1917-18 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS, FORESTS AND MINES. 5 



industry will greatly assist in the settlement of the agricultural districts of northern 

 Ontario, since it provides a ready market for all kinds of farm products, attracts 

 population, and furnishes employment for labour. The mining areas so far 

 developed are, for the most part, near or within the limits of the agricultural 

 districts, thus bringing producer and consumer into proximity and lessening 

 transportation charges. 



The mattes produced at the Sudbury smelters in 1918 contained about 44,700 

 tons of nickel as compared with 41,887 in 1917, and the value was say, $26,800,000 

 as against $20,493,500. The copper contents of the mattes was about 23,000 

 tons, valued at $8,500,000, compared with 21,197 tons in 1917 worth $7,842,290. 

 The producing companies were: The International Nickel Company of Canada — a 

 re-organization of the Canadian Copper Company and subsidiary concerns — and 

 The Mond Nickel Company. The Alexo mine in Dundonald also contributed 

 10,000 or 12,000 tons of ore, which was smelted by the Mond Company at 

 Coniston. The International Nickel Company's refinery at Port Colborne was 

 completed during the year and put into successful operation, and has a refining 

 capacity of 10,000 tons of nickel and a corresponding quantity of copper per 

 annum. The British America Nickel Corporation has been steadily developing the 

 Murray mine, and is constructing a smelter and refinery. Owing to the difficulty 

 of obtaining a suitable supply of electric power at the mine, the latter is being 

 erected at Hull, Quebec. 



The production of silver amounted to about 17,500,000 ounces, worth 

 $16,675,800 as against 19,479,692 ounces in 1917, worth $16,183,208. In value, 

 last year's silver production was only exceeded in the history of the Cobalt camp 

 by that of 1912, when it was $17,408,935. The total yield of silver from these 

 mines up to the end of 1918, has fallen little short of 300,000,000 ounces. The 

 leading producers were the Nipissing, Mining Corporation, Kerr Lake, O'Brien, 

 Coniagas, and McKinley-Darragh-Savage. The high price of silver not only 

 stimulated production, but also exploration, and a number of prospects within 

 the boundaries, or at the verge of the territory of proven value have been and 

 continue under development. 



Iron ore was produced to the extent of 154,243 tons during the first nine 

 months of the year. With the exception of small shipments from a couple of 

 mines in Eastern Ontario, this all came from the Magpie and Moose Mountain 

 mines. The total quantity of pig iron produced by the blast furnaces of the 

 Province was about 890,000 tons, valued at say $20,000,000. To produce this, 

 about 1,500,000 tons of iron ore were required, nearly all of which was imported 

 from the United States. 



Many minor minerals are raised in Ontario which form the bases of im- 

 portant and expanding industries. Iron pyrites, for example, which was mined 

 chiefly in northwestern but also in eastern Ontario, was in large demand by the 

 United States' makers of sulphuric acid, of which very large quantities were 

 required for the manufacture of explosives. Imports of elemental sulphur from 

 Sicily were entirely cut off by the war, and the deposits in Louisiana and Texas 

 were not equal to supplying the demand for sulphur, consequently the pyrite 

 deposits of Ontario were drawn on during the year for large shipments. It is 

 estimated that about one-third of the total pyrite consumed by the United States 

 during 1918 came from Ontario. 



Cessation of the war will probably lead to a lessened demand for nickel, 

 copper, pyrite, and perhaps some of the other mineral products of the Province, 

 but as peaceful industry is again re-organized and re-established, it is quite probable 

 that the requirements for manufacturing and trade will ere long restore the 

 demand to at least its former level. 



