Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record:
MDI52A03SW00008
| Record Name(s) | Spar Island - 1846, Airways Exploration - 1968 |
|---|---|
| Related Record Type | Simple |
| Related Record(s) | |
| Record Status | Developed Prospect Without Reported Reserves or Resources |
| Date Created | 1979-Jul-30 |
| Date Last Modified | 2022-Mar-21 |
| Created By | |
| Revised By |
Primary Commodities: Silver
Secondary Commodities: Barite, Copper, Zinc, Lead, Cobalt
Township or Area: Spar And Victoria Islands Area
Latitude: 48° 6' 14.44" Longitude: -89° 17' 5.71"
UTM Zone: 16 Easting: 329903 Northing: 5330386 UTM Datum: NAD83
Resident Geologist District: Thunder Bay South
NTS Grid: 52A03SW
Point Location Description: AMIS Shaft location
Location Method: Conversion from MDI
Access Description: Follow Hwy 61 south from Thunder Bay to Sturgeon Bay Road. Follow Sturgeon Bay Road 15 km east to Sturgeon Bay, where a boat can be launched. From this point, Spar Island is about 9.7 km south by boat.
1846-47: Col. J. Prince discovered the vein and drove and open cut 19.8 m into it from the SW point of the island. Two shafts 7.3 and 14.3 m were sunk. 1848: property acquired by British North America Company, who mined the property until 1850. 1856: Montreal Mining acquired the property. 1866: worked for copper. 1871: Ontario Mineral Lands Company acquired the property. 1910: the two older shafts were filled in and a single well-timbered shaft was sunk to a depth of 27.4 m. From the bottom, a drift was opened north of the shaft on the vein for 45.7 m. A winze at the north end of the drift was sunk to a depth of 12.2 m and from the bottom a drift of more than 12 m was started. 1968: Airways Exploration Ltd. acquired the property.
Province: Southern
Formation Group: Animikie Group
Geological Age: Paleoproterozoic
| Rock Type | Rank | Composition | Texture | Relationship | Diabase | 1 | Diabase Dyke | Adjacent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vein | 2 | Calcite And Barite | Host | |
| Mudstone | 3 | Shale |
| Rank | Mineral Name | Class | Economic Mineral Type | Alteration Mineral Type | Alteration Ranking | Alteration Intensity | Alteration Style |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Argentite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 2 | Silver | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 3 | Chalcopyrite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 4 | Sphalerite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 5 | Galena | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 6 | Pyrite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 7 | Azurite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 8 | Malachite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 9 | Chalcocite | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 1 | Calcite | Economic | Gangue | ||||
| 2 | Barite | Economic | Gangue | ||||
| 3 | Quartz | Economic | Gangue | ||||
| 4 | Fluorite | Economic | Gangue | ||||
| 5 | Witherite | Economic | Gangue |
Feb 28, 2018 (Therese Pettigrew) - The banded barite and calcite vein has some quartz, copper, and silver mineralization. It crosses the western extremity of Spar Island 1.6 km northeast of the Jarvis Island vein. The vein cuts a complex of diabase sills and dykes that intruded the Rove Formation greywackes. Jointing in the diabase is well developed parallel to the vein at N25W. A second joint syste strikes N80E; both dip vertically. The vein can be traced from shore to shore, a distance of 85.3 m, and continues under the water for at least 91.4 m. The vein outcrop on the south shore is symmetrically banded about a central 0.6 m rib of barite. The coarse barite laminae are cross-oriented with respect to the vein walls, but a pink and white colour banding is superimposed on the laminae and is parallel to the walls. Fine disseminated sulphides are present in a 5 cm zone on both sides of the barite rib. Coarse whote calcite constitutes 90% of the vein, but barite is present in the form of thin ribs running lengthwise (Guillet, 1963). On the SW shore, two branches of the vein are 1.5 and 1.8 m wide; further inland they join to form one vein 4.9 m wide. It has been reported that argentite, silver, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, and cobalt arsenides were found in a gangue of calcite, barite, and quartz. A grab sample assayed 1.38% Cu, 1.97% Ba, 5.1 gpt Ag. The vein is likely an extension of the Prince’s Mine vein on the mainland (RGP mineral deposit files).
| Rank | Classification |
|---|---|
| 1 | Vein |
| Rank | Characteristic |
|---|---|
| 1 | Vein |
| Year | Tonnes | Commodities | Reference | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1847 | 1 |
Silver 3 Percent (%) |
RGP Thunder Bay office mineral deposit files | Several hundred pounds of ore containing 3% silver were extracted. |
Mono - Barite in Ontario
Publication Number: IMR010 Page: 6, 11-12 Date: 1997
Author: Guillet G.R.
Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines
Location:
Mono - Silver cobalt calcite vein deposits of Ontario
Publication Number: MDC010 Page: 62 Date: 1968
Author: Sergiades A.O.
Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines
Location:
MonoMap - Geology of Crooks Township, Jarvis and Prince locations, and offshore islands, District of Thunder Bay
Publication Number: R102 Page: 22-23 Date: 1973
Author: Geul J.J.C.
Publisher Name: Ontario Division of Mines
Location:
Publication - Fort William and Port Arthur, and Thunder Cape Map-area, Thunder Bay District, Ontario; Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 167
Publication Number: GSC Memoir 167 Page: 189-190 Date: 1931
Author: Tanton, T.L.
Publisher Name: Geological Survey of Canada
Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/100799
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