By Delio Tortosa, president of the Sault and District Prospectors Association
After about a 30-year hiatus, I found myself back up in the Wawa area looking at gold properties and prospects last summer after consulting on projects in other parts of Ontario for many years.
Back in 1987, I was initiated to the Wawa area as the Wawa Resident Geologist for the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM), and the newly minted Resident Geologist Office for which we coined the acronym ‘WRGO’ (Wawa Resident Geologist Office). It was a tall, two-storey house that overlooked Wawa Lake and on the road to the still active Helen Iron Mine.
For about five years we went on a great ride – riding the wave of mineral exploration, staking rushes, and mine development. It was a time when junior exploration companies and prospectors had money to spend. Whether it came from flow-through share financing, the OMEP (Ontario Mineral Exploration Program), or the OPAP (Ontario Prospectors Assistance Program), everybody was busy exploring.
This wave of exploration was particularly evident in the Mishibishu Lake area west of Wawa, which required helicopter support – to the point that choppers were regularly lined up at the Wawa airport waiting to gas-up for trips to the various exploration camps.
This was quite a ‘heady’ time, which brought gold discoveries and mine development. The result was the discovery of the Magnacon Gold Mine and establishment of a mill complex and the discovery of the Mishi Gold Deposit along with numerous gold prospects along the Mishibishu Lake Deformation Zone (MLDZ). To the south, the Eagle River Gold Deposit was discovered (Magnacon, Mishi, Eagle River and the gold mill are now owned and operated by Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd.).
In the historic Goudreau area, the Kremzar Gold Deposit was brought into production and a mill complex was constructed. It was also at this time that a one-kilometre decline was driven into what was later to become the Island Gold Deposit, and underground development was initiated below Goudreau Lake (Kremzar and Island Gold now owned and operated by Alamos Gold Inc.).
The historic Magino Gold Mine just west of Island Gold was redeveloped and a mill was constructed. The Magino Gold Deposit was recently reassessed as a lower-grade, bulk-mining operation by Argonaut Gold Mines.
Further to the east of Goudreau Lake, advanced exploration took place at the Edwards Gold Mine, Cline Gold Mine, and other significant prospects following the strike of the Goudreau Lake Deformation Zone (GLDZ).
At the far-east end of this ‘string of pearls’ was the Renabie Gold Mine which had operated on and off since 1941 and produced over a million ounces of gold. It was the deepest gold mine at the time (about one kilometre), and was the first to be closed under the new closure plan requirements under Section VII of the Mining Act.
Immediately south of the Town of Wawa were the most historical mines in the Wawa area dating back to the turn of the 20th century. The Surluga and the Jubilee Gold Mines were dewatered, advanced exploration was initiated, and the mill complex was re-habilitated. The area along the Jubilee and Darwin shear zone was sprinkled with past producers such as the Minto Mine, Parkhill Mine, Darwin-Grace Mine and many gold prospects (all owned and currently explored by Red Pine Exploration Ltd.).
The incentivized exploration and development gave rise to a ‘boom-town’ feel to Wawa, Dubreuilville and White River, with mine impact studies undertaken by municipalities supported by an inter-ministerial working group and funded by the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC).
Throughout this time, the Ontario Geological Survey (OGS) conducted geological mapping, mineral deposit studies and structural geology studies. The WRGO undertook a number of projects which included creation of Geological Data Inventory Folios (GDIF), detailed and reconnaissance scale mapping projects, creation of the Wawa Mineral Deposit Inventory (WMDI), industrial mineral and building stone studies and initiated the use of desktop Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and use of the new Global Positioning System (GPS) technology.
The OGS together with the WRGO conducted numerous geological and mineral deposit field trips in the Wawa area. These field trips brought together exploration geologists, prospectors and OGS geologists and provided the opportunity to share ideas and knowledge of the area and the ability to see other geological/structural settings for gold mineralization.
Many who were active in the area in the late 1980s will recall Dr. Ron Sage (retired OGS geologist) who played a lead role in initiating these fieldtrips and spent almost 10 years completing detailed mapping of many townships.
Over the last 10 years, the Sault and District Prospectors Association (SDPA) has continued to take field trips into the Wawa area and the larger District, including Hemlo and Borden Lake. These trips always bring out the camaraderie that exists between exploration geologists, prospectors and OGS geologists.
My trips back this summer brought me to some of the same areas that I had visited in the late 1980s, and like most geologists and prospectors visiting the same location, it seems you can always find/learn something new hidden in the rocks.
Mining activities that started in the late 1980s have continued to the present along with exploration and development activities in the Mishibishu Lake area (Wesdome Gold Mines, Argo Gold Inc.). In the Goudreau area the discovery of the Island Gold ‘Deep Zone’ has resulted in a significant increase in grade, width and depth to the gold deposit resulting in a friendly takeover of Richmont Mines by Alamos Gold.
Properties to the east of Goudreau Lake such as the Edwards and Cline mines have been purchased and additional property is being consolidated by a leading mining private equity firm. New exploration has been initiated east of Goudreau and Dog Lake on recently staked ground by companies new to the area (Manitou Gold Inc., Bold Ventures Inc.).
Much of McMurray Township south of Wawa has been consolidated by Red Pine Exploration, who has established an inferred mineral resource for a bulk mining operation incorporating mineralization along the shallow dipping Jubilee shear zone. They continue to explore the high-grade gold veins between and along strike of the past producers. Other juniors like RT Minerals and Argo Gold Inc. are exploring immediately south of McMurray Township in areas with past gold producers that received moderate attention during the late 1980s.
Both the Eagle River and the Island Gold mines have lifted the Wawa area from the ‘small gold mine’ mentality, to having the potential for large, deep, high-grade gold mines as well as deposits with low grade, large tonnage, bulk mining potential.
With the discovery of the Borden Lake Gold Deposit by a couple of prospectors (Mike Tremblay and Jack Robert), the Wawa area appears to be connected to the large-scale mineralized corridor with high gold endowment stretching from Val D’Or, Quebec through to Kirkland Lake, Timmins, the Swayze area, Borden Lake, to Wawa, White River and Hemlo.
Gold deposit discovery takes time, perseverance, knowledge, financing, good people, and good luck. The wave of exploration in the mid-to late 1980’s was not simply about the price of gold, but also about providing the incentives that allowed explorers to make discoveries. Incentives from various levels of government, including OPAP and OMEP, allowed exploration companies to leverage investor risk capital. The results after 30 years speak for themselves.
The current Junior Exploration Assistance Program (JEAP) by the Ontario Government, although beneficial, is a mere shadow of the OMEP program in financial terms. The Ontario Government should be providing a similar level of incentives to the junior exploration industry as they do the electric and hybrid-electric car market. As for the large gold miners, they have started establishing strategic partnerships with junior exploration companies, as this will be their main project pipeline for their future gold inventory.
The Ontario Geological Survey has been remapping areas of the Michipicoten Greenstone Belt. The Sault Ste. Marie District Geology Office is actively providing fieldtrips and short symposia in the Wawa area – once again bringing together like-minded individuals to share ideas and do some ‘arm-waving’ at interesting outcrops.
After 30 years, there has been significant consolidation of high mineral potential ground, however, untested areas continue to be prospected and explored for gold in the hopes that another Island Gold, Eagle River, Renabie or Borden Lake can be discovered.
Photo captions:
1 – Wawa Resident Geologist Office in 1987.
2 – Wawa area location map (courtesy of Argo Gold Inc.).
3 – Red Pine Exploration, Wawa property.
4 – Eagle River gold veins, Wesdome Gold Mines.
5 – SDPA field trip in 2016, Richmont Gold Mines.
6 – Macassa Creek, main zone in 2017, Argo Gold Inc.
7 – McMurray Township, geology and mineral deposits (courtesy of Argo Gold Inc.).
8 – Wesdome Gold Mines mill complex.
9 – Alamos Gold mill complex.
10 – The two most productive gold belts in Canada (modified after Roberts, 2005).
11 – Borden Lake gold discovery outcrop.
12 – OGS mini-symposium and field trips in 2016.
13 – Delio Tortosa.
