PROSPECTING IN CANADA

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 828, 23 November 1929, Page 11

PROSPECTING IN CANADA

MINERS’ STRUGGLES WITH GALES POLAR BEAR OUTCROP ; Tag with I-olar bears on the shores o£ Hudson Bay ami open air camp- , ing under a (JO-mile blizzard were iu- : eluded in the adventures oE a party of four prospectors who have returned to Winnipeg aCter a summer spent iu searching for minerals in the Barren Lands of Northern Canada, says a Canadian exchange correspondent at Winnipeg. They flew from Eskimo point, about 150 miles north of Churchill, to Tho l’as. making the rest of the journey to Winnipeg by train. Carl Melvin, graduate mining engineer, of Illinois University, told how the party travelled from Winnipeg to Eskimo Point, and then on May 1 started on their long trek to Ranken ! Inlet, 150 miles farther north on Hudson Bay. The trip to Ttanken Inlet was made with dog teams as there was still > snow on the ground. May was a wicked month for blizzards. At one time the winds blew with such velocity that the little party thought their camp would bo blown away. It was necessary to rustle big boulders to hold down the flaps of their tents. , The velocity of the wind was measured after it hud passed its peak and ; showed approximately 60 miles an i : hour. j The shore of Hudson Bay was prospected from Eskimo Coiut to Ranken Inlet, and while none would disclose any information regarding the results of their expedition, it was admitted that the geology was favourable to mineral occurrences. The Eskimos are last taking to the white man's ways, according to Mr. Melvin. The majority of them possess gramophones and can often be heard ■ humming popular tunes from their i newest records. Airplanes do not : scare nor surprise them now its aircraft are becoming common modes of j travel nowadays. The Eskimos have a craze for speedboats and the kayak will soou be as obsolete as the pony carriage now is in fast society, Mr. : Melvin says. D. C. K. Rurnsey, another member i of tho party, told how one of the pros- j pectors penetrated a muskeg near • Dawson Inlet, 50 miles north of ; Eskimo Point, in order to examine a . rocky ledge. Noting w hat he thought ; was a white quartz vein he decided ; ■ to go over and sample it. On near approach the “mineral outcrop - ' re-, solved itself into a group of three polar bears who showed resentment iit having their rest interrupted. The prospector promptly took to his heels. ; At Taveue Bay. 100 miles north of ! Eskimo I’oint, Dominion Explorers have established a prospecting base. A repair shop has been equipped and their airplanes work out of here. G. S. Blanchette, attached to the Depart-; meat of the Interior, has established a small experimental farm here and ; tile party noticed vegetables growing ; early in July. Demonstrating how near the Arctic j I'ircle has been brought to Winnip g» I,V the airplane, the party left Es- ' k'imo Point at three o’clock m the . afternoon and made the 660-inile hop 1 to Cranberry Portage in seven hours. .