Ontario Mineral Inventory

Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record: MDI42F12SE00003

Record: MDI42F12SE00003

General

Commodities

Primary Commodities: Copper, Silver

Location

Township or Area: Mann Lake Area

Latitude: 49° 33' 35.78"    Longitude: -85° 43' 25.8"

UTM Zone: 16    Easting: 592290   Northing: 5490487    UTM Datum: NAD83

Resident Geologist District: Thunder Bay North

NTS Grid: 42F12SE

Point Location Description: Pits

Location Method: Field Visit

Access Description: The Taradale (South) copper-silver occurrence is located in the Upper Taradale Lake area approximately 49 km north- northeast of Manitouwadge and 5.95 km east-northeast of Stevens, a CNR railway stop. The occurrence is situated approximately 200 m south of the main line of the Canadian National Railway in the vicinity of mileage marker 55. The occurrence is accessible via motor vehicle followed by travel on foot. From Manitouwadge, travel west and then north along the Caramat Industrial Road for approximately 51.4 km to the intersection with the Stilwell Lake logging road. Proceed northeast along the Stilwell Lake logging road for approximately 9.5 km to the intersection with the main line of the Canadian National Railway. Proceed northwest along the CNR main line for approximately 2.1 km to the vicinity of mileage marker 55. Turn left, and proceed south through swampy brush for approximately 200 m to a low, northwest-trending scarp. Pits exposing copper-silver mineralization are located along, and immediately to the southwest of this scarp.

Exploration History

1954: Trenching and sampling; prospector K. Dunkley (?). Three copper-bearing veins were exposed by this work. 1965: Geological mapping; M.E. Coates (OGS). 1970: Lithogeochemical sampling; R.H. Johnson (Noranda Inc. ?). 1971: Lithogeochemical sampling (grab and channel); Seaway Copper Mines Limited. 1972: Line cutting, unspecified manual and mechanical work (stripping and trenching ?) and diamond drilling (3 holes totalling 198.12 m); Seaway Copper Mines Limited. The drilling intersected erratically-distributed copper-bearing minerals hosted within narrow quartz-carbonate veins in diabase. The best assay result indicated 0.13% Cu over 5.5 feet. 1982: Lithogeochemical sampling; Noranda Mines Limited (Geco Division). 1983: Bulk sampling (20 kg) and a metallurgical evaluation; Noranda Mines Limited (Geco Divison). 1991: Lithogeochemical sampling; D.B. McKay (OGS).

Assessment Work on File

Geology

Province: Superior

Subprovince: Wabigoon

Terrane: Eastern Wabigoon

Belt: Beardmore-Geraldton

Geological Age: Archean  

Lithology

Lithology Comments

Apr 11, 2014 (G White) - The occurrence is located within the Quetico subprovince and is underlain primarily by moderately foliated, metasedimentary migmatites and biotite granites (Coates 1968). The foliation of the rocks generally strikes east-west and is subvertical. The occurrence is spatially associated with a NW-trending, linear topographic feature referred to as the Taradale lineament (Bayne 1971). In the vicinity of the occurrence, a diabase dike has intruded along this lineament. The occurrence is situated proximal to the contact between this dike and the biotite granite migmatite located to the southwest. Copper-silver- bearing, quartz-carbonate veins have intruded the diabase, the diabase-granite contact, and the granite.

Apr 11, 2014 (D McKay) - The diabase is dark green, fine- to medium-grained, massive weakly magnetic and locally brecciated, silicified and carbonatized. The granitic rocks are massive to gneissic, medium- to very coarse-grained and locally migmatitic. The occurrence is located within the Quetico Subprovince and is underlain primarily by moderately foliated (085 degrees /subvertical), metasedimentary migmatites, biotite granite, and diabase (Coates 1968, Map 2141). The occurrence is spatially associated with a northwest-trending, linear topographic feature referred to as the Taradale lineament (Bayne 1971). In the vicinity of the occurrence, a diabase dike has intruded along this lineament. The occurrence is situated proximal to the contact between this dike and the biotite granite migmatitelocated to the southwest. The dike is truncated along its northeast margin by a 15 to 20 m high scarp and associated swamp. As a consequence, the northeastern contact of the dike not exposed. The maximum exposed width of the dike is 22 m. Copper-silver-bearing, quartz-carbonate veins have intruded the diabase, the diabase-granite contact, and the granite. Similar mineralization has occurred at the Taradale (North) copper-silver occurrence located approximately 1 km to the northwest. The occurrence consists of erratically-distributed sulphides hosted in narrow, coarse-grained quartz-carbonate veins. The veins vary in width from 5 mm to 25 cm. Several of the wider veins display a crack-seal texture defined by narrow mafic seams within the veins. Angular, mafic xenoliths of wall rock up to 1 cm in size occur proximal to some of the vein margins. The veins parallel the Taradale lineament, strike 315 to 320 degrees and dip vertically. The majority of the veins occur within the diabase. One mineralized vein was located in the contact zone between the diabase and granite gneiss. Another vein occurs within the granite gneiss itself. Individual veins display marked vertical and horizontal variations in size and degree of mineralization. The wall rock adjacent to the veins is commonly sheared and locally brecciated, silicified and carbonatized with calcite.

Mineralization

Mineralization Comments

Apr 11, 2014 (G White) - A total of 7 pits, varying in size up to 6 m long by 2 m wide by 2.5 m deep, were located on the occurrence. The pits are irregularly distributed along a 400 m zone parallel to the diabase-granite gneiss contact. Copper mineralization exposed in the pits appears to increase towards the southeast. Field observations (Coates 1968, McKay 1991) and assay results indicate the copper and silver mineralization is primarily restricted to the quartz-carbonate veins. The wall rock adjacent to the veins is commonly sheared and locally brecciated, silicified and carbonatized with calcite. The sulphide mineralization consists primarily of patches and seams of chalcopyrite upto 4 cm in width. Minor bornite, trace pyrite, malachite, and azurite occur along fracture and foliation planes within the veins and host rocks. Assays up to 12.25% copper and 4.25 ounces silver per ton (Bayne 1971) have been obtained in past sampling.

Dec 07, 2005 (D McKay) - The sulphide mineralization consists primarily of erratically distributed, coarse-grained anhedral patches and seams of chalcopyrite up to 4 cm in width. Minor amounts of bornite and trace amounts fine-grained pyrite were observed in some of the veins. Fine-grained malachite and azurite commonly occur along fracture and foliation planes within the veins and host rocks. Bayne (1971) reported the occurrence of argentite and native silver but none was observed during the present examination. The diabase may locally contain 2 to 3% fine- to medium-grained, disseminated and patchy pyrrhotite. Work done to date indicates the copper-mineralizaled zone is approximately 50 m wide and 220 m long centered along the diabase-granite gneiss contact. Channel samples taken across the width of the mineralized zone in 1971 returned a composite assay of 1.10% Cu and 0.62 ounce Ag/ton over 16.5 feet (Bayne 1971). A 20 kg bulk sample collected from the occurrence in 1982 by Noranda is reported to have contained 6.8% Cu and 2.7 ounce Ag/ton (Scott and Maissan 1983). Grab samples collected from the occurrence in 1991 by D.B. McKay for the OGS returned assay values which varied from nil to 0.002 ounce Au/ton, nil to 1.49 ounce Ag/ton, 0.0030 to 2.7900% Cu, 0.0006 to 0.0145% Zn, 0.0012 to 0.0026% Co, 0.0027 to 0.0029% Cr, 0.0030 to 0.0086% Ni and 0.0013 to 0.0025% Pb. Other copper occurrences, spatially related to northwesterly-trending lineaments intruded by diabase, occur widely distributed throughout the Quetico Subprovince north of Manitouwadge (Coates 1968, 1970). To date, the economic potential of these occurrences has been limited by their narrow widths and the erratic distribution and low grades of the mineralized zones.

Alteration Comments

Dec 07, 2005 (D McKay) - Alteration comprises quartz-carbonate veins intruded along the brecciated contact between a diabase dike and the surrounding granitic gneiss.

Mineral Record Details

References

Map - Stevens sheet, Thunder Bay District

Publication Number: M2141 Scale: 1:63,360    Date: 1967

Author: Coates M.E.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

Map - Caramat sheet, districts of Cochrane, Thunder Bay and Algoma, geological compilation series

Publication Number: P0551 Scale: 1:126,720    Date: 1997

Author: Innes D.G.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

Map - Caramat-Pagwa River sheet, geological compilation series, Algoma, Cochrane and Thunder Bay districts

Publication Number: M2202 Scale: 1:253,440    Date: 1971

Author: Innes D.G., Ayres L.D.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines and Northern Affairs

Location:

MonoMap - Geology of Stevens-Kagiano Lake area, District of Thunder Bay

Publication Number: R068 Date: 1968

Author: Coates M.E.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

Mono - Copper, nickel, lead and zinc deposits of Ontario

Publication Number: MDC012 Page: 349  Date: 1969

Author: Shklanka R.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

Mono - Mineral Occurrences in the Manitouwadge Area, Volumes 1, 2 and 3

Publication Number: OFR5906 Page: 513-523  Date: 1994

Author: McKay D.B.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

File - Mineral Deposit Files, Upper Taradlae Lake Showing

Publication Number: Min Dep Date: 1970

Author: Johnson, R.H.

Publisher Name:

Location: Thunder Bay RGO

File - Mineral Deposit Files, Cu-Ag Showing, Mann Lake Area

Publication Number: Min Dep Date: 1982

Author: Kusins, R.

Publisher Name:

Location: Thunder Bay RGO

File - Beardmore-Geraldton Resident Geologist Mineral Deposit Files, Metallurgical Evaluation of a Mineral Sample

Publication Number: Min Dep Date: 1983

Author: Scott, P.B. and Maissan, J.F.

Publisher Name:

Location: Thunder Bay RGO

Article - Schreiber-Hemlo Resident Geologist's District-1991

Publication Number: MP158.007 Page: 150  Date: 1997

Author: Schnieders B.R., Smyk M.C., McKay D.B.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

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For detailed information regarding this mineral record please contact the Thunder Bay North Resident Geologist District Office