64 NOTES ON MINERAL FUELS OF CANADA. ELLS. 



exploited for a number of years by numerous borings, heve as 

 yet failed to produce petroleum in paying quantity ; but there 

 are large areas of peat throughout the province, which, by the 

 new process of manufacturing into blocks by drying and 

 pressure, promise to become an important factor in the mineral 

 resources of the province before many years. Bori'ngs for 

 natural gas and oil in the valley of the St. Lawrence, between 

 Montreal and Quebec, have shewn that the former occurs at 

 several points in this district, and has been locally utilized to 

 some extent already, though up to the present there has bee'a no 

 large development of these substances such as found in Ontario. 

 In the latter province true coals are entirely absent ; but in the 

 area south of James Bay large deposits of low-grade lignite 

 have recently been found, which, though of poor quality, may 

 become of value as this part of the province becomes opened up 

 for settlement. Anthraxolite is also found in deposits of con- 

 siderable extent in the old rocks of the area west of Sudbury, 

 which are probably of Huronian age. This, at first, was regard- 

 ed as possibly furnishing a new source of supply for fuel. The 

 large percentage of impurity in the material, with its low colori- 

 fic value, has hitherto prevented its utilization for commercial 

 purposes. The large deposits of natural gas and petroleum in the 

 Niagara and Petrolea districts have been largely utilized, the 

 former being piped to several cities in the United States, not- 

 ably to Buffalo and Detroit, as well as supplying a constantly 

 increasing local demand. The peat deposits of this province are 

 also being utilized for the manufacture of a very excellent fuel 

 suitable for domestic purposes and for the generation of heat in 

 factories and on railways. 



The area north of Lake Superior is occupied bv crystalline 

 rocks which extend westward to the shores of Lake Winnipeg, 

 where they are again overlaid by sedimentaries of Silurian and 

 Devonian age. The Carboniferous rocks are not found in this 

 direction, but a broad area of Cretaceous sediments commences 



