MINERAL INVENTORY FILE NO.
850
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PRODUCT
QUARTZ MONZONITE
NTS AREA
62 I1NE
REF.
STN 1
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NAME OF PROPERTY
Cold Spring Granite Quarry
OWNER OF OPERATOR ADDRESS
Cold Spring Granite
Box 730
Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba
OBJECT LOCATED
Granite Quarry
MINING DIVISION
Winnipeg
Latitude
50°08'40"
Longitude
96°04'30"
Uncertainty (m)
50m
UTM Zone
_____
Easting
_______
Northing
_______
L.S./Quarter Section
___
Section
NE 1/4 6
Township
14
Range
11 EPM
DESCRIPTION OF DEPOSIT
The Cold Spring granite is a biotite quartz monzonite with microline, plagioclase, biotite and accessory magnetite, apatite, and zircon. For chemical analyses see McRitchie (1971, p. 47, sample 04-69-756). The reddish-greyish-brown stone (called "heather" is marked under the trade name of "Lac Dubonnet". It has a good grain so it can be split either way and the size of slabs cut is limited only by highway restrictions on the widths that can be transported.
The quarry is located along the south central margin of the Lac du Bonnet quartz monzonite pluton. The ridge being quarried is 1,220 m long and 6 to 8 m high. Thin pegmatite dikes cut the rock in places and these, together with fractures and patchy color changes result in considerable waste in production of dimension stone.
ASSOCIATED MINERALS OR PRODUCTS OF VALUE
N/A
HISTORY OF EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT
The Cold Spring quarry is located near Hwy. 11, 14 km west of Pinawa.
About 1932 Ivor Petterson has tests made of the granite which he blasted from the Bloomquist homestead. He then arranged for a lease with the Bloomquist family and began blasting rock with black powder for a tombstone business he also initiated. After Petterson's death in 1947 the Bloomquist brothers continued quarrying for about 2 years. They hauled about 18 tonnes a week to their sawing and finishing mill on Myrtle St. in Winnipeg. The quarry then remained idle for about 10 years.
In 1958 the Cold Spring Granite Company of Minnesota began quarrying and produced structural granite and monumental stone. The quarrying operation is carried out by a system of steel wires and silicon abrasives cutting into the rock producing slabs of approximately 25 cm thickness and about 12 m long, the depth being in accordance with the contours of the rock outcrop. The large blocks of stone (55 to 60 tonnes) from which the slabs are cut are lifted by means of a 91 tonne-capacity hoist. After being cut the slabs are polished in a 4 stage process. In the beginning corundum granules are used. In the final polishing a combination of jeweller's rouge and aluminum oxide are used. About 96 hours are needed to polish 9 mē. Polished slabs as large as 1.8 by 5.5 m have been produced. The stone is also available in a textured natural cleavage surface.
Unpolished granite from the U.S. is also cut, finished and polished at the quarry which operates all 12 months of the year. Heather slabs from Lac du Bonnet are in turn trucked to the U.S. to be dressed there.
In 1988 Granite cobblestones and bollards produced by Cold Spring Granite (Canada) Ltd. were being installed on Green Lane in Downtown Winnipeg. Update, 1996: The quarry remains in operation, producing dimension stone and granite.
HISTORY OF PRODUCTION
About 1932 Ivor Petterson opened the quarry on the Bloomquist homestead for monumental stone. From 1947 to 1949 the Bloomquist brothers worked the quarry shipping about 18 tonnes a week to their mill on Myrtle Street in Winnipeg.
In 1958 the Cold Spring Granite Company began quarrying for dimension stone and monumental stone. The quarry stays in production 12 months a year.
Shipping Point Quarry Site Distance from mine
Material Shipped Structural and Monumental Stone Carrier Truck
Destination Various: mainly western Canada and mid-northern U.S.A.
REFERENCES
Cold Spring Granite Ltd.; Mining Engineering Files, Man. MRD.
Kent, D.M., Bannatyne, B.B., McCabe, H.R.
1972: Industrial and Non-Metallic Minerals of Manitoba and Saskatchewan (Central Plains); Guidebook, Excursion C23, XXIV I.G.C., p. 20-21.
Marcus, C.
1962: Granite Quarry; Winnipeg Free Press, Nov. 24, p. 19.
Marcus, C.
1962: Manitoba Granite Developed by American Firm; Precambrian, Dec. p. 6-7.
McRitchie, W.D.
1971: The Petrology and Environment of The Acidic Plutonic Rocks of the Wanipigow-Winnipeg Rivers Region, Southeastern Manitoba; Man. Mines Br. Publ. No. 71-1, Report 2.
MAP REFERENCES
Map 12, Industrial Minerals Producers (Index), 1:1000 000; Man. MRD.
Map 62I/1, Molson (Topo.), 1:50 000; Surveys and Mapping Branch, Ottawa.
#Map 1969F-7, Milner Ridge (Preliminary Reconnaissance Geology Map), 1:50 000; Man. Mines Br. (Geology by W.D. McRitchie).
URL
N/A
REMARKS
N/A
NOTES
N/A
Compiled/Revised by:
NLL
Date
06-78
