Ran across this on a BB ... Sounds like the game plan that CCB is peddling.
This area is relatively close to CCB project and even refers to the Miller Mine
The Summary at the end says a lot
GEOLOGY, MINERAL DEPOSITS & HISTORY OF MINING OF THE TAY RIVER WATERSHED
In Western Quebec, graphite was mined as early as 1845 (Miller or Keystone mine near Grenville, across from Hawkesbury) and is still being mined near Mont Laurier, while apatite (and later mica and graphite) was first mined in the Lievre River area near B Graphite, a mineral form of carbon, has been the mineral most featured in recent news from the TRW, since a U.S. company, Graphite Mountain Inc., a subsidiary of Diamond Lake Minerals of Utah, staked 22 claims in North Burgess Ward of Tay Valley Township, in "cottage country" around Black, Pike, Otty and Long Lakes, in March, 2001, for the purpose of prospecting for graphite.
All or part of 11 of these claims were located within the TRW. Graphite has become a very valuable mineral in recent years, and is used in refractory products (heat resistant bricks and mortar), foundries, crucibles, lubricants, brake linings, pencils, steel alloys, batteries, oil-drilling mud, and in plastics and rubber.
More recently, a large potential use has been recognized in the manufacture of fuel cells for electric cars, which could compete with the internal combustion engine within the next decades. Thus the company is very serious in seeking new sources of this commodity.
The only producer within North America at this time is in Quebec, where the geological setting is very similar to that of parts of North Burgess Ward, Tay Valley Township, and Bedford District, South Frontenac Township. The 2001 staking in Tay Valley Township raised an alarm amongst cottagers and other recreational land owners, many of whom were unaware that they did not own the mineral rights to their properties.
They were appalled at the potential threat to the natural beauty, environment, quietude and property values that the staking implied, and formed a protest committee, the Citizens' Mining Action Group, to challenge the company.
Also challenged were certain clauses of the Ontario Mining Act, which permit staking on any property where the mineral rights are held by the Crown, without obtaining permission from the owner of the surface rights. The CMAG sought to obtain a moratorium on mining in Tay Valley Township, and to change certain clauses in the Mining Act which fail to protect the rights of landowners.
The Tay Valley Township Council passed a resolution supporting the CMAG cause. However, this staking activity was really part of a long-term exploration program by Diamond Lake Minerals in North Burgess Ward, which began in 1985 and 1987, when the company began staking between Black and Big Rideau Lakes (at least 14 claims), followed in 1988 by the staking of an additional 25 claims in the same area.
All of these earlier claims were outside the Tay River Watershed area. An even higher priority target for the same company's exploration program has been in Bedford District, South Frontenac Township.
This exploration program appears to have focussed on a northeast-trending belt of potential graphite mineralization, extending from Desert Lake in old Bedford Township, Frontenac County, to old North Elmsley Township in Lanark County. There is a long history of graphite mining, or attempts at it, within this belt, in the late 1800's and early 1900's.
The mineralization here, and in the extension of this belt into the Buckingham area of Western Quebec, is in Grenville Supergroup metasedimentary rocks, mostly crystalline limestones, and may be associated with the Rideau Lake Fault.
Graphite was first discovered near this trend in Western Quebec in 1845 (Miller or Keystone Mine at Grenville). In Ontario, the first graphite discovery was made in 1870 in the Globe Mine on Lots 21 and 22, Concession 6 of old North Elmsley Township (just outside the TRW on the Rideau Ferry Road). This deposit was found at the crest of an anticlinal fold in crystalline limestone, and was worked by the Globe Graphite Co. in 1870-75.
A graphite mill was built at nearby Rideau Ferry in 1872, superintended by a Mr. Robb for three years. A two-storey mill, 60' X 160', was built, with a ten-stamp battery operated by a five horse-power steam engine. Some graphite was obtained from deposits on the other side of Big Rideau Lake in Leeds County. Belden's Historical Atlas of Lanark County (1880) states that, although the operation had ceased for the time, "the deposit is practically unlimited, with the yield of graphite being about six per cent". The deposit was sold to the International Mining Co., and worked again in 1901-03 and 1916-20.
A second mill was apparently built at Port Elmsley. The Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines reported in 1999 that there were 500,000 tonnes of ore reserves grading 7% graphite remaining below the mined out portion of the deposit, to a depth of 90 m. Graphite was next discovered on Lots 24 and 25, Concession 5 of old North Burgess Township southwest of Black Lake (outside the TRW) in 1917.
The occurrence consists of lenses highly charged with flakes of graphite, within crystalline limestone, a contact metamorphic deposit related to intrusion of a pegmatite dyke. The Timmins Mine, as it was known, was worked from 1918-23 by Noah Timmins of Montreal. Numerous pits were opened, and diamond drilling carried out.
A mill was installed and operated experimentally, but the operation was never economically viable.
A third deposit near the TRW, at the north end of Desert Lake on Lot 4, Concessions 4 and 5 of old Bedford Township, Frontenac County, was discovered in 1919, but never produced significant volumes of graphite. In about 1990, Stewart Lake Resources, a subsidiary of Falconbridge Ltd., commenced two years of exploration on and near the property, including blasting and trenching, but soon abandoned the mine after creating quite a bit of environmental damage (according to a local cottager of my acquaintance).
There are still three mining claims held on or adjacent to this property. Northern Development and Mines estimated in 1999 that indicated ore reserves are 1.6 million tonnes of ore grading 9.5% graphite, in two separate zones.
The most significant exploration activity which led up to the 2001 staking in Tay Valley Township also started in Bedford District of South Frontenac Township, east of Bobs Lake, on a graphite deposit (named the Graphite Mountain site) that appears to have been discovered in the late 1990's. In 1998 and1999 Graphite Mountain Inc. (the subsidiary of Diamond Lake Minerals of Utah referred to above), staked 42 claims straddling New Road and Westport Road, within a belt of crystalline limestone extending from Potspoon Lake to Green and Wolfe Lakes, partly within the TRW.
The company carried out extensive exploration in 1998 and 1999 on 18 hectares of Lots 15 and 16, Concession 5 of Bedford along New Road southwest of the hamlet of Burridge (just outside the TRW), including trenching, blasting, sampling and diamond drilling, using heavy machinery. Local land owners became very alarmed at the prospect of uninvited industrial activity in their largely recreational township, and formed the Bedford Mining Alert group to protest the activity.
Like the later "victims" of the 2001 staking in Tay Valley Township, they were surprised to learn that many land owners in the area did not own the mineral rights to their lands, and under the Ontario Mining Act, there was little to stop any interested company from entering on their land to stake claims and carry out preliminary exploration work.
Including the original Bedford District staking in 1998, a total of 61 new claims have been recorded. On June 15, 2000, officials of the Tweed office of the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines inspected the Graphite Mountain site off New Road, where most of the evaluation work has been concentrated, with company employees, and published their findings in Open File Report 6052.
This report reads as follows: "Work has been conducted over three main areas, all of which have been stripped of overburden to expose the complex geology. The graphite is hosted in calcitic marble units that are highly contorted due to intense folding. The strong deformation has produced highly enriched graphitic zones, especially at the apex of folded units (King, 1994). Numerous trenches were noted along with at least 16 diamond drill hole collars.
Background graphite control in the marbles is in the order of 0.5% to 1.0%, with mineralized zones containing 5% visible graphite. The mineralized zones have assayed a total carbon content of 7.0% to 20.0% (Easton, 1997). The graphite is amorphous. "Two mineralized horizons are present with strike lengths of up to 300 m and widths of 1-3 m.
Pods or lenses of graphite varying 1-3 m in length are contained in the marble on either side of the main mineralized zone. The zones appear to have been offset by a fault at their western extent and appear to be part of a regional synformal structure that plunges 30 degrees to the west (Easton, 1997). "Work completed to date includes overburden stripping, trenching, bedrock sampling, airtrack drilling, diamond drilling, bulk sampling, bench testing and market research.
Based on the results of the 1998 exploration program, James E. Tilsey and Associates report a resource volume of 2.4 million tonnes in three geologically defined mineralized zones. The main area, known as the Meadow Zone, is located in the southwest part of the property.
Overburden stripping to date has exposed an area approximately 60' X 120' as well as two small areas 20' X 50' each. Total stripped area is approximately 9200 square feet (856 m2). Limited diamond drilling and percussion drilling has been conducted over this area. The second mineralized zone, located south of the Meadow Zone, has been exposed over an area measuring approximately 20' X 100' (185 m2). "The third mineralized zone, located northeast of the Meadow Zone, encompasses a stripped area of 300' X 150' (4186 m2) and 20' X 60' (112 m2).
To date approximately 5330 m2 have been exposed through overburden stripping. Additional exploration is required to further define the graphite zone prior to conducting feasibility studies. Future plans include additional diamond drilling, reserves definition, and requisition of the necessary permitting to bring the deposit into production." Meanwhile, the company has apparently applied for a mining lease (21 years, renewable for an additional 21 years), and has reportedly purchased a property on the Rideau Ferry Road south of Perth for a mill.
However, in early March, 2003, Graphite Mountain Inc. abandoned five claims which were the subject of dispute hearings (by landowners), and in early May, 2003, 38 additional claims were cancelled due to failure of the company to apply work credits to maintain them in good standing, leaving only 18 claims, centred around the New Road (Graphite Mountain) deposit, and extending northeast along Westport Road.
The current status of their lease application is not known at time of writing, nor is the amount of work carried out since the Ministry's inspection in June, 2000. However, the South Frontenac Township Council has passed a resolution opposing mining in the Township on the basis of potential environmental damage from open pit operations, subsequent reduction of property values, and general antipathy to any activity that conflicts with tourism and recreation, the principal support of Township revenues, and on "maintaining the pastoral agricultural heritage" of the Township.
It is thus somewhat questionable if the mining operation will proceed any further, although it appears to be supported by the Ontario Ministry. Back in Tay Valley Township, the news has been good for landowners and their Citizens' Mining Action Group.
All of the 22 claims staked in March, 2001 near Black, Pike, Long and Otty Lakes have been cancelled, as well as the 25 claims staked south of Black Lake in 1988. All that remain are 14 claims from the 1985 and 1987 staking between Black and Big Rideau Lakes, and these are slated to expire in September, 2003. These original claims, which started all the action in North Burgess Ward (and seem to predate the action in Bedford District), are located in Lots 23, 24. 25 and 26 of Concession 5, North Burgess Ward, in the vicinity of the old Timmins Graphite Mine (on Lots 24 and 25, Concession 5).
On the subject of graphite mining, but outside the TRW, various efforts have recently made to establish graphite production east of Portland in Rideau Lakes Township, Leeds County. Although some graphite had been taken from this area earlier for the Globe Mine operation in North Elmsley Township, the first important discovery was made in 1959 on Lot 10, Concession 1 of old Bas-tard Township (Cornell Mine). Victoria Graphite Inc., a subsidiary of International Nickel Company, reopened the deposit on June 1,1994, with ore averaging 6% graphite, and a mill capacity of 3,000 tonnes of flake graphite / year. It appears to have been shut down a few years later. In 1999, Quinto Technology Inc. of Delta, B.C., which seems to have other graphite prospects (but no current production) in Canada, purchased the mine and mill, and reported in 2000 that it intended to modify, upgrade and expand the existing facility to produce a value-added graphite product, with the fuel cell market in mind.
The writer attempted to visit the site in July, 2003, but it was obvious that there was no recent activity. Enquiries in nearby Portland failed to reveal the status of the operation. It is assumed that the company has either given up on the prospect, or is in the process of seeking financing. Efforts to contact the company directly have been unsuccessful.
Stone for building purposes has been quarried from the Nepean Sandstone Formation within the eastern part of the TRW for 180 years. Many of the historic buildings in Perth were constructed of this very durable and attractive stone from nearby quarries, examples being those in old North Elmsley Township south of the Perth Dump along Wild Life Road, and southeast of Perth along County Road #43 in the same township. Other quarries were located in old Bathurst Township near Dewitt's Corners, and southwest of Glen Tay. The same stone, not necessarily from the TRW, was used to build locks and dams on the Rideau Canal, and the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, as well as many other historic buildings in that city.
At the northeast edge of the TRW, along Highway #7 east of Perth, Nepean sandstone is currently being worked for decorative building and landscaping stone, and for road aggregate, in the Tackaberry Sand and Stone, Ltd. quarry. Here the Nepean Formation is buried under a thin veneer of the March Formation. The company bought the property in 1999 from Doug Leach, who had operated the pit for aggregates on a smaller scale since about 1990.
Summary
The author is of the opinion that most known mineral deposits in the Lanark County portion of the Tay Valley Watershed have either been depleted in historic times, or are too small and uneconomic to be considered for future mineral exploitation. Any proposed operation would likely meet with much resistance from local residents and municipalities, and so many environmental constraints as to render it marginally profitable at best. The recent staking by Graphite Mountain Inc. does not appear to have turned up anything of value, within the TRW at least. The Tackaberry Sand and Stone operation on Highway #7 is currently the only active project, and is supplying a local market. |
