Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record:
MDI52E09NW00002
| Record Name(s) | Pipestone Peninsula Soapstone Quarry - 1987, Andrew Bay Deposit - 1987, Pipestone Portage - 9999 |
|---|---|
| Related Record Type | Simple |
| Related Record(s) | |
| Record Status | Developed Prospect Without Reported Reserves or Resources |
| Date Created | 1987-Apr-16 |
| Date Last Modified | 2022-Sep-27 |
| Created By | |
| Revised By |
Primary Commodities: Soapstone
Township or Area: Manross
Latitude: 49° 37' 27.03" Longitude: -94° 20' 8.76"
UTM Zone: 15 Easting: 403526.638 Northing: 5497702.849 UTM Datum: NAD83
Resident Geologist District: Kenora
NTS Grid: 52E09NW
Point Location Description: Occurrence
Location Method: Conversion from MDI
Access Description: The occurrence is located 20 km southeast of the town of Kenora, in Manross Township, on a narrow strip of land 75m wide, which is part of Pipestone Peninsula. It is the site of an old portage joining Moore Bay and Andrew Bay of Lake of the Woods. The occurrence is accessible by boat from the town of Kenora on Lake of the Woods. The following route is from Canadian Hydrographic Services Maps 6218 and 6212: Follow the main track from Kenora. After going through the Devil's Gap, follow the East Track. Just south of Middle Island and Hay Island, turn eastward to enter Moore Bay. The portage and quarry site are located south of a small bay along the north shore of the peninsula.
1915 - Messrs. Mather and Beveridge shipped soapstone from this site to the Dryden Timber and Power Company, Dryden for lining soda-smelting furnaces. The stone was used in blocks 45 cm (18 inches) by 30 cm (12 inches by 20 cm (8 inches) (Sutherland et al 1916). 1918-19 - The Dryden Pulp and Paper Company shipped four railcar loads of stone to their Dryden mill. The stone was shipped by scow to the railway at Kenora. The stone was sawn into blocks and tested as furnace lining material but was apparently too seamy and did not stand up under heat. (Spence 1922) No further work is reported at this site. Zone is 500m long by 23 m wide and verticaly dipping.
Province: Superior
Subprovince: Wabigoon
Geological Age: Archean
Dec 07, 2005 (R Degagne) - The area was mapped by Lawson (1886), Suffel (1931) and Ayer et al (1985). Ayer et al noted a number of talc occurrences in the Pipestone Peninsula area, including this occurrence, which are hosted within narrow units of metamorphosed ultramafic intrusive rocks associated with mafic and intermediate metavolcanics and mafic intrusive rocks. The soapstone occurrence has been described by Spence (1922, 1940), Wilson (1926) and Storey (1986). The soapstone unit is only exposed in the vicinity of the old workings; for approximately 30 m along strike and intermittently across a width of 30 to 40 m in old pits. Schistosity is somewhat variable, from westerly striking to west-southwesterly striking and dips very steeply to vertical.
| Rock Type | Rank | Composition | Texture | Relationship | Intermediate lava flow-unsubdivided | 1 | Near |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mafic lava flow-unsubdivided | 2 | Near | ||
| Gabbroid-Unsubdivided | 3 | Near | ||
| Ultramafic-Unsubdivided | 4 | Host | ||
| Ultramafic Schist | 5 | Soapstone; Tlc, Chl, Dol, | Foliated | Contains |
Dec 07, 2005 (R Degagne) - Storey (1986) describes the soapstone as developed in narrow (1 m) lenses in altered mafic rocks. The unit appears to become less talcose along strike in either direction. Much of the soapstone is cut by narrow iron-carbonate veins and carbonate veins. Non-talcose metavolcanics were noted on the Andrew Bay side of the peninsula. Spence (1922) describes the occurrence as follows: The stone cannot be classed as a soapstone, and possesses more the character of a soft, chloritic slate. It is brownish-green in colour, somewhat harsh to the touch, and yields a dirty grey powder having little or no slip. It occurs as a band about 75 feet wide, enclosed in harder, grey slate, and striking almost due east. The dip is steep. The rock has a slaty structure, exhibits considerable jointing, and breaks out in large blocks; it stands up well under the hammer. The band is drift-covered east of the outcrop on Moore bay, and its extent was not determined.
| Rank | Mineral Name | Class | Economic Mineral Type | Alteration Mineral Type | Alteration Ranking | Alteration Intensity | Alteration Style |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Talc | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 1 | Chlorite | Economic | Gangue | ||||
| 2 | Dolomite | Economic | Gangue | ||||
| Talc | Alteration | Steatization | 1 | ||||
| Chlorite | Alteration | Steatization | 2 | ||||
| Dolomite | Alteration | Steatization | 3 |
Dec 07, 2005 (R Degagne) - The soapstone is dark grey in colour and foliated. It is quite fractured on the whole and parts readily along the foliation. It commonly contains narrow (<1 cm) dolomitic veins. Storey (1986) reports the mineralogy, as determined by X-ray diffraction analysis, to consist primarily of talc, chlorite and dolomite. The talc content appears to be quite variable, as the softness of the stone varies within the unit. TEST RESULTS: Chemical Analysis: (from Spence 1922). SiO2 39.14, FeO 8.79, Fe2O3 3.48, Al2O3 7.32, CaO 5.92, MgO 21.31, CO2 7.31, H2O (above 105oC) 6.68, Total 99.95.
| Shape | Length | Thickness | Depth | Strike | Dip | Plunge | Trend | Age | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cylindrical | 40 | 30 |
Date: Mar 04, 1997
Geologist: R Degagne
Notes: The old workings are located just east of the portage/trail. They consist of a working face 5 m to 6 m high which was developed in the side of a bluff, facing the Moore Bay side of the peninsula, as well as a trench and a number of small pits, approximately 30 m uphill and inland (south) of the quarry face. The working face is approximately 30 m in length. Some slabs of the soapstone and waste pieces lie in piles in front of the face. Sawn surfaces and drill marks were observed on the face and waste blocks. A couple of old pits in overburden were observed on the Andrew Bay side of the peninsula where the past workers may have tried to locate the soapstone unit.
Map - Geological series, Precambrian geology, Bigstone Bay area, southern part, Kenora District
Publication Number: P2831 Scale: 1:15,840 Date: 1985
Author: Ayer J.A., Gil K.M., McCurdy M.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Mono - Talc in Ontario
Publication Number: IMR040 Page: 38 Date: 1998
Author: Hewitt D.F.
Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines and Northern Affairs
Location:
Mono - Building and ornamental stone inventory in the districts of Kenora and Rainy River
Publication Number: MDC027 Page: 102-103 Date: 1986
Author: Storey C.C.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Mono - Soapstone in Ontario
Publication Number: OFR5764 Page: 69-72 Date: 1991
Author: Gerow M.C., Sherlock E.J., Bellinger J.A.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Publication - Report on the geology of the Lake of the Woods region, with special references to the Keewatin (Huronian?) belt of the Archaean rocks; Geological Survey of Canada, Annual Report vol. 1, (1885), pt. CC
Publication Number: GSC AR 1-CC Date: 1885
Author: Lawson, A.C.
Publisher Name: Geological Survey of Canada
Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/297067
Book - Talc and soapstone in Canada
Publication Number: GSC Rep 583 Date: 1922
Author: Spence, H.S.
Publisher Name: Canada Mines Branch
Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/307779
Publication - Talc, steatite, and soapstone; pyrophyllite; Canada Mines Branch, Publication 803
Publication Number: CMB Pub 803 Date: 1940
Author: Spence, H.S.
Publisher Name: Canada Mines Branch
Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/307947
Mono - Industrial minerals of northern Ontario-supplement 1
Publication Number: OFR5388 Page: 105 Date: 1982
Author: Vos M.A., Abolins T., Smith V.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Part - Geology of the Bigstone Bay area, Lake of the Woods, District of Kenora
Publication Number: ARV39-03.004 Page: 57-71 Date: 1998
Author: Suffel G.G.
Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines
Location:
Part - Mines of Ontario
Publication Number: ARV25-01.003 Date: 1998
Author: Sutherland T.F., Collins E.A., McMillan J.G., Bartlett J.
Publisher Name: Ontario Bureau of Mines
Location:
Publication - Talc deposits of Canada; Geological Survey of Canada, Economic Geology Series 2
Publication Number: Econ Geol 2 Date: 1926
Author: Wilson, M E
Publisher Name: Geological Survey of Canada
Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/102438
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