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Ontario Geological Survey
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MDI41I06NW00016
| Record Name(s) | Crean Hill Mine - 1905, Crean Hill No. 1 - 1884, Denison Project - 2018 |
|---|---|
| Related Record Type | Compound |
| Related Record(s) | |
| Record Status | Past Producing Mine Without Reserves or Resources |
| Date Created | 1988-Feb-16 |
| Date Last Modified | 2023-Sep-18 |
| Created By | |
| Revised By |
Primary Commodities: Copper, Nickel, Platinum Metals
Secondary Commodities: Cobalt, Gold, Iron, Selenium, Silver, Sulphur/Pyrite, Tellurium
Township or Area: Denison
Latitude: 46° 25' 44.5" Longitude: -81° 21' 3.28"
UTM Zone: 17 Easting: 473039 Northing: 5141777 UTM Datum: NAD83
Resident Geologist District: Sudbury
NTS Grid: 41I06NW
Point Location Description: shaft symbol
Location Method: AMIS Site Visit
Access Description: The Crean Hill Mine area is located approximately 20 km west of Sudbury, in the central area of Denison Township. The area is crosscut by two east to west trending main roads: the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 17) and highway 658. Approximately 4 kilometers west of Whitefish, County Road 4 (also known as Fairbank Lake Road) turns north off of Highway 17. The Crean Hill Mine area is located approximately 3 kilometers north on the Crean Hill Road turnoff to the east of Ethel Lake.
1884: The Howland occurrence on the Worthington offset in Denison township was found by Francis C. Crean. 1885: Crean formed a mine that is now called the Crean Hill Mine. 1905: The Canadian Copper Company commenced open pit and underground mining with a production rate of 305 tonnes per day (ARV16, pg. 64). 1913: The Canadian Copper Company completed the acquisition of the present mine holdings since acquiring a portion of the property back in 1889. 1914: Operations were suspended (OFR5439, p. 46). 1915: The mine reopened with production continuing to 1919. Ore was extracted at the rate of 800 tons per day (OFR5439, p. 46) 1918: The property was transferred to the International Nickel Company (Inco), in December. 1919: The mine was closed and flooded, reserves left in the mine were estimated at 3,028,000 tons (OFR5439, p.46). 1937-1938: Inco carried out an extensive diamond drilling program from surface without indications of additional ore. 1950: Inco commenced dewatering of the shaft. 1951: Underground exploration and development work continued until the end of 1962 when operations were suspended until 1964 (O.D.M. Annual Report 1962, p.99). 1964: The mine was put into production and reached a production rate of 3,000 tons per day in the latter part of the year started in April (O.D.M. Annual Review 1964, p.20). NOTE: There were no ore production from 1920 to 1963, inclusive - a period of 44 years. 1967: The open pit operation adjacent to the Crean Hill mine was brought into production in October (ARV77, p. 113). Production information from 1964 onwards is captured in Copper Cliff No. 1 (MDI41I06NE00003). 1972: Operations were suspended. 1973: The mine reopened and production resumed at a rate of 4,572 tonnes/day until June 1978 when it closed again (OFR5439 p. 47). 1974: Normal operations continued from January 1 to December 31, 1974. A total of 651,351 tonnes of ore was hoisted and shipped for milling, averaging 2,585 tonnes per working day. ASR7, p.107. 1978: Operations suspended and mine was placed on standby (OFR5439 p. 47) 1986: The mine reopened in October. 1986: Inco Limited announced that it would spend S25 million to reactivate the Crean Hill Mine as an all electric mine, and 315 million to mechanize the copper refinery tank house. (MP134, p. 263) 1987: Inco Limited's all-electric Crean Hill Mine was opened in May and production resumed (MP138, p. 315). 1998: Crean Hill faces possible closure or suspension of operations within 24 months (The Sudbury Star, December 26, 1998) (OFR5991, p. 53). 1999: The closure or suspension of operations was announced for Crean Hill in 2000 (OFR6007, p. 50) (CMH 1999-2000, p. 221). 2002: Crean Hill Mine ceased operations in June due to depleted reserves (OFR6114, p. 3) (CMH 2006-2007, p.2 35). 2007: CVRD Inco Limited became Vale Inco Limited late in 2007. Crean Hill (Ellen Pit) production is slated for 2008 (OFR6221, p. 5). 2022: Magna Mining acquired Lonmin Canada Inc, which owned the Denison Project. Magna drilled 10 DDH totalling 2022 m.
Province: Southern
Subprovince: Cobalt Basin
Supergroup: Huronian Supergroup
Formation Group: Elliot Lake Group
Geological Age: Paleoproterozoic
| Rock Type | Rank | Composition | Texture | Relationship | Amphibolite | 1 | Brecciated | Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Felsic lava flow-unsubdivided | 2 | Rhyolite | Host | |
| Quartz Arenite | 3 | Quartzite | Adjacent | |
| Quartz Diorite | 4 | Quatz Diorite | Intrudes | |
| Vein | 5 | Quartz | Intrudes | |
| Norite | 6 | Host |
| Rank | Mineral Name | Class | Economic Mineral Type | Alteration Mineral Type | Alteration Ranking | Alteration Intensity | Alteration Style |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pentlandite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 2 | Gersdorffite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 3 | Pyrrhotite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 4 | Chalcopyrite | Economic | Ore |
Nov 08, 2022 (Therese Pettigrew) - Historical production at Crean Hill was focused on the contact-style nickel-copper mineralization. More recent exploration on the property by Loncan has demonstrated the potential for high grade Pt-Pd-Au mineralization in the footwall of the contact nickel zones. Drillhole MCR-22-003 was targeting below and adjacent to historically mined stopes and confirms the mineralization continues down-dip and along strike to the southwest. The drillhole intersected approximately 70 m of footwall breccia, with local disseminated to stringer mineralization throughout. Significant assay results received to date include 3.8% Ni, 1.8% Cu, 0.5 g/t Pt+Pd+Au over 10.8 metres. In addition to the 101 FW Zone, Drillhole MCR-22-003 intersected 0.7% Ni, 0.4% Cu, 0.6 g/t Pt+Pd+Au over 30.2 metres, including 1.1% Ni, 0.6% Cu, 1.4 g/t Pt+Pd+Au over 10.5 metres within the Intermediate Zone at the base of the Sudbury Igneous Contact (SIC) (Magna Mining press release Dec 12, 2022).
| Rank | Classification |
|---|---|
| 1 | Igneous Contact |
| 1 | Magmatic |
| Rank | Characteristic |
|---|---|
| 1 | Breccia |
| Zone | Year | Category | Tonnes | Reference | Comments | Commodities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open Pit | 2022 | Inferred Mineral Resource | 434000 | Magna Mining news release Nov. 7, 2022 | 0.3% NiEq cut-off grade | Cobalt 0.02 %, Copper 0.49 %, Gold 0.07 g/t, Nickel 0.43 %, Palladium 0.14 g/t, Platinum 0.29 g/t |
| Underground | 2022 | Indicated Mineral Resource | 14531000 | Magna Mining news release Nov. 7, 2022 | 1.1% NiEq cut-off grade | Cobalt 0.03 %, Copper 0.84 %, Gold 0.54 g/t, Nickel 0.96 %, Palladium 1.02 g/t, Platinum 0.88 g/t |
| Underground | 2022 | Inferred Mineral Resource | 1170000 | Magna Mining news release Nov. 7, 2022 | 1.1% NiEq cut-off grade | Cobalt 0.02 %, Copper 0.46 %, Gold 0.21 g/t, Nickel 0.61 %, Palladium 1.09 g/t, Platinum 0.64 g/t |
| Open Pit | 2022 | Indicated Mineral Resource | 16760000 | Magna Mining news release Nov. 7, 2022 | 0.3% NiEq cut-off grade | Cobalt 0.02 %, Copper 0.49 %, Gold 0.25 g/t, Nickel 0.53 %, Palladium 0.37 g/t, Platinum 0.48 g/t |
| Year | Tonnes | Commodities | Reference | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1917 | 675623 | 744,747 tons @2.14% Ni and 2.9% Cu; ore reserves 2,000,000 tons (production to 1917) |
Map - Denison-Waters area, Sudbury District
Publication Number: M2119 Scale: 1:31,680 Date: 1967
Author: Card K.D.
Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines
Location:
Map - Sudbury mining area, Sudbury District
Publication Number: M2170 Scale: 1:63,360 Date: 1969
Author: Card K.D.
Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines
Location:
Book - INCO SUDBURY, P.1
Publication Number: NMINER Date: 1987
Author:
Publisher Name: Northern Miner Magazine
Location: Sudbury RGO
Map - Sudbury-Cobalt, geological compilation series, Algoma, Manitoulin, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Sudbury and Timiskaming districts
Publication Number: M2361 Scale: 1:253,440 Date: 1977
Author: Card K.D., Lumbers S.B.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Map - Sudbury geological compilation, Sudbury District, Sudbury Regional Municipality
Publication Number: M2491 Scale: 1:50,000 Date: 1984
Author: Dressler B.O.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Map - Denison Township, District of Sudbury
Publication Number: P0202 Scale: 1:15,840 Date: 1997
Author: Card K.D.
Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines
Location:
Map - Geological compilation series [second edition] Espanola sheet, districts of Sudbury and Manitoulin
Publication Number: P0105 Scale: 1:126,720 Date: 1997
Author: Thomson J.E.
Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines
Location:
MonoMap - Geology of the Denison-Waters area, District of Sudbury
Publication Number: R060 Page: 55-57 Date: 1968
Author: Card K.D.
Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines
Location:
Map - Compilation series, Sudbury mining area, western part, Sudbury District
Publication Number: P2602 Scale: 1:50,000 Date: 1983
Author: Dressler B.O.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Map - Geology, Sudbury bedrock compilation, Ontario
Publication Number: OF 4570 Scale: 1:50,000 Date: 2005
Author: Ames, D E; Davidson, A; Buckle, J L; Card, K D
Publisher Name: Geological Survey of Canada
Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/221501
Mono - Copper, nickel, lead and zinc deposits of Ontario
Publication Number: MDC012 Page: 268-269 Date: 1969
Author: Shklanka R.
Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines
Location:
Folio - Denison Township, District of Sudbury
Publication Number: GDIF315 Date: 1997
Author: Sudbury RGO
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Mono - Report Of The Royal Commission On The Mineral Resources Of Ontario And Measures For Their Development
Publication Number: NSP011 Page: 89 Date: 1998
Author:
Publisher Name:
Location: GeologyOntario
Mono - Report of the Royal Ontario Nickel Commission, with appendix
Publication Number: OP01 Page: 134-139 Date: 1997
Author: Holloway G.T., Miller W.G., Young M., Gibson T.W.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
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