[ELLS] NOTES ON THE MINERAL FUEL SUPPLY OF CANADA 273 



the Albert shale series in New Brunswick. This shale is highly combus- 

 tible and when ignited gives a strong flame with a great amount of heat. 

 At present it is not utilized either for the production of oil or as a source 

 of light, heat or power. 



x4.1though the coal formation has a wide distribution in the northern 

 half of the province of Nova Scotia the southern portion is occupied by 

 rocks of much older horizons, comprising great areas of granitic with 

 slates and quartzite, in ^\hich the gold fields are located. In this part 

 of the province no trace of coals is found. 



In the island of Cape Breton, the Sydney coal-field is the most im- 

 portant of those which occur in Nova Scotia. It extends along the 

 eastern shore from Mira Bay on the south-east to Cape Dauphin at the 

 entrance to Bras D'Or Lake. The land area of this basin is given by Mr. 

 Hugh Fletcher as about 200 square miles, being thirty-two miles in 

 length by six in breadth. The aggregate thickness of coal in the several 

 workable seams varies from 131/2 i'eet in the Dauphin area in the 

 northern margin of the basin to 441/2 feet on Sydney harbour, the seams 

 ranging from three to nine feet in thickness. The dip is generally at a 

 low angle seaward, so that a large area of submarine workings is avail- 

 able where mining is now being prosecuted on a large scale. The coals 

 are all of the bituminous variety. 



On the west side of the island in Inverness and Richmond counties 

 large and important coal basins are located, the seams being thick and of 

 good quality. Owing to increased facilities for shipment both by rail 

 and water, these new areas have recently come into prominence and have 

 become large producers and shippers. 



On the mainland the thick seams of the Piotou basin have been 

 producers of coal for more than eighty years. The area of productive 

 measures is scarcely more than thirty square miles, but in this are com- 

 prised some of the largest seams in eastern America, the main seam in 

 the Stellarton area having a thickness of forty feet with several others in 

 the vicinity, of very large size. The Pictou basin is apparently more 

 affected by faults than that of Sydney. 



In the Cumberland basin- as seen at Springhill mines, there are a 

 number of seams many of which are over ten feet thick. These have 

 been worked for more than thirty years while several others of workable 

 size have been developed to some extent. The sales have in- 

 creased from 10,000 tons in 18T3 to nearly 500,000 tons annually. In 

 the western part of this basin along the shore of Cobequid bay is the old 

 colliery known as the Joggins mines. Here the seams are comparatively 

 thin, the principal one worked shewing about five feet of coal, while the 

 lower seam is somewhat less. These seams extend along the northern 



Sec. IV., 1906. 23 



