Ontario Mineral Inventory

Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record: MDI000000000779

Record: MDI000000000779

General

Mineral Record Identification
Record Name(s)	Contact Bay - 1916, Rognon Shaft - 1916, Wachman Mine - 1919
Related Record Type
Related Record(s)
Record Status	Occurrence
Date Created	2010-Apr-27
Date Last Modified	2023-Aug-16
Created By
Revised By

Commodities

Primary Commodities: Gold, Molybdenum

Secondary Commodities: Silver

Location

Township or Area: Contact Bay Area

Latitude: 49° 41' 49.01" Longitude: -92° 49' 17.99"

UTM Zone: 15 Easting: 512860.997 Northing: 5504952.001 UTM Datum: NAD83

Resident Geologist District: Kenora

NTS Grid: 52F10NW

Point Location Description: Approx. 6 miles (by boat) from Dryden

Location Method: Data Compilation

Access Description: Point Location: Approx. 6 miles (by boat) from Dryden; southwest end of Wabigoon Lake; northwest side/shore of Contact Bay. Contact Bay: main vein on old claim K645/K706194 (Mo) Rognon: shaft on old claim K635/K706195 (Au) Wachman: two shafts on old claim K646 (Au, Ag) Deposit Access Description: The properties are accessible by boat from a landing on the south shore of Contact Bay which is accessible by a gravel road which extends east from Hwy. 502, 18km south of its intersection with Hwy. 594. (OGS - MRC 13, Rognon - p.177 & Wachman - p.178)

Exploration History

Contact Bay: 1916-18: mine in production. Shaft 106 feet deep with 307 feet of lateral work on 2 levels. Stripping and pitting extensive over the vein length of 1500 feet. 1983: W.J. Sovereign cleaned trenches and carried out sampling. Rognon: 1916-17: Shaft sunk to 23 feet. Minor production. 1918-19: Acquired by Contact Bay Mines Limited. Very minor production. 1919:A two-compartment shaft was deepened to 106 ft., 65 ft. of drifting was done on the 50 ft. level, and 191 ft. of drifting was done on the 100 ft. level. 1926: Bonanza United Mines Limited acquired the properties and assets of Contact Bay Mines Limited. 1936: Acquired by Northern Mines Incorporated. 1983: Staked by W. Sovereign who conducted sampling and stripping. 1986: staked by S. Johnson. Wachman: 1919-1920: No. 1 shaft sunk to 31 ft. and No. 2 shaft sunk 100 ft. by Wachman Mining and Milling Company Limited. 1923: No. 1 shaft deepened to 63 ft. and 40 ft. of drifting conducted in the No.2 shaft by Wabigoon Contact Bay Gold Mines Limited. 1925: No. 1 shaft sunk to 80 ft. 1929: possible minor production. 1935: Acquired by Northern Mines Incorporated who conducted dewatering of the shafts. sampling, and some surface work. A total of 5000 ft. of diamond drilling to a depth of 800 ft. was conducted on the vein during its history. 1987: Owned by Ms. J. Willing of Freeport. New York.

Assessment Work on File

Assessment Work on File
Office File Number	Online Assessment File Identifier	Online Assessment File Directory
Kenora Assessment File 52F10NW, SS-1 / 2.6204	52F10NW0076	52F10NW0076

Geology

Province: Superior

Geological Age: Precambrian

Geology Comments

Apr 27, 2010 (J Bongfelt) - Intermediate to basic Keewatin lavas have been intruded by a gabbro boss and a granite batholith. The gold bearing vein, cutting the lava, strikes N68°W and varies in width from 2 inches to 2 feet. The quartz in the vein is impregnated by hematite. (Kenora Historical File, F10NW00124, Rognon)

Lithology

Lithology Data
Rock Type	Rank	Composition	Relationship
Vein	1	quartz	Host
Granite	2
Diorite	3

Lithology Comments

Apr 27, 2010 (J Bongfelt) - Contact Bay (K645): The molybdenite on claim K645, Contact Bay, Wabigoon Lake, occurs at a point a few yards from the southwest corner of the claim at the contact between the Laurentian granite and the fine grained Keewatin diorite, in a quartz vein about six inches in width and about 10 feet in lenth. The vein carries, as well as plates of molybdenite, some pyrite and chalcopyrite. Another occurrence of molybdenite on this same claim is to be found immediately east, at the first point jutting out into the lake east of the Rognon camp. The molybdenite here is right at the water's edge in very small quartz stringers in the regular Keewatin diorite rock, and also to a lesser extent in the country rock itself. It occurs in very tiny flakes, and is associated with pyrite, chalcopyrite, and malachite. (Kenora Historical File, F10NW00122, Wabigoon Lake) Rognon (K635): Gold occurs along the Main Vein which strikes 108°-115° and which is controlled by a 0.5 m to 1 m wide shear zone. The vein has a strike length of approximately 1 km with the strike changing to 120° on the Wachman property to the west-northwest. The vein consists of red and rusty brown quartz containing abundant hematite, dark green chlorite, and minor magnetite and pyrite. The vein varies in width from 4 cm to 1 m, pinching and swelling along its strike length, and splitting into narrow discontinuous stringers. The extension of the vein on the Wachman property is commonly discontinuous, narrow and difficult to trace. The wall rock is chloritic. biotitic, variably silicified, carbonatized, and generally poor in sulphides. The vein has been extensively trenched along its entire strike length with pits 6 m apart and 1 m to 3 m deep. The Rognon shaft is located near the northwest corner of the claim. It is a dry shaft which has partially collapsed, with a raise opening approximately 20 m directly northwest of the shaft along the strike of the vein. (OFR 5723 - pg. 284 - Rognon Mine) Wachman (K646): The property is underlain by fine-grained, gray-green, amphibotitized. intermediate to mafic metavolcanics. The "main vein" strikes 120 º and occupies a relatively narrow shear zone, which is 0.5 m to 1.0 m wide. The vein varies in width from 4 cm to 30 cm and is commonly split into very narrow, discontinuous stringers. It consists predominantly of pink to red, rusty brown quartz, containing abundant pervasive hematite, dark green clots of chlorite, and minor amounts of euhedral pyrite and malachite. The wall rocks are chloritized, biotitic, and moderately carbonatized (calcite). The Wachman No. 1 shaft is located in the southeast corner of patented claim K.646. The shaft is filled with water and has partially collapsed. The Wachman No. 2 shaft is approximately 150 m northwest of the No. 1 shaft and is on strike with the "main quartz vein". The No.2 shaft is filled with water, and timbered. The quartz vein is very difficult to follow between the shafts due to its discontinuous nature. The geology is identical at the two shafts, except that the quartz vein at the No. 2 shaft is composed of sugary red to pink quartz containing minor blebs of chalcopyrite with abundant malachite staining. The vein was traced approximately 50 m northwest from the No. 2 shaft. (OFR 5723 - pg. 295 - Wachman Mine)

Mineralization

Mineralization and Alteration
Rank	Mineral Name	Class	Economic Mineral Type
1	Molybdenite	Economic	Ore
2	Pyrite	Economic	Ore
3	Chalcopyrite	Economic	Ore
4	Malachite	Economic	Ore
5	Hematite	Economic	Ore
6	Magnetite	Economic	Ore

Mineralization Comments

Apr 27, 2010 (J Bongfelt) - Contact Bay (K645): An assessment report including assay results on the main vein was completed by Wm J. Sovereign for work conducted on claims K706194 (K645) and K706195 (K635), June 09 - Sept. 04, 1983. Best results are recorded as follows: Channel samples = .25 & .420 oz Au/ton; Chip samples = .305 & 2.53, 2.57, 1.06 oz Au/ton; Selected samples = 0.16 % Mo. (Kenora Assessment File 52F10NW, SS-1, Contact Bay, Sovereign, Wm J.) Rognon (K635): Assays from W. Sovereign's channel and chip sampling along the length of the vein indicate that gold and silver mineralization occurs intermittently over a strike length of 240 m in the vicinity of the shaft: assay results range from trace amounts of gold to 2.57 ounces gold per ton, and 0.01 to 0.55 silver per ton, over an average width of 32 cm. (OFR 5723 - pg. 284 - Rognon Mine) Wachman (K646): The best assays from grab samples taken from around the shaft dumps by the author were <0.01 ounce gold per ton at the No.1 shaft and 0.05 ounce gold per ton and 0.13 ounce silver per ton at the No.2 shaft. A report written for Wabigoon-Contact Bay Gold Mines Limited in 1923 by L.J. Browning, a mining engineer, contains assay data from quartz vein samples taken from the two shafts. Samples taken from the No. 1 shaft assayed between 0.84 ounce gold per ton and 12.8 ounces gold per ton, while samples from the No.2 shaft assayed between 0.37 ounce gold per ton and 4.65 ounces gold per ton. Chip samples taken by Mr. Browning from quartz veins hosted by three separate "quartz-porphyry dikes" north of the shafts assayed 0.96 ounce gold per ton, 1.12 ounces gold per ton. and 0.13 ounce gold per ton across 5 ft.. (OFR 5723 - pg. 295 - Wachman Mine). 'Production 1929: 8 oz. Au & 34 oz. Ag from 34 tons = 0.24 oz. Au/ton & 1.0 oz. Ag/ton.' (OGS - MDC 16, pg.42 - Wachman Prospect)

Jul 27, 2022 (Q Unknown) - The main vein is unique on account of it's length - from Contact Bay (K645 & K635), through the Rognon (K635 - far north of claim), through the Wachman (K646) and beyond.