Authors:
W.N. Hamilton - Alberta Geological Survey, Edmonton
R.A. Olson - R.A. Olson Consulting Ltd., Edmonton
Additional Contributors:
J.D. Bamburak - Manitoba Energy and Mines, Winnipeg
R. Gunter - Manitoba Energy and Mines, Winnipeg
P. Guliov - Saskatchewan Energy and Mines, Regina
D. MacDougall - Saskatchewan Energy and Mines, Regina
Z.D. Hora - British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources,
Victoria
T. Schroeter - British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum
Resources, Vancouver
D. Atkinson - Indian and Northern Affairs - Northwest Territories, Yellowknife
W. Gibbins - Indian and Northern Affairs - Northwest Territories, Yellowknife
D.J. Ouellette - Indian and Northern Affairs - Yukon, Whitehorse
This chapter deals with the economic minerals, other than oil, gas and coal, that are hosted by rocks of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. The diversified geology of various regions and stratigraphic levels within the basin have given rise to a wide variety of minerals, more than 50 different kinds, that have an existing or potential resource value. The aim of the chapter is to provide an overview of economic minerals in the context of basin geology. It is directed primarily toward the mineral explorationist who wishes to gain a broad understanding of the metallogeny of the basin region and the resource potential for industrial and metallic minerals.
Minerals of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin are presented according to the scheme outlined in Figure 34.1. The minerals are divided into industrial (or nonmetallic) minerals and metallic minerals. Under these broad categories the minerals are grouped into the various mineral types shown, with each type having common geological characteristics or elemental associations or both. The scheme is not intended as a classification of mineral deposits, merely a convenient way of grouping the various kinds of minerals by geological association.
All known deposits and occurrences are presented on geological base maps: Figures 34.5 and 34.7, for the nonmetallic and metallic minerals, respectively. These maps indicate, in most cases, the geological setting for the deposit. In some cases however, the deposit is hosted by a rock unit that exists at depth beneath the unit that crops out. The mineral deposits are displayed in two ways: 1) spot symbols, which are colour-coded according to the scheme of mineral groupings outlined in Figure 34.1, with each symbol representing an individual deposit or cluster of deposits, the actual area of which is too small to show at the map scale; and 2) line symbols, for deposits large enough to be outlined in their true dimensions. The deposits represented by spot symbols are further categorized as to 'status' as follows: 1) producers or past producers, 2) prospects, or undeveloped potential ore deposits, and 3) showings, or significant mineral occurrences. For the metallics, because of the fewer numbers of mineral occurrences displayed on the map (Fig. 34.7), an additional category (anomalies) is included. Definitions for the different 'status' categories are given in Figure 34.2.
Numerical listings of all deposits and occurrences displayed on the two maps are presented in Figures 34.6 (nonmetallics) and 34.8 (metallics). For the nonmetallics the deposits and occurrences are listed by province, first in alphabetical order by major commodity, and second (i.e., within commodities) in numerical order by NTS grid number and latitude-longitude location. For the metallics the listing is the same except that mineral commodities are arranged in the deposit-type groupings as presented in Figures 34.1 and 34.7. Each deposit or occurrence is assigned an identification number, which includes a one-letter province identifier (A, Alberta; B, British Columbia; M, Manitoba; N, Northwest Territories; S, Saskatchewan; Y, Yukon Territory) followed by a sequential number. The sequencing of ID numbers corresponds to this listing and is independent for each province.
For each deposit or occurrence displayed on the two maps, a synopsis of available data is contained in a mineral deposits master table1. The data include information on geological setting and resource attributes of the deposit, along with pertinent references. Summaries of data for the more important deposits selected from the master table are presented in Appendix I (nonmetallics) and Appendix II (metallics).
More than 35 different minerals are produced now or have been produced in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. Some of the minerals have a long history of production, even preceding that for the fossil fuels. The oldest record of mineral production dates from 1820, when salt was being harvested from saline spring deposits in northeastern Alberta for trade with inhabitants of the region (Allan, 1920). Currently, the annual production of non-fuel minerals in the basin is valued at about $1.5 billion (Fig. 34.3), which is about 7 percent of the region's total mineral production wealth.
Mineral production in the basin region for the past 26 years is shown in Figure 34.4. Since publication of the previous atlas in 1964, the importance of non-fuel minerals has grown enormously. By far the largest in both tonnage and value of production are the industrial minerals - a diverse array of more than a dozen different commodities. In the past 26 years the basin has become the world's second largest producer of potash, second largest producer and largest exporter of sulphur, and a new international supplier of magnesite. Major growth has occurred also in locally consumed minerals for the construction materials and chemical industries. These include production of limestone for cement and lime, sand and gravel for aggregate, gypsum, building stone, brick clay and expandable clay, bentonite, silica, and salt.
The metallic mineral deposits are much less developed in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, but also are much less explored. Because of its mainly sedimentary rock regime the basin region has long been regarded as unfavorable for metallics, with the notable exception of lead-zinc from such past-producers as the Pine Point and Monarch-Kicking Horse mines. More recently, recognition of a variety of geological anomalies and some igneous rocks in the basin has touched off new interest in the resource potential for metallics. The main contribution of metallic minerals shown in Figure 34.4 is for lead-zinc production from Devonian strata at Pine Point, N.W.T. This graph records the complete cycle of Pine Point production from its beginning in 1965 to cessation in 1988. Current production of metallic minerals from Phanerozoic basin rocks is limited to minor amounts of placer gold. Two other metallic producers, Spruce Point and Namew Lake in Manitoba, lie within the basin region, but their production is from Precambrian basement rocks beneath the Phanerozoic cover.
Last modified: August 20, 2008
