Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record:
MDI52F10NW00013
| Record Name(s) | Trap Lake - 1987 |
|---|---|
| Related Record Type | Simple |
| Related Record(s) | |
| Record Status | Developed Prospect With Reported Reserves or Resources |
| Date Created | 1987-Apr-10 |
| Date Last Modified | 2022-Sep-27 |
| Created By | |
| Revised By |
Primary Commodities: Soapstone
Township or Area: Contact Bay Area
Latitude: 49° 40' 1.07" Longitude: -92° 46' 45.58"
UTM Zone: 15 Easting: 515923.876 Northing: 5501626.694 UTM Datum: NAD83
Resident Geologist District: Kenora
NTS Grid: 52F10NW
Point Location Description: Occurrence
Location Method: Conversion from MDI
Access Description: The deposit is located 13 km south-southeast of the town of Dryden. It is on two islands, RK 246 and RK 249, and a reef located near the northeast shore of Trap Lake at the outlet of the lake, called Threefork Creek. The deposit may be reached by boat from Wabigoon Lake through Contact Bay and Mile Lake via Threefork Creek. Boat launches are located in numerous places on Wabigoon Lake. Highway 502, which goes south from Dryden, passes just south of Contact Bay and Trap Lake. Roads lead to both bodies of water from the highway.
1923 - Mr. L. Pidgeon of Wabigoon discovered the occurrence. He staked 2 claims covering the Trap Lake soapstone outcrops. Thermo-Stone Quarries, Ltd. was incorporated to quarry and market the material. Some stripping was carried out and several cubic feet of soapstone were removed for testing (Wright in Wilson 1926). 1924 - Thermo-Stone Quarries, Ltd. and Wabigoon Soapstone Company, Ltd. were amalgamated. No further work is reported in regard to the soapstone at Trap Lake (Wright in Wilson 1926; Spence 1928).
Province: Superior
Subprovince: Wabigoon
Belt: Rainy River
Geological Age: Archean
Dec 07, 2005 (R Degagne) - The area was mapped by Satterly (1943). The Mile Lake-Trap Lake area is underlain by a northeast-trending mafic to ultramafic body (4.2 km by 1.8 km in size) which intrudes metavolcanic rocks to the north and granitic rocks to the south. These rocks are all cut by a 100 m wide northwest-trending diabase dike. Satterly notes that the rocks are gabbro and harzburgite. The soapstone occurrences appear to be altered ultramafic components of the intrusive body.
| Rock Type | Rank | Composition | Texture | Relationship | Mafic lava flow-unsubdivided | 1 | Near |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Granite | 2 | Granite | Near | |
| Diabase | 3 | Diabase | Near | |
| Gabbro | 4 | Gabbro / Harzburgite | Host | |
| Ultramafic Schist | 5 | Soapstone; Tlc, Chl, Dol, | Medium Grained | Contains |
Dec 07, 2005 (R Degagne) - Soapstone makes up the bulk of the two islands and was reported by Wright (in Wilson 1926) to occur on the shore ofTrap Lake north of the islands. The deposit has been described by Wright (1924 and in Wilson 1926), Spence (1940), Storey (1986) and Kennedy and Sherlock (1989). Satterly describes the occurrence as follows: On the northwest point of Island No. 246 ...(quote) the soapstone is fairly massive but has widely spaced fractures, is medium-grained and grey and green in colour, the two colours representing pseudomorphs after two minerals. In thin section under the microscope the aggregate consists of talc, carbonate, and antigorite, with a minor amount of penninite and iron ores. The original two minerals were probably olivine and a pyroxene. The olivine is represented by an aggregate of talc; carbonate, with grains of iron ore; and some antigorite. The pyroxene pseudomorph shows strips of antigorite at right angles to each other, presumably paralleling two sets of cleavages, with a talc aggregate between these strips. The original rock was, therefore, a variety of peridotite; as harzburgite occurs on a nearby island, the rock was most likely that species. (unquote).
| 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 | ||||
| 3 | Magnetite | Economic | Gangue | ||||
| 4 | Serpentine | Economic | Gangue | ||||
| 5 | Amphibole | Economic | Gangue | ||||
| Talc | Alteration | Steatization | 1 | ||||
| Chlorite | Alteration | Steatization | 2 | ||||
| Dolomite | Alteration | Steatization | 3 | ||||
| Magnetite | Alteration | Steatization | 4 | ||||
| Serpentine | Alteration | Steatization | 5 |
Dec 07, 2005 (R Degagne) - Both islands are composed of similar material. The soapstone is dark grey in colour and medium grained (2 mm to 4 mm). It is cut by talc and carbonate veins, 0.5 cm to 2 cm wide, which trend 190 on average. Jointing commonly trends 190 and tends to be quite widely spaced (0.5 m to 2 m) on both islands. A vertical outcrop face on the northwest part of Island No. 246 shows sheeting to be 0.5 m to 1.5 m in thickness, dipping shallowly to the west. The soapstone is composed primarily of talc and chlorite with dolomite and minor magnetite, serpentine and amphibole (Wright in Wilson 1926; Satterly 1943; Storey 1986).TEST RESULTS: Specific Gravity: 2.9; Chemical Analysis:SiO2-45.30, Ti02-0.13, Al203-5.76, Fe203-11.90, MnO-0.17, MgO-22.90, CaO-4.89, Na20-0.02, K20-0.18, P205-0.03, CO2-3.11, S-0.01, Total-94.40, LOI-7.40, Geoscience Laboratories, Ontario Geological Survey, MNDM Note: Total Fe expressed as Fe203; Fe0, H20+, H20-, > not determined.
| Shape | Length | Thickness | Depth | Strike | Dip | Plunge | Trend | Age | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 400 | 250 |
Date: Mar 04, 1997
Geologist: R Degagne
Notes: The occurrence comprises the two islands and a small reef at the outlet of Trap Lake. The islands are covered by thick overburden and outcrop is limited to the shoreline. The larger island (No. 246) is roughly 250 m by 250 m. It has fairly continuous outcrop on the west side. The smaller island (No. 249) is about 70 m by 40 m and has good outcrop on the east side. Some evidence of the old trenching in the overburden was present but it was not apparent where the test blocks had been extracted from the islands. The overburden is clay rich containing carbonate concretions. The concretions make up much of the beach on the southwest side of the island. As well, a horizon of red clay was found in place on the land bridge joining the point on the south side of the island to the main part of the island.
Part - Geology of the Dryden-Wabigoon area
Publication Number: ARV50-02 Page: 54-55 Date: 1997
Author: Satterly J.
Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines
Location:
Mono - Talc in Ontario
Publication Number: IMR040 Page: 41-42 Date: 1998
Author: Hewitt D.F.
Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines and Northern Affairs
Location:
Compend - Report of activities, 1983, Regional and Resident Geologists
Publication Number: MP117 Page: 18 Date: 1984
Author: Kustra C.R.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Mono - Building and ornamental stone inventory in the districts of Kenora and Rainy River
Publication Number: MDC027 Page: 103-104 Date: 1986
Author: Storey C.C.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Mono - Soapstone in Ontario
Publication Number: OFR5764 Page: 77-80 Date: 1991
Author: Gerow M.C., Sherlock E.J., Bellinger J.A.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
File - Resident Geologist Files
Publication Number: Date: 1997
Author:
Publisher Name:
Location: Kenora RGP
Article - Northwestern Region Industrial Minerals Program - 1988
Publication Number: MP142.008 Page: 157-178 Date: 1997
Author: Kennedy M.C., Sherlock E.J.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Mono - Industrial minerals of northern Ontario-supplement 1
Publication Number: OFR5388 Page: 138-139 Date: 1982
Author: Vos M.A., Abolins T., Smith V.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Publication - The Canadian soapstone industry; In: Investigations of mineral resources and the mining industry, 1926; Canada Mines Branch, Publication 687
Publication Number: CMB Pub 687 Page: 19-24 Date: 1928
Author: Spence, H.S.
Publisher Name: Canada Mines Branch
Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/19858
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
Book - WABIGOON & TRAP LAKE SOAPSTONE DEPOSITS, SEPT. 5, 1924, P.871-872
Publication Number: N/A Date: 1924
Author: Wright, J.F.
Publisher Name:
Location: CANADIAN MINING JOURNAL
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
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
We are continuously updating our assessment file / technical report information. If you notice errors in the data, please contact us.
Please review our Terms of Use agreement for this data product.
For detailed information regarding this mineral record please contact the Kenora Resident Geologist District Office