Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record:
MDI51A16NE00001
| Record Name(s) | La Grange Island Quarry - 1882, The Stone Quarrying Company - 1882, Lake Superior Freestone Quarry - 1882 |
|---|---|
| Related Record Type | Simple |
| Related Record(s) | |
| Record Status | Prospect |
| Date Created | 1996-Dec-16 |
| Date Last Modified | 2022-May-18 |
| Created By | |
| Revised By |
Primary Commodities: Sandstone
Township or Area: Vert Island Area
Latitude: 48° 55' 11.37" Longitude: -88° 7' 22.89"
UTM Zone: 16 Easting: 417728 Northing: 5419151 UTM Datum: NAD83
Resident Geologist District: Thunder Bay South
NTS Grid: 52A16NE
Point Location Description: Quarry is located on southeast of La Grange Island in the bay.
Location Method: Data Compilation
Access Description: GENERAL LOCATION: The La Grange Island sandstone quarry is located on the southeast side of La Grange Island in Nipigon Bay, Lake Superior (Figure 21). The island is 13.5 km southeast of the town of Nipigon and is accessible by boat from the Nipigon marina launch site. The quarry is approximately 250 m northwest of a small bay on the east side of the island. The quarry is a small opening (4 m x 10 m) in the face of a ridge that trends north to northwest in for approximately 600 m. At the opening there is an elevated rubble ridge 2 m high and 3 m wide extending 30 m out from the cliff face. This is presumably the base for a tramway that appears to have been abandoned before completion. At the end of the tramway is a small cart probably used in the construction of the base. Also at the quarry site is a small grout pile located on the south side of the tramway. Most of the waste blocks are large sheet-like pieces of stone up to 2 m x 2 m in size and less than 30 cm thick. Some smaller blocks, approximately 0.5 m per side and 0.4 m thick, are also located in the grout pile. The quarry face is approximately 24 m wide and 7.5 m at its highest point (Figure 21). ACCESS: The island is reached by boat from Nipigon or Red Rock. The quarry is a short walk from the southeastern shore.
1882: After the inspection of the deposit by Messrs. Laird, Russell, and Wiley, the Stone Quarrying Company was formed and quarry operations began on La Grange Island. During this year the company may have changed its name and/or ownership, as the quarry stopped being referred to as The Stone Quarrying Company, and was called the Lake Superior Freestone Quarry owned by Laird, Marks and Co. During the year a dock and buildings were erected and a tramway road was cut from the quarry face to the shore (200 to 300 ft.). Ten men were employed to extract the stone which was shipped primarily to Chicago. 1883 The CPR Syndicate began using this stone for the building of their bridges. The stone was also shipped to Chicago for use in building construction and sold for $1.35 per cubic foot. Once the railway was completed to Nipigon, the owners of the quarry planned to ship the stone to Winnipeg. 1883: As there were no further references to the quarry, it suggests that the site was abandoned before full production. 1988: J. and M. Dampier located the quarry face and staked six claims to cover it and the surrounding area. No work was reported.
Province: Southern
Subprovince: Nipigon Basin
Formation Group: Sibley Group
Geological Age: Paleoproterozoic
Dec 07, 2005 (W Bellinger) - GENERAL GEOLOGY AND STRUCTURE: The island is underlain by Mesoproterozoic Sibley Group sandstones and siltstones. They have been intruded by Keweenawan Logan diabase sills. The sandstone in the quarry is a red quartz arenite of the Pass Lake Formation (Kennedy and Sherlock 1989). The quarry face displays interbedded paraconglomerate, pebbly arenite and quartz arenite. Between 2 conglomeratic units, sedimentary structures such as horizontal lamination, planar bedding, cross-bedding, ripples and dish structures(?) were observed. Reduction spots (Scott 1987) were observed in the quartz arenite at its upper contact with the lower conglomerate. The La Grange quartz arenite is similar to that at the Vert Island quarry, 1.5 km to the east. The Vert Island quartz arenite assayed 80% SiO2 (Kennedy and Sherlock 1989).
| Rock Type | Rank | Composition | Texture | Relationship | Sandstone | 1 | Quartz Arenite | Silt To Sand Size | Host |
|---|
Dec 07, 2005 (W Bellinger) - JOINTING: The quartz arenite contains beds ranging in thickness from very thinly bedded (1 to 3 cm) to medium bedded (10 to 30 cm) (Figure 21). The sandstone splits into thin sheets, 2 to 30 cm thick, along bedding planes. The sheeting does not appear to be just a surface feature since the thin bedding observed in the quarry face continues with depth. COLOUR: The stone is a very consistent, brick red colour. There are a few bleached areas and reduction spots. TEXTURE: The stone is composed of silt- to sand-sized particles with some thin beds of conglomerate. OTHER FEATURES: The sandstone exhibits sedimentary structures such as cross-bedding.
| Rank | Mineral Name | Class | Economic Mineral Type | Alteration Mineral Type | Alteration Ranking | Alteration Intensity | Alteration Style |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quartz | Economic | Ore |
Dec 07, 2005 (W Bellinger) - PHYSICAL PROPERTIES: Tests conducted on samples from Vert Island using the ASTM test method (C241-85), abrasion resistance of stone subjected to foot traffic, returned a value of 25. The ASTM standard specification for sandstone requires a minimum value of 8. he abrasion resistance value is a function of a sample's specific gravity, the average weight of the sample and the loss of weight during the grinding test (Storer 1988). 9) CHEMICAL ANALYSIS: A sample from Vert Island produced the following results: Sample No. 85MCK-0012: 83.12 SiO2, 6.42 Al2O3, 1.50 Fe2O3, 0.05 MnO, 0.60 MgO, 4.35 CaO, 0.04 Na2O, 3.72 K2O, 0.20 TiO2, 0.00 P2O5. Analyses by Geoscience Laboratories, Ontario Geological Survey, Toronto COMMENTS/RECOMMENDATIONS: The fact that the beds are no thicker than 30 cm indicates that this site would not be suitable for the removal of large blocks as dimension stone. The very thinly bedded material would be suitable for use as a flagstone. The test results and the ability to split the stone into thin sheets would indicate the La Grange sandstone would make an excellent flagstone.
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:
Mono - Dimensional Stone Occurrences and Deposits in Northwest Ontario
Publication Number: OFR5890 Page: 115 Date: 1994
Author: Hinz P., Landry R.M., Gerow M.C.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Book - FIELD GUIDE TO SIBLEY GROUP,PROTEROZOIC GEOL.OF N.LK.SUPERIOR AREA
Publication Number: GB Date: 1982
Author: Franklin, J.M. et al
Publisher Name:
Location: Thunder Bay RGP
Map - Red Rock-Pine Portage sheet, District of Thunder Bay, geological compilation series
Publication Number: P0357 Scale: 1:126,720 Date: 1997
Author: Pye E.G.
Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines
Location:
File - Industrial minerals geologist files
Publication Number: IMF Date: 1996
Author:
Publisher Name:
Location: Thunder Bay RGP
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