OPENED UP.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 308, 29 December 1937, Page 13

OPENED UP.

CANADA'S FAR NORTH.

EFFECT OF AIR TRANSPORT.

RICH MINERAL DEPOSITS.

EDMONTON', Canada

Just as the covered wagon and pack train of pioneer days carried the tide of civilisation westward in North America, to-day the aeroplane is opening up a new mining frontier in the Canadian north-west territories.

Tliis 'vast expanse north of the boun

claries of the Prairie Provinces embraces more than one-third of all Canada's area. Long regarded as waste land of ice and snow, this area now seems des-

tinecl to play an important part -in the economic life of the Dominion, atod for

this new development the aeroplane is responsible. Many nreas once almost inaccessible are now within a few flv-

ing hours of centres of population, and regions rich in minerals—radium, copper, gold, nickel, lead, zinc and silver— await the coming of the prospector. Die year 1929 was the turning point in the affairs of the north-west territories, when mineral explorati6n companies demonstrated that the aeroplane could be used to advantage in these northern latitudes. The rtuige of the prospector's activities had previously been restricted mainly to lands in close proximity to rivers and lakes, and little was known of the country back from navigable waters. With the advent of aerial transportation, the movement of the prospector became mow widespread, and the necessity arose for maps far more detailed than those then available. By resorting to the aeroplane and the modern science of map-making, including aerial photography, topographical and geological mapping were speeded up. Source of Radium. Previous to 19*29 the principal mineral developments in the North-West Territories wer© the location and partial de\ elopment of lead-zinc deposits near Pine Point, Great Slave Lake, and the discovery of oil at a point about 50 miles below Norman on Mackenzie River, ■ntfiere there are now two producing wells. As a result of aerial explorations carried out in 1929 oopper sulphide deposits were discovered in the area between Great Bear Lake and the Coppermine River, and this was followed by the notable discovery of pitchblendesilver deposits from which radium is obtained, at La Bine Point, on the eastern side of Great Bear Lake, in May. 1930.

In 1935 gold was discovered near the mouth of Yellowknife River and on Out-1 post Island, and also in the vicinity of TaJston River on the south shore of Great Slave Lake. In the autumn of 1936 a gold strike was reported at Gordon Lake, 50 miles north-east of Yellowknife Bay, which seems likely to rank as one of the most important finds in recent years. A nickel and cobailtbearing mineral deposit has been located a few miles east of the point where the Francois River enters the eastern arm

of Great Slave Lake, and a nickel deposit

hae also been discovered and staked on the north shore of Rankin Inlet on the ■west coast of Hudson Bay. According to recent reports Canada's northern mineral front continues to be the scene of great activity, and aerial transportation companies are busily engaged in carrying freight, supplies and men to remote areas. In most of the mining country of the North there are numerous lakes which provide suitable landing for aircraft with floats in summer and -with skis in winter.