Ontario Mineral Inventory

Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record: MDI52A12SW00009

Record: MDI52A12SW00009

General

Commodities

Primary Commodities: Gold

Location

Township or Area: Blackwell

Latitude: 48° 35' 27.26"    Longitude: -89° 56' 7.07"

UTM Zone: 16    Easting: 283564   Northing: 5386140    UTM Datum: NAD83

Resident Geologist District: Thunder Bay South

NTS Grid: 52A12SW

Point Location Description: Sampling and trenching

Location Method: Data Compilation

Access Description: Access is via Highway 11 or the Canadian National Railway line, then by foot trail.

Exploration History

1940: M. Bartley conducted sampling on the pits and trenches excavated on the claims of F. Kaspar. Pre-1944: Exploration on the former Patent 17044 included numerous pits, trenches and stripped outcrops. 1945: Sylvanite Gold Mines Limited optioned the Kasper occurrence conducting detailed mapping and sampling, trenching along a strike of 2000 feet. 1973: Area mapped by Fenwick and Weinstock. 1975-76: Noranda Exploration Co. Ltd. conducted EM and magnetic surveys. 1982: Lacana Mining Corp. optioned the property and carried out mapping and an EM survey. 1996-97: Avalon Ventures conducted magnetic and IP surveys and carried out prospecting, line cutting, and geological mapping. 2017: D. Parker carried out trenching, humus sampling, and rock sampling. 2019-20: D. Parker carried out stripping and sampling. 2020: Delta Resources Ltd. optioned the property and carried out mapping, prospecting, and sampling.

Assessment Work on File

Geology

Province: Superior

Subprovince: Wawa

Terrane: Wawa-Abitibi

Belt: Shebandowan

Geology Comments

May 26, 2023 (Therese Pettigrew) - The property is primarily composed of metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks frequently overlain by Pleistocene drift. Minor iron formation is present within the altered volcanic rocks (Assessment report 52A12SW0075). The property is situated in the Matawin Gold Belt, which lies within the western extension of the Abitibi-Wawa-Shebandowan subprovince of the Superior structural province of the Canadian Shield. The belt is bounded to the south by granitic terrain and to the north by the Quetico subprovince (Assessment report 52A12SW0049).

Lithology

Mineralization

Mineralization Comments

May 26, 2023 (Therese Pettigrew) - The mineralization at the Kasper occurrence is described by Schnieders and Dutka (1985) as follows: "Two types of mineralization are mentioned; the first type consists of quartz stringers in a composite vein or stockwork hosted by a diorite. These veins contain visible gold. The second type of gold mineralization is associated with shattered or brecciated ironstone and quartz stringers. Mineralization includes pyrite and arsenopyrite. The sulphide-rich section is up to 2 feet (60 centimetres) wide. The zone has been exposed by trenching along a 2,000-foot (606-metre) strike" (Resident Geologist's Files, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Thunder Bay). The gold mineralization appears associated with the arsenopyrite. Parker (2003) has noted that all of the gold occurrences on the Shabaqua West property (i.e., Kasper, Wedge, Creek and South zones) are associated with pyrite and arsenopyrite mineralization, quartz-carbonate veining, and iron carbonate alteration. This style of gold mineralization has been observed in a range of host rock types, including metavolcanic, intrusive and metasedimentary. The Kasper and Wedge zones occur at a similar stratigraphic level, in close proximity to a jasper-magnetite iron formation (Puumala et al., 2018). Parker reported a number of notable gold assays from trenches 17-7 (up to 4.83 g/t Au), 17-10 (up to 925 ppb) and 17-11 (up to 20.6 g/t Au). Parker (2017) also completed a humus geochemical survey in the area of the Kasper Zone (Figure 22). This survey outlined 2 parallel, east-southeast-trending gold-in-humus anomalies. One of these trends coincides with gold-mineralized trenches 17-7 and 17-10, while the second is located approximately 50 m north of trench 17-11, where the most significant gold-in-humus assay result (3850 ppb Au) was obtained (Assessment report 20000015104). Historic grab samples from the Kaspar Occurrence, located in the southern portion of the property, produced gold grades up to 17.2 g/t, while prospecting along the southern boundary of the property in 1996-97 has identified a new showing that grades up to 11.4 g Au/t. This showing represents the possible southwest extension of a mineralized zone located east of the Kaspar Property that grades up to 14.5 g/t Au. The occurrence lies within highly altered, pyrite and arsenopyrite bearing Timiskaming sandstone (Assessment report 52A12SW0049).

Mineral Record Details

Site Visit Information

Date: Aug 04, 2017

Geologist: Mark Puumala

Notes: Locations that were visited at the Kasper Zone included exploration trenches 17-7, 17-10, 17-11 and 17-12 (Parker 2017). Exploration trench 17-7 is located at a “shattered iron formation” occurrence that was described by Bartley (1940), while mineralization exposed in trenches 17-10 and 17-11 represent examples of diorite stockwork-type mineralization (Bartley 1940). Trench 17-12 is located to the south of the Kasper Zone and exposes sulphide mineralized Shebandowan assemblage fragmental rocks. The northern portion of trench 17-7 exposes banded iron formation that has been intruded by diorite. The iron formation is strongly deformed and altered. The iron formation hosts a 1 m wide zone of sheared, silicified, and arsenopyrite-mineralized material near the diorite contact. This mineralized zone strikes 110°. A grab sample from the mineralized zone that contained up to 20% sulphides (MP17WPT107) returned an assay of 0.058 oz/ton (1.80 g/t) Au. The southern portion of the trench exposes iron carbonate-altered rocks that appear to be metavolcanic. These rocks are crosscut by a northwest-striking shear zone that hosts an approximately 1 m wide quartz vein. The vein is sparsely mineralized and strikes 325°, with a dip of 80° toward the northeast. A grab sample of quartz vein material (MP17WPT108) mineralized with minor disseminated sulphides assayed 405 ppb Au. Trench 17-10 exposes the southern contact of the diorite intrusion with a metasedimentary rock horizon that comprises graphitic chert-argillite and thinly bedded siltstone-mudstone. The contact strikes 120° and dips 75° toward the southwest. The diorite hosts a narrow (<10 cm) quartz vein system that is hosted in a fracture system, striking 030°, that is exposed over a strike length of approximately 50 m. Weak iron carbonate alteration and disseminated sulphide mineralization are associated with this structure. A grab sample of the quartz vein material (MP17WPT102DUP, Table 16) returned an assay of 0.028 oz/ton (0.87 g/t) Au. However, this duplicate sample result should be interpreted with caution, as the original assay (MP17WPT102) returned a value below the fire assay detection limit of 0.016 oz/ton (0.50 g/t) Au. Trench 17-11 exposes a series of en-echelon quartz-carbonate veins that are hosted in diorite. These quartz veins range from a few centimetres to 1 m in width (typically 10 to 15 cm), and are typically spaced at intervals of between 2 to 4 m. The veins strike approximately 030° and appear to be associated with a shear structure, striking 340°, that parallels the main portion of the stripped area. Many of the veins appear to terminate on the west side of the shear zone, while some bend northward into the structure (indicative of sinistral displacement along the shear). The host rock displays pervasive iron carbonate alteration and contains arsenopyrite and pyrite mineralization. Mineralization is most significant immediately adjacent to the quartz veins. A number of grab samples of quartz vein material and the adjacent mineralized host rocks were collected. The best assays (up to 0.042 oz/ton, or 1.31 g/t Au) were returned from samples of sulphide-mineralized diorite. Trench 17-12 is located approximately 250 m southwest of the Kasper Zone and exposes intermediate fragmental rocks (most likely part of the Shebandowan assemblage) that contain graphite and sulphide mineralization. The graphite occurs as seams and pods and appears to have been remobilized. The sulphide mineralization appears to be primary and includes zones with nodular pyrite. A sample of the nodular pyrite mineralized material (MP17WPT100B) returned a very low gold value (7.4 ppb).

References

Map - Geological series, Precambrian geology, Blackwell Township, District of Thunder Bay

Publication Number: P3082 Scale: 1:15,840    Date: 1987

Author: Carter M.W.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Mono - Property visits and reports of the Atikokan economic geologist, 1979-1983, Atikokan geological survey

Publication Number: OFR5539 Page: 294-295  Date: 1985

Author: Schnieders B.R., Dutka R.J.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Mono - Report of Activities 2017, Resident Geologist Program, Thunder Bay South Regional Resident Geologist Report: Thunder Bay South

Publication Number: OFR6338 Page: 44-46  Date: 2018

Author: Puumala M.A., Campbell D.A., Tuomi R.D., Pettigrew T.K., Hinz S.L.K.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Report an Error

We are continuously updating our assessment file / technical report information. If you notice errors in the data, please contact us.

Terms of Use

Please review our Terms of Use agreement for this data product.

Ministry Contact Information

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