MINERAL
INVENTORY FILE NO.
520
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
PRODUCT
NICKEL
NTS AREA
63O1NW
REF.
NI 1
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
NAME OF PROPERTY
SOAB MINE SOUTH
OWNER OF
OPERATOR ADDRESS
__________________________
OBJECT LOCATED
Shaft
MINING
DIVISION
The Pas
Latitude
55°12.60’
Longitude
98°25.28’
Uncertainty
(m)
200 m
UTM Zone
_____
Easting
_______
Northing
_______
L.S./Quarter
Section
___
Section
___
Township
72
Range
7WPM
DESCRIPTION OF
DEPOSIT
Relatively massive sulphides occur in Precambrian metasediments and/or
gneisses (Coats, et. al., 1972) or in serpentinized peridotite (Sabina, 1972).
Pyrrhotite, pyrite, pentlandite, and chalcopyrite are found in several
mineralized zones, which comprise the Soab deposit. A doubly plunging
fold is located near the deposit, which is reflected in the orebody being narrow
and not well defined, meandering haphazardly through the host rock (Northern
Miner, July 1, 1971).
ASSOCIATED
MINERALS OR PRODUCTS OF VALUE
Copper
HISTORY OF
EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT
The mine is about 1 km west of Provincial Road 391 and 68 km southwest
of the city of Thompson.
An aerial magnetic survey helped pinpoint the
mineralization in 1951. Follow-up air and ground electromagnetic surveys and
subsequent diamond drilling discovered nickeliferous material. Fitz 5 (P 23362)
was staked by M. Smith in 1951 and assigned to Canadian Nickel Company Limited
later that year. This claim may not directly overlie the deposit, but a shaft
was sunk here. Fitz 5 was assigned to The International Nickel Company of Canada
in 1956 and leased as M-5348 in 1959.
Development of the Soab deposit
began 1965. Shaft sinking commenced on Fitz 5 in January 1967. The shaft was
completed to 1,984 feet by March of the next year, with levels at 200-foot
intervals between 300 and 1,700 feet (Macke). Mackenzie (1968) estimated that
the Soab deposit contains 100,000 to 1,000,000 tons of mineralized
material, including ore and protore, grading up to 1.5% Ni.
Macke reports
that there were 8-10 years of pre-production reserves at Soab South if
the production rate was 3 000 tons per day. The Northern Miner (Oct. 8, 1970)
stated that reserves at Soab South were "sufficient to support 3
000-ton-a-day production for 12 to 15 years." Production was expected to be
3,000 tons per day, with mining to start on the 300-, 500-, and 700-foot
levels.
In 1970 exploratory deep drilling was underway on the 1 700-foot
level. By 1971 the Soab South shaft was 2 083 feet deep. Mining was done
by the shrinkage stope method (Northern Miner, July 1, 1971).
The Soab
South Mine produced from 1967 to 1971 (INCO staff, November 1975). After 1968
ore was trucked from Soab North and, together with Soab South ore,
transported by a private INCO railroad to Thompson for processing.
Mining
ceased in 1971 due to several factors leading to a decrease in "ore". The shaft
is dewatered and on standby.
HISTORY OF
PRODUCTION
1967-70: Ni
Shipping Point: Soab South Mine Distance
from mine: 68 km to destination
Material Shipped: Crusher ore Carrier: INCO
railroad
Destination: Thompson
REFERENCES
Bell, C.K., 1971: Boundary Geology, Upper Nelson River Area, Manitoba
and Northwestern Ontario, in Geoscience Studies in Manitoba; Geological
Association of Canada, Special Paper 9, p. 11-40.
Coats, C.J.A., Quirke,
T.T., Bell, C.K., Cranstone, D.A., and Campbell, F.H.A., 1972: Geology and
Mineral Deposits of the Flin Flon, Lynn Lake and Thompson Areas, Manitoba, and
the Churchill-Superior Front of the Western Precambrian Shield; International
Geological Congress, 24th Session, p. 53-63.
Davies, J.F., 1960: Geology of
the Thompson-Moak Lake District, Manitoba; Canadian Mining Journal, v. 81, No.
4, p. 101-4.
Douglas, R.J.W., 1970: Geology and Economic Minerals of Canada;
Geological Survey of Canada, Economic Geology Report. 1, p. 180-1.
Godard,
J.D., 1968: Geology of the Halfway Lake Area (West Half); Manitoba Mines Branch,
Publication 64-5.
International Nickel Company of Canada, Limited, The, NW 1,
63 0; Corporation File, Manitoba Mineral Resources Division.
Kilburn, L.C.,
Wilson, H.D.B., Graham, A.R., Ogura, Y., Coats, C.J.A., and Scoates, R.F.J.,
1969: Economic Geological Monograph 4, p. 276-7.
Macke, Willis; Manitoba
Mining Operations, Unpublished Notebook, Mining Engineering & Inspection
Branch, Manitoba Mineral Resources Division, Soab South.
MacKenzie,
B.W., 1968: Nickel-Canada and the World; Mineral Resources Division, Ottawa,
Mineral Report 16, p. 75, 6.
Quirke, T.T., Cranstone, D.A., Bell, C.K., and
Coats, C.J.A., 1970: Geology of the Moak-Setting Area, Manitoba; Geological
Association of Canada and Mining Association of Canada, 23rd Annual Meeting,
Field Trip 1.
Sabina, A.P., 1972: Rocks and Minerals for the Collector, La
Ronge-Creighton, Saskatchewan; Flin Flon-Thompson, Manitoba; Geological Survey
of Canada, Paper 71-27, p. 71.
Quinn, H.A., 1956: Mineral Occurrences Between
Chipewyan and Herb Lakes, Manitoba; Precambrian, v. 29, No. 11 (Nov.), p. 10,
Showing No. 32.
Zurbrigg, H.F., 1963: Thompson Mine Geology; Canadian
Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Trans., v. LXVI, p. 227-36.
MAP REFERENCES
Map 63 0/1, Halfway Lake, (Topographic), Scale 1:50 000; Surveys &
Mapping Branch, Ottawa.
Map 54-13, Nelson House, (Geology), Scale 1:253 440;
accompanied Marginal Notes by Quinn (1955); Geological Survey of Canada.
Map
64-5, Halfway Lake Area, (Geology.), Scale 1:60 200; accompanied publication by
Godard (1968); Manitoba Mines Branch.
Map, Moak-Setting Lake Area, (Geology),
Scale 1:96 000; accompanied I.G.C. Field Excursions by Coats, et. al. (1972),
24th Session, International Geological Congress.
Map 2591 G, Halfway Lake,
(Aeromagnetic), Scale 1:63 360; Manitoba Mines Branch. and Geological survey of
Canada.
Maps, NW 1, 63 0 (Claim), Scale 1:31 680, "Circa 1975" Claim Map
Series, Mining Recording, Manitoba Mineral Resources Division.
URL
N/A
REMARKS
In articles and reports it is often difficult to differentiate between
Soab North and Soab South. When no distinction was made the term
"Soab Deposit" was used on the front of this card.
NOTES
N/A
Compiled/Revised
by:
SMH
Date
2-73 11-75
