MINERAL INVENTORY FILE NO.
937
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
PRODUCT
Lime, Limestone
NTS AREA
620/7 NE
REF.
LST 2
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
NAME OF PROPERTY
Faulkner
OWNER OF OPERATOR ADDRESS
Steel Brothers Canada Ltd.
1325 Ellice Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3G 0G1
OBJECT LOCATED
____________
MINING DIVISION
__________
Latitude
51°24'58"
Longitude
98°46'30"
Uncertainty (m)
___
UTM Zone
_____
Easting
_______
Northing
_______
L.S./Quarter Section
11
Section
23
Township
28
Range
10 WPM
DESCRIPTION OF DEPOSIT
High-calcium limestone of the Devonian Elm Point Formation is quarried at Faulkner and burned for lime for use in the construction industry, steel processing, pulp and paper, and as a water softener by Portage la Prairie and Brandon. The limestone is exposed in several outcrops and is present under a thin soil and drift cover of up to 15.2 cm near the quarry.
According to Bannatyne (1975) the limestone can be divided into three distinct units. Starting from the top of the section, unit three comprises a 1.8 m medium brown, mottled limestone, with buff matrix that forms approximately 50% of the rock. A calcitic drusy crust was noted on undulating bedding planes; the beds are 2.5 to 7.6 cm in thickness. Unit 2 is the same as Unit 3, except that it has thicker beds, ranging from 10.1 to 17.7 cm; the lower 0.5 m of the 1.8 m Unit 2 is more massive, and has subconchoidal fracturing throughout. The lowest mottled limestone unit has a light buff matrix with patches of orange staining. The beds are 10.1 to 15.2 cm thick.
A few zones were noted in which the usual buff matrix of the limestone is stained a bright orange. These zones are up to 4.5 m wide at the surface, and extend irregularly downward 2.4 to 3.0 m. A solution cavity 1.8 m in diameter, filled with vari-colored clay (green, orange, mauve, white and grey) mixed with abundant sand and some sandstone was noted on the west wall of the quarry 1.5 m below the top of the face.
The quarry was deepened to 12 m by 1976, all in the Elm Point Formation.
Chemical Properties: According to Steel Brothers Canada, Limited the high calcium limestone averages 98% CaC03. See Bannatyne (1975, p. 53) for detailed analyses of the upper 5.6 m.
Physical Properties: See above.
Uses: In lime, for the construction industry, steel industry, pulp and paper, and as a water softener. Limestone: For use in a sugar-plant kiln; crushed stone for poultry, feed and mineral fillers.
ASSOCIATED MINERALS OR PRODUCTS OF VALUE
N/A
HISTORY OF EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT
The quarry is located 6.4 km west of Faulkner and 3.2 km southeast of Steep Rock. It is located on Crown Lane controlled by Steel Brothers Canada Ltd. A new lime plant was opened in 1976.
1954 - Quarry Leases M443 - M450 were issued to E.P. Pearson.
1963 - The quarry leases were assigned to Selkirk Silica Company, Limited.
1967 - The company name changed to Omega Enterprises Limited; the leases were assigned to The Winnipeg Supply and Fuel Company, Limited.
1969 - 1972 - The company opened the quarry in 1969 for the production of high-calcium limestone. In the first few years of production the quarry was operated intermittently, using portable crushing equipment. The stone is stockpiled in five sizes: fines less than 2 cm, 2 cm to 5 cm, 5 cm to 7.6 cm, 7.6 cm to 15.2 cm and rubble. By 1971 the quarry was 96.6 m long in a northeasterly direction, 91.4 m wide, and 5.6 m deep. The stone supplied lime plants at Spearhill and Fort Whyte.
1972 - The leases were acquired by the Steel Brother Canada Limited and renewed.
1976 - A $4 million lime plant at the Faulkner quarry went on stream on June 2. Capacity of the plant is 317.5 tonnes of lime per day. A CNR spur line serves the plant. The Steel Brothers' quarry is worked in two 6.0 m benches, using an Airtrac and a 2.3 m front end loader. Two 13.3 tonnes Euclids haul the shot rock the 0.4 km to the crusher receiving hopper. The stone is used in the new lime plant, in the Fort Whyte lime plant, and in grinding plant in Winnipeg producing feed-grade high-calcium limestone and mineral fillers. The Spearhill lime plant was shut down on June 11.
1977 - Former Quarry Location Leases M443-M450 were converted to Quarry Mineral Leases 123 and 124.
1969 - The Winnipeg Supply and Fuel Company, Limited opened the quarry at Faulkner for the production of high-calcium limestone.
1972 - The operation at Faulkner was acquired by the Steel Brothers Canada Limited.
1976 - A new lime plant went on stream in June at the Faulkner quarry.
Shipping Point: Faulkner
Distance from Mine: 217 km
Material Shipped: Limestone, Lime
Carrier: CNR
Destination: Terrace Bay to Edmonton, USA and Winnipeg.
HISTORY OF PRODUCTION
N/A
REFERENCES
+Bannatyne, B.B. 1975: High-calcium Limestone Deposits of Manitoba; Manitoba Mines Branch, Publ. 75-1, p. 17, 18, 52-55.
Steel Brothers Canada Limited, Corporation Files, Manitoba, MRD, Western Miner, Lime produced in new Western Plants; November 1976, p. 9-16.
Winnipeg Tribune, July 17, 1976, p. 76: New Interlake Plant now Operating.
MAP REFERENCES
Map 62O/7, Steep Rock (Topo.), 1:50 000; Surveys and Mapping Branch, Ottawa.
Map 12, Industrial Minerals Producers (Index), 1:1 000 000; Man. MRD.
Fig. 8, Elm Point Formation (Geol.), 1:126 720 - Accomp. Publ. by Bannatyne (1975); Man. MRD.
URL
N/A
REMARKS
Quarry Leases M443-M450 covered l.s. 4-6, 10-12, in Sec 23, Tp. 28, R. 10W, with a total area of 320 acres. In 1964 Selkirk Silica Company Limited were issued Quarry Mineral Leases M119 and M120 covering 80 acres in l.s. 1, 2, Sec. 25, Tp. 28, R. 10W. The Winnipeg Supply and Fuel Company, Limited acquired these leases in 1967, as did the Steel Brothers Canada Limited in 1972.
The former Quarry Location Leases M443-M450 converted to Quarry Mineral Leases 123 and 124 in 1977. Quarry Lease 123 covers l.s. 4-6, 12 while Quarry Lease 124 covers l.s. 10, 11, 14, 15, in Sec. 23, Tp. 28, R. 10W.
A flow sheet of the Faulkner lime plant is in the Western Miner (1976).
NOTES
N/A
Compiled/Revised by:
CWJ
Date
08/78