the shaft. A drift will be driven 10 feet from the bottom, and a winze sunk at the end, at the bottom of which it is expected the water will be tapped. A pump will be stationed in the drift, with the calculation that the water can be sufficiently well coped with to allow continuation of sinking in the shaft. Experiments will be made with a view to utilizing this water for mill purposes, in order to eliminate the expense of pumping from the lake, the present source of supply, which was resorted to as a consequence of the small creek which had been dammed above the mill having proven inadequate.

equipment.

An extension has been built to the hoisting engine house for a new 35 h. p. locomotive style boiler, formerly employed at Mining and Milling the saw mill, and substituted for the previous hoister boiler. No other change has been made in the hoisting plant. A tramway 80 feet in length, on a trestle about five feet in height, has been constructed from the air shaft dump to connect with the main tramway to the mill. Practically no change has been made in the milling machinery; but henceforth no concentrating will be done, as the low percentage of the concentrates in conjunction with their limited assay value precludes the advisability of incurring the necessary extra expense required to operate the concentrating machinery, which consists of a Brown's hydrometric sizer and three Frue vanners, as described in last report. The following details of mill practice, although still subject to slight variation consequent upon further experience, will be interesting to some readers : Number of stamps, 10, in two batteries of five stamps each; weight of stamps, 750 lb. ; height of drop, seven inches; speed, 80 to 103 drops per minute; capacity of mill, 20 tons per 24 hours; depth of discharge, seven inches, maintained constant by false bottoms; amount of water used, 60 to 70 gallons per hour per stamp; screens, 40 mesh, burr slot; apron amalgam plates, eight feet in length by width of the mortar; inclination, 1-inch per foot; inside plates, back, 12 inches in width; front, four inches; lip plates, seven inches in width; amount of mercury fed to battery, a lump about the size of a pea to each battery every half hour.

Extent of Mining Work.

Nothing but open mining has been done since last year. This consists of the following: A few hundred tons have been blasted out in the old open cut on 337X during the summer, but as the pay streak proved to be narrow the work was discontinued. The present scene of operations is on the southern boundary of 338X, and partially on 316X adjoining, where an excavation 80 feet in length, 25 feet in width and 15 feet in depth has been made and is being continued northward towards the mill on 338X. Very satisfactory results have been obtained here. As the workings are in low ground, practically in a muskeg, or peat bog, sometimes as much as nine or ten feet of earth, peat and moss has to be stripped off. Water has also to be contended with, but a small pump keeps this under control. The reef has been tested at numerous points where it is high and dry, but as results were less satisfactory than here the expense of stripping, etc., is warranted. The vertical faces of the excavation are divided off into squares of one square yard each; each square is carefully sampled and assays made, thus forming a guide to operations. A costean 30 feet in length, 14 feet in width and about 12 feet in depth had been made north of the mill on 338X, and abandoned. Although a considerable amount of

work has been done upon the Reef on the whole, as yet a comparatively limited knowledge of its constitution regarding gold contents has been obtained, and in order to be in possession of somewhat definite knowledge of the position, size, depth, etc., of the pay streaks, (providing it is found necessary to confine mining operations to the location and working of such) a considerable expenditure of time and energy in systematic exploitation will be necessary.

The tramroad from the large open cut on 337X to the mill has been removed, and one about 250 yards in length laid from Equipment of the Mine. the present workings to the mill. The derrick, hoister, etc., from the old open cut have also been removed to the new work

ings. The hoister is a 12 h.p. duplex. A new 32 h.p. locomotive style boiler has been installed. A 14 by 24-foot boiler and engine house has been built. One machine drill is in use.

With the exception of repairs and minor alterations, no change has been made in the mill. The old upright crusher

The Mill.

boiler has been replaced by the horizontal boiler formerly at the pumping station at the lake. The engines, belts, etc., have been provided with guard rails as required. Number of stamps, 10, in two batteries of five stamps each; weight of stamps, 750 lb.; height of drop, eight inches; number of drops per minute, 86 to 87; capacity of mill, 15 tons per 24 hours; material of shoes and dies, white iron first employed, but manganese steel now used; depth of discharge, 6 inches when dies are new, not maintained constant ; screens, 40 mesh horizontal, burr slot; apron amalgam plates, slope 2 inches per foot; front and back inside plates; two dash plates; about oz. of mercury fed into batteries altogether every three hours. No extra hands are required for running the concentrating machinery, which consists of two Frue vanners as mentioned in last year's report.

A new assay furnace has been built of stone and fire brick, with separate crucible and muffle compartments.

The water supply from the mill is obtained from the lake, through 2,379 feet of pipe, buried to prevent freezing. A No. 6 Cameron

pump and a vertical lidgerwood boiler constitute the pumping machinery. A dam Water 175 feet long and about 12 feet Supply. high at the centre, constructed of timber, with earth in front to seal the water off, has been built above the mill, on a small creek which flows past the latter. The water was dammed off at another depression by an earthen dam 80 feet long and five feet high. But as the water proved to contain too much vegetable grease for milling purposes recourse was had to the lake again.

Development of Waterpower.

On the creek which runs from Clearwater to Sawbill lake a waterfall occurs, which, it is calculated, is capable of furnishing about 500 horse power when developed. The lake has been dammed at the point of outflow, and farther down the creek two other dams were being constructed at the time of my first visit, to furnish the necessary head. These, I learned later, have been completed. Power will be transmitted by electricity to the Reef.

Instructions were left to renew the driving pinion on the hoister, as the present one is too much worn for safety.

Location

40IX.

Toronto and Western Co.

The Toronto and Western Mines Development Company, Limited, with head office at Toronto, have been sinking on several of their properties on the southern part of Sawbill lake and vicinity for the past two summers. The only place visited was 401X, a small island of 2 acres in the southern part of the lake. The formation is altered granite. A diorite dike 50 feet wide and dipping 45 degrees north crosses A the island in a direction of N. 53° w. couple of smaller dikes occur on the island

also. Small contact veins of quartz a few inches in width occur on both walls of the main dike. The main vein crosses the northwest side of the island with a strike of north 37° east and a dip 75 or 80 degrees east. Two shafts have been sunk 145 feet apart on the vein. One was sunk 23 feet and discontinued, and the other 50 feet. The vein ranges from 10 or 12 inches to 2 feet in width. A force of six miners was employed, working day and night shifts, under Peter McKellar as superintendent of the work.

Locations on Eye Lake.

Big Six Mine.

In the early part of June I visited the Big Six mine, situated on the east end of Eye lake, south of Clearwater lake. We paddled to the lower end of Sawbil lake into a small inlet from which a rough portage, half a mile in length, led to Clearwater lake. A seven or eight miles paddle brought us to the lower end of the lake, where we left our canoe and walked to the mine, a distance of a mile over a very steep wagon road. The property consists of WR56, 57 and 58 and BG13 to 17 inclusive, aggregating 290 acres; also timber limit 63, containing 1,600 acres, which contains plenty of good Norway pine and other timber. The Owners are the Clearwater Gold Mining Company, with head office at Saginaw, Mich.; capitalization $1,000,000 in $1 shares. President. W. F. Stevens; secretary, Charles P. Anderson. Mr. J. S. Steele is manager of the mine. He had been prospecting for the company during the previous year, discovering the present property in June, 1897. Work was commenced in the following October and has been continued ever since. There was a total force of 22 men at the time of my visit; of these nine were miners, working in two shifts in the shaft.

of a mile from Eye lake, furnishing an excellent opportunity for transportation of ore by gravity to a proposed mill site on that body of water. The vein is distinctly traceable, and has been stripped to a considerable extent for a distance of about 1,000 feet north of the shaft, which is sunk on the vein near the centre of the location.

Develop. ment Work.

The shaft is six by ten feet in size and 80 feet deep, sunk on the hanging wall, which At dips nearly 90 degrees east. the bottom a drift has been driven seven feet south. At a depth of 25 feet a cross-cut has been driven west 16 feet. The vein at the surface consists of two branches at the shaft, about 20 feet apart, aggregating eight or ten feet of quartz. These come together north of the shaft, where the vein averages three or four feet in width. The quartz is white, containing iron pyrites, galena and zinc-blende. ladderway is in course of construction. Ventilation is obtained by a Sturdevant blower. Windlass and bucket are at present employed for hoisting, but a steam hoisting plant is on the premises ready for installation. The machinery consists of a duplex hoister with 4 by 6 cylinders (having a guaranteed capacity to hoist 1,500 pounds a distance of 600 feet) 300 feet of seven-eighth inch steel wire cable, a 25 horse-power locomotive style boiler and two underground trucks.

A

East of the main vein at the bottom of the hill on the same location, a tunnel has been driven southwest 15 feet on a 3 foot vein, which cut off sharply at the end with distinct evidence of faulting. West of the main vein in the greenstone several felsite dikes containing a little quartz occur, scattered over a distance of 100 feet or more. Shots have been put in on some of these, and stripping done at a number of points. East of the main vein a small quartz vein 19 inches wide outcrops and is said to be traceable for 1,000 feet.

Some test-pitting has been done upon veins on unsurveyed land in the vicinity of the Company's property. One pit was sunk 10 feet and another one has been commenced.

The camp is beautifully situated on the gently sloping shore of Eye lake, on a splendid sand beach about half a mile in length. Temporary log houses have been built for

boarding camps, etc., and a neat and substantial office building has been put up. The other buildings will be replaced Camp and aw mill. by frame ones as soon as the sawmill is completed.

The saw mill which has a capacity of 15,000 feet per day, is being built on Eye lake about one-quarter of a mile from the camp. All the machinery is on the ground and will soon be in place.

A waterfall on Seine river, south of Moose lake, has been applied for and is being examined by an engineer for power purposes.

Mining locations BC18 and 327 and

New Golden Twins Mine.

The pro

The

The New Golden Twins mine consisting of location BC18 and 327 and 328X, situated on the western shore of Clearwater lake, about four miles north of the portage to the Big Six, was visited 328X. in the early part of June while returning from the latter place. perty belongs to the Golden Twins Mining Company of London, England. Mr. E. Giessen (since deceased) was manager of the mine at the time of my visit. Work had been going on since October, 1897. The force consisted of three miners and two general hands. The workings are on a small peninsula containing four or five acres. formation is green schist. The ore body is a large, irregular quartz vein from 10 to 25 or 30 feet in width, with indefinite walls extending across the peninsula and on to the mainland, with a strike of north 35° east, and traceable for nearly 1,000 feet with the greater portion exposed. Two shafts have been sunk on the vein on the peninsula 240 feet apart, and at an elevation of 30 or 40 feet above the water. No. 1 is five by seven feet in cross-section and 63 feet deep. Being partially full of water it could not be entered, but the foreman informed me that at a depth of 47 feet a cross-cut had been driven northwest 22 feet. No. 2 shaft is of the same cross-section and 16 feet deep, sinking being continued. The buildings consist of cook and dining camps, office, blacksmith shop and powder house.

Island Falls Region.

I paid two visits to the Island Falls country during the summer and found that active

tion.

Location AL282.

The most extensively developed property is AL282, which had been involved in A property litigation from the time of its first in Litigaacquisition until a considerable quantity of development work had been done. James Haunmond of the Hammond Gold Reef was one of the parties contending for the title, and he had sold an interest in it to the Railroad Mining and Development Company, Limited, with headquarters at Port Arthur. This company did the development work, but Mr. Hammond lost the case, involving the patent, but received compensation for work done. He bought back a half interest in the property and gave over to the Railroad Company, by way of compensation, a full title to AL283, an adjoining property containing an extension of the AL282 vein.

Character of the Vein.

There is one vein on AL282, which is a true fissure, crossing the location, and others. adjoining, with a strike of north 57° east approximately. It follows a small ravine with a bluff 15 or 20 feet high extending along the north side. The vein dips at an angle of about 65 degrees northwest into the bluff at the bottom. Test pits several feet in depth have been sunk on the vein all along, on this and adjoining locations. Some of these pits have only been sunk to bed rock, as the vein being in low ground is not exposed at any point except where test-pitted. For the greater part of the distance it underlies several feet of clay, besides moss, etc. In some of the test shafts. or pits the vein is exposed as a well defined quartz body, several feet in width, with distinct walls. Usually on one or both walls several inches of clay selvage will be found. This selvage is apparently a decomposed inclusion of green schist, as it is found associated with nearly all veins in this country