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Mineral and Crystal Occurrence Survey
of Mineral Claim
SO 1500017 (Lot 4, Concession 17),
(Also known as the Halls Lake Claim),
Cardiff Township, Ontario
By
Bradley S Wilson Kingston, Ontario
For
Ontario’s Highlands Tourism Organization
PO Box 399, 11 Newcastle St, Minden, Ontario,
K0M 2K0
April, 2013
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Mineral and Crystal Occurrence Survey of Mineral Claim SO 1500017 (Lot 4, Concession 17),
also known as the Halls Lake Claim, Cardiff Township, Ontario
By Bradley S Wilson for
Ontario’s Highlands Tourism Organization April, 2013
Introduction For decades, recreational mineral collectors from around the world have been coming to south eastern Ontario to pursue their fascinating hobby by searching out mineral specimens from the many available collecting sites for which the region is famous. For this reason, many consider the region, often referred to in general as the Bancroft area, the “Mineral Capital of Canada”. A wide variety of minerals are known from hundreds of different occurrences throughout the region. Sadly, over the years, many of these localities have been closed to mineral collectors due in part to park and cottage development and a host of other land access issues. It has been suggested that fewer mineral collectors are coming to the region now than in the past. If this is true it may be in part, because there are fewer collecting sites available to the collector. The Municipality of Highlands East, with the assistance of the Ontario’s Highlands Tourism Organization, has acquired a number of mineral claims to explore the possibility of developing these claims as new recreational mineral collecting destinations, thereby providing incentive for mineral collectors to return and stay in the region. The Halls Lake Claim, located 4 km southeast from the town of Wilberforce, is one of the claims held by the Municipality of Highlands East is the subject of this report (Figure 1). Superb mineral specimens of apatite, urananite, amphibole, feldspar and titanite from localities in the Wilberforce area are well known among mineral collectors. Several of these sites are located on privately owned land within several kilometres of the Halls Lake claim (eg., Cardiff Uranium Mine and Liscombe Apatite Mine). In addition, a mineral occurrence described in the Ontario government’s Mineral Deposit Inventory is located on the Halls Lake claim (MDI # MDI31E01SE00174). This mineral occurrence is described as “mineral collecting site: reserves abundant, should be protected for collecting”. Other than this vague reference, mineral collecting sites were not known on the Halls Lake claim. The goal of this study was to locate this mineral occurrence and to identify additional mineral collecting sites. The author spent 2 days in November 2012 exploring this claim for potential mineral collecting sites.
Claim Information The Halls Lake claim was staked on June 3, 2011 and its claim number is SO 1500017. Its ownership is currently the Corporation of the Municipality of Highlands East. The Halls Lake claim covers 1 concession lot in Cardiff Township (Lot 4, Concession 17), consists of two claim units and carries an $800 annual exploration work commitment. The claim has an expiry date of June 3, 2013.
Location and Access The Halls Lake claim measures approximately 0.4 by 1.0 kilometre in size. It is located approximately 26 kilometres east from Haliburton and 26 km west from Bancroft, the two largest towns in the region and is approximately 4 kilometres southeast of Wilberforce (Figure 1). The claim is located on NTS map 31E/01. To access the claim from Bancroft, travel west along Highway 28 for approximately 13 kilometres to Highway 121. Turn right and continue west for approximately 16 kilometres to Adanac Road. Turn right (north) and go
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0.9 kilometres until Morraine Drive. This is a forest access road. Turn left on to Morraine Drive (north). The east edge of the claim is reached approximately 4 kilometres from this junction. This gravel road passes along most of the eastern edge of the claim.
Previous Work The Halls Lake claim is underlain by rocks of the Grenville Province of the Canadian Shield. On a regional level Grenville Province rocks have been extensively studied and prospected for various ores over the last century. Numerous authors have studied and described these rocks. A township wide geological report was published in 1959 by Hewitt that included a detailed geologic map covering both Cardiff and neighbouring Faraday Townships. Hewitt’s study concentrated on the geology and economic mineral deposits of Cardiff and Faraday Townships and not on occurrences of crystals and minerals suitable for the recreational mineral collector. Guides to mineral collecting sites in southern Ontario have been published by various authors. One of the more recent guides covering the area is by Sabina (1986). Sabina (1986) describes mineral collecting sites throughout the Bancroft region, including those in the Wilberforce and Harcourt areas. Two mineral collecting localities that Sabina (1986) describes lie near the Halls Lake claim; the Cardiff Uranium Mine and the Halo Mine.
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Hewitt (1959) briefly describes the Halo Uranium Mines property on the concession lot to the north (L 4 C 18). Satterly (1957) describes the Halo property in greater detail and reports that circa 1953, during exploration for radioactive minerals, stripping, trenching and a limited amount of diamond drilling was conducted over their claim. In 1955-56 an extensive exploration program of trenching and diamond drilling was carried out. In addition, this exploration included over 2500 feet (762 metres) of underground development, which consisted of adits and a shaft in two locations (Satterly, 1957). It seems safe to assume that during the rush to explore the region for uranium in the 1950s that the Halls Lake claim was also prospected. Satterly (1957) also describes exploration on several lots south of Halls Lake claim were minerals suitable for mineral collectors were found.
Fieldwork For ease of reference, the mineral claim covering Lot 4, Concession 17 in the township of Cardiff (SO 1500017) is being referred to in this report as the “Halls Lake claim”. The author spent 2 days exploring and gathering data on this claim on the following dates; November 21 and November 22, 2012. An additional day in April 2013 was spent preparing field maps and writing this report. The focus of this project was to locate and evaluate areas on the Halls Lake claim with the potential for well crystallized minerals suitable to attract the attention of recreational mineral collectors. Traverse paths were recorded in the field using a hand-held GPS device and are shown in Figure 2. Two location points described in this report were recorded in the field as UTM coordinates using the same hand-held GPS device.
Property Geology The Halls Lake claim is underlain by high-grade metamorphic rocks of the Grenville Province of the Canadian Shield. Rocks of the Grenville Province are well known and have been described by many authors. These rocks host virtually all the known mineral and crystal occurrences that attract mineral collectors, both professional and recreational, to the Bancroft area. Due to time constraints the author focused most of his efforts in the field to prospecting for potential mineral collecting sites. The property’s geology was noted in only a few places; therefore, not enough information was gathered to construct an accurate detailed geology map of the property.
Potential Mineral Collecting Sites Despite having spent two days prospecting the Halls Lake claim, no sites were located where suitable minerals for the mineral collector could be found. The mineral occurrence mentioned in the Ontario government’s Mineral Deposit Inventory (MDI) was not found during this study (MDI31E01SE00174). If the description provided was accurate then the occurrence should be near the southwest corner of the claim. The author spent enough time searching that corner, as well as the rest of the claim, to feel confident that this occurrence is either not on this lot or is overgrown to point where it is unrecognizable. Along the west and central part of the claim, bedrock consists of foliated hornblende-rich, calc-silicate gneiss and foliated hornblende-feldspar gneiss. Two sites with course-grained subhedral minerals were located during this study (Figure 2, points A and B). The first, located on a small cliff (UTM point “A”, Zone 17 T, 722254 4989166, NAD 83), consists of crude potassium-feldspar crystals up to 10-15 centimetres across and phlogopite up to 10 centimetres across associated with course calcite in foliated calc-silicate gneiss. The second site,
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exposed at the base of an overturned tree (UTM point “B”, Zone 17 T, 722465 4988874, NAD 83), consists of a metre wide potassium feldspar-hornblende pegmatite that cross-cuts foliated feldspar-hornblende gneiss. Here small euhedral crystals of amphibole and rare quartz occur associated with the pegmatite. In the author’s opinion, neither of these sites offers much mineral potential for the recreational mineral collector, however, their presence could be indicative of mineral potential still existing on the claim.
Summary and Recommendations Two days during November 2012 were spent prospecting for sites bearing minerals suitable for the recreational mineral collector. The Ontario government’s Mineral Deposit Inventory #MDI31E01SE00174, which is ostensibly located on the Halls Lake claim, was focus of this search. Unfortunately, neither this site nor any other suitable sites were found. Considering the many known mineral occurrences in the immediate area (Satterly, 1957 and Sabina 1986) and the two low-grade or low-potential sites identified during this study, the author feels that a small potential may still exist on the Halls Lake claim for mineral collecting sites and that additional prospecting may yield positive results. With this in mind, the author recommends the following; 1/ research the source of the information on Mineral Deposit Inventory report #MDI31E01SE00174. On the Ontario government’s website the source of the report is a 1994 resident geologist file. 2/ spend a more time prospecting for minerals on the claim.
References Hewitt, D. F., 1959: Geology of Cardiff and Faraday Townships; Ontario Department of Mines, Annual Report, V. 66, pt. 3, 1957. Ontario Government, 2013; EAST HUCKLEBERRY LAKE – 1994, http://www.geologyontario.mndmf.gov.on.ca/gosportal/gos?command=mndmsearchdetails:mdi&uuid=MDI31E01SE00174. Satterly, J., 1957: Radioactive mineral occurrences in the Bancroft area, Ontario; Ontario Department of Mines, Annual Report, v. 65, pt. 6. Sabina, Ann P., 1986: Rocks and Minerals for the Collector: Bancroft - Parry Sound Area and Southern Ontario; Geological Survey of Canada Miscellaneous Report 39, 182 p.
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Appendix 1; Statement of Qualifications of the Author I, Bradley S. Wilson of P.O. Box 352, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 4W2, do hereby state that I:
1/ graduated from Queen's University in 1982 with an Honours B.Sc. degree in Geology. 2/ graduated from Carleton University in 1987 with a M.Sc. degree in Geology. 3/ received a degree in gemmology in 1991 from the Canadian Gemmological Association (F.C.Gm.A). 4/ worked as an independent consultant on over 20 coloured gemstone projects since 1991. 5/ worked for mineral exploration companies during parts of 23 of the last 33 years either as a
consultant or as a seasonal employee. 6/ conducted gemstone exploration on my own behalf nearly continuously since 1982. 7/ have no interest, direct or indirect, in the Halls Lake claim (SO 1500017). 8/ performed the work described in this report.
Bradley S. Wilson April 15, 2013
