Ontario Mineral Inventory

Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record: MDI52A10NE00003

Record: MDI52A10NE00003

General

Mineral Record Identification
Record Name(s) Diamond Willow - 1984, Noyes North - 1973, G. Noyes - 1973
Related Record Type Compound
Related Record(s)
Record Status Producing Mine
Date Created 1984-Nov-02
Date Last Modified 2022-Feb-22
Created By
Revised By

Commodities

Primary Commodities: Amethyst

Secondary Commodities: Copper



Location

Township or Area: McTavish

Latitude: 48° 41' 10.98"    Longitude: -88° 39' 56.26"

UTM Zone: 16    Easting: 377411   Northing: 5393932    UTM Datum: NAD83

Resident Geologist District: Thunder Bay South

NTS Grid: 52A10NE

Point Location Description: and Google Earth

Location Method: Field Visit

Access Description: Highway 11/17 east to Road 5 North at Pearl, Ontario. Follow Road 5 North, take the first left after the railway tracks, and follow this road to the mine road, about 6km.



Exploration History

1973: staked by G. Noyes, who conducted stripping and trenching. 1984: claims went to lease. The mining leases were split in 1990 pending inheritance and the Diamond Willow and Blue Points mines are owned by a son (D. Noyes) and daughter (F. Grann) respectively. 2016: B. Leroux and C. Fayle conducted prospecting. 2018: B. Leroux conducted prospecting, stripping, pitting, and trenching.


Assessment Work on File

Assessment Work on File
Office File Number Online Assessment File Identifier Online Assessment File Directory
2.57109 20000014299 20000014299
34785 20000016978 20000016978

Geology

Province: Southern

Subprovince: Nipigon Basin

Formation Group: Sibley Group

Geological Age: Mesoproterozoic  



Lithology

Lithology Data
Rock Type Rank Composition Texture Relationship
Terrigenous-Clastic-Unsubdivided 1
Breccia-unsubdivided 2 Is

Lithology Comments

Feb 25, 2020 (Q Unknown) - Amethyst occurs over a length of 1/2 miles in a vertically dipping fault zone that strikes N70E, at the contact of red Archean granite, and dolomite and argellite of the Sibley formation. The strike of the veins varies from N45E to N60E and the measured width of the mineralization varies from 50 to 67 feet. 'Angular fragments of dolomite and granite are enclosed by vein matter. A very minor amount of pyrite and chalcopyrite also occurs. Adjacent to the fault, the granite is altered and epidotized and has a radioactive count of no more than 1.5 times background.' (Kustra, 1969, p.44).




Mineralization

Mineralization and Alteration
Rank Mineral Name Class Economic Mineral Type Alteration Mineral Type Alteration Ranking Alteration Intensity Alteration Style
1AmethystEconomicOre
2GalenaEconomicOre
3ChalcopyriteEconomicOre
4PyriteEconomicOre

Mineralization Comments

Feb 25, 2020 (Therese Pettigrew) - The Diamond Willow amethyst mine is situated on the same amethyst vein system as the Blue Points mine, and the two mines are less than a kilometre apart (Garland, 1992). The Diamond Willow mine is at the western end of a kilometer-long fault breccia zone, separating Sibley Group mudstones on the south from Sibley Group conglomerates on the north side. The trend of the fault zone is 090. Both the mudstone and conglomerate are well layered, giving them a blocky appearance. The breccia has a quartz-rich core with fragment density increasing towards the wall rocks. Fragments are angular and representative of the wall rocks. Amethyst forms pale to medium purple crystals within cavities in the breccia. Vugs can attain sizes over 1 m and are lined with large, dark purple crystal points. The vugs also tend to be filled with a dense, red clay. Galena occurs as seams of crystals 1 cm in size, within the quartz at the west end of the exposed breccia zone. The Diamond Willow pit is 70 m long and up to 10 m wide and 2.5 m deep. The original Diamond Willow pit, now shared with the Blue Points mine, is 60 m long, close to 10 m wide, and 4 m deep (Garland, 1994). Galena occurs with the early quartz, in seams composed of individual crystals, between early quartz and a later generation of amethyst.



Mineral Record Details

Production Data
Year Tonnes Commodities Reference Comment
1989 30 MP147 p. 164
1990 35 MP152 p. 108
1988 35 MP142 p. 162
1991 25 MP158 p. 184

References

Map - Geological series, McTavish Township (west part of north half), District of Thunder Bay

Publication Number: P0720 Scale: 1:15,840    Date: 1997

Author: McIlwaine W.H.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines and Northern Affairs

Location:


Mono - Amethyst in the Thunder Bay Area

Publication Number: OFR5891 Scale:     Date: 1994

Author: Garland M.I.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:


Mono - Industrial minerals of northern Ontario-supplement 1

Publication Number: OFR5388 Scale:     Date: 1982

Author: Vos M.A., Abolins T., Smith V.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:


Article - Amethyst in northwestern Ontario-1991

Publication Number: MP158.009 Scale:     Date: 1997

Author: Garland M.I.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:


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