ECONOMIC GEOLOGY REPORT No. 27 GEOLOGY of VANADIUM AND
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ECONOMIC GEOLOGY REPORT No. 27 GEOLOGY OF VANADIUM AND VANADIFEROUS OCCURRENCES OF CANADA E. R. Rose Ottawa Canada Price, $3.00 1973 GEOLOGY OF VANADIUM AND VANADIFEROUS OCCURRENCES OF CANADA I ,500-1972-6239 Technical Editor R. G. BLACKADAR Critical Reader H. W. LITTLE Editors LESLEY LYNN DOROTHY WHYTE Text printed on Georgian Offset white-smooth finish Set in Times Roman with News Gothic Condensed captions by CANADIAN GOVERNMENT PRINTING BUREAU Artwork by CARTOGRAPIDC UNIT, GSC E.R.R. 201545 Magpie Mountain titaniferous magnetite deposit, Quebec; No. 2 deposit, looking south from No. 1 deposit. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA ECONOMIC GEOLOGY REPORT No. 27 GEOLOGY OF VANADIUM AND VANADIFEROUS OCCURRENCES OF CANADA By E. R. Rose DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, MINES AND RESOURCES CANADA © Crown Copyrights reserved Available by mail from Information Canada, Ottawa, from Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth St., Ottawa, and at the following Information Canada bookshops: HALIFAX 1735 Barrington Street MONTREAL 1182 St. Catherine Street West OTTAWA 171 Slater Street TORONTO 221 Y onge Street WINNIPEG 393 Portage Avenue VANCOUVER 657 Granville Street or through your bookseller A deposit copy of this publication is also available for reference in public libraries across Canada Price: $3.00 Catalogue No. M43-27 Price subject to change without notice Information Canada Ottawa, 1973 PREFACE Vanadium, a rare element with unique properties, is of increasing importance in the industrial world as a ferro-alloy, chemical compound, catalyst, and metal. However, little information has been generally available on occurrences of vanadium in Canada, and no commercial peace-time production of the element has been recorded from any deposit in this country. The following report represents the first major attempt to assemble and add to published information on the geology of vanadium occurrences in Canada and to illustrate their potential economic importance. Y. 0 •. FORTIER, Director, Geological Survey of Canada OTTAWA, June 18, 1970 WIRTSCHAFTSGEOLOGISCHE BERICHT 27 Die Geologie von Vanadiumvorkommen untl vanadiumfiihrenden Gesteinen in Kanada Von E. R. Rose PAIIIOPT 3KOHOMH'qEJOKOff fEOJIOfHH 27 - feonor:H~ BWHa:IJ,HI~ H era arurre.iKeH: IJ3 Kallm:n;e 3. P. Po3 CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE INTRODUCTION........................................................................................... ..................... 1 Previous work........................... ....... ...................................................................... 1 Present work.... .......................... .................................................. .......................... 2 Library research.. ........................................................................ ...... .................... 2 Foreign publications.......................... .. .................................................................. 3 History of exploration for vanadium in Canada.............. ................................ 3 Current developments in Canada... ..................................................................... 4 Acknowledgments..... ..... ... ...................................... ... ............ ... ............. ............ .... 5 CHAPTER II VANADIUM AND ITS ORES .................................................................... ,........................... 7 Historical review.................................................................................................... 7 Ore processing and extraction.............................................................................. 8 Properties of vanadium.... ..... .. ............... .... ....... ... ............ .................................... 9 Uses of vanadium and its compounds............................... ................................. 10 World production, consumption, and prices.. .. ................................................ 11 World resources........................ .......................................... .. .................................. 13 CHAPTER III GEOLOGY OF VANADIUM.... ............................................... .................... .. ....................... 17 General geological associations. ........................................................................... 17 Geochemistry........ .. .... .. ...... .... ................................................................................ 20 Mineralogy................................ .......................... .. ... ... .. .. .............. .. ........................ 22 Geophysics.............. ................... ............................................................................. 33 CHAPTER IV DESCRIPTION OF WORLD DEPOSITS................................................................................ 34 Africa.. .. ................ .. ... ... ... .. .... .... ...... .. ..... .. ... ........ ... ....... .... ... ..... ....... .................... .. 34 Australasia........................................... ... ................................................................ 36 Eurasia.......... ................... ......................................................... ....... ....................... 36 North America........................ ...................................................... ... ..................... 39 South America.............................................................................................. .......... 45 PAGE CHAPTER V DESCRIPTION OF VANADIUM OCCURRENCES IN CANADA.............................................. 46 Northwest Territories............................................................................................ 47 Yukon Territory.................................................................................................... 48 British Columbia.................................................................................................... 49 Alberta................................................................................................ .................... 60 Saskatchewan.... .... ............................. ...................................................... ... .. ... .... ... 63 Manitoba..................................................................... ............................ ............... 65 Ontario................. ......................................................... .......................................... 67 Quebec................... .. .. .... ........ ................................................................................. 74 New Brunswick...................................................................................................... , 84 Nova Scotia .... ........................................................................................... :............ 85 Prince Edward Island............................... .. ........................................................... 86 Newfoundland.. ...................................................................................................... 86 CHAPTER VI GEOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION AND CLASSIFICATION OF DEPOSITS IN CANADA... ....... 92 Summary........... ............. ................................... .................................................... 92 Host rocks and associations of vanadium.......................................................... 92 Interpretation of geological data................ .. ...................................................... 95 Metallogeny.... ................................................................. .. .. ................................... 96 Classification of vanadium occurrences....................................... .. ..................... 97 CHAPTER VII CANADA'S VANADIUM POTENTIAL....... ........................................................................... 98 Regional assessment........ ............................. .............................................. ........... 98 Prospecting for vanadium in Canada................................................................... 100 REFERENCES ..... .............. .................... ............................................................................. 102 INDEX. .... .. ... .. .. ... ... ... ..... .................... ............................ ......... .................. ... ..... .... ............. 125 Table I. Physical properties of vanadium....... ....................................................... 10 II. Ages of vanadium-bearing formations...... .................. .. .... ................. .. ... 18 III. Estimated average vanadium content of material in earth's crust...... 21 IV. Characteristics and occurrences of vanadium minerals........................ 24 V. Analyses of Magpie Mountain titaniferous magnetite........ ................ 80 VI. Ferride element content of Wabana iron ore, shale, and sandstone 91 VII. Classification of vanadium occurrences in Canada.... .......................... 93 VIII. Summary of data on vanadium occurrences in Canada.... ......... ... in pocket PAGE Illustrations Map 1321A. Mineral deposits map, vanadium in Canada ................................ in pocket Plate I. Magpie Mountain titaniferous magnetite deposit, Quebec .. ....... frontispiece II. A. Uranium-vanadium mine, Entrada Formation, near Rifle, Colorado...... ...... .................................................................................... 112 B. Uranium-vanadium mine, Dakota Formation, near Edgemont, South Dakota.................................................... ......... ... ... ................... 112 III. A.