Ontario Mineral Inventory

Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record: MDI52J13NE00005

Record: MDI52J13NE00005

General

Commodities

Primary Commodities: Lithium, Tantalum, Rubidium

Secondary Commodities: Niobium, Cesium

Location

Township or Area: Root Lake Area

Latitude: 50° 56' 6.38"    Longitude: -91° 41' 1.62"

UTM Zone: 15    Easting: 592485.52   Northing: 5643433.38    UTM Datum: NAD83

Resident Geologist District: Thunder Bay North

NTS Grid: 52J13NE

Point Location Description: Reported location of trench

Location Method: Based on Assessment

Access Description: The site is reached from a winter road that extends north toward Cat Lake from the Rawhide Road, accessed by the Vermilion River Road.

Exploration History

Discovered in 1955 by H. A. Watt for Consolidated Morrison Explorations Ltd. 16 diamond drill holes for 6200.8 feet in 1955-56 by Consolidated Morrison Explorations Ltd. Property dropped in 1956. Restaked by H. A. Watt in 2000, stripping trenching and sampling by H. A. Watt in 2000 and 2002. 2005: Landore Resources Canada Inc. conducted prospecting and geological surveys. 2009: H. A. Watts conducted stripping and trenching. 2009: Golden Dory Corporation conducted a ground magnetometer survey, stripping and sampling. 2022-23: Green Technology Metals drilled 32 DDH totalling 5400 m.

Assessment Work on File

Geology

Province: Superior

Subprovince: Uchi

Terrane: North Caribou

Domain: Uchi

Belt: Lake St. Joseph

Geological Age: Neoarchean  

Geology Comments

Aug 28, 2007 (Mark Puumala) - The Root Lake pegmatite group consists of 4 spodumene pegmatites within a 3 by 4 km area (Breaks et al. 2003). Two of these occurrences (McCombe and Consolidated Morrison) are hosted in mafic metavolcanic rocks of the Uchi Domain, while the other two (Capital Lithium Mines occurrences) are hosted by metasedimentary rocks of the English River Domain. The Consolidated Morrison occurrence, which is located approximately 2 km southeast of the McCombe dikes (Breaks et al. 2003) is reported by Mulligan (1965) to be a 9 m wide pegmatite dike that has been traced for a strike length of approximately 30 m. Breaks et al. (2003) indicate that this is a muscovite-tourmaline-spodumene pegmatite that contains spessartine, managanocolumbite, calcium-bearing, iron-rich elbaite and rare schorl. It represents one of several pegmatites drilled by Consolidated Morrison over a strike length of approximately 1 km (Breaks et al. 2003). Breaks et al. (2003) report anomalous Li, Cs, Be and Rb assays from an aplite dike located at UTM Zone 15, 591763E, 5643280N, near the western end of this zone. A reconnaissance sampling program carried out approximately 1500 m west of the original Consolidated Morrison occurrence and reported by Hinz et al. (2000) also identified anomalous Li, Cs, Be, and Ta concentraions in samples collected from two narrow (0.3 to 0.6 m wide) 075-striking pegmatite dikes.

Lithology

Mineralization

Mineralization Comments

Jul 26, 2017 (Therese Pettigrew) - The pegmatite is up to 30 feet wide and more than 700 feet long, directly on strike due east of the main McCombe showing, with low swampy ground in between the two. Samples collected by H. Watts yielded approx. 3% Li across 30 feet. A grab sample across another 30-foot section taken in 1998 by H. Watts yielded 2.49% Li2O while a hand-picked sample gave 5.91% Li2O (AFRI 20000005527). Golden Dory found similar high-grade lithium samples with values up to 4.43% Li2O. They also found rare metal enrichment, with values up to 223 ppm Ta, 224 ppm Nb, 217 ppm Cs, and 0.42% Rb2O (AFRI 20000006748). Green Technology Metals 2022-23 drill program has confirmed that the pegmatites strike up to 1.6 km trending east-west. The westernmost pegmatites at Morrison appear to be connected to the McCombe deposit system. DDH RL-22-364 retuned 1.25% Li2O over 10.57 m from a depth of 54 m (Green Technology Metals news release May 1, 2023).

Mineral Record Details

References

Map - Root Lake sheet, Kenora District

Publication Number: M2156 Scale: 1:31,680    Date: 1969

Author: Clifford P.M.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

MonoMap - Geology of the western Lake St. Joseph area, Kenora and Thunder Bay districts

Publication Number: R070 Date: 1969

Author: Clifford P.M.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

Mono - Report of Activities 1999, Resident Geologist Program, Red Lake Regional Resident Geologist Report: Red Lake-Kenora Districts

Publication Number: OFR6003 Page: 23-24  Date: 2000

Author: Hinz P., Storey C.C., Gosselin S.D.M., Blackburn C.E., Kosloski L.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

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

Publication Number: OFR5987 Page: 25-37  Date: 1999

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

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Compend - Summary of Field Work and Other Activities, 2001

Publication Number: OFR6070 Date: 2001

Author: Baker C.L., Kelly R.I., Parker J.R.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Mono - Pegmatite mineral resources of Ontario

Publication Number: IMR021 Date: 1997

Author: Hewitt D.F.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

Publication - Geology of Canadian Lithium Deposits; Geological Survey of Canada, Economic Geology Report 21

Publication Number: Econ Geol 21 Page: 65  Date: 1965

Author: Mulligan, R.

Publisher Name: Geological Survey of Canada

Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/102454

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For detailed information regarding this mineral record please contact the Thunder Bay North Resident Geologist District Office