THE MACKENZIE RIVER REGION.
Economic Minerals.
The Territory Has Never Been Thoroughly Examined for Minerals.—
Tar Springs on the North Shore of Great Slave lake.—The
Devonian Rocks Throughout Mackenzie valley are Nearly Everywhere
More or Less Petroliferous.—Lignite Discovered in Many Places,
Also Gypsum.—Large Deposits of Excellent Salt.—Indications of
Gold and Copper.—Indians Report Finding Mica.
Ever since Sir Alexander Mackenzie first passed down the river which now
bears his name on his famous voyage of discovery in 1789, and described
the burning beds of coal and the salt springs along its banks, the
district now under review in these pages has excited the interest of the
geologist and the prospector, but on account of the remoteness of the
country from civilized settlement and the difficulties of transport,
very little, comparatively, is known of the actual extent of mineral
wealth of this immense area of country. True, expert explorers like Sir
John Franklin, Sir John Richardson, Mr. R. G. McConnell, Mr. William
Ogilvie, and Doctor J. M. Bell have conducted scientific surveys along
the chief waterways and over some routes overland, and their reports
have been splendid and valuable, but from scantiness of their equipment
and the omnipresent necessity to economize time, these surveys, from a
geological point of view, can be considered only as reconnaissances.
Comparatively brief summaries of what some of these explorers and some
others have written and said as to the mineralogy of Mackenzie valley
below the 60th parallel of latitude, will suffice to give an idea of
what we really know on the subject.
During his explorations about Great Slave lake in 1887, Mr. R. G.
McConnell, of the Geological Survey, inspected the tar springs on the
north shore. The springs are situated a couple of hundred yards from the
shore, at the base of a low limestone cliff, which runs inland from the
lake, and are three in number, each of them being surrounded with a
small basin, three to four feet in diameter, filled with inspissated
bitumen, while the soil and moss for some distance away is impregnated
with the same material. A small quantity of pitch is annually taken from
these springs and used for boat building purposes, while a much larger
supply could be obtained if needed. A sulphur spring resembling those at
Sulphur point on the south shore of the lake, but much more copious,
issues from the foot of the cliff in close proximity to the bituminous
springs, and feeds a considerable stream. The rock through which the
petroleum ascends here is a heavily bedded greyish, rather coarsely
crystalline cavernous dolomite, and is entirely unlike the bituminous
beds south of the lake and down the Mackenzie, which in most cases
consist of calcareous shales. The dolomite is everywhere permeated with
bituminous matter, which collects in the numerous cavities, and oozing
up through cracks, often forms small pools on the surface of the rock.
It was also reported to Mr. McConnell that sulphur and tar springs occur
at a point half way between the springs he visited and Fort Rae. On the
south shore bituminous shales and limestones outcrop at several points,
and it would thus appear, according to Mr. McConnell, that the
oil-bearing beds underlie the whole western part of the lake.
PROMISING INDICATIONS OF OIL.
The Devonian rocks throughout Mackenzie valley, Mr. McConnell reports,
are nearly everywhere more or less petroliferous, and over large areas
afford promising indications of the presence of oil in workable
quantities. He states that he noticed, in descending the Mackenzie, that
bituminous limestones outcropped at the “Rock by the River Side”, at
Bear Rock, at the Ramparts, and at numerous other places. Near Fort Good
Hope several tar springs exist, and it is from these that the Hudson’s
Bay Company now obtain their principal supply of pitch. The springs are
situated at some distance from the river and were not examined. Still
farther down, in the vicinity of the site of old Fort Good Hope, the
river is bordered for several miles by evenly bedded dark shales of
Devonian age which are completely saturated with oil. The possible oil
country along Mackenzie valley, he concludes, is almost co-extensive
with that of the valley itself. On the Mackenzie, the Tertiary beds at
the mouth of Bear river hold several seams of lignite, ranging in
thickness from two to four feet, and one seam which was concealed at the
time of Mr. McConnell’s visit is reported by Richardson to be nine feet
thick. The lignite there is of inferior quality, and has been burnt in
many places for some distance from the surface by fires which have been
in existence since the river was first discovered. Gypsum occurs in
large quantities in the Devonian rocks of Bear mountain at the mouth of
Bear river.
DEPOSITS OF EXCELLENT SALT.
Mr. McConnell also explored part of Salt river in 1887. He
reported:—“Several salt springs drain into Salt river, near Fort Smith,
about twenty-five miles above its mouth. The springs are enclosed by
small evaporating basins, the largest of which is about fifteen feet in
diameter, and is crusted with a remarkably pure deposit of sodic
chloride. The salt obtained here is of excellent quality, and has been
used in Mackenzie river district for many years. Salt is also reported
to occur on the headwaters of a small stream which enters the Mackenzie
about fifteen miles above Fort Norman.”
Mr. McConnell in 1887 examined the Nahanni Butte at the junction of
Nahanni river with the Liard, below Fort Liard, and he states that
copper stains were noted in a number of places, but no specimens
indicating deposits of economic value were obtained.
In his 1893 report regarding his investigation of the Athabaska
tar-sand-petroleum deposits, Mr. McConnell mentioned, as indicating the
presence of petroleum deposits over an immense area, that north of
Athabaska district “tar occurs at intervals in the Devonian limestone
exposed along the valleys of Slave river and the Mackenzie, all the way
to Arctic ocean.”
SOME NOTES BY REV. FATHER PETITOT.
Professor Robert Bell submitted to the Senate committee of 1888 a letter
received from Rev. Father Petitot, O.M.I., of Fort Good Hope, dated
August 16, 1873, in reply to a letter from Professor Bell, written May
30, the previous year.
The reverend gentleman explained in his letter that he had travelled
extensively through this vast region, and proceeded to give a most
interesting geological account of the country, although he undoubtedly
disclaimed any merit as a geologist.
Points of practical interest to which attention was drawn in this
communication were the following:—
“To the south and to the east of the banks of Great Slave lake are
flats, composed of alluvium and gravel. On the islands off shore asphalt
is found, the hardened debris of which is strewn on the beach.
“Six miles above Fort Norman, and for an extent of from eight to ten
miles, the Mackenzie is bounded on its right bank by a precipice which
reaches at first about one hundred and fifty feet in height, and
gradually diminishes to a height of thirty feet. It is a vast Tertiary
deposit composed of alternate stratifications of friable schist,
lignite, pipe-clay and vegetable mould. The schists are in a state of
combustion winter and summer, but the subterranean fire which shows
itself on the surface through smoke holes, stinking of bitumen, is
intermittent, and breaks out sometimes at one point, sometimes at
another. It is not always visible at the surface, but at others is very
active. The soil is very hot, damp and movable in the neighbourhood of
these smoke holes.
CRUDE FORMS OF LIGNITE.
“The lignites are not fit for forging work. Sometimes even the trunks of
the trees which form the beds of it have been transformed into clay;
however, all this debris has evidently undergone the action of fire.
“Great Bear lake river, or Franklin river, presents alternations of
granite, limestone, and coal-bearing sandstone.
“Traces of fire are visible in the mountain range at the mouth of the
discharge of Great Bear lake. A little lower down, below the rock, the
beaches of the Emir present unequivocal traces of other schistose holes
which have been extinct for a long time, but which the writer of the
letter found in combustion in 1869.
“The left bank of the Mackenzie, opposite Rocher Rouge, exudes
ferruginous water, which stains all the water-borne shingle of the beach
with oxide of iron. Three or four leagues below Fort Good Hope, iron
pyrites is found on the beach, and the Peaux de Lièvre Indians formerly
used it in striking fire.
“On the right bank opposite the site of the old Fort Good Hope, there
are natural ramparts of limestone or schistose sandstone at the mouth of
Thunder river. One finds there hematite, or oxide of iron; sulphate of
iron and sulphate of magnesia; alum, which exudes from the fissures in
the stone; and red ochre. It was here that the Peaux de Lièvre Indians
discovered in ancient times the hematite, which on account of its
colour, resembling the dung of the black bear, they called Sa-ts-anne,
that is to say, bears’ excrement.
EXUDE ALUM AND SALTPETRE.
“The second ramparts of the Mackenzie, called the Detroit or Narrows,
are composed of lias and limestone, which exude alum and saltpetre.
Lower down are schistose sandstones of which the Esquimaux make the
heads of their arrows.
“On the sea coast and the right bank the Esquimaux have told me that
there are caves containing fossilized bones of large antediluvian
animals, particularly of the mastodon, of which they have shown me
pieces of tusks of the finest ivory which they call _killagvark_, and
which they know how to distinguish from the ivory of the walrus, or
_turark_. They have also told me that there are, upon the sea shore to
the eastward, Tertiary deposits in combustion, similar to those at Fort
Norman.”
Writing in his report of the information he had obtained as to the
deposits of economic minerals in Mackenzie valley, William Ogilvie,
D.L.S., wrote as follows:—“On the Mackenzie, the first coal I heard of
was a seam of which Mr. McDougall at Chipewyan told me, and which is
situated in the base of the mountain just above Rapid Sans Sault, on the
east side of the river. He could not give me any details concerning its
extent, more than that he believed it to be about four or five feet
thick, and that it was in the limestone rock of the mountain. If this is
true, it indicates that this coal is older than the lignite coal of the
country, and probably much harder and better. I did not know of its
existence until I got to Chipewyan, or I would have tried to have had a
specimen sent out after me.
“About three and a half miles above Fort Norman, on the east bank of the
river, two extensive exposures of lignite crop out. The upper one is
overlaid by about fifty feet of clay and a few feet of friable
sandstone, and is about fifteen feet thick. The other seam is probably
forty feet below this. When I was there it was nearly all under water.
It is said to be as thick as, if not thicker than, the upper one.
ON FIRE FOR OVER A CENTURY.
“The upper seam has been on fire for over one hundred years, as it was
burning when Sir Alexander Mackenzie passed in 1789. The place is
locally known as le Boucan. The fire extends at present about two miles
along the river, not continuously but at intervals. When I passed, it
was burning in three or four places. After it has burned a certain
distance into the seam the overlying mass of clay falls down and, to
some extent, suppresses the fire. This clay is in time baked into a red
colored rock, in which are found innumerable impressions of leaves of
plants. Some specimens of these I brought home, and handed to Doctor
Dawson. Traces of this red rock were noticed on the bank fourteen miles
below Fort Norman, but no trace of lignite was seen near it, having
probably been all burned.
“The burning seam appears to be of poor quality, containing much shale
and sand, which is converted by the heat into scoriæ. It did not appear
to me that it would be difficult to cut off all the burning places, and
thus stop the further advance of the fire, which is destroying what yet
may be of use. In order to find if the combustion could be checked I
took a shovel at one place and soon had all the burning coal for a short
distance cut off completely, so that the fire ceased for a time at that
spot. It is a pity that at least an attempt to put out the fire is not
made. Many persons in that district have an idea that it is
subterraneous, and that the seat of it cannot be reached. This is a
mistake, as at the point mentioned I cleaned off the fire from the face
of the seam to its base and found underneath no trace of burning. The
lower seam appears to be of better quality, there being no shale or sand
mixed with it, so far as I could see. Heavy rain detained us here for
two days, and we burned a good deal of lignite from the lower seam, as
we could not reach the top of the bank to procure wood, and could find
only a log or two of driftwood. The coal burned well in the open air,
and threw out a much stronger heat than a wood fire. These seams are
visible at frequent intervals along the bank for eight and a half miles,
after which not a trace of them appears for seven miles, where there is
another small exposure at the water’s edge. This seam appears, from the
reports of many travellers, to extend up Great Bear river for a
considerable distance. No other traces of coal were observed on the
river.
“While at Fort Good Hope I noticed that many of the outbuildings and
fences were painted with a dull red coloring matter, which, on inquiry,
I found consisted of the ashes of wood that had lain in the river for
some years. It was said poplar trees yielded the best paint and that
logs that had been in the river long enough were known by the dull blue
color of the wood. A sample of the ashes I brought home, and handed to
Doctor Dawson. It may be that the color is due to the presence of oxide
of iron; if so, this would indicate the existence in the water of iron
in solution. But where the iron comes from is a mystery, as none of this
peculiar wood was seen or heard of in the upper river. The inference is
that the iron occurs far down in the river, but whether in the soil or
in the beds on some of the tributary streams, or whether it is iron at
all, has yet to be determined.
INDIANS REPORT MICA.
“The Indians report very large deposits of mica on the south side of
Great Slave lake, and have brought small samples of it to Fort
Resolution. While there I tried to get a specimen, but none was
available. It is described as being very abundant.
“No other minerals of economic value were seen or heard of, except
bitumen. On the way up (from Fort Providence to Chipewyan) the first
indication of this was seen on Great Slave lake, in the form of the
bituminous limestone which has already been referred to. Tar springs, as
they are called in the vicinity, exist on the lake. I do not know of any
of them on Slave river, but they abound on the Athabaska from near the
delta for over two hundred miles up, and one is reported only a few
miles from Athabaska, less than one hundred miles from Edmonton.”
Mr. von Hamerstein, in his evidence before the select committee of the
Senate in 1907, stated that up the rivers that flow into the Mackenzie
there are large quantities of native salt thrown up. It is mostly
underground, and there seems to be a crater. The salt appears to be
close to the ground in large quantities.
[Illustration: Roman Catholic Mission at Fort Resolution.]
Mr. Keele, in the report of his explorations in 1908, states:—“Drift
lignite is found on the lower part of Gravel river, which is no doubt
derived from the Tertiary coal-bearing areas of Mackenzie basin.
Hematite occurs on Gravel river about ten miles below the mouth of Natla
river. This iron ore is coarsely laminated with red siliceous slate,
having a thickness of from fifty to one hundred feet, and is interbedded
between conglomerate and dolomite. An assay of an average sample of this
ore was made at the assay office of the Mines branch, and gave only
twenty-five per cent. of iron.”
TWO HUNDRED SQUARE MILES OF COAL.
Mr. Brock, Director of the Geological Survey, in his report for 1909,
quoted an estimate made by Mr. D. B. Dowling that the known available
coal area in Mackenzie district is two hundred square miles,
representing five hundred million tons of lignite.
Tertiary coal is known to exist in large quantities along the Arctic
coast east of the Mackenzie and in the Arctic islands. Doctor Armstrong
found it on Banks Land and Doctor Richardson mentions that “the Garry
islands, lying off the Mackenzie, contain beds of a Tertiary coal which
takes fire spontaneously on exposure to the atmosphere. Higher up the
Mackenzie, at the junction of Bear lake river, on the 65th parallel of
latitude, there is a Tertiary coal deposit of considerable extent, which
yields hand specimens entirely similiar to Garry island ones.”
In his annual report for 1911, Superintendent Saunders, D.S.O., of the
Royal Northwest Mounted Police, commanding the force in the Athabaska,
Peace and Mackenzie countries, wrote:—“Very little progress has been
made over last year in the development of the mineral resources of the
country. Three companies are boring for oil near McMurray but I cannot
ascertain that they have met with much success. No work is being done in
connection with the tar sands although very favourable reports have been
made as to their value for asphalt and street paving, probably the lack
of transportation facilities is the reason of the delay.
“From Mackenzie river sub-district I have reports of a few prospectors
in different parts, but of no success. Mr. D. F. McRae, however, who
went down the Mackenzie in 1910 and went out the same year, has returned
again with a party and well equipped outfit, consisting of a powerful
gasoline launch, three scows with provisions, two horses, etc. He and
one of the other members have their wives with them, and are wintering
near the mouth of Herschell river. The fact of his having gone back in
this manner would indicate that he has made a discovery of some kind,
the nature of which has not been disclosed, as the whole party are very
reticent.”