MINERAL
INVENTORY FILE NO.
198
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
PRODUCT
NICKEL
NTS AREA
52L6
REF.
NI 1
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
NAME OF PROPERTY
DUMBARTON MINE (DUMBARTON,
CHANCE AND COLOSSUS (No. 12, 13,
14)
OWNER OF
OPERATOR ADDRESS
1974-Dumbarton Mines Limited
Ste. 1600 – 100 Adelaide St.
W.
Toronto, ON
OBJECT LOCATED
Centre of Dumbarton M.C.
MINING
DIVISION
Winnipeg
Latitude
50°28.15’
Longitude
95°26.74’
Uncertainty
(m)
500 m
UTM Zone
_____
Easting
_______
Northing
_______
L.S./Quarter
Section
___
Section
26, 35
Township
17
Range
15 EPM
DESCRIPTION OF
DEPOSIT
The deposit is situated at the contact between the Precambrian
andesite of the Rice Lake Group and the granite of the Great Falls Pluton. The
granite occurs on the north half of the “Dumbarton Mines Lease Area” (see Fig.
1). And south of the andesite is the Bird River Sill. Disseminated to massive
sulphides are present in four leases (A,B,C & D) which are irregularly
shaped, have almost vertical dip and extend down dip without any obvious plunge
direction. Their thickness varies up to 50 ft. The major host for the sulphide
lenses is a massive, fine-grained, amphibolite, derived from andesite. “The
major sulphide present is pyrrhotite. Pentlandite occurs as exsolution lamellae
in pyrrhotite or as block grains along grain boundaries of this mineral. The
only copper-bearing sulphide is chalcopyrite.: (Karup/Møller and Brummer, 1971).
(See Card 3 for Fig. 1 and 2).
ASSOCIATED
MINERALS OR PRODUCTS OF VALUE
Copper, arsenic, platinum, palladium
HISTORY OF
EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT
The deposit is located about three miles west of Oiseau (Bird) Lake,
3½ miles north of Bernic Lake and is crossed over by Provincial Road no.
314.
In 1920 the deposit was staked by three full claims and in 191 by an
additional fractional
claims.
...........................................................Claim
Claim
Named.............Area.............Number............Staker
Chance....................50.3
acres.......29934.............J.G. Devlin
Dumbarton...............50.3
areas.......29935.............Wm. Martin, Jr.
Copper
Plate............49....areas.......29935.............Wm. Ainslie
Dumfries
Frac............. -..................30113.............Wm. Martin,
Jr.
McCann (1920) reported that William Martin, Jr. had a sample
analyzed by Ledoux Co. The assay is given in Column I
below:
.....................................................................I..............................II
Insoluble
siliceous
matter................................-..........................44.76%
Alumina.........................................................-.............................1.50
Iron...............................................................-.............................28.50
Nickel..........................................................1.13..........................2.92
Copper.........................................................0.19..........................0.08
Cobalt..........................................................-................................trace
Sulphur.......................................................1090............................-
Silver............................................................0.04
oz.....................Trace
Gold.............................................................none.........................trace
Platinum
metals.............................................-..............................none
Arsenic.........................................................-...............................1.50
Lead.............................................................-...............................0.03
Zinc.............................................................-................................trace
In
January 1921, the Chance, Dumbarton and Dumfries Frac. were assigned to The
Devlin Mining and Development Company, Limited; however, in May of the same
year, the Copper Plate was assigned to Fletcher Sparling and Douglas Clark. In
December 1922, a 21-year lease 248 and 247 were issued on the Chance and
Dumbarton claims, respectively. At the same time the Dumfries Frac. was
cancelled.
Wright (1926) reported that shallow trenches, pits and two shafts;
each 20-30 ft. depth had been sunk in the mineralized zone on the Chance M.C.
Samples of ore from the shafts averaged 1.95% and 0.05% copper.
According to
Davies (1957), Ventures Limited optioned the properties of The Devlin Mining and
Development Company, Limited, in 1928 and conducted a Radiore survey as well as
trenching and diamond drilling. The option was dropped in 1929.
In 1933,
after an unknown amount of trenching and stripping the Copper Plate M.C. was
cancelled. Two years later P.G. Meurer staked the Colossus No. 12, 13, 14 and 15
(W6161-64) claims approximately in the same area as the Copper Plate and
Dumfries Frac. had been located.
The Chance and Dumbarton claims were
assigned to the Great Falls Mining & smelting Limited late in 1935 and
Colossus claims early in 1936. In December, 1936 through an option agreement,
Northfield Mining Company Limited carried out an extensive diamond drilling
program.
Claim...................................Hole
No..............Width
Feet..................Copper..............Nickel
Colossus No.
13......................1..........................30............................0.40%..............1.53%
Colossus
No.
13......................2..........................27............................0.41%..............1.04%
Chance...................................3..........................41...........................50.45%.............1.36%
Chance...................................4..........................22............................0.33%.............1.23%
Chance...................................5...........................4.5..........................0.12%..............0.72%
Chance...................................6..........................11.5.........................0.19%..............0.47%
Chance...................................7..........................Nil............................Nil.....................Nil
Chance...................................8..........................32............................0.42%..............1.82%
.........................................................................23.5..........................0.43%..............2.27%
Chance...................................9..........................33............................0.19%..............0.64%
Colossus
No.
13.....................10..........................26...........................0.47%..............1.14%
.........................................................................13............................0.54%..............1.70%
Colossus
No.
13......................11..........................7............................0.30%..............2.50%
..........................................................................23............................0.25%...............0.87%
Colossus
No.
13......................12..........................3............................0.44%..............0.25%
...........................................................................24...........................0.18%..............0.40%
Colossus
No.
13......................13..........................16............................0.47%..............0.24%
A
total footage of 4 655 ft. Was drilled on the following claims (with depths
ranging from 400 feet in
depth):
Claim.............................................Footage
Drilled,
Feet
Dumbarton...........................................516
Chance.............................................1
708
Colossus No. 12..................................160
Colossus No.
13................................2 085
Colossus No.
14...................................196
In June 1937, a new company,
Stanmore Mining & smelting Limited, was formed to takeover the holdings of
Northfield Mining Company and Great Falls Mining & Smelting Company Limited,
and a year later the leases on Chance and Dumbarton were renewed.
In 1942,
21-year leases M1228-31 were issued on the Colossus No. 12-15,
respectively.
Maskwa Nickel Chrome Mines Limited was organized in 1951 to
acquire the property of Stanmore Mining & smelting Limited in addition to
other claims in the area. Falconbridge Nickel Mines Limited and Ventures Limited
were to have not less than 55% interest in the new company. Up to the end of
1952, a total of 1447 feet of diamond drilling had been done, mainly between the
westerly boundary of Colossus No. 12 and the eastern boundary of Colossus No.
15. Two holes 800 ft. apart intersected mineralization assaying 0.81% nickel
over 25 ft. and 0.95% nickel over 27 ft. respectively, with corresponding copper
assays of 1.41$ and 0.51%.
Detailed geological and geophysical surveys by
Maskwa indicated that a conducting anomaly extends from the Devlin claim (Lease
No. 246) on the west to the Colossus 15 claim on the east, along what is known
as the “Chance-Devlin” zone. During 1953, under an expanded drilling program, a
total of 22 000 ft of diamond drilling was done between Chance No. M.C. and
Colossus No. 15. On the basis of this and the 1936 drilling, it was estimated
that 1 350 000 tons of ore grading 1.15% nickel and 0.32% copper was present in
two ore shoots to a depth of 500 ft. The west shoot lying at the east side of
the Chance M.C. was estimated to contain 575 000 tons of ore grading 1.15%
nickel and 0.29% copper with over a width of 20.7 ft. The East or chance –
Colossus No. 15 shoot comprising the original Chance surface showing extends
practically to the east boundary of the Colossus No. 13 claim. This shoot was
calculated to contain at least 775 000 tons of ore grading 1.15% nickel and
0.34% copper to a minimum vertical depth of 500 ft. below surface. Its average
width if 16.3 ft.
No work was done on the property after 1953 until 1957 when
8 holes were drilled for a total of 5 217.5 ft. on the Chance Colossus No. 13
and 15. The average grade of sulphide mineralization in 7 holes was 0.47% nickel
and 0.27% copper. In one hole a quart vein bearing sphalerite was reported to be
4.18%. The ore reserves were recalculated as 1 213 000 tons of 1.23% nickel and
0.37% copper.
Work on the property ceased until 1968 when Consolidated
Canadian Faraday Limited did 4 000 ft. of drilling on the property to confirm
the ore reserves. New estimates indicated 1 222 939 tons grading 1.16% nickel
and 0.33% copper. The east zone was revised to 738 090 tons grading 1.13%
nickel, 0.32% copper and the west zone to 484 849 tons grading 1.18% nickel and
0.33% copper. Allowing for a 10% dilution, reserves are 1 343 233 tons of 1.05%
nickel and 0.30% copper. Platinum and palladium values were reported to be
“interesting”.
Following the results of the diamond drilling, anew company,
Dumbarton Mines Limited, was incorporated. Interest in the company was on a
50-50 basis between Maskwa Nickel Faraday Limited. Under the terms of the
agreement Maskwa licensed Dumbarton Limited to mine, for seven years, within
parts of the Dumbarton, Chance and Colossus No. 12-13. Consolidated Canadian
Faraday Limited agreed to sink an inclined shaft and to ship the ore, 26 miles
by road to the east, to its mill at Werner Lake. The capital costs of developing
the property were to be repaid to Faraday from profits from the Dumbarton Mine
before the 59-50 profit sharing would occur.
Sinking of the 1 978 ft. shaft
inclined at 15°was completed to a depth of 543 ft. early in 1969, and crosscuts
begun (see Fig. 2). “Ore reserves at the start of production in August 1969 were
approximately 1 350 000 tons grading 1.06% nickel and 0.34% copper” (Northern
Miner, January 13, 1972).
The metal contents by weights of two random samples
of flotation concentrate were reported by Karup-Møller and Brummer
1971):
% Cu............% Ni............Pt oz./ton............Pd
oz./ton
4.69.............8.50..............0.036................
0.11
5.96.............9.88..............0.032.................0.12
At
December 31, 1972, reserves of proven and probable ore were 696 463 tons grading
0.90% nickel and 0.29% copper (Canadian Mines Handbook; 1973-74). But according
to the Northern Mines (May 30, 1974) “Through the latter part of 1973, and to
the present, there has been increasing difficulty in maintaining a consistent
grade of feed from the Dumbarton Mine as the orebody nears exhaustion, says
President W.C. Campbell.
Following an agreement with Maskwa Nickel Chrome
Mines, exploration from surface and underground has been going forward on the
area adjoining the Dumbarton workings to the east.
Ore from these Maskwa
claims will replaced the exhausted Dumbarton source as feed for the Werner Lake
mill. A decline in being driven into the Maskwa ground and some development ore
has already been processed in the Werner Lake mine.
On the basis of presently
estimated reserves in the Maskwa ground, there is approximately one year’s
reserves runs at existing milling rate. Grade of the Maskwa reserves runs at
0.70% nickel and 0.50% copper after the dilution factor of 20%.
Exploration
is also in progress on Maskwa claims lying to the west of Dumbarton mine;
diamond drilling has disclosed some potentially favorable areas justifying
continuation of this work”.
HISTORY OF
PRODUCTION
.................Tons.............Tons...........Tons......................lbs....................Lbs.
Year...........Trucked.........Milled..........Concentrates.........Nickel...............Copper
1969...............-...................-................4
945.5....................730 377.............221
662
1970
1971............299 480.........299
480...........-........................3 711 128..........1 563
540
1972...............-.................325
766..........-........................4 031 761...........1 492
912
1973...............-.................331
851..........-........................4 106 527...........1 761
118
1974...............-...................
REFERENCES
Annual Report on Mines and Minerals; 8th; p. 61; 9th – p. 62, 10th –
p. 56, 68, 132; 11th – p 114; 25th – p. 74; 26th – p 72; Manitoba Mines
Branch.
Chance, M.C. and Dumbarton, M.C.; file No. 921 and 920, in Mining
Recording Files, Manitoba Mines Branch.
Davies, J.F.
1955A: Geology and
mineral Deposits of the Bird Lake Area; Manitoba Mines Branch, Publication 54-1,
p 32-35; Manitoba Mines Branch.
Davies, J.F.
1955B: Copper and Mineral
Deposits of the Bird Lake Area; Precambrian, 1955; Volume 28, No. 3, p. 6-8 and
Volume 28, No. 8, p. 42-44; Western Mines; Manitoba Mines Branch, Publication
54-1.
Karup-Møller, S. and Brummer, J.J.
1971: Geology and Sulphide
Deposits of the Bird River Claim Group, Southeastern Manitoba; in Geoscience
Studies in Manitoba; Special Paper No. 9, p. 143-154; Geological Survey of
Canada.
Manitoba Mines Branch; corporation Files
“The Delvin Mining and
Development company, Limited; Great Falls Mining & Smelting Limited;
Stanmore Mining & smelting Limited; Maskwa Nickel Chrome Mines Limited; and
Dumbarton Mines Limited.
Mineral Development Sector, Ottawa
“Maskwa Nickel
Chrome Mines Limited; Consolidated Canadian Faraday Limited; Stanmore Mining
& Smelting Limited; and Great Falls Mining & Smelting
Limited.”
Mineral Resources Branch, Ottawa Resource File: NR-Ni-301.00 –
Manitoba”.
Taylor, W.L.W.
1950: Copper-Nickel sulphide Deposits of the
Werner Lake, Ontario and Bird Lake, Manitoba, Areas; unpublished M.Sc. thesis,
McGill University.
Wright, J.F.
1926: Geology and Mineral Deposits of
Oiseau River Map-area, Manitoba; Summary Report for 1924; p. 88-90; Geological
Survey of Canada.
Wright, J.F.
1932: Geology and Mineral Deposits of a
Part o southeastern Manitoba; Memoir 169, p. 95-96; Geological Survey of
Canada.
MAP REFERENCES
Map 52L/6, West, Ryerson Lake, (Topographic) Scale 1:50 000; Mines and
Technology Surveys, Canada.
Map 1194G, Ryerson Lake (Aeromagnetic), Scale
1”:1 mile; Manitoba Mines Branch and Geological Survey of Canada.
Map 54-1,
Bird Lake area, (Geology); Scale 1”:1 1 000’, accompanied report by Davies
(1955A), Manitoba Mines Branch.
Map (unpublished), Chance M.C., 29934, Lot
166, Group 124, (Survey 1921), Scale l”:200’.
Map (unpublished), Dumbarton
M.C., 29935, Lot 167, Group 124, (Survey 1921), Scale l”:200’.
Preliminary
Map 1972F-1, Geological Compilation Map of the Bird River Area, (Geology), Scale
1”:½ mile; D.L. Trueman; Manitoba Mines Branch.
Claim Map series NW 6, 52/L,
Scale 1”:½ mile, circa 1974, Mining Recording, Manitoba Mines Branch.
URL
N/A
REMARKS
According to Davies (1955A), “Sulphides are distributed in a zone, 800
feet long, following the contact between andesite and granite astride the
boundary of the Martin and Devlin claims” Wright (1932) reported that assays of
channel samples cut at intervals of 75 feet within the 800 ft. zone averaged
1.0% copper and 0.5% nickel for a width of about 4½ ft.
Davies (1955A) also
stated chromite is erratically distributed between Wilfred D. and Queen three
claims and that in 1952 Maskwa Nickel Chrome Mines Limited 2 356 ft. of diamond
drilling along the gabbro-peridotite contact (see Fig. 1).
NOTES
N/A
Compiled/Revised
by:
JB
Date
15-69 12-73
