STEEL MAKING IX NOVA SCOTIA GILPIN. 17 



some of which reach a thickness of 20 feet. Some of these 

 beds are stated to have been traced for a distance of six miles. 

 Still further to the south, beyond the township line, specular ore 

 is said to occur in a vein 6 feet wide. 



While the work done in this district has shown the presence 

 of numerous beds of iron ore, much is still needed to trace their 

 relative positions, their continuity and their economic value. The 

 continuous extension of all the beds in an unbroken line from 

 end to end of the district can hardly be hoped for, as there are 

 evident dislocations at several points, and flexures of the strata. 

 As to the quantity of ore there can be no question. The 

 amounts available above the water levels of the Torbrook and 

 Nictaux Rivers must be enormous. 



The question of the economic values of the ores must be the 

 subject of extended investigation. Practical working has 

 shown that the red hematites can furnish a foundry and forge 

 pig The magnetites are with some exceptions too phosphoric 

 for this purpose. The percentages of this element vary between 

 5 and 2.00 in the different beds. The ores are as a rule silicious, 

 and in some cases manganiferous, but low in sulphur. They are 

 not to be compared in purity with the magnetites of the North 

 Mountain on the opposite side of the Annapolis Valley. Here 

 the ores are as a rule of unusual purity, but they have not as 

 yet been found to occur in amounts of economic value. They 

 are presented as veins in the trappean rocks, highly crystallised 

 and often showing banded structure, with layers or crystals of 

 amethyst, quartz, etc. 



The ores of the district run high enough in iron and phos- 

 phorus and low enough in sulphur to answer for the basic 

 process, and their large silica contents would prove the principal 

 obstacle to their use for this process. I believe, however, that 

 on the continent furnace managers have been able to successfully 

 meet this trouble when smelting for the basic process. No 

 doubt further search will show ores running lower in silicious 

 matter, and the large deposits of bog ore in this district can be 

 also utilized in this connection. 

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