Ram hoping to advance Ontario wollastonite deposit

Having processed a bulk sample from its wollastonite property, 55 km north of Kingston, Ont., Ram Petroleum (TSE) is looking to advance the project to production.

Last fall, a 150-ton bulk sample was crushed and a small portion milled. The balance will be milled shortly and subjected to a flotation process. Initial tests on the milled portion indicated that high-grade wollastonite and low-magnesium calcite could be produced.

“One hundred percent of the wollastonite recovered from the milled sample has an average aspect ratio (i.e. crystal length to thickness) of greater than 17-to-1,” President Robert Opekar told The Northern Miner. This grade of material commands a market price of about US$300 per ton.

Calcite recovered from the bulk sample is usable in building products which fetch US$80-100 per ton.

Construction of the pilot plant is expected to cost a few hundred thousand dollars, Opekar said, adding that the project could be producing within 18 months.

Since 1987, when the deposit was discovered, Ram has spent $400,000-500,000 exploring it. The estimated reserve is more than 2.7 million tons grading 32% wollastonite, 63% calcite and 5% diopside to a vertical depth of about 75 metres.

Crescent-shaped and measuring 300 metres long by 78 metres wide, the deposit generally strikes east-west. It is hosted by a relatively pure calcitic marble which is confined by diorite and granite to the north and south. The footwall (south side) is in direct contact with the diorites and granites and locally contains a high proportion of garnet. The hangingwall contact is gradational over a 1.8-2.1-metre width into marbles.

The Main zone is characterized by well-crystallized, radiating clusters of wollastonite with less than 5% green diopside, in a pale green calcite-rich matrix.

Wollastonite is a calcium silicate mineral formed by the thermal metamorphism of impure limestone. In its pure form, it is white, lustrous, and occurs as acicular (needle-like) crystals. The mineral is used as a filler in ceramics, plastics, paints and as a flux to accelerate the continuous casting of steel. Its acicular nature makes it an excellent reinforcing agent and its high melting point (1,540C) allows it to be used as a replacement for asbestos. Wollastonite is also non-toxic, since, unlike other silicates, it is slightly soluble in water.

To speed up the development of the deposit, Ram is considering spinning off the property into a new company in which Ram shareholders would receive a pro- rata interest. An environmental impact study has been completed and Ram is seeking partners to put the deposit into production. The estimated capital cost of such a venture is $11-13 million.

The annual mining rate would be about 110,000 tons and sales are projected to be 30,000 tonnes wollastonite and 54,000 tonnes calcite (33,000 and 59,400 tons respectively).

Annual consumption, which has been growing steadily at 8-12%, is expected to reach 750,000-900,000 tonnes (825,000-990,000 tons) per year. Estimated world production in 1992 was 385,000 tonnes (424,000 tons). Most of the highest-grade material comes the NYCO operation near Lake Champlain in New York state. China, India and Mexico are large producers of

low-to-medium-quality wollastonite.

To help sales, Ram has signed a marketing agreement with Amalgamet Canada, a subsidiary of German-based Preussag AG, which has considerable experience marketing primary metals and industrial minerals worldwide. The deal calls for Amalgamet to conduct an international campaign to pre-sell Ram’s wollastonite.

Elsewhere in eastern Canada, U.S. Borax is evaluating a wollastonite deposit near Seeley’s Bay, Ont., northeast of Kingston. Also, Gitennes Exploration (CDN) has a wollastonite project near Madoc, Ont., and Orleans Resources (ME) is evaluating a property northeast of Lac St-Jean, Que.