The Great Whale Iron Property is wholly owned by Niocan Inc. and includes three (3) magnetite iron-formation deposits. These deposits are part of the same mineralized system, and occur as separate enclaves within a large series of granite and gneiss exposures. Deposits A, D and E are located in northwestern Québec on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay. Deposit A is located about 65 km southeast of the villages of Whapmagoostui and Kuujjuarapik and Deposits D and E are located respectively 20 km east and 40 km southeast of Deposit A.
The first occurrence or discovery mentioned was from airplane pilots reporting compass difficulties in the area around Iron Mountain Lake (later renamed Fagnant Lake). During the 1957 early prospecting, field geologists and engineers from Belcher Mining Corporation Limited were examining on a prominent ridge exposed just southwest of the lake and discovered the iron banded magnetite-quartz rock currently part of Deposit A.
The three deposits were drilled in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Deposit A was drilled with 58 diamond drill holes totalling 35,924 ft., Deposit D with 17 diamond drill holes totalling 10,223 ft. and Deposit E with 17 diamond drill holes totalling 11,110 ft. Deposit A covers a fairly large area, some 5 km long in a north-south direction by 2 km wide, which represents the most significant tonnage of historical estimated mineral resources based on previous data.
The Great Whale Iron Property which remained dormant for over four decades will undergo a major exploration campaign to gather more data for scoping and subsequent pre-feasibility level studies. The paper provides an overview of the Great Whale Iron Property based on the historical data. It covers the geology of the deposits, the ore genesis process, the historical resource estimation, and comparative geological setting with other similar iron ore deposits.
Il est à noter que la presentation sera faite par M. Rosaire Jean, Directeur Adjoint de Niocan Inc.
Rosaire Jean (NIOCAN), Raynald Jean (MET-CHEM)
