Ontario Geological Survey
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MDI41I06NW00072
| Record Name(s) | West Graham - 1980, McVittie-Graham - 1980, McVittie Property - 1980, Conwest Deposit - 1960 |
|---|---|
| Related Record Type | Simple |
| Related Record(s) | |
| Record Status | Developed Prospect Without Reported Reserves or Resources |
| Date Created | 1980-Jan-16 |
| Date Last Modified | 2022-Oct-19 |
| Created By | |
| Revised By |
Primary Commodities: Nickel, Copper
Secondary Commodities: Platinum, Palladium, Gold, Cobalt, Silver
Township or Area: Graham
Latitude: 46° 26' 6.14" Longitude: -81° 18' 24.79"
UTM Zone: 17 Easting: 476424 Northing: 5142431 UTM Datum: NAD83
Resident Geologist District: Sudbury
NTS Grid: 41I06NW
Point Location Description: AMIS trench location
Location Method: Data Compilation
1960-61: showing was discovered by Conwest. The McVittie-Graham Mining Company Ltd. drilled 6 DDH totalling 1598.13 m. 1969: Conwest drilled 21 DDH totalling 4849.06 m. 1987-88: Falconbridge carried out airborne VLF-EM and magnetometer surveys, and geological mapping. 1989: Falconbridge drilled 6 DDH totalling 7403.03 m and downhole pulse EM surveys. 2001: Landore acquired the property but did not undertake significant exploration. 2005: First Nickel Inc. optioned the property from Landore, conducted magnetometer and IP surveys, and drilled 9 DDH totalling 2564 m. 2006: First Nickel drilled 21 DDH totalling 9711 m. 2007: First Nickel drilled 21 DDH totalling 5190 m. 2008: First Nickel drilled 11 DDH totalling 4772. 5 m. 2009: First Nickel released a technical report and resource estimate, and carried out 4287 m of drilling as well as metallurgical testing. 2016: In January, Transition Metals acquired the assets of First Nickel. In May, SPC Nickel acquired 70% interest in the property from Transition Metals Corp. 2021: SPC Nickel acquired the remaining 30% interest in the property from Landore, giving SPC 100% interest in the property. 2022: SPC Nickel drilled 19 DDH.
| Office File Number | Online Assessment File Identifier | Online Assessment File Directory |
|---|---|---|
| Graham-0013-A1 | 41I06NW0031 | 41I06NW0031 |
Oct 12, 2022 (Therese Pettigrew) - The West Graham property is situated in the southwest area of the Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC) South Range. The SIC straddles the boundary between the Archean-aged Superior Geologic Province to the north and west, and the Southern Province of early Proterozoic age (Huronian) to the south and east. The Grenville Front, the northern margin of the Grenville Province, lies about 10 km to the southeast of the SIC. Superior Province rocks consist of granitic intrusives and gneisses and minor volcanic rocks of the Levack Gneiss Complex that have been dated at 2,700 Ma. These were deformed and metamorphosed at 2,640 Ma and subsequently intruded by northwest-trending Matachewan dikes. The Southern Province metavolcanic and metasedimentary formations were deposited between 2,490 Ma and 2,200 Ma and extensively intruded by sills and dikes of Nipissing Diabase circa 2,200 Ma. The SIC is an elliptical, layered intrusive body forming the walls of the Sudbury Basin that is 60 km long and 28 km wide. The SIC itself is 2.5 km to 3 km thick at surface. SIC igneous rocks dip about 35º to 45º towards the centre of the basin on the north side and up to vertical on the south. SIC rocks dip subvertically in the Graham Township area. The West Graham property itself straddles the SIC-basement contact east adjacent to the Lockerby Mine. Geologic relationships and age dating indicate an emplacement age of 1,850 Ma, subsequent to a meteor impact that caused extensive brecciation and associated contact metamorphism of the SIC footwall rocks. The original structure exceeded 150 km in diameter. Later tectonic compression, faulting and thrusting at the margins, and deep erosion have modified the structure to its present shape. More extensive thrusting in the South Range has exposed deeper portions of the SIC compared to the North and East ranges and is reflected in differences in the lithologies, mineralogies, and ore deposit metal contents (Routledge and Churchill, 2009).
| Rock Type | Rank | Composition | Texture | Relationship | Norite | 1 | Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Granite | 2 | |||
| Monzonite | 3 | Creighton Pluton | Near | |
| Gabbro | 4 |
Oct 12, 2022 (Therese Pettigrew) - The northern portion of the West Graham property straddles the contact of the lower norite unit of the SIC and the Creighton Pluton. The contact dips at 45º to 50º to the north. A discontinuous sublayer norite is exposed on the western portion of the property at the SIC contact. The sublayer unit, identified by diamond drilling, occurs above the basal contact of the SIC and is unusual in terms of both its stratigraphic location and composition. This sublayer unit contains fragments of granite and norite. The southern portion of the property is underlain by the Creighton Pluton which consists of fine-grained, porphyritic quartz monzonite. Large gabbroic xenoliths and crosscutting zones of Sudbury Breccia are common. Sudbury Breccia occurs as numerous dyke-like and irregular bodies within the granite pluton. Breccia zones vary from a few centimetres to several tens of metres in width. The Sudbury Breccia on the property is composed of a dark grey granite matrix containing fragments of granite, gabbro, amphibolite, quartz, and rarely ultramafic rocks. Some of the Sudbury Breccia contains zones of biotite, chlorite and carbonate alteration. Quartz diabase dikes varying in width between one and three metres cut all SIC and basement rocks. The dikes appear to be fault-related and trend in two directions across the property. The youngest rocks on the property, olivine diabase dikes of the Sudbury Dike Swarm, are up to 20 m wide and have extensive strike length (Routledge and Churchill, 2009).
| Rank | Mineral Name | Class | Economic Mineral Type | Alteration Mineral Type | Alteration Ranking | Alteration Intensity | Alteration Style |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pyrrhotite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 2 | Chalcopyrite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 3 | Pentlandite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 4 | Pyrite | Economic | Ore |
Oct 12, 2022 (Therese Pettigrew) - Disseminated pyrrhotite, pentlandite and chalcopyrite mineralization is exposed in outcrop and has been intersected in drill holes in the norite above the sublayer norite and the SIC contact. Drilling has confirmed the presence of both contact and hanging wall hosted nickel-copper sulphide mineralization between 45 m and 475 m vertical depth. The Conwest Zone is located 1.5 km east of the Lockerby Mine Depth Zone and approximately 500 m up dip from the East Zone. The Conwest Zone is undeveloped, whereas the East Zone down dip was developed and mined by Falconbridge above the mine grid system 2,900 m RL (1,055 m depth) on five sublevels to the 30 Level overcut. The East Zone mineralization is controlled by a nose structure of norite/sublayer in the footwall that plunges from west to east at 40º. The Conwest Zone is at the top of the nose structure where the dip begins to steepen and reverse to the south. The Conwest Zone dips an average of 53º north, “pant legs” down dip and to the east, and then occurs in parallel sheets of nickel-copper mineralization on its east side. The Conwest Zone extends from 40 m below surface to a depth of approximately 475 m. As modelled at 0.3% nickel equivalent (NiEq), the zone ranges from 1.7 m to 66 m thick and strikes for 375 m with a dip extent of up to 533 m. At depth the Conwest Zone is interpreted to be contiguous with the Lockerby Mine East Zone. Drilling has tested the Conwest Zone to the west boundary of the West Graham property where the zone continues onto the Corridor Claim held by Vale Inco. The Conwest Zone is composed of disseminated, blebby, stringer and semi-massive sulphide zones hosted entirely within the norite unit some 30 m to 100 m above the SIC-basement contact. The nickel mineralization is generally low grade, however, higher grade zones in excess of 1% Ni have been intersected within the broader envelope of disseminated sulphides. Pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, and pentlandite are the dominant sulphides within the zone. The nickel content of sulphides is 8% to 10% and is high for the Sudbury camp, reflecting the relatively pentlandite-rich nature of the sulphides. Within the resource wireframe contoured at 0.3% NiEq, the nickel in sulphide averages 8.25%. In addition to the norite, sulphide mineralization has been observed in the sublayer norite, the footwall contact of the SIC and in the granitic basement. Finely disseminated, and joint fillings of, chalcopyrite, accompanied by platinum, palladium and gold mineralization, have been intersected over narrow widths at some distance into the footwall granites. The best values assayed in the Falconbridge drilling occurred between 20 m and 60 m below the SIC-base (Routledge and Churchill, 2009). DDH WG-22-001 returned over 0.63% Ni, 0.33% Cu, 0.02% Co, 0.04 g/t Pt, 0.02 g/t Pd, 0.03 g/t Au, and 1.52 g/t Ag over 38 m including 1.07% Ni, 0.38% Cu, 0.03% Co, 0.06 g/t Pt, 0.03 g/t Pd, 0.02 g/t Au, and 1.62 g/t Ag over 10 m. DDH WG-22-012 returned 0.33% Ni, 0.28% Cu, 0.01% Co, 0.05 g/t Pt, 0.01 g/t Pd, 0.02 g/t Au, 1.57 g/t Ag over 42.48 m including 0.89% Ni, 0.17% Cu, 0.03% Co, 0.26 g/t Pt, 0.03 g/t Pd, 0.01 g/t Au, and 0.8 g/t Ag over 2 m (SPC Nickel news release Oct 11, 2022).
| Zone | Year | Category | Tonnes | Reference | Comments | Commodities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Graham | 2009 | Inferred Mineral Resource | 2000000 | 2009 NI 43-101 | Cobalt 0.01 %, Copper 0.30 %, Gold 0.04 g/t, Nickel 0.38 %, Palladium 0.03 g/t, Platinum 0.09 g/t, Silver 2.11 g/t, Sulphur/Pyrite 2.15 % | |
| West Graham | 2009 | Indicated Mineral Resource | 8550000 | 2009 NI 43-101 | Cobalt 0.01 %, Copper 0.31 %, Gold 0.03 g/t, Nickel 0.45 %, Palladium 0.02 g/t, Platinum 0.07 g/t, Silver 1.91 g/t, Sulphur/Pyrite 2.43 % | |
| Conwest | 1969 | Unclassified | 4300000 | 2009 NI 43-101 history section | Copper 0.33 %, Nickel 0.52 % |
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:
Publication - Technical Report on the West Graham Property Conwest Resource Estimate
Publication Number: 2009 NI 43-101 Date: 2009
Author: Routledge, R., Churchill, B.
Publisher Name: Scott Wilson Roscoe Postle Associates Inc. for First Nickel
Location: SEDAR
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:
Publication - Sudbury Timmins Algoma Mineral Program, Project 1: mineral inventory of the Sudbury-Timmins-Sault Ste. Marie region, Ontario
Publication Number: GSC OF 1087 Date: 1985
Author: Rose, D.G.
Publisher Name: Geological Survey of Canada
Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/129999
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-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 - Graham Township, District of Sudbury
Publication Number: P0203 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: 58 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:
Mono - Copper, nickel, lead and zinc deposits of Ontario
Publication Number: MDC012 Page: 246 Date: 1969
Author: Shklanka R.
Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines
Location:
MonoMap - Geology of the Sudbury-Manitoulin area, districts of Sudbury and Manitoulin
Publication Number: R166 Date: 1978
Author: Card K.D.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
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