Temagami staking rush anticipated for summer

A wide range of mineral prospects in the Temagami area of northern Ontario will trigger a claimstaking rush when dozens of dormant townships are thrown open to developers later this month, government and industry observers say.

All prospecting and staking on non-patented land within a 10,000-sq.-km belt running southeast from Matatchewan to the Grenville Front of the Canadian Shield have been banned since 1978 as a result of a native land claim dispute. Portions of the lands around the perimeter of the Teme-Augama Anishnabai land claim area, or “caution,” were re-opened in 1992, and additional areas were re-opened in April of this year.

The ban on the remaining areas cannot be lifted until Mr. Justice Warren Winkler of Ontario Court’s General Division issues a written order. Although he is expected to do so this month, the wording he employs may make further legal moves necessary before companies can move in.

The land that remains includes part of the Temagami greenstone belt in which gold potential exists, says James Ireland, resident geologist for the Cobalt mining district. All of the Gowganda silver-cobalt camp lies within the caution, and there is also diamond and uranium potential, he adds.

Falconbridge is exploring for volcanogenic massive sulphides in the areas where the ban has already been lifted, and Ireland says the potential for Olympic-Dam-type sedimentary copper deposits and Witwaterstrand-type gold deposits also exists.

Of further interest is the magnetic-gravity anomaly known as the Sudbury Shadow, which lies within the caution. It is geophysically similar to the nickel-rich Sudbury Basin.

“The geology is very diverse, and as a result there is potential for a large number of different types of deposit to exist in the area,” Ireland explains.

Having seen no activity through nearly two decades of steadily advancing exploration technology, the Temagami area can be regarded as unexplored.

Dennis Price, director of International Exploration for Falconbridge, says his company has long been interested in exploring the Temagami area further.

“If you look at the number of showings that are known from way back when, certainly they indicated that there is potential in the area. We will certainly have a look at the lands that are being opened.”

But beyond his own firm’s interests, Price says the lifting of the ban “sends positive signals that Ontario is open for business and that exploring is going to be a little easier here than it has been in the past.” Michael Koziol of the Sudbury Prospectors & Developers Association predicts a staking rush will ensue when the ban is lifted, as does Stephen Conquer of the Porcupine Prospectors & Developers Association. Conquer says opening up the Teme-Augama Anishnabai caution will benefit the entire exploration community.

“The more ground we have available to our industry to work in, the better chance we have of discovering new deposits.

“Most companies have had an eye on that area for awhile and were hoping it would come open,” he adds, cautioning that it has been closed off for so long that it will take some time before prospectors and companies get back up to speed in the area.

Robert Savage of the Ontario mines minister’s office says that once the written order to end the ban is issued, the government plans to open the area for staking in stages. The most contentious areas will be opened last.

Nevertheless, he says, “it’s well understood that there will be protests.”