Cobalt, the richest and most wonderful mining district the world has ever known, produces silver, nickel, cobalt, arsenic [microform] : fortunes made rapidly
Cover title: Cobalt
Public-domain full text preserved in the Mountain Man Mining Library. Original source: archive.org.
**Rossland was a ‘aeory, Rat Portage ‘ ard the Seine River Country was a de- lusion; Cobalt is a fact, an incontrovert-
ible, stupendous fact,” —Toronto Globe.
Cobalt
The Richest and Most Wonderful Mining District the World
has Ever Known
Produces
Silver Nickel Cobalt Arsenic
Fortunes Made Rapidly
I. nresenting this booklet to the public we are doing so with the GA7i¢ 8, of setting forth the facts of this wonderful Cobalt fic . cen by other eyes than our own.
We have endeavored to give due credit to such persons and newspapers whose articles we herewith reproduce. We have also endeavored to verify every statement made and to a large extent have done so, so that we thoroughly believe that the facts herein presented are absolutely true.
Wills & Co., Cobalt
Bal eateries Scorer
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Public Archives Archives Publiques
ace eed
ee THE ROMANCE, OF COBALT
OMANCE near home for some rease: yet unexplained, loses half its zest, else
it would be possible to weave some pretty stories about the strange happenings
of the opening up of Cobalt, the new land of silver. Because the railroad runs in
the midst of the mines, and conservative old Ontario settlements are oniy a few miles away, the new strike has been robbed of the picturesque.
Thus the rigors of the Klondike winter and the thirst devil of the southern
placer fields, are lacking to make a proper prelude to the exultant find, and the
desert death is not there to claim the prospector as he returns homeward with his hard-gotten wealth— The News.
Facts Of Cobalt
The Cobalt camp is now shipping ore at the rate of over seven million dollars per annum, with only about fifteen mines in operation. These mines do not cover one-quarter of the ground where we know silver values lie, and when you take into consideration that this is more than the Klondike is producing per annum, or has ever produced, you will have some idea of the great results that will come out of this camp when fully developed. The estimated values of the producing properties are enormous, the Timmins mine having over three millioas of dollars’ worth of ore in sight. It is the uranimous opinion of the experts that this ore will go to a great depth and that the values will increase per ton as the depth increases. It is impossible for anyone to estimate the probable value of any property in this camp. The veins lying, as they do, so close to the surface makes it possible to work these properties on very small capital, thereby enabling the owners to pay enormous dividends on comparatively small investments. For example: The stock of the Temiskaming and
Hudson Bay Mining Co. in March last was selling at less than par, or $1.00 per
share, and is now being sold readily at $65.00 per share.
4 Wills & Co., Cobalt.
Blacksmith Saw It First ‘Old His Claim For $25,000
It was in October, 1903, that a blacksmith named La Rose noticed the peculiar ore that was coming out of some of the cuttings. La Rose was working on the construction of the T. & N. O. Railway and showed a sample io Foreman McDonald, who in turn showed it to the Timmins Bros., of Mattawa. The samples were ent to New York and a favorable report came back. Some of the con- tractors of the road and others at Haileybury heard of it, as the assay- ers’ report gradually leaked out,
K. Russell, a brother of the chief engin er, W. B. Russell, was engaged in constructio work and he, together with Willis C. Cham bers, another contractor, R. Furland, a hotel-keeper at Haileybury, and others became interested, and a syn- dicate was formed. One member of this syndicate was W. Bb. Russell. They staked out eight claims in the Township of Coieman, which was not then a mining division, and each claim was for 160 acres. These the government allowed, and this syndi- cate received government grants of 1,280 acres, and from the fact that one member, W. B. Russell, was the chief engineer, has arisen the blan- keting charges.—World, July 17, 1905.
COBALT GIVES BLUE TINT TO PORCELAIN AND GLASS A good deal has been written about
the Cobalt discoveries in the Town- ship of Coleman, on the line of the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway, but very few people have any idea of what the uses of cobalt are.
Cobalt is a metal belonging to the iron group and very much resembles nickel in its properties. It can be used for many purposes for which nickel is used. Its principal use is not in its metallic form, but as an oxide, in imparting a brilliant blue color to porcelain, glass, tiles and other things of like nature.
Cobalt occurs in the ores taken out in this district as an arsenide; that is, in chemical combination with arsenic, in the form of the compound smal- tite or chloanthite. It must be separ- ated from the arsenic in the treat- ment of the ores.
Lenssen
Smelted In Europe
It is stated in The Mineral Indus try that “cobalt, which is used in the arts, chiefly in the form of oxide, is obtained from New Caledonia, Aus- tralia and Germany, and smelted in Franee, Germany and Great Britain, the Messrs. Vivian, of Swansea, be ing the chief buyers in the last-named country.” Cobalt oxide is produced at one plant in the United States. Toronto World.
Rush To Cobalt Fields
Within 350 Miles of Toronto There is a Poor Man's" Mining Area Which is Attracting Prospectors Froin all Parts of the Continent.
Just a trifle over 300 miles from To- ronto, there appears to be developing such a mining boom such as Ontario perhaps, has never known before. Co- balt, the mineral, closely akin to nic- kel, and from which the well known cobalt blue is obtained, is the lode. stone that is dotting the iakes in the Haileybury district with the tents of prospectors, They have come from all over the continent, and they are still coming. It is around Cobalt Station that the trail is the hottest. Cobalt Station is 103 miles north of North Bay Junction, on the C. P. R. transcontinental line, and is five milcs to the south of Haileybury, a name that has become tolerably familiar. The area, which flan'’s the Temis- kaming Railway, and which is yield- ing returns that are declared by com- petent experts fairly startling, 1s only about 10 square miles in size and is contained almost wholly within Cole- man Township, though, on the south- ern edge of Buck Township, to the north, there are auriferous signs that point to deposits of the silver, cobalt, nickel and arsenic combination, to which the general name of cobalt has been given.
“It is what might be called the poor man’s mining proposition, for the mineral, where found, can be dug out with ease. It lies close to the surface always. In many spots it juts boldly out of the earth. There is no smelting or milling process for the finder. He simply puts his ore into bags as it springs from mother earth, and his market is a ready and waiting one. It doesn’t require much capital."—F, B. Chapin, Toronto World, July 1.
Wills & Co., Cobalt. ‘
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Experts On Cobalt
Expert Opinion of Prof. W. G. Miller
Prof. W. G. Miller, the provincial crown lands depart- ment, who has come bak to Yoronto after three weeks in the Cobalt re- gion, asserts that the deposits are unique for the continent. Only in Saxony and Bohemia are their like to be found. The main findings had been about three miles east of Co- balt Station, on the shores of the small Kerr and Glen lakes, “Ithough in the district running between a number of deposits were 1g work- ed. New and valuable ones were be- ing found almost every day on the older as well as the more newly, owned pioperties. There were few sales, as the owners were content ww do their own working, and were a-.- ing almost prohibitive prices.
geologist in
Second Only To Klondike
As to the value of the find to On- tario, Prof. Miller did not care to
make an estimate. The deposits thus
far found were very rich, so rich in fact that only the great “placer” strikes in the Klondike would bear comparison. A number of individu- als would undoubtedly become very wealthy. There were signs of cobalt 30 miles to the north of Cobalt Lake and 15 miles to the southwest in In- gram Township, also in the forest reserve south of the Montreal river, which gave a hint of a wide deposit area, extending 75 miles to north and south and a iong way west.
There was a busy inrush from the Western States, and if the find had been there, Prof. Miller is of the opin- ion that a mining town of 10,000 would have mushroomed up.—Toron- to World, July 1.
a
Only One Similar Mineral Deposit Is Known
It is on the Borders of Bohemia and Saxony, and Mines There Have Been Worked for Four Hun- dred Years.
At the Timmins mine last night, I met two French mining engineers who left Toronto some ten days
the Cobalt Albert de Romeu, Pari who has been commissioned by the French overnment to investi- gate the ficid in Canada for cer- tain minerals, and the other Adolphe Chalas, of Paris and London, who has had large experience with the nickel mines of New Cale- donia. After their ten days’ sojourn in Cobalt they speak very highly of the camp. Mr. Romeu does not speak English, but Mr. Chalas is quite pro. ficient in it. The opinion expressed here is the int opinion of the two experts.
In answer to my question as to the extent of the ore bodies in the veins and the permanency of the camp they said:—"It is difficult to have any positive information about that, es- pecially as there is only one shaft that has reached a depth of one hun- dred feet. When you have no ex- perience of any given mining district you can only form your opinion by comparing it with a similar district somewhere else; but in this case the only similar district is in Germany, which is too f
ago to visit
camp. One of these is
far away to allow an exact comparison to be made at the present moment. The district I refer to is in Bohemia and Saxony. The Cobalt and German fields are not exactly the same, but they are somewhat analogous, containing as they do the same metals, but in dif- ferent and varying perce’ “ges and compositions. The Ger mines were discovered four hun 1 years ago, and they are being —-ked at the present time. ‘sie: is no reason to lead one to beteve that the veins in the Cobalt can: will not continue in dep.’ that the © iN change ma- teriall, 1 their me‘:l-bearing char- acteristics. As yet we have not seen a vein passing from one rock forma- tion to another, and we do not know how the fissure and the vein will act when we come upon such a transition. The only deep work done hereabouts is still through the same kind of formation as exists on the surface, viz. the lower Huronian. We have not yet reached the lower formation, known as the Keewatin. As far as they go, the veins in the lower Hu- ronian are found to be very regular and well defined. It will be inter- esting to learn hat occurs when greater depth is reached. and when
64 Ne tS Tt EE NETL
Wills & Co., Cobalt.
the fissures pass from one formation to another. There may be a change in the fissures themselves and in the ore bodies of the veins, or in both of these simultaneously. This can only be determined by experience, which we shall have when a sufficient depth has been reached.
Many Years’ Work Assured
“As to the extent of the Cobalt mines we may say that even if the veins should not extend to a great depth (although there is no evidence they will not) there is a large num- ber of them in the proven territory, and they will not be exhausted for a long time. Mining will go on in Cobalt for many years.”
Asked as to their itinerary through the Cobalt mines, Mr. Chalas_ said they had visited practically all the working mines. He spoke very high- ly of what they had seen, and refer- red particularly to the Timmins, Fos- ter and Drummond mines. The Tim- mins and Foster veins. he said, were near the contact of the lower Huron- ian and diabase, and they are very rich. It is supposed, said Mr. Chalas, the richest veins will be found in the neighborhood of the contact of these two formations. The parallel veins in the Drummond mine contained fine and rich ores.
Speaking as to the effect of the output of Cobalt on the markets of the world, Mr. Chalas said that as to silver, the guantity produced here would not change the condition of the market, as the output at Cobalt would be small compared with the production in the world generally. The price of nickel, said Mr. Chalas, was now fixed arbitrarily by those controlling its production, and a re- duction in price depended more on breaking up a monopoly than by the discovery of new mines.—Wallace Maclean, Globe, Sept. 9, 1905.
Rich In Silver Cobalt
Prof. Miller Tells of Rich New Veins in New Ontario.
Prof. Miller. of the Ontario Bureau of Mines, r¢ ns from a three weeks’ inspection ot the Temiskaming min- ing district with a story of the rich- ness of the Silver-Cobalt mines at Kerr Lake, three miles east of Co-
balt
He says they are as rich and im. portant as those at Cobalt. Ore to the value of $3,000 per ton—more than the richest yield from any of Ontario’s gold mines—is being ship- ped from the old and new districts and rich veins are constantly being discovered.
Mr. Miller says some new veins were found while he was there. Pros- pectors are coming in rapidly, many from the States.—Toronto Telegram, July 7, 1905.
Enormously Rich In Silver
Kingston Prospectors Enthuse Over New Ontario’s Wealth.
Kingston, July 19.—(Special.)— Prof, Knight and C. W. Dickson, Ph.D. of Queen’s. have returned from a Six weeks’ prospecting tour of New On- tario.
Dr. Knight reports the district as enormously rich in silver, the vein covering a circle of four or five miles in diameter.
Last week eight men took out twenty tons, averaging $2,000 to the ten.
Others had similar experiences.— Toronto World, July 20.
Smelters Smelter For New Ontario
Canadian Copper Company Erecting One to Cost $75,000.
Sudbury, July 31.—(Special.)—The question of the treatment of the co- balt and other rich ores throughout the entire district of New Ontario is one that has received much atten- tion. Many arguments have been ad- vanced in favor of the establishment of a government smelter. The Can- adian Copper Company has taken the matter up and will erect a cus- toms smelter for the treatment of all these ores. The buildings will be at Copper Cliff, and will_be ready for business on Oct. 1. President Tur- ner made this announcement to your correspondent yesterday. The com- pany has been experimenting for some months, and the results have been successful and warrant the erection of a smelter costing $75,000.—Toron. to World, Aug. I, 1905.
Wills & Co., Cobalt. 7
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United States Capitalists See Possi- bilities in Ontario.
The New Ontario Ores Reduction Company, capitalized at $500,000, was granted a charter yesterday. The prime movers of the enterprise are Mr. A. D. B. Van Zandt, of the De- troit and Panama Mining Company, and Mr. Alf. C. Garde, one of the prominent Canadian mining engi- neers and a director of the famous Anaconda Copper Company.
The company intends to prospect for, develop, operate and manage gold, silver, copper, iron and other mines, also to amalgamate and treat the ores extracted therefrom.
The company will establish a large plant and proposes to begin with machinery permitting an output of 160 tons per day. Four towns are being considered for headquarters— Toronto, North Bay, Cobalt and Sud- bury.
Mr. Garde has been in Cobalt and Sudbury for several months study- ing mineral conditions and kas fur- nished extensive reports.
In order to facilitate its operations it is possible that the corporation will petition the government for spe- cial legislation to tax the exportation of rough ore.—Toronto Globe.
As Wallace Maclean Sees Cobalt.
Rossland was a Theory. Rat Portage and the Seine River Country was a Delusion. Cobalt is a Fact— an Incontrovertible, Stupen- dous Fact.
In Rossland and at Rat Portage they used the assayer’s crucible to prove values. Cobalt proves values by putting carloads of ore through the smelter. If you had a lively im- agination you could discern the course of leads and veins in the Rossland camp. The stupidest man in the street can recognize the silver veins at Cobalt, running as they often do with the straightness of a railway track. It will not take five or ten years for Cobalt to prove itself. It has proved itself already. As yet, however, few outside of the camp itself know about Coba!t. As a mat- ter of fact, it is only six weeks ago that mining peactentty began at Co-
balt. The original discovery dates back from November, 1903, but it took a year for those who were con- versant with the discovery to realize its importance, and it was only in May last that the camp began to get busy.
Cobalt is to-day the scene of at least thirteen shipping mines. Nine of these have started up within the past three months, some of them within a month. And other mines will begin operations at no long in- tervals from now on. The mines which have been started within the past three months are known as the Foster, Lawson, Silver-Cobalt, Can- ada Iron & Furnace Company, Buf- falo, Hudson Bay, Violet and O’Brien, a total of eight. The mines that have been shipping longer than three months include the New Ontario, Nipissing, La Rose and the McKin-
ley & Darragh, four in all.
A Bewildering Proposition.
Who can estimate the money value of the Cobalt camp? It is a_bewil- dering proposition. No one is bold enough to make an estimate. A state- ment by Mr. Redington, manager of the New Ontario mine, fairly well indicates the indefiniteness of the problem as to the value and possi- bilities of Cobalt. He said all he knew for certain was there was at least two million dollars’. worth of ore in sight in their claim, but it would not surprise him if the total production of the mine reached fifty or one hundred millions. He was speaking of one property of eighty acres. According to the smelter re- turns icceived by the La Rose Min- ing Company, there must be three million dollars in sight in a portion of a single vein 125 inches in length by ninety feet in depth. And the company has several other veins equally rich. f
Who, then, is wise enough to esti- mate the richness of Cobalt?
The metals produced are silver, cobalt and arsenic. These occur in widely varying proportions at the various mines. It is in silver alone, however, that Cobalt pins its faith. The price of cobalt may dwindle away on account of the increased produc- tion, and the value of the arsenic is
MEBPER EDD ho is shade
Wills & Co., Cobalt.
only nominal. Silver is the valuable product of the Cobalt camp, and in silver the camp is magnificently rich. Some are optimistic enough to say that the cobalt territory is the great- est repository of silver in the world. It may be so.
La Rose Mining Company
This is locally known as the Tim- mins mine, and consists of two claims of 40 acres each, JS14 and JB4. The principal parties interested are: Messrs. McMartin Bros., contractors, Cornwal!; Mr. Dunlop, solicitor, Mat- tawa, and the Timmins Bros., mer- chants, Mattawa.
Up to date some twelve veins have been discovered. The principal work is being done on what is known as the First Discovery. Here two shafts have been sunk each to a depth of oo feet. One hundred feet of drifi- ing has been done between these two shafts at the 90-foot level, and this drift has been extended 50 feet fur- ther north. The ore is taken from three parallel veins, which vary in width at different points from 2 to 10 inches. The veins are well de- fined and are holding their own in width and richness at the bottom of the shaft. If anything, the ore is richer with depth. In all twelve cases of ore have been shipped. The first shipment was in November and the last a week ago. All this ore was obtained from the shafts and 150-foot drift on the First Discovery. The returns average $1 per pound, or $2,- 000 per ton, with twenty tons to the car,
McKINLEY ANID DARRAGH MINE.
This claim is known as J. B. I. and consists of forty acres. The mine has been worked since September, and up to date thirteen cars of ore have been shipped. The cars aver- aged thirty tons each. The returns netted $500 to $1,100 per ton. Four- teen men are employed. There are two veins, but work is being done on one only. This is from eight to ten inches wide and six hundred feet long. It has been opened for 400 feet to a depth of six feet. A shaft has been sunk to a depth of. sixty feet, the ore at the b.itom being as rick
as at the surface
The Foster Mine.
This mine is situated on the east side of Glen Lake, and comprises 40 acres of which I5 acres are covered by the Lake. Some 12 veins have been located, and the claim is not half prospected as yet. Work is be- ing done on two. The first vein was discovered June 6 last, and work' started June 16. Twenty tons of ore was shipped on June 21. Its value is estimated at $60,000. °
The Lawson Mine.
The Lawson claim lies between Kerr and Giroux Lakes, and adjoins the Foster mine. When I visited the mine work was at a standstill, as the property was in litigation. Mr. Lawson was said to be in Toronto, looking after his legal rights. The mine was in charge of two workmen. This is another very rich property. The first vein was discovered June roth. It is a well defined vein, and at the point where the work has been going on rich stringers ran into the vein from all directions, forming what they call a honeycomb. One car load has been shipped. This ore was very metallic and said to be as rich as any found in the district. A six-inch vein was found last week and another vein four inches wide was come upon later. At the time the mine was tied up by the injunction ten men were at work. From the values obtained in the adjoining properties and from the sample of ore seen at the mine, I have, in the absence of Mr. Law- son, estimated the value of the car load shipped to the smelter at $60,-
Silver-Cobalt Mining Co.
This company’s claim, described on the map as No. 269, is situated at Kerr Lake, and to the east of the Foster claim. It comprises 52 acres. The discovery was made about three months ago.
Hargrave Mine
This adjoins the Jacob property. The No, 2 Jacob’s vein runs into the claim. Work was started on July sth last. On the day I visited the camp (July 24) nine men were at work and two more were to be added the same dav.
Wills & Co., Cobalt. 9
Canada Iron & Furnace Co.
The claim consists of the north. west corner of lot 2, concession 4, Coleman, forty acres. The company also has the southwest corner of iot 2, concession 5, forty acres. Work was started a month ago. Twenty- one men are now employe’. Work has been principally confined to the erection of buildings, opening roads, etc. Two car loads of ore are ready to ship. The ore will run from 3,000 to 10,000 ounces of silver to the ton, 4I per cent. arsenic and 24 per cent. cobalt. Mr. Wright, the manager of the mine, thinks the ore is very rich. He never saw its equal. There are six veins already located.
This company has probibly the best showing, that is for a singie open- ing, in the camp. At this point two veins are disclosed, running varallel to each other, Io feet apart. The veins are each seven inches wide, and at five feet down the ore shows up just as strong and as rich as at the surface. This is the ore that pro- duces from three to ten thousand ounces of silver per ton. With sil- ver at 60 cents, this means $1,800 to $6,000 in silver per ton, not counting the cobalt ind arsenic. Estimated value of the two cars, $200,000.
A view of these two parallel veins with their ores of such uniform rich- ness, cannot help but convince one of the enormous richness of this mine and of the whole district.
Buffalo Mine
Work was done on this mine last year, although it was only May last when the owners started to take out ore. Five veins have been disclosed. The one from which ore is being taken is described by Mr. Denison, the manager, as first class, being sul- phide of silver. It is high grade, and runs more than $2,000 per ton. One carload of ore has been shipped and two more are on the dump ready to be shipped. Hereafter they will aver- age one car per month. On the day before my visit, from one and one- half to two tons were mined. The ore has been taken along the vein for 150 feet, and to a depth of ten or twelve feet.
Temiskaming And Hudson’S Bay.
This company has several 4o-acre blocks under lease. The one in which work is being done is the southeast part of the north half of lot seven, concession five, Coleman. Over a carioad of ore is ready for shipment. The officers of the company, includ- ing three directors, informed me that this ore assayed $8,000 per ton. The following is the assay in detail made July 11 last:—
Silver, $7,996.33 per ton.
Cobalt, 4.78 per cent.
Nickel, 5.01 per cent.
The ore is generally admitted to be away the richest in the territory. It is expected that the first carload wiil return in the neighborhood of $75,000. Only one vein has as yet been discovered. Two stringers run into it. The vein averages five inches in width. Only forty feet has been exposed, and all the ore that has been mined came from this opening, which has an average depth of ten feet. If the ore taken from this small opening is worth $75,000, an idea may be had of the great value of the vein, provided it holds out in depth the same as the vein on the Tim- mins’ property. The vein has not been traced more than fifty feet, no effort having been made in this di- rection. Surface prospecting on this claim is difficult on account of the deep vegetable capping. There is eight feet of wash above the vein at the upper end of the forty-foot open- ing. The first mining on the property was done on June 12 and six men are at work.
Mr. Cameron, superintendent of the mine, is very enthusiastic over it.
Nipissing Mining Co.
This is what is locally known as the Earle property. It includes some 1,500 acres, and on account of its ex- tent is undoubtedly the most valuable claim in the district. The superin- tendent at the mine was not disposed to give the writer any defirite infor- mation, but from his statements and from the statements of others who are conversant with the property the following may be accepted as facts: Twenty-two veins have been discov- ered, some of them being small
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stringers, while several of them are wide: and very rich. More than $600,- 000 worth of ore has been shipped, and the company continues to be the largest shipper in the camp. Seven- ty men are employed, many of them being engaged in the work of pros- pecting the companys big claim. The policy of the company at pre- sent is to prospect rather than mine. The production of ore is incidental to the work of prospecting.
New Ontario Mine
This consists of two claims, J. B. 6 and J. B. 7, eighty acres in all. The former is on the town site of Cobalt and the mine is within seven or eight minutes walk from the station and post-office. It is known as the Trethe- wey Mine. Ninety per cent. of the claim is covered with vegetation, and only ten per cent. is exposed rock, or about eight acres on the two claims. These eight acres have been fairly well prospected, but none of the remaining property has been stfip- ped and consequently nothing definite is known about it. The veins already discovered are as follows :—
Vein No. 1—This is the vein from which ore shipments are being made. The work done consists of a stope averaging thirty-five feet in depth and extending to a distance of fifty feet. The stope will average ten feet in width and the vein of ore eight inches. In some places it di- vides into two branches, which to- gether make up the same width 4s the undivided vein. From this stope and from a shaft made at one end of it extending to a depth of 70 feet over $250,000 worth of ore has been taken. The vein is as strongly mark- ed at seventy feet down as at the surface, although it is not as rich at the lower point.
Vein No. 2—One hundred feet to the north of No. 1. About two inches wiue at the surface and very rich in silvi No work at all has been done on this vein.
Vein No. 3—About 50 feet to the south of No. 1. A small amount of work has been done here. Over
of the day by picking up nuggets
from the waste. He estimated he had collected $100 worth in the course of two or three hours, although he was only working in a leisurely way. While the writer was on the spot Mr. Trethewey sat down before what appeared to be a heap of black loam and muck, and in the course of three or four minutes he accumulated any- where from $5 to $10 of native silver in the shape of nuggets, varying in weight up to an ounce.
Other veins—Six other veins have been located, but practically nothing has been done to prove their value. These are on J. B. 6. Two of them are known to extend for 140 feet at least on the surface.
Asked as to the value of the Trethe- wey mine, Mr. Redington said it was a conundrum. He knew that there was at least two millon dollars’ worth oi ore in sight. That was all he knew for certain, but he would not be sur- prised if it should tr... out that the mine produced 50 to .-. millions. He was speaking of one property of eighty acres.
The V:Glet Mine
This consists of the northwest quarter of the south half of lot 3, concession 6, Coler . The owner is Mr. J. O. Handy, irom Cleveland. He informed the writer that two veins had been discovered on_ his claim. One was a silver vein which had been stripped for seventy feet and varied in width from 114 to 1% inches. He described it as very rich in silver. At a depth of twenty feet it was just as rich as at the surface.
As to the cobalt vein Mr. Handy could give no_ particulars. Only from five to ten per cent. of
the property is exposed and little or no prospecting has been done on the rest. Ten men are employed. The first shipment consisted of a part of a car, which had just left Cobalt. Work started only a few weeks ago.
O'Brien Mine
This is known on the map as R. L. 403, containing 158 acres. Work started on Jine 1. Twenty men are at work, ten mining, five building and clearing, the remaining five being foremen and office hands. Six veins located, four small and
have
Wills & Co., Cobalt. 11
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two large ones. Work is confined to the two large ones. One of these veins has been exposed for 300 feet. A shaft has been sunk twenty-five feet. The vein averages four inches. One carload of ore was shipped the last week in June. The ore returned about $1,000 per ton.
In The Forbidden Limits
While walking along the boundary of the Gillies & Booth timber limits (in which prospecting is prohibited) I came across two different locations where prospectors had been at work sacking the ore from veins within the limits. At each of these loca- tions some fifty bags cf ore were piled. The men had been warned off the limits ty the fire rangers, and the work bore the evidence of having been finally abandoned. These 100 bags of ore are undoubtedly of great value, but they seem to belong to no one, and there they lie in the timber limits, too heavy to carry off in bags without detection, and apparently not worth the trouble of takin; away by the pocketful—Wallace Maclean, Globe, Aug. 2, 1905.
The Half Is Not Told
Prospectors Estimate Of Temiskaming Silver Mines.
Believe That $25,000,000 Worth of Ore Will be Taken Out of the Cobalt Region Inside of a Year—Some High Assays.
“The Globe’s excellent story of ihe district may have seemed strong, but the half has not been told.’
in support of his assertion Mr. Mc- Millan referred to the new Savage claim, on which three first class veins have been uncovered, which as- say $5,000 to the ton. With practi- cally no mining appliances, Mr. Sav- age has taken out fifty bags of ore of the highest grade.
“With the value of the output of thirteen claims working without ma- chinery, for there is noc $5,000 worth of machinery in the district, exceed- ing two million dotlars, what will
be the wealth of the district when modern mining conditions apply?” asked Mr. McMillan. “Here and there along the railicad, and in the woods, as we <rossec’ by the new road from the Canada Furnace pro- perties to Cobalt, we would see small piles of bags filled with ore where the owners of claimis were mining in a small way, penaing a greater de- ve opment.
“On the Lawson claim the silver is exposed, but on the m. jority it will be necessary to uncover ‘ e cal- cite before the silver, which its pre- sence indicates, is exposed.’—A. Mc- Millan, Globe, August 5, 1905.
Trusts To Grab Cobalt
—
Says Mining Man
Will Depreciate Property and Price of Ores Through New York, the Shipping Point and then Buy.
That an almost ope and concert- ed move to depress and then secure the richest cobalt, arsenic, nickel and nickelite deposits of the Cchalt re- gion for themselves is being tiadc by the great Canadian Nickel Trust, backed by the Steel and Standard Oil group, was the statement made to- day by a mining man from Cobalt, Mr. J. F. Black, formerly of forris- burg, Ont.
Richer Than Leap Ville
“If ore similar to what is bring taken out xbout Coi.'t had been found in the States there would be forty thousand eople digging away by this time. Leadville :n its palm- iest ore-producing days did not be- gin to equal the richness of this dis- trict. The trouble is that people don't believe the stories they hear of the finds made and the actual miner- als taken out. I met people in Mon.
treal who simply looked wise when any one attempted to give them facts concerning it.”
“Ts there any indication of a specu- lative movement designed to exploit the reported wealth of the region in a stock selling proposition
ay
Trusts On Hand
“T believe there is a deeper move- ment than that. There are men there working openly as agents of the Nickel, Steel and Standard Oil trusts, and others on the spot, ostensibly there is a private capacity, whose connection can be traced directly to the trusts. I heard to-day that at New York, where all the ores go, they were refusing to receive it, and at the same time agents of the trust are buying it in Cobalt. They offer 2 cents, the regular price being 60 cents. They are simply ‘bearing’ the whole region, as if they were dealing in stocks. When they get everything to a minimum they will buy up every- thing in sight. This can be largely offset by the Government doing away with the blanketing of claims, and re- fusing to issue title to a section un- less the owner can show that he has taken mineral from it.”—J. F. Black, Toronto Telegram, Sept. 12, 1905.
Hon. J. P. Whitney Has Returned
Impressed with Prospects of Cobalt District.
Premier J. P. Whitney returned yesterday from Cobalt, where he had been on a trip since Thursday last, and wiuecre he has had a chance to estimate the future of that mining district. He only spent a few hours in the Cobalt neighborhood, but in that short time he saw enough to convince him of the importance of the country and of the necessity for having good, workable mining laws.
‘IT did not see a great deal of the place,’ he sa'd to a representative of The Mail and Empire, “but, like anyone else who goes up there, I could not help being greatly im- pressed. Of course, it is almost too soon to say what the mining inter- ests will come to, but that is the only thing left to be decided. If it is per- manent, it will be of the greatest pos- sible advantage to the country.”— Mail and Empire, Sept. 13, 1905.
Wills & Co., Cobalt.
Small Veins At Cobalt Rich Enough Tc Pay
Every Indication That the Ore Will “Go Deep.”
“Small veins have come into prom. inence for the first time at Cobalt, because such veins are not workable at a profit unless very rich,” says S. R. Clarke, who has returned from that section. “For this reason, small veins in other districts have not re- ceived any attention. They are not rich enough to pay. It is, however, not to be inferred that the veins at Cobalt are all small. They are, in fact fully as large as those of ar- gentiferous galena in British Colum- bia, and they are many times richer than the richest mines of precious metal now working in any part of the world.
“The camp is unique, not only in the value of its ore, but also in the mode of its occurrence. The metals are usually found in well defined fis- sure3, but there seems to be some- thing more than mere fissuring. There has been a very extensive shatter- ing of the rocks, for the most part on regular lines. This is due to the eruption of diabase, and through this came the mineral laden waters and the deposition of silver and other metals.
“Though in the present state of development it cannot de stated with certainty that the ore will go deep, there is no apparent reason why it should not. In fact, everything seems to favor the theory of continuity in depth.
“We find the silver now in a stra- vim older than the diabase and over- l,ing it. There is no conceivable way in which it could have penetrated this unless ty coming through the diapase. If so, the ores must go down. They are apparently of igne- ous origin and occupy well defined fissures formed during the eruption of the diabase.”—Toronto World.
Mr. W. R. Smythe, M.P.P., chinks Well of Cobalt.
“The Cobalt ore is certainly very rich. It is away beyond the ordinary. There have been miners up there from all over the world, Nevada, Col- orado, British Columbia. Yukon and South Africa, whom I have met and
ae A : a SO
A
Wills & Co., Cobalt. 13
talked with personally, and they say they have never seen silver mines as rich as these.” So spoke Mr. W. R. Smythe, of Rydalbank, Conservative M.P.P. for Algoma, a man who has been pretty well through all parts of New Ontario, and is well known in the north where, besides having a mercantile business at Rydalbank, he is also interested in the pulp indus- try and sawmilling.
“I suppose you are interested in the Cobalt mines?” the reporter ask-
ed.
“Only slightly. 1 have just one property, but I have been all over the strict trampirg through the bush ull I had blisters on my toes as big as :our thumb. There is the same formation and geological lay- out all through that district, and it is very prupable that the country will be found to be full of minerals,
Future Outlook
“The Cobalt silver ore, as I said before, is very rich, and it is also found in a very nice formation. Along Lake Superior it is found in the ga- lena, that is, a mixture of silver and lead, but at Cobalt it is either fine silver or silver and cobalt, and this is much better. Capital will not ke slow to perceive the advantages of the Co- balt region, and you can look for won- derful developments and a rapidly- growing population, with rising towns which will make an astonishing trans- formation in the hitherto primeval forest inhabited by the red man or visited by the trapper and hunter.”
Mr. Gamey Shows Sample Of Ore.
“What do you think of this for a find?” said Mr. Gamey, at the Walker House last night, as he showed a very rich sample ot free silver ore. “This is the kind of article we find in the northern part of our fair Province, once thought to be a useless rocky wilderness.”
“How is the work of development proceeding?”
“The whole camp is doing splen- didly. New finds are being made, and good substantial development is going on, and there are heavy ship- ments of ore to New York every week.”—Toronto News, Aug. 18, 1905.
Cobalt Reports Not Exagcerated
Now Shipping Ore at the Kate of $7,000,000 a Year
Tonnage Is Increasing
Some New Properties That Have Reached the Shipping Stage— Trethewey People to Prove the Mine as to Depth—Optimism Pre- vails,
The Globe's presentation of the facts in regard to the Cobalt camp has exercised an appreciable effect in several directions. Two banks have made arrangements for a perma- nent location, and Mr. Marsh, local manager of the Imperial, and Mr. Morrow, of the Commerce, speak contidently of the future of their own institutions and Cobalt as a town. Buildings are now in course of erec- tion for all the most important branches of trade and three or four weeks will make a great difference in the physical appearance of Cobalt. A firm will open up to deal in mining machinery. The mines at Ke.r Lake and thereabouts are already connect- ed with Cobalt by telephone.
A Conservative Estimate
When my article sizing up the Co- balt camp appeared in the Globe three weeks ago I felt that I had possibly exaggerated the facts. Some peop!s said I had. I am glad to ind cn my second visit to the camp that I have not exaggerated the facts. In fact, my estimate was a very conservative one. I understated rather than over- stated the extent, the richness, and the possibilities of Cobalt. Develop- ment at the mines is bringing to light greater discoveries than I had antici- pated or referred to in my first arti- cle. The actual shipments are great- er than my preliminary estimates.
4 Wills & Co., Cobalt.
During this my second trip to the camp did not visit all the mines, but I have learned sufficient .om those I did visit te satisfy myself that Co- balt is a bigger proposition than I had ventured to assert three weeks ago. I will refer to a few facts con- cerning the later developments of the camps.
Seven Millions Per Annum
The first statement is signifivant. Cobalt camp is now shipping ore at the rate of seven million dollars per annum. Mr. Black, superintendent of the Temiskaming & Northern On. tario, is my principal authority for this statement. He knows exactly what the mines are shipping. He told me that the average now was three cars a week, and that there would be more except for the litiga- tion that has tied many of them up. The average tonnage per car 1s twenty-three tons. He placed the av- erage value per ton at $2,500. In or- der to be on the safe side and to make it tally with tne estimate of some of the conservative mine own- ers, I place the value at $ wo per ton. Three cars conseque:...y bring into camp $148,000 a week, which 1s at the rate of $7,500,000 a year! And the tonnage is increasing!
Another significant fact: Since my former visit to the Trethewey Mine two new veins have been discovered, each of them as strongly marked and as valuable as any that have been previously discovered. It takes some time before we can thoroughly grasp the importance of this fact. The low grade ore is to be milled and there is sufficient of it to go ahead with the work at once. It was first thought they would allow this low grade ma- terial to accumulate, but now it be- comes evident that they will have enough to keep a plant going right along. The rock contiguous to the ore veins is impregnated with free silver and it is believed that a large tonnage of such rock can be profit- ably crushed and good values in sil- ver recovered.
AHO) GUEST Westie, Wei aet|
Another point of interest in| con- nection with the Trethewey mine 1s the decision of the owners to prove the mine a. to depth. This winter's work incluc s the sinking of a shaft
to a depth of three or four hundred feet. The outcome of this experi- ment will be keenly watched in the camp, as the only uncertainty in re- gard to Cobalt is the depth of the veins.
When I visited the Hargreave mine three weeks ago there were only a handful of men at work. Now there are sixty, one-half erecting buildings, the other half mining. It is proposed to install machinery at once and keep sixty men at work mining during the coming winter.
The Hudson’s Bay Company, who were working leisurely along with five men a couple of weeks ago, have doubled their force and are working two shifts. On Thursday last they struck a new vein crossing the one on which they were working at an angle of about thirty degrees. This new vein is of solid ore, seven inches wide, and rich in silver and_ nickel. The company will at once put a force of thirty men to prospect the several claims held by it. Mr. Taylor, the president, is in New York looking after the car of ore that was recent- ly shipped.
In regard to the other producing mines mentioned in my previous let- ter, it may be said generally that the greatest optimism prevails. The veins are showing up better and pre- parations are under way to work the properties on a larger scale.
I made particular inquiries among those in a position to know whether The Globe's estimate of Cobalt was exaggerated. The universal verdict was that it was not only not exag- geration, but tha. it didn’t tell one half of the truth about Cobalt.
New Properties Shipping
Since my previous visit some new properties have reached the shipping stage. I visited two of these in Cross Lake. One is the claim of Messrs. McLeod and Glendenning, the south- west corner of lot 3, concession 6, Coleman, Nine veins have been dis- covered, three and four inches wide. The exposure of veins totals 500 feet. Following a blast lately a chunk of almost pure silver was found. It weighed 90 pounds. This rich speci-
men I saw at the mine.—Wallace Maclean, Toaranta Glehe. Aug. 24,
atin OO
Wills & Co., Cobalt. 15
Grow Bigger And Better
Mines of Cobalt Are Not an Experiment
Mr. Maclean To Critics
Practically the Entire Product of Co- balt up to the Present Time Lies in Sacks in New York Awaiting Discovery of a Smelting Process.
A man who probably knows more than anyone else about the com- position and value of the ores of the Cobalt mines is Dr. Albert R. Ledoux, of .# West 50th Street New York. Dr. Ledoux is the head of the firm that has done all the sampling of the ore sent from Cobalt to New York. Practically the whole of the output of the camp has passed through his works at New York. He, therefore, ought to know something about the Cobalt ores. Dr. Ledoux arrived at Cobalt last Saturday, having come here part- ly to spend his holidays and partly to see the camp. Regarding the final destination and treatment of the ore that has been shipped from_ here there exists a great deal of ignor- ance, which Dr. Ledoux has at last cleared up.
I saw him yesterday, and during an interview with him got the infor- mation that follows: When a car of Cobalt ore that has been shipped to New York arrives there it is imme- diately sent to Ledoux & Company's sampling works in Jersey City. The whole of the ore in the car is crushed to the fineness of chestnuts. It takes about a week to crush a car of ore, because it is necessary to put Co- balt’s rich ores through the machin- ery two or three times. After being crushed the ore is divided into four parts, and a sample is taken from each of these quarters. These sam- ples are assayed, and if the assay agrees pretty closely they take the average of the four and call that the assay of the car. If there is much of a difference in the assays further steps are taken to make the assay thoroughly satisfactory to all con- cerned. After the sampling is done the ore is put back in the bags it came in and sent on to the smeiter.
The ore is paid for on the certifi- cate of Ledoux & Company. The Cobalt producers are generally repre- sented by an agent during the sam. pling while the purchasers of the ore leave it entirely in the hands of the company. Dr. Ledoux said the cer- tificate of his firm had never been questioned by either side, so far as the Cobalt shipments are concerned.
A Hundred Cars Already
Asked as to the amount of ore that had been shipped from Cobalt to New York, Dr. Ledoux said he could not remember accurately, but there must have been one hundred cars at least.
The ore is sold as ore and paid for as soon as the certificate of the sam- pling company is given. The princi- pal purchaser for cobalt ores up to date has been E. P. Earle, a New York broker in metals and ores.
Some week or two ago several lead- ing officers of the company that is to erect the new smelter at Sudbury visited the camp and inspected the mines. One of the officials made the statement that about three million dollars had been paid over to Cobalt mine-owners for ores shipped to New York. If one hundred cars have been shipped, as Dr. Ledoux says, then the average per car would be $30,000, which seems to be no extravagant estimate, according to local valua- tion. These figures agree with my previous estimate of $2,500,000 as the returns of che camp up to that date.
The Estimate Conserva- Tive
I noticed the Canadian Mining Re- view takes exception to my estimate of the production as given in a re- cent article. It states the estimate is about 50 per cent. too_ high. Everything, including the_ figures quoted above, points to my figures as being correct. No one connected with any of the mines has disputed the accuracy of my estimate. In fact it is the almost unanimous verdict that The Globe’s estimate of the Co- balt camp has been quite conserva- tive.
In a recent issue of The Globe ap- peared a letter signed “James D. Le- win,” minimizing the Cobalt field and cofttroverting the accuracy of
reece
16 Wills & Co., Cobalt.
the Globe's estimate of it. In his let- ter Mr. Lewin stated that the veins were not deep. Mr. Lewin proves his unreliability by making such a statement. No one knows to what depth of veins here extend. That is one of the problems the camp is now working on. Wherever any depth has been obtained the veins are hold- ing out as wide, as rich, and as strongly defined as ever. In the Tim- mins mine they are down one hun- dred feet, and on Saturday last I saw a block of vein matter, almost square, weighing 600 pounds. Mr. Trethewey is not satisfied that the veins are with- out depth, because he is preparing to sink his shaft during the coming winter. It is now down over seven- ty feet. If Mr. Lewin would only tell the mine-owners how he arrived at his information as to the shallow- ness of the veins, he might be hand- somely rewarded—that is, provided his information were genuine, and not merely guesswork. Mr. Lewin
deprecates guesswork, but his esti- mate of Cobalt seems to have been built upon guesswork altogether. There is no mistaking this great fact: the mines at Cobalt are becoming bigger and better the more they are worked.—Wallace Maclean, Toronto Globe, Sept. 15th, 1905.
What a Railroad Man Thinks of Cobalt.
“Are the Cobalt mines all that they are said to be?” was asked.
“T think so,” answered Mr. Cecil B. Smith, chairman of the Temiskam- ing Railway Commission. ‘‘There is a lot of ore at Kerr Lake, about two miles away, which will probably turn out just as rich as that at Cobalt. Systematic trenching will uncover a lot more veins, which must exist un- der the soil, which covers a lot of the ground in that region.”
“‘Cobalt reports not exaggerated. Now
Wills & Company
Cobalt, Ontario —
@.We make a specialty of the shares of companies operating in the Cobalt silver district.
@ We are fiscal agents for two mining companies.
@ We are prepared to furnish absolutely reliable information on any property in this camp.
@, Correspondence invited.
ee
Wills & Company
Cobalt, Ontario