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Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record:
MDI31F02NW00006
| Record Name(s) | Black Donald Mine - 1896 |
|---|---|
| Related Record Type | Simple |
| Related Record(s) | |
| Record Status | Past Producing Mine Without Reserves or Resources |
| Date Created | 1986-Jan-31 |
| Date Last Modified | 2022-Apr-27 |
| Created By | |
| Revised By |
Primary Commodities: Graphite
Township or Area: Brougham
Latitude: 45° 13' 28.8" Longitude: -76° 54' 49.5"
UTM Zone: 18 Easting: 349758 Northing: 5009690 UTM Datum: NAD83
Resident Geologist District: Southern Ontario
NTS Grid: 31F02NW
Point Location Description: tailings
Location Method: AMIS Site Visit
Access Description: The Black Donald site is located on the south shore of Black Donald lake, southwest of the community of Calabogie. The former mine site was flooded naturally by the Madawaska river in 1950, and then permanently flooded for the construction of the head pond of the Mountain Chute generating station in 1967. Residences exist along the shoreline of Black Donald Lake.
1889: J. Moore discovered the property. 1896-1902: Ontario Graphite Company had the mine in production. 1904: R. McConnell sunk inclined and vertical shafts. 1908-38: Black Donald Graphite Company operated the mine. 1939-44: Black Donald Graphite Company produced graphite from tailings. 1942-43: Frobisher Limited carried out diamond drilling. 1943-54: Frobisher Limited had the mine in production. 1950: Underground mining abandoned, surface mining between 1950-52. 1952: open pit was dewatered and mining continued. 1954: Mining ceased.
Province: Grenville
Subprovince: Central Metasedimentary Belt
Geological Age: Mesoproterozoic
| Rock Type | Rank | Composition | Texture | Relationship | Gneiss-Unsubdivided | 1 | Quartz-Feldspar | Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marble | 2 | Hanging Wall | ||
| Marble | 3 | Siliceous | Footwall |
May 03, 2011 (A Wilson) - The ore body forms a conformable bed within the Grenville marble-quartzite-paragneiss sequence. These rocks are cut by aplite and pegmatite dikes. Crystalline limestone and its altered equivalents make up the largest part of the sediments. Bands of quartzite and amphibolite are interbedded with the limestone. The quartzites grade from light-grey to dark-grey with increase in biotite content. These lithologies characteristically contain an abundance of pyrite and pyrrhotite which gives the rock a rusty colour on the weathered surface.
| Rank | Mineral Name | Class | Economic Mineral Type | Alteration Mineral Type | Alteration Ranking | Alteration Intensity | Alteration Style |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Graphite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 2 | Apatite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 3 | Pyrite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 4 | Pyrrhotite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 5 | Tremolite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 6 | Tourmaline | Economic | Ore |
Aug 29, 2019 (Sheree Hinz) - Flake, amorphous and crystalline graphite was produced from the mine. Most of the graphite was used for lubricant purposes. Other grades of the material were used for foundry facings, paints for iron and steel and stove polish. The ore zone at surface strikes northeasterly and dips vertically and can be traced over a strike length of about 240m. Average width of the zone is about 6 m, with a maximum width of 21 m at the northeastern end. Spence (1920) reported the average grade of the ore zone as 65% graphite, but, during the last decade of operations, the average grade was 25 to 30% graphite (Hewitt 1965). The best grade of flake graphite averaged over 98% carbon. At depth, it was discovered that the strata were folded into a small, subhorizontally oriented, S-shaped drag fold, plunging about 20% to the northeast and cut off to the west by a vertical fault. The most favourable zones within the orebody, with respect to thickness and grade, were along the limbs of the synclinal portion of the drag fold.
| Rank | Classification |
|---|---|
| 1 | Replacement |
| Rank | Characteristic |
|---|---|
| 1 | Vein |
| Year | Tonnes | Commodities | Reference | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1896 | 77244 | Graphite in Ontario. Hewitt, 1965 | Production from 1896 to 1954, entire mine life. |
Publication - Molybdenum metallurgy and uses and the occurrence, mining and concentration of its ores; Canada Mines Branch, Publication 592
Publication Number: CMB Pub 592 Page: 147 Date: 1925
Author: Eardley-Wilmot, V L
Publisher Name: Canada Mines Branch
Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/307785
Publication - Mineral Deposits in the Ottawa Valley; Geological Survey of Canada, Summary Report 1919, Part E
Publication Number: GSC SR 1919E Page: 20-30E Date: 1919
Author: Wilson, M E
Publisher Name: Geological Survey of Canada
Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/103631
Publication - Mineral Deposits in Renfrew County and Vicinity; Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 195
Publication Number: GSC Memoir 195 Page: 22-25 Date: 1936
Author: Freeman, B.C.
Publisher Name: Geological Survey of Canada
Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/100827
Part - Mineral occurrences in the Renfrew area
Publication Number: ARV53-03 Page: 43-46 Date: 1998
Author: Satterly J.
Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines
Location:
Mono - Graphite in Ontario
Publication Number: IMR020 Page: 45-56 Date: 1997
Author: Hewitt D.F.
Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines
Location:
MonoMap - Industrial minerals of the Pembroke-Renfrew area, part 2
Publication Number: MDC022 Page: 55-58 Date: 1981
Author: Storey C.C., Vos M.A.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Map - Geological series, Renfrew area, eastern part, southern Ontario
Publication Number: P1838 Scale: 1:63,360 Date: 1978
Author: Lumbers S.B., Vertolli V.M.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Part - Mines of Ontario
Publication Number: ARV33-07.002 Date: 1998
Author: Sutherland T.F., McMillan J.G., Bartlett J., Cole G.E., Webster A.R.
Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines
Location:
Map - Renfrew area, Province of Ontario
Publication Number: ARM53B Scale: 1:126,720 Date: 1998
Author: Satterly J.
Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines
Location:
Map - Precambrian Geology, Clyde Forks Area
Publication Number: P3438 Scale: 1:50,000 Date: 2001
Author: Easton R.M.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Publication - Graphite; Canada Mines Branch, Publication 511
Publication Number: CMB Pub 511 Page: 35-38 Date: 1920
Author: Spence, H.E.
Publisher Name: Geological Survey of Canada
Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/307722
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