1. METALS AND THEIR ORES. GOLD. The gold production of Canada in 1899 constituted over 44 per cent. of The total mineral production of the country, the preliminary summary statement of the mineral production by the Geological Survey valuing this item at over $21,000,000. These figures, though still subject to revision, are sufficiently accurate for the illustration of main facts respecting the gold output. Of the amount stated, the relative proportion contributed by the Yukon District and several provinces is approximately as follows: Of the total production for Canada about 18 per cent. of the gold results from vein mining, the whole production of Ontario and Nova Scotia coming under this head with about one-third of that of British Columbia. All the rest is obtained from the exploitation of alluvial deposits. The characteristics of various deposits from which the metal is produced are described below in connection with the different groups of exhibits. Alluvial Gold. Apart from the relatively small areas of gold-bearing gravels in Quebec, the alluvial gold deposits are practically confined to the western portion of Canada, along the valleys of the rivers and streams of the mountainous areas comprised within the Province of British Columbia and the Yukon District. A number of the rivers heading in these mountain ranges, but taking their courses eastward through the prairie country of the Northwest Territories, also carry gold, and in the case of the Saskatchewan a certain amount is extracted yearly. BRITISH COLUMBIA. In British Columbia it may be said that almost every stream of river has yielded more or less of the precious metal, and the placer-mining industry was until the last few years practically the only source of the gold produced in this province. By 1863, a few years after the first discovery of these gold-bearing gravels, the production of the province had risen to nearly $4,000,000. A gradual but steady falling off of the output followed, as the shallower and richer deposits became worked out, until in 1893 it reached its lowest at a little over $500,000. Since that date, however, there has been a renewed increase, and the production of placer gold for 1899 reached nearly $1,350,000. This result has been partly due to the discovery of new shallow placers and partly to extension of the hydraulic methods of work by companies whose large capital enable them to provide the expensive plant and water supply necessary for obtaining gold contained in the poorer and less accessible gravels. Considerable attention is being devoted to river dredging as a method of winning the precious metal from the sands and the gravels of the rivers. Should the work now being prosecuted in British Columbia demonstrate that the gravels of the rivers can be profitably worked, very extensive operations may be expected. Several more or less successful attempts have been made, the majority on the Fraser River, where several types of dredges have been tried, including suction, dipper and elevator dredges, the last-named type having given the best results. The main difficulty encountered is in the saving of the fine or flour gold. The specimens of gold nuggets and gold dust comprised in the following list have been collected and are exhibited by the Department of Mines of British Columbia : } ............J. E. Sutton. Wreck Bay, Ucluclet, West Coast 1043. Gold-bearing black sand. McKee Creek, Atlin Mining Division, B.C. 1085. Gold dust, 2 oz., worth $16.25 per oz. Spruce Creek, Atlin Mining Division, B.C. 1086. Gold dust, 2 oz., worth $16.25 per oz. Pine Creek, Atlin Mining Division, B.C. 1087. Gold dust, 2 oz., worth $16.25 per oz. Birch Creek, Atlin Mining Division, B.C. 1088. Gold dust, 2 oz., worth $16.25 per oz. Willow Creek, Atlin Mining Division, B.C. 1089. Gold dust, 2 oz., worth $16.25 per oz. Wright Creek, Atlin Mining Division, B.C. 1090. Gold dust, 2 oz., worth $16.25 per oz. Pine Creek, Atlin Mining Division, B.C. 1091. Nuggets, 31 oz. 1 dwt., worth $18 per oz. Wright Creek, Atlin Mining Division, B.C. 1092. Nuggets, 25 oz dwt., worth $18 per oz. Boulder Creek, Atlin Mining Division, B.C. 1093. Nuggets, 19 oz. 3 dwt., worth $18 per oz. The above nine exhibits from Atlin are from sluice workings. Otter Creek, Atlin Mining Division, B.C. 1191. Nugget, 19 oz., 73 per cent. gold and 27 per cent. quartz; also smaller nugget. Manson Creek, Omineca Mining Division, 43rd Mining & Milling Co. of Thibert Creek, Cassiar, Liard Mining Division, B.C. 1075. Gold dust, 1 oz., worth $16 per oz. McDame Creek, Cassiar, Liard Mining Division, B.C. 1076. Gold dust, 1 oz. worth $18 per oz. Dease Creek, Cassiar, Liard Mining Division, B.C. 1077. Gold dust, 1 oz., worth $15 per oz. Liard River, Cassiar, Liard Mining Division, B.C. 1078. Amalgam, 0.5625 oz., value $9. Poorman Gulch, Cassiar, Liard Mining Division, B.C. 1079. Gold dust, oz., worth $18 per oz. Messetoe Creek, Cassiar, Liard Mining Division, B.C. 1080. Gold dust, oz., worth $18 per oz. Rosella Creek, Cassiar, Liard Mining Division, B.C. 1081. Gold dust, oz., worth $18 per oz. Snow Creek, Cassiar, Liard Mining Division, B.C. 1082. Gold dust, oz., worth $18 per oz. Quartz Creek, Cassiar, Liard Mining Division, B.C. 1083. Gold dust, oz., worth $18 per oz. Walker Creek, Cassiar, Liard Mining Division, B.C. 1084. Gold dust, oz., worth $19 per oz. Quesnel River, Cariboo, B.C... .Northwest Dredging Co. 1044. Amalgam, 1.34 oz., worth $17 per oz. Fraser River, Cariboo B.C. 1045. Gold dust, 1.25 oz., worth $16 per oz. Smoky River, Cariboo, B.C. 1046. Gold dust, 1.21 oz., worth $16.50 per oz. Cottonwood River, Cariboo, B.C. 1047. Gold dust, 0.31 oz., worth $17 per oz. Slough Creek, Cariboo, B.C. 1050. Gold dust, 2 oz., worth $17.25 per oz. Lightning Creek, Cariboo, B.C. 1051. Gold dust, 1 oz., worth $17.25 per oz. Nelson Creek, Cariboo, B.C. 1052. Gold dust, 2 oz., worth $17.25 per oz. Burns Creek Mountain, Cariboo, B.C. 1053. Gold, 1⁄2 oz., worth $16.50 per oz. Lower Williams Creek, Cariboo, B.C.................. 1054. Gold dust, 2 oz., worth $16 per oz. Black Jack Claim, Williams Creek, Cariboo, B.C. Cariboo Gold Field Co. 1055. Gold dust, 14 oz., worth $15.87 per oz. San Juan Claim, Upper Williams Creek, Cariboo, B.C. 1056. Gold dust, 2 oz., worth $15.50 per oz. Lowhee Creek, Cariboo, B.C.......... 1057. Amalgam, 2 oz., worth $17.25 per oz. Hydraulic workings. Victoria Consolidated. |