Ontario Mineral Inventory

Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record: MDI52F07NE00015

Record: MDI52F07NE00015

General

Commodities

Primary Commodities: Gold

Secondary Commodities: Silver

Location

Township or Area: Boyer Lake Area

Latitude: 49° 26' 29.47"    Longitude: -92° 42' 7.26"

UTM Zone: 15    Easting: 521602   Northing: 5476581.99    UTM Datum: NAD83

Resident Geologist District: Kenora

NTS Grid: 52F07NE

Point Location Description: AMIS Shaft Location

Location Method: Conversion from MDI

Access Description: The Elora Property is located at the northern tip of Trafalgar Bay, Upper Manitou Lake, approximately 38 km south-southeast from Dryden, Ontario. The property can be accessed by float-or ski-equipped fixed wing aircraft year round or four-wheel drive, all-terrain vehicle during the summer. At the height of the summer, once the trail leading to Gold Rock has dried up, the property may be accessed by four-wheel drive truck. (OFR 5987, p. 17-19, 1999)

Exploration History

1898: Jubilee vein was discovered. Jubilee Gold Mining and Development Company of Ontario Ltd. sank the Jubilee No. 2 shaft to 18.9 m depth. 1911: workers determined that the Jubilee vein and the Laurentian vein were connected. 1916: Dominion Reduction Co. Ltd. dewatered the shaft. 1936: Elora Gold Mines Ltd. developed the mine, sank a shaft (Jubilee No. 1) to 53.3 m and the Jubilee vein was explored on the 50 m level with drifting totalling 1223 ft and crosscutting 191 ft. Mill on original Laurentian property used in bulk sampling. Diamond drilling from surface totalled 4275 ft. 1939: mine was closed. 1946: the mine was worked when lumber was cut for a proposed shaft deepening, but was never completed. 1998: Newhawk Gold Mines Ltd. Conducted surface and drilling exploration work. 2004: Seafield Resources Ltd. optioned the property from Elora Gold Mines and drilled 8 DDH totalling 1047 m. 2006: Seafield drilled 9 DDH totalling 2130 m. 2008: Seafield drilled 9 DDH totalling 2306 m. 2009: Manitou Gold optioned the property and conducted a prospecting and sampling program. 2010: Manitou Gold conducted ground magnetometer and IP surveys and drilled 24 DDH totalling 4774.8 m. 2011: Manitou Gold drilled 54 DDH totalling 10,864.8 m. 2012: Manitou Gold drilled 26 DDH totalling 3747.75 m. 2013: Manitou Gold conducted an exploration program including geochemical surveys, trenching, structural mapping and channel sampling. 2018: Manitou Gold Inc. completed a diamond drill program consisting of 16 drill holes totaling 2,078 m, assaying and analyses. 2022: Manitou Gold Inc. sold the property to Dryden Gold Corp. 2023-2024: Dryden Gold Corp. completed a diamond drill program consisting of 13 drill holes totaling 1,613 m.

Assessment Work on File

Geology

Province: Superior

Subprovince: Wabigoon

Terrane: Western Wabigoon

Belt: Eagle-Wabigoon-Manitou

Geological Age: Precambrian  

Geology Comments

Feb 09, 2011 (C Ravnaas) - The Elora Property and surrounding area is located in the northwestern corner of the Wabigoon granite-greenstone sub-province. The area lies within the middle of the Manitou Lakes-Stormy Lake early Precambrian (Archean) metavolcanicmetasedimentary belt, which is an arcuate structure approximately 19 km wide and 80 km long. The property lies mostly within the tholeiitic to calc-alkaline, predominantly volcanic flows of the Benson Bay Sub-Group of the Pincher Lake Group rocks; The former mines on the Elora Property and all significant gold prospects and producers in the area are situated within the Pincher Lake Group rocks near their contact with the underlying calc-alkaline Upper Manitou Lake Group rocks Reference Clark, G., Seafield Resources Ltd. Technical Report On the Elora Property, March 2007.

Lithology

Lithology Comments

Mar 10, 2015 (C Ravnaas) - The Elora Mine lies between the Manitou Straits fault and the Manitou Anticline. The property is underlain by a mixed package of mafic and felsic intermediate metavolcanic rocks, banded pyritic sediment, graphitic schist and iron formation all intruded by felsic porphyry dikes believed by the author to be the felsite identified by Thomson (1942). The rocks are strongly deformed and have an intense foliation striking 28°, with a near vertical dip. The felsic rocks are strongly ankeritized and contain up to 2% disseminated pyrite. The target of Newhawk's drill program was the Jubilee vein, which was exposed on surface by a stripping program. On surface it reaches a maximum width of 1.5 m, is bull-white in colour with chloritic partings, visible gold and a grey metallic mineral which was identified by Newhawk staff as a gold telluride compound. The quartz vein cross--cuts the feldspar porphyry dike at a low angle and is not confined to it. This suggests that the veins were emplaced during ductile deformation which affected the dike and schists. A grab sample of the vein collected by the author contains abundant, fine-grained, visible gold. The observed veins parallel foliation and are boudinaged. Company assays indicated that gold mineralization is intimately related to presence of the quartz veins. Good values were obtained in some of the schists adjacent to the main vein. However, upon inspection, the schists were seen to contain small quartz veinlets less than 2 cm in width. The banded, pyritic sediments are highly fissile and contain up to 10% pyrite. Adjacent to the vein and feldspar porphyry dike is a narrow band of graphitic schist, no wider than 0.5 m. The schist is discontinuous and is present at different levels in the stratigraphy. These varying lithologies may have been developed during different phases of deformation and could represent a single parental rock type. Emphasis should not be placed on defining each of these units. Rather, the important units are the quartz veins, feldspar porphyry dikes and width of the shear zone which host the gold. (OFR 5987, p. 17-19, 1999) The quartz veining in the Jubilee zone is associated with (but not contained within) a felsite dyke, which had intruded along the contact between a sedimentary unit and the overlying volcanics. While the felsite dyke itself did not carry any significant gold, the associated quartz vein assayed high grade gold values and contained visible gold in numerous places. Variable amounts of sericite-carbonate schist are associated with the felsite dyke and vein. The zone and the individual units are discrete and generally have sharp contacts. The 1998 exploration work found that significant amounts of sulphides across the Jubilee zone and the adjacent sediments (up to 35% in the sediments in drill core) consisted of pyrite and pyrrhotite with minor chalcopyrite, malachite, sphalerite, telluride and rare visible gold. The purplish-grey telluride appears to be an indicator of higher grade gold mineralization with the rare occurrences of visible gold usually associated with it. Reference Clark, G., Seafield Resources Ltd. Technical Report On the Elora Property, March 2007.

Mar 10, 2015 (Therese Pettigrew) - Region of contact between felsic and mafic metavolcanics is cut by a NE-trending shear zone occupied by the Jubilee Vein, dipping 76-86 degrees E. This vein is composed of lenses, veins, stringers of quartz and felsic dykes, bordered by schists. Native gold occurred occasionally in spectacular amounts in small pockets. The average grade of the ore milled was 0.10 opt Au (MDC013, p. 162).

Mineralization

Mineralization Comments

Mar 10, 2015 (C Ravnaas) - Exploration of the Gold Rock area dates back to the late 1890s, with several mines opening around the turn of the century. These include the Big Master Mine in 1900 and the Laurentian Mine in 1903. This first phase of exploration and mining ceased around 1912 (Thomson 1934). Activities resumed in 1934, with exploration targeted on the Big Master, Laurentian and Jubilee mines and surrounding ground. A more detailed history is available in Blackburn (1981). Historical production from the three mines totaled 12,078 ounces of gold and 480 ounces of silver (Blackburn 1981). The Elora property is made up of 12 patented mining claims and one licence of occupation. Newhawk Gold Mines Ltd. optioned the property from the owner, Elora Gold Mines Ltd. in early 1998 and conducted a grassroots exploration program during the summer. The work conducted in 1998 is described in the "Exploration Activity" section above. The Elora Mine lies between the Manitou Straits fault and the Manitou Anticline. The property is underlain by a mixed package of mafic and felsic intermediate metavolcanic rocks, banded pyritic sediment, graphitic schist and iron formation all intruded by felsic porphyry dikes believed by the author to be the felsite identified by Thomson (1942). The rocks are strongly deformed and have an intense foliation striking 28°, with a near vertical dip. The felsic rocks are strongly ankeritized and contain up to 2% disseminated pyrite. The target of Newhawk's drill program was the Jubilee vein, which was exposed on surface by a stripping program. On surface it reaches a maximum width of 1.5 m, is bull-white in colour with chloritic partings, visible gold and a grey metallic mineral which was identified by Newhawk staff as a gold telluride compound. The quartz vein cross--cuts the feldspar porphyry dike at a low angle and is not confined to it. This suggests that the veins were emplaced during ductile deformation which affected the dike and schists. A grab sample of the vein collected by the author contains abundant, fine-grained, visible gold. The observed veins parallel foliation and are boudinaged. Company assays indicated that gold mineralization is intimately related to presence of the quartz veins. Good values were obtained in some of the schists adjacent to the main vein. However, upon inspection, the schists were seen to contain small quartz veinlets less than 2 cm in width. The banded, pyritic sediments are highly fissile and contain up to 10% pyrite. Adjacent to the vein and feldspar porphyry dike is a narrow band of graphitic schist, no wider than 0.5 m. The schist is discontinuous and is present at different levels in the stratigraphy. These varying lithologies may have been developed during different phases of deformation and could represent a single parental rock type. Emphasis should not be placed on defining each of these units. Rather, the important units are the quartz veins, feldspar porphyry dikes and width of the shear zone which host the gold. (OFR 5987, p. 17-19, 1999)

Mar 10, 2015 (Therese Pettigrew) - The 1936 bulk sample of 1909 lb assayed 0.25 oz Au and 0.15 oz Ag (Neilsen and Bray, 1981). In the Newhawk 1998 drill program, the best intersection returned 11.3 g/t gold over 6.4 m, other significant intersections included 8.8 g/t gold over 4.15 m and 5.9 g/t gold over 3.95 m. A short intersection of 0.3 m returned a spectacular 216.85 g/t gold (Hinz and Ravnaas, 1999). The best intersection of the 2008 drill program was on Hole E-08-33 with 34.9 g/t Au over 2.8 m within a broader zone of mineralization which returned 15.5 g/t Au over 6.9 m (Maunala & Wilson, 2010).

Mineral Record Details

References

Part - Some gold deposits near Goldrock, Upper Manitou Lake

Publication Number: ARV47-06.001 Page: 6-8  Date: 1997

Author: Thomson J.E.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

Mono - Gold deposits of Ontario, part 1, districts of Algoma, Cochrane, Kenora, Rainy River, and Thunder Bay

Publication Number: MDC013 Page: 162-163  Date: 1971

Author: Ferguson S.A., Groen H.A., Haynes R.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines and Northern Affairs

Location:

Mono - Gold deposits of the Kenora-Fort Frances area, districts of Kenora and Rainy River

Publication Number: MDC016 Page: 15  Date: 1976

Author: Beard R.C., Garratt G.L.

Publisher Name: Ontario Division of Mines

Location:

Mono - Geology of the Boyer Lake-Meggisi Lake area, District of Kenora

Publication Number: OFR5263 Page: 144-146  Date: 1979

Author: Blackburn C.E.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Mono - Feasibility of small scale gold mining in northwestern Ontario (parts of the districts of Kenora, Rainy River, and Thunder Bay), volume 1, text, volume 2, appendices

Publication Number: OFR5332 Page: D-5  Date: 1981

Author: Neilson J.N., Bray R.C.E.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

MonoMap - Geology of the Boyer Lake-Meggisi Lake area, District of Kenora

Publication Number: R202 Page: 83-84  Date: 1981

Author: Blackburn C.E.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Publication - Kenwest Property, NI 43-101 Compliant Technical Report

Publication Number: 2010 43-101 Date: 2010

Author: Maunala, T., Wilson, J.

Publisher Name: Wardrop for Manitou Gold Inc.

Location: Manitou Gold website

Mono - Report of Activities 1998, Resident Geologist Program, Red Lake Regional Resident Geologist Report: Red Lake and Kenora Districts

Publication Number: OFR5987 Date: 1999

Author: Blackburn C.E., Hinz P., Storey C.C., Kosloski L., Ravnaas C.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Publication - Technical Report on the Elora Property, Kenora Mining Division, Northwestern Ontario

Publication Number: 2007 43-101 Date: 2007

Author: Cullen, D., Clark, J.G.

Publisher Name: Clark Exploration for Seafield Resources

Location: SEDAR

Map - Boyer Lake, Kenora District

Publication Number: M2437 Scale: 1:31,680    Date: 1981

Author: Blackburn C.E.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

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For detailed information regarding this mineral record please contact the Kenora Resident Geologist District Office