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noH 
 
 / 
 
 THE OCCURRENCE OF GOLD-ORES 
 
 IN THE 
 
 RAINY RIVER DISTRICT, 
 
 ONTARIO, CANADA. 
 
 BY WILLIAM HAMILTON MERRITT, TORONTO, CANADA. 
 
 
95 
 
 It is a dream ofheavenly birtli, 
 A wish that hath no name on earth. 
 It doth not burn, it doth not melt ; 
 It is not seen, but it is felt ; 
 It lifts the soul, but h'fts it not 
 Above the ealm controul of thought, 
 Such is the love that fadeth not, '' 
 That may not, cannot be forgot. 
 
 Soft is the sigh, and sweet the tear, 
 To true love's bosom ever dear. 
 Love doth a pleasing pang impart, 
 That saddens and refines the heart. 
 It is a feeling given to (e\v. 
 For ever warm, for ever true. 
 This is the love that fadeth not, 
 That may not, cannot be forgot. 
 
1 s 
 
 [TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINIMi KN(i 
 
 "U" 
 
 INEERS.l 
 
 My-. . 
 
 The Occurrence of Gold-Ores in the Rainy River District, 
 
 Ontario, Canada. 
 
 BY WII.MAM lIAiMILTON MKIUlirP, TORONTO, CANADA. 
 (Colorado Meeting, September, 18W.) 
 
 Since 1880 tlie occurrence of -„l,l-„r(. has hccn known in 
 the Lake of the Woods district. In 1870 the writer examined 
 a so-called silver-location in the lake. More recent develop- 
 Mients have extended, south and east, to the Rainy lake and 
 alon.i,r the Seine river, which Hows from the northeast into the 
 Rainy lake. 
 
 The .irold occurs in quartz-veins in the Tfuronian series. 
 These TIur<wiia,n rocks occur in helts m the Laurentian, which 
 IS the predon.inatino- formation in the eastern part of On- 
 tario. 
 
 The .iToneral characteristics of the lluroniari rocks in the dis- 
 tricts al)ove mentione.1 are the evidences they carry of o-reat 
 Igneous activity. On some of the islands in the La'ke of the 
 Woods volcanic ashes have heen wcathere.l out most clearly, 
 and lava heds, with which they are interstratitie.l, are equally 
 well-marked. Fi^-s. 1 and 2 show these conditions. Most of 
 the Igneous rocks in this locality have heen subject to con- 
 siderable alteration. 
 
 In Srhists.— The majority of the volcanic rocks, both eruptive 
 and intrusive, have been highly altered by i-ressure and chemical 
 action into a series of schists and schistose cono-lonierates 
 chiefly of a greenish color. These schists are (Occasionally 
 acccompanied by ([uartz-veins running with them. The quartz 
 is, for the most part, very irregular in these occurrences, and is 
 generally lens-like in its disp,.sition in the schists. There are 
 exceptions, however, to this rule; as, for example, at l^ath 
 Island, where remarkably persistent veins run with the apparc>nt 
 bed.ling of the schists. (See the description of Rock-section 
 No. 1, under Examples of Cowitnj.Rooks, below.) 
 
 It is noticeable in some instances that the bedding of the 
 
h- V 
 
 .\ 
 
 CJi 
 
 i Lp- 
 
 o 
 
 (iOMi-OUES IN HAINY KIVKR DISTRICT, ONTARIO, CANADA. 
 
 Hcliists irmy, iiMlt'cd, liuvc! Ixlii set up l»y jirossurc after tlio 
 iorniutioii ol" tliM veins, or after the action of the foreeK whicyi 
 t^Hve rine to the fault- or lissiire-lines in Avliich they liuve formed. 
 In two uncertain iiiHtances from th«' Lake of the Woods dis- 
 trict, and in another very conchisivt^ one in jiiritish Colund/ia, 
 \ have diseerne<l in roek-sections a line of heddiiii^ previous 
 to that now a(k)pted hy tiie schistose structure running'' parallel 
 to the vein. 
 
 The minerals in the Luke of the Woods schists have hci'U 
 much crushed, and a <ji;reat deal of alteration has taken place. 
 Flow-structure and fracturing of the mineral is very com- 
 monly notice<l in specimens of the wall-rocks. In many in- 
 stances the quartz infiltrations and bands in schists have, with- 
 
 Fig. I 
 
 B 
 
 Uiitcroii <if Vokiinu' St'i-ics ..ii Crow IhUmtl, Sketch uf Vi)lc:iiiie' TiiiT Weathered 
 Lakeoftlie Woods, Ontario. Out at A, Fig. 1. 
 
 out doubt, followed shear-z(»nes, and the «|uart/-inHltrations 
 oc<'Upv till' buckles of tlu' Ibrmation, as is frc(|ucntly notict'<l in 
 the Cariboo schists of Uritish C'olnmbia. It is needless to say 
 that ({mirtz-bodies occurrini;- in this way arc very irreu'ular and 
 terminate abruptly; but they are so numerously distributed in 
 some bands of the formation that minini--, without doubt, will 
 be prosecuted ]irotitably wheiv the (piartz-lenses occur at no 
 i;-reat interval I'rom om' another. 
 
 in the Seine liivi'r district, strinu'crs oi (piartz, carryi'iu- ex- 
 cellent specimens of free u'old, are found running with the 
 schists in maisy places, and it is confidently expected by the 
 owners that the belts in which they occur will bo mined with 
 
aOLD-ORES IN RAINY RIVER DISTRICT, ONTARIO, CANADA. 3 
 
 profit. TliiH occnrroiice is [»rol)iil)ly similar to soiiio ot'tlio low- 
 grsuU' rock wliicli is inined in North Carolina. 
 
 Tlioro is little douUt that the schists, especially in the vicinity 
 of the intrusive <^ranite, are well worthy of attention; and it 
 is altoi:;ether prohahle that helts of schists and (niartz-strini^ers 
 will he milled profitably on a lii.ri;"e scali' in one; or moi'e locali- 
 ties. 
 
 No locations in the schists have had much work dom^ upon 
 them in the Heine River district. The <^old which has been 
 found on the surface occurs essi^ntially in a free-milling condi- 
 tion. Hock-sections Nos. 2 and 8, under Example!^ of (hiinfn/- 
 Hochs, below, are other re})resentatives of these schists in which 
 veins occur. 
 
 /// Gxaitltes and Grernsfones. — There are also areas of [dutonic 
 
 Fig. 3. 
 
 (tt AlU'i-ed Oraniio bf Dial)aBe Dike 
 
 Section of Foniiiition at tlu' Siiltiina Mine, Lake of the Woods, Ontario. 
 
 greenstones which retain more or less of their massive charac- 
 teristics, like the intrusive granite. These are also found to 
 contain (luartz-veins, which carry more or less g(dd. This is 
 true both of the close-grained or greenstone type, as in the 
 case of the country-rock at the Pine Portage mine (Rock- 
 se(?tion No. 4, below), and of the coarsely crystallized gabbro 
 type, which is developed in a large area in the vicinity of 
 Lake 15ad Vermilion, where the Randol[di .and other veins 
 carry some high-grade gold-([uartz. 
 
 Plutonic dikes are found intimately connocted with the origin, 
 if not with the mineral contents, of some of the veins. This 
 is notably the case at the Sultana mine, in the Laki' of the 
 Woods district, as shown by the diagram, Fig. 3, where it will 
 be obs(;rved that a great dike has fractured a porphyritic quartz- 
 syenite, or a granite, which has been squeezed and very eon- 
 
(JOLD-ORES IN RAINY RIVRR DISTRICT, ONTARIO, CANADA. 
 
 sidcraUly iiltcn-d, iiiid in wliicli occurs the SuUaiui vein, nnmiiii,' 
 panilU'l with the trend of the triip (Itock-section No. T) heU)w). 
 The vein heini^ mined varies from a foot or two up to 40 feet 
 in widti), and its niinerid contents are diietly iron i»yrites with 
 free ,i,^old, inillin,!,' as hi.ii:li as from ^20 to $;}0 jier ton. 
 
 The most prolitic of idl rocks in the Rainy Kiver district is 
 intrusive u;ranite, hoth in its normal condition and aUered to 
 the (U'composed state of proto.iijone. The granite areas in the 
 Lake of tlie Woods part of the district arc chietly of the former 
 character. Sometimes the gold-carrying veins occur at or near 
 the junction between granite and greenstone, and sometimes 
 they are found cutting through the granite into the neighbor- 
 ing greeiistone. It is noted that the coi>i)er contents luive in- 
 creased when in the lattt>r rock. Frequently the schists in tlie 
 
 ,1 
 
 (I, C'nt'liiim rate (Kiiwatin) b, Intrusive Granite 
 
 O, Kii-wutiii(nur<)ninii)Gi.etnSchiflts. ll, Intrusive Oalibro. 
 e, Laurcntiau Qncisa. /, Auriferous Veins. 
 
 (Voss-Sectioii of Konnations, Illustrating tlie Occurrence of Some Gold Bearing 
 Veins near Heine Kiver, Rainy River District, Ontario. 
 
 vicinity of the granite carry veins which furnish a higa-grade 
 of auriferous (juartz. 
 
 One very interesting occurrence in the gabbro near Lake Bad 
 Vermilion is worthy of note, A large vein of ([uartz carrying 
 breccia of the wall-rock has again been subject to fracture, 
 chietly at right angles to its strike, and a great numl)er of vein- 
 lets cross it at right angles and carry little breccia and horses 
 to the original vein. These latter veinlets furnish tine speci- 
 mens of quartz-gold, and individually give high results. An 
 attempt is being made to ascertain if the whole nuiss will fur- 
 nish sufiiciently high results to make it a paying proimsition. 
 
 The same gabbro o\\ the other si<le of the lake, near a large 
 granite area, c{"M"ies strong quartz-veins which sometimes yield 
 as much as $25 to the ton. These veins liave a good deal 
 more copper in them than tliose in the neighboring granite. 
 Fi"-. 4 shows the series of formations in i\ generalized section. 
 
GOLD-ORES IN RAINY RIVER DISTRICT, ONTARIO, CANADA, 
 
 
 It has been ntated in some otttcial reports and bulletins that 
 some of the jfohl-veins oeenr in tiie (>ii!>"inal Lanrentian i^neiss 
 or granite. I think that this will be found, on thorou<i;h inves- 
 tigation, to be a mistake; tliat the tfranites in (jnestion will be 
 found to he intrusive, and that the send>lanee of gneissic or 
 HC'histose structure, observable near the vein, has resulted from 
 local pressure and metamorphic action. The Sultana vein is 
 an exam j lie. 
 
 In the Seine river section, the most important veins yet de- 
 veloped are in tissures cuttini.'' aretis of greenish altered granite 
 or pi'otogene (Rock-section No. 0, below). Mining operations 
 are in jirogress on several of these. Fii some of the areas the 
 veins a trong and very nunierous, but <»tdy a very small 
 proportion of them carry enough gold to be mined with protit. 
 
 A recent discovery in the altered granite, improperly called 
 a dike, appears to be a large quartz lode, much, mixtd with 
 altered green chloritic material, and with H(mie finely diffused 
 iron and coj)j»ei' pyrites. On it, the Ilammond-Folger locations 
 have been proved to carry some good [»ay-ore ; and it is said 
 that the workable pay-(juartz is of great width. 
 
 In two well-detined instances, at the Ferguson and William 
 Wiegand locations, crushed or altered country-rock, alluded to 
 as a dike, runs with the vein. Schistose structure has been set 
 up in it. Its comjiosition consists of large pieces of ([uartz, 
 tine grains of feldsiiar and muscovite — talc ground-mass; some 
 biotite and accessories of pyrite Jind calcite. Tn appearance it 
 is a gray close-graine<l rock, (littering distinctly from the usual 
 [irotogene. 
 
 In Fehitlc Bands. — In the Lake of the Woods and Seine dis- 
 tricts bands of schistose felsite, composed chiefly of feldspar 
 with a little mica, are sprinkled with snndl cubes of iron 
 [ly rites (llock-section No. 7, below). These have received a 
 great deal of attention at the hands of prospectors, for fre- 
 ([uently they are found to pan a small amount of gold, as 
 a rule just enough to ])rove an aggravation. Veins of quartz 
 are also found cutting thi'm, and these sometimes (.'arry enough 
 gold to be found profitable; but, again, some of the veins 
 cutting this formation, while mineralized with a good deal of 
 iron pyrites, are yet not rich enough to work profitably. 
 
 General Character of Ore. — The gold-bearing quartz in this 
 
6 GOLD-ORKS IN RAINY RIVER DISTRICT, ONTA 0, CANADA. 
 
 old forinution mij^ht jmiiirsilly hv oxpooUMl to Ik- peenlirrlv I'f- 
 tractory. Suc-li, i locd, wha tlic imiiri'ssioii rcHuitiiiij; from the 
 tirst o|»»'mtio!is uliicli took phicc in tlic I.akr of tlu- Woods, 
 and from the tir.st invcsti^^ation by the (icoloirical Survey of 
 the churueter of the oren. Much arst-uie wan reported to have 
 In-vu found, and the irohl-vahu-H were said to he partienhirly 
 aHHoeiate<l with refraetory pyriten, from whieh they coultl not 
 he extracted hy amalgamation. A eonple of milln were started 
 some years a,ij:o in the Lake of the Woods district, and the re- 
 sult of their work was very detrimental to the district. Kither 
 they ran on an ore which was of too low i^radc to nav. or i<'-nor- 
 anee of the prineii>les of milling was the cause of their inability 
 to save the yold. 
 
 Recent operations have ]M-ovcd that, in one instance, the ore 
 is free-milliuii: at the depth of more than 200 feet, and, in 
 .mother instance, that while the ore is free-miHiny;, yet more 
 skill than is at ]»resent brou_i,'ht to beur is needed to save tine 
 gold whicli escapes in the tailini2:s. C-yanide-treatment is about 
 to be used on these tailings, and it should be successful. 
 
 To (luote a few instances: Ihe result of the working of the 
 Sultana liiine up to the i>resent time has lieen that at least 90 
 per cent, of the ore has been free-milling. The concentrates, 
 of which from 1 to 2 per cent, are reported to exist in the ore, 
 average from $80 to $40 per ton, and are treated l)y chlorina- 
 tion. A mill-run on the Seine river, from a granite (protogene) 
 area, gave a similar proportion of yield. 
 
 As an exam[tle of a high yield from a small lot of ore, a 
 mill-test of 114 tons from the Mieado mine in the Lake of the 
 Woods district might be quoted. This yielded hy free-milling 
 $7040, or $67 to the ton, the concentrates not being estimatecL 
 
 Pan-amalgamation tests from a vein in the protogene gave a 
 little over 90 ]»er cent, of free-milling ore, and the percentage 
 of free-milling extraction from ore occurring in the schists, 
 from near the surface, was also very high. 
 
 It must be noted that, with the exception of the Sultana and 
 the Regina in the Lake of the Woods district and the Foley 
 mine in the Seine River district, no considerable depth has yet 
 been reached; but as the above liave proved their ore to be en- 
 tirely free-milling from 200 to 300 feet in depth, the outlook 
 for the district is extremely promising as an area in wliich 
 
 
GOLD-ORES IN RAINY RIVER DISTRICT, CJTARIO, CANADA. 7 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 I 
 
 freo-niilliiicr ores oaii Ik- niinod at a oompiirativolv lovr cost. Tt 
 mi^ht he (>x|)iMtf«l with iviisoii that the t'm'-iiiilHnir character 
 ill t^.' uhcrcd ijriiiiilcH would last as far down as the granite 
 has hccn altered into {>rotocrciic. 
 
 In the Seine River district the veins cutting'- |.roto«^ene are 
 found to carry their gold in a very free conditio!!, and in most' 
 oases tlie jrold is very coarse. Some ores wliicli carry miM'h 
 pyrites and which Mn^vht he expected to he more rcfractorv, 
 have shown hy nullin.ir-tests that tliey have, as far as sunk 
 upon, tlie major part of their t^ohl m a free condition. 
 
 Some of the veins cuttiu<r the i>rotoircne are hiirhly mineral- 
 ized with zinc-hlende, iron i)yrites an<l .i^^alena, i,nd to a k>s8er 
 extent with copper pyrites. 
 
 The gold-contents (h) not appear to he influenced hy an ex- 
 cessive mineralizj'tiou; for some of the hasest-looking ores, 
 Ughly charged \\]h the ahove-mentioncd i-iinerals, have 
 proved on assay to run comi.aratively lov.- i,. gold-contents, 
 while other veins hearing the same amount of niineral give' 
 high residts. 
 
 It is noted, however, that in cases where mineralization is 
 entirely ahsent a vein is usually found to he harren in its g(dd- 
 conteuts, following the general rule in this regard; and "it is 
 also ohserved that the ore-shoota which carry gold enough to 
 pay to mill are hy no means universal, though theiv ])roi>o"tion 
 is prohahly equal to that in most other mining districts. 
 
 There is little douht in the mind of the writer that through 
 this great extent of Ilurouian fonnation in the Rainy River and 
 Lake of th(^ Woods district, out of the many veins which have 
 already been located (the number of which locations wih be im- 
 mensely increased in the next few years), as large a proportion of 
 paying gold-mines will be developed as are found as an average 
 in successful mining districts. 
 
 Convemettces of the Bisirirt.~The district enjoys very fair 
 tran.si»ortation-conveniences, which are being constantly im- 
 proved. 
 
 Wagjs are low in comparison to the west, miners being paid 
 from $l.f)0 to $2.50 per day. 
 
 On the Seine river, sinking costs from $25 to $40 per foot 
 and drifting by macshines ab(Mit $10 and hand-drifting $15 |,cr 
 foot in the granite. 
 
8 GOLD-ORES IN RAINY RIVER DISTRICT, ONTARIO, CANADA. 
 
 Outpiif. — Tito li'old -yield of the I*rovince of Ontario has been 
 sihnost entirely from the Rainy River district. The Bureau of 
 Mines _a;ives the followint:: returns of (uitput: 
 
 'or llie veiir eiuli 
 
 iigOctoliorHl, 1S9;^, . 
 
 . ?!;V2,960 
 
 (I u 
 
 " 1S94, . 
 
 ;v2,77(; 
 
 l< u 
 
 " is9r), . 
 
 . 50,281 
 
 II 11 
 
 " 189(1, . 
 
 . 121,8-18 
 
 ExdmpliS of Coiinirtj-Roeks. — The following detailed deserip- 
 tions of spcoimens of eonntry-roeks, as (k'terniined by miero- 
 seopie examination of i»re}>are(l sections, may be of interest. 
 The photoii'raphs of tlie slides unfoi'tunately do not bring out 
 the different minerals distinctly, and tlu'i't't'ore have not been 
 rt'pl'o(biced here. 
 
 Fi<i. 5. 
 
 Fig. (i. 
 
 \ ■^0 JX o 
 
 N 
 
 QiJ 
 
 Schist iit Biidi Islaixl. Q, (|n!trtz ; 
 I', jiyriti'. 
 
 Schist at Arrastra Yoin, near 
 Kai I'urtage. 
 
 My thanks are due to Prof. Miller, of the Kingston School 
 of Mining, for assistance in connection with the rock-secticms. 
 
 1. A schist (Fig. o) forming the country-rock at Ihith Island, 
 Lake of the Woods, consists of masses of quartz and iron py- 
 rites with a schistose ground-nniss, principally of ([uartz, mixed 
 with "intwinned fcldsjiar and a very few streaks of chlorite. 
 The rock has been subjected to great pressure parallel to the 
 vein. 
 
 2. A schist, iiiin'h dec(m)})Osed, consisting of a fine-grained 
 feldspar, with chloritic masses, a little unaltered pyroxene, some 
 calcite and a number of snudi specks of pyrite, forms the coun- 
 try-rock of th(^ Lyall mini' in the Rainy l^ake, the operation of 
 which has been unsuccessful liitherto. 
 
GOI.D-ORES IN RAINY RIVER DISTRICT, ONTARIO, CANADA. 9 
 
 3. A scliist (Fig. O) tonuiiiir tlu' oountry-rock at tlie Arrastra 
 vein, cast of Rat P()rta_i«;o, Lake of tlio Woods, coiisints of a 
 crushed sehiHtose mass. The cliief matrix is tVddspar, with some 
 quartz and mica. Streaks or lines of tlie latter show flow- 
 structure around masses of the original rock from which tlie 
 schist has been formed. One of these masses showed a bed- 
 ding, or sehistose structure, at an angle of 30° to that of the 
 [(resent structure. 
 
 4. A greenstone (Fig. 7) forming the country-rock of TMne 
 Portage mine. Lake of the Woods, is nuKili crushed, and con- 
 sists chiefly of a crushed nuitrix of chlorite (resulting from the 
 decomposition of pyroxene), some feldspar and pyroxene. The 
 
 Fig. 7. 
 
 Fig. 8. 
 
 Conntry-Rocik, Pine Portaf^e Mini". 
 
 A, ,>yro.v(>ne ; (', clilorite ; 
 
 F, feldspar. 
 
 Country-Rock, .Sultana Mine. 
 F, fel(l.s|iar ; If, hornblende; 
 P, pyrite. 
 
 The rock is 
 
 feld.-^par is j»resent chiefly as little vcinlets. i ne rocK is an 
 altered <lial)ase, which would prohahly be found at greater 
 de))tli in its unchanged condition. 
 
 5. The country-rock of the Sultana mine (Fig. 8) shows signs 
 of crushing and alteration. Feldspar is the predominant min- 
 eral, both twinned and iintwinned with (|uarty,, mica and a little 
 hornblende and pyrite. WHiere alteration is niostapi»arent tiie 
 fel(lsi>ar has been changed into mica, and commences to show a 
 schistose structiire. The rock may be a granite (or the " grani-- 
 tite"of G. Rose) which has been s(pieezed by a greenstone 
 u[>her val jdongside. 
 
 The adjacent greenstone maas, which is much decom]>osed 
 near the surface, is made up for the most part of secondary 
 
10 GOLD-ORES IN RAINY RIVER DISTRICT, ONTARIO, CANADA. 
 
 hornl)leii<lc (nralite) and feldspar (twinned and nntwinjied), with 
 calcite, pyrite an<l nia<j^netite as accessories. At greater depth 
 it may become evident that the mass is a diahase dike. 
 
 6. An altered granite or protogene (Fig. 9), consisting of 
 masses of quartz, feldspar (chiefly orthoclase) and a greenish 
 gronnd-niass of talcose and chloritic composition, is rejircsenta- 
 
 FxG. 9. 
 
 Fio. )0. 
 
 Altered Granite or Protogene, Seine 
 
 Kiver. Q, cjuartz ; F, feldspar ; 
 
 G-M, ground-niass (talc, etc.). 
 
 Felsitic Schist from (liarnier'a 
 Island. P, pvrite. 
 
 tive of the areas of altered granite which are found to carry a 
 great nundjer of veins in the Seine Iliver district. 
 
 7. A felsitic schist from Garnier's Island, Lake of the Woods 
 (Fig. 10), consists of fine-grained feldspar for the most part, 
 some pyrite crystals and a very little mica. This schist changes 
 into a massive felsite dike, consisting of massive fine-grained 
 feldspar, a good deal of pyrite in little masses scattered through 
 it, and a very little mica.