Kanichee Mine
Encyclopedia
The Kanichee Mine, also less commonly known as the Ajax Mine, is an abandoned base metal
and precious metal
mine
, located in the Temagami
region of northeastern Ontario
, Canada
. It is near the small unincorporated community of Temagami North
, accessed by the Kanichee Mine Road from Highway 11
. The Kanichee Mine zone has been explored and mined discontinuously from as early as 1910. During the 20th century, it operated and closed down at least three times, with the most recent being from 1973 to 1976. To date, the discontinuous operation of Kanichee Mine has produced 4.2 million pounds of metal.
The Kanichee area is associated with an igneous
intrusion
that has been termed the Kanichee layered intrusive complex
. This roughly oval-shaped intrusive complex is part of a volcanic belt
characterized by felsic
and mafic
metavolcanic rock
s called the Temagami greenstone belt
. Kanichee is among one of the three most notable mines in the volcanic belt, others include the Sherman Mine
in Chambers and Strathy
townships and the Copperfields Mine on Temagami Island
in Lake Temagami
.
es and two shaft
s. Between 1933 and 1936, Cuniptau Mines Limited sank a 75 m (246 ft) shaft and installed a pilot smelter. Production amounted to 44,975.6 kilograms of copper
, 29,641.6 kilograms of nickel
, and relatively small amounts of gold
, silver
, platinum
and palladium
. The deposit was later investigated by Ontario Nickel Corporation Limited from 1937 to 1948 then by Trebor Mines Limited from 1948 to 1949. Kanichee Mining Incorporated worked the property from an open pit to excavate both disseminated and vein ore to a depth of nearly 35 m (115 ft) from 1973 to 1976, and no mining operations have begun since then. Remnants of this open pit includes a small lake with gravel roads adjacent to and entering the lake and steep cliffs surrounding the lake from rock blasting
. The total production at Kanichee Mine is 3 million pounds of copper and 1.2 million pounds of nickel with gold, silver and platinum group
credits.
The main minerals found at Kanichee Mine include pyrite
, pyrrhotite
and chalcopyrite
, occurring as semi-massive to massive veins. Considerable gold, silver, platinum and palladium occur with the sulfides.
oval-shaped Kanichee layered intrusive complex is the largest of many sill
-like mafic-ultramafic bodies in felsic and mafic metavolcanic rocks in the northern portion of the Temagami greenstone belt. It comprises five magmatic series, each of which contains one or more types of igneous rock. A succession of cumulus phases comprising every magmatic series suggests that the Kanichee layered intrusive complex is south-facing, including the surrounding metavolcanic lava flows. This record indicates that magmatic rocks of the Kanichee layered intrusive complex originally formed in a level position and most likely very shallow beneath the Earth's crust
.
All five magmatic series comprising the Kanichee layered intrusive complex were formed by individual pulses of molten rock. An accurate estimate of the makeup of each pulse is not known because well-defined examples of chilled margins have not been detected. Numerous pulses of magmatic intrusions, each of which might have led to a volcanic eruption, are required to explain the cyclic nature of the Kanichee layered intrusive complex. In the lower four magmatic series, masses of chromite
, olivine
and clinopyroxene develop rocks varying from dunite
to clinopyroxenite. The fifth magmatic series comprise a similar suite of ultramafic rocks overlapped by olivine and quartz
gabbro
s in which plagioclase
, clinopyroxene and an iron
-titanium
oxide phase are the dominant minerals. The first magmatic series comprised the nickel-copper-PGE ore in which the Kanichee Mine extracted. The comparison in mineralogy
and chemistry
of the ultramafic rocks of the five magmatic series indicates that every magmatic series was developed by magma of similar composition. A lens-shaped area of quartz gabbro remains directly south of the main portion of the intrusive complex. However, it is not clear whether it has a separate magmatic origin from the olivine gabbros found in the Kanichee layered intrusive complex. The ore zone rocks from the first magmatic series clearly have connections with adjacent metavolcanic rocks of the Temagami greenstone belt.
until its closing in 1990 and Kanichee's discontinuous history of mining and exploring throughout the 20th century has left the area abandoned for decades. However, a geologic project is expected to be evaluated for potential sampling at new Kanichee deposits in 2009, sparking a possibility for renewed mining operations. Other samplings associated with this project include new deposits or occurrences in the Golden Chalice, McWatters and Langmuir areas.
Base metal
In chemistry, the term base metal is used informally to refer to a metal that oxidizes or corrodes relatively easily, and reacts variably with diluted hydrochloric acid to form hydrogen. Examples include iron, nickel, lead and zinc...
and precious metal
Precious metal
A precious metal is a rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical element of high economic value.Chemically, the precious metals are less reactive than most elements, have high lustre, are softer or more ductile, and have higher melting points than other metals...
mine
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
, located in the Temagami
Temagami, Ontario
Temagami, formerly spelt as Timagami, is a region and a municipality in northeastern Ontario, Canada, in the District of Nipissing with Lake Temagami at its heart....
region of northeastern Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It is near the small unincorporated community of Temagami North
Temagami North, Ontario
Temagami North, formerly known as Goward, is an unincorporated community comprising part of the municipality of Temagami in Nipissing District, Ontario, Canada...
, accessed by the Kanichee Mine Road from Highway 11
Highway 11 (Ontario)
King's Highway 11 is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. At , it is the second longest highway in the province after Highway 17. Highway 11 begins at Highway 400 in Barrie, and arches through northern Ontario, around Lake Superior, to the Ontario–Minnesota border...
. The Kanichee Mine zone has been explored and mined discontinuously from as early as 1910. During the 20th century, it operated and closed down at least three times, with the most recent being from 1973 to 1976. To date, the discontinuous operation of Kanichee Mine has produced 4.2 million pounds of metal.
The Kanichee area is associated with an igneous
Igneous rock
Igneous rock is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic rock. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava...
intrusion
Intrusion
An intrusion is liquid rock that forms under Earth's surface. Magma from under the surface is slowly pushed up from deep within the earth into any cracks or spaces it can find, sometimes pushing existing country rock out of the way, a process that can take millions of years. As the rock slowly...
that has been termed the Kanichee layered intrusive complex
Kanichee layered intrusive complex
The Kanichee layered intrusive complex, also called the Kanichee intrusion and Ajax intrusion, is a layered intrusion in Northwestern Ontario, Canada, located in the central portion of Strathy Township about northwest of the town of Temagami...
. This roughly oval-shaped intrusive complex is part of a volcanic belt
Volcanic belt
A volcanic belt is a large volcanically active region. Other terms are used for smaller areas of activity, such as volcanic fields. Volcanic belts are found above zones of unusually high temperature where magma is created by partial melting of solid material in the Earth's crust and upper mantle....
characterized by felsic
Felsic
The word "felsic" is a term used in geology to refer to silicate minerals, magma, and rocks which are enriched in the lighter elements such as silicon, oxygen, aluminium, sodium, and potassium....
and mafic
Mafic
Mafic is an adjective describing a silicate mineral or rock that is rich in magnesium and iron; the term is a portmanteau of the words "magnesium" and "ferric". Most mafic minerals are dark in color and the relative density is greater than 3. Common rock-forming mafic minerals include olivine,...
metavolcanic rock
Metavolcanic rock
In geology, metavolcanic rock is a type of metamorphic rock. Such a rock was first produced by a volcano, either as lava or tephra. Then, the rock was buried underneath subsequent rock and was subjected to high pressures and temperatures, causing the rock to recrystallize...
s called the Temagami greenstone belt
Temagami greenstone belt
The Temagami greenstone belt, also known as the Temagami volcanic belt and the Temagami metavolcanic belt, is a small 2.7 billion year old greenstone belt in the Temagami region of Northeastern Ontario, Canada...
. Kanichee is among one of the three most notable mines in the volcanic belt, others include the Sherman Mine
Sherman Mine
Sherman Mine is a large abandoned open pit mine in Temagami, Ontario, Canada. It was a major producer of iron ore. The mine was the source of a multi-ton boulder of banded iron formation and was mined from 1967 until 1990 by Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company...
in Chambers and Strathy
Strathy Township
Strathy Township is a square-shaped geographic township comprising a portion of the municipality of Temagami in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is used for geographic purposes, such as land surveying and natural resource explorations...
townships and the Copperfields Mine on Temagami Island
Temagami Island
Temagami Island, formerly spelt as Timagami Island, is an island in Lake Temagami in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the largest island within the lake, with Bear Island coming second. The island has many hiking trails that lead into the old-growth forest that is a mix of large white and red...
in Lake Temagami
Lake Temagami
Lake Temagami, formerly spelt as Lake Timagami, is a lake in Nipissing District in northeastern Ontario, Canada, situated approximately 80 km north of North Bay...
.
Mineralogy and history
Exploration work was done in the area prior to 1920 with the construction of trenchTrench
A trench is a type of excavation or depression in the ground. Trenches are generally defined by being deeper than they are wide , and by being narrow compared to their length ....
es and two shaft
Shaft mining
Shaft mining or shaft sinking refers to the method of excavating a vertical or near-vertical tunnel from the top down, where there is initially no access to the bottom....
s. Between 1933 and 1936, Cuniptau Mines Limited sank a 75 m (246 ft) shaft and installed a pilot smelter. Production amounted to 44,975.6 kilograms of copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, 29,641.6 kilograms of nickel
Nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...
, and relatively small amounts of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
, platinum
Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...
and palladium
Palladium
Palladium is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pd and an atomic number of 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself named after the epithet of the Greek goddess Athena, acquired...
. The deposit was later investigated by Ontario Nickel Corporation Limited from 1937 to 1948 then by Trebor Mines Limited from 1948 to 1949. Kanichee Mining Incorporated worked the property from an open pit to excavate both disseminated and vein ore to a depth of nearly 35 m (115 ft) from 1973 to 1976, and no mining operations have begun since then. Remnants of this open pit includes a small lake with gravel roads adjacent to and entering the lake and steep cliffs surrounding the lake from rock blasting
Rock blasting
Rock blasting is the controlled use of explosives to excavate, break down or remove rock. It is practised most often in mining, quarrying and civil engineering such as dam or road construction...
. The total production at Kanichee Mine is 3 million pounds of copper and 1.2 million pounds of nickel with gold, silver and platinum group
Platinum group
The platinum group metals is a term used sometimes to collectively refer to six metallic elements clustered together in the periodic table.These elements are all transition metals, lying in the d-block .The six...
credits.
The main minerals found at Kanichee Mine include pyrite
Pyrite
The mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, is an iron sulfide with the formula FeS2. This mineral's metallic luster and pale-to-normal, brass-yellow hue have earned it the nickname fool's gold because of its resemblance to gold...
, pyrrhotite
Pyrrhotite
Pyrrhotite is an unusual iron sulfide mineral with a variable iron content: FeS . The FeS endmember is known as troilite. Pyrrhotite is also called magnetic pyrite because the color is similar to pyrite and it is weakly magnetic...
and chalcopyrite
Chalcopyrite
Chalcopyrite is a copper iron sulfide mineral that crystallizes in the tetragonal system. It has the chemical composition CuFeS2. It has a brassy to golden yellow color and a hardness of 3.5 to 4 on the Mohs scale. Its streak is diagnostic as green tinged black.On exposure to air, chalcopyrite...
, occurring as semi-massive to massive veins. Considerable gold, silver, platinum and palladium occur with the sulfides.
Kanichee layered intrusive complex
The PrecambrianPrecambrian
The Precambrian is the name which describes the large span of time in Earth's history before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is a Supereon divided into several eons of the geologic time scale...
oval-shaped Kanichee layered intrusive complex is the largest of many sill
Sill (geology)
In geology, a sill is a tabular sheet intrusion that has intruded between older layers of sedimentary rock, beds of volcanic lava or tuff, or even along the direction of foliation in metamorphic rock. The term sill is synonymous with concordant intrusive sheet...
-like mafic-ultramafic bodies in felsic and mafic metavolcanic rocks in the northern portion of the Temagami greenstone belt. It comprises five magmatic series, each of which contains one or more types of igneous rock. A succession of cumulus phases comprising every magmatic series suggests that the Kanichee layered intrusive complex is south-facing, including the surrounding metavolcanic lava flows. This record indicates that magmatic rocks of the Kanichee layered intrusive complex originally formed in a level position and most likely very shallow beneath the Earth's crust
Crust (geology)
In geology, the crust is the outermost solid shell of a rocky planet or natural satellite, which is chemically distinct from the underlying mantle...
.
All five magmatic series comprising the Kanichee layered intrusive complex were formed by individual pulses of molten rock. An accurate estimate of the makeup of each pulse is not known because well-defined examples of chilled margins have not been detected. Numerous pulses of magmatic intrusions, each of which might have led to a volcanic eruption, are required to explain the cyclic nature of the Kanichee layered intrusive complex. In the lower four magmatic series, masses of chromite
Chromite
Chromite is an iron chromium oxide: FeCr2O4. It is an oxide mineral belonging to the spinel group. Magnesium can substitute for iron in variable amounts as it forms a solid solution with magnesiochromite ; substitution of aluminium occurs leading to hercynite .-Occurrence:Chromite is found in...
, olivine
Olivine
The mineral olivine is a magnesium iron silicate with the formula 2SiO4. It is a common mineral in the Earth's subsurface but weathers quickly on the surface....
and clinopyroxene develop rocks varying from dunite
Dunite
Dunite is an igneous, plutonic rock, of ultramafic composition, with coarse-grained or phaneritic texture. The mineral assemblage is greater than 90% olivine, with minor amounts of other minerals such as pyroxene, chromite and pyrope. Dunite is the olivine-rich end-member of the peridotite group...
to clinopyroxenite. The fifth magmatic series comprise a similar suite of ultramafic rocks overlapped by olivine and quartz
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
gabbro
Gabbro
Gabbro refers to a large group of dark, coarse-grained, intrusive mafic igneous rocks chemically equivalent to basalt. The rocks are plutonic, formed when molten magma is trapped beneath the Earth's surface and cools into a crystalline mass....
s in which plagioclase
Plagioclase
Plagioclase is an important series of tectosilicate minerals within the feldspar family. Rather than referring to a particular mineral with a specific chemical composition, plagioclase is a solid solution series, more properly known as the plagioclase feldspar series...
, clinopyroxene and an iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
-titanium
Titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....
oxide phase are the dominant minerals. The first magmatic series comprised the nickel-copper-PGE ore in which the Kanichee Mine extracted. The comparison in mineralogy
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
and chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
of the ultramafic rocks of the five magmatic series indicates that every magmatic series was developed by magma of similar composition. A lens-shaped area of quartz gabbro remains directly south of the main portion of the intrusive complex. However, it is not clear whether it has a separate magmatic origin from the olivine gabbros found in the Kanichee layered intrusive complex. The ore zone rocks from the first magmatic series clearly have connections with adjacent metavolcanic rocks of the Temagami greenstone belt.
Kanichee Mine and the future
The future of the Kanichee Mine remains uncertain, as all mines in the Temagami area continue to be abandoned. The last mine to operate in the Temagami area was the iron bearing Sherman MineSherman Mine
Sherman Mine is a large abandoned open pit mine in Temagami, Ontario, Canada. It was a major producer of iron ore. The mine was the source of a multi-ton boulder of banded iron formation and was mined from 1967 until 1990 by Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company...
until its closing in 1990 and Kanichee's discontinuous history of mining and exploring throughout the 20th century has left the area abandoned for decades. However, a geologic project is expected to be evaluated for potential sampling at new Kanichee deposits in 2009, sparking a possibility for renewed mining operations. Other samplings associated with this project include new deposits or occurrences in the Golden Chalice, McWatters and Langmuir areas.
See also
- Barton MineBarton MineBarton Mine, also known as Net Lake Mine, is an abandoned underground mine in Cobalt Mining District of Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is located on the west shore of the north arm of Net Lake in Temagami North....
- Leckie MineLeckie MineLeckie Mine, also known as Penrose Mine, is an abandoned gold producing underground mine in Northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the eastern shore of Arsenic Lake north of the town of Temagami...
- Beanland MineBeanland MineBeanland Mine, also known as Clenore and A.E. Perron, is an abandoned gold and silver producing underground mine, located in the Temagami region of northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is one of the several mines within the Temagami greenstone belt, a volcanic belt characterized by felsic and mafic...
- Northland MineNorthland MineThe Northland Mine, also called the Northland Pyrite Mine and Harris Mine, is an abandoned underground mine in Northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the southwestern shore of James Lake in Best Township of Temagami. It was operated by the Northland Mining Company during the early 1900s with the...
- Big Dan Mine
- Ferguson Bay MineFerguson Bay MineFerguson Bay Mine is an abandoned copper mine in Temagami, Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is located near the eastern shore of Ferguson Bay of Lake Temagami. A winter road from Sandy Inlet through Coppersand Lake was created to the mine in 1957. Subsequently, a small road, known as Miner's Road,...
- Hermiston-McCauley Mine
- List of mines in Ontario
- Volcanism of Canada
- Volcanism of Eastern CanadaVolcanism of Eastern CanadaVolcanism of Eastern Canada has led to the formation of hundreds of volcanic areas and extensive lava formations, indicating volcanism played a major role in shaping its surface. The region's different volcano and lava types originate from different tectonic settings and types of volcanic...