MINERA~1 Record MINERAL INVENTORY FILE NO. 839 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ PRODUCT Copper NTS AREA 63N3NE REF. CU3 63N3SE ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ NAME OF PROPERTY OWNER OF OPERATOR ADDRESS Sherridon Mine 1977 Hudson Bay Exploration and Development Company Limited Flin Flon, Manitoba OBJECT LOCATED Main (No. 3) Shaft, located onMINING DIVISION The Pas Crow M.C. Uncertainty (m) 200 Latitude 55° 08'22" Longitude 101° 06'25" Northing _______ UTM Zone _____ Easting _______ L.S./Quarter Section ___ Section ___ Township 71 Range 24 WPM DESCRIPTION OF DEPOSIT The consolidated rocks of the Sherridon Mine area are sedimentary gneisses of Precambrian age. They form part of a large highly metamorphosed, east trending paragneiss domain referred to as the Kisseynew sedimentary gneiss belt. The Nokomis Group comprises the lower meta-greywacke sequence (garnetiferous hornblende gneiss) and the Sherridon group comprises the upper meta-arkose sequence (quartzite) (Farley, 1949, p. 25, 26, Bailes, 1975, p. 14; 1971). The East and West orebodies of the Sherridon mine were located in the Sherridon Group near the contact with the hornblende-plagioclase gneisses of the Nokomis Group (Davies et al., 1962, p. 93). The footwall rocks are quartzite and arkosic and greywacke derivatives. The contact footwall unit is gneissic quartzite. The hanging wall contact unit is garnetiferous hornblende gneiss (Farley, 1949, p. 25). The enclosing gneiss of the ore deposit formed the southwest limb of an overturned syncline. The deposit was localized along and within a pegmatite sill that intruded along the contact of the gneissic quartzite and hornblende gneiss. The emplacement of the deposit was considered to be a sulphide replacement of the tabular sill-like pegmatite mass along the shear zone located near the contact of the quartzite and hornblende gneiss. Pegmatite residuals occurring as unreplaced fragments were prominent throughout the ore zone (Farley, 1949, p. 26, 27). Twenty-five percent of the Sherridon production was mined from offshoot orebodies. These bodies were all localized within pegmatite masses that had intruded and occupied folded structures in the hanging wall hornblende gneiss (Farley, 1949. p. 28). The East and West orebodies together formed a long sulphide deposit having a combined length of 16,000 feet (4878 metres), of which 3600 feet (1098 metres) between the East and West ore zones carried no ore. The East ore zone was outlined to have an average width of 15.2 feet (4.6 metres), a length of 4300 feet (1311 metres), and a maximum thickness of 250 feet (76.2 metres). For the West ore zone, the dimensions consisted of an average width of 15.5 feet (4.7 metres), a length of 7900 feet (2409 metres) and a maximum thickness of 1500 feet (457.3 metres) (Farley, 1949, p. 27). The ore of the Sherridon deposit was relatively coarse-grained and ranged from the massive to the disseminated type. The metallic sulphides present, in order of abundance, were: pyrite and pyrrhotite (2:1 ratio), chalcopyrite, sphalerite (marmatite variety), minor cubanite, rare arsenopyrite; small amounts of gold and silver were recovered. The insoluble gangue content of the ore-bearing material averaged 35 per cent (Farley, 1949, p. 28, Davies et al, 1962, p. 101). ASSOCIATED MINERALS OR PRODUCTS OF VALUE Zinc, Gold, Silver http://www.gov.mb.ca/iem/min-ed/mbhistory/mininv/839.htm[17/03/2015 10:41:07 AM] MINERA~1 Record HISTORY OF EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT The Sherridon Mines was situated approximately 65 km NE of Flin Flon and 140 km N of The Pas. The area is accessible by CN Railways, on the branch line linking Lynn Lake with The Pas. The Sherridon Mine consisted of the Main Shaft (No. 3 Shaft) on the Crow M.C. and the Central Shaft (No. 2 Shaft) on the Spruce M.C. which were sunk into the West ore zone and the East Shaft (No. 1 Shaft) on the Lake M.C. which was sunk into the East ore zone. The distance between the No. 3 and No. 2 shafts was 3250 feet and between the No. 2 and No. 1, 6625 feet. The original discovery was made by Philip Sherlett in 1922 on the shore of a bay of what is now known as Camp Lake, a short distance east of Kississing Lake (Brown, 1933, p. 468). Seven mineral claims (Teddy, Deer, Mink, Gull, Daisy, Bear, Rose) were recorded in the name of the Philip Sherlett family during January and February, 1923. The Sherlett claims lapsed in 1924 due to failure to record assessment work. About the time of Sherlett's discovery, C.W. Sherritt and R. Madole made a second discovery and staked a number of claims including the Lake M.C. (site of No. 1 Shaft) which was recorded in January 1923. When Sherlett's claims lapsed in 1924, Sherritt and Madole restaked the Teddy and Daisy claims as the White and Black claims. Also, during this time, Sherritt and Madole acquired additional claims in the area from other prospectors. The acquired group of 16 claims were known as the Sherritt-Madole group. In October, 1925 J.P. Bordon optioned the Sherritt-Madole group and the added more claims including the Crow M.C. (site of No. 3 Shaft) to form a group of 25 claims known as the Sherritt-Gordon group. This group was then optioned to Nipissing Mines Company, Limited which during the winter of 1925/26, drilled 4966 feet in 28 holes. Two ore-shoots were indicated, 2600 and 3600 feet long with an average width of 15 feet. The shoots were 3400 feet apart (Staff, Sherritt Gordon Mines, Limited, 1930, p. 246). It was reported that this work indicated some 450,000 tons (308,000 tonnes) of ore averaging 2.86% Cu, 3.3% Zn, and less than $1.00 in combined Au and Ag (Wright, 1929a, p. 95). The option was dropped by Nipissing Mines Company, Limited in September, 1926 and then acquired by the Victoria Syndicate, Limited (an associate of the Mond Nickel Company, Limited). The latter option was also dropped in December, 1926 and then acquired by the Victoria Syndicate, Limited (an associate of the Mond Nickel Company, Limited). The latter option was also dropped in December, 1926 and again acquired, this time by J.L. Agnew and associates of the International Nickel Company of Canada, Limited in January, 1927. This option was allowed to lapse in the summer of 1927 without any known work being done. R.J. Jowsey became interested in the Sherritt-Gordon group during 1926, and after securing the backing of the Theyer Lindsley interests in the spring of 1927, Sherritt Gordon Mines Limited was incorporated in July, 1927 (Wright, 1929a, p. 95, and Northern Miner, 1948, Annual Number, p. 43, 49 and 53). Ten shallow holes were drilled into the East ore zone during the fall of 1927 and another 64 holes by the fall of 1928. Two, 3 - compartment, mine shafts were sunk in 1928. The No. 1 shaft was sunk into the East ore zone to the 280-foot level and the No. 2 shaft into the West ore zone to the 480-foot level. By the fall of 1928, the following tonnages and grades had been calculated: Ore Zone Tonnage Cu Zn Au Ag Tons Tonnes % % oz/ton oz/ton East 866,175 785,621 2.14 5.78 0.0189 0.76 3,271,900 2,967,613 2.91 2.76 0.0179 0.94 Total 4,138,075 3,753,234 2.75 3.39 0.0179 0.90 In addition, within the West ore zone, a central low grade section was outlined. This section contained 1,116,500 tons (1,012,666 tonnes) of ore averaging 1.40% Cu, 0.80% Zn, 0.0121 oz/ton Au, and 1.22 oz/ton Ag (Staff, Sherritt Gordon Mines, Limited, 1930, p. 246). After considering the results from the 1928 drilling program, plans were made to bring the property into production at 500,000 tons per year. Also an agreement was made with Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co., Limited to treat 200 tons of copper concentrate per day at Flin Flon (Sherritt Gordon Mines, Limited, Ann. Rept. for 1929). During the winter of 1928/29, the No. 3 Shaft, a four-compartment shaft inclined at an angle of 51 degrees, was sunk to the 680-foot level in the West ore zone (Brown, 1933, p. 469, 470, 474). The mineral claims of the Sherritt Gordon property were leased in 1929, as leases 1007-1061 and 1142. Operations were suspended in the East ore zone in June, 1930 due to the weak price of copper on the world market, but production from the Main Shaft (No. 3 Shaft) began April 1, 1931 and continued to June 15, 1932 when operations were also suspended, (Sherritt Gordon, Mines Limited, Ann. Rept. for 1930, 1932). Production from the Main Shaft resumed on August 1, 1937 and was initiated from the No. 1 Shaft in May, http://www.gov.mb.ca/iem/min-ed/mbhistory/mininv/839.htm[17/03/2015 10:41:07 AM] MINERA~1 Record 1940. The mine was operated for an eight month period (April to November), each year and was closed for the winter months. Zinc concentrate (50%) production began in June, 1942 on ore milled from the East ore zone. The East Shaft remained in production to October, 1946, when the ore reserves were exhausted (Sherritt Gordon Mines Limited, Ann. Repts. for 1937, 1940, 1942 and 1946). Production continued from the Main Shaft until September 20, 1951 when the ore reserves in the West ore zone were exhausted.