Grunerite in the Penokee Range of Wisconsin

Dr. Tom Fitz Northland College Ashland, WI December 2013

UW - Madison

Location of Proposed Mine

Proposed mine Ironwood Fm

This satellite image shows the area between Mellen, Wisconsin and Ironwood, Michigan, with the location of the iron formation indicated in red.
2

This is the area of the proposed mine, with the outline of the mine property shown as a dotted line. The area is about 4.5 miles long and bounded approximately on the west by Ballou Creek and on the east by Tyler Forks River. Most of the maps and cross sections in this presentation show this same area. This map is from GTAC Bulk Sampling Plan of 11/25/13. 3

Bedrock Geologic Map

Cannon et al., 1996, USGS

This is a bedrock geologic map with the Ironwood Iron Formation shown in red. All of the bedrock units have been tipped to north at an angle of 65 degrees, so the edges of the bedrock formations are stripes across the area. The stripe of iron formation is about 1000 feet wide at the surface. The iron formation was deposited about 1.9 billion years ago.

Geologic Cross Section

Ironwood Fm

C. Hester and T. Fitz

This geologic cross section shows a slice across the Penokee Range, looking west. It shows how the formations dip 65 degrees to the north. The Ironwood Formation forms the crest of the Penokee ridge.
5

Magnetite rich

Quartz rich

T. Fitz

This is typical Ironwood Iron Formation. It consists of dark-colored iron-rich layers that are mostly magnetite, alternating with lightcolored layers dominated by the mineral quartz.
6

Magnetite rich

Grunerite rich

T. Fitz

Not all of the light-colored layers are quartz-rich though, in some areas they are dominated by grunerite, which is an iron-rich amphibole mineral.
7

Grunerite-rich layer

T. Fitz

This is a closer view of a grunerite-rich layer.

Grunerite-rich layer close up

T. Fitz

This is a closer view of a grunerite-rich layer. The grunerite is light grey to light brown slender crystals in a fan shape. The ruler shows millimeters.

C. Hester and T. Fitz; October 2013

Grunerite-bearing iron formation was found in the summer and fall of 2013 in several locations in the Ashland County portion of the GTAC project area.
10

C. Hester and T. Fitz; October 2013

This map shows the location of known grunerite-bearing rocks in relation to the possible mine outline as of October, 2013.
11

Locations with asbestiform grunerite known as of 12/5/2013

Ashland County

Asbestiform grunerite (green dots)

Iron County

D. White and T. Fitz; November 2013

Additional bedrock outcrops with grunerite were found in November, 2013. No grunerite-bearing rocks have been found just east of the county line, but amphibole needles have been described just east of the proposed mine area.
12

This is a grain of grunerite as seen through a microscope with light transmitted from behind the sample. The entire grain is about 1 mm across. It is from Bulk Sample Site 4 in Ashland County.

13

J. Skulan and T. Fitz

Grains of Penokee grunerite under transmitted light microscope. The field of view is about 2mm.
14
T. Fitz

M. Bjornerud

This is another microscopic view of a grunerite-rich rock from Bulk Sample Site 4 in Ashland County. The brightly colored mineral is grunerite, the black mineral is magnetite. The grunerite constitutes approximately 75% of the rock, which is common for the grunerite-rich layers of the iron formation. The photograph was taken with polarized light shining through a thin slice of rock. Field of view is 4mm
15

1 mm = 1000 m (approximate scale)

magnetite

M. Bjornerud

Here is a closer view of the same rock shown in the previous slide.
16

SEM photomicrographs
(Scanning electron microscope)

UW - Madison

17

Here are more microscopic views -- these ones were taken with a scanning electron microscope, which can zoom in very close. These photographs were taken at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. The next slide shows the image in the middle right side.

UW - Madison

18

This image shows much the same thing that we see at all scales, from hand-sample scale to microscopic scale the grunerite is long slender crystals, most of which form a fan shape.

X-Ray Diffraction Pattern from Penokee Grunerite

UW - Madison

This is an x-ray diffraction pattern taken at the University of Wisconsin Madison that confirms the mineral is grunerite.
19

Common Amphiboles

Klein and Hurlbut, Manual of Mineralogy

This diagram shows the composition of some of the common amphibole minerals. Grunerite is in the lower right corner, the most iron-rich amphibole, which is what we would expect to find in an iron-rich rock. All of these minerals can be hazardous asbestiform varieties, but they are not always asbestiform.
20

Amphibole Cleavage

Klein and Hurlbut, Manual of Mineralogy

All amphibole minerals split along planes of weakness (at 124- and 56-degree angles) when broken. With asbestiform varieties, the long, slender crystals will break (or cleave) along their length, so if the mineral is crushed, it can make lots of long, slender fragments.

21

Penokee grunerite under SEM (scanning electron microscope)

One of the important questions is whether or not the crystals and fragments in the Penokees are dangerous asbestiform varieties. Asbestiform generally means that the pieces are longer than 5 microns (0.005 mm), and are long and slender specifically they have a certain ratio of length to width (called aspect ratio).
22

20:1 3:1 5:1 10:1

5 microns

There are various classifications of asbestiform -- different classifications include anything that is at least three times longer than wide, others include fragments 20 times longer than wide. As shown in this slide, the grunerite in this part of Ashland County is commonly more than 20 times longer than wide, which means it is asbestiform. Asbestiform grunerite is often called amosite.
23

UICC amosite asbestos standard

USGS.

24

Lets compare it to asbestos minerals from elsewhere. This is the amosite standard used by the Union for International Cancer Control. Notice that the aspect ratio is about the same as that seen in the previous slide from the Penokees.

Amosite standard

Penokee grunerite (amosite)

25

This is the grunerite (amosite) from the Penokees shown along with the amosite standard. The photographs are at approximately the same scale.

Penokee grunerite and anthophyllite asbestos at the same scale

Penokee grunerite

Anthophyllite asbestos from Georgia Here is another comparison -- the Penokee sample is on the left, a standard anthophyllite amphibole asbestos on the right, shown at approximately the same scale. Notice that they have similar aspect ratios.
26

Magma intrusions

Cannon et al., 1996, USGS

So, why is there asbestiform grunerite (amosite) in the Penokees? Grunerite commonly forms in rocks rich in silicon and iron when they are heated (or metamorphosed) to the right temperature. These rocks were probably heated by magma intrusions when the region had large volcanic eruptions 1.1 billion years ago. Some of the intrusions have been mapped to the north of the area, and others are likely present but not visible at Earths surface today.
27

Cannon et al., 2006

The volcanic rocks are shown on the right of this cross section. Magma had to come up through the iron formation on its way to the surface, which made the conditions correct for the crystallization of grunerite.
28

T. Fitz

This heating and recrystallization of the rock is why the asbestiform mineral is an integral part of the layers in the iron formation and does not occur as thin isolated veins the way does is in some iron-rich rocks elsewhere, such as in the Peter Mitchell iron mine in Minnesota. That mine has been carefully studied for possible asbestos-like minerals.
29

M. Bjornerud

So what does all this mean? It means there definitely is asbestiform grunerite (amosite) within the area of the mine proposed by GTAC. Dust from this rock would be a health hazard if it is generated in large quantities during excavation or mining. That needs to be considered during the permitting and possible development of a mine. 30

References
Aldrich, H.R.,1929, The geology of the Gogebic Iron Range of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, Bulletin 71. http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/EcoNatRes/EcoNatResidx?id=EcoNatRes.WGB71Econ24 The amphibole reference is on page 211, near the top of the page. Cannon et al., 1996, Bedrock geologic map of the Ashland and Northern part of the Ironwood 30x60 quadrangles, Wisconsin and Michigan: U.SG.S. Miscellaneous Investigation Series Map I-2566.
Cannon et al., 2008, The Gogebic Iron Range A sample of the northern margin of the Penokean fold and thrust belt, U.S.G.S Professional Paper 1730. (With detailed geologic map. Available on-line and in paper. http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/pp1730/ GTAC Bulk Sampling Plan of November 25, 2013. Posted on the Wisconsin DNR web page: http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Mines/documents/gogebic/BulkSamplePlan20131125.pdf

Hurlbut and Klein, 1993, Manual of Mineralogy, 21st edition, John Wiley and Sons.

Additional information about selected slides (by slide number)

1) Photomicrograph of grunerite from the Penokees. See notes on slide 17 for more information (below). 3) This map is cropped from Gogebic Taconites (GTAC) Bulk Sampling Plan submitted to the Wisconsin DNR on November 25, 2013: http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Mines/documents/gogebic/BulkSamplePlan20131125.pdf 5) This geologic cross section was based on the map in USGS Professional Paper 1730 by Cannon et al., 2008. There is no vertical exaggeration in the topography. The cross section was drawn by Tom Fitz and drafted by Cyrus Hester of the Bad River Natural Resources department. 6 and 7) The rocks in these photographs are located along the main access road in the proposed mine area in Ashland County. 8) This rock is from Bulk Sample Site 4 in Ashland County.

9) This is a close-up of the same rock shown in slide 8.

10 and 11) These maps were drawn by Cyrus Hester. 12) The amphibole needles are described on page 211 in the publication by Aldrich, 1929 (see references above). 15 and 16) These photomicrographs were taken under cross-polarized light by Marcia Bjornerud at Lawrence University. The rock is from Bulk Sample Site 4. 17 and 18) These SEM (scanning electron microscope) photomicrographs were taken at the geology department at University of Wisconsin in Madison. The rock is from Bulk Sample Site 4. 19) This is from the rock shown in slides 17 and 18.

24, 25, and 26) These SEM images of asbestos were taken at the U.S. Geological Survey Microbeam Laboratory in Denver. http://usgsprobe.cr.usgs.gov/picts2.html
29) The Peter Mitchell mine in Minnesota has been studied because the fibrous minerals in taconite waste rock at Silver Bay, Minnesota come from that mine. The fibrous minerals there are ferroactinolite amphibole, ferrian sepiolite, and small amounts of grunerite.

This slide show was presented by Tom Fitz on December 5, 2013 at the Iron County Citizens Forum in Oma, Wisconsin. The slides have been slightly revised and detailed captions have been added for posting on the web. For more information, contact Tom Fitz at Northland College: tfitz@northland.edu