Canada To-day and To-morrow

by Arthur E. Copping

It makes one almost giddy to think of all those Government geologists hurrying every year across the country—one to study the economic minerals of New Brunswick, another to visit the goldfields of British Columbia, a third to tabulate the copper-bearing rocks of Sherbrooke, a fourth to visit the mica mines of Hudson Strait, a fifth to scrutinise the surface geology of the Great Plains, a sixth to collect facts about tin-bearing strata in Nova Scotia, a seventh to explore the raised shore-lines of the Blue Mountain escarpment. Some have been packed off at a moment’s notice—for example, to inspect a collapsing mountain (the people living at the base having become anxious), and to report upon a meteorite that had just fallen in somebody’s homestead (and which, when the scientist arrived, had already been sold for two hundred dollars). It does one’s heart good to think of the stream of scientists, booty laden and full of enthusiasm, returning at the end of the season: the triumphant mineralogist, with his diamond-bearing chromite, his apatite crystals, and his pink scapolite; the zealous zoologist, with eggs of the chickadee and the belted kingfisher, some rare fresh-water mussels, an albino skunk, and scores of marine fishes in alcohol; the brother naturalist, with treasure unthinkable of seaslugs, toads, and seaworms; the ethnologist, with his human skulls and bones, and his stone adzes and hammers; the perspiring palæontologist, with goodly parcels of fossil bryozoa, supplemented, it may be, by the tail of a scarce trilobite and the right posterior molar tooth of a ruminant belonging to the order Ovibos.

To give some idea of the industry and activity of these learned servants of the State, I will briefly outline the work accomplished by one naturalist in one season. Having put his “Catalogue of Canadian Birds” through the press, Mr. John Macoun made ready to depart for Vancouver Island, his preparations including the compilation of a list of all the plants that had been reported to occur there. Before starting he also superintended one assistant in arranging botanical sheets for the herbarium, and another assistant in re-labelling a quantity of mammal and bird skins. Then, having sought and obtained permission “to write up the entire natural history of Vancouver Island,” he departed to Victoria with an assistant, the two energetic enthusiasts at once setting to work to secure flowering plants and the eggs of migrating birds and “to collect the fauna and flora of the sea”—in which work they were “very successful.” By June they were at Departure Bay, “ranging the country for miles around” to tabulate the birds and secure samples of plants and trees. “I was also employed,” Mr. Macoun reported, “in collecting from the sea, especially sea-weeds.” Going posthaste to Nanaimo, he met by appointment another assistant, whereupon, securing a boat, they carried out some exhaustive dredging operations. One haul, at twenty-five fathoms, brought up sixty specimens of a rare hexactinellid sponge. They took 156 star-fish, 195 crabs of various kinds, over a hundred different sponges, “a fine collection of barnacles,” and “a very large collection of marine shells.” Both assistants “were indefatigable.” One went out every evening with a lamp and net and caught moths and beetles. “This collection alone numbered over 600 specimens.” The party captured 1,100 species of flowering plants, about 400 species of cryptogams, and nearly 150 species of sea weeds; and the naturalist decided that another season’s work would enable him “to write an exhaustive report of the whole fauna and flora of the island,” provided he again had those two most excellent assistants with him. Remembering he had promised to visit Rossland and inquire into the rotting of mine timbers there, he darted off on that mission, found that four species of fungus were responsible, explained that the evil would be prevented if the timber were treated with a strong saline solution, and then went hurrying back to Ottawa, where he set about naming a number of plants that had been received from Guelph, Winnipeg, Calgary, and other places. He also seriously tackled the question of the flora of the Ottawa district—after which, I dare say, Mr. Macoun began to feel tired.

When in Ottawa, I found myself fascinated by this scientific overhauling of the great Dominion, and an interest which at first was of an abstract and general character, presently took concrete and definite form. I decided to seek for an authoritative and comprehensive pronouncement concerning the mineral resources of the country, and for this purpose I sought an interview with Mr. R. W. Brock, the director of the Geological Survey.

“You are right,” he said, when, in opening up the subject, I suggested that investigations could not at present have advanced very far; “we are a long way from having measured the mineral wealth of this vast country. Much of the territory has not been explored in even the most cursory way, while anything like a detailed examination of the rocks has at present been possible in only very limited areas. Still, the information we have already accumulated is sufficient to reveal Canada’s main geological features, to supply a rough indication of the districts that will yield minerals, and to show that the Dominion is destined to become one of the greatest mining countries in the world. For the amount of mineral land awaiting the prospector is prodigious—the greatest, in fact, that now anywhere remains unexploited.”

I told Mr. Brock that, before going into the question of the wealth awaiting discovery, I should like to have from him a general statement of the valuable mineral deposits that had already come to light. Accordingly he was so good as to furnish me with the following particulars:

“Coal is abundant and is extensively worked in the eastern and western provinces. The more important mines are situated in Nova Scotia, British Columbia, and Alberta. New Brunswick produces small quantities of coal for local use, and lignites are mined to some extent in Saskatchewan. Iron is found in most parts of Canada, but only in Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec is it as yet of industrial importance, and there it is developed on only a limited scale. Substantial progress is, however, being made, and notable expansion may be expected.

“Gold is worked in British Columbia, Yukon Territory, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Quebec, and along certain rivers of Alberta. In British Columbia the lode mines now furnish the principal production, but placers are still of importance. Ontario and Nova Scotia have only lode mining. Elsewhere placer mining furnishes the gold. Silver is derived from the rich ores of Northern Ontario and the silver-lead mines of British Columbia. The extraordinary development of the silver district of Cobalt and Montreal River has placed that region in the premier position among the silver camps of the world. An important addition to the output of silver is contributed by the gold-copper ores of British Columbia. A certain amount is also produced in the copper-sulphur ores of Quebec.

“Copper is furnished by British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec, and its production in the first-named province is rapidly expanding. Lead is almost entirely derived from the mines of British Columbia, but it also occurs in the other provinces. Zinc is widely distributed, but the production is as yet light and mostly from the lead mines of British Columbia. Nickel is largely confined to the mines of the Sudbury district in Ontario—mines that are, however, by far the most important in the world. A certain amount is produced in the Cobalt district, while prospects still farther north, resembling the Sudbury occurrences, are undergoing development. Manganese, in the form of its oxides, is produced intermittently in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Mercury has been furnished in small quantity by British Columbia.

“Platinum occurs in some gold placer deposits in British Columbia, and also in the nickel-copper ores of Sudbury. Tin and wolfram have recently been found in the gold veins of Nova Scotia. Wolfram also occurs in British Columbia and New Brunswick. Tin-bearing minerals have been discovered in some pegmatites of Eastern Ontario and Quebec. Arsenic is obtained in connection with gold ores in Eastern Ontario and in the silver ores of Cobalt. Antimony is produced to some extent in Nova Scotia. It is being developed in New Brunswick and at a few points in British Columbia. Chromite is mined in Quebec.

“Asbestos is the chief mining product of Quebec, and the deposits of this mineral in that province are the most important in the world. Graphite occurs in important deposits in Eastern Ontario and Quebec, but the industry is not fully developed. Gypsum is extensively mined in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. It is also mined in Ontario. It occurs in other provinces as well, and is beginning to attract attention in British Columbia. Mica is an important product of Ontario and Quebec, where it occurs in shoots in veins. Some of the deposits are very large. Phosphate of lime, or apatite, is still produced, generally as a by-product of the mica mines. Corundum is found extensively in Eastern Ontario from deposits which, as regards purity and magnitude, are unique. Feldspar occurs in wonderful purity in Eastern Ontario and Quebec, and is of considerable industrial importance. Pyrites is now mined extensively in Ontario and to some extent in Quebec.