Gneiss and hornblenderock.

Geological resemblances.

observed to have an angle of 45°; the dips being sometimes to the eastward, and at other times to the westward. These mica-schists, which are generally friable and disintegrating, are frequently very quartzose, and sometimes garnetiferous. They are often made up in great part of large distinct laminæ of silvery white mica, but are sometimes finer grained and ferruginous. With them are associated beds of a greyish-white fine-grained friable gneiss, and also of a black hornblende-rock, sometimes micaceous, and occasionally, by an admixture of feldspar, passing into a diorite. Interstratified with these schists, are crumbling granular limestones in beds of a few feet in thickness.

These rocks, according to Dr. Hunt, have close lithological resemblances with those of the White Mountain series, in New England, and with the mica-schists which are found both to the north and south of Lake Superior, which he has compared with the same series. These mica-schists of Levant are very similar to portions of the rocks of division C, as displayed in Madoc and Tudor, and may not improbably be found to form a part of the same division. They appear to belong to the western portion of the basin which has just been described, and like the schists of division C in Barrie and Clarendon are, as we have seen, slightly inclined, or nearly horizontal in attitude.

Magnetic iron

ores.

ECONOMIC MATERIALS.

The economic materials met with last season are the ores of iron, copper and lead, phosphate of lime or apatite, mica, marble and whet-stones. Iron. In my previous report, several deposits of iron ore were described in the rocks of division B, but this formation has afforded no iron ores in the region examined during the past season. Those met with in the region now under description are, with one exception, of the magnetic species, and appear to be included in division A, with the limestones of which they South Crosby. are closely associated. One of these in South Crosby, known as the Chaffey mine, is described in the Geology of Canada, page 674, and an analysis of the ore by Dr. Hunt, will also be found in the Reports of Progress for 1866-69, page 257. This, with another opening on an adjoining lot, to the northeastward, known as the Yankee mine, were the only ones worked in the district here described, at the time of my explorations last summer.

Bedford.

In ad lition to the localities of iron ore mentioned in the Geology of Canada as occuring in Bedford, there is one on which an opening known as the Howse Iron mine, has been made on lot four of the first concession of this township, where a bed of solid magnetic ore has been uncovered for about twenty-five yards across the strike. Fifty tons of this were mined in 1869, for shipment to Charlotte, N.Y., and found of good quality; and during 1870, one hundred tons were mined, and drawn to the village of Westport on the Rideau, for shipment. Continuing on the northeastward strike of the Howse iron bed, we find magnetic ore again in some

quantity on lot six of the third, and again on lot eight of the fourth concession of this township. The last two localities were alluded to by Sir William F. Logan, in a note to the Report for 1858, page 48, where it was conjectured that they would continue to one noted by Mr. A. Murray, in his Report for 1852-53, on lot twenty-one in the ninth concession of Bedford. This supposition, I was enabled last season (1870) to verify, having traced a zone of iron-bearing rock from the Howse mine to lots twenty and twentyone in the ninth concession of the same township of Bedford, and still further again northeastward into North Crosby, near a small lake known as Spectacle North Crosby. lake in lot nineteen of the eighth concession of this last township; in all a distance of fifteen miles. The magnetic ore on lot twenty-seven of the fourth concession, North Crosby, the property of the Hon. G. W. Allan, seems to me to be a most valuable deposit. Its connection with the Bedford openings has not yet been clearly made out, but it would appear to form the first of another series of similar deposits stretching northeasterly through South Sherbrooke and Bathurst. The ore is a fine crystalline magnetite, and as appears from Dr. Hunt's analysis (Report of Progress for 1866-69, page 258) is of great purity. During the autumn of the year 1858, Mr. Allan caused explorations to be made in this locality, and about 100 tons of ore, were raised, but the untimely death of the miner in charge caused the work to be abandoned. The openings however showed the existence of a large amount of ore, apparently belonging to two or more beds, and the prospects for its further development seem to be most favorable.

brooke.

The openings seen in South Sherbrooke were the Bygrove mine on South Sherlot three of the first, and the Fournier mine on lot fourteen of the same concession, both being in the same geological horizon. These, however, were not being worked at the time of my visit. The former had been opened during 1869, by Mr. George Oliver of Perth, who mined about one hundred and fifty tons of a very fair quality of magnetic ore. The Fournier mine is situated a few chains to the northwestward of Mr. Allan's mine in North Crosby, and it would appear to belong to a parallel bed or belt of considerable size. The iron ores formerly worked on the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth lots, in the third concession of South Sherbrooke, (Geology of Canada, page 674) bordering on Christie's or Myers's lake, belong to another and apparently a distinct horizon. The last deposit of magnetic iron noted was on the tenth and eleventh lots in the eighth concession of Bathurst, where it had been worked to some extent by a Perth company. On these last mentioned lots, the magnetic ore is much mixed with a fine crystalline green apatite or phosphate of lime; but I noticed one bed, about three feet in thickness, apparently free from this impurity. In a future report I shall endeavour to describe more in detail the characters and geological positions of these various iron ore beds. Specimens of the different ores have been collected and analyses of them will appear in a future report.

Bathurst.

Hematitic ore.
Dalhousie.

Copper ore.

Gold.

Lead.

Frontenac mine.

A. valuable deposit of hematitic ore is at present mined on the east half . of lot one in the fourth concession of Dalhousie, which is owned by Mr. Alex. Cowan and others, and was first opened in 1866, since which time it has been more or less worked. It is a bed averaging nine feet in width, in a band of crystalline limestone, and dips at an angle of 60° to the southeastward. Six shafts about eight by ten feet, and varying from twenty-two to fifty feet in depth, have been sunk, and up to the present time (April 1st, 1871,) the bed has been stoped to the extent of 56,400 cubic feet, and about 3,125 tons of ore extracted. The ore is drawn twelve miles to Perth, whence it is sent by rail to Brockville. and thence shipped to Cleveland, Ohio.

Copper occurs in the calc-schists of Levant, as already mentioned, on the property of Mr. Benjamin Hutchins of Montreal. From two lots a considerable amount of the yellow sulphuret of copper has been raised in years past, but no work was going on at the time of my examination. The results of some fire-assays which I have made of several quartz veins which traverse ferruginous dolomites in the vicinity of the copper-ore, showed the presence of traces of gold.

Lead.-Several lead-bearing veins in Bedford were opened many years since, and are described in the Geology of Canada, page 687. The Frontenac mine, which is in Loughboro, (Report of Progres, 1866-69, page 164) was the only one worked in this region in 1870, though some veins in this township, apparently in the strike of the Frontenac vein, seem to be of promise. All of these occur in the rocks of division A.

The shaft at the Frontenac mine in May, 1870, was eighty feet deep, on a vein averaging from ten to twenty feet in width. Work was carried on more or less actively up to to the middle of July, when difficulties arose which led the company to suspend operations for the remainder of the season. There had been raised up to the autumn of 1870, from four to five hundred tons of dressed ore, but it had neither been smelted nor sent out of the province, owing to the high price of freight, and the heavy export-duties to the United States. This same vein has been opened, to a slight extent, about three-quarters of a mile to the westward of the shaft, and in an adjoining lot. Here the vein was found to be eleven feet six inches wide, and had a combed structure. I am of the opinion that some improvements in the dressing machinery, and a good pump, would enable the Frontenac lead-mine to be worked with profit. In the township of Storrington, near the shore of Dog Lake, about two miles from the village of Battersea, another well-defined lead-vein, has been uncovered, and would appear to be in the strike of one of the lodes belonging to the Frontenac company, and is said will shortly be opened by an American company.

Phosphate of Lime.-The phosphate of lime or apatite which is found in North and South Burgess and South Elmsley is well known, and has been described by Dr. Hunt in the Geology of Canada, page 761, and in the

lime.

Report for 1863-66, pages 224-229. Mr. Gordon Broome, who spent some Phosphate of time in examining the region last summer, has made many notes relating to these deposits, which will be found on the following pages. I have also found this mineral, for the first time, in North Crosby, Bedford, and Loughboro' townships, where it would appear to characterize a particular geological horizon. In Bedford a phosphate-bearing band was traced from Opinicon Lake, along the southern shore of Devil Lake, nearly to the northeast end of Birch lake on the third lot of the seventh concession of this township. At Opinicon Lake, a deposit of apatite occurs on lot one in the seventeenth concession of Bedford, and some seventy-five tons have been raised, of which samples were sent by the proprietors to the office of the Geological Survey. This deposit however, has yet to be examined.

Marble. The crystalline limestones and dolomites of this region have been mentioned in the Geology of Canada, pages 822-823, as yielding, in Marble. several localities, varieties of marble. Those found in Elzivir, Madoc, Marmora and Barrie are especially noticed. Of these the limestones of Elzivir, and the southern portions of Madoc are probably Laurentian; but the dolomites of the greater part of this region are supposed to belong to division C. In this division are included the fine-grained white, pink and dove-grey marbles of Mazinaw Lake in Barrie, referred to in the above volume. Last year a dolomite, supposed to be a continuation of that just mentioned, was met with a few miles to the north-eastward of Mississagagon Lake, in the same township, where it has afforded small blocks of a pure, fine-grained white and pink marble, apparently of superior quality for ornamental purposes.

Whetstones.-The whetstones of Madoc are noticed in the Geology of Canada, page 809, and in the last Report of Progress, 1868-69, page 157; Whetstones. none, however, are now manufactured in this region. Mention may also

be made of those noticed by Mr. Murray, in his Report of 1852-53, as occurring in the township of Kennebec, south of Cross Lake. They are, however, coarser in texture than those of Madoc, and inferior in quality.

I have the honor to be, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

'HENRY G. VENNOR.

NOTES

BY

MR. GORDON BROOME, F.G.S.,

ON THE

PHOSPHATE OF LIME AND MICA

FOUND IN

NORTH AND SOUTH BURGESS,

AND

NORTH ELMSLEY,

(ONTARIO).

The deposits of these minerals in this region have already been described by Dr. Hunt in the Geology of Canada, pages 460, 461 and 761; and again in the Report for 1863--66, pages 202-204 and 224-229. Recent explorations have, however, further developed these deposits, and Mr. Gordon Broome having collected many facts respecting them during the summer of 1870, these have been arranged from his note-book by Mr. H. G. Vennor.

Phosphate of lime.

APATITE.

The numerous veins of apatite and mica which occur in the fifth and sixth ranges of North Burgess are described with detail in the Report for 1863-66, pages 224 and 225, as vertical, and cutting, transversely to the strike, massive gneissic, micaceous and pyroxenic rocks, which dip to the southeastward at high angles. The veins contain crystalline apatite (phosphate of lime) and phlogopite (magnesian mica) often in a gangue of crystalline carbonate of lime, sometimes associated with pyroxene, wollastonite, orthoclase, quartz and sulphate of barytes. The veins on lot four of the fifth range were worked North Burgess to some extent, three years since, by the Rideau Mining Company, and are thus enumerated by Mr. Broome; the strike of the veins being north. west, and their attitude vertical. Some of them have been traced for a distance of a quarter of a mile.

No. 1. This really consist of two veins of apatite, one of eighteen and one