Ontario Mineral Inventory

Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record: MDI42A01NE00019

Record: MDI42A01NE00019

General

Commodities

Primary Commodities: Gold

Secondary Commodities: Silver, Copper, Molybdenum

Location

Township or Area: Teck, Lebel

Latitude: 48° 9' 25.32"    Longitude: -80° 1' 17.18"

UTM Zone: 17    Easting: 572774   Northing: 5334217    UTM Datum: NAD83

Resident Geologist District: Kirkland Lake

NTS Grid: 42A01NE

Point Location Description: No. 3 (main) Shaft.

Location Method: AMIS Site Visit

Access Description: The Toburn Mine was the eastern-most producer of gold in the famous Kirkland Lake camp. The property straddles the Teck and Lebel Township boundaries. It is located at the east end of the Town of Kirkland Lake. The property can be accessed by traveling east from the Town of Kirkland Lake on Hwy 66.

Exploration History

Toburn Gold Mines Ltd. was incorporated in 1931 as a subsidiary of the Premier Gold Mining Co. Ltd. under the management of the American Smelting and Refining Co. Ltd. It acquired the option held by Bunker Hill Extension Mines Ltd. on the Tough-Oakes-Burnside property at the east end of the Kirkland Lake camp. Rich surface discoveries of gold were made on the Tough-Oakes claims in 1912. These claims were later amalgamated with the Burnside property to the south. Tough-Oakes-Burnside became the first producing mines in the vicinity of Kirkland Lake. The Toburn property has 4 shafts. The main opening is the No. 3 shaft, sunk to the 1,090-foot level. Long crosscuts and drifts were driven into neighbouring properties in which Toburn Gold Mines had an interest. Production by Toburn began in 1932 and was continuous until 1953 when the mine closed. (from Savage, W.S. 1964)

Geology

Province: Superior

Subprovince: Abitibi

Terrane: Wawa-Abitibi

Belt: Abitibi

Geological Age: Archean  

Geology Comments

Aug 19, 2014 (J Suma-Momoh) - The Toburn Mine is the easternmost of the seven contiguous mining properties along the ‘Main Break’ at Kirkland Lake. It covers the east end of the main syenite porphyry stock in the Kirkland Lake camp. The porphyry intrudes Timiskaming metasediments and tuffs, the latter predominating at the east end. The sediments consist of interbedded greywacke and conglomerate; greywacke is found in the southern part and changes over into coarse boulder conglomerate to the north. A narrow band of tuffs occur in the northern part of the mine workings. Other intrusives include dyke-like bodies of augite syenite (basic syenite) occurring as long, narrow dykes striking about N55°E across the central part of the mine workings; and quartz-feldspar porphyry dykes. A diabase dyke about 8 feet wide strikes in a north-south direction through the mine workings and dips about 83° W. The Toburn mine lies at the east end of the Kirkland Lake vein-fault and vein-fracture system. In passing eastward through the main syenite porphyry stock the displacement on the various branches of the Kirkland Lake fault either decreases or dies out completely. The main south branch of the Kirkland Lake fault system is the strongest and most persistent structure in the Toburn mine. It is locally called the South vein. It dips steeply South, and the south side has been thrust upward (vertically) about 350 feet. This fault is on the hanging-wall side of a fracture system about 1,500 feet in maximum width extending slightly north of east across the western part of the property. This fracture system contained most of the gold-bearing veins. It has a general southerly dip but individual breaks may range from a vertical to an almost horizontal position. The ore shoots were numerous but generally small. The widths of the veins in which all the gold values were concentrated were generally less than 8 inches. The ore bodies in the porphyry were, on the whole, wider than those in the sediments. Post-ore strike faults occur. Also present are 2 main post-ore cross faults known as the Dike fault and the O'Connell Lake fault. (Source: Gordon, J.B. et al., 1979, Savage, W.S., 1964, and Thomson, J.E. et al., 1948)

Lithology

Mineralization

Mineralization Comments

Aug 19, 2014 (J Suma-Momoh) - The veins may occupy a single fracture or occur as a series of parallel, branching, or interlocking veinlets; sometimes a vein breccia with inclusions of altered wall rock in the quartz is formed. The main vein filling is quartz. It is accompanied by a small percentage of carbonate and some disseminated sulphides. The chief metallic mineral is pyrite; chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and molybdenite occur in lesser amounts. Native gold and tellurides occur together along fractures in the quartz and are of common occurrence in the veins. The veins occur in syenite porphyry, conglomerate and greywacke, tuff, and augite syenite, although no ore has been found to date in the last-named rock. About half of the ore milled has come from veins in the porphyry, and the other half from veins in the sediments. (Source: Thomson J.E. et al., 1948) In 1912, 73.85 tons of ore from the ‘A’ Shaft and an open cut yielded 1,637 ounces of Au and 2,300 ounces of Ag. This represents the first production in the Kirkland Lake camp. In 1914-1915, 3,706 tons of ore yielded 5,524 ounces of Au and 6,634 ounces of Ag. (Source: J.B. Gordon et al., 1979, page 181)

Mineral Record Details

References

File - Resident Geologist files KL-0123, KL-2700

Publication Number: Date:

Author:

Publisher Name:

Location: Kirkland Lake RGP office

Part - Geology of the main ore zone at Kirkland Lake

Publication Number: ARV57-05.002 Page: 184-188  Date: 1998

Author: Thomson J.E., Hawley J.E., Ward W., Perry O.S., Griffin K., Charlewood G.H., Hopkins H., MacIntosh C.G., Ogrizlo S.P.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

Mono - Gold deposits of Ontario, part 2, part of District of Cochrane, districts of Muskoka, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Sudbury, Timiskaming, and counties of southern Ontario

Publication Number: MDC018 Page: 181-182  Date: 1979

Author: Gordon J.B., Lovell H.L., de Grijs J.W., Davie R.F.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Mono - Mineral resources and mining properties in the Kirkland Lake-Larder Lake area

Publication Number: MDC003 Page: 69-70  Date: 1964

Author: Savage W.S.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

Mono - Preliminary report on the Timmins-Kirkland Lake area, gold deposits file

Publication Number: OFR5467 Page: G0203  Date: 1983

Author: Hodgson C.J.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Map - Township of Teck, District of Timiskaming, Ontario

Publication Number: M1945-01 Date: 1997

Author: Thomson J.E., Hopkins H., Gerrie W., MacLean A.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

Report an Error

We are continuously updating our assessment file / technical report information. If you notice errors in the data, please contact us.

Terms of Use

Please review our Terms of Use agreement for this data product.

Ministry Contact Information

For detailed information regarding this mineral record please contact the Kirkland Lake Resident Geologist District Office