Coal and Lignite.
Mr. von Hamerstein informed the committee that there is a fine seam of coal at McKay, and went on to say that he had taken out, the season before his examination by the committee, about twenty tons, right on the river bank. There was a good quantity of bituminous coal, which could be used for common blacksmithing, but not for welding. Where exposed and worked, this seam goes down about five or six feet deep, and it seems to be getting larger. There is quite a bit of coal taken out every year by the people who live at Chipewyan.
There is, according to Mr. von Hamerstein, another fine seam of coal at a little creek named Horse creek, which is about a mile and a half south from McMurray on the east side of Athabaska river. Coal may also be found in other places. There is a seam, for instance, about two miles below Stony island.
W. F. Bredin, M.L.A., confirmed Mr. von Hamerstein’s evidence as to the deposits of coal near McKay, which is about twenty miles north of McMurray.
In his report of 1888, describing his explorations the previous season, Mr. R. G. McConnell stated:—
“Lignite was found in Peace river sandstone in Peace river in several places, but in seams too small to be workable. It also occurs in the plateaus south of Lesser Slave lake. In one section at the latter place, four seams, ranging in thickness from one to four feet, besides a number of smaller ones, was found, distributed through about a thousand feet of sandstone and shales. Drift lignite was also found in Marten river near the base of Marten mountain, but it was not traced to its source. On the Athabaska, the Grand rapid sandstone is lignitiferous, some of the seams being from four to five feet thick, but the quality is usually inferior. Several small seams also occur imbedded in the tar sands.”
Deposits of Gypsum.
Mr. McConnell states in his report that “Gypsum is deposited in small quantities by the mineral springs at La Saline, and it also occurs on Peace river between Bouillé rapid and Peace point, where beds ten to fifteen feet in thickness are said to exist. Blocks of gypsum several feet in diameter were found on Peace river above its confluence with Loon river, and on Red river a few miles above its mouth. They have probably been derived from the Peace point exposures, and carried up the valley of Peace river by ice during the Glacial period.”
Mr. Alfred von Hamerstein gave evidence to the same effect before the Senate committee of 1907. He stated that there “are large deposits of gypsum on the southern bank of Peace river, near Peace point, which is situated somewhere near the mouth of Peace river. Very large deposits of the same economic mineral are in the neighbourhood of Salt river.”
Salt Mines.