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Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record:
MDI31C12SE00253
| Record Name(s) | Richardson - 1866, Phoenix - 1981 |
|---|---|
| Related Record Type | Simple |
| Related Record(s) | |
| Record Status | Prospect |
| Date Created | 1981-Sep-24 |
| Date Last Modified | 2024-Aug-21 |
| Created By | |
| Revised By |
Primary Commodities: Gold
Secondary Commodities: Uranium, Yttrium, Ytterbium, Neodymium, Lanthanum, Thorium
Township or Area: Madoc, Madoc
Latitude: 44° 35' 20.58" Longitude: -77° 31' 25.46"
UTM Zone: 18 Easting: 299673 Northing: 4940399 UTM Datum: NAD83
Resident Geologist District: Southern Ontario
NTS Grid: 31C12SE
Point Location Description: AMIS Site Visit
Location Method: AMIS Site Visit
Access Description: The Richardson prospect is located in the central part of Madoc township, approximately 0.3 km west of Eldorado and Hwy 62 and 300 m north of a branch of the C.P.R. line. This location is accessible on foot from Hwy 62.
1866: Mr. Powell discovered gold mineralization on the Richardson farm. 1867: A shaft was excavated on the showing to a depth of 15 feet. The mine went into production, becoming Ontario's first gold producer, though only 1384 oz of gold was mined during its operation. 1868: Property was sold to Lombard and Hardin of Chicago. The Richardson Mine proved unprofitable and soon ceased operation, but its discovery caused a substantial gold rush in the surrounding region. 1880-1882: The mine was leased & operated by the Bailey Brothers at a small scale.
Province: Grenville
Subprovince: Central Metasedimentary Belt
Domain: Grimsthorpe
Supergroup: Grenville Supergroup
Geological Age: Mesoproterozoic
| Rock Type | Rank | Composition | Texture | Relationship | Dolomite Marble | 1 | Contains |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calcite Marble | 2 | Contains | ||
| Paragneiss | 3 | Chlorite, epidote, amphibole | Massive | Near |
| Granite | 4 | Granite | Contains | |
| Skarn | 5 | Radioactive | Partially altered to ankerite | Contains |
| Schist-Unsubdivided | 6 | Pelitic metasediments, soapstone | Contains |
Aug 21, 2024 (Therese Pettigrew) - The Richardson prospect occurs in the central part of Madoc township, within part of a thick, folded sequence of marbles intercalated with minor metasedimentary and metavolcanic lenses. Hewitt's geological map (1968, Map 2154) shows the sequence of marbles bounded by Tudor metavolcanic rocks on the east and intruded by the Gawley and Deloro plutons on the west side of the township. In several areas, the Grenville series rocks are masked Ordovician outliers limestone from the north edge of the Paleozoic cover. The deposit is located in the marble sequence about 1.8 kilometres northeast of the Deloro pluton, immediately east of a very small, related intrusion. The geology of the deposit was described by Vennor (1866, p.165-67): "an irregular layer of chloritic and epidotic gneiss was overlain by a siliceous ferruginous dolomite, and underlain by a band resembling an impure steatite (talc rich rock) the whole dipping N5E L45. The seat of gold appeared to be a crevice of longitudinal ovoid from about four feet below the surface, which was filled with reddish-brown ferruginous earth, in which were scattered fragments of a black carbonaceous matter, the latter showing, when broken, small flakes or scales of the metal. The crevice seemed to be in the schist, at its junction with the dolomite, and presented an attitude conformable with the stratification." Boyle and Henry (1973, p.282) describe a mineralized sample collected by Vennor as "a dark, calc-silicate rock containing rounded masses and veinlets of a massive, black, appreciably radioactive hydrocarbon, associated with quartz .... this material is seen to contain ragged grains of gold .... and fillers and patches of szomolnokite (FeSO4, H2O). Gold is not restricted to the hydrocarbon, occurring also in quartz." "...polished sections of the Richardson fragments are seen to carry disseminated microscopic 'grains' of gold and urania (pitchblende or uraninite), and in fact are literally "shot through" with such grains." The hydrocarbon material contained 0.01 to 0.05 percent thorium and 0.01 to 0.10 percent yttrium, ytterbium, neodymium and lanthanum."
| Rank | Mineral Name | Class | Economic Mineral Type | Alteration Mineral Type | Alteration Ranking | Alteration Intensity | Alteration Style |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brannerite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 2 | Calcite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 3 | Gold | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 4 | Muscovite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 5 | Pyrite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 6 | Talc | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 7 | Thucholite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 8 | Tourmaline | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 9 | Uraninite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 10 | Pitchblende | Economic | Ore |
Dec 07, 2005 (D Laidlaw) - ALSO PRESENT: SZOMOLNOKITE.
Jul 19, 2024 (Nazha Sabiri) - A spectrochemical analysis by GSC staff showed values of 0.01 to 0.05% thorium, and 0.01 to 0.1% yttrium, ytterbium, neodymium and lanthanum. "The sample consists of two small hand specimens of a dark, calc-silicate rock containing rounded masses and veinlets of a massive, black, appreciably radioactive hydrocarbon, associated with quartz. Under the binocular microscope this material is seen to contain ragged grains of gold, that analysis shows to be remarkably pure, and films and patches of white-szomolnokite (FeSOq.H20). Gold is not restricted to the hydrocarbon, occurring also in the quartz." (Paper 73-1B, p. 282).
Aug 21, 2024 (Therese Pettigrew) - The mineralized zone was reported to occur within a seam 0.5 to 1.0 feet wide dipping 45 N. The original workings consisted of an inclined shaft 15 feet deep connected to a cavity 12 feet long, 6 feet wide and 6 feet deep (Blue 1894, p.54). About 75 to 100 ounces of gold were recovered from the deposit during the first year of operation (Young 1937, p. 13). One mineralized sample assayed 0.408 oz/ton Au (Selwyn 1890, 34R).
| Rank | Characteristic |
|---|---|
| 1 | Vein |
| Year | Tonnes | Commodities | Reference | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1868 | 1 |
Gold 1384 Ounces |
Tonnage not known. 1384 oz gold produced. |
Book - Ontario's First Gold Rush: Eldorado
Publication Number: Date: 1992
Author: Boyle, G.
Publisher Name: Natural Heritage / Natural History Inc.
Location: Tweed RGP Library
Journal - Brannerite associated with native gold at the Richardson Mine, Ontario ; The Canadian Mineralogist (1974) vol. 12, no. 5)
Publication Number: CanMin v12 Page: 360-363 Date: 1974
Author: Steacy, H.R., Plant, A.G., Boyle, R.W.
Publisher Name: Canadian Mineralogist
Location:
Publication - Gold occurrences of Ontario east of lake Superior; Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 192
Publication Number: GSC Mem 192 Page: 119 Date: 1936
Author: 119
Publisher Name: Geological Survey of Canada
Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/100824
Publication - Report of progress from 1866 to 1869
Publication Number: RepProg 1866-69 Page: 168 Date: 1870
Author:
Publisher Name: Geological Survey of Canada
Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/222878
Publication - Canadian Lode Gold areas (Summary Account); Geological Survey of Canada, Economic Geology Series 15
Publication Number: Econ Geol 15 Page: 38 Date: 1946
Author: Cookie, H.C.
Publisher Name: Geological Survey of Canada
Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/102449
Publication - An auriferous radioactive hydrocarbon from the Richardson Mine, Eldorado, Ontario; Geological Survey of Canada, Paper no. 73-1A
Publication Number: Paper 73-1A Page: 283-285 Date: 1973
Author: Boyle, R W; Steacy, H R
Publisher Name: Geological Survey of Canada
Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/105207
Part - The gold fields of Ontario
Publication Number: ARV03.002 Page: 53-55 Date: 1998
Author: Blue A.
Publisher Name: Ontario Bureau of Mines
Location:
Publication - Mineralogical notes on the uranium occurrences at South March and Eldorado, Ontario; Geological Survey of Canada, Paper no. 73-1B
Publication Number: Paper 73-1B Date: 1973
Author: Steacy, H R; Boyle, R W; Charbonneau, B W; Grasty, R L
Publisher Name: Geological Survey of Canada
Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/104912
Part - Statistical review of the mineral industry of Ontario for 1935
Publication Number: ARV45-01.001 Page: 12 Date: 1997
Author: Young A.C.
Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines
Location:
MonoMap - Geology of Madoc Township and the north part of Huntingdon Township, Hastings County
Publication Number: R073 Page: 1 Date: 1968
Author: Hewitt D.F.
Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines
Location:
Mono - Gold deposits of Ontario, part 2, part of District of Cochrane, districts of Muskoka, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Sudbury, Timiskaming, and counties of southern Ontario
Publication Number: MDC018 Page: 44 Date: 1979
Author: Gordon J.B., Lovell H.L., de Grijs J.W., Davie R.F.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Mono - Metallogeny of the Grenville Province, southeastern Ontario
Publication Number: OFR5515 Page: 104 Date: 1984
Author: Carter T.R.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
MonoMap - Base metal, molybdenum and precious metal deposits of the Madoc-Sharbot Lake area, southeastern Ontario
Publication Number: OFR5548 Page: 302-304 Date: 1985
Author: Malczak J., Carter T.R., Springer J.S.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Mono - The Precambrian-Paleozoic unconformity and related mineralization in southeastern Ontario
Publication Number: OFR5751 Page: 118 Date: 1991
Author: DiPrisco G., Springer J.S.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Publication - Reports of Dr. T. Sterry Hunt and Mr. A. Michel on the gold region of the County of Hastings
Publication Number: Sr 0403 Page: P10-11 Date: 1867
Author: Hunt, T. S. & Michel
Publisher Name: Geological Survey of Canada
Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/216061
Publication - Rocks and minerals for the collector, Hull-Maniwaki, Quebec, Ottawa-Peterborough, Ontario; Geological Survey of Canada, Miscellaneous Report 41
Publication Number: GSC MR 41 Page: 85-86 Date: 1987
Author: Sabina, A P
Publisher Name: Geological Survey of Canada
Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/122460
Mono - Report Of The Royal Commission On The Mineral Resources Of Ontario And Measures For Their Development
Publication Number: NSP011 Page: 111 Date: 1998
Author:
Publisher Name:
Location:
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