10 • EEPORT OF THE No. 3 



demand continued and was intensified during 1919. With silver at $1.25 and 

 $1.30 per ounce, waste dumps became valuable, and abandoned properties were 

 reworked. Long continued and steady production by the established mines has now 

 told heavily on the reserves of ores at Cobalt. Labour strikes brought about a 

 stoppage of the mines for nearly two months. When the statistics of production are 

 compiled, they will doubtless show a heavy falling off in the quantity of silver 

 produced as compared with 1918. " The increased price of the metal will assist 

 the figures of aggregate value, but these too will show a decline. 



In the case of gold, the steadily mounting cost of supplies and labour narrowed 

 the margin for profits while the war lasted. There has been no relaxation in these 

 respects even since, but with the return of the skilled miners the efficiency of labour 

 has markedly risen. The gold output for 1919 will be about $10,000,000, or an 

 increase of $1,800,000 over 1918. In fact, the outlook of gold mining in Northern 

 Ontario is decidedly good. The Hollinger mine at Porcupine, is one of the largest 

 gold mines of the world, and is now producing at the rate of about $8,000,000 

 per annum. Ore reserves at the Hollinger and Mclntyre mines are being enlarged, 

 and the camp is on a solid basis. The position of Kirkland Lake, too, has been 

 improved. The east-and-west vein system running through the bed of Kirkland 

 Lake and lying to the south of it, contains high gold values, and a group of 

 important mines is being established upon it. The Lake Shore, Wright-Hargreaves, 

 Kirkland Lake, Teck-Hughes, and others are in this neighbourhood. Tough-Oakes 

 and Associated Gold Mines lie further to the east. The newer gold camps, 

 including Boston Creek, Bourkes, Fort Matachewan and other*, are passing througn 

 the development stage. At Larder Lake there is also considerable activity. Gold 

 finds have been made near Schreiber on the main line of the C.P.E. and south 

 of Dryden station. It can be truthfully said that in the pre-Cambrian formations 

 of Northern Ontario the gold prospector will find as promising a scene for Tiis 

 labours as anywhere else in the world. 



Other minerals are being sought for in territory north of the Transcontinental 

 railway. Lignite, iron ore, gypsum and refractory clay are known to exist, and 

 these deposits are now being investigated. The limestone formations underlying 

 the coastal slope by no means preclude the existence of oil, gas or salt. Distances 

 are great and the expense of moving machinery is heavy, and it is proposed by 

 some to call in the use of the seaplane to assist in exploration. 



The mineral industry in older Ontario is largely a non-metallic one, except 

 m Hastings county and the lead deposits on the Ottawa river. The output of 

 building materials has been kept down by the high level to which prices have 

 risen, and until there is a reduction in values, or what is more likely to happen, 

 until the new level becomes a normal one, capital will not flow freely into the 

 building trade. Petroleum shows an increase in production over 1918 ; natural gas 

 a decline, due both to the failing supply and to the governmental efforts at restric- 

 tion to domestic uses. The remaining materials on the long list of non-metallic 

 products, continue to be produced in about the usual quantities, but in most cases 

 in larger values. 



Collections'. 



The total revenue of the Department from all sources was $2,755,736.28. Of 

 this, $79,841.77 came from Agricultural lands and Town sites; Mining lands, 

 $28,510.54; Mining and Crown Leases, $80,294.93; Miners' licenses, permits and 

 recording fees, $63,962.90 ; Supplementary Revenue tax, $626,321.20. From Woods 



