1913-1.4 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS, FORESTS AND MINES. 71 



The party then proceeded to Superior Junction by railway and packed the 

 camp outfit down the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway to where it crosses the 

 southerly boundary of Grand Trunk Pacific Block 10. 



The work was carried on in a westerly and southerly direction, all traversing 

 being carried on in conjunction with the blocking out so that both classes of 

 work could be done to advantage. 



Owing to stormy weather it was impossible to obtain as many observations 

 as we would have desired without nnnecesisarily delaying the work. 



Both north and south of the National Transcontinental Railway from lot 24 

 to lot 32 (both inclusive) the country has been burnt and the mining claim 

 lines and posts obliterated, while farther away from the railway it was found very 

 difficult to pick up any trace of some of these, especially to find any posts; 

 however, posts were located on the following claims, viz., A.L. 527, A.L. 528, 

 H.W. 780, S.V. 460, S.V. 461, S.V. 463, H.W. 762, H.W. 717, H.W. 719, H.W. 

 720 and B.J. 18, these having been plotted from 'data obtained in the field and 

 the others being plotted from information supplied to us with our instructions, 

 are found to check very closely. No traces of H.W. 715 or H.W. 716 were 

 obtainable as all the area included in these mining claims was cleared, the timber 

 being used for cordwood by the Northern Pyrites Mining Company, the brush 

 being piled up waiting for a favorable opportunity to burn it. 



Rock Formation. 



Generally speaking the township is rough and broken, being composed of 

 diabase rock of the Huronian period. A great many mining claims have been 

 taken up and considerable work has been done on them, the chief one being the 

 Northern Pyrites Mining Company on Big Vermillion lake who employ from 

 eighty to one hundred men continuously in taking out iron ore for commercial 

 purposes. A few mining claims were staked out for gold, but up to the present 

 time there are no producing gold properties in the township. In the reserve 

 south of Grand Trunk Pacific Block 10, between Dobie's seven and eight mile 

 post, a bed of clay suitable for making fire brick and pottery has been discovered, 

 and we understand that a company has been formed to develop this clay proposition. 



Timber. 



In that partion of the township east of Minnietakie and Abram's lakes there 

 is no timber of any commercial value and the part from lot 1 to lot 10 consists 

 of brule, stunted spruce and underbrush. That portion of the township from 

 lot 21 to lot 34, generally speaking, is covered with jack pine, spruce, balsam, 

 birch and poplar of small pecuniary value. There are, however, two portions 

 (shown red on timber plan accompanying this report) where marketable timber 

 exists, the first is in concessions one, two and three, lots 21 to 27 inclusive, and 

 consists of jack pine of large size, suitaible for ties and piling. The second is in 

 concession four, from lot 28 to lot 34 inclusive, and consists of red pine from 

 6 to 18 inches in diameter. 



Game. 



The whole district abounds in game, principally moose, deer, caribou, mink, 

 muskrat, ermine, otter and fox, while in the lakes a great variety of excellent 

 fish is found. 



