Orebody Description - The zinc-rich massive ore is a 4,200 feet long tabular-shaped
body of variable
thickness (0-200 feet) which extends from the bedrock surface to 1,800 feet
below the bedrock
surface. Sulfides comprise about 70% of the massive ore by volume with iron
sulfide being the most.,
abundant. The ore contains economic quantities of zinc sulfide, copper sulfide,
and lead sulfide. Th
nonsulfide portion of the massive ore is mostly quartz and chlorite with
minor amounts of silver and
gold. By comparison, the stringer ore consists of veinlets of quartz-copper
sulfide-iron sulfide
cross-cutting the host rock (breccias) of the Sand Lake Formation. The stringer
ore underlies the
western half of the massive sulfide orebody and is erratic and discontinuous
in distribution. Most of
the stringer ore is adjacent to or within 100 feet of the massive ore, but
in some areas the two ore
types are separated by as much as 400 feet of non-mineralized footwall rock.
The stringer orebody
parallels the massive ore and is 4,600 feet long, 2,300 feet deep, and 0-100
feet thick. Pyrite is the
most common sulfide mineral while copper sulfide is the main economic mineral
in the stringer ore.
Zinc sulfide also is present. The ore grades and reserves are listed in Table
2-1.

                                             Table 2-1
                          Ore Reserves and Metal Content of the Orebody

                      Tons          Zinc       Copper      Lead      Silver
     Gold
                                      %          %           %       g/ton
       g/ton
Massive Ore        42,900,000        8.4        0.6        0.7        52.6
         1.4
Stringer Ore       24,500,000        0.7        1.8        0.03       10.0
         0.3

Bedrock Weathering - Weathering refers to the processes causing the physical
and chemical
disintegration of rock (Figure 2-2.). Variability in bedrock weathering,
structural trends (faults and
fractures), and bedrock drainage patterns produced the existing irregular
bedrock surface (knobs,
depressions, ridges, and valleys). These features are buried beneath the
glacial deposits, but the cross
sections in Figure 2-3 of the Glacial Geology section provide an idea of
the bedrock topography.  4

The type and degree of bedrock weathering would influence groundwater inflow
into the mine. This
inflow, in turn, could influence lake and stream levels. As noted earlier,
bedrock at the site has been
subjected to continuous weathering since Precambrian time. The degree of
weathering, however,
varies between the footwall, orebearing formations, and hanging wall due
mainly to varying rock
chemistry. The Crandon Formation contains a high percentage of easily weathered
sulfide minerals
and as a result is more deeply weathered than either the footwall or the
hanging wall. The top of the
Crandon Formation is highly oxidized resulting in a very permeable interface
between the glacial
aquifer and the upper portions of the proposed mine. Beneath this highly
weathered zone, a
weathering "spike" along the hanging wall extends the length of
the formation and in some places
may penetrate below the proposed 750 foot main level drift. In general, the
footwall and hanging
wall are only moderately to weakly weathered except near their contacts with
the Crandon
Formation.

Percolating groundwater has been the primary bedrock weathering agent at
the project site with
oxidation, leaching, and argillization the main processes. As a result of
argillization, a process of
replacement or alteration of certain minerals to form clay minerals, the
strength of the bedrock has
been reduced. Bedrock permeability, however, generally remains low because
the weathering pores
and fractures have been plugged by the residual clays. By comparison, oxidation
and leaching reduce
rock strength and, depending on the degree of weathering, may have significantly
increased
permeability. Bedrock permeability, therefore, is highly variable and is
dependent upon the type and
extent of weathering processes occurring in the rock.

Complicating factors in estimating water movement through bedrock is defining
the type and
permeability of the overlying glacial deposits. These two factors would influence
the amount of
water flowing into the mine and are discussed in the glacial geology and
groundwater sections,
respectively.



- 56 -



1

i
I
p
A