Ambeau Mine, Henvey Township, Parry Sound District, Ontario, Canadai

Regional Level Types
Ambeau Mine	Mine (Inactive)
Henvey Township	Township
Parry Sound District	District
Ontario	Province
Canada	Country

In pegmatite dyke cutting granite gneiss.

"The deposit was worked for feldspar in 1926-1927 by Wanup Feldspar Mines Limited from a pit measuring 42.6 m long, 3 to 6 m wide and 4.5 to 6 m deep. Shipments totaling 907 t were reported to have been made."

The old Ambeau mine in lot 3, concession A, Henvey township, is situated a quarter of a mile northwest of Britt station on the Canadian Pacific railway. The pegmatite dike was opened up by a trench, which trends N. 50* E. for a length of 140 feet and is from 15 to 20 feet deep and from 10 to 30 feet wide. The widths of the trench closely approximate those of the dike. The country rock is a banded granite gneiss, which has a variable strike and dip, from south to north the strike on the southeast side of the dike changing from N. 45* E. to N. 22* E., and the dip from 80* to 60* S.E. There is strong drag-folding in the gneiss at the southwest end of the trench. The trench opens up the entire length of the dike, and water in the bottom conceals the character of the pegmatite there. The dike consists of pink microcline, some white plagioclase, and glassy white or smoky quartz. Blocks of pink spar as much as l foot in diameter may have formed 25 per cent, of the bulk of the dike. As some of the pink spar contains 50 per cent, quartz, not much of it could have graded No. 1. It was worked in 1926-27 by Wanup Feldspar Mines, Limited, of Lucknow, with a reported production of 1,000 tons.

31/05/2020 Site visit by Lloyd Van Duzen.
After seeking out neighbors to the property where the old mine is, I was first misdirected. After realizing my first lead was a dead end, I decided to drive into the small community of Britt. I stopped at a local store and found by pure coincidence that the property owner was store owner too.

Talking to Larry St. Amant and giving me permission to visit the site he suggested I go see the same person who first misdirected me to a newer modern stone quarry. I went back to the same man I previously talked with and got permission to cross his yard to access the back ridge behind his place. His Name was Frank.

The area where the old Ambeau mine is located, is a large granite ridge running east and west over a length of 500m long and 300m wide. Large bare rock outcrops are numerous with mixed sections of bush and trees. There were lots of ground juniper bushes around. From Frank's house I walked north east some 350m to 400m anyways before I found it.

The old mine is north of the road and river at the home of Norm and Lila Langis, and I estimate some 400m due west of Highway 400/69. Of course the property is posted and private.

I searched the granite ridge from west to east, "zig zagging" back and forth 100m to 200m at a time. I could see house tops in places to the south and towers off to the south. I could hear traffic on the highway faintly to the east. The old mine is slightly on the north side of the granite ridge and hard to see from the south. I was considering giving up looking and made a final loop to the north before heading back to Frank's place when I walked upon the old pit. The two main pics show my position on the east side looking west.

Property owner Larry St.Amant told me that the mine is on his grandmother's farm property and himself and his sister June went there when they were kids. He mentioned that there used to be a old bushel basket making place also on the property which I found no trace of.

Special Thanks to Larry St. Amant, June St. Amant, Frank Trudeau and Russel Bushy, all residents of Britt Ontario.

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References