Jeffrey Mine Research Articles

Characterization of Microbial Communities Hosted in Quartzofeldspathic and Serpentinite Lithologies in Jeffrey Mine, Canada.

The microbial ecology and activity of serpentine deposits and associated hydrated minerals are largely unknown. Previous research has largely focused on microbial communities in active serpentinizing systems, whereas relatively little research has demonstrated the ability of serpentine deposits to host microbial communities after the cessation of serpentinization. Given the potential role of serpentinization reactions fueling primitive microbial metabolisms on early Earth and the identification of serpentine deposits on Mars, knowledge of these geobiological relationships and potential for serpentine to host extant microbial communities and preserve biosignatures is increasingly important for planetary exploration seeking signs of life. The selection of habitable sites most likely to yield putative biosignatures is crucial to mission success. In this study, we aimed to characterize, on the basis of both metabolic activity and taxonomic composition, the microbial communities hosted in two naturally co-occurring and mineralogically distinct substrates within the serpentine-rich Jeffrey Mine pit-igneous quartzofeldspathic intrusives and serpentinite. Detection of heterotrophic activity in both lithologies at 24°C, and in serpentinite at -5°C, demonstrated that each substrate had the ability to host a viable microbial community, at Mars-relevant temperatures. Targeted amplicon sequencing subsequently showed the presence of bacterial, fungal, and photosynthetic microbial communities in both substrates. Here, we have demonstrated the presence of a viable lithic microbial community within two rock types in the Jeffrey Mine and provided evidence that lithologies associated with serpentine deposits and proximal hydrated minerals have the ability to support diverse prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbial colonization.

The absorption- and luminescence spectra of Mn3+ in beryl and vesuvianite

The electron absorption-, photoluminescence- and electron paramagnetic-resonance spectra of Mn3+ in red beryl from Wah Wah Mountains (Utah USA) and of pink- and purple vesuvianite from Jeffrey Mine (Asbestos, Canada) were measured at room- and low temperatures. The crystal field stabilization energies are equal to 130.9 kJ/mol for the red beryl, and 151.5–158.0 and 168.0 kJ/mol for for the pink- and the purple vesuvianite, respectively. The red photoluminescence of Mn3+ was not intensive either at room- or at low temperatures. The high Mn content in the crystals caused the emergence of an additional emission band and short photoluminescence-decay lifetimes. The latter are only 183 μs for beryl and 17 μs for vesuvianite.

Alumovesuvianite, Ca19Al(Al,Mg)12Si18O69(OH)9, a new vesuvianite-group member from the Jeffrey mine, asbestos, Estrie region, Québec, Canada

Alumovesuvianite (IMA 2016–014), ideally Ca19Al(Al,Mg)12Si18O69(OH)9, is a new vesuvianite-group member found in the rodingite zone at the contact of a gabbroid rock with host serpentinite in the abandoned Jeffrey mine, Asbestos, Estrie Region, Quebec, Canada. It occurs as prismatic tetragonal crystals up to 4 × 4 × 6 mm3 in size encrusting walls of cavities in a granular diopside. Associated minerals are diopside, grossular and prehnite. Single crystals of alumovesuvianite are transparent colorless or light pink with a vitreous lustre. The dominant crystal forms are {100}, {110}, {210}, {111}, {101} and {001}. The Mohs hardness is 6.5. The specific gravitiy is D meas = 3.31(1) g/cm3 and D calc = 3.36 g/cm3, respectively. The mineral is optically uniaxial (−), ω = 1.725(2), e = 1.722(2). The chemical composition, determined by SEM–WDS (wavelength-dispersive spectroscopy on a scanning electron microscope; all oxides except H2O) and TG (thermogravimety; H2O) analysis, is: SiO2 37.1 wt%, Al2O3 18.8 wt%, CaO 36.6 wt%, MgO 2.48 wt%, Mn2O3 0.67 wt%, Fe2O3 0.22 wt%, H2O 2.61 wt%, total 98.5 wt%. The empirical formula based on 19 Ca atoms per formula unit and taking into account the MAS–NMR (magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance) data, is: Ca19.00(Al0.92Fe3+ 0.08)Σ1.00(Al9.83Mg1.80Mn3+ 0.25)Σ11.88Si17.98O69.16(OH)8.44. The most intense IR absorption bands lie in the ranges 412–609, 897–1024, and 3051–3671 cm−1. The eight strongest lines of the powder X-ray diffraction pattern are (I–d(A)–hkl): 22–2.96–004, 100–2.761–432, 61–2.612–224, 25–2.593–600, 20–1.7658–831, 20–1.6672–734, 21–1.6247–912, and 22–1.3443–880. Alumovesuvianite is tetragonal, space group P4/n, unit-cell parameters refined from the powder data are a = 15.5603(5) A, c = 11.8467(4) A, V = 2868.3(4) A3, Z = 2. The crystal structure has been refined to R 1 = 0.036 for 3098 unique observed reflections with |F o| ≥ 4σ F . The structure refinement provides the bond length of 1.916 A and the scattering factor for the Y1 site of 16 e − , which is in good agreement with the total occupancy of this site as (Al0.73Mn3+ 0.20Fe3+ 0.07)Σ1.00 and is confirmed by the 27Al MAS NMR data. Alumovesuvianite is a new member of the vesuvianite group with Al3+ as a dominant cation in the Y1 site. The name alumovesuvianite is given to highlight the species-defining role of Al.

Mars methane analogue mission: Mission simulation and rover operations at Jeffrey Mine and Norbestos Mine Quebec, Canada

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA), through its Analogue Missions program, supported a microrover-based analogue mission designed to simulate a Mars rover mission geared toward identifying and characterizing methane emissions on Mars. The analogue mission included two, progressively more complex, deployments in open-pit asbestos mines where methane can be generated from the weathering of olivine into serpentine: the Jeffrey mine deployment (June 2011) and the Norbestos mine deployment (June 2012). At the Jeffrey Mine, testing was conducted over 4days using a modified off-the-shelf Pioneer rover and scientific instruments including Raman spectrometer, Picarro methane detector, hyperspectral point spectrometer and electromagnetic induction sounder for testing rock and gas samples. At the Norbestos Mine, we used the research Kapvik microrover which features enhanced autonomous navigation capabilities and a wider array of scientific instruments. This paper describes the rover operations in terms of planning, deployment, communication and equipment setup, rover path parameters and instrument performance. Overall, the deployments suggest that a search strategy of “follow the methane” is not practical given the mechanisms of methane dispersion. Rather, identification of features related to methane sources based on image tone/color and texture from panoramic imagery is more profitable.

Small‐scale methane dispersion modelling for possible plume sources on the surface of Mars

Intense interest in the characteristics of a methane source on Mars has been spurred by recent observations of a plume structure. The current NASA Mars Science Laboratory and future landers and orbiters will be tasked with understanding the sources of methane. The Canadian Space Agency's Mars Methane Analogue Mission, involving a simulated Mars micro‐rover field campaign, was recently able to detect and measure the isotopic composition of methane seeping from boreholes in a serpentine mine in Québec. We aim to determine spatial limits for detecting such a point source above the terrestrial background concentration of methane using gradient transport models. We estimate the source strength to be on the order of 5.3 ×−10 kg s−1and find that this produces detectable enhancements at distances less than 11.6 m from the source if there is no wind. These same models are applied to the Mars surface environment to determine whether an instrument on a rover would be capable of detecting a methane point source when not directly downwind of it. The estimated source strengths on Mars are much greater than at Jeffrey Mine and we find that these would be detectable at distances less than 30 m from the plume axis, which lies along the direction of advective transport. Much of the work done on modelling the Martian atmosphere uses large‐scale general circulation models and this work examines the behaviour of methane plumes at very local scales.

NISNITE, Ni3Sn, A NEW NICKEL MINERAL SPECIES FROM THE JEFFREY MINE, ASBESTOS, QUEBEC

Nisnite, ideally Ni 3 Sn, was found during a re-examination of heazlewoodite crystals in rodingite samples from the Jeffrey mine, Asbestos, Quebec. It occurs as bronze-colored metallic, striated, blocky and square to rectangular tabular crystals of up to 100 μm in length, with groupings of ≤1 mm growing on heazlewoodite. Crystal groupings exhibit a boxwork-like habit. Reflectance measurements in air gave 43.2 (470 nm), 49.1 (546 nm), 53.2 (589 nm), and 59.0% (650 nm). Minerals closely associated with nisnite are chromite, diopside, grossular, heazlewoodite and shandite. The mineral is cubic, P 4/ m 32/ m , with unit-cell parameter refined using powder-diffraction data: a 3.7349(6) A, V 52.10(3) A 3 , Z = 1, D calc = 9.41 g/cm 3 . The average results of five and three electron-microprobe analyses on separate crystals gave Ni 57.88, Sn 40.17, sum 98.05 wt.% and Ni 59.24, Sn 41.00, sum 100.24 wt.%, corresponding to Ni 2.98 Sn 1.02 on the basis of 4 apfu . The structure has been refined to an R index of 0.008% on the basis of 30 unique reflections. The structure of nisnite contains 12-coordinated Sn atoms (12 Ni) and 12-coordinated Ni atoms (8 Ni and 4 Sn). Among the three synthetic Ni 3 Sn phases known, nisnite corresponds to the ccp structure that has been synthesized at high pressure and high temperature.

Single-crystal EPR and ENDOR study of an AlO center in prehnite: implications for aluminum-associated oxyradicals in layer silicates

Single-crystal electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of gamma-ray-irradiated prehnite (Jeffrey mine, Quebec, Canada) measured at 298 and 160 K reveal an aluminum-associated oxygen hole center (Al—O − ). Spin Hamiltonian parameters g and A ( 27 Al) fitted from the 298 K spectra suggest that this Al—O − center represents hole trapping on an apical hydroxyl oxygen atom (after removal of the proton) coordinated to an octahedral Al 3+ ion ( i.e. , an [ • OAlO 4 (OH)] center from the [(OH)AlO 4 (OH)] precursor, where • denotes the unpaired spin). Pulsed electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) spectra measured at 25 K allow the identification and quantitative analysis of two sets of 27 Al hyperfine structures and five proton hyperfine structures, which are all consistent with the proposed structural model. Isothermal and isochronal annealing experiments show that this center is bleached out completely at 375 °C, but can be readily restored by gamma-ray irradiation, and exhibits second-order decay kinetics. These results from the Al—O − center in prehnite provide support for and new insights into Clozel et al . (1995)’s VI Al—O − — VI Al model for B-centers in kaolinite.

6584 A phase III study of CapeOx +/− lapatinib in HER2 positive locally-advanced/metastatic upper gastrointestinal adenocarcinoma: interim safety results

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA), through its Analogue Missions program, supported a microrover-based analogue mission designed to simulate a Mars rover mission geared toward identifying and characterizing methane emissions on Mars. The analogue mission included two, progressively more complex, deployments in open-pit asbestos mines where methane can be generated from the weathering of olivine into serpentine: the Jeffrey mine deployment (June 2011) and the Norbestos mine deployment (June 2012). At the Jeffrey Mine, testing was conducted over 4 days using a modified off-the-shelf Pioneer rover and scientific instruments including Raman spectrometer, Picarro methane detector, hyperspectral point spectrometer and electromagnetic induction sounder for testing rock and gas samples. At the Norbestos Mine, we used the research Kapvik microrover which features enhanced autonomous navigation capabilities and a wider array of scientific instruments. This paper describes the rover operations in terms of planning, deployment, communication and equipment setup, rover path parameters and instrument performance. Overall, the deployments suggest that a search strategy of “follow the methane” is not practical given the mechanisms of methane dispersion. Rather, identification of features related to methane sources based on image tone/color and texture from panoramic imagery is more profitable.

SINGLE-CRYSTAL EPR STUDY OF Fe3+ AND VO2+ IN PREHNITE FROM THE JEFFREY MINE, ASBESTOS, QUEBEC

Prehnite from the Jeffrey mine, in Asbestos, Quebec, has been investigated by optical microscopy, electron-microprobe analysis, single-crystal X-ray-diffraction (XRD) analysis, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Electron-microprobe analyses yield an average iron content of 0.053(34) wt% Fe 2 O 3 ; single-crystal XRD intensity datasets confirm the space group P 2 cm . Single-crystal EPR spectra measured from 290 to 13 K reveal at least six paramagnetic defects: three Fe 3+ centers, a VO 2+ radical, a Mn 2+ center, and an Al-associated O − center. Spin-Hamiltonian parameters of the VO 2+ radical show that it resides at an octahedral site and most likely originated from a V 3+ O 4 (OH) 2 octahedron by removal of a proton and trapping of a hole to form a covalent V=O bond during natural radiation. Spin-Hamiltonian parameters, including the high-spin terms of type S 4 , BS 3 and BS 5 , for the dominant Fe 3+ center also show it to reside at an octahedral site. Two less abundant Fe 3+ centers have similar orientations in effective principal axes of g, indicative of occupancies at the octahedral site as well. Their differences in effective principal values of g may be attributed to different degrees of local distortion of the octahedral site. A previous interpretation of the powder EPR spectra for two Fe 3+ sites in prehnite has been shown to be incorrect. Spin-Hamiltonian parameters for Fe 3+ in prehnite have wide implications for interpretation of EPR spectra of Fe 3+ in layer silicates.

Coalinga Chrysotile - The Case of the Missing “Asbestos Study”: Corporate Connivance or Plaintiff Ploy?

Significant results from one of the largest asbestos inhalation studies ever done were never published. Over the last 10 years, some of these have been found and reported in a series of papers in this journal. The “missing” data from the study were largely concerned with the potential chronic effects of short fibre chrysotile but also dealt with the alleged ability of a single, high dose exposure to long fibre chrysotile to produce a risk of disease for life (so-called “irreversibility”). Given its ubiquity and the notion held by the US Government and Plaintiff that all forms of asbestos are equally potent in even the smallest doses, the where-withal to scientifically “exonerate” short fibre chrysotile as a human health hazard would have very major regulatory, socio-economic and legal implications. The US Government was aware that the issues of fibre length and irreversibility had to be scientifically resolved and so funded the study. California Coalinga chrysotile was used as the “standard” short fibre material for the chronic inhalation assay: initially a 12-month exposure to fibre and then lifetime follow up. The “irreversibility” question was tested with a long fibre chrysotile from the Canadian Jeffrey mine: an initial high dose 1-hour to 1-day exposure and then 2-year follow-up. This report summarises how some of these missing data were found and discusses their relevance.

Coalinga Fibre – A Short, Amphibole-Free Chrysotile

Controversy continues to surround the biological activity of short fibre chrysotile largely due to a lack of ‘pure exposure’ situations available for study: most human exposures are confounded by concomitant long fibre and/or amphibole exposure. This report presents the morphological and morphometric findings of a lifetime inhalation study of F344 rats exposed to three types of chrysotile. Fibres from the first sample, from Coalinga, Calif., are almost all less than 5 µm in length and do not contain amphibole types of asbestos. The other two, from Quebec, Canada, are a sample from the Jeffrey mine and the UICC/B standard. These are both long fibre preparations with a minor degree of amphibole contamination. Animals exposed to these fibres displayed no tumours above control levels following exposure to Coalinga chrysotile but gave significant tumourigenic responses with both types of Canadian fibres.

Coalinga Fibre - A Short, Amphibole-Free Chrysotile

Controversy continues to surround the biological activity of short fibre chryso tile largely due to a lack of 'pure exposure' situations available for study: most human exposures are confounded by concomitant long fibre and/or amphi bole exposure. This report presents the morphological and morphometric findings of a lifetime inhalation study of F344 rats exposed to three types of chrysotile. Fibres from the first sample, from Coalinga, Calif., are almost all less than 5 μm in length and do not contain amphibole types of asbestos. The other two, from Quebec, Canada, are a sample from the Jeffrey mine and the UICC/B standard. These are both long fibre preparations with a minor degree of amphibole contamination. Animals exposed to these fibres displayed no tumours above control levels following exposure to Coalinga chrysotile but gave significant tumourigenic responses with both types of Canadian fibres.

Monitoring behavior of grouted anchors using vibrating-wire gauges : B. Benmokrane, M. Chekired & Haixue Xu, Journal of Geotechnical Engineering - ASCE, 121(6), 1995, pp 466–475

Long-term monitoring of the behavior of ground anchors constitutes an important aspect of the stability of structures reinforced by such structural members. The present paper d.escribes full-scale tes.ts performed on three instrumented grouted anchors in the laboratory and one other mstrument~d a~chor.In the field. Due to the long-term reliability, stability, and accuracy, two types of surface-mounted vlbratmg wire gauges were used to instrument the anchors. A series of vibrating-wire gauges were microwelded on. the anchors at certain intervals along their lengths. The performance of these gauges, the load transfer mechanism, the debonding process, creep behavior, and long-term performance of the anchors under loading, unloading, and sustained loading, were investigated in the laboratory. A practical application and test results of an instrumented anchor at Jeffrey Mine in Asbestos, Canada, are described. The results obtained show that this instrumentation technique of grouted anchors is efficient for long-term monitoring.

Monitoring Behavior of Grouted Anchors Using Vibrating-Wire Gauges

Long-term monitoring of the behavior of ground anchors constitutes an important aspect of the stability of structures reinforced by such structural members. The present paper describes full-scale tests performed on three instrumented grouted anchors in the laboratory and one other instrumented anchor in the field. Due to the long-term reliability, stability, and accuracy, two types of surface-mounted vibrating wire gauges were used to instrument the anchors. A series of vibrating-wire gauges were microwelded on the anchors at certain intervals along their lengths. The performance of these gauges, the load transfer mechanism, the debonding process, creep behavior, and long-term performance of the anchors under loading, unloading, and sustained loading, were investigated in the laboratory. A practical application and test results of an instrumented anchor at Jeffrey Mine in Asbestos, Canada, are described. The results obtained show that this instrumentation technique of grouted anchors is efficient for long...

Water control at Jeffrey Mine : Coulombe, G B Proc International Conference of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Planning and Operation of Open-pit and Strip Mines, Pretoria, 9–13 April 1984P293–298. Publ Johannesburg: South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 1986

Water control at Jeffrey Mine : Coulombe, G B Proc International Conference of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Planning and Operation of Open-pit and Strip Mines, Pretoria, 9–13 April 1984P293–298. Publ Johannesburg: South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 1986

Characterization of three types of chrysotile asbestos after aerosolization

Jeffrey Mine and Coalinga Mine chrysotile, two asbestos samples prepared for experimental research by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and the UICC B chrysotile reference sample have been characterized in the aerosolized state using gravimetric measurements, light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and x-ray energy spectrometry. These methods revealed (1) a greater “respirable” mass fraction in the Jeffrey and UICC B preparations compared to the Coalinga sample, (2) for fibers greater than 5 μm in length and less than 3 μm in diameter, Jeffrey Mine chrysotile contained a significantly greater fraction of fibers longer than 40 μm in length compared to the UICC B or Coalinga Mine chrysotiles, and (3) Jeffrey and UICC B chrysotile contained no fibers or fiber clusters which exceeded 2 μm in diameter while Coalinga chrysotile contained numerous fibers and fiber clusters which were greater than 2 μm in diameter. The characterization of these chrysotile preparations in the aerosolized state, in particular the Coalinga Mine chrysotile, demonstrated different fiber length and fiber width distributions when compared with previous characterizations of samples that had been dispersed in a liquid medium by ultrasonification. These observations emphasize the importance of determining the size distribution of fibers in the aerosolized state for inhalation studies and the size distribution of fibers in a liquid suspension for oral ingestion, instillation, or injection studies. Because of differences in length-width distributions, each of the studied chrysotile preparations would be expected to have different patterns of deposition in the alveolar regions of the lung after an inhalation exposure.

Grossular Garnet from the Jeffrey Mine, Asbestos, Quebec, Canada

Grossular Garnet from the Jeffrey Mine, Asbestos, Quebec, Canada

The Jeffrey Mine: In Asbestos, Quebec, Canada

(1980). The Jeffrey Mine: In Asbestos, Quebec, Canada. Rocks & Minerals: Vol. 55, No. 5, pp. 188-191.

Performance of Dust Respirators Against A Fibrous Dust

A reproducible, easily dispersed, resipirable-size fibrous dust was prepared by micropulverizing and air-jet milling a Canadian chrysotile asbestos from the Johns-Manville Jeffrey mine. Three Bureau of Mines approved and five nonapproved respirators were evaluated against this dust, using standard Bureau of Mines techniques. With one exception, all had fiber breakthrough below 1%.

Encroachment of the Jeffrey Mine on the Town of Asbestos, Quebec

trated in a narrow belt of serpentinized intrusive rocks in southern Quebec. The Serpentine Belt stretches northeastward from the Vermont border in an arc parallel to the structural trend of the Appalachian system, of which it is a part; it bisects the region of early British and Loyalist, and later French, colonization called the Eastern Townships. Asbestos mining, since its inception in 1877, has been concentrated in the central part of the belt, between the transverse valleys of the St. Francis and Chaudiere Rivers. In this eighty-mile section there are today ten active mining companies, employing a total of about 6200 workers, and three sizeable mining townsBlack Lake (population, 4180), Thetford Mines (21,618), and Asbestos (11,083). In Thetford Mines and Asbestos, which unfortunately were sited over ore bodies, mining has come into direct conflict with urban land use. The expansion of open-pit mines has brought about striking changes in the appearance and structure of these communities, changes accelerated in recent years by improvements in mining methods and increased production. The encroachment of the Jeffrey Mine on the town of Asbestos represents a basic conflict in land use, one in which mining has proved dominant over urban needs in the competition for space. The situation may be explained by the incomplete knowledge of the extent of the ore body in the formative years of town growth,' by the increasing utilization of short-fiber ore not economically exploitable in the early days, and by the absence of a strong municipal planning authority capable of making long-term plans based on the trends and future requirements of the mining industry. In other parts of the world where mining operations are carried on in built-up areas, settlement has often been inconvenienced. For example, surface subsidence over underground workings has created problems in the coal' This situation is averted in modern mining developments where elaborate programs of exploratory drilling are carried out. For example, in 1954, when it was discovered that the proposed site of Schefferville, Quebec, was located on top of ten million tons of high-grade iron ore, there was time to reconsider the matter. But Asbestos was committed to its location by the time the pattern of ore distribution became clear.