Copperfields Mine

Last updated
Copperfields Mine
Location
Canada Ontario location map 2.svg
Schlaegel und Eisen nach DIN 21800.svg
Copperfields Mine
Location in Ontario
Location Temagami
Province Ontario
Country Canada
Coordinates 46°57′44.7012″N80°02′16.0259″W / 46.962417000°N 80.037784972°W / 46.962417000; -80.037784972 Coordinates: 46°57′44.7012″N80°02′16.0259″W / 46.962417000°N 80.037784972°W / 46.962417000; -80.037784972
Production
Products copper, silver, gold
Production80 million pounds of copper, 230,028 ounces of silver and 13,271 ounces of gold [1]
History
Opened1955
Closed1972

Copperfields Mine, originally known as Temagami Mine, is an abandoned copper and silver mine on Temagami Island in Lake Temagami, Ontario, Canada. The mine opened in 1955 and comprises both underground and surface workings within a sulfide ore body. Situated in Phyllis Township, the mine produced 34,000,000 dollars Canadian with 80 million pounds of copper, 230,028 ounces of silver and 13,271 ounces of gold. [1] It was considered to be the largest deposit of nearly pure chalcopyrite ever discovered in Canada. [2] A mill was not initially needed because the ore was 28% copper. [3] The mine closed in 1972 and is now flooded by water. Ruins of the Copperfields mill are present as foundations. It is possible to find mineral specimens in the spoil heaps of the old mine, such as chalcopyrite, pyrite, bornite, malachite, dolomite, hessite, merenskyite, millerite, palladium, quartz and others. The Lake Temagami Access Road was created to ship ore from the mine site.

Contents

Copper-nickel mineralization at the mine is associated with semi-massive to disseminated pyrite at the lower contact between altered gabbro and rhyolite of the Temagami Greenstone Belt. The gabbro is steeply dipping, approximately 250 m thick and has a strike extent of at least 5 km. The intensity of mineralization varies greatly but is present over most of the defined strike length of the gabbro. Copper is associated with chalcopyrite. Nickel is associated with millerite, gersdorffite, linnaeite and cobalt-nickel sulfarsenides.

Copperfields Mine is the discovery site of a bright white mineral called temagamite. [4] It was discovered in 1973.

See also

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O'Connor Mine, also known as Milestone Mine, is an abandoned surface mine in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is located about 1 km (0.62 mi) southwest of the town of Temagami near the Northeast Arm of Lake Temagami in northern Strathcona Township. It is named after John O'Connor who first developed the mine site.

Priest Mine is an abandoned surface and underground mine in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is located about 19 km (12 mi) northwest of the hamlet of Marten River on an island in north-central Cross Lake. Dating back to the early 1900s, it is one of the oldest mines in the municipality of Temagami.

The Danlou Occurrence, also known as the Danlou Gold Occurrence and the Mortimer Occurrence, is a mineralized zone in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. Gold is the occurrence's primary commodity while copper and silver are secondary commodities. It occurs in a quartz vein within a diabase-porphyry shear zone. Pyrite and chalcopyrite are present in small amounts.

Northeast Arm Iron Range

The Northeast Arm Iron Range, also called the Temagami Iron Range, is an elongated area of iron ore in Nipissing District of Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It parallels the western side of Lake Temagami's Northeast Arm near the village of Temagami at its northern end. One of many small iron ranges in the Temagami area, the Northeast Arm Range consists of alternating bands of iron-rich and iron-poor sediments. It was discovered in the 1890s and has since seen sporadic mining and mineral exploration activities.

References

  1. 1 2 "Ground Geophysical Surveys: Niemetz Property". AFRI   31M04SW2038.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. Barnes, Michael (2008). More Than Free Gold. Renfrew, Ontario: General Store Publishing House. p. 31. ISBN   978-1-897113-90-5 . Retrieved 2015-08-02.
  3. Vaccaro, Anthony (2015-05-19). "Norman B. Keevil: A lifetime of achievement at Teck". The Northern Miner . Retrieved 2015-08-02.
  4. Temagamite: Temagamite mineral information and data. Retrieved on 2007-08-30