Appendix A and B

(1894-1964) - by A. R. Byers

Dr. James Buckland Mawdsley died very suddenly on December 3, 1964, while attending a Canadian Regional Conference on Permafrost in Edmonton, Alberta.

Doctor Mawdsley was born on July 22, 1894, near Siena, Italy, the son of British-American parents. When he was 10, his family decided to move and settled at Gainsborough in southeastern Saskatchewan.

After receiving his public and high school training in Saskatchewan he entered McGill University in 1913. His career, like that of many of his contemporaries, was interrupted by the First World War. Twice wounded in France, first with the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry and then as a pilot with the Royal Flying Corps, he was awarded the M.B.E. at the close of the war. In 1919 he returned to McGill, and 2 years later he graduated in Mining Engineering (Geology Option). His summers as an undergraduate were spent working in mines at Butte, Montana; Sudbury, Ontario; and Leadville, Colorado. He continued his geological studies at Princeton University and obtained his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Geology in 1924. While at Princeton, he worked for the Geological Survey of Canada during the summers and carried out the fieldwork for his thesis, "St. Urbain area, Charlevoix District, Quebec," later published as Memoir 152 by the Geological Survey of Canada. On graduation from Princeton, he became a member of the permanent staff of the Geological Survey of Canada, and for the next 5 years, he carried out extensive fieldwork in the Noranda-Malartic and Chibougamau areas of northwestern Quebec.

A new chapter in his life began in 1929, when he accepted the appointment of Professor and Head of the Department of Geology at the University of Saskatchewan. Although at first somewhat inexperienced as a teacher, he had definite ideas about what a geologist should know and the natural ability to attract and get the best out of students. He instilled a feeling of scientific curiosity in his students and inspired them to search for truth. In 1961 he became Dean of Engineering and also the Director of the Institute for Northern Studies. He retired as Dean in 1963 and was then able to devote all his time and energy to the affairs of the Institute.

In addition to his academic duties his professional activities included fieldwork in northern Saskatchewan for the Geological Survey of Canada and the Saskatchewan Department of Mineral Resources, and private consulting assignments took him to other parts of northern Canada, to the United States and Great Britain. For several years he worked on a report dealing with the Precambrian mineral deposits of Quebec, which was later published in 1949 as part of Geological Report Number 20, volume 111, "Geology of Quebec-Economic Geology," by the Quebec Department of Mines. At the time of his death, he was engaged in writing a text on mineral deposits. His published works constitute a considerable contribution to geological science, comprising 3 memoirs and 9 preliminary reports published by the Geological Survey of Canada, 10 geological reports issued by the Saskatchewan Department of Mineral Resources, and 27 papers published in scientific journals.

He was a member of several professional and scientific societies. In 1933, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and was Chairman of Section IV for the years 1954-1955. He was President of the Geological Association of Canada during 1955-1956 and of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy from 1961-1962. In 1953 he was awarded the Institute's Barlow Memorial Medal in recognition of his paper "Uraninite-bearing deposits, Charlebois Lake area, northeastern Saskatchewan." He was a Fellow and Director of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, a Fellow of The Geological Society of America, a member of the Society of Economic Geologists, the Engineering Institute of Canada, and the Association of Professional Engineers of Saskatchewan, and a Charter Associate of the Arctic Institute of North America.

He had an eventful life, loved the outdoors, travelled widely, and met and was a friend to many people. Affectionally called "Jim" by those who knew him well and "Doc" by his students, he was equally at home among prospectors and miners, business leaders, scientists, and students. Such qualities as tact, kindliness, sincerity, and respect for the thoughts of others enabled him to present his views without arousing undue antagonism and to cooperate with others in reaching decisions.

He had considerable artistic ability, and his hobbies included photography, sketching, and painting. His lectures in stratigraphy and ore deposits were superbly illustrated by coloured pictures which he had taken in the field, and his many friends will long cherish the sketches which appeared on his Christmas cards each year.

His sudden passing brought sadness to his former students, his friends, and his geological colleagues. He was the sort of man who, if he had lived another score of years, would have found a field to absorb his energies, and a place to make continuing contributions to geology and art.

The summer of 1914, was spent mapping the geology of a band of the country of varying width lying along the north shore of Lake Athabasca. The object of the work was to study the geological problems of the country, and more particularly to examine the mineral resources of the region and to report on the mineral claims which have been staked there.

The journey to the field was made with Charles Camsell and A. G. Haultain, of the Geological Survey, Fort Chipewyan at the west end of the lake being reached on June 3. Work was begun at the east end of the area where the Carp River empties into the Stone or Black River. The work was of a reconnaissance nature, and mapping was done by ascending streams by canoe and by land traverses varying in number and length according to the importance of the country and its accessibility. The mineral claims were examined, and at several places traverses were made on the south shore to study the Athabasca sandstone and to determine if possible whether the sandstones found on the north shore could be correlated with it. Actual fieldwork in the area was completed on September 16. The journey from the field was made with Mr. Camsell's party and Edmonton was reached on October 12.

The writer wishes to make special acknowledgment to Mr. Percy Abbott, of Edmonton, who was most courteous in showing specimens of ore from his mining claims on the north shore of the lake and who also very kindly furnished a copy of the assays which he had made. Assistance in the field was rendered most efficiently by W. S. McCann.

Economic minerals found were graphite, hematite, and pyrrhotite. The graphite occurs disseminated in certain of the gneisses but not in sufficient quantities to be commercially important. It was found at various places from the Beaver River east of the Narrows.

The hematite is found in the Tazin series in the area around Beaverlodge Bay and some years ago several mining claims were staked on it. The hematite consists of bedding deposits associated with the quartzite, but there has been a great amount of secondary deposition with the formation of veins of hematite in fractures and joints in the quartzite. An analysis of the hematite showed 66.7 percent iron, but the amounts seen were entirely too small to be of economic importance.

Several claims have been staked for nickel on iron-stained outcrops which have the nature of fahlbands22 in the gneiss. In a number of these, pyrite and pyrrhotite were found but in very limited amounts. In places in the norite at the east end of the lake, pyrite and pyrrhotite are found disseminated, and along certain fracture zones there has been concentration enough to produce a prominent iron cap, but in no case was sufficient ore seen to warrant development work. Of several assays of pyrrhotite ore, only one showed nickel in workable amounts. Many of the claims staked were never recorded and of those that were, only six are now held, and on these, no development work has been done. Further prospecting, however, may lead to the discovery of something more promising than has yet been found.

(Excerpts from Alcock, 1915, p. 60-61.).

On receipt of instructions to make an examination of the region about the east end of Lake Athabaska, where discoveries of high-grade silver ore were reported to have been made recently, I left Ottawa on May 29, [1915] and proceeded by rail to Athabaska [Landing, Alberta] and thence by canoe by way of Athabaska river and lake to the trading post of Fond du Lac, the nearest point to the locality to be examined.

Fond du Lac was reached on June 27 and after a stay of two weeks during which all the localities where mineral claims had been staked were examined, the return journey was commenced on July 10. We returned by way of Peace River, but in consequence of delays due to stormy weather and the wreck of the Hudson's Bay Company's steamer, McMurray, Edmonton was not reached until August 26. The whole distance covered by rail, canoe, and steamboat from the time of leaving Edmonton until our return was approximately 2,000 miles, and the time consumed a little more than two and a half months. The district examined and that in which the mineral claims were taken up is situated on the north shore of Athabaska Lake about 20 miles east of the trading post of Fond du Lac, and extends along the shore of the lake from the mouth of Robillard River past Sucker bay and Pine Channel narrows to Camille bay. An isolated group of claims, the Paris group, lies a few miles west of Robillard River near the mouth of Grease River. The distance to the centre of this district from Athabaska, the nearest railway point, is about 650 miles by way of Athabaska River and Athabaska Lake, and as no regular passenger or freight boats are plying the whole way between these two points the traveller must find his means of transport unless he can connect with the casual trips of the fur traders who operate their steamers mainly for their convenience. My trip into the locality was made entirely by canoe, with two canoemen, but we were saved a great deal of time and hard work through the courtesy of Mr. Colin Fraser of Chipewyan who very kindly lent us a small canoe motor for the 200-mile trip down Athabaska lake.

Mineral claims were first taken up in this district in 1912 by some prospectors sent out by Lt.-Gov. G. H. V. Bulyea, and his associates, and a small amount of work was done. Other prospectors were in the same district in 1913 and 1914, but iwas not until the early part of 1915 that a wider interest was aroused by the reported discovery of high-grade silver ore, and in March prospectors began to rush in to stake claims. The influx of prospectors continued throughout the spring and early part of the summer until altogether about 150 men reached the district, nearly all of them travelling by way of the Athabasca River. By the beginning of July interest in the district began to wane because no discoveries of high-grade silver ore were being made, and at the time my party left there were not more than twenty-five prospectors remaining in it.

The reason for a further investigation this summer was the publication in many Canadian newspapers of an assay of silver ore said to have been obtained from the norite belt which yielded about $11,000 in silver to the ton. This sample of silver ore was reported to have been obtained by certain prospectors who spent the autumn of 1914 in the district and early in 1915 went out by dog teams to Edmonton.

Believing that the occurrence of this silver was similar to that of the high-grade silver ores in Cobalt, Ontario, prospectors rushed into the district with the idea of taking up mineral claims in the locality where this sample was supposed to have come from. A number went in with dog teams in March and April, and several more started from Athabaska by boat as soon as Athabaska River was free of ice. Most of these men had powers of attorney to stake claims for their friends and as a result, hundreds of claims were taken up and filed in the Dominion Lands Office at Edmonton or Fort Smith. Most of those who took up claims were not prospectors by occupation and a few of those who were familiar with the conditions under which silver occurs at Cobalt were not sufficiently impressed with the region and returned without staking anything.

My efforts were directed to finding the locality from which the high-grade silver ore was reported to have been obtained and to a general reconnaissance of a belt of country extending along the north shore of Athabaska Lake from the mouth of Grease River to Camille or Fishing Bay, a distance of about 20 miles, along which the mineral claims had been staked. The first was rather difficult because the original owner of the sample was not present in the district, and because different localities were given to me by different individuals who were supposed to know.

As a result of my investigations of the geology of the belt extending from Grease River to Camille Bay on the north shore of the lake, the following conclusions have been arrived at respecting that belt:

No evidence could be obtained that silver ore assaying $11,000 to the ton occurs anywhere in the region examined, and in my opinion, the sample that gave that assay result must have come from elsewhere and possibly from outside the district altogether.

The country rock of the district examined is mainly norite and more like the Sudbury field than that of Cobalt, and consequently shows much more evidence of being a copper and nickel-bearing rock than silver.

There is undoubted evidence of nickel and copper occurring in the norite, but from the showings on the surface, the ore bodies appear to be too small and of too low grade to be economically important at present in a region so remote from railway transportation.

Little real prospecting has been done and very little development work; and, as far as we were able to determine, no high-grade silver ore-bodies, or even bodies of copper and nickel ore such as could be worked at a profit in that region, have as yet been proven. There is, however, sufficient evidence of sulphide mineralization throughout the region embracing the north shore of Athabaska Lake to justify a hope that deposits of nickel, copper, silver, or gold ores may yet be found that would be sufficiently valuable to work.

From a mining point of view, the district is as yet unproven and there was no warrant for any excitement or stampede of prospectors into it.

Owing to the remoteness of the region, only high-grade ore deposits can be worked at present and prospectors should apply themselves to the search preferably for free milling gold quartz, or high-grade silver deposits such as those at Cobalt. There is a vast area of virgin territory on the north side of Athabaska Lake, unprospected and even unexplored, and in some of the belts of older sedimentary rocks lying in the granite or gneiss are many strong and well-defined quartz veins. Gold in small amounts has already been found in some of these quartz veins and all of the areas are worthwhile prospecting for that metal. The chances for high-grade silver deposits are not as clear as for gold, but sills of diabase do occur in the neighbourhood of the norite belt and these should always be carefully examined for calcite veins bearing native silver and the minerals usually associated with it.

So much time is consumed in getting to and from the district about Athabaska Lake that intending prospectors should make up their minds about winter in the country and the kind of man required for that work is one who can combine trapping furs during the winter with prospecting for minerals in the summer months. (Excerpts from Camsell, 1916, p. 120-126).