1876 - 1877 ORIGINAL HANDWRITTEN MANUSCRIPT BOOK OF DETAILED METALLURGICAL ANALYSES AND ASSAYS MADE FOR A NOTED MINING COMPANY LOOKING TO EXPAND ITS OPERATIONS BOTH IN CANADA AND ABROAD

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On offer is an 1876 Metallurgical assay and analysis book of silver mining, only a few years after silver had been discovered at Silver Islet in Northwest, Ontario. The diary’s fir st page has a title: “Analyses & Assays made for the Silver Islet Mining Co. at Silver Islet, Lake Superior 1876 to 77 by Carl O. Wederkinch”. The book is true to it’s title. Throughout the handwritten book, which covers a period from November 2, 1876 to mid-1877. This book has a tremendous amount of information in it, relating to the complicated and fascinating metallurgical process of Silver mining. Wederkinch, who was at the time the lead engineer of the Silver Islet Mining Co. keeps incredibly detailed and comprehensive notes on a wide variety of topics related to his work at the Silver Islet mine. There are probably over 200 different samples assayed in the book. Silver is assayed through titration, and the calculations are often written out in full. For example: Nov. 2nd. Samples assayed for purposes of finding amount of loss that will occur in concentrating ore. No. 1: Pink spar and slate, some silver sprinkled throughout the spar nearest the slate. Ore taken = 3 A.T. = 87.498 grm. 1/20 A.T. = 34.4 = 694. Concentrations = 7.290 grm. Failings = 72.242grm. Loss = 7.966 grm or 9.1%” This is done many times, with many different types of samples, each taken from different places and described differently. On some dates, a “Diamond-drill-core is used and samples are tested for their silver content. A detailed map can be found about a quarter through the book which gives the locations of all the different samples taken. There are many, many pages where the assay calculations done on the samples are fully fleshed out. These calculations are done by titration and are very complex and incredibly interesting to those who know what is being done. Silver is commonly found in various ores such as argentite, chlorargyrite, and galena (a lead ore often containing significant amounts of silver). Galena is mentioned most often, especially when Wederkinch writes on smelting the ore into silver. The last part of the book, roughly 40 pages, appear to have been written by another person other than Wederkin. They concern a trip to Central America (Ecuador, Panama, Honduras) and what appears to be a feasibility assessment of a number of mines in that part of the world: “Loma Larga Mine. No Frills report says the ore goes averages from $90 to $100 pr. Ton. Mr. Williamson says that the ore will average from $40 to $50 pr. Ton. They have wored as much as 250 tons in a month from 3 mines and he says his ___ at one time showed an average of $50 pr. Ton. He says they had some ___ ore that was sent to England which he thinks will go near $1000 pr. ton but says of late they have not taken out any parking ore for shipment...” The date on this section is 1888. Wederkin would die in 1881 in Honduras. Also included are a number of pages on how to calculate latitude and longitude, pages on the use of a smelting furnace to extract base metals from their ore (including the financial details of the use of the furnace, i.e. cost in versus return), pages concerning the details of various metallurgical instruments (“Leffel Water Wheel,” “Riveted Iron Pipe,” “Smelting Furnace,” etc.), pages on the temperatures experienced on a multi-month trip to Honduras to test the feasibility of mining in the country. The book is in fair condition. There is an unattached front cover and no back cover. The pages are in good shape, but are not bound to each other. They are not completely loose, as they are in gatherings of 16 pages or so, but the separate gatherings are not bound to each other anymore. The book is roughly 200 pages, of which there is writing on almost every single page. The handwriting is legible and readable. (Background: Silver Islet refers to both a small rocky island and a small community located at the tip of the Sibley Peninsula in northwestern Ontario, Canada. A rich vein of pure silver was discovered on this small island in 1868 by the Montreal Mining Company. At that time, the island was approximately [50 m²] in size and only 2.5 metres above the waters of Lake Superior. In 1870, the site was developed by Alexander H. Sibley's Silver Islet Mining Company which built wooden breakwaters around the island to hold back the lake's waves and increased the island's area substantially with crushed rock. The islet was expanded to over 10 times its original size and a small mining town was built up on the shore nearby.); Manuscript; 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall; KEYWORDS: HISTORY OF, CARL O. WEDERKINCH, SILVER ISLET MINING COMPANY, SILVER ISLET, NORTHWEST ONTARIO, SILVER MINING, METALLURGICAL ASSAY BOOK, TITRATION CALCULATION, ANALYSIS OF ORE SAMPLES, SIBLEY PENINSULA, LAKE SUPERIOR, SMELTING OF ORE, CENTRAL AMERICAN SILVER MINES, RESOURCE EXTRACTION, CANADIAN SILVER RUSH, ONTARIO SILVER MINING, ALEXANDER H. SIBLEY, CANADIANA, HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, WRITERS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, MEMORIAL, ANTIQUITÉ, CONTRAT, VÉLIN, DOCUMENT, MANUSCRIT, PAPIER ANTIKE, BRIEF, PERGAMENT, DOKUMENT, MANUSKRIPT, PAPIER OGGETTO D’ANTIQUARIATO, ATTO, VELINA, DOCUMENTO, MANUSCRITTO, CARTA ANTIGÜEDAD, HECHO, VITELA, DOCUMENTO, MANUSCRITO, PAPEL Show more