ON THE OCCURRENCE OF TIN IN NOVA SCOTIA. BY HARKY 

 PIERS, Curator of the Provincial Museum, Halifax. 



Read 18th May, 1908. 



In the following notes I desire to place on record such par- 

 ticulars as are known regarding the recent interesting discovery 

 of tin ore in situ in Nova Scotia. 



Tin supply and demand. New sources of tin ore are being 

 eagerly looked for throughout the world, and every new find 

 immediately attracts attention; for when we consider the large 

 and yearly increasing consumption of tin, and the limited 

 sources of supply, we readily see that the supply is now not 

 ^qual to the demand, and new (deposits must be looked for. 

 During the year 1907 the average price of tin in New York 

 was about 38 cents per pound. In 1903 the average price was 

 28 cents. With the exception of the Cornish mines, nearly all 

 the world's production of tin is obtained from alluvial deposits 

 and not from vein formations. Over half of the world's 

 production comes from the alluvial deposits of the Malay 

 States. Owing to the high price of the metal, it is possible to 

 work very low-grade ores, if in quantity. If a vein contain but 

 one per cent, of metallic tin, with the metal at 38 cents a 

 pound, it would make an ore worth $7.60 a ton, and should be 

 -a profitable proposition if the deposit was of sufficient size. 



In North America tin has been found in Maine, New Hamp- 

 shire, Massachusetts, North and South Carolina, Virginia, 

 Alabama, South Dakota, Texas, California, Alaska, Mexico, 

 and in the Yukon in Canada, and it has been detected by 

 analysis in small quantities elsewhere. In the United States, 

 with th? exception perhaps of Alaska, the deposits found in 

 N~orth and South Carolina are the only ones lately discovered 



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