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jv
PR 1934 - 3
PROVINCE OF ONTARIO
DEPARTMENT OF MINK*
PRELIMINARY REPORT .
.
;
ON
'
, :
THE CAT RIVER - KAFINQGANS LAKE ABBA.
By
'
^
-
;
W. D, Harding
During the summer of 1934 a geological survey was undertaken,
by 'the Ontario Department of Mines in that part of Patricia diatricf
which lies directly north of Lake St.Joseph.
~- ; -
The field examined is a rectangular area J^pn^^^^- fifty
miles in length, extending east from the vicinity of Slate falls .
on the Cat river to Kawinogans lake end Lake St.Joseph,
In
the rectangle extends north f r cm Luke St .Joseph to Wright lake j,
total distance of about 20 miles..
The area is bounded on the .
southwest and on the south respectively by the waters of the Cat
river and by Lake St.Joseph.
Bamaji lake, Fry lake, and Wright
Iske are large bodies of water lying within the area.
:
The eastern part of this field adjoins the Pickle Lakf-Croi
River area mapped by Dr. M.E.. Hurst in 1929.
To the southw^t^
at Blackstone lake (an expansion of the Cat river), it lies
to the western part of the Lake St.Joseph area mapped by Dr. E*:X** ^ v
Bruce in 1921.
. .
-^ -:i 'No previous detailed geological examination has been apflip'ia .,,.
the area outlined, and prior to the present work practically 'iijp||||iig|J.
was known regarding its rock formations.
It constitutes one i^l^;"':^ ]*;;
those sections which, in spite of its proximity to travel roiitfl|fejif: ; ' |Jr
used by the earliest explorers, has up to the present failed to'^- '^
attract much attention from prospectors. .
, *
.^
Accessibility
The quickest and most direct route to the area is via plane, , :
from Hudson, Ontario, on the main line of the Canadian National
;
railway.
The flight to Lake St.Joseph requires about fifty
The most remote parts of the area may be reached in less "than
minutes.
The best canoe route is from Hudson via the English
Lac Seul, and Rapt river.
The canoe journey, without motor, rr^p-:
. i"
Hudson to Root Portage, at the west end of Lake St.Joseph, requljiites-. : ' i T
from four to five days.
The distance is approximately 85 miles. , ;, ; v ,l
From Hudson to. Slate falls on the Cat river requires about seven
;l;. : " '
days.
The interior parts of the area examined are accessible by
';; : "^
means of small lakes and streams, which necessitate considerable.
",
portaging.
: . ^
Improved Navigation on^the.. B.QO.,^; JllveJC' ,
.
' ''
' :;:'i .'
Important mining developments in the i"lokle-Grow ftjrefk. to .'tfe# \-'.*
northeast of Lake St.Joseph and the presence*^Of/vfiQtentifl^.ialsftapaiiJi.:' "-i
wealth in neighbouring areas have been responsible for rciwui^. ^;'iV l-'
improvements to navigation on the Root river.
This work : i*lii 3k.'.5WI*" "^ : ^
rushed to completion during the past summer, under the:.dl:reottw ; ''i|t' i-'; :''V
Major Mcintosh, field engineer for the Ontario Hydro, hfta greatil
facilitated the transportation of freight between Hudeofl and
St.Joseph.
As a result of the construction of dame andi
!-"'';,r5 ! i!
railways, scows loaded at Hudson may now be taken up th^.'HiSKMS'^it^ii|i|f|iii
-8-
to within about three miles of Lake St.Joseph.
This last distance
has been spanned by a standard gauge railway, over which a gasolinelocomotive is already operating.
T oppgrephy e.ndL. JPhysjLograp.M
The Cot River-Kawiriogans Lake field is an area of low
relief containing a network of'lakes and small streams.
The alti
tude of Lake St.Joseph is 1,218 feet.
Elsewhere in the area alti
tudes vary between 1,218 and 1,350 feet.
Conspicuous topographic
forms are absent.
The Cst River-Lake St.Joseph drainage channel
constitutes the outstanding physiographic feature.
A low height
of land strikes northwest through the area, separating the Cat KIVGI
Like St.Joseph drainage, which posses down the Albany river, from
another system, the we'ters of which reach James bay by rivers flow
ing to the northeast.
To the east and northeast of Blackstone lake and to the
north of the Pembina river is a low, wet, relatively inaccessible
area containing a few small lakes and several stretches of muskeg.
The boundaries"of the muskeg areas are difficult to define with
precision.
They vary considerably from time to time and are
dependent upon seasonal and yearly changes in temperature and
rainfall. "During the early summer of 1934 many of the low areas
were converted into shallow lakes.
At this period the waters of
the Cat river and Leke St.Joseph reached the highest levels known
to the oldest Indian inhabitants.
In 1932 a destructive forest fire spread north and
devastated an area of more then 60 square miles from Blackstone
lake to Wright lake.
Most of the dead trees in this burned area
were standing during the summer of 1934.
Prior to the fire the
rocks in this section were well obscured by moss.
In many places
this covering has been burned away, leaving splendid exposures,
which facilitates rock examination.
Location^of FayourabJL^jProspeojing Area
The most important work achieved by the past season's
survey, was the location of a previously unmapped belt of preCe.mbrian greenstones and sediments, which extends east from the
vicinity of Slate falls on the Cat river for a distance of at leest
fifty miles.
The rocks in this belt contain shear zones carrying
sulphides, also mineralized dikes and quartz veins.
Batholithic
masses of granite and granite gneiss flank the relatively narrow
belt of greenstones to the north and south.
East of Fry lake in
the centre of the area the greenstone belt extends north and south
for a maximum width of about twelve miles.
At the western extremity of the surveyed area, about two
miles west of Slate falls, the greenstone belt has a width of about
one mile.
Two miles east of Slate falls it narrows dov;n to less
than half a mile.
To the east the belt rapidly widens, attaining
a maximum north-and-south width of twelve miles between Fry lake
and Wright lake.
Farther east it was traced into the Kawinogans
River greenstones, mapped previously by Dr. Hurst.
This informa
tion, coupled with that obtained by Dr. Hurst in the Pickle-Crow
area, shows that a belt of greenstones, with which are associated
sediments and other economically favourable rocks, extends from
Slate falls on the Cat river east to the Kawinogans river, and the t
this belt is separated from the Pickle-Crow greenstones by a mass
of granite eight miles wide.
West of Slate fells the boundaries of this belt were not
delimited.
The extent and disposition of the greenstones in that
direction, therefore, are unknown.
GENERAL GEOLOGY
All the consolidated rocks of the area are of pre-Cambrian
age.
On the basis of age relationships they may be divided into
two groups, the older being the rocks of the Keewatin type, the
younger group containing rocks of the Algoman type.
Representatives
of the Timiskaming, Huronian, and Keweenawan rock types were not
found in the area .
The following classification shows the position of the
rocks in the pre-Cembrian time table :Pleistocene:
Glacial clays and gravels, and other
unconsolidated sediments.-
Keweenawan.
Huronian.
Algoman:
Granite gneiss, granite, granite
porphyry dikes.
Pegmatite dike, quartz veins.
Timiskaming.
Keewatin:
Basic lava flows, rhyolite, greywacke,
arkose, conglomerate, quartzite,
basic and acid intrusives.
Co'itchiching.
Rooks of the Keewatin Type
These are the oldest rocks in the area, most of which
were formed at the surface of the earth.
Theyj^pnsist ef predomin
antly of basic lava flows, with which are intersected beds of finetextured sediment deposited in quiescent intervals between periods
of volcanic activity".
The lava flows are largely andesites now
altered to both massive and schistose types of chlorite carbonate
rock.
Pillow lavas are^ound in many places.
Six miles south of
Wright lake highly contested iron formation is infolded with the
greenstones .
The sediments consist chiefly of metamorphosed greywackls
and arkoses, with which are associated some thin beds of quartzites
and altered shales.
The beds of sediment are thin, ranging in
thickness from a few feet to a few hundred feet.
In the central
and eastern parts of the area they reach an apparent continuous
width of over a mile.
Northeast of Fry lake conglomerate of
considerable thickness forms the main sedimentary phase.
It is
possible that locally the sedimentary beds have been thickened by
folding.
There is no evidence that diastrophism of revolutionary
proportions took place during the periods of volcanism or sedimenta
tion.
The beds of sediment appear to be parallel to one another
and to the lava flows.
The whole series has then been folded so
that throughout most of the area the beds and flows now stand almost
vertical.
These folded rocks have been cut by dikes and irregular
intrusives of both basic and acid character.
The basic intrusives
are the most important areally.
They consist largely of hornblendite
and diorite.
The acid intrusives are represented by a few dikes
of quartz porphyry '.scattered throughout the area.
-4Rocks of the Algoman Type
Granite and granite gneiss and the subsequent related
phases of pegmatite, granite porphyry, and quartz veins compose the
rocks of this group.
These rocks are younger than Snd intrude the
members of the older group.
The granite dikes, the pegmatite dikes,
and the quartz veins are the youngest rocks identified in the area.
The granite rocks extend for considerable distances to the
north and to the south of the relatively narrow favourable belt.
They occupy extensive areas in the vicinity of Blackstone lake,
Austin lake, and Bamaji lake, also north of Slate falls and north
of Wright lake.
In the southern part of the examined area granite
gneiss forms much of the north shore of Lake St.Joseph.
The granite
varies in colour from pink to grey,
Massive, well-textured granite,
free from foliation, is not common in the area.
In the eastern
part of the field examined, between Kawinogans lake and Lake St.Joseph,
the greenstones and sediments have been split apart along the strike
by large dike-like irregular masses of granite, which in places reach
a width of nearly two miles.
Two miles south of Wright lake a granite boss truncated
by erosion is well exposed.
Small granite dikes radiate from the
boss into the surrounding greenstones.
Mineralization
Mineralized dikes, quartz veins carrying sulphides, and
shear zones containing both quartz veins and sulphides occur in
various parts of the area.
In the vicinity of Slate falls numerous granite dikes,
some of which carry disseminated sulphides and well-mineralized
quartz veins, parallel greenstones, which strike east and west.
The quartz veins, which are small, are later than the dikes. They
carry pyrite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, galena, and molybdenite.
The narrowness of the greenstone belt in this vicinity and the large
number of dikes provide an intimate association between the lavas
and the granite.
As a result of contact metamorphism the greenstones
are to some extent amphibolitized and hardened.
Some claims, staked
in this part of the area in 1928, were shortly afterwards abandoned.
In July, 1934, part of the ground was restaked by A.B. Connell, J.H.
Stirrett, and S. Williams.
The veins are said to carry moderate
values in gold.
A few miles east of Slate fells and more remote from the
granite, the flows, which consist largely of pillow lavas, are more
chloritic and have been subjected to moderate shearing.
Zones of
well-foliated chlorite carbonate schist extend through Fry lake and
to the southwest for several miles.
The planes of schistosity,
which are almost vertical, lie parallel to the westerly striking
lava flows.
Locally these schist zones contain considerable pyrite
and some contain small quartz veins, which strike parallel to the
foliation.
The veins, which are of the quartz-tourmaline-carbonate
type, contain pyrite, chalcopyrite and pyrrhotite.
There is little
or no cross-fracturing in this part of the area.
Mineralized
material from a quartz vein on the north shore of Fry lake gave 0.22
ounces per ton in gold.
To the southeast of Wright lake the lava flov/s have been
moderately sheared and cut by numerous small veins end lenses of
quartz.
The sulphide mineralization in this vicinity is rather
meagre and appears to be confined to pyrite.
In this locality there
has been considerable deformation, which postdates the quartz veins,
many of which show well-developed drag-folds.
Three miles to the southwest of Wright lake granite and
granite porphyry dikes and quartz veins constitute a fracture zone
which covers an area over half a mile in diameter.
Certain dikes -
-5-
and veins contain some disseminated pyrite.
They probably repre
sent injections and emanations from the lower horizons of a linearshaped granite boss exposed farther to the west.
Near the south
margins of a larger boss lying to the southeast, small quartz
stringers less than one inch in width carry galena and pyrite.
The stringers occur in the granite.
Small, mineralized quarts veins arid mineralized horizons
in the lava flows and sediments are found in other parts of the
area .
In the western part of the area, particularly in that
part between Slate falls end Pry lake, the rocks are splendidly
exposed.
Considerable rock is also exposed in the north central
part, south of Wright lake.
The central and eastern parts of the
area are largely covered with overburden.
The Connell, Stirrett, Williams Claims
rm
?his group consists of 9 claims, lying about 2 miles
northwest of Slate falls.
It represents the only location at
present held in the area.
The claims lie within a synclinal trough,
which strikes east and west, in greenstone and pillow lavas.
The
syncline has an easterly plunge of about 20 degrees.
The green
stone .belt in this vicinity is about one mile wide.
It is cut by
numerous granite dikes, which strike parallel to the axis of the
synclinal structure.
The main showing consists of a vertical
granite dike, striking east-west, which' has been reopened along the
strike, and into which has been deposited quartz mineralized with
pyrite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, and galena.
There has been some
sheering and faulting, and the granite in the dike has been frac
tured arid mineralized.
Some of the movement has t&ken place since
the quartz deposition.
The vein zone, which includes a little
schist together with the dike materiel and the quartz, varies in
width from l foot to 6 feet.
It has been stripped and trenched
intermittently along the strike for about half a mile.
Gold values
as high as flO.OO are said to have been obtained from samples of
the vein material.
No native gold was identified in any of the
vein matter examined.
An assay of the best-looking sulphide
material gave 0.15 ounces per ton in gold.