the polaris joint venture (pjv) was a large-scale five ... (lower red) big north twin blackduck wolf...

Mud

Minnewawa

SandyRiver

Flowage

BigSandy

Portage

RatRound

Hill

Moulton

Salo WMAImpoundment

TwoInlets

Boot

BadMedicine

BigBasswood

Wolf

Shell

Unnamed

Juggler

Kitchi

LittleMoose

Moose

Gilstad

Cass

Pimushe

Rabideau

Red(Upper

Red)

Red(LowerRed)

Big

NorthTwin

Blackduck

Wolf

TurtleRiver

Gull

Medicine

Sandy

Stump

Bemidji(mainlake)

Big Bass(east

basin)

ThreeIsland

Beltrami

WhiteFish

Irving

Marquette

Movil

LittleTurtle

Julia

LongDeer

Peterson

Island

Manomin

Kesagiagan

Balm

ThomsonReservoir

ChubPark

BigPerch

Kettle

Eagle

Lower(South)Island

LittleThunder

Sugar

Roosevelt

Washburn

Thunder

Big Sand

Grave

Goose

Mud

George

Island

UpperTrelipe

Inguadona

Twin

LowerTrelipe

Swift

Long

Boy

Drumbeater

Six Mile

Winnibigoshish

Rice

LittleBoy

Wabedo

Girl

ThreeIsland

TownLine

Hay

Mule

Woman

Leech

Portage

Hattie

Ponto

Hand

Ada

Child

BlackwaterBig Deep

ManBaby

Pine

Moccasin

Norway

BigPortage

Webb

LowerSucker

MiddleSucker

FivePoint

Horseshoe

Lind

Stony

Pleasant

PineMountain

Birch

Pike Bay

Howard Bass

Portage

Long

Thirteen

Portage

Crooked

Steamboat

LittleWolf

Itasca

Gill

EastFour-Legged

WestFour-Legged

Stenlund

LongLost

LowerRice

Pine

Superior

Ross

LowerDean

Dolney

Emily

Ruth

Goodrich

Horseshoe

Pine

KegoMitchell

Pelican

Whitefish Rush-Hen

BigTrout

Ossawinnamakee

Bertha

Arrowhead

LowerHay

UpperHay

EleventhCrow Wing

Benedict

Garfield

Grace

Kabekona

Wolf

Shallow

FifthCrow Wing

SixthCrow Wing

Spider

Duck

BelleTaine

UpperBottle

LittleSand

Mantrap

Plantagenet

Long

Pickerel

LowerBottle

Big Sand

FishHook

Potato

Hennepin

Hinds

Eagle

O’BrienReservoir

Swan

Buck

Shallow

BigSucker

Shoal

Hartley

Bear

Thistledew

Crooked

Mud

Trout

Lawrence

LowerBalsam

King

Balsam

Round

Deer

Anderson

SplitHand

Prairie

Wabana

Eagle

Coon-Sandwick

Pokegama

Blandin

ThreeIsland

Siseebakwet

Blackwater

JayGould

Bass

Johnson

Grave

Irma

NorthStar

Johnson

Deer

Moose

Turtle

LittleSiseebakwet

LittleWhite Oak

Island

LittleBowstring

Maple

Round

LittleJessie

Jessie

Big TooMuch

Bowstring

FourTowns

Sand

RushIsland

Whitefish

LittleCut Foot

Sioux

Cut FootSioux

Dora

PigeonDam

Round

MooseIsland

Dixon

Kenogama

Morph

MississippiRiver

Nett

Ensign

Parent

Snowbank

SuckerManomin

Newfound

Ojibway

Wind

Moose

Basswood

Greenwood

SouthMcDougal

Slate

NorthMcDougal

Triangle

EllaHall Wood

SouthFarm

Farm

Garden

Newton

Horse

Cedar

Fall

BigPine

Birch

WhiteIron

Pequaywan

Bassett

LittleLong

Shagawa

LowHigh

Grassy

Gun

Boot

Cadotte

BearIsland

Burntside

Iron

Wolf

Big Rice

Slim

Big

Stuart

Crab

Cummings

Agnes

Lacla Croix

Colby

Bearhead

EaglesNest #3

BigMoose

Cummings

Oyster

Ramshead

NinaMoose

Hustler

WildRice

Boulder

WhitefaceReservoir

Whitewater

Vermilion

Lynx

UpperComstock

Loon

Sabin

Wynne

Pine

Chad

Bootleg

LittleTrout

Jeanette

Shell

Caribou

Pike

Fish LakeFlowage

Trout

Grand

Leora

Oriniack

Picket

VermilionRiver

Echo

Crane

Artichoke

Nichols

Elliot

Murphy

Winchester

Susan

Ban

Elbow

Kjostad

Myrtle

Hoodoo

Moose

Elephant

Pelican

BlackDuck

Prairie

Long

Ash

Perch

LowerTwin

Blueberry

Stocking

TurtlePietroGabbro

Bartlett Clearwater

Three

Greenstone

Sunset

Straight

Edna

Blind

WhiteElk

EsquagamahWaukenabo

Fleming

Wilkins

Gun

Rock

Round

Decker

Sugar

Dunbar

Natures

Rice

LittleSand

Portage

Bello

Horseshoe

Coon

Owen

LittleLong

Spider

Gunn

Fox

Cutaway

Burrows

Trout

Bluewater

Wasson

Long(MainBay)

Bootleg

Puposky

Campbell

Black

LittleBass

Swenson

Long

BuckAndrusia

Big Rice

Big Rush

Aitkin

Pleasant

Long

UpperRice

Hart

LittleMantrap

Hattie

George

Bad Axe

Blue

Boulder

BigStony

WestCrooked Middle

Crooked

Midge

Horseshoe

Swamp

Lomish

Laura

LittleSand

Big Rice

Vermillion

Birch

West Fox

Eagle

Greer

Adney

Dahler

Mary Lows

UpperDean

Nelson

Birch(Canada)

Iron(Canada)

GilbertPit

LittleSturgeon

West TwoRivers

Reservoir

SturgeonSide

Floodwood

Fourteen

Lizzie

Sibley

Embarrass

Rush

Armstrong

Linwood

Wolf

Lieung

Johnson

One Pine

Big

Round

Butterball

King

Pine

Loon

Shoal

Stingy

Fourtown

North BranchKawishiwi

Hill-AnnexPit

Rice

WhiteOak

SevenBeaver

Bog

Battle

LowerPigeon

BaldEagle

Two

One

Quadga

Gull

Four

Sand

Big Rice

Lost

Esquagama

Strand

Crooked (Canada)

BasswoodRiver

Crooked

Allen

MesabiMt. Pit

CloquetRes.

Portage

Ely

Sand

LittleWinnibigoshish

BallClub

LittleTurtle

Island

FirstCrowWing

FourthCrow Wing

ThirdCrowWing

EighthCrow Wing

Daggett

Cross LakeReservoir

LittlePine

Ten Mile

Clearwater

Turtle

Elk

194

169

232

89

65

371

64

97

65

227

226

92

84

87

6

65

223

37

34

225

39

38

169

64

200

73

6

6

45

290

1

34

200

46

73

6

33

197

87

371

210

73

89

1

72

135

200

23

210

61

286

113

1

1

1

1

65

53

53

169

169

71

2

2

71

71

71

53

169

2

2

2

535

35

Akeley

Aurora

Babbitt

Backus

Bena

BigFalls

Bigfork

Biwabik

Blackduck

Bovey

BoyRiver

BreezyPoint

Brookston

Buhl

Calumet

CassLake

ChickamawBeach

Chisholm

Clearbrook

Cloquet

Cohasset

Coleraine

Cook

Cromwell

Crosslake

DeerRiver

Effie

Ely

Emily

Eveleth

FederalDam

FiftyLakes

Floodwood

Funkley

Gilbert

Gonvick

Hackensack

Hermantown

Hibbing

HillCity

HoytLakes

IronJunction

Jenkins

Keewatin

Kelliher

Kinney

La PrairieLaporte

Leonard

Leonidas

Longville

ManhattanBeach

Marble

McGregor

McKinley

Meadowlands

Menahga

Mizpah

MountainIron

Nashwauk

Nevis

Nimrod

Northome

Orr

Palisade

PequotLakes

PineRiver

Proctor

Remer

Scanlon

Sebeka

Shevlin

Solway

SquawLake

Taconite

Tamarack

Tenstrike

Thomson

Tower

TurtleRiver

Virginia

Warba

Wilton

Winton

WolfLake

Wrenshall

Wright

Zemple

Bagley

Bemidji

Carlton

GrandRapids

ParkRapids

TwoHarbors

Walker

Duluth

Aqs

Aqs

Aqs

AqlAqgAql

Aqg

Aqg

AqgAmv

Aqg

AqtAqtAvs

Ami

AqgAgm Aqg

Aqg

Aqs

Aqg

Aqa

Aqt Aqs

Aqg

Ami

Aqg

Aqa

Aql

Aqg

Aqa

Aqs

Ami

Aqs

Mlt

Aqa

Agd

Aks

Agr

Aks

Mau

AvsAgp Avs

Ami

Amv

Amv

Aag

Agd

Akv

Amv

Avs Avs Akv

Aqg

Avs

AguAmv

AsdAvsAsd

Aqs

AmiAsd

Ami

Aqs

Agu

AgtAqa

Aqs

AguAmi

Agp

Agt

Amv

Aqp

Agt

AgpAkc

Aqs

Amv

Ami

Agd

Avs

AqtAgp

AqaAmi

AagAgtMlg

Mvu

AcvAgm

Amv

AgpAgmAsd

Asd

Auv

Amv

Aif

Amv

Agu Akv

AqmAcv

Ami

Agr

AmvAscAvs

Amv

Aks

Agr

Agp

Agu

Avs

Aqp Agp

Agm

Avs

Mlt

Aqp

AmvAmi

Aif

Mlg

Avs

Aqm

Asg

Ami

Agr

AagAgu

Ami

Auv

Mau

Agt

Agu

AmvAgp

Amv

AvsAgt

Agm

Ami

Asd

AscAgt

Amv

Asd

Ami

Agd

Asg

Amv

Acv

Avs Agt

Avs

Ami

Asc Asd

Pas

Amv

Ams

Ami

Amv

Auv

Agr

Agr

Asd

PaiAsg

Acv

Agt

Aqm

Agr

Agr

Agu

AmiAgu

Agm

AgrPaq

Agm

Ami

Mlt

Aag

Agp

Agt

PasAgu

Ams

AguAgu

Agm

Agm

Agu

Mau

Mlg

Mvu

Mfg

Amm

Acv

PaiAgd

Avs Agn

Agu

Mvu

Mlg

Agm

Amm

Mnu

Paq

Amv

Pas

MauPai

Agu

Agu

Amv

Aag

Asg

Agr

Ami Pas

Agt

Pas

Mau

AgtAgm

Asc

MmdPaq

Pai

AgpPaq

Mbf

Mmg

Agu

Mbg

Mnu

Pas

Pai

Acv

Paq

Amv

Mlg

Agm

Avs

Acv

Mnu

MmfPai

Pas

PacAmiAmiAmi

Mfg

Agm

Agp

Amv

Mnb

Mmg

Agp

PacPaq

Mmg

PaiMau

Amv

Amv

Acv

AguAvs

Agt

Mlt

Asg

Asg

Mvu

Paq

Mnu

Mmd

Agm

Agt

Mmf

Agt

Mlg

Mau

Mbd

Pai

Avs Agr Mmg

Agr

Mnb

PasAgu

Avs

Agm

Mmg

AgpAgm

Ami

Mvu

Pac

Mmf

Mlg

Mlc

Mlt

Amv

Amv

Mau

Mmd

Agm

Mmd

Mnb

Pas

Agt

Pm

Pac Mlg

Amv

MfgMmg

Agm

Ami

Mlf

MauMlc

Pai

Ams

Mmi

MltPmi

Asg

Agt

Agt

MssMmsPgp

Amv

Paq

Pas

Mmi

MnlPmi Pas Mlg

Pag Mss

Pac

Agp

PgsPm

PsiPifPmi

Agr

PsiPvs

AgmAPd PgsPas PmPif

PmvPai

Bedrock Geology Line TypesFault

Thrust fault

Iron formation

Active state nonferrous metallic mineral leases

Terminated state nonferrous metallic mineral leases (1967-January 2016)

State Nonferrous Metallic Minerals Leases

Primary exploration blocks (Ely, Sturgeon, and Hubbard).

GIS Footprints for Polaris Joint Venture Exploration Documents

Polaris Joint Venture Super Block

Mix of Sub-blocks, HEM sub-blocks, anomaly blocks, or targets. Map labels those features larger than 1 square mile.

Polaris Joint Venture Exploratory Boreholes50 exploratory boreholes related to the Polaris Joint Venture. Sourced from Document ID pjvl-pvjl-1520-86.pdf. Borings are labeled by name.

Expanding the Historical Mineral Exploration Document and Spatial Data Collection at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources: The Polaris Joint Venture Exploration Collection The Polaris Joint Venture (PJV) was a large-scale five year-long exploration campaign that targeted high-grade Copper-Zinc prospects in the greenstone belts of Northern Minnesota during the early 1980’s. Ernest K. Lehmann & Associates (ELA), in partnership with Getty and Billiton, completed airborne and ground geophysical surveys, geologic mapping, geochemical sampling, and 50 drill holes within a 13,000

square mile study area that stretched roughly from Bemidji to Ely. This collection contains approximately 2,000 PJV-related PDF documents encompassing more than 20,000 pages of exploration data.

Hubbard Block

Sturgeon Block

Ely Area Block

PROFILES

DRILLINGDATA

REPORTS&

MEMOS

MAPS

SOILGEOCHEMISTRYGROUND

GEOPHYSICALSURVEYS

AIRGEOPHYSICAL

SURVEYS

DisclaimerThe State of Minnesota makes no representations or warran-ties express or implied, with respect to the use of the infor-mation contained herein regardless of its format or the means of its transmission. There is no guarantee or representation to the user as to the accuracy, currency, suitabil ity, completeness, usefulness, or reliabil ity of this information for any purpose. The user accepts the information “as is." The State of Minne-sota assumes no responsibil ity for loss or damage incurred as a result of any user’s reliance on this information. All maps, reports, data, and other information contained herein are protected by copyright. Permission is granted to copy and use the materials herein for any lawful noncommercial purpose. Any user of this information agrees not to transmit or provide access to all or any part of this information to another party unless the user shall include with the information a copy of this disclaimer.

Du l u

t h C

o mp l e

x

Du l u

t h C

o mp l e

x

Mesabi Iron Range

Mesabi Iron Range

Red Lake Area

Koochiching Area

St. Louis (Co)Area

Itasca Block

Wadena Area

Vermilion Block

ONTARIO, CANADAMINNESOTA, USA

Archean Bedrock Geology Map Symbols and Label DescriptionsAag Mafic to ultramafic hypabyssal intrusive complexes; gabbro, anorthosite

Acv Calc-alkalic volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks

Agd Granodioritic intrusion

Agm Granite to granodiorite , variably magnetic

Agn Granitic to granodioritic orthogneiss

Agp Gabbro, pyroxenite , peridotite , lamprophyre intrusion

Agr Granitic intrusions

Agt Tonalite , diorite and granodiorite

Agu Granitoid intrusion, undifferentiated or poorly constrained by core and outcrop

Aif Iron-formation

Akc Knife Lake Group volcanic conglomerate, breccia; alkalic , hornblende-bearing

Aks Knife Lake Group volcanogenic l ithic sandstone, siltstone, conglomerate, slate

Akv Knife Lake Group volcanic flows, breccia, and tuff; hornblende-bearing

Ami Mafic plug-like intrusion; typically magnetic

Amm Interlayered volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks; amphibolite grade metamorphism

Amn Amphibolitic to dioritic gneiss

Ams Schist of sedimentary protolith

Amv Mafic metavolcanic rocks; minor volcaniclastic and hypabyssal intrusions

APd Dioritic to granodioritic intrusion of uncertain age

Aqa Amphibolitic schist and gneiss

Aqg Granite-rich migmatite; locally magnetic

Aql Lac La Croix Granite; locally pegmatitic and magnetic

Aqm Quartz monzonite , monzonite , granodiorite; non-magnetic

Aqp Porphyritic quartofeldspathic dike

Aqs Biotite schist, paragneiss, and schist-rich migmatite

Aqt Tonalite- to granodiorite-rich migmatite

Asc Conglomerate, l ithic sandstone, graywacke, mudstone

Asd Syenitic , monzodioritic , or dioritic pluton

Asg Graywacke and mudstone; typically greenschist facies metamorphism

Auv Ultramafic to mafic volcanic and hypabyssal intrusive rocks

Avs Volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks; felsic to intermediate composition

Proterozoic and Mesoproterozoic Bedrock Geology Map SymbolsPai Proterozoic Iron-formation, locally includes basal conglomerate (Biwabik Iron Formation)

P.. Other Proterozoic map units visible on this map are not described in detail . They are

given the same map symbol color.

M.. Mesoproterozoic map units visible on this map are not described in detail . They are

given the same map symbol color.

Hubbard Area 1

Hubbard Area 2 Hubbard Area 4

Hubbard Area 3 Hubbard Area 5

Hubbard Area 6

Hubbard Area 7

Hubbard Area 8

BrisbaneBuffalo Swamp Evergreen Cemetary

Root Cellar

Cognac

CyphersLake

Paquet Lake

Hackensack

BoyHiram

Sturgeon West Area 1

Phoebe


Sturgeon West Area 5Sturgeon West

Area 2



Sturgeon West Area 9Sturgeon West

Area 7



Sturgeon East Area 13Sturgeon East

Area 11

Sturgeon East Area 12


Sturgeon East Area 16 Sturgeon East

Area 18


Bachelor (#60)Rita

Gull Lake

Pimushe Lake

Funk Lake

Morph Meadow

Dunbar (#53)Third River

Inez

Langor

Medicine Lake

Hay O’Brien

Detling Creek

Tolgen

Q4 27B-28H HadenCreek

Cormorant

HumbleConan

MeadowCreek

BullheadLake

HooverCreek

Hornet

Alfalfa (#11)

Pomroy

Sedge #13

No-Tower (#24)

Wildwood (#23)

Herbicide (#27)

Gravel (#29)

Bustic Lake (#12)

Round Lake

West End

Zeisser’s Is

land

East End

Deer LakeNorth

Larson Lake

Anderson Lake

Victoria

ForestLake Ghost Lake

Highland Lake

Sherry LakeWamp Lake

Spring Bear

Holstrum Togo

Thistledew

KlingenpielLake

Lost LakeArea Base

Bear Island AreaNeedleboyLake Area

Skeleton Lake Area

Raspberry Gold

Granite-GreenstoneNeedleboy Lake

SkeletonLake

South Block Tower Area

Ely

Inpu

t Bl

ock

Ely Input Block

Ely Input Block

Ely Input Block

Polaris Joint Venture Bounds

Polaris Joint Venture Bounds

Active iron ore mining for over 120 yearson the Mesabi Iron Range (Biwabik Iron Formation)

LOK-1

ANA-1

SDE-1

COR-1

CON-1

HAD-1HAD-2HAD-3

VAN-1VAN-2VAN-3VAN-4

PLO-1PLO-2

TIT-1TIT-2TIT-3TIT-4

IAP-1

JAN-1

MIR-1MIR-2

GB-1GB-2

KAT-1KAT-2

SOC-1

GUA-1KAI-1KAI-2DRA-1

DRA-2CRI-1

HER-1HER-2HER-3

CAL-1CAL-2CAL-3GAN-1

SNT-1

LIA-1LIA-2LIA-3

PSL-4PSL-5PSL-6PSL-7PSL-8PSL-9

SNT-1

Langor

Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW)




Expanding the Historical Mineral Exploration Document and Spatial Data Collection at the Minnesota Department of Natu-ral Resources: The Polaris Joint Venture Exploration Collection

HANSON, Kevin, REED, Andrea, and FREY, BarryMinnesota Department of Natural Resources, Land & Minerals Division

The Polaris Joint Venture was a large-scale five year-long exploration program targeting copper-zinc prospects in the greenstone belts of northern Minnesota during the early 1980s. Ernest K. Lehmann & As-sociates, in partnership with Getty and Bill iton, completed airborne and ground geophysical surveys, geologic mapping, geochemical sam-pling, and 50 dril l holes within a 13,000 square mile study area that stretched roughly from Bemidji to Ely.

In December 2014, the Lehmann Family Fund donated the Venture’s results and $10,000 to the Minnesota Department of Natural Re-sources (DNR), with the express purpose of having the DNR make the data digitally available to the public . Due to the manageable size of this donation, it also gave the DNR the perfect opportunity to experiment with new ways of managing its historical exploration document collection.

The Lands and Minerals Division's goal for this collection is to pro-tect and preserve the original documents while making them readily accessible to the public via the internet. There are now approxi-mately 20,000 individual pages available online from this collection comprised of 2,056 PDF documents. The documents are associated with 232 mineral exploration footprints in northern Minnesota. The mineral exploration documents include reports, maps, and raw data and are all available through the DNR webpage at:

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/lands_minerals/polaris/index.html.

From the webpage, the user can search the documents using a Mic-rosoft Excel spreadsheet or a GIS shapefile with online links to as-sociated exploration documents. For an enhanced search, a web map application is available that allows the user to click on a mineral exploration footprint to view (and download) the associated docu-ments. The web map also features background geologic data and DNR state mineral leasing data for reference.

The DNR’s next steps will be to adapt the new historical document management system to accommodate the other mineral exploration collections.


About this map and dataMap was created in February of 2016 at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Division of Lands and Minerals.

Exploration footprints for the Polaris Joint Venture part of an open-fi le data release from the DNR’s Division of Lands and Minerals as of March 7, 2016. These footprints may be updated and refined in the future. Sign up for updates at the Polaris Joint Venture webpage. Exploration dril l holes (n=50) for the Polaris Joint Venture extract-ed from DNR’s Drill Core Database (01/2016). State Nonferrous Metall ic Mineral Leases (01/16) from the DNR’s Division of Lands and Minerals. Bedrock Geology features and descriptions from the Minnesota Geological Survey (MGS) S-21, 2011 version (1:500,000). Roads and Railroads from Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT); BWCAW and Cities from the DNR; Lakes shown are greater than 200 acres and were taken from the DNR.

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