MINERAL INVENTORY FILE NO.
861
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PRODUCT
Lignite
NTS AREA
62F2SE
REF.
COL 1
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NAME OF PROPERTY
Vaden, Manitoba Coal
Lennox and McKay Mines
OWNER OF OPERATOR ADDRESS
Manitoba Coal Co.: 16-12-1-24W &/or 1-13-1-24W
Vaden: l.s. 16-12-1-24W
Lennox: l.s. 2-14-1-24W
McKay: l.s. 16-11-1-24W
OBJECT LOCATED
4 mines
MINING DIVISION
__________
Latitude
49°01'
Longitude
100°24'
Uncertainty (m)
___
UTM Zone
_____
Easting
_______
Northing
_______
L.S./Quarter Section
___
Section
11, 12, 13, 14
Township
1
Range
24 W
DESCRIPTION OF DEPOSIT
Coal of the Tertiary Turtle Mountain Formation was formerly mined at Turtle Mountain to be used as a local source of fuel for homesteads. At the old Vaden mine location, a ravine of about 15.2 m to 22.8 m in depth cuts into the sloping flank of the mountain for a distance of 3.2 km, the trend of the depression being east and west. According to Dr. Selwyn (1893) coal is found in three seams underlying the till on the sides of this ravine. At an elevation of 63.6 m a 1.5 m seam of coal is reported to occur. The thickness of this seam is questionable.
The second seam underlying this occurs at a depth of 4.2 m below the upper seam and has a thickness of 1.0 m. The third and lowest seam occurs at 3.3 m below the second seam and has a thickness of 45.7 cm. See Selwyn (1893) for a general section of the mine.
Chemical Properties: Analysis of coal by D.B. Dowling (1902) yielded values of 24.50% to 26.00% moisture; 16.20% to 16.50% volatile hydrocarbon; 47.50% to 44.50% fixed carbon; and 11.60% to 13.00% ash.
Physical Properties: As above.
Use: As a source of fuel for homesteads.
ASSOCIATED MINERALS OR PRODUCTS OF VALUE
N/A
HISTORY OF EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT
The Vaden (Vodon?) Mine is located approximately 22.5 km southwest of Deloraine on patented land.
Wright (1951) reported the first coal mined in this area was from the Lennox pit, and at least 9 tonnes were removed. Doerksen (1971) shows the location as l.s. 2-14-1-24W.
The Vaden Mine (l.s. 16-12-1-24W) was in operation around 1885. According to Dowling (1902) "a well dug in the bed of one of the ravines on Sec. 12-1-24W, passed through several coal seams from which a running stream of water was obtained. This apparently proved too wet to work, and another pit was sunk from higher ground about 137 m to the north, on l.s. 16. From this, coal was raised by means of a farm engine and drawn to Deloraine in the winter by teams. This pit is known locally as the Vaden Mine..." In digging the well in the ravine, after passing through the surface deposits, a mass of broken coal 1.5 m thick was passed through, but in the shaft for the mine this was not recorded, so that probably it was an accumulation of drift material derived from a small seam just above".
According to Doerksen (1971) the Vaden Mine consisted of a vertical shaft 12.1 m in depth and approximately 2.4 m square. Counter shafts were sunk at this point. An expensive steam pump was utilized to remove the large amount of water that seeped into the shaft. Due to lack of knowledge of shoring up, a number of tunnels caved in before a reasonable amount of coal could be removed. Eventually, after heroic efforts to make the mine profitable, a cave-in occurred during the lunch hour, completely burying the pump. This ended the operation.
In 1889 a joint stock company, incorporated as The Manitoba Coal Company, Limited, was formed to operate a coal mine on a larger scale and to connect it with Deloraine by a railroad. A year later, 12 miners were at work in a 13.6 m shaft that intersected a 1.5 m seam of coal at 13.0 m. Drifting to the north showed a thickening of the seam; a boring in that direction had reported 2.7 m of lignite. The operation had a daily capacity of 9.1 tonnes of coal which according to Wright (1951) "had to have the water wrung out of it before you could burn it". The mine was located on l.s. 16-12-1-24W, and/or possibly on l.s. 13-1-24W, 22.5 km from Deloraine, and the coal sold for $3 a ton at the pit during 1889-1890, the years of operation.
There has been no recent activity at this quarry.
HISTORY OF PRODUCTION
A small amount of coal was removed from the Lennox Mine in 1883.
The Vaden Mine was in operation in 1885. The precise amount of lignite recovered is unknown. The mine was closed during the year due to a cave-in.
The Manitoba Coal Co. opened a mine, probably located at the same location as the old Vaden Mine, in 1889.
Production of up to 9.1 tonnes of coal daily was achieved.
The McKay Mine (l.s. 16-11-1-24W), which operated during 1904, has no records of production.
The McKay Mine has not been in production since.
Shipping Point: Vaden Mine
Material Shipped: Lignite
Carrier: Truck
Destination: Local Market
REFERENCES
Bannatyne, B.B.
1978: Summary of available data on lignite deposits, Turtle Mountain, Manitoba; Manitoba Mineral Resources Division, Economic Geological Report 77/1, pp. 5, 6.
Cameron, E.L.
1949: Coal (Lignite) in Manitoba; Unpublished Report, Manitoba Mines Branch.
Doerksen, A.D.
1971: The Saga of Turtle Mountain Coal; 129p., D.W. Friesen & Sons Ltd., Altona pp. 4-5, 17-19, 42, 55.
Dowling, D.B.
1906: Notes to accompany a contoured plan of the lower slope of Turtle Mountain; Geological Survey of Canada Annual Report 1902, Part A, pp. 192-203. Industrial Mineral Geologist Files, Manitoba Mineral Resources Division.
Selwyn, A.R.C.
1893: Notes on Turtle Mountain Coal Fields, Manitoba; Geological Survey of Canada, Annual Report 1890, Part A, pp. 11, 12.
Wallace, R.C., and Greer, L.
1927: The Non-Metallic Mineral Resources of Manitoba; Industrial Development Board of Manitoba p. 64.
Wright, N.
1951: In View of Turtle Mountain Hill: Deloraine Times Publishing Company, Deloraine, Manitoba, p. 117.
MAP REFERENCES
Map 62 F/2, Waskada, (Topography), Sc. 1:50 000, Surveys and Mapping Branch, Ottawa.
Fig. 2a, Location of former lignite operations at Turtle Mountain, Sc. 1:42 240, in Bannatyne, 1978, p. 5.
Map 12, Industrial Minerals Producers (Index), Sc. 1:1 000 000, Manitoba Mineral Resources Division.
Mineral Map of Manitoba (1980), Sc. 1:1 000 000, Manitoba Mineral Resources Division.
URL
N/A
REMARKS
According to Wright (1951) coal was mined near Lennox as early as 1883 from a mine located on l.s. 2-14-1-24W, and about 9 tonnes of coal was removed.
Doerksen (1971) suggested that the mine located at l.s. 16-12-1-24W should be referred to as the Vodon mine, while earlier reports such as Selwyn (1893), and Dowling (1906) refer to the mine located on the NE1/4 12-1-24W as the "old Vaden mine". The correct name is uncertain.
Doerksen (1971) indicated that the Manitoba Coal Co. removed coal from l.s. 1-13-1-24W, and possibly from the NE1/4 12-1-24W. The exact location of the operation is somewhat ambiguous. Other sources e.g. Wright 1951, indicate that the operation was on the NE1/4 12-1-24W.
NOTES
N/A
Compiled/Revised by:
CWJ KH
Date
08-79 06-96