Ontario Mineral Inventory

Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record: MDI52A10NW00006

Record: MDI52A10NW00006

General

Commodities

Primary Commodities: Molybdenum

Secondary Commodities: Amethyst

Location

Township or Area: McTavish

Latitude: 48° 40' 37.44"    Longitude: -88° 45' 47.25"

UTM Zone: 16    Easting: 370211.42   Northing: 5393057.63    UTM Datum: NAD83

Resident Geologist District: Thunder Bay South

NTS Grid: 52A10NE, 52A10NW

Point Location Description: Precise

Location Method: Conversion from MDI

Access Description: Drive east from Thunder Bay on Highway 11/17 to East Loon Road. Drive NW on East Loon Road for 2.0 km to a bush road that trends northerly. Take the bush road for 0.32 km to the power line, then proceed via an ATV trail for 3.2 km to the property. At the only junction, take the right fork.

Exploration History

1918: claims owned by J.A. Johnson were explored by stripping, test pitting, and trenching. A 502 pound bulk sample was shipped for concentrate testing. 1935: Minor amount of trenching done by prospectors. 1937-38: Molydor Mines removed a 150 ton bulk sample as well conducted trenching. 1958-59: Lindsay Exploration stripped shallow overburden from sections of the showing for a total length of 2200 feet. 50 rock trenches and pits were developed over a distance of 2600 feet. 1959-60: N.V. Billiton Maatschappij conducted an unknown amount of diamond drilling. 1966-67: Briar Court Mines conducted a program of geological mapping, stripping and trenching and diamond drilling. 1959-67: 38 DDH totalling 3235.1 feet were drilled by a combination of Briar Court Mines and Lindsay Exploration. 1971: The Ontario Dept. of Mines and Northern Affairs mapped the McTavish township. 2005: El Nino Ventures Ltd. optioned the property and conducted mapping and sampling. 2006: Amador Gold Corp acquired the property. 2007: Amador conducted a prospecting and sampling program. 2012: claims staked by P.S.M. Gehrels and A.G. Onchulenko. Prospecting and sampling was carried out by J.F. Scott for the claim holders. 2017: P. Gehrels carried out prospecting and sampling.

Assessment Work on File

Geology

Province: Superior

Subprovince: Quetico

Geological Age: Precambrian  

Geology Comments

Feb 17, 2015 (Therese Pettigrew) - The property is underlain mainly by early Precambrian sediments and granites. These rocks form a north-south contact zone approximately along the east side of Anderson Lake. The contact zone is intruded by dykes of pegmatite, one of which is mineralized with molybdenite. This dyke is a complex mixture of coarse-grained pegmatite and finer-grained pegmatitic granite. The dyke trends roughly north-south across the NE strike of the bedding in the sediments, but at several places branches extend from the main zone out along the sedimentary bedding direction. The sediments are highly altered greywacke, for the most part converted to biotite schist (AFRI 20000001351).

Lithology

Lithology Comments

Feb 17, 2015 (Therese Pettigrew) - Within McTavish Township the Southern Province rocks are represented by the Animikie Group and the Sibley Group, both sedimentary packages. The diabase dykes are the youngest rocks in McTavish Township and intrude all other rocks. In a general sense, Superior Province rocks in McTavish Township are represented by plutonic rocks of various granitic compositions, ranging from quartz monzonite to trondhjemite in composition. The oldest rocks in McTavish are metamorphosed sedimentary rocks and amphibolites of the Superior Province and these are confined to a fault bounded block in the Anderson Lake - Hunters Lake area (AFRI 20000007443).

Mineralization

Mineralization Comments

Jun 21, 2011 (N Bennett) - A 1966 report by consulting geologist W.N. Ingham, Ph.D. for Briar Court Mines Limited describes a 1958 -- 59 trenching and bulk sampling program carried out on the property by Lindsay Explorations to evaluate molybdenite showings extending for more than 2000 feet, followed by 18 diamond drill holes (2114 feet). "A 2000 lb bulk sample comprised of twenty bags of 100 lbs of hand cobbed material assayed from 1.41% Mo to 4.63%Mo and average 2.85% Mo. Results of preliminary metallurgical tests on the bulk sample produced a concentrate carrying 94% molybdenite." Molybdenite was intersected in many of the holes and one hole intersected a high grade zone that assayed 16.63% molybdenite for a core length of 7.0 feet. Ingham describes the property as being underlain by " early Precambrian schists and granites---forming a north south contact zone---which is intruded by dykes of pegmatite, one of which is mineralized with molybdenite." The molybdenum mineralization is described as being "opened up by surface pits over a length of 2600 feet." The mineralization occurs mainly as localized high grade concentrations associated with quartz enrichment and as sporadic veins filling zones of fracturing in the pegmatite. These figures have not been verified by El Nino, should not be relied on, and are presented for disclosure purposes only. No significant exploration has been carried out on the property since this early work (El Nino Ventures Inc, news realease Feb. 7, 2005).

Feb 17, 2015 (Therese Pettigrew) - In 1918, a 502 pound bulk sample with a head grade of 2.14 Mo was shipped for concentrate testing that resulted in a concentrate grading 85.5%, indicating a recovery of 92%. In 1938, Molydor Mines shipped 25 tons of ore with an average grade of 0.49% that resulted in an 85.7% MoS2 concentrate, indicating a recovery of 90%. Because of the coarse nature of the molybdenite mineralization and its non-homogeneous distribution within the pegmatite dyke, there will be a large “nugget effect” in any resource calculations (AFRI 20000007443). The best assay result during Amador’s 2007 prospecting program was 110,394 ppm Mo from Trench 34. Good values of 10,176 to 24,309 ppm Mo were obtained from Trenches 13 and 14 (AFRI 20000002357). The mineralization occurs mainly as localized high grade concentrations erratically distributed in pockets and patches. The best concentrations of sulphide are associated with zones of quartz enrichments, which occur both as irregular zones of primary coarse crystallization mixed with feldspar and mica, and as sporadic veins filling irregular zones of fracturing in the pegmatite (AFRI 20000001351). Bjorkman (2005, AFRI 20000001351) prospected for amethyst and located small fracture-related systems that trended between 040 and 060 degrees. Amethyst occurs in small vugs adjacent to the primary quartz veins that carry molybdenite. The occurrences of amethyst associated with younger faults that cross-cut the pegmatite are a superimposed event on the pegmatite system. So far, the amethyst documented by Bjorkman (2005, AFRI 20000001351) and Buck and Tim (2007, AFRI 20000002357) seem to have developed in a constrained fault system, thereby not allowing sufficient brecciation and the opening up of cavities that would serve as deposition sites for the amethyst (AFRI 20000007443).

Mineral Record Details

References

Publication - Molybdenum Deposits of Canada, p. 80

Publication Number: Econ Geol 20 Date: 1963

Author: Vokes, F.M.

Publisher Name: Geological Survey of Canada

Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/103994

Mono - Molybdenum deposits of Ontario

Publication Number: MDC007 Page: 70  Date: 1968

Author: Johnston F.J.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

Map - Townships of Dorion and McTavish, District of Thunder Bay, Ontario

Publication Number: ARM38F Scale: 1:63,360    Date: 1997

Author: Hawley J.E., Tanton T.L.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

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:

Map - Precambrian Geology Compilation Series - Thunder Bay Sheet

Publication Number: M2664 Scale: 1:250,000    Date: 2001

Author: Santaguida F.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Map - Black Bay sheet, District of Thunder Bay, geological compilation series

Publication Number: P0358 Scale: 1:126,720    Date: 1997

Author: Pye E.G.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

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