THE MINING AND QUARRY INDUSTRY I906 7I 



largest and perhaps the best equipped of any in the district. It had 

 a capacity of 75 tons a day. The company also owns three other 

 mills situated at Talcville near its mines. 



The Union Talc Co. and the Ontario Talc Co. have been the only 

 producers in recent years aside from those mentioned. It has been 

 reported that both companies have also come under the control of 

 the International Pulp Co. through recent purchase of the capital 

 stock. The Ontario Talc Co. ov^ns three mines and a mill near 

 Fullerville in the central part of the district. The Union Talc Co. 

 has been the largest independent operator since 1900. It was organ- 

 ized as a consolidation of the Columbian Talc Co., American Pulp 

 Co. and Keller Bros., and came into possession of three mines and 

 an equal number of mills. The American mill near Fowler was 

 burned down in December 1905. 



A new company was incorporated late in the year for the purpose 

 of mining and manufacture of talc in the St Lawrence county dis- 

 trict. According to present plans, the company proposes to work 

 the Freeman mine which has been under lease to the Interna- 

 tional Pulp Co. A water power on the Oswegatchie river near 

 Dodgeville has been secured, and it is planned to erect a mill of 75 

 tons daily capacity. 



ZINC AND LEAD 



The deposits of zinc ore near Edwards, St Lawrence co., have not 

 been worked during the past year. The inactivity has been due to 

 causes which in no way reflect upon the value of the property, and 

 there is a prospect that they will soon be removed and operations 

 resumed once more. The developments thus far have been of the 

 most promising character. 



It seems probable that the occurrence is closely related to the 

 pyrite deposits which are found in the schists at Hermon, Gouv- 

 erneur and other localities in St Lawrence county and which at 

 times carry a small quantity of zinc blende. The schists are metamor- 

 phosed Precambric sediments and are generally associated with 

 crystalline limestone of the same character as the wall rock at the 

 zinc mines. The analogy between the two types of deposits is fur- 

 ther emphasized by the presence of pyrite in considerable quantity 

 in the zinc ore. 



The deposits of zinc blende occur as replacements of the limestone 

 along or near the contact with a laminated gneiss. They are at 

 times disseminated through the limestone resulting in a lean ore of 

 mixed blende and gangue gradually shading off into the country 

 rock, and again are concentrated in zones which are sharply bounded 



