24:6 CKUISE OF THE NEPTUNE 



side of Baffin island, but no attempt has been made to develop 

 any of the outcrops. 



Molybdenite. Flattened crystals of molybdenite have been 

 found in many localities in the pegmatite veins penetrating the 

 Laurentian rocks, but in no place has the quantity been suffi- 

 cient for mining. 



There is no doubt that the combined areas of Carboniferous 

 and Tertiary coals are very extensive, and that they would form 

 a valuable addition to the mineral wealth of the Dominion if 

 they were located in a more accessible region. Situated as they 

 are in the northern Arctic islands, where navigation is at all 

 times uncertain and unusually perilous, it is very doubtful if 

 they will ever prove of economic value. 



Lignite. Attention has been drawn to the occurrence of 

 lignite of an excellent quality in the sand and clay deposits of 

 Tertiary age along the northern and eastern shores of Baffin 

 island and on the east side of Bylot island. 



Little is known of these deposits, as the only information 

 concerning them is derived from small float specimens picked 

 from the beds of the streams that flow over these sands and 

 clays. These lignites probably correspond to the bituminous 

 coal found in the folded Tertiary rocks of the far north, and 

 may prove to be quite extensive and of economic value, as the 

 localities at which they have been found, although within the 

 Arctic circle, are by no means so dangerous of access as the coal 

 beds of the north. 



Coal. The presence of extensive deposits of coal on the 

 island north of Lancaster sound has already been mentioned in 

 the discussion of the Carboniferous and Tertiary formations of 

 the northern islands. The Carboniferous rocks cover all the 

 western islands of the Parry group, and extend northwesterly 

 into the northwest part of Ellesmere. Parry first discovered 

 coal in the cliffs at Winter harbour on Melville island, and used 



