Industrial Mineral Potential of the Rural Municipalities of Miniota, Archie and Rossburn, Manitoba (Parts of NTS 62K) by J.D
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
GS-18 Industrial mineral potential of the rural municipalities of Miniota, Archie and Rossburn, Manitoba (parts of NTS 62K) by J.D. Bamburak Bamburak, J.D. 2007: Industrial mineral potential of the rural municipalities of Miniota, Archie and Rossburn, Manitoba (parts of NTS 62K); in Report of Activities 2007, Manitoba Science, Technology, Energy and Mines, Manitoba Geological Survey, p. 186–194. Summary of the R.M. of Rossburn (Figure The rural municipalities of Miniota, Archie and GS-18-1) in the town of Ross- Rossburn contain the following undeveloped industrial burn; and a repeat presentation minerals that could be used for the economic benefit of of the industrial mineral potential local residents, and to the province as a whole: of the rural municipalities of Miniota and Archie in the • Souris-type gravel (Rural Municipality [R.M.] of community of Miniota. Miniota) Industrial mineral commodities presented in the talks • swelling sodium bentonite (R.M. of Miniota) included Souris-type gravel, swelling sodium bentonite, • potash and sodium chlorate (R.M. of Archie) potash, sodium chlorate and manganese, all of which have • manganese (R.M. of Rossburn) been documented in the literature for Manitoba. During Souris-type gravel is present in the Assiniboine the preparation of the 2006 and 2007 talks, it was realized River valley, south of the community of Miniota. The that the visits to these municipalities would also afford gravel contains exotic boulders and cobbles similar to opportunities to field check new and known industrial those found at Souris, which are prized by rockhounds mineral sites, and to update the files of the Manitoba who are willing to pay to collect the specimens. Swelling Geological Survey. As a result, brief reconnaissance field sodium bentonite is present, near surface, to the north investigations were carried out on most of the following (near Beulah) and south (Hawley dugout) of the commu- industrial mineral commodities. nity of Miniota. The major use of the bentonite is as a drilling mud, but can also be used for other products, such Souris-type gravel (R.M. of Miniota) as kitty litter or to produce an impervious liner that can be Pleistocene gravel deposits containing clasts of used at the base of fish ponds and landfill sites. Potash is western (Rocky Mountain) provenance mixed with more used in the production of fertilizer in Saskatchewan, where common glacial pebble types derived from Manitoba mining is done on a major scale. A geological estimate of bedrock (Precambrian granite and gneiss and Phanerozoic 170 million tonnes grading 20% K2O in sylvite, has been carbonate and shale) are present in southwest Manitoba. indicated in the northern portion of the R.M. of Archie, Klassen (1969, 1979) informally named these deposits south of two other proven deposits situated between the “Souris gravel and sand” after a mixture found in an towns of McAuley and Russell. The potential for a potash aggregate pit located in SW¼, L.S. 9, Sec. 34, Twp. 7, mine in southwest Manitoba is great, depending on Rge. 21, W 1st Mer. (abbreviated SW-9-34-7-21-W1), commodity prices. Sodium chlorate used in the paper near Souris (Figure GS-18-1). He also identified five other industry can be produced as a value-added product from localities (from an excavation and boreholes situated sodium chloride, which is a byproduct of potash produc- within Twp. 4–23, Rge. 20–29, W 1st Mer.), where tion. Currently, sodium chlorate is produced in Brandon Souris-type gravel deposits are present, at depth, beneath from sodium chloride imported from Saskatchewan substantial overburden. potash producers. Manganese is a major steel alloying In September 2006, R. Rowan, a resident of the R.M. constituent and is also used in a variety of nonmetal- of Miniota, showed that Souris-type gravel is present lurgical uses, including battery, tile, ceramic and glass in the Armitage gravel pit (Figure GS-18-2). The pit is production and water treatment. Small quantities of located in the Assiniboine River valley, 3 km southeast chemical grade manganese may be recoverable in the of the community of Miniota, in NE-18-13-26-W1 vicinity of Birdtail Creek in the R.M. of Miniota. and SE-19-13-26-W1. The gravel comprises about 25% exotic sub- to well-rounded cobbles and boulders Introduction (including septarium and other concretions, quartz- At the request of T. Charney (Economic Develop- ite, petrified wood, porphyritic volcanic rock, chert and ment Officer for the rural municipalities of Miniota, jasper) mixed with about 75% typical glacial gravel. Archie and Rossburn), a presentation on the industrial For the most part, these cobbles and boulders appear to mineral potential of the rural municipalities of Miniota have the same western provenance as those found at and Archie (Figure GS-18-1) was given in the commu- Souris; and therefore, the deposit can be considered to nity of Miniota in September 2006. This was followed in be Souris-type. However, compared with the Souris pit, June 2007, with a talk on the industrial mineral potential the Armitage pit contains numerous large, rigid, and 186 Manitoba Geological Survey 5791466.6N L 5 4 a 5 k 8 2 e 7 . 8 M E D a a n Roblin u L p it a h o k b 5 Grandview Dauphin e in a n a a w Gilbert Plains 68 b e 83 o h t Ste. Rose du Lac i c t n 5 a a Asessippi k s M Provincial a Park S A Russell-Binscarth potash deposit Riding Mountain 5 Russell National Park St-Lazare–McAuley McCreary B potash deposit Rossburn A 45 41 Rossburn Block 3 of Bannantyne Binscarth C (1983) Rural Municipalities 45 of focus B 16 Erickson St-Lazare 5 Shoal Lake 10 0 10 42 Birtle kilometres 83 Minnedosa C Neepawa Archie Miniota 16 Gladstone Hamiota 10 24 Rapid City 34 21 1 25 Elkhorn Rivers MacGregor Hargrave 1 Virden Carberry 1 5 Brandon Oak Lake 10 Spruce Woods E 2 Provincial Park . 5 Souris 4 6 2 Wawanesa Treherne 7 2 2 2 3 Glenboro 5430005.7N Figure GS-18-1: Locations of the rural municipalities of Miniota, Archie and Rossburn in southwest Manitoba. Also shown are the Russell-Binscarth and St-Lazare–McAuley potash deposits and Block 3 of Bannatyne (1983). sometimes fossiliferous, septarium and other types of gravel surrounds the Armitage gravel pit (Figure concretions (Figure GS-18-3), which appear to have a GS-18-2). Several other gravel pits in the R.M. of local provenance within the Cretaceous Pierre Shale. Miniota contain similar exotic clasts to those found in the The cobbles and boulders found at the Souris pit are Armitage pit and these will be documented in the future. prized by rockhounds, who collect specimens from the pit after purchasing a permit from Souris River Gem Ltd. Swelling sodium bentonite (R.M. of Miniota) at their store (The Rock Shop) in Souris. Many of the The major use of swelling sodium bentonite is as a specimens are cut and polished to make ornaments and drilling mud for the petroleum industry. The bentonite can jewellery. With the identification of Souris-type gravel also be used for a variety of other products, such as kitty in the Miniota area, there is an opportunity to develop litter or an impervious liner that can be used at the base of a similar local rockhound collecting site. The sand fish ponds and landfill sites. and gravel rights for aggregate in the Armitage pit are partially held privately and under quarry lease by the Beulah outcrop R.M. of Miniota from the Crown. An area with good In 1967, a bentonite sample with good swelling potential for the discovery of additional Souris-type properties was submitted to the Manitoba Mines Branch Report of Activities 2007 187 5576752.2N 3 7 2 Rural Municipality of Miniota 9 7 0 . 8 E 83 X 355 Beulah Isabella A ss in ib oi ne C . N . 264 r R a 474 e i l v w i a R y R 83 i w v o e r 467 r r Miniota A 24 24 C .P . Good swelling sodium bentonite potential R a i lw a y Good Souris-type gravel potential x Armitage gravel pit E 5 . 4 4 X Beulah outcrop 5 4 4 3 x Hawley dugout (near surface outcrop) 5547938.1N 0 10 kilometres Figure GS-18-2: Areas within the Rural Municipality of Miniota, Manitoba, with a good potential to contain a Souris-type gravel deposit and a good potential for swelling sodium bentonite. by T. Andrushuk of Miniota (Bannatyne, 1968a). The for swelling, viscosity and gel strength tests. According to olive-green waxy sodium bentonite was sampled from Reeves (1968), the tests confirmed the high swelling index the upper part of the Millwood Member of the Upper of the bentonite; the low sand content; and the reasonably Cretaceous Pierre Shale. It was collected 0.8 km north of high pH, yield and colloidal content; however, the Beulah in the R.M. of Miniota (Beulah outcrop, Figure viscosity and gel strength were anomalously low GS-18-2), within the road allowance between Sec. 7 and compared with the standard swelling bentonite from 18 in 15-26-W1 (Bannatyne, 1970). Wyoming, and therefore would not likely be a good In September 1967, Bannatyne (1967, 1968a, b) au- drilling mud. However, Reeves also concluded that the gered 20 holes in the road allowance. The holes indicated high zeta potential and colloidal content, comparable that the swelling bentonite beds ranged from 0 to 66 cm to that of Wyoming bentonite, indicated that the Beulah thick and were often found with other bentonite beds, with bentonite would be a suitable binder for pelletizing poorer swelling properties.