Ontario Mineral Inventory

Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record: MDI42D15SW00002

Record: MDI42D15SW00002

General

Commodities

Primary Commodities: Gold

Location

Township or Area: Syine

Latitude: 48° 51' 40.6"    Longitude: -86° 58' 54.67"

UTM Zone: 16    Easting: 501331   Northing: 5412035    UTM Datum: NAD83

Resident Geologist District: Thunder Bay South

NTS Grid: 42D15SW

Point Location Description: Adit

Location Method: Field Visit

Access Description: The Empress Mine is located about 1.2 km north of Highway 17 at a point approximately 11.7 km east of Terrace Bay in Syine Township (claim map G-634, Syine Township). A rough drill road extends from Highway 17, approximately 0.8 km to the old workings in the vicinity of the main adit.

Exploration History

1895: Gold discovered by Native prospector followed by stripping, trenching, pitting (test shafts), mill construction and bulk sampling (181.4 t); Empress Gold Mining Company. 1896: Continued pitting (test shafts), adit development and processing of ore (4 gold bricks poured, the last weighing 935.5 g); Empress Gold Mining Company. 1897: Underground development including a 127 m long tunnel which accessed the 2 main veins from a hillside and drifting ( #1 drift: 10.6 m, #2 west drift: 25 m, #3 east drift: 9.7 m and the #3 west drift:25.6 m), processing of ore; Empress Gold Mining Company. Reported production amounted to 112 oz Au from 1100 tons. Mine subsequently closed. 1899: Mine reopened, underground development including sinking of a winze (1.7 m by 2.3 m by 27.4 m deep), drifting (38.1 m), crosscutting and diamond drilling (only 2.7 m); Empress Gold Mining Company. Mine subsequently closed. 1902: Property examination; Czarina Gold Mines Co. 1921: Mine pumped out and examined; unnamed American Syndicate. 1936: Re-evaluation of mine via hydraulic stripping, detailed geological mapping, diamond drilling (11 holes totalling 2133.6 m); Empress Consolidated Gold Mines Ltd. 1937: Re-sampling of workings, re-logging and -sampling of old drill core and diamond drilling (unspecified amount); Empress Consolidated Gold Mines Ltd. It was determined that insufficient quantities of ore grade material existed to warrant continued work and operations ceased. 1974: Ground geophysical surveys (VLF-EM, MAG); R.A. MacGregor. 1978: Unspecified surface work; W. Stachiw. 1979: B. and S. Cowen drilled 1 DDH totalling 101 ft. 1982: Ground geophysical surveys (MAG, EM); Micham Exploration Inc. 1983: Airborne geophysical surveys (EM, MAG), ground geophysical survey (IP), geological mapping and trenching; Davd R. Bell Geological Services Inc. 1984: Diamond drilling (4 DDH totalling 486 m); Micham Exploration Inc. 1983, 1984, 1986: Property examination and lithogeochemical sampling; OGS Resident Geologist staff. 1998-2005: Cameo Gold Inc. acquired the property and conducted geological mapping, line cutting, sampling, an IP geophysical survey, relogging and resampling of historic drill holes, and a bulk till sampling program. 2005: Alto Ventures Ltd. acquired the property. 2008: Alto drilled 2 DDH totalling 332 m. 2012: Alto conducted sampling. 2013: Alto conducted prospecting and sampling.

Assessment Work on File

Geology

Province: Superior

Subprovince: Wawa

Terrane: Wawa-Abitibi

Belt: Schreiber-Hemlo

Geological Age: Archean  

Geology Comments

Dec 07, 2005 (D McKay) - The former Empress Mine lies in a belt of mafic to intermediate metavolcanic flows interbedded with tuffs and agglomerates. About 30.5 to 61 m south of the mine a large granitic and syenitic batholith intrudes. The metavolcanics have been altered to hornblende, chlorite, talc and sericite schists. The schistosity trends N70 degrees E and dips steeply N. A few faint pillow structures still remain. Heavily mineralized quartz stringers occur, parallel to the local schistosity, and form the two vein zones on which all the work was done (Resident Geologist's Files, Schreiber-Hemlo District, Thunder Bay). Walker (1967, p.34) described the Empress Mine as follows: The Empress Mine north of Jackfish Lake (property 3 on map 2107) was discovered in 1895 and produced gold until 1900. Native gold is found with pyrite and small amounts of other sulphides in two parallel zones of quartz veins that strike N70 degrees E, parallel to local schistosity, and dip steeply north. The zones are about 150 feet apart. The north zone averages about 2 feet in width, and was traced for more than 500 feet; the width of the main or south zone, which includes both quartz and mineralized wall rock, is up to 10 and 25 feet for ? mile along strike. The wall rock is chloritized, silicified, and carbonatized basic tuff. The granite contact is a few hundred feet to the south. The quartz stringers and veins form two distinct zones, one about 150 feet further north of the other, which outcrop on the south side of a large hill on the property (Bartley, M.W. 1939, p.38). The south zone consists of three separate veins which pinch and swell along their strike. The veins consist of stringers, bunches and veins of quartz in hornblende schist (Bow, J.A. 1898, p.81).

Lithology

Mineralization

Mineralization Comments

Dec 07, 2005 (D McKay) - The quartz contains much pyrite, some calcite, chalcopyrite, zinc blende, galena and a little native copper, but little visible gold, although some rich showings were said to have been found (Hopkins 1922, p.18). Free gold is present through the ore, and some of it is remarkably coarse. Although comparatively little work has been done on the vein, it has yielded hundreds of the finest gold specimens that have ever been produced in the district. (Blue and Slaght 1897, p.266.) Dr. A.P. Coleman in the Canadian Mining Review (1896, p.233) reported that: The ore is high in gold and is rather refractory, so that not more than 40 to 45 percent is extracted by the stamp mill, the rest being contained in the concentrates, which consist of iron and copper pyrites with some galena; never-the-less, the gold obtained by free milling methods already more than pays for the mining and milling (Resident Geologist's Files, Schreiber-Hemlo District, Thunder Bay). Ore from the former (1897) mill was taken form open cuts on the surface and the underground development work, and according to the report of Mr. J.H. Chewitt, M.E., a mill run of 825 tons (748.4 tonnes) of this ore gave a gold recovery value of $5.33 per ton with gold at $35.00 per ounce (average 0.152 ounce per ton Au). Dadson (1983, assessment files) reports that rocks from the trenches assayed up to 0.23 ounce per ton Au in the mine site area. To the east and west along the strike of the zone, lower but consistent values were obtained. Diamond drilling indicated an alteration zone 41.1 m wide and gave a 0.61 m intersection which assayed 1.29 ounces per ton Au (Northern Miner, May 10, 1984, p.3, Resident Geologist's Files, Schreiber-Hemlo District, Thunder Bay). Grab samples collected from the mine in the 1980's by OGS Resident Geologist staff returned assay values which varied from <0.01 to 1.99 opt Au, <0.10 to 0.76 opt Ag and 9 to 227 ppm Cu.

Mar 18, 2016 (Therese Pettigrew) - Results from the 2008 Alto drill program included assays of 0.66 g/t Au over 2.3 m, including 2.04 g/t Au over 0.5 m (AFRI 20000003772). Results from the 2012 Alto channel sampling program included 3.97 g/t Au over 2.8 m including 6.15 g/t au over 0.8 m in the Trench 6 area (AFRI 20000008044).

Alteration Comments

Dec 07, 2005 (D McKay) - The metavolcanics have been altered to hornblende, chlorite, talc and sericite schists. The schistosity trends N70 degrees E and dips steeply N. A few faint pillow structures still remain.

Mineral Record Details

Mineral Zones - Size and Shape

Rank: 1       Structure Type: Vein

Rank: 1       Structure Type: Vein

References

Mono - Mineral Occurrences in the Nipigon-Marathon Area, Volumes 1 and 2.

Publication Number: OFR5951 Page: 684-692  Date: 1996

Author: Schnieders B.R., Smyk M.C., Speed A.A., McKay D.B.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Map - Schreiber area, District of Thunder Bay, Ontario

Publication Number: ARM47J Scale: 1:31,680    Date: 1997

Author: Bartley M.W., Harcourt G.A.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

Map - Nipigon-Schreiber, geological compilation series, Thunder Bay District

Publication Number: M2232 Scale: 1:253,440    Date: 1973

Author: Carter M.W., McIlwaine W.H., Wisbey P.A.

Publisher Name: Ontario Division of Mines

Location:

Map - Jackfish-Middleton area, Thunder Bay District

Publication Number: M2107 Date: 1967

Author: Walker J.W.R.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

MonoMap - Geology of the Jackfish-Middleton area, District of Thunder Bay

Publication Number: R050 Date: 1997

Author: Walker J.W.R.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

Part - The northeastern part of the Schreiber area

Publication Number: ARV47-09.002 Page: 29-40  Date: 1998

Author: Bartley M.W.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

Part - General introduction

Publication Number: ARV06.001 Date: 1998

Author: Blue A.

Publisher Name: Ontario Bureau of Mines

Location:

Part - Fourth report on the west Ontario gold region

Publication Number: ARV07-02.001 Date: 1998

Author: Coleman A.P.

Publisher Name: Ontario Bureau of Mines

Location:

Part - The condition of Ontario mines

Publication Number: ARV08-01.003 Page: 29-48, 95-96  Date: 1998

Author: De Kalb C.

Publisher Name: Ontario Bureau of Mines

Location:

Part - Mines of northwest Ontario, parts 1 and 2

Publication Number: ARV10.004 Date: 1998

Author: Bow J.A., Carter W.E.H.

Publisher Name: Ontario Bureau of Mines

Location:

Publication - Summary Report on the Operations of the Geological Survey, for the year 1897; Geological Survey of Canada, Annual Report vol. 10, (1897), pt. A

Publication Number: GSC AR 10-A Page: 42-43  Date: 1898

Author: Dawson, G.M.

Publisher Name: Geological Survey of Canada

Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/293882

Publication - Summary Report on the Operations of the Geological Survey, for the Year 1898; Geological Survey of Canada, Annual Report vol. 11, (1898), pt. A

Publication Number: GSC AR 11-A Page: 121-122  Date: 1899

Author: Dawson, G.M.

Publisher Name: Geological Survey of Canada

Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/296996

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 Thunder Bay South Resident Geologist District Office