APPENDIX A LIX 



The discovery and development of mining regions, however, even 

 although these must be exhausted in time, is often of the greatest 

 importance to a community and in the earlier stages of its develop- 

 ment bring about the opening up and settlement of remote tracts of 

 country which subsequently develop other industries. 



In Canada our mineral deposits are of great extent and impor- 

 tance. The value of the mineral output is increasing rapidly year by 

 year as shown in the accompanying diagram Our coal resources, 

 as shown by the investigations undertaken in connection with the 

 International Geological Congress which was held in Canada last 

 year, are in extent second only to those of the United States. The 

 geological structure of the Dominion, moreover, is such as to lead to 

 the confident belief that as detailed exploration is carried forward in 

 northern Canada, large deposits of the metallic minerals will be 

 found in that portion of the Dominion — so that the mining industry 

 of the Dominion, there is reason to believe — will play a very impor- 

 tant part in the future history of the country 



It is, however, of the greatest importance that we should avoid 

 all waste in the development of these resources. The losses sustained 

 in other countries from lack of care and thought in this respect are 

 enormous. Dr. Douglas estimates, for instance, to take only one 

 example, that at the Rio Tinto mines in Spain in a period of some 

 thirty years through the unskilful treatment of the ore, about 7,000,000 

 tons of sulphur, valued at not less than $70,000,000, were wasted, 

 while with modern improvements in the method of handling the ore, 

 about 1,000,000 tons of sulphur are annually saved to the world 

 which would otherwise have been burned and served simply to pollute 

 the atmosphere. The same writer points out that only some 60 per 

 cent of the hundreds of millions of dollars yielded by the Comstock 

 lode was recovered at the time and at first the enormously rich tail- 

 ings were not even collected, such was the haste of the miners to empty 

 that stupendous deposit which should have made Nevada prosperous 

 for generations instead of whirling the whole country into a mad dance 

 of reckless speculation. 



The primary cause of a large part of this waste is over-capitaliza- 

 tion, which involves a large output at any expense if the value of the 

 shares is to be raised and their price maintained. Over-capitaliza- 

 tion generally demands over-production which in its turn almost 

 invariably involves waste at some stage of the progress of the metal 

 from the mine to the consumer. 



Perhaps the most serious waste which is taking place in the 

 Dominion at the present time in connection with its mineral resources 

 is presented by the mining and utilization of coal. 



