^ ^%- ^'V^ w^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I L25 i u u Ui |2.2 " lis 1 20 IE •k 1.6 ^ 7 PhotogTdphic ^Sciences a^ipordtion as WIST MAIN ITHIT WiaiTIR.N V I4SM (7U) •73-4303 '^ :/. 4^ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Instituta for Historical ly^icroraproductiont / Inttitut cnnadian da microraproductiont hittoriquat Tachnical and Bibliographic Notas/Notas tachniquas at bibliographiquas Tha uc totha Tha Instituta has attamptad to obtain tha bast original copy availabia for filming. 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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atra raproduit en un seul clichA, il est filmA A partir de I'angia supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite. et de haut •n bas. en prenant le nombre d'imagea nAcaasaira. Las diagrammes suivanta llluatrant la mAthoda. by errata nad to lent une pelure, fa^on A 1 2 « 32X 1 2 3 4 S 6 REPORT Oil THE LONDONDE RR Y IRON AND COAL DEPOSITS, BY DR. GESNER; ilND A PROSPECTUS, WITH A VIEW TO FORM A COMPANY TO WORK THE SAM.:, Br THE PROPRIETOR, JOHN ROSS. ^,^^/ • IJALirAX) Nova Scotia. riUNTED nv uoHHir h. coadj*; timhh ofphe. / I \ OJ Si an F( ac mi tic ta fo D Q 80 ga Si m m di to cl es or tn oil AC I REPORT ON THfi IRON ORE AND COAL OF LON- DONDERRY, NOVA SCOTIA. I have just completed a cursory and limited ex- amination of the deposits of Iron and Coal at the Folly Mountain, in the Township of Londonderry, in accordance with your re.^uest ; and beg leave to sub- mit the following remarks, as the result of my explora- tions in that quarter. It appears from statements made by the inhabi- tants, that for some time past pieces of ore have been found on the surface of the earth at the above place. During the present year, two persons by the name of Qingiey, by making small excavations beneath the soil, obtained an ore which they supposed to be man- ganese, and shipped several tons of it to the United States. Small quantities of brown and yellow ochrey matter have also been found and employed as pig- ments. Upon my arrival at the Folly Mountain, I imme- diately caused a deep trench to be dug at right angles to the supposed deposit of iron, and to a depth suffi- cient to reach the compact and undecomposed mass- es of the ore. The section thus made across the bed, or vein, with a small opening previously made, was twenty feet in length ; but the trench did not roach either of the sides of the ore, and therefore its thick- ness still remains unknown. I am of the opinion, 2 that the depth is far too great ever to be ascertained. From the quantities of hematite, the hydrate of iron, or ochrey, brown and yellow, oxides of the metal con- tained in the soil, the main deposit may 1 tiaced on the surface. With these indications, ana two small openings made at a limestone quarry, I followed the ore to the distance of three quarters of a mile ; but the length of the ore bed, like its depth, is unknown. The course of the stratum, or vein, whicli affects the magnetic needle in a slight degree, is nearly east and west, and appears to be direct. From those facts it may be observed, that the ore itself is perfectly inex- haustible, and its situation most favourable for mining. The site most advantageous for removing the ore, is apparently on the farm of Slack, senr., and the adjoining lot westward, occupied by Forsyth. On the farm of the former, the trench was opened, »vherc the ore is abundant and excellent in quality. It is specular iron, of the richest variety. From a specimen taken from a mass at the bottom of the cut- ting, 1 have obtained of 100 parts. Oxygen, - - 30 Iron, - - - 70—100 It will smelt readily, and evidently yield soft malle- able iron. Alorg the surface of the bed, or vein, there are several varieties of ore. Besides the hydrate and common brown, red and yellow oxides, there are he- matitic and micaceous iron ores ; the latter is abun- dant. These varieties have no doubt resulted from the decc nposition of the compact masses of specular iron by being exposed to meteoric agents. The spe- cular ore is similar to that smelted and manufactured at Rossie, St. Lawrence Countv, State of NewYork. Limestone for a flux, occurs in thick strata, and n sparry stratum of that rock probably forms the soulli- orn wall of the great ore bod. It frequently con* V- ' .. tains thin scams of micaceous iron, and is deeply co- lored by the oxides. From tlie best judgment 1 could form, the northern wall of the ore is trap rock, a ridge of which running parallel to the ore, crosses the Folly River, and forms high projecting masses on \Uv. sides of the stream, affording thereby an excellent sitt; for constructing a dam. The immense deposit of iron ore under consider- ation, is situated about a furlong from the river, vvhicii will supply sufficient water power to propel all k'lniU of manuAicturing machinery, and almost the who!*; country u covered with wood, suitable for fuel and other purposes. Having completed a rapid survey of the iron on* adjacent to the river, with the aid of the inhabitants of the new settlement, I proceeded to examine that part of the coal field which touches the Cobequiil Mountains at their southern base, and upon the lotr^ of land occupied by Messrs. Slack and Forsyth. — It was found that the coal field crossed the Ft)lly River, and reached within a quarter of a mile of tin- iron, which is depoijited in older rocks. It appears that only one stratum of coal has been discovered. — That stratum occurs on the north side of a dee;* raviu'^ on the lands before mentioned ; it is about one foot ill thickness, and in my opinion is one of the uppermost strata in the coal bayin ; but I am confident that workable beds of coal might be found probably within the distance of a mile from the basi; of the hill that contains the ore, if the borings were conducted with judgment and skill. \\y reference to thvj ancient grant of these land>', it will be seen lliat the miiuMals contained in them were not reserved, but were given up by tliQ Crown with the soil. To them, tlicrelbre, the General Min- ing Association of London have no claim ; on thai account they arc of vast iinportaacc to the country, 4 as they may be worked by any person or persons who will purchase, or lease them from the land-holders, and without the payment of any Royalty whatever. From the character of the district where the iron is situated, I am of the opinion that the rocks are highly metalliferous, and it is probable that other ores besides those already noticed, will yet be discovered. Wood, coal, and iron ore, are seldom seen situa- ted near each other in great quantities. To such an advantage at the Folly Mountain is added that of a rapid river, with water to perform all the necessary operations of the manufacture of iron. From those, and other favorable circumstances that might be no- ticed — the fact that the contemplated Railway between Halifax and Quebec is marked upon the map of the Province to run in the direction of the river, compels me to add that I have never known a situation more favorable for the smelting and manufacture of iron than that now oiTered at the site before mentioned. The inhabitants afforded me every assistance, for which, and their kindness, it is but meet that I should make this acknowledgment ; and I trust that the brief examination thus made at an unfavorable season of the year, will prove satisfactory, and that every allowance will be made for a survey necessarily limited in its extent and operations. I am, Sir, Your obedient servant, A. GESNER. JoHH Ross, Esq., M. P. P., Slc, Corntvallia, 27M JSovemher, 1S45. / i^mMI < fc i»i i « \ > The Subscriber, having completed his purcha- ses on the Londonderry Mountain, consisting of 3000 acres, besides 300 acres held by lease for 60 years, comprising, as appears by thefore going Report, the richest and most extensive deposit of iron ore ever discovered in any portion of her Majesty's Dominions, has now the satisfaction of offering to the Inhabitants of Nova-Scotia and New-Brunswick, elements upon which their labour and capital may be employed with a degree of certainty never before attained under such favourable circumstances. The process of manufacturing Iron from the ore, is, with very few exceptions, totally unknown in these Colonies ; and for the information of such as are not familiar with the great saving of labour, time and fuel, introduced into the manufacture of Iron since 1830, the following extracts are taken from " Grier's Me- chanic's Dictionary," published by Blackic Sl Sons, Glasgow, in 1839. To the scientific world, Mr. Grier is favourably known as a Civil Engineer, and Lecturer on Natural Philosophy : — " In England, and every where else, until very recently, it was supposed that the colder the air that was injected into the furnace, the better. Mr. J. B. Neilson, Civil Engineer, and manager of the Gas works of Glasgow, directed his attention to blast fur- naces in 1824, in consequence of some eni^_alrie8 having been made, if he could devise any means of purifying the air propelled by the blowing engine before it reached the furnace, in any way similar to that in which Gas is purified. The enquirer suspect- ed that it was the presence of sulphurous vapour that mjured the air of the blast. But experience led Mr. Neilson to attribute the evil to another cause. From some simple experiments, he concluded that by heating the air before it went into the furnace^ he could effectually remove the evil under consideration. It is known that air will not support combustion until M heated to a temperature of 1000 ^ Fahrenheit, and therefore until it acquires that temperature, by com- ing in contact with the heated mass of the fire, it must act prejudicially : from which it is manifest, that the nearer it can be brought to that point before entering the fire, the better. The temperature origi- nally employed by the Patentee was, we believe, about 300 ® , and this was the heat of the blast at Clyde iron works in 1830, when coke was employed. The advantage obtained by the employment of hot blast of this temperature, will at once appear from the fact, that, during the first six months of 1829, when all the furnaces at Clyde iron works were wrought with the cold blast, 8 tons IJ cwt. of coal» converted into coke, were required for the smelling ol one ton of cast iron ; but during the first six months of 1830, when the blast was heated to about 300 ^ , the same quantity of iron required only 5 tons 3^ cwt. of coals, converted into coke — which, after de- ducting 8 cwt. of coal employed in healing the air, gives a saving of 2 tons 10 cwt. The success of the hot blast at 300 ® , induced the manufacturers to try it at a still higher temperature, and the results proved proportionably beneficial. In the course of 1831, the temperature of the blast was doubled, so that it was not less than 600 ® , and tlie success was such, that they were induced to employ coal instead of coke in the smelting furnace, which induced a saving to a very considerable amount. In 1829, 8 tons IJ cwt. of coal were required for coke to smelt one ton of iron ; whereas in 1833, only 2 tons 13 J cwt. of coal, not converted into cofcc, were re- quired for the same purpose. The increase of com- bustion with the blast at 600 ® , precluded the neces- sity of coking before smelting, for the intense heat is sufficient to compensate for the great quantity of latent heat that must arise with the vapours expelled from the coals during cOmbustioa." of Afi^r giving a description of the construction of Furnaces, and the mode of introducing the heated air by means of the furnace itself, and consequently doing away, altogether, with the expense of the fuel used in 1833, for the air-heating apparatus used by Mr. Neil- son, where a separate fire was used, — he goes on to show, by experiments actually made in the Clyde iron works, during the years 1 829 and 1833 respectively, from the 1st of January to the 19th of August in each year, the amazing saving arising from the introduction of hot air — the blowing engine being the same. The results as exhibited by the following table, sliow that the quantity of iron produced in the same time, by the employment of hot air, is equally astonishing with the saving in coal, so that the saving is of a two-fold description. The quantity of Iron produced is more than two-foldj while the quantity of fuel employed is only a little over one-fourth rer(>- Iniost is of a very superior description. This particular ore is found in great abundance on the Island of Elba — the mines there have been worked for 1600 years, and notwithstanding the innumerable discoveries of iron deposits made all over Europe since that period, yet at the present time, 32,000,000 quintals of ore are annually exported to various Ports on the Continent, for the manufacture of steel, &c. Now, it is proposed to raise a capital of £40,000 Sterling, to work the Londonderry Mines, in One thousand Shares of £40 each, payable by live equal instalments, as follows, viz ; — A deposit of £8 or 20 per cent. On the 1st of May, 1847—20 per cent. «< Nov. 1847—20 per cent. " May, 1848—20 per cent. « Nov. 1848—20 percent. In a young country like Nova Scotia, the exact sum required to erect Furnaces and keep them in constant operation, cannot be estimated with the same degree of accuracy as in older countries, where such erections are of daily occurrence ; yet such in- formation has been obtained, as may justify the opin- ioUj that less than one half the sum now proposed to be raised as above, will be suflicient to complete two Furnaces for the manufacture of Pig Iron, with the necessary accommodations for Casting on the spot all the Macl'inory rociuisilo to extend the operations of the Company, in a very HJiort time, to the making of Bar Iron and Steel, as well as the innumerable variety of implements into which iron is capable of being manufactured. Two (rentlemcn, who have superintended the manufacture of Iron in Wales and America, have been consulted, separately, as to the number of men required to attend and keep continually in blast a 12 furnace for making Pig Iron, — the following informa- tion has been thus obtained, viz : — 2 Managers for the top of the Furnace, who thoroughly understand their bu- siness, would probably require a Salary of £150 ea. £300 4 Fillers, alternately working day and night, at 40s. per week, 408 4 below do. at 40s. 408 1 Manager below at £150, 150 I Superintendant, 400, 400 1 Clerk, 150, 150 jei,816 Each Furnace will make 4500 tons of Pig Iron annually, and each ton of Pig Iron will require 13-4 tons of ore, at 10s. per ton—say 7,875 tons at 10s. 3,937 10 Every Ton of Pig Iron will require 2J Tons of Coal at 12s. 6d per Ton, or 150 Bushels of Charcoal, at 20s. per 100 Bushels— say 30s. for fuel, 6,750 £12,503 10 Oi Thus the yearly expense of keeping in constant employment Two Furnaces would be £25,000 Two Furnaces would yield 9000 Tons of Pig Iron, which would be worth at the Furnace £7 per ton, £63,000 But 100 Tons of which, licaat into the various im;)lemcnt8, machinery and materials re- quired in the Country, might bo considered worth at least £20 per Ton more, say £2,000 — £65,00 Carrieif up -t;jo,o(K) (M) i-***! 13 08 08 50 00 50 Brought up Deduct 10 per cent, for con- tingencies, £4,000 Interest on Capital at 6 per ct. 3,000 £40,000 7,000 Clear profit of 66rper cent., or £33 to each Share of £50, £33,000 When one-half the Shares are taken up, and the deposits paid, all the lands, or such parts there- of as may be required, will be conveyed as soon as the Company is properly organized, at a very rea- sonable consideration, the Subscriber reserving for himself such an interest in the undertaking as may be agreed upon. JOHN ROSS. Tkuro, 26th Sept., 1846. (