Post Date: Nov 8, 2011Trip Dates: Summers of 2009 and 2010

Graphite in the Bancroft area, Ontario, Canada

Graphite…how many of you have a specimen in your collection???







Only within the past two years was I able to collect several specimens. This mineral is probably not the most widely sought after mineral by collectors. But, it is a very interesting mineral nonetheless. The sites from which we collected specimens date back one hundred years and have a colorful history. I enjoy reading about the historical aspects of these old sites as much as locating specimens from them.

During our rock collecting trip to the Bancroft, Ontario, Canada area in 2009 and again in 2010, Adam, my son and I were using a guidebook by Ann P. Sabina, titled “Rocks and Minerals For The Collector”, Miscellaneous Report 39, Bancroft – Parry Sound edition. Sabina lists several graphite occurrences in this book. My interest was with the two sites in the Wilberforce area only. They are the former Virginia Graphite Mine and the Harcourt Graphite Mine. Because of their intertwined histories, I wanted to visit these two sites.








This particular guidebook, like all guidebooks, though helpful, is not dealing in ‘real time” as far as certain details are concerned. Collectors new to this area must realize this book and most of the guidebooks for this area are out of date. Seasoned veterans will have already found this out. Sabina’s book uses a collection of information gathered by her and information gathered for her by others. The compiled information was gathered over a period of years. The book was printed in 1986, reprinted in 1988 and reprinted again in 2003. In the introduction it is stated the localities were investigated by the author during the summer of 1975 and in subsequent visits to the Bancroft area in 1976, 1977, 1979 and 1980. Some of the most important information a guidebook can relay are directions to the sites. But, over time road names change, development of rural areas takes place, roads themselves are altered and this in turn affects mileages and directions to sites listed in these guidebooks. In the case of this guidebook it could be upward of 35 years since information was updated. We did have difficulties with such changes. Locating the Virginia and Harcourt Mines was not an easy task and in fact this is the reason it took us two different trips to locate these two sites.

For those of you coming to this area for the first time you will be extremely disappointed after spending hours in search of a site and not have been able located it. Keep in mind most if not all the guidebooks for this area were published years ago. There are a few recent guidebooks but this area changes year by year. A great majority of the sites in the Bancroft area are now posted, some are now in provincial parks and some no longer exist… victims of modernerization. We did, or I should say we did not, locate numerous sites because of development. One former site now sits beneath a tennis court in a families yard. We did locate the tennis court. Others have been bull dozed over completely obliterating them, while others have been what they call “revitalized”, which is another way of saying bull dozed over. Numerous sites are now on residential property. What once were large tracks of land or former family owned farms have been subdivided into much smaller parcels of land.

One guidebook does not contain all the information one needs to locate former sites in this area. And, this should prove true to any collecting area anywhere. One source of information, no matter how detailed is just not enough. The key to being a successful collector and a not so successful collector is having information. Only research will provide you with the necessary tools to locate collecting sites. The remaining sites in the Bancroft area are 75 – 100 years past their production hay days. They are overgrown, barely recognizable, most in remote areas where black bear are regular sights. It takes some skill and a lot of luck to locate some of these sites.

We did locate the Virginia and Harcourt Mines but it certainly was not a walk in the park.



D. F. Hewitt, author of numerous geological papers, and in my personal opinion an authority in geological matters in and around the Bancroft area, details the mineral Graphite, in his Industrial Mineral Report Number 20,1965. I have read many, may, many reports written by Mr. Hewitt. He appears to be the kind of person who worked “in the field” rather than behind a desk. Below is a very condensed version of the information from his report.

Graphite:
Is a form of carbon
Crystallizes in the hexagonal system
Is black to silver-gray in color,
Very soft
Metallic luster
Black streak
Hardness is l to 2
Specific gravity is 2.1
Usually occurs in flakes
Flakes are flexible and sectile
Flakes exhibit perfect flaky basal cleavage
Is a good conductor of heat and electricity
Extremely resistant to acids and heat
Chemically inert
Highly refractory
Melting at 3500 degrees C
Vaporizing at 4500 degrees C

Diamond and charcoal are other forms of natural carbon. Although chemically similar in nature, they exhibit vastly different properties than graphite.

Graphite is classified into two categories depending on its particle size:
1. Crystalline flake
2. Amorphous graphite.

Amorphous graphite can be produced from crystalline flake by grinding. Amorphous graphite is not visibly crystalline, being extremely fine grained.

An electric furnace process can manufacture amorphous graphite of high chemical purity. This so-called "artificial" or manufactured graphite is competitive with amorphous graphite.

Commercial grade graphite is usually 70 - 99 percent carbon.

The less pure varieties carry varying amounts of associated minerals such as quartz, feldspar, mica, and carbonate.

The most common type of graphite found in Ontario is flake graphite. It occurs disseminated in marble and paragneiss and is most commonly found in the Grenville geological province of eastern Ontario.

Graphite was produced commercially in Ontario from 1896 to 1954. Total Ontario graphite production during this period amounted to 95,156 tons valued at $6,114,768. The peak production year was 1950 when 3,586 tons of graphite valued at $390,8l5 was produced.

The graphite deposits of Ontario are of four types:
1. Disseminated graphite in paragneiss
2. Disseminated graphite in marble
3. Contact metamorphism or metasomatic graphite in marble
4. Graphite in pegmatites

Attempts have been made to commercially exploit all four of these types of deposits in Ontario



Milling graphite bearing material for the recovery of flake and amorphous graphite vary considerably depending on the grade and character of the ore and gangue. The ore is first crushed to one-inch size, ground in a ball mill in closed circuit with a classifier, and floated. The rougher concentrate is screened with the plus 40-mesh material going to a filter and drier. The minus 40-mesh material is cleaned further by flotation. The tailings are reground and recirculated. Final cleaning is by Callow Cell Method. The concentrates are then dried.

After the concentrate has been dried in the rotary oil-fired kiln, the ultra-fine portion is removed by two dust collectors. The dust products, which are slightly oily, are used by the paint industry. The graphite is then carried to a storage tank by bucket elevators. From here it will be fed into two grinding stones. The soft tough graphite flakes are flattened out while the hard and brittle quartz particles disintegrate under the grinding action. From the grinding stones, the graphite goes to four bolting screens, using 80-mesh silk cloth, where the flake is separated from the amorphous type. The latter is split on subsequent bolting screens into three standard products according to particle size. The flake portion, assaying 95 percent carbon, is subjected to a second grinding operation where the carbon concentrate of the coarse flakes is brought up to 97 to 98 percent. The flake is then split on a bolting screen into a plus 50 mesh and a plus 80-mesh product. These grades are used almost exclusively for lubrication. The fines from the flake stone are subdivided into several products, which are used in the foundry-facing field and for making lower-priced lubricants.

From time to time it may be necessary to supply the material in quite narrow size limits. This sizing is performed on specially designed screening devices, such as a “gyro-whip”. There is a great demand for finely ground graphite, screening 90 percent minus 325 mesh. To obtain this product, raw graphite is fed into two dry-grinding units consisting of two ball mills. Here the graphite is pulverized and pulled off by dust collectors. Recently air skimmers have been installed in the dust circuit in order to reduce the plus 325 portion in the finished product. The present set-up of screens and dry grinding equipment permits the manufacture of graphite to almost any specification.



Graphite is used for crucibles, refractory ware, lubricants, carbon brushes, foundry facings, batteries and
lead pencils.

Graphite is used for insulating rods in atomic reactors. The rods absorb radiation there by controlling the rate of the atomic reaction.

Flake graphite is used principally for:

1. Crucibles and Refractory Ware – For the manufacture of graphite crucibles, stoppers, covers, nozzles, retorts and other refractory ware, flake graphite of large size (20 to 90 mesh) is used. Carbon content is generally high, being over 85 percent carbon. Mica, calcite, pyrite and pyrrhotite are undesirable impurities

2. Lubricants - Flake graphite having a high carbon content (usually over 95 percent) and free from abrasive impurities such s quartz and feldspar, is used for lubricants. Graphite is also used in packing and bearings due to its lubricating qualities.

3. Electrical Brushes - Graphite of high purity (97 to 98 percent carbon) and free from abrasive impurities is desirable for the manufacture of carbon brushes for electric motors.

4. Foundry Facings - One of the largest consumers of graphite is the foundry industry. Small flake and amorphous graphite of lower carbon content (40 to 80 percent) are used for this purpose and mineral impurities can be tolerated.

5. Batteries - Amorphous, flake or manufactured graphite is used in the manufacture of dry batteries. Minimum carbon content is 85 percent, and metallic oxides or sulphides are objectionable. Graphite has been replaced to some extent for this use by acetylene black

6. Pencils - Amorphous and finely ground flake graphite are mixed with clay to produce lead pencils. Carbon content of at least 85 percent is desirable.

7. Paints - Graphite is used as a pigment in some anticorrosive paints. Amorphous smoke graphite is used for this purpose and carbon content is variable.

8. Steel Production - Amorphous graphite is used in recarburizing steel. Other forms of carbon are also suited for this purpose.

Minor uses include stove and shoe polish, filler n fertilizers, coating tea leaves and coffee beans, roofing
compounds, rubber goods and coatings for television tubes.


The grade of a graphite deposit which can be profitably worked depends on the size and percentage of flake in the milled product. A mill test is essential before a graphite deposit can be worked. Graphite deposits grading as low as 4 percent are reported to have been worked commercially. The average for commercial deposits in Ontario would probably range from 8 to 15 percent. Since the price of graphite ranges from 4 to 13 cents per pound (prices in 1965) depending on size and carbon content, the value of graphite ore will obviously depend on the percentage recovery of the larger sizes of flake as well as the carbon content of the ore.


Please be sure to click on the photos to enjoy are much larger view


The Virginia Graphite Mine:








In her guidebook, Sabina took the liberty of calling this site the Wilberforce (Virginia) Graphite Mine. The mine was named the Virginia Graphite Mine.

As it was reported in several of the early Annual Report Volumes of the Ontario Dept of Mines, the Virginia Graphite Mine was originally called the Wilberforce Prospect. This was reported in the 1911 edition. By 1912 the prospect was in the early stages of becoming a large mill for the concentrating and refining of graphite. Now named the Virginia Graphite Mine. It is/was located at Wilberforce, about 20 miles west of Bancroft on the Irondale, Bancroft and Ottawa railway. Very little mining work had been done in the early stages. The mine itself was situated a short distance from the mill. Mr. W. M. Matthews, of Toronto, was in charge of the operation.








The Virginia Graphite Company completed the mill in 1912. This company sank a number of test pits and did some diamond drilling along the north slope of the hill facing the railway. The largest opening was an open pit 40 feet deep, 60 feet long, and 15 feet wide. Some graphite was mined from the quarry near the mill. Graphite ore was also shipped to the mill from a property near Maynooth on the Central Ontario railway for refining. The equipment of the mill consisted of two 125-h.p. boilers, an 18 by 48 inch Corliss engine, a crusher, rolls, screens, and nine separators. The concentration of graphite was completed by a dry process. Mr. H. G. Tonkin was manager.

By 1913, The Virginia Graphite Company had built a concentrating plant and opened up a pit for the mining of graphite in Monmouth Township, near Wilberforce.
The officers of the company were: President, J. J Tonkin, manager and secretary, H. G. Tonkin, vice president and treasurer, M. Du Pont.

The open pit, formerly worked on the hill west of the mill, was abandoned, and two core drills were working to determine the extent of the ore body. This open pit was 75 feet in length, 40 feet wide and 37 feet deep. The company's property near Maynooth on the Central Ontario railway was being opened up, and the compressors formerly used at Wilberforce had been shipped there. The ore was first dried and then crushed in two Taylor jaw crushers and two sets of rolls. It was taken from rolls on a conveyor belt to the dry concentrators







In July, 1913, The Tonkin-DuPont Graphite Company, successor to the Virginia Graphite Company, having been organized, with a capitalization of $2,000,000. The shares had a par value of $100 each. All the assets of the Virginia company were taken over by the present concern, of which Mr. J. J. Tonkin was president and Mr. M. DuPont, treasurer. Mr. H. G. Tonkin, Wilberforce, was manager of the mine and mill


Several graphite prospects in Monmouth Township, Haliburton County, and in Cardiff Township, Hastings County, have been opened up. The ore was being treated in the company's mill at Wilberforce. A high-grade flake graphite for use in the manufacture of crucibles was being produced from this ore.










A report from the Annual Report Volume of the Ontario Dept. of Mines dated 1943 stated it as follows: -
The workings seen in Monmouth Township, consist of an inclined adit on the side of a hill just southwest of the dam on the creek about a quarter of a mile east of Wilberforce station on the Canadian National railway. The country rock is a crystalline limestone with interbeds of paragneiss. Disseminated graphite is present, the maximum amount being 10 per cent. The inclined adit was 8 by 15 feet, and 100 feet long. The site of the old mill erected by the original owners in 1910 is just above this adit. In Monmouth Township, about 30 chains by trail from the above location, there are four pits. The largest is an oval pit, 40 by 75 feet and 30 feet to the water level, in a clearing just to the east of the bush in which the three other pits occur. This pit is reported to be 100 feet deep. The walls of the pit expose a contorted complex of gray to white crystalline limestone with inclusions of paragneiss. Some of the limestone contains no graphite or phlogopite, and the maximum content is 5 and 25 per cent., respectively. There is no well-defined graphite-bearing zone, and most of the rock quarried was waste, judging from the size of the dump. The ore is comparatively low grade, probably averaging about 5 per cent, of graphite. This must have been the material that was fed to the mill. The Virginia Graphite Company operated the property from 1910 to 1913 and was succeeded by the Tonkin-Dupont Graphite Company, Limited. The mill was closed down in May, 1914, and was subsequently dismantled. Most of the ore fed to the mill probably came from the latter company's deposit at Maynooth in Hastings County.









We were very fortunate to have located such a historical site such as this. The site is one hundred years old. It is completely overgrown but remnants of its existence are still lying about. We located the original inclined adit on the side of a hill just southwest of the dam on the creek and the site of the old mill erected by the original owners in 1910 which was just above this adit. My excitement level was extremely high just walking through the ruins of this former site. The remaining foundation structures for the workings on top of the hill are made of the gray to white crystalline limestone rock cemented together. Flake graphite can be found at this site.













I wish I were able to post some of the original historic photos of this site but copyright laws forbid me to do so. The mill buildings and surrounding structures were beautiful.








My Report: Sabina refers to this site as the “Wilberforce (Virginia) Graphite Mine”. The ruins here are astounding and provide some wonderful photo opportunities. I took GPS readings as I do at every site we visit. No radioactivity was ever recorded here so my Geiger stayed back in the vehicle. The dam mentioned in her book, has changed considerably from the time when it was reported. It is now a highly modernized piece of technology.







Seeing this structure will certainly be cause for concern to collectors and will most likely make one very hesitatant about crossing over it. At the time of our visit it was not posted. Not only has the dam changed but I am guessing the road and surrounding area has been reconfigured and modernized. The former mining site is on the opposite side of the creek as the roadway. So it’s either walk across the dam or get wet crossing the creek. A trail to the right was clearly visible during our visit but could be overgrown now, walk downstream and along the base of the hill, you will find the foundation ruins. The site is forest-like as if nothing ever existed here before. The ruins are in a completely wooded area. It is just unimaginable these remaining structures are one hundred years old. I had to pause and enjoy the moment. The mill buildings would have been located here on these foundations.










The foundations stand in a row like solders on guard, quiet and solitary.























Continuing along he base of the hill, we locate the inclined adit part way up the hill.

We explored the entire perimeter surrounding the ruins looking for anything. Flake graphite specimens are easily located at this site. Tree roots can be seen grasping
specimens of graphite.







The adit is mostly filled in but large enough to walk down into for approx ten feet. It was a eerie feeling sitting at the bottom of the adit. When I am at any site, I always try to imagine what it was like when it was active…….



















We climbed the hill above the adit, locating partial structures of the original mill.









From the old photos I was able to locate, this entire area was completely stripped of its timber, as most mine sites are during their active period. The photos are truly a sight to see, hard to imagine this hill and the surrounding area for that matter, void of trees. The structures, probably foundations or footings for machinery, are made from concrete and rocks of crystalline limestone that contain beautiful pieces of flake graphite. The stonework is/was cemented together forming the various support structures, all containing threaded rods for anchoring equipment. For me, it was a thrill to explore here. I love these old sites and the history surrounding them.











































Sometimes I find myself taking more site photos than locating specimens. This site did provide us with nice specimens of flake graphite in crystalline limestone. A very refreshing site to visit, more so as a historical site than as a collecting site.






The Harcourt Graphite Mine:








This graphite mine was located in Cardiff Township, Haliburton County.

The property was originally developed in 1912 by the New York Graphite Company. A large mill was erected and progress proceeded to develop on an ore-body outcropping along the north slope of a low ridge facing the railway. A series of small pits were opened along this ridge and showed the presence of a flat-dipping ore-body having an easterly strike and dipping south. The deposit had been proved for a distance of several hundred feet, and several small drifts were run. A small tonnage of ore was secured. The largest opening is an open pit 40 feet deep, by 60 feet long and 15 feet wide. The deposit has also been tested by a number of diamond drill holes. Intermittent operations continued up to 1915.







In the spring of 1915 The New York Graphite Company was reorganized into National Graphite, Limited
It was an amalgamation of the interests held by Messrs. Matthews and Foster owning certain mining lands in Hastings County, and the milling and mining interests of the New York Graphite Company. The latter company owned a large mill at Harcourt on the I. B. and O. railway, and ore from the Matthews mine was shipped to this mill for refining.








In 1918, National Graphite, Limited, did some surface work and placed a 50-ton concentrating unit of the Spearman process in the mill at Orser Siding, about one mile west of Harcourt (Mumford Station). Milling was started in January of 1919, the ore being obtained from an open pit near the mill. When last inspected, in February, 1919, 45 men were employed. No work was done at the Maynooth graphite mine, which is also owned by this company. It is believed that the property has been inactive, and the mill has been dismantled. The pits and adits at the graphite showing in Cardiff Township, are now caved in and overgrown with vegetation. The rocks exposed are flat or gently dipping biotite paragneiss. On the dump the rock is a biotite-graphite gneiss containing 10 per cent, of graphite in flakes as much as one-eighth of an inch in diameter. The property lies a few hundred yards south of the railway track at a point three-quarters of a mile west of Mumford station on the Canadian National railway.









The graphite is of the flake variety disseminated in a limestone gangue, and is easily concentrated. The orebody appears to have a definite strike northwest, and was worked by the open-cut method. On the date of inspection, in September, the pit was 40 feet long by 18 feet wide and 25 feet deep. R. W. Matthews was manager of the company, employing 21 men at the mine and 12 at the Harcourt mill. The officers of the company were: president, W. A. P. Schorinan, manager, H. T. Bush, superintendent, G. Gill

My Report: Again, another one hundred year old site, historically important and just a pleasure to locate and visit. We drove up and down the highway several times in the area I thought the site would be. Passing a dirt overgrown roadway each time, I finally said to Adam, turn in here and park, we will walk in and scout around. Walking along the dirt road for several hundred feet, we saw a partial clearing and a large pile of decomposing limestone probably discarded from a mining pit, white to grayish in color exposed as if having been freshly dug up.



















Yes, we were at the mine site. Not being able to get a clear perspective of the entire site, due to high vegetation, it took a number of hours to explore the entire area. The area is of course overgrown. The ruins of the mine buildings were located in thick brush making observations and photo taking difficult. We located concrete foundations and rock and mortar structures. Also, large sections of maybe 4-5 foot diameter pipe, whose use is unknown to me.

























The mining area was on the slope of a hillside, which was terraced probably for mine equipment to travel easily across the hill to the pits. We located several locations where loose rock, all containing graphite flake, was scattered about but buried beneath years and years worth of leaves and brush. Collecting was very easy. The hillside, unlike the mine buildings ruins area, is covered with large diameter trees not tightly packed and dense so as to make visibility limited. Disseminated graphite flake is easily obtainable at this site from a number of shallow pits.




















The remains of what was once the largest pit on the property is eroded to the point where it was difficult to make out its shape, not appearing as a pit any longer. The sides are sloped and tree lined. At it’s farthest point, a cave like opening is seen dug into the rocky hillside. The adit is large enough to stand in. Maybe reaching back 15-20 feet, a beautiful sight to see, with a pool of water at the bottom and water constantly dripping from the moss above.


























The surrounding rock layering is black indicating areas of graphite. We collected several specimens from this site. Though not a treasure trove containing a variety of “glamorous” minerals, this site was just a plain old “fun” site to explore.










We attempted to locate the site where both the National Graphite and the Tonkin Du Pont companies were mining graphite near the town of Maynooth. From extensive research covering many hours of work over a period of several weeks I was able to locate information detailing the exact spot where both companies had mining operations which were only a few feet apart but on different properties. With a lot of luck and years worth of site hunting skill we found the exact properties. When the original land surveys were taken, the property lines were drawn directly across the graphite ore body. Each company optioned that part of the orebody that was on their particular property. At the actual site where the two companies were mining, they left approx 10-20 feet of undisturbed ground on each side of their respective properties. This being a safe guard in case the land surveys might prove inaccurate. A fierce competition existed on both sides of the mining operations. It would have been a sight to see both of these two companies working the same deposit.

We drove up a driveway where I was confident the site would be located. With hopes high, I knocked on the door of the house at the driveways end. Assuming the property owner lives here, I wanted to ask permission to access to the site. The property owners were a wonderful older couple. And I think happy to have visitors. We had a most enjoyable conversation concerning both of the former mining companies. The property owners were quite familiar with the mining operations and were more than happy to tell stories about the old site. We listened intently for quite some time while they detailed the history of this site. The details were well worth the trip. Unfortunately we were not given permission to visit the site. The reason, which did not surprise me in the very least, collector property abuse, it was that simple. The couple said they were tired of collectors trespassing, destroying or abusing their property. Tired from cleaning litter, papers, bottles, having their barn damaged and even having had to clean up several used baby diapers, which were just thrown about. They said enough was enough.

I completely sympathized with them and did not press the issue. The wonderful stories they shared with us was enough. I could not have located historical accounts better than this. The couple did however share with us, from the driveway, the locations of the former mill buildings. Where the pits and trenches were and where the old railroad was. It was an incredible visit even though we did not see the spot where two different graphite companies worked the exact same deposit only a few feet apart.


The Annual Report Volume of the Ontario Dept of Mines dated 1917 stated it this way:

The National Graphite Company, Limited, continued development on its property in the Township of Monteagle. The No. l shaft or pit, described in the last annual report, supplied most of the ore mined by the company during 1916, and at the close of the year this shaft was 125 feet deep. Pit No. 2 was 40 feet deep, and pit No 3, 20 feet deep. Work now in progress will connect pits l and 2, at the 125-foot level. The mine is situated near the village of Maynooth on the Canadian Northern railway, and during the year a boiler and compressor plant was erected near the track about 4,000 feet from the mine. This installation consists of one 16 feet by 72 inches, return tubular Goldie McCulloch boiler, 150 h.p., and one Eand compressor, capacity 2,000 cubic feet of free air per minute. The new plant had not been put in commission up to April, 1917, power being still supplied by the small 315-foot Rand compressor at No. l shaft. The last shipment of ore to the Harcourt mill was made 20th December, 1916, and since that date all ore has been stock-piled at the mine. Manager Foster stated that a re-organization of the company was in progress, and it was probable that during 1917 the mill at Harcourt would be dismantled and moved to the mine at Maynooth. Finished flake graphite was shipped during 1916. The lower grades are in demand as foundry facings, and all the No. l product went to the crucible manufacturers, with the exception of a shipment of 50 barrels of No. l, which went to a munitions factory in France. The officers of the company are: W A. P. Schurnan, president and treasurer, Toronto; R. W.. Foster, manager, Maynooth; W. H. Matthews, director, Toronto. Twenty-five men were employed at the mine and 12 at the Harcourt mine

We were told there were a total of seven pits and trenches. Six of which had been filled in and bull dozed over “revitalized” by the Dept. of Mines. The remaining pit was fenced in and water filled. This was the National Graphite/ Tonkin Du Pont site. The vary same site I wanted to see.

The property owners told us the story that sometime back in the 1950”s some company tried to pump out the pit and underground workings but were unable. They also were drilling holes on the property.

I was able to locate that same information from the Dept of Mines, it concurred with the story we were told.

During 1951, Black Donald Division of Frobisher, Limited, drilled the property under the supervision of B. G. Edward. A graphite-bearing zone 1,200 feet long and 60 feet thick was disclosed by 4,270 feet of diamond-drilling. An orebody of 1,440,000 tons grading 4.1 percent carbon was indicated. Within this orebody there is a richer zone of 800,000 tons grading 5 percent carbon. The flake graphite, up to 1/8 inch in size, occurs in limy paragneiss, which strikes N.30degreesE. and dips 15 degrees to the south.





Thank you and happy hunting

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