The Long Lake Mine belongs to Mr. Young who has owned the property for well over 40 years. This mine is well known to rock collectors and permission to visit the land is mandatory.
Update: We were notified recently, that a new owner owns the property. To respect the new owners we decided to block access to our map and coordinates. The following historical information was written and provided by Mindat. "The former Long Lake zinc mine is located in the south central part of Olden township, approximately 8 km by road northwest of the village of Parham. The Long Lake zinc deposit has supported small-scale mining operations by different operators several times since its discovery in 1897. Early production included more than 100 tons of ore removed in 1901; between 1902 and 1907 about 3442 tons of zinc ore were shipped from the property; and in 1949 a total of 240 tons of zinc concentrates and 15 tons of lead concentrates were reported to have been produced. On March 1, 1973, Lynx-Canada Explorations Ltd. in partnership with Canadian Reynolds Metals Ltd. commenced mining of three newly discovered ore lenses (A,B, and C)west of the previously mined orebodies, using an underground ramp for access and modern trackless mining equipment.Between March 1, 1973, and the closing of the mine on December 31, 1974, a total of 94,631 short tons of ore averaging 11.6 percent zinc were mined and milled. The Long Lake zinc deposit occurs within a remnant of calcitic marble which forms a xenolith within a large gabbroic intrusion termed the Mountain Grove Mafic Intrusion. The marble remnant has total strike length of about 1 km and is up to 180 metres wide. Layering in the marbles strikes northeast and generally dips steeply to the northwest. These types of marble are distinguished as 1. Very coarse-grained (1cm), massive, calcitic marble. 2. Laminated calcitic marble; and 3. Layered, siliceous calcitic marble. Mineralization at the Long Lake zinc deposit consists principally of sphalerite, with accessory pyrite and pyrrhotite, and minor galena, chalcopyrite, and molybdenite, contained within conformable lenses in the Long Lake marble remnant." Exploration and Mining History Time Line 1897: report of first work on this property. 1901: L. Benn discovered Zn and sank a pit and removed more than 100 tons of ore. 1902-1913: James Richardson bought the property and sunk 5 shafts 18 to 47 m deep along with numerous pits and trenches. 1902-1907: 3,442 tons of Zn were shipped valued at $41,550. 1914-1915: Long Lake Zn Company optioned the property, dewatered the old workings and completed 300 m of diamond drilling. 1927: M.E. Wilson of the Geological Survey of Canada dewatered and examined some of the pits and shafts. 1947-1950: Rochette Gold Mines Ltd optioned the property from J. Richardson. 1949: a 35 tpd mill was installed to process oxidized ore from the surface dumps - this was not successful. One of the shafts was dewatered and 90 m of drilling carried out. 240 tons of Zinc concentrate and 15 tons of lead concentrate were produced. 1950: 25 diamond drill holes were completed. 1966: Mid South Explorations Ltd. optioned the property and completed surface exploration. 1970-1974: Lynx Canada Explorations Ltd in partnership with Canadian Reynolds Metals Ltd purchased the mining rights and leased the surface rights. Initially 25 diamond drill holes (1830 m) were completed that outlined a number of massive sulphide lenses. Another 66 holes (5651 m) outlined the mineralization in detail. Another 68 holes (5041 m) were carried out from surface. An additional 114 holes (1370 m) of drilling was carried out underground. Ground Geophysical surveys were carried out. Production commenced on March 1, 1973 at a rate of two to three hundred tons per day. Maximum depth of the mine was 45 m. Ore was beneficiated to approximately 20% zinc in a heavy media concentrator. This concentrate was shipped to Balmat, NY. to the mill of St. Joe Minerals Corp. The mine closed on Dec 31, 1974.Total production was 94,631 short tons averaging 11.6% zinc, from which 22.3 million pounds of zinc were extracted. OFR5515. 1998: Sparton Resources diamond drill tested EM anomalies on the Long Lake zinc property. Nine diamond drill holes were completed to the west and to the east of the old mine workings. The holes were sampled and assayed for Ni, Ag, Pb, Zn (OFR 5992, p3). Location ID #CM0001
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