The Northern Manitoba Mineral Belt 



The discovery of various minerals in Northern 

 Manitoba and activity in one of the most prom- 

 ising of Canadian mineral belts has changed the 

 status and prospect of the middle western 

 province, and from being solely an agricultural 

 province one of the world's finest farming 

 areas the disclosure of sources of prospective 

 mineral revenue forecast a future of great 

 industrial importance. Though the industry in 

 this vast region cannot be regarded as other 

 than in the first stages of development, and has 

 been hampered by its remoteness from settled 

 areas and the need of transportation facilities, 

 every month has had something to reveal in the 

 way of new discoveries, and much progressive 

 work has been undertaken and completed. The 

 value of minerals produced in Northern 

 Manitoba in 1919 amounted in value to 

 $654,633, whilst production for 1920 is 

 estimated by Commissioner Wallace of that 

 territory at around $600,000. 



Approximately three-fifths of the total area 

 of Manitoba ispre-Cambrian, a formation which 

 in Ontario gave rise to development at Sudbury, 

 Cobalt and Porcupine. There was little pros- 

 pecting in Manitoba before 1912 when the Rice 

 Lake camp was opened up, and the Hudson Bay 

 Railway gave access to the mineral areas of the 

 northern part of the province. Successful 

 prospecting has since that time been carried on 

 over a wide area, the most noticeable districts 

 of which are The Pas belt and the Rice Lake 



area. 



Development at The Pas 



Since 1915, development has been rapid in 

 The Pas mineral belt. Twenty million tons of 

 low-grade copper ore have been explored by 

 diamond drilling at Flin Flon Lake and are now 

 being actively developed. High-grade copper is 

 being exported from Schist Lake to the smelter 

 at Trail, B.C., and more than 7,000,000 pounds 

 have already been realized. Other copper pros- 

 pects are under development, and the prospected 

 building of a smelter at Flin Flon will lead, it is 

 expected, to the establishment of a large copper 

 industry. Gold is now produced at Herb Lake, 

 and active underground development work is 

 being carried out in four other regions. 



During 1920, development work in The Pas 

 mineral belt was confined mainly to the western 

 and eastern ends. There was considerable 

 diamond drilling at Copper Lake, a good deal of 

 interest aroused over gold discoveries at Elbow 

 Lake, an amount of prospecting done in the 

 Reed Lake territory, and active exploration work 

 was carried on in the Flin Flon ore body by the 



Longyear Exploration Company for the Thomp- 

 son interests. Production of the Mandy Mine 

 which went through the Trail, B.C., smelter 

 totalled more than $2,000,000 in copper, gold, 

 and silver. There was a small production of 

 gold from the Rex mine and trial-mill runs from 

 the Northern Manitoba and Bingo properties. 

 As far as copper development is concerned in 

 particular, there has been a tendency to await 

 railway facilities consequent upon the operation 

 of the Flin Flon property before any very con- 

 siderable expenditure of capital is made on other 

 copper properties. Extensive exploration has 

 satisfactorily established the fact that there is an 

 ore body of very large dimensions in the Flin 

 Flon deposits which will become increasingly 

 important to the Province of Manitoba. 



Active Prospective Program 



The development of the Northern Manitoba 

 mineral area in 1920 can be considered as satis- 

 factory in the face of the general situation, and, 

 whilst production may not have reached startling 

 proportions, results have been achieved which 

 cannot be estimated statistically, in the amount 

 of good publicity received and the influential 

 interests aroused. The visit, for instance, of 

 members of the provincial legislature to the 

 Flin Flon promises to show good results, for 

 the trip was to these men a wonderful revelation 

 of the possibilities of development in the north 

 of their province. Full development and pro- 

 duction from this rich mineral belt cannot be 

 attained until adequate railroad facilities have 

 been provided. 



Canada's Expansive Fisheries 



Among the first of Canada's assets, in the 

 shape of the tremendous natural resources which 

 have been lavished upon her, are her fisheries. 



Canada possesses the most extensive fisheries 

 in the world, and the abundance, quality, and 

 variety of their products are unexcelled. The 

 coast line of the Atlantic provinces from Grand 

 Manan to Labrador, not including lesser bays 

 and indentations, measures over five thousand 

 miles, whilst the sea areas to which this forms 

 the natural basin embrace: the Bay of Fundy, 

 8,000 square miles in extent; the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence, fully ten times that size; and other 

 ocean waters aggregating not less than 200,000 

 square miles, or more than four-fifths of the 

 fishing grounds of the North Atlantic. 



The Pacific coast of the Dominion measures 

 seven thousand miles long and is exceptionally 

 well sheltered for fishermen. Throughout the 

 interior of the vast Dominion, from coast to 

 coast, is a series of lakes which together cover 

 220,000 square miles or more than half of the 



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