southeast it expands again to a width of nearly half a mile, then narrows rapidly once more towards Lady Macdonald lake, where it is not more than 100 feet wide. It sinks beneath the shallow lake, reappears at the east end of Nickel island, is covered by water again for about 1000 feet, and then luns somewhat east of south for half a mile as a narrow irregular band to No. 2 mine. A gap of about 1500 feet follows in which only drift and a few out- crops of greenstone and greywacke can be seen, after which a small patch of rusty norite appears near a small creek; and then, about 200 feet farther south, the rusty hill of Copper Cliff rises sharply from the drift, runs southward for 400 feet and then bends to the southeast at the mine itself. A wide drift-filled valley separates this mine from the next outcrop 2000 feet to the southwest, after which the rusty norite rises upon a hillside and may be followed with few interruptions for 1900 feet, in a direction somewhat west of south. The southern end of the outcrop sinks beneath bog and old lake deposits once more for 4000 feet, when a low hill of norite mixed with other rocks and gossan-covered, rises at Evans mine, some distance south of the "Soo" railway. Beyond this point no outcrops of the nickel-bearing norite are known. As the Copper Cliff oft'set is much the most important known on the circumference ot the laccolithic sheet, as far as amount and grade of ore are concerned, it is desirable to describe its features in detail. From the account just given it will be seen that the band of norite- micropegmatite is almost at its greatest breadth to the north of the offset, where it gradually curves outward on both sides to form a funnel, a mile wide at the beginning, but narrowing to about 600 feet at Clarabelle lake, then widening and sending a prong to the northeast, before finally shrinking to a width of about 100 feet at Lady Macdonald lake. Beyond this it is seldom more than 200 feet in width and in several places is interrupted, so far as one can see at the surface, by stretches of country rock showing no trace of norite or ore. It will be noted from the map that after it narrows up the norite of the offset springs from point to point in what seems an erratic manner. The band runs pretty continuously to No. 2 mine, but is next found quite to the west of its former diriK'tion, at Copper Cliff mine, and still farther to the west at No. 1 mine. The apparent gajis in the continuity may not be so extensive as they seem, since there may be connecting links beneath the drift, l)ut in some cases the breaks are certainly real, the country rock which interrupts the offset being well exposed. In such cases one naturally sui)}ioscs underground channels of connexion, though it is possible that the conduit was through overlying rocks, afterwards denuded away. Pro- bably several thousand feet have been removed from the region since Cambrian times when the norite is supposed to have reached its present ]i()sition. The length of the offset, measuring from the beginning of the narrow portion at Latly Macdonald lake, is 14,400 feet, of which less than 5,000 62 feet can be followed on the surface, but perhaps much more is concealed under the lake or the drift deposits. Wherever the band of norite can be followed it is heavilj' charged with ore. If the offset is assumed to begin where the funnel narrows toward the southeast its length is increased by fully a mile, amounting to nearly four miles in all. ORE DEPOSITS TO THE NORTHWEST OF LADY MACDONALD LAKE. On the southwestern side of the funnel where the norite rises against the granitoid gneiss referred to before, ore and gossan seem to be absent; but on the eastern side two ore bodies have been more or less opened up, and there is a large amount of gossan. The difference may be due to the marked widening of the eruptive toward the northeast as compared with the southwest. The first ore body is encountered at Lady Violet mine, to the south o*" Pump lake in the north half of lot 1, con. Ill, wherein early days the Vivians of Swansea opened two pits at the contact of the norite with greenstone. The deposit is marginal, Avith coarse grained norite to the west and no suggestions of offset relationships. Half a mile to the south near the north shore of Clarabelle lake there is another large extent of gossan with two pits, called the Clarabelle, or No. 6 mine. For the distance between the two mines granite forms the country rock in the main, but the gossan-covered hill at Clarabelle is of shattered greenstone merging into chloritic and hornblendic schists. The rock dump, in addition to spotted norite and phases of the country rocks, contains quartz, calcite, dolomite, and actinolite in blades several inches long, indi- cating considerable secondary action by circulating waters. During mining operations a mass of about five tons of magnetite was found completely enclosed in the ore at Clarabelle, the magnetite being slightly mixed with sulphides and green silicates, and seeming to be closely related to the regular ores, oxygen replacing sulphur. Clarabelle mine was for a time connected by rail with Copper CUE and supplied 4,000 tons of ore containing about 2 per cent of nickel and 1-68 of copper; but for some years it has not been worked, and the rails have been removed, and the mine dismantled. Much of the norite to the southwest of Clarabelle is very rusty, suggesting that more ore may be found when needed. At the southwestern contact the norite meets granitoid gneiss nearly vertically and grows finer at the edge and is more or less mingled with the granite, penetrating all the fissures in the older rock. The contact along the railway to the southeast of Clarabelle mine shows patchy norite containing many fragments of a finer grained older norite and of greenstone or green schist, the neighbouring rocks. Beyond this it bends northeast on a steep hill rising about 100 feet above the lake. The hilltop is partly of brecciated rusty greenstone, and on its southward slope beside a tongue of norite there are the large open pits and workings of No. 4 mine. The size of the workings indicates an ore body of considerable diinensions; and years ago the mine supplied 43,500 tons of fair ore con- taining 3 per cent of nickel and 1 -25 per cent of copper, about the normal ratio for a marginal mine. No. 4 is a quarter of a mile east of Clarabelle mine at a point where the offset has widened to about half a mile from northeast to southwest. On the south side of this expansion of norite there is mainly coarse, porphyritic granitoid gneiss of the Laurentian type; but to the west near Clarabelle lake the granite is intimately mixed with greenstone, and is clearly the later rock. Toward the north there are rugged hills consisting 63 of a mixture of rocks, including hornblende porphyrite with large cleavages of the mineral, hornblende schist, diorite, and portions of a sedimentary rock, greywacke or cjuartzite all greatly disturbed. It appears that this large bay of norite pushed itself wedge-like along the contact between the granite and the greenstone, which was evidently a zone of weakness. Where the offset narrows to a point on the northwest shore of Lady Macdonald lake another ore deposit occurs named Lady Macdonald or No. 5 mine, the first of the series of mines on the Copper Cliff offset to be worked. The development consists mainly of an open pit close to the lake at the mar- gin of the norite against a crush breccia of greenstones and granitoid gneiss. The norite and ore at this mine seem to be cut by a later dyke of pegmatite, but the exposure is not satisfactory enough to make this quite certain. The rock clump contains fragments of pegmatite, hornblende por})hyrite, hornblende schist and arkose, and a few scales of graphite were found in one mass of gneissoid rock. The mine was at one time connected Ijy a SAvitch with the railway from No. 4 to Copper Cliff, and is reported to have supplied 8,000 tons of ore of moderate grade, containing 2 • 83 per cent of nickel and 1-06 of copper. The proportions of the two metals are those commonly found in mar- ginal mines, so that one may assume that the four deposits thus far descriljed belong to the marginal ty])e and therefore that the offset proper begins to the south of this point. Just why all the ore should be on the east side of the bay of norite is not apparent. THE COPPER CLIFF OFFSET TO NO. 2 MINE. Lady Macdonald lake has been dammed to provide a water supply, and so hides the relations of the rocks to some extent; but a small island in the jiorthern part of the lake shows gossan-covered norite in contact with granite to the southwest ; while rusty norite rises above a bay to the south- east with a width of about 100 feet, broadening to 180 feet a little to the south. For the first 450 feet the band of norite lies between green schist interbanded with greywacke to the east and coarse granitoid gneiss to the west; but from this point on it has both walls of gneiss until No. 2 mine is reached, where greenstone touches it once more. The whole surface of the band of norite is either pitted with rusty spots where ore has weathered out or covered with gossan, and a succession of open pits, now filknl with water, show where small bodies of ore were mined and taken by a short tramway to the rockhouse of No. 2 mine. Tlu^ norite her(^ is fine grained and of the offset variety, and it grows still finer graijied against the granitoid gneiss, showing its later age. At one point however, about midway between the bay and the open pit of No. 2, a granite dyke 10 feet wide runs diagonally across the norite, so that there were granites of two ages, one older and the other younger than the norite. The later granite is grey and much finer grained than the other. The granitoid gneiss beside the norite has been greatly crushed and sheared and often forms a giant In-eccia in which the schistose structure is differently oriented in different blocks, while the matrix between the blocks is fine grained and appears to be merely groimd u]) granite of the same kind as the l>locks. Just north of th(> o])en ])it of No. 2 mine a sheet of drift covers the band of norite and the relations are obscured, ))ut a dyke of greatly weathered diabase about 30 feet wide seems to cut it from east to west. 64 Fig. 3. 65 The large open pit of the mine occupies nearly the whole width of the offset, sho-udng that ore accumulated here, near the end of a straight band of norite, in much larger amounts than at points with an unobstructed flow from the funnel to the northwest. There is only a small amount of norite spotted with ore left between the pit and the granitoid gneiss. The pit is about 230 feet long, following the direction of the offset, and about half as broad, but it is not quite oval in shape, since a projection of norite bulges out from the southwest side. The pit is 278 feet deep, and lower down the ridge of norite dies out, the pipe of ore grows more regular in form, and there are underground levels reaching a depth of about 400 feet. The ore of No. 2 encloses a good many fragments and rounded masses of rock and is of moderate grade, containing 2 • 70 per cent of nickel and 1-94 of copper, the proportions of the metals being of the offset type, showing more copper than would be found in a marginal deposit. No. 2 mine was opened in 1898 and produced ore till 1903, when the large output from Creighton mine made it unnecessary to work mines lower in grade of ore, and it was closed dowTi. It is one of the great mines of the region, having furnished 399,000 tons of fair ore during the time it was operated. The mine still contains large amounts of ore, and to meet the increased demand for nickel the Canadian Copper Company began to work it once more in 1911. COPPER CLIFF MINE. The small steep hill covered with gossan rising in the midst of the town of Copper Cliff from a wide flat of stratified clay immediately attracts attention, and it is not surprising that so striking a feature was early dis- covered even in what was then a thickly wooded region. Though not the first nickel deposit found it was the first to be mined on a large scale, and except the Creighton, which was opened up much later, it has been the most important mine in the Sudbury district. It is situated near the north- west corner of lot 12, con. II of McKim township, close to the boundary of Snider township. The Copper Cliff hill or ridge rises about 400 yards to the westward of the normal extension of the norite band running from Lady Macdonald lake to No. 2; but the trend of the ridge is nearly parallel to its extension. It may be that in a region of so much disturbance they have been separated by faulting on a large scale, so that a great block including the mine has been shifted for a quarter of a mile in a direction a few degrees west of south. It is perhaps more probable, however, that some subterranean channel really connects the norite and ore of the two mines. The hill of rusty norite 600 feet long and 200 feet wide is enclosed on three sides by drift, but on the east joins a higher hill of sedimentary rock, greywacke conglomerate toward the north and arkose toward the south, both much fractured by the faulting and crushing which i)repared the way for the advent of the norite and ore. The arkose, which is fine grained and flesh coloured, has boon so nmch recrystallized as to look like an eruptive rock, and consequent h' Avas at first taken for syenite or felsitc; but its relation to undoubted sediments prove that it too is sedimentary. Two small dykes of diabase cut the spotted norite of the hill, and in the arkose just to the east there are two dykes of reddish, grey, medium grained granite, six or eight feet wide, which cannot be traced far owing to the gossan covering of the norite contact. The granite of the dykes is like that of the dyke nortn of No. 2 mine 66 On the rock dunii) southeast of the miuc examples of all of these rocks ■may be found, and in addition dia])ase from a dyke, black and fine grained and sometimes twenty-five feet wide, which was followed from the 3rd to the 13th level during mining operations. Diamond drill cores from below the 13th level shoAv spotted norite and ore, diabase, and a dyke of medium grained biotite granite like that cutting the arkose. Beside these rocks, which appear in characteristic forms at the surface, the dump discloses blocks of norite passing into red granite and also forming coarse varieties with large grey cleavage surfaces of plagioclose and coarse grained masses of biotite and hornblende, apparently segregation products of a pegmatitic character. Some of the blocks might be described as anorthosite, when the plagioclase is almost unmixed with da'ker minerals. While no examples of such differentiation are known from the surface of the offset, very similar occurrences may be seen at Elsie and Murray mines to the north. There is no evidence that either the dykes or the differentiation products have any special relationship to the ore and the dykes were certainly much later in age. In addition to the pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite of the ore, several other minerals are found on the dump, such as quartz and calcite or ankerite; and along one side of the dyke followed by the mine workings there was a seam of quartz with some ore, and on the other a margin of calcite. Evidently the contact of the dyke with the norite provided fissures in which water could circulate depositing secondary minerals such as quartz, carbonates and galena, but these deposits were formed long after the ore had reached its position in company with the parent norite magma. The circulating waters, so far as the evidence goes, brought in little new material, but rearranged to some extent the minerals of the already existing ore body. It was largely the study of such later rearrangements of the ores and other minerals from Copper Cliff and neighbouring offset mines which led Messrs. Dickson, Campbell and Knight to consider the nickel ore bodies water-formed deposits clue to replacement of the rock minerals by sulphides. The cross sections of Copper Cliff mine and the plans of the different levels, provided by the kindness of Captaui Lawson, show that the ore body is a rude cylinder, narrowing and widening from level to level, and forking about 500 feet below the surface. Its longest diameter varies from 75 to more than 200 feet, following the direction of the hill, and the shorter one runs from 50 to 90 feet. As shown in the vertical section through the shaft, the somewhat flattened cylinder dips very uniformly at an angle of 77|° towards the east, and reaches a greater depth than 1,000 feet. The earlier shaft following the apparent clip of the outcrop, soon diverged too much from the ore bod}^, and a new shaft was begun at the 3rd level having the dip just mentioned. In the working of the Copper Cliff mine it was soon observed that when I he ore body widened it became richer in nickel, while the narrower parts were especially rich in copper, the first instance of the general rule that the copper ores accumulated near the country rock and the nickel ores farther from it. The Copper Cliff, as its name suggests, was begun as a copper mine, the nickel contents of the ore being a later discovery. In reality it remained in one sense a copper mine to the end, since out of the 9-53 per cent of the combined metals in its ore, on the average, 5-63 per cent was copper and ■only 3'90 nickel. In value the nickel was more important, but in amount Plate XXIV. ( 'ru.sh conglomerate south ( f Nickel range. 25873—8 67 three-fifths of the output of metal was copper. In this respect it has been paralleled only by the Crean Hill mine, whose ore was, however, much lower in grade. C. C Co k3£:CT/OA/>5 copf^'fiR cur r mine: ^ ■^co/e M n r^ * (VtLfTIC/ll.) /3^L£.y£L I'Ki. 4. During its history from 1886 till it closed down th- mine produced 369,000 tons of ore, very rich but containing a good deal of rock, and in its production of the two metals no other mine has equalled it except the Creigh- ton. 25873—81 68 When the mine was closed there was still some verj' rich ore in sight, though the size of the deposit has diminished considerably. In 1910 the rockhouse was torn down, and now little is to be seen at this famous mine except a small open pit and the rock dump. At a few other points on the gossan hill to the north small pockets of ore have been mined and seams of copper pyrites may still be seen in some places. NO. 1 MINE. 2,000 feet to the southwest of the Copper Cliff mine ore-bearing norite rises above stratified clay on the flanks of a high hill formed mainly of sedimentary' rocks, greywacke to the east and arkose to the west. There are three or four small outcrops of ore and rusty norite extending somewhat west of south for nearly 1,900 feet, following pretty nearly the contact of the greywacke with the arkose probably because this was a plane of weak- ness along which faulting and Assuring took place when the norite was irrupted. Five pits have been opened on this row of small deposits, No. 1 mine being the most important, but all are now filled with water so that little can be seen except the country' rock. The norite and ore in some places ramify between blocks of greywacke, as on the Worthington offset. At the southern pit a small band of dark green hornblende porphyrite shows itself, probably older than the norite; and three dykes of diabase cut both the norite and the country rocks on each side. This part of the offset is narrower than most others and at one or two points the ore occupies almost the whole space between the walls of country rock, much as an ordinary vein might do, and at the southern end it narrows to a width of only ten feet. For a time No. 1 and its extensions produced high grade ore, the total output reported being 2.3,000 tons, containing on an average 6-98 per cent of nickel and copper in about ecjual proportions (Xi 3 06, Cu 3 -42). These openings were worked for only a short time about 1898. EVANS MINE. Except for a few low projections of grej'wacke, no rock is to be seen till one reaches the last outcrop of norite, two-thirds of a mile to the south of the one just desiu'ibed, at the Evans mine, where a small and low gossan- covered mound rises above the old lake deposits. Here there are visible only two open pits, filled with water and the rock dumps, showing little that is of geological interest. The ore muse have been somewhat rocky, from the size of the dumps; and one finds norite, partly spotted with ore, actinolite clue to thew eather- ing of some basic rock like norite, diabase, probably from dykes, and grey- wacke. There is much evidence of shearing and slickensiding in the rocks on the dump. The Evans mine was worked by open pits to a depth of 160 feet, and afterwards by underground levels to a depth in all of about 250 feet. It was one of the first mines opened in the region, work having begun upon it in 1886, soon after the Copper Cliff mine was started; and, with some interruptions, it continued to furnish ore till the end of 1899. Its mas- sively' framed rockhouse was a landmark to the south of the railway until a few years ago, when it was torn clown. The Evans mine is reported to have produced 234,000 tons of ore containing 3 per cent of nickel and 69 2-66 of copper; so that it is one of the important mines of the region, both as to amount and grade of the ore. A fourth of a mile to the south of the Evans outcrop a hill of gabbro rises through the greywacke, and in my earlier study of the region — before the true relationships of the Sudbury laccolithic sheet of norite had been fully worked out — the ciuestion was considered whether it was not really connected with this eruptive mass rather than the much more distant basic edge of the norite. However, the marked difference between the ore-spotted norite at the mine and the pale bluish-green gabbro, devoid of ore, to the south, seemed sufficient to connect it with the offset two- thirds of a mile to the north. The Copper Cliff offset is much the most important known, with its three great mines — No. 2, Copper Cliff and Evans — not to mention the numerous smaller ore bodies which have been worked. It has produced more than 1,000,000 tons of ore, much of which was unusually high in grade, containing about 35,500 tons of copper and 33,000 tons of nickel; and there is every reason to l)elieve that at least one of the mines, No. 2, will continue to supply ore for a long time to come. One naturally compares the Copper Cliff offset with the Victoria mine- Worthington offset fifteen miles to the southwest. The latter is quite as long as the former, but is not known to contain any ore bodies of the first rank. • It will be noticed on the geological map that both leave the basic margin of the norite at points where the nickel eruptive has an unusually wide outcrop, with a change of direction of both the acid and basic edges. Both offsets follow directions of great faulting, crushing, and shearing in the country rocks, as if there had been extensive shifting; and this is probabl}' due to the partial collapse and settling down of a great block of the underlying rock as the liquid norite rose from beneath to spread out between the overlying sediments and the more ancient rocks. If this block lost the support of the molten magma once imprisoned beneath, there must have been important movements at each end, before things were once more adjusted. At Creighton mine there were no such openings provided and the ore was unable to escape. ELSIE MINE. Return' ng to the basic edge of the main range, the contact can l)e fol- lowed northwest from Lady Violet mine, passing to the southeast of Pump lake and then turning east towards Elsie mine. The norite is of the usual coarse grej' variety with bluish blebs of quartz and brown spots of biotite, and near Pump lake the adjoining rock is granite, but to the east there is a steep hill of various greenstones and "older norite." The contrast between this rugged mass of the older rocks and the low and nearly flat surface of the norite is very striking, and in the Ijurnt regions to the north one observes how much more ra])idly the norite is attacked by the weather than the older rocks to the south. It is being transformed ijito rounded bouldery masses, partly buried in the coarse sandy materials resulting from the decay of the enclosing rock, the destruction beginning at the joints which permit the water to enter. The rocks to the south are largely lavas, still showing n jilaces the "pillow" structure and amygdaloids ])roduced where a lava stream has l^oured into the sea. Parts, however, have been changed from fresh "older norite" into greenstone, hornblende porphyrite and ])lagioclas(> p()ri)hyrite. A\'itli the volcanic rocks were caught up many small and large fragments 70 T)f greywacke or quartzite, and all of the varieties of rock mentioned appear, moie or less gossan- covered, at the southern edge of the ore body, or even enclosed in the ore. The fresher parts of the "older norite" consist of labradorite with much hypersthcne and magnetite, so that the rock is much more basic than the nickel-bearing norite. Just at the Elsie mine the basic edge turns towards the northeast, so that it occupies a small bay, as so often occurs in marginal mines, and the open pit at the mine shows a foot-wall of greenstone and greywacke slo])ing northwest at an angle of 29°. Twenty feet of clean ore have been stoped out in most places, but the hanging wall of pyrrhotite-norite is very indefinite, and sometimes 40 feet of the mixed rock was thought rich enough to be removed. There has been a good deal of slipping along the foot-wall, and slickensided surfaces could be seen while the mine was working; but everything is now hidden by water, which has filled the underground workings as well as the open pit. The Elsie mine Avas opened up in July, 1901, by the Lake Superior Power Co., and ore was shipped to the Gertrude roast yard and smelter for treatment towards the close of the year, a switch curving round the west side of the steep hill to the south of the mine, connecting it with the main line of the Algoma Central railway. The mine closed down, on the financial collapse of the parent company, after shipping 25,700 tons of rather Ioav grade ore. MURRAY MINE. The gossan-covered edge of the norite against the greenstones at Elsie mine continues with scarcely a break for about half a mile to the northwest to the Murray mine, the first deposit found in the region and one of the earliest worked. Its geological relationships have been studied bj^ several good geologists, beginning with Baron Von Foullon, who proved the rock accompanying the ore to be norite, and not diorite, as it had been named. Later, Dr. T. L. Walker worked out the geology of the mine and its surroundings in considerable detail while acting as chemist for the Vivian Company^ ; and stil^ later Dr. Barlow studied the region and pre- pared a map of the geology on the scale of 400 feet to the inch^. It will therefore not be necessary to take up details, particularly since the mine has not been worked for a long time and no fresh exposures are to be seen; while the mine itself is full of water, making it impossible to examine it. In 1893 Captain Richards stated to the Inspector of Mines that "the ore body, which possesses an average thickness of 70 feet, strikes in the direction northeast and southwest and dips northwesterly 45° from the horizontal. This agglomerated mass of nickeliferous pyrrhotite and diorite is contained by diorite walls. The foot-wall at certain points, as proved by mining operations, presents the appearance of a true fissured plane, upon which at some time or other the ore body has moved, as evidenced by the coarse flucan or attrited matter which separates the ore from the wall. In some places through the occurrence there exist large inclusions, horses or intrusions of diorite containing fragments of granite." This description would apply to a number of the marginal nickel deposits as now known except that for diorite we should put norite to the northwest and hornblende porphj'rite variously cut by later granite to the southeast. 'Quar. Journ. Geol. Soc, Vol. LIII, pp. 40-46. 2G.S.C., An. Rep., Vol. XIV, Part H. 71 In addition to the description given above it may be mentioned that acid segregations a few inches or feet in width occur in the norite, in which giant crystals of hornblende and plagioclase occur, often with quartz in the centre. It may be that fragments of quartzite, which occurs with the greenstones near by, have been digested to produce these curious masses in the norite. Dr. Barlow has shown that the greenstones to the southeast have been greatly shattered and penetrated by a later granite forming a breccia; and he has mapped two great dykes of olivine diabase having a strike of about 120°, cutting the norite and country rock at right angles to the con- tact. The diabase is very fresh and is much later than the ore body. The Murray mine was operated by the Vivians of Swansea, Wales, from 1889 to 1894, the smelter having begun work in 1890, but the opera- tions seem to have been carried on at a loss. In 1896 and 1897 the smelter was put to use again in working up about 6,000 tons of roasted ore left by the Vivians, the matte being shipped to Camden, N.J., for the production of nickel.-'' Dr. H. Winters of Ottawa kindly gives from memory the following information obtained when he was accountant at the mine seventeen years ago. The greatest depth reached in the mine was 225 feet, with drifts of about the same length in each direction at the 100 foot level, and a drift of about 100 feet southwestward at the 200 foot level. About 200 tons of ore were mined per day of ten hours, but the mine was usually closed for three or four months in the winter as the production of ore was considered more expensive then. Though the ore was said to contain 2j per cent of nickel they were not able to obtain more than Ih per cent from the cupola. About 40 tons of matte, averaging 40 per cent of nickel and 20 per cent of copper, were produced per month, as was impressed on Dr. Winter's memory by the fact that the cash received for payment of wages was dependent on a carload of matte going forward each month, and that there were times when it was difficult to get the carload away. Dr. Winters does not venture to give an estimate of the total amount of ore produced by the mine. FROM MURRAY MINE TO MOUNT NICKEL. The gossan belt of the Elsie and Murray mines continues without a break, though in loss amount, for a long distance northeast, and at various points test pits have been sunk disclosing more or less ore, but the deposits seem too small to be of importance. For nearly two miles of fairly straight marg'n one finds small ore bodies or pyrrhotite-norite with enough ore to cause gossan, and the total amount of ore in this distance must be great, but there was no marked depression in the floor into which it might flow so as to form a large deposit such as one might expect where the nickel eruptive shows a very wide outcrop. For more than three-quarters of a mile northeast of Murray mine the country rock is greenstone or weathered phases of the older norite, often more or less brecciated and pierced by granite; but beyond this in nearly the same direction the country rock changes to granite, flesh coloured and of medium grain, rising as rather sharp hills. Along the granite there is comparatively little ore to be seen until the Cameron mine is reached in lot 7, con. VI of McKim township, though three or four small test pits occur half a mile to the southwest. 'Ibid, pp. 30-31. 72 At the Cameron mine there is a small bay of the norite, and a shaft and some stripp'ngs prove that ore exists. The relations along this part of the ])oundary are obscured })y drift, though there are outcrops enough to show that for about two miles granite is the country rock; but whether it is earlier or later than the norite is not cjuite certain. The fact that the norite with ore leans up against it suggests that the granite is earlier; but in several cases there is a little green.stone or "older norite" immediately beside the small patches of ore; and it is conceivable that the or'ginal country rock was greenstone, and that the granite is later than the norite, having come up nearly along the old contact. The relative age of this range of granite hills and the norite is of great practical importance in relation to the ])robable extent of the ore deposits of the Frood-Stobie offset to the southeast. If the granite is older the Frood deposit may extend much farther to the northwest; whereas, if it is later, the ore and norite are prol^ably cut off from the main range, and the width of the deposit to the northwest will be fixed by the granite mass. Beyond Cameron mine the basic edge bends somewhat to the east for half a mile to Little Stobie mine, granite rising to the south or southeast for most of the distance. At the Little Stobie, greenstone, green schist and older norite begin; but this part of the region also is a good deal drift-covered, so that relationships are not always clear. The open pit shows horn- blende porphyrite and green schist, but the norite nearby is so crowded in places with small fragments of "older norite" as to look like a conglomerate or breccia. The Little Stobie was worked for a short time in 1902 by the Mond Company, 1,584 tons of ore being sent to Victoria mine for treatment, but at present things are largely hidden by a second growth of bushes. About a mile northwest of Little Stobie in lot 8, con. II of Blezard township, a small pocket of ore was found some years ago by the dip needle, and a test pit and a diamond drill hole were sunk by a partj^ sent out by Mr. Edison to explore for nickel ore, without success, however, as no ore was found below the test pit. The drill core showed norite, weathered or fresh, to the depth of 1,0.30 feet, but interrupted by a band of schist at about 260 feet, and by a considerable thickness of fine grained granite between 900 and 950 feet. At this distance from the basic edge, if the dip is about 30°, it would probably be necessary to sink 1,500 or 2,000 feet to reach the contact of the norite with the underlying rock where ore might be expected to occur, and the chances would be strongly against finding a remunerative body of ore. From Little Stobie the contact runs northeast to the north corner of lots 5 and 6, con. I of B!ezard, and then east as a small embayment to Mount Nickel mine. Here there has been a considerable amount of development work, including the opening of two cuts and the sinking of a shaft to a depth of 165 feet, some drifting having been done also at the 75 foot level. In these operations an ore dump of respectable size and quality was formed, now largely turned to gossan by weathering. A good cleal of diamond driUing has been carried out in addition, some of it in 1911 under the management of Mr. Kirby Thomas; and it is stated that the ore body is fairly large and dips at an angle of about 30° toward the north. In the open cuts one sees first spotted norite with some ore, then a rude breccia of greenstone with ore penetrating all the fissures and serving as a matrix to the rock fragments, the section suggesting that molten pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite were injected into all the openings of the country rock. Plate XXV t^ -"^^ Fault, bouth of Xickel range. Plate XXVI. 1 "V"T^ \\''M^i^, M ^ V \ ^^ f f*^-*h, Crush conglonierutf, t 'upper C'lifT. 73 THE FROOD-STOBIE OFFSET. Though the nickel eruptive is wide between Murray mine and Mount Nickel, comparativel}^ little ore is found along this part of the basic edge of the norite, partly, no doubt, because the margin bends slightly inwards instead of outwards. This lack of ore along the edge of the norite is atoned for by the immense deposits existing in the Frood-Stobie offset, which runs for nearly two miles somewhat parallel to it about a mile to the south- east, but separated from the main range by the granite hills previously mentioned, extending from south of Murray mine to Little Stobie mine. The Frood-Stobie offset is not quite parallel to the edge of the norite, since its southwestern end is a mile and a quarter from it, and its Dorth- eastern end only three-quarters of a mile. The band of ore-bearing rock may be referred to as a parallel offset, differing so much from other deposits in the region that it should be placed in a class by itself, since there is no surface connexion to be found leading up to the basic edge, and no bay of the norite reaching out towards it, as in most offsets. It may be assumed that there is, or was, an underground connexion between these two great deposits of nickel ore and the main range to the northwest, so that the ore settling from the great thickness of norite- micropegmatite found its way out through a broad but somewhat inter- mittent channel or set of intercommunicating channels to its present position, as shown in a diagram illustrating parallel offsets on a former page. This was suggested in my earlier work in the region and has been confirmed by the results of diamond drilling in later years, showing that the ore body dips toward the main range at angles which grow flatter with depth. It is possible, however, that the range of granite hills is la.er than the norite and has severed a connexion which existed l)efore its eruption. The general character of the two ore bodies shows an intermingling of the features of offset and marginal deposits, since the ore contains a larger percentage of nickel as compared with copper than in offsets elsewhere, but is more mixed with rock than in a typical marginal deposit. The angle of dip is not far from what would be expected in a marginal mine, and the ore bodies are much longer than broad, both unusual features in an offset mine. The outcrop rises from swamps and low ground on each side as a very striking ridge of rusty rock on Avhich some pines and other trees grow sparsely, and the highest points reach about 100 feet above the general level, with slopes toward the swamp so steep as to be clifflike. The gossan formed by the decay of the ore is a very resistant material and has largely protected the rocks which it covered from further attacks of the weather. The band of rust}' rock varies greatly in width and the norite is cat completely across at two points, while to the north there are three gaps of from 300 feet to 700 feet before reaching Stobie mine. The widest part of the band of norite and gossan is 900 feet across, a little to the south of Frood mine; and the whole gossan-covered area far ^U! passes any other in the nickel region, being pro])ably four times as large as the gossan sur- face at Creighton or Whistle mines, which come next to it. It was an axiom of the early prospectors that a large area of gossan meant an im- portant ore bod}^ and in this case at least their belief was justified. The ridge rising above the swamps does not consist wholly of norite and ore Init includes considerable areas of other rocks, especially grey- 74 wacko, greenstone, and a gabbro differing considerably from the ore-bearing norite. The granite separating the offset from the basic edge of the main nickel range nowhere comes in contact with the gossan-covered ridge, more than 800 feet of greywacke and greenstone intervening where swamp does not hide the rock. Most of the adjoining rocks have schistose or bedding structures which run parallel to the norite ridge, and the dip of the sediments is high, generally toward the northwest. The norite seems to have risen through an irregular belt of weakness in the older rocks, especially where the structure permitted an easy separation between the beds of greywacke or of greywacke from bands of greenstone. As diamond drill cores prove a considerable dip of the ore and norite to the northwest, flattening at the lowest points reached, we must suppose either that the eruptive cuts across the structures in depth, or that the structural planes of greywacke and schist bend rapidly to the northwest below the surface. It was thought at first that this offset might be connected Avith the main range near Blezard mine two miles to the north, the connexion following i^erhaps a series of marshes; but later study of the region opposes this, since greenstone and "older norite" are continuous in low outcrops across the supposed connexion. FROOD OR NO. 3 MINE. The southwestern ore deposit is generally spoken of as the Frood mine, so named for an early prospector, though the Canadian Copper Company, which owns most of it, refers to it as No. 3 mine. The gossan surface begins nearly on the line between cons. V and VI of McKim town- ship, 1,800 feet west of the boundary between lots 7 and 6, the norite spreading irregularly on a ridge of greywacke and schist, the greywacke sometimes containing large pseudomorphs after :-taurolite. The norite extends 1,500 feet in a northeasterly direction, with a width of about 200 feet; but at this point there is a narrow depression across the ridge, when greywacke reaches from side to side cutting off the ore-bearing rock. It is interesting to note that the diamond drill has shown that this surface interruption only goes down a short distance, suggesting that the norite extends as a contirmous sheet at lower levels. Rising again rapidly the ridge of norite broadens to about 400 feet wdih a steep slope of greywacke to the southeast, and a belt of brecciated rock to the northwest, consisting mostly of angular blocks of greywacke, with some ore coming out between them at many points. Beyond the breccia, to the northwest, low knolls of greenstone rise from the swamp and still beyond are the high granite hills. After 700 feet of continuous norite one reaches the broadest and highest pa'.t of the gossan ridge, where an older gabbro is the principal rock, per- haps an earlier effusion from the nickel-bearing magma. It resembles the true norite in many ways and is sometimes charged with fine particles of sulphides, but thin sections show little or no hypersthene. This older eruptive rock seems to have been shattered so that the later norite with its sulphides could penetrate in all directions, but the masses of ore pushing through it are only small, though the whole hill- top is gossan-covered to a width of 900 feet It was found impossible to separate the two rocks in mapping These two eruptives make the Plate XXVII. I'lood or No. 3 mine, 1910. Pl.ATK XXVIII (luison mine. 75 whole width of the ridge at this point and the greywacke disappears on each side, though some mounds of coarse greenstone or porphyrite show to the northwest. CCCo /V^3 M/NE. D. D. SECT/ON i.f.r,£y^O K^^ iz: Fig. 5. While the top of the ridge shows only ^mall masses of ore m the test pits which have been sunk for exploration, the northeast side was m early days the most productive part of the deposit and two large pits show 76 where thousands of tons of ore were mined. The edges of the pits are paitly formed of gabbro, but there is also nmch norite spotted with ore. Later the m'ne was worked In' a shaft, and since the ore was much mixed with rock, the large rock dump extending toward the swamp gives an idea of the fresher materials obtained in mining. One finds mainly spotted norite and greywacke, but some blocks of actinolite and talc show that these have been secondary changes resulting from shearing and solu- tion. There are also angular and rounded masses of rock enclosed in the ore, some large, others only pebbles; and these may be so well rounded as to suggest water action. One pebble found was of white (piartzite like an outcrop about a mile away, but it is probable that these fragments were due to crushing and that they have been rounded by rolling between faulted surfaces. To the northeast of the open pits the noritp sinks suddenly and is nearly cut off by greenstone, but it presently widens and rises again, show- ing ore in a number of test pits. It may be followed for 2,400 feet north- wei-t of the large pit, with some crush breccia on each side, and is then cut off by greenstone, though small patches of norite rise a little beyond. The whole length of the Frood portion of the offset is 6,500 feet, and the gossany surface (somewhat wider than the norite) is estimated at an average width of 300 feet, giving an area of gossan not far from 'So acres. ]\Iore or less ore exists almost everywhere on this surface, thougfi most of it, no doubt, is too much disseminated through the rock to be workable. Though Xo. 3 mine was found early i)i the history of the region, it was not worked, beyond some stripping and the sinking of pits, until 1899. In the follo^\^ng year a railway switch from the Stobie mine gave an outlet for ore from the mine, but four years later in 1903 the mine was closed down after 107,942 tons of ore had been sent to the Copper Cliff smelter. The ore ran 2-66 per cent of nickel and 1-39 per cent copper, the two metals making up 4-05 per cent, so that it was considerably richer than its neighbour, the Stobie mine. The results of systematic diamond drilling across the ore deposit by the Canadian Copper Companj^ have since proved the amount of ore of a similar grade to be enormous, certainly 35,000,000 tons. The ore body dips in its upper part about 65° to the northwest, as shown by drill holes reaching about 1,000 feet; while later holes, deeper and farther toward the northwest, show that it co.ntinues in unimpaired volume but with a flatter dip, so that the amount of ore within reach by shafts of reasonable depth is very great, perhaps greater than the known reserves of ore in all the other mines of the Sudbury district. Almost the whole of the Frood ridge is the propertj' of the Canadian Copper Company, but a small corner of it is included in the north half of lot 7, con. VI, formerly the property' of Messrs. Cochrane and McVittie. Four drill holes were put down near the southeast corner of this property by the ]\Iond Company, who were satisfied as to the amount of ore avail- able and purchased the property. In order to work it a shaft is now being sunk to a depth of 800 or 900 feet. The Canadian Copper Company also is sinking a three compartment shaft to a depth of 500 feet and building a direct railway to Copper Cliff, giving a much shorter connexion than the former roundabout route past Stobie and Sudbury. It ma}' be expected that this greatest of known nickel deposits will soon be sending ore to the smelters of the two producing companies, and adding greatly to the avail- able supply of the region. it STOBIE MINE. From the end of the nearly continuous band of norite and gossan of the P'rood or No. 3 mine most of the distance to Stobie mine is swamp or drift-covered, though patches of rusty norite show themselves from point to point among greenstones and crushed greywacke. The mine is on lot 5, con. I of Blezard township, just to the north of a steep and high hill of greenstone sloping down to the open pits. The stretch of gossan rises steeply just west of the pits, showing comparatively little norite, since most of the surface consists of a confused mixture of rocks, green schist, hornblende porph^-rite and greywacke, all more or less brecciated. with a small patch of granite also o.n the south side. Through the spaces between the masses of older rocks norite and ore have bee.n squeezed from beneath as if through a colander. The extent of gossan is about 1,000 feet from east to west with half that width, but the numerous test pits on the hill itself show no large bodies of ore, so that in many respects it is like the corresponding gossany hill at Frood. To the north there is swamp and to the west greywacke, to the south the higher hill of green schist and hornblende porphyrite, and to the east the mine openings, rock dumps and rockhouse, co.ncealing most of the surface; though on the low ground there are outcrops of hornblende por- phyrite, and also of greywacke containing a band of pebbles, evidently water-formed, since the pebbles are well rounded and are of several different kinds of rock. The dump shows spotted norite, gabbro, greywacke, and quartzite. The magnitude of the openings at this mine is impressive and plans of the mine show large irregular ore bodies having a dip of 65° toward the west, somewhat as in No. 3 mine. The earlier mining Avas by open pits, though later work was done in underground levels reaching a depth of about 250 feet. The Stobie mine, which was one of the earliest discovered, began to produce in 1887 and was closed down i.n 1901, after supplying 418,991 tons of ore, the largest amount ol)taincd from any mine in the region except the Creighton. The ore contained 2 13 per cent of nickel and 1-58 of copper, or 3-71 per cent of the combined metals, so that it was of comparatively low grade; but it was rich in sulphides and made a good fluxing mixture with the high grade but rocky ore of Copper ClifT mine, which Avas then producing largely. The mine was closed l)ecause that class of ore was .not required after the Creighton mine began to work o.n.avlarge scale, and it is stated that the ore is far from exhausted. Occurring in such a similar way to the Frood and along the same strike, it is probable that this ore body also will be found to extend with a flatter di]5 toward the northwest. The Frood and Stobie together have provided 535,933 tons of ore, an amount surpassed only by the total from the Copper Cliff oft'set and the Creighton. The rocks in the neighl)ourliood of Stobie show the greatest variety found in the Sudbury district, including l)oth eruptives and sedimentaries. To the north beside the greenstone and hornblende porphy rites mentioned above there are rugged hills made up of "older norite", orbicular diorites, pillow lavas, and what seems to be hornblende schist crowded with bean- shaped patches of white quartzite perhaps once an amygdaloid. The sedimentary rocks are mostly greywacke and its modifications, sometimes very well ]ireserved and displaying lamination a.nd cross-bedding on weathered surfaces, at others modified into schistose forms or even fine grained gn(Mss by the effects of adjoining eruptives. Often they are crowded with ])ale staurolite crystals of all sizes uj) to four or five irclus in length, 25873—9 78 which are found under the microscope to be pseudomorphs consisting of sericite and quartz. One variety of greywacke is studded with masses of quartzite from tlie size of a pea to diameters of three or four inches, the hirger ones usually suggesting an eye and eyebrow, as if a crescent -shaped shell had split off and separated itself a half inch from the oval mass. In addition there are bands of conglomerate and a few small outcrops of grey or white quartzite. All of these rocks and also the bands of eruptives penetrating them have the regular strike of from 40° to 55° east of north and usually high dips, nearly vertical or steeply inclined to the northwest. They run parallel to the norite offset just described and probably forced their direction upon it when the norite and ore made their subterranean escape from the margin of the main nickel range. BLEZARD MINE. Returning to the maia nickel range at IMt. Nickel, the basic edge bends gently towar d the northeast for three-quarters of a mile to Blezard mine in lot 4 con. II of the township of the same name. The actual edge is largely drift-covered and for some distance the outcrops of rock are few and low, the norite forming a plain a mile or two wide with only gentle ridges rising above the drift. There are also swamps along the ])ranches of a sluggish creek Uj^ving northward into Whitson (or Blezard) lake, which cuts across the acfld edge of the eruptive two miles and a ho If to the northwest. The basic edge at Blezard is of the typical sort for the southern range, dark grey norite with bluish quartz and some plates of biotite, and part of it is very fresh and supplied to Prof. Walker some of the earliest specimens of un- doubted norite found in the region. At the mine the country rock rises as rough ridges of greenstone and quartzite to the southeast, but owing to the dumps and gossan the sur- roundings are greatly hidden. The pit seems almost entirely enclosed in country rock and is now full of water, so that Dr. Bell's account of the deposit as seen in earlj- days may be quoted. "The ore consists of a body of mixed chalcopyrite and nickeliferous pyrrhotite mingled "v\ith more or less rock matter, gi\ang the whole the appearance of a conglomerate. The general strike of the country rocks is here as elsewhere in the vicinity about northeast and southwest. The ore-bearing belt, which is associated with a dark quartz-diorite, is about 100 feet wide and dips northwest at an angle of 65°. It is overlaid bj^ a massive bed of ash-coloured greywacke, the weathered surfaces of which present raised reticulating lines. Immediately to the northwest of the shafts there is a dyke from 30 to 50 feet wide, of dark brownish grey crj'stal- line diabase, weathering at the surface into rounded boulder-like masses, which scale off concentrically." The "dark quartz-diorite" is norite, and the "ash-colored greywacke" with "raised reticulating lines" is, no doubt, "older norite", which occurs from point to point along almost the whole of this part of the basic edge." It is said that the pit is 60 feet deep and that the lower workings of the mine reach a depth of 172 feet. A short distance west of the mine and connected with it by a tramway is the smelter with its roast beds and a platform made by dumping slag. As reported by Dr. Barlow the Dominion Mineral Company commenced operations here in 1889 with a capacity of" 120 to 150 tons daily, and mining operations ceased in 1893, though the smelter was kept running till July, 1895, chiefly on ore from the Worthing- ton mine, owned by the same company. 79 The total production of ore from Blezard mine is reported to be at least 100,000 tons and the sulphides of the ore ran about 4 per cent of nickel and 2 per cent of copper.^ It is probable, however, that the ore as smelted contained a good deal of rock and would run considerably below this. The Blezard is the last mine of the southern range that has been worked on a large scale until Garson mine is reached five miles and a half to the east. FROM BLEZARD MINE TO GARSON MINE. The basic edge is lost to sight in the low ground along the creek for about half a mile northeast of Blezard mine, and when it reappears there are few indications of ore until one reaches the Sheppard mine in the south half of lot 1 con. Ill of Blezard township. The road which leads from Blezard to this property is now hard to follow from the growth of bushes. There is perhaps a small southeastward bay opposite the end of a little lake along the road, but no ore was seen at this point. The Sheppard, or Beatrix, or Davis mine has been somewhat care- fully prospected and a shaft was sunk in early days, as I am informed by Mr. Kirby Thomas, to a depth of 110 feet, where two drifts were run. There is a considerable area of gossan, and a dyke of diabase ten feet wide cuts diagonally across the contact. The shaft seems to have been sunk in greenstone a little south of the basic edge, and "older norite" occurs near by. According to Mr. Kirby Thomas seven carloads of the ore shipped out by sleighs in March and April of 1892, amounting to about 125 tons, aver- aged 5-75 per cent nickel, and of two other carloads one contained 5-50 per cent of nickel and 0-32 per cent of copper, and the second 5-60 per cent of nickel and 0-38 of copper. At the time of my first visit to the mine in 1904 the sulphides were in general not yet greatly weathered but included a rapidly attacked mineral which was thought to be polydymite. If poly- dymite is present it may account for the high percentage of nickel as com- pared with copper in the ore as shown by the average assays mentioned above. At present the mine is difficult of access owing to the burning of a bridge across the creek, and the sulphides are too deeply weathered to afford much information. Beyond the Sheppard mine the basic edge passes into the township of Garson, becomes schistose and contains fragments of the adjacent green eruptives sheared out into short narrow bands. Evidently pressure at right angles to the edge or faulting with a horizontal throw have occurred to cause the structure. In Garson the edge turns east and presently a little south of east, and at the crossing of the Canadian Northern railway it is of the normal kind, unsheared and containing a few blebs of ore, the actual contact being concealed by drift, though greenstone rises a little to the south, showing its approximate position. The nickel eruptive is unusually narrow where it passes into Garson township, having a width of only 2 miles, but from this point eastward the width gradually increases until Garson mine is reached. East of the railway and just beyond the lin(^ between lots 11 and 10, some gossan and ore occur at a point one-third of a mile north of con II, where a test pit has been sunk by Malbeuf and Martin. To the south of the pit well stratified greywacke forms low hills rising through clay soil taken up as farms. The norite from this outcrop eastwards is pale grey in colour and, but for its continuity with the typical norite near Blezard 'Dr. Harlow, G.S.C., Vol. XIV, Part H, p. 33. 2£873— 9^ 80 mine, niisht not be recognized as the niekel-l)earinp; rock. No further ore or gossan was encountered until the Kirkwood mine was reached in lot 8, l)ut the margin was mostly concealed under drift, so that the low norite hills to the north were often widely separated from the greenstones to the south. The latter sometimes display the pillow structure and amygdaloids characteristic of ancient lavas, and are in part "older norite". At the Kirkwood mine, toward the southeast corner of lot 8, con. Ill, a good deal of work was done in earlier times, including the sinking of two shafts about an eighth of a mile apart, and a considerable amount of stripping, but fire has destroyed the mine buildings and the siiafts arc full of water. The western shaft is on a low gossan-covered hill of greenstone, the norite appearing at the foot of the hill fourteen i)aces north, while the eastern shaft is just at the margin. The norite here is greatly crushed ami sheared and of the pale grey colour found in this part of the region. The rocks to the south include greenstone, greywacke and quartzite, often crushed to a breccia or conglomerate; and at one point lialf a mile to the •southeast a small j)atch of rusty norite is seen on a hill near the northeast corner of lot 7, con. II and is sometimes called the ]\IcConnell mine. Here a shaft full of water is said to be 60 feet deep, and a small rock dump contains rustj' norite spotted with ore. The hill rising to the west shows greywacke interbandecl with quartzite and water-formed conglomerate, having a strike of 100° and a vertical dip. These sedimentary rocks have been more or less crushed and faulted; but their strike runs parallel to the edge of the norite an eighth of a mile to the north. This small deposit is evidently an offset, l)ut a drift covering to the north hides any connecting links there may be with the basic edge, which here forms a shallow bay. Farther toward the east the norite edge is lost under drift and swamp until the Garson mine is reached, Avhile the norite itself rises out of the low ground as fairly high hills to the north of the boundary, though for nearly a mile no rock is visible to the south. This is a complete reversal of the arrangement farther west, where the norite usually forms the low ground and the country rock to the south rises as hills. A partial explanation of this difference is probably to be found in the shearing and alteration of the norite in this eastern section of the range into a rock containing a secondary hornblende instead of the easily attacked hypersthene, thus increasing its ])ower of resistance to weathering. GARSOX MINE. The Garson mine, formerly called the Crjxlerman mine, toward the southern end of lots 5 and 4, con. Ill of the township of Garson, is much the most important known deposit of the southern range west of Blezard mine, and likewise one of the most interesting of the Sudburj- mines from its complex geological relationships. When it was visited in 1904 and described under the name of the Cry- derman mine the large showing of gossan was noted, but little work had been done beyond stripping and the sinking of test pits. Since that time it has been acquired by the Mond Company, who have cleared the adjoining land and established a neat village on the sand deposits to the south. A branch of the Canadian Northern railway ^ leaving the main line a mile north of Sudbury Junction, has been built northeast for about 3| miles to the mine, to transport the ore to Victoria mine at the present ime, and to Coniston whenthe new smelter is constructed there. 81 The norite to tlie north is of the grey variety customary in this part of tne range, ratlier coarse and here and there spotted with sulphides, and rising as hills in contrast with the country rock to the south, whicr 's largelv hidden by sard plains. On the hill a quarter of a mile north of the mine a few dykes of grey, fine grained granite cut the Tiorite from east to Avest, but no diabase or other dykes were noticed at the mine, a rather unusual circumstance in the region. The mine itself is on a small hill projecting southwards into the sand plain, dipping steeply down to the west with a gossan-covered slope, and to the east more gently to a narrow pond and stream valley running west of south. The rockhouse stands near the western side of the hill, and the railway embankment and a large rock dump hides much of the rock. The gossan-covered surface is peculiarly shaped, forming a rough quarter of a circle sweeping from south to northeast and finally east, with a broad projection northwestwards from the center of the curve. Just to the north of the gossan, after a short downward dip of the norite of the hill be^'ond, there is a band of highly schistose rock grey and fine grained with nearly vertical dip so far as can be seen. This runs from a small ravine on the west for a hundred yards eastwards, after which it is drift-covered and blends into the norite to the north without a break. It is evidently a sheared portion of that rock similar to schistose phases of the norite edge which have been noticed in a number of places along this part of the range. To the south of the schistose band there is a very rusty surface, mainly of greenstone, but a good deal mixed with norite, extending, where not hidden by drift, 350 yards eastward, i.e., as far as the ore is known to exist. The eastern extension of the gossan and greenstone has been opened up by four test pits, while just to the north a band of quartz may be followed for some distance in the narrow valley mentioned before. South of the small gossan-covered ridge spotted norite appears again and extends down the hill slopes for a hundred yards till lost under drift beside a pond. This is the onh' known instance of a considerable stretch of norite bej'ond an ore body, and naturally aroused doubts in regard to the origin of the deposit. The band of gossan running out toward the northwest covers norite, partly schistose, mixed Avith greenstone, passing toward tlie southwest into greenstone and green schist reaching down the slope till lost under drift. The curve of norite and gossan to the west of the rockhouse ends against greenstone contai'ung blocks of greywacke, and is no doubt the actual margin of the norite. In mining operations the ore has been found to enclose great masses of country rock, chiefly greenstone, in a way suggesting that the rock was shattered into large blocks which were shifted so that the ore could ramify into the fissures and spaces between. Along the north side of the ore body a large band of quartz occurs, about in the plane which is occupied liy the schistose norite and (piartz in the narrow valley between the gossan and the norite on the surface. The same band of quartz, bat even broader, appears in the first level of the mine with a length of forty feet or more, and a continuation of the mineralized quartz reaches to the third level, 300 feet below the surface. The quartz is in large enough ([uantities to l)e used as converter linings at the Victoria Mines smelter. There are several quite unique features dis])layed in this ore deposit. As has been mentioned, much of the ore occurs to the north of a large extent of norite, the only instance of the sort known on the southern range; while the mine workings and diamond drilling have proved that the ore body dips southeastward under this area of norite beyond the mine. This njtd tlic peculiar curved sha])e of the deposit witli its projection to the north- 82 west are unprecedented features in the nickel region. It may be added that the ore has entirely the character of that from an offset deposit, though Garson mine occurs partly at the margin of the norite and partly enclosed by norite on both sides. These anomalies appear to be explained by extensive faulting in which either the norite on the north side, beyond the zone of schist and quartz, has moved horizontally eastwards; or the norite to the south of the ore has shifted westwards, the latter being perhaps the more prol)able sup- position. The amount of horizontal thrust must have been at least 750 feet, since the band of greenstone and ore extends to that distance eastward between the norite to the north and that to the south, and the plane of faulting must have been inclined considerably to the south. In this process the blocks of greenstone now arranged roughly as a quarter of a circle must have been dragged out of position and more or less rotated. One may imagine that in the beginning the greenstone bound- ary of the ore ])ody now found west of the rockhouse was 750 feet fartlier east and continuous with the greenstone and ore at the east end of the deposit, the whole making an outward curve or bay, as so often happens in marginal deposits. It is probable that at a considerable depth an ordinary marginal deposit underlies the whole faulted section and that according to the regular rule workings of a sufficient depth will encounter ore richer in nickel than in copper. It is unfortunate that everything to the south of the mine is drift- covered so that the margin of the norite cannot be seen. The deepest drill hole, sunk on an incline, shows that ore extends for several hundred feet to the southeast of the outcrop of norite, and Mr. A. L. Sharp, manager of the mine, states that under the village there is quicksand to a depth of 80 feet, so that the final solution of these problems must await the results of mining operations. On the whole the situation suggests that of the Crean Hill mine, described on a former page, though in that case the place of faulting was flatlj^ inclined and the motion such as to drive the greenstone northwards over the norite; while here part of the norite edge was thrust sidewise beyond the ore and greenstone. The large horses of greenstone enclosed in sulphides, resulting in a very rocky type of ore unusually rich in copper, are found in both mines, showing that the}' have much in common. It is only fair to say that Mr. Hall, who has general charge of the min- ing operations of the Mond Company, does not accept the interpretation of the complex relationships of the Garson mine, given above; but a study of the Crean Hill mine, a somewhat less complicated example of a similar type, makes the explanation probable. It is, of course, not advanced as a final solution of a very difficult problem, but rather as a working hypothe- sis to help in explaining the facts. The Garson mine has been worked to the 7th level, the levels being of 100 feet each, and a diamond drill hole shows ore to 1,300 feet, dipping to the southeast under the village. As a result of the faulting described above there are many seams of clay and of quartz in the mine and a few veins o^^ galena apparently without silver. The working of this mine with its comparatively narrow bands of ore encircling great horses of rock, the whole arranged in a rude quarter circle, with a dip to the southeast on its eastern prong, but more to the east on its southern bend, has presented great difl&culties, which have been skilfully met. The arrangement of the mine workings is made beautifully clear in the office by plans of the different levels, prepared on sheets of glass so supported as to bring out the dip of the ore body. 83 At the time of my visit the mine was producing 350 tons of ore a day, and was raising about twice as much ore as Victoria mine, on which the company depended for its chief supply in former years. The Bureau of Mines reports that 93,542 tons were mined during the year 1910 as compared with 42,488 tons from the older mine. For three-quarters of a mile to the east of Garson mine the basic edge of the norite is hidden by the widespread sand plains of an old glacial lake, and the actual margin is first found against greenstone in lot 3, nearly a quarter of a mile north of the most southern point of norite to be seen near the mine. There is evidently a very pronounced bay of the norite here, and this with the greater width of the nickel eruptive at this point, probably accounts for the much larger amount of ore at Garson mine than at any other known deposit within the township. Low hills of coarse greenstone may be followed somewhat north of east for a quarter of a mile, about to the line between lots 3 and 2 of Garson; while norite of the pale grey, squeezed variety, with few suggestions of ore, rises as much higher hills ot the north. Less than a mile east of Garson a road runs northwards, following the grade of an old railway made by the Emery Lumber Company, giving a section of the nickel eruptive ; and a branch of the road may be followed to Wanapitei lake, making another section across the whole width of the eruptive, but with comparatively few outcrops of rock. Beyond the line between lots 3 and 2 swamp and rolling surfaces of drift hide the basic edge for nearlj^ three miles, though there are several outcrops of norite along a lumber road turning eastwards toward some old workings in the township of Falconl^ridge. This fact and the continuous stretch of the acid edge on the north side of the belt of eruptive show that the outcrop of the laccolithic sheet is unbroken here as elsewhere. Not far to the south of the prol^able basic edge there are exposures of Huronian quartzite, which resists weathering better than the greenstone, rising as hills in a few places, above the wide spread sand plains. In all there are about three miles of the basic edge on the east side of Garson township and the west half of Falconbridgc where the actual edge of the norite is concealed, but it may be that exploration through the Pleistocene beds along this supposedly barren stretch will in the future disclose valuable ore bodies. The Eastern Nickel Range. About on the line ])etween lots 8 and 7 and nearly half a mile north of con. Ill of Falconbridgc a hill of greenstone rises to the southeast, but separated from outcrops of norite to the north and northwest by swampy ground, so that the contact is not seen. It is evident that here the boundary makes a sharp turn from nearly east to a direction somewhat east of north. From this outcrop of greenstone the bush road turns about 30° east of north, mostly over drift deposits for half a mile, when rock shows once more with a thick coat of gossan near the line between concessions IV and V and half way across lot 7. From this point for half a mile north- wards ore and gossan are frequently found and several claims were taken up in early years. The most important showing of ore is where the north- easterly trend of the norite edge cluuiges to nearly due north, forming the bay necessary for a marginal deposit of ore, on the west half of the nortli half of lot 7, con IV. Several of these properties have been 84 acquired by the Dominion Nickel L'oj)[)er Compa ly, of which Messrs. J. K. Booth and M. J. O'Brien of Ottawa are prominent shareholders, and 1 am much indebted to their manager, Mr. J. A. Holmes, for aid in visiting them and for useful information regarding the region. This is the most easterly point of the norite-micropegmatite sheet. The norite is of the rather pale variety commonly found east of Blezard mine and the edge is generally against greenstone mixed with some grani- toid and gneissoid rocks, thougii in one ])lace a small area of quartzite shows beside the norite. On the southern outcrops the former owners did a good deal of stri])- ping and sank a small shaft, but th(> Dominion Nickel Copper Comjiany are now testing the properties with the diamond drill. The ore is a good deal mixed with brecciated, fine grained, greenstone, and blends eastward in the usual way into pyrrhotite-norite. The drill holes show that in at least one place the ore goes down nearly vertically for 800 feet so that the ore l)ody has not the inward dip usual in marginal ore bodies, probably because of faulting. The evidence for a large body of ore at this south- eastward bay of the norite is strong, conforming to the general rule in the region and balancing the large Whistle ore body at the northeast corner of the l^asin. Beside the series of strippings and test pits extending for more than 200 yards near the concession line between IV and V, there is an interesting outcrop a half mile to the north, beyond marshy low ground, recently opened up by stripping and test pits by Mr. Cryderman. The associa- tions are the usual ones of norite against greenstone, with some bands of ore ramifying between the crushed blocks of country rock. It is stated that in this part of the eastern range coarse grained platy looking ore is richer than fine grained ore; and though the minerals to be seen on the dumps are the usual pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite, some of the ore is rich in nickel, showing that pentlandite also must be present. To the north of Cryderman 's prospect for nearly three miles no ore has been found by prospectors, and the basic edge is lost under the thick deposits of drift covering most of the region. That there is no break in the nickel eruptive is proved, however, by outcrops toward the west where the micropegmatite makes an irregular band of pale pinkish grey hills. The next known deposit of ore is at Boland's claims just southwest of Massey bay of Lake Wanapitei, on an area of gossan not known during our earlier examination of the region, showing that discoveries are still being made. The stripping has been done mainly on lot 8, con. II of Maclennan township, 20 chains south of the corner post and 100 yards west of the line between lots 8 and 7; and the outcrop is near the top of a steep hillside sloping toward the bay, in greenstone with green schist enclosing a little arkose or quartzite. The actual edge of the norite may be on top of the hill where drift covers everything for nearly half a mile to the west, though it is possible that the ore belongs to an offset. The ore in sight consists of fine grained pyrrhotite with some chalcopyrite, either in solid seams or ramif^ung into the rock; and the amount exposed is not very large. THE BLUE LAKE REGION. Beyond Boland's the drift once more hides the margin for a mile, after which the superficial beds thin out and the country consists of rocky hills separated by narrow valleys often filled with a lake. The basic edge in this part trends about northwest for six miles; and this stretch may be called the Blue Lake region. Owing to the good rock exposures this belt was early taken up as a series of claims, which run without a l)reak for the whole distance. They are at present rather inaccessible, since the only road that exists is in very bad condition and it stops entirely at Blue Lake; beyond which travel must be on foot over very rugged country, or by a chain of lakes very poorly connected by portage paths, at least during low water seasons, such as the summer of 191 1. In the earlier survey this part of the nickel range was worked out by my assistant the late Mr. M. T. Culbert; and during the examination made in 191 1 it was not found necessary to make any changes in his mapping, except in the way of minor details.^ There has been little advance in conditions since 1905, no work having been done later on any of the proper- ties; and the weathering of the ore and rock dumps has proceeded so far that fresh specimens can only be obtained by breaking large masses. Most of these properties belong to the Lake Superior Corporation or to Cochrane and McVittie. The wagon road from Sudbury to Blue lake branches off from the road described as going north across the nickel eruptive not far from Garsoa mine, and turning northeast crosses Massey creek, which flows ultimately into Alassey bay near Boland's. At this point the road approaches the margin of the norite after passing for two or three miles over sand plains, and it presently goes down into a narrow valley followed l)y a small tribu- tary of Massey creek. This tributary stream with the ponds and marshes into which it expands marks almost exactly the basic edge of the norite, and for at least a mile and a half the road, which follows the creek, is scarcel}^ a hundred yards from the edge. The norite has weathered much more rapidly than the granite and greenstone to the northeast and also than the intermediate rock and the micropegmatite of the acid edge to the southwest, so that a trough perhaps a quarter of a mile wide has been opened up all along its outcrop. The first four claims, WD4, WD6, WD3, and F8 show no large bodies ol" ore, though the norite is nearly everywhere spotted with gossan where it touches the fine grained greenstone or Laurentian granite which forms the country rock. F7 and F6 were taken u]) on the east shore of a small lake running north and south, and WD7, an unusually large location, covers its west side. This small body of water was called Moose lake by the early pros- pectors, but as there are already two other Moose lakes in the district, it has been named Pyrrhotite lake on the present map. The name is appro]5riate, since almost its whole eastern side is covered with gossan, and a number of large test pits, as well as two or three small shafts, show sul])hides, mainly pyrrhotite. Most of the pits are near the shore, which rises rather steeply for 20 or 30 feet, but others extend for about 100 paces farther up the hill. The workings are all old and the sulphides of the faces of the pits and on the dumps have largely changed to gossan, but in several places there are thicknesses of five or six feet of solid ore to l)e seen. Generally, however, the ore s a good deal mixed with rock, jiartly spotted norite, l)ut more often a crush conglomerate^ of greenstone, which makes the country rock. There has been a vast amount of crushing and shearing of this greenstone and occasionally al.-^o of granite, which has penetrated the older rock as dykes. The foot -wall of rusty greenstone has a v(M\v \ineven surface, from which much of the ore and norite have been weathered, leaving rounded 'Bur. Minc<. Vol. XIW I'ait III, pp. 7:5-4. 86 mounds and hollows, the whole dipping westward under the water of Pyrrhotite lake at angles varying from 15° to 45°. This dipping of the gossan and ore into the lake suggest that there may be considerable deposits under its bed, especially since very little norite can be seen above or mingled with the ore in the pits. The norite observed is dark grey, medium to fine grained, with small crystals of biotite and looks very like the norite of Creighton mine, and thin sections under the micro- scope show that the composition is the same, except for the change of hypersthene into hornblende. This dark grey norite seems confined to the immediate vicinity of the ore, and a quarter of a mile to the west, on the other side of Pj-rrhotite lake, the rock has the usual pale grey of the eavStern norite. Microscope sections of this norite show a little more quartz and no biotite. The nickel eruptive is unusually narrow here, the width being only a mile and a half, of which about a third may be considered norite and the rest quartz diorite or a dioritic syenite with micropegmatitic cjuartz. Not far to the south the eruptive has a width of about a mile and a quarter and one would not expect a very large body of ore to segregate from so moderate a thickness of magma; nevertheless the gossan and ore at Pj^rhotite lake extend for 1,200 feet, following the shore, and for 760 feet in a straight line, with a breadth in places of 200 feet, so that surface indications are favourable, and the ore is unusually coarse grained and rich. Beyond the lake towards the northeast in location F5 several pits and a small shaft on a steep hill beside a pond display a good deal of gossan, though not much ore can be seen; and beyond this is a steep hill rising from the shore of Blue lake with gossan on its slope and two curious deposits on top. The larger one, 75 feet long from north to south and .35 feet wide, is completely enclosed in greenstone and seems to be a columnar offset deposit, though only a short distance from the edge of the norite; the other one is a few yards to the southeast. Seven years ago the Lake Superior Power Company did some diamond drilling on Blue lake, proving the existence of a considerable body of ore, but the lack of railway connex- ions prevented them from working the mine. Blue lake consists of two parts joined by a narrow strait, and the ore deposits just mentioned occur to the east of the strait and south of the northeastern part of the lake, the southw^estern expansion being w^holly within the nickel eruptive. Across the northeast expansion a small out- crop of ore occurs about opposite those just described in location W 1. From this point the edge of the norite runs northwest to the eastern side of Clear lake, in W 2 and W 3, where there are strippings and small pits showing ore, mostly close to the water's edge, but sometimes 100 or 150 yards up the hillside. The country rock northeast of Clear lake rises with very steep slopes to a rather narrow ridge of greenstone and crush conglomerate running northwest and southeast parallel to the lake, which is about a mile long and less than a quarter of a mile wide. The lake basin was evidently formed by the weathering out of the basic norite with its fringe of ore. The outlet of Clear lake is over morainic materials, and the solid rock is covered to Emma lake, the next little lake or pond, so that the position of the norite margin is doubtful. A short distance north of Emma lake there are hills of coarse granitoid gneiss, so that the basic edge evidently continues northeast under the drift towards a bay of Ella lake. Like Blue lake, Ella lake is double, with northeast and southwest expansions having a narrow^s between; but most of the northeastern shore is of granite or greenstone mixed with granite, and in location WR 11, no ore was observed. 87 Just northeast of the outlet of the lake in WR 10 where a small stream flows north toward West bay of Wanapitei lake, a considerable patch of gossan is seen and a large test pit has been sunk showing ore mixed with rock, and gossan Avith norite and ore occurs in a ravine northeast of the end of the lake in WR 2. WR 9 and WR 2 are within the township of Norman. Between this point and Waddell lake there is much difficulty in placing the edge of the norite, since the hill seems to be the plane of contact of norite and ore against the underlying greenstone. The whole surface is a crush conglomerate and here and there scattered over it are gossany spots and small patches of norite spotted with ore. Mr. Culbert mapped the norite edge as bending northeast toward a bay on the east side of WR 2, and there are undoubtedly rusty portions of norite extending as far as that, but they seem to be only remnants projecting a little deeper into the foot-wall rock than usual, and hence of no importance as indications of an ore deposit. On this account it has seemed better to carry the boundary nearly straight north to Waddell lake. Along its shore much the same difficulty is met, since granite occurs at its southeast corner in WR 23, followed by greenstone farther north, partly covered by a fringe of norite and gossan running up into WR 7, where a small outcrop of ore occurs northeast of the end of the lake, probably a short offset, since older rocks occupy the northeast shores beyond this. THE WHISTLE MINE. The Whistle mine has long been looked upon as the most important ore deposit on the eastern side of the nickel basin because of the great extent of gossan displayed and also since ore was disclosed in numerous test pits sunk in earlier years. At the time of the former mapping of the region it was not easily accessible except by a canoe route following the chain of lakes referred to as leading northwest from Blue lake, but at present it is reached by the Nickel Range railway, running three and a half miles east from Nickelton Junction on the Canadian Northern. The mine is mainly on lot 6, con. IV of the township of Norman, Ijut the deposit extends a little way into lot 6, con. V, just to the north, and beyond it the mining village of Nickelton is rising on a plain of old lake deposits. It belongs to the Dominion Nickel Copper Company and is, so far as known at present, the most important in tonnage of ore of their numerous properties on the eastern and northern ranges. Coming up from the south there is a fringe of barren norite along the cast shore of Selwj'n lake, cut by its eastern bay, and running with a very irregular edge along low hills at the outlet of the lake into Post creek. A few hundred yards down Post creek a tributary comes in from the northwest in a broad marshy tract Avliich hides the boundary for a short distance. To the north of the junction of the two streams near a road leading northwestward to the mine, gossan is seen extending iiY> the hillside to the east, on Avhat is called the Wildcap deposit. With few interruptions gossan and ore can be followed irregularly along the steep hillside or on top of the hill to the point where the main workings have been carried on near the shaft house, a distance of more than a third of a mile. Here the boun- dary suddenly turns westward, crossing the railway an eighth of a mile northwest of the rockhouse, which is about 180 yards southwest of the shaft house. From end to end the gossany edge of the norite and ore extends for half a mile, witli a width of 250 yards where widest, and lying up against a 88 steep hill which rises 230 feet above the valley, the rusty surface is most- impressive. Ore or go^^'in extends quite to the top of the hill and may be followed down the slope to a small tract of swamp at the bottom. ]\Iany test pits were sunk from point to point in early days showing shallow or deep ore deposits at the Whistle mine, and since passing into the hands of its present owners a large amount of diamond drilling has been done on a systematic plan, so as to explore the property more thoroughly. A drift has been run into the hillside half way up, cutting a bod}- of ore for 432 feet and resulting in the incidental jiroduction of several thousands of tons of ore. In one drill hole in the swamp Ijclow the hill ore was found at a depth of 893 feet; showing that the hillside does not display all the or(> in the deposit The Whistle mine is a typical marginal deposit, formed where the norite edge makes a sharp bend from north to west, so that it follows the general law in the district, of a large ore Ijody where there is a pronounced bay of the norite extending into the country rock. The shape of the deposit is very complex, since the floor of granite and greenstone is uneven with projec- tions and also hollows into wliich the ore could settle. A distinct rise of the Archaean floor separates the Whistle from the Wildcat to the south, and the A\'histle itself is divided into almost separate deposits by projections of the rock beneath, one mass dipping at 45° toward the west, and another passing into the flat at the southwest. Except close to the ore the norite near the Whistle mine is coarse grained and unusually pale grey in colour, as may be seen where it rises as a steep-walled hill a little to the west of the rockhouse. The norite close to the ore, however, is very fine grained and is sometimes mixed with fragments of other rock, greenstone and granite or gneiss as a crush conglom(n-ate, an arra igement found at many other nickel mines. It is probable that this long known mine will be producing ore on a large scale within a year or two. To the west of Whistle mine the iKjundary of the norite, with its gcssan, is lost in the creek valley, and for a quarter of a mile the contact has not been seen, since the hill which it crosses is largely covered with drift and forest. Half a mile to the west, following the railway, small pits on a gossan-covered surface show some ore a hundred paces south of the track, and less than a quarter of a mile beyond gossan is seen, a little to the north of the railway. Broad lake deposits hide the basic edge for some distance beyond this, ])ut here and there norite with little evidence of ore rises against hills of granite enclosing some green schist. About two and a half miles Avest of the mine, following the railway, a path leads a quarter of a mile northwest to a ravine between a steep hill of norite toward the southwest and of Laurentian toward the northeast. On the flanks of the latter hill there is ore to be seen at a small shaft, whose dump consists mainly of crushed conglomerate mixed with ore. Beyond this to ^^ermilion river no out- crops of gossan or ore are known. The Northern Range. The edge of the norite at Vermilion river is largely drift-covered, and no actual contact was observed near the river nor along the Canadian Northern railway at Nickelton Junction; the coarse, rather pale, grey norite found for a quarter of a mile north of the junction passing out of '^\'h-ri ...... Crush breccia under norito, Trill. 89 sight several hundred feet before the reddish Laurentian gneiss rises in a rock cut. From this point southwest for two miles kames and morainic deposits deeply cover the bed rock in most places, but the norite edge caa be seen rising as hills against the Laurentian near a small lake at the corner of lots 2 and 3, cons. Ill and IV of Wisner township. There is no ore nor gossan to be seen and prospectors have taken up no claims until lot 4 is reached in the third concession. A well beaten path leads from Nickelton Junction over the hills just mentioned, and then follows the chain of claims running westward across four miles of the width of the township, in places widened or replaced by a lumber road. The basic edge from lot 4 to Joe's lake follows mainly a creek valley with swampy margins, where the actual contact of the norite with the older rocks to the north is usually hidden, and no gossan nor ore was observed, though prospectors have taken up half a dozen claims along this part of the range. The edge bends inward here, so that ore in quantity w^ould hardly be looked for; but toward the west side of location WR 14, northwest of Joe's lake, and adjoining part of WD 16 to the west there is a promising outward bend, mainly within the latter claim. Here the norite boundary is gossany against crushed greenstone, and in WD 16 test pits and diamond drill holes show the presence of a considerable amount of ore. The boundary curves southwest in this location, and then WTst once more in WD 13, where some gossan and ore are seen in test pits. Ore has been found in WD 15 also, where the norite turns a little south of west before passing out of Wisner township. In Bowell township the basic edge extends diagonally from con. Ill on the east side to the southwest corner, just north of the township of Lumsden. Ore may be seen on WD 13 and on WD 208, but the most promising deposits are near the middle of the township, where a long offset extends toward the west. Gossan begins to show itself against granite hills near the northeast corner of location WD 35, but is found in much larger amounts on a hill slope in WD 155, which may be taken as the beginning of the offset. THE TOY OFFSET. Tlie Foy offset, as it may be called, runs past Nickel lake in a north- westerly direction, then turns west, passing another small lake, and ends just north of a pond almost exactly in the middle of Foy township. It is six miles long and fairly continuous, though the norite narrows and widens and is not always easy to distinguish from certain grey basic rocks rising here and there in the Laurentian. The rock is heavily charged with ore for the first mile, and there is a distinct ore body in location WR 5, often called the Ross mine, at the western end, but the stretch between shows little gossan, though its whole length has been taken up by prospectors. Gossan is wides])read on the locations near Nickel lake, and test pits and drill holes show that ore occurs at a number of points on WD 155, where the adjoining rock in some places is so largely made up of white plagioclase crystals that it might be called anorthosite, and there are small seams of magnetite as well as sulphides. Similar relations con- tinue to the northwest, in WD 150. lieyond Nickel lake the band of norite narrows and becomes greatly mixed with boulders and angular frag- ments of a coarser grained norite and of the country rocks, which are grey gneiss, greenstone, and a white rock with porphyrinic feldspars not unlike the anorthosite mentioned above. The whole conglomerate is more or less 90 gossan-covered, and quite similar conditions are seen near the next little lake, where gossan and the band of crushed rock rise above the water. Th(^ Laiirentian along this part of the offset is coarse red granite, sonietliing unusual in the region, where it commonly consists of grey gneiss with streaks or patches of greenstone. Little gossan or ore is to be seen beyond this along the offset, until the Ross mine is reached, where two out- crops rise from the muskeg borders of a small lake against the usual hillside of Laurentain gneiss; but even here the amount of ore to be seen is not large. It is reported to assay only 2-75 per cent of nickel, so that it is not high grade. ^ The crushed and brecciated character of the rock along this offset reseml)les that on the two other long offsets, at Copper Cliff and Worth- ington, and may be accounted for as in the other cases by collapse and faulting during the advent of the nickel eruptive. This offset is, however, more contiiiuous than the others, scarcely showing any interruptions, though its width varies from 20 feet to 500 feet in different places. Except in the earlier part, near Nickel lake, there is no reason to expect any large body of ore on this northern offset, and the low content of nickel at the Ross mine is not specially attractive. Beyond the Foy offset the boundary of the norite follows the south shore of Roland lake and then turns southwest to another narrow lake which lies between the norite and hills of Laurentian to the north. The next point of interest is in location WD 238, where a small offset projects northward from the edge, running up a narrow valley in location WD 37 and showing gossan and ore as exposed by strippings. Gossan is found at several points to the southwest, and a few test pits show ore on locations WD 231, WD 241 and WD 251, the last being at the southwest corner of the township. The country rock along this part of the basic edge is gneissic Laurentian rising often as very steep ridges or hills, with the ore generally toward the l)ottom of the slope. At several points, however, the margin is in low ground and covered with drift and swam]i. Taking the northern range as a whole, the number of ore bodies of promise is not great, though at least two portions, northwest of Joe's lake and at the beginning of the Foy offset, are known to contain deposits of importance. The ore is not usually high grade and differs considerably from that of the southern range in containing less copper and more mag- netite. In one location there is only 0-15 per cent of copper with 50-57 per cent of iron. About 10 per cent of this ore is magnetite, and sulphur is present to the extent of only 30 to 32 per cent, so that by simple roasting an excellent ore of iron could be prepared containing all the nickel. The amount of copper present is so small that apparently the roasted ore could be used directly in the production of nickel steel, the plan proposed years ago by the Lake Superior Corporation for the ore from the Gertrude mine. BASIC EDGE IN MORGAN AND LEVACK. The basic edge of the norite, more or less ore-bearing as it runs dia- gonally to the southwest corner of Bowell township, loses its ore almost immediately after entering Morgan township. South of a small lake at this point there are two patches of gossan on which a little stripping has been done, while to the north of the lake there is Laurentian granitoid gneiss. The edge of the nickel eruptive shows neither gossan nor ore from 'G.S.C, 1890, Part R, pp. 43-4. 91 this lake to the boundary of Levack township, at the north end of con- cession IV, so far as our researches go, and no locations have been taken up by prospectors, whose keen eyes never fail to discover an outcrop of gossan. The reason for this is probably to be found in the fact that the eruptive is here at its narrowest, having a width of only three- quarters of a mile in lot 2, concessions V and VI, and not exceeding a mile and a half till the margin bends westward toward the Levack ore deposits. In accord with this narrowing of the eruptive is the petrographic character of its outer edge, which is pale reddish grey, with the compo- sition of syenite rather than norite. Comparison of specimens from the two edges shows very little difference, and one may fairly conclude that the basic, or norite, part of the eruptive is wanting here, the acid or micro- pegmatite phase making the whole width, so that under these circum- stances the lack of ore for six miles is not surprising. The country rock, where examined at every half-mile or oftener across the township, is coarse granitoid gneiss of the Laurentian type with many bands and masses of hornblende schist or greenstone enclosed in it. The gneiss strikes about east and west and usually has a vertical dip, and the boundary of the eruptive always shows a crushing and brecciation of the Laurentian beneath. Owing to its l^arren character, it does not seem necessary to describe in detail the margin of the eruptive in this part. The northern part of Morgan township is almost devoid of roads and has been left in a very rough condition by the lumbermen; but it may be reached by canoe on Moose and Trout lakes and by a lumber road over sand and gravel plains to an old camp near the forks of Sandcherry creek. THE LEVACK AND STRATHCONA MINES. As the nickel eruptive widens north of Moose lake, near the eastern boundary of Levack township, its outer edge once more becomes grey, though not of a deep tone, and may be called norite again. The widening continues through the first two lots of Levack township and reaches nearly two and a half miles opposite the Strathcona and Big Levack mines. Near the north end of lot 1, con. IV of Levack, 150 yards west of a small lake, gossan and ore are to be seen in some small test pits, and 100 yards farther west stripping shows a considerable extent of gossany surface, the latter probably in lot 2. The country rock is of granite or of granitoid gneiss and a hill of these rocks projects south, separating the strip]>ing just men- tioned from the much larger exposure of ore and gossan commonly called the Big Levack mine. Here the margin of the norite and ore is very irregular and is spread out over a length of 130 yards from north to south and a breadth of 70 yards. The underlying surface of granite is hummocky with depressions and projections, so that the ore sometimes reaches down several feet, as shown by test pits, while in other places the bare rusty surface of granite intervenes. The dip of the basic edge is, therefore, very variable, averaging about 20° or somewhat more. It ajipears that most of the norite and ore has been weathered away, leaving only what was protected in the hollows of the harder rock beneath. It may be, however, that the swamp at the foot of the gentle slope hides the thicker parts of the ore body. A swamp-covered gap separates the Big Levack property from the Strathcona mine in lot 3, where the norite edge projects a short distance to the west. Here, as on the Big Levack, the ore and norite are widely hut very irregularlv spread, as seen in numerous test pits. Mr. Ernest A. 25873—10 92 Sjostedt, who examined the property some years ago, when the workings were fresh, reports on it as follows: "The mineral zone runs diagonally N.E. and S.W. across the north half of lot 3 and south half of lot 4, in the fourth concession of Levack township, and is bounded to the northwest by a range of syenitic granite, with which it forms a direct contact; and to the southeast by a wide range of norite, which usually forms one side of the mineralized zone throughout the Sudbury district. The largest body of ore is shown at the northeast end of lot 3, although the line of magnetic attraction is practically con- tinuous across both lots, and ore is shown at various points of lot 4 as well. Near the northeast end of lot 3 the principal prospecting work has been done, a space of 3 or 4 acres having been cleared of timber and underbrush, and in places the formation stripped, exposing the capping and gossan, which generally reaches a depth of 2 to 8 feet. Part of the ore body is here shown up by a number of cuts and pits, also by two shafts, of which No. 1 shaft is 45 feet deep, passing 8 feet through barren cap rock, then through 25 feet of mixed ore, then through 12 feet of solid pyrrhotite, and a 10 foot hole having been drilled in the bottom of the shaft, showing clean ore the entire distance. No. 2 shaft (250 feet north of shaft No. 1) is 30 feet deep, 6 feet being in cap rock and 24 in solid pyrrhotite. Pit A (320 feet north of shaft No. 1) and pit D (40 "feet north of pit A) show ore within 2 feet of the surface, and trench C along a low hillside about midway between pit A and shaft No. 2, shows a face of ore 50 feet long, in the centre of which a pit was sunk through 12 feet of solid ore. From the data furnished by the above-mentioned pits and shafts, covering an area of about 600 feet in length and width, the amount of ore in sight on lot 3 is some 60,000 tons, but this includes an area of less than a tenth of the ground covered by equally promising surface indica- tions; consequently there is every reason to expect a much larger body. The ore exists mainly in solid masses within a zone of 200 to 600 feet wide and some 1,400 feet long. Following are a number of analyses of samples taken from the above- mentioned workings, which w 11 show the character of the ore." Sample from Insol. Fe. Cu. I Ni. Shaft No. 1,1 foot from bottom . . . 'D. C. Schuler. " " piece from dump 'E. A. Sjostedt. " " 2, from dump |D. C. Schuler.. " " 25 feet depth " " " piece from dump E. A. Sjostedt. Pit A, surface iD. C. Schuler.. " B, surface " " B, bottom I " " C, surface i " " C, trench j " " C, 13 ft. pit " D, low ground " Diamond drill hole, near A, 26 ft. . A. B. Wilmott. Diamond drill hole, near A, 40 ft.. . " Shafts, all over dumps R. H. Aiken.. . Near norite wall " Near norite wall " 503. Average Samples taken by Messrs. Cohen and Bradley, experts for J. R. De- Lamar, N.Y Total average. 610. 3-40. 400 50-4 501 54-3 4-71 52-3 0-571 2-78 1-35 3-55 0-70 3-85 2-11 3-54 014 4-65 0-67 2-24 5-47 202 1-54 3-37 0-33 2-40 1-24 3-27 0-28 2-72 0-30 3-21 0-65 3-80 0-58 2-60 2-23 3-15 1-49 1-68 2-43 1-70 1-31 1-99I 2-97 2-67 1-70 2-82 93 The ore is evidently widely spread in these two mines, which are really one series of deposits, but a very large part of it has been removed during the lapse of time, so that only remnants now remain on the exposed surfaces. What may still be preserved beneath the swamps and drift to the southeast remains to be proved. The ore as shown in Mr. Sjostedt's table averages lower in grade than that of the southern nickel range as a whole, though it equals that of two or three large mines which have been worked profitably. Rather pale grey norite rises as hills to the south of the chain of ponds and swamps representing the basic edge of the norite. At the Levack mine a wagon road begins, following the basic edge rather closely southwestwards to the crossing of Onaping river, in lot 9, on the southern side of Levack township. Beyond this the road keeps to the west side of the river, which here runs south, to the Canadian Pacific railway at Levack, a distance of a little over five miles along the nickel range, followed by about two miles southwards across the more acid phases of the eruptive. The basic edge runs for two miles southwest from Strathcona mine, then bends south for two-thirds of a mile past a small lake in lot 6 on the boundary between concessions II and III. No ore has been found at the northwestward bend, where one might have expected it, but gossan shows on a hillside sloping steeply down to the lake at its southern end. It may be that the boggy floor of the valley to the north conceals ore which does not show itself on the rocks which rise above it, and no doubt with the idea that an ore deposit may exist below the marsh and lake, a claim has been staked by Mr. Black at its outlet. The test pits near by show very platy pyrrhotite enclosing small crystals or rounded blebs of rock matter, and the same is true of a large deposit, generally called the Tough and Stobie property, two-thirds of a mile to the southeast, where the road passes over the gossan close to the foot of a high hill, on which several test pits have been sunk. The Laurentian background of granite, gneiss and fine grained green- stone, has been very little brecciated at this point and dips fairly uni- formly at an angle of 33° to the southeast, under the usual swamp; while hills of grey norite rise across the creek a quarter of a mile away. All of the Levack properties suggest remnants of once important sheets of ore leaning up against the Laurentian gneiss, with a possibility that the original thickness of the deposit may yet be found preserved beneath the drift or swamp that regularly covers the base of the bills. To the southwest of this point plains of sand and gravel begin to spread out along the river valley and the basic edge is mostly hidden for the next two or three miles. The short stretch of the basic edge included in the township o' Dow- liiig between Onaping river and Windy lake, is largely drift-covered and no ore is known to ex'st akmg it. Near the Canadian Pacific railway on the northeast shore of Windy lake grey dioritic norite is seen, but the precise boundary between it and the Laurentian is under the drift. The Laurentian beyond is gneiss with darker schistose inclusions. Windy lake itself cuts out two miles of the basic edge, the only example of a large body of water occurring on the circumference of the basin. A l)romont()ry stretching out from its northwestern shore is crossed by the norite margin, but here it is obscured l)y moraines and esker ridges and a small l^iy pushing north from the end of the lake forms anotiier inier- ru])tion, followed by wide swamps to the southwest in the direction of Mi]ik lake. The shore of Mink lake is entirely Laurentian, and the por- 25873—10^ 94 tage path between it and Mosquito lake to the southwest crosses only coarse granitoid gneiss and drift. On the southeast side of the small stream drain'ng ^link lake into an arm of Mosciuito lake norite rises as a steep wall of rock, which continues along the shore of this northeast arm and also borders the main body of the lake. A narrow southern arm of the lake probably marks the l^oundary there, but no rock was seen on its shore. A point projecting from the southwest side of the main lake consists of spotted norite against Laurentian and it is stated that ore was found in two pits a little lower down on the point and on a small island off shore; but at present a dam at the outlet of Mosquito lake has so far raised the water as to cover all of the openings. The work was done many years ago by Messrs. McConnell and Tough, and the small ore dump visible is turned to gossan. Mr. W. Stephens, a trapper well acquainted with the region, says that a narrow band of rusty rock with some ore is found also on the shore of a long southeastern arm of Ministique lake (locally called Mistic lake), but for lack of a canoe at the proper time this was not visited. The small deposits on Mosquito and Ministique lakes seem to be parts of an offset. The southern end of Mosquito lake passes into the township of Trill and a portage leads west, mostly over drift, to the northeast end of Arm- strong lake in that township. Including the water stretch of Windy lake there is a gap of about nine miles between the last outcrops of ore in Levack and the one just referred to in C'ascaden, the longest blank known on the basic margin of the nickel eruptive. The next longest blank is in Morgan township to the northeast, where the eruptive is narrower than anywhere else. The Windy lake pa t of the eruptive is not unusually narrow, so that some different explanation must be looked for in this case; and it may simply be that ore bodies exist but are under the water of the lake or are covered by the widespread drift and swamp which hide the solid rocks over much of the region. THE NICKEL RANGE IN TRILL. For about two miles south of the last norite seen on Mosquito lake the basic edge appears to be lost under drift deposits, though a cliff of norite was found at about the middle of the south side of lot 9 in con. V. The boundary apparently runs near the west side of a small unnamed lake, where gra.nite hills rise just to the west, but the first actual contact was found in lot 10, con. Y, 200 or 300 yards south of the lake just mentioned, on a hill sloping east, where a little norite occurs in patches on the Lauren- tian. The bou.ndary ca.n be traced, with drift-covered interruptions, for half a mile southwest on the same hillside. About a c}uarter of a mile south of con. V, on the line between lots 10 and 11, the slope of the hill becomes steeper and turns west, and on its south side gossan appears in considerable amounts and some test pits show more or less ore. Beyond this the boundary is once more vague, spots of norite occurring in the brec- ciated gneiss for some distance up the hill beyond the solid eruptive, and presently the basic edge bends to the south for three-quarters of a mile, and then southeast. There is much drift over this portion so that the precise boundary is not certain, and a little north of the only house left standing there is a small inlier of Laurentian, apparently a mound rising island-like through the surrounding norite. The contact of norite and the mixed granite and greenstone of the Laurentian is unusually flat in this great westward bay, often having a 95 dip of not more than 5° or 10°, and many scattered shreds of norite, very fine grained and sometimes spotted with ore, are found as outhers upon the older rocks, even hundreds of yards beyond the edge of the solid norite. At the corner post between lots 10 and 11 and concessions III and IV a hill of greenstone rises steeply facing northeast and along its flanks ore. occurs in several places at the Trillabelle or Gillespie mine, where in former years a considerable amount of work was done in stripping, opening pits and sinking shafts. The old buildings have all disappeared and saplings are growing up among their foundations, but the gossan-covered clumps of rock and ore may still be studied. The rocky hillside consists largely of the crush conglomerate so often found beneath the norite, with fine grained norite and ore as the matrix of the large and small fragments of greenstone; and the dip of the contact is from 35° to 45° to the northeast, in strong contrast with the gentle dip of the country rock a little way to the northwest. It seems that the steep slopes beneath the norite, here and also three-quarters of a mile to the north, halted the molten mass and allowed the ore to separate, while the easier slope between these two points permitted an unobstructed motion. A quarter of a mile farther southeast there is an isolated pit with ore, and 200 yards south of it another pit of considerable size. Beyond this to the south the margin of the norite is generally drift-covered and no more ore nor gossan was observed, though in several places granite with patches of greenstone, or greenstone free from granite can be found to the west, and norite to the east of the valley followed by the road to Worthing- ton. At two points there are outliers of norite with Laurentian all round them. A bald ridge of pale grey norite rises as a landmark on the line between lots 9 and 10 near the south end of concession III, just to the west of the marshy valley of Cameron creek and sinks out of sight a quarter of a mile farther south. After a half mile of swamp norite again rises on the hillsides west of the creek near its eastward bend and continues to the middle of lot 9, con. I, the farthest point toward the southwest reached by the nickel eruptive. No ore nor gossan was observed along this belt of norite, probal)ly because the actual edge is everywhere drift- covered, though in such a bay-like projection ore might have been expected. Around the bend of Cameron creek everything is lost under dead water and swamps owing to a dam just beyond; and here a puzzling problem arose. From the last undoubted norite to the nearest ore deposit of Sultana mine is less than a mile in a direction a little south of east; but all trace of the norite seemed to be lost in the space between. To the north of the creek beyond the dam a reddish somewhat schistose rock rose as hills and to the south an even steeper group of hills consisted of greenstone. By careful following up of the nickel eruptive from Sultana mine, so as to make sure there was no break in the continuity, it was proved that the basic part of the eruptive is wanting here and that the reddish schistose rock passes directly into the acid phase of the eruptive. It has, however, been sheared or squeezed against the greenstone across the creek and perhaps cut off by faulting. Owing to the covering of drift to the southwest the relations in that direction could not be seen, but it seems certain that the southwest end of the boat-shaped syncline is partly split open by a mass of greenstone half a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide. In the former mapping of this part of the region the township of Trill was covered with heavy timber, and outcrops of rock were not easy to find, so that the norite boundary was made too regular. Since that 96 lime the splendid pine has been cut off ]\v tlie lumberman and the region has been mostly burnt over very effectually, so that the following of the rock boundaries has been comparatively easy except where swamps or stony morainic ridges hide everything. The present map, therefore, shows much more irregularity in the basic edge than the former one at the extreme west of the nickel basin. In the work around Trillabelle mine much assistance was received from Mr. Kirby Thomas, who was examining the propertj' as a mining engineer. In order to give a more complete idea of the nickel-copper contents of the ores from various parts of the ranges not well represented in the averages quoted the :"ollowing assays are appended. The samples were taken as fair specimens of the ore in each case, but it will be understood, of course, that they are individual samples and may not represent the average ore from the deposits mentioned. J^c. Locality. Insol. Cu. Ni. Co. In pure Sulphides. Cu. Ni. — Sultana mine Mt. Nickel mine Whistle mine Chicago (Travers) mine. Levack mine W. D. 150, Northern range of Bowell tp Worthington mine mine, Worthington Totten offset Blezard mine Victoria mine North Star mine. . . Elsie mine Little Stobie mine. W. D. 155, Northern range of Bowell tp Gertrude mine. 10-27 7-62 6-60 9-80 1-50 9-52 17-00 29-52 13-42 0-62 10-09 31-84 6-32 7-47 8-75 0-26 0-31 0-10 0-24 0-84 0-10 0-56 0-08 2-42 0-70 0-26 3-38 0-20 0-32 0-14 2-68 307 2-76 2-50 4-76 2-51 6-45 6-41 3-90 7-95 4-56 1-26 1-58 3-57 3-88 3-07 0-29 0-33 0-11 0-26 0-85 0-11 0-67 0-11 2-80 0-70 0-29 4-96 0-21 0-34 015 2-99 3-33 2-96 2-77 4-83 2-77 7-77 9-09 4-50 8-00 5-07 1-85 1-69 3-86 4-14 Co. 4-3S The Acid Edge of the Nickel Eruptive. When it was discovered by Professor T. L. Walker that the norite con- nected with the nickel ore at Murray mne merged into a more acid rock, micropegmatite, toward the north, and that the norite near Windy lake passed into a similar rock toward the southeast, a clue was given toward 97 the explanation of the whole problem of the nickel ranges and their rela- tionships Under the instructions of the Director of the Bureau of Mines of Ontario the work of mapping the nickel ranges as fully as possible was undertaken by myself and my assistants, including Messrs. Culbert and Moore. In folloAving up the different nickel ranges there were numerous and sometimes wide gaps where no ore had been found by prospectors. Often these gaps proved to be caused by swamps or drift deposits; in other cases the norite could ])e followed unbroken but with an inward curvature that did not permit the ore to collect. To avoid the uncertaintj' occasioned by these gaps, it was decided to map the acid edge of the nickel eruptive also, though in a rougher way; and from time to time as occasion allowed the inner margin of the micropeg- matite was traced. This boundary was touched as far as possible at every half mile, and often much more frequently, so that its position as given on the map is believed to be reasonably accurate, though it has not been worked out in great detail. The results of this work have given greater certainty in regard to the continuity of the nickel ranges, especially in tying together loose ends, for example near Sultana mine to the west and Falconbridge to the east. As the work progressed it was recognized that another valuable result was obtained. It was found that great width of the eruptive was accompanied by large ore bodies, and medium width by smaller ore bodies, while the na - rowest parts of the eruptive had no ore bodies on their basic edge. The basic edge of the eruptive had usually been found to carry ore at outward bays, which was explained by supposing that the heavier sulphides settled b}' gravity into the hollows. On this theory no ore was to be expected on the acid or upper margin of the eruptive, and actually no nickel ore and very little copper ore has been found on this margin, though there are a cons'derable number of small ore deposits of another kind either at the acid edge or in the overlying sediments which have been more or less metamorphosed by it. Up to the present none of these deposits have proved large enough for development as mines, though it is possible that more important ones may be found when the acid edge has been as care- fully scanned by prospectors as the basic edge. In mapping the acid edge unexpected difficulties were encountered. It was found that the edge was often overrun, even for a hundred yards or more, because of the great resemblance of the micropegmatite to the overlying Trout lake conglomerate, which was often so completely meta- morphosed by hot fluids emanating from the eruptive as to be itself largely transformed into micropegmatite of a somewhat ruder sort, near the erup- tive margin. Only the larger granite pebbles and boulders of the con- glomerate resisted this process and remained as cloudy patches of coarser or redder granitoid material. Another difficulty was encountered in the variety of phases presented by the micropegmatite itself, which was sometimes rather coarse, red and granitic or syenitic looking, while at others it was gneissoid in appearance, and at still others it formed a fine grained cleavable green schist. In the field the one variety was traced into the other, but hand specimens of the extreme types would never be recognized as the same rock. Thin sections under the microscope, however, always showed the characteristic inter- growth of quartz and feldspar called niicropegmatite. ACID EDGE OF THE SOUTHERN RANGE. The inner edge of the nickel eruptive on the southern range begins loward the southwest in a sharp bend on lot 7, con. II, of Trill township, 98 the prow of the boat-shaped syncHne, from which it may be followed east- ward to Cameron lake and beyond that to the north bay of Fairbank lake. In this part of its course it is fine grained, schistose and dark greenish in colour and does not suggest syenite or granite in the slightest degree, though its chemical composition and its micropegmatite structure, as seen untler the microscope, show tliat it is the equivalent of these rocks. A Httle to the south it passes into hills of reddish syenite which i-; unmistakeable. After continuing a mile and a half eastwards the acid edge bends north- east to Gordon lake, whose south side it follows and then turns suddenly southwards for a mile, before turning to the northeastward (Urection. Its boundary against the conglomerate is as indefinite here as that of the norite against the Laurcntian in Trill, and for a similar reason; since the dip of the micropegmatite beneath the sediment is very gentle and the edge of the conglomerate feathers out irregularly upon the surface of the eruptive. There is another feature of interest near this great bay of conglomerate; the pebbles are more or less rol ed out in a schistose way and the cleavage of both micropegmatite and schist conglomerate has a strike of 65° or 70°, i.e. not parallel to the direction of the eruptive contact, while the dip is about 45° to the southeast This does not correspond to the beddijig, which is shown by vague layers having few or many pebbles to dip 25° or 30° toward the northwest. It is probable that these features are to be connected with the long Worthington offset of the nickel range, which begins four or five miles to the southwest. The flattening and widening of the conglomerate, the direc- tion of the schistose structure and its dip to the southeast, as well as the complex lines of brecciation along the offset, ma}' all be accounted for by supposing that a great block of the Archaean supports slipped down beneath the molten sheet of norite-micropegmatite, the plane of faulting and shearing runn'ng from southwest toward northeast. After the remarkable southward bend of the acid edge, it once more assumes the normal northeasterly direction, crossing Vermilion river and reaching Lake Emma about in the middle. From this it follows Levey creek rather closely to its exit from Whitewater lake The canoe route is seldom more than a quarter of a mile from the edge, and it is evident that the contact of the acid eruptive with the overh'ing sedimentary' rocks furnished a plane of weakness in which the valley could be cut, though the actual course of the stream is generally a little north of the Trout lake conglomerate in the Onaping tuff. The acid edge is still schistose with sj-enitic looking hills rising immediately to the south and trends about 80° east of north. Just beyond the edge the northwest quarter of lot 4, con. V has Vjeen taken up as a zinc claim. Whitewater lake makes an interruption of three miles in the outcrop of micropegmatite, which somewhere beneath its waters bends more to the north than along Leve\' creek. A promontorj- on the north side of the lake consists of quite schistose conglomerate, having a strike of 60° or 70° parallel to the average direction of the nickel eruptive, and the cleavage dips 45° in the direction southeast. Old lake clays hide the solid rock for half a mile north of Whitewater lake near Azilda, but syenitic looking rocks rise toward its east end and there is a rocky hill a half mile northwest of the station just north of the railway., which displays the acid eruptive in contact with the conglomerate. Both are pale redd sh and decidedly schistose, the cleavage having a strike of 15° and a dip of from 15° to 30° to the east, though the boundary between, the two rocks runs 30° east of north and west of south. 99 There is evidently a well marked bend of the acid edge from 75° or 80° to 30° east of north, though the point where the change of direction begins is under the lake; and it will be noted that the bend takes place just opposite the bay of norite leading into the great Copper Cliff offset, a coincidence which is almost certainly not accidental. This is in fact the opposite end of the great block of underlying rock which slipped down during the advent of the nickel eruptive and which was referred to in connexion with the sharp southward curve of the acid edge opposite the AVorthington offset. It is an impressive fact that this settling down of a block of the earth's crust 10| miles long on the acid edge and 15 miles long on the basic side should begin and end with important offsets of norite and ore pushing into crushed and faulted regions of the older rocks, and that it should include the great Creighton ore deposit. The acid edge in Rayside township runs northeast across its southeast corner, and in lot 2, con. Ill is accompanied by several small deposits of galena and zinc blende which have been taken up as a mining location. The ores are associated with pyrite, cjuartz, and ankerite and occur in irregu- lar fissure veins which have been stripped and opened up by test pits. The veins are in the somewhat schistose micropegmatite or the adjoining- schistose conglomerate and tuff. The cleavage of the sedimentary rocks has a strike of 80° east of north, conforming to the changing direction of the nickel eruptive, and a dip of 57° to the south. Passing into Biezard township the acid edge turns nearly east and the whole eruptive narrows considerably from its widest part, opposite the Frood-Stobie offset. It is no longer schistose after passing the crisis of the fault plane, but granitic or s^-enitic in appearance, and this character con- tinues to Whitson lake toward the east side of the township. Beyond Whitson lake the acid edge runs in a direction 80° east of north through Garson township near its north side and finallj' bends suddenly north at the southw^est corner of Maclennan township. In part the micropegmatite with the adjo ning conglomerate and tuff rises as steep east and west hills, in other parts the edge is hidden by swamps or small lakes. About half way across Garson the eruptive rises as a red cliff, felsitic in texture and penetrated by many small quartz veins, but on lot 4 it is greyish and schistose, the cleavage having a strike of 125°, much more to the southeast than the general trend of the eruptive itself. It is worthy of note that at a certain distance on each side of the fault planes bounding the central block supposed to have slipped down the slaty or schistose structures turn southwards, on the west side toAvard the south- west, on the east side toward the southeast, the whole region having been subjected to strains and shearing, resulting in structures with this roughly semicircular curve. The various types of rock displayed in this part of the acid edge were formerly mapped as Laurentian by the CJeological Survey, and frequently their field characters would justify this if one were not aware that they pass by insensible gradations into the norite of the nickel range toward the south and southeast. ACID EDGE OF THE EASTERN AND NORTHERN RANGES. The acid edge of the Eastern range was studied mosth' by my assis- tant, Mr Culbert, who found that the micro])egmatite phase begins within a short distance of the basic side of the eruptive, as might be expected where the whole is unusually narrow. He describes it in general as flesh coloured and rather coarse grained, but where examined by myself, in lot 1, con. Ill 100 of Capreol township it is rather fine^ grained and faintly reddish gr(>y, pale on the weathered surface and darker on fresh surfaces. It shows none of the schistose structure so common on the southern band. The acid edge of the eastern range curves gently to the west near the southwest corner of Norman township, and where crossed by the Canadian Northern railway is rather fine grained and more like diorite than syenite or granite in appearance. It runs across Wisner townsliip in a nearly westerly direction and its contact with the conglomerate is beauti- fully (^xposed near the shore of the south end of Joe's lake, where a wave and ice worn surface provides an ideal section. The acid phase of the erup- tive is granitic looking and sends irregular projections into the conglomerate with quite vague edges, so that it is by no means easy to fix the boundary. The micropegmatite blends with the conglomerate as if it were continuous with its matrix, though patches of redder coarser granite represent boulders not completely digested. About 400 feet south of the edge tuff replaces the conglomerate. One of the most interesting contacts of the two rocks is found on the south shore of Trout lake (in Bowell township) where some islets and a small peninsula show an even better section, the granitic phase penetrating the conglomerate for 100 yards or more. East of the southeast bay of Trout lake a small test pit sunk in dark green rock, probably a variety of the conglomerate or tuff, shows a little ore, and near the southwest bay in location WD 252 a certain amount of mining has been done on a larger deposit in conglomerate with dark green matrix. Here there are distinct veins containing zinc blende, galena, and a little copper pyrites with quartz as gangue, the latter occurring partly as well formed crystals projecting into the ore, which was evidently deposited later. A small shaft has l)een sunk but the amount of ore to be seen does not seem very encouraging. These deposits at the two ends of the lake are both in the Trout lake conglomerate a little south of the greatly altered contact phase described above. The acid edge beyond Trout lake passes southwest across a corner of Lumsden township, with relationships like those described. Near Nelson river it is covered by drift for some distance, but on a small unnamed lake to tlie west it is a grey green rock more like a variety seen on the southern range, though not schistose. About midway across Morgan township the eruptive is narrowest with a breadth of a little less than a mile, and the acid phase seems to extend right across so that specimens from the two sides look much alike. At the southeast point of Moose lake the acid edge is flesh coloured and granitic looking with small veins of green epidote, and similar roundish patches of green epidote with a little flesh coloured feldspar occur in the matrix of the conglomerate not far off. On the railway near Onaping river the edge is greenish grey and fine grained, with platy development of the feldspars, while not far to the northwest railway cuttings show coarse red- dish syenite. Southwest of Windy lake the acid phase is flesh coloured and granitic or gneissoid looking while the conglomerate at the contact looks like a coarse variety of Laurentian gneiss in places and was so mapped in the earlier surveys of the region. Beyond this the acid edge bends more to the south, crossing the ends of Ross lake and an unnamed lake in lot 7, con. Ill of Trill township, its character remaining much the same along the whole southwestward portion of the margin. The acid part of the eruptive is here much wider than the basic part, rises as hills of rather coarse grained syenitic looking rock, and at the edge against the conglomerate becomes finer grained and usually 101 grey rather than flesh coloured; but it is seldom schistose, having evidently undergone much less squeezing and shearing than on the southern range. There seems to have been no great collapsing of the older rocks beneath the eruptive on the north range to correspond to the arrangement between Victoria mine and Copper Cliff on the south. It is probable that a good deal of the overlying conglomerate has been stoped down and absorbed in some places, bringing the upper edge of the eruptive almost in contact with the base of the next formation, the Onaping tuff and at such points the colour of the acid edge is darker and greenish, as if it had digested some of the more basic material. Where the conglo- merate band is wide the colour of the acid edge is generally paler and with a tinge of pink. Economic Minerals of the Interior Basin. Ores of zinc and lead with more or less pyrite and chalcopyrite have been mentioned at a few points on or close to the acid margin of the n'ckel eruptive and others have been reported by prospectors, but were not visited owing to their unimportance economically. There are similar deposits, usual y with more pyrite in the rocks of the interior basin at a greater distance from the micropegmatite and yet probably to be brought in connexion with it. As the geological work undertaken in the region had especial y the nickel ores and their associations in view, other deposits were visited only incidentall3^ The one which has attracted most attention is the Creighton gold mine in lot 11 of the fourth and fifth concessions of Creighton township, where in 1892 to 1895 Mr. J. R. Gordon attempted to work a large quartz vein in the tuff. A company with a capital of SI, 000, 000 was formed, a shaft was sunk 200 feet and the quartz was explored by a good deal of drifting and diamond drilling. It is said that free gold was occasion- ally found in the quartz, but it was on the whole of much too low grade to pay for working, and after a short run of the small Crawford mill which had been erected, the mine closed down.^ A similar deposit was prospected on lot 2, con. IV of Fairbank town- ship about two miles to the west, but in this case much less work was done- and small quartz veins like this have been found at several places, but have not attracted much attention and need not be mentioned in detail. At Stobie Falls, on Vermilion river, in lot 10, con. VI of Creighton township, a considerable deposit of zinc blende with pyrite occurs in the Onwatin slate, and has been opened up on a small scale near the river bank. It will be observed that all of these deposits lie along an extension of the zone of shearing and faulting on the west side of the block, which sli])ped down during the incoming of the nickel eruptive, as described on former pages. Small deposits of pyrite and pyrrhotite (almost free from nickel) are found at other places in the slate, e.g. north of the Canadian Pacific rail- way a mi]e or two west of Larchwood and at the east end of Lake Onwatin, the latter having been taken up as a nickel property, though it contains only traces of the metal. Mr. R. R. Rose informs me that test pits have >Bur. Mines, Ont., Vol. II, p. 236, Vol. Ill, pp. 47 and 7; Vol. IV. p. 233 and Vol. V, p. 261. 2Ibid, Vol. Ill, p. 47. LIIJKARY UMVERSn Y OF CALIFORNIA SAMA BARBARA 102 been sunk on a deposit of galena, sphalerite, and pyrite with much quartz, on lot 9, con. V of Balfour township. The most interesting deposits in the Onwatin slate are, however, the veins of anthraxolite which cross it at various points, giving rise to reported finds of coal, the best kno'\\'n of these being the one on lot 10, con. I of Balfour township, not far north of Stobie Falls and along the same belt of faulting. It has been reported on by the present writer and by Dr. W. H. Ellis, • and ma}- })e described briefly as originally a vein of bitumen, derived from the enclosing black slate, which contains from 6-8 to 10 per cent of carbon, as determined by Dr. Ellis. The material has, however, now lost almost the whole of its hydrocarbons and oxygen and has much the composition of anthracite. Samples anaslyed by Dr. Ellis show the following composition: Moisture Volat le matter. Fixed carbon... Ash Average. Selected. 400 1-30 74-20 20 -.50 4-00 180 90-10 4-10 10000 10000 As the ash is quartz, which occupies the shrinkage spaces due to the loss of volatile matter, it is possible to obtain small shining cubical masses of the anthraxolite with still less ash. Such a specimen gave the following results on ultimate analysis: Carbon 94-92 Hydrogen , : 0-52 Nitrogen -.- 1-04 Sulphur 0-31 Ash 1-52 Oxygen 1-69 100- 00 Subtracting ash in both cases. Dr. Ellis compares the Balfour town- ship anthraxolite with Pennsylvania anthracite, as follows: Volatile matter. Fixed Carbon. .\iithraxolite. Anthracite . . 1-98 7-83 97-02 92-17 showing that the loss of volatile constituents has gone farther in the anthraxolite than in the anthracite. The finding of the Balfour anthraxolite naturally roused hopes of an important coal region a few miles north of the nickel mines, and so-called experts on Pennsylvania hard coal declared the rocks similar and prophesied »Ibid, Vol. VI, pp. 1.59-166. 103 "the development of valuable coal deposits. The original mine was soon abandoned, since the anthraxolite in it is mixed with 20 or 30, or even more, per cent of quartz and considerable pyrite, and all the anthraxolite in sight would not amount to more than a few thousand tons, at most. Coal has been sought for at several other points in the same general region, and a company was formed to exploit a recent find on lot 4, con. II of Balfour township, which has been opened up within the last two years. The pure anthraxolite is a concentrated carbon, which would make a .strong but slow burning fuel if it could be obtained free from the inter- mixed quartz and pyrite. It is decidedly improbable that it will be found free from these impurities, however, owing to its origin by the volatization of hydrocarbons, leaving contraction spaces to be filled later by circulating water. It is likely that the Onwatin slate was highly charged with bitumin- ous matter in the beginning, like the oil shales of Scotland and other places, and that the heat of the nickel eruptive when it spread out beneath, first drove part of the petroleum or pitch into fissures in the slate and then volatilised the hydrocarbons, leaving only the fixed carbon. Quartz Mines. The smelting processes employed on the Sudbury ore require quartz and sometimes limestone as a flux, under certain conditions, and also •quartz for lining converters, so that fairly pure silica is necessary. This has been mined at various points by the companies which have smelted the ores to matte. The Mond Company first used quartz from a large vein a little south of a nickel ore deposit two miles west of Victoria mine, but of late they have provided their quartz from a bed of quartzite north of the present smelter. The quartzite beds stand nearly vertical with a strike of about 110°, and the supply of material, averaging 88 per cent of silica, is inexhaustible. The Canadian Copper Company has operated several mines, the earliest one conveniently placed about a mile south of Copper Cliff on the top of a range of gabbro hills along the north shore of Kelley lake. It had the appearance of a gigantic segregation out of the gabbro, since the pure and glassy quartz was mixed at its edges with an intergrowth of white feldspar, forming "graphic granite." Around this came a coarse rock consisting of the Avhite feldspar and green crystals of hornblende and finally the green-grey gabl)ro. There are a number of large white masses of the same sort along the crest of the hill, but apparently none so large as the one worked, from which for a time a daily output of 100 tons was obtained. It is possible, and perhaps probable, that these quartz masses, with their rim of pegmatitic- looking acid rock, were originally great blocks of quartzite, "roof pendants" when the laccolithic gabbro pushed its way up, and in that case the feld- sj)athi(' rock enclosing them is in reality a "reaction rim." When this sup])ly Ijecame exhausted, another quartz mine was opened in the Huronian on lot 8, con. I\' of the townshi]) of Waters, aliout one and a half miles northeast of Xaughton station on the "Soo" branch from which ].")() tons of quartz per diem Avere produced in 1907. In 1010 a new quartz deposit was opened uj) in the township of Dill, near the station of the Canadian Northern railway named Quartz, and about ten miles south of the Canadian Pacific. This deposit is in a region always mapped as Laurentian, though its immediate associations suggest the rireuville series rather than the ordinarv gneisses of the Laurentian. 104 Somewhat to the west of the mine there is a hill of coarse, reddish gneiss, much crumpled and characteristically Laurentian, with a strike of 60° to 80° and a vertical dip; but after crossing a creek near the railway fine grained grey gneiss rises as a low ridge well stratified and looking like the Grenville gneisses, with a strike of 150° and a dip of 45° or 50° to the east. Apparently the two are separated by a fault in the drift-covered bed of the creek. With the grey sedimentary rock there are some beds of green hornblende schist cut by small dykes of granite, and in a cutting of the railway to the east there is a band of coarse and crj'stalline quartzite, folloAved by some coarse grey gneiss, with a strike of 20° and dip of 45° to the west. Beyond the railway to the east is the open pit of the mine, with coarsel}' granular quartzite parted by some narrow sheets of mica schist, striking 150° and dipping 45° to the east. The structure seems to be anticlinal, but the relationships are too much disturbed to be easily interpreted. To the east of the wide band of quartzite of the mine a steep ridge of coarse pegmatite, of later age than the quartzite, since it has car- ried off blocks of it, runs north and south, and beyond it there is quartzite again dipping 45° to the east. Five hundred feet east of the hill there is a parallel band of grey gneiss. The age of these bands of quartzite is not certain, but they are much more crystalline and metamorphosed than the Huronian or Temiscaming quartzites a few miles to the north. They are distinctly older than the pegmatite which cuts them, and their association with gneisses like the Grenville and the presence of some crystalline limestone not far to the north make it probable that the whole series of sedimentary rocks here is more ancient than the Huronian. The Dill quartz mine bids fair to last longer than the others and furnishes pure silica to the extent of 300 tons a day. Limestone for fluxing purposes is brought in from a distance. The crystalline limestone occurring in Laurentain amphibolites about two miles- north of the quartz mine, in a cutting on the Toronto branch of the Canadian Pacific railway, is not extensive, and an analj^sis shows only 76-87 per cent of CaCO?, so that it is too impure to replace the flux now in use. This comparatively small outcrop is the only limestone in the Sudbury region, and if larger and purer deposits could be found they would meet with a considerable local demand. Composition of the Sudbury Nickel Eruptive. In a former section it was shown that the nickel-bearing eruptive consists of micropegmatite on its inner, or acid edge, passing gradually into norite on its outer, or basic edge, the more basic part having settled to the bottom of the basin, where in bays or offsets it becomes mixed with ore as pyrrhotite-norite and ends with solid masses of ore containing only a few crystals or fragments of the rock-forming silicates. It is of interest to trace the transition, and for this purpose the follow- ing analyses, largely made bj- Prof. T. L. Walker,^ but partly taken from a Bureau of Mines Report, ' may be quoted. 'Quar. Journ. Geol. Soc. Lon., Vol. LIIL p- -56. 2The Sudbury Nickel Field, Vol. XIV, Part III, pp. 116 and 117. 105 o o 00 o 00 (M 05 ,_, ^ o ^— ' o OJ C^ o •^ rt ■^ •* U5 ^ T)H lO rt „ o ^ 03 i-H rt lO --H rt <-! eo c<5 --H »o o r^ CO — I rt .^ »o ■* rt tH OS 05 00 eo «0 05 CO rt -H rt fO i-H i-H : :S 00 00 g t^ •* t^ en O CO rt C-J ,_! o o 106 In the above table of analyses No. 1 is of ore from the Creighton mine, on the authority of Mr. David H. Browne.^ Nos. 2 and 3 are from the ba-;ic edge of the southern range near Blezard mine, analyst Dr. T. L. Walker. No. 4 is from near the basic edge of the northern range at Onaping, analyst yir. E. G. R. Ardagh, Chem. Dept. University of Toronto. No. 5 is from the basic edge near the Creighton mine, analyst Mr. M. T. Cul})ert. No. 6 is a syenitic looking specimen taken from the middle of the Onaping section, analyst Dr. Walker. No. 7 is from the middle of the Blezard- Whitson lake section, analyst Dr. Walker. No. 8 is from the acid edge of the Onaping section, the rock being greenish grey, analyst Mr. Ardagh. No. 9 is from near the acid edge on the north shore of Fairbank lake, the rock being dark greenish grey and somewhat schistose, analyst Mr. Ardagh. No. 10 and No. 11 are from points near the acid edge of the Blezard-Whitson lake section, Mr. C. B. Fox, chemist of the Hamilton Iron and Steel Com- pany being the analyst of No. 10 and Dr. Walker of No. 11. The analyses are so arranged as to give first the most basic material, the ore, next the norite (Nos. 2-5), then the micropegmatite at various stages to the acid edge. In the table No. 5 from the basic edge near Creigh- ton mine, is not typical, since it appears to have al)sorbed some of the ad- jacent granite and contains some micropp-j-matite and microcline, while thin sections of other specimens close to the ore are almost free from this mineral. In the cases of No. 6 and No. 8 also, there is an anomaly, since the so called acid edge (No. 8) contains less silica than the middle of the erui)tive (No. 6); the relations being accounted for probably by the absorption of basic material from the overlying tuff in No. 8, giving rise to its greenish colour as compared with the red syenitic looking specimen from the middle of the eruptive. Omitting analyses No. 5 and No. 8 we have Nos. 2, 3 and 4 representing the basic side of the eruptive and Nos. 6, 7, 9, 10 and 11 belonging to the acid side. It is of some interest to get the average composition of the norite and micropegmatite, which works out as follows: Basic average. Acid average. Average composition Si Os 52-770 18-493 0-283 9 140 4-940 7-617 2-597 1-330 1 ■ 263 1-097 130 67-862 12-688 1-740 5-072 1-164 2-468 3-956 2-780 1 ■ 050 0-456 0-178 0-036 62-831 AI2O3 14-623 Fe203 1-2.54 FeO MgO CaO . .- 6-428 2-423 4-184 Na20 K2O H2O 3 -.503 2-297 1-121 Ti02 P2O5. 0-670 0-162 MnO 0-024 Total.... Specific Gravity. 99-760 99-450 99-520 2-897 2-718 Along the southern range the basic portion (norite) extends over about a half of the width, but on the eastern and northern ranges it makes up less than a quarter of the whole. On this account in computing the average ^Economic Geology, Vol. I, p. 471. 107 Composition of the eruptive, the acid (micropegmatite) portion was con- sidered to have twice the contents of the basic portion, with the results given in the third column. It will be observed that silica and the alkalies are present in smaller amounts on the basic side of the eruptive than on the acid side, while iron, magnesium, and calcium have increased in amount. It would be easy to continue the series beyond the average Creighton ore into pure pyrrhotite, where the iron might make 60 per cent of the whole. Every gradation could be obtained from a rock with 69 per cent of silica and 4 per cent of iron, to ore, which may be looked upon as the most basic phase of the rock, with 60 per cent of iron and no silica. Along with the concentration of the sulphide of iron in the hollows beneath the norite went the concentration of nickel, cobalt and copper sulphides, and also of the precious metals, gold, silver, pljitinum, and pal- ladium, and in a general way the longer the distance traversed by the mate- rials the more complete the separation, so that offset deposits are much richer in the precious metals than marginal deposits. The segregation has not alone separated micropegmatite from norite and norite from ore, but has tended to concentrate the heaviest materials of all in the offsets. Though the ore is only the heaviest constituent of the magma, and so is in reality an ultra basic phase of the rock, its total amount, so far as known, is relatively insignificant. If it were once more mixed with the barren rock it would be almost imperceptible. The total amount of ore mined in the region up to the present is roughly 5,500,000 tons, of which probably 4,000,000 were actually sulphides, containing perhaps 2,400,000 tons of iron and its associated metals, nickel itself amounting to only about 133,000 tons. The greater part of this ore has come from open pits 200 feet or so in depth. If evenly distributed along the 40 miles of the southern range it would mean 100,000 tons of sulphides per mile. This is of course far beloAv the real amount, since only the better grades of ore are worked and the vast amount of sulphides in the pyrrhotite-norite have not been touched. More than half the total has come from the few hundred feet of margin at the Creighton mine, so that things are very unequally distributed. Including the great Frood-Stobie offset there are certainly 30,000,000 of tons of workable ore still to be mined on the southern range above a depth of 1000 feet, and very probalily much more. All told it is not unreasonable to assume that there are 100,000,000 tons of sulphides, workable and unworkable, along the whole range, which amounts to about 2,500,000 tons per mile. The average width of the nickel eruptive in the southern range is a little over 3 miles and the average^ dip of the foot-wall 30° giving a thickness of the eruptive of 10,000 feet to provide the amount of ore estimated above. Assuming this thickness of magma, and a 1,000 feet of base, each mile of the sheet would contain a])out 52,800,000,000 cubic feet of rock, or 4,400,000,000 tons, and the 2,500,000 tons of ore per mile works out to 0-057 per cent. The prol)able amount of ore in the southern nickel range formed then a quite negligil)le part of the whole sheet of molten matter as far as percentage goes, though an extremely important part from the point of view of the miner. There is far more iron combined with silica in the pyroxenes of the rock or with oxygen in its magnetite than with sulphur in the ores, since the analyses show from 5 to 131 per cent of iron, and the sulphides so far as knowji amount to only 057 ])er cent, of which less than .60 per cent is iron. This minute })roportion of sulphides seems, however, 25873—11 lOS to have concentrated in itself most of the valuable metals as if in a mini- mum of matte from an overwhelming amount of slag. PROPORTIONS OF METALS IN THE SUDBURY ORES. It has been shown that the known amount of sulphides in the original magma was very small so far as percentage is concerned though of great practical importance when concentrated in ore deposits. In these ore deposits themselves under the present conditions of smelting by which the iron is entirely sacrificed, the amounts of the valuable metals recovered represent only a small fraction of the whole, as appears from the table of statistics given above. The nickel reported averages 2-69 per cent and the copper 1-85 to which should be added the amount of loss in roasting and smelting, variously estimated at from 10 to 20 per cent of the metals contained in the ore. If 15 per cent of loss is assumed the projjortions of metals in the ores wdll be 3-09 of nickel and 2 - 12 of copper, with a total of 5-21 per cent. Iron is present then in much the largest amount in the suli)hido.s and probably averages not far from 45 per cent in the ores as mined, followed by 3 • 09 per cent of nickel and 2-12 per cent of copper. Next comes cobalt, which is present in all the ores, though scarcely represented in the statis- tics, since it makes only a fraction of a per cent of the ore and is so readily slagged off as to appear only seldom in analyses of matte. The few analyses recording its presence show from 1 -40 to 1 • 133 as much as cobalt as nickel. The Precious Metals. The precious metals occur in still smaller quantities, bessemer matte containing 2| to 7 ozs. of silver per ton, 0-17 to 0-5 ozs. of the platinum metals and 0-02 to 0-3 ozs. of gold per ton. MATTE ANALYSES. The results of the most complete analyses of bessemer or other high- grade mattes available are given in the following table: • I. II. III. IV. V. VI. Nickel p.c. 1 48-82 25-92 2-94 22-50 oz. 002 3-14 0-13 002 0-02 trace trace p.c. / 41-58 \ 0-71 24-99 9-82 p.c. 40-37 0-78 24-95 9-64 p.c. } 41-18 44-87 0-94 11-62 oz. 0-30 5-10 p.c. 39-96 43-36 0-30 13-67 oz. 0-1 to 0-2 7-0 0-25 p.c. / 41-88 1 0-33 37-37 1-07 oz. 0-66 4-87 •40 Cobalt Copper Sulphur Gold oz. 0-15 ""6-56 oz. 0-10 2-50 0-44 Silver ' 1 109 I is by T. L. Walker, of Murray mine bessemer matte. ^ II and III are by Donald Locke, of Ontario Smelting Works matte^ mainly from Creighton ore. IV is by J. W. Bain, of Copper Cliff matte in 1899, from Stobie, Copper Cliff and Evans mine ore.^ V is by Titus Ulke, in 1894, of Copper Cliff and Evans ore, probably with some ore from Stobie.^ VI is by Donald Locke, of Victoria Mines bessemer matte. ^ Analyses I, II and III are of matte whose ore came chiefly from large marginal deposits, the Murray and Creighton mines. IV and V are partly of ore from mines of the Copper Cliff offset (Copper Cliff and Evans) but partly from Stobie mine. VI is from an offset mine but very close to the margin of the nickel-bearing eruptive, Victoria mine. It will be noticed that the precious metals increase when there is more copper in the matte, and that offset deposits, which always contain more copper than marginal deposits, are also much richer in gold, silver and the platinum metals. The latter increase, however, in a much greater ratio than the copper, as if the lighter metals were more or less left behind in the wanderings through devious ways from the norite edge to the offset deposits. Reckoning back the amount of the precious metals in a ton of matte, to the corresponding amount of sulphides required to furnish the matte, the following results are obtained: I. Murraj' II and III. Creighton mine, etc IV. Copper Cliff, Stobie, etc... V. Copper Cliff, Evans, etc. . . . 00146 No?. II and III included some ore from the offset mines of the Canadian Copper Company, and do not represent the Creighton alone.^ It will be noted that in the analyses of matte given above only one shows palladium and then only a trace. It came therefore as a surprise to learn that for several years more palladium than platinum was recovered from the Canadian Copper Companj-'s matte during the process of refin- ing it at Constable Hook. In 1902 no less than 2,375 ozs. of platinum and 4,411 ozs. of palladium were recovered doubtless partly belonging to ore mined in previous years. If it all came from the ore mined in 1902 there were 0-0102 ozs. of platinum and 0189 ozs. of palladium or 0-0291 of the combined metals, per ton of ore. In 1903 the amounts were 0077 of platinum and 0-0144 of palladium, and in 1904 0052 ozs. of platinum and 'Am. Journ. Sc. Vol. 1, 4th Scries, 1896, p. 112. n),. Biirlow, p. 206. 'Bur. Mines, 1900. p. 218.