20 THE IRON ORES OF NICTAUX, N. S. GILPIN. 



in his report on Canadian Iron Ores, 1874. The fuel used was 

 charcoal, readily furnished by the great forests to the south- 

 Some years later the ores of the district again received attention 

 during the construction of the Nictaux and Atlantic Railway. 

 The Messrs. Page and Stearns opened a number of beds on the 

 west bank of the Nictaux River. A few experimental cargoes 

 were shipped, and some was found to be of very good quality. 

 Delays in the building of the railway led to the closing of the 

 mines. These beds were magnetite, massive and fine grained. 



A few years ago Mr. R. G. Leckie secured the outcrop of a 

 bed of excellent red hematite at Torbrook, about three miles 

 east of Nictaux, which has been worked since by the Torbrook 

 Iron Co. The bed runs about north-east and south-west, with a 

 steep dip to the north, and is enclosed in soft slates. The ore is 

 massive and fine grained, and as shown by analysis, an excellent 

 foundry material, The mine is well equipped and opened for 

 a length of about 1,500 feet, and to a depth of about 200 feet, 

 the bed being from five to seven feet thick. Up to date about 

 80,000 tons have been mined here, which has been used by the 

 Ferrona and Londonderry furnaces as a mixture with their 

 harder ores. 



Captain Hall, of Middleton, has for several years paid much 

 attention to the ore beds, and owns a number of properties 

 covering large and valuable deposits. 



