Gordon Lake mine
Gordon Lake Mine was an underground copper mine near Werner Lake in the Kenora District of Ontario Canada.
| Location | |
|---|---|
  Gordon Lake Mine Location near Werner Lake, Ontario | |
| Location | near Werner Lake, Ontario |
| Province | Ontario |
| Country | Canada |
| Coordinates | 50°29′08″N 94°20′49″W |
| Production | |
| Products | PRIMARY: Copper, Nickel SECONDARY: Gold, Palladium, Platinum, Silver |
| History | |
| Opened | 1957 |
| Active | 1942 - 1969 |
| Closed | 1972 |
| Owner | |
| Company | Ovintiv |
It was in full operation from 1957 to 1969. Some metals were produced up until 1972 as a result of the site clean up operations.
Location
The mine is located 55 miles northwest of Kenora[1] close to the Ontario-Manitoba provincial boundary.[2] It is located above four underground bodies of ore and the quartz vein known as the Onaping Formation.[1][3]
Discovery and exploration
H. Byberg and A. Vanderbrink first discovered nickel and copper minerals at the site in 1942.[1]
The site was surveyed and subject to diamond drilling by staff from Noranda Mines, Rexora Mining Corporation Ltd, and Inco and Falconbridge Nickel Mines Ltd between 1942 and 1945.[4]
Underground work was undertaken by Quebec Nickel Corporation between 1952 and 1954 which produced a 260 foot deep shaft.[4][5]
Between 1955 and 1958 Quebec Nickel Corporation and Eastern Smelting and Refining Company Limited merged to become Eastern Mining and Smelting Corp which sank a second shaft to 1,297 feet in depth, creating six levels.[4] The minerals mined composed of chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, and pentlandite.[6][7]
Between 1959 and 1962, Eastern Mining and Smelting Corp became Nickel Mining and Smelting Corp and lowered the second shaft to 1,683 feet deep, adding 3 more levels and added a 750-ton-per-day concentrator.[4]
Production
A mill was built on site between 1962 and 1973 which processed 1,587,146 tons of ore.[5] That ore produced 14 million pounds of copper, 26.7 million pounds of nickel and unknown smaller quantities of platinum and palladium.[5]
Between 1963 and 1966, Nickel Mining and Smelting became Metal Mines Limited and continued drilling.[4]
In 1967-68 Consolidated Canadian Faraday Limited took over Metal Mines, continued drilling and increased the concentrator capacity to 1200 tons-per-day.[4]
Final years
Between 1969 there was modest production, not from mining, but from clean up operations.[1] The site was rehabilitated in 1994.[4]
The site was owned by EWL Management Limited until 2022, when EWL merged with its parent company Ovintiv Canada ULC.[8][9]
References
- Cornwall, H. R. (1966). Nickel Deposits of North America. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1223. Geology, resources, and reserves of nickel sulfide and nickeliferous laterite deposits in 7 Provinces of Canada and 15 States of the United States (PDF). United States Geological Survey. p. 25. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-01-22. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Parker, J. R. (1988). Geology of Nickel-Copper-Chromite Deposits and Cobalt-Copper Deposits at Werner–Rex–Bug Lakes, English River Subprovince, Northwestern Ontario. Government of Ontario.
- A Field Guide to the Geology of Sudbury, Ontario (PDF). Government of Ontario. 2009. p. 137. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-12-09. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
- "Ontario Mineral Inventory Record MDI52L07NW00004: Gordon Lake Mine, Werner Lake-Gordon Lake Mine". www.geologyontario.mndm.gov.on.ca. Archived from the original on 2022-01-22. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
- Harper, Gerald (22 March 2011). "Werner Lake Mineral Belt Properties Kenora Mining Division, Ontario" (PDF). Global Cobalt Corporation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 January 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
- "Gordon Lake Gold Mine In Ontario, Canada". The Diggings. Archived from the original on 2022-01-22. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
- "Cobalt makes an appearance in northwestern Ontario". Northern Ontario Business. 6 October 2010. Archived from the original on 2022-01-22. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
- "EWL Legacy Mine Properties Perpetual Management Strategy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-01-05.
- "Regulatory Action – Ovintiv Canada ULC". Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. 2022-05-19. Archived from the original on 2022-06-23. Retrieved 2022-06-23.