Report of the Bureau of Mines

by the Canadian Gold Extraction Company, Limited, under the superintendence of Mr. R. H. Ahn of Rat Portage. It is purely a customs mill; the ore will be sampled and tested, and bought outright before treating. The machinery has not all arrived yet, nor will the works likely be ready before spring. The treatment will consist respectively of coarse crushing with a Blake or Gates crusher, finer crushing through rolls, roasting, very fine grinding in grinding barrel, amalgamation in revolving barrels, and chemical treatment. The last involves a patented process which the owners are not making public.

Keewatin Works.

The Keewatin Reduction Works, described in last year's report, were completed and in running order in January, 1898, and were kept fairly busy for the

Operations during 1898.

remainder of the winter, but unfortunately, during the summer following they were idle for the greater part of the time, with the exception of the assay department; however, prospects for a busy winter again are bright. Some changes have been made in the management of the works. Mr. F. T. Snyder, who had been general superintendent, terminated his engagement with the company on June 17, and this office has been abolished, the duties of it having been distributed over three different offices. The business manager is W. J. Craig, the mill superintendent N. B. Wilcox, and the manager of assay department H. A. Guess. Mr. R. A. Mather is managing director of the works.

Some important changes have been made in the machinery, the necessity of which has been demonstrated by experience.

Alterations

in Machinery The gyrating concentrators in

of the Mill. stalled by Snyder have been condemned and thrown out, and will be succeeded by Frue vanners and jigs. The gyrators were found to concentrate very satisfactorily, but the difficulty of keeping them in repair and adjustment more than offset any advantage they might possess over the Frue vanners. There are at present four of the latter, with four-foot belts, treating the product from two batteries. Two of these will be arranged to treat the discharge from

the other two batteries, or rather the middlings and tailings from the jigs, which will be interposed between the batteries and the vanners. Two Hartz jigs will be installed, similar to those at the Regina, which have proven to work very satisfactorily. Stationary apron plates four feet long will be interposed between the batteries and the present gyrating amalgam tables; the latter will of course be retained. The batteries have all been changed from wide double-discharge mortars with no inside amalgamation, to narrow single-issue mortars, with front and back inside plates, the same mortars of course being used. Mercury traps have been supplied to all batteries. From 35 to 50 mesh screens are used, according to the nature of the ore treated. The third turbine, installed from the first but hitherto unused, is to be connected solely to the milling machinery for running the same, as the speed requires to be uniform; this being impossible under the present state of affairs wherein all the power comes through the medium of a single shaft, both for the continuous running of milling machinery and the intermittent crushing and sampling and aerial tramway machinery. The two turbines in use aggregate 350 h. p.. while the third one will furnish an additional 225 h.p. An extension to the power room will be built.

An addition has been made to the sampling machinery of two small Gates crushers, No. 00 and 2; this improves the sampling by finer crushing when necessary, and also obviates the necessity of running the larger machinery for small mill tests.

A jig amalgamator invented by and constructed under the direction of Mr. Guess is The Assaying an addition to the assay departdepartment. ment which greatly facilitates the making of free-milling tests of small samples of ore. A series of bottles, according to the number of tests to be made at once, capable of treating one or two pounds each, are charged with the finely ground ore and mercury, securely closed and set in a frame, to which are communicated by machinery 300 twoinch strokes per minute. A very short time suffices to amalgamate all the free gold.

Instructions were given to cover and fence belts in pulleys in several cases, and these have been satisfactorily complied with.

MICHIPICOTON MINING DIVISION

By David G. Boyd, Inspector

HAVE the honor herewith to present to you the second annual report on the Michipicoton Mining Division. During the past season of 1898 the progress made has been encouraging. The major

Progress

ity of claims in the district bemade in 1898.tween Wawa lake and Michipicoton river have yielded samples showing free gold, and in places where work has been done the vein matter improves the deeper it is worked. Town sites have been laid out, one situated at the west end of Wawa lake named "Wawa City," and one on the Michipicoton river, one mile up from its mouth, named "Michipicoton City." The river is navigable for small tugs with draught not exceeding six feet to the town. The old C. P. R. tote road connects the two sites. At Wawa City a hotel, store, billiard hall and two small houses have been erected, while at Michipicoton are found a hotel and two stores, as well as the houses of the Indians and half breeds who used to work for the H. B. Co. The H. B. Co. have (after being closed two years) re-opened their post under the agency of Jabez Williams, formerly of Lac Seul Post. Prospectors and miners now going into the country can get all their supplies and outfit from the above stores, thus saving the former expense and trouble of bringing in all their outfit.

Customs

The first and only machinery in the district consists of a customs two-stamp mill erected by Mr. Thomas Wescott of stamp Mill. Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. The stamps (830 lb. each) and frames were made at Sault Ste. Marie. The vanner and copper plates were bought from Fraser & Chalmers, Chicago; the crusher and ore feeder from A. R. Williams & Co., Toronto. The power is supplied by an engine and boiler lately used in a saw mill. On October 13 the buildings had been erected, engine, boiler and stamp frames set up, and foundation for stamps laid.

Mr.

Wescott expected to have his mill running before the end of the season.

The office was opened for the transaction of business in one of the H. B. Co. buildings The Inspec. on April 29 and continued open tor's Office. until the close of navigation on October 29. During this period there were 152 miners' licenses issued and 228 notices of mining claims registered and filed at Michipicoton. The total number of licenses issued for the year was 203 (of which number 69 are renewals) 51 being issued from Toronto. The total number of claims staked and recorded was 266, of which 38 were recorded at Toronto while the office at Michipicoton was closed during the winter months.

The amount of money forwarded to the Treasury Department from the office at Michipicoton was $2,316.50, and the amount received at Toronto was $907, making a total of $3,223.50. Of this amount $2,030 was received for miners' licenses, $205 for transfer fees of mining claims, and the balance, $988.50 fees for additional mining claims filed by licensees who had already filed one claim on their license.

All of the claims staked and recorded, with the exception of two on lake Manitowick, are situated in the neighborhood of Wawa lake.

winter. Regarding the work done, as most of the licensees employed their time in stripping the veins and sinking test pits, only the more important are noticed in this report

On lake Manitowick G. F. Parks had a gang working all winter on claim No. 173;

At lake

tory stripping. Summer and winter camps have been built and a waggon road cut out to Michipicoton City.

Claims No. 72, "Pixley," owned by Mrs. Hopkins, No. 97, 'Woehler," owned by Mrs. Hopkins, No. 98, " Helen,"

Claims 72, 97,

98 and 99. he sank three pits, the deepest beManitowicking 23 feet. At the time of my visit on 7th September, the only operations going on were on claims 79, 80 and 81, with Mr. N. J. Dingman of Palmerston in charge of ten men. Work commenced about the 20th August and consisted in stripping and sinking a shaft on the top of a hill. Later he let a contract for a shaft of 50 feet in depth to be done this winter. This as far as I could learn was all the work that was done in this part of the country. On Dog lake nothing has been done.

At lake

Wawa.

Inspection of Work on Claims.

On 6th October I visited claims 33, 34, 35 and 36, situated one mile north of the west end of Wawa lake. These claims are situated on a large vein of quartz heavily mineralized with iron pyrites, also containing pyrrhotite. The strike of the vein is east and west. Work was started in April and continued steadily with an average number of four men in charge of A. Goetz of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. Besides stripping and sinking test pits, two tunnels have been drifted, the longer being 15 feet in. Work will be continued all winter.

Claim No. 128, 'Gananoque," situated three miles east of Michipicoton city, owned Gananoque by J. Legge of Gananoque and S. claim. Barton of Sault Ste. Marie, was visited on 13th October. The strike of the vein is N. E. and s. w. with a dip of 45° to the north. The vein is well mineralized with iron and copper pyrites, galena and free gold. It has been traced 600 feet over a hill, and varies in width where work has been done from five to nine feet. Work was commenced in the fall of 1897, ceased during the winter, and commenced again in May, 1898. At the foot of a hill 22 feet of stripping nine feet wide preparatory to drifting a tunnel has been done. Half way up the hill a tunnel six by eight feet has been drifted in a distance of 17 feet, besides 19 feet of prepara

owned by L. M. Ward, and No. 99,"Florence," owned by H. J. Hopkins, were visited on 17 October. Work was commenced in the middle of May with L. M. Ward in charge, and continued until 17 October. On claims 98 and 99 the strike of the vein is nearly east and west. It has been traced 600 feet with an average width of six feet, well mineralized with iron and copper pyrites, with showings of free gold and native copper. Three test pits have been sunk, one of six feet and two of 12 feet in depth. On claim 98 a smaller vein one foot wide, with a strike of east and west, a test pit eight feet deep has been sunk. On claim 99 another vein, four feet wide with a course of northeast and southwest, has been stripped for 70 feet. On claim 97, on a vein running north and south, two pits have been sunk to eight and 13 feet respectively. A log camp 18 by 20 feet has been built.

Claims 92, 93 94 and 95.

Claims No. 92, 93, 94 and 95 are owned by the Wawa Gold Mining Co., Ltd., of which Lt. Col. Tisda'e, Q.C., M.P., is President. They were visited on 18 October. Work was commenced in May and continued until the end of October with an average number of six men, employed under P. A. Derry as foreman. On claim 92 the strike of the vein is northeast and southwest, with no apparent dip; it has been traced 800 feet. The quartz is well mineralized with iron and copper pyrites. A shaft of six by eight feet has been sunk 35 feet, and stripping has been done in several places. On claim 93 two test pits were sunk on the continuation of the vein, one of 6 by 10 and 14 feet deep, the other of 6 by 8 and 10 feet deep. On another vein five feet wide, with a course of north and south and a dip slightly to the east, four test pits were sunk ranging from eight to 15 feet deep. The vein has been traced 500 feet and is well mineralized with iron and copper pyrites and showings of free gold. This claim being situated on a small lake, corsiderable time was spent in

time a shaft was sunk 7 by 9 and 60 feet deep. Work was commenced again on June 1st and continued until the middle of September, when a cross-cut at the 60 foot level was made 7 by 8 by 26 feet in length, and at 25 feet a cross-cut 7 by 8 by 11 feet in length. The buildings consist of manager's and engineer's houses, sleeping and cooking camps, blacksmith shop and stable. A contract has been let to Mr. M. B. R. Gordon for 50 feet additional sinking, which will be finished during the winter months.

Appended is an amended list of licensees, place of residence, number of license, and number of claim (if any). Where not otherwise indicated the licensees are residents of Ontario.