$299,800 in the preceding year, and from the former date to September 30, 1901 the amount was $1,749,602-nearly all of it coming from the United States. In 1901 the production, as stated by Mr. E. D. Ingall of the Geological Survey in the succeeding March, was $69,407,031. Of this total the metallic product was valued at $42,824,698; that of the structural material and clay products at $6,461,261; that of other non-metallic products was placed at $19,821,072. The gold production was valued at $24,426,322, of which $18,000,000 came from the Yukon; the copper production at $6,600,104; that of nickel at $4,594,523; that of silver at $2,993,668. in Canada The iron ores of the Dominion have a very wide disIron Mining tribution and are of very high quality. Sir William Fairbairn-an authority on the properties and history of iron-has spoken of Nova Scotia as having "some of the richest ores, yet discovered, in boundless abundance;" and of the product as being equal to the finest Swedish metal. In that Province occurs the unusual combination of iron ore, coal and flux in close proximity to each other, and quite close also to excellent ship harbours. Magnetic ores exist in Madoc, Marmora and other points of eastern Ontario, while west of Lake Superior is a country rich in iron ore. The Helen Mine at Michipicoten promises to be one of the richest properties in the world. Mr. Clergue has hundreds of men working it, and one estimate gives him 30,000,000 tons of ore in sight. In the County of Beauce, Quebec, there is a bed of granular iron ore about two-thirds magnetic. Hematite iron ores are found all over Canada-one of the most valuable deposits being near Hull-while large deposits of chromic iron have also been found in Quebec. The production of pig-iron made from Canadian ore in 1884 was 29,593 tons, and the import 52,184 tons. In 1900 the pig-iron made from Canadian ore was 34,618 tons; from foreign ore 67,221 tons; and imported for consumption 65,330 tons-a total of 167,169 tons. In 1899 the total pig-iron made was 102,940 tons, valued at $1,377,306, and the charcoal, coke and coal consumed in its production was placed at $283,080. Under Dominion legislation bounties were paid between 1884 and 1900 amounting to a total of $1,373,035. The bounty paid in 1884 was $44,090, and in 1900 $238,296-an increase from $1.50 per ton to $3.00 on Canadian ore and $2.00 on American ore. According to Provinces, Ontario produced nothing in 1893 and 25,126 tons in 1899, and the other Provinces decreased materially-Nova Scotia producing in the latter year 28,000 tons, Quebec 19,420 tons and British Columbia 2,071 tons. Since Confederation in 1867, 676,962 tons of iron ore, valued at $1,800,736, have been exported from Canada-the export in 1900 (including chromic iron) being 5,523 tons, worth $24,034. The raw material products of iron, which enter into varied products of Canadian industry, include pig iron, bar iron, boiler plates, steel-bloom ends, rolled iron for horse-shoe nails, steel for skates, files or saws, wrought scrap-iron, etc. The import of these products in Mineral 1900 from Great Britain and the United States is given by the Dominion Statistician in the Statistical Year Book as $14,903,121, and from other countries as $317,976. It may be added here that the greatest manufacturing countries produce the most iron ore. In 1899 the United Kingdom produced 10,552,007 tons of pig iron, the United States 15,251,187 tons and Germany 8,972,502 tons. Iron operations in Ontario, whether from ignorance or lack of enterprise and capital, have been very fitful in their results. Works at Midland, Kingston, Hamilton and Michipicoten, however, now promise something better. The product of the mines of Ontario in 1900 was $9,298,624 as compared with $6,508,833 in 1898. The mining companies organized during the year numbered 48, with an authorized capital of $35,818,999, as compared with 74 in 1899 having a capital of $87,382,994. Nine outside companies took out licenses to sell stock and carry on business in Ontario, with a capital stock authorized of $6,585,000, during the year. There were 30,972 acres of Crown lands sold or granted by the Government under 257 patents, and at a price of $69,195. The mining leases numbered 267, covering 28,127 acres, with a first year's rental of $27,970. The Government receipts on account of the sales and rentals of Provincial mining lands were $108,952. The following table gives the product of Ontario mines during 1898 and 1900: There were 10,934 employees of Ontario mines in 1900, receiving $3,366,601 in wages. The chief increases over 1899 in the production of the year were in Portland cement, $153,794; petroleum products, $121,693; iron ore, $80,854; pig iron, $127,909; nickel, $230,522; copper, $143,444. The number of workmen employed increased in *In the annual Report of the Ontario Bureau of Mines for 1901 (page 12) this total is given as $7,235,877, instead of $6,508,833, which is the correct addition of the column. In number 9 per cent. and the amount paid in wages 15 per cent. the annual Report of the Ontario Bureau of Mines, issued in August, 1901, Mr. T. W. Gibson-who had been appointed Director in October, 1900, in succession to Mr. Archibald Blue-devoted much attention to the developments in the iron industry, in which 100,692 tons of pig iron had been smelted in 1900, at a value of $936,066 and with $97,905 paid out as wages, against 51,138 tons in 1896, valued at $353,780, with wages amounting to $47,000. There were 419 workmen employed in Ontario blast furnaces in 1900, and receiving $97,915. In the iron mines there were 439 men with $107,583 paid out in wages. During the year the Provincial bounties were paid out to the amount of $6,731, while the Dominion gave $238,296 to the pig iron industry and $74,481 as a bounty on puddled bars and steel. Future prospects, Mr. Gibson thought, were excellent. "The Province of Ontario with its mills, foundries, factories and railways is a heavy consumer of pig iron. The career of industrial expansion upon which it has embarked must increase that consumption . . . . There is now no doubt of the quantity and quality of Ontario iron ores and of fluxing materials there is no lack.' In gold and silver the yield had decreased from $424,568 in 1899 to $297,861 in 1900. The production of nickel showed a marked increase over 1899— the quantity being 3,540 tons, valued at $756,626 in the matte, as against 2,872 tons, worth $526,104. The output of copper was $319,681 in 1900 and 2,834 tons, worth $176,236 in the previous year. The principal producer of both these results was the Canada Copper Company. The mines in this connection employed 1,444 workmen. A new industry dealt with was that of steel manufacture with an output of 2,819 tons, valued at $46,380. The production of mica had increased considerably-the output for 1900 being 643 tons, worth $91,750. The distribution of mineral resources in Ontario is very varied. Gold mining now centres chiefly in Hastings County in the east and in the western district lying between Port Arthur and the Manitoba boundary. Numerous discoveries have in the past two years also been made in the Michipicoten district. Some silver mining is going on in the Thunder Bay region west of Port Arthur, but not in the same degree as years ago. In Sudbury, the Canada Copper Company, which was started in 1886, still holds the field in nickel production, but of late several other Companies have been exploring and developing. Iron ore is widely and largely distributed through eastern Ontario, and at Hamilton, Deseronto and Midland smelting plants were established during 1900. Other minerals are plentiful, and the discovery of corundum in Peterborough and neighbouring counties promises to produce a new and valuable industry. Nickel Ores and Legis lation in Ontario An important debate occurred upon this subject in the Ontario Legislature on April 1, 1901, when Mr. H. Carscallen, seconded by Mr. E. A. Colquhoun— both Conservatives-presented the following motion:— "That in the opinion of this House the taxation of nickel ores and of copper and nickel ores combined, as provided for in Section 7 of the Mines Act, should be imposed, and that Sections 7 and 10 of the Act should come into force from and after the first day of January, 1902. And, further, that the revenue accuring from such taxation, or a portion thereof, be used to encourage, by bounties, the manufacture of nickel-steel in the Province of Ontario." The Government amendment simply referred the whole matter back to the Lieut.-Governor-in-Council, while Mr. Whitney, the Conservative Leader, seconded by Mr. Matheson, moved an amendment to the amendment which declared that present information did not justify the putting on of this taxation and deprecated the practice of imposing taxation by Order-in-Council. Mr. Carscallen, in speaking to his motion, stated that his sole object was the further development of the nickel industries of the Province and the promotion of the refining process of nickel-steel within Canadian territory. What was being done at Constable Hook, New Jersey, could be done in Ontario. Millions worth of the products of Ontario mines were being sent over the border and being there reduced into the refined article with the accompaniment of large sums paid out for labour." This went to build up a foreign country instead of our own Province. The Canada Copper Company, of Sudbury, were under contract to sell all their product to the Orford Refining Company of Constable Hook, and with their 20,000 acres, embracing the richest deposits of nickel and copper in the Sudbury district and those nearest the railway, they practically controlled the Canadian output. If the policy now proposed was put into operation he believed that within two years there would be refineries in this Province producing nickel-steel and using all the products of the Sudbury mines. The speaker illustrated the possibilities of the industry by stating that official records showed the amount paid for wages in Ontario in connection with copper-nickel production during the eight years ending in 1899, was $2,334,000, while the sum spent outside of Ontario for the refining processes was not less than $12,785,000. According to the report of the Canada Copper Company in January of the current year, they had paid the Orford concern some $6,600,000 for the refining work done in nickel, and $1,452,000 for the refining of copper. All Canada got was $728,946 in wages and some indirect benefits, while New Jersey received over eight millions. He did not believe in leaving this matter longer in the hands of the Government with a Mining Act hanging suspended over the head of a great industry. The Hon. E. J. Davis, in moving the Government amendment, said that there was general agreement as to the desirability of having the nickel ore refined at home. But there was also the necessity of a process by which it could be done upon a successful business basis. Experiments were being made by Mr. Clergue at the Sault, by gentlemen at Sudbury and Hamilton, but the process had not yet been discovered. He referred to the fact that new and large deposits of nickel were being constantly found in Ontario which prevented any real or permanent monopoly. The Canada Copper Company were now erecting a plant at a cost of $250,000 which would employ 250 extra men and be another step toward the complete refining process. Mr. Whitney declared that from the information he had received from many quarters he could not support the motion and believed that the imposition of an export tax upon nickel ore at the present time would be almost fatal to the industry. He had been unable to find one mining man favourable to such a policy. It would be wise to withdraw even the authority to impose this tax from the Government. He did not believe in taxation by Order-inCouncil. His amendment to the amendment was, however, defeated by 34 to 19 and the Government proposal supported by 31 to 21. Mr. Carscallen's motion was defeated upon the same vote reversed. Earlier in the year a petition had been received by the Ontario Government and published in the Toronto World of February 7th, which bore the signatures of A. T. Wood, ex-M.P., and President of the Hamilton Steel and Iron Company, John Patterson, Secretary of the Nickel Steel Company, of Hamilton, and George E. Drummond, Managing Director of the Canada Iron Furnace Company. It pointed out the richness of the Ontario nickel mines; the increased price of refined nickel in the world's markets; the policy of the United States in imposing a prohibitory duty upon Canadian nickel and nickel alloys, while admitting the raw material free; the continued use of Ontario ore to build American ships and encourage a great American industry. The petition then proceeded to demand the imposition of taxes upon the export of nickel and copper ores and their partially treated products; with the application of the proceeds as a bonus upon the manufacture of nickel-steel in Ontario. Meanwhile, it urged that the Government should convey no further lands or any title to, or interest in any lands containing nickel ores, to any individuals or companies who would not refine or use the nickel derived from such ores in the manufacture of this metal and its various alloys in Ontario. On April 11th, a strong deputation of mine owners and engineers waited upon the Prime Minister at Ottawa to ask for the disallowance of an Ontario Act passed in 1900 which reserved the right to impose a prohibitive license tax on the export of nickel and copper ores and matte produced in the Province. The Hon. Clifford Sifton and the Hon. A. G. Blair were with the Premier, and the deputation was accompanied by a number of members of Parliament. After a few remarks by Mr. B. T. A. Bell, Secretary of the Canadian Mining Institute, the case for the delegates was presented from a legal standpoint by Mr. J. M. Clark, K.C., of Toronto. He explained that Dr. Ludwig Mond, of London, England, had purchased certain properties in Ontario under the long standing declaration of the Legislature, that such lands and the ores and minerals theron "shall be free and exempt from every such royalty, tax, or duty," as the kind now sought to be imposed. After the |