Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record:
MDI31C08NW00058
| Record Name(s) | Canadian Wollastonite St. Lawrence Deposit - 2001, US Borax - 1994, Pacific Coast - 1994 |
|---|---|
| Related Record Type | Simple |
| Record Status | Producing Mine |
| Date Created | 1994-Jun-08 |
| Date Last Modified | 2022-Jan-05 |
| Created By | Q Unknown |
| Revised By | Sheree Hinz |
Primary Commodities: Wollastonite
Secondary Commodities: Granite (Structural Material)
Township or Area: Leeds
Latitude: 44° 27' 45.45" Longitude: -76° 14' 46.93"
UTM Zone: 18 Easting: 400853 Northing: 4924013 UTM Datum: NAD83
Resident Geologist District: Southern Ontario
NTS Grid: 31C08NW
Point Location Description: General, LOT: 1 CONC: 6 LANSDOWNE, LOT: 1 CONC: 7 LANSDOWNE, LOT: 2 CONC: 6 LANSDOWNE, LOT: 2 CONC:
Location Method: Data Compilation
Access Description: From Kingston drive north on Highway 15. The deposit is located immediatley to the south of Seeley's Bay and to the east of the highway.
2001: Canadian wollastonite incorporated (private company), seeking to develop as a commercial deposit. 2004: site preparation, 3 small pits. 2006-2008: planning environmental studies, process engineering. 2009: zoning in place. 2010: testing of potential co-products specifically low iron diopside and granite host rock for high quality friction aggerate- testing successful for both. Plans to submit closure plan for phase production beginning will pilot scale plant to prove market from extremely high-grade wollastonite. 2013: Production began. 2016-2017: the company conducted research into the use of wollastonite to sequester phosphorus and heavy metals in tertiary water systems, municipal water treatment, municipal storm water management, and in multiple industrial applications. 2017-2018: the company began working with a dimension stone company to investigate the use of the ore as a high-quality polished stone for use as counter tops and tiles. 2019: the company received unanimous approval from Kingston City Council to expand the mining operations onto land within the Kingston city boundary
Province: Grenville
Subprovince: Central Metasedimentary Belt
Geological Age: Mesoproterozoic
Dec 07, 2005 (C Papertzian) - The St. Lawrence Wollastonite deposit occurs within a horseshoe shaped band of quartzite open to the east. The deposit is composed of calc-silicate and silicate skarn layers interbanded and strongly folded within the enveloping quatzite. The southern boundary of the skarn is in thermal metamorphic contact with a gabbroic intrusive which has a syenitic and late pyroxenite phase. The entire package has undergone granulite facies metamorphism. Wollastonite skarn formation is limited to the inner portion of a southwest plunging fold which closes to the west. The Wollastonite skarn zones present within this inner fold cover an area of 275 acres, of which 120 are included in the St. Lawrence deposit property. Wollastonite skarn (ca. 9.6 Mt) with an average wollastonite content of 41.3% is observed in bands averaging 12 meters folded repeatedly throughout the property. The average mineral content consistently associated with the wollastonite is: diopside/hedenbergite 40%, feldspar (predominantly albite with relatively minor microcline) 10%, quartz 5%, calcite trace <2%, sulfides (pyrrhotite and pyrite) <1% and garnet, graphite, phlogopite trace <1%. The wollastonite skarn typically grades into a calc-silicate skarn with a wollastonite content of >20% and <35% wollastonite. The decrease in wollastonite is generally accounted for by an increase in feldspar content. (from the Canadian Wollastonite website, 2002).
| Rock Type | Rank | Composition | Texture | Relationship | Terrigenous-Clastic-Unsubdivided | 1 | Quartz And Diopside Rich | Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gabbro | 2 | Near |
Jul 24, 2020 (Sheree Hinz) - The deposit lies within the Frontenac Axis in an area underlain predominantly by Precambrian carbonate and siliciclastic rocks (quartzite, paragneiss, calc-silicate rocks, and marble) which have undergone granulite-facies metamorphism. The metasedimentary rocks have been intruded by pink, coarse-grained syenitic and granitic plutons as well as by smaller granitic to gabbroic bodies and white pegmatite dikes. Since the discovery of the prospect in 1990, detailed geological mapping has indicated widespread wollastonite mineralization associated with quartz- and diposide-rich siliceous metasedimentary rocks, within an area of about 800 by 500 m along the north flank of a small gabbroic intrusion. The main wollastonite-diopside unit averages about 50-60% wollastonite.
| Rank | Mineral Name | Class | Economic Mineral Type | Alteration Mineral Type | Alteration Ranking | Alteration Intensity | Alteration Style |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wollastonite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 2 | Diopside | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 3 | Pyrite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 4 | Pyrrhotite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 5 | Quartz | Economic | Ore |
Jul 24, 2020 (Sheree Hinz) - The unit that comprises the wollastonite deposit and is a quartz-diopside-wollastonite gneiss. This unit can be divided into 3 sub-units based upon geological mapping and diamond drilling done by Pacific Coast Mines Inc., as follows: 1) wollastonite-diopside, 2) diopside-pyrite, and 3) diopside-quartz. The wollastonite-diopside unit contains up to 80% wollastonite as white, rectangular grains averaging 2 to 5 mm in length, showing fibrous cleavage striations. Diopside occurs as disseminated pale green grains, generally concentrated in diopside-rich bands. Wollastonite-rich layers containing only minor disseminated diopside are reported to be up to 30 m thick. Minor quartz, pyrite, and pyrrhotite are also present in this unit.
Date: Mar 17, 2004
Geologist: C Papertzian
Notes: Previous evaluation of the deposit by U.S. Borax identified a mineral resource calculated to be 9.6 million t with an average grade of 38.1% wollastonite. Of that total, 5.1 million t has been confirmed with a high degree of confidence (measured, indicated and drill inferred reserves) with an average block reserve grade of 41.3%. The remaining 4.5 million t was calculated through geologic inference based predominantly on surface outcrop. A grade of 34.5% assigned to the inferred reserves is based on the overall average grade of both wollastonite and adjacent calc-silicate zones. Canadian Wollastonite is now currently working on municipal zoning for the mining operation. The site was visited on July 29th at which time a new road had been constructed through the middle of the deposit in Pittsburgh township. A number of zones of Wollastonite had been intersected by the new road.
Compend - Report of Activities 1992, Resident Geologists
Publication Number: MP161 Scale: Date: 1993
Author: Fenwick K.G., Pitts A.E., Newsome J.W.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Mono - Report of Activities 2006, Resident Geologist Program, Southern Ontario Regional Resident Geologist Report: Southeastern and Southwestern Ontario Districts, Mines and Minerals Information Center and Petroleum Resources Center
Publication Number: OFR6206 Scale: Date: 2007
Author: Sangster P.J., Steele K.G., LeBaron P.S., Laidlaw D.A., Lee C.R., Carter T.R., Lazorek M.R.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Mono - Report of Activities 2013, Resident Geologist Program, Southern Ontario Regional Resident Geologist Report: Southeastern Ontario and Southwestern Ontario Districts, and Petroleum Operations
Publication Number: OFR6296 Scale: Date: 2014
Author: Sangster P.J., LeBaron P.S., Charbonneau S.J., Laidlaw D.A., Debicki R.L., Wilson A.C., Halet S.E., Carter T.R., Fortner L.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Mono - Report of Activities 2017, Resident Geologist Program, Southern Ontario Regional Resident Geologist Report: Southeastern Ontario and Southwestern Ontario Districts, and Petroleum Operations
Publication Number: OFR6341 Scale: Date: 2018
Author: Tessier A.C., LeBaron P.S., Charbonneau S.J., Laidlaw D.A., Wilson A.C., Fortner L.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
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