Cargill Township carbonatite complex, District of ... - Geology Ontario

Introduction
The Cargill Township Carbonatite Complex lies within the Kapuskasing Sub-
province of the Superior Province of the Canadian Shield. The complex is one of
several that occur within this subprovince. The intrusion has been dated by K-Ar
isotopic techniques at 1740 Ma (Gittins et al. 1967) and by U-Pb techniques at
1907 4 Ma (S.T. Kwon, Department of Geology, University of California,
Santa Barbara, California, personal communication, 1987). The carbonatite
complex has been emplaced along regional faults characteristic of the Kapuskas
ing Subprovince and has been in turn offset by later fault movements. This fault
ing has split the complex into two parts so that it has a dumbbell shape in plan
view with the long axis trending northeast. The body has been the subject of
several exploration programs culminating in 1974 with the discovery of residual
apatite accumulations by the International Minerals and Chemical Corporation
(Canada) Limited. The apatite deposits have potential economic significance as a
source of phosphate.
At the time of writing, Sherritt Gordon Mines Limited was undertaking addi
tional work to evaluate the economic potential of the residual apatite deposits
lying on the surface of the carbonatite.
Acknowledgments
The present study of the complex would not have been possible without the full
cooperation of the International Minerals and Chemical Corporation (Canada)
Limited. Mr. Ralph McGinn, in charge of operations at the property, guided the
field party while visiting the property. Dr. George Erdosh, senior geologist, and
Dr. P.O. Sandvik at the head office in Libertyville, Illinois, provided considerable
support and encouragement to the project. All samples described were obtained
from diamond drill core of the International Minerals and Chemical Corporation.
In 1976, Mr. Wilbur Wright, senior geological assistant, examined approxi
mately half the core sampled by the field party. Mr. Paul Chamois and Mr. Carl
Higgins served as geological assistants, helping both the author and Mr. Wright in
sampling. Mr. A. Lisowyk, geological assistant, recalculated statistics on whole-
rock chemistry and revised the tables in Appendix A in 1988.
Mr. H.L. Banting, Continental Copper Mines Limited, gave approval to Ken-
nco Exploration (Canada) Limited to release to the Ministry data concerning
Kennco's work on the complex. Mr. H.W. Fleming, chief geologist, Kennco Ex
ploration (Canada) Limited released the data to the Ministry.
Mr. Gary Hughes, Exploration Manager, Sherritt Gordon Mines Limited,
provided the Ontario Geological Survey with data obtained by that company re
sulting from its work on the complex. In 1981, Mr. L. Kelley, geologist, Sherritt
Gordon Mines Limited, guided the author during operations to uncover the resid
ual apatite deposits for the purpose of bulk sampling.
In 1987, Mr. B. Hystead, Manager, Mineral Resource Development, Sherritt
Gordon Mines Limited, Mr. L. Kelley, geologist, Sherritt Gordon Mines Limited,
and Mr. P. Potapoff, senior geologist, Camchib Resources Limited, provided re
ports and data resulting from exploration efforts since 1981.
Location And Access
The Cargill Township Carbonatite Complex is located at approximately 49 0 19'N
Latitude and 82 0 49'W Longitude (Figure 1) in the northwest corner of Cargill