MINERALS 
81 
value of the superior grades, and a steady market must be found for it 
if the higher values are to be mined. The value of a ton of asbestos may 
vary from $350 to $15 according to the length of the fibre. The first 
figure represents the value of No. 1 crude, about one inch or more in 
length: the second, that of fibre 1 inch or less in length. 
The lowest grades of asbestos are made into asbestos paper, which 
is largely used in building and in making heavy mill-board which, in 
turn, is used for insulating electric switchboards. The long fibred and 
more valuable material is used in the textile trades for such purposes as 
the manufacture of fire-proof clothing, theatre curtains and other fabrics. 
The uses to which asbestos is now applied are manifold and continually 
Increasing, as for instance, gloves, aprons, garments, steam packing, 
zaskets, ropes, yarns, insulating covers, fire-proofing, shingles, etc. 
Very little of the fibre is now manufactured in Canada. Most of 
it is shipped to Europe and the United States, which now supplies the South 
American republics with asbestos products previously controlled by 
Germany. Asbestos products at present are manufactured in Canada 
mainly for building material, which utilizes only about 5 per cent of the 
total output and that of the lowest grade. There are now in the province 
three establishments that manufacture finished asbestos products. Fire- 
proof shingles and wall-board and brake lining are the chief items of 
asbestos manufacture. 
The constantly increasing uses of asbestos, and the great areas and 
depth of rock where it occurs in Quebec, will constitute one of the prov- 
ince's greatest resources for many years. Extensive diamond drilling 
and underground exploration on a large scale have shown the. existence 
of immense reserves of asbestos ores, so that the industrv has good pros- 
pects. 
Feldspar.—This mineral is extensively used in the pottery industry, 
in the manufacture of enamel glazes for tile, brick, and chinaware. It is 
also used in enamel ware, granite and sanitary ware, and in the compo- 
sition of scouring soaps. Large deposits of a particularly high grade 
have for a number of years been mined in Labelle county, along the Ligvre 
river, and important new deposits have recently been discovered in Derry 
township, near the town of Buckingham. Very large deposits of feldspar, 
of good grade, occur in various places on the north shore of the gulf of 
St. Lawrence. The production of this mineral in the province of Quebec 
is limited only by the demand. The production of feldspar in Quebec 
in 1927 was 12.730 tons valued at $104.618. 
Mineral Paints.—An industry of importance is developing in the 
making of paint materials from natural iron oxide and ochre, of which 
numerous deposits are found in the St. Lawrence valley, especially in the 
RR108 —B