Ontario Mineral Inventory

Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record: MDI52O09SE00008

Record: MDI52O09SE00008

General

Commodities

Primary Commodities: Gold

Location

Township or Area: Tarp Lake Area

Latitude: 51° 33' 25.88"    Longitude: -90° 3' 18.22"

UTM Zone: 15    Easting: 704140   Northing: 5715900    UTM Datum: NAD83

Resident Geologist District: Thunder Bay North

NTS Grid: 52O09SE

Point Location Description: Location obtained from assessment file map in AFRO 2.32421.

Location Method: Data Compilation

Exploration History

1945: property was staked by Norpick Gold Mines Ltd. after the discovery of several narrow quartz veins containing visible gold and 4 shallow holes were drilled. 1946-47: Norpick completed linecutting, prospecting, trenching, and drilled 39 holes totalling 4500 m with the bulk of the work on the Metcalfe zone. 1958: Norpax Nickel Mines Ltd. (the successor to Norpick Gold Mines) drilled 1 DDH totalling 330 m. 1977: Dora Explorations Ltd. optioned the property. 1979: Dora Explorations carried out linecutting, a ground VLF-EM survey, and drilled 34 DDH totalling 2957 m, with 14 of the holes being on the Metcalfe Zone. 2002-03: MetalCORP Ltd. staked the property and carried out prospecting, trenching, mapping,, and channel sampling. 2004: MetalCORP carried out linecutting, prospecting, trenching, mapping, and sampling, and drilled 6 DDH totalling 2033 m. 2022: Auteco Minerals carried out sampling.

Assessment Work on File

Geology

Province: Superior

Subprovince: Uchi

Terrane: North Caribou

Domain: Uchi

Belt: Pickle Lake

Geological Age: Mesoarchean  

Geology Comments

Dec 18, 2006 (Mark Puumala) - The Tarp Lake area gold prospects and occurrences are located in the northern portion of the Pickle Lake Greenstone Belt. These occurrences are found within a mafic metavolcanic rock dominated supracrustal sequence identified by Young (2003) as being part of the > 2860 Ma Pickle Crow Assemblage. According to Young (2003), the Pickle Crow assemblage is dominated by massive and pillowed mafic metavolcanic flows with subordinate (likely synvolcanic) gabbroic sills. MacTavish (2006) describes the mafic metavolcanic flows as being commonly well-foliated to schistose, amphibolitized, and often finely-amygdaloidal. In addition, MacTavish (2006) indicates that the mafic metavolcanics include units of pillow and hyaloclastite breccia. The gabbroic sills are described by MacTavish (2006) as fine- to coarse-grained gabbro, melagabro and ferrogabbro sills up to 200 m thick. The mafic metavolcanics are intercalated with thin, laterally continuous banded iron formation and small, discontinuous lenses of intermediate to felsic metavolcanics. A significant 90 to 125 m thick northeast-trending unit of felsic to intermediate tuff breccia to pyroclastic breccia has been reported in this area by MacTavish. Relatively thin units (up to 70 m thick) of clastic metasedimentary rocks have also been reported by MacTavish (2006). All lithologies are intruded by semi-concordant feldspar porphyry dikes. These dikes are reported by MacTavish (2006) to vary widely in thickness and lateral continuity. MacTavish (2006) also indicates that all lithologies are crosscut by late biotite lamprophyre dikes that are up to 5 m in thickness. One of these dikes is reported to contain ultramafic and country rock xenoliths, red garnets and greenish diopside. Stratigraphy in the Tarp Lake area generally faces toward the northwest, except where asymmetric folding (mainly further to the southeast in the Pickle Crow mine area) has caused reversals in the younging direction (Young 2003). The dominant geological structure in the Tarp Lake area is the Tarp Lake Shear Zone. This structure strikes northeast and forms a wide, diffuse and anastamosing deformation zone that is poorly exposed and characterized (MacTavish 2006). The mafic metavolcanic rocks affected by this shear zone are characterized by moderate to intense carbonatization, sericitization and local silicification (MacTavish 2006). This alteration zone hosts the numerous gold occurrences throughout the area. Many of the more significant gold prospects appear to be located where the Tarp Lake Shear Zone is intersected by splays and/or later fault/shear zones, or relatively competent lithological units such as porphyry intrusions, gabbro and iron formation. The cross-cutting deformation zones are most commonly reported to strike approximately northwest, east-west and north-northeast. Similar complex faulting/shearing patterns have been noted nearby by MacQueen (1987) in the vicinity of the Pickle Crow gold mine, and by McAuley and Winter (1990) in the vicinity of a number of gold occurrences in the July Falls area.

Lithology

Mineralization

Mineralization Comments

Dec 18, 2006 (Mark Puumala) - The surface expression of the Metcalfe Zone is described by MacTavish (2006) as consisting of numerous narrow, boudinaged, white to pink, crack-seal quartz veins, veinlets and stringers within fine- to medium-grained melagabbro to gabbro. The host gabbro intrusion is described as a sill approximately 200 m wide, and is cross-cut by several porphyry and biotite lamprophyre dikes. Wall rock alteration in the host gabbro is reported to consist of chlorite, carbonate and weak silicification confined to an area within centimetres of the vein contacts (Potts 1992). Existing trenches indicate that the zone of quartz veining ranges from 20 to 42 m in width at surface, with quartz veins up to 20 cm thick (MacTavish 2006). The quartz veins strike between 205 and 220, and dip 54 to 82 degrees (to the northwest). Foliation in sheared, pillowed mafic volcanics south of the gabbro is reported by Potts (1992) to be oriented 060/80. The gabbro unit is referred to as a massive flow by Potts (1992), who observed that the gabbro in this area appears to have experienced brittle deformation, while the pillowed flows are sheared. Mineralization in the quartz veins consists of disseminated pyrite and occasional visible gold (MacTavish 2006). Minor chalcopyrite, carbonate and hematite, rare fuchsite and trace molybdenite have also been reported in quartz veins by Potts (1992). Metalcorp reports surface grab sample assays of up to 2232.92 g/t Au (MacTavish 2006) from the main mineralized vein. Significant diamond drilling (approximately 43 drill holes) has also been carried out on the Metcalfe Prospect by several companies since 1947. This historic work has outlined a narrow quartz vein system over a strike-length of approximately 500 m that contains sporadic high gold values (Potts 1992). Diamond drilling results for the Metcalfe vein reported by Norpick Gold Mines Ltd. in 1947 (AFRI# 52O09SE0136) included 2.15 oz/ton over 6 feet in ddh S-18, 0.47 oz/ton over 5.4 feet in ddh S-14 and 0.83 oz/ton over 6 feet in ddh S-11 (based on gold price of $35/oz). Diamond drilling of this occurrence was also completed by Norpax Nickel Mines (AFRI# 52O09SE9003) in 1958 (1.0 g/t over 1.52 m in ddh X-7) and Dora Explorations (AFRI# 52O09SE0129 and 52O09SE8999) in 1979 (up to 2.4 oz/ton over 1 foot in ddh D-2). More recent diamond drilling results reported by Metalcorp (MacTavish 2004) for the Metcalfe prospect include 0.861 g/t Au over 0.95 m in ddh PM04-03, 0.509 g/t over 1.4 m in ddh PM04-04, and 1.97 g/t over 1.45 m in ddh PM04-05. These anomalous assay values are reported to have been obtained from altered porphyry, sheared and altered gabbro and mafic metavolcanics, and quartz veins. The reported occurrence of mineralization in the mafic metavolcanics suggests that the Metcalfe zone is not confined to the gabbro intrusion. Higher assays of up to 7.5 g/t (in PM04-05) were reported by MacTavish (2004) from shorter intersections (typically 0.3 m) that included mineralized quartz veins/veinlets.

Jan 19, 2022 (Therese Pettigrew) - The bulk of the work done in 1946-47 was completed on the Metcalfe Zone and delineated a narrow quartz vein exhibiting sporadic high-grade gold values up to 73.73 gpt Au/I. 83 m (6.0 ft) over a strike-length of 518 m (1700 ft). Johnston (1947) reported that 25 Metcalfe Vein intersections averaged 0.37 opt (12.61 gpt) Au/1.17 m (3.84 ft) over a strike-length of 320 m (1050 ft) (Assessment report 20000001524). • Sampling of outcropping veins at the Metcalfe prospect returned assays of 569.0 g/t, 35.5 g/t, 27.4 g/t and 9.0 g/t gold (Auteco Minerals Oct 11, 2022 news release).

Mineral Record Details

References

Part - Pickle Lake-Crow River area, District of Kenora (Patricia Portion)

Publication Number: ARV39-02.001 Page: 26-27  Date: 1998

Author: Hurst M.E.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

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