Ontario Mineral Inventory

Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record: MDI52J02SE00007

Record: MDI52J02SE00007

General

Commodities

Primary Commodities: Gold

Location

Township or Area: Squash Lake Area

Latitude: 50° 2' 2.96"    Longitude: -90° 43' 52.86"

UTM Zone: 15    Easting: 662465   Northing: 5544894    UTM Datum: NAD83

Resident Geologist District: Kenora

NTS Grid: 52J02SE

Point Location Description: Shaft on map in Assessment report 20000004929

Location Method: Based on Assessment

Access Description: The island is accessible by water in winter and summer by suitably equipped aircraft. Access can be had by boat in summer and snowmobile in winter from access points on Hwy. 599.

Exploration History

1907: The gold occurrence was discovered by T. K. Bernard prior to 1907 on what is now known as Rainbow Island. 1911: T. K. Barnard sunk a shaft 9 x 7 feet to a depth of 25 feet on a dark quartz vein. Another shaft was sunk on an extension of the same vein. 1912: E.T. Corkill reported on the Rainbow property in Mines of Ontario, Report O.B.M. Vol 21, pt.1, 1912, page 103: On A.L.499, formerly owned by T. K. Bernard, situated on an island about one-half mile from the Sturgeon Lake Hotel, a shaft has been sunk 50 feet, and 20 feet of drifting and crosscutting done. There is no plant on the property. 1934: Mid-Canada Exploration Co. optioned the Rainbow locations from W.S. Ray of Port Arthur. The new company will be Sturgeon Rainbow Gold Mines Ltd. 1938: The Sturgeon Aurora property was taken over by Don Malartic Gold Mines. 1946: Don Malartic Gold Mines property reverted to Crown for non-payment of taxes. 1973: K.F. O’Flaherty carried out trenching. 1982-83: Optioned to K. Kuhner of Thunder Bay. Mr. Kuhner cleaned out and deepened the trenches. He installed a mill to attempt small scale gold mining. 1989: Property optioned to 007 Precious Metals Inc. who flew airborne magnetic and VLF-EM surveys and drilled 9 DDH on Rainbow Island. 1996: Equator Mining Corp. carried out prospecting and sampling.

Assessment Work on File

Geology

Province: Superior

Subprovince: Wabigoon

Belt: Sturgeon Lake

Geological Age: Archean  

Lithology

Lithology Comments

Dec 07, 2005 (R Tuomi) - HOST ROCK: Contact between mafic metavolcanics and leucogranodiorite.

Mineralization

Mineralization Comments

Apr 29, 2020 (R Tuomi) - Two shafts were sunk on two en echelon quartz veins which trend 080 degrees and dip 60-70 degrees S. The veins are located at the sinuous contact of a leucocratic granodiorite phase of the Lewis Lake batholith and sheared, carbonated mafic metavolcanics. The hanging wall contact of the veins consists of pea to cobble-sized angular fragments of mafic metavolcanics in a carbonate matrix. The footwall contact is a slightly feldspar porphyritic, fine-grained white granodiorite which would be classed as leucocratic due to a low mafic content. The blue to black quartz vein varies from 0.25 to 0.45m in width. The sulphide mineralization is almost entirely pyrite, with traces of chalcopyrite. The quartz is brecciated and shows crack-seal features. Pyrite content varies widely throughout the vein and gold tenor appears to follow sulphide content. The two shafts were sunk where the veins appear to pinch out; possibly to try and follow the quartz veins at depth. Both veins, which together are exposed for 100m, have been excavated for 8 to 12 m below surface. K. Kuhner set up a small jaw crusher, ball-mill and table which operated for two summers in 1982-1983 to recover gold from the two veins. Mining involved blasting out the footwall, leaving the quartz vein material on the hanging wall. The vein was then scaled off the hanging wall and transported to a small jaw crusher. The crushed ore was fed through a hollow trunion bearing into a small homemade ball-mill. The overflow of the ball mill was sent to a table for gold recovery. That the gold was fine grained is obvious from the fact that little if any visible gold was found, even in samples which assayed up to 11 ounces per ton. The mill proved to be uneconomic and the property was returned to the owner. No records were available of the average gold content of the ore milled. Samples taken and assayed at the Geoscience Labs, OGS, gave values from 4 to 11 oz Au/ton (Janes et al., 1990).

Apr 29, 2020 (Therese Pettigrew) - During the 1989 drill program on Rainbow Island, eight of the nine holes returned intersections from 0.3 to 1.6 m in width with grades ranging from 0.02 to 0.63 oz/t Au (0.69 to 21.6 g/t Au) (Janes et al., 1990). Samples collected by Equator Mining during their 1996 prospecting returned 100 to 340 ppb Au (Assessment report 52J02SE0010).

Mineral Record Details

References

MonoMap - Geology of the Squaw Lake-Sturgeon Lake area, District of Thunder Bay

Publication Number: R227 Page: 79, 94  Date: 1983

Author: Trowell N.F.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Article - Sioux Lookout Resident Geologist's District - 1989

Publication Number: MP147.004 Page: 77, 96-97  Date: 1997

Author: Janes D.A., Seim G.Wm., Storey C.C.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Book - CLIPPINGS 1909-46

Publication Number: CLIPPINGS Date: 1909

Author:

Publisher Name:

Location:

Part - Statistical review

Publication Number: ARV16-01.001 Page: 60  Date: 1998

Author: Gibson T.W.

Publisher Name: Ontario Bureau of Mines

Location:

Part - The Sturgeon Lake gold field

Publication Number: ARV20-01.005 Page: 141-142  Date: 1998

Author: Moore E.S.

Publisher Name: Ontario Bureau of Mines

Location:

Part - Mines of Ontario

Publication Number: ARV21-01.003 Page: 103  Date: 1998

Author: Corkill E.T.

Publisher Name: Ontario Bureau of Mines

Location:

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Ministry Contact Information

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