A hundred miles to the north of Cobalt is the Porcupine gold district. The gold output ranks first in value among the metals produced in Canada, and four fifths of all that is mined in the Dominion comes from the Porcupine and Kirkland Lake districts of Northern Ontario. The Hollinger mine in the Porcupine area is the largest gold mine in North America and one of the richest in the world. It began operations in 1910, and within ten years after it was opened had produced almost a hundred million dollars’ worth of gold, and had paid dividends of thirteen millions. The Hollinger shaft goes down into the earth fifteen hundred feet or more and there are about thirty miles of underground tunnels. There is no telling what minerals may not be discovered in this section of Ontario, which seems to be a part of the great mineral belt that extends from Lake Superior northward toward Hudson Bay. There is iron on the Canadian side of Lake Superior, and some of our richest mines of iron and copper are found on the western and southern shores of that lake. Petroleum, natural gas, and salt are produced in the peninsular region of the province between lakes Huron, Erie, and Ontario to the amount of more than three million dollars’ worth a year. About a hundred miles from Cobalt lies Sudbury, which has the richest nickel deposits of the whole world, and prospectors say that there are minerals all the way north to James Bay, which juts down into Canada at the lower end of Hudson Bay. [Illustration: The silver deposits around Cobalt crop out on top of the ground in veins of almost pure metal hundreds of feet long. Millions of dollars’ worth have been mined without any underground workings.] [Illustration: The prospector in northern Ontario, the richest mineral region in Canada, safeguards his claim by erecting “discovery posts” bearing his name, number of his mining license, and date of his find.] CHAPTER XVII NICKEL FOR ALL THE WORLD Canada has a nickel mine out of which has been taken so much ore that if it were put all together the pile would be larger than the National Capital at Washington. About ten million tons have already been dug from it and there are still millions left. Indeed, it is apparently inexhaustible. It is known as the Creighton, and is situated about eight miles from Sudbury in the province of Ontario not far north of Georgian Bay. The International Nickel Company of Canada, Ltd., which owns it, is the largest nickel producer in the world, and supplies most of that metal used in the United States.