Asbestos Part 2

Adjoining the Johnson Company's mine is one belonging to the "Boston Asbestos Packing Company," of which Mr. Hyde Rust, of Boston, is treasurer, and Mr. T. Sheridan, local resident manager. This mine is being steadily and efficiently worked, and being practically on the same level with that of the Johnson Company, the produce is of a very similar character. It is remarkably good, and some exceptionally fine asbestos has been got out here. In a pamphlet published a short time ago by the Canadian Government on the mineral resources of Canada, it is stated that the yield from this mine (including of course that last mentioned), is p.r.o.nounced by European manufacturers to be the finest and strongest fibre of the kind known; and it is further stated _that there is no question at all as to the profitable nature of asbestos mining in this belt of country_.

The output of the Boston Company's mine, according to the authority just cited, is about 400 tons per annum. Mr. Ells, of the Geological Survey Department, Ottawa, says that in 1886 the quant.i.ty extracted was about 700 tons, and the total produce of the mine to the end of that year about 3,000 tons. There must, I imagine, be some misapprehension of the figures here, and I feel sure that those given above are nearer the mark.

The value of the output of this mine is certainly as high, it is possible taking it all round, that it may be higher than that of the last mentioned. Steps are now being taken to introduce machinery and prosecute the work on a more extensive scale.

The next mine here is one of a more recent date, worked by the Brothers Ward, and owned by them conjointly with the Hon. James Ross of Quebec.

It is turning out fairly good material, and judging by the indications, coupled with what has been already done, there is no reason to suppose that this mine will not presently be as remunerative as those already mentioned.

The output of this, on the same authority, is 150 tons, which is, I believe, the extreme limit of what has yet been done. This mine has been opened now about four years, and in that time has produced, as near as I could learn when last there, about 400 tons. It is said to be worth from $70 to $80, but I did not hear of any of it fetching more than $70, which is doubtless its present value.

The same gentlemen own some very promising-looking land on the other side of the railway, which, in fact, bisects their property; but as this is on a lower level it looks very much as if they will be troubled with water when they begin to open.

The only other mine now opened at Thetford is that owned and worked by Messrs. King Brothers. It is in the same vicinity and bears much the same character as those already mentioned. The output is given at 175 tons per annum.

These four mines form the Thetford group, and are at present by far the most important in the province. They are on a lower level and are consequently worked at a greater depth than those next to be described.

The output for this reason moreover is of a more uniform character, and does not require such close cla.s.sification as some of the other mines farther on. Practically, No. 1 and No. 3 are the only divisions here, the produce being mostly available for No. 1. No. 3 is a very inferior kind, merely the refuse in fact, which is sold and s.h.i.+pped in bulk at $10 a ton, without being bagged up at all, and is mostly used for cement, boiler covering, &c.

The Thetford river marks the western limit of the serpentine on these properties, the rocks on the other side of the water being mostly altered slates and sandstones. To the east of the railway, which cuts directly across the area, the serpentine forms a knoll with an elevation of about 90 or 100 feet above the line of rails; all the workings at present being confined to this portion of the area. They consist of open cuttings on the face of the hill, apparently very little having as yet been done to ascertain the value of the ground between the railway and the river. There are certainly good indications there, and when I was last at Thetford I found Mr. Ward prospecting in this part with some success. Here, however, is the place where the water trouble will first arise, which will have to be provided for at the outset.

The essential peculiarity of the veins at Thetford is that they are occasionally a.s.sociated, as already mentioned, with grains and threads of chromic iron and also of magnet.i.te. The magnet.i.te forms rather conspicuous ma.s.ses between the veins of asbestos in Messrs. King's mine, where it sometimes entirely replaces the latter.[8]

As a general rule, however, the surface veins at Thetford are nearly as pure as those lying deeper in the rock, the reason being that the surface is mostly naked rock only scantily clothed with vegetable mould, moss, or other foreign element, contact with which deteriorates, by discolouring, the fibre, as is found to be the case in a very marked degree in the mines next to be described.

It is a peculiarity of the veins of asbestos that they are never continuous. They vary very much in size, and, in precisely the same way as other mineral veins, they are affected by faults or slides, which not infrequently cut off completely a valuable working face. Where this occurs the slicken-sided character is very marked.

Sheets, also, of imperfect or immature asbestos, having a long coa.r.s.e woody fibre, are frequently to be seen lying all along the sides of the fault; but, although there is a good deal of this, the general quality of the produce of all the Thetford mines is excellent. The fibre is fine and of a smooth silky texture, very easily worked. The veins are mostly, especially in the lower cuttings, more free from impurities than those of Coleraine.

No steam power is at present used in this district, the whole of the proprietors at present continuing to rely upon hand labour; the Boston Company are, however, as just mentioned, now seriously turning their attention that way, with a view of increasing their output.

The Thetford mine-owners are one and all kind and hospitable men, always ready to give every information and to facilitate an inspection of their works by anyone who will take the trouble to visit them; a trouble which I always found very amply repaid by the courtesy with which I was received, and the candour and obliging readiness with which all my inquiries were immediately answered.

The workers in the mines here are mostly resident on the spot, sufficient accommodation having been provided for them in the immediate neighbourhood of the mines; the proprietors, who appear to act with a liberal consideration towards their men, deeming it inc.u.mbent on themselves to look after their welfare; and they find their account in so doing, in not running short of hands at critical times.

The practice at Thetford is to close down entirely for the winter months, it not having yet been found advantageous, in view of the limited market, coupled with the difficulty of outdoor quarrywork, to encounter the extra expense of working at this season. Some of the owners, Messrs. King in especial, being largely interested in the lumber trade, to which they devote themselves in the winter, are able to find plenty of employment at that season for their men and others, who then go off into the woods.

At Thetford, as elsewhere, great mistakes, arising mainly from inexperience and want of the knowledge now possessed, were made when the mines were first opened up, which will inevitably entail serious loss in the future; as an instance, much valuable ground is now seen to be covered up by the dumps, which will unquestionably have to be moved presently when the land is wanted for working.

The same want of foresight, for which there was less excuse with the Thetford experience to guide them, will inevitably cause trouble in the near future at Black Lake, on the property of the Anglo-Canadian Company, even to a more serious extent. The parties who first opened up the ground here evidently knew what they were about, but their immediate successors, being dest.i.tute of all practical mining knowledge, have, by their neglect of professional a.s.sistance, committed such errors of judgment as will presently occasion very serious expense to the company.

At their main pit many thousands of tons of waste rock have been dumped on to some of the richest part of the ground, and this must be again moved before that ground can be worked. From the peculiarity of the work, there probably exists no cla.s.s of mining which so absolutely necessitates the services of a practical mining engineer, in marking out the land in the first instance for mining and dumping, as that for asbestos does.

The cost of extraction varies in different localities, depending mainly on the ma.s.s of barren rock to be encountered and removed. At Thetford the cost may be put at from $20 to $25 per ton, the latter probably being nearer the average. On the Anglo-Canadian Company's property at Black Lake it is a more serious matter. There the quant.i.ty of barren overlying rock and earth is enormous, and detracts immensely from the value of the mines. The minimum cost here is $28.

In addition to asbestos, it is worthy of note that the whole of the Thetford district is rich in minerals. Among others some large and valuable deposits of chromic iron are found in the immediate neighbourhood, within but a short distance of the asbestos mines.

THE COLERAINE GROUP.

Four miles farther down the line of railway from Thetford we come to the Coleraine group of asbestos mines, situate at Black Lake.

The pioneer of these mines was a Mr. Noel, now resident at Richmond, near Sherbrooke, in the same province, who, in 1881, discovered and opened up a mine of a promising character here, which in 1882 he sold to Mr. Charles Lionais, who was until recently the resident manager of the mines owned by the Scottish Asbestos Company, at Black Lake and Broughton.

The mine first opened here was called by Mr. Lionais the "Eureka," and some time afterwards he opened another on the same estate which he named the "Emelie." The property on which these two mines are located subsequently came into the possession of the late Mr. Senecal, and was by him transferred to the "Anglo-Canadian Asbestos Company, Limited," on the formation of that company in London, in the autumn of 1885.

The estate owned by the Anglo-Canadian Company comprises 325 acres, and has a frontage of 1,350 feet extending backwards over the hills as far as Lake Cariboo. Until recently this was the only place in the district where machinery was employed to get out the ore.

The peculiar characteristic of this property, as distinguished from the mines forming the Thetford group, is that much exceedingly heavy work, necessitating of course great expense and showing very poor results, must of necessity be done before the good veins, if any such exist, as it is believed they do, are reached. Much of this has already so far been done at the Emelie, that at length this portion of the property bids fair, in capable hands, of proving to be a moderately paying mine.

Great results were prophesied from it at first, but so far it has by no means realised expectations.

The surface veins, not only at the "Emelie" but all over the property so far as yet proved, are not only thin, but are much discoloured by the infiltration of water which is so strongly impregnated with the oxide of iron as almost to destroy its value. It was thought, and as it would appear with some show of reason, that the output would greatly improve in value as a lower depth was reached; but although there has undoubtedly been a sensible improvement in quality, the general result is disappointing. Started as a No. 3 mine, as such in all probability it will continue. The output from this Company's mines for 1886 was 330 tons.

The No. 3 quality of asbestos, which has. .h.i.therto been the main produce of this mine, fetches so low a price in the market that alone it would not pay for working. This, as already explained, is mainly on account of its bad colour and general coa.r.s.e quality. This latter having somewhat improved, a considerable proportion of the produce would cease to be cla.s.sed as No. 3 if it were not for the bad colour. It therefore occurred to me that it might be possible to remove this defect without injuring the fibre, and in consequence I had some experiments made with this object in view, and ultimately succeeded beyond my expectations, in replacing the discoloured fibre by one sufficiently bright to enable it to take rank as No. 1. These experiments, it is true, were only conducted on a limited scale, but, so far as I am aware, there is no reason why it should not be done on a large scale, which would very materially increase the value of the article.

There is ample room for opening up in a more judicious way on other parts of this property on what seems likely to be good paying ground; and a mode of doing this without incurring any further expense might easily be devised, and, if this were done, other seams of better quality might be hit upon.

Another point in the company's favour is that, if judiciously selected, there is abundant room for dumping without encroaching on the ore-bearing grounds--a most important matter when consideration is taken of the enormous quant.i.ty of waste rock to be here encountered and removed.

The buildings on the estate are well constructed, and are in an efficient state of repair, but at present there is an insufficiency of dwelling-houses on the property. These are a necessity in the district, for securing and retaining a better cla.s.s of labour. No great expense would have to be incurred in supplying this deficiency. Lumber and labour are both comparatively cheap, and the buildings in themselves, moreover, would always return a fair interest on the outlay.

The property on which the "Martin" Mine is located closely adjoins the last mentioned. This has recently been acquired by "The Scottish Asbestos Company," of Glasgow, with the intention of working it in conjunction with their mines at East Broughton. Judging by the elaborate preparations for work which are being made, and the expenditure which is being incurred in buildings and machinery, it is evidently the company's intention to carry on work vigorously in both places.

Their property at Black Lake covers 102 acres, and is described as being a mile long by 520 feet wide. The output is given as 300 tons, but I should doubt very much if it has yet reached this figure.

The ground here and in front of the Anglo-Canadian Company's land rises very rapidly, from the level of the Quebec Central Railway, until it attains a height of nearly 600 feet, being then about on a level with the Thetford mines. The great serpentine belt crosses both properties, and is bounded along its northern margin by quartzose granulite, separated from the serpentine by a narrow belt of soapstone. It is claimed for property of the Scottish Asbestos Company, that not less than three-quarters of it consists of the rock formation that seems to be the asbestos matrix.

This property is well laid out, and has a considerable number of dwellings already erected on it for the workpeople. It is also traversed by a good road leading down to the line of railway.

On a narrow strip of land, dividing the properties of the last two mentioned companies, is a small mine called the Frechette-Douville Mine, which (working the same seams of ore), was doing very well when I was there. The output of this is not large, but the quality was very good, and this in consequence is no doubt a very paying mine.

These are the only mines at present being worked at Black Lake, but from indications on other properties lying on the same line, there can be little doubt that other mines will presently be opened up in this locality. Capital is all that is wanting at present, but, as the demand for the mineral increases, the necessary capital for producing it in larger quant.i.ties will no doubt be forthcoming.

The companies working at Black Lake when I was last there were working at a great disadvantage as compared with those at Thetford, in the want of a station on the line. The Post Office arrangements were also of a very primitive character, nor was there any wire nearer than Thetford.

All this, however, has been remedied, and there is now at Black Lake not only a station but also a post and telegraph office, in addition to many new houses for the accommodation of the workpeople.

The cost of mining, for the reasons already given, is, and must of necessity be, greater at Black Lake than at Thetford, and cannot be put at less than $28 a ton. After removal of the surface earth and rock, the proportion of refuse rock is about twenty-five tons to one of asbestos.

In regard to communication, Black Lake is 80 miles from Quebec, and about 60 from Sherbrooke; the latter being a rising place, where all stores, &c., needed for the mines are obtainable and from whence lines radiate to all parts of the States.

There are several other places in the vicinity of Black Lake where, although all that has yet been done may be called simple exploratory work, the indications are such as to warrant the expectation that valuable results may be looked for. This is especially the case in what are known as the Reed and Haydon properties which extend over about 200 acres.

On Dr. Reed's land, or rather on that part of it known as the "Coleraine Mines," which is about 100 acres in extent, the ground has already been opened up in ten different places, each of which shows good No. 1 asbestos in quant.i.ties sufficient for profitable working.

The outcroppings here, moreover, are far superior to anything that can be seen on the ground lower down where work is now being carried on. A practical mining engineer who was recently sent to examine and report on this property says that it is 100 per cent. better than that at Black Lake; that 75 per cent. of the whole is veritable asbestos-bearing land, and that he knows of no other asbestos mine so well situate for practical work, or showing such advantages in timber, water, and, dumping ground. The timber is sufficient for all practical purposes for at least twenty-five years.

And Mr. Ells, in his Annual Report to the Minister of the Interior, for 1886, speaking of his visit to the asbestos district and of his inspection of these properties, makes special mention of them as follows: "In the vicinity of Black Lake several other areas occur, in which the exploratory work done, though not very extensive, shows indications that _fully warrant_ the statement that a valuable and profitable output may be expected. These properties are known as the Reed and Hayden properties, and are situated on lots 27 and 28, Range B of Coleraine. In various open cuts in the side of the hills numerous veins are disclosed, ranging upwards to a width of two and a half inches, with surface indications apparently in no way inferior to those of the adjoining properties now being worked at this place, _or even of those of Thetford mines_, not only as to the _number_ and _size_ of the veins, but also as to the _quality_ of the fibre. These indications appear at many points on both the Hayden and Reed properties, which embrace a total of 200 acres."

Between these properties and Cariboo Lake the serpentines extend in an apparently continuous ridge, and show, at intervals, very good indications of asbestos. This area, however, has not yet been sufficiently explored for much to be said, from actual observation, of its value as asbestos land, though it seems reasonable enough to suppose that this portion of the serpentine belt will be presently found equally valuable with that of the adjoining section.

In the vicinity of the Coleraine Station of the Quebec Central Railway (the next station to Black Lake), serpentine also occurs; but the main ridge, extending south-west, keeps to the north-west for about a mile and a half, where it forms a conspicuous hill feature. An opening recently made on this south-west extremity by Mr. Kennedy disclosed the presence of a number of asbestos veins, one of which, occurring near the surface had a width, it is said, of nearly four inches. Sufficient work has not yet been done to determine the persistence and value of these veins, though when I was last leaving the district I was given to understand that energetic operations would commence immediately on the opening of the working season.