INDUSTRIAL ZEOLITES AND RUTILE By 2. D. Hora and Y.T.J. Kwong
RUTILE (Titanium Minerals i n Porphyry CopperIMolybdenum Tailings)
Recent studies on alternative sources and relevant occurrences of titanium minerals lfor example, IForce, 1976; Williams and Cesbron, 1977: Force, et a/., 19791 indicate that porphyry copperlmolybdenum de- posits could potentially supply a significant amount of byproduct titanium. Llewellyn and Sullivan 11980) investigated the feasibility of recovering rutile from mill tailings from the San Manu8:I copper deposit of Arizona: they contain 0.75 ~ ~ e r cent titania. In view o f these studies and as part of an industrial minerals assessment in British Columbia. a systematic examination of tailings from porphyry c:opper/molybdenum mines was initiated in 1982. Fourteen mines were chosen for the study. Cursory TiO:! analyses are shown in the accompanying table. Most carry interesting amounts of titania; that is. employing an arbitrary cutoff grade of 0.50 per cent TiO,; about half of these mines are of potential interest. Close examination of a high titania sample from the lngerbelle orebody of Newmont Mines Limited revealed little variat on in titania content in various size fractions; host minerals for titanium include ilmenite, sphene, magnetit,.'. and mica. Similar detailed work is in progress for the other interesting deposits. If rutile, the most desirable titanium mineral for industrial purposes. i s identified as a major titanium-containing species i n a deposit.
a feasibility test of mineral recovery will also be attempted,
ACKNOWLEDGMENl
We thank the management of the mining companies listed i n the accompanying table for supplying the majority of our t e s t samples. R . Hibberson, P. Ralph, and V. Vilkos of the Analytical Laboratory con^
tributed in the analysis of titania.
FROM SELECTED PORPHYRY COPPERIMOLYBDENUM DEPOSITS TiO, CONTENT OF T A I L I N G S
I N BRITISH COLUMBIA
N A M E OF M I N E Afton
Beli Bethlehem Boss Mountain Brenda
Gibraltar Equity Silver
Granby Granisle Highmont KitsaUlt Island Capper
L0,"eX Newmont
SAMPLES N O . OF
10 8
2 6 4 7
5 2 8 7 6 4 12 9
R A N G E 0.54 - 0.68 0.34 - 0.64 0.35 - 0.43 0.14 - 0.34 0.30 - 0.43 0.81 - 0.97 0.51 -0.61 0.43 - 0.43 0.40 - 0.78 0.30 - 0.43 0.49 - 0.87 0.49 - 0.57 0.30 - 0.43 0.33 - 0.97
PER C E N T TiO, M E A N
0.62 0.49 0.39 0.23 0.38 0.84 0.56 0.43
0.56 0.31 0.57 0.56 0.67 0.35
S T A N D A R D D E V I A T I O N
0.05 0.08 0.06 0.07 0.0,i 0.03 0.0'1 0.03 0.1 3 0.0 5 0.1 '5 0.0.1 0.0'5 0.21
ZEOLITES
PRINCETON AREA (49"
26'
-120° 33';92H/7)
A random sampling program for industrial zeolites in volcanic sedimentary rocks has been underway since
these rocks in the Allenby Formation of the Middle Eocene Princeton Group. Results o f previous sampling
1980;
this year produced the first reported British Columbia locations of substantial zeolite content i nof tuffaceous deposits from the Penticton area, the vicinity of Kamloops and near Burns Lake, have been
volcanic ash beds. Clinoptilolite (approximately 25 t o 35 per cent) together with similar quantities of negative. High zeolite content i n the Allenby Formation occurs in pale grey to yellow to yellowish grey
stilbite form the main component of this fine t o coarse-grained devitrified ash. Three samples w i t h high
3 approximately 5 kilometres southwest o f Princeton.
zeolite content are part of the sequence of volcanic sandstones and tuffs exposed in a road cut on Highway
REFERENCES
Force, E. R.
(1976):
Titanium Minerals i n Deposits of other Minerals, U.S. Gee/. Surv., ProfessionalForce, E. R., Czamanske, G. K., and Moore, W. J.
(1979):
Rutile from Porphyry Copper Deposits:Llewellyn, T. 0. and Sullivan. G. V.
(19801:
Recovery of Rutile from Porphyry Copper Tailings, U.S.Williams, S. A. and Cesbron, F. P.
(1977):
Rutile and Apatite: Useful Prospecting Guides for Porphyry Paper959-F, 5
pp.Technical Program, Society of Mining Engioeers, Feb.
1980,
Las Vegas, p. 21.Bureau ofMines, Report of Investigations
8462, 18
pp.Copper Deposits, Mineralogical Magazine, Vol. 41, pp.
288.292.
INDUSTRIAL MINERALS AND STRUCTURAL MATERIALS By 2. D. Hora
The 1983 field work consisted of property visits and examinations throughout the Province. The following descriptive report highlights magnesite, barite, limestone, and building stone prospect:;.
MAGNESITE
DRIFTWOOD CREEK AREA (50'54'- 116°34';82K/151
This new occurrence is in the Upper Purcell Mount Nelson Formation of Proterozoic age (Fig. 8 1 ) . Medium t o coarse-grained crystalline magnesite of white t o yellowish white and pale grey colours forms s t e e p
O
n
DRIFT -a
MEDIUM-GRAINEDWHITE TOlELLOWORTHOOUART21TE SLATY PHYLLITEFINE-GRAINED DARK GREY CHERTY DOLOMITE
@#
MEDIUM TO COARSE~GRAINED MASSIVE MAGNESITE MEDIUM 10 COARSE-GRAINED MAGNESITE WlTH CHERlYUf0S AND LENSES
ZONE OF MILKYOUAIITZ STOCKWORK.. . . . . . X x x X TEST QUARRY A . . . .A0
CLAIM POST IRED BOX 3 6 d l . . . . . .O
Figure81. Driftwood Creek magnesite. 8 2 K i 1 5
southwesterly dipping beds (85 degrees) i n a zone approximately 110 metres wide. While the upper main 45 metres of exposed magnesite is a massive rock with no visible impurities, the lower 65 metres contains cherty lenses and blebs of variable proportions, reaching up to 50 per cent o f the rock. Within the lower zone there are t w o continuous massive magnesite beds 2.2 metres and 4.5 metres thick. In June 1983, a sample for metallurgical testing was taken a t this site from two newly opened test quarries.
The main massive magnesite bed (upper zone) extends along strike for a t last several hundreds of metres;
it may continue for more than 1 kilornetre.
MgO
Per Cenr Per Cenr Per Cenr Per Cent Per Cent
cao S O , A L O , Fe* 0,
Test Quarry A Test Quarry B
42.5 4.20 2.5
40.0
0.06 6.00
0.77
4.6 0.13 0.82
The showing is on the northwestern end of the rocky ridge on the northern side of Driftwood Creek. The test p i t site can be reached by Driftwood Creek logging road and is 9.6 kilometres northwest from the Bugaboo road intersection.
BARITE
PEDLEY MOUNTAIN (50" 25'
-
115' 43'; 8 2 J i 5 )Barite is exposed on steep north-facing slopes 3 kilometres northeast of Mount Pedley a t an elevation of approximately 1800 metres (Fig. 82). The showing consists of brecciated barite in a vein w i t h many irregular offshoots and branches; i t has a general strike of 30 degrees and dips 80 degrees southeast. The
SECTION A - P i iFOR LOCAllON SEE ACCOMPANYING PLAN VIEW1 A
Flsure 8 2 . Pedley Mountain barite.82J15.
barite is exposed in two areas separated by a vertical distance of approximately 100 metres. The barite
component. The surrounding rocks are massive. brittle dolomites of the Upper OrdovicianiLower Stlurian is white in colour and coarse grained; galena in scattered grains and aggregates i s a common accm?ssory
Beaverfoot Formation. The dolomites, which are greyish brown in colour a t this !;ite. strike east-west and dip 20 degrees to 40 degrees t o the north. In 1982-83, Bar-Well Resources Ltd. of Calgary lnined several thousand tonnes of Pedley Mountain barite ore; it was processed in the Windermere plant The mining road t o the site starts a t a point on the Old Settlers road, 8 kilometres north of the Palliser River logging road and 1 kilometre south of the Pedley Creek bridge.
WINDERMERE (50" 26'- 115'53'; 82J/5)
inally described in 1970 by J. W. McCammon. Mining on this property from 1981 t o 1983 pro'juced Irregular patches of barite from the west-sloping sidehill 8 kilometres southeast of Windermere were orig.
more than 10 thousand tonn8s of baritic ore.
The original showing consisted o f barite lenses and offshoots developed within and near a mylonitic shear
sporadic pods, short veins, and breccia zones o f barite were exposed in an area approximately 500 metres zone that strikes east-west (105 degrees) and dips 20 degrees south. In addition to the main shcswing,
t o the southeast (Fig. 83). The barite occurs in massive, fine-grained, light grey Upp?r Jubilee dolomite;
there is an almost complete absence o f recognizable bedding. Barite in all these showings is coarse grained and milky white with occasional grains of galena and less common copper stains. Thr location and ;access were described by McCammon (1971).
I
0
JUBILEE FORMATION DOLOMITE OUTCROP AREA[zi
BARITETRENCH . . . . . . . . . . . . .
:
, ,
',..I ..: :". ... ... j. . . .i ...!. i
. .
I
Figure 8 3 . Windermere barite.82Jil5.
LIMESTONE
BOWRON RIVER (53" 42'- 121" 42'; 93H/12)
I n 1983 a banded grey marble of the Lower Cambrian Mural Formation was developed into a small quarry by Western Lime and Marble Inc. of Prince George. The quarry is located on the eastl:rn side of Bowron
The rock is medium grained and massive; it is processed on the site into agriculture grade limestone. A River, 27 kilometres south of Highway 16, and can be reached by both Giscome and Bowron logging roads.
random sample o f the crushed rock provided the following analysis:
per Cent Per Cent Per Cent Per Cent Per Cent
46.8 7.60 0.34 0.08 0.1 1
cao MgO S O , A 4 0 3 Fe, 0,
BUILDING STONE
McGREGOR PASS (53'58'- 120" 14';93H/16)
Massive beds of beige-coloured orthoquartzite of the Lower Cambrian Mahto Formation are quarried i n
elevation of 1 700 metres north of Wishaw Lake (Fig. 841.
large blocks for building-stone applications. The quarry site is located on the continental divide a t an
MAHTO QUARTZITE OUTCROP PINK TO BEIGE COLOURED
MASSIVE QUARlZIlE
1W 6W HfIWfS
J
TEST QUARRY.. . . ..
. . .. . . .
. . . d Figure 84. McGregar Parr quartzite. 93H/6The rock is a massive. fine t o medium-grained, cross-bedded quartzite. The test quarry opened quartzite beds with beige t o pink-coloured stripes and irregular smears. I n appearance, the quartzite can compete with the best commercial marbles. I n the quarry, the quartzite splits along bedding planes of 1.0 metre t o 2.0 metres apart; in several cases the separating bedding plane has a very uneven deeply dotted surface
one third of the exposed 300-metre t o 350-metre width of Mahto quartzite a t Wishaw Lake constitutes like wet sand after a hailstorm. The beds strike uniformly a t 70 degrees and dip 28 degrees south. About
the commercially interesting beige and pink-coloured rock.
The physical properties o f this brittle, but very strong and competent rock are comparable t o the best
evenly distributed high lustre by polishing.
varieties of granite on the buildingstone market, but it is more difficult to achieve the same closed and
REFERENCES
Campbell. R. B., Mountjoy, E. W.. and Young, F. G. (1973): Geology of McBrNde Map-Area, British
Henderson, G.G.L. (1954): Geology of the Stanford Range of the Rocky Mountains, 5.C. Minktry of Columbia. Geol. Surv., Canada, Paper 72-35, 96 pp.
McCammon. J. W. (1971): Barite, Lucky (Cameron), 5.C. MinisrryofEnergy, Mines& Pet. Res., Geology, Energy, Mines & Pet. Res., Bull. 35, 84 pp.
Mclntyre,
J.
F. and Mclntyre, R . F. (1983): Report on Engineering. Geology and Feasibility Consider- Exploration and Mining in British Columbia, 1970, pp. 487, 488.ations, Proposed Wishaw Lake Quartzite Quarry. Private Rept.. Canroc International Corporation, British Columbia, 129 pp.
Reeror. J.
