Page:Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, vol. 25.djvu/366

 form the fuel employed, and which may be obtained to an almost unlimited extent from the noble forests and extensive peat-beds which still cover a large portion of the country, these ores would yield an iron admirably adapted to the manufacture of steel, and probably equal in quality to the celebrated Swedish charcoal-iron which has hitherto been so largely imported into this country.

In addition to the well-known magnetic ores, the Laurentian rocks of Hastings are rich in deposits of Haematite or red oxide of iron. In the discovery and development of these Haematites I have long felt much interest. The existence of the " Kane ore bed" was pointed out by me several years back, and the bed has already been described by the Geological Survey. It is situated on lot twelve of range five in the township of Madoc, and has a superficial development extending over several acres. Since the last notice published by the Survey, I have caused an excavation to be made in the field where the ore was originally discovered, and after cutting for a distance of 40 feet failed to reach the wall rock. The ore is a fine-grained Haematite, converted at the surface into a soft red ore. As traces of ancient workings have been found in this deposit, it is probable that the Indians formerly visited the locality for the sake of obtaining the red ochreous substance for use as war-paint. In an excavation, at a considerable depth, I have obtained bone needles and other objects of human workmanship [which were exhibited] ; whilst several shells and stag- antlers that were also found in this excavation have been transmitted to Dr. Dawson, of Montreal.

The Haematite from the Kane ore bed has been smelted at the Radnor forges in Lower Canada, and has yielded a pig-iron of excellent quality. It has also been treated at the Atlas Works in Glasgow by the Bessemer process with very encouraging results. According to an assay made in the Metallurgical Laboratory of the Royal School of Mines, the ore contains 51.46 per cent, of iron.

In the third lot of the fourteenth range of Hungerford, there occurs a bed of Haematite, to which attention has not hitherto been directed. The ore is a hard fine-grained Haematite, breaking with a steel-grey fracture and high metallic lustre. In its present undeveloped state, it is difficult to estimate the extent of the deposit, but it is undoubtedly considerable. An assay made in the Metallurgical Laboratory of the Royal School of Mines shows that this ore contains 65.91 per cent. of iron.

Pyrrhotine, or magnetic pyrites, although not to be regarded strictly as an iron-ore, may be most conveniently noticed in this place. An extensive deposit of this iron-bearing mineral crops out on the face of a hill on the nineteenth lot of the first range in Madoc. As this mineral not unfrequently contains cobalt and nickel, it was considered desirable to examine the Canadian pyrites for these metals ; but no traces of either were detected.

V. On the other Minerals of Hastings.

Whilst the gold and iron-ores form the chief mineral wealth of Hastings, the county is by no means destitute of other minerals,