No. fiOO.] 
213 
In 1800 J 53,981 tons of ore were raised, which yielded 6,18*7 tons 
of copper, equal to 9i per cent; its average price was £133 3s. 6d. In 
1831, there was raised 144,401 tons, yielding 12,044 tons, equal to Si 
per cent; average price £100 per ton. At the price of labor in Eng- 
land, there is no doubt but there was a large return of profit, even at 
this meagre yield of metal. It is now known, by trial, that a yield of 
6 per cent will pay the cost of smelting. Now it is presumed that the 
copper of St. Lawrence will yield as much, at least on the average, as 
the Cornish mines; the addition, therefore, of 2 or 3 per cent over and 
above the cost and expenses of working will give a profit which ought 
to be satisfactory. Should the ore retain the richness it has near the 
surface, or the character of the ore continue the same as that which 
has been raised, both in Rossie and Canton, the probable yield, if the 
process is conducted skilfully, will be, I should judge, 12 per cent. 
This is, however, a matter of conjecture; it is said that copper veins in- 
crease in width downwards, if so, there is no danger of investments, 
when a certain quantity of ore may be relied upon. The geological 
relations of the sulphuret of copper are the same as those of lead. The 
veins have not the same regularity as the lead veins. The ore is more 
diffused through the rock, and the walls of vein are not so well defined. 
At Canton the ore occurs in thin beds, apparently between the layers of 
limestone, nearly in a horizontal direction. 
The presence of copper in pyrites may generally be known by the 
rich yellow colour it gives it, or more surely by fusing a fragment with 
the blow-pipe, and using borax as a flux; a globule of pure copper will 
be obtained; or by roasting and dissolving in nitric acid, when a beauti- 
ful blue solution will be formed. The localities at which I have ob- 
served copper pyrites are quite numerous, but only a few of them ap- 
peared of such importance as to merit a particular examination. It is the 
case often, that a few handsome specimens may be obtained from a lo- 
cality which, if our judgment was to be formed from them alone, would 
certainly be wrong, for it is not uncommon to find a few fine pieces at 
the surface in little beds or nests; these may disappear entirely, or be 
replaced by sulphuret of iron, which is useless. 
Sulphurds of Zinc^ Leadj Copper, and Imi. 
In the town of Fowler a remarkable vein of the suphurets of zinc, 
lead and iron, in about equal proportions, occur on the farm of Mr. 
Belmont. The direction of the vein is N. N. E. and S. S. W. and the 
width about eight inches, but not well defined. These sulphurets tra- 
verse a bed of serpentine 40 to 50 feet wide. The occurrence of zinc 
intermixed with lead, is not favorable to the reduction of the latter. 
