MINERAL INVENTORY FILE NO.
923
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PRODUCT
Gypsum
NTS AREA
62O/15 SW
REF.
GYP 1
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NAME OF PROPERTY
Gypsumville - Old Quarry
OWNER OF OPERATOR ADDRESS
Domtar Construction Materials Ltd.
1405 Sargeant Avenue
Winnipeg MB R3E 0G6
OBJECT LOCATED
Quarry
MINING DIVISION
Winnipeg
Latitude
51° 46'
Longitude
98° 39'
Uncertainty (m)
50
UTM Zone
_____
Easting
_______
Northing
_______
L.S./Quarter Section
5, 10-12, 14
Section
26
Township
32
Range
9 wpm
DESCRIPTION OF DEPOSIT
Gypsum of the Jurassic Amaranth Formation is used for the production of plaster of paris, cement and wallboard. The gypsum in the original quarry consists of the beds 0.3 m to 0.9 m in thickness, which are separated by thin partings of clay. The gypsum is white, but the enclosed clay may give the rock a grey, pink red or brownish appearance. The massive gypsum is generally finely crystalline, and it may be so finely crystalline that it appears dull white and amorphous. Satinspar occurs as stringers 1.25 cm to 2.54 cm thick; and the stringers are usually oriented along the bedding planes. The central parts of some of the lower beds of gypsum are composed of anhydrite.
The thickness of the gypsum beds and depth of overburden are not precisely known in several places beyond the quarry limits. The gypsum occurs mainly in ridges which rise as much as 12.1 m above the level of the surrounding country. The topography in the area is very irregular because of the formation of sinkholes within the gypsum unit. (see Bannatyne 1959). All the gypsum deposits in the area occur within the Lake St. Martin crater structure.
Chemical Properties: The original quarry analyses ranged from 90.05% to 95% gypsum, and 1.46% to 3.37% magnesium oxide. The samples also had a small percentage of clay (Brownell, 1931).
Physical Properties: See above.
Use: Plaster of Paris, land fertilizer, cement, plaster board.
ASSOCIATED MINERALS OR PRODUCTS OF VALUE
Anhydrite, glauberite (Na2So4CaSO4)
HISTORY OF EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT
The quarry is located approximately 257 km northwest of Winnipeg, and 4.8 km north of the town of Gypsumville. It is on leases and patented land controlled by Domtar Construction Materials Limited.
1888 - Tyrrell examined some of the deposits and described the area.
1899 - The Manitoba Union Mining Company, Limited was incorporated in September.
1900 - The company staked out a large area near Gypsumville. A crushing and calcining mill was erected at Davis Point on Lake Manitoba.
1901 - Production commenced and the deposits were worked as open quarries. Average weekly output was 63.4 tonnes during the shipping season. The main workings were located in N1/2 of Sec. 26, Twp. 32, R. 9W. A seam of 3.3 m of gypsum was quarried.
1904 - Manitoba Union Mining Company was purchased by the Manitoba Gypsum Company. The gypsum was calcined at the small mill on Lake Manitoba and shipped down the lake to Totogan (near McArthur's Landing) and thence by rail to Winnipeg.
1905 - According to Wells (1905) the ore is quarried with augers and blasted with 60 per cent dynamite. Mining is done during the winter season to allow sleigh haulage on snow and ice over roads which are almost impassable in the summer season. The rock is carried from the stockpiles by wheelbarrows, delivered to a jaw crusher passing 5.0 cm rock and fines to a bucket elevator feeding a French horizontal buhrstone mill, which grinds the rock to 80 mesh and finer. The quarry shows a working face 6.0 m high and 152 m long, as of 1905.
1906 - The mill burned down and a new mill was erected in Winnipeg.
1909 - The new mill was destroyed by fire. The Dominion Gypsum was formed.
1910 - A third mill of reinforced concrete was built by Manitoba Gypsum Company. During the winter a branch line of the Canadian Northern Railway reached the Gypsumville quarries, and shipments by an all-rail route were commenced.
1911 - Quarry Lease 110 in l.s. 10 was issued to G.B. Hyde.
1911 - Dominion Gypsum Company built a 181 tonne mill and plant in Winnipeg. The raw gypsum for the plant was purchased from Manitoba Gypsum Company.
1915 - The 2 companies amalgamated, and carried on under the name of Manitoba Gypsum Company. Production ranged from 18,100 to 54,300 tonnes between 1910 and 1928.
1920 - Prior to 1920 all gypsum was shipped from the west quarry, and eventually this quarry was cut into an "L" shaped opening. The extension was 243 m long and 45.6m wide and eventually led to the opening of a "new" Eastern quarry.
1921 - The old western quarry was closed and all the gypsum was taken put of the new Eastern quarry starting in July. The rock is quarried by the usual open face methods; a Bucyrus steam shovel loads the gypsum into special 'V'-bottom cars which are kept in service between the quarries and the mill.
1933 - Renewal of Lease 110.
1953 - The Company began quarrying operations at a new site approximately 4.8 km north of the old quarry. The company renewed lease 110.
1959 - Lease 110 was assigned to Dominion Tar and Chemical Company Limited, and was renewed in 1965.
1965 - The company name changed to Domtar Construction Materials Limited.
1973 - The company renewed the lease.
1968 - A drill hole located south of the east arm of the old quarry intersected gypsum, anhydrite and some glauberite, (See hole LSM-3, in McCabe and Bannatyne (1970)).
HISTORY OF PRODUCTION
1901 - Quarrying commenced in the NW1/4 of Section 26. All rock was shipped to Davis Point for calcining, and thence to Totogan for shipment to Winnipeg by rail. Average weekly output was 63.4 tonnes during the shipping season.
1906 - The mill at Davis Point burned down and a new mill was erected in Winnipeg.
1909 - The new mill was destroyed by fire.
1910 - A third mill was built of reinforced concrete. During the winter a branch line of the Canadian Northern Railway reached the Gypsumville Quarry, and shipments by an all rail route were commenced.
1920 - Prior to 1920 all gypsum was shipped from the west quarry and eventually this quarry was cut into an "L" shaped opening extension was 243m long and 45.6 m wide, and eventually led to the opening of a new Eastern quarry.
1920 - 1953 - Continuous production from the Eastern quarry. In 1953 the company began quarrying in a new location north of the "old quarry" (See 62O/15 GYP 4).
Shipping Point - Gypsumville
Material Shipped - Gypsum
Destination - Winnipeg
Distance from Mine - 257 km
Carrier - Truck
REFERENCES
Annual Report: Man. Mines Branch, 1943, p. 49-52.
Armstrong, W.E. 1925: The Gypsum Industry in Manitoba; CIMM Vol. 28.
Bannatyne, B.B. 1959: Gypsum-Anhydrite Deposits of Manitoba; Manitoba Mines Branch Publ. 58-2, 46p.
Bannatyne, B.B. 1977: Educational Series 77/1, Man. MRD.
Brownell, G.M. 1931: Gypsum in Canada; Mines Branch, Canada, Rept. No. 245.
Cole, L.H. 1930: The Gypsum Industry of Canada; Mines Branch, Canada, Rept. No. 732, p. 20-25.
De Wet, J.P. 1934: The Story of Gypsum in Manitoba, Canadian Mining Journal; Jan. 1934.
Hoque, M.H. 1967: Structure and Petrology of the Gypsumville Gypsum Deposit; Unpublished M.Sc. thesis, U of Sask. 94p.
Manitoba Gypsum Company; Corporation File, Man. MRD.
McCabe, H.R. and Bannatyne, B.B. 1970: Lake St. Martin Crypto-Explosion Crater and Geology of the Surrounding Area. Manitoba Mines Branch, Geol. Paper 3/70.
McGill, H.F. Report of Gypsum Properties of Gypsum Lime and Alabastine Canada Limited Gypsumville Manitoba, on File Man. MRD.
Parks, W.A. 1916: Report on the Building and Ornamental Stones of Canada, Vol. IV, Provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta; Mines Branch, Canada, Report No. 388.
Tyrrell, J.B. 1887: Geological Survey of Canada Ann, Rept. 1887, Vol. III, N.S., pt. 1, p. 74A.
Wallace, R.C. and MacLean, A. 1914: Gypsum and Salt in Manitoba Geol. Surv. Canada, Sum. Report 1913, p. 165-169.
Wallace, R.C. 1915: Gypsum and Brines in Manitoba; Geological Survey Canada, Sum. Rept. 1914, p. 73-80.
Wallace, R.C. and Greet, L. 1927: The Non-Metallic Mineral Resources of Manitoba; Industrial Dev. Board of Manitoba, 93p.; (Gypsum; p. 38-43).
Wardlaw, N.C., Stauffer, M.R., and Hoque, M. 1969: Striations, giant grooves, and superposed drag folds, Interlake area, Manitoba; Can. J. Earth Sci., Vol. 6, No. 4, p. 577-593.
Wells, J.W. 1905: Preliminary Report on the Limestone and the Lime Industry of Manitoba; Mines Branch, Ottawa; Rept. No. 7, p. 65-68.
MAP REFERENCES
*Map 62O/15, Gypsumville (Topo.), 1:50 000; Surveys and Mapping Br., Man. MRD.
Map 12, Industrial Minerals Producers (Index), 1:1000 000; Man. MRD.
#Location Map, Geology Map, Figure 5; Hoque (1967).
URL
N/A
REMARKS
The original quarry is located on the south end of a 4.8 km ridge which extends to the north from Section 26 and 35, Township 32, Range 9W, into Section 2, Township 33, Range 9W. The quarry is located on Section 26, Township 32, Range 9W.
The quarry is over 0.8 km wide, and is shaped like an inverted "U".
The west arm of the quarry extends 356 m in a northerly direction and is up to 121m in width; the height of the west wall is between 3.0 m to 6.0 m. The west arm was abandoned because of an increase in anhydrite content. The east arm of the original quarry is approximately half the size of the west. The beds on the east wall dip gently to the east. The north wall of the quarry that joins the east and west pits ranges from 1.8 m to 6.0 m in height. Aside from minor anticlinal folding, the beds are practically horizontal when traced the length of the original quarry.
The company holds claims to 9 other gypsum deposits that have commercial development possibilities.
NOTES
N/A
Compiled/Revised by:
CWJ
Date
06/78

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