Syncrude

Prospect in Alberta, Canada with commodity Zirconium
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Host and associated rocks
  8. Nearby scientific data
  9. Ore body information
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Ownership information
  12. Links to other databases
  13. Bibliographic references
  14. General comments
  15. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10024827
MRDS ID ISM0579
Record type Site
Current site name Syncrude
Alternate or previous names Mildred Lake

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -111.27106, 56.22999 (WGS84)
Relative position MINE

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country State
Canada Alberta

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Zirconium Critical Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • TITANIUM

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Zircon Ore

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Shale
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Sandstone
    Rock unit name Mcmurray Formation
    Rock description Mcmurray Formation

Nearby scientific data

(1) -111.27106, 56.22999

Economic information

Ore body information

  • Depth to top 5M

Comments on the geologic information

  • BENEFICIATION BY WEATHERING; CAIN; ILMN + APTT + MINOR MGNT + PYRT. SILICATE GANGUE DEPENDS ON ALTERNATION STATE.; ILMENITE IS THE MAJOR ORE MINERAL AT THESE DEPOSITS AND IS FOUND EITHER AT THE BASE OF FERRODIORITE SHEETS (CAMDEN ANOMALY) OR WITH APATITE IN DYKE-LIKE MASSES ALSO KNOWN AS NELSONITE (PINEY R.). THE B.F. CAMDEN ANOMALY ORE BODY I S 2 KM LONG, 200 M WIDE + 20 M THICK. THE PINEY R. DEPOSIT IS 900 M LONG + EX"TENDS TO OVER 120 M. DEPTH.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1778
Year of first production 1978
Year of last production 1987

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Syncrude Canada Ltd.
    First year 1985

Comments on the production information

  • NONE BOTH DEPOSITS FED ONE PLANT IN PINEY RIVER

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • RR33-RR34: INCLUDES SAPROLITED FERRODIORITE AT B.F. CAMDEN DEPOSIT AND UNWEATHERED IMPURE NELSONITE AT PINEY RIVER MINEHERZ, NORMAN AND FORCE, E.R., IN PRESS, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF TH"E ROSELAND DISTRICT OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 1371.LYND, LANGTRY, 1985, ORAL COMMUNICATION."FANTEL, R.J., ET AL, 1986, TITANIUM MINERALS AVAILABILITY - MARKET ECONOMY " COUNTRIES, US BUREAU OF MINES INFORMATION CIRCULAR 9061, 48 P."

Comments on development

  • NON-GEOLOGIC CONSTRAINTS ON DEVELOPMENT OR EXPANSION IN 1-5 YRS. ( ENVIRONMENT; GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS; PROCESSING; X; POLITICAL (AMERICAN CYANAMID RAN A DIRTY PLANT AND POLLUTED WATERWAYS SO BADLY THAT RE-OPENING IT IS POLITICALLY UNLIKELY.)). DEVELOPMENT(NO); EXPLORATION(NO); ASSESSMENT(IN MID 1970'S US TITANIUM FAILED IN ITS BID TO REOPEN THE MINE DUE TO LEGAL AND ENVRIONMENTAL PROBLEMS. NO FURTHER NEWS OF POSSIBLE REOPENING HAS BEEN GIVEN SINCE 1980. A NEW MODERN SMELTING PLANT MAY BE ECONOMIC.);

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    COTTER, N.P., 1977, CANADA'S FIRST ZIRCON PLANT PLANNED FOR ALBERTA: THE NORTHERN MINER, P. 24.

  • Deposit

    KRAMERS, J.W., AND BROWN, R.A.S., 1976, SURVEY OF HEAVY MINERALS IN THE SURFACE-MINEABLE AREA OF THE ATHABASCA OIL SAND DEPOSITS: THE CANADIAN MINING AND METALLURGICAL BULLETIN, 69, NO. 776, P. 92-99.

  • Deposit

    LOVE, D., 1985, SYNCRUDE'S EARTH MOVING PANORAMA: ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL 186, NO. 7, P. 26-30.

  • Deposit

    MCRORY, R.E., 1982, ENERGY HERITAGE: OIL SANDS AND HEAVY OILS OF ALBERTA: ALBERTA, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES. ENR I/19-1, 94P.

  • Deposit

    ROSE, R.R., 1969, GEOLOGY OF TITANIUM AND TITANIFEROUS DEPOSITS OF CANADA: CANADA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, ECONOMIC GEOLOGY REPORT. 27, 177P.

  • Deposit

    SYNCRUDE CANADA LTD, ENERGY'S NEW WORLD. FROM OIL SAND TO SYNTHETIC CRUDE OIL, N.P.

  • Deposit

    TREVOY, L.W., SCHUTTE, ROB, AND GOFORTH, R.G., 1978, DEVELOPMENT OF THE HEAVY MINERALS POTENTIAL OF THE ATHABASCA TAR SANDS: THE CANADIAN MINING AND METALLURGICAL BULLETIN. 71, NO. 791, P. 175-180/

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THIS RECORD WAS COMPILED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIC MINERALS INVENTORY. THE DATA WERE USED IN PREPARATION OF THE USGS CIRCULAR 930 SERIES OF REPORTS. MINERAL RESOURCE CATEGORIES AND CODES HEREIN ARE FROM THE INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM RECOMMENDED BY THE UNITED NATIONS GROUP OF EXPERTS ON DEFINITIONS AND TERMINOLOGY FOR MINERAL RESOURCES. (SEE NATIONAL RESOURCES FORUM, V. 4, NO. 3, P. 307-313.). OPEN PIT
Deposit Discovery Year: FIRST DISCOVERIES PRE-1880

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUL-1987 Johnston, A. Mineral Policy Sector, Dept. of Energy Mines & Resources, Ottawa, Canada

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.