Geology and Non-Metallics - Geology of the Red Lake and Woman Lake Cold Areas, Northern Ontario (with Discussion)

The district of Patricia, in the province of Ontario, lies northwest of the Albany River and extends northward to Hudson Bay. Formerly this was the unorganized district of Keewatin, the southern part of which was divided in 1912 between the provinces of Manitoba and Ontario. The interprovincial boundary now runs north from Lake of the Woods for 275 miles and thence northeast 375 miles to Hudson Bay. This district is comparable in size to all the older part of Ontario south of the Canadian Pacific Railway east of Lake Huron—thus it is roughly one-third of the whole of the present provincial area. The central part of this great triangle is one of the least accessible parts of Canada. From it streams flow southward to the English River, southeastward to the Albany, northward to Hudson Bay and the Hayes River, and westward to Lake Winnipeg. None of the streams is large and canoe travel is not easy. The only industry it has ever had is the trade in furs. Until the development of the airplane on a commercial basis, the only means of travel was by canoe or dog-train. There is not a mile of railway in the whole district. The two areas to be dealt with lie in the southwestern part of Patricia. Red Lake is 50 miles east of the Manitoba boundary and 75 miles north of the transcontinental railway from Cochrane to Winnipeg. Woman Lake is 50 miles farther east and slightly farther north. The late Dr. D. B. Dowling, of the Geological Survey of Canada, visited Red Lake and spent some time there during his exploration survey from Lac Seul to Berens River in 1893. He also visited the Woman Lake basin during the same journey, but his examination of it was much less detailed, the great area covered by him during the one field season making it impossible to make more than a hurried reconnaissance. Some prospecting in the Red Lake district followed Dowling's exploration, but the distance from railway was too great for any systematic work to be done. In 1922, following the usual plan, the Ontario Department of Mines made a geological reconnaissance of the English River, following :in instrumental survey of that river and its lakes by the Department of Lands. A side trip was taken to examine the rocks of Red Lake described