Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record:
MDI000000002029
| Record Name(s) | Sward Lake Amethyst - 1970, Diamond Willow Amthyst 2 - 2014, Barret Claims - 1982, Noyes South - 1967 |
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| Related Record Type | |
| Related Record(s) | |
| Record Status | Past Producing Mine With Reserves or Resources |
| Date Created | 2016-Oct-20 |
| Date Last Modified | 2022-Feb-18 |
| Created By | |
| Revised By |
Primary Commodities: Amethyst
Secondary Commodities: Copper, Lead, Zinc
Township or Area: McTavish
Latitude: 48° 40' 44.99" Longitude: -88° 40' 37.41"
UTM Zone: 16 Easting: 376552 Northing: 5393148 UTM Datum: NAD83
Resident Geologist District: Thunder Bay South
NTS Grid: 52A10NE
Point Location Description: Map in Assessment report 52A10NE2002
Location Method: Based on Assessment
Access Description: Proceed on Highway 11/ 17 to Pearl, Ontario to Road No . 5 North . After proceeding north on this road to a point just after the CPR tracks, turn left and proceed to the north northwest on this road for 1.8 km to a secondary road . Follow this road to the west northwest for 0.7 km to the 2 pits on the northeast shore of Sward Lake.
1946: Explored for base metal and amethyst mineralization by Mr. T.A. Gustafson of Thunder Bay. 1967 to 1970: Gunnard Noyes of Pearl, Ontario completed 3 pits as development work. Commonly referred to as "The Amethyst Mine". 1982-1991: Jim Barrett undertook significant excavations in the westernmost areas of the occurrence and in so doing must have connected two of Mr. Noyes' pits. The waste material from his work forms the current roadbed and shoreline adjacent to the main quarry. 2000: Tim Twomey stripped the area between the main quarry to the west and the small pit in the east. The east-central part of the vein was drilled with a Pionjar gasoline powered plugger. 2010: Bruce Clemons prospected, mapped and sampled the property relocating the Noyes pits and waste piles. 2014-2016: Brandon Leroux staked a large claim block that included the Sward Lake occurrence and completed a work program of prospecting and mechanical stripping under the project name 'Diamond Willow Amethyst 2'.
| Office File Number | Online Assessment File Identifier | Online Assessment File Directory |
|---|---|---|
| 2.20413 | 52A10NE2006 | 52A10NE2006 |
| 2.46132 | 20000005563 | 20000005563 |
| 2.57109 | 20000014299 | 20000014299 |
| 2.18292 | 52A10NE2002 | 52A10NE2002 |
| 2.22428 | 52A10NE2011 | 52A10NE2011 |
Province: Southern
Subprovince: Nipigon Basin
Formation Group: Sibley Group
Geological Age: Mesoproterozoic
Oct 20, 2016 (Andrew Tims) - The area is underlain by Proterozoic sedimentary rocks of the Sibley group; these mudstones rest unconfmmably on Archean biotite-quartz monzonite and granite. A quartz breccia zone (up to 5m wide) is exposed for some 40 metres in the bedrock exposures and trenched portions of the main pit. The breccia zone is exposed for a further 10 metres in the east pit. The zone strikes 085° and dips near vertical; the fragments are pink granite, green and mauve gneiss, and brown mudstones. Vuggy sections of this zone contain pale to dark purple amethyst c1ystals up to 2 cm at their base. The host rock is a deformed monzonite that has been foliated and partially silicified. A zone of mylonitic material is exposed in the stripped area above and to the northwest of the east pit.
| Rock Type | Rank | Composition | Texture | Relationship | Monzonite | 1 | Breccia | Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mudstone | 2 | Breccia | Adjacent |
| Rank | Mineral Name | Class | Economic Mineral Type | Alteration Mineral Type | Alteration Ranking | Alteration Intensity | Alteration Style |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amethyst | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 2 | Chalcopyrite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 3 | Galena | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 4 | Sphalerite | Economic | Ore |
Oct 20, 2016 (Andrew Tims) - Pale to dark purple amethyst is contained within the breccia zone mentioned above. Minor pyrite, chalcopyrite , galena and honeycomb sphalerite were also observed. The amethyst occurs in a granitic breccia with one face of medium purple amethyst cystals which contain black and red spheres approximately 0.5 mm in diameter. The tips of these crystals are smoky quartz and the cores are medium purple in colour. The breccia fragments are 10 cm across and consist of altered monzonite with minor subhedral pyrite grains averaging 1-2 mm in size. Matrix quartz veinlets are white with a yellow tinge in the areas immediately adjacent to granitic fragments.
| Zone | Year | Category | Tonnes | Reference | Comments | Commodities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sward Lake Amethyst Mine | 1998 | Unclassified | 333 | Assessment report 52A10NE2002 | Remaining reserves occur between the Main Pit eastward to the East Trench. These reserves are contained in two blocks totalling 37 m long by 1.8 m wide. Surface mining here to a depth of 3.1 m would be at the elevation of Sward Lake. This would excavate 333.5 tons of rock (using 17 cu. ft. per ton) of which half is estimated to be amethystine vein ore. |
| Year | Tonnes | Commodities | Reference | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 333 | Assessment report 52A10NE2002 | Production total from early 1970s to about 1985 |
Map - Geological series, McTavish Township (west part of north half), District of Thunder Bay
Publication Number: P0720 Scale: 1:15,840 Date: 1997
Author: McIlwaine W.H.
Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines and Northern Affairs
Location:
Mono - Industrial minerals of northern Ontario-supplement 1
Publication Number: OFR5388 Scale: Date: 1982
Author: Vos M.A., Abolins T., Smith V.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Mono - Amethyst in the Thunder Bay Area
Publication Number: OFR5891 Scale: Date: 1994
Author: Garland M.I.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Mono - Amethyst deposits of Ontario
Publication Number: GB05 Scale: Date: 1998
Author: Vos M.A.
Publisher Name: Ontario Division of Mines
Location:
Atlas - Sward Lake Amethyst Mine_Barret Claims, Mineral Deposit Files
Publication Number: 52ANE Scale: Date: 1997
Author: RGP Staff
Publisher Name: RGP
Location:
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