Ontario Mineral Inventory

Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record: MDI42F04NE00010

Record: MDI42F04NE00010

General

Commodities

Primary Commodities: Copper, Nickel

Location

Township or Area: Roberta

Latitude: 49° 7' 44.08"    Longitude: -85° 33' 45.95"

UTM Zone: 16    Easting: 604850   Northing: 5442781    UTM Datum: NAD83

Resident Geologist District: Thunder Bay South

NTS Grid: 42F04NE

Point Location Description: Large stripped area

Location Method: Field Visit

Access Description: The Moshkinabi Lake sulphide occurrence is located in Roberta Township approximately 18 km east of Manitouwadge and 2 km southwest of Moshkinabi Lake (see Figures 7 and 8). The occurrence is accessible via motor vehicle. From Manitouwadge, proceed east along the Camp 70 logging road for approximately 4.25 km to the Twist Lake road. Proceed south and east along the Twist Lake road for approximately 14 km to the Ice Cream Lake road. Proceed east and then north along the Ice Cream Lake road for approximately 7.1 km to the vicinity of the occurrence. Sulphide mineralization is exposed in a large stripped area located approximately 5 m west of the road. A well developed rusty gossan (Gossan 1) overlies the sulphide mineralization and is markedly visible from the road. A second exposure of sulphide mineralization (Gossan 2) occurs in a stripped area located on the east side of the road approximately 250 m south-southeast of Gossan 1. This exposure is not visible from the road. An overgrown tertiary logging road provides access.

Exploration History

1964: Airborne geophysical survey (EM, MAG); Falconbridge Nickel Mines Limited. Several conductive and magnetic anomalies were discovered in the vicinity of the occurrence. 1965: Diamond drilling (7 holes totalling 751 m); Falconbridge Nickel Mines Limited. All of the holes intersected sulphide mineralization. 1967: Geological maping; J. F. Giguere (ODM). 1978: Regional lake sediment and water geochemical survey; GSC-MNR. Samples collected from lakes in the vicinity of the occurrence contained slightly anomalous amounts of Cu, Ni and Pb. 1984: Airborne geophysical survey (MAG, VLF); Aerodat Limited working on behalf of Noranda Exploration Company, Limited. Three conductive zones were discovered in the vicinity of the occurrence. 1985: Line cutting, stripping, soil geochemical sampling, geological mapping and ground geophysical surveys (HLEM, MAG); Noranda Exploration Company, Limited. No significantly anomalous concentrations of Au, Ag nor base metals were discovered. 1989: Geological mapping; H. Williams and F. Breaks (OGS). Dighem airborne geophysical survey (EM, MAG, VLF-EM); Noranda Exploration Company, Limited and Noranda Minerals Inc. (Geco Division). Line cutting, ground geophysical surveys (HLEM, GRAVITY), soil sampling and lithogeochemical sampling; Noranda Exploration Company, Limited and Noranda Minerals Inc. (Geco Division). 1991: Reconnaissance till sampling program; I.M. Kettles (GSC). Samples collected immediately south of the occurrence contained anomalous amounts of Cu. 1992: Geological mapping and lithogeochemical sampling; D.B. McKay (OGS). 2001: R. Gionet carred out a beep-mat survey and trenching. 2004: R. Gionet carried out a beep-mat survey, trenching, blasting, and sampling.

Assessment Work on File

Geology

Province: Superior

Subprovince: Wawa

Terrane: Wawa-Abitibi

Belt: Manitouwadge-Hornepayne

Geological Age: Archean  

Metamorphism Type: Regional

Metamorphism Grade: Amphibolite

Geology Comments

Dec 07, 2005 (D McKay) - The occurrence is located within the Wawa subprovince and is underlain primarily by a north-trending sequence of strongly deformed and metamorphosed, locally migmatitic, mafic metavolcanic rocks intercalated with narrow metasedimentary units including quartz-magnetite-bearing iron formation (Giguere 1972; Cooper 1985; Degagne 1990; Williams and Breaks 1990). These rocks are believed to be part of the eastern extension of the south limb of the Manitouwadge synform and have tentatively been correlated with the footwall 'Hornblende Schist Group' of the Geco Mine Series (Cooper 1985). The metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks have been intruded locally by dioritic and tonalitic sheets, anorthositic rocks, pegmatites and diabase (Giguere 1972; Cooper 1985; Williams and Breaks 1990). The supracrustal rocks are flanked to the south and west by tonalitic, dioritic and granodioritic rocks of the Black-Pic batholith (Giguere 1972; Williams and Breaks 1990). The occurrence is located along the western contact between the supracrustal sequence and the Black-Pic batholith (Williams and Breaks 1990). Mineral assemblages suggest the supracrustal rocks have experienced upper amphibolite facies-grade regional metamorphism (Williams and Breaks 1989, 1990). The supracrustal rocks hosting the occurrence have been folded into into a synformal structure termed the Moshkinabi Lake synform (Williams and Breaks 1990). The occurrence is located along the synform's north-trending limb approximately 1.5 km northwest of its axial trace (Williams and Breaks 1990). A regional-scale, north-trending fault, termed the Ice Cream Lake fault, is located approximately 750 m west of the occurrence (Giguere 1972). Several regional-scale, northwest-trending diabase dikes occur in the general vicinity of the occurrence (Giguere 1972; Williams and Breaks 1990).

Lithology

Lithology Comments

Dec 07, 2005 (D McKay) - The mafic metavolcanic rocks are typically rusty-weathering, dark green, medium- to coarse-grained, moderately foliated (350 degrees /40 degrees E), locally migmatized and 'brecciated', weakly to locally strongly magnetic,quartz-feldspar- hornblende gneisses and schists. The iron formation is typically rusty-weathering, thinly banded (3 to 5 mm wide bands), fine-grained, very hard and locally strongly magnetic.

Mineralization

Mineralization Comments

Dec 07, 2005 (D McKay) - The mafic metavolcanic rocks generally contain 5 to 10% sulphides, but concentrations of up to 30 to 40% occur locally. The sulphides consist primarily of pyrrhotite, pyrite and trace chalcopyrite. The sulphides occur as fine- to medium- grained, disseminated, subhedral grains, fracture fillings, poorly defined, narrow (2 to 3 mm wide) foliation-parallel laminae, isolated, coarse-grained euhedra and irregularly shaped patches and small pods. The sulphide-rich portions of the mineralized zone are commonly coated with a fine-grained white powder. The iron formation contains less than 1% medium-grained pyrrhotite and pyrite locallized in poorly-defined, thin (1 mm wide), band-parallel laminae. The sulphide- mineralized zone can be traced along strike (350 degrees) for at least 500 m. The width of the mineralized zone, as exposed on surface, varies from 5 to 7.5 m. Grab samples collected from the occurrence in 1992 by D.B. McKay for the OGS returned assay values which varied from nil to trace Au, nil Ag, 81 to 1178 ppm Cu, 28 to 249 ppm Ni, <10 ppm Pb and 6 to 31 ppm Zn. The mineralogic and geochemical signature of the sulphide-bearing mafic metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks in the vicinity of the occurrence is not similar to that associated with the altered rocks that host the Manitouwadge orebodies (i.e.: no garnet-orthoamphibole-sericite assemblages, Na2O depletion or Al2O3 enrichment, etc.). Extensive exploration in the area surrounding the occurrence has failed to locate any significant gold or base metal mineralization (Giguere 1972; Cooper 1985, 1986; Degagne 1990). For these reasons, the area surrounding the occurrence is not considered to have high potential for hosting, as yet undiscovered, VMS-type base metal mineralization.

Oct 31, 2019 (Therese Pettigrew) - – Sample 04-BGG-04 returned 2340 ppm Cu, 167 ppm Ni, 9.51 ppb Au, 2.04 ppb Pd, and 1.95 ppb Pt from a mafic schist with up to 10% pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite (Assessment report 42F04NE2010).

Mineral Record Details

References

File - Schreiber-Hemlo Resident Geologist Mineral Deposit Files

Publication Number: Min Dep Date:

Author:

Publisher Name:

Location: Thunder Bay RGP

Map - Granitehill Lake area, districts of Thunder Bay and Algoma

Publication Number: P0473 Scale: 1:63,360    Date: 1997

Author: Giguere J.F.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

MonoMap - Geology of the Granitehill Lake area, districts of Algoma and Thunder Bay

Publication Number: R095 Date: 1972

Author: Giguere J.F.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines and Northern Affairs

Location:

Map - Granitehill Lake area, Thunder Bay and Algoma districts

Publication Number: M2219 Scale: 1:63,360    Date: 1972

Author: Giguere J.F.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines and Northern Affairs

Location:

Mono - Mineral Occurrences in the Manitouwadge Area, Volumes 1, 2 and 3

Publication Number: OFR5906 Page: 313-326  Date: 1994

Author: McKay D.B.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Article - Geological studies in the Manitouwadge-Hornpayne area

Publication Number: MP146.014 Page: 79-91  Date: 1997

Author: Williams H.R., Breaks F.W.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Map - Geology of the Manitouwadge-Hornepayne area

Publication Number: OFM0142 Scale: 1:50,000    Date: 1990

Author: Williams H.R., Breaks F.W.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Article - Geological studies in the Manitouwadge-Hornepayne region

Publication Number: MP151.006 Page: 41-47  Date: 1997

Author: Williams H.R., Breaks F.W.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Map - Total field aeromagnetic map of the Manitouwadge greenstone belt

Publication Number: OF 2754 Scale: 1:25,000    Date: 1993

Author:

Publisher Name: Geological Survey of Canada

Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/183965

Map - Shaded relief aeromagnetic map of the Manitouwadge greenstone belt

Publication Number: OF 2755 Scale: 1:25,000    Date: 1993

Author:

Publisher Name: Geological Survey of Canada

Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/183966

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For detailed information regarding this mineral record please contact the Thunder Bay South Resident Geologist District Office