)0 NATURAL RESOURCES OF QUEBEC 
tains about 80 per cent of water but when this is removed the residue may 
constitute a satisfactory fuel. The possibilities of the use of Canadian 
peat as fuel were exhaustively studied by a special committee, whose 
conclusions were published by the Department of Mines, Ottawa, in 1925.% 
None of the bogs in the province of Quebec are at present being 
worked. These bogs constitute a valuable reserve asset. 
Mining Laws.—The Provincial Government disposes of the mining 
rights on all Crown lands, and on private lands of which the surface rights 
nave been granted by the Government since 1880. 
To acquire mining rights on such lands, Crown lands as well as 
private, a miner’s certificate must be obtained from the Department of 
Colonization, Mines and Fisheries, at Quebec, at a cost of $10. The 
bearer of this certificate is allowed to stake five claims of 40 acres each, 
on land of which the mining rights belong to the Crown. These claims 
may be held for twelve months without payment of any dues. At the 
end of the twelve months a mining license, good for one year, must be 
taken out, for which a payment of 50 cents per acre is required, and a 
registration fee of $10. This allows the licensee to make a thorough 
prospecting of the land before buying outright. There are, however, 
certain assessment works which must be performed, viz., twenty-five days’ 
labour during the first year and twenty-five days a year thereafter on each 
forty acres. The mining license may be, renewed yearly. 
At any time after the staking of the claims, a mining concession 
covering the land may be applied for by paying $5 an acre and furnishing 
a survey, made according to the requirements of the law. A preliminary 
title of ownership is then issued, but the patent for the land is issued 
only on fulfilling the express conditions that the purchaser shall bona fide 
commence the mining of the minerals therein contained within two years 
from the date of the purchase, and that during such delay, the purchaser 
shall, in such working, spend for every section or lot of one hundred acres, 
a sum of not less than one thousand dollars. 
It is to be noticed that the mining law requires actual bona fide 
mining work, such as shaft sinking, opening of underground workings, 
adits, showing an earnest beginning of the exploitation of the mineral 
deposits before the issuance of the patents. This is in order to guard 
against land being taken up, under the provisions of the mining law. for 
purposes other than mining. 
The Quebec Bureau of Mines will supply all information relative 
to mines, mineral resources, and mining regulations of the province of 
Quebec on request addressed to the Honourable the Minister of Coloniz- 
ation, Mines and Fisheries, Quebec. 
Bent Tes Wav bo Uses by B. F. Haanel, Mines Branch. Department of Mines, Ottawa.