Ontario Mineral Inventory

Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record: MDI43K07NE00001

Record: MDI43K07NE00001

General

Commodities

Primary Commodities: Iron

Location

Township or Area: Sutton Narrows Area

Latitude: 54° 24' 37.26"    Longitude: -84° 41' .55"

UTM Zone: 16    Easting: 650335.999   Northing: 6031651.005    UTM Datum: NAD83

Resident Geologist District: Timmins

NTS Grid: 43K07NE

Point Location Description: GPS location of Trench No. 1, Keevil Mining Group.

Location Method: Field Visit with GPS

Access Description: Part of the Sutton Lake Proterozoic inlier located 60 miles south of Hudson Bay coast. Access via float plane to either Sutton or Hawley Lake.

Exploration History

1905: GSC geologist D.B. Dowling - first discovery of occurrence. 1924: ODM geologist J.E. Hawley - Reconnaissance geology. 1957: M.A. Hanna Company - Property investigation, sampling, assays (on behalf of Fisher Construction). 1969: Keevil Mining Group: Geology, trenching, sampling, assays.

Assessment Work on File

Geology

Province: Trans-Hudson Orogen

Subprovince: Sutton Inlier

Geological Age: Paleoproterozoic   Geochron. Age Ref.: GSC PAPER 70-42, P.6

Geology Comments

Jun 13, 2013 (S McDonald) - Metasedimentary iron formation conformably underlying a differentiated diabase sill. The lower contact of the IF is not exposed within the vicinity of the occurrence. The iron formation has a regional dip of 5 to 8 degrees to the northeast and is known to vary from 10 to 100 feet in stratigraphic thickness through the Sutton Ridge area. The Sutton Ridge Proterozoic Inlier is a range of rounded hills reaching 550 above sea level and curving in an southeasterly tending arc concave to the northeast. The north-facing slopes dip 2 to 5 degrees to the north; steep escarpments prevail along the southern edge of the Ridge, which is two and a half miles at its widest point in the centre of the arc. The iron formation is exposed along the southern flanks of the Ridge.

Lithology

Lithology Comments

Mar 25, 2011 (D Draper) - Dull red-grey-black oxide iron formation composed of jasper (or jaspilite, as it is referred to in many references for this site) and argillite and with laminated to bedded magnetite varying from: metallic (extremely fine-grained lenses to 1/2 in. thick); to slaty (in brittle plates forming units up to a foot thick); to granular (fine-grained lenses up to 1/2 in. thick).

Mineralization

Mineralization Comments

Mar 25, 2011 (D Draper) - Assays of bulk samples taken from 5 trenches returned an average grade of 31.6% soluable iron. Samples from trenches 4 and 5 (in area of greatest exposure of IF) ranged from 29.3 to 32.8%. Highest assay obtained was 33.5% from Trench 1, located at north end of unnamed lake 250m west of Sutton Lake, 500m to SW of main occurrence. A third area of exposed IF occurs 1.5 km to the SE on the east bank of Sutton Lake, with a grab sample from this site returning 24.7%. One of the 20 samples taken by Hanna in 1957 returned 51.6% Fe. An earlier sample by Dowsley returned 68.62% Fe. Hawley noted a 2 in. wide quartz-calcite vein along the portage between Sutton and Hawley lakes carrying chalcopyrite, pyrite, bornite and minor malachite and azurite. (AR Vol 34-7, p.45).

Mineral Record Details

Site Visit Information

Date: Aug 09, 2010

Geologist: B Atkinson

Notes: Sutton Inlier Field Notes Property Visit August 9 to 12, 2010 Brian Atkinson and Pierre Bousquet August 9, 2010 Turbo beaver MNR flight with pilot Chris Kipp to Hawley Lake. Late departure due to fog in Sudbury where the aircraft originated. Loaded and set at 10:30AM. Clear flying enroute to Moosonee where we stop for the first refueling of ~ 80 litres fuel. Depart Moosonee at 12:45PM, 117 nautical miles to Attawapiskat and our second refueling stop. Weather sunny with wide spaced clouds, depart Attawapiskat at 2:20PM. 130 nautical miles to Hawley Lake. At 2200 foot flight altitude we can see the Sutton Ridge 60 miles ahead. At a point approximately 35 nautical miles south of Hawley Lake, a low ridge of outcrop may be diabase. Arrival at Hawley Lake at 3:53PM cool and high thin cloud, and misty conditions as we enter the Hudson Bay climate region. Land in river at north end of Hawley Lake at Albert Chookomolin's fishing camp. UTM NAD 83 Zone 16, 653841E, 6052488N. Arranged camp gear and groceries then took a short trek by 22 foot long freighter square stern canoe and our 15 HP motor down the lake to explore for outcrop. Examined delapitated encampment on the west side of the lake on a cobble beach with mostly Paleozoic pebbles and cobbles. 10:10PM, lights out and turn off the small Honda generator that supplies camp power. The camp is rough but equipped with electric lights and a TV with satellite antenna. It is still noticelably lighter this late at night in comparison to Timmins at this time of year due to the latitude effect.

Date: Aug 10, 2010

Geologist: B Atkinson

Notes: Field Notes August 10, 2010 continued On the east lip of the narrows between Sutton and Hawley lakes, through-going joints trend 340/80SW. These give rise to the megatalus blocks that infill the gorge and partially block it. The angular blocks of talus post date the laste episode of glaciation. Thin slatey ironstone rock outcrops at 650950E, 6032347, display sample for office. Sample Sutton 5A. Jasper-bearing samples for office from near the top of bif outcrop located at 651111E, 6031950N repeat reading on GPS 651095E, 6032222N, samples Sutton 6 and Sutton 7. These are finely oolitic jasper beds. Sample form west side of Hawley Lake at NAD 83, Zone 16, 650554E, 6032834N, Sutton 8. Clastic sediment, non magnetic. Depart narrows at 4:00PM, stop west side of lake in vicinity of high ridge outcrop. Outcrop on west side of lake is clastic sediment with much detrital magnetite - brown-black in colour. May contain minnesotaite. UTM NAD 83, Zone 16, 649981E, 6034513N, sample Sutton 9. Bedding trends 072/05N. Diabase on east side of lake across from Sample Sutton 9. Diabase sample Hawley 1 from NAD 83, Zone 16, 650246E, 6034607N from shoreline at base of 80 foot high cliff of diabase. Sample has clast of iron formation in it. Jasper bearing iron formation outcrops immediately below at NAD 83, Zone 16, 650210E, 6034659N. Camp arrival 5:30PM. GPS recheck location NAD 83, Zone 16 653980E, 6052200N. August 11, 2010 Depart camp for the narrows at 8:25AM. Arrive at the narrows at 9:20AM. One half hour to negotiate talus on the west side of Sutton Lake side of the narrows. Clear hot day after early morning light fog. Difficult passage through talus. Claim post 200 m S #1 Post 11201109 at NAD 83, Zone 16 650637E, 6032051N. Head southwest toward small lake with trenches by Keevil. Fifteen metre thick magnetite rich iron formation, fine grained black with shaley interbeds of variable thickness, individual beds up to 4 inches with thin shaley interbeds up to 2 inches (photos). Trench at NAD 83, Zone 16, 650365E, 6031673N, next trench is 25 m to the west. Insitu jasper bed at NAD 83, Zone 16, 650204E, 6031612N, elevation 99.6m ± 9m. Small blasted pit in iron formation at NAD 83, Zone 16, 650245E, 6031683N, photo 1:12PM. Keevil #1 trench at NAD 83, Zone 16, 650336E, 6031651N. Keevil 1 pit NAD 83, Zone 16, 650367E, 6031669N, sample Keevil 1. Diabase sample Hawley 10 from Sutton Narrows boat landing NAD 83, Zone 16, 650840E, 6032513N, elevation 103.4 ± 8m. 4:00PM depart Sutton narrows for camp. Note 2 jasper bands ~ 12 m below diabase contact. Twelve metres below the diabase -ironstone contact, 2 bands of japeroidal chert comprise a distinctive marker horizon with their red colouring reminiscent of a Roman wall. Stop to view shoreline Paleozoic rocks, suite of beach rubble collected at NAD 83, Zone 16, 650735E, 6038322N. Ridge to east of lakeshore is glacial till with large boulders of granite to tonalite, smaller diabase, ironstone and Paleozoic sediments in a sandy silty till matrix.

Date: Aug 11, 2010

Geologist: B Atkinson

Notes: The Sutton Inlier is a prominent topographical and geological feature in the Hudson Bay lowlands. Rising over 50 m above the peneplained Paleozoic landscape, it forms a series of northwest trending isolated hills and ridges that have been disected by prolonged erosion. In August, Brian Atkinson and Pierre Bousquet spent four days examining the geology of the Sutton Inlier. Excellent exposures of Proterozoic bedrock geology are preserved in the vicinity of Sutton Narrows, between Hawley Lake and Sutton Lake, where north-flowing drainage between the lakes has incised a picturesque, steep-sided gorge. The purpose of the visit was to view and evaluate mineral occurrences and prospects in the area, to examine the geology of the Sutton Inlier and to collect a suite of representative rocks. Specifically, iron ore prospects on the north end of Sutton Lake were of interest. Other potentially economic minerals were sought, including: i) Cobalt camp style silver veins beneath diabase in Proterozoic sediments. ii) Iron Oxide Copper Gold mineralization. iii) Mamainse Point (Coppercore) and Umiujaq (QC) style high grade chalcocite mineralization. iv) Unconformity related, sandstone-hosted uranium mineralization. v) Volcano- genic massive sulphide mineralization. vi) Ni-Cu-PGE mineralization. vii) Gold. Access The Sutton Inlier is 700 km northwest of Timmins; the only practical access is by aircraft. Sutton Lake and Hawley Lake provide unrestricted boat access over a 60 km distance, except for the impassable gorge between the lakes where a 400 m long portage on the east side of Sutton Narrows bypasses the dangerous cliffs and large blocky talus. Canoe navigation is possible for 100 km north from Hawley Lake to the mouth of Sutton River at Hudson Bay. Previous Work The earliest published work in the area was completed by Dowling (1904) who reported on the Ekwan River, Sutton Mill Lakes area. Sutton Lakes area was the subject of geological investigation and a report by Hawley (1926) (Figure 10), completed as part of the evaluation of iron deposits and search for silver deposits for the Nipissing Mining Company. Bostock (1971) carried out reconnaissance mapping and limited sampling in the area and presented a stratigraphic profile for the Proterozoic rocks of the Sutton Inlier. Barnett and Yeung (2009) and Stott et al. (2010) completed reconnaissance investigations in the Sutton Lake area as part of the Far North Terrain Mapping initiative of the Ontario Geological Survey. As part of that work, bedrock samples were collected for geochronology, paleomagnetic properties and lithogeochemical analyses. Iron ore prospects on the north end of Sutton Lake were trenched and sampled in 1957 by The M.A. Hanna Company and by Keevil Mining Group in 1969. The results of the 1957 work included an estimated resource of iron ore of less than 5 million tons open pit and greater than 100 million tons underground at 30% recoverable iron. Table 30 indicates the results of twenty samples collected from 3 trenches excavated on the iron formation by The M.A. Hanna Company in 1957 (Boerner 1957). In June 2006, a number of claims were staked in the Sutton Narrows area by Polar Bear Explorations Inc., including a block of 4 claims on the west side of the Sutton Narrows, but no work has been filed to date. Table. Assay results from trench samples at Sutton Lake by The M.A. Hanna Company in 1957 (Boerner 1957). Element Lowest value % Highest value % Average % Fe 10.3 51.6 30.4 S 0.05 0.10 N.A*. P2O5 0.002 0.02 N.A.* TiO2 0.01 0.22 N.A.* *N.A. = data not available GPS location of trenches, nomeclature as per Keevil Mining Group map (See Timmins Report of Activities 2010). NAD 83, Zone 16. Trench 1: 650336E, 6031651N Trench 2: 650365E, 6031673N Trench 3: 650245E, 6031683N Trench 4: 651111E, 6031950N Trench 5: 650947E, 6032047N Locations determined during property visit August 2010.

Date: Aug 12, 2010

Geologist: B Atkinson

Notes: August 12, 2010 Morning stop to east of camp- traverse east along footpath beginning at neighbouring seasonal fishing camp. Sandy till (marine?) silt sample from NAD 83, Zone 16 654479E, 6052090N. Twenty pound sample in 5 gallon bucket collected for analyses and study. Shore sample of pebble beach material at unoccupied summer camp NAD 83, Zone 16 653866E, 6049704N, Hawley 12. Return to camp as aircraft has passed overhead for late morning pickup. Extra boat fuel left with camp owner, depart Hawley Lake with MNR pilot Chris Kipp at 12:14PM. Enroute to Attawapiskat for refueliong, note limestone outcrop in vicinity of NAD 83, Zone 16, 320900E, 5975400N, (based on aircraft GPS coordinates). Flat lying white limestone observed form aircraft (71 nautical miles bearing 3320 to Attawapiskat). 326000E, 5968000N Arrive Attawapiskat at 1:40PM. Refuel and depart 2:00PM. 119 nautical miles to Moosonee, arrive at 3:25PM for refueling, depart for Timmins, 166 nautical miles at 3:52PM. String bog swamps - it appears drainage organizastion in the subdued table flat Hudson Bay-James Bay lowlands requires a time period of perhaps 5000 years to affect the development of stream dchannels. Good examples of streams with 100 m to 400 m wide drained terrain are flanked by the random string bog that characterizes much of the lowlands. 49052'23”Lat, 810 01'28”W, pronouned structural control on drainage, 900 bends in rivers at this location (photos). Arrive Timins airport at 5:35PM. End of trip

Date: Aug 13, 2010

Geologist: B Atkinson

Notes: Field Notes August 10, 2010 Morning boat ride to the Sutton Narrows gorge between Hawley and Sutton lakes. Very foggy on the lake during the 55 minute boat ride from camp to our destination requires hugging the shore to ensure we don't get lost in the fog. Occasional weed patches along lake shore entangle the motor. On the east side of the narrows, diabase gabbro outcrops at the lakeshore, ie iron formation is not exposed here beneath the sill at UTM NAD 83 Z 16, 651033E, 6031851N. A good 400 m long portage on the east side of the gorge permits bypass of the dangerous talus armoured drainage between Sutton and Hawley lakes. We discover no boat is available on Sutton Lake as previously attempted to arrange so we are unable to explore south along Sutton Lake during our visit except for the northernmost part accessible by foot. Beach outcrops on the northeast shore of Sutton Lake expose generally flat lying iron formation. Keevil Trench #5 not seen but this could be the small displaced boulders adjacent to the shore with subsequent ice and wave action partially obliterating the trench. Water levels are presently 2 m below the high water mark on the lake shore. Further south on the shoreline of Sutton Lake, the gabbro diabase is again encountered to the limit of our travels along the lake shore. Occasional pyrrhotite is noted in the diabase and rare vertical slickensides and narrow quartz and pink orthoclase feldspar veinlets occur on slip faces in the diabase. Horizontal wavy fracture pattern occurs in the lower part of the diabase (photos). Fractures extend only several inches but collectively form a distinctive unit in the diabase. Could this be the result of compaction of the sediments beneath the diabase as it intruded or incipient serpentinization? Sample of diabase from here Sutton 1. NAD 83, Zone 16 651053E, 6031858N. Bedrock trench at lakeshore in banded iron formation at NAD 83 Zone 16, 650947E, 6032047N, sample Sutton 2 from here. Notes on the bif on the portage on the east side of Hawley-Sutton Lake: beds dip very gently west at 50 to 100 west. Small normal fault with 1 inch displacement down to south (photo). Thinly bedded ironstone with jasper beds similar to Stott (SofFW, 2010) photos from Birch Hill. Contact of lower bif with diabase contact dips 450NW at UTM NAD 83 Zone 16 605903E, 6032322N. Iron (magnetite) content is higher at contact and fine grained. Away from the contact bif dips at ~50 to 100SSW (190/05NW). Samples from here, Sutton 3, 4, 5. \ \ Sutton 3 fg diabase \ Sutton 4 \ Sutton 5 \ chill contact 2” wide diabase Slatey bif

References

File - Resident Geologist files T-3472

Publication Number: Date:

Author:

Publisher Name:

Location: Timmins RGP office

Publication - Geological notes on Aquatuk River map area, Ontario with emphasis on the Precambrian Rocks; Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 70-42

Publication Number: Paper 70-42 Date: 1971

Author: Bostock, H.H.

Publisher Name: Geological Survey of Canada

Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/102390

Part - Report on a survey of the Ekwan River and of the route through Sutton Mill lakes northward

Publication Number: ARV21-02.009 Page: 139  Date: 1997

Author: Dowling D.B., Whiteaves J.F., Macoun J.

Publisher Name: Ontario Bureau of Mines

Location:

Part - Geology and economic possibilities of Sutton Lake area, District of Patricia

Publication Number: ARV34-07 Date: 1998

Author: Hawley J.E.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

Mono - Geological interpretation and mineral potential of the basement underlying part of the Hudson Bay Lowlands

Publication Number: OFR5826 Page: 5-7  Date: 1992

Author: Thurston P.C., MacFadyen D.A.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Compend - Summary of Field Work and Other Activities, 2010

Publication Number: OFR6260 Date: 2010

Author: Ayer J.A., Easton R.M., Beakhouse G.P., Stott G.M., Kelly R.I., Debicki E.J., Parker J.R., Brown T.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Mono - Report of Activities 2010, Resident Geologist Program, Timmins Regional Resident Geologist Report: Timmins and Sault Ste. Marie Districts

Publication Number: OFR6264 Date: 2011

Author: Atkinson B.T., Bousquet P., Pace A., Burnett S., Butorac S., Draper D.M., Metsaranta D.-A., Wilson A.C.

Publisher Name:

Location:

Compend - Summary of Field Work and Other Activities, 2011

Publication Number: OFR6270 Page: 14-1  Date: 2011

Author: Easton R.M., Burnham O.M., Berger B.R., Beakhouse G.P., Bajc A.F., Parker J.R., Kelly R.I., Debicki E.J.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

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 Timmins Resident Geologist District Office