Nickel Deposits of 

North America 

By H. R. CORNWALL 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1223 

Geology, resources, and reserves of 

nickel sulfide and nickeliferous 

laterite deposits in 7 Provinces of 

Canada and 15 States of the 

United States 

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1966 
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

STEWART L. UDALL, Secretary 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

William T. Pecora, Director 

l!'irst printing 1966 

Second printing 1967 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printint Office 

Washintton, D.C. 20402- Price 25 cents (paper cover) 
CONTENTS 

Page 

Abstract---------------------------------------------------------- 1 Introduction __________________________ --.- _____________________ ---- 1 

Types of deposits __________________________________________ ---- 2 

Sulfide deposits------------------------------------------- 3 

Nickeliferous laterite deposits _______ ------------------------ 4 

Nickel minerals _____________________________ ----- ___ ---------- 4 

Native nickel-iron _____________________________________ ---- 6 

Sulfides-------------------------------------------------- 7 PenUandue___________________________________________ 7 

Bravoite and violarite ______________________________ ---- 7 

Vaesite----------------------------------------------- 8 

~illerite---------------------------------------------- 8 Heazlewoodite_ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ _____ 8 

Linnaeite, polydymite, siegenite, and violarite_____________ 8 

Other minerals ___ ------___________________________________ 8 

Nickel arsenide, sulfarsenide, antimonide, and other minerals_ 8 

Hydrated nickel arsenate, sulfate, and carbonate__________ 9 

Garnierite ___ ._______ _ __ __ _ _ ___ __ _ __ __ __ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ 9 

Nickel resources_______________________________________________ 9 

Nickel deposits of Canada__________________________________________ 15 

British Columbia ____ ---- ________________________________ ---___ 16 

Hope---------------------------------------------------- 16 

~anitoba----------------------------------------------------- 17 

Lynn Lake district----------------------------------------- 17 Thompson-~oak Lake district_ _________ -------------------- 20 

NewBrunswick----------------------------------------------- 23 

St. Stephen----------------------------------------------- 23 

Northwest Territories ______ ---- _____________________ ----------- 24 

Rankin Inlet ____________ ------- ______________________ ----- 24 

OntariO------------------------------------------------------ 25 Alexo Nickel mine ____________________________________ - ___ - 25 

Kenora district ______ ----- ___________________________ ------ 25 

GordonLake------------------------------------------ 25 

PopulusLake----------------------------------------- 25 

Limerick township ___ ---------_---------------------------- 26 

Raglan township ____ -------- ________ ---------------------- 26 

ShebandowanLake---------------------------------------- 26 

Sudbury district ______ ------ _________________ -------------- 26 

Timmins-------------------------------------------------- 32 

TroutLake----------------------------------------------- 33 

Quebec------------------------------------------------------- 33 Belleterre ________________________________________ ----- _ --- 33 

La ~otte township ___ ------------------------------------- 34 

U nga va district ______________________________ - _- ---------- 34 

UI 
IV CONTENTS 

Nickel deposits of Canada-Continued Page 

1rukon------------------------------------------------------- 35 

Canala.sk (White River)------------------------------------ 35 

Quill Creek (Kluane Lake)---------------------------------- 35 

Nickel deposits of the United States--------------------------------- 36 

Alaska------------------------------------------------------- 36 Bohemia Basin, 1rakobi Island______________________________ 36 

Brady Glacier ___________________________ ----- ________ ----_ 37 

Funter Bay, Admiralty Island______________________________ 37 

Mirror Harbor, Fleming Island------------------------------ 38 

Snipe Bay, Baranof Island---------------------------------- 39 

Spirit Mountain, Copper River area_________________________ 39 

Arkansas----------------------------------------------------- 39 

Saline CountY--------------------------------------------- 39 

California---------------------------------------------------- 40 

Julian---------------------------------------------------- 40 Oldlronsides_____________________________________________ 41 

ColoradO----------------------------------------------------- 41 

Boulder CountY------------------------------------------- 41 

Connecticut--------------------------------------------------- 42 

MountProspect------------------------------------------- 42 

Hodges--------------------------------------------------- 42 

Idaho-------------------------------------------------------- 42 

Montgomery---------------------------------------------- 42 

Maine------------------------------------------------------- 43 

JGnox CountY--------------------------------------------- 43 

Minnesota---------------------------------------------------- 43 

ElY------------------------------------------------------ 43 Missouri______________________________________________________ 44 

FredericktoVfn-------------------------------------------- 44 

Montana----------------------------------------------------- 45 

Mouat--------------------------------------------------- 45 

Nevada------------------------------------------------------ 46 Bunkerville district________________________________________ 46 

CottonlVood Canyon--------------------------------------- 47 Gibellini deposit___________________________________________ 48 

North Carolina________________________________________________ 48 

Webster-------------------------------------------------- 48 

Oregon and California------------------------------------------ 49 Nickeliferous laterites______________________________________ 49 

Nickel Mountain ____ -------------------------------------- 51 

Pennsylvania-------------------------------------------------- 52 

Gap Nickel mine_----------------------------------------- 52 

Washington--------------------------------------------------- 53 BlelVett deposit _______________________________ ---------___ 53 

CleElum------------------------------------------------- 54 

JumboMountain------------------------------------------ 55 

MackinalV------------------------------------------------ 56 

WinesaP-----------------------------------------------·-- 57 References cited ______________________________________________ ----- 58 
CONTENTS v 

ILLUSTRATION 

Page 

FIGURE 1. Nickel deposits of North America__________________________ 11 

TABLES 

TABLE 1. Nickel minerals ____ ------------------- ____ -------- __ ----- 5 

2. Nickel deposits of North America___________________________ 10 

3. Total nickel resources of North America____________________ 10 

4. Nickel reserves of North America___________________________ 12 

5. Marginal and submarginal nickel resources of North America__ 13 

6. Nickel-copper reserves of Lynn Lake, 195L_________________ 18 

7. Ore reserves in the Sudbury district_________________________ 33 

8. Nickel-iron resources at Cle Elum, Wash____________________ 35 

NICKEL DEPOSITS OF NORTH: AMERICA 

By H. R. CoRNWALL 

ABSTRACT 

Nickel is estimated to be the fifth most abundant element of the earth, having 

an average bulk percentage of 2.7. The average nickel content of the earth's 

crust, however, is estimated to be only 0.008 percent. The minimum concentration of nickel in deposits that can be economically mined is about 1.2 percent, or 

150 times the content of the crustal rocks in which the deposits occur. 

There are two principal types of nickel deposits : ( 1) sulfide deposits consisting mainly of pyrrhotite and pentlandite, with or without accompanying 

chalcopyrite, and closely associated with norite and peridotite, and (2) nickeliferous laterite deposits, occurring as weathering mantles that overlie peridotite (the nickel silicate variety) and serpentinite (the nickeliferous iron 

variety). 

The largest nickel sulfide deposits in the world are in Canada-in the Sudbury 

district, Ontario, and the Thompson district, Manitoba. Smaller deposits of 

this type are scattered throughout Canada and the United States. Small nickelcobalt deposits, characterized by sulfides, sulfosalts, and arsenides and related 

to intermediate or salle igneous intrusives, also occur in Canada and the United 

States. 

Nickeliferous laterite deposits have been explored in parts of the Northwestern 

and Southeastern United States. Mining of one deposit in Oregon was begun 

in 1954. 

Nickeliferous laterite clearly appears to be the result of weathering under 

tropical to subtropical conditions, probably mostly in Tertiary time. The sulfide 

deposits are generally believed to have resulted, in part, from magmatic segregation of immiscible sulfides and concentration by gravity sorting of the lighter 

and heavier fractions. This theory is contested by some geologists, however, 

particularly for deposits in several of the larger districts. The most popular 

alternate theory is that the deposits formed by deposition from hydrothermal 

solutions that migrated upward from igneous sources at depth along permeable 

zones of fracturing and faulting. One large recently discovered deposit possibly 

formed by the leaching effect of sulfur-bearing solutions on peridotite during 

regional metamorphism. 

Resources and reserves in individual deposits are given if the information 

is available. 

INTRODUCTION 

Nickel is widespread, in fact, ubiquitous in nature. Estimates of 

the nickel content of the earth's crust range from 0.008 to 0.02 weight 

percent (Fleischer, 1953). IDtramafic igneous rocks-dunite, peridotite, and pyroxenite-contain the most nickel, 0.1--0.3 percent. Vino1 
2 NICKEL DEPOSITS OF NORTH .AMEcRICA 

gradov (1956) estimated the average nickel content of these rocks to 

be 0.12 percent. His estimates for other rock types are: mafic igneous 

rocks (basalt, gabbro, norite, and related rocks) 0.016 percent; neutral 

igneous rocks (diorite, andesite), 0.0055 percent; silicic igneous rocks 

(granite, rhyolite, and related rocks), 0.0008 percent; and sedimentary 

rocks (clay, shale), 0.0095 percent. 

A generally accepted theory is that the core of the earth, 4,300 miles 

in diameter, has a composition similar to that of iron meteorites, most 

of which are kamacite, native iron, having a nickel content of almost 

7 percent. Inasmuch as the margin of the core is 1,800 miles below the 

. earth's surface, this vast amount of nickel will probably never become 

available to man. The crust of the earth (about 10 miles thick), from 

which man must obtain the nickel he needs, contains only 0.003 percent 

of the total nickel in the earth, as computed from data given by Mason 

( 1958, p. 44, 50) . 

The mantle, lying between the crust and the core of the earth, is 

nearly 1,800 miles thick and is believed to be peridotitic. These ultramafic rocks, like similar rocks exposed at the surface, may contain 

0.1-0.3 percent nickel. And because the mantle makes up more than 

two-thirds of the total mass of the earth, it probably contains a large 

quantity of nickel. 

The peridotite and related mafic rocks that have intruded the crust 

of the earth and are in part exposed at the surface probably have been 

derived largely from the mantle. Furthermore, most of the known 

nickel ore deposits are closely associated with mafic and ultramafic intrusive rocks, and the nickel in the ore bodies was probably derived 

either from the intrusives themselves or from similar rocks at depth. 

Thus the original source of most of the nickel ore bodies found in 

North America and elsewhere in the world was probably the mantle. 

TYPES OF DEPOSITS 

All the significant types of nickel ore deposits are represented in 

North America. Sulfide deposits are by far the most important source 

of nickel, both quantitatively and numerically. In 1964 two single 

districts of sulfide deposits in Canada were producing about 80 percent 

of the free world total; one of these, the Sudbury district, has produced more than half the total world supply since about 1905. 

Another type of deposit, in which sulfides (together with arsenides 

of nickel, cobalt, and copper) occur in hydrothermal veins, has been 

found in both Canada and the United States, but these deposits are 

small and unimportant sources of nickel. 

Important nickel deposits are found in the lateritic mantles formed 

by the weathering of peridotite, including dunite, pyroxenite, and 
INTRODUCTroN 3 

serpentinite, mostly in tropical and subtropical climates. The weathering of fresh peridotite has yielded the nickel silicate laterite in 

which the hydrosilicate garnierite is the principal nickel mineral. 

These deposits contain more than 1.5 percent nickel. Large deposits of 

this type occur in New Caledonia and medium to large deposits occur 

in Indonesia, Venezuela, Brazil, Oregon (United States), and elsewhere. The weathering of serpentinite (serpentinized peridotite) has 

also formed nickeli:ferous iron laterite that averages 0.9-1.4 percent 

nickel. Large deposits of this type occur in Cuba and the Philippines 

and medium to large deposits occur in Indonesia, the U.S.S.R., Western 

United States, Guatemala, and other localities. 

SULFIDE DEPOSITS 

The nickel-bearing sulfide deposits typically consist predominantly 

of pyrrhotite (F6t-4'S) and associated pentlandite [(Fe, Ni) 9 88] and 

chalcopyrite (CuFeS2 ). Many of the deposits contain minor but recoverable amounts of platinum metals, cobalt, and selenium. These 

deposits occur in or near peridotite or norite intrusions and are generally considered to be genetically related to them. The sulfides occur 

as disseminations, massive bodies, or veins and stringers in the igneous 

rocks. Some of the massive ores contain fragments of the host rock. 

The individual ore bodies are normally elongate, lenticular, or sheetlike and may extend for hundreds or thousands of feet. 

Some deposits are clearly epigenetic and the place of deposition 

was structurally controlled. Such ore bodies commonly occur along 

faults or shear zones. Many deposits, however, occur at or near the 

base of peridotite or norite intrusives and are particularly well formed 

in local hollows or reentrants along the basal contacts. Many geologists consider deposits of this type to have resulted from segregation 

of immiscible liquid sulfide droplets from the parent mafic or ultramafic magma at an early stage of crystallization, followed by settling 

and coalescing of the droplets to form a sulfide zone at the 

base of the intrusive. In many small deposits associated with relatively small intrusives, the evidence for formation by such a mechanism 

is strong. 

Some of the largest deposits, such as those in the Sudbury district, 

Ontario, Canada, also occur along the base of a mafic intrusiveat Sudbury a basin-shaped or funnellike norite intrusive-but their 

origin is disputed. Some geologists favor the theory of magmatic 

segregation, that is, that the iron-nickel-copper sulfides separated 

from the norite and settled to form sulfide concentrations along the 

base. Others support a theory of epigenetic origin, that is, that sulfides were introduced into the norite contact zone by hydrothermal 
4 NICKEL DEPOSI'l'S OF NORTH AME·RICA 

solutions that migrated from depth. The Sudbury deposits are described in some detail on pages 26-82, and the alternative theories of 

origin, including one involving the possibility of a meteoritic impact, 

are discussed. 

NICKELIFEROUS LATERITE DEPOSITS 

Laterite has formed over large areas during long periods of intensive weathering and erosion, mainly in tropical to subtropical climates, 

where stable landmasses have gradually been reduced to almost 

flat, featureless peneplains. Such a period of erosion took place in the 

Tertiary in many parts of the world. Where the rock exposed at 

the surface was peridotite (composed essentially of olivine and 

pyroxene), dunite (all olivine), pyroxenite (all pyroxene), or serpentinite (serpentinized peridotite), the laterite that was developed 

is almost invariably rich in iron and nickel. 

The laterite formed from the weathering of serpentinite is richest 

in iron, generally containing 45-55 percent. The nickel content of 

this laterite commonly averages about 1 percent, ranging from about 

0.9 to 1.3 percent for large volumes of material. These deposits are 

called nickeliferous iron laterite. The mode of occurrence of the 

nickel in this laterite is not known; most likely the nickel is included 

in the goethite, limonite, and serpentine minerals, which are the major 

constituents. Huge deposits of nickeliferous iron laterite, such as 

those in Cuba, the Philippines, and Indonesia, have not been mined in 

North America, but several smaller deposits have been thoroughly 

explored in California, Oregon, and Washington. 

The other type of nickeliferous laterite is known as the nickel silicate 

type, because a significant part of the nickel occurs either as the 

hydrosilieate garnierite or as nickel-bearing talc or antigorite. This 

laterite has formed from the weathering of fresh peridotite, dunite, 

and, to a lesser degree, pyroxenite. The iron content is less than 30 

percent in most laterite of this type; the Si02 content, which is very 

low in the iron laterite, may be as much as 30 percent; and the nickel 

content exceeds 1.5 percent and averages about 1.6 percent for large 

tonnages. The largest known deposits of nickel silicate laterite occur 

in New Caledonia and Indonesia. A moderately large deposit occurs 

in the United States at Riddle, Oreg. 

NICKEL MINERALS 

The nickel minerals are listed in table 1. The nickel-iron sulfide 

pentlandite [(Fe, Ni}DS8 ] is the principal economic source of nickel, 

and garnierite [ (Ni, Mg) hydrosilicate] is next in economic importance. Garnierite-also called nickel gymnite, genthite, noumeite, 

and nepouite (Pecora and others, 1949, p. 22)-is not a true mineral 
INTRODUCTION 5 

but rather a mixture of nickel-serpentine, nickel-talc, and possibly 

other silicates. TABLE 1.-Nickel minerals 

Mineral 

Native nickel-iron __ Pentlandite _______ _ Bravoite _____ - __ -- _ Violarite __________ _ V aesite ___________ _ 

Polydymite _______ _ Millerite __________ _ 

Heazlewoodite ____ _ 

Siegenite ___ ------- Linnaeite _________ _ Gersdorffite _______ _ 

Niccolite ___ ------- Rammelsbergite ___ _ Chloanthite _______ _ Smaltite __________ _ 

Skutterudite ______ _ Maucherite _______ _ Breithauptite ______ _ Ullmannite _______ _ Parkerite _________ _ Annabergite ______ _ 

Morenosite ___ ----- Zaratite __________ _ 

Garnierite ___ ------

Formula 

Ni3Fe ______ ----------

(Fe, NihSs------------

(Fe, Ni)S2. ----------- Ni2FeS•- __ ----------- Ni82- __ -------------- NiS NiaS•----------------- _________________ _ 

Nia82----- _- __ -------- (Ni, Co)384-- ---------

NiAsS (Co, Fe, Ni)aS4-------- ______________ _ NiAs ________________ _ 

NiAs2----------------

(Ni, Co)Asa-z----- ---- (Co, Ni)Asa-z---------

(Co, Ni)Asa----------- NiuAss---- ___ -- __ --- _ NiSb ________________ _ NiSbS ______________ _ 

NiaBi282- ------------- Nia(As04)2.8H20 __ - __ --

Ni804·7H20 __ --------- NiCOa·2Ni(OHh·4 

H20. 

(Ni, Mg) hydrosilicate. 

Occurrence 

Rare. 

Common. 

Minor-secondary. 

Do. 

Rare. 

Do. 

Minor-secondary. 

Rare. 

Minor. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Rare. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Rare-secondary. 

Do. 

Do. 

Common-secondary. 

Besides the nickel minerals listed in table 1, nickel occurs in minor 

amounts in pyrrhotite (F~-a:S) and pyrite (FeS2), particularly where 

these sulfides are associated with mafic or ultramafic rocks. In most of 

these occurrences the total amount of included nickel is less than 1 percent (Fleischer, 1955; Palache and others, 1946). Nickel may replace 

iron to a considerable extent in these minerals, but substantial amounts 

may also be present as intergrowths of pentlandite or other nickel sulfides (Fleischer, 1955; Deer and others, 1962b, p. 150). Native terrestrial iron also contains nickel, commonly in amounts ranging from 

2 to 7 percent, but such native iron is rare; it occurs in basalts and carbonaceous sediments and with limonite and organic matter in petrified wood (Palache and others, 1946, p. 114-116). The most important 

occurrence of native terrestrial iron is on Disko Island, Greenland, 

where it occurs in basalt as particles and in places as masses as large 

as20tons. 

New significant data have been published for some minerals, such 

as the Ni-S system (Kullerud and Yund, 1962), the Fe--Ni-S system 

(Clark and Kullerud, 1963), and native nickel-iron (Nickel, 1959). 

These are described in greater detail in the following sections. 
6 NICKEL DEPOSITS OF NORTH AMIDRICA 

NATIVE NICKEL-IRON 

Nickel (1959, p. 307) noted that terrestrial nickel-iron has been 

found in widely scattered areas throughout the world. Most of the 

native nickel-iron has been found in alluvial gravel deposits, as, for 

example, along the Gorge River at Awarua Bay, New Zealand; the 

Fraser River, British Columbia; the Brokovka River in the Urals, 

U.S.S.R.; and in Josephine and J aclrson Counties, Oreg. The na.tive 

nickel-iron-given various names including awaruite, josephinite, 

souesite, and br.okovkite-all contains 60-75 percent nickel, 25-35 percent iron, and minor amounts of cobalt. 

Most of the nickel-iron specimens are not attached to any other 

material, but a few have adhering serpentine. In a few places native 

nickel-iron has been found in place in bedrock, but only in serpentine. 

Ramdohr (1950b) recognized the close association of native nickeliron with serpentine and suggested a thermal origin for the native 

metals in the ·temperature range of talc formation. He also noted the 

association of these metals with sulfides of nickel and iron and with 

native copper and copper sulfides. Ramdohr further suggested that 

native nickel-iron is probably widely distributed in serpentine but in 

grains so small that they pass unseen, whereas the larger grains and 

bodies of native nickel-iron are concentrated in the placer deposits and 

are more easily recognized. Morley (1949) has described josephinite 

(native nickel-iron) occurrences associated with chromite, magnetite, 

and platinum in stream gravels in Josephine County, Oreg. For many 

years mineralogists assumed that the josephinite was derived from 

serpentine through which Josephine Creek cut its channel, but samples 

of j.osephinite with serpentine adhering to it were not described. Of 

the 75 specimens collected by Morley, several had serpentine adhering 

to the josephinite. The 75 specimens ranged in largest dimension from 

3.2 to 31.4 mm. Morley stated that specimens of considerably larger 

size have been found, but that they are rare. Nickel (1959) studied 

the widespread occurrence of native nickel-iron in serpentinized dunite 

and peridotite of the asbestos deposits in the eastern townships of 

Quebec. He collected specimens in half a dozen different deposits and 

found microsoopically that all the serpentinized specimens contained 

rather uniformly disseminated tiny grains of native nickel-iron. The 

largest grain observed was one-tenth millimeter in diameter, and many 

were as small as 10 microns. The chemical analysis of two grains 

showed a nickel content of about 70 percent, iron content of about 25 

percent or slightly more, and the remainder cobalt. 

In trying to determine the origin of the native nickel-iron, Nickel 

(1959, p. 313-316) assayed serpentines containing microscopically 

visible native nickel-iron and included unserpentinized crystals of 

olivine and pyroxene. The fresh olivine and pyroxene did not con-
INTRODUCTION 7 

tain microscopically visible grains of native nickel-iron but nevertheless contained about the same percentage of nickel as the serpentine, 

0.2 percent. Nickel found that in the serpentinized rock about onehalf of the total nickel occurs as visible native nickel-iron; the rest 

apparently is in the silicate structure of the serpentine. In the 

fresh olivine and pyroxene, all the nickel appears to be in the silicate. 

These data, he concluded, indicate that the native nickel-iron formed 

during serpentinization of the olivine and pyroxene. This conclusion is in general agreement with Ramdohr's theory ( 1950b). 

SULFIDES 

Most of the nickel in nickel sulfide deposits occurs as pentlandite, 

but in nearly all these deposits pyrrhotite is the most abundant sulfide 

mineral. Two other mixed iron-nickel sulfides that are probably 

secondary alterations of pentlandite are bravoite and violarite. Nickel 

and sulfur form a suite of minerals that occur in minor amounts, 

mostly in association with pyrrhotite and pentlandite. These are, in 

order of increasing nickel content, vaesite, polydymite, millerite, and 

heazlewoodite. Cobalt and nickel occur together as siegenite and 

linnaeite in some copper and lead-zinc sulfide deposits. 

Pentlandite.-Natural pentlandite [(Fe, Ni)gS8 ] apparently has a 

constant composition with the Fe :Ni ratio equal to 10 :11, but synthetic 

pentlandite has a wide range in the Fe :Ni ratio, which varies with 

temperature and sulfur pressure (Hawley and others, 1943, p. 335; · 

Hawley and Haw, 1957; Kullerud, 1956). Hawley and Haw (1957, 

p. 138) believed that the constant composition of natural pentlandite 

is explained by exsolution on cooling from an original nickeliferous 

pyrrhotite [(Fe, Ni h-a1Sl solid solution that forms at a higher 

temperature. They further stated that "Natural nickeliferous sulfide 

ores consist dominantly of pyrrhotite with lesser quantities of pentlandite and chalcopyrite. Average pentlandite in some ores is about 

10 percent, and average Ni :Fe is probably less than 10 :90. Textural 

relations of pyrrhotite and pentlandite are intimate and dominantly 

of an ex-solution type." 

Bravoite and violarite.-Bravoite [ (Fe,Ni) 82] and violarite 

(Ni2FeS.) most commonly are secondary minerals formed from 

primary sulfides in the weathering zone by circulating ground water 

(Ramdohr, 1955; Clark and Kullerud, 1963). Clark and Kullerud 

found experimentally that bravoite must form below 137°±6°C; above 

that temperature the end members pyrite (FeS2) and vaesite (NiS2) 

form a stable mineral assemblage. Violarite may also form by 

deposition in veins from hydrothermal solutions, together with other 

complex sulfides of the linnaeite series (Ramdohr, 1955; Palache and 

others, 1946) . 
8 NICKEL DEPOSITS OF NORTH AMERICA 

Vae8ite.-Vaesite (NiS2) was first described by Kerr {1945} after 

its discovery in the Kasompi Mine, in what is now the Republic of 

the Congo, in a disseminated deposit in dolomite. together with pyrite, 

chalcopyrite, and polydymite ( ~). Vaesite has recently been investigated experimentally by Kullerud and Yund (1962). Their data 

indicate that the Kasompi mine vaesite formed at 390°C; thus it is 

a hydrothermal mineral, even though microscopic studies (Ramdohr, 

1955) indicate that it is a secondary alteration of other nickel sulfides 

and arsenides. 

Millerite.-Millerite (NiS) has been found at numerous localities; 

its mode of occurrence suggests that it is a supergene mineral, formed 

by the action of ground waters on nickel-bearing sulfides. Laboratory 

experiments indicate that it may also form under hydrothermal conditions at temperatures above 300°C (Ramdohr, 1955; Kullerud and 

Y und, 1962). 

Heaslewoodite.-Heazlewoodite (NisS2) has been identified at only 

a few localities; it occurs as tiny crystals disseminated in serpentinized 

peridotite and associated with pentlandite, native nickel-iron, magnetite, and shandite, a rare nickel mineral having the composition 

NisPb2S2 (Ramdohr, 1950a, 1955). This association indicates that 

heazlewoodite, like native nickel-iron, is formed hydrothermally 

during serpentinization of peridotite. Kullerud and Yund (1962, 

p. 170) found that heazlewoodite forms together with native nickel 

at a eutectoid at 533°C by cooling of Nis+zS2 that had deposited earlier 

in equilibrium with native nickel or nickel-iron. 

Linnaeite, polydyrnite, 8iegenite, and violarite.-These nickel-bearing minerals of the linnaeite series having the general formula (Co, 

Fe, Ni) sS4 occur in hydrothermal vein and replacement deposits 

commonly associated with pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, and sphalerite. 

Violarite also occurs as a supergene weathering product of primary 

pentlandite and linnaeite. 

OTHER :MINERALS 

The remaining nickel minerals grouped together here are, except 

for garnierite, unimportant commercially. Included in this group 

are the arsenides and antimonides and their sulfosalts, plus their alteration products-the arsenates, sulfates, carbonates, and silicates. 

These minerals characteristically occur in hydrothermal vein deposits 

primarily important for their cobalt and silver content. Garnierite is 

most abundant in the lateritic weathering mantles that overlie ultramafic intrusives. 

N iclcel ar8enide, wJ,far8enide, antimonide, and other mineral8.-The 

minerals in this group are gersdor:ffite (NiAsS), niccolite (NiAs), 
INTRODUCTroN 9 

rammelsbergite ( NiAs2) chloanthite [ ( Ni, Co) Asa-m], smaltite [ (Co, 

Ni)Asa-m], skutterudite [(Co, Ni)As3 ], maucherite (NillAss), breihauptite (NiSb), ullmannite (NiSbS), and parkerite (NiaBi2S2). 

These minerals occur in and characterize hydrothermal vein deposits 

that have been called the nickel-cobalt-native silver ore type by Bastin 

( 1939). The deposits are mined for silver and cobalt; the nickel 

is not economically important. Copper and lead minerals ·are also 

present, and native bismuth is characteristic. The most important 

deposits are in the Erzgebirge of East Germany and Czechoslovakia, 

and the Cobalt district, Ontario, Canada. Some of these deposits 

have been enriched by supergene processes. Bastin (1939) believed 

that the mineralizing solutions were derived from granitic magmas, 

although the cobalt deposits are associated with diabase. In the major 

nickel-copper ores of pyrrhotite, pentlandite, and chalcopyrite at Sudbury, niccolite and gersdorffite are locally abundant, but maucherite, 

smaltite, and parkerite are rare (Hawley, 1962). Because these minerals are intimately intergrown with the other sulfides, particularly 

chalcopyrite, they are believed to be primary. 

Hydra:ted nickel arsenate, sulfate, and carbonate.-Annabergite 

[Nia(As04)2·8H20], morenosite (NiS04·7H20), and zaratite [Ni 

COa·2Ni(OHh·4H20] form in the weathering of .primary nickel 

minerals and are particularly common in the oxidized zone of the 

nickel-cobalt-native silver deposits. Zaratite has been found associated 

with chromite in serpentine. 

Garnierite.-Garnierite is probably a mixture of two or more nickelmagnesium silicates. Pecora, Hobbs, and Murata (1949) studied eight 

samples of garnierite from Riddle, Oreg., by various methods, including chemical, X-ray, and differential thermal analyses and microscopic 

study. They concluded that the garnierite is a mixture of serpentine, 

deweylite, and saponite. The nickel content of the samples ranged 

from 2.62 to 37.08 percent. Hotz ( 1964, p. 382--385), from a recently 

completed X-ray study of garnierite from Riddle (Nickel Mountain) 

and from Woodcock Mountain, Oreg., concluded that the garnierite 

appears to be a mixture of nickel serpentine and nickeliferous talc. 

Deer, Howie, and Zussman (1962a, p. 175-177) called garnierite "a 

naturally occurring nickel serpentine." 

NICKEL RESOURCES 

The nickel deposits of North America, except for a few small and 

insignificant ones, are listed in table 2 and located on figure 1. 

The nickel resources are summarized in table 3, reserves in individual deposits ·are listed in table 4, and resources in marginal and submarginal deposits are listed in table 5. 
10 

Number 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

NICKEL DEPOSI'l.1S OF NORTH AMERICA 

TABLE 2.-Nickel deposits of North America 

[Localities shown by number on fig. i] 

Locality State or province Number Locality 

Spirit Mountain ___ Alaska. 28 Webster----------- Brady Glacier _____ Do. 29 Fredericktown ____ Funter Bay ______ Do. 30 Saline County _____ Bohemia Basin ____ Do. 31 Boulder County __ Mirror Harbor _____ Do. 32 Mouat _____________ 

Snipe Bay--------- Do. 33 Jumbo Mountain __ Cana.la.sk •• ________ Qu111 Creek ________ Yukon. 34 Mackinaw---------

Do. 35 Winesap._-------- Rankin Inlet ______ Northwest Terri- 36 Blewett_---------- tories. Ole Elum _________ Ungava ___________ Quebec. 37 Nickel Mountain •• Lynn Lake ________ Manitoba.. 38 Woodcock Thompson ________ Hope Do. Mountain. ______________ British Columbia. Eight Dollar Trout Lake ________ Ontario. Mountain. Gordon Lake ______ Do. Red Flats _________ 

Populus Lake _____ Do. Pine Flat._------- Shebandowan Do. 39 Cottonwood 

Lake. Canyon. 

Sudbury---------- Do. 40 GibellinL --------- Timmins---------- Do. 41 Bunkerville _______ 

Alexo·. _ ------·---- Do. 42 Julian _____ -------- Limerick __________ Do. Old Ironsides ______ Raglan ____________ Do. 43 Little Red 

Belle terre. __ ------ Quebec. Mountain. La Motte __________ Do. 44 Montgomery------ St. Stephen _______ New Brunswick. 45 

Knox Gap _______________ County----- Maine. 46 ~~dges:=======:::: Pennsylvania. Mount Prospect ___ 

TABLE 3.-Total nickel resources of North America 

State or province 

North Carolina.. 

Missouri. 

Arkansas. 

Colorado. 

Montana. 

Washington. Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. Or~n. o. 

Do. 

Do. 

California.. 

Nevada. 

Do. 

Do. 

California. 

Do. 

Do. 

Idaho. 

Minnesota. 

Connecticut. 

Do. 

Measured and indicated Inferred 

Nickel- Grade, Nickel- Grade, 

~~~ (percent Nickel bearing (percent Nickel 

Ni) (tons) material Ni) (tons) (tons) (tons) 

Reserves: Canada, sulfide ore _________ 429, 856, 000 1.46 6,278, 500 (1) (1) (1) 

United States, laterite ore ••• 16,200,000 1.50 243,000 --------·----- ---------- ---------- Marginal and submarginal re- sources: Canada, sulfide material ____ 2, 188,000 .75 16,400 -------------- ---------- ---------- United States, sulfide ma.-

terial--------------------- 17,444,500 .42 74,000 25,160,000 0.37 93,400 

United States, laterite ma.-

terial--------------------- 54,090,000 .78 421,800 13,630,000 .58 78,600 

l Data not available; gross tonnage probably large and grade probably comparable to figure given for 

measured and indicated ore. 
INTRODUCTION 11 

70' 180' 170' 160' 140' 120' 100' 80' 60' 40' 20' 10' 70' 

• >1.000,000 

0 

10' 10,000-50,000 

--- <1~000 NICKELIFEROUS LATERITES 

t;. 

300,000 

• + o• 10,000-200,000 <1000 

120' 110' 100' 90' so· 

FIGURE 1.-Nickel deposits of North America. Nw:nbered localities identified in 

table 2. 
12 NICKEL DEiPOSITS OF NORTH AMERICA 

TABLE 4.-Nickel reserves of North America 

Location 

British Columbia: Hope, Giant 

Nickel mine. 

Manitoba: Lynn Lake district __________ 

Thompson-Moak Lake district: 

Thompson mine _________ 

Moak Lake mine ________ 

Ontario: 

Kenora district: Gordon Lake mine ______ 

Popul , Lake deposit. __ 

Limerick township deposit __ 

Shebandowan Lake deposit __ Sudbury district: Fal~oniJridge Nickel mmes. 

International Nickel 

mines. 

Quebec: Belleterre deposit ____________ 

La Motte township district __ 

Ungava district: 

Cross Lake d~t------ Raglan Lake eposit ____ Yukon: Canalask deposit _______ 

TotaL---------------------

Oregon: Nickel Mountain, 

Douglas County. 

Measured and indicated Inferred 

Nickel- Grade Nickel- Source of data. 

bearing (percent Nickel bearing 

material Ni) (tons) material 

(tons) (tons) 

Sulfide deposits In Canada 

1,025,000 0. 95 9, 700 ---------- Stephens (1963). 

11,916,000 .96 114,400 ---------- Canadian Mines Handbook (1964). 

25,000,000 2.80 700,000 (1) Northern Miner (Mar. 30, 

1961). 

50,000,000 • 70 350,000 (1) Northern Miner (Aug. 17, 

1961). 

1,100,000 1.62 17,800 ---------- Canadian Mines Handbook (1963). . 3, 503,000 1.06 37,200 ---------- Northern Miner (Aug. 15, 

1957). 

2, 000,000 1.0 20,000 ---------- Northern Miner (Nov. 15, 

1961). 

1,000,000 L7 17,000 ---------- Thomson and others (1957). 

48,263,000 1.45 699,800 (1) Company annual report (1962). 

274, 400, 000 1.50 4,130, 000 (1) Company annual report (1962). 

550,000 1.0 5,500 Northern Miner (Nov. 21, ·--------- 1963). 

143,000 2.28 3,300 ---------- Canadian Mines Handbook (1964). 

10,050,000 1.54 154,800 ---------- Do. 

356,000 2. 74 9,800 ---------- Do. 

550,000 1.68 9,200 ---------- Northern Miner (Sept. 12, 

1957). 

429, 856, 000 1.46 6,278,500 ----------

Laterite deposits in the United States 

1

16, 200, 000 I 1. 50 I 243, 000 1----------1 F. M. Chace (written com· mun., August, 1965). 

t Data not available; gross tonnage probably large. and grade probably comparable to figure given for 

measured and indicated ore. 

Nickel resources may be classified into two major categories: (1) 

reserves, known mineral material that may be quantitatively appraised 

and is economically exploitable at present, and ( 2) marginal and 

submarginal resources, mineral material that must be mined under 

more favorable economic or technologic conditions. These two classes 

may be further subdivided according to the accuracy of the appraisal. 

The subcategories of reserves used in this report are the same as those 

used by the U.S. Bureau of Mines and the U.S. Geological Survey: 

Measured reserves are those for which tonnage is computed from dimensions 

revealed in outcrops, trenches, workings and drill holes and for which the grade 

is computed from the results of detailed sampling. The sites for inspection, 
INTRODUCTI'ON 13 

TABLE 5.-Marginal and submarginal nickel resources of North America 

Location 

New Brunswick: 

St. Stephen deposit. 

Ontario: Sudbury district: Nickel 

Rim mine. 

Measured and indicated 

Nickel- Grade Nickelbearing (percent Nickel bearing material Ni) (tons) material 

(tons) (tons) 

Sulfide deposits in Cana~la 

264,000 0.98 2,600 

1, 924,000 • 72 13,800 

Inferred 

Grade 

(percent Nickel 

Ni) (tons) 

1-----1--------1----·--------- TotaL------- 2,188,000 • 75 16,400 

Sulfide deposits in the United States 

Alaska: 

Bohemia 10,300,000 0.37 38,000 10,500,000 0.28 29,000 

Basin, 

Yakobi Island. 

Funter Bay, Admiralty 

(1) 1.0 (I) (1) 1. 0 (1) 

Island. 

Mirror Harbor, 

Fleming Is8,000 1.54 100 ------------ ---------- ---------- land. 

Snipe Bay, ------------ ---------- ---------- 430,00(]1 .3 1,300 

Baranof Island. 

Spirit Moun- ------------ ---------- ---------- 6,500 .7 ---------- tain, Copper River area. California: 

Julian deposit, San Diego _5,000 2.5 100 100,000 1. 5 1,500 

County. Old Ironsides, 

San Diego County. 

------------ ---------- ---------- (1) .3 (1) 

Colorado: Copper 22,000 3.0 700 50,000 .5 200 King deposit, Boulder County. Maine: Crawford (1) .6 (I) ------------ ---------- ---------- Pond deposit 

Mf~g~fo:r~tl. 2,.(){)(),000 .46 9,200 (I) .45 (1) 

ericktown 

deposits, Madi- son County. Montana: Mouat (1) .4 (I) (I) .4 (1) deposit Still- water County. Nevada: Great (I) .31 ---------- __________ ...... ---------- ---------- Eastern deposit, Clark County. Pennsylvania: Gap mine Lan- caster County. 

(I) .7 (1) -----------·· ---------- ----------

Washington: Mackinaw (I) .9 (1) ------------· ---------- .,. _________ 

deposit, 

Snohomish 

County. Winesap deposit, Chelan 

(1) 1.12 (1) (I) .8 (1) 

County. 

--- TotaL_ •. ---- 17,444,500 .42 74,000 25,160,000 .37 93,400 

1 Unpublished resource data, included in total. 

Source of data 

N ortheru Miner 

(Aug. 25, 1960). 

Thomson and 

others (1957). 

Kennedy and 

Walton (1946). 

Do. 

Reed and Gates 

(1942). 

Kingston and 

Miller (1945). 

Creasey (1946). 

Goddard and 

Lovering 

(1942). 

U.S, Bureau of 

Mines (1952). 
14 NICKEL DEPOSITS OF NORTH AME·RICA 

TABLE 5.-M arginal and submarginal nickel resources of North America-Continued 

Measured and indicated Inferred 

Location Nickel- Grade Nickel- Grade Source of data 

bearing (percent Nickel bearing (percent Nickel 

material Ni) (tons) material Ni) (tons) 

(tons) (tons) 

Laterite deposits in the United States 

California: Men- 16,400,000 0.8 131,000 ------------ ---------- ---------- docino and Del 

Norte Counties. 

North Carolina: ------------ ---------- ---------- 1,000,000 1.0 10,000 Pawel (1943). Webster, Jack- son County. Oregon: Josephine 30,300,000 .8 242,000 ------------ ---------- ---------- and Curry Counties. 

Washington: Blewett de- 3,540,000 .47 16,600 10,230,000 .47 48,000 Lamey (1950). posit, Chelan 

County, 

Cle Elum 3,850,000 .84 32,200 2,400, 000 .86 20,600 Lamey and 

deposit, Hotz (1951). Kittitas 

County. 

TotaL ______ --- 54,090,000 . 78 421,800 13,630,000 .58 78,600 

sampling, and measurement are spaced 20 closely and the geologic character is 

so well defined that size, shape, and mineral content are well established. The 

computed tonnage and grade are judged to be accurate within limits which are 

stated, and no such limit is judged to be different from the computed tonnage 

or grade by more than 20 percent. 

Indicated reserves are those for which tonnage and grade are computed partly 

from specific mea.surements, samples, or production data and partly from 

projection for a reasonable distance on geologic evidence. The sites available 

for inspection, measurement, and sampling are too widely or otherwise inappropriately spaced to permit the mineral bodies to be outlined completely or 

the grade established throughout. 

Inferred reserves are those for which quantitative e2timates are b'ased largely 

on broad knowJedge of the geologic character of the deposit and for which there 

are few, if any, samples or measurements. The estimates are based on an 

assumed continuity or repetition, of which there is geologic evidence; this 

evidence may include comparison with depo.sits of similar type. Bodies that 

are completely concealed may be included if there is specific geologic evidence 

of their presence. Estimates of inferred reserves should include a statement 

of the specific limits within which the inferred material may lie. 

In this report, estimates of reserves and of marginal and submarginal resources are classified as combined measured and indicated 

or inferred, according to the accuracy of the appraisal. For most 

of the deposits, the estimates given are those released by the companies 

holding the properties, but for some deposits the estimates are based 

on investigations and explorations of the Canadian and U.S. Governments. The estimates given in tables 3-5 are probably conservative. 
CANADA 15 

The estimates given for the total nickel resources in table 3 show 

that Canada is dominant in North America, having a total of 430 

million tons of measured and indicated sulfide ore a vera.ging 1.46 

percent nickel. No estimate has been made of inferred ore in the 

Sudbury and Thompson-Moak Lake districts, but the amount of ore 

averaging more than 1 percent nickel is probably large. Canada also 

has the largest resources of minable sulfide reserves in the world, but 

there are very large tonnages of nickeliferous laterite, including large 

amounts of economically minable ore, in Cuba, New Caledonia, 

Indonesia, Venezuela, Guatemala, and the Philippines. These vast 

nickel resources include 4-5 billion tons of nickeliferous iron laterite, 

averaging 0.8-1 percent nickel, and nearly 1 billion tons of nickel 

silicate laterite, averaging 1.5-2 percent nickel. 

The United States has only one nickel reserve that is being mined 

at the present time, the nickel silicate laterite at Nickel Mountain, 

Oreg. The deposit averages somewhat more than 1.5 percent nickel 

(Hotz, 1964) and has reserves of at least 16,200,000 tons of ore (F. ~f. 

Chace, written commun., ....:\.ugust 1965). Production records for the 

first 10 years of operation, plus consideration of present capacity and 

minimal requirements for profitable exploitation of a metal deposit, indicate that the deposit is large enough to support a production rate of 

24 million pounds of nickel per year for a minimum of 30 years. 

Disseminated nickel-copper sulfides in the Duluth Gabbro in Minnesota are a promising potential source of nickel. Deposits containing 

several hundred million tons of material averaging 0.25 percent nickel 

and 0.75 percent copper are reported to occur there. In addition, 

approximately 100 million tons of material containing 0.4-0.8 percent 

nickel are scattered around the United States in a variety of marginal 

to submarginal deposits. 

NICKEL DEPOSITS OF CANADA 

The Canadian nickel deposits are discussed in the following pages 

in alphabetical order by province and by district or individual deposit. 

Locations of the deposits are shown on figure 1. The amount of detail 

given for the individual districts or deposits depends partly on their 

respective importance and partly on the information available.-

The Sudbury district, Ontario, is, and has been for many years, the 

outstanding district of the world, both in nickel production and in size 

of deposits of sulfide ore. The Thompson and Lynn Lake districts, 

Manitoba, rank second and third in Canada, and probably also in the 

world, although the Petsamo deposit, U.S.S.R., may be larger than 

Lynn Lake. Recent intensive exploration in Ungava, in northern 

Quebec, has revealed significant reserves of nickel-copper sulfides 
16 NICKEL DEPOS·I'l'S OF NORTH AMERICA 

there. Other smaller nickel deposits were being mined in 1965 in 

British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec. 

:BRITISH COLUM:BIA 

HOPE 

A deposit of nickel-copper sulfides is mined near Hope, British 

Columbia, by the Giant Mascot Mines, Ltd. . Ore reserves on September 30, 1962, were estimated by the company to be 1,066,000 tons containing 1.03 percent nickel and 0.35 percent copper (Stephens, 1963, 

p. 34). During 1963, continued exploration outlined another 75,000 

tons of ore containing 1.30 percent nickel and 0.40 percent copper, 

but production during this period reduced net reserves to 1,025,000 

tons that average 0.95 percent nickel and 0.35 percent copper. A nickelcopper concentrate was shipped from the mine to Japan. 

The nickel-copper deposit near Hope was first discovered in 1927. 

Between 1930 and 1937 much diamond drilling and underground 

development was done by the British Columbia Nickel Co., Ltd., later 

British Columbia Nickel Mines, Ltd. By 1938, when the mine was 

taken over by the newly organized Pacific Nickel Mines, Ltd., a reserve 

of approximately 1 million tons of ore had been developed. Difficulty 

in obtaining a market for the nickel concentrates prevented the company from going into production, and in 1952 the Pacific Nickel Mines, 

Ltd., joined with N ewmont Mining Corp. of Canada to form a new 

company called Western Nickel Mines, Ltd. Considerable new development work was done between 1952 and 1959, and the first ore was 

produced in 1958. In 1959, N ewmont's interest in the property was 

acquired by Giant Mascot Mines, Ltd., and the present company, the 

Giant Nickel Mines, Ltd., was formed and has been operating profitably since that time. This is the first successful nickel-mining operation in western Canada. 

A number of separate nickel-copper ore bodies occur in an irregular 

stocklike ultramafic intrusive (Aho, 1956, 1957; James, 1962; Stephens, 

1963). The ultramafic mass, late Mesozoic in age and llh miles in 

diameter, consists of peridotite, pyroxenite, and hornblendic pyroxenite having marginal zones of hornblendite. It is bordered by a larger 

batholithic mass of genetically related diorite and minor norite. The 

southwest half of the ultramafic mass contains all the ore bodies and 

is characterized by hornblendic variations of the various rock types; 

the barren northeast half contains little hornblende except along the 

margins. 

The sulfide ore bodies are steeply dipping, mostly pipe- or parsnipshaped deposits. In some of the ore bodies the ultramafic rocks are 

zoned, commonly with olivine-rich (dunite or harzburgite) cores and 
MANITOBA 17 

pyroxene-rich (bronzitite or peridotite) outer rings (Aho, 1956, p. 

459-4 73). Sulfides are concentrated in the oores in some deposits and 

in the outer rings in others. In other ore bodies, including the important Pride of Emory deposit, there is no a ppa.rent zoning of the ultramafic rocks. 

The sulfides, consisting of pyrrhotite, pentlandite, and chalcopyrite, 

occur both disseminated and in massive bodies, but even in the massive 

bodies, silicates commonly make up 50 percent or more of the rock. 

Everywhere the sulfides are interstitial to the silicates (olivine, pyroxene, and hornblende) . 

The origin of the deposits is uncertain. A magmatic origin is suggested by textures, lack of alteration, location of deposits in or marginal to the most ultramafic facies, and gradation of ore into sparsely 

disseminated probable primary sulfides. The steeply dipping pipelike 

ore bodies, cannot be explained by simple magmatic segregation, 

but could have resulted from segregation followed by injection into 

their present positions, and some ore bodies do show signs of such 

movement. Aho (1956, p. 476-480) and Stephens (1963, p. 36) both 

state that a good case can be presented for an origin due to magmatic 

segregation followed by injection, but they also suggested that the 

pipelike bodies having zoning of olivine and bronzite could have resulted from high-temperature (greater than 650°0) alteration by ascending water vapor that deposited the sulfides. 

MANITOBA 

LYNN LAKE Dl'STRICT 

A small outcrop of nickel-copper-bearing sulfides was discovered 

near Lynn Lake in 1941, but active prospecting of the area wa.s 

delayed by World War II. During the period 1945-48, intensive geophysical surveys using magnetometer and electromagnetic methods, 

accompanied by 200,000 feet of diamond drilling, resulted in the 

location of five ore bodies, including the high-grade EL ore body. 

Subsequent exploration located two additional ore bodies, and when 

the mine went into active production in 1954, the proven ore reserves 

amounted to more than 14 million tons containing 1.22 percent nickel 

and 0.62 percent copper, distributed in separate ore bodies as shown 

in table 6 (Waldron, 1951, p. 73). At the end of 1963, after 10 years 

of continuous production at the rate of 24 million pounds of nickel per 

year, Sherritt Gordon Mines, Ltd., reported a proven reserve of 

11.916,000 tons having an average grade of 0.96 percent nickel and 

0.58 percent copper (Canadian Mines Handbook, 1964, p. 277). In 

the early years of its production, the Lynn Lake mine was second only 

. to the Sudbury district ·as a producer of nickel from sulfide ore in 
18 NICKEL DEPOSITS OF NORTH AMERICA 

Canada and, in fact, in the whole free world. Since then it has been 

superseded in size and rate of production by the Thompson mine, 140 

miles southeast of Lynn Lake. 

TABLE 6.-Nickel-copper reserves of Lynn Lake, 1951 

[Waldron, 1951, p, 73] 

Ore body Short tons Nickel Copper (percent) (percent) 

A: lJpper ________________ 590,000 1. 083 0.535 Lower ________________ 4,200,000 1. 257 .664 Footwall ______________ 185,000 .867 .467 

B: lJpper ________________ 1,570,000 .874 . 555 Lower ____ - ___________ 2,705,000 .660 .467 

C: tTpper ________________ 100,000 1.135 .514 Lower ________________ 660,000 .712 . 500 

E------------------------ 755,000 1. 020 .471 

F------------------------ Q ________________________ 700,000 . 560 .428 

145,000 . 663 . 275 

EL----------------------- 2,445,000 2.500 .933 

TotaL ____ ------ ____ 14,055,000 1. 223 .618 

GEOLOGY 

The Lynn Lake nickel-copper deposits, as described by Ruttan 

( 1957), occur in two mafic intrusive bodies that intrude a series of 

volcanic and sedimentary rocks. All these rocks are Precambrian in 

age. The mafic intrusives consist predominantly of diorite and gabbro, 

but the most common rocks in the vicinity of the ore bodies are amphibolite, norite, and peridotite. Six of the ore bodies occur in one mafic 

intrusive that is 12,000 feet long and 5,000 feet wide. The seventh ore 

body, the high-grade EL deposit, occurs in a small circular mafic plug 

1,200 feet in diameter. 

ORE DEPOSITS 

The nickel-copper ore bodies occur as massive sulfides, disseminated 

sulfides, and stockworks of sulfide stringers. Each individual ore 

body is mainly of one type, although combinations of two or more 

types may be present, depending on the physical character of the rock 

in which they occur. The sulfide minerals consist of, in relative order 

of abundance, pyrrhotite, pentlandite, chalcopyrite, and pyrite. 

Minor amounts of cobalt, zinc, and gold are present. 

The two most important ore bodies are the high-grade EL ore body 

and the A ore body. TheEL ore body contained a total of 2% million 

tons, averaging 2.5 percent nickel and 0.93 percent copper. In the EL 

deposit, ore occurs as massive sulfides containing a variable quantity 
MANITOBA 19 

of unmineralized rock fragments and as disseminated sulfides in 

amphibolite, norite, peridotite, and diorite, adjacent to, but separate 

from, the massive body. The largest single ore body, the A, contained 

5 million tons averaging 1.22 percent nickel and 0.64 percent copper. 

The A ore body is irregular in outline, about equal in length and width, 

and consists mainly of disseminated sulfides in amphibolite, norite, and 

peridotite. Both the A and the EL ore bodies contain small variable 

amounts of cobalt. Four of the other five ore bodies consist of disseminated sulfides and are similar to the A ore body in the mafic host rock. 

The seventh ore body, the C, is primarily a stockwork of irregular 

sulfide stringers in a rather hard, more feldspathic variety of the mafic 

intrusive; these stringers follow a coarse fracture pattern. 

The mafic intrusive host rocks are generally highly altered in the 

vicinity of the ore bodies, but ore mineralization also occurs in relatively fresh rocks. Ruttan (1957, p. 281-282) stated that the rock 

where the ore mineralization has occurred is generally intensely fractured and that this fact is significant in connection with the origin of 

the deposits: the fractured rocks were permeable and served as channels for hydrothermal ore solutions. 

ORIGIN Ol!' THE DEPOSITS 

The nickel-copper deposits at Lynn Lake may be genetically related 

to comparatively small copper-zinc-gold deposits associated with 

pyrrhotite and pyrite present in the area. Several of these deposits 

occur in sedimentary deposits or volcanic rocks, and one occurs at the 

contact between granite and volcanic rocks. According to Ruttan 

( 1957, p. 282-283), chief geologist of Sherritt Gordon Mines, Ltd., 

which operates the Lynn Lake mine, the nickel-copper deposits and 

the copper-zinc-gold deposits have a similar origin; that is, they must 

have been deposited by hydrothermal solutions that came from, or 

were genetically related to, one of two types of intrusives : either the 

granitic intrusives or the mafic intrusives. Ruttan thought that the 

ore-bearing hydrothermal solutions were more likely related to the 

granitic bodies. The nickel-copper-cobalt sulfides occur only in the 

mafic intrusives because the environment there was neutral to alkaline 

and the rock was therefore chemically favorable for the deposition of 

those metals, whereas the more acid environment of the granites and 

sedimentary rocks was favorable for deposition of the copper-zinc-gold 

minerals. 

Other geologists, however, believe that the close association of the 

nickel-copper deposit with the mafic intrusives is due to factors more 

fundamental than simply a favorable chemical environment. One 

possibility, also considered in relation to the Sudbury deposits, is that 

the nickel-copper-iron sulfides formed an immiscible sulfide phase 
20 NICKEL DEPOSiTS OF NORfl! AMERICA 

at the time the silicate magma was crystallizing and part of this sulfide phase became segregated into separate masses, which later crystallized to form massive ore bodies, the rest remaining as droplets to 

form disseminated ores in the host rock. 

THOMPSON-MO.A.K LAKE DISTRICT 

The Thompson and Moak Lake nickel sulfide deposits of the International Nickel Co. of Canada, Ltd. (Inco), represent a major part 

of the world's sources of nickel. The rich Thompson ore body was 

found in 1956 and the lower grade Moak Lake deposit somewhat earlier 

as a result of extensive geophysical and geologic investigations by Inco. 

The district is about 400 miles north of Winnipeg and 200 miles southwest of Hudson Bay. 

REGIONAL GEOLOGIC SETTING OF THE DEPOSI'l'S 

The nickel ores of the Thompson-Moak Lake belt occur as nickeliferous sulfides disseminated in serpentinized peridotite and as massive 

bodies and stringers of sulfide minerals in gneiss near serpentinized 

peridotite. On the basis of geologic mapping and gravity and airborne magnetometer surveys, Wilson and Brisbin ( 1961) hypothesized that the nickel belt lies along the axis of a Precambrian mountain range of the island-arc or alpine type and that this belt coincides 

with the northeast-trending boundary between the Superior and 

Churchill blocks of the Precambrian shield. The nickeliferous peridotite and nickel ores occur along a strip of negative gravity anomalies 

that coincides with a zone of strong thrust faulting and intense deformation of the ancient mountain range. 

The Thompson mine and other nickel occurrences held by Inco in 

the nickel belt, which is roughly 85 miles long ·and 15 miles wide, have 

been described by Zurbrigg ( 1963) . He designated nine nickel deposits and occurrences on his map (p. 453) of the belt, the principal 

ones being the Thompson, Moak Lake, Mystery Lake, Birchtree, and 

Pipe deposits. Most of the area is underlain by biotite gneiss, dark 

hornblende-plagioclase gneiss, or amphibolite, although the latter two 

types of rock are much less abundant. ,According to Zurbrigg ( 1963, 

p. 452), virtually all the peridotite found in the area is spatially associated with linear zones of metasediments and metavolcanics. In 

some localities, the metasedimentary beds appear to have been intensely deformed into isoclinal folds and domal structures or into 

doubly plunging folds, several of which, including the Thompson, have 

been mapped in the vicinity of nickel deposits. 

GEOLOGY OF THE THOMPSO.N' MINE 

The major structure that controls the distribution of ore at Thompson is an anticlinal fold striking northeast and plunging steeply to the 
MANITOBA 21 

southwest. The ore is in a schist zone which extends the length of 

the structure and conforms with overlying and underlying formations. 

According to Zurbrigg (1963, p. 452), the ore zone has an overall 

length of 3% miles and the main concentration of ore occurs along 

the southern part of the east limb of the fold, around the nose of the 

fold, and within associated minor crenulations and drags. 

The rocks in the Thompson area consist of conformable gneisses, 

metamorphosed sediments, pegmatite, and peridotite; no evidence is 

apparent of an unconformity between the gneisses and the metamorphosed sediments. The oldest rock in the sequence appears to be a 

metamorphosed quartzite; other metamorphosed sediments are skarn, 

iron-formation, and the ore-bearing biotite schist. The nickel deposits 

are closely associated with serpentinized and sheared peridotite. 

MINERALIZATION 

The nickel ore consists of pyrrhotite, pentlandite, pyrite, minor 

chalcopyrite and marcasite, and trace amounts of nickel arsenides. 

The paragenetic relations indicate an early formation of the pyrite, 

followed by deposition of pyrrhotite and the nickel-bearing minerals. 

Later the marcasite was deposited in carbonate veinlets. Near the 

surface some of the pyrrhotite has been altered to pyrite and magnetite and some of the pentlandite to violarite and magnetite. The 

sulfides occur as fine-grained masses, lenses, and veinlets in the schist 

and as coarse-grained masses and stringers where the host rock is 

less schistose. Both the coarse- and fine-grained sulfide masses are 

termed breccia sulfide because of numerous rock inclusions (Zurbrigg, 

1963, p. 459-460). 

ORIGIN OF THE DEPOSITS 

Zurbrigg (1963, p. 460) had the following to say about the origin of 

the Thompson deposit: 

Although some mineral and ore-rock relationships can be accepted with little 

reserve, it is premature to suggest a comprehensive history of ore deposition 

with any assurance that it would prove to be durable. The deposit has features 

that could be accounted for by more than one combination of events and the 

combination that most logically explains the end result remains to be determined. 

The genesis of the Thompson-Moak Lake deposits has been briefly 

considered by several other leading Canadian geologists. Michener 

(1957), in discussing the basic problem of the nature of the ore-forming process, apparently had the Thompson-Moak Lake deposits in 

mind when he described one process of ore formation as: 

Sulfur leaching, a process whereby original olivine-bearing peridotites which 

contain nickel in the silicate form are subject to regional and thermal metamorphism, including sulfur in gaseous or liquid form, resulting in the removal 

of silicate nickel and its combination with sulfur to produce sulfide deposits 
22 NICKEL Dm'O:S:ITS OF NORTH A.MmRIOA 

associated with, and disseminated in, perid,otlte masses. This type of deposit 

contains practically no copper. 

Gunning (1959), in discussing the origin of massive sulfide deposits, 

made the following comment on Michener's statement: 

I believe that Michener's suggestion of sulfur leaching of nickel-rich silicates 

is a good one. * * * It is to be hoped that by extensive analytical work in some 

of the new Manitoba deposits he may be able to prove or disprove that nickel 

leaching of this kind, and subsequent deposition of the sulfides to form ore 

bodies, actually has taken :place. As far as I know no one has as yet proven 

any such process for this type of deposit. It is a kind of lateral secretion. 

Wilson and Brisbin (1961, p. 821), in considering the origin of the 

Thompson-Moak Lake deposits, stated: 

The origin of the ore deposits is speculative at this stage of their development. 

The principle of multiple hypotheses seems to be the best approach. * * * An 

igneous origin of the ore is an obvious possibility. Solidification of peridotite 

intrusions containing a high sulphur content may have resulted in low-grade 

disseminated ores, a sulphide liquid segregated from a peridotite liquid may 

have been injected into the gneiss to produce the massive and stringer ore. 

• • • • • • * 

A metamorphic origin of the ore must be considered where metamorphism is 

so prominent. The extensive metamorphism of siliceous iron formation in this 

region gives a clue to a possible origin of the nickel deposits. Much of the iron 

formation is metamorphosed to .medium-grained banded mixtures of quartz, 

grunerite, and magnetite. In many places more than half of the magnetite has 

been converted to pyrrhotite. * • * The disseminated nickel-iron sulphides in 

the peridotite and the pyrrhotite in the iron formation may have a similar origin. 

This origin is suggested by laboratory experiments in which the presence of 

hydrogen sulphide will form nickeliferous pyrrhotite in peridotite and will 

convert magnetite to pyrrhotite in the temperature range between 400°0 and 

650°0 at standard pressures. Such an origin might explain the presence of sulphide in the Manitoba peridotites and its absence in recent island arcs where 

metamorphism is lower grade. 

• • • • • • • 

Hydrothermal solutions may also be invoked as playing a part in the origin 

of· the ore. Water must be present at some stage because the peridotites are 

serpentinized, although the age of the serpentinization has not been determined. 

• • • • • • • 

The lack of copper in all the nickel deposits of the belt is an important field 

fact. It appears to rule out separation of the ore by differentiation from a 

basaltic melt. 

ORE RESERVES 

Zurbrigg ( 1963, p. 451) stated that "At the close of 1960, with 

production about to begin, the ore reserves at the Thompson mine 

amounted to 25 million tons, containing 2.97 percent nickel-copper." 

The 1960 annual report of Inco stated that this reserve estimate includes only proven ores. According to statements made by Inco 

geologists and others, it would appear that nickel greatly predominates 

over copper. 
NE:W BRUNSWICK 23 

The Northern Miner (Mar. 30, 1961) reported: 

The Thompson ore deposit has been estimated at 25 million tons. Grade is 

close to 8 percent combined nickel and copper, but this is practically all nickel 

since the copper content is only one-fifteenth that of the nickel. That suggests 

an approximate grade of 2.8 percent nickel and 0.2 percent copper. * * * Cobalt 

is also recovera'ble from the Thompson ore. It occurs in smaller proportion than 

at Sudbury. * • • Platinum, palladium, gold and silver are also present. More 

information is necessary to determine the actual content, but it appears that 

palladium approaches the general run of the Sudbury ores, while the others are 

much lower. 

Davies (1960, p. 103), in discussing the ore deposits and reserves 

at Moak Lake and Mystery Lake, stated: 

The deposits at Mystery Lake and M.oak Lake occur in serpentinite, and, although large, contain mainly disseminated nickel-bearing sulphides; the grades 

are about 0.5 and 0.75 percent nickel respectively. The sulphides in these lowgrade occurrences form an integral part of the rock and appear to have crystallized along with the silicates. 

The Northern Miner (Aug. 17, 1961) estimated that the Moak Lake 

deposit probably totals 50 million tons averaging 0.7 percent nickel. 

The success of Inco in finding nickel ore bodies along the ThompsonMoak Lake nickel belt has spurred intensive exploration by other 

mining companies. In 1963, Falconbridge Nickel Mines, Ltd., was 

exploring a property at the south end of the zone prospected by Inco, 

near W abowden. Earlier work on this property by another company 

outlined an ore body of 5 million tons containing approximately 1 

percent nickel. Another group, the Nickel Belt Extension Syndicate, 

has a 70,000-acre concession adjoining the Falcon bridge holding, which 

they were actively prospecting in 1963. 

NEW BRUNSWICK 

ST. STEPHEN 

Relatively small lenses of nickel- and copper-bearing sulfides hav& 

been intermittently explored for many years at St. Stephen in southwestern New Brunswick. These deposits are associated with a differentiated gabbro-anorthosite-peridotite intrusive. The sulfides,. 

consisting of pyrrhotite, pentlandite, and chalcopyrite, occur mainly 

in the gabbro as disseminations or as irregular, lens-shaped masses. 

related, in part at least, to shear zones (McAllister, 1960, p. 50). According to McAllister, the most recent reports of St. Stephen Nickel' 

Mines, Ltd., suggest a reserve of 350,000 tons of sulfide-bearing rockcontaining 0.97 percent nickel ·and 0.52 percent copper. In contrast,. 

an article in the Northern Miner (Aug. 25, 1960) gives for the deposit 

a more conservative reserve estimate of 264,000 tons containing 0.9S 

percent nickel and 0.52 percent copper, a reserve inadequate to sustain 

a profitable mining operation. 
24 NICKEL DEPOS~S OF NORTH AMERICA 

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES 

RANKIN INLET 

In 1928 R. G. 0. Johnston discovered a nickel sulfide deposit on the 

north shore of Rankin Inlet, west coast of Hudson Bay, about 900 

miles north of Winnipeg. It was drilled between 1930 and 1937, and 

in 1951 the North Rankin Nickel Mines, Ltd., was organized to mine 

the deposit. Mining started in 1957 and was completed in 1962. The 

deposit contained 460,000 tons of nic}rel-copper sulfide ore containing 

3.3 percent nickel, 0.8 percent copper, 0.2 percent cobalt, 0.03 ounces 

platinum per ton, and 0.06 ounces palladium per ton. This operation 

is one of the few that have been attempted in the subarctic region of 

Canada. 

The deposit was in the basal part of a serpentinized pyroxenite sill 

that intrudes Proterozoic rocks of the Precambrian shield. The sill 

was emplaced along a contact between quartzite and younger volcanic 

rocks of andesitic to dacitic composition in a syncline that plunges 

gently to the east. The sill follows the north limb of the syncline over 

a strike length of about 6,000 feet; it is 200-300 feet thick and dips 

about 50°. Sulfide ore occurred where the basal contact of the sill 

makes a troughlike reentrant into the footwall. The main lens of ore 

had a thickness of about 8 feet of massive sulfides and 18 feet of disseminated sulfides. A second zone consisting largely of disseminated 

sulfides occurs above the main zone. 

Pyrrhotite was the main sulfide mineral, but the ore also contained 

nickel-bearing pentlandite and copper-bearing chalcopyrite. Minor 

magnetite and pyrite were also found in the ore; violarite and marcasite were locally found near the surface as supergene alteration products. The platinum metals palladium and platinum occurred in 

amounts similar to those found in the Sudbury ores. 

The genesis of this deposit has been debated by various geologists. 

P.robably the most widely accepted hypothesis is that of Weber and 

Teal (1959), who suggested that the ore body is the result of sulfide 

segregation from the pyroxenite sill, the sulfide minerals settling into 

the troughlike depression at the base of the sill, which was later 

folded. Supporting this hypothesis are the textural relations of the 

sulfide minerals with the silicate host rock. Reportedly (Precambrian, 

1961, p. 16), in the disseminated ore, some sulfide grains are enclosed 

in silicate crystals, and some silicate crystals are enclosed in sulfide 

patches; this fact suggests the coexistence of immiscible silicate and 

sulfide phases of the magma during consolidation. Another hypothesis is that the deposit originated in a chemically favorable pyroxenite host by deposition of copper-nickel-iron sulfides from ascending 

hydrothermal solutions trapped in a folded synclinal structure. 
NICKEL DEPOSITS OF NORTH AMERICA 25 

ONTARIO 

ALEXO NICKEL MINE 

The Alexo Nickel mine, held by Noranda Mines, Ltd., in Dundonald township, northeastern Ontario, developed an ore body along 

the contact between peridotite and pillow lavas of the Keewatin Series 

(Thomson and others, 1957, p. 32). The main ore shoot, 700 feet long 

and 3-40 feet thick, consisted of massive and disseminated pyrrhotite, 

pentlandite, and small amounts of chalcopyrite and pyrite; 50,800 

tons mined by 1957 averaged 4.2 percent nickel and 0.5 percent copper. 

KENORA DISTRICT 

Numerous nickel-copper prospects are ·associated with mafic intrusives in the Kenora district of northwestern Ontario. Most are 

too small or too low in grade to be economically mined. The property of Metal Mines, Ltd., at Gordon Lake was being mined in 1963, 

and the Kenbridge deposit at Populus Lake is almost of minable 

grade. 

GORDON LAKE 

The Metal Mines, Ltd., deposit at Gordon Lake, 55 miles northwest 

of Kenora, northwestern Ontario, contains four ore bodies-A, B, F, 

and G-having a total reserve of about 1.1 million tons averaging 1.62 

percent nickel and 0.68 percent copper, plus minor amounts of platinum metals (Canadian Mines Handbook, 1963, p. 209). The ore 

occurs as disseminated and massive bodies of pyrrhotite, pentlandite, 

and chalcopyrite in, and adjacent to, lenticular bodies of peridotite 

along a major east-west steeply dipping fault zone that separates 

gneisses on the north from massive granites on the south. 

The Northern Miner (June 13, 1963) reported that concentrates 

produced at the mine were being shipped to the International Nickel 

Co. smelter. Intensive exploration has been and was being done by 

geophysical surveys, diamond drilling, and underground development. 

POPULUS LAXE 

The Kenbridge Nickel Mines, Ltd., a subsidiary of Falconbridge 

Nickel Mines, Ltd., has a property at Populus Lake, 43 miles southeast 

of Kenora in northwest Ontario. Exploration, including geological 

mapping, geophysical surveys, and 70,000 feet of diamond drilling, 

together with underground development, had outlined reserves that 

amounted to 794,960 tons, averaging 1.14 percent nickel and 0.53 percent copper, and 2,707,780 tons of indicated ore, containing 1.04 percent nickel and 0.54 percent copper (Northern Miner, Aug. 15, 1957). 

The ore occurs as disseminated and massive pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, 

pentlandite, and pyrite in flat, layered lenses, mostly small, plunging 
26 NlCKEL Dm'OS:I'l'S OF NORTH AMEiRICA 

55° NE (Thomson and others, 1957, p. 17-18). The host rock is a 

mafic intrusive that ranges in composition from gabbro to peridotite 

and intrudes greenstone. The intrusion, 2,500 feet long and 200 feet 

wide, occurs near a major northeast-trending fault zone. 

LIMERICK TOWNSHIP 

The Bicroft Uranium Mines, Ltd., has found a nickel-copper deposit in the Limerick township, 14 miles south of Bancroft, eastern 

Ontario (Northern Miner, Nov. 16, 1961). The deposit was discovered by geophysical survey; diamond drilling has indicated 2 million tons of ore containing 1.0 percent nickel and 0.25 percent copper. 

The deposit is in an l-shaped zone on the edge of a gabbro intrusion; 

itdips80° NW. 

RAGLAN TOWNSHIP 

The Raglan Nickel Mines, Ltd., has a deposit of disseminated pyrrhotite, pentlandite, and chalcopyrite in metagabbro in Raglan township, eastern Ontario (Thomson and others, 1957, p. 8). Two small 

flat lenses found there are said to be low in grade. 

SHEBANDOW AN LAKE 

The International Nickel Co., Ltd., has thoroughly explored a 

nickel-copper deposit on lower Shebandowan Lake, 60 miles west of 

Port Arthur, western Ontario. An ore zone of approximately 1 million tons containing somewhat less than 2 percent nickel and smaller, 

but recoverable, amounts of copper and platinum metals has been 

outlined. The deposit consists of naiTow lenses 800-1,600 feet long, 

as much as 100 feet wide, and 5-10 feet thick, of pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, and polydymite, both massive and disseminated, in sheared 

peridotite (Thomson and others, 1957, p. 51). The entire zone is 

under the lake, which is 140-150 feet deep. 

SUDBURY DISTRICT 

The largest known nickel sulfide deposits in the world are in the 

Sudbury district of Ontario along the outer margin of a noritegranophyre complex-the Sudbury irruptive-that rims the Sudbury 

basin, which is 37 miles long and 16 miles wide. Since the original 

discovery of sulfide ore in 1883, many geologists have studied the ore 

deposits, the Sudbury irruptive, and the regional geologic setting, yet 

considerable doubt remains as to the correct interpretation of many 

aspects of the overall geologic picture. Although the complex geology of the district cannot be adequately described in a paper of this 

scope, the present status of geologic opinion concerning this, one of 

the foremost mining districts in the world, is summarized in the 

following pages. 
ONTARIO 27 

GEBERAL GEOLOGIC SETTING 

The Sudbury basin trends slightly north of east. According to 

mapping by Thomson (1956), the rocks outside the basin on the south 

are a series of steeply dipping rhyolite, andesite, and basalt flows, 

tuffs, and intrusives, overlain southward by graywackes, quartzites, 

and conglomerates. This assemblage is moderately to intensely 

metamorphosed. Gneissic granite covers the area north of the 

Sudbury irruptive for about 10 miles and is overlain to the north 

by north-dipping sedimentary rocks that correlate with those south 

of the basin (Speers, 1957, p. 498-499). According to Speers, these 

sedimentary rocks also crop out discontinuously east of the basin, and 

the basin therefore occupies the center of a large domal structure. 

The Sudbury basin proper is rimmed by the irruptive complex, 

which is roughly 1-3 miles thick and consists of a basal norite zone 

and an upper granophyre (commonly called micropegmatite) zone 

separated by a transitional zone. The basal contact of the irruptive 

dips inward 35°-50° for the most part, but locally at the southwest 

and northeast comers the dips are steep or even overturned. The 

irruptive is overlain by 3,000-5,000 feet of tuffs and welded tuffs, 

which, in tum, are overlain by several thousand feet of shale and 

sandstone. These rocks, except locally along folds and faults, dip 

gently to moderately inward toward the center of the basin. 

The Sudbury basin is traversed from east to west, approximately 

parallel to its long axis, by steeply dipping faults, some of which 

have substantial vertical displacements. About 10 miles south of the 

basin is a zone of major thrust faulting toward the northwest, along 

the Grenville front, but it has not been determined whether this 

deformation has markedly affected the structure of the basin. 

Some geologists who have studied the district (Coleman, 1905; 

"Valker, 1897; Collins, 1934) believed that the unmetamorphosed 

rocks inside the basin are unconformable over the metamorphosed 

rocks outside the basin and that the irruptive was intruded as a flat 

sheet along the unconformity and then folded. Age determinations 

(Fairbairn and others, 1960) have ranged from 1.5 to 1.7 billion years 

for rocks both inside and outside the basin, as well as for the irruptive 

itself. These dates probably· indicate the latest orogeny to which 

the rocks have been subjected and that the irruptive is probably not 

much younger, and thus not possibly of Keweenawan age. Thomson 

(1956) has indicated, on the basis of new mapping, that the tuffs and 

welded tuffs inside the basin correlate with similar rocks to the south 

outside the basin. 

Thomson (1956) and WilHams (1956) concurrently proposed, with 

supporting evide~ce, that the Sudbury basin is a caldera, relatively 
28 NlCKEL DEPOSITS OF NORTH AMERICA 

steep-walled at depth, that formed by subsidence into a void left in 

an underlying magma chamber by the catastrophic eruption of more 

than 300 cubic miles of tuffs and welded tuffs, now both inside and 

outside the basin. They believed that the norite and granophyre 

were later intruded separately, but closely spaced in time, alon~ ring 

fractures that rim the basin. 

Wilson (1956) proposed that the Sudbury irruptive, like some other 

lopoliths, may be funnel shaped; he observed that layering in the irruptive is gentler than the footwall contact. The irruptive could 

have been intruded virtually in its present form as a single body of 

magma that crystallized and differentiated in place to develop a lower 

norite zone and upper granophyre separated by a mixed or transitional zone. This concept is popular with many geologists (Hawley, 

1962) who have studied the district for many years. Along the margins of the irruptive and in reentrants into the footwall or in offset 

dikes, the rock has the composition of quartz diorite rather than 

norite; Hawley (1962, p. 25), quoting Collins (1934), stressed that 

the combined bulk composition of granophyre plus norite for the 

whole exposed irruptive is roughly equivalent to that of the marginal 

quartz diorite, which might be a chilled phase of the original magma. 

The ratio of granophyre to norite as exposed on the south side is 1 : 1 

and on the north side 3: 1; this amount of granophyre is too great to 

have been developed in place from magma comparable to the norite in 

composition, but it could have developed from a magma having the 

composition of the marginal quartz diorite. Another possibility suggested by Wilson (1956) and Hawley (1962) is that, if the intrusion 

is funnel shaped, there must be at depth a large body of norite and 

more mafic rocks from which granophyre could have differentiated. 

Another unexplained feature of the district is the breccia in the 

rocks outside the Sudbury basin, particularly at or near the footwall 

of the basal norite. Speers (1957), in a recent study of the breccia, 

concluded that it predates the irruptive, is not tectonic, and probably 

formed during the explosive eruptions of tuffs and welded tuffs that 

resulted in the formation of a caldera (similar to the concept of Thomson, 1956, and Williams, 1956). 

An impact-crater origin has been proposed by Dietz ( 1962) : 

The Sudbury structure in Ontario, Oanada, is interpreted as a 1.7-billion-learold a.steroid impact structure or "astrobleme" created by a 3X10" erg event. 

A crater was formed 30 miles across and 3 miles deep. Although converted to 

sulfides, the bolide, a copper-rich nickel-iron meteorite, is still partially preserved, as marginal sheets along the crater wall and as injections into radial 

tension cracks. Shock brecciation and shatter coning were extensively developed. A thick collar of rock was heaved up, forming the crater wall. * • • 

Because of its great magnitude, the Sudbury event triggered magmatism by off-
ONTARIO 29 

loading the lower crust and mantle and by adding shock heat. This resulted in 

partial fusion of rock which was already critically hot. An emtrusi'Ve lopolith, 

a saucer-shaped pool of magma, formed and differentiated in the crater bottom. 

The magma also laid· down a thick cap of welded or Onaping tuffs. 

Dietz believed that the present oval shape of the basin is due to later 

deformation from the south along the Grenville thrust zone. 

Dietz' impact-crater hypothesis seems to have grave weaknesses. 

The bolide itself must have been very abnormal with such a high 

copper content. A mechanism by which copper, nickel, and iron 

metals could be splashed against the walls of the crater and there 

completely transformed to sulfides seems most unlikely. Dietz later 

proposed, in an alternative hypothesis (1964, p. 422-423), that the 

metals may have occurred in the meteorite as sulfides. The idea of 

tuffs and welded tuffs extruding from the molten norite-granophyre 

pool and forming a crust under which the magma slowly crystallized 

seems quite implausible. The impact-crater hypothesis does offer an 

explanation for the domal structure of the rocks surrounding the basin 

and having steep to overturned attitudes on the south side. But the 

presence of welded tuffs in the steeply dipping rocks outside the basin 

coeval with those inside, as is indicated by Thomson (1956) and Williams ( 1956) , cannot be explained by Dietz' hypothesis. 

The attitudes of the rocks outside the basin cannot be explained by 

the Williams-Thomson caldera hypothesis. Younger well-exposed 

calderas do not exhibit such defonnation of the surrounding rocks. 

Northward thrusting, at a later date along the Grenville thrust south 

of Sudbury basin, could have developed folds such as those found in 

the basin, but the net effect of such deformation outside the basin 

should have been to flatten rather than steepen the dips of the beds. 

ORE DEPOSITS 

Most of the sulfide deposits are either along the footwall contact 

of the Sudbury irruptive in the norite or marginal quartz diorite or 

in the wall rocks of the irruptive. Along the south margin of the 

irruptive, more or less from west to east, are the Crean Hill, Gertrude, 

Ellen, Creighton, North Star, Clara Belle, Murray, Blezard, Sheppard, 

Kirkwood, and Garson mines of the International Nickel Co. of Canada, Ltd. (!nco), and the McKim, Mount Nickel, Falconbridge, and 

East mines of Falconbridge Nickel Mines, Ltd. On the north margin 

are the Levack and Big Levack mines of !nco and the Hardy, Onaping, 

Fecunis Lake, Strathcona, and Longvack mines of Falconbridge. The 

Nickel Rim and Em two mines are on the east margin. 

Several deposits occur along dikes or so-called "offsets" of quartz 

diorite that occur near the margins of the main irruptive and in general extend outward from it. The largest and richest individual ore 
30 NICKEL DEIPOSITS OF NORTH AMERICA 

bodies, the Frood-Stobie deposits of !nco, occur in the Frood-Stobie 

offset near the south rim. Also near the south rim are the Copper 

Cliff and Evans deposits in the Copper Cliff offset and the Arcadia 

deposit in the Worthington offset. Offsets near the north rim contain 

the Milnet and Nickel Offsets deposits. 

The individual ore bodies generally are moderately dipping, elongate, lenticular, or sheetlike bodies of disseminated, massive, or breccia 

ore or sulfide stringer zones. Some are arranged en echelon both 

laterally and downdip. In general the ore bodies grade from massive 

sulfides at the basal contact of the irruptive upward into progressively 

leaner disseminated ores. Ores are also concentrated in embayments 

of the irruptive into the footwall, as is well shown in the Creighton 

and Garson embayments. 

Some ore bodies coincide with steep faults along the norite contact; 

the Falconbridge ore body is a fine example (Lochhead, 1955). It is 

mineralized for 1 mile horizontally and at least 5,600 feet vertically 

along a vertical fault, where the fault follows the contact between 

norite and greenstone wall rock. At both ends the fault branches off 

from the contact and becomes barren, either abruptly or within a short 

distance. 

The largest ore bodies in the district occur in the steeply dipping 

keel-shaped Frood-Stobie quartz diorite offset (Zurbrigg and others, 

1957). This offset contains disseminated sulfides for a strike length 

of 2 miles, to depths ranging from 1,400 to 4,000 feet, and across widths 

ranging from 250 to 400 feet. More than 120 million tons of ore has 

been mined. Rich massive sulfide ore bodies occur at the base of the 

keel-shaped quartz diorite intrusive at its north and south ends. These 

bodies grade upward into disseminated ore. Only part of the disseminated sulfides in quartz diorite is of commercial grade. 

TYPES OF ORE 

The ore can be classed as massive, breccia, disseminated, or stringers. 

The normal mineral assemblage in all types is pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, 

and pentlandite, the pyrrhotite (F~-~S) making up 70-80 percent of 

the total. Chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) is second in abundance, and pentlandite [(Fe, Ni)9Ss] is least abundant. Cubanite (CuFe2Ss) is 

locally abundant and constitutes roughly 15 percent of the copper in 

the ore. Nickel is present predominantly as pentlandite, but some is 

present in the pyrrhotite either in its crystal lattice or as very fine 

disseminations. 

Platinum metals, mainly platinum and palladium, are economically 

important minor constituents in the Sudbury ores, averaging about 

0.025 ounces per ton (Allen, 1960, p. 9). Platinum occurs as sperry-
ONTARIO 31 

lite (PtAs2), and palladium as michnerite (PdBi2) and froodite 

(PdBis or PdBix). Part of the plantinum metals probably are disseminated in the sulfide minerals. The Frood ore body is considerably 

richer in platinum metals than the other deposits. 

The massive sulfides range in grain size from less than 1 to 50 mm. 

They pass either gradually or abruptly into disseminated or breccia 

ores, which are quantitatively important. For example, Davidson 

(1946) estimated that 80 percent of the ore at Falconbridge is the 

breccia type. Fragments of the footwall rock below the norite intrusive are most common; norite and quartz diorite fragments are also 

present but usually are sparse. 

Hawley (1962, p. 34) reported an unusual but significant type of 

ore in the Frood deposit that suggests the coexistence of immiscible 

sulfide and silicate liquids. This ore has a dominant sulfide matrix 

that contains rounded to club-shaped and some large irregular inclusions of quartz diorite. The silicate inclusions themselves contain 

fine droplets of sulfides, which, Hawley believed, indicate further 

unmixing during crystallization of the sulfide-saturated immiscible 

silicate ovoids. 

The disseminated ore is mostly associated with the quartz diorite 

phase in the lower margin of the norite zone, or in the offset dikes, 

and it commonly passes abruptly downward into massive or breccia 

ore. Hawley (1962, p. 32) stated that the disseminated ore apparently 

is of two types: one clearly represents immiscible sulfide droplets 

trapped in the crystallized quartz diorite or norite, and the other was 

formed by sulfide impregnation of wall rocks or breccia fragments 

near massive ore in fractures or faults. The best examples of the disseminated ore are in the Creighton and Frood deposits. 

The vein and stringer ores, according to Hawley (1962, p. 37), are 

chiefly massive sulfide bodies in fractures of varying widths; they 

often occur below or at the ends of larger disseminated bodies, parallel 

to their major trends or to faults within them. Chalcopyrite is commonly the predominant sulfide in the vein ore. 

ORIGIN OF THE DEPOSITS 

The Sudbury ore deposits are generally considered to be related to 

the Sudbury irruptive or its parent magma; they have been classified 

chiefly, as either (1) magmatic sulfides that segregated as immiscible 

droplets from the silicate magma and settled to the base of the 

intrusive, where they either crystallized in place or were injected 

into wall rocks, or (2) hydrothermal replacements (Hawley, 1962, 

p. 38). Sullivan (1954, p. 572) has suggested that the Creighton ore 

body, at least, may have resulted from the heat of molten granite 

which intruded adjacent to the irruptive and caused the migration 
32 NICKEL DEPOSiTS OF NORTH AMERICA 

of nickel and copper from the norite into quartz diorite, the quartz 

diorite being a transitional facies produced by the assimilation of 

norite by the granite magma. Sullivan's theory is probably not 

valid because most of the granite in question is now considered to 

be prenorite. 

Walker (1897), Barlow (1907), and Coleman (1913) concluded that 

the ore bodies formed by gravitative segregation of molten sulfides 

in place from the noritic 1nagma. This explanation has been strongly 

supported by the painstaking studies of Haw ley ( 1962) and his 

associates. If the explanation is valid, the magma must have been 

saturated with sulfur early in the process of crystallization because 

the sulfides must have segregated and settled early to have accumulated 

in such quantity in the basal chill zone of the irruptive. According 

to this theory, the sulfide segregations tended to collect in hollows 

, at the base of the irruptive, and this process explains the rich deposits 

at Creighton and Garson. Some ·sulfides were injected, while still 

molten, into openings in the footwall that developed by tectonic or 

other activity. Disseminated sulfides remained trapped in the norite 

and quartz diorite when the rock crystallized. 

Some investigators, although acknowledging a genetic relationship 

of the sulfide ores to the Sudbury irruptive or its parent magma at 

depth, believe that the ore minerals were deposited from hydrothermal 

solutions by replacement of the rocks in which the minerals occur. 

Knight (in Knight and Miller, 1917), Phemister (1926), and Yates 

(1948) favored such an origin. Lochhead (1955, p. 50) also seems 

to favor a hydrothermal origin for the Falconbridge deposit, for he 

concluded: 

1. The ore deposit was emplaced after the arrival and partial cooling of the 

no rite. 

2. The ores reached their present position by travelling upwards from the 

source in an extremely mobile state. 

3. Postbasin faulting along the norite-greenstone contact provided the ore 

channels. 

ORE RESERVES 

Published estimates of ore reserves in the Sudbury district are given 

in table 7. The data for the In co deposits include only proven ore 

reported by the company ; they indicate reserves sufficient for about 

20 years' operation at the current rate of production. The data for 

the other companies include proven and indicated reserves. 

TIMMINS 

The Fatima Mining Co. drilled 18 holes on a property near Timmins, 

northern Ontario. Nickel mineralization was found in several locations, and four areas were recommended for further drilling (Northern 

Miner, Aug. 28, 19·58). 
QUEBE·C 33 

TABLE 7.-0re reserves in the Sttdbury district 

Ore Contained Ni Cu 

Mine (short tons) nickel (percent) (percent) (short tons) 

International Nickel Co. mines~-----------··------------- 274,400,000 4, 130,000 

Falcon bridge Nickel mines: s Developed ore _____ ---------------------------------- 21, 096,850 } 699, 800 { Indicated ore_________________________________________ 27,166,150 

Total or average_---------------------------------- 48, 263, 000 699,800 

1. 50 ----------

1.62 

1.32 

1.45 

0.84 

.77 

.so 1=========1=======1=======1======= 

Arcadia Nickel Corp.: a Indicated ore____________________ ' (2, 500, 000) ------------ ---------- ---------- Emtwo mine •------------------------------------------- • (300,000) '(4,000) 1.40 .60 

Milnet mine 8-------------------------------------------- (7) '(2,362) ---------- ---------- Nickel Offsets mine&------------------------------------- 41,365 ------------ . 92 . 59 

Nickel Rim mine v--------------------------------------- 1, 924,216 13,800 • 72 . 28 

Grand totaL--------------------------------------- 324,600,000 4, 844,000 ---------- ----------

I Estimate based on International Nickel Co. of Canada, Ltd., 1962 annual report, after subtraction of 

!nco's estimated reserve (25,000,000 tons containing 2.97 percent Ni+Cu) at Thompson, Manitoba, when 

mining began there in 1961 (Zurbrigg, 1963, p. 451). The combined nickel-copper content of the ore is 

8,263,000 tons; on the basis of production records over a period of years, half of this 1S estimated to be nickel. 2 Falcon bridge Nickel Mines, Ltd. 1962 annual report. a Thomson and others (1957, p. 84). This estimate from company annual report for 1956, to 1,000-foot level; no grades given. 'Numbers in parentheses not included in total. a Thomson and others (1957, p. 88). Falcon bridge 1962 annual report stated that all the ore was mined out by the end of 1962. a Thomson and others (1957, p. 94-95). Two ore bodies, which yielded a total of 4,724,427 pounds nickel 

andJ~~~~lounds copper, have been mined out. 

s Thomson and others (1957, p. 96-97). t Thomson and others (1957, p. 97). 

In 1965 Texmont Mines, Ltd., was exploring a nickel deposit in the 

Timmins area that is estimab3d to contain 2 million tons of material 

averaging 1.07 percent nickel (Northern Miner, Mar. 4, 1965). 

TROUT LAKE 

Pochenour Willans Gold Mines has a nickel-copper-zinc prospect at 

Trout Lake, 26 miles west of Red Lake in northwest Ontario. The 

Northern Miner (Aug. 10, 1H61) reported that exploration revealed 

unusual nickel-copper values over good widths. The sulfides occur in 

serpentinized sediment "butting against an iron formation." For 

nearly 2 miles the average width is 50 feet. Generally the values have 

been below ore grade, but grah samples have run as high as 6 percent 

nickel and many contain 1 percent nickel. The ratio of nickel to copper 

is 2%: 1. Falconbridge Nickel Mines, Ltd., is reported to have taken 

an option to explore the property. 

QUEBEC 

BJ!!lLLETERRE 

According to the Northern Miner (Nov. 21, 1963), the property of 

Lorraine Mining Co., Ltd., controlled by Mcintyre Porcupine Mines, 

Ltd., may become Quebec's second nickel-copper producer. Reserves, 

on the basis of drilling, amount to 550,000 tons averaging 2.1 percent 
34 NTCKEL DEPOSiTS OF NORTH AMERICA 

combined nickel-copper. It was planned to start production in late 

1964 at an initial rate of 400 tons of ore per day. 

LA. MOTTE TOWNSHIP 

Mar bridge Mines, Ltd., jointly owned by Falconbridge Nickel 

Mines, Ltd., and Marchant Mining Co., Ltd., started mining nickel 

sulfide ore in March 1962 from a small deposit in La Motte township, 

northwestern Quebec. This deposit is the first nickel producer in 

Quebec. Mineralization consists of pentlandite and pyrrhotite along 

the margin of peridotite (Northern Miner, Dec. 19, 1963). 

On December 31, 1963, ore reserves were estimated at 143,330 tons 

averaging 2.28 percent nickel to a depth of 900 feet; more ore was being 

developed at greater depth and in .two then newly discovered ore shoots 

(Canadian Mines Hand b. 1964, p. 190). The copper content of the 

ore is very low, about 0.10 percent. One of the newer ore shoots, 

loc9ited 3,000 feet away from the original main deposit, was being 

intensively drilled in 1964; it appeared to be of a higher grade and 

to be wider (Northern Miner, July 16, 1964) than the deposit being 

mined. 

UNG.A. VA DISTRICT 

During the summer season of 1957, several companies intensively 

explored the Ungava nickel belt, which extends eastward across the 

northern Ungava Peninsula from Cape Smith on Hudson Bay to 

Wakeham Bay on Hudson Strait. By the end of that season, promising results from diamond drilling were reported by Asarco Nickel Co., 

Ltd., a subsidiary of the American Smelting and Refining Co., and 

by Raglan Nickel Mines, Ltd. During the following years, exploration was intermittent. By the end of the 1962 season, Raglan 

Nickel Mines, Ltd., had outlined reserves totaling 8,130,000 tons containing 1.54 percent nickel and 0.78 percent copper: the large Cross 

Lake deposit at Cross Lake Tract, which contains 5,596,000 tons, and 

two smaller, higher grade bodies, the C-1 and C-2, about 2 miles east 

of the Cross Lake deposit, which contain a total of 2,534,000 tons 

(Northern Miner, May 9, 1963). 

Exploration during 1963 by Raglan Nickel Mines, Ltd., increased 

ore reserves at the Cross Lake Tract to 10,050,000 tons averaging 1.54 

percent nickel and 0.78 percent copper, or 7,982,000 tons averaging 

1.70 percent nickel and 0.87 percent copper, whereas at Raglan Lake 

reserves totaled 356,000 tons averaging 2.74 percent nickel and 0.48 

percent copper (Northern Miner, Apr. 9, 1964; Canadian Mines 

Handb., 1964, p. 261). Four diamond drills worked at Raglan Lake 

in 1964; one of these intersected 136 feet of material tha·t averaged 

2.83 percent nickel, and the estimate of Raglan Lake reserves has been 
YUKON 35 

increased to 1,07 4,000 tons of material containing 2.62 percent nickel 

and 0.48 percent copper (Northern Miner, May 13, 1965). 

The nickel and copper minerals are along the margins of gabbro 

sills (Northern Miner, Aug. 15, 1957) as pentlandite and chalcopyrite 

associated with pyrrhotite. The gabbro is in contact with slates at 

most mineralized areas, but in one area high-grade sulfide mineralization was noted in the gabbro where it is in contact with diorite. The 

gabbro intrusive, or intrusives, containing nickel-copper sulfides extends east along the Ungava nickel belt for a distance of at least 70 

miles from the Cross Lake deposit, and a strong possibility exists that 

new ore bodies will be discovered as exploration continues. 

YUKON 

CANALASK (WHITE RIVER) 

The Canalask nickel deposit is on the White River 2 miles south of 

the Alaska Highway and about 200 miles north of Whitehorse. The 

deposit consists of nickel.Jbearing sulfides, mainly pyrrhotite, in 

altered volcanic rocks near intrusive serpentinized peridotite (Campbell, 1960, p. 666). In 1957 diamond drilling by the Canalask Nickel 

Mines., Ltd., indicated a reserve of 550,000 tons averaging 1.68 percent 

nickel (Northern Miner, Sept. 12, 1957). 

QUILL CREEK (ELUANE LAKE) 

Nickel and copper sulfides were discovered about 1952, on Quill 

Creek, about 9 miles from the Alaska Highway near Kluane Lake, 

Yukon. The deposit was explored by the Hudson Bay Mining and 

Smelting Co., Ltd., during the period 1952-56. The sulfide bodies 

consist of pyrrhotite, pentlandite, and chalcopyrite in sheared and 

altered chert and diorite near the contact of intrusive serpentinized 

peridotite (Campbell, 1960, p. 666-667). The serpentinized peridotite and associated gabbro contain some sulfides near the contact but 

not in commercial amounts. Although the size and grade of the ore 

body were not known, Campbell (1960, p. 663) stated that available 

data indicate that more sulfide mineralization is associated with the 

Quill Creek peridotite intrusive than with the smaller intrusive at the 

Canalask deposit at White River. 

Campbell (1960, p. 668) suggested that the peridotite and sulfides 

of the Canalask and Quill Creek deposits were of comagmatic origin, 

but that the sulfide fractions separated from the parent magmas at 

depth and were later injected upward along shear zones. 
36 NICKEL DEPOSITS OF NORTH AME·RICA 

NICKEL DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES 

Most of the nickel deposits of the United, States are too small or 

of too low a grade for commercial exploitation. In fact, significant 

production has come from only one deposit, that at Nickel Mountain, 

Riddle, Oreg.; the deposit is a nickel silicate laterite similar to the 

large deposits in New Caledonia. 

There are several kinds of nickel deposits in the United States. 

Many consist of pyrrhotite, pentlandite, and chalcopyrite associated 

with mafic rocks, such as gabbro, norite, or peridotite. These mafic 

rocks occur in southeastern Alaska, California, Connecticut, Idaho, 

Montana, Pennsylvania, and Washington. Several deposits of the 

nickel-cobalt-native silver ore type have been described by Bastin 

(1939). Two deposits, one in Washington and one in Nevada, have 

a unique mineralogy. 

The U.S. deposits are described in the following pages in alphabetical order by States. Locations of the deposits are shown on figure 1. 

ALASKA 

BOHEMIA BASIN, YAKOBI ISLAND 

There are at least six known nickel-copper sulfide deposits in southeastern Alaska; the largest is in the Bohemia Basin on Yakobi Island, 

approximately 80 miles west of Juneau. These deposits were studied 

and mapped by Reed and Dorr (1942) and later explored by diamond 

drilling by the U.S. Bureau of Mines in cooperation with the U.S. 

Geological Survey (Kennedy and Walton, 1946). The nickel and 

copper sulfides occur as disseminations of pentlandite and chalcopyrite associated with pyrrhotite in the basal part of a basin-shaped 

intrusive of norite that overlies amphibole schist and gabbro. These 

low-grade disseminated sulfide ore bodies are believed to have formed 

by the settling of immiscible droplets of sulfides into the lower part 

of the norite body during its crystallization. 

The estimated tonnages of submarginal resources are summarized 

from the report of Kennedy and Walton ( 1946, p. 50-56). The East 

and West Tripod deposits are estimated to contain 4,400,000 tons of 

measured and indicated material averaging 0.38 percent nickel and 

0.19 percent copper. The Tunnel deposit is estimated to contain 

5,900,000 tons of measured and indicated material averaging 0.37 percent nickel and 0.2 percent copper. The Takanis deposit has an estimated inferred tonnage of 2,400,000 tons averaging 0.31 percent 

nickel and the Muskeg and Side Hill deposits, 8,100,000 tons averaging 

0.27 percent nickel. The total estimated submarginal resources of the 

Yakobi Island deposits are 10,300,000 tons of measured and indicated 
ALASKA 37 

material averaging 0.37 percent nickel and 10,500,000 tons of inferred 

material averaging 0.28 percent nickel. 

BRADY GLACIER 

The Brady Glacier deposit is about 25 miles north of Yakobi Island 

and 85 miles west of Juneau. It is held by the Fremont Mining Co. 

and consists of nickel-bearing gabbro and peridotite, parts of which 

crop out in nunataks that rise above the Brady Glacier. Sulfide 

minerals in the deposit include pyrrhotite, pentlandite, and chalcopyrite. Samples collected from the nunataks contained more than 1 

percent nickel and about 0.5 percent copper. For several years prior 

to 1962, the deposit was explored by diamond drilling through the 

glacier, which is as much as 800 feet thick. The gabbro and peridotite 

underlying the glacier are said to form a flat trough-shaped body as 

much as 1,500 feet thick, and the drilling was intended to explore 

lower parts of the trough where sulfides might be concentrated. The 

exploration did not disclose mineralized bodies of sufficient size and 

grade to be of commercial interest. This mafic body is a salient of 

the much larger Mount Crillon layered gabbro massif that extends to 

the northwest along the Pacific Coast. 

FUNTER BAY, ADMffiALTY ISLAND 

A nickel-copper sulfide deposit near the north end of Admiralty 

Island, about 18 miles west of Juneau, was found and first mapped in 

1919 by John Mertie of the U.S. Geological Survey. It was later 

mapped and described by Reed (1942), who described the sulfide 

mineralization as occurring in a mafic sill that averages 100 feet in 

thickness and dips steeply eastward. He estimated that the deposit 

contains 560,000 tons of material averaging roughly 0.3 percent nickel 

and 0.35 percent copper. In the 1950's, exploration was supported 

by assistance from DMEA (Defense Minerals Exploration Administration) ; a second adit was driven and quite a number of diamonddrill holes were sunk. This exploration revealed that the mafic intrusive is pipelike in form and consists of both gabbro and norite containing disseminated and massive pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, and pentlandite. The pipe plunges approximately 30° E. along a contact between quartz-sericite schist and overlying graphitic phyllite. It has 

a maximum diameter of 60-200 feet and has been explored for 900 

feet downdi p. 

The mafic pipe, as described by Fred Barker (written commun., 

1956), contains sulfide-rich norite and gabbro in its lower part, whereas the middle and upper parts of the pipe are sulfide-poor gabbro. In 

the sulfide-rich norite-gabbro, pyrrhotite, pentlandite, and chalcopy-
38 NroKEL DEiPOSiTS OF NORTH AMERICA 

rite are disseminated through the rock and also form massive pods 

a few inches to several feet thick. The norite-gabbro is dark gray, 

fine to medium grained, and hypidiomorphic; it consists of olivine, 

hypersthene, augite, hornblende, plagioclase, sulfides, and minor magnetite, biotite, chlorite, sericite, serpentine, anthophyllite, talc, and calcite. Most of the olivine is fresh; the plagioclase is labradorite and 

has been partly sericitized. The sulfides embay the silicates, and no 

alteration is found at contacts. A typical specimen was found to 

contain 33 percent sulfides (mostly pyrrhotite), 27 percent olivine, 20 

percent plagioclase, 10 percent hornblende, and minor amounts of the 

remaining minerals. 

The sulfide-poor gabbro making up the main bulk of the pipe is 

light to dark green, medium grained, and hypidiomorphic. A typical 

specimen contains 55 percent plagioclase, 30 percent augite, 5 percent 

hornblende, 4 percent magnetite-ilmenite, 3 percent biotite, 2 percent 

chlorite, and 1 percent sulfides. The plagioclase ranges from labradorite ( An54) to andesine ( Anss) . 

The sulfides probably segregated as immiscible droplets from the 

mafic magma of the pipe as it crystallized and settled downward together with other heavier constituents, mainly olivine, to form concentrations in the lower part. The sulfide-rich part of the pipe is 

estimated, as a result of the exploration under DMEA contract, to 

contain a small to moderate tonnage of material averaging 1 percent 

nickel and 1 percent copper. 

MIRROR HARBOR, FLEMING ISLAND 

Several nickel-copper deposits on Fleming, Chichagof, and· Baranof 

Islands, immediately southeast of Yakobi Island have been described 

by Pecora (1942) and by Kennedy and Walton (1946). All the 

deposits, except the one at Mirror Harbor on Fleming Island, are 

either too low in grade or too small to be considered as potential commercial deposits. All the nickel-bearing deposits occur in norite. The 

deposit at Mirror Harbor is characterized by small podlike masses of 

sulfides consisting of pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, and pentlandite. The 

largest pod seen measures 4 by 4 by 8 inches. The sulfide minerals are 

commonly coarse grained, and they enclose crystals of pyroxene and 

plagioclase. The individual pods contain an average of 3 percent 

nickel and 2 percent copper, whereas the enclosing norite usually 

contains less than 0.10 percent sparsely disseminated nickel. The 

deposit has outcrop dimensions of 30 by 40 feet, and it plunges about 

75° SE. It has been explored by a shaft reported to be 180 feet deep 

and by five diamond-drill holes sunk by the U.S. Bureau of Mines. 

The deposit is estimated to contain 8,000 tons of material averaging 

1.54 percent nickel and 0.7 percent copper. 
ARKANSAS 39 

SNIPE BAY, BARANOF :fSLAND 

A low-grade nickel-copper deposit at Snipe Bay on the southern 

tip of Baranof Island that has been described by Reed and Gates 

(1942) is similar to other nickel-bearing sulfide deposits farther north 

on Chicago£, Fleming, and Yakobi Islands. The mineralization 

consists of disseminations and small masses of pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, 

and pentlandite in an amphibole-bearing norite or gabbro. Pyroxene 

of the intrusive host rock has been altered to amphibole, and the calcic 

plagioclase to albite or albite-oligoclase. Because of poor exposures 

and limited development, Reed and Gates ( 1942) estimated an inferred 

tonnage of only 430,000 tons of material containing 0.3 percent nickel 

and 0.3 percent copper. 

SPIRIT MOUNTAIN, COPPER RIVER AREA. 

A small nickel-copper deposit was discovered about 1907 in the 

Copper· River region, about 15 miles southeast of Chitina. During 

World War II the deposit was studied and mapped by Kingston and 

Miller ~ 1945). It occurs in two small, highly altered ultramafic 

mass6d, intrusive into Mississippian metamorphic rocks that crop out 

on the glacier-steepened wall of Canyon Creek Valley. Primary 

peridotite has been completely altered to antigorite, tremolite, hornblende, and talc. Mineralized parts of the deposit consist of disseminations and massive pods of pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, and bravoite. 

The bravoite was first identified by Buddington (1924) .. The deposit 

also contains small amounts of pyrite and pentlandite. Small veins 

of sphalerite cut the other earlier sulfide minerals. The pods of 

massive sulfides occur near the base of the larger of the two intrusives. 

Kingston and Miller (1945, p. 55) considered the deposit to be of 

magmatic origin. They believed that liquid sulfides segregated from 

the silicate-magma during its crystallization. Part of the liquid 

sulfide droplets settled by gravity to form massive sulfide in the lower 

part of the intrusive, and part remained disseminated through the 

intrusive. The inferred tonnage of the deposit is 6,500 tons averaging 

0.7 percent nickel and 0.5 percent copper. 

ARKANSAS 

SALINE COUNTY 

Sterling and Stone (1961) have described nickel occurrences in soapstone deposits in Saline County, Ark. An irregular serpentinite intrusion in Ordovician shales has marginal lenticular bodies of talc and 

soapstone. The soapstone and associated serpentinite contain small 

erratic concentrations of nickel. Some of the nickel is in seams and 

disseminations of pyrrhotite or pyrite, but most of the nickel concen-
40 NlCKEL DEPOSI'l'S OF NORTH AMERICA 

trations are probably due to secondary enrichment during weathering 

of the serpentinite and soapstone. Nickel values in the enriched rock 

range from about 0.5 to 3.0 percent. One selected sample of nickeliferous manganese oxide assayed 15.0 percent nickel. The nickel occurrences are too small and spotty to be of commercial importance. 

CALIFORNIA 

JULIAN 

A small nickel-copper sulfide deposit, known as the Friday mine, 

is located 3 miles south of Julian, San Diego County, Calif. The 

sulfide deposit is associated with a sizable gabbro-peridotite intrusive 

complex and occurs in gabbro at the margin of a periodotite body. 

The gabbro and peridotite have been uralitized in the area where the 

deposit occurs. The mineralized zone in the Friday mine is an irregular body that strikes N. 75° E. and dips steeply northward. It has 

a strike length of 35--55 feet and is wedge-shaped in vertical section, 

decreasing in width from 25 feet on the 132-foot level to 8 feet on the 

180-foot level. 

The sulfides occur as disseminations and in small massive bodies and 

have been identified as pyrrhotite, pentlandite, violarite, pyrite, and 

chalcopyrite. Pyrrhotite is the most abundant mineral and occurs as 

large crystals poikilitically enclosing the other minerals. Sulfides in 

the mine workings have been oxidized down to the 132-foot level but 

are relatively fresh below that to the lowest workings at the 180-foot 

level. 

Creasey ( 1946, p. 25) believed that the deposit was formed by replacement of the gabbro along fractures. He reported evidence of 

moderate hydrothermal activity and apparently believed that the sulfides were deposited from solution. He did not, however, consider 

them to be typical hydrothermal solutions, because of the absence of 

substantial hydrothermal alteration and of typical hydrothermal 

gangue minerals. Creasey stated that the solutions apparently were 

high in sulfides and comparatively low in water, but he did not state 

whether he considered them to have been derived by segregation during 

the crystallization of the mafic and ultramafic rocks or introduced 

from an unknown source at depth. 

Creasey (1946) estimated that the rich part of the deposit, totaling 

5,000 tons, probably averages about 2·.5 percent nickel and 0.75 percent 

copper. He estimated an inferred reserve of 100,000 tons averaging 

1.5 percent nickel and 0.75 percent copper. 
COLORADO 41 

OLD IRONSIDES 

The Old Ironsides deposit is in San Diego County 49 miles northeast of San Diego and 17 miles northwest of the Julian deposit. This 

nickel-copper deposit occurs near the middle of a small gabbro intrusive that is probably related to the mafic rocks at the Julian 

deposit. The gabbro, which is intruded into a larger quartz diorite 

body, is dark greenish gray and coarse grained ; it consists of plagioclase, hornblende, olivine, and a little pyrite and pyrrhotite. The 

sulfide deposit is overlain by a gossan that covers 25,000 square feet. 

Oxidation is complete to a depth of 60 feet; below that, primary pyrrhotite, pentlandite, and chalcopyrite occur as disseminations in the 

gabbro. 

The deposit probably formed by the segregation of sulfides from the 

gabbro during its crystallization. In 1954 the deposit was explored 

under a DMEA contract by two diamond-drill holes, each 300 feet 

deep. A small tonnage of material averaging 0.35 percent nickel and 

0.7 percent copper is inferred to be present in the deposit to a depth of 

100 feet. 

COLORADO 

BOULDER COUNTY 

An unusual type of nickel deposit, described by Goddard and Lovering (1942), occurs at the Copper King mine near Gold Hill, 32 miles 

northwest of Denver, Colo. The deposit occurs in a lenticular body of 

amphibolite that appears in places to grade downward into hornblende-quartz gabbro. These rocks are surrounded by Precambrian 

schists and granitic intrusives. The amphibolite and gabbro, as well 

as the deposit itself, are Precambrian in age. The deposit consists of 

disseminated intergrowths of pyrite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, and 

polydymite. Small amounts of several other nickel minerals have been 

identified, namely bravoite, violarite, niccolite, pentlandite, and possibly millerite. Polydymite seems to be the chief primary nickel 

mineral ; the other nickel minerals, except for pentlandite, appear to be 

of supergene origin. The upper part of the deposit is partly to completely oxidized, and the chief constituents are garnierite, chrysocolla, 

and serpentine. 

The sulfides occur in the coarser grained facies of the amphibolite in 

layers commonly 5-20 feet in maximum thickness, but locally as much 

as 50 feet thick. The sulfide minerals are irregularly disseminated 

or form a network and replace various silicate minerals of the 

amphibolite. 

The mineralized zones are irregular and discontinuous. They have 

been cut by dikes and veinlets of pegmatite, gabbro, aplite, and diabase. 

The deposit contains an estimated 21,600 tons of indicated material 
42 NICKEL DEPOSiTS OF NORTH AMERICA 

containing 3.0 percent nickel and 50,000 tons of inferred material containing 0.5 percent nickel. Cobaltite ( CoAsS) is also present in the 

deposit; analyzed samples contain from 0 to 0.6 percent cobalt. Small 

percentages of copper are present in the unoxidized ore. Samples of 

the oxidized ore, which has a small volume, contain 1.3-13.0 percent 

nickel, 0.2-6.2 percent cobalt, and 0.05--31.6 percent copper. 

CONNECTICUT 

MOUNT PROSPECT 

Mount Prospect, Litchfield County, northwestern Connecticut, is 

underlain by a Precambrian or early Paleozoic intrusive complex 

made up of olivine norite, quartz norite, and hypersthene pyroxenite. 

These rocks, covering an area of 12 square miles, contain six small deposits of pyrrhotite, pentlandite, chalcopyrite, and minor pyrite. The 

deposits have been worked intermittently since 1835 but are too small 

and too low a grade to be commercially exploitable. 

Cameron ( 1943) believed that the sulfides, though genetically related to the mafic rocks, were introduced by hydrothermal emanations 

:from a deeper seated parent magma. Others who have studied the 

deposits believed that the sulfides were derived from the rocks in which 

they occur and were crystallized during a late deuteric stage. Small 

amounts of supergene marcasite and violarite or bravoite formed by 

the action of circulating ground water on the primary sulfides. 

HODGES 

The Hodges nickel prospect near Torrington, Litchfield County, and 

17 miles northeast of Mount Prospect, is similar to the deposits at 

Mount Prospect. A small peridotite intrusive, 140 feet long and 5-20 

feet wide as exposed on the surface, contains disseminations, small 

masses, and veinlets of pyrrhotite, pentlandite, and chalcopyrite. 

Four shallow diamond-drill holes across the peridotite showed 15 

:feet in one hole that contains 1.31 percent nickel and 1.24 percent copper, and 15 feet in another that contains 0.77 percent nickel and 0.82 

percent copper; two holes were barren. 

IDAHO 

MONTGOMERY 

The Montgomery deposit consists of disseminated sulfides in one of 

the mafic sills of the Purcell Basalt in Boundary County, Idaho 

(Kiilsgaard, 1951). The sill, 250 feet thick and composed of hypersthene gabbro and uralitized diorite, contains disseminations of 

pyrrhotite and minor pentlandite and chalcopyrite in its lower 80 feet. 

The deposit quite clearly resulted from the separation of sulfide drop-
MAINE 43 

lets during crystallization of the magma and their subsequent differential settling to the lower part of the sill. The amount of sulfide-bearing rock is large, but the tenor of nickel and copper is too low to be of 

economic interest. 

MAINE 

KNOX COUNTY 

Nickeliferous pyrrhotite in peridotite, known as the Crawford Pond 

nickel deposit, occurs at East Union, Knox County, Maine. This deposit was first described by Bastin (1908) as a small outcrop of the 

peridotite, mostly covered by drift, which contains 60 percent olivine, 

22 percent pyrrhotite, 1 percent chalcopyrite, and small to moderate 

amounts of hornblende, andesine-labradorite, magnetite, biotite, spinel, 

and pyrite. A sample assayed 0.94 percent nickel sulfide. The constituents are intergrown in a manner that indicates simultaneous crystallization; the sulfides corrode the silicates. The deposit was 

considered by Bastin as a convincing example of a sulfide body that 

segregated from a molten magma. 

The Crawford Pond deposit has been thoroughly explored gaophysically and by diamond drilling by Roland F. Beers, Inc., under 

contract with the DMEA (Beers and others, 1962). Petrographic 

studies by these investigators indicate that the peridotite is biotite 

lherzolite (olivine plus orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene) associated 

with biotite gabbro and biotite-hornblende diorite. 

DMEA exploration, completed in 1960, indicated that the Crawford Pond deposit contains a moderate tonnage of material averaging 

0.596 percent nickel, 0.282 percent copper, and 0.096 percent cobalt. 

MINNESOTA 

ELY 

A nickel-copper deposit was discovered in 1948 near the base of the 

Duluth Gabbro in Lake County, 10 miles southeast of Ely, Minn. 

(Schwartz and Davidson, 1952). The Duluth Gabbro Complex, a 

huge lopolithic stratiform intrusive, extends for 150 miles northeast 

from Duluth and has a maximum thickness of 50,000 feet. Gabbro, 

anorthosite, and granophyre are the main rock types in this highly 

differentiated layered pluton, but peridotite and norite layers are present in the lower part. 

Chalcopyrite, cubanite, pyrrhotite, pentlandite, and bornite are 

disseminated in layers and lenses in medium- to coarse-grained gabbro 

for 5 miles along the base of the lopolith where it is thickest southeast 

of Ely. The base of the lopolith dips 20°-25° SE. in the mineralized 

area. Layers of gabbro and gabbroic anorthosite dip more or less 
44 NlCKE'L DEPOSITS OF NORTH AMERICA 

parallel to the basal contact. The sulfide lenses appear to be elongate parallel to the layering. Samples from a 188-foot diamond-drill 

hole at the discovery site averaged 0.36 percent copper and 0.13 percent 

nickel in its upper 104 feet. Samples of sulfide-bearing gabbro and 

gabbroic anorthosite at seven points along the strike in the 5-mile 

zone contained 0.32-1.12 percent copper and 0.07-0.38 pe~cent nickel. 

The sulfides are interstitial to the silicates olivine, pyroxene (augite 

and hypersthene), and plagioclase that. make up the rock and also 

occur as fine blebs in the pyroxene and plagioclase. Schwartz and 

Davidson (1952, p. 702) believed tha;t the sulfides are prim,ary con• 

stituents of the gabbro and concluded: "Strong evidence of the syngenetic origin of the sulphides and the considerable length over which 

they occur also indicate that there is an excellent geological probability of finding a commercial deposit." 

Other mineralized bodies near the base of the Duluth Gabbro have 

been explored northeast of the area described above. Two large deposits, totaling several hundred million tons of material, are reported 

to average 0.75 percent copper and 0.25 percent nickel. -

MISSOURI 

FREDERICKTOWN 

Complex lead-zinc-copper-nickel-cobalt deposits occur at Fredericktown, Madison County, in the southeastern Missouri lead district. 

The majority of the ore bodies in this district contain mainly lead and 

only minor amounts of zinc, copper, nickel, and cobalt, but some deposits or parts of deposits contain significant amounts of copper, 

nickel, and cobalt. · 

In the area around Fredericktown, Precambrian granite and rhyolite 

porphyry crop out as peaks and ridges protruding through Upper 

Cambrian sedimentary rocks that have been deposited unconformably 

around them. Geological and geophysical data indicate that the 

unconformity above the Precambrian basement represents an erosional 

surface of high relief, including numerous hills that are completely 

covered by the Cambrian rocks. The oldest Cambrian unit, the Lamotte Sandstone, occupies depressions in the erosion surface and 

pinches out against peaks and ridges of the Precambrian basement. 

The overlying Bonneterre Dolomite consists of interbedded sandstone, shale, and dolomite at the base, a lower member of dark-gray 

dolomite, and an upper member of light-gray dolomite. Several 

other Upper Cambrian dolomite formations, containing some shaly, 

silty, and sandy units, complete the sequence of rocks in this area. 

The Bonneterre Dolomite and. younger formations also pinch out 

against the higher Precambrian peaks and ridges, and everywhere 

there is a basal conglomerate immediately above the unconformity. 
MONTANA 45 

The regional dip of the Cambrian rocks is gently eastward, but 

locally these rocks dip peripherally away from the Precambrian peaks, 

probably because of differential compaction of the sedimentary rocks. 

The ore deposits occur as disseminated replacements of galena, 

sphalerite, siegenite, chalcopyrite, and marcasite in the lower part of 

the Bonneterre Dolomite and locally in the top of the Lamotte Sandstone. The distribution of the ore minerals between ore bodies, and 

even within individual bodies, is erratic. A crude vertical zoning is 

apparent in some ore bodies, significant amounts of copper, nickel, and 

cobalt minerals being concentrated in the lower parts, and in some 

bodies the combined metal content and quantity of each metal also 

varies markedly within short lateral distances. 

Quite a few deposits, including those with significant .amounts of 

copper, nickel, and cobalt minerals, occur where the Lamotte Sandstone pinches out against the Precambrian peaks. These deposits are 

sinuous lenses, 0-40 feet thick, 50-250 feet wide, several hundred feet 

long, and comparatively flat at depths of 250-400 feet below the 

surface. 

The deposits that contain mostly galena and sphalerite have been 

and are being mined at a profit, but attempts to recover copper, nickel, 

and cobalt from deposits with significant amounts of these metalsthat is, those with chalcopyrite and siegenite-have failed because of 

metallurgical problems in separating the metals. Published data 

(U.S. Bur. Mines, 1952) indicate that measured and indicated marginal resources of material rich in copper, nickel, and cobalt amount 

to nearly 2 million tons containing 2.3 percent lead, 1.4 percent copper, 

0.46 percent nickel, and 0.28 percent cobalt. Inferred marginal resources are probably several times larger than the measured and indicated estimate. 

MONTANA 

MOUAT 

The Stillwater Complex-a Precambrian stratiform intrusion, 

18,000 feet thick, of layered peridotite overlain by norite and anorthosite-extends 30 miles along the Beartooth Plateau in Stillwater County. Extensive stratiform deposits of chromite occur at several 

horizons in the peridotite zone. Copper, nickel, and iron sulfides occur 

at quite a few places in metamorphic rocks immediately below the Stillwater Complex but are sparse within it. The occurrences are small 

except for the Mount nickel deposit near the Stillwater River. This 

deposit, described by A. L. Howland (written commun., 1943-44), 

was explored by the Anaconda Co. in 1937 and by the U.S. Geological 

Survey and the U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1940-41. Nineteen holes 
46 NICKEL DEPO:Srl'1S OF NORTH AMERICA 

were drilled for a total length of 12,500 feet ; prior to these explorations 1,700 feet of tunnels had been driven. 

The deposit probably contains several million tons, possibly more, 

of mineralized rock that averages 0.4 percent nickel and 0.35 percent 

copper. Pyrrhotite, pentlandite, and chalcopyrite occur as pods, 

lenses, and sill-like bodies, both disseminated and massive, in finegrained norite sills and adjacent hornfels. The norite sills dip 30°-

400 W., parallel to the base of the main igneous complex, to which 

they are genetically related. The mineralized area is roughly 1,200 

feet in diameter. Individual masses and disseminated bodies measure 

as much as 100 by 30 feet on exposed surfaces and are grouped together 

in many places to make larger irregular bodies that are more or less 

parallel to the no rite sills. Sulfides are most abundant in the hornfels, 

which is a banded, metamorphosed fine granular rock composed of 

cordierite, quartz, biotite, and hypersthene. 

Pyrrhotite is the most abundant sulfide. The distribution of pentlandite and chalcopyrite associated with the pyrrhotite is so erratic 

that the nickel and copper contents of sulfide-bearing rock cannot be 

estimated by inspection. The highest values obtained in many 5-foot 

sample were 1.07 percent nickel and 0.83 percent copper; the highest 

for any greater length of core were 0.81 percent nickel and 0.60 percent 

copper for a length of 55 feet. 

NEVADA 

BUNKERVILLE DISTRICT 

The Great Eastern and Key West nickel deposits are in the Virgin 

Mountains in the Bunkerville or Copper King district, southeastern 

Clark County, Nev. The district has been described by Needham and 

others (1950) as the result of an exploration program carried out by 

the U.S. Bureau of Mines during the period 1939-41. More recent1y 

the district was explored under a DMEA contract, but the results of 

this exploration have not been published. The sulfide-bearing material in the great eastern deposit averages 0.3 percent nickel. No 

significant tonnage has been discovered in the Key West deposit. 

The deposits consist of pyrrhotite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, pentlandite, 

violarite, and possibly polydymite. These sulfides occur as disseminations, pods, and lenticular masses in two dikes of hornblendite and 

peridotite that intrude Precambrian granitic gneisses. The dikes 

strike about N. 70° E. and are nearly vertical. The deposits were 

first described by Bancroft (1910). At that time, interest was centered on the occurrence of minor amounts of platinum in the sulfides. 

Lincoln (1923, p. 18) described the deposits and gave the following 

assay of a carload of ore from the Key West deposits: 2.30 percent 
NEVADA 47 

copper, 1.79 percent nickel, 0.08 percent cobalt, 0.13 ounces per ton 

platinum, and traces of gold and silver. Lindgren and Davy (1924) 

described the mineralogy of the deposits in some detail, as did Buddington ( 1924) . They were interested particularly in the mineral 

violarite, which was first identified at that time, and in its origin. The 

sulfide minerals are in part interstitial to the silicates in the mafic 

dikes, and the deposits probably are late magmatic differentiates 

altered by hydrothermal solutions. 

COTI'ONWOOD CANYON 

Small but unusual nickel and cobalt sulfide and arsenide deposits 

occur in Cottonwood Canyon at the north end of the Stillwater Range, 

Churchill County, Nev. According to Lincoln (1923, p. 11-12), the 

nickel and cobalt deposits of Cottonwood Canyon were discovered by 

George Lovelock and Charles Bell about 1882. The Nickel mine was 

worked until 1890, reopened in 1904, and again closed in 1908. A 

second mine, the Lovelock mine, shipped 500 tons of high-grade 

nickel-cobalt ore to England in the early days. The deposits have 

been studied more recently by Ferguson (1939), who described the 

nickel and nickel-cobalt ores in the two mines as small discontinuous 

stringers that cut the rocks immediately adjacent to an intrusive 

diorite. The host rocks for the ores are highly altered and probably 

are andesitic volcanics and aplitic dikes. At the Nickel mine the 

nickel minerals are oxidized to annabergite [Ni8 (As04h·8H20], 

morenosite (NiS04 ·7H20), and possibly garnierite (Ni, Mg hydrosilicate), according to Ferguson (1939, p. 13). Niccolite (NiAs) was 

also identified in the ore. At the Lovelock mine, the metallic minerals 

recognized were tetrahedrite [ ( Cu, Fe) 12Sb4S18], erythrite ( Co8AS:!-

Os·SH20), and azurite [Cu(OH)2·2CuCOa], and possibly a mixture 

of annabergite and brochantite ( 4Cu0 ·SO a· 3H20). 

Ferguson (1939) stated: 

In the Nickel mine the principal stopes are along a fiat fissure with a dip of 

about 20 degrees to the southwest. This has been followed along the strike for 

about 100 feet and stoped over about one-half this distance. Probably this 

stringer yielded a relatively large amount of nickel, in spite of its small length, 

for the sample taken from a four-inch vein of green material left at the end of 

the stope assayed 23.8 percent nickel. Nearby in the same tunnel a stringer 

wUh a northerly trend and a westerly dip of 60 to 70 degrees has been followed 

for about 80 feet, has been stoped for about SO feet. 

The workings of the Lovelock mine were inaccessible at the time of 

Ferguson's visit. 

Ferguson (1939, p. 19--21) believed that the nickel and cobalt deposits of Cottonwood Canyon are related to nearby gold and titanium 

deposits and to the intrusive body of diorite, and that in the final 
48 NICKEL DEPOSlT.S OF NORTH AMERICA 

stage of mineralization by magmatic solutions, sulfides and arsenides 

of nickel, cobalt, and copper were introduced along small fissures in 

the already altered countr.y rock : 

At the Nickel mine, at least, this was not a simple process, for the sulftde millerite appears to have been first formed, followed by its almost complete replacement 

by the arsenide niccolite. The paragenesis of the even more complex ores of 

the Lovelock mine is unknown, nor can any explanation be offered as to why 

only nickel minerals are found at the Nickel mine, whereas the similar fissures 

of the nearby Lovelock mine contain a greater variety of metals. 

GIBELLINX DEPOSIT 

A very unusual deposit of manganese oxides, containing large 

amounts of nickel, zinc, and vanadium, occurs about 30 miles south of 

Eureka in Eureka County, Nev. This deposit was diamond drilled 

by the U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1946 (Binyon, 1948), and later was 

explored under a DMEA contract. The manganese oxides occur in 

limestone of Devonian age, adjacent to vanadiferous shale. They 

occur in several small bodies near the surface, which in cross section 

are more or less funnel-shaped. According to Binyon (1948, p. 8), 

the principal minerals are the manganese oxides psilomelane and pyrolusite, which contain substantial amounts of nickel and zinc and lesser 

amounts of vanadium; no other metallic minerals have been identified. 

An analysis of representative material (Binyon, 1948, p. 8) contains 

18.5 percent manganese, 3.0 percent iron, 1.7 percent nickel, 0.3 percent 

cobalt, 3.2 percent zinc, 0.12 percent copper, 0.11 percent molybdenum, 

0.88 percent vanadium oxide, 3.7 percent barium, 2.3 percent calcium 

oxide, 0.2 percent sulfur, and 6.0 percent alumina. 

The origin of these deposits is puzzling, but the shape of the ore 

bodies and the presence of elements suggestive of a hydrothermal 

origin (D. F. Hewett, oral commun., 1963) indicate that the metallic 

minerals may have been deposited in a hydrothermal hot spring. 

NORTH CAROLINA 

WEBST.'ER 

Near Webster, Jackson County, N.C., nickeliferous laterites, formed 

from the weathering of relatively fresh dunite, have been studied and 

explored by geologists and engineers for many years (Pawel, 1939, 

1943; Ross and others, 1928; Worthington, 1964). The dunite occurs 

as an elliptical dike that has intruded gneisses and 'SChists. The 

laterites, which are small and discontinuous, are the silicate variety; 

nickel occurs as garnierite both in the lateritic soil and in the underlying weathered dunite. The nickel content ranges from 0.5 to 1.9 

percent according to published analyses of the residual soil and the 

weathered dunite. Pa wei ( 1943, p. 278) estimated that the laterites 
OREGON AND CALIFORNIA 49 

contain 1 million tons of material averaging 1 percent nickel. One 

deposit, the Nickel Plant Tract, was explored in 1951-52 by the Olivine 

Products Corp. under a DME.A contract. 

OREGON AND CALIFORNIA 

NICKELIFEROUS LATERITES 

Nickel-bearing ferruginous laterites that overlie ultramafic rocks 

have been described by Hotz (1964) at localities in southwestern 

Oregon and northwestern California. Most of the deposits have been 

derived from fresh peridotite, but at least one deposit was formed 

over serpentinite. The laterites occur on flat-lying to gently sloping 

erosion surfaces, including broad plateaulike summits, saddles, and 

terraces. The highest concordant erosion surfaces form the mountain 

tops and represent the oldest peneplains, probably middle Tertiary in 

age. The surfaces on the flanks of the mountains and ·on lower terraces of the mountains are, for the most part, younger erosion surfaces, 

but at a few places the terraces represent older, higher erosion surfaces 

that have been downfaulted by gravitational slumping. 

The principal nickeliferous laterite deposit is at Nickel Mountain 

near Riddle, Douglas County, Oreg. This laterite, a nickel silicate 

laterite containing garnierite, has been mined by the M. A. Hanna Co. 

since 1954. Production capacity there was increased in 1964 from 

22 to 28 million pounds of nickel per year. Nickeliferous laterite deposits large enough to be explored commercially also occur at Eight 

Dollar Mountain, Woodcock Mountain, and Josephine Creek near Cave 

Junction, Oreg.; at Red Flats, east of Gold Beach, Oreg.; at Pine 

Flat Mountain, Gasquet, and Little Rattlesnake Mountain, Del Norte 

County, Calif.; at Trinity .Alps, north of Weaverville, Calif.; and ·at 

Dunsmuir, Siskiyou County, and Little Red Mountain, Mendocino 

County, Calif. 

The laterite at Nickel Mountain near Riddle, Oreg., is estimated 

to total16.2 million .tons of nickel silicate ore that contains 1.5 percent 

nickel (F. M. Chace, written commun., August 1965). Production 

records for the first 10 years of operation, plus consideration of present 

capacity and minimal requirements for profitable exploitation of a 

metal deposit, indicate that the deposit is large enough to support a 

production rate of 24 million pounds of nickel per year for a minimum 

of 30 years. Several other deposits, including Eight Dollar Mountain, 

'Voodcock Mountain, Red Flats, Pine Flat Mountain, and Little Red 

Mountain, are estimated to contain a total of nearly 50 million tons 

of lateritic material (table 5) , but the nickel content in all these deposits is less than 1 percent. 
50 NICKEL DEPOB:rffi OF NORTH AMERICA 

All the deposits, except the Red Flats, are weathering mantles that 

overlie relatively fresh peridotite, which is mainly saxonite (olivine 

plus enstatite) but includes some dunite (all olivine). The Red Flats 

laterite overlies serpentinite. The Nickel Mountain laterite contains 

garnierite and is thus the nickel silicate type, similar to the rich New 

Caledonian laterites. The .other laterites, like the nickeliferous iron 

laterites of Cuba and the Philippines, contain little or no garnierite 

and more iron. 

The nickeliferous laterite deposits of California and Oregon are, 

in general, similar lithologically. A typical lateritic profile from top 

to bottom, according to Hotz (1964, p. 367), consists of: (1) reddishbrown soil containing varying amounts of iron oxide pellets; (2) 

yellowish-orange soil, with or without fragments of soft, decomposed 

peridotite; (3) yellowish-brown saprolite (intensely weathered peridotite) ; ( 4) weathered peridotite; and ( 5) fresh peridotite (bedrock) . The lateritic soil commonly contains blocks and boulders of 

peridotite having thin weathered crusts and hard fresh cores. 

The lateritic soils have been studied by Hotz (1964, p. 368-375), 

both by microscopic and X-ray diffractometer techniques. The soils 

contain a mixture of residual minerals from the disintegration of the 

peridotite by weathering and secondary minerals formed by recombination of some constituents released during weathering. The residual minerals of weathered peridotite are enstatite, olivine, chromite, 

and serpentine. Iron oxides, which lend a yellow, brown, or reddish 

tone to the laterite, are most prominent among the secondary minerals 

that formed in the weathering zone. The iron oxides are mostly 

amorphous hydrates that can be classed as limonite, but X-ray patterns also indicate goethite and maghemite. The soft soillike laterite 

commonly contains shotlike granules of iron oxides, which have been 

identified as maghemite and lesser amounts of goethite. 

Veinlets of microcrystalline quartz-garnierite also have formed in 

fractures and joints of the weathered peridotite immediately beneath 

the lateritic soil zone. The lateritic soils contain microcrystalline 

quartz fragments which probably were derived from the veinlets as 

weathering became progressively lower in the profile. 

X-ray diffraction patterns of clay fractions of the laterite samples 

studied by Hotz ( 1964, p. 369-371) indicated the presence of montmorillonite, chlorite, and talc. The laterite samples contained as 

much as 1.8 percent nickel and 0.11 percent cobalt, but no specific 

minerals of these elements were identified in the clay fractions. 

Garnierite, the hydrous silicate of nickel, has been identified orily 

in veinlets where it is associated with quartz in boxwork in weathered 

and fresh peridotite, and as residual veinlets in the soil. Possibly the 
OREGON AND CALIFORNIA 51 

nickel occurs as a substitute for magnesium in the montmorillonite, 

talc~ and chlorite of the clay fraction. 

Nickel has also been found in significant amounts in serpentine 

minerals and goethite. Montoya and Baur (1963, p. 1228--1230) reported that lizardite, the major serpentine mineral in laterites of 

northern California and New Caledonia, contains 2.0 and 4.3 percent 

NiO, respectively. Fisher and Dressel (1959, p. 2}, in a study of the 

Nicaro, Cuba, lateritic ores, concluded that most of the nickel appears 

to be in the lattices of serpentine minerals and goethite. Cobalt, 

like nickel, may also substitute in the clay minerals to a limited extent, 

but more probably it is associated with manganese; although no manganese minerals are recognized by Hotz, X-ray analyses indicate its 

presence. 

Chemical changes during weathering of the peridotite have been 

described by Hotz (1964, p. 366-381) and are well illustrated by 

analyses of the peridotite and overlying laterite at Nickel Mountain, 

Oreg. The most significant changes during weathering from peridotite to laterite are the leaching of MgO from 45.7 percent to a mini-:-

mum of 2.1 percent and of Si02 from 42.8 percent to 26.2 percent. The 

other most significant changes are the enrichment of the residual 

laterite in F~Os from 0.8 percent (plus 6.8 percent FeO) in the peridotite to a maximum of 46.8 percent (plus 0.29 percent FeO) in the 

laterite; in Al20s from 1.1 percent in the peridotite to 8.4 percent in 

the laterite; and in nickel from 0.28 percent in the peridotite to a 

maximum of 1.8 percent in the laterite. Cobalt has increased from 

0.01 percent to 0.06 percent. Similar changes are indicated by Hotz' 

analyses of peridotite and laterite at Eight Dollar Mountain, Oreg., 

but there the leaching of Si02 was more complete, from 43.0 percent 

in the peridotite to a minimum of 15.6 percent in the laterite, and the 

enrichment in iron was greater, a maximum of 56.1 percent in the 

laterite. Nickel enrichment was from 0.29 percent in the peridotite to 

a maximum of 1.7 percent in the laterite. 

NICKEL :MOUNTAIN 

The laterite that mantles Nickel Mountain near Riddle, Oreg., contain the largest known reserve of nickel ore in the United States and 

the only one that was being mined in 1964. The laterite occurs in two 

areas : the largest area covers the top of the mountain and is the one 

that has been mined; a second deposit, considerably smaller, occurs on 

a bench on the southeastern slope of the mountain. Both deposits 

overlie fresh peridotite and have a well-developed quartz-garnierite 

boxwork zone. These deposits, as described by Pecora, Hobbs, and 

Murata (1949) and by Hotz (1964), are commonly from 5 to 30 feet 

thick, but the larger deposit has a maximum thickness of approxi-
52 NlCKEL DEPOSI'l'S OF NORTH AMEiRICA 

mately 220 feet along a shear zone in the underlying peridotite, which 

has been more deeply weathered. According to Hotz, they have, like 

other laterite deposits, a superficial layer of reddish-brown soil at the 

top, 2-3 feet thick, which contains pellets of brown iron oxide and, 

locally, fragments of microcrystalline quartz. Below the surficial 

layer of red soil is a zone of yellowish-orange soil, which contains a 

ramifying network of residual quartz-garnierite veinlets, plus boxwork. This zone, which is commonly 5-10 feet thick, is the main 

nickel-bearing layer of the laterite. It grades downward into a thinner zone of altered peridotite that also contains abundant nickel but is 

thinner than the overlying yellowish-orange soil zone. The weathered 

peridotite in turn grades downward into fresh peridotite. The laterite 

at Nickel Mountain, like laterite elsewhere, has a highly irregular 

lower surface; pinnacles of unweathered peridotite project up into the 

lateritic soil, and the soil contains blocks and boulders of fresh to 

partly weathered peridotite. In places these peridotite inclusi~ns are 

abundant; elsewhere they are sparse. 

PENNSYLVANIA 

GAP NICKEL MINE 

The Gap Nickel mine, Lancaster County, Pa., was discovered in 

1718, and unsuccessful attempts were made intermittently to mine 

copper from the mineralized rock. In 1852 a Cornish miner discovered that pyrrhotite, thrown on the dumps as worthless, contained 

more than 1 percent nickel. From 1853 to 1893, when the mine closed 

because of competition from richer and larger deposits in Canada and 

New Caledonia, the Gap mine was the principal nickel producer in 

North America having a total production of about. 5 million pounds. 

In 1876 the Gap Nickel mine's output of 200,000 pounds represented 

· one-sixth that of the world. The grade of the ore, as mined, ranged 

from 1 to 3 percent nickel and 0.4 to 0.9 percent copper. Exploration 

in 1942 indicated a moderate tonnage of material containing 0.7 percent nickel and 0.4 percent copper. The deposit and its histQry have 

been described by Kemp (1895), Knopf and Jonas (1929}, and Moyd 

(1942}. 

The Gap deposit consists of lenses of massive sulfides surrounded by 

zones of disseminated sulfides near the base of a trough-shaped intrusion of norite or gabbro, 2,000 feet long and as much as 800 feet wide, 

that has been metamorphosed to amphibolite. Pyrrhotite and closely 

associated pentlandite are the most abundant sulfides, but chalcopyrite 

and pyrite are present in lesser amounts. 

The origin of the Gap nickel-copper sulfide deposit has been debated 

by the authors given above, and also by others. The most favored 
WASIDNGTON 53 

theory is that the sulfides segregated as immiscible liquid from the 

mafic magma during its crystallization and settled to the base of the 

intrusion. Tectonic activity probably caused the sulfides to be moderately remobilized before they completely crystallized. This theory 

of origin is strongly supported by the most recent investigation, that 

of Moyd ( 1942). 

WASmNGTON 

BLEWETT DEPOSIT 

The Blewett nickeliferous iron deposit is in Chelan County, Wash., 

about 80 miles east of Seattle, Wash., and 25 miles east of the Cle Elum 

iron deposit. This deposit, near the crest of a steep ridge at altitudes 

ranging from 2,900 to 3,700 feet, has been described by Broughton 

(1943, 1944}, Lupher (1944}, and Lamey (1950). It was explored 

by diamond drilling by the U.S. Bureau of Mines during 1943-44 and 

was mapped by Lamey in 1943. The iron deposit is considered to be 

an eastward extension of the same iron formation that occurs at Cle 

Elum, and is an iron-rich conglomerate, which, like th81t at Cle Elum, 

overlies serpentine and underlies the Swauk Formation. It is of 

Tertiary age, probably Eocene. 

The deposit consists of a peridotite conglomerate composed of subangular to well-rounded pebbles, cobbles, and boulders of serpentinized peridotite embedded in a ferruginous and seri>entinuous matrix, 

plus scattered iron-rich lenses of finer nonconglomeratic ma.terial. 

The fine-grained lenses and matrix pf the conglomerate consist of particles of magnetite, hematite, and serpentine plus spinel and chromite. 

The fine-grained iron-rich lenses resemble the matrix but are finer 

grained and contain much more magnetite and hematite. The principal iron-rich lens in the explored area is about 450 feet long, 35 feet 

wide, and extends downward for 450 feet. The iron-nickel deposit 

and other rocks of the area are locally cut. by younger diabase dikes. 

Lamey (1950) believed that the Blewett iron-nickel deposit resulted 

from residual weathering of the underlying serpentinite, as in the 

Cle Elum deposit, 25 miles to the west. At the Blewett deposit, however, there must have been more relief to cause the development of 

conglomerate on the erosion surface. 

Lamey (1950) estimated resources of the Blewett iron-nickel deposit 

at 3,540,000 tons of measured and indicated material averaging 0.47 

percent nickel and 10,230,000 tons of inferred materi.a,l averaging 0.47 

percent nickel. The principal iron-rich lens has an average composition of 32.65 percent iron, 0.90 percent nickel, and 1.66 percent 

-chromium. The matrix of the conglomerate, on the other hand, has 

an average content of 18.11 percent iron, 0.52 percent nickel, and 0.88 

percent chromium. The enHre conglomerate, including all iron-rich 
54 NlCKEL DEPOSI'I'S OF NORTH AMERICA 

lenses, averages 13.34 percent iron, 0.47 percent nickel, and 0.64 percent 

chromium. The average silica content of several composite samples 

of the entire conglomerate is 34.4 percent. 

CLE ELUM 

Nickeliferous iron deposits in Kittitas County, Wash., about 60 miles 

east of Seattle, are exposed along the valley of the Cle Elum River 

at altitudes ranging from 2,700 to 3,500 feet. The deposits form an 

iron-rich stratigraphic unit overlying serpentinized peridotite and 

underlying terrestrial sandstone and conglomerate, the Swauk Formation of Eocene age. These units have been folded into an asymmetric anticline which plunges to the southwest. The iron deposits 

occur mainly on the west flank of the anticline, and their average dip 

is 32°. The principal investigations of these deposits since 1906 have 

been made by geologists of the Northern Pacific Railway. Other investigations have been carried on by the ·washington Geological Survey (Broughton, 1944; Lupher, 1944). In 1943 and 1944 the U.S. 

Bureau of Mines explored the deposits by 57 vertical diamond-drill 

holes totaling 11,205 feet in length. The following description is 

based mainly on a report of Lamey and Hotz (1951), of the U.S. 

Geological Survey. 

According to Lamey and Hotz (1951}, the nickeliferous iron formation occurs as a discontinuous bed overlying the serpentine. The 

main body of iron formation is on the west flank of the anticlinal 

structure described above. In the area of drilling, the average thickness of the iron formation is 15 feet, although it ranges from 0 to 48 

feet. The nickeliferous iron deposits are composed of fine-grained 

magnetite and hydrous aluminum oxides plus inclusions of serpentine. 

Magnetite is the most abundant mineral; chrome-spinel [(Fe, Mg) 

(AI, Cr)204], cliachite [Al20 2· (H20)m] and diaspore (Al20s·H20) 

are also abundant. Hematite is scarce, as are boehmite (Al20s·H20) 

and gibbsite [Al(OH)a]. The iron formation is divisible, from the 

base upward, into the following units: (1} laminated, (2) massive, 

(3) pebbly, and (4) concretionary. 

The laminated unit is distinctly schistose; some of it is contorted, 

and it is composed chiefly of magnetite, cliachite, serpentine, and 

chrome-spinel. Reddish hematite appears to be present, but it is not 

abundant when examined microscopically. The massive unit is also 

schistose and also is predominantly magnetite. The pebbly unit contains irregular to rounded pebbles or grains of cliachite and a combination of cliachite and diaspore. The concretionary unit consists 

of many closely spaced concretions, 1-2 mm in diameter, of magnetite and of a mixture of magnetite, cliachite, and diaspore. Despite 

the fact that the iron deposits contain 0.8 to more than 1 percent nickel, 
WASIDNGTON 55 

no nickel-bearing mineral was recognized by Lamey and Hotz, except 

for small amounts of secondary millerite (NiS) found in fracture 

fillings of a few drill cores. 

The average chemical composition of the nickeliferous iron deposits 

includes 40.86 percent iron, 0.84 percent nickel, and 1'.64 percent chromium. The average alumina content, based on incomplete data, probably is near 25 percent. Nickel and chromium vary directly and 

alumina and silica inversely with the iron content of the deposits. 

Iron, nickel, and chromium increase from the top to the bottom of the 

iron formation, whereas alumina and silica decrease. The serpentine 

immediately below the iron formation contains an average of 0.6 percent nickel ranging from a trace to 1.9 percent . 

. The resources of the iron deposits in the area drilled, as calculated 

by Lamey and Hotz (1951, p. 60}, amount to about 6,000,000 tons. 

Classification data are given in table 8. 

TABLE B.-Nickel-iron resources at Cle Elum, Wash. 

A. verage composition (percent) Class of material Short tons I---....----.----

Iron (Fe) Nickel (Ni) Cr20a 

Measured _______________ --------____ 3, 200,000 40.75 0. 82 2.39 

Indicated __________ --------------__ 650,000 42.12 • 91 2. 47 

Inferred_________________________ 2,400,000 41.01 .86 2.41 

1------t-----l----1------

Total_________________________ 6, 250,000 40.86 .84 2.40 

The Ole Elum deposits resemble, chemically and in other characteristics, the nickeliferous iron laterites that overlie large areas of 

serpentine in Cuba, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Lamey and Hotz 

(1951, p. 53-59} favored the hypothesis that the Ole Elum deposits are 

indeed lateritic mantles that were later covered by terrestrial sediments, 

deformed, and moderately metamorphosed. The pebbly nature of 

a part of the deposits indicates that they may have been reworked and 

removed somewhat from the original site of formation, but because 

the pebbly unit is not widespread, the amount of reworking was probably small. 

In the typical laterite deposits such as those of Cuba and the Philippines, the iron occurs as limonite, goethite, and hematite, but in the 

Ole Elum deposits, metamorphism has reconstituted the iron oxides 

to magnetite. The alumina has probably been altered, in part, from 

bauxite and gibbsite to diaspore and cliachite. 

JUMBO MOUNTAIN 

Pyrrhotite and pentlandite containing minor chalcopyrite have been 

found as disseminations in three dunite dikes on Jumbo Mountain in 
56 N]CKEL DEPOSITS OF NORTH AMERICA 

the rugged Cascade Range, Snohomish County, Wash. (Mills, 1960). 

Concentrations of nickeliferous sulfides occur along the sheared margins of two of the dunite dikes. Assays run as high as 3 percent 

nickel, but apparently no sizable bodies have been found. 

The dunite, largely unaltered hut locally serpentinized, intrudes 

quartzite and argillite. Gabbro and quartz diorite intrusions occur 

in the same area, but apparently they are not genetically related to the 

dunite, which is older. Despite the fact that the nickeliferous sulfides 

occur in the dunite dikes both as disseminations and as concentrations 

along sheared walls, Mills favored the younger gabbro body as the 

source of the mineralizing solutions. 

MACKINAW 

The Mackinaw mine is in a glacial valley in Snohomish County, 

Wash., 40 miles east of Everett. The deposit was discovered in 1900 

and has been worked intermittently since then, particularly during 

World War II, by the Utility Mining Co. of Everett, Wash. The 

property was examined in 1943 by the U.S. Bureau of Mines and also 

by J. J. Collins and S. C. Creasey of the U.S. Geological Survey 

(written commun., 1944). The U.S. Bureau of Mines report (written 

commun., 1944) stated: 

The ore deposits are in a peridotite dike or intrusive that appears to be an 

apophysis of the large intrusive of reddish-brown peridotite that comprises the 

mountain that rises southeast of tha ore deposits. 

The peridotite is interspersed with small blebs and seams of serpentine, actinolite, and tremolite. At several ·places in the mass, small deposits of sulfide, 

which contain copper and nickel minerals, were observed. 

The peridotite, in which the principal ore deposits occurt is a dense, darkcolored fine-grained rock that has been partly serpentinized. 

Collins and Creasey stated : 

The sulfide minerals occur as disseminated grains and blebs in the serpentine 

and may total as much as 20 percent of the rock in some spots. No concentration of sulfide minerals was noted on the numerous fractures in the serpentine, 

but the supergene oxide minerals, on the other hand, are concentrated on fault 

and fracture surfaces. . The commonest of these minerals are probably malachite 

and garnierite, or annabergite, but erythrite is also much in evidence. 

They estimated (written commun., 1944) that the deposit contains a 

small tonnage of measured and indicated material containing 0.9 percent nickel, 1.7 percent copper, and 0.14 ounces gold. 

The mineralogy of the Mackinaw mine deposit has been studied in 

detail by Charles Milton and D. F. Milton (1958), who stated: 

The Mackinaw mine ore is of an unusual or unique type consisting chiefly ot 

niccolite, maucherite, pentlandite, chalcopyrite, cubanite, and magnetite in an 

altered peridotite. Valleriite, gold, and sphalerite are minor primary minerals; 

chalcocite and violarite or bravoite are supergene minerals. Pyrrhotite and 
WASHINGTON 57 

pyrite are absent. From the textural relations it is inferred that a complex 

copper-nickel-iron sulfide was deposited early. On cooling, the sulfide unmixed 

into two dUferent complex $ul:fides, one of which in turn unmixed into chalcopyrite and cubanite, the other into chalcopyrite and pentlandite. The latter 

exsolution relationship has not been previously reported. Valleriite either 

exsolved from, or replaced, chalcopyrite. Late solutions altered the niccolite 

to maucherite and introduced gold and .magnetite. The gold is almost always 

with maucherite. 

The occurrence of pentlandite without accompanying pyrrhotite is 

unusual, if not unique, among nickel-sulfide ore deposits. Milton and 

Aiilton (1958, p. 436) believed that this unusual mineral assemblage 

resulted from exceptionally high Ni :Fe and Cu :Fe ratios in the 

Mackinaw ore-forming solutions, that is, that there was not sufficient 

iron present to form the iron sulfide pyrrhotite, and that it was all 

combined with nickel and copper. Another mineralogical feature 

discovered by the Miltons is that gold in this deposit occurs in 

considerable quantity in cracks or openings in maucherite, rarely in 

niccolite and cubanite. The niccolite was altered to maucherite at a 

late stage, and they believed that the gold was introduced at this 

time and is thus closely associated with the maucherite. 

WINESAP 

The Winesap nickel deposit is 1 mile northwest of Winesap and 

12 miles southeast of Chelan, Chelan County, Wash. The deposit 

consists of disseminated pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, and pentlandite in 

a low-dipping lenticular body of peridotite intrusive into granite 

gneiss. Oxidation of these minerals near the surface has produced 

soluble wlfates rich in copper and nickel. The primary sulfides are 

unevenly distributed through the peridotite, which is considerably 

altered. 

The Winesap nickel deposit was discovered in 1898 and was explored 

intermittently for many years. Most of the present underground 

workings, consisting of four adits and a small shaft, were driven 

about 1942. In 1944 the U.S. Bureau of Mines explored the deposit 

by drilling seven diamond-drill holes for a total length of 1,016 feet. 

P. J. Shenon and S. C. Creasey, of the U.S. Geological Survey, 

mapped and studied the deposit. This drilling and sampling of the 

adits outlined a small tonnage of mineralized material, part of which 

contains 1.00-1.70 percent nickel and 0.50-0.70 percent copper, and 

part contains 0.90-1.23 percent nickel and 0.15-0.40 percent copper. 
58 NroKEL DEiPOSTl'S OF NORTH AMmi'CA 

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60 NllCKE'L DEPOS'ITS OF NORTH AMEtRroA 

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*U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1967 0-243-695