igii] The Coppermine Country 221 



from Mr. V. Stefansson, dated Langton Bay, July 1st, 191 1, and 

 addressed to Doctor H. C. Bumpus, Director American Museum of 

 Natural History, New York City. Mr. Stefansson writes as follows: — 



"That copper was to be found on the Coppermine River has been 

 generally known for more than a century; we found, however, that 

 even the Eskimos nearest the river, while they pick up some copper 

 on the banks occasionally, depend chiefly on the richer deposits north of 

 Dismal Lake. Neither of these regions is rich in native copper, however, 

 compared with the mountains northeast of Prince Albert Sound." (on 

 Victoria Land). 



This is the first record of the occurrence of native copper or the cop- 

 per-bearing rocks on any of the large Islands in the Arctic Ocean, and as 

 Prince Albert Sound is probably accessible to ocean-going ships by way 

 of Behring Sea, the locality might be much easier to explore, and mines 

 might be much more readily developed, than in the districts on the main 

 land in the vicinity of the Coppermine River. 



Judging from the evidence here presented, the existence of a great 

 copper-bearing area on the Arctic Coast of America near the Coppermine 

 River is certain, and it is also reasonably certain that that area is very 

 much more extensive than the copper-bearing area south of Lake Super- 

 ior, extending, as it does, from Victoria Land and the hills west of the 

 Coppermine River to the shores of Bathurst Inlet far to the east, but 

 whether native copper will be found anywhere as plentifully distributed 

 or in such rich segregations as on Keewenaw Point, is yet quite un- 

 certain. As the area is larger it is quite possible that the mineral de- 

 posits may be similarly larger, and it is worth while for the Canadian 

 people to find out whether they have in this far northern country a great 

 reserve of copper ore for the use of themselves and the world when the 

 mines that are now being worked become depleted. It may seem foolish 

 for us to spend money at the present time to determine the existence of 

 bodies of ore which we cannot use, but copper is one of the most useful 

 metals in the world to-day, and it behoves a nation like an individual 

 to study its ore reserves in order that it may deal with them wisely, 

 and have them developed in such a way that they will afford the greatest 

 benefit to the people. Therefore I say that we Canadians, knowing 

 that we possess an area of potential wealth in copper in that far northern 

 country, should examine it carefully and find out whether we have a 

 natural asset, that, if intelligently used, will add greatly to the wealth 

 of the nation, or whether we are prepared to hand over that possible 

 asset without knowing whether it is valuable or not, to private in- 

 dividuals, probably aliens, who, by the expenditure of a little capital 

 and energy, may make enormous fortunes as a result of our negligence. 



