MINERAL
INVENTORY FILE NO.
246
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
PRODUCT
GOLD
NTS AREA
52L14SW
REF.
AU 2
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
NAME OF PROPERTY
GUNNAR FRAC. AND LAIRD M.C.
(Gunnar Gold Mines)
OWNER OF
OPERATOR ADDRESS
1985 - Highmark Resources Ltd.
Homestead Resources Inc.
810-625
Howe Street
Vancouver, BC V6C 2T6
OBJECT LOCATED
Shaft
MINING
DIVISION
Winnipeg
Latitude
50° 51.37’
Longitude
95° 15.30
Uncertainty
(m)
100 m
UTM Zone
_____
Easting
_______
Northing
_______
L.S./Quarter
Section
___
Section
___
Township
22
Range
16 EPM
DESCRIPTION OF
DEPOSIT
The deposit is situated within massive and pillow andesite and basalt
of the Gunnar Formation of the Rice Lake Group. Six roughly parallel shears
strike 070°-075°/75-90°SE. The main shear has been traced for 550 m and is 1.5
to 3.0 m wide. It contains a lenticular quartz vein which ranges from 0.3 to 0.9
m in width. The vein consists of glassy, sugary, white and black quartz
containing masses of fine dark green chlorite and white calcite. Pyrite,
chalcopyrite and small quantities of sphalerite, galena, and marcasite are found
in the quartz.
The ore shoots are faulted and plunge 45-55°/SE. Visible gold
is common. Most of the gold occurs in the quartz, but minor quantities are
associated with chalcopyrite, sphalerite, pyrite, and pyrrhotite. According to
Stephenson (1972) the orebodies are longer vertically than horizontally.
The
wall rock is generally heavily carbonated chlorite schists, commonly studded
with cubic pyrite metacrysts, and is barren of gold. The richest ore sections
occur in shears near the contact with an "albite granite" dyke at the western
end of the shears (Stephenson, 1972). Stockwell and Lord (1939) believed that
the dykes, which intersect the shears, acted as dams to rising ore
solutions.
The best gold values are in grey cherty quartz in association with
concentrations of finely granulated sulphides (Stephenson 1972). Sphalerite is a
reliable indicator of gold ore according to Stockwell and Lord (1929). The
gold/silver ratio, at 9 to 1, is slightly higher than the regional
average.
ASSOCIATED
MINERALS OR PRODUCTS OF VALUE
Silver
HISTORY OF
EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT
The Gunnar Frac. 31312 and Laird M.C. W 1792 were staked in 1921 and
1933 by W. Walton and L. Seaberg, respectively, on a gold showing near the S end
of Beresford (Bulldog) Lake. The property is 177 km northeast of Winnipeg and
some 6.4 km east of Provincial Road No. 304.
Although promising gold showings
had been disclosed during the performance of assessment work, no continuous
mineral showing of mining significance was disclosed until after these claims
were consolidated in a larger group. Gunnar Gold Mines Limited was formed
to develop the claims. Active surface exploration began in 1933. After
considerable diamond drilling it was decided to install a plant capable of
developing a mine to a minimum 300 m level.
Two shafts, #1 shaft
(3-compartment) and #2 shaft (2-comparment) were located on Laird M.C. and
Gunnar Grac., respectively. Work proceeded rapidly and after four months the #1
shaft was down 160 m with four levels. Early ore lengths and grades were as
follows:
Level………. Length (m)………. Width (m)………. g/tonne (oz/ton)
Gold
1st……………… 52………………. 1.22………………… 30.1 (0.88)
2nd……………... 39……………….
1.07………………… 22.63 (0.66)
3rd ……………...96……………… 1.07………………… 17.14 (0.55)
4th
……………...22……………… 1.34………………….. 5.83 (0.17)
………………….34……………… 0.40…………………..
8.23 (0.24)
Ore tonnage and grade were considered sufficient to warrant
the establishment of a 136 tonne/day cyanidization mill on the property. This
was completed in 1936. A significant amount of gold was produced in the 6 years
that the mill was in operation (see: History of Production).
Leases M-449 and
M-452 were issued in 1935 for a 21-year period on 18.57 hectare Gunnar Frac. and
20.5 hectare Laird M.C., respectively.
Extensive underground development
continued until 1942 when ore reserves were depleted and the mill was closed
down. At that time the #1 shaft was down to 625 m with levels every 38 m and #2
shaft was down to 114 m. Diamond drilling totalled some 22 257 m between the
years 1937-42. Total tonnage milled from 1936-41 was 259 681 tonnes with some
3101 kg (99 713.26 oz) of gold recovered.
Gunnar Fraction and Laird M.C.
remained inactive from 1942 and the leases were allowed to lapse in 1956. F.
Calverly staked the deposit several times from 1957 to 1984 as
follows:
Claim Name………..…. Date Staked……..……. Date Cancelled
Cal No. 1
……………….…1957…………………… 1963
Grafton M.C. W 36367….. 1963……………………
1966
Grafton M.C. W 40039….. 1967…………………… 1971
Grafton M.C. W 43528…..
1971…………………… 1973
Dianne M.C. W 44705……1973…………………… 1984
The area was
covered by a production lease from 1976 to 1983. Cen Can Ore Recovery Limited
gained control of the lease in 1979 with the objective of processing Gunnar mine
tailings. The only production figures recorded are for August 1979 when 363
tonnes were processed to recover 62.2 g of gold.
In February 1979 W.J. Conley
staked CB 8218 (259 hectares) to surround the smaller W 44705 (22 hectares). CB
8218 was optioned to Esso Resources Canada Limited in October 1980. Esso
conducted line cutting, detailed geological mapping, channel sampling, and
VLF-EM and MAG surveys in 1980 and 1981. The claims were then transferred to
Walter Baker in June 1983. W 44705 was cancelled in July 1984.
In September
1984 Nelson Baker staked W 50608 over the deposit. This claim and the
surrounding CB 8218 were optioned by Highmark Resources Limited and Homestead
Resources Ltd. Each company gained a 50% interest in the property. They
undertook a program of tailings sampling, VLF and MAG surveys, soil sampling,
and detailed prospecting in 1984.
HISTORY OF
PRODUCTION
Year Tonnes Milled Return Gold at $1.13/g) Production kg (oz)
1936
6 24 $577 373 513.09 (16 496.37)
1937 7 162 $666 705 592.45 (19
048.71)
1938 44 480 $662 016 588.30 (18 914.72)
1939 46 698 $618 847
549.94 (17 681.34)
1940 45 211 $586 357 521.07 (16 753.05)
1941 30 107
$378 671 336.51 (10 819.17)
TOTAL 259 681 $3 489 969 (99
713.26)
Re-processed tailings in 1979 - 363 tonnes milled, recovery 62.2
g.
REFERENCES
Campbell, F.H.A., 1971: Stratigraphy and Sedimentation of Part of the
Rice Lake Group, Manitoba; in Geology and Geophysics of the Rice Lake Region,
Southern Manitoba; Manitoba Mines Branch, Publ. 71-1, Report 6, p.
135-183.
Canadian Mines Handbook: 1936-1943, Northern Miner Press.
Davies,
J.F.; Bannatyne, B.B., Barry, G.S., and McCabe, H.R., 1962: Geology and Mineral
Resources of Manitoba; Manitoba Mines Branch Publication, p. 51, 52.
de Wet,
J.P.: Gunnar Gold Mines, Limited; Canadian Mining Journal; Volume
67.
Manitoba Mines Branch:
a. Annual Reports on Mines and Minerals: 6th-p.
33; 7th-p. 47; 8th-p. 61; 9th-p. 63; 10th-p. 70; 11th-p. 62; 12th-p. 53; 13th-p.
46; 14th-p. 40.
b. Corporation Files; Esso Resources Canada Limited,
Gunnar Gold Mines Limited, Highmark Resources Limited.
c. Mining
Engineering; Gunnar Gold Mines Limited
d. Unpublished Information
Files; 52 L/14SW
Mineral Development Sector: Corporation Files; Gunnar
Gold Mines Limited.
Mines Branch, Ottawa, 1936: Investigations in Ore
Dressing and Metallurgy;
Report 763 (No. 626).
Russell, G.A., 1952:
Structural Studies of the Long Lake-Halfway Lake Area; Manitoba Mines Branch,
Publication 49-6, p. 8.
Shepherd, F.D., 1939: The Gunnar Mine, Manitoba;
Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Volume 42, p.
406-415.
Stephenson, J.F., 1972: Gold Deposits of the Rice Lake-Beresford
Lake Area, Southeastern Manitoba; University of Manitoba, Unpublished Ph.D.
Thesis, p. 257-9.
Stockwell, C.H., and Lord, C.S., 1939: Halfway
Lake-Beresford Lake Area, Manitoba; Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 219, p.
27-34.
Wright, J.F., 1932: Geology and Mineral Deposits of a Part of
Southeastern Manitoba; Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 169, p. 61-65.
MAP REFERENCES
Map 52 L/14, West, Garner Lake, (Topographic), Scale 1:50 000, Mines
& Technical Surveys, Canada.
Map 4048 G, Garner Lake, (Aeromagnetic),
Scale 1:63 360, Manitoba Mines Branch and Geological Survey of Canada.
Map
535 A, Halfway Lake-Beresford Lake, (Geology), Scale 1:12 000-Accompanying
report by Stockwell and Lord (1939), Geological Survey of Canada.
Map 809 A,
Beresford Lake, (Geology), Scale 1:63 360, Geological Survey of Canada.
Map
49-6, Structural Geology of Long Lake-Halfway Lake Area, (Geology), Scale 1:15
840-Accompanying report by Russell (1952), Manitoba Mines Branch.
Map 71-1/7,
Geology of the Dove Lake-Tinney Lake Area, (Geology), Scale
1:32\680-Accompanying report by Campbell (1971), Manitoba Mines Branch.
Map
(Unpublished), Gunnar Frac., 31312, Lot 988, Group 124, Plan 2777 (Survey,
1935), Scale 1:2400, Mining Recording, Manitoba Mines Branch.
Map
(Unpublished), Laird M.C., W 1792, Lot 990, Group 124, Plan 2783 (Survey, 1935),
Scale 1:2400, Mining Recording, Manitoba Mines Branch.
Claim Map Series 52
L/14SW, Scale 1:31 680, circa 1956, Mining Recording, Manitoba Mines
Branch.
URL
N/A
REMARKS
Gold-bearing arsenopyrite in diorite was reported on the Tut claim (52
L/14SE), just west of a northward embayment of the Manigotagan River west of
Garner Lake. A grab sample taken in 1922 was reported to have assayed $22
gold/tonne (Manitoba Mines Branch, Unpublished information, 52 L/14SW).).
NOTES
N/A
Compiled/Revised
by:
GGS JR
Date
01-74 06-85
