Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record:
MDI52F10NW00043
| Record Name(s) | Mile Lake - 1991, Northwest Occurrence - 1970 |
|---|---|
| Related Record Type | Partial |
| Related Record(s) | |
| Record Status | Prospect |
| Date Created | 1991-Jan-23 |
| Date Last Modified | 2022-Sep-27 |
| Created By | |
| Revised By |
Primary Commodities: Soapstone, Talc
Township or Area: Contact Bay Area
Latitude: 49° 41' 27.08" Longitude: -92° 46' 54.59"
UTM Zone: 15 Easting: 515735.569 Northing: 5504282.374 UTM Datum: NAD83
Resident Geologist District: Kenora
NTS Grid: 52F10NW
Point Location Description: Occurrence
Location Method: Conversion from MDI
Access Description: The occurrence is located approximately 12 km south- southeast off the town of Dryden on the northwest and southeast shores of Mile Lake. The deposit may be reached by boat from Wabigoon Lake through Contact Bay 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 which is south of Mile Lake. Roads lead to both bodies of water from the highway.
1924 - The two occurrences were discovered and test blocks were extracted from the southeast occurrence, presumably by the Wabigoon Soapstone Company Ltd. (Wright in Wilson 1926; Satterly 1943). 1970 - Test pits were sunk on the northwest occurrence during copper/nickel exploration (Storey 1986).
Province: Superior
Subprovince: Wabigoon
Geological Age: Mesoarchean
Dec 07, 2005 (R Degagne) - The Mile Lake-Trap Lake area is underlain by a northeast-tending mafic to ultramafic body (4.2 km by 1.8 km in size) which intrudes metavolcanic rocks the the north and granite rocks to the south. The granite and mafic to ultramafic rocks are cut by a 100 m wide northwest-tending diabase dike. Satterly notes that the soapstone occurrences appear to be altered ultramafic components of the intrusive body.
| Rock Type | Rank | Composition | Texture | Relationship | Gabbro | 1 | Gabbro | Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harzburgite | 2 | Harzburgite | Host | |
| Ultramafic Schist | 3 | Soapstone;C,Amp,Tc,Srp,Bt,Chl | Coarse Grained | Contains |
Dec 07, 2005 (R Degagne) - Satterly notes that the mafic to ultramafic rocks are gabbro and harzburgite. The soapstone occurrences appear to be altered ultramafic components of the intrusive body. The northwest occurrence is described by Redden (in press). Satterly (1943) suggested that the southeast occurrence was probably a highly altered ultrabasic lens in the gabbro. The northwest occurrence, located near the contact of the gabbro and the metavolcanics contained biotite, probably metamorphic in origin. In the area of the northwest occurrence the talc-bearing rocks appear to be associated with a shear zone in the gabbroic rocks (Storey 1986).
| Rank | Mineral Name | Class | Economic Mineral Type | Alteration Mineral Type | Alteration Ranking | Alteration Intensity | Alteration Style |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Talc | Economic | Ore | ||||
| 1 | Serpentine | Economic | Gangue | ||||
| 2 | Biotite | Economic | Gangue | ||||
| 3 | Chlorite | Economic | Gangue | ||||
| 4 | Dolomite | Economic | Gangue | ||||
| 5 | Carbonate | Economic | Gangue | ||||
| 6 | Amphibole | Economic | Gangue | ||||
| 7 | Quartz | Economic | Gangue | ||||
| 8 | Mica | Economic | Gangue | ||||
| Talc | Alteration | Steatization | 1 | Replacement | |||
| Serpentine | Alteration | Steatization | 2 | Replacement | |||
| Chlorite | Alteration | Steatization | 3 | Replacement | |||
| Dolomite | Alteration | Steatization | 4 | Replacement | |||
| Carbonate | Alteration | Carbonization | 5 | Disseminated |
Dec 07, 2005 (R Degagne) - Northwest occurrence - Satterly (1943) described the soapstone as greenish in colour and coarse grained with aggregates of biotite. Redden (in press) described the stone as mottled grey and black with disseminated carbonate and a few carbonate stringers. X-ray diffraction mineral analysis reported by Storey (1986) notes one sample composed predominantly of talc and chlorite with minor dolomite and very minor amphibole. Three other samples contained talc and serpentine as the major constituents of the rock, with minor amphibole and very minor quartz and mica. Chemical Analysis: SiO2-38.80, TiO2-0.35, Al2O3-5.78, Fe2O3-3.90, FeO-9.61, MnO-0.10, MgO-25.00,CaO-4.80, Na2O-0.0, K2O-0.0, P205-0.06, CO2-4.49, S-0.15, H2O+ 6.25, H2O- 0.06, TOTAL-98.30, LOI-9.30 1. Northwest occurrence (Redden in press) Note: Total Fe expressed as Fe2O3; FeO, H2O+, H2O-. not determined. CARVING TESTS: Redden (in press) reports that carver B. Clark of Edmonton found the material from the northwest occurrence suitable for carving.
Dec 07, 2005 (R Degagne) - Northwest occurrence - Satterly (1943) described the soapstone as greenish in colour and coarse grained with aggregates of biotite. Redden (in press) described the stone as mottled grey and black with disseminated carbonate and a few carbonate stringers. X-ray diffraction mineral analysis reported by Storey (1986) notes one sample composed predominantly of talc and chlorite with minor dolomite and very minor amphibole. Three other samples contained talc and serpentine as the major constituents of the rock, with minor amphibole and very minor quartz and mica.
| Shape | Length | Thickness | Depth | Strike | Dip | Plunge | Trend | Age | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 1.5 |
Date: Feb 26, 1997
Geologist: R Degagne
Notes: Northwest occurrence - A small outcrop of soapstone is located on the shore of the lake. At the shore the outcrop has a width of 0.5 m to 2 m. The clay overburden prevents determination of the extent of the occurrence (Redden in press).
Part - Geology of the Dryden-Wabigoon area
Publication Number: ARV50-02 Date: 1997
Author: Satterly J.
Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines
Location:
Mono - Talc in Ontario
Publication Number: IMR040 Page: 41 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 - Preliminary report of the building and ornamental stone inventory, Kenora and Rainy River districts
Publication Number: OFR5446 Page: 89-92 Date: 1983
Author: Storey C.C.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Compend - Report of activities, 1984, Regional and Resident Geologists
Publication Number: MP122 Page: 30-31 Date: 1985
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: 100 Date: 1986
Author: Storey C.C.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Article - Northwestern Region Industrial Minerals Program - 1988
Publication Number: MP142.008 Page: 157-175 Date: 1997
Author: Kennedy M.C., Sherlock E.J.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Mono - Industrial Minerals Project, Sioux Lookout-Dryden Area, Parts of Kenora and Patricia Mining Divisions
Publication Number: OFR5766 Date: 1993
Author: Redden J.W.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
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
Mono - Industrial minerals of northern Ontario-supplement 1
Publication Number: OFR5388 Date: 1982
Author: Vos M.A., Abolins T., Smith V.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
Mono - Soapstone in Ontario
Publication Number: OFR5764 Date: 1991
Author: Gerow M.C., Sherlock E.J., Bellinger J.A.
Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey
Location:
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