Summary:
The Miller project is hydrothermal disseminated and lump vein graphite and architectural marble project.
The Project represents an example of a granulite-hosted, high temperature graphite deposit, which could be paralleled to the Sierra de Aracena metamorphic belt described by Rodas et al. (2000).
Graphite is observed as dissemination and pods/veins in the marble, skarn and paragneiss units of the property, several pods and veins have been identified and explored by Canada Carbon and are named with the VN prefix.
Mineralization
Graphite has been found as disseminations in marble, in sulphide-bearing paragneiss, in pods and veins on the Property. In known occurrences, graphite can be alone or in association with other minerals, including pyroxene, scapolite, titanite, zircon and wollastonite (Spence 1920). Through trenching, Canada Carbon has identified many examples of graphite mineralization associated with marble and detritical rock sequences. Numerous variations of the graphite mineralization are observed within the Project area. Graphite primarily occurs in well crystallized euhedral flakes.
GRAPHITE MINERALIZATION
Wollastonite Pods
Wollastonite-graphite mineralization is a frequent association on the Property. This mineralization form often appears in small pods of tens of centimeters in diameter and can reach up to 1.6 m in thickness at the VN1 showing. Both wollastonite and graphite form well crystallized minerals and graphite assays around 15% in these pods. On the VN2 showing, wollastonite appears as a nucleus around which the graphite appears to accumulate.
Banded Graphite Formation
Banded graphite formations are thin (1 to 5 mm) bands of graphite sandwiched between thin (1 to 10 mm) layers of graphite-quartz-feldspar, stacked closely, and reaching thicknesses of many metres. The grain sizes of this mineralization type are small (less than or equal to 1 mm). The banded formations are continuous over long distances (10 m and longer) and affected by intense folding. The average graphite content of this unit is between 5 and 10%.
Graphite Pods (Marble)
Small pods (tens of centimetres long to a couple of centimetres wide) of pure graphite are often present in the white marble units. Pods of metric scales are also present on the VN2 and VN3 showings. The graphite grains are coarse (5 to 50 mm) and form euhedral flakes. Many of the pods are observed along an east-west alignment direction.
Disseminated Graphite (Marble)
In all the marble units observed, graphite occurs frequently in well crystallized, euhedral, small (1 to 5 mm) disseminated crystals. The chemical reaction between carbonate and silica might have produced calc-silicates and graphite, which seems to precipitate at the boundary of the calcsilicate and marble grains. The average graphite content in the marble is approximately 0.5% graphite.
Disseminated Graphite (Skarn)
Similar to disseminated graphite in marble, disseminated graphite in skarn occurs almost everywhere, more frequently close to marble units. In skarn units farther from marble units, sulfides are more abundant. Graphite in skarn units is often found in clumps instead of flakes and is far less homogenously distributed than in the marble units.
Graphite Veins Graphite veins seem to follow shear or fault zones, which might be evidence of structural control of metamorphic hydrothermal fluids. They are thin, centimeter-wide, sheets of aphanitic graphite that can cover many square metres. Directions of movement of faults are registered in the graphite veins as strikes and kinks. No general directions have been observed, as they are often following folded structures.
MARBLE
The medium to coarse grained white marbles on the Property has demonstrated its visual quality for architectural stone. The suitable white color marbles are overlain by a 1 to 4 m-thick surface alteration that creates a yellowish color and friable layer, which is unsuitable for production. Disseminated graphite (less than 0.5% in abundance) and other accessory minerals include apatite (blue or green), chodrodite and diopside, which give an interesting color for the architectural stone market.