The Lacnor Mine, is an abandoned uranium mine in the Elliot Lake area of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, owned by Rio Algom Ltd. The site has been rehabilitated and its tailings facility is currently undergoing environmental monitoring by Denison Environmental Services. The site was in operation from 1957 to 1960, during which time it produced 3.4 million tonnes of ore.

History

Elliot Lake Mining District

The region of Elliot Lake, Ontario was a mecca of Canadian mineral mining from the 1950s to the early 1990s. The region housed ten mines and five mills (Lacnor Mine,

Nordic Mine The Nordic Mine, is an abandoned uranium mine in the Elliot Lake area of Ontario, owned by Rio Algom Ltd. The site has been rehabilitated and its tailings facility is currently undergoing environmental monitoring by Denison Environmental Service ...

, Panel Mine/Mill, Pronto Mine/Mill, Quirke Mine/Mill, Stanleigh Mine/Mill and the Spanish American Mine/Mill), all operated by the

Rio Algom Rio Algom was a mining corporation that was purchased by Billiton in 2000 and is now part of BHP. Uranium It operated many uranium mines and mills in the Elliot Lake region of Ontario, Canada, including the Lacnor Mine, Nordic Mine, Panel M ...

Company. All of the mines and mills in Elliot Lake either ran out their contracts or were shut down by the early 1990s due to the discovery of high-grade uranium deposits in Australia and

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

. This meant there was no longer a need for the low-grade ore from Elliot Lake, which required a large amount of processing.

Geology

The Lacnor deposit is on the south limb of the

Quirke Lake Quirke Lake is body of water located in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Quirke Lake basin, a geological basin the northern part of the Huronian Supergroup. The lake is proximate to five decommissioned uranium mines. Location The lake is l ...

syncline. The ore bed consists of uraniferous quartz-pebble conglomerate. Two principle beds of conglomerate ore were found. The average thickness of the upper bed is 11 feet and the lower bed 12 feet. They are separated by a 14-foot bed of pebbly

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tec ...

that is radioactive but not of ore grade. The strata strike about N70E and dips 18 N. The east/west ore width indicated by drilling is approximately 3300 feet. The conglomerate consists of quartz pebbles in a matrix of

feldspathic Feldspars are a group of rock-forming aluminium tectosilicate minerals, also containing other cations such as sodium, calcium, potassium, or barium. The most common members of the feldspar group are the ''plagioclase'' (sodium-calcium) feldsp ...

quartzite well mineralized with 5 to 15%

pyrite The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Fe S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Pyrite's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue giv ...

and frequently containing a little

chalcopyrite Chalcopyrite ( ) is a copper iron sulfide mineral and the most abundant copper ore mineral. It has the chemical formula CuFeS2 and crystallizes in the tetragonal system. It has a brassy to golden yellow color and a hardness of 3.5 to 4 on the Mo ...

Other mines in the area

* Stanleigh Mine *

Spanish American Mine The Spanish American Mine is a historical uranium mine located approximately northeast of Elliot Lake, Ontario, owned and operated by Rio Algom Ltd. The site is southeast of the Denison Mine. The mine was in operation from 1958 to 1959, w ...

Can-Met Mine The Can-Met Mine is an abandoned uranium mine located approximately 12.5 km northeast of Elliot Lake, Ontario, owned by Denison Mines, Denison Mines Ltd. The site has been rehabilitated and its tailings facility (shared with the Stanrock Mine ...

* Milliken Mine *

Panel Mine The Panel Mine is an abandoned uranium mine located approximately 14.5 km northeast of Elliot Lake, Ontario, owned and operated by Rio Algom, Rio Algom Ltd. The site has been rehabilitated and is currently undergoing environmental monitoring. ...

Denison Mine Consolidated Denison Mine, or the Denison Mine is an abandoned uranium mine located approximately 12.5 km north of Elliot Lake, Ontario. The site is bordered north by Pronto Mine, Quirke Mine and Nordic Mine; on the east by Panel Mine and Ca ...

Stanrock Mine The Stanrock Mine is an historical uranium mine located approximately 11.5 km northeast of Elliot Lake, Ontario, owned by Denison Mines. The site has been decommissioned and rehabilitated with ongoing monitoring by Denison Environmental Servi ...

* Quirke Mine(s) *

Pronto Mine The Pronto Mine is an historical uranium mine located approximately 20 km south of Elliot Lake, Ontario near Spragge. The site is owned and operated by Rio Algom Ltd, has been rehabilitated and is currently undergoing environmental monitor ...

* Buckles Mine *

References

External links