Keymet Mine

"Keymet Mine lies on the Elmtree River 4 miles west of Petit Rocher and about 18 miles northwest of Bathurst, Gloucester County, New Brunswick. A good gravel road runs through the property.The deposit was discovered in 1880 when a vein 7 to 8 feet wide was re-ported. In 1883 the first shaft was sunk as part of an exploration program which was carried out sporadically until 1897, when the company dissolved. Activity on the property was intermittent until 1946 when the property was again staked and during the next year diamond drilling intersected the vein in several places. In December 1949 Coulee Lead and Zinc Mining Company optioned the property and held it until its sale to Keymet Mines Limited in June 1952. By July of the same year work had begun on a three-compartment shaft.Early development work was concentrated on the 150, 300 and 450 foot levels but the shaft has since been sunk to I,228 feet to allow for eight levels at intervals of 150 feet. Little lateral work has been done to date below the 600-foot level.The first mill constructed to treat the ore was to go into production in the spring of 1954, but was destroyed by fire. A second mill, having a capacity of 200 to 300 tons a day, was officially opened October 25th, 1954. Present shipments are zinc and copper-lead-silver concentrates.The rocks of the area are shale, conglomerate, limestone, and quartzite with minor interbedded volcanic rocks, all probably of Silurian age. Small plugs of Devonian acidic intrusions occur 3 miles east and about 5 miles northwest of the mine. Minor dykes of both acidic and basic rocks occur on the mine property. In many of the fine-grained sedimentary rocks the more brittle laminre have been brecciated and give the rock the appearance of an argillaceous conglomerate."