107 



All the rock seen in Mount Albert was altered into the above serpen- 

 tine, but on the eastern slopes, along the Ste. Anne River, olivine was 

 found only slightly decomposed upon weathered surfaces. 



These rocks all change to a light buff colour where they are 

 exposed to the action of the atmosphere ; and as the soil above them is 

 very poor, supporting little or no vegetation, a dead appearance is given 

 to the scenery. 



Banded structure is distinctly seen amongst the serpentine in the 

 mountains, but the direction of the strike of the beds is not continuous 

 nor parallel to that of the surrounding stratified schists, and is supposed 

 to be due to flow structure, as the olivine is undoubtedly of igneous 

 origiu. Chromic iron is found associated with the green serpentine, and 

 seems to be confined to certain beds of the rock, as it is found scattered 

 along the strike in loose blocks, some of which are ten'inches in diam- 

 eter. This mineral was observed on the surface near the banded beds 

 of serpentine, at the north-east side of the mountain, and also along a 

 bed about two miles south of the first place. The ore was found to 

 occur in small, widely separated pockets, scattered through the serpen- 

 tine, and where seen is not in sufficient quantity for profitable mining. 



Where the olivine crosses the Ste. Anne River, veins of steatite of 

 a light green colour were observed, but the cost of transportation renders 

 them of no economic value." 



Mr. Frank D. Adams made a microscopical examination of a slice 

 of the Mount Albert rock, and gives the following description of it: 



"This rock, which is very fresh, is in section seen to be composed 

 of olivine, arranged in very irregular bands of larger and smaller grains, 

 together with a small quantity of an opaque-black iron ore, which, 

 judging from its association with the olivine, is probably iron ore. A 

 few grains of a very light brownish-green fibrous mineral, some of 

 which show parallel extinction, are also present. These are probably 

 enstatite, but none of them are cut so as to enable this to be determined 

 with certainty. An interesting point in connection with this rock is 

 that each grain of iron ore is surrounded by a greenish ring composed 

 of an aggregate of wavy fibres, which in a few cases, where they were 

 sufficiently large for examination were found to have a parallel extinc- 

 tion, and which resemble serpentine. It is an olivine rock." 





