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File Created: 24-Jul-1985 by BC Geological Survey (BCGS)
Last Edit:  10-Aug-1989 by Wim S. Vanderpoll (WV)

Summary Help Help

NMI
Name DUNSMUIR, NANAIMO Mining Division Nanaimo
BCGS Map 092F020
Status Past Producer NTS Map 092F01E
Latitude 049º 11' 49'' UTM 10 (NAD 83)
Longitude 124º 05' 34'' Northing 5449924
Easting 420388
Commodities Shale Deposit Types R01 : Cement shale
Tectonic Belt Insular Terrane Overlap Assemblage
Capsule Geology

The Dunsmuir occurrence is underlain by the Upper Cretaceous Nanaimo Group (Haslam Formation). The poorly-bedded shale is dark blue-grey when fresh, and weathers to a brown colour. It has a silty texture, and contains abundant pelecypods, ammonites and other fossils. The shale is brittle and shatters readily into 0.5 to 5.0 centimetre fragments.

Two samples of the shale were analyzed: sample 1 consisted of equal-sized chips picked at random from oxidized rock that formed the muck pile at the working face of the quarry; sample 2 consisted of equal-sized chips gathered at random from the freshest accessible exposures of the unweathered shale. The samples analyzed as follows (Geology, Exploration and Mining in British Columbia 1970, page 496):

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Sample 1 (values in per cent) Sample 2

SiO2 52.88 53.64

Al2O3 17.01 16.06

Fe2O3 8.14 3.02

FeO 2.51 7.33

TiO2 1.50 1.56

CaO 0.54 1.14

MgO 2.04 2.59

Na2O 2.81 2.65

K2O 1.99 2.20

H2O 3.88 (-105 degrees Celsius) 2.48

H2O 6.11 (+105 degrees Celsius) 6.69

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The shale was quarried for use in cement manufacture and is presently being quarried by Dunsmuir Quarries Ltd. (Mineral Market Update, July, 1991).

Bibliography
EMPR ENG INSP Annual Report 1990
EMPR GEM *1970-496; 1971-460; 1972-584; 1973-544; 1974-377
EMPR MAP 65 (1989)
EMPR Mineral Market Update July, 1991
EMPR MINING 1986-1987, p. 83; 1988, p. 82
EMPR OF 1992-1; 1992-9
GSC BULL 21
GSC MAP 27-1963; 49-1963; 17-1968; 1386A
GSC OF 9; 61; *463; *1272
GSC P 66-1; 68-50; 72-44; 79-30; 89-1E, p. 197
Sutherland Brown, A. (1988): Mineral Resources of the Alberni Region, British Columbia, Geoscience Research Program (RG87-26)
EMPR PFD 248055, 752984, 752991

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