GEOLOGICAL REPORT ~~~I:RT;Vib~T
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GM 10536-B GEOLOGICAL REPORT ~~~i:RT;vIB~T.,, ~-~ NU 'd 1960 ' MINERAL DEPOSITS BRANCH: 311Bn FE IRON OORPfRA?'IbN; JUBILEE IRON CORPORATION by J. A. RETTY INTRODUCTION Jubilee Iron Corporation, Room 701, Dominion Square Building, 1010 St. Catherine Street West, Montreal, P. Q. Gentlemen: This report presents an independent review of the 13 iron. ore prospects that your company has acquired in the Wabush Mount Wright Mount Reed area of New Quebec. The information contained herein is based upon an office study of the data furnished by your technical personnel, the spot-checking of results, together with a personal visit to one of your properties and an intimate first-hand knowledge of the area acquired from twenty-three years of field work in the region, dating from 1936 until as late as September 1959. LOCATION The 13 properties are distributed within a roughly ellipsoidal area, the center of which is located at Longitude 67° 38' W. and Latitude 52° 27' N. This point lies 164. miles north-northwest of Seven Islands; Quebec, which is the active tidewater shipping point on the St. Lawrence River for the iron production of Iron Ore Company of Canada. e or axis of the ellipse in which the iron prospects are distributes 2 general north-northeast trend. It begins at the Javelin Lake prospect, eight miles southwest of the Wabash Lake iron deposit of Webueh Iron Co. (Pickands Mather et al) and continues southward, a distance of approximately 74 miles to a point- 13 miles northeast of the Lake Jeannine iron deposit of Quebec Cartier Mining Co. (U. S. Steel). PRESENT TRANSPORTATION At present the only means of direct access to the iron properties of the Corporation is by float or ski-equipped plane or by helicopter from Seven Islands, Quebec, a distance which will vary from 178 miles to the most northerly prospect to 136 miles to the most southerly.. The distance will obviously hinge upon the property destin- ation. The present alternative is to proceed by rail to Mile 224 on the Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway and thence by float or ski-equipped plane a distance of 40 miles to the northernmost properties. In the southern part of the area, it would probably be as economical to fly direct, from Seven Islands. The base of field operations will ob- viously hinge upon the property or properties on which work 15 to be done. FUTURE TRANSPORTATION 1. Wabush Lake Railway C;ompauY . This railway has recently been completed from Mile 224 on the Quebec North Shore and Labrador line to the Wabush Iron Depositei a.distance of 40 miles westward. " 3 2. Cartier Railway Company (Subsidiary of Quebec Cartier Mining Co.) This railroad is now being constructed from Port Cartier on the St. Lawrence River to thi Lake Jeannine Iron Deposit of Quebec Cartier Mining Co. a distance of 190 miles. It is expected that this railroad will be completed by the end of 1960. Present plans call for the extension of this line to the Mount Wright Iron Deposit, some 70 miles north- ward. Quebecair now has a daily plane service from Lake Jeannine to Seven Islands. What these Railroad Projects will mean to Jubilee Iron Corporation Wabush Lake Railwa4Y ends at a point approximately 10 miles from the northern part of the properly area. The northern terminus of Cartier Railway will be but 13 miles from the southern part of the property area. On completion of these railways, all 13 prospects will he within 40 ;Hiles of an operating railway. When Cartier Railway is completed to Mount Wright, all properties except one (Georget Lake group which is 30 miles distant from the proposed line of Cartier Railway) will be at a maximum distance of 15 miles from rail transportation. This will be a distinct economic advantage- from the viewpoint of peesib].e future production, as it would eliminate the heavy expenditures required for lengthy rail construction in the marketing of iron ore concentrates from any of the properties. 4 HIC.TCRY So much has been written regarding the iron ore of Labrador and New Quebec that only a brief recapitulation of the major events leading to production will be given. 1893-94 - Dr. A. P. Low of the Geological Survey of Canada made his epic voyage which outlined the north- western portion of the geologic unit known as the "Labrador Trough" which contains the iron deposits of present economic interest. 1917 Reuben Daigle, a prospector of Porcupine fame, in this and subsequent years, made several expeditions northward into the Labrador Peninsula. -, New Quebec Company foamed,, discovered iron ore at Ruth Lake in Labrador, but could not obtain title from Newfoundland. - Syndicate headed by a Mr. Bondurant investigated alleged gold discoveries by Daigle in Wabush Lake area. This group was the, first to report iron formation in the area. Labrador Mining and EScpioration Co. formed; dis- coveries of direct shipping ore made in the Knob Lake area. -• In 1942 H61 t irger Consolidated Gold Miles LLd. in association with The M. .A Hanna interests took control of Labrador and New Quebec con- cessions. Period of discovery and drilling of iron ore deposits. 1947-48 United Dominion Mining Co. discovered large deposit of concentrating cire in Mount Wright area, but later dropped ground. - Large deposits of concentrating ore discovered west of Wabush Lake by Labrador Mining and E4loration Co. - Iron Ore Co. of Canada formed to bring iron ore deposits of Knob Lake area into production, construction of Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway Company begun. Nalco given concessions in Labrador; took over area in which deposit of concentrating ore ° found at Wabush Lake. Aeromagnetic surveys by U. S. Steel (Quebec Cartier Mining Co.' ) led to discovery of Mount Reed and Lac Jeannine deposits of concentrating ore. Canadian Javelin acquired the Nalco con- cessions ia the Wabush Lake area. First production of direct shipping iron ore from t Knob Lake area of Labrador and New Quebec. Group headed by Pickands Mather and Co. formed Wabush Iron Co. and Wabush Rai..way Co. to bring deposit of concentrating ore of Canadian Javelin Limited into production. Iron Ore Co. of Canada began detailed investi- gation of deposits of concentrating ore. - Quebec Cartier Mining Co. began construction of railroad to Lake Jeannine deposit. Iron Ore Co. of Canada and Wabush Iron Company began construction of pilot plants in Wabush Lake area. Wabush Lake Railway began construction of rail- road to Wabash Lake deposit. Jubilee Iron Corporation acquired properties in Wabush LkYkze-Mount Wright-Mount Reed areas. Pilot plants of Iron Ora Co. of Canada and Wabush Iron Company completed and in operation. Wabush Lake Railway also completed. CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS . Wabush Lake Area a) Wabush Iron Co. The pilot plant now in operation will be the basis fo, a develcpnent which will probably produce eventually some 6,000,000 tons of iron ore concentrates per year. b) Iron Ore Co. of Canada A project similar to. that of Wabush Iron Co. is now under way at Carol Lake deposit which, it has been announced, will also ultimately produce 6,000,000 tons of iron ora concentrates annually. 2. Mount Wright Area Normanville Misting Co. (Jones Laughlin, Cleveland Cliffs) Quebec Cartier Mining Co. and Bellechasse Mining Co` have deposits that each contain large tonnages of concentrating ore. Smaller deposits also occur in the area. Mount- Reed Area Quebec Cartier Mining Co. are now in the process of preparing for production which, it is reliably reported, will, ultimately reach 8,000,000 'tons of concentrates per year. G©n~ral Exploration programs are now being conducted by other companies within the area. Mount Wright Iron Mines has developed an appreciable. tonnage of ore. pickands Mather are also active within the area and Hull Iron Mines has a deposit in the Mount Reed area. Many undeveloped claim groups are held by Quebec Cartier Mining Co. At present most of the larger steel companies in Canada and the United States have a financial participation in developments north of Seven Islands,, Que. TOPOGRAPHY The area lies within the Canadian Shield. The surface is rolling and irregular with numerous hummocks of rock and glacial debris. The land is dotted by many lakes, some large and many small. The streams are well incised into the land, often with mar P, deep valleys having steep slopes. The general elevation is 17550 ,to et above sea level, the local relief being 300 to 500 feet.. Mount Wright and the hills to the west of Wabush Lake (Wapussaka.too Mountains) form very marked topographic features. The area is gen- erally well forested. It is drained by the Moisie, Marguerite and Manicouagan river systems. GEOLOGY a) Direct-shippily:4 re, The geological map of Canada published by Department of Mines and Technical Surveys, Ottawa, and the geological map of New Quebec, published by the Department of Mines, Quebec, show an area of late Precambrian rocks which begins in the area just south of Hudson Strait and continues southward un- interruptedly in arcuate form to beyond the south- west end of Wabush Lake, a distance of 500 miles. From this point it breaks up into a great number of discontinuous and irregular lenses, which have been found as far south as the Mount Reed area, a distance of approximately 100 additional miles luis lithological unit is known as the "Labrador Trough." It consists of sediments and volcanics" which rest upon the plicated and up- turned edges of the ancient gneisses. These rocks contain "iron formation,: which constitutes the locus of the deposits of direct-shipping iron ore found in the Knob Lake area, which are now being mined by Iron Ore Company of Canada.