Ontario Mineral Inventory

Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record: MDI52A05SE00010

Record: MDI52A05SE00010

General

Commodities

Primary Commodities: Silver

Secondary Commodities: Gold, Zinc, Copper, Fluorite, Lead

Location

Township or Area: Gillies

Latitude: 48° 18' 28.13"    Longitude: -89° 39' 48.65"

UTM Zone: 16    Easting: 302506.68   Northing: 5353942.45    UTM Datum: NAD83

Resident Geologist District: Thunder Bay South

NTS Grid: 52A05SE

Point Location Description: AMIS Shaft location

Location Method: Conversion from MDI

Access Description: Proceed west along Highway 11-17 to the junction of Highway 588. Turn left (south) onto Highway 588 and proceed SW for 12.5 km. Turn left (south) onto the gravel road and proceed along the road for 0.5 km. Proceed along the right (west) fork for 15 m. From this point, 2 adits are locate on the hill.

Exploration History

1883: Discovery of the vein. 1884-5: Twin City Mining Corporation conducted development, including 4 adits with a total length of 97.5 m. The shaft was at a depth of 18.3 m. The first adit was near the summit, and the second was lower down. The third drift was 3-3.7 m below the second. 1887: the mine was sold to a Detroit syndicate. The top 2 adits were 13.7 m long. The second adit from the bottom was 61 m long, and the bottom adit was 30.5 m long. 1890: Badger Mining Company purchased the mine. Drifting was done on the No. 1 adit. A vein was struck by the crosscut and 6.1 m of drifting was done along the vein. 1891: property was sold to H.M. Nichol. By the end of the year, the shaft was to 39.6 m. The first level had been drifted 281.9 m and 115.8 on the second level. A winze was sunk 53.3 west of the shaft. 1899: The property wsa held by W.J. Johnson and A.M. Wiley. A tunnel was driven into the foot of the mountain to reach the junction of the two veins. At 60.7 m, the vein was struck. 15.2 m of drifting along with 30.5 m of stoping was done at this site. 1901: Property was sold to an American syndicate and the shaft was dewatered. A steam plant was put on the property. 1902: Consolidated Mine Company of Lake Superior Ltd. carried out unspecified work. 1909-10: mine was reopened, shaft dewatered and sampled. 1919-20: Mining Corporation of Canada reopened the mine and conducted 9.1 m of crosscutting on the second level. 1928-33: Property was optioned to Animikie Mine Ltd. At this time, reportedly, the shaft was at a depth of 76.2 m and a total of 515.1 m had been drifted. 1946: Climax Silver Mines Ltd. acquired the property and conducted panelling, drifting, raising, and other underground work. 1964-71: Creswel Mines Ltd. optioned the property. An extensive exploration program including geological mapping, geochemical survey, drilling 4 DDH totalling 345 m, trenching, sampling, and dewatering of the mine occurred. A 6.1 m raise was put up in the second level 67.1 m west of the shaft, to provide a bulk sample from a well-mineralized section. The mine was being readied for production in 1971 when financial difficulties prevented this from happening. 1974: Cairngorm Mines drilled 3 DDH totalling 122.4 m. 1993: J. Redden conducted trenching and prospecting. Production is recorded in the Badger mine (MDI52A05SE00011)

Assessment Work on File

Geology

Province: Southern

Formation Group: Animikie Group

Geological Age: Paleoproterozoic  

Lithology

Lithology Comments

Feb 06, 2018 (Therese Pettigrew) - Keweenawan diabase sill up to 18.3 m thick caps 30.5 m of Animikie black shales. Together, these form the hill the mine is located in. The rocks dip gently to the NE and are faulted.

Mineralization

Mineralization Comments

Feb 06, 2018 (Therese Pettigrew) - Complex vein zones occur in the faults. The composite vein in the Porcupine Mine is up to 1.2 m wide. It strikes at a bearing of 65 degrees azimuth and dips between 75 and 80 degrees in a SE direction. The vein consists mainly of white calcite, white and amethystine quartz, green and purple fluorite. The ore minerals present in the vein were argentite in leave and nugget forms, native silver in wire and mossy forms. Sulphide minerals included galena, sphalerite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, and pyrrhotite. The first occurrence in Canada of white witherite, the carbonate of barium, was found at this vein. The July 24, 1891 Daily Sentinel reports the Porcupine shipped $30,000 of ore. The combined production of the Badger and Porcupine Mines, from 1887-1910 was $300,000 (Tanton, 1931). Sample GCP-84-360 collected by OGS staff assayed <0.01 opt Au and 2.24 opt Ag. The June 12, 1884 Weekly Herald gave $400-2600/ton for silver from the Porcupine Mine. The June 12, 1886 Daily Sentinel stated an assay of 50 opt Ag. The August 15, 1887 edition of this paper reports and average of 155 opt Ag. The June 9, 1888 Weekly Herald reports $500-1000/ton assays. The March 23, 1889 issue of the paper states an average 186.2 opt Ag, with one exceptional sample that ran 1253 opt Ag. The Cominco report from 1902 states a range of 60.2 opt Ag to 396.7 opt Ag. Also recorded is a record pay streak found on the second level which assayed 8866 opt Ag. In 1968, sampling in the 1st level of the mine resulted in 22.50 opt Ag for the back of the west stope, and 20.53 opt Ag on the back of the east slope (Sergiades, 1968).

Mineral Record Details

References

Book - 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: 125-126  Date: 1931

Author: Tanton, T.L.

Publisher Name: Geological Survey of Canada

Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/100799

Mono - Silver cobalt calcite vein deposits of Ontario

Publication Number: MDC010 Page: 64  Date: 1968

Author: Sergiades A.O.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

File - Hazard files, Thunder Bay Mineral department

Publication Number: Date: 1996

Author:

Publisher Name:

Location: Thunder Bay RGP

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