Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-11-11
VAST BEDSOF NICKEL.
A Discovery Which Has Been Made
Just at the Proper Time.
THE MATERIAL FOR ARM0R PLATE.
Location of the Only Extensive Deposits in
North America.
WHY CAPITALISTS ARE RATHER WARY

OTTAWA, Nov. 10-Almost simultane
ouslv with the announcement of the discov'
cry that an alloy of 5 per cent Of nickel
gave immensely increased tensile strength
to steel came the announcement that practi.
cally inexhaustible beds of nickel ore had
been found in the northern part of the
Province of Ontario. The tests made OF
the new alloy indicated that it would be in
valuable for many purposes, but chiefly, fol-
the present at least, as a plating for wal
vessels.
Since that time the experiments have been
steadily going on, and always with the same
result. so far as known. The American
naval authorities have carried the expert
ments as far as they could with specimen
plates, with the result that, whether fired at
pointblank or at an angle, the nickel-steel
plates, instead of being shattered, are, at
worst, only perforated, while the projectiles
are themselves broken and destroyed by the
contact.
The practical result of these tests has
been the placing of orders with American
contractors for the manufacture of nickel
steel plates for use on the United States
war ships now under construction. 1t is
also claimed that for railway and structural
iron of every kind nickel steel is greatly
preferable to the material now in use Com
bined with this is the claim that Ontario
possesses the only extensive deposits of
nickel in North America. The result is
that nowadays no famboyant speech about
the greatness of Canada is complete without
a word picture of the nations standing at
the doors of the Dominion, like so many
tramps before city residence, begging for
nickel
The Nickel Surely There.
There can be no doubt that the nickel is
there. The locality is known generally as
the Sudbury district, because it was at Sud-
bury. the principal town of the region, that
the first important discoveries of nickel
were made Sudbury is the junction point
of'the Canadian Pacific and the $500" road,
and lies about 130 miles east of the $780,"
place better known to geographers as
Sault Ste. Marie. The town is believed to
be about the center of the nickel range,
which runs northeast and southwest from
point near Lake Huron to an indefinite
point near Sudbury. There are those who
claim that the range extends on up through
the Province of Quebec and into Labrador,
but, there being almost no facts on the SUBJ
iect, the widest latitude of opinion may
fairly be claimed.
The nickel is found associated with cop
per, iron and sulphur. The ore now being
worked contains an average of about 2 per
cent of nickel, and in the treatment the
IL,
process of separation of the nickel and cop
per being a secret, it is impossible to say
with authority whether the copper is saved
or not The indications are that, with
some of the refners, the copper also is sac
rihced in order that the nickel may be
saved. As refined nickel is worth about so
cents pound an average ton of Sudbury
ore would yield about $40, supposing the
copper to be worthless. There are some
pockets that are far richer than this, how
ever. One is found yielding 25 per cent,
and even 35 per cent, of nickel, while COM
paratively low in copper.
This ore, instead of being treated in the
district, is packed in barrels and shipped
to the refner direct. The ordinary ore is
put through couple of preliminary pro-
cesses, which get rid of the sulphur, iron
and rock, while saving the nickel and
copper. Although thousands of dollars
have been spent in experimenting and hun
dreds of thousands, if not millions. in
plants, the methods are still crude, and it is
reasonable to suppose that as the demand
grows and the world of science and industry
becomes more familiar with the metal i'm
provements will be made.
The Method of Treatment.
The ore, mined in the ordinary wav, is
crushed and spread out upon wide, low
structure of pine wood, arranged so as to
insure combustion. The wood is set on fire,
and the fire is communicated in time to the
sulphur in the ore, which is thus roasted
out almost completely. An admixture of
the roasted ore with coke is fed into an ord
mary smelter, and the liquifed mineral
which results is drained as far as possible of
clay. From this furnace the material goes
to "Bessemerizer, where a strong blast
of air driven through the mass still further
purIfes it. This last is rather new i'm
provement, so that where formerly the
matte" as the smelted product is called,
contained only 80 or 40 per cent of nickel
and copper together, it is now sent out al
most composed wholly of those metals
the peculiar circumstances gave rise to
very promising boom when the nickel was
first discovered, but there never was any
justification for it, and it has since died out,
leaving development to proceed as best it
can, which, so far, is rather slowly. The
original prospectors of the district "a man 4
of six years residence is to Sudbury what
'forty-niner" is to- California; tell amusing
stories of the difficulties first experienced
in convincing capitalists that there were
workable mineral veins of any kind in this
apparently Heaven-forgotten region.
The first discoveries were of "copper" but
difficulties were found in the treatment of
the ore which threatened for time to block
the whole industry. 1t was learned later
on that what had been deemed the very
worst feature of the ore was, in fact, that
which made it most valuable-nickel There
is reminder of the evolution of the dis
trict in the name of the principal mining
company, which was originally named the
Canadian Copper Company, and still re-
tains that name although working its mines
for nickel rather than for copper.
Discovery Of the Deposits.
1t was while the Canadian Pacific was
building that the discoveries were made
which proved the district to be rich in min
eral, and when, soon after, came the double
announcement of the new use to which
nickel could be put and the extensive beds
of ore, the Canadian Pacific Company paid
great attention to booming the place
Lands were taken up with great rapidity,
the vast majority of the holders. as in ali
such cases, being of the speculative class.
There were enough workers, however, to
give the industry good front and help the
boomers all the more
Up to this time the mining laws of Onta-
rio had been absurdly lax Spectators
were at liberty to cover a district of almost
any size with one application and hold it
for chances If genuine prospector, not
knowing of the prior application, put in a