Protection of Workmen 2212. No woman or girl shall be employed in the working of a mine. No male child under 15 years shall be employed underground or in a quarry. No male child between 15 and 17 years shall be employed underground for more than 48 hours in any one week. No male child under 20 years shall be employed around working machinery in or near a mine, with the exception of machinery driven by horses or other animals, in which case their driver may be 16 years of age. 2213. Every proprietor of a mine in operation, who, by himself or his agents, offends against article 2212 shall be liable to a fine not exceeding $20 and costs. 2213 a. The operator of a quarry shalls end to the Minister, notice of all accidents that occur in the working of the quarry, and such notice shall specify the nature of the accident, the number of the persons killed or injured and the names of the same. Every person not complying with the requirements of this article, shall be liable to the penalties provided in Article 2207. 2214. Regulations may be made by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, respecting the sanitary condition and safety of the mine and works. 2215. The inspector shall make quarterly reports to the Minister. 2216. Liquor shall not be sold within a radius of seven miles from a mine in operation unless a license to that effect has been obtained from the inspector. Miscellaneous 2236. 2234. I. Application of Dues, Fees, and Fines.—Dues, fees and fines shall form part of the consolidated revenue fund of the Province. Fines shall be applied as follows: (1) If the fine and costs are recovered in full, one half of the penalty, after the costs are paid, shall belong to the complainant and the balance shall be paid to the Provincial Treasurer. (2) If the fine and costs are not recovered in full, the balance, after the costs are paid, shall be distributed as indicated in paragraph 1. 2238. II. Geological Explorations.-The Minister may cause geological explorations to be made from time to time. 2239. The Minister may also cause new mining concessions to be surveyed. 2240. III. Sale of lands, and reserves of mining lands.-Lands sold by the Crown for the working of mines in general shall be sold in conformity with this section. 2241. The Minister may reserve and withhold from sale, lands for colonization purposes. 2242. IV. Valuation of Taxable Mining Lands.-In valuing taxable property in a municipality where there are lands containing mines, such real estate shall be valued without regard to the increased value caused by the existence of the mines, provided that no mining property shall be subject to taxation during the first five years from the commencement of working. 2243. V. Regulations by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council.The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may make regulations with respect to the following: (1) Increasing or diminishing the size or altering the shape of lands for which mining licenses are granted. (2) Reserving or withdrawing from sale, lands rich in minerals. (3) Classifying, in the one or the two categories mentioned in paragraph 14, article 2098, such ores and minerals as are not therein specially named. (4) The opening, construction and maintenance of shafts, or sluices, through any lands under mining license to facilitate the carriage and passage of water for mining purposes. (5) Mining divisions, size, etc. (6) Maintenance of roads, etc. 2243 (a) For five years from June 1st, 1910, the Lieutenant-Governor in Council may, for that part of the gulf of St. Lawrence from the river Goynish towards the east, fix the price of Mining Concessions containing ferriferous sand, provided such price be not less than $4 per acre. THE CONSERVATION OF MINERAL RESOURCES BY W. J. DICK Water-powers and the products of the soil and forest may be wasted and partially destroyed, but, by careful and long continued treatment, a re-creation is made possible; by the extension of our forests and the judicious care of our soils and waters we may be assured of timber, water and abundant crops for all time. The ores or minerals, on the other hand, are the products resulting from the action of different forces in nature extending over long periods of time which cannot be measured in terms of life. Hence, when such deposits are exhausted they cannot be replenished. The coal, when once burned, goes into the air and cannot be reclaimed. It is true that the metals saved are utilized without being, like coal, entirely and irrevocably destroyed in use. Gold and silver serve mainly to increase the stock of the precious metals upon which the monetary systems of the world are based. They are, to a certain extent, dissipated and lost beyond recovery by the abrasion of coins and use in the arts. The use of iron, copper, lead and tin may also be divided into two classes, one of which leaves more or less scrap metal or waste from which metal can be recovered, while the other destroys or dissipates beyond recovery the metal employed. The dissipation of copper through the wearing out of bearings on railroads alone has been estimated at not less than five per cent. of the annual production of copper. The exhaustion of mineral resources, therefore, when once accomplished is a permanent exhaustion, and the conservation of these resources is a national duty. It has been said that, owing to our sparse population and the development of our resources being in the initial stage, what Canada needs is development and exploitation, not conservation. The principles of conservation, however, do not stand in the way of development, but make possible the best and most highly economic development and exploitation in the interest of the people for all time. In considering the conservation of mineral resources it is of the utmost importance to observe the following facts: 1. There will be no mineral industry without profits; that is to say, no mining company will mine or extract these resources in such a manner as to entail continuous loss to itself in order to conserve such resources for the future. 2. The present generation has the power and the right to use efficiently so much of these resources as it needs. The past has proven that the needs increase with the extension of our industries, and more rapidly than the population. 3. The nation's needs will not be curtailed. The people will take what they require. Conservation of our mineral resources may be accomplished by investigation, education and legislation. Investigation should be carried on to determine the nature and extent of each of our important resources; the rate at which each resource is being utilized; the nature and extent of the waste in mining, extraction and use of each mineral product; how this waste can be prevented; to discover and develop substitutes which may take the place of products of importance, the supply of which is limited; to discover methods for utilizing by-products or other materials for which, under existing conditions, there is no commercial demand and which are therefore wasted. If, from time to time, the policy and action of individuals and corporations are such that wasteful methods are used in order to make large financial profits, regardless of the rights of the future, such action should be restrained by legislation. In this report statistics have been compiled relative to the known mineral resources of Canada and the annual production of minerals in each province or territory, while other information is also given relating to waste in mining and in milling and reduction. The length of the treatment of the various mineral resources is not intended to be in proportion to the value derived from them. The space allotted to each is gauged more particularly by the opportunities afforded for conservation in regard to it. Mineral It will be noted from the mineral map (Plate I) that the greater portion of Canada is as yet unprospected (about onethird lies within the prospected area and two-thirds without), and that the mineral resources have been developed (leaving out the Yukon) practically only in territory lying fairly near the southern boundary. Even the portions of the country represented as being within the prospected territory must not be considered more than partially explored for minerals, as new discoveries are continuously being made within the supposed prospected areas. This has been the case at Cobalt, with the iron-ore deposits of the Mattagami, and with the coal at Yellowhead pass. It will, therefore, readily be seen that the unprospected area is very great, and, considering that much of the northern area has the same promising geological formation as some of our known developed deposits, it is reasonable to suppose that our mineral product will be greatly increased on its development. Mining, although only in its infancy, has become one of the leading industries of the country, being second only to agriculture. Canada also ranks well among the mineral producing countries, being, in 1908, first in asbestos, first in nickel, third in chromite, third in silver, seventh in copper, eighth in gold and tenth in coal. The growth of the mining industry |