t 
See Tl 
4#904-5.] —_ 5 THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF THE DOMINION. 183 
XIV.—ASBESTOS AND MICA. 
ASBESTOS. 
This mineral occurs in large deposits in the ‘‘Eastern Townships”’ 
of Quebec, where it was first worked in 1878; from 1880 up to the present 
date the production of asbestos has increased steadily; the output that 
year is given as 380 tons, while in 1901 over 38,000 tons are recorded in the 
returns furnished by the producers. The world’s supply of asbestos is, 
for the most part, obtained from Canada, and the Quebec deposits have in 
the past proved to be the most profitable mineral mined in the province. 
Thirteen mining companies are at work in this industry, which is principally 
carried on at Thetford, Lac Noir, and Danville, giving employment to ap- 
proximately 1,000 men. Asbestos is shipped largely to Great Britain, 
the United States, Belgium, Germany and France. 
MICA. 
Another silicate found in Canada is mica, which, though occurring in 
small quantities, is a not unimportant industry; in Ontario there are 
several mines and a number of works where splitting, trimming, and sorting 
the material into saleable sizes is carried on. The Provinces of Ontario 
and Quebec produce the greater part of the mica used in the manufacture 
of electrical apparatus in the United States, and also export not inconsider- 
able quantities to Great Britain. The so-called ‘‘amber’’ mica, or phlogo- 
pite, is preferred for this use to other yarieties on account of its superior 
flexibility and the thinness of the sheets into which it can be split. The 
mica mines of the General Electric Company in Ontario produce large quan- 
tities of mica annually, and the Company have trimming works at Syden- 
ham and Perth. There are also important mica trimming plants in Kings- 
ton and Ottawa.7® 
CONCLUSION. 
The new Canadian Niagara Power Company, whose works are in the 
course of construction at Niagara Falls should give a fresh impetus to the 
development of industrial chemistry locally. This will be the first company 
to produce power on the Canadian side of the Falls. A feature in the plant 
is the size of the generating units, each of which will have a capacity of 
10,000 horse-power. They will be more economical than generators of 
5,000 horse-hower, will occupy but little more space and their cost will be 
much less per horse-power in comparison. It is expected that the output 
of the company will be used principally for Canadian industries and for such 
public utilities in the Province of Ontario as may be within reach of long- 
(76) Letter from Mr. Thos. W. Gibson, Director of Bureau of Mines, Ontario. 
