Pickle-Opapimiskan a big producer by 1990s

By the early 1990s, the Pickle- Opapimiskan Lakes area in northwestern Ontario could have four gold mines in operation producing more than 200,000 oz of gold. Such a production forecast, combined with the high level of exploration in the area, makes Pickle Lake one of the more prolific mining areas in Canada today.

Of the potential mines, two are in the development stage. St. Joe Canada, a wholly-owned affiliate of Australian-controlled St. Joe Gold, is readying its Golden Patricia deposit for production by the third quarter of 1988. Located in the Meen-Dempster greenstone belt, 35 miles west of Pickle Lake, the deposit hosts reserves of 800,000 tons grading 0.61 oz gold per ton. Of this, more than 300,000 tons is in the proven and probable catagory grading 0.88 oz.

Another project, known as the Dona Lake, is owned by Placer Dome Inc. Discovered in early 1984, the property is scheduled for production in 1989. Reserves total 1.87 million tons grading 0.2 oz. Both Dona Lake and Golden Patricia are new discoveries which have prompted a staking rush to the Pickle- Meen Demspster area — a rush which has seen more than 50 miles of prospective geology staked by both majors and juniors. However, one factor behind the relatively quiet response the area has received from investors can be attributed to the lack of any juniors associated with the four main deposits.

The other two, Central Patrica and Musslewhite, are operated by Noramco Mining Corp. and Placer Dome respectively. The Musslewhite project, located 50 miles north of Pickle Lake, includes partners Lacana Mining Corp. (17%), Esso Minerals (24%) and Inco Gold (24%).

Also, the generally isolated geography discouraged earlier exploration, especially by juniors. This, however, has changed following the announcements of the Golden Patricia discovery in 1986 and the Musslewhite development in 1984. The surge in exploration, which has also been driven by healthier gold prices and flow-through funds, has resulted in improved access to the area via bush and winter roads. Herc-capable airstrip

At Golden Patricia, for example, St. Joe will be expanding an air strip to 5,000 ft. This will be capable of handling large Hercules aircraft, Vice-president John F. Stephenson told a conference on the area hosted by the Toronto Geological Discussion Group. The company, which holds more than 2,000 claims in the area and is acquiring more ground, is also exploring a second discovery located 8 km west of the Golden Patricia deposit. Known as the Dobie zone, it hosts 360,000 tons grading in excess of 0.14 oz. Stephenson told the meeting.

Golden Patrica has special significance, in that St. Joe became interested in the area following publication of important structural data by Gregory Stott, a structural geologist with the Ontario Geological Survey. Dr Stott identified a widespread area of deformation associated with a volcanic-plutonic contact. Although mine development is in progress, “there are many geophysical targets which remain to be tested,” Stephenson added. “We also plan to intensify our activities along strike,” he said. The main zone has been traced for 3,000 m by drilling. Remarkably persistent along strike, the 2-ft wide vein does pinch, swell and flexure in places. Quartz veins absent

All the other deposits are intimately associated with banded iron formations. At Dona Lake, gold is found in sheared pyrrhotite-rich oxide facies ironstones. Interestingly, no quartz veins are present at Dona, Gary Cohoon, a project geologist with Placer Dome, told the meeting.

The largest gold inventory is found at the Musslewhite property — a structurally complex project hosting 6 million tons grading 0.203 oz in the East Bay section of the property. Although exploration has been in progress since the early 1980s, which included a disappointing underground program on the West Anticline area in 1984, the project turned around in 1985. Then, two significant drill sections from the East Bay area, located less than two miles east of the West Anticline zones, resulted in a new discovery. As at Dona Lake, gold is associated with pyrrhotite-rich ironstones. To date, work has identified four discrete mineralized zones which host the bulk of the reserves, Ronald Stewart, a Placer geologist said. Underground exploration followed by a full feasibility study could be completed by late 1989, Stewart added.

A production decision also remains to be made for the Central Patricia project operated by Noramco. From 1935-1965, the two mines on the propery — the Pickle Crow and Central Patricia — produced more than 2 million oz, from ore averaging 0.42 oz gold per ton, Harry Hodge, chairman of the meeting and president of Power Explorations, told the attendees during his opening remarks about the camp.

Reserves outlined on the one and five veins total 2.5 million tons grading 0.23 oz, Ken McQueen, a geologist with Noramco, told the conference. Reserves in all catagories stand at 6.5 million tons grading 0.226 oz, Noramco reports. Power leads juniors

Leading the junior exploration attack on the area is Power Explorations, which with affiliates Moss Resources and Van Horne Gold, controls 2,500 claims comprising 40 properties. An early participant in the camp (beginning in 1980), the Power group has made several gold discoveries which are still in the exploration stage. At Opapimiskan Lake, Power has completed 15,000 ft of diamond drilling testing a variety of targets geologically similar to those occuring on the nearby Musslewhite property. Gold intersections include 1 oz over 5 ft and 0.44 oz in a 9.2-ft section from the Anticline zone.

At the Randall Lake project in the same area, high grade gold assays over narrow widths have been sampled.