Ontario Mineral Inventory

Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record: MDI52H13NE00012

Record: MDI52H13NE00012

General

Mineral Record Identification
Record Name(s)	Puddy Lake - 1967, Commerce Nickel Mines Ltd. - 1967
Related Record Type	Partial
Related Record(s)
Record Status	Prospect
Date Created	1987-Apr-07
Date Last Modified	2022-Apr-19
Created By
Revised By

Commodities

Primary Commodities: Iron, Nickel

Secondary Commodities: Copper, Platinum, Palladium, Zinc, Gold, Silver, Cobalt, Chromium

Location

Township or Area: Puddy Lake Area

Latitude: 49° 57' 55.58" Longitude: -89° 31' 39.09"

UTM Zone: 16 Easting: 318740 Northing: 5537850 UTM Datum: NAD83

Resident Geologist District: Thunder Bay South

NTS Grid: 52H13NE

Point Location Description: Between Commerce Nickel DDH 2 and DDH 3

Location Method: Data Compilation

Access Description: Puddy Lake is located approxiamtely 175 km north of Thunder Bay, and is accessible by float plane. Immediately north and south of Puddy Lake. Map P 416 shows 5 Ni, Fe occurrences on Puddy lake.Highway 527 lies 24 km to the east of the property (Hinz and Landry, 1994 OFR 5889, OGS).

Exploration History

Prior to 1964: Sporadic exploration for iron, nickel, and platinum. 1964-1967: Trenching, geological. eochemical, EM, MAG and SP surveys; metalurigical testing, and 24 DDH, aggregating approximately 5,590 feet by Commerce Nickel Mines Ltd. 1967-1968: Trenching, EM survey and 10 ddh, aggregating 3,106 feet by Newmont Mining Corp. of Canada Ltd. 1985-93: Prospecting, stripping, sampling and ground geophysical surveys by K. Kuhner. 1993-96: Diamond drilling (approximately 20 ddh) by Obongo Precious Metals Ltd. 2007: Ground magnetic and electromagnetic surveys by Vale Inco Ltd. 2006-14: Prospecting and sampling by D. Plumridge on a claim that covers a portion of the prospect. 2014: Prospecting and bedrock geochemistry survey by Pavey Ark Minerals Inc. on separate claim blocks.

Assessment Work on File

Assessment Work on File
Office File Number	Online Assessment File Identifier	Online Assessment File Directory
2.11438	52H13NE0004	52H13NE0004
63.2144	52H13NE0011	52H13NE0011
11	52H13NE0016	52H13NE0016
63.1782	52H13NE0012	52H13NE0012
W9640-00076	52H13NE0022	52H13NE0022
2.18465	52H13NE2002	52H13NE2002
2.10551	52H13NE9237	52H13NE9237
2.10948	52H14NW0001	52H14NW0001
2.39091	20000003238	20000003238

Geology

Province: Superior

Subprovince: Wabigoon

Belt: Obonga Lake

Geological Age: Archean

Geology Comments

Dec 07, 2005 (B Schnieders) - The property is underlain by the host ultra-basic serpentine-talc-carbonate rock (Press Release, May 17, 1965 Mineral Deposit Files, OGS, Thunder Bay). The Puddy Lake serpentinite is the most interesting and economically important rock unit in the area. It is thought to have been formed by the alteration of a differentiated olivine-bearing intrusive mass. No remnant of the original rock has been found; however textures indicate that the original rocks were peridotite, dunite and pyroxenite. The rock consists wholly of serpentine material coloured red, blue and green, through which are scattered lenses and veinlets of massive nickleiferous magnetitie Disseminated magnetitie as discrete grains and streaks, and disseminated hematite also occur. The magnetite-rich portions of the mass occur in material found on the property of Commerce Nickel Mines Ltd., and in addition to iron, nickel and metals of the platinum group, small ammounts of gold, silver, copper, zinc, chromium, and cobalt have been reported (P 416, Marginal Notes, Kustra, 1966, OGS). The area is underlain by a lenticular serpentinite intrusive, approximately 3 1/2 miles long by 3/4 mile wide. Nickel, copper and cobalt sulphides, hematite, chromite and magnetitie occur as minute, discrete grains disseminated irregularily throughout the rock. Near the E end of the property, and S of the lake, narrow millerite-bearing shear zones have been located. The presence of small amounts of platinum group metals, including irridium, and zinc, cobalt and silver have been confirmed (Shklanka, 1969, MRC 12, OGS).

Mineralization

Mineralization and Alteration
Rank	Mineral Name	Class	Economic Mineral Type	Alteration Mineral Type	Alteration Ranking	Alteration Intensity	Alteration Style
5	Hematite	Economic	Ore
10	Magnetite	Economic	Ore

Mineralization Comments

Dec 04, 2014 (Mark Puumala) - The majority of historic exploration activity associated with this prospect has occurred on the south side of Puddy Lake, near its eastern end. The Ni-Cu-PGE potential of this area was noted by Nelson (1969; Iridium at Puddy Lake, Canada, Mineral Deposit Files, Thunder Bay South District, 52H13NW Puddy Lake Prospect), based on the results of diamond drilling carried out by Commerce Nickel Mines and Newmont Mining (ddh Nos. 2, 3, N-6 and N-10) between 1966 and 1968. Some of the most notable assays included 1.39% Ni over 10 feet in ddh N-10 and 1.07% Cu over 10 feet in ddh 2. Grab sample assay results from a surface showing in this area that were filed by Kuhner (1987; AFRI 52H13NE9237) included: 12.2% Ni, 0.51% Co, 0.23% Cu, 0.012 ounce Pt per ton, 0.08 ounce Pd per ton, 0.008 ounce Au per ton, 0.18 ounce Ag per ton. Commerce Nickel Mines Ltd. is also reported to have discovered a massive sulphide zone on their Puddy Lake property in 1967 that returned from 4.1 to 11.6% Ni (Neely and Zinn 1987; AFRI52H14NW0001). However, the location of this zone cannot be readily identified from the available assessment file information. Commerce Nickel Mines Ltd. calculated a historic resource (non-compliant with NI 43-101) of 30 million tons grading 0.27% Ni, 7.2% recoverable Fe and 0.02% Co to a depth of 400 feet (Commerce Nickel Mines Ltd. Annual Report 1966).

Mineral Record Details

Classification
Rank	Classification
1	Mafic-Ultramafic Intrusion

Site Visit Information

Date: Aug 30, 2012

Geologist: Mark Puumala

Notes: See OFR 6285

References

Map - Obonga Lake area, west part, District of Thunder Bay

Publication Number: P0416 Scale: 1:15,840 Date: 1997

Author: Kustra C.R.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

Mono - Iron deposits of Ontario

Publication Number: MDC011 Page: 434 Date: 1968

Author: Shklanka R.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

Mono - Copper, nickel, lead and zinc deposits of Ontario

Publication Number: MDC012 Page: 332-333 Date: 1969

Author: Shklanka R.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

Mono - Report of Activities 2012, Resident Geologist Program, Thunder Bay South Regional Resident Geologist Report: Thunder Bay South District

Publication Number: OFR6285 Date: 2013

Author: Puumala M.A., Campbell D.A., Cundari R.M., Zurevinski S.E., Tuomi R.D., Lockwood H.C., Debicki R.L., Moses P., Brunelle M.R., Pelaia R.