The claims comprising the Project are registered 100% to Patricia Lafontaine. On August 9, 2023, CoTec announced that it had entered into an option agreement to acquire 100% of the right, title, and interest of the mining claims comprising the Project.
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Summary:
Mineralisation
The iron formations underlying the Gagnon Terrane are classified as Lake Superior-type and hosted by the Wabush Formation, the metamorphosed equivalent of the Sokoman (iron) Formation, which consists of a banded sedimentary unit composed principally of bands of iron oxides, magnetite and hematite within quartz (chert)-rich rock with variable amounts of silicate, carbonate and sulphide lithofacies. Metamorphic grade ranges from greenschist facies near the Grenville Front to amphibolite-granulite facies farther south. As a result of the tectono-metamorphism, the iron formation has preferentially migrated to, and is structurally thickened in fold hinges, the mineralisation is coarsely recrystallized, and the mineral assemblage of the principal iron ores is martite-magnetite-quartz and specular hematite-quartz.
The principal iron-oxide deposits found in the Gagnon Terrane are grouped into two types: quartz/specular hematite and quartz/specular hematite-magnetite. The Lac Jeannine deposit was host to a mainly medium- to coarse-grained quartz/specular hematite.
There are no catalogued mineral occurrences on the Property; however, the Property hosts tailings material that was generated during the processing of ore from the historic open-pit Lac Jeannine Mine, which hosted a Superior-type iron formation deposit.
Between 1961 and 1976, the Lac Jeannine open pit mine extracted 265,897,000 (long) tons of ore at 33% iron, in mainly specular hematite form.
Deposit Types
Iron formations are classified as chemical sedimentary rock containing greater than 15% iron consisting of iron-rich beds usually interlayered on a centimetre scale with chert, quartz, or carbonate. Ore is mainly composed of magnetite and hematite and is commonly associated with mature sedimentary rocks.
Stratiform iron formations are distributed throughout the world in the major tectonic belts of the Precambrian shields and in many Palaeozoic and Mesozoic fold belts as well as parts of the present-day ocean floor. Gross (2009) noted that the enormous size of some of the Archean and Paleoproterozoic iron formations reflect the unique global tectonic features and depositional environments for iron formation that were distinctive of the time.
Although various models have been used to explain the deposition of iron formations, current thinking (summarized in Cannon 1992, Gross 1996, Gross 2009) supports the idea of iron formation deposition resulting from the syngenetic precipitation of iron-rich minerals in a marine setting due to hydrothermal exhalative activity on the ocean floor. The iron is thought to have formed in tectonic-sedimentary environments where silica, iron, ferrous and non-ferrous metals were available in abundance, mainly from hydrothermal sources, and where conditions were favourable for their rapid deposition with minimal clastic sediment input.
Hydrothermal processes related to volcanism and major tectonic features are thought to be the principal source of iron and other metals. Deep fractures and crustal dislocations over hot spots and high thermal gradients penetrating the upper mantle enabled convective circulation, alteration and leaching of metals from the upper crust including possible contributions by magmatic fluids. Iron formations are not only important hosts of enriched iron and manganese ore but are also markers for massive sulphide deposits. Deposition of the iron was influenced by the pH and Eh of the ambient water and biogenic anaerobic processes may have also played a role (Gross 1996, Gross 2009).
Post depositional events such as weathering, groundwater circulation and hydrothermal circulation can modify the deposits and the mineralogy is usually recrystallized and coarsened by medium- to high-grade metamorphism. Protracted supergene alteration can be an important economic fact in upgrading the primary iron formation (Gross 1996).
Iron formations can be subdivided into two types, related to two major types of tectonic environments: the Lake Superior-type on continental shelf and marginal basins adjacent to deep seated fault and fracture systems and subduction zones along craton borders; and the Algoma-type along volcanic arcs and rift systems, and other major disruptions of the earth’s crust.
The development of Lake Superior-types was related to global tectonics that caused the breakup of cratons, shields or plates in the Paleoproterozoic. Rapitan-type have distinctive lithological features being associated with diamictite and were deposited in grabens and fault scarp basins along rifted margins of continents or ancient cratons in sequences of Late Proterozoic and Early Palaeozoic rocks.
Lake Superior-Type Iron Formations
Extensive Lake Superior-type iron formations occur on all continents, in parts of relatively stable sedimentary-tectonic systems developed along the margins of cratons or epi-continental platforms. Most of the thicker iron formations were deposited in shallow basins on continental shelves and platforms in neritic environments, interbedded with mature sedimentary deposits (Gross, 2009).
The following are definitive characteristics of ore deposits of the Lake Superior-type iron formations (Gross 1996):
• Iron content is 30% or greater.
• Discrete units of oxide lithofacies iron formation is clearly segregated from silicate, carbonate or sulphide facies and other barren rock.
• Iron is uniformly distributed in discrete grains or grain clusters of hematite, magnetite and goethite in a cherty or granular quartz matrix.
• Iron formations, repeated by folding and faulting, provide thick sections amenable to mining.
• Metamorphic enlargement of grain size has improved the quality of the ore for concentration and processing.
Iron formation deposition coincided with volcanism in linear tectonic belts along the continental margins. Most of the sedimentary-tectonic belts in which they were deposited were characterized by extensive volcanic activity that coincided with the deepening of the linear basins or trough in the offshore areas and by extrusion and intrusion of mafic and ultramafic rocks throughout the shelf and marginal rift belts near the close or after the main periods of iron formation deposition (Gross, 2009).
Lac Jeannine Tailings Storage Facility Deposit
CoTec’s primary focus is on reprocessing the tailings material from the Lac Jeannine Mine and later, the Fire Lake Mine. This tailings material primarily consists of fine- to medium-grained quartz and specular hematite.
The tailings storage facility contains free iron, offering a potential opportunity for reworking and extracting additional iron.