Sherman Mine is a closed open pit mine in Temagami, Ontario,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. It was a major producer of

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the ...

, starting production in 1968 and closing in 1990. Sherman was the largest open pit mine in Temagami, consisting of seven open pits known as the East Pit, South Pit, North Pit, West Pit and the Turtle Pits. The mine was discovered in the early part of the twentieth century, however interest was limited as a result of silver and gold discoveries in northeastern Ontario. While the Ontario government offered bounties to producers of iron ore, there was little interest in putting any iron mine into production as a result of cheaper Mesabi Range ores from the US and the Great Depression. It was only in the 1950s that Canadian steel producers started to investigate domestic supplies of iron ore. This would lead to the re-opening of the Moose Mountain Mine and development of the Adams, Sherman and Bruce Lake mines in Northern Ontario. The Sherman Mine operated in tandem with the Adams Mine in

Kirkland Lake Kirkland Lake is a town and municipality in Timiskaming District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. The 2016 population, according to Statistics Canada, was 7,981. The community name was based on a nearby lake which in turn was named after Winnif ...

, and when the Adams Mine approached exhaustion of its economic ore reserves, the decision was made to also close the Sherman Mine. The surface infrastructure was removed and the site was abandoned. The waste piles are currently used by the municipality as a source of crushed stone for road works.

Geology

The mine was established in two northeasterly trends of

banded iron formation Banded iron formations (also known as banded ironstone formations or BIFs) are distinctive units of sedimentary rock consisting of alternating layers of iron oxides and iron-poor chert. They can be up to several hundred meters in thickness a ...

: the Northeast Arm Iron Range to the south and the Vermilion Range to the north. These 2.7 billion year old formations consist of thin layers of

sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sa ...

that were deposited in a marine environment and subsequently metamorphosed.

References

External links

* Iron mines in Canada Mines in Temagami Open-pit mines Strathy Township Strathcona Township Surface mines in Canada {{NorthernOntario-geo-stub

Geology

See also

References

External links