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BRITISH COIAJMBIA DEPARTMENT OF MINES
Hon. W. J. ASSELSTINE, Minister
JOHN F. WALKER, Deputy Minister
BULLETIN No. 8
__
Preliminary Report
on
BEDWELL RIVER AREA
Vancouver Island
British Columbia
H. SARGENT
1940
VICTORIA. B.C.:
Photmffset by CHARLEESF. BANFIELD,Printer to the Kins’s Most Excellent Majesty.
1940.
By courtesy of Department of Lands.
Taylor left of center.
By courtesy of Department of Lands.
By courtesy of Department of Lands.
(3) Bedwell Valley from Cotter Mountain
- Big Interior Mountain inoenter.
By courtesy of Department of Lands.
(4) Big Interior Mountain viewed from
south-west.
CONTENTS.
BEDWELL RIVER AREA
INTRODOCTION.
Location
TheBedwell R i v e r r i s e s i n t h e s o u t h - w e s t e r n p a r t of
StrathconaPark, andemptiesintothehead
o f Bedvrell Sound
on t h ew e s tc o a s t
of Vancouver I s l a n d . The name "Bear River"
was f r e q u e n t l y u s e d i n o l d r e p o r t s
and i s s t i l l 5.n common u s e .
The head of Bedwell Sound i s about 1 6 m i l e s n o r t h of Tofino
andClayoquotwhich
a r e p o r t s of c a l l a b o u t 35 m i 1 . e ~ n o r t h of
t h ee n t r a n c et oB a r k l e y
Sound. Most o f t h e a r e a t r i b u t a r y t o
t h e r i v e r i s i n t h e ClayoquotMining
D i v i s i o n .b u tt h ee a s tern part lies within the Alberni
Mining Division.
History
Reports o f t h e M i n i s t e r of Mines, B r i t i s h Columbia, for
1898 and 1899, c o n t a i n b r i e f r e f e r e n c e s t o p l a c e r - . m i n i n g i n
t h e ' s i x t i e s and t o Chinese placer-miners abandoning the area
i n thelate'eighties,butgive
no information abcsut t h e ext e n t o f t h e o p e r a t i o n s and t h e q u a n t i t y o f gold recovered.
The Annual Reports for 1898 :and f o l l o w i n g y e a r s r e f e r t o d e velopmentwork on gold-bearing veins and copper-bearing r,eplacementdeposits.Underground
workwas done on s e v e r a l
The
claims
forming
t
h e S e a t t l e group w e r e r e properties.
1899, and were brought t o
c o r d e di nt h e
and
y e a r s 1896,1897
Crown-grant i n 1907. The Amex. and B e l v i d e r ec l a i m sw e r er e a f t e r beingCrown-granted
i n 1911,
corded in 1898and1903;
they were allowed
t o lapse but were again Crown-granted in
1929. Among o t h e re a r l yl o c a t i o n s
on t h e lowerBedwell
RivGalena has been re-located underthe same name, t h e
e r ,t h e
present
group includesground covered by t h e ,Castle
group f o r t y y e a r s ago,and
t h ep r e s e n tP r o s p e rg r o u p
i s bel i e v e d t o i n c l u d e ground known i n 1903 as t h e Pakehamineral
claim.
The d i s c o v e r y o f copper-bearing mineralization on Big
I n t e r i o r Mountain, on the divide between the Bedwell River
and DrinkwaterCreek(whichflowsintoGreatCentralLake),
was mentioned i n t h e Annual Report Minister of Mines, B r i t i s h
Columbia, f o r 1903,but a l a t e r r e p o r t i n d i c a t e s t % a t t h e
Big I n t e r i o rg r o u p was l o c a t e di n 1899.Althoughsituated
a t a h i g he l e v a t i o ni nr u g g e dc o u n t r y ,a b o u t
1.2 m i l e s from
t i d e w a t e r and p a r t l y c o v e r e d b y
a g l a c i e r ,t h i so c , - u r r e n c e
was c o n s i d e r e d t o h a v e a t t r a c t i v e
p o s s i b i l i t i e s o f developing
Ptarmigan Mine.5 L t d . , a
intoanimportantcopperprod.ucer.
- 1 -
company w i t h h e a d o f f i c e i n
London, England,acquiredthe
claimsBig
I Nos. 5 and 6 and G r e a tC e n t r a l Nos. 5 and 6 ,
known a s t h e P t a r m i g a n g r o u p , . l y i n g n o r t h - w e s t
o f t h e four
claims of t h e B i gI n t e r i o rg r o u p .
I t was proposed t o cons t r u c t a road f o r a b o u t 1 3 m i l e s f r o m t i d e w a t e r t o
a uoint
whichwas t o be connected, by a n a e r i a l tramway, w i t h worki n g sn e a rt h e
summit of t h e mountain.Road-constructionhad
progressed t o a p o i n t a b o u t 7 milesfromtidewater,andequipment f o r t h e tramwaywas on t h e ground a t t h e head of the
Sound when operations were suspended .on t h e o u t b r e a k of t h e
war i n 1914. The Annual R e p o r t ,M i n i s t e r
of Mines, B r i t i s h
Columbia, 1 9 1 6 , r e f e r s t o a d i a m o n d - d r i l l i n g program on t h e
Big I n t e r i o r group.
Since
that time there has
been no r e The e i g h t Crown-granted
p o r t e da c t i v i t y a t e i t h e rp r o p e r t y .
c l a i m sf o r m i n gt h e
two g r o u p s a r e s t i l l i n good s t a n d i n g .
The o l d r e p o r t s , w h i l e r e f e r r i n g t o l a r g e e x p o s u r e s
of lowg r a d ec o p p e r - b e a r i n gm a t e r i a l
and t o s m a l l e r o c c u r r e n c e s o f
h i g h e r g r a d e , do n o t i n d i c a t e t h a t d e v e l o p m e n t
and t e s t i n g had
gone f a r enough t o make dependable estimates of tonnage and
gradepossible.
-
The c l a i m s of t h e You group, covering a v e i n on t h e southw e s t e r n s l o p e s of Big I n t e r i o r Mountain,were r e c o r d e d i n 1912.
Annual
The p r o p e r t y i s mentioned f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e i n t h e
ReportMinister
o f Mines, B r i t i s h Columbia, f o r 1913.Subsequent reports record development
work a t t h e p r o p e r t y and t h e
c o n s t r u c t i o n of a small mill. There was a c t i v i t y p e r i o d i c a l l y
a t t h i s p r o p e r t y from 1 9 1 2 u n t i l a b o u t 1933 o r 1934 d u r i n g
which time there
was b u t l i t t l e a c t i v i t y e l s e w h e r e
in t h e a r e a .
The
group,connected
by t r a i lw i t ht h er o a d
and t r a i l designed t o s e r v e t h e P t a r m i g a n g r o u p ,
was reached also by
trail
fromGreatCentral
Lake viaDrinkwaterCreek,DellaLake,Bear
Pass, and You Creek.
Although scme claims were recorded f r o m t i m e t o t i m e
t h e r e was but l i t t l e i n t e r e s t i n t h e BedwellRiverarea
for
some yearspreceding1938.
In t h a ty e a rp r o s p e c t o r sv i s i t i n g
theareadiscoveredgold-bearingveins,north-west
of t h e
r i v e r , onNoble
(Clarke)Creek.This
was followedby a d i s covery,south
of t h er i v e r , on Sam CraigCreek.Otherdiscoveries were made in t h e autumn o f t h e same y e a r . A 70 p e r c e n t .
i n t e r e s t i n t h e g u s k e t e e r andShamrock groups, on Sam Craig
Creek, was optioned t o Pioneer Gold Mines of B. C., Ltd.,and
Anglo-Huronian L t d . Undergroundwork was s t a r t e d on t h i s
p r o p e r t y anddevelopmenthasbeencarriedoncontinuously
s i n c e 1938. I n 1939prospecting was c a r r i e do u ta c t i v e l yi n
t h e a r e a and f u r t h e rd i s c o v e r i e sw e r e
made. S u b s t a n t i a l development was undertaken on t h e Musketeer-Shamrock,Buccaneer
and
By t h e end o f t h ey e a ra b o u t5 5 0c l a i m s
had been
e.
- 2 -
recordedcoveringdiscoveriesas
far i n l a n d a s t h e n o r t h w e s t e r ns l o p e s o f B i g I n t e r i o r Mountain, t h e head of You
Creek,andupperUrsus
Creek:.
The s u r f a c e showings and t h e i n i t i a l developmentwork
i n d i c a t e d v e i n s , o f which the widths were usually measured in
i n c h e s ,c o n t a i n i n gs e c t i o n sw h i c hc a r r ya t t r a c t i v e
if not
s p e c t a c u l a rv a l u e si ng o l d .P r a c t i c a l l y
a l l r e c e n ti n t e r e s t
hasbeendirectedtowardgold-bearingveins.
Some o f t h e r e cent stakings cover ground which had been staked previously
and allowed t o l a p s e , and on some of t h e s ep r o p e r t i e sf o r m e r
o p e r a t o r s had done underground work without developing substantialbodies o f ore.
-
F i e l d Work and Acknowledgments
The w r i t e r s p e n t from July28th t o September 15th,1939,
inthearea,assisted
by E. P. Williams and L o E. Rowebottom,
A
mapping t h eg e o l o g y of t h e a r e a andexaminingprofpects.
base camp s i t u a t e d a b o u t t h r e e m i l e s
f r o m t h e head. of Bedwell
Sound was used for a b o u th a l ft h es e a s o n .
For about twoweeks
thepartystayed
a t t h e camp of Musketeer Mines, I,imited, on
Sam CraigCreek.Duringtheremainder
of t h ep e r i o ds h o r t
v i s i t s werepaid t o t h e u p p e r BedwellRiverwheretheCasino
and yoU groupswereexamined,
and t o upper Ursus Creekwhere
theThunderbirdandTrophygroupswereexamined.
The c u r r e n t
a c t i v i t y had i t s beginning s o r e c e n t l y t h a t p r o s p e c t i n g
and
developmentwere s t i l l i n t h e i r e a r l y s t a g e s ,
and t r a i l s and
l i v i n g accommodationwere q u i t e l i m i t e d . P r o s p e c t o r s ,
and
operatingcompaniesweregenerous
i n supplying information
and a s s i s t a n c e . The w r i t e r i s p a r t i c u l a r l y g r a t e f u l t o J. I N .
Rarvey and Carl Xoel, whose c a b i n andcooking f a c i l i t i e s were
usedwhiletheparty
was camped at 3-Mile and t o P. A. Joubin,
Manager of Musketeer'Mines,through
whose k i n d n e s s t h e p a r t y
was accommodated a t - t h e mine camp. The w r i t e r i s a l s o indebted t o C . N. Sharp,MiningRecorder
a t Tofino, who k i n d l y
suppliedinformationconcerningtherecording
andownership
of claims.
General Character
-
of t h e Area
In t h e lower 11 m i l e s of i t s c o u r s e t h e BedwellRiver
hasanaveragegradient
of a b o u t 80 f e e t p e r m i l e , t h e v a l l e y
i s of f a i r w i d t h though i n s e v e r a l s e c t i o n s t h e r i - v e r f l o w s
throughrock-canyons.
The s i d e s of t h e main v a l l e y a r e s t e e p
and many of t h e t r i b u t a r y s t r e a m s occupy hanging-valleys.
Ursus Creek, t h e l a r g e s t t r i b u t a r y , h a s a n e a s y g r a d i e n t f r o m
t h e Forks t o t h e mouth. Many o f t h e t r i b u t a r y c r e e k s r i s e i n
deepcirquesandflowthrough.steep-walledcanyons.
The sum- 3 -
m i t ofBig I n t e r i o r N o u n t a i n h a s a n e l e v a t i o n o f 6 , 1 0 7
feet,
t h e bottom o f t h e BedwellValley, a l i t t l e more t h a n two m i l e s
of 1 , 2 0 0 f e e t , t h e a v e r a g e s l o p e
tothewest,hasanelevation
i s t h u s more t h a n2 , 0 0 0f e e tp e rm i l e .
Such s l o p e s a r e cormnon
A number
and l o c a l l y t h e r e a r e
numerous p r e c i p i t o u ss e c t i o n s .
o ft h em o u n t a i n s
of volcanicrockshavejaggedpeaks,and
many
ofthemountains
and r i d g e s o f granitic rocks have rounded
summits. On t h eo t h e r hand, many o ft h es t e e p e s te s c a r p m e n t s ,
on t h e t o p o f ' M o u n t Tom Tayand t h e c o n s p i c u o u s j a g g e d r i d g e
l o r , a p p e a rt ob ee n t i r e l yo fg r a n i t i cr o c k .
The a r e a h a s a
heavyannualrainfallwith
a comparativelyshortdryseason
i n t h e summer. Augustof1939
was f a v o u r a b l e f o r f i e l d work,
butwetweathersetinon
August 27th, and from then until
f i e l d workwas stoppedtherewerefewdrydays.Rainfallsubsequentlyraisedtheriverlevelsufficientlytotakeoutthe
3-Mile pack-bridge which was more t h a n 2 0 f e e t above the loww a t e rl e v e l .
From e l e v a t i o n s o f 3,000 f e e t upward t h e r e i s b u t l i t t l e
overburden o r v e g e t a t i o n . The t o p s of t h e rounded r i d g e s make
e a s y t r a v e l l i n g , and t h e r e a r e numerous s m a l l l a k e s i n s e t t i n g s
which a r e v e r y p l e a s a n t i n f i n e w e a t h e r .
Below 3 , 0 0 0f e e t
of b a r er o c k ,t h e r e
e l e v a t i o n ,e x c e p to np r e c i p i t o u ss l o p e s
i s g e n e r a l l y a heavygrowthofbrushandconifers,withdense
The lower f l a t s havestands
second-growth i n burnedsections.
of hemlock and r e d c e d a r w i t h
of t i m b e r c o n s i s t i n g p r i n c i p a l l y
i s y e l l o wc e d a r .
s0m.e balsam. lit h i g h e re l e v a t i . o n st h e r e
Shakesof r e d c e d a r h a v e i ' u r n i s h e d u s e f u l m a t e r i a l
for b u i l d i n gc a b i n s .
The heavy v e g e t a t i o n makes t r a v e l l i n g d i f f i c u l t ,
though on some of t h e s t e e p e r s l o p e s
it i s only by hangingon
it i s p o s s i b l et oc l i m bu p
o r down.The
tothebrushthat
bottomsof
t h e canyons a r e f r e q u e n t l y f i l l e d w i t h
immense
blocks of rockaround or overwhich it i s n e c e s s a r y t o c l i m b
i f t h e canyon i s followed.
Access
"
During t h e summer months t h e CanadianPacificSteamship
Co.'s s t e a m e r s m a i n t a i n a s e r v i c e e v e r y f i f t h d a y
on t h e w e s t
c o a s t ofVancouver
I s l a n d , and d u r i n g t h e r e s t o f t h e y e a r
a
The n o r t h - b o u n ds t e a m e r sc a l la t
s e r v i c e v every t e n t hd a y .
P o r t A l b e r n i ab0u.t 24 h o u r s a f t e r l e a v i n g V i c t o r i a ,
and l e a v a t n i g h t c a l l a t TofinoandClayoquotabout
ingPortAlberni
noon o f thefollowingday.South-boundthesteamersreach
PortAlberni f r o m f i v e o r s i x t o t e n h o u r s a f t e r l e a v i n g
Tof i n o andClayoquot,
and r e a c h V i c t o r i a a b o u t
a d a y a f t e r leavi n gP o r tA l b e r n i .
Buses and t r a i n s f r o m V i c t o r i a and Nanaimo
make c o n n e c t i o n s w i t h . t h e s t e a m e r s a t
P o r t Alberni.
- 4 -
CanadianAirwaysLtd.,andGingerCooteAirw,aysLtd.,
o p e r a t e a i r p l a n e s betweenVancouverandZeballos,which
will
c a l l a t Tofino when b u s i n e s s o f f e r s , and' a l s o a t t h e head o f
Bedwell Sound for a na d d i t i o n a lc h a r g e .
Thehead
of Bedwell
Sound i s about20miles
by water-routefromClayoquotand
Tof i n o .S i n c et h ec u r r e n ta c t i v i t yb e g a n ,f r e q u e n ts e r v i c eh a s
been maintained between these points
by gas-boats handling
passengers and f r e i g h t ; smal.1scows a r e a v a i l a b l e f o r handling
h e a v i e rf r e i g h t .
The landing a t t h e head of Bedwell Sound
i s on a slough,andcannotbeused
a t low t i d e .
The o l d r o a d s a n d t r a i l s w e r e i n
a state of disrepair
when t h e c u r r e n t a c t i v i t y
began. The numerous bridgeswhich
destroyed o r were
had been built i n 1913and1914hadbeen
u n s a f e , and t h e c o r d u r o y i n boggy s e c t i o n s of t h e r o a d h a d
d e t e r i o r a t e d t o t h e p o i n t where it would n o t s t a n d upunder
In 1939 a s t r i n g e r - b r i d g e for pack-horses
p a c k - h o r s et r a f f i c .
was b u i l t a t t h e 3-Mile c r o s s i n g , and a suspension-bridge was
b u i l t a t t h e second crossing, a l i t t l e l e s s t h a n 5 milesfrom
t i d e w a t e r .C o n s t r u c t i o n
of a truck-road was commenced i n t h e
autumnand t h e r o a d was f i n i s h e d t o a point approximately 2.9
milesfromthe
head of t h e Sound. S i n c e t h a t t i m e
a t r u c kh a s
been i n u s e o v e r t h e
completed p a r t of t h e r o a d .
The r o u t e
fromGreatCentral
Lake viaDrinhvaterCreek
and Llella F a l l s ,
t o t h e yoU and t o t h e Big I n t e r i o r g r o u p s , h a s b e e n u s e d
at
v a r i o u s times. This r o u t e i s now being used i n c c n n e c t i o n
w i t h a prospect near Della F a l l s , b u t beyond t h a t p o i n t h a s
beenusedvery
l i t t l e of l a t e . I t i n v o l v e s t r a v e l l i n g t o t h e
headofGreatCentral
Lake b y gas-boat,thence
by logging
r a i l r o a d f o r some m i l e s and :from t h a t p o i n t by p a c k - t r a i l t o
t h e f o o t of D e l l a F a l l s .
References
P u b l i s h e d i n f o r m a t i o n on t h e a r e a c o n s i s t s c h i e f l y
of
r e f e r e n c e s i n t h e Annual R e p o r t s , M i n i s t e r of Mines, B r i t i s h
Columbia, f r o m 1898 t o 1933,dealingwiththemineralpossib i l i t i e s of t h e area and w i t h p a r t i c u l a r p r o p e r t i e s .
In Memo i r 204, of theGeologicalSurvey,
"nada,
p u b l i s h e di n 1937,
M. F . Bancroft summarized informationconcerning some propertiesinthearea,hissourcebeingprincipallythe
Annual Rep o r t s of t h eM i n i s t e r of Mines, B r i t i s h Columbia.Thesepublic a t i o n s ,a c c o r d i n g l y ,c o n t a i n
no r e f e r e n c e t o more r e c e n t d i s I n 1928 theG,sological
c o v e r i e s of g r e a tc u r r e n ti n t e r e s t .
Surveypublished "The Vancouver Sheet" on a s c a l e of 8 m i l e s
t o t h e i n c h , which shows t h e g e o l o g y of Vancouver:Island a s
of
t h e n mapped. The follow%ng i s anincompletebibliography
r e p o r t s d e a l i n g w i t h Vancouver Island,and of some i n t e r e s t
ininterpretingthegeology
of t h e BedwellRiverarea.
- 5 -
1.
Bancroft, M. F. - Gold-bearingDepQsits gn t h e 'Nest Coast
of Vancouver I s l a n d - Geol.Surv.,
Canada, Memoir 204, 1937.
2.
Clapp,Charles
H.
3.
Clapp,Charles
H. - Geology of t h eV i c t o r i a andSaanioh
- Geol.
Map-areas,VancouverIsland
Survey,Canada,
Memoir 36,1913.
- Southern Vancouver I s l a n d - Geol.
Surv., Canada, Memo'ir 13, 1912.
4 .C l a m .C h a r l e s
H . - SookeandDuncanMao-areas.Vancouver
andLCooke,'H.C. I s l a n d - Geol. Surv., Canada., Memoir 96,
1917.
5.
Dolmage, V. -
Q u a t s i n o Sound and C e r t a i n M i n e r a l Dep o s i t s on t h e West Coast of Vancouver
Canada, Summary
I s l a n d - Geol.Surv.,
Report,1918part
B.
6.
Dolmage, V. -
Barkley Sound,Vancouver
I s l a n d - Geol.
Surv., Canada, Summary Report,1919
p a r t B.
7.
Dolmage, V.
West Coast o f Vancouver I s l a n d Between
Barkley Sound and Q u a t s i n o Sound Geol. Surv., Canada, Summary Report,
1920 p a r t A.
8.
Gunning, H. C. -
Geology and MineralDeposits of Quatsino-NimpkishArea,Vancouver
Island
- Gecl. Surv., Canada, Summary Report,
1929 p a r t X.
9.
Gunning, H . C . -
B u t t l e LakeMap-area,Vancouver
Island,
Geol.Surv.,Canada,
Summary Report,
1930 p a r t A .
10.
Gunning,
11.
H . C. -
Gunning, H . C .
-
Preliminary Report on t h e YimpkishLake
Quadrangle,VancouverIsland
- Geol.
Surv.,Canada,
Summary Report,1931
p a r t A.
ZeballosRiverArea,VancouverIsland
Geol.Surv.,
Canada, Summary Report,
1932 p a r t A-2.
- 6 -
-
12.
MacXenzie, J . D.-AlberniArea,VancouverI.sland,Geol.
Surv., Canada, Summary Report, 1 9 2 2
p a r t A.
13.
Stevenson,John
14.
Young, G .
A.
S. - Lode G.old Deposits c,f t h eZ e b a l l o s
Area, B. C . Department of Mines,1938.
T.
and Uglow,
L. - The I r o n Ores of Canada,
V o l . I, B. C: and Yukon, Geol. Surv.,
Canada, Economic Geology S e r i e s No. 3,
1926.
In t h e f o l l o w i n g p a g e s s p e c i f i c r e f e r e n c e s
t o t h e s e publications are indicated
by t h e numbers oorrespo.nding with
t h e p u b l i c a t i o n s i n t h e foregoing l i s t .
Mapping
geology
F i g u r e 1 accompanying t h i s b u l l e t i n g i v e s t h e
of t h e a r e a a s f a r a s
mapped. i n 1939and i n d i c a t e s t h e p o s i t i o n of a number of miningpr.operties.
So f a r as t h e w r i t e r
knows no map showing the geology of' t h e Bedwell R i v e r a r e a
hasbeenpublishedpreviously.Rock-exposuresinthearea,
p a r t i c u l a r l ya th i g h e re l e v a t i o n s ,a r e
good and t h e r e i s s u f f i c i e n t c o n t r a s t between t h e v o l c a n i c and g r a n i t i c r o c k s ,
whichunderliemost
of t h e a r e a , f o r t h e i r d i s t r i b u t i o n t o
be r e c o g n i z e d r e a d i l y , e v e n
from a d i s t a n c e i n most c a s e s .
In g e n e r a l t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f t h e s e t y p e s h a s b e e n r e c o g nized by e n g i n e e r s a n d k e e n p r o s p e c t o r s ,
some of whom have
p r e p a r e d t h e i r own maps.
G e o l o s i c a l mapping undertaken i n t h e Bedwell River a r e a
i n 1939 i s incompleteanddoesnot
extend a s f a r a s t h e boundary of anypreviously mapped a r e a . The south-western limit
of mapping,however,
i s n o t far from t h e mapping of t h e c o a s t
r e p r e s e n t e d on t h e VancouverSheet(GeologicalSurvey,
1928);
and t h e s o u t h e r n l i m i t of t h e B u t t l e Lake a r e a ( 9 ) l i e s a b o u t
2 m i l e s n o r t h of t h e e a s t e r n end of mapping i n t h e Bedwell
a r e a . A w r i t t e nd e s c r i p t i o n by M. i?. Bancroft (1) g i v e s i n formationconcerningtherockslyingnorth
of t h e w e s t e r n
p a r t of t h e a r e a a n d ,
combined with Gunning's Buttle
Lake
map and n o t e s , makes it p o s s i b l e t o p l a c e w i t h i n narrow l i m i t s t h e main c o n t a c t on Moyeha River, nor-th of the' Bedwell
R i v e ra r e a .
A t oo g r a p h i c a ls h e e t ,
BedwellSheet(northhalf),
Map
Xo. 92 F 5 , t o a s c a l e of 2 i n c h e s t o t h e m i l e , r e l e a s e d
by
t h e ' B r i t i s h ColumbiaDepartment of Lands i n 1939,includes a
l a r g e p a r t of t h e BedwellRiverArea.
The t o p o g r a p h y : i s i n d i c a t e d by 100-footcontours.
The s o u t h e r nb o u n d a r y , o f . t h e
map i s an i r r e g u l a r l i n e f r o m
a q u a r t e r of a m i l e t o a b o u t
a m i l e s o u t h o f t h e s o u t h e r n boundary of Strathcona Park.
r'or t h e p u r p o s e of t h e p r e s e n t p r e l i m i n a r y r e p o r t t h e g e o l o gy i s i n d i c a t e d onFig. 1 which shows t h e d ~ r a i n a g e - p a t t e r n ,
a number of p r o s p e c t s .
l o c a t i o n of t h e roadand t r a i l s andof
The p o s i t i o n s and e l e v a t i o n s of t r i a n g u l a t i o n s t a t i o n s used
by t h e t o p o g r a p h i c s u r v e y a r e shown, and t h e e l e v a t i o n s of
s u m i t s or t h e h i g h e s t c o n t o u r s of mountain peaks are also
i n d i c a t e d . The t o p o g r a p h i cf e a t u r e sw e r ec o p i e d
so far a s
p o s s i b l ef r o m Map No. 92 F/5,
South of t h e limits of t h i s
s h e e t t h e w r i t e r mapped t h e d r a i n a g e - p a t t e r n w i t h t h e a i d
of
a i r p l a n e p h o t o g r a p h s borrowedfrom the Department of Lands.
Control f o r e x t e n s i o n t o t h e s o u t h was r a t h e r l o o s e a n d
there w i l l doubtless be inaccuracies at higher elevations
arising from the fact that the scales
of t h e p h o t o g r a p h s
P
change w i t h e l e v a t i o n .L o c a t i o n s
of m i n i n gp r o p e r t i e s ,w i t h
t h e e x c e p t i o n ofCrown-grantedclaims
shown on Map No. 92 F/5
a r e by t h e w r i t e r .
GENERAL GEOLOGY.
D i s t r i b u t i o n of Rock-Type!
The p a r t s of t h e a r e a mapped i n 1939 a r e u n d e r l a i n by
v o l c a n i c r o c k s of t h e Vancouver group, some l e n s e s of r e c r y s tallized limestone associated with the
Vancouver group,and
by g r a n i t i c r o c k s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e C o a s t
Raqse I n t r u s i o n .
The l i m e s t o n e l e n s e s a r e t o o s m a l l t o
be r e p r e s e n t e d on t h e
accompanying'map(Pig.
1 ) . The writer b e l i e v e st h a te x c e p t
f o r a graniticintrusiveextendingnorth-west
f:rom t h e b a s i n
of PennyCreek the whole western part
of t h e map-area i s underl a i n by members of t h e Vancouver group, and t h a t t h e rocks of
t h e Vancouvergroup a l s o u n d e r l i e m o s t o f ' t h e s o u t h e r n p a r t
of t h e a r e a .
Granitic intrusives in the
map-area a r e r e p r e s e n t e d by
two l a r g em a s s e s ,t h es m a l l e r ,p o s s i b l y
a tongue,extends
f r o m t h e Penny Creek.Basin t o t h e unmapped a r e a t o t h e n o r t h westand w i l l b e r e f e r r e d t o a s t h e . P e n n y Creek i n t r u s i v e .
The l a r g e r mass w i l l be r e f e r r e d t o a s t h e
BedwellRiver
b a t h o l i t h . I t s w e s t e r nm a r g i nt r e n d ss o u t h e r l yt os o u t h e a s t e r l y on t h e e a s t e r n s i d e s o f M a r i n e r
and Ursus Mountains,
and t h e n t u r n s t o a more e a s t e r l y d i r e c t i o n c r o s ' s i n g 3 r s u s
Creeknear t h e f o r k s . T h i s
mas.s extends t o t h e n o r t h and i s
d o u b t l e s s c o n t i n u o u s w i t h t h e mass mapped by Gunning i n t h e
south-western p a r t of t h e 13uttle Lake Area. The south-;vest e r n p a r t of Big I n t e r i o r Mountain i s a t l e a s t p a r t l y of
h o r n b l e n d e - q u a r t z - d i o r i t e , which i s conspicuous1,y d a r k e r
t h a n t h a normal r o c k of t h e BedwellRiverbatholith,
and from
t h e d i s t a n c e m i g h t be mistaken for v o l c a n i c rock.'
The s o u t h e r n and e a s t e r n b o u n d a r i e s of t h e n a p w e r e n o t
reached i n 1939. I t seems p r o b a b l et h a t t h e g r a n i t i cr o c k s
extend t o t h e s o u t h - e a s t
beyond t h eb o u n d a r i e s of Fig. 1.
Gunning's Buttle Lake map c o u p l e d w i t h t h e f a c t t h a t t h e
l i m e s t o n e i s known t o outcrop on t h e summit of B i g ' l n t e r i o r
Mountainsuggeststhatthenorth-easternpart
o f t h e a r e a on
F i g . 1 i s occupiedbynon-graniticrocks.
The BedwellRiver
batholith thus has
a width o f more t h a n s i x mile:; i n t h i s a r e a .
Gunning s a y s t h a t i n t h e s o u t h e r n p a r t
of t h e B u t t l e Lake a r e a
it i s a t l e a s t t e n m i l e s w i d e . I n s u f f i c i e n t
work: was done i n
t h e e a s t e r n p a r t of t h e Be&rell River area t o det.ermine whether o r n o t t h e r e a r e same r o o f - p e n d a n t s w i t h i n t h e a r e a o c c u pied by t h e b a t h o l i t h , b u t
,some e v i d e n c e o b t a i n e d i n t h e f i e l d
pointstotheexistence
change i n t h e c h a r a c t e r
of one o r more roof-pendants or t o a
of t h e i n t r u s i v e . .
Vancouver Group
The r o c k s of t h i s s e r i e s w e r e n o t s t u d i e d
i n d e t a i l by
t h ew r i t e r .
They havebeendescribed
i n c o n s i d e r a b l ed e t a i l
i n t h e i r o c c u r r e n c e i n s o u t h e r n Vancouver I s l a n d by Clapp
( 2 , 3 and 4 ) , and i n l e s s d e t a i l i n t h e i r
0ccurrenc.e i n n o r t h e r n Vancouver I s l a n db y Gunning ( 8 , 9 and l l ) , andby o t h e r
w r i t e r s .T h i sg r o u pc o n s i s t s
of anassemblage of v o l c a n i c
r o c k sw i t hi n t e r b e d d e dt u f f a c e o u s ,a r g i l l a c e o u sa n dq u a r t z i t i c s e d i m e n t s and limestone, and hasbeenassigned
to the
T r i a s s i c 'and J u r a s s i c ( ? ) p e r i o d s .B a n c r o f t
(1) r e f e r r e dt o
fossil beds on the
Moyeha R i v e r ( n o r t h of BedwellWverArea)
approximately 2 0 m i l e s f r o m t h e w e s t c o a s t
of r'lores Island.
West of' t h e s e bedshedescribed,
"a g r e a t t h i c k n e s s of
amygdaloidal basalt forming high, ragged
summitson b o t h
of Mariner
s i d e s of the valley."--This would be north-west
Mountainandprobablycontinuous
w i t h t h e t h i c k s e r i e s of
volcanicrocksexposed
on Mariner and Ursus Wountains i n t h e
(1 page 11) t o
BedwellRiverarea.Bancroftalsorefers
limestone beds outcropping a t t h e head o f Cotter Creek,
whichwouldbe
west of t r i a n g u l a t i o n s t a t i o n " C o t t e r 3" near
of Fig. 1 accompanying t h i s b u l l e t i n .
the western boundary
of limestone on
Dolmage ( 7 page 1 5 A ) . r e f e r s t o t h i n b e d s
Bedwell Sound and H e r b e r t Arm.
--
The v o l c a n i c r o c k s , o b s e r v e d
by t h e w r i t e r i n t h e
Bedw e l lR i v e ra r e a ,c o n s i s tc h i e f l y
of r a t h e r f i n e - g r a i n e d
amyga n d e s i t e s , and black or d a r k - g r e e nb a s a l t si n c l u d i n g
daloidal varieties with light-green
amygdules s t a n d i n g o u t o n
of v o l c a n i c b r e c c i a wasfound
t h ew e a t h e r e ds u r f a c e s .F l o a t
i n theBedwellRiver,butthisrock
was n o t o b s e r v e d i n p l a c e .
With t h e v o l c a n i c s a r e i n c l u d e d a n d e s i t i c
and b a s a l t i c d y k e s ,
resembling the normal volcanics, often difficult to distinguish f r o m themand b e l i e v e d t o b e c l o s e l y a s s o c i a t e d i n o r i g i nw i t ht h ev o l c a n i c s .
Some rocksobservedonMariner
Mount a i na r ep r o b a b l yg r e a t l ya l t e r e d
t g f f s . I ng e n e r a lt h er o c k s
of t h e Vancouvergroup a r e m a s s i v e , f i n e - g r a i n e d a n d
so a l t e r e dt h a tt h es t r u c t u r e
i s obscured.Seenfrom
a distance
i n markedcont h e s e r o c k s a r e of a verydark-browncolour,
trast with the light colour
which c h a r a c t e r i z e s t h e s u r f a c e
exposures of t h eC o a s t Range i n t r u s i v e s . Near c o n t a c t sw i t h
Coast Range i n t r u s i v e s , t h e v o l c a n i c s
a r e c u t by a n d e s i t e ,
a p l i t e , d a c i t e and b a s a l td y k e s , and by some dykesbelieved
to be andesites but
now s o a l t e r e d t h a t t h e p r i m a r y m i n e r a l s
c a n n o tb ed e t e r m i n e d .T h e s ed y k e sa r eu n d o u b t e d l yr e l a t e dt o
t h el a r g e ri n t r u s i v e s .
- 10 -
LEGEND
/__..(..._)
Drift covered
Coast Range Intrusives ..
Vancouver Group--(principally.volcanicrock
with some lenses
of
limestone)
Triangulation stationswith-elevations in feet
Kighest contours with-eievations in Feet
~~
~~~~
I~~
Spot elevations in.~feet.......
~~~
Road
Trails
Geological boundaries
Fig. 1.
.
.
Bedwell River Area.
defined
-
I n t e r c a l a t e d w i t h t h e Vancouver v o l c a n i c s , i n s o u t h e r n
\ 2 ) found l e n s e s of limestone and
Vancouver Island,Clapp
marble t o whichhegave
t h e name S u t t o n s e r i e s .
:Be ljelieved
thatthelimestonelensesingeneralwereconformablewi,th
t h ev o l c a n i c s .
Gunning ( 8 , 10and11)
mapped e x t e n s i v ea r e a s
of T r i a s s i cl i m e s t o n e ,a sQ u a t s i n of o r m a t i o n ,
i n s e v e r a la r e a s
i n t h e n o r t h e r n h a l f o f ' Vancouver I s l a n d andsubdivided t h e
the limestone' a:nd t h e p a r t s
Vancouver group i n t o t h r e e p a r t s ,
i t . ' I:n t h e B u t t l e Lake are;% ( 9 ) , mapped
l y i n g belowandabove
byGunning on a s c a l e of e i g h t m i l e s t o t h e i n c h , P a l a e o z o i c
limestone was Pound underlyi.ngthe Vancouver group. Gunning
suggeststhatlimestone
&own t o o c c u r n e a r t h e
summit of Big
I n t e r i o r Mountain may be t h e c o n t i n u a t i o n of t h e P a l a e o z o i c
limestonerecognized i n t h e B u t t l e Lake a r e a .
on t h e S e a t t l e and &%, n e a r
Smalllimestonelenses
Penny Creek on t h e w e s t s i d e
of lowerBedwell B i v e r , a r e
d o u b t l e s sp r o p e r l yi n c l u d e di nt h e
Vancouver group. On t h e
___
Avon t h e l i m e s t o n e was s e e n i n c o n t a c t w i t h g r a n i t i c r o c k
On t h e S e a t t l e t h e
only,butvolcanicrocksoutcropnearby.
All
l i m e s t o n e was s e e n' i nc o n t a c tw i t hv o l c a n i cr o c k s - o n l y .
theoccurrencesarenearthe
Penny Creek i n t r u s i v e and t h e
limestone i s more o r l e s s metamorphosed. I t i s , a p p a r e n t l y ,
q u i t e p u r e andwhere l e a s t changed c o n s i s t s of wh5.te r e c r y s t a l l i z e dm a t e r i a lc o n t a i n i n gs m a l ls t r i n g e r s
o r l e n s e s of
g r e e ns i l i c a t em i n e r a l s .
Some of t h el i m e s t o n ei s ;p a r t l yr e placed by i r o n , copper and z i n cs u l p h i d e s and m a g n e t i t e , and
by m a g n e t i t e , p y r i t e a n d
some i s almost completely replaced
c h a l c o p y r i t e . A t some p o i n t s ,e a s t
of Penny Creek:, on t h e
and magnetite.with
S e a t t l e , r o c k composed of g a r n e t , e p i d o t e ,
a minor q u a n t i t y of sulphides,probablyrepresentscompletelyf i t one.pointsuchrock
l i e s ketweenrer e p l a c e dl i m e s t o n e .
c r y s t a l l i z e dl i m e s t o n ep a r t 1 ; yr e p l a c e d
by m a g n e t i t e , p y r i t e ,
c h a l c o p y r i t e and s p h a l e r i t e on t h e one s i d e and on t h e o t h e r ,
f i n e - g r a i n e dv o l c a n i cr o c k ,
which c o n t a i n s a g r e e n f i b r o u s
m i n e r a l ,p r o b a b l ya c t i n o l i t e ,a l o n gj o i n t s .
The metamorphic
rock appears to grade into the Pine-grained volcanic
and. may
r e p l a c e it i n p a r t .
On t h e S e a t t l e g r o u p a b o u t
200 f e e t west of Penny Creek,
of l i m e s t o n e ,t h e f u l l
t h e r e i s one of t h ew i d e re x p o s u r e s
width of which i s not exposed. A l i t t l e p y r r h o t i t e r e p l a c e s
t h el i m e s t o n e a t one p o i n t . A t a p o i n to nt h ew e s t e r n
bank
of t h e c r e e k , l i m e s t o n e
i s expo8ed c o n t a i n i n g a l i t t l e magne- .
t i t ea l o n gt h es h e a r e dc o n t a c tw i t ha n d e s i t i cv o l c a n i c s .
k
three-rootaplitedykeoutcroppingnearbyinthe
c:reek a l s o
c o n t a i n s a l i t t l em a g n e t i t e .
On a s m a l lr i d g ee a s t
of Penny
Creek, a l s o on t h e S e a t t l e z r o u p , t h e r e a r e o t h e r , s x p o s u r e s
O F limestone of which t h e o b s e r v e d w i d t h s d i d n o t
(exceed 7 o r
"
-
13
-
On t hger o u pn,o r t h e r lfyr o m
t h e soec c u r r e n c e s , '
limestonehas a maximum observedwidth of 80 f e e t : F u r t h e r
t h i s bullereferences t o mineralizedlimestoneappearlaterin
t i n under "Replacement Deposits."
8 feet.
Coast Range I n t r u s i v e s
In s o u t h e r n Vancouver Island,Clapp ( 2 , . 3 and 4 ) mapped
v a r i o u s b o d i e s of i n t r u s i v e i g n e o u s r o c k w h i c h h e r e g a r d e d
as
a l l belonging t o o n eg e n e r a lp e r i o do fi n t r u s i o n .
He says -"which i s c o r r e l a t e d w i t h t h e i r r u p t i o n of t h e Upper J u r a s s i c
CoastRangebatholith"-( 3 page14).
Minor i n t r u s i v e s l a t e r
than the main batholiths were regarded
a s possibly extending
i n t o t h e Lower Cretaceous p e r i o d . The Beale d i o r i t e and
most widespread
Sagnich g r a n o d i o r i t e and q u a r t z - d i o r i t e ,t h e
t y p e s i n t h e n o r t h e r n and w e s t e r n p a r t s o f s o u t h e r n Vancouver
Island,wereregardedascloselyrelated
t o each other and
alsotothegneissicintrusivesnearthesouth
end of t h e
I s l a n d .I nN o r t h e r n
Vancouver I s l a n d Gunning (8, 9, 10 and
11.)mapped r o c k s of t h e same g e n e r a l t y p e s , as "Coast Range
I n t r u s i v e s , " and a s s i g n e d them t o t h e J u r r a s s i c and/orCret a c e o u sp e r i o d s .
The g r a n i t i ci n t r u s i v e si nt h e
Bedwell River
a r e a a r e d o u b t l e s s of t h e same ageand r e l a t e d t o t h e Coast
Bange I n t r u s i o n .
I n t h e Bedwell River area
t h e most widespread varieties
of g r a n i t i c r o c k a r e l i g h t - c o l o u r e d
'
and o f t e n w e a t h e r t o a
chalky-white.
They show c o n s i d e r a b l ed i f f e r e n c e si nt e x t u r e ,
butingeneralhavefeldspargrainsnot
more t h a n 2 o r 3
m i l l i m e t e r sa c r o s s .
The q u a r t zr a n g e sf r o ms m a l li n t e r s t i t i a l grainstophenocrystswhich
may be 7 o r 8 m i l l - i m e t e r s
is
a c r o s s . The averagerock of t h e BedwellRiverbatholith
quartz-dioritewithquartzformingfrom15percent.to
30
of
p e rc e n t .
of t h e whole. The f e l d s p a r sc o n s i s tc h i e f l y
oligoclase-andesine,theprincipalconstituent
of t h e r o c k ;
a l k a l i - f e l d s p a r , o r t h o c l a s e and m i c r o c l i n e , r a r e l y forms as
much a s o n e - t h i r d of t h e t o t a l f e l d s p a r .
The p r o p o r t i o n of
a l k a l i - f e l d s p a r i s h i g h e r i n t h e PennyCreek i n t r u s i v e t h a n
i n t h e B e d w e l lR i v e rb a t h o l i t ht ot h ee a s t .
The PennyCreek
i n t r u s i v e is r i c h e r i n o r t h o c l a s e a n d a p p r o a c h e s t h e
composit i o n o f g r a n o d i o r i t e i n which,according
to the classification used, the ratio
of a l k a l i - f e l d s p a r t o s o d a - l i m e - f e l d s p a r
i s n o tl e s st h a nt h r e et of i v e .
The f e m i cm i n e r a l sa r e
i s r e c o g n i z e di ne l o n g a t e dl a t h s
u s u a l - l ya l t e r e d ,h o r n b l e n d e
and t h e r ei s ' s o m eb i o t i t e .C h l o r i t e
i s f o u n d ,a p p a r e n t l yr e p l a c i n g b i o t i t e and hornblende, and w i t h e p i d o t e and s e r i c i t e
r e p l a c i n gf e l d s p a r .T i n yg r a i n s
of a p a t i t e a r e found u s u a l l y
a s i n c l u s i o n s in t h e q u a r t z g r a i n s , b u t i n s e c t i o n s
from some
p a r t s of t h e a r e a a p a t i t e c r y s t a l s a r e p r e s e n t a s i n c l u s i o n s
- 14
-
i nf e l d s p a r .
Normally, t h er o c kh a s
thealteredfemicminerals,butin
a r e brown w i t h i r o n o x i d e .
a p a l e - g r e e nc a s t ,d u et o
some s e c t i o n s t h e s u r f a c e s
The r o c k i s j o i n t e d and a t s e v e r a l p o i n t s i s c u t b y s h e a r s
which t o a d e g r e e a r e r e f l e c t e d i n t h e t o p o g r a p h y . ,
Wear t h e
i s u s u a l l y much a l t e r e d ; s e r i c i t e : k a o l i n , c a r s h e a r st h er o c k
bonate minerals and chlorite replace the primary minerals,
sometimes w i t h t h e a l m o s t c o m p l e t e d e s t r u c t i o n
of t h e o r i g i n a l
rock-texture;theoolour
t o o may become a d a r k e r g r e e n w i t h
theincreaseinthechlorite.
Rather fine-grained diorite
whichoutcrops at. some p o i n t s
on t h e m a r g i n may be o l d e r t h a n t h e q u a r t z - d i o r i t e
whichforms
i n t r u s i v e .T h i ns e c t i o n s
t h e mainmass o f t h e PennyCreek
f r o m two p o i n t s c o n s i s t e s s e n t i a l l y
of o l i g o c l a s e w i t h abundanthornblende and some o r t h o c l a s e . One s e c t i o nc o n t a i n e d a
l i t t l e q u a r t z and t h e o t h e r some t i t a n i t e ; b o t h
w e r ea l t e r e d ,
by a c a r b o n a t e
t h e f e l d s p a r s and t h e hornblendes being attacked
mineral.
As i n d i c a t e d e a r l i e r i n t h i s b u l l e t i n l i t t l e t i m e
was
a v a i l a b l e f o r s t u d y of t h e r o c k d i s t r i b u t i o n
in the eastern
h a l f o f t h ea r e a .I n t r u s i v er o c k ,d a r k e rt h a nt h ep r e v a i l i n g
o f You Creek, tolnrard t h e s o u t h typestothewest,occurseast
w e s t e r np a r to f
B i g I n t e r i o r Mountain.Pine-graineddiorite,
of t h e
similar to that occurring near the eastern contact
PennyCreek
i n t r u s i v e , was found i n You Creek, j u s t s o u t h of
the You group, and for some d i s t a n c e on t h e w e s t e r n s i d e of
t h ec r e e k .T h i ss u g g e s t st h ep o s s i b i l i t y
of roof-pendants
e x i s t i n g i n t h a tl o c a l i t y .E x t e n d i n ge a s t e r l y
fro:n a small
l a k e , n o r t h of t h e n o r t h f o r k of Ursus Creek, j u s t south o f
t h e p a r k Boundary, t h er o c k , from a d i s t a n c e , appe.%reddarker
t h a n t h e normal q u a r t z - d i o r i t e , and may b e r e l a t e d t o t h e
d a r k i n t r u s i v e of Big I n t e r i o r Mountain.
The d a r k i n t r u s i v e , exposed a t t h e head of You Creek and
on t h e e a s t s i d e , f o r m i n g
i n partthesouth-westernend
of
Big I n t e r i o r Mountain, i s a medium-grained g r a n i t i c r o c k conA s e c t i o ns t u d i e d
t a i n i n ga b o u t1 5p e rc e n t . o fd a r km i n e r a l s .
10 p e rc e n t .q u a r t z , ,
and roughm i c r o s c o p i c a l l yc o n t a i n sa b o u t
by s e r i o i t e . The
l y 75 p e r c e n t . o l i g o c l a s e p a r t l y r e p l a c e d
d a r km i n e r a l sa r eh o r n b l e n d e ,e p i d o t e ,c h l o r i t ea n dm a g n e t i t e .
blagn'etiteoccurs as s m a l l i s o l a t e d g r a i n s u s u a l l y
tiurrounded
by rims of c h l o r i t e .
I t a l s ' oo c c u r sw i , t he p i d o t e ,i np a r t l y a l t e r e dh o r n b l e n d eg r a i n s ,
or surrounded by a r e a s of c h l o r i t e .
To d i s t i n g u i s h it from t h e L i g h t - c o l o u r e d i n t r u s i v e t h i s r o c k
m y b ec a l l e dh o r n b l e n d e - q u a r t z - d i o r i t e .
The contactbetween
this rock and the underlying light quartz-rich quartz-diorite
-
15 -
i s r e a d i l y v i s i b l e on t h e s l o p e s of Big I n t e r i o r Mountain
above YOU Creek.Thiscontact
i s i n c l i n e ds t e e p l yt ot h e
s o u t h on t h e s i d e of the mountain and a p p e a r s t o s t r i k e a
l i t t l e e a s t of n o r t h . ' The h o r n b l e n d e - q u a r t z - d i o r i t e i s c u t b y
numerous s t e e p l y - d i p p i n g a n d e s i t e d y k e s , ~ s i m i l a r t o d y k e s
found i n t h e normalphase of t h e b a t h o l i t h w e s t of You Creek
and elsewhere.
The margins of t h e Bedwell River batholith
and t h e Penny
Creekintrusiveareirregular
i n d e t a i l ; dykesand
irregular
massesextend
i n t o t h ei n v a d e dv o l c a n i cr o c k s .
The s o u t h e r n
end of t h e PennyCreek i n t r u s i v e p r o b a b l y c o n s i s t s of s e v e r a l
f i n g e r - l i k e t o n g u e s and d y k e s . .T h e r e i s a good d e a l ofoverburden here, which with the
complex r e l a t i o n s h i p between t h e
i n t r u s i v e and the invaded rock
made it impossible t o d e l i m i t
the boundaries in the time devoted to that part
of t h e a r e a :
The w e s t e r n c o n t a c t of t h e BedTNell R i v e r b a t h o l i t h , exposed
i n Dry Creek n o r t h o f t h e BedwellRiver, i s also i r r e g u l a r .
S e v e r a l l a r g e m a s s e s of g r a n i t i c r o c k i n v a d e t h e v o l o a n i c s
c l o s e t o t h e main contact, andnumerous
light-coloured dykes
e x t e n df o rh a l f
a m i l ef r o m t h ec o n t a c t .T h e s ed y k e ss t a n d
out conspicuously against the darker voloanics
on t h e spur
of MarinerMountain vJhich forms t h e e a s t e r n w a l l of t h e b a s i n
of Noble (Clarke)Creek.
The presenceofsome.isolatedmasses
of v o l c a n i c r o c k , within t h e b o u n d a r i e s . o f . . t h e b a t h o l i t h ,
sugg e s t st h a te r o s i o n . h a sn o tp r o c e e d e dd e e p l yi n t o
i t . Changes
i n t e x t u r e of t h e g r a n i t i c r o c k a r e p r o b a b l y f e a t u r e s d e v e l oped . n e a r t h e m a r g i n s w h i l e t h e i n t r u s i v e
was s t i l l i n t h e
v i s c o u s s t a g e and, i f s o , s u p p o r t t h e n o t i o n t h a t e r o s i o n h a s
notcompletely removed t h e o u t e r s h e l l
of t h ei n t r u s i v e . ,
The
mostobviouschange
i n t h e , p r i m a r y n a t u r e of t h e i n t r u s i v e s
i s from a rock of medium, uniform-.sized,grains
t oa . p o r p h y of
an inch
1/4
r i t i c p h a s e w i t h q u a r t zp h e n o c r y s t s ,a b o u t
suracross, which are particularly 'noticeable on weathered
f a c e s . In g e n e r a l , t h e t e x t u r e
of t h e m a i ni n t r u s i v e sa n d
of
t h e most c l o s e l y r e l a t e d d y k e s w h i c h a l s o h a v e g r a n i t i c t e x ture,doesnotchangemarkedly
as t h e c o n t a c t s a r e a p p r o a c h e d .
The g r a n i t i c . t e x t u r . e i s preserved and contacts,whereexposed,
a r es h a r pe v e n
if theyareirregularindetail..
On t h e n o r t h e r n s i d e of DryCreek a s i l l - l i k e mass of
p o r p h y r i t i c ,f i n e - g r a i n e d ,q u a r t z - d i o r i t ea b o u t
175 f e e t t h i c k
has a s h a r p c o n t a c t w i t h t h e u n d e r l y i n g a m y g d a l o i d a l . b a s a l t .
The usual medium-grained light-coloured quartz-diorite
.of
the batholith overlies the
s i l l ; t h e c o n t a c t .was. covered 'with
also must b es h a r p as t h e t e x t u r . e of
overburden.Thiscontact
t h e s i l l i s e s s e n t i a l l y u n i f o r m f r o m i t s lower contact t o t h e
it was observed,and t h e b a t h o l i t h , 5 f e e t
highest point where
higher,.has a much c o a r s e r n o r m a l t e x t u r e t h a n t h e
s i l l . ' The
-
16 -
s i m i l a r i t y of t h e s i l l , t o widedykes Pound w e l l w i t h i n t h e
main b a t h o l i t h , s u g g e s t s t h a t t h e s i l l
may beyounger t h a n
t h eb a t h o l i t h .
The volcaniosbelow, and t h e lower p a r t o f
t h e s i l l , a r e c u t by narrowquartzveinsandimpregnatedwith
f i n ed i s s e m i n a t e dg r a i n so fp y r r h o t i t e
andchalco;?yrite.
In
b l u f f s on t h e e a s t e r n s i d e of t h e c r e e k , n o r t h - w e s t e r l y
from
thepointwherethesill'is
exposed, thelowestexposurecons i s t s of g r a n i t i c g n e i s s , c u t
by feldspar-porphyr:rdykes,
abovewhich t h e normal quartz-diori-te of t h e b a t h o l i t h i s exposed. The gneissandfeldspar-porphyrydykes
arc? c u t by a
stock-work of narrowquartzveins,
and disseminatedpyrrhotite-chalcopyrite mineralimtion occurs in the veins
and
wall-rock.
Some m o l y b d e n i t eo c c u r si nn a r r o wf r a c t u r e s .
Dykes of a n d e s i t e , d a c i t e , f e l d s p a r - p o r p h y r y
andhornblende-feldspar-porphyryarefoundbothinthe
BedwellRiver
b a t h o l i t h and i n t h e PennyCreek i n t r u s i v e s , and & ~ l s in
o the
v o l c a n i cr o c k s .
Dykes,which
r a n g ef r o mg r a n i t e - a p l i t et o ,
d i o r i t e , a r e found i n t h e i n v a d e d r o c k s n e a r t h e c o n t a c t s w i t h
t h eb a t h o l i t h and t h ei n t r u s i v er o c k s .
Massesof
fine-grained
q u a r t z - d i o r i t e and f e l d s p a r - p o r p h y r y a r e found a t t h e m a r g i n s
of t h e b a t h o l i t h and w e l l w i t h i n t h e . b a t h o l i t h .
A peridotite
dyke about 75 f e e t w i d e , i n t h e b a t h o l i t h , o u t c r o p s
on Sam
Craig Creek about
1 2/3 m i l e s s o u t h of i t s c o n f l u e n c e w i t h
Bedwell R i v e r .
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY.
Introduction
In t h e follo-tJingpages of t h i s b u l l e t i n g e n e r a l o b s e r v a t l o n sa r eo f f e r e dc o n c e r n i n gv e i n s ,r e p l a c e m e n td e p o s i t s ,
and
p l a c e r - m i n i n g ,i nt h e
RedwellRiverarea.Thesegeneralnotes
a r e f o l l o w e d by d e s c r i p t i o n s o f m i n e r a l d e p o s i t s o c c u r r i n g o n
t h ev a r i o u sp r o p e r t i e s .
The a p p r o x i m a t ep o s i t i o n o f each
and
property i s i n d i c a t e d by a r e f e r e n c e number on F i g .1 ,
name i n t h e s e n o t e s .
t h i s number i s g i v e n a f t e r t h e p r o p e r t y
In most c a s e s t h e w r i t e r was g u i d e d t o p a r t i c u l a r d e p o s i t s
by
r e g i s t e r e d owners o r a g e n t s of owners,anddepended
on t h e
of t h e g r o u n d .
guides for information concerning the ownership
The names of claims and of t h e i r r e c o r d e d owners and t h e d a t e s
o f recording were verified from information supplied
by t h e
much of it i s covMining Recorder. The country i s ruggedand
the
ered w i t h heavygrowth of t r e e s o r brush. . Veryfewof
recently-stakedclaimshadbeensurveyedevenroughly,and
no
attempt hadbeen made t o mark the boundaries on the ground.
For t h e s e r e a s o n s it was i m p r a c t i c a b l e i n most c a s e s t o
of deposits with the bounda:ries
of t h e
checktherelationship
claimson -flhich t h e yw e r er e p o r t e d
t o occur.Therefore,
it
-
17
-
s h o u l db eb o r n ei n
mind t h a t s t a t e m e n t s , t h a t d e p o s i t s o c c u r
on c e r t a i n c l a i m s , a r e s u b j e c % t o r e v i s i o n
when a c c u r a t e s u r veys have been
made.
i s p r i n c i p a l l y i n goldCurrentinterestinthearea
b e a r i n gv e i n s .
Many samplesweretaken
t oo b t a i ni n f o r m a t i o n
of t h e r a n g e of v a l u e s and on t h e a s s o c i a t i o n of v a l u e s w i t h
d i f f e r e n tt y p e s of m i n e r a l i z a t i o n , The sampleswerenot
of average
c l o s e l y enoughspaced
topermitaccurateestimates
values
~
I n t h e BedwellRiverarea
numerous f r a c t u r e s o c c u p i e d by
veinsoccurintheareas
of g r a n i t i c r o c k s i n t h e v o l c a n i c
rocks, and i n dykes i ne i t h e r .
The v e i n - m i c e r a l i z a t i o n ,u s u a l l yl e s st h a n
1 f o o t wide,. c o n s i s t s of q u a r t zw i t h some carbona t e gangue, and more o r l e s ss u l p h i d em i n e r a l i z a t i o n ,
Some or'
the veins carry values in gold often
accompanied by s i l v e r
which i s r e l a t i v e l yu n i m p o r t a n t .
The base-metalsulphides
w h i c hi n c l u d ec h a l c o p y r i t e ,g a l e n a ,p y r i t e ,p y r r h o t i t e ,
and
sphalerite,cannotbeexpectedtocontributeappreciablyto
The economic v a l u e of t h e s e d e p o s i t s
t h e v a l u e of t h e v e i n s .
accordingly depends on t h e g o l d w h i c h t h e y c o n t a i n .
Vein-mineralization occurs filling fissures
and a s
l e n s e s and s t r i n g e r s i n s h e a r s and s h e e t e dz o n e s .I nf i l l e d f i s s u r e s t h e r e i s u s u a l l y some gouge a t t h e walls b u t i n t r o i s t h em a j o rp a r t
of t h e v e i n - f i l l i n g .
The
ducedvein-matter
2 o r 3 f e e t w i d e and c o n t a i n c r u s h e d and a l shears are up to
of closely-spaced
t e r e dw a l l - r o c k :s h e e t e dz o n e s ,c o n s i s t i n g
f r a c t u r e s s e p a r a t e d by a l t e r e d w a l l - r o c k , may b e s e v e r a l f e e t
w i d e .I nt h es h e a r sa n ds h e e t e dz o n e s ,l e n s e s
of vein-matter
up t o a f o o t w i d e o c c u r l o c a l l y ; e l s e w h e r e n a r r o w s t r i n g e r s
may
occur. h s e c t i o n of t h e M u s k e t e e rv e i nc o n s i s t s
of a s h e a r ,
reaching a maximum w i d t h of a b o u t 30 inches, with narrow
s t r i n g e r sn e a rt h ew a l l s .
A t bothends
of t h i s s e c t i o n t h e
v e i n c o n s i s t s of a f i s s u r e , w i t h some gouge along the walls,
containing vein-matter which has
a maximum width of about 8
inches.
So f a r as i s known a t p r e s e n t t h e g o l d v a l u e s a r e e s s e n tially limited to the introduced vein-matter
and a r e n o t found
i nt h ea l t e r e dw a l l - r o c k .
Some v e i n sc o n t a i n i n gv e r y
small
p e r c e n t a g e s of s u l p h i d e sg i v e good a s s a y s i n g o l d , a n d i n
other veins the gold values in moderately well-mineralized
i n heavily-mineralized
p a r t s may be comparable with values
it a p p e a r s t h a t v e i n - m a t t e r m o d e r a t e l y
parts;butingeneral
well-mineralizedwithsulphides
i s more a p t t o c a r r y gold
- 1% -
'
v a l u e st h a n
i s vein-matterwhich
i s poor i n s u l p h , i d e s .
Q u a r t z i s t h e m o s t abu.ndantgangue-mineral.
I t o f t e n consome of which
s i s t s of a r a t h e r l o o s e aggregate o fc r y s t a l s ,
a r e a n i n c h long. 'Vhite ca:rbonate gangue, c h i e f l y c a l c i t e ,
o c c u r si ns m a l lq u a n t i t y
and t h e r e i s some iron-bearingcarbona t e .V e i n sd e v e l o p e di nt h es h e a r si nt h ev o l c a r . i cr o c k s
containchloriticremnants
of wall-rock, some c h l o r i t e a l s o o c c u r s
intheveins i n thegraniticrocks.
Parts of mary v e i n s a r e
banded o r r i b b o n e d b y f r a c t u r e s , i n t h e v e i n - m a t t e r , p a r a l l e l
w i t ht h ev e i n - w a l l s .
Some of t h e f r a c t u r e s c o n t s . i n t h i n p a r t by l a t e r m i n e r a l i z a t i o n .
i n g s o f gouge, o t h e r s havebeenhealed
Other p a r t s of t h e same v e i n s mayshow no banding;.
Sulphidemineralsinvaryingquantityarepresentinmost
o ft h ev e i n s .
They r a r e l y a v e r a g e more t h a n a s m a l l p a r t of
the vein-matter, but locally they
may form as much a s 50 per
and f i l l cent. o f i t . They occur gro-an a r o u n dq u a r t zc r y s t a l s ,
i ne a r l i e rs u l p h i . d e s .P r e i n g f r a c t u r e s i n t h e gangueand
q u e n t l y some s u l p h i d e m i n e r a l i z a t i o n i s developec! a l o n g t h e
i s o f t e ni nw e l l - f o r m e d
banding o f r i b b o n e dv e i n s .P y r i t e
I t i s t h e most
c r y s t a l s some o f which a r e 1/2 aninchlong.
w i d e s p r e a da n du s u a l l yt h e
most abundantsulphide!.Chalccpymost of t h e v e i n s ; it seems
r i t e i s found i n s m a l l q u a n t i t y i n
t o bemore a b u n d a n t i n v e i n s i n
tine v o l c a n i c s t h a n i n v e i n s
i nt h eg r a n i t i cr o c k s .S p h a l e r i t e ,w i t h
which sclme chxilcopyr i t e i s o f t e nc l o s e l ya s s o c i a t e d ,
and g a l e n a , o c c u r i n
many
o f t h e v e i n s , and l o c a l l y may form a n i m p o r t a n t p a r t
of t h e
vein-filling.
They appear t o be more abundant in v e i n s i n
t h eg r a n i t i cr o c k st h a ni nv e i n si nt h ev o l c a n i c s .P y r r h o t i t e
and m a r c a s i t e , d e r i v e d f r o m it, werefound i n v e i n s i n t h e
was found. i n a v e i n
Noble and Noble B groups.Arsenopyrite
i n q u a r t z - d i o r i t e on t h e Casinogroup.Covelliteseenin
s e v e r a l v e i n s was probably derived f r o m c h a l c o p y r i t e .
P o l i s h e d s e c t i o n s of specimensfrom t h e v e i n s i n g r a n i t i c and v o l c a n i c r o c k s , f r o m v a r i o u s p a r t s of t h e a r e a , were
s t u d i e dm i c r o s c o p i c a l l y .
Most of t h e s e c t i o n s cEme fromveins
Sam CraigCreek.
The s e c i n t h e BedwellRiverbatholithnear
t i o n s s t u d i e d a r e of v e i n - m a t t e r w e l l - m i n e r a l i z e 2 w i t h s u l p h i d e s .P y r r h o t i t es u r r o u n d e d
by c h a l c o p y r i t e WE& found i n a
s e c t i o n from t h e You v e i n which a l s o c o n t a i n s p y r i t e ; b u t
e l s e w h e r e p y r i t e and p y r r h o t i t e w e r e n o t f o u n d i n t h e
same
v e i n . The m i c r o s c o p i cs t u d yi n d i c a t e dt h a tc h a l c : o p y r i t e ,
sphalerite andgalenaarelaterthanthepyrite,
and t h a t
galena and probably
some c h a l c o p y r i t e a r e l a t e r t,han t h e
s p h a l e r i t e . Gold, found i n m o s t of t h e s e c t i o n s , a p p e a r e d t o
be about as
l a t ea st h el a t e s ts u l p h i d e s .
The r e l a t i o n s h i p s
i n more deof gold and of t h e v a r i o u s s u l p h i d e s a r e d i s c u s s e d
-
-
19
-
t a i l i n n o t e s on p r o p e r t i e s , p a r t i c u l a r l y
t h e Musketeerand
Shamrock groups.
in t h e r e p o r t
on
Veins i n t h e a r e a h a v e a l a r g e r a n g e i na t t i t u d e .
Those
w i t h i n t h e B e d w e l lR i v e rb a t h o l i t h ,n e a r
Sam CraigCreek,'may
be divided i n t o two g r o u p s w i t h a t t i t u d e s n o t e d : -
I.
11.
S t r i k e ,f r o m1 0t o
30 d e g r e e se a s t of n o r t h ;
Dip,from
85 degreeswestward t o 80 degreeseastward.
S t r i k e , f r o mn o r t h - e a s tt oa b o u td u ee a s t ;
Dip,from
45 t o 75 degreesnorth-westward
ward.
Outsidethelimitedareamentionedtheveinsarefoundin
diverseattitudes.
o r north-
more
ReplacementDeposits
Limestone lenses more or l e s s r e p l a c e d by s i l i c a t e s and
metallicminerals,nearthe
PennyCreek
intrusivehavealready
been
mentioned.
k t one
point
on t hger o u p , l i m e s t o n e ,
i s p a r t l y r e p l a c e d by
found i n c o n t a c t w i t h g r a n i t i c r o c k s ,
d i s s e m i n a t e dg r a i n s of p y r i t e , c h a l c o p y r i t e and m a g n e t i t e .
A t anotherpointthemetallicmineralshavealmostcompletely
r e p l a c e dt h el i m e s t o n e .E l s e w h e r eo nt h i sp r o p e r t yg r e e n
s i l i c a t e s w i t h some m a g n e t i t e a r e found i n t h e l i m e s t o n e a t
and n e a r t h e c o n t a c t s ; t h e
mainmass of t h e l i m e s t o n e , howO n t h eS e a t t l e
e v e r ,c o n t a i n sb u tl i t t l ei n t r o d u c e dm a t e r i a l .
g r o u p ,a n d r a d i t eg a r n e t ,e p i d o t e
and m a g n e t i t e w i t h more o r
l e s s p y r i t e and c h a l c o p y r i t e c o m p l e t e l y r e p l a c e l i m e s t o n e a n d
a t one p o i n t d i s s e m i n a t e d
p o s s i b l y some volcanicrock,and
m i n e r a l i z a t i o nc o n s i s t i n g o f m a g n e t i t e ,p y r i t e ,c h a l c o p y r i t e
and s p h a l e r i t e was o b s e r v e di nt h el i m e s t o n e .
On t h e Galena
g r o u pm a g n e t i t e ,p y r i t e
and c h a l c o p y r i t e r e p l a c e f i n e - g r a i n e d
v o l c a n i cr o c k .
On t h e t r a i l , a l i t t l e more t h a n a m i l e n o r t h easterlyfromthebridgeat3-mile,there
i s anexposure o f
c h a l c o p y r i t e f i l l i n g j o i n t s and t o some e x t e n t r e p l a c i n g t h e
v o l c a n i c si nt h ew a l l s
of t h ej o i n t s .T h i so c c u r r e n c e
was
described.under"Empress"
i n t h e Annual R e p o r t s , M i n i s t e r of
Mines, B r i t i s h Columbia, 1917 and 1918, a t whichtime t h e s u r f a c e was s t r i p p e d . The i n f o r m a t i o na v a i l a b l ei n d i c a t e st h a t
t h eg o l dc o n t e n ta tt h e s eo c c u r r e n c e s ' i s
low. The copper
c o n t e n t i s v a r i a b l e ; some of t h e m a t e r i a l i s r i c h i n c o p p e r .
deThe work done on t h e o c c u r r e n c e s r e f e r r e d t o , h a s n o t
velopedcommercialore-bodies.
The c o p p e r - b e a r i n gd e p o s i t s
on Big I n t e r i o r Mountain were not visited
by t h e w r i t e r ,
From d e s c r i p t i o n s i n s e v e r a l
Annual R e p o r t s ,M i n i s t e r of
Mines, B r i t i s h Columbia, it a p p e a r s t h a t t h e y
are replacement
-
20
-
depositsandthatatleast
some of t h e m i n e r a l i z a t i o n . m a y
carry moderate values in gold.
to
Bancroft (l), r e f e r s t o a m a g n e t i t e d e p o s i t r e p o r t e d
on t h e d i v i d e between t h e f i r s t important
havebeenfound
t r i b u t a r y of t h e Moyeha Riverandthe
Bedwell River. This
seems t o b e n e a r t h e
head of PennyCreek.Magnetiteoccurs
in d e p o s i t s on lower Penny Creek but the grade
wc,uld notmeet
commercial s p e c i f i c a t i o n s . However, t h e r e may bemagnetite
d e p o s i t s , of commercial i n t e r e s t ,r e p l a c i n gl i m e e , t o n ei nt h e
area.
Earlier in this bulletin reference
was made t o a s t o c k work of q u a r t z v e i n s c l o s e t o t h e c o n t a c t i n Dry Creek n o r t h
of t h e BedwellRiver.Disseminatedpyrrhotite-chalcopyrite
mineralization occurs in the veins
and p a r t l y r e p l a c e s t h e
wall-rocks.
The Crown-grantedclaimsBelvidere
and Annex ( n o t
shown on F i g . 1) a r e und,erstood t o cover t h i s 0cc:urrence. I t
i s r e p o r t e d t h a t s a m p l i n g ofsome
of t h e v e i n s i n d i c a t e d mode r a t e v a l u e s i n g o l d . The boundaries of t h e claj.mswere unwas
known t o t h e w r i t e r . As no guide was a v a i l a b l e , t h e d e p o s i t
n0.t examined i n d e t a i l and i s not d e s c r i b e d i n t h i s b u l l e t i n .
Placer-Mining
Ear1.y r e p o r t s on t h e Bedwell River area refer
to placermining. The scenes of p r i n . c i p a la c t i v i t ya r eb e l - i e v e dt oh a v e
been on t h e n o r t h - w e s t e r n s i d e
of t h e r i v e r a b o u t f i v e m i l e s
from t h e mouth,and
j u s t above a canyon-section ofwhich t h e
In t h e
up-stream end i s about 6 1/'2 m i l e s f r o m t h e mouth.
s p r i n g of1939 a n e f f o r t w a s made t o r e c o v e r g o l d from t h e
r i v e r g r a v e l below the lowest canyon-section approximately
3
milesfromthe
mouth of t h e r i v e r .
From t h i s p o i n t t o t h e
known t o
mouth, t h e r i v e r - b e d i s wid.e, bed-rockexposuresare
t h e w r i t e r a t onepointonly,
and t h e r e a r e e x t e n s i v e f l a t s
p r i n c i p a l l y on t h en o r t h - w e s t e r n side o f t h e river. The
placeroperationattemptedinthespring
of 1939 was on ground
understood t o be included i n t h e Agnes p l a c e r - c l a i m r e g i s t e r e d
. Lamb. Two wing-4ams w e r ec o n s t r u c t e d and
i n t h e name of J . W
it i s r e p o r t e d t h a t some gold was r e c o v e r e d b e f o r e ' h i g h w a t e r
made it n e c e s s a r yt oc e a s eo p e r a t i o n s .
Some tes.: p i t s were
sunk a few f e e t on t h e f l a t w e s t o f t h e r i v e r , n e a r t h e
wingdams. I t i s r e p o r t e dt h a tg o l d
was recovered a t t h e wing-dams,
i n t h e t e s t p i t s , and from t e s t i n g and panninga:long t h e
knows, t e s t i n gh a s :lot been
r i v e r . So f a r a s t h e w r i t e r
sufficientlyextensivetodeterminethenature
of thegravel,
d e p t ht ob e d - r o c k ,o ra v e r a g ev a l u e s .
Gold r e c o x e r e di nt e s t ing i s r e p o r t e d ' t o be r a t h e rf i n e ,b u tn o tf l o u rg o l d .L a r g e
boulders such as might be expected in
a country ,of suchrugged
-
21
-
topography were not seen
i n t h e r i v e r - c h a n n e l by t h e w r i t e r .
Four placer-leases,extendingdown-strean
for a t o t a l d i s t a n c e o f ' a p p r o x i m a t e l y 2 m i l e s f r o m t h e &es
claim, were
g r a n t e d on January23rd,1940,
t o Frank A. G e l (Lease143),
W. A. Noel (Lease 144), H. Noel (Lease 145) andCarl Noel
(Lease 1 4 6 ) .
NOTES ON PROPERTIES AND MINERAL DEPOSITS.
The claimsProsper Nos. 1 t o 8 covering
PROSPER
GROUP.
rroundbetweenBedwellRiverand
Ursus
(No.1 - Fig.1)Creekwererecordedin
December 1938,February1939 and March 1933. The r e g i s t e r e d
owners a r e , C . A. Elkington, K. E l k i n g t o n , R. Erickson, Anthony Guppy, E t h e l W. Guppy, Walter Guppy, S n t o n . H i l l e b r a n d
andAntonKnes.
Shallowcuts and strippinghavebeen
made exposing a v e i n e x t e n d i n g e a s t e r l y
f r o m t h e p o r t a l of anold
a d i t and n o r t h - e a s t e r l y f r o m t h e a d i t t h e r e a r e
some o l d c u t s
on a n o t h e r v e i n . I t i s r e p o r t e d t h a t t h e old workings were
made about 1903 when t h e ground was h e l d u n d e r t h e name Pakeha.
-
North-easterly fromthe confluence
of Ursus Creekwith
BedwellRiver t h e ground i s r e l a t i v e l y f l a t . f o r about h a l f a
m i l e ,t h e n
it begins t o r i s e s t e e p l y a t t h e end or" a rocky
s p u r whichextendssouth-westerly
f r o m Ursus Mountain,between
t h e two streams. h s m a l lc a b i nh a sb e e nb u i l ta tt h es o u t h e a s t e r n s i d e of aedwellRivernear
a sharpbend.
The c a b i n
i s reached by a rough t r a i l , a b o u t h a l f
a milelong,which
l e a v e s t h e main t r a i l a t t h e e a s t e r n s i d e o f PennyCreek.
i s crossed
The BedwellRiver, a w i d e s t r e a m n e a r t h e c a b i n ,
on a Foot-log. The p o r t a l of t h e o l d a d i t ,
a t approximately
325 f e e t e l e v a t i o n , i s roughly a t e n t h o f a m i l e e a s t e r l y
f r o m t h e c a b i n and approximately 260 f e e t h i g h e r t h a n t h e
r i v e r - l e v e la tt h e
cabin.
The r o c k s e x p o s e d n e a r t h e w o r k i n g s a r e f i n e - g r a i n e d
v o l c a n i o s o f t h e Vancouvergroup.
I t i s p r o b a b l et h a tt h e
voloanicsareintruded
by dykes a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e Penny
Creek i n t r u s i v e w h i c h l i e s t o t h e n o r t h - w e s t a c r o s s
Bed7well
R i v e r . The a d i t and s u r f a c ew o r k i n g se x t e n d i n ge a s t e r l y
from
it e x p o s e f r a c t u r i n g w h i c h s t r i k e s a b o u t n o r t h
70 d e g r e e s e a s t
and d i p s 65 t o 70 degreesnorthward.
Some b r a n c h - f r a c t u r e s ,
s t r i k i n g n o r t h - e a s t e r l y and dipping north-westward, run into
thehanging-wall.Therehasbeenshearingalongthe
main
f r a c t u r e and c h l o r i t i c r e m n a n t s of w a l l - r o c k a p p e a r i n l e n t i cularmasses of quartzdeveloped
i nt h es h e a r .
A t some p o i n t s
q u a r t z s t r i n g e r s and d i s s e m i n a t e d g r a i n s of p y r i t e a r e d e v e l o p e di ns h e a r e da l t e r e dw a l l - r o c k .U s u a l l yt h es h e a r i n g
- 22 -
a t some
i s confined t o Tfidths notexceeding 18inc'hes,but
i
s moderwidth
i
s
points this
g r e a t e r . Some of t h e q u a r t z
a t e l yw e l lm i n e r a l i z e dw i t hp y r i t e
and c h a l c o p y r i t e . A l i t t l e
f r e e g o l d was s e e n i n honey-combed vein-matter from the outcrop.
I n t h e ' a d i t , q u a r t z from 1 i n c h t o 5 inches wide oontaining a littlesulphidemineralizationoccursalongshearing
at
t h ef o o t - w a l l ,b r a n c h - f r a c t n r e se x t e n dn o r t h - e a s t e r l y
to a
slip parallel with the footwall-slip
and 2 o r 3 f e e t f r o m i t .
In a l i n e e a s t e r l y from t h e a d i t - p o r t a l , s u r f a c e c u t s , p i t s
or
s t r i p p i n g s havebeen made a t 1 2 p o i n t s , t h e f a r t h e s t
i s 420
feeteasterlyfrom,
and about 200 f e e t h i g h e r t h a n , t h e a d i t .
The f i r s t t w o c u t s a b o v e t h e p o r t a l e x p o s e p o o r l y - m i n e r a l i z e d
v e i n - m a t t e r .P i t s
1 f o o t to 4 f e e td e e p ,1 1 5f e e t
and135
f e e t from t h e p o r t a l , do no-t exposebed-rock.
The n e x tc u t
exposes 6 inches of q u a r t z w i t h some c h l o r i t e b u t l i t t l e s u l 200 f e e t f r o m
t h en e x tc u t ,a b o u t
p h i dm
e i n e r a l i z a t i o nI.n
is fairlyxellmineralized
t h ep o r t a l ,q u a r t z1 6i n c h e sw i d e
f o r 3 o r 4 inchesfromthehanging-wall.
The next t w o c u t s
exposeirregularmasses
of q u a r t z from 3 t o 1 2 incheswide.
The n e x t , a b o u t 3 0 0 f e e t
f r o m t h ea d i t - p o r t a l ,e x p o s e sw e l l m i n e r a l i z e d q u a r t z 7 t o 9 inches wide a t the hanging-wall
s e p a r a t e d by a narrowhorsefrom
7 inches of q u a r t z a t t h e
f o o t - w a l l . A t about 345 f e e t from t h ep o r t a l ,q u a r t z
6 to
lC incheswide i s exposed i n a v e r t i c a l f a c e , and i s narrowe s ta tt h et o p .
The q u a r t z i s ribbonedandcontains
some
i s replaced i r r e g u l a r l y by
chalcopyrite.
Sheared
wall.-rock
quartz and white carbonate
.for 8 t'o 14. i n c h e s t o the hangingw a l la n df o r
20 t o 24 inches t ot h ef o o t - w a l l .M i n e r a l i z a tion,consistingprincipally
of t h e r e p l a c e m e n t - m a t e r i a l ,
i s exposed t o a pointabout 375 feetI'romtheportal,narrowA t 380 f e e t from. t h ep o r t a l
i n g a s it i s f o l l o w e de a s t e r l y .
a f a u l t w i t h shearing 20 incheswide,strikenorth
60 degrees
e a s t and dip80degreesnorth-westward,crossesthecontinuat i o n of t h er e p l a c e m e n t - m a t e r i a l .
ii c u te x t e n d i n g 0 or10
f e e t e a s t e r l y from thefaultexposesreplacement-material
w i t h some vein-quartz over ;a t o t a l w i d t h o f
10 t o 15 inches.
The l a s t c u t , 25 f e e tn o r t h - e a s t e r l y ,e x p o s e s
a l e n s of
7
q u a r t za n dc a r b o n a t ew i t h
some c h l o r i t e . The l e n s , u p t o
40 d e g r e e s
incheswide, i s i n 6 f r a c t u r e w h i c h s t r i k e s n o r t h
e a s t and d i p s 85 degreesnorth-westward.
The f o l l o w i n g s a m p l e s w e r e t a k e n f r o m t h i s s e r i e s
c u t s , between200 and 390 f e e t from t h e a d i t - p o r t a l .
- 23
-
of
i
Sample
Number
Distance
from adit
portal.
feet
Xidth
inches
1
2 00
16
2
;I
7l
4
5
2 75
8
345
Silver
oz. per ton
0.66
1.6
Quartz, little sulphide
mineralization.
0.14
Trace
Quartz, well-mineralized for
3 1/2 inches from hangingwall. kt hangingwall-side
of horse.
0.44
1.8
6
Horse of wall-rock.
0.02
Trace
7
Foot-wall-quartz, some
sulphides.
0.84
0.8
Replacement-material in
hanging-wall.
Trace
Trace
Central. quartz,
chalcopyrite.
0.80
0.2
Trace
Trace
5
11
6
Gold
oz. per ton
Description
.I
Quartz, well-mineralized
with sulphides f o r 3 or 4
inches from hanging-wall.
9
300
As
7
20
some
Replacement-material in
foot-wall.
Sample
Number
I
Distance
from adit
portal
feet
NOTE:
N
cn
I
f
Width
Inches
14
Assay
Silver
Gold
0 % . p e rt o n
o z . per ton
Description
Principallyreplacementmaterial, 8 feeteasterly
fault.
from
and
Sample No. 1 contained 1 percent.copper
sample No. 3 c o n t a i n e d 0.7 p e r c e n t , t h e
coppercontent of t h e o t h e r s a m p l e s
was
negligible.
Trace
Trace
About250 f e e t n o r t h 5 0 d e g r e e s e a s t f r o m t h e a d i t - p o r t a l
t h e r e i s an o l dc u t . . a ta p p r o x i m a t e l y
440 f e e te l e v a t i o n .
It
e x p o s e sq u a r t zw i t h
some c a r b o n a t e , c h l o r i t e and a l i t t l e c h a l c o p y r i t e i n a f r a c t u r e which s t r i k e s .about n o r t h 60 degrees
e a s t and d i p s 65 degreesnorth-westwwd.
A sample a c r o s st h e
0 2 . p e rt o n ;s i l v e r ,
0:8 0 2 .
20-inchwidthassayed:Gold,0.26
perton.Approximately
40 f e e t w e s t e r l y and t h e same d i s t a n c e
lower i n e l e v a t i o n , a n o t h e r c u t e x p o s e s t h e v e i n w h i c h h e r e
c o n s i s t s of 8 i n c h e s of q u a r t zs e p a r a t e d by a "horse" 8
inches.widefromquartz
3 t o 5 incheswide.
The quartzcontains a little chalcopyrite.
T h i sp r o p e r t yc o n s i s t s
of 7 Crown-granted
c l a i m sS, e a t t l e ,
L o t 700;
Brooklyn,
Lot
701; Omaha, Lot702;
New York,Lot703;
Lot705;
and
Tacoma, Lot 704; GreyMule,
Rebecca,Lot706;situated
on PenuyCreek on t h e n o r t h - w e s t e r n
s i d e of t h e Bedwell River. The claimswerestakedin1896
and 1898and a r e t h e r e f o r e among t h e o l d e s t l o c a t i o n s i n t h e
a r e a . They w e r e Crown-granted i n 1907 b u t l a t e r r e v e r t e d
to
t h e Crown, and wereagainCrown-granted
i n 1928. The r e g i s t e r e d owners a r e Yfilliam Lyon McIntosh and Douglas G. W. Aimer
of V i c t o r i a .
SEATTLE
GROUP.
(No.2 - F i g . l j
E a r l y work on t h e p r o p e r t y was d i r e c t e d p r i n c i p a l l y t o ward t h e d i s c o v e r y and e x p l o r a t i o n of copper-bearing replacement d e p o s i t s , b u t some i n t e r e s t was a l s o shown i n q u a r t z
t o t h e e a r l i e r work on t h ep r o p e r t ya p p e a r
v e i n s .R e f e r e n c e s
in t h e Annual R e p o r t s , M i n i s t e r of Mines, B r i t i s h Columbia,
f o r 1898,1899,1900,1902,1903,1919and1928.
In t h e summer of 1939 a small crew wasemployed
on t h ep r o p e r t y .
Some
a t t e n t i o n was p a i d t o r e p l a c e m e n t - m i n e r a l i z a t i o n on whichone
c u t was made. The p r i n c i p a l e f f o r t was d i r e c t e d toward t h e
d i s c o v e r y o f q u a r t z v e i n s whichmightbe
expected t o be goldA
b e a r i n g , and a s u r f a c ec u t was made on onesuchvein.
c a b i n was b u i l t on t h e f l a t between t h e r o a d and t h e r i v e r ,
Penny Craek c r o s s abouthalf a mile north-easterly from the
ing.
The groundcovered by t h e c l a i m s i n c l u d e s
low benches
whichextend some distance.fromtheBedwellRiver,andslopes
which r i s e s t e e p l y fromthebenches.
The creeksouth-west
ofPennyCreek
is essentiallyatgrade,butthebasin
of
PennyCreek i s h a n g i n g w i t h r e s p e c t t o t h e r i v e r - v a l l e y .
North-east of t h e c r e e k a r i d g e , r i s i n g t o a b o u t 1 , 5 0 0 f e e t
elevation,separatesthe
PennyCreek b a s i n from t h e r i v e r v a l l e y . The o l dw o r k i n g sa r es i t u a t e dn e a rt h es o u t h e r n
end
of t h i s r i d g e a t approximate elevations from
625 t o 825 f e e t .
They a r e r e a c h e d by a rough t r a i l aboutseven-eighths
of a
- 26 -
mile long, which leaves the
main t r a i l a t a poini; west of
PennyCreek.
The new s u r f a c e - c u t on a gold-bearingquartz
v e i n i s s i t u a t e d on t h e s t e e p e a s t e r n s l o p e
of t h e r i d g e a t
approximately 725 f e e t e l e v a t i o n androughly a q u a r t e r of a
A rough t r a i l
m i l e n o r t h - e a s t e r l y fromth.eoldworkings.
about a t h i r d of a mile long r u n s n o r t h - w e s t e r l y t o t h i s working from a p o i n t a t t h e main road about half
a mile northe a s t e r l y f r o m t h e PennyCreek c r o s s i n g .
The r o c k s u n d e r l y i n g t h e S e a t t l e a r e p r i n c i p a l l y v o l c a n i c s and r e c r y s t a l l i z e d l i m e s t o n e of t h e Vancouver group,
lying southerly fromthe projecting tongue
of t h e Penny Creek
i n t r u s i v e .A p l i t e
and q u a r t z - d i o r i t ed y k e s ,a s s o c i a t e dw i t h
t h e main i n t r u s i v e a r e f0un.d i n t h e r o c k s o f t h e Vancouver
group,andare
mora abundan.t a t t h e c r e e k and south-west of
it t h a nn o r t h - e a s t of t h ec r e e kn e a rt h eo l dw o r k i n g s .
The
of two a d i t s , a s h a f t , and some s u r f a c e
o l dw o r k i n g sc o n s i s t
t o e x p l o r e replacement-mineral-ization.
c u t s ,a l ld e s i g n e d
G a r n e t ,e p i d o t e ,m a g n e t i t e ,p y r i t ea n dc h a l c o p y r l t e ,i nv a r y ingproportions,havereplacedlimestone
and prohably some
v o l c a n i cr o c k .
Some of t h i sm a t e r i a l i s a l m o s tf k e e o f s u l phidesbut one surfaceexposure,about
8 f e e tw i d e ,a p p e a r s
t o be r i c h i n c h a l c o p y r i t e .
The o l d workingsdidnot.prove
s u b s t a n t i a l t o n n a g e o f s u c h m i n e r a l i z a t i o n and t h e y w i l l n o t
b ed e s c r i b e dh e r e .F u r t h e rr e f e r e n c et ot h i st y p e
of mineralizationappearsundertheheadings
"VancouverGroup"and
"Rep l a c e m e n tD e p o s i t s "e a r l i e ri nt h i sb u l l e t i n .
In 1939 a s u r f a c e c u t was made i n r e c r y s t a l l i z e d l i m e s t o n e , a b o u t
5 feet
w i d e ,l y i n gj u s tw e s t
o f rock composed a l m o s t e n t i r e l y of
g a r n e t e, p i d o t e m
, agnetite
and sulphides.Magnetiite,pyrite,
c h a l c o p y r i t e and some s p h a l e r i t e a r e d i s s e m i n a t e c : t h r o u g h t h e
limestone at the eastern side but the mineralization dies out
about mi.dway i n t h el i m e s t o n e .S e l e c t e dw e l l - m i n e r a l i z e d
mat e r i a l f r o m t h ee a s t e r ns i d ea s s a y e d :
Gold, 0.1CI oz.per
t o n ;s i l v e r ,
0.1 0 2 . p e rt o n .
On t h e n e w l y - d i s c o v e r e d v e i n a s u r f a c e c u t runs f o r
about30feeteast
of n o r t h a l o n g t h e r o o t
of a ? ! l u f f of
fine-grainedvolcanicrock.
I t exposes a f r a c t u r e o f low
d i pn o r t h w a r d ,a n do t h e rf r a c t u r e sb r a n c h i n g
downward from
it which s t r i k e a b o u t d u e e a s t
and dipsouthward a t moderate
a n g l e s . In t h ef r a c t u r e s v
, e i n - m i n e r a l i z a t i o n c, o n s i s t i n g
of q u a r t z w i t h some p y r i t e and a l i t t l e g a l e n a , c c c u r s w i t h
gouge o f c r u s h e dw a l l - r o c k .B r a n c h i n gf r a c t u r e sn e a rt h e
s o u t h e r n end of t h e e x p o s u r e s w e l l t o w i d t h s
of e inches,but
average much l e s s . The main f r a c t u r e i s t i g h t a t t h es o u t h e r n
3 o r 4 i n c h e si nt h ec e n end o f theexposurebutwidensto
t r a l part andnarrowsagain
t o about 1/2 a n i n c h a t t h e n o r t h f r o m t h i sc u t .
ernend.
The followingsamplesweretaken
"
27
-
AS
Description
Gold
o z . perton
Y
Silver
p e rt o n
oz.
Main F r a c t u r e
(1) Width 3 1/2 inches,15
f e e t fromsouthern end
of c u t .
(2)
0.32
Trace
0.04
Trace
Average width 2 1/2 i n c h e s ,
0 t o 9 inchesfrommain
fracture.
0.14
Trace
Average w i d t h 5 i n c h e s , 9
t o 22 inches from main
fracture.
1.22
Trace
Width 4 i n c h e s , 2 2 t o 24
f e e t fromsouthernend
of c u t .
Branchbelow Main F r a c t u r e a t
s o u t h e r n end of*
(3)
j4j
The c l a i m s , J e s s i e , A l i c e and Bunty, recordAVON GROUP.
ed i n December 1938,and
t h e Avon Exten(No.3
Fig.1)
No. 1 and Avon Extension No. 2 r e c o r d e di n
.__
group.
February 1939, are
known a s t h e
The recorded owners are,Messrs.Mackenzie,Mattersonand
the
f i r m ofTowler
and A l i t c h e l l ,a l l o f Torino. I t i s r e p o r t e d
t h a t t h e c l a i m s were optioned to Messrs. Marchant, Tait and
. Bruggy h a sb e e ni nc h a r g e
of work on
Bruggy i n 1939. G. W
t h e p r o p e r t y s i n c e midsummer of 1939.
”
-
e
The claims l i e west o f t h e Be&well R i v e r a b o u t 3 m i l e s
f r o mt i d e w a t e r .
A s h o r tb r a n c h - t r a i ll e a d sf r o mt h e
main Bedwell River trail to
two c a b i n s on t h e p r o p e r t y a t a b o u t
325
f e e te l e v a t i o n ,n e a rt h ef o o t
of a s t e e p s l o p e t o t h e e a s t .
’
The w o r k i n g s a r e s i t u a t e d ox t h e s t e e p s l o p e a t e l e v at Ions
from 500 t o 1 , 2 5 0 f e e t .
I n t h e Annual Reports,Mini.sterofMines,British
Columb i a ,f o r
1898,1899and1900,
t h e r ea r eb r i e fr e f e r e n c e st o
t h e C a s t l e whichapparentlycoveredground
now i n c l u d e d i n t h e
Avon. Old w o r k i n g s , c o n s i s t i n g o f two s h a f t s , a n a d i t , and
-
- 28 ,
some s u r f a c e c u t s , w e r e d e s i g n e d t o p r o s p e c t m a g r . . e t i t e - c h a l copyrite-pyritemineralizationinrecrystallizedlimestone,'
and f r a c t u r e s c o a t a i n i n g q u a r t z - s u l p h i d e m i n e r a l i z a t i o n c a r r y i n gv a l u e s i n gold.Recentworkingsconsist
of s u r f a c ec u t s
and s t r i p p i n g a l o n g t h e c o u r s e
of a newly-discoveredvein, and
a n a d i t which i s r e p o r t e d t o have been driven
on t h i s v e i n
s i n c e t h e w r i t e r examined t h e p r o p e r t y i n September1939.
The r o c k s u n d e r l y i n g t h e p r o p e r t y , c o n s i s t i n g
of q u a r t z d i o r i t e of t h e PennyCreek i n t r u s i v e s , d i o r i t e , l i m e s t o n e ,
a n d e s i t i c and fine-grained amygdaloidal volcanics
and g r a n i t i c
d y k e s ,a r ew e l l
exposed on t h e b l u f f s and on t h e s t e e p u p p e r
s l o p e s . The PennyCreek
i n t r u s i v eu n d e r l i e st h e. w e s t e r np a r t
of t h e p r o p e r t y .
A t t h e e a s t e r n m a r g i n of t h e main i n t r u s i v e
of diorite in intimate rel.s.ticnship
therearesmallmasses
w i t ht h eq u a r t z - d i o r i t e .
The limestone i s r e c r y a t a l i i z e d and
appearstobe
i n discontinuous masses between the intrusive
to
t h ew e s ta n dt h ev o l c a n i c s
t o theeast.
The maximum width o f
limestoneobserved wasabout, 80 f e e t . Numerous i r r e g u l a r
granitic dykes were seen in the volcanics, east
o:P t h e l i m e stoneandnotfarfromthecontactwiththeintrusive.
The principalrocksexposed
and t h e r e l a t i v e p o s i t i o n s
of t h e w o r k i n g s , as of September 1939, a r e i n d i c a t e d on
The t h r e e v e i n s on which work
F i g . 2 accompanying t h i s r e p o r t .
hasbeendone
a r e d e s i g n a t e d f o r convenienceas "A" Vein, "B"
Vein and "GI' Vein. The approximatepositionsfromwhich
samples were taken have been indicated
by arrows connected with
r e f e r e n c e numbersenclosed
i n c i r c l e s .D e s c r i p t i o n s
of samples
and a s s a y s of t h e samples a r e g i v e n i n t h e f o l l o w j . n g n o t e s .
"A". V e i n , r e p o r t e d t o bae r e c e n t d i s c o v e r y , i s a f r a c ture with varying widths
of v e i n - m i n e r a l i z a t i o n and gouge.
The s t r i k e changes a t a number of p o i n t s b u t i s g e n e r a l l y
n o r t h of e a s t and t h e d i p r a n g e s f r o m
35 d e g r e e s t o 60 degreesnorthward.
The w a l l sa r e o f f i n e - g r a i n e dv o l c a n i c s ,
amygdaloidal a t some p o i n t s , andtowardsthewestern
end a r e
i n t r u d e d by i r r e g u l a r masses of g r a n i t i c r o c k .
The v e i n was
exposed i n two s e c t i o n s by c u t s and e t r i p p i n g , a t t h e n o r t h
The e a s t e r ns e c t i o n ,a b o u t
s i d e o f , o r i n , a rockygully.
100 f e e t l o n g , was s e p a r a t e d from t h e 6 0 - f o o t w e s t e r n s e c t i o n
by a d i s t a n c e of approximately 650 f e e t . A s h o r td i s t a n c e
from t h e e a s t e r n s e c t i o n t h e t o p o g r a p h y s u g g e s t s t h a t
a fault
may c r o s s t h e s t r i k e of t h e v e i n .
West of t h i s p o i n t b o t h
About 250 f e e t from t h e e a s t w a l l s of t h e g u l l y a r e s t e e p . ,
e r n s e c t i o n a smallcutexposes
6 inches of gouge, t h e n c e t o
t h e w e s t e r n s e c t i o n t h e v e i n was not exposed.
"
The wall-rock along the fracture has been cru,jhed
- 29 -
and
LEGEND
e
I
W
0
I
Fig. 2.
,
Plan of workings, Avon group,
sheared f o r widths r a n g i n g from 1 i n c h t o a b o u t 3 f e e t .
S p l i t s or s t r a n d sd i v e r g ef r o mt h e
main f r a c t u r e . Veinm i n e r a l i z a t i o n c o n s i s t i n g of q u a r t z with some c a l c i t e , w i t h
or w i t h o u t s u l p h i d e s , o c c u r s
as l e n s e s i n t h e m:2in f r a c t u r e
The s u l p h i d e s ,
and a s t h e f i l l i n g of t h e j o i n t s i n t h e w a l l s .
which are generally sparingly distributed
i n t h s ganguem i n e r a l s , c o n s i s t of p y r i t , e ,c h a l c o p y r i t e and o c c a s i o n a l l y a
little galena.
I n t h e f i r s t 4 0 f e e t of t h e e a s t e r n s e c t i o n t h e f r a c t u r e
is very narrow, but
west of t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n with a j o i n t
t h e r e i s from 6 i n c h e s t o 30 inches of gougeandusuallyfrom
1 1/2 i n c h e s t o 1 5 i n c h e s
of q u a r t zw i t h some c : d c i t e and
u s u a l l y some s u l p h i d em i n e r a l i z a t i o n .
Sample
1 listed
l a t e r i n t h i s r e p o r t came from a p o i n t a b o u t 60 f e e t from t h e
end of t h i s s e c t i o n .
No.
In t h e w e s t e r n s e c t i o n c u t s
exposed t h e > v e i n for a l e n g t h
end of which t h e ground was
f a c e d up f o r a n a d i t .
The s t r i k e of t h ef r a c t u r ec h a n g e s
end of
markedly a t two p o i n t s . h few f e e t f r o m t h e e a : ; t e r n
6 1/'2
t h i s s e c t i o n sample No. 2 was takenacrossquar-tz
incheswidelyingabove
a f o o t of gouge. To t h e w e s t t h e v e i n
narrowsbutwidensagain
t o about14inches.
Sample No. 3
a c r o s s gouge 8 inches w i d e a t f o o t - w a l l , andsample No. 4
a c r o s s 6 i n c h e s o f q u a r t zl y i n ga b o v et h e
gouge,,weretaken
about 25 f e e t w e s t o f No: 2 . The q u a r t z of sample No: 4 cont a i n e d some p y r i t e and some galena. From a few f e e t beyond
t h i s p o i n t t o t h e end of t h i s s e c t i o n a c u t f o l l o w s r u s t y
gouge,10inchesto.15incheswide,containingcrushedquartz.
Sample No. 5 was t a k e n from t h e end o f t h e c u t .
In t h i s s e c t i o n a number of q u a r t z s t r i n g e r s run i n t o t h e w a l l s from t h e
main f r a c t u r e . The f i n e - g r a i n e dv o l c a n i c sa r ei n v a d e d
by
small i r r e g u l a r masses o f g r a n i t i c r o c k . Epido7;e and some
magnetite are developed
i n . t h e a l t e r e d volcanic::.
of about 60 f e e t a t t h e e a s t e r n
- 31
-
Samples from "A" Vein
Sample No.
Description
Width
Inches
T
1
As 5
Gold
o z .p e rt o n
Silver
o z . p e rt o n
Q u a r t z w i t h some s u l p h i d e .
8
0.26
1.9
Crushed w a l l - r o c k w i t h
some q u a r t z .
6 l/2
Trace
Trace
with some q u a r t z .
8
0.02
Trace
Hangingwall-section,
q u a r t z w i t h some p y r i t e
and galena.
6
2.50
1.1
Channel.acrossvein,rusty
gouge and crushedquartz.
15
0.12
Trace
Foot-wall-section,bouge
I
w
N
Note: Samples
3 and 4 g i v e s e c t i o n a c r o s s v e i n
approximately 25 f e e t w e s t o f sample 2 .
R e s t of t h e w e s t e r n s e c t i o n t h e r e i s a s h a l l o w b a s i n i n
which d i o r i t e , r e c r y s t a l l i z e d l i m e s t o n e
and a l t e r e d v o l c a n i c s
1 1/'2 t o 3 f e e t of
o u t c r o p a t v a r i o u sp o i n t s .s o u rc u t si n
overburdenexposechiorite,magnetite
and q u a r t z a s i r r e g u l a r
c o n t a c t - m i n e r a l i z a t i o n . About 275 f e e t west of t h ew e s t e r n
s e c t i o n , a v e i n c o n t a i n i n g 2 t o 7 inches o f q u a r t z w i t h some
i s exposed i n a b l u f f of
s u l p h i d e s i n a 5-foot dacite dyke,
q u a r t z - d i o r i t ea tt h e
head o f t h eb a s i n .
Both veinand dyke
s t r i k e a b o u t n o r t h 40 degrees west and d i p 65 degrees northeastward.
"B" Vein. From a poj.ntabout 350 f e e t sou-;h-westerly
f r o m t h e w e s t e r n c u t s on "A" Vein, old cuts
and s t r i p p i n g f o l OW "B" V e i nn o r t h e r l yf o r1 2 5f e e t .
The a v e r a g es t r i k e i s
i s about45degreeswestward.
At
e a s to fn o r t ha n dt h ed i p
t h e s o u t h e r n end d a c i t e and quartz-porphyry dykes follow the
contact between limestone
on t h e e a s t and t h e q u a r t z - d i o r i t e
masson
t h ew e s t .E e r et h ev e i nc u t st h ed a c i t e ;f a r t h e r
i n t o thequartzn o r t h it d i v e r g e s w e s t e r l y f r o m t h e c o n t a c t
d i o r i t e .T h e r e
i s f r a c t u r i n gf o rw i d t h sf r o m
a re7# inches t o
about two f e e t , t h e w i d t h b e i n g g r e a t e s t t o w a r d s t h e s o u t h e r n
end.Quartzcontaining
some p y r i t e ,c h a l c o p y r i t e
and galena
occurs a s v e i n s or l e n s e s from 1 i n c h t o 5 i n c h e s w i d e i n t h e
f r a c t u r e s . Sample No. 6 t a k e n 40 f e e t f r o m thesouthernend,
a c r o s s 2 .l/2 inches of q u a r t z c o n t a i n i n g some p y r i t e ,a s s a y e d :
Gold, Z,44 o z .p e rt o n ;s i l v e r ,
1 . 2 oz.perton.Selected
o z . p e rt o n ;
well-mineralizedmaterialassayed:Gold,5,44
s i l v e r ,2 * 5o z .p e rt o n .
Thence n o r t h e r l y t o a c u t a t t h e
end of t h e e x p o s u r e t h e v e i n i s i n q u a r t z - d i o r i t , e and c o n t a i n s
vuggy q u a r t z 1 1 / 2 ' t o 3 inches wide.
"C" Vein,which l i e s w e l l t o thenorth-west of t h e o t h e r
It s t r i k e s
s h o w i n g s ,o u t c r o p sa l o n gq u a r t z - d i o r i t eb l u f f s .
a b o u t north-west and d i p s about 45 degreessouth-westward.
h shaftnearthenorth-western
end of t h e e x p o s u r e i s p r e sumed t o havebeen sunk i n 1898 or 1899. From t h i s p o i n t f o r
i s evidence of t h e v e i n ;
about110feettothesouth-eastthere
b u t it was covered by d e b r i s e x c e p t a t a few p o i n t s . The
q u a r t z - d i o r i t e i s c u t by s h e a r s a n d j o i n t s p a r a l l e l w i t h t h e
f r a c t u r e a l o n g which t h e r e i s deoomposed and r u s t y m a t e r i a l
from 7 or 8 inches t o about 2 f e e ti nw i d t h .
The f o l l o w i n g
samples were taken from the rusty oxidized material exposed
atthesurface.
The widthsaremeasurednormal
t o t h e d i p of
the vein.
"
-
33
-
~
Sample No.
~
~~
~~
Description
~~
Silver
02.
p e rt o n
0 2 . p e rt o n
1
Trace
2.44
Adjoiningrustyquartz
c o n t a i n i n g some p y r i t e
and g a l e n a . ,
10
0.44
Trace
Crushed r u s t y w a l l - r o c k
i n hanging-wall of No. 8.
10
0.10
0.3
Crushed r u s t y v e i n f i l l i n gj u s ts o u t h - e a s t
of
shaft.
12
Rusty gouge
8
10
Width
Inches
5
7
9
I
a t foot-wall.
.
.-Note: Samples
7, 8 and 9 g i v e a s e c t i o n a c r o s s t h e v e i n
i n a shallowcutabout
70 f e e t s o u t h o f t h e s h a f t .
Mineralized
Limestone_
a cutnearthe
The old workings on t h ep r o p e r t yi n c l u d e
s o u t h e r n end of "B" Vein. T h i s c u t runs west exposing recrystallizedlimestonecontainingmagnetite,withwell-cryst a l l i z e dp y r i t e ,
and some c h a l c o p y r i t e . The m e t a l l i cm i n e r a l s
form a r e l a t i v e l y small p a r t of t h e whole.Otharworkingslyingabout 900 f e e t t o t h e n o r t h c o n s i s t
of a s h a f t sunk f r o m
t h es u r f a c ea n d ,a na d i t - c r o s s c u t .
A t t h e shaf-5 t h e r e i s a
good d e a l of m i n e r a l i z e d m a t e r i a l c o n s i s t i n g
o f magnetite
w i t hc h a l c o p y r i t e ,p y r i t e
and some c a l c i t e . The m i n e r a l i z a t i o n - m s notexposed i n p l a c e a t t h e s u r f a c e , and t h e s h a f t
was notopen.
The a d i t wa.s d r i v e n w e s t for a b o u t 265 f e e t , f r o m
a p o i n ta b o u t1 2 5f e e te a s t
o f , and 1 2 0 f e e t lowerthan,the
I t passedthroughabout50feet
of limec o l l a r of t h es h a f t .
a t t h e c o n t a c t betweenlimestone and q u a r t z s t o n e andended
d i o r i t e , which l i e s w e s t of t h el i m e s t o n e .T h e r e
i s some
c h l o r i t e and p o s s i b l y some amphibole i n t h e l i m e s t o n e n e a r
t h e c o n t a c t , b u t l i t t l e o r no s u l p h i d e or m a g n e t i t em i n e r a l from t h ef a c e ,t h e r e
i z a t i o n . A t t h eo t h e rc o n t a c t ,5 0f e e t
i s a n open f r a c t u r e s t r i k i n g n o r t h 3 0 d e g r e e s w e s t
and d i p ping 70 degrees
north-eastward.
quartz-diorite
dyke l i e s
on t h e n o r t h - e a s - t e r n s i d e
of t h e f r a c t u r e , and ?or 2 or 3 f e e t
on t h e s o u t h - w e s t e r n s i d e c h l o r i t e , m a g n e t i t e
and g a r n e t r e p l a c et h el i m e s t o n e .
Away from t h ec o n t a c t st h el i m e s t o n e
i s c o m p a r a t i v e l yu n a l t e r e d and unmineralized. The o t h e r
rocksexposed i n t h e a d i t c o n s i s t
of v o l c a n i c s o u t by i r r e g u lar masses of q u a r t z - d i o r i t e and by a d a c i t e dyk:e.
-
The claimsGalena N
a and G-alena No. 2
wererecordedin
December 192'8, i nt h e
names o f 3 . Matterson and J . Von Brendel.
They co'verground r e f e r r e d t o under the
same name i n t h e Annual R e p o r t s ,M i n i s t e r of M i n e s ,B r i t i s h
Columbia, f o r 1899,1900
and 1916.These
r e p o r t sr e f e rt o
a
t o a n ope:?-cutapproach.Samples
referred
9-footshaftand
G o l d , t r a c e ;s i l v e r ,t r a c e
t o i n t h e 1916reportassayed:
and0.2oz.perton;copper,21.4'percentand3.1percent.
It appears that these represented selected material.
GALENA GROUP.
(No.4 - F i g . 1 )
a
The p r o p e r t y i s reached by a b r a n c h - t r a i l a b o u t h a l f
m i l e long which leaves' the main BedwellRiver t r a i l n e a r t h e
3-Milepoint.
Accommodation c o n s i s t s of a w e l l - b u i l t ,a r t i s t i c , shake-cabin. The oldworkings, a t about300feetelevation,aresituatednearthefoot
of a s t e e p s l o p e t o t h e
Bedw e l lR i v e r .
Timberandbrush-growth
a r e heavyexcept on t h e
rock-bluffs.
The p r o p e r t y i s under]-ain by v o l c a n i c r o c k s
- 35
-
of t h e Van-
couvergroupintruded
by g r a n i t i cd y k e s .
The oldworkings
c o n s i s t of a 4 0 - f o o t c u t i n r o c k , a t t h e n o r t h e r n
end of
which t h e r e i s a shaft -ahich was f u l l o f w a t e r when t h e p r o p e r t y was examined. A f a i r l ys t r o n gj o i n t ,s t r i k i n ga b o u t
n o r t h 2 5 d e g r e e s east and dipping 75 d e g r e e s w e s h a r d , r u n s
t h e l e n g t h of t h e c u t andforms t h e f o o t - w a l l of magnetitec h a l c o p y r i t em i n e r a l i z a t i o n ,w h i c h
i s exposed i n t h e n o r t h e r n
25 f e e t of t h e c u t .
A s e t of j o i n t s s t r i k i n g a b o u t
due n o r t h
and d i p p i n g s t e e p l y , i n t e r s e c t s t h e f o o t w a l l - j o i n t
and t h e
mineralizationextends a s h o r t d i s t a n c e t o t h e n o r t h a l o n g
them.The
westernboundaryofmineralization
i s irregular;
t h ew i d t h i s f r o m 2 or 3 t o about15inches.
The m i n e r a l i z e d
m a t e r i a l c o n s i s t s of a l t e r e d v o l c a n i c r o c k
more or l e s s r e placed by m a g n e t i t ea n dc h a l c o p y r i t e .
h s e c t i o ns t u d i e d m i c r o s c o p i c a l l y c o n s i s t e d l a r g e l y o f d i o p s i d e w i t h m a s s e s of
m a g n e t i t e and c h a l c o p y r i t e c o n t a i n i n g r e s i d u a l g r a i n s
of d i o p s i d e .C h l o r i t ev e i n l e t so u tt h ed i o p s i d e
and t h e m e t a l l i c
m i n e r a l s . The w a l l - r o c k i s bleached and a l t e r e d .
i n t h e two
The 14claimsincluded
groupswererecorded
i n August andSepGROUPS..
tember
1938.
The r e g i s t e r e d Owners a r e ,
(No.5
Fig.1)
Noble Cornelius,
Clarke
Gibson,
Earson
Gibson,GordonGibson,John
L. Gibson,
and J u l i a E. Gibson. A c a b i n b u i l t on t h es o u t h - w e s t e r n s ' i d e
of Noble (Clarke)Creek,
a t approximately 850 f e e t e l e v a t i o n ,
i s reachedby a b r a n c h - t r a i l a b o u t a q u a r t e r of a mile long
trail a short distance easterwhichleavestheBedwellRiver
l y f r o m t h e 5-Milepost.
The claimscoverground
on b o t h
o f t h er i v e r .S t e e ps l o p e sc u t ' b y
s i d e s of t h ec r e e k ,n o r t h
narrow dralrrs f l a n k b o t h s i d e s
ofNobleCreek.This
p a r t of
theareahas
beenburnedover
and densesecond-gro;vth now
r i s e s between t h e c e d a r s n a g s .
NOBLE AND NOBLE B .
-
and b a s a l t i c v o l The u n d e r l y i n g r o c k s i n c l u d e a n d e s i t i c
c a n i c s w i t h some t h i n members which may b e a l t e r e dt u f f s ,i n t r u d e d by dykes of q u a r t z - d i o r i t e .
The w e s t e r nc o n t a c t of t h e
Bedwell Riyer batholith crosses the hesd of
Dry Creek j u s t
e a s t of NobleCreek.
Numerous d y k e se x t e n d i n gw e s t e r l yi n t o
t h e v o l c a n i c s , and t h e p y r r h o t i t e - c h a l c o p y r i t e m i n e r a l i z a t i o n
foundnear t h e c o n t a c t , h a v e b e e n m e n t i o n e d e a r l i e r i n t h i s
bulletin.
Xhen t h e p r o p e r t y was v i s i t e d e a r l y i n August 1939, a
number of veinshadbeendiscovered
and open-cuts hadbeen
made on some o f them, butdevelopment workwasr.ot
extensive.
Several of t h e r e p o r t e d d i s c o v e r i e s w e r e n o t
examined by t h e
w r i t e r . The veinswhichwere
examined wereexposednearthe
creekbetween 675 f e e t a n d 875 f e e t e l e v a t i o n , and n o r t h -
-
36
-
e a s t of t h e c r e e k f r o m a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1 , 2 0 0 f e e t t o 1 , 7 2 5 f e e t
e l e v a t i o n . Most o f them a r ei nt h ev o l c a n i c s ,a p p a r e n t l yo c cupying j o i n t s alongwhichtherehasbeen
some shea.ring. The
of some dykes,
j o i n t s seem t o h a v e c o n t r o l l e d t h e a t t i t u d e s
andone v e i no c c u r s i n a 17-footdyke of q u a r t z - d i o r i t e .
The
veinsexposednearthecreek,.the
walls o f thedyke,and
a
widerveinnorth-east
of t h e c r e e k , s t r i k e
from25 degrees t o
40 d e g r e e s e a s t o f n o r t h . Most of t h e v e i n s and t h e dykesdip
from 65 degrees t o 75 degrees south-eastward, one vein dips
80 d e g r e e s n o r t h - w e s t w a r d , a n d t h e w i d e r v e i n s t a n d s v e r t i of
c a l l y . The v e i n s exposed a t ' h i g h e re l e v a t i o n sn o r t , h - e a s t
thecreekstrikefrom
due n o r t h t o 20 d e g r e e s e a s t o f n o r t h
60 d e g r e e s t o 70degrees.
P c r p a r t of
and dipeastwardfrom
i t s lower course the creek follows
j o i n t s which s t r i k e a b o u t
n o r t h 55 degrees west and dip
80 degreessouth-westward.
They a r en o tm i n e r a l i z e dw h e r es e e n
by t h e w r i t e r .
One j o i n t ,
s t r i k i n g n o r t h 70 d e g r e e s we&and dipping 55 degrees southward,appears t o o f f s e t s l i g h t l y a v e i n - f i l l e d j o i r ! t which
strikesnorth40degreeseast
and d i p s 75 degrees south-eabtward.
Most of t h e f i s s u r e s o c c u p i e d by v e i n s p i n c h and .swell
l o c a l l y and r a r e l y exceed 8 o r 9 i n c h e s i n w i d t h , k : u t n o r t h e a s t of t h e c r e e k m i n e r a l i z a t i o n o c o u r s i n s e v e r a l s h e a r s
whichreachwidths
of 2 f e e t o r more.Quartz,carbonate
and
s u l p h i d e so c c u ra sl e n s e s
or veinsinthepartly-replaced
shearedwall-rock.
The s u l p h i d e sr a r e l yf o r m
more t h a n a
of t h e v e i n - f i l l i n g .
Along some o f t h e
moderatepercentage
widerfractures,thewall-roc:khasbeenbleached
an.d i n some
The s u l c a s e s s i l i c i f i e d f o r a f e wi n c h e sf r o m t h ev e i n s .
p h i d e si n c l u d ep y r r h o t i t e ,c h a l c o p y r i t e ,m a r c a s i t e ,g a l e n a ,
some s p h a l e r i t e and probably some p y r i t e .P y r r h o t i t e
and
c h a l c o p y r i t ea r et h e
m o s t common. Lfarcasite i s probablydew i t h some s p h a l e r i t eo c c u r s
rivedfrompyrrhotite.Galena
a s narrowlenses
o r s t r e a k s i . n t h ev e i n s .P r e eg o l d
was r e portedfromseveral
of t h e v e i n s .
The w r i t e rt o o ks e v e r a l
samples, most of which were of v e i n - m a t e r i a l c a r r y i n g a n a p p r e c i a b l e q u a n t i t y of s u l p h i d e s and r e p r e s e n t t h e b e t t e r m i n e r a l i z e dv e i n s o r p a r t s of v e i n s . The assaysandother
dataconcerningthesesamplesarelistedinthefollowing
table.
- 37
-
1
As E
Description
Veins act r e e k ,
Gold
o z . p e rt o n
Silver
o z . p e rt o n
..
below
cabin
(1) South-westernside
of creek
Average 3 inches wide,
quartz with sulphides.
1.54
0.6
0.12
0.1
1 1/2 i n c h e s ,v e i nw i t hs u l
phides, a t f o o t - w a l l of dyk
2.04
1.2
( 4 )V e i ni n
dyke 2 f e e t from
f o o t - w a l lB. e smt i n e r a l i z e
materialnearfloor
or^ c u t ,
q u a r t z and s u l p h i d e s .
0.58
0.2
0.30
0.2
"HighGradeLead"
i nn a r r o w
draw a t 1,725 f e e t e l e v a ti.on, 9 2
',1
i n c h e sv e i n m a t t e r , n o t much s u l p h i d e .
0.60
0.1
50 f e e t down s l o p e on same
v e i n , 7 i n c h e sv e i n - m a t t e r ,
w e l l - m i n e r a l i z e d a t hanging.
wall.
0.80
0.1
0.90
4.00
0.7
0.8
(2)
Worth-westernside
of creek
50 yardsbelow No.1, 2 1/2
i n c h e s ,q u a r t zw i t hs u l phides.
k t s o u t h - w e s t e r ns i d e
ibovecabin
(3)
r e i n sn o r t h - e a s t
of creek,
of creek
:5)"SulphideVein,"sample
a c r o s s1 9i n c h e s ,a tb o t t o m
or" exposure.
:6j
:7j
4)
P r o b a b l yp a r a l l e lv e i n
a
s h o r td i s t a n c ee a s t
of "Higl
GradeVein"and175
feet
down s l o p e from No. 7.
4 1/2 i n c h e sq u a r t z
sulphides
S e l e c t e ds u l p h i d e s
and
-
38 -
\
Therugged n a t u r e of t h e c o u n t r y and t h e heavygrowth
made it d i f f i c u l t t o d e t e r m i n e c l o s e l y t h e r e l a t i v e p o s i t i o n s
of t h e showings, and with the closely-spaced parallel veins,
made it i m p o s s i b l e i n some c a s e s t o besurewhether
or not
n e a r b y e x p o s u r e s a r e on t h e same v e i n .
One of thelongerexposures
i s on t h e " s u l p h i d e l e a d , "
on t h e s t e e p b l u f f s n o r t h - e a s t
of t h e c r e e k between1,200
I t c o n s i s t so fs h e a r i n g
from
f e e t and 1 , 3 0 0f e e te l e v a t i o n .
1 f o o t t o 3 f e e t wide, i nf i n e - g r a i n e dv o l c a n i cr o c k .
The
shearstrikesaboutnorth
35 d e g r e e s e a s t and d i p s a l m o s t
v e r t i c a l l y .I nt h es h e a rt h e r e
i s q u a r t zc o n f i n e dp r i n c i p a l l y t o a width o f 6 o r 8 inches and t h e r e s t o f t h e s h e a r
c o n s i s t s of a l t e r e d w a l l - r o c k w i t h w h i c h t h e r e
i s some a c t i n o l i t e .P y r r h o t i t e ,c h a l c o p y r i t ea n dm a r c a s i t ea r e
found i n
t h e q u a r t z and disseminated through the sheared wall-rock.
A branch-fracturetothewest
of t h e mainbreakcontains
8 or
9 inches o f q u a r t z . Sample
5 i nt h ep r e c e d i n gt a b l e
was
of t h e s h e a r a t t h e
takenacross 1 9 i n c h e s , t h e f u l l w i d t h
bottomof
theexposure.Thisexposure
i s w e l lt o w a r dt h e
e a s t e r n p a r t of t h e p r o p e r t y , n o t f a r
from theBelvidere.
No.
"
On t h e s t e e p s l o p e n o r t h - e a s t of t h ec r e e k ,a b o u t
one
half mile north-westerly
from t h e " s u l p h i d e l e a d , " t h e r e a r e
s e v e r a l f r a c t u r e s which contain lenses
and v e i n s of q u a r t z
and carbonate and partly-replacedshearedfine-grainedvolc a n i cr o c k .P y r r h o t i t e ,c h a l c o p y r i t e
and o c c a s i o n a l l yg a l e n a
and s p h a l e r i t e ,o c c u ri n
t h e Trein-matterand disseminated
through the altered rock
w i t h i n t h e f r a c t u r e s andsometimes
inthewalls.
The wall-rock is shearedforwidths
up t o 2
f e e t . A t one p o i n t a width o f '18 i n c h e s c o n s i s t s l a r g e l y
of
q u a r t zp r a c t i c a l l yw i t h o u ts u l p h i d e s .
A t another,narrow
f o r 2 or 3 f e e t i n t h e f o o t - w a l l
of a
q u a r t zs t r i n g e r so c c u r
3-inch v e i n of q u a r t z and c a r b o n a t e . The 3-inchveincont a i n s some s u l p h i d e s ,b u tt h ef o o t - w a l ls t r i n g e r sa r ee s s e n t i a l l y f r e e from s u l p h i d e s . The b e t t e r - m i n e r a l i z e dp a r t s of
theveinsthatwereseen,are
from 3 t o 9 incheswide.
On September9th1939
t h e w r i t e r 'was guided
by N . W. McIvor t o showings,north
of t h e
BedwellRiverandeast
of Dry Creek.These
showingsappeared t o beon
groundcovered
by t h e c l a i m s 0. K. No. 3 and 0. K. Eo. 4 of which t h e number
one postswerefound.According
t o t h e i n s c r i p t i o n on t h e
p o s t s , theclaimswerestaked
on A p r i l 2 7 t h , 1939, t h e
0. K . NO. 3 by D. Shepherdand
t h e 0. K. No. 4 by Shepherd
asagentfor
McIvor; they were r e c o r d e di nA p r i l1 9 3 9 .
0. K . GROUP
(No.6 - Pig.1)
"
The showings a r e a b o u t h a l f
-
39
a milenorth
-
of t h s r i v e r ,
from 1 , 5 0 0 t o 1 , 6 5 0 f e e t e l e v a t i o n , .on t h e s t e e p s l o p e r i s i n g
from a f l a t which extends f o r some d i s t a n c e n o r t h o f t h e r i v e r .
The u n d e r l y i n gr o c k i s q u a r t z - d i o r i t e .
A f r a c t u r e , exposed
a l o w t h e b l u f f s , s t r i k e s from 70 d e g r e e s t o 30 degrees west
o f n o r t h 'and d i p s from 45 d e g r e e s t o 55degrees northward.
About 75 f e e t f r o m t h e w e s t e r n
end o f t h e e x p o s u r e , a t a p p r o x imately1,600feetelevation,
a cuthasbeen
made under an
overhangingbluff.
For a l e n g t h of 15 f e e tt h ec u te x p o s e s
a f r a c t u r e , 2 1/2 t o 5 incheswide,containingribbonedquartz
2 t o 3 i n c h e si nw i d t h ,
and shearedwall-rock.There
is a
little fine-grained pyrite
i n t h e s h e a r e d and a l t e r e d wallrock within the fracture, but the quartz contains very little
s u l p h i d em i n e r a l i z a t i o n .
The f a c e of t h eo v e r h a n g i n gb l u f f
extending for a b o u t 1 7 5 f e e t e a s t e r l y f r o m t h e c u t p r o b a b l y
of t h ev e i n .
About 200 f e e t e a s r e p r e s e n t st h eh a n g i n g - w a l l
t e r l y f r o m t h e c u t a small open-cut has been
made on t h e w e s t
s i d e of a drawwhich c u t s i n t o t h e b l u f f s t o t h e n o r t h .
In
theopen-cutthefracture
i s from 3 t o 10 incheswide, and
c o n t a i n s f r o m 1 i n c h t o 2 i n c h e s of gouge a l o n g t h e s i d e s
of
5 1,"Z t o 6 1/2 inches o f s u l p h i d e - b e a r i n gq u . a r t z . ~ The v e i n
i s exposed f o r about 3 f e e t along..-the s t r i k e o v e r a v e r t i c a l
r a n g e of 2 1/2 f e e t .T h e r e
i s but l i t t l e s u l p h i d e m i n e r a l i i n themiddle
z a t i o n a t t h e t o p o r bottom of t h e e x p o s u r e , b u t
there i s heavysulphidemineralizationconsisting
of s p h a l e r i t e ,p y r i t e
and some g a l e n a . A sampleacross
6 i n c h e s of
0.1 0 2 . p e r t o n ; s i l v e r ,
well-mineralizedveinassayed:Gold,
6 . 3 0 2 . p e rt o n .
On t h e e a s t s i d e o f t h e draw, 30 t o 40 f e e t
i s exposed
away, a t a b o u t 1 , 5 0 0 f e e t e l e v a t i o n , t h e v e i n
s t r i k i n g n o r t h 30 d e g r e e s west and d i p p i n g 45 d e g r e e s t o 50
In t h e f i r s t 5 f e e t t h e q u a r t z w i d e n s
degreesnorthward.
it i s exposedagain 5 f e e t f a r t h e r e a s t ,
from 6 t o 1 0 i n c h e s ,
2 1/2 incheswide,and
2 feet to the south
s q u a r t z vein 6
incheswide i s exposed. The 6-inchvein may be a s p l i t from
theotherfracture.
The v e i n had n o tb e e nf o l l o w e de a s t
of
i n which t h e v e i n w i d e n s
thispoint.Inthe5-footsection
from 6 t o 10 i n c h e s t h e r e i s gouge 1 i n c h t o 2 i n c h e s t h i c k
a l o n gt h ew a l l s .
I n t h e e a s t e r l y 2 f e e t of t h i s s e c t i o n ,
alongthefootwall-side,there
i s heavy sulphide mineralizat i o n which a t t h e e a s t e r n end i s 2 1/2 incheswide.
The r e s t
of thequartzcontainsbutlittle
sulphide mineralization.
a complete
The two following samples were taken giving
cross-section of the vein mineralization at the widest point.
- 40
-
Description
2 1/2 inchesheavysulphides
a t f oot-wall
7 1/2 i n c h e s q u a r t z w i t h
little sulphide mineralization,fromprevioussample
t o hanging-wall.
0.60
1
2.6
The e i g h t c l a i m s of the Musketeer group
and f i v e c l a i m s of t h e Shamrock,groupwere
MUSKETEW AND
SHAMROCK GROUPS. recorded in September
1938.
A registered
(No.8
P i g . 1 )a g r e e m e n tc o v e r st h es a l e
of t h ec l a i m s
by P a t r i c k McCrory t o MusketeerMines,
Limited, ( X . P. L . ) , a company w i t h head o f f i c e i n Vancouver.
-
The p r o p e r t y i s s i t u a t e d s o u t h of Bedwell River on lower
Sam CraigCreek.
I t i s reached by a b r a n c h - t r a i l which r u n s
s o u t h e r l y f r o m t h e main t r a i l a t a point about 7 l/’4 miles from
The b r a n c h - t r a i l c r o s s e s t h e r i v e r
t h e head of BedwellSound.
a t a l i t t l e l e s s t h a n 600 f e e t e l e v a t i o n , a t a p o i n t e a s t e r l y
is
from Sam CraigCreek.
The r i v e r - c h a n n e la tt h ec r o s s i n g
wide, it can be forded
by horses except during high-water.
Foot-logsacrosstheriver
art: a p t t o b,e c a r r i e d away by high
w a t e r . The b r a n c h - t r a i lr e a c h e s
a lower camp on t h ee a s t e r n
s i d e o f Sam CraigCreek a t approximately 625 f e e t e l e v a t i o n ,
about a t h i r d of a m i l e from t h e r i v e r .
The t r a i l . t h e n c r o s s e s
t o t h e w e s t e r n s i d e or‘ t h e c r e e k and climbs t o a n u p p e r camp
of a
a t approximately 950 f e e t e l e v a t i o n , a b o u t t h r e e q u . s r t e r s
m i l ef r o mt h er i v e r .
Both camps were o f a temporar:y n a t u r e
i n 1939.
On b o t h s i d e s of lower Sam CraigCreekthesurEace
is
i r r e g u l a r . Rocky k n o l l s and r i d g e s a r es e p a r a t e d b;y svsampy
The a v e r a g es l o p e i s s t e e p
d e p r e s s i o n s and narrow draws.
Overburden i s
northward t o a small f l a t a l o n g t h e r i v e r .
deep i n t h e f l a t t e r a r e a s , s u r f a c e c . u t s
havegone down a s
much as 10 feetwithoutreachj.ngbed-rock.Tree-growth
is
f a i r l y heavy on t h e f l a t and on t h e lowerslopes whcsre t h e
rock i s covered by d r i f t .
The d i s c o v e r y i n 1938 of t h e Musketeer v e i n on t h e e a s t e r n s i d e o f Sam Craig Creek d i d much t o s t i m u l a t e t h e p r e s entactivityinthe
BedwellRiverArea.
The p r o p e r t yc o n s i s t -
-
41
-
i n g o f t h e MusketeerandShamrockgroupswasoptioned
in the
of B. C . ,
autumn o f 1938 t o a group i n c l u d i n g P i o n e e r GoldMines
of Toronto.
Limited, of Vancouver,andAngloHuronianLimited,
The o p t i o n w a s l a t e r t r a n s f e r r e d t o MusketeerMinesLimited,
( N . P. L.)? i n c o r p o r a t e d on June 21st, 1939.
Development work was s t a r t e d a t t h e p r o p e r t y i n t h e
autumn
of 1938and
s i n c et h e nh a sc e e nc a r r i e d
on c o n t i n u o u s l y . P r o s pectinghasrevealedseveralveins
on which surface work has
beendone.Because
t h ed e p t h of overburden makes e x p l o r a t i o n
by s u r f a c e w o r k i n g s d i f f i c u l t ,
four veinshavebeenexplored
The e a r l y workwasdone
by
by a d i t s d r i v e n a t shalloivdepth.
hand;but i n t h e autumn of 1939arrangementswere made t o d e velop water-power on t h e p r o p e r t y , w i t h a view t o using rockd r i l l s for a low-level a d i t , and t op r o v i d e power for p o s s i b l e
m i l l i n go p e r a t i o n si n
the future.
F i g . 3 accompanying t h i s r e p o r t shows t h e r e l a t i v e p o s i t i o n s of m o s t of t h e workings on t h e p r o p e r t y of Musketeer
Mines,Limited,
i n August1939.
The a p p r o x i m a t ep o s i t i o n s
f r o m which t h e w r i t e r t o o k s a m p l e s h a v e b e e n i n d i c a t e d o n
F i g . 3 by a r r o w sc o n n e c t e dw i t hr e f e r e n c e
numbers i n c i r c l e s .
D e s c r i p t i o n s o f most of t h e v e i n s and workings on t h e p r o p e r tyareincluded
in thisreport,but
one or t w o s h o w i r g si n d i c a t e d on Fig. 3 a r e n o t d e s c r i b e d .
When t h e w r i t e r examined t h e p r o p e r t y , u n d e r g r o u n d a campaign of diamond-drilling
workhadbeensuspended,and
of t h a tt i m eh a v e
was inprogress.Variousdevelopment-faces
sincebeenadvanced,andanadit-crosscuthasbeenstarted
from a p o i n t n e a r t h e ' e a s t e r n s i d e
of Sam Craig Creek convenie n t t o t h e lower camp, n o r t h of t h e a r e a c o v e r e d
by Fig.3.
Thisadit,about300feet
lower t h a n t h e "Main Drift" on t h e
is beingdrivensoutherlytointersectthe
Musketeervein,
downward p r o j e c t i o n o f t h e Musketeer vein a t a d i s t a n c e e s t i matedroughly a t 900 f e e t .
__-
The w r i t e r w i s h e s t o . e x p r e s s h i s t h a n k s t o
F . Joubin,
engineer for MusketeerMines,Limited,and
t o J. M e r r i t t ,
thenforeman, who generouslysuppliedinformationconcerning
t h e p r o p e r t y and t h e Bedwell RiverArea,
of g r e a t a s s i s t a n c e
i n t h e f i e l d and i n t h e p r e p a r a t i o n of t h i s r e p o r t .
a m i l e from t h e w e s t e r n
The p r o p e r t y , s i t u a t e d a b o u t
margin of t h e BedwellRiverbatholith,
is u n d e r l a i n by g r a n i t i c rockswhich showsome r a n g e i n t e x t u r e a n d c o m p o s i t i o n
of q u a r t z - d i o r i t e .
Some f i n e r - g r a i n e d
b u tc o n s i s tp r i n c i p a l l y
graniticrock,outcroppingalongthetrailbetweenthe
camps,
i s p r o b a b l yi n t r u s i v e i n t o t h eq u a r t z - d i o r i t e .S e v e r a ld y k e s
- 42 -
LEGEND
dip Vein with
Shear o r f awd
uiiltp
th
Sketchedcontourwith
Surface'working
Positton o f sample
Fig. 3.
Plan of workings, Musketeer and Shamrock groups
-2
"
L
elevatron---iraa
C7II
0"-
on t h e p r o p e r t y a r e a n d e s i t e
and some o t h e r s , t o o a l t e r e d
for d e f i n i t ed e t e r m i n a t i o n ,a r ep r o b a b l ya n d e s i t i c .
The
g r a n i t i c r o c k s and t h e dykeshavebeenalteredhyrlrotherm a l l yn e a rt h es h e a r s
and f r a c t u r e s .
The v e i n s s o far d i s c o v e r e d a r e i n f r a c t u r e s a l o n g w h i c h
therehasbeen
more o r l e s s s h e a r i n g and which on t h e i r a t t i t u d e s may be d i v i d e d i n t o t w o groups. The onegroupconsists
of f r a c t u r e s which s t r i k e from10 t o 30 d e g r e e s e a s t o f n o r t h
and r a n g e i n d i p from85degreeswestward
t o perhaps80degreeseastward.
Some of t h e s e f r a c t u r e s f o l l o w t h e
walls of
a n d e s i t i cd y k e s of t h e same g e n e r a l a t t i t u d e .
The othergroup
c o n s i s t s of f r a c t u r e s s t r i k i n g f r o m a b o u t n o r t h - e a s t t o almost
due east and dipping north-westward
or northward a t a n g l e s
from 45degrees t o 75 d e g r e e s . The Musketeervein,belonging
t o the second group, cuts
and s l i g h t l y o f f s e t s t h e T r a i l v e i n ,
b e l o n g i n gt ot h e
f i r s t group. The v e i n sa r ec u t
by s h e a r s
which s t r i k e f r o m 30 t o 80 degrees west of n o r t h a n d d i p n o r t h ward o r north-eastward a t anglesfrom 45 degrees t o 85 degrees.
There i s some f a u l t i n g o f v e i n s
by t h e s h e a r s , t h e h o r i z o n t a l
displacements observed are
of t h e o r d e r of a few f e e t o r l e s s .
Most of t h e v e i n s h a v e s e c t i o n s w h i c h a r e r i b b o n e d
by
fracturinginthevein-fillingparallelwiththewalls.In
the easterly-striking veins the ribbon fracture-surfaces
and
t h e w a l l s o f t h e v e i n s a r e marked by fine grooving which
is
e s s e n t i a l l yh o r i z o n t a l .
The w a l l so f
a s h e a rw h i c hf a u l t s
t h e Musketeer v e i n a r e a l s o marked by grooving which pitches
about55degreesnorth-westward.
The v e i n - f r a c t u r e s u s u a l l y c o n t a i n g o u g e a l o n g t h e w a l l s .
Introducedvein-matterconsists
of q u a r t z w i t h more o r l e s s
of s u l p h i d e s .
whitecarbonategangueandvaryingproportions
front a f r a c t i o n
The w i d t h of the vein.-matte:r observed ranged
of an inch.to about
a f o o t ;and probably av'erages less than
6
i n c h e s . The quartz, i n g e n e r a l , i s a na g g r e g a t e of c r y s t a l s
r e c o g n i z a b l ew i t ht h eu n a i d e de y e .
The s u l p h i d e sc o n s i s t of
p y r i t e ,s p h a l e r i t e ,g a l e n a
and c h a l c o p y r i t e . The p y r i t e i s
f r e q u e n t l yi n c o a r s ec r y s t a l s .
Some good c r y s t a l s of s p h a l e r i t e werefound
i n one v e i n . The s u l p h i d e so c c u rf o l l o w i n gt h e
r i b b o n - p l a n e s i n some ribbo.ned-parts of t h e v e i n s and a s
irregular masses which
may form a l a r g e p a r t of some unbanded
p a r t s o f t h e v e i n s . F r e e g o l d ,g e n e r a l l yq u i t ef i n e ,h a s
been found i n s e v e r a l of t h e v e i n s .
The s u l p h i d e sa r e d i s t r i b u t e d q u i t e i r r e g u l a r l y i n t h e
veinsand t h e s u l p h i d e c o n t e n t v a r i e s g r e a t l y frcmmp o i n t t o
In a g e n e r a l way it has beer. observed
p o i n t i n t hvee i n s .
t h a t t h e g o l d t e n d s t o occur i n t h e p a r t s of t h e v e i n s c a r -
r y i n ga p p r e c i a b l ep e r c e n t a g e s
of s u l p h i d e s . As a measure of
thesulphidecontentthewriter
had t h e t o t a l s u l p h u r c o n t e n t s
d e t e r m i n e di nt h es a m p l e sf r o mt h i sp r o p e r t y .I nt h es a m p l e s
a f r a c t i o n of
from t h e Musketeer vein the sulphur ranged from
1 p e rc e n tt o
7 p e rc e n t .
The h i g h e rf i g u r e i s probablyequiv a l e n t t o more t h a n 15 p e rc e n t combined s u l p h i d e s . Samples
24 p e r c e n t . s u l p h u r ,
f r o m t h e o'cher v e i n s r a n g e d a s h i g h a s
e q u i v a l e n t t o more t h a n 47 p e r c e n t . combined s u l p h i d e s .
Samples t a k e n by t h e w r i t e r a s s a y e d f r o m s t o more t h a n 10
ounces i ng o l dp e rt o n .
Samples c o n t a i n i n g much s u l p h i d e
m i n e r a l i z a t i o n gavehighassaysingold;
and g e n e r a l l y v e i n matter moderately well-mineralized with sulphides gave better
v a l u e st h a nm a t e r i a lp o o ri ns u l p h i d e s .
The r a t i o of g o l d t o
t o t a l s u l p h i d e s i s n o tc o n s t a n ta n di nt h es a m p l e s
of medium
and low s u l p h i d e c o n t e n t t h e g o l d d o e s n o t
follow the total
I t i s possiblethatquantis u l p h i d ec o n t e n tc o r s i s t e n t l y .
t a t i v e d e t e r m i n a t i o n of t h e i n d i v i d u a l 'sulphidespresent would
i n d i c a t e a more c o n s t a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n t h e g o l d
and
one o r more of them t h a n i s apparent between the gold
and t h e
totalsulphidecontent.
Some f u r t h e r l i g h t was thrownon t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p of t h e
goldandsulphides
by microscopicstudy o f pol.ishedsections
of t h eo r e .
The s e c t i o n ss t u d i e dc o n s i s t e do fw e l l - m i n e r a l i z e dv e i n - m a t t e r .
I t was a p p a r e n tt h a tt h es u l p h i d e sw e r e
developed i n f r a c t u r e s i n t h e q u a r t z ,
and t h a t p y r i t e i s t h e
o l d e s ts u l p h i d e .
Galena and p o s s i b l yc h a l c o p y r i t ea r el a t e r
than s p h a l e r i t e and t h e t h r e e a r e l a t e r t h a n p y r i t e . G r a i n s
of f r e e g o l d w e r e o b s e r v e d ,
a t t h e m a r g i n s of t h e p y r i t e
g r a i n s , a t c o n t a c t sb e t w e e np y r i t ea n dg a l e n ag r a i n s ,a tt h e
marginsof t'ne g a l e n a g r a i n s , w i t h g a l e n a i n t h e v e i n s w h i c h
c u t s p h a l e r i t e , and i n t h e gangue away from t h e s u l p h i d e s .
The c o i n c i d e n c e of t h e g o l d and s u l p h i d e s may be exp l a i n e d by t h e t h e o r y t h a t t h e p a r t s
o f t h e v e i n most s u b j e c t
tosuccessivere-openingbyfracturingreceivedthesulphides
i n t h e i r o r d e r , and r e c e i v e d g o l d w i t h
o r subsequent t o t h e
l a t e rs u l p h i d e s .
The l a t e r f r a c t u r i n g may have f a i l e d t o open
c h a n n e l s i n some p a r t s of t h e v e i n m o d e r a t e l y w e l l - m i n e r a l i z e d
withearlysulphides,
and may haveopenedchannels
t o some
p o o r l y - m i n e r a l i z e dp a r t s .
Thus m o d e r a t e l yw e l l - m i n e r a l i z e d
vein-matter may be low i n g o l d and some poorly-mineralized
vein-matter may a s s a y w e l l i n g o l d , a l t h o u g h g e n e r a l l y t h e
w e l l - m i n e r a l i z e dv e i n - m a t t e r i s r i c h e r i n g o l dt h a n i s t h a t
which c a r r i e sl i t t l es u l p h i d em i n e r a l i z a t i o n .S i n c et h eg o l d
o c c u r sl a r g e l ya sg r a i n s
of f r e e m e t a l it i s n o t t o b e e x p e c t e d
that the ratio with the total sulphide content
o r withan i n d i v i d u a ls u l p h i d e would b ec o n s t a n t .
The microscopicstudy
s u g g e s t s t h a t a s a n i n d i c a t o r of g o l d v a l u e s g a l e n a would be
better than pyrite.
-
46
-
Musketeers
for a
Surface cuts in deep overburden expose this vein
s h o r t p a r t of. i t s known length.Because
o f t h e d.epth of t h e
o v e r b u r d e n t h e v e i n was explored by an - a d i t - d r i f t . d r i v e n e a s t e r l y
from Sam CraigCreek a t r a t h e r s h a l l o w d e p t h . T h i s a d i t , a t
a p p r o x i m a t e l y 9 5 0 . f e e t e l e v a t i o n and known as t h e "Main Drift,"
e a s t e r l y f r o m Sam Craig Creek f o r about
had followed the vein
407 f e e t when t h e p r o p e r t y 'was examined i n August: 1939. About
1 2 5 f e e t from t h e Sam Craig Creek portal
a b r a n c h - d r i f t had
beendriven 35 f e e t s o u t h e r l y , f o l l o w i n g t h e T r a i . 1 v e i n :
and
about 317 f e e t from the Sam Craig Creek portal
a crosscut
e n t r y , d r i v e n f r o m .a point about 60 f e e t n o r t h - w e s t e r l y , makes
c o n n e c t i o nw i t ht h ed r i f t .
The p o r t a l o f t h i s e n t r y i s on
of a low r i d g e on t h e e a s t e r n s i . d e
of Sam
the eastern side
CraigCreek.
"
The s t r i k e of the vein changes markedly
a t two p o i n t s i n
thedrift.
In t h e w e s t e r n s e c t i o n t h e s t r i k e
i s aboutnorth
73 d e g r e e se a s t .
A t 85 f e e tf r o mt h ew e s t e r np o r t a lt h ev e i n
i s c u t by a shear which strikes west
of north; in the middle
s e c t i o n ,e a s t e r l yf r o mt h i ss h e a r ,t h ev e i ns t r i k e sa b o u t
north 85 d e g r e e se a s t .
About 255 f e e t from t h ew e s t e r np o r t a l
t h e v e i n swings t o t h e l e f t and c o n t i n u e s t h e n c e on a s t r i k e
of n o r t h 68 d e g r e e se a s t .
For most of t h e exposedlengththe
vein dips from
45 t o 55 degreesnorthwardbut
it s t e e p e n s t o ward t h e e a s t e r n end of t h e "Main Drift," and 90 f e e t fromth,e
c r o s s c u t - e n t r yd i p s
75 degreesnorthward.Approximately50
f e e t from t h e w e s t e r n p o r t a l t h e v e i n i s c u t
by a north-west e r l y - s t r i k i n gs h e a r .
A t t h es h e a rt h ee a s t e r n '
segment o f
t h e v e i n i s displaced about a f o o t t o t h e s o u t h , r e l a t i v e t o
thewesternsegment.
A t t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n of theMusketeer
and T r a i l v e i n s t h e segment o f t h e l a t t e r , n o r t h of t h e
Musketeervein, i s d i s p l a c e d about 2 f e e t t o t h e w e s t r e l a t i v e t o t h e segment south of t h e Musketeer v e i n .
For most of t h e exposed length the
Musketeer- v e i n i s a
f r a c t u r e w i t h gouge along the walls and contains vein-matter
from 1 1/'2 t o 7 incheswide.
The v e i n - m a t t e rc o n s i s t s o f
q u a r t z , a l i t t l e c a l c i t e and i r r e g u l a r l y - d i s t r i b u t e ds u l p h * . d e
m i n e r a l s . Much of t h e v e i n . i s ribboned o r bandedby f r a c turesparalleltothewallsand,inparts
o f t h er i b b o n e d
vein,sulphidesaredevelopedalongtheribbon-fractures.
Some p a r t s o f t h e v e i n show no banding and may c o n t a i n b u t
l i t t l e s u l p h i d e m i n e r a l i z a t i o n o r may be w e l l - m i n e r a l i z e d
w i t hs u l p h i d e s i n i r r e g u l a r m a s s e s .
The s u l p h i d e si n c l u d e
p y r i t e ,s p h a l e r i t e ,g a l e n a
and a minor amount of c h a l c o p y r i t e .
I t is reported that fine free gold has been
found a t a number
of p o i n t s i n t h e v e i n .
- 47
-
A t t h e w e s t e r n p o r t a l of t h e "Main Drift" the Musketeer
v e i n i s from 3 t o 5 incheswide.
About 1 5 f e e t n o r t h - e a s t e r l y it haswidened t o 7 incheswhere for 2 f e e t t h e v e i n ,
consisting of white quartz with
a little sulphide mineralization,
i s completelycrushed.Thisnarrows
t o s o l i dw e l l - m i n e r a l i z e d
q u a r t z 4 1/2 i n c h e s w i d e , t h e n c e t o t h e s h e a r ,
a t 50 f e e t , t h e
vein i s from 3 t o 4 1/2 i n c h e sw i d e .T h e n c ee a s t e r l yt ot h e
conn e x t s h e a r , a d i s t a n c e o f about 35 f e e t , t h e v e i n - m a t t e r
s i s t s of r i b b o n e d q u i t e w e l l - m i n e r a l i z e d q u a r t z ,
3 t o 5 1/2
incheswide.Thenceeasterly
for about 70 f e e t t o a p o i n t
past t h e b r a n c h - d r i f t t h e v e i n - m a t t e r
i s from 1,1/2 t o 4 1/2
it c o n s i s t s of rustygouge,but
for
i n c h e sw i d e .I np a r t
most o f t h i s s e c t i o n it c o n s i s t s p r i n c i p a l l y or' ribboned
q u a r t z . From t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n w i t h t h e
Trail v e i n e a s t e r l y
f o r about 30 f e e t , t o t h e
end of t h i s s e c t i o n , t h e M u s k e t e e r
v e i n i s from 1 1 1 2 t o 4 1/2 incheswide and c o n s i s t s of r i b boned q u a r t zq u i t ew e l l - m i n e r a l i z e dw i t hs u l p h i d e s .
High a s saysingoldarereportedfromsampling
of t h i s s e c t i o n of t h e
vein.
e-
About 3 0 f e e t e a s t e r l y
from t h e b r a n c h - d r i f t t h e
teerveinpassesinto
a shearfrom l 1/2 t o 2 1/'2 f e e t w i d e
85 degrees
w h i c hc o n t i n u e sf o ra b o u t7 0f e e t ,s t r i k i n gn o r t h
e a s t anddippingabout
45 degreesnorthward.
A t several
p o i n t s s t r a n d s which make smail angles with the main shear
run o f fi n t ot h e
walls. Narrow s t r i n g e r s or l e n s e s o f q u a r t z
w i t h some s u l p h i d e s a r e f o u n d a l o n g t h e s i d e s
o f t h e main
s h e a r . I t i s r e p o r t e dt h a tr e g u l a rs a m p l i n ga c r o s st h ew i d t h
of t h e s h e a r y i e l d e d a s s a y s
of a fewhundredths of anounce
of g o l d p e r t o n .
-
A t t h e e a s t e r n end of t h i s s e c t i o n t h e u s u a l t y p e
of
v e i n , f i l l i n g a n a r r o wf r a c t u r e ,
comes i na g a i n .
I t i s 1 1/2
t o 3 1/2 inches wide and quite well-mineralized with sulphides f o r 30 f e e t e a s t e r l y , c o n t i n u i n g
on t h e s t r i k e of t h e
s h e a r .I nt h en e x t
20 f e e t t h e s t r i k e
changes t o a b o u t n o r t h
68 d e g r e e s e a s t , t h e d i p s t e e p e n s t o
55 degreesnorthward,and
the vein-matter widens to
a maximum of about 7 i n c h e s n e a r t h e
m i d d l eo ft h es e c t i o n ,d i m i n i s h i n gt o
3 inchesattheeastern
end.
Approximately
at t h i s p o i n t t h e d r i f t
has been widened
a t t h e s o u t h e r n s i d e where a n a r r o w f r a c t u r e r u n so f f
in a
s o u t h e r l yd i r e c t i o n .
The f r a c t u r e s t r i k e s a b o u t n o r t h
30 d e g r e e se a s t
and d i p s 85 degreessouth-eastward.
It contains
q u a r t z 1/4 t o l/Z-inchwidemineralizedwithsulphides.
It is
reported that fine free gold
was found i n t h e main vein near
t h i sp o i n t .
The c r o s s c u t - e n t r y i s about 42 f e e t e a s t e r l y f r o m t h i s
pointandin
August1939 t h e f a c e o f t h e d r i f t was about90
- 4e -
f e e t beyond t h e c r o s s c u t .
For t h e f i r s t 1 5 f e e t t h e w i d t h
i s l e s s t h a n 3 i n c h e s b u t in t h e n e x t 107 f e e t t ' 3 about 80
feet,pastthecros~scut-entrythevein-matter,rangingfrom
2 1/2 t o 8 inches,averagesbetween
5 and 6 i n c h e s i n w i d t h .
In t h i s s e c t i o n s u l p h i d e s p r o b a b l y
form l e s s t h a n 3 per cent
of t h e v e i n - m a t t e r e x c e p t w h e r e t h e r e a r e l o c a l c o n c e n t r a t i o n s ; one such concentration occurs
a t a p o i n t 10 f e e t w e s t from
t hcer o s s c u t - e n t r y .
The l a s t p a r t of .the d r i f t
erly
was d r i v e n t h r o u g h b a d l y - s h a t t e r e d groundand i n t h e l a s t 13
f e e tt h ev e i nr a n g e s
from I. 1/2 t o 3 incheswide.
The d i p
The f a c e of t h e d : r i f t has been
h e r e i s 70 degreesnorthward.
advanced s i n c e t h e p r o p e r t y was examined.
Ten samples taken from the Musketeer vein
i:n t h e "Main
Drift," a t p o s i t i o n s i n d i c a t e d
on F i g . 3, werep:rincipally
from t h e p a r t s of t h e v e i n r e g a r d e d a s
most a p t t o c o n t a i n
s u b s t a n t i a lv a l u e si ng o l d .
This e x c l u d e st h ep a r t
of t h e
d r i P tf o l l o w i n gt h ew i d es h e a r .
The samplesgiveanindicat i o r l of t h e r a n g e of w i d t h s and values but were
-not c l o s e l y
enoughspaced t o p e r m i t e s t i m a t e s of averagewid.thsandvalues.
The d a t a f r o m t h i s s a m p l i n g a r e
shown i n t h e f o l l o w i n g t a b l e .
-
49
-
Sample No.
'Nidth
Inches
Gold
oz.perton
Silver
o z .p e rt o n
White crumbly vein-matter,
little. sulphide mineralization.
0.14
Trace
Q w r t z with sulphides.
4.95
4.1
Banded v e i n w i t h some sulphidesandgouge.
2.34
1.6
Banded v e i n - m a t t e r w i t h
sulphides.
2.64
.2
4
hstyquartz,
1.54
0.6
5 1/2
Banded q u a r t z ,w e l l - m i n e r a l ized with sulphides.
3.00
2.8
5 3/4
Banded q u a r t z w i t h s u l p h i d e s .
1.56
3 2
6 1/2
Q u a r t z w i t h some s u l p h i d e s .
0.56
0.6
6 1/2
Crushed v e i n - m a t t e r ,q u a r t z
w i t h some s u l p h i d e s .
0.96
1.0
Q u a r t z w i t h some p y r i t e .
0.30
0. I
7
4
11'2
4 1,/2
I
,Y
Description
3
01
0
I
6
some s u l p h i d e s .
.
The T r a i l v e i n i s exposed i n an a d i t : i n t h e s u r f a c e
c u t se x t e n d i n gs o u t h e r l yf r o mt h ea d i t :
and i n a b r a n c h - d r i f t
runningsoutherlyfromthe
"Main Drift" on t h e Musketeervein.
The a v e r a g e s t r i k e of t h e v e i n i s 15 t o 20 de&=;
e a s t of
n o r t h ,t h ed i p
i s n e a r l yv e r t i c a l .
The w i d t h of t h e v e i n
ranges from a f r a c t i o n of an i n c h t o 1 2 i n c h e s .I nt h eb r a n c h d r i f t s o u t h e r l y from t h e "Ma.in Drift," a s f a r a s shown on
Fig.3,theveinconsists
of v e r y n a r r o w f r a c t u r i n g c o n t a i n i n g
"Main
q u a r t z and some s u l p h i d e s . On t h e n o r t h e r n s i d e o f t h e
Drift" t h e T r a i l v e i n i s d i s p l a c e d about 2 f e e t to t h e west of
t h e segment on t h e s o u t h e r n s i d e of t h e "Main Drift." I t i s
reported that since the property
was examined t h e b r a n c h - d r i f t
on t h e Trail vein has been extended southerly
f o r about350
f e e t i n which d i s t a n c e t h e w i d t h i n c r e a s e s t o a s
much a s one
f o o t ; and t h a t f o r a l e n g t h of about 70 f e e t , v a l u e s , r e g a r d e d
a s c o m e r c i a l , wereobtained.
The p o r t a l o f t h e 'Trail v e i n
a d i t i s about 1 2 2 f e e t h i g h e r t h a n ,
and400
f e e ts o u t h e r l y
from t h e w e s t e r n p o r t a l of t h e "Main Drift" on t h s Musketeer
v e i n . The
veinadit,inabout
33 f e e t when t h e l m ' i t e r
examined it, was timbered for about 20 feet
f r o m .theportal.
I t is reportedthatthisworking
was a l s o e x t e n d e 3 s o u t h e r l y .
Where not concealed by t i m b e r , t h e v e i n r a n g e s f r o m
1 1/2 t o
1 2 i n c h e si nw i d t h ,
it h a s v e r y i r r e g u l a r w a l l s
and i n p a r t
i s ' f r o z e n t o one w a l l . The wall-rock i s g r e a t l y a l t e r e d .
The v e i n - m a t t e r c o n s i s t s
of w e l l - c r y s t a l l i z e d vuggy q u a r t z ,
much or' which i s h e a v i l ym i n e r a l i z e dw i t hs u l p h i d e s .
The s u l p h i d e s ,p y r i t e ,s p h a l e r i t e ,g a l e n a
and a l i t t l e c h a l c o p y r i t e ,
a r e a r r a n g e d i n bands p a r a l l e l t o t h e . x a l l s
of t h e v e i n ; and
f o r m f r o m 2 t o 3 t o perhap.s40percent.
of t h e v e i n - m a t t e r .
and some of t h e
The p y r i t e is i n c o a r s e w e l l - f o r m e d c r y s t a l s
s p h a l e r i t e i s a l s ow e l l - c r y s t a l l i z e d .
The w r i t e rt o o k two
samplestoward t h e i n n e r end of the working.
__.
"
, T r a i l
T
Ar
I
"
No.
Nidth
Inches
11
8 l/2
Sample
12
-
7
Description
I
Heavily-mineralized veinmatter.
Q u a r t z w i t h much l e s s s u l .
p h i d e s ,n e a rh e a v i l y m i n e r a l i z e ds e c t i o n ,
Gold
o z . cler
tor.
9.34
12,04
Y
Silver
oz.per
ton
6.4
6.0
A c u t exposes t h e v e i n f o r a b o u t 8 0 f e e t
southerly up
t h e s l o p e from a p o i n t 8. few f e e t s o u t h e r l y from t h e a d i t p o r t a l . The v e i n exposed i s from 2 l i 2 t o 8 inches wide and
-
51
-
c o n t a i n s much s u l p h i d em i n e r a l i z a t i o n .
About 65 f e e t f r o m
t h e lowerendof
thetrench,quartzstrikingaboutsouth
10
degrees west, diverges from the vein uhen followed southerly.
I t i s 2 t o 8 incheswideandcontains
l i t t l e or no s u l p h i d e
m i n e r a l i z a t i o n ,b u to o n t a i n ss e r i c i t e
and some a n k e r i t i c
main Trail
carbonate. I t i s . w h i t e i n c o n t r a s tw i t ht h er u s t y
vein.Southerlyfromthistrench,cutsindeepoverburden
expose vein-mineralization at two points.
Rob Vein
Some surface workings and
a 45-foot adit on the western
s i d e of R o b i l l a r d C r e e k , i n d i c a t e d n e a r t h e r i g h t
hand s i d e
of p i g . 3, e x p o s e v e i n - m i n e r a l i z a t i o n i n
a narrow f r a c t u r e
which s t r i k e s a b o u t n o r t h
15 d e g r e e s e a s t and d i p s a b o u t 85
degreessouth-eastward.
The v e i n - m i n e r a l i z a t i o n f r o m 2 1/2
inches to 8 incheswide,consists
o f q u a r t z w i t h more o r l e s s
s u l p h i d e s .P a r a l l e ls h e a r s ,s t r i k i n gn o r t h
70 degreeswest
thevein.
and d i p p i n g 65 t o 70 degreessouth-westward,cut
In t h e a d i t t h e s h e a r s w e r e e n c o u n t e r e d
betwe.en 2 % and 33 f e e t
from t h e p o r t a l ,
The v e i n on t h es o u t h e r ns i d e
of t h e s h e a r s
i s o f f s e t 3 1/2 f e e t t o w a r d t h e e a s t , r e l a t i v e t o t h e
segment
on t h e n o r t h e r n s i d e .
The vein,from
3 t o 0 i n c h e sw i d ef o r
25 f e e t from t h e p o r t a l , i s h e a v i l y m i n e r a l i z e d w i t hs u l p h i d e s
a t t h e p o r t a l and w e l l m i n e r a l i z e d f o r t h e r e s t of t h e d i s at the
t a n c e . Beyond 25 f e e t from t h e p o r t a l it narrows,and
s o u t h e r n s i d e of t h e s h e a r s it c o n s i s t s o f q u a r t z 3 t o 5 i n c h e s
widecontaining 2 o r 3 p e r c e n t p y r i t e a n d
some c h l o r i t e .
Sampling i n d i c a t e d high v a l u e s i n g o l d for t h e h e a v i l y - m i n e r low v a l u e s f o r t h e poorly-mineralized maalj.zed material and
of t h e f a u l t .
A c u t on t h e e a s t e r i a l on t h e s o u t h e r n s i d e
t e r n s i d e of t h e c r e e k e x p o s e d s h e a r i n g b u t d i d n o t e x p o s e
vein-mineralization.
Musketeer No. 1 Vein
This vein can be seen under the water for about
50 f e e t
along the western side of
Sam Craig Creek a t a b o u t 1 , 2 0 0 f e e t
e l e v a t i o n . I t hasbeenexposedbystrippingextendingsouthe r l yu pt h es l o p e
on t h e w e s t e r n s i d e
of t h ec r e e k .
Two c u t s ,
i n d e e po v e r b u r d e n ,s h o r td i s t a n c e ss o u t h e r l yf r o mt h e
end o f
t h es t r i p p i n gd i dn o te x p o s et h ev e i n .T h e s ew o r k i n g s ,
indic a t e d i n t h e lower l e f t hand c o r n e r o f F i g . 3, expose a s h e e t e d
zone 2 t o 3 f e e t wide i n which c l o s e l y s p a c e d s u b - p a r a l l e l
j o i n t s o r f r a c t u r e s s t r i k e about n o r t h 15 d e g r e e s e a s t and d i p
about 6'5 degreeseastward.
Along t h e e a s t e r n s i d e of t h e
sheeted zone t h e r e a r e some n a r r o w s t r i n g e r s . o f q u a r t z . ' Along
thewesternsidevein-mineralization,consisting
of q u a r t z
w i t h some c a l c i t e i r r e g u l a r l y m i n e r a l i z e d w i t h s u l p h i d e s ,
-
52
-
I
ranges f r o m 3 t o 8 i n c h e s i n w i d t h , p i n c h i n g
o r s - # e l l i n gi n
s h o r td i s t a n c e s .
The s u l p h i . d e s p, y r i t e s, p h a l e r i - t e g, a l e n a
and c h a l c o p y r i t e , i n s m a l la g g r e g a t e si r r e g u l a r l yd i s t r i b u t e d
1 t o 15percent.
of t h e
throughthegangue,formroughly
v e i nm a t t e r .
Two -samplesweretaken
from thisvein.
1 1 1
Sample
No.
Vidth
Inches
p:
"----l
Silver
oz.per
Description
ton
10 f e e t abovecreek.
'
Quartz, with some p y r i t e ,
14 f e e t above
creek.
1.28
~
-
Note: Sulphides formed roughly 15. per cent.
of
ofsample
sample No- 13, and 3 p e rc e n t .
No. 14.
Bonus Vein
An a d i t - d r i f t on t h i s -vein i s s i t u a t e d a b o u t 1 , 5 0 0 f e e t
a l m o s td u ew e s tf r o mt h eT r a i lv e i na d i t .
The Bc'nus a d i t i s
ai; a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1 , 4 0 0 f e e t e l e v a t i o n
on the nort,h-western
s i d e of a n o r t h - e a s t e r l y - t r e n d i n g draw. A t i n t e r v a l s i n t h e
draw, f o r a b o u t 800 f e e t do.wn-streamfrom t h e a d j t , t h e r e a r e
The s h e a r i n g
exposures of s h e a r i n gi nt h eq u a r t z - d i o r i t e .
t r e n d sn o r t h - e a s t e r l y
anddipssteeplysouth-eastward.
The
wall-rock i s g r e a t l y a l t e r e d and a t some p o i n t s q u a r t z a n d
some p y r i t ea r ed e v e l o p e di nt h es h e a r .S o u t h - w e s t e r l yf r o m
t h e a d i t - p o r t a l , a t h i g h e re l e v a t i o n s ,t h e r ea r ei n d i c a t i o n s
of t h e s h e a r , and a t a b o u t 1 7 5 f e e t r i b b o n e d q u a r t z
5 inches
wide i s exposed. The a d i t f o l l o w s t h es h e a rs o u t h - w e s t e r l y
f o r a b o u t1 0 0f e e t .
A t t h ep o r t a lq u a r t z
4 t o 6 incheswide
c o n t a i n sv e r yl i t t l es u l p h i d em i n e r a l i z a t i o n .
The wall-rock
i s g r e a t l y a l t e r e d on both sides of t h e s h e a r for a t o t a l
widthofabout
5 f e e t .T h i s
vej.n was notsampled by t h e
writer.
"
"
The Buccaneer group consists of t h e e i g h t
BUCCANEW GROUP. c l a i m s ,D i c t a t o r
No. 1 t o 2 :inclusive,
(No.9 - Fig.1)
recorded
in November 1938.
Buccaneer
N.P.L., w i t hh e a do f f i c e
Mines,Limited,
i n Vancouver, i s t h er e g i s t e r e d owner. The c l a i m sa r es i t u a t e d s o u t h - e a s t o f t h e p r o p e r t y o f MusketeerEines,Limited,
and a r e r e a c h e d by a c o n t i n u a t i o n of t h e t r a i l which serves
"
- 53
-
t h a tp r o p e r t y .
The Buccaneer camp, a ta b o u t1 , 7 0 0f e e te l e v a t i o n , i s about 1 3/4 m i l e s by t r a i l f r o m t h e u p p e r Xusket e e r camp. On the Buccaneer, the surl'ace generally slopes
s t e e p l y . I t i s c u t by draws and by depressions,whichcross
thegeneralslopeleaving
swampy a r e a s a n d i s o l a t e d r o c k hummocks. Q u a r t z - d i o r i t eu n d e r l i e st h ep r o p e r t y .
-
When t h e p r o p e r t y was examined i n August1939 t h e ground
hadbeenfacedup
f o r a n a d i t - p o r t a l , a t approximately 1900
f e e te l e v a t i o n .
From t h e p o r t a l t o
a p o i n tr o u g h l y5 0 0f e e t
2040 f e e t e l e v a t i o n , t h e r e w e r e c u t s
s o u t h 30 d e g r e e s w e s t , a t
a ti n t e r v a l sa l o n gt h ec o u r s e
of a v e i n . Thence about 225
f e e t , s o u t h 55 d e g r e e s w e s t , . a c r o s s
a swamp, a c u t , a t 2050
f e e te l e v a t i o n ,
exposed s i m i l a rv e i n - m a t e r i a l .
h new
camp
was b e i n gc o n s t r u c t e d when t h e p r o p e r t y was examined. I t i s
understood t h a t after t h e camp had been constructed underground
work was commenced and has c o n t i n u e ds i n c et h a tt i m e ;
It is
r e p o r t e d t h a t a second a d i t has b e e n s t a r t e d ' a n d t h a t a n
arrangemen.t has been made with th.e Bralorne Nines, Limited,
whereby t h a t company h a s t a k e n o v e r t h e p r o p e r t y .
of a branching quartz-filled fracture
The dyke was not well exposed
in the
s u r f a c ec u t s ,b u ta p p e a r e dt ob e
8 o r 10 f e e tw i d e .P r o b a b l y
t h e a t t i t u d e of t h e dyke does not d i f f e r g r e a t l y from t h a t of
thevein,whichstrikesaboutnorth
25 degrees east and d i p s
from 75 degrees t o 85 degreessoutheastward..
In detailthe
1 l/Z t o 10
wallsappearirregular
and t h e w i d t h r a n g e s f r o m
i n c h e s .P a r t s
of t h ev e i na r es h e e t e d
o r r i b b o n e dp a r a l l e l
w i t ht h ew a l l s .S u l p h i d e sc o n s i s t i n go fs c a t t e r e dg r a i n s
of
c h a l c o p y r i t e ,g a l e n aa n dp o s s i b l y
some p y r i t e , f o r m a minor
Some f i n e p a r t i c l e s of f r e e
percentage of t h e v e i n - f i l l i n g .
gold were seen in quartz from the surface cuts.
The v e i n c o n s i s t s
i n an andesite dyke..
of t h e f a c e a t t h e a d i t - p o r t a l , r i b In the upper hslf
boned quartz averaged about
3 incheswidebetween'well-defin.ed walls. Midwaydown
t h ef a c e' t h el o o t - w a l lc u t sa c r o s s
floor
t o a p a r a l l e l s l i p which from the intersection to the
formed t h ef o o t - w a l l of q u a r t z 10 incheswide.
A sample
a c r o s st h er i b b o n e dq u a r t z ,
3 incheswide,assayed:Gold,
1 . 7 0 o z .p e rt o n ;s i l v e r ,0 . 4
0 2 . p e rt o n :
and a sample
a c r o s s t h e 10 i n c h e s of q u a r t z ,l o w e ri nt h ef a c e ,a s s a y e d :
p e rt o n ;s i l v e r ,t r a c e .
Dyke-rock was exposed
Gold, 0.62oz.
f o r 2 1/2 f e e t i n t h e h a n g i n g - w a l l of t h e v e i n , and f o r about
6 f e e t i n t h e foot-wall.
.In t h e 5 0 0 - f o o t s e c t i o n e x t e n d i n g s o u t h - w e s t e r l y f r o m
theportaltherewere15cutsthroughoverburden',usuallynot
more t h a n 2 f e e t d e e p .
In a c u t a b o u t 70 f e e t f r o m t h e p o r t a l
- 5 4 -
'
a sample was t a k e n a c r o s s 5 inches of ribbonedquartzwhich
assayed:Gold,3.30
0 2 . p e rt o n ;s i l v e r ,
0.8 oz.perton.
In t h e c u t s between 450 and500 f e e t from t h e p o r t a l , t h e
v e i n shows a tendency t o s p l i t and some of t h e b r a n c h e s r u n
intothequartz-dioriteatthewestwall
of t h e d:yke. From
was n o t exposedon t h e p r o j e c this point southerly the vein
t i o n of t h e s t r i k e .
For some d i s t a n c et h e ground i s swampy
and the overburden may be a good dealdeeper .thanelsewhere.
About 225 f e e t t o t h e south-west, a c r o s s t h e swamp, a s i n g l e
cutexposes a s i m i l a r v e i n , a b o u t 1 2 5 f e e t w e s t e r l y f r o m t h e
p r o j e c t i o n of t h e v e i n expo:;ed i nt h e5 0 0 - f o o ts e c t i o n .T h i s
of a dykeand i t s a t t i t u d e
vein is a l s o n e a r t h e e a s t e r n w a l l
i s a b o u tt h e same a st h ev e i ni nt h e5 0 0 - f o o ts e c t i o n .
A
sample a c r o s s t h e v e i n h e r e a v e r a g i n g
3 3./4 inches wide, assayed:Gold,2.60cz.perton;silver,
0.8 02. perton.This
exposure may be on a p a r a l l e l v e i n or may be a f a u l t e d segment
of t h e v e i n exposed i n t h e 5 0 0 - f o o t s e c t i o n , i n
which case the
f a u l t may l i e below t h e S W ~ P .
The fourCrown-grantedclaims:
i
&
,
Lot
1644; Te:n, Lot
1645;
yoU, Lot
1646;
and
L o t 1647,wererecorded.
i n 1912
andwereCrown-granted
i n 1921. The r e g i s McLeod ofVancouver.
The c l a i m s ' a r e
t e r e d owner i s JohnDavid
situated in the eastern part
of t h e a r e a a n d e x t e n d i n
a line
from t h e s l o p e s o f Big I n t e r i o r Mountainwesterly-across
You
Creek.
Approximately
1 2 miles
from
the
head
of
Eledwell Sound
a branchleavesthe
mainBedwell t r a i l on t h e n o r t h s i d e
of
You Creekand,
i n a l i t t l e l e s s t h a n a mile, climbs. about
1 , 1 0 0f e e tt ot h e
You camp. The t r a i lp a s s e st h r o u g hb u r n e d
t e r r i t o r y and i s i n poorcondition.
YOU GROUP.
(80.10 - F i g . 1 )
e,
"
~
-
~
Work was done on t h ea ti n t e r v a l s
from t h ed i s c o v e r y
in 1 9 1 2 u n t i l about 1 9 3 4 . R e f e r e n c e sa p p e a ri n . s e v e r a 1
Annual
R e p o r t s ,M i n i s t e r of Mines, B r i t i s h Columbia, f r o m 1913 t o
340 f e e t
1933 i n c l u s i v e . I n t h a tp e r i o da na d i t - d r i f ta b o u t
long and a loweroneabout
7 f e e tl o n gw e r ed r i v e n ,s e v e r a l
s u r f a c e c u t s w e r e made, a n d l o g b u i l d i n g s w e r e c o n s t r u c t e d
for variouspurposes.
A sm.all mill b u i l ta b o u t 1.50 f e e t below
the longer adit
was c o n n e c t e d w i t h t h e a d i t b y
a wire-tramway.
The p r o p e r t y hadbeen l y i n g , i d l e f o r some y e a r s when t h e w r i t e r examined it i n 1939. The b u i l d i n g sh a v es u f f e r e d
somewhat
through time and the camp-building
i s now q u i t e d i l a p i d a t e d .
The workings a r e s i t u a t e d on t h e n o r t h - e a s t e r n s i d e
of
You Creek. A t r i b u t a r y , wh.ich f l o w ss o u t h - w e s t e r l yi n t o
You
a narrowgorge t o
Creek i n a s e r i e s of cascades,occupies
about2,000feetelevation,where
it e n t e r s a s h a l l o w e rg u l l y .
i s ir. t h e g o r g e a t the nor-h-western
The u p p e r a d i t - p o r t a l
- 55 -
I
!
~
s i d e o f t h e t r i b u t a r y c r e e k a t approximately 2,000 f e e t e l e v a t i o n . The camp b u i l d i n g , a t a p p r o x i m a t e l y t h e same e l e v a t i o n , i s s i t u a t e d a shortdistancenorth
o f t h e t r i b u t a r y on
t h e main s l o p e t o You Creek and a b l a c k s m i t h ' s s h o p a l s o
at
a b o u tt h e same e l e v a t i o n i s s i t u a t e d j u s t s o u t h
of t h e t r i b u t a r y . The lower a d i t , t h e c u t s
betweenthetwo
a d i t s , and t h e
m i l l , a r e s i t u a t e d - o n t h e s l o p e t o You Creek n o r t h o f t h e t r i butary.
The u p p e r a d i t i s a d r i f t whichfollows a v e i n f o r about
f r o m t h ep o r t a l o f t h ea d i tt h ev e i n
340 f e e t .N o r t h - e a s t e r l y
i s exposed a t i n t e r v a l s i n t h e
bed of t h ec r e e k .
Because o f
was n o t f o l t h e p r e c i p i t o u s n a t u r e of t h e c o u n t r y t h e c r e e k
lowed above a 3 0 - f o o t w a t e r f a l l , t h e f o o t
o f which i s about
295 f e e t n o r t h - e a s t e r l y f r o m t h e p o r t a l
and 225 f e e t h i g h e r
As exposed i n t h e c r e e k and i n t h e a d i t . t h e
thantheadit.
main v e i n - f r a c t u r i n g f o l l o w s t h e n o r t h - w e s t e r n
wall o f a l i g h t greenish andesite dyke, from
8 i n c h e s t o a b o u t 4 f e e t wide,
which c u t st h r o u g hq u a r t z - d i o r i t e .
The n o r t h - w e s t e r nw a l l of
the vein i s quartz-dioriteexcept f o r a short distance in the
d r i f t about 290 f e e t from t h e p o r t a l , andapproximately v e r t i c a l l y above t h a t p o i n t i n t h e c r e e k
at the 30-foot waterfall.
Here the fracture cuts through
a s p l i t or branch-dykewhich,
followedwesterly,divergesfromthemaindyke.
The f r a c t u r i n g a l o n g t h e wall of t h e maindyke i s somewhat s i n u o u s b u t
h a sa na v e r a g es t r i k e
of a b o u tn o r t h 60 d e g r e e se a s t .S t e e p
dipsbothnorth-westwardandsouth-eastwarawereobserved,the
In t h eq u a r t z - d i o r i t en o r t h a v e r a g ed i p i s c l o s e t o v e r t i c a l .
w e s t e r l y from t h e main f r a c t u r e , b r a n c h - f r a c t u r e s w e r e
observed, which when follcmred e a s t e r l y c o n v e r g e v d t h t h e m a i n
f r a c t u r e .T h e i rr e l a t i o n s h i pw i t ht h e ' m a i nf r a c t u r e
i s thus
t h e same a s t h a t between the branch and main dyke.
I n t h e main f r a c t u r e , a l o n g t h e d y k e , v e i n - m a t t e r c o n s i s t s of q u a r t z with some c a r b o n a t e gangue i r r e g u l a r l y m i n e r a l i z e dw i t h ' s u l p h i d e s .
The veinrangesfrom
3 t o 27 i n c h e s
i s u s u a l l y from
b u tu s u a l l y i s l e s s t h a n a footwide.There
1/2 a n i n c h t o two i n c h e s o f gouge a l o n g t h e walls of t h e
f r a c t u r e . I n g e n e r a lt h e gouge c o n s i s t s of c r u s h e dw a l l - r o c k
b u t a t some p o i n t s it c o n t a i n sq u a r t z and s u l p h i d e s . The
whitecarbonategangueoccursinirregularmassesalongthe
v e i n .P a r t s
o f t h ev e i na r er i b b o n e d
by f r a c t u r i n g p a r a l l e l
w i t ht h e walls. Sulphidesocourasbandsinparts
of t h e
v e i n , and l o c a l l y i n some unbanded p a r t s formimportantpercentages of t h e t o t a l v e i n - m a t e r i a l , b u t
much of t h e v e i n
c o n s i s t s of w h i t e g a n g u e c o n t a i n i n g v e r y l i t t l e s u l p h i d e
i s t h e m o s t abundantsulphide;chalm i n e r a l i z a t i o n .P y r i t e
c o p y r i t e , s p h a l e r i t e and some g a l e n a a r e a l s o p r e s e n t . M i c r o s c o p i c s t u d y of a p o l i s h e d s e c t i o n r e v e a l e d t h e p r e s e n c e
-
56
-
of b l e b s of p y r r h o t i t e w i t h i n masses of chalcopyrite.Chalc o p y r i t e and s p h a l e r i t e occupy F r a c t u r e s w h i c h c u t t h e p y r i t e .
F r e eg o l dh a sb e e nr e p o r t e d
.From t h e p r o p e r t y .
Sampling by
t h e writer i n d i c a t e d a r a t h e r c l o s e a s s o c i a t i o n of gold with
t h es u l p h i d e s .
The s i l v e rc o n t e n tw h i l en o th i g h ,
i s higher
i n t h ea r e a .T e t , r a h e d r i t e
t h a n i n many othersamplestaken
hasbeenreportedfromthisvein,but
was n o t s e e n by t h e
writer.
The mainvein,exposed
inthecreek,
i s u s u a l . 1 ~f r o m 5
t o 9 i n c h e sw i d e .B r a n c h - f r a c t u r e su pt o
6 incheswide
oont a i nl i t t l es u l p h i d em i n e r a l i z a t i o n .
The w r i t e r t o o k t h e two
following samples fromthe main vein exposed
i n the creek.
Assay
Silver
Description
(1) About 1 0 0f e e t from, and
4 0 f e e th i g h e rt h a n ,u p p e r
adit-portal.
7 inches
wide,
q u a r t z w i t h much s u l p h i d e
mineralization.
(2)
3 f e e t f r o m No. 1.
8 i n c h e sw i d e ,q u a r t za n dc a r
bonate,not much sulp'hide
mineralization.
0.76
I
0.4
In the upper adit vein-matter widens from
4 inches at
t h e p o r t a l t o 14inches a t 15 f e e t from t h e p o r t n l , andfrom
with5.n 2 f e e t .
a width of 14inches a t 2 0 f e e t p i n c h e s o u t
of quartz well-mineralized with sulphides.
Thislensconsists
The f r a c t u r e h a s a maximum width of 2 3 incheswhere, a t one
i s gouge 9 incheswidecons i d e of t h e q u a r t z l e n s , t h . e r e
t a i n i n g some q u a r t z and s u l p h i d e s .I nt h en e x t
few f e e t
banded v e i n - m a t t e r , c o n t a i n i n g l e s s s u l p h i d e m i n e r a l i z a t i o n ,
widens t o 8 inchesthennarrows
t o 4 i n c h e s . Be-tween 35
f e e t and105 f e e t from the portal,
banded v e i n - m a t t e r , conis
t a i n i n gc o m p a r , a t i v e l yl i t t l es u l p h i d em i n e r a l i z x t i o n ,
Thence t o 130 f e e t t h e v e i n - f i l l from 4 t o 6 incheswide.
i n g i s 5 1/2 t o 8 incheswide and c o n t a i n s more s u l p h i d e s .
A t 137 f e e t t h e v e i n - m a t t e r h a s
widened t o 20 i n c h e s , it i s
w h i t e and crumbly and contains very
little sulphide minera l i z a t i o n . A t 145 f e e t f r o m t h ep o r t a lt h ev e i n - m a t t e r
is
14 inches wide
and i s much more h e a v i l y m i n e r a l i z e d w i t h s u l phides.
- 57
-
On t h e n o r t h - w e s t e r n s i d e
of t h e d r i f t , 145 f e e t from
t h e p o r t a l , a b r a n c h - f r a c t u r es t r i k e . sn o r t h
70 degreeswest
it c o n v e r g e s , w i t h t h e v e i n
and d i p s s t e e p l y n o r t h - e a s t w a r d ;
155 f e e tf r o mt h ep o r t a l .Q u a r t z ,
up t o 2 1/2 incheswide,
i n t h eb r a n c h - v e i nc o n t a i n s
a littlepyrite.
In t h e main
f r a c t u r ev e i n - m a t t e r ,
14 i n c h e s w i d e 1 4 5 f e e t f r o m t h e p o r t a l ,
narrows t o 1 0 i n c h e s a t 155 f e e t , and t h e n c e t o 205 f e e t i s
5 t o 9 incheswide.
I t c o n s i s t s of q u a r t zc o n t a i n i n g a f a i r
percentage of sulphides.There
i s gouge 1/2 a ni n c ht oa n
i n c hw i d ea l o n ge a c h
wall. The vein-matterwidens
t o 10
i n c h e s 212 f e e t from t h e p o r t a l .
From t h i sp o i n t for about
15 f e e t n o r t h - e a s t e r l y t h e v e i n h a s b e e n s t o p e d t o
a height
o f 20 f e e t above t h e f l o o r of t h e a d i t .
Veinmatterexposed
roof of t h e s t o p e i s 8 t o 14 inches wide.
in the ends and the
From t h e s t o p e t o 260 f e e t from the p o r t a l , t h e v e i n , f a i r l y
well mineralized w i t h sulphides, i s 6 t o 1 2 inches i n width.
From a width or" 9 1/2 i n c h e s , 260 f e e t from the p o r t a l ,
theveinwidensto
2 0 inches a t 262 f e e t , and 27 i n c h e s a t
270 f e e t , t h e n c e it narrows t o 24 i n c h e s a t 285 f e e t , and
t o 1 o r 2 inchesofgougewith
a l i t t l e q u a r t z a t 291 f e e t
from t h ep o r t a l .
This l e n sc o n s i s t sl a r g e l y
of q u a r t z with
bu.t l i t t l es u l p h i d em i n e r a l i z a t i o n .
I t i s crumbly a t t h e
w i d e s tp o i n t .
A t 262 f e e t t h e r e i s w e l l - c r y s t a l l i z e dc a l c i t e
a t t h en o r t h - w e s t e r ns i d e
of t h e l e n s .
Between 262 f e e t and
291 f e e t from the portal the strike
of t h e v e i n i s a p p r o x i m a t e l yn o r t h - e a s t .T h i s
i s t h es e c t i o np r e v i o u s l ym e n t i o n e d ,
i n which t h e r e i s dyke-rock along the north-western wall
of
the drift as well as along the south-western wall
of t h e
v e i n . The n o r t h - w e s t e r n wall o f t h e v e i n i s a narrowhorse
of q u a r t z - d i o r i t e which pinches out where the dyke
to the
In t h e
n o r t h - w e s tc o n v e r g e sw i t ht h e
dyke a t t h e o t h e r w a l l .
remainingsectiontothe
end of t h e d r i f t , a b o u t 340 f e e t
from t h e p o r t a l , t h e v e i n s t r i k e s a b o u t n o r t h
60 degrees
w e s t . I t c o n t a i n s 4 o r 5 i n c h e s of q u a r t zw i t h a f a i r p e r c e n t a g e of s u l p h i d e s .
The w r i t e r t o o k t h e f o l l o w i n g s a m p l e s
in the upper adit.
-
58
-
from t h e v e i n
Distance
from p o r t a l
feet
Width
80
6
Description
Inches
A: Y
-
Gold
oz.per
ton
Silver
p e rt o n
02.
Ribboned q u a r t z w i t h 1 l/'2 i n c h e s
gouge, not much s u l p h i d e .
0.10
Trace
115
6 1/2
Ribboned v e i n , n o t
much s u l p h i d e .
0.30
0.1
165
5 1/2
Ribboned v e i n , not much s u l p h i d e ,
(excludes 2 inchesunmineralized
calcite a t south-eastern wall).
0.20
Nil
Tell-mineralized quartz.
1.04
1.0
4.24
5.2
Much s u l p h i d e m i n e r a l i z a t i o n i n
t w o s t r e a k s , 1 inchand 2 i n c h e s
YNide.
1.18
0.9
Crumbly q u a r t z w i t h a l i t t l e s u l phide minertilization.
Trace
Nil
185
9
208
8
250
11 1/2
270
2?
tf
I1
1
of the
From a rough survey it a p p e a r e d t h a t t h e p o r t a l
lower a d i t is about 210 f e e t s o u t h 70 degreeswestfrom,and
100 f e e t l o w e rt h a n ,t h eu p p e ra d i t - p o r t a l .
The lower a d i t
and t h r e e c u t s between t h e a d i t s e x p o s e f r a c t u r i n g s t r i k i n g
from 60 degrees t o 70 degrees e a s t of n o r t h and d i p p i n g s t e e p No dyke-rock was exposed. The f r a c t u r i n g
ly north-westward.
i s i n q u a r t z - d i o r i t e and c o n t a i n s r a t h e r r u s t y , banded q u a r t z ,
2 to 6 incheswide.Thereareprobabiy
2 f r a c t u r e s and it i s
possible 'that they are branches from the main fracture, which
may be covered by overburden south of these workings.
The claimsCasino Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 5 . w e r e
r e c o r d e di n December 1938and a r eu n d e r (N0.11
F i g . 1 )s t o o d
t o be ownedby
a syndicate or partn e r s h i pc o n s i s t i n g o f A . Bird, J. Crossan,
H. Gordon, A. Morod, V. Murphy, B. Smith and P. N i l l i a m s . The
partnershiphasotherclaimsnear
and a d j o i n i n g . t h e Casino
group. The c l a i m sa r e on t h en o r t h - w e s t e r l ys l o p e s
of Big
I n t e r i o r Mountain, anextremelyruggedsection.
The s l o p e s of
t h em o u n t a i na r es t e e p ,o f t e np r e c i p i t o u s ,a n da r ec u tb yn a r row steep-walleddraws.
A temporary camp was s i t u a t e d on t h e
s o u t h - e a s t e r n s i d e of Bedwell R i v e ra t a b o u t 1 , 5 0 0 . f e e t e l e v a i s about13 1/2 m i l e s by r o a d and p a c k - t r a i l
t i o nT. h ips o i n t
f r o mt h eh e a d
of Bedwell Sound. Approximately 1 m i i e e a s t e r l y
by t r a i l a new camp, a t a b o u t 2 , 7 5 0 f e e t e l e v a t i o n ,
was being
of t h ep a r t n e r s ,
b u i l t i n September1939.BarrySmith,one
was i n charge of work a t t h ep r o p e r t y .P i o n e , e r ' G o l d
Mines of
B . C . , Limited, and a s s o c i a t e di n t e r e s t sw e r e' f i n a n c i n g
and
d i r e c t i n g t h e work.
CASINO GROUP.
-
The r o c k e x p o s e d c o n s i s t s
of q u a r t z - d i o r i t e c u t by many
i s p o r p h y r i t i cD
. iscoverdykes. Much of t h eq u a r t z - d i o r i t e
i e s of f r a c t u r i n g o r s h e a r i n g i n w h i c h v e i n - m i n e r a l i z a t i o n
oocurshadbeen
made a t s e v e r a l p o i n t s Twhen t h e p r o p e r t y was
in
examined.. Surface work on suchoccurrences hadbeendone
four s e c t i o n sr a n g i n g from 3,'200 f e e t t o 4 , 7 5 0 f e e t i n ele,vat i o n and s e p a r a t e d by c o n s i d e r a b l e d i s t a n c e s .
A t a p p r o x i m a t e l y3 , 2 0 0f e e te l e v a t i o n ,a b o u t
a quarter
of a m i l e by t r a i l i n a n e a s t e r l y d i r e c t i o n f r o m t h e
new c k p ;
s u r f a c e c u t s and stripping have been
made a c r o s s a s t e e p narrow draw and extending north-westerly along'
the north-eastern
s i d e o f it. On t h en o r t h - e a s t e r ns i d e
of t h e draw, c u t se x pose a v e i n , f r o m 4 t o 0 o r 10 inches wide, which strikes
aboutnorth30degreeswestand
d i p s north-eastward.Crossing
t h e draw, f o r 2 0 f e e t from t h e n o r t h - e a s t e r n s i d e , b e d r o c k
is
notexposed.
From t h i sp o i n tf o ra b o u t
35 f e e ts o u t h - w e s t e r l y
to the other side
of t h e draw,bed-rockhasbeenexposed
by
is i n
removingfrom 3 t o 10 f e e t of o v e r b u r d e n .H e r et h ev e i n
-
60
-
a r o l l whichpitchesnorthward
a t about 15 degrees. The
thicknessswellstoabout
30 i n c h e s n e a r t h e n o r t h - e a s t e r n
16 i n c h e s 2 8 f e e t
end of t h i s s t r i p p i n g t h e n d i m i n i s h e s t o
from t h e n o r t h - e a s t e r n e n d , t h e n c e t o t h e s o u t h - w e s t e r n
end
of t h e s t r i p p i n g t h e h a n g i n g - w a l l
and p a r t of t h e v e i n h a v e
been removed by erosion.. A t t h es o u t h - w e s t e r n end o f t h e
strippingthefoot-wallstrikesnorth40degreeseast
and
d i p sa b o u t 35 degreessouth-eastward.,
For 3 t o 5 inches f r o m t h e f o o t - w a l l t h e v e i n c o n s i s t s
T h i s i s o v e r l a i n by a h o r s e of
of q u a r t z a n d s u l p h i d e s .
wall-rock a l t e r e d and c u t by v e i n l e t s of q u a r t z e n d s u l p h i d e s .
This i n t u r n i s o v e r l a i n by partly-decomposedmaterialconA t t h et h i c k e s t
t a i n i n g q u a r t z and some u n a l t e r e ds u l p h i d e s .
point the following samples were taken giving
a s e c t i o n of
30inchesnormal
to the foot-wall.
T
Ass,
Gold
o z .p e rt o n
Description
1
Silver
)z. per t o n
Width 3 1/2 i n c h e s , f r i a b l e
v e i n - m a t t e r ,c o n s i s t i n g
of
q u a r t za n ds u l p h i d e sa tf o o t wall.
3.24
2.0
Width 14 inches,horsecontaining vein1et.s with sulphides.
0.50
Trace
Width 1 2 1/2 i n c h e s , decomposed
upper l a y e r , some q u a r t z and
sulphides.
0.60
Trace
As t h e s i z e of t h e v e i n d i m i n i s h e s g o i n g s o u t h - w e s t e r l y , t h e
f o o t - w a l l - l a y e r of quar,tz and sulphides maintains
i t s thickn e s s ,b u tt h eo v e r l y i n gl a y e r ' b e c o m e st h i n n e r .
T:he q u a r t z a t
t h e f o o t - w a l l i s l o o s e l y c r y s t a l l i z e d and i s rudelybanded,
w i t hc o a r s e l y - c r y s t a l l i n ep y r i t e
and w i t hs p h a l e r i t e .
The
s p h a l e r i t e i s coatedwithcovellitedoubtlessderivedfromthe
a l t e r a t i o n of chalcopyrite which i s p r e s e n t i n m:%l1q u a n t i t y .
In g e n e r a l t h e v e i n - m a t t e r i.s p a r t l y decomposed a:nd i s v e r y
friable.
Approximately 150 feet south-westerly
from t h i s s t r i p p i n g t h e r e i s a wide trench which extends
t o the south-west
up t h e s l o p e f o r about 35 f e e t . Overburden i s deepandbedrock was notexposed a t t h e n o r t h - e a s t e r n end o f -;he t r e n c h .
About 5 f e e t from t h e n o r t h - e a s t e r n end, a t 3 , 2 6 5 f e e t e l e v a -
-
61 -
t i o n , 1 i n c ho fr u s t yv e i n - m a t t e r
was exposed.In
10 f e e t
it widens t o about 8 inches of q u a r t z w h i c h s p l i t s and a few
f e e t f a r t h e r 6 inchesofquartz
a t t h e f o o t - w a l l is separated
4 t o 6 i n c h e st h i c k , a t t h e
by a 3-foot horse from quartz
hanging-wall. Yery l i t t l es u l p h i d e m i n e r a l i z a t i o n was seen.
The f o o t - w a l l s t r i k e s n o r t h
35degreeswest
and dips35 t o 40
degreesnorth-eastward.
A c u t4 5f e e tf a r t h e rs o u t h - w e s t e r l y ,
a ta p p r o x i m a t e l y3 , 3 1 0f e e te l e v a t i o n ,e x p o s e s
8 i n c h e s of
vein-matter which i s q u i t e r u s t y f o r 3 i n c h e s f r o m t h e f o o t w a l l . The bedrock i n t h i s s e c t i o n
i s buriedbelowoverburden
4 t o 6 f e e t deep i n w h i c h t h e r e a r e l a r g e b o u l d e r s .
About a t h i r d of a m i l e s o u t h e r l y from t h e s e e x p o s u r e s
a cutexposes a 4-inchquartzvein,and
j u s t s o u t h of t h i s
of a draw, a n a r c u t , on a w e s t e r l y - f a c i n g b l u f f a t t h e h e a d
row shear-zone i s exposed. This zone is markedby
r u s t ys t a i n
10 t o 30 inches wide extending
f o r about 100 f e e t between
3,800and3,875feetapproximateelevations.
The p r i n c i p a l
break i s a narrow f i s s u r e c o n t a i n i n g gouge, some p y r i t e ,
s p h a l e r i t e , and a l i t t l e g a l e n a .
I t s t r i k e sa b o u t due e a s t
and dipsabout 35 degreesnorthward.
About 1,000 f e e t s o u t h - w e s t e r l y by r o u g h t r ' a i l ' f r o m
t h i s e x p o s u r e t h e r e i s m i n e r a l i z a t i o n on t h e n o r t h - e a s t e r n
s i d e o f a drawwhichrunswest
of n o r t h . The draw c r o s s e s
thegeneralslopeofthemountain-sideobliquely,
and on t h e
s o u t h - w e s t e r n s i d e i s s e p a r a t e d from t h e lowerslopes by a
low r i d g e . The n o r t h - e a s t e r n s i d e o f t h e d r a w r i s e s i n low
c l i f f st oj o i nt h es t e e pu p p e rs l o p e s
o f t h em o u n t a i n .
Ex400 f e e t s o u t h e r l y
posures continue at'intervals for about
along the steep north-eastern side
of t h e drawbetween4,150
Between s e o t i o n s
and 4,250 feet, a p p r o x i m a t ee l e v a t i o n s .
where t h e m i n e r a l i z a t i o n i s c o v e r e d w i t h t a l u s t h e s t e e p
wall
of t h e draw i s v e r y r u s t y o v e r a v e r t i c a l r a n g e f r o m
3 or 4
f e e t t o 10 fe.et.Shears
a n db r a n c h i n gf r a c t u r e sc u tt h e
q u a r t z - d i o r i t e and . i n t h e s o u t h e r n h a l f
of t h e e x p o s u r e follow and c u tt h r o u g ha a d e s i t i cd y k e - r o c k .
The majorshearing
appears t o s t r i k e w e s t o f n o r t h
and t o d i p 35 d e g r e e s to 55
degreesnorth-eastward.Sulphidesaredevelopedwithquartz
in the fissures and to
some e x t e n t a r e d i s s e m i n a t e d i n t h e
w a l l s .B r a n c h i n gi r r e g u l a rm a s s e s
of q u a r t zo c c u ri n
some
of t h e f i s s u r e s and some of t h e s e a r e h e a v i l y m i n e r a l i z e d
w i t h p y r i t e ,s p h a l e r i t e and c h a l c o p y r i t e .T h i st y p e
of mine r a l i z a t i o n i s q u i t e similar t o t h a t o b s e r v e d a t t h e d e p o s i t
a t 3 , 2 0 0f e e te l e v a t i o n ,m e n t i o n e de a r l i e ri nt h i sr e p o r t .
I t c o n s i s t s of a l o o s e a g g r e g a t e of q u a r t z c r y s t a l s some of
which a r e a n i n c h
o r so i n i e n g t h .S p h a l e r i t ea n dw e l l c r y s t a l l i z e dp y r i t eo c c u rw i t ht h eq u a r t z .C h a l c o p y r i t e
is
r e c o g n i z a b l e by theunaidedeyeandmicroscopically
is also
-
62
-
s e e ni n t i m a t e l ya s s o c i a t e dw i t ht h es p h a l e r i t e .
The s p h a l e r i t ei nt h e s eo u t c r o p s
i s a l s oc o a t e dw i t hc o v e l l i - t e .M i c r c s copicstudy of p o l i s h e ds e c t i o n s of t h i s m a t e r i a l showed v e i n l e t s of gangue with sphaleri.te and c h a i o o p y r i t e f i l l i n g t h e
fracturesinthequartz
and p y r i t e . S p h a l e r i t e a:nd chalcopyr i t e were a l s o found as small irregular rounded
m:xsses r e p l a c i n gp y r i t e .
Gold was found i nt h ef r a c t u r e s ;a t( c o n t a c t s
between p y r i t e and gangue, and. p y r i t e and s p h a l e r i t e ; and a s t i n y
g r a i n s in t h e p y r i t e .
Two samplesweretaken
from m i n e r a l i z a t i o n of t h i s t y p e i n t h e n o r t h - w e s t e r n h a l f
of t h e e x p o s u r e .
I
Description
------t+
Gold
o zp
. e rt o n
Q u a r t zl e n s 10incheswide,with
much p y r i t e and s p h a l e r i t e .
Branoh-vein 5 i n c h e sw i d e ,l y i n g
8 f e e tt on o r t h ,c o n t a i n i n g
32.
p e rt o n
1
comT h i s t y p e of m i n e r a l i z a t i o n i s exposed l o c a l l y o n l y , i n
p a r a t i v e l ys m a l ll e n s e s
o r s h o r tv e i n s .Q u a r t zw i t hp y r i t e
and some c h a l c o p y r i t e , b u t l i t t l e
o r no s p h a l e r i t e ,o c c u r s
in
s i m i l a rb o d i e si nt h ee x p o s u r e .
The d e p o s i t had notbeen
opened up and accordingly the exposures are
of weathered mat o form a
t e r i a l .Q u a r t z
a n ds u l p h i d em i n e r a l i z a t i o na p p e a r
s m a l l p a r t of t h e whole.
rusty shearS e v e r a lh u n d r e df e e tf a r t h e rs o u t h - e a s t e r l y ,
4,750 feet
i n g i s exposed on s t e e p b l u f f s f r o m 4 , 6 8 5 f e e t t o
a p p r o x i m a t ee l e v a t i o n s .
This s h e a r i n gs t r i k e s
f r o m 70 degrees
e a s t o f n o r t ht oa b o u t
due e a s t and dipsfrom 35 d e g r e e s t o 55
of q u a r t z ,w i t hp y r i t e ,a r s e n o p y degreesnorthward.Lenses
r i t e ,c h a l c o p y r i t e
and some s p h a l e r i t e , a r e d e v e l o p e d i n t h e
s h e a r e dq u a r t z - d i o r i t e .
The r u s t ys h e a r e dr o c k ,
f r o m a few
inches t o about 3 f e e t t h i c k , i s exposed i n t h r e e s e c t i o n s i n
a d i s t a n c e of a b o u t1 7 5f e e t .
Two samplesweretaken
from
bettermineralizedexposures.
.- 63 -
I
Ass
Gold
o z . p e rt o n
Description
5 i n c h e sc o n s i s t i n g o f 3 i n c h e s
q u a r t z and 2 i n c h e s s i l i c i f i e d
shearedquartz-diorite,impregnated with sulphides.
1 0 - i n c hl e n s
sulphides.
Silver
o z . p e rt o n
Trace
0.2
0.0%
Trace
of q u a r t z w i t h
The s i xc l a i m s Trophy Nos. 1 t o 6, s i t u TROPHY GROUP
a t e d on t h e NorthFork
of UrsusCreek,
1939. The
(No.14 - Fig.1)wererecordedinJuneandJuly
r e g i s t e r e d owners a r e James M. McKay and
W. i. D . Davis. The claimscover a d i s c o v e r y on a t r i b u t a r y
When t h e w r i t e r
which flo1Ns n o r t h - w e s t e r l y t o t h e NorthFork.
v i s i t e d t h i s p a r t of t h e a r e a t h e r e w e r e p r a c t i c a l l y
no t r a i l s
but some r o u t e s f o r t r a v e l hadbeenblazedroughly.Since
t h a t t i m e a t r a i l h a s beencutout,
f r o m a c r o s s i n g or" t h e
Bedwell RiverabovePennyCreek
t o Ursus Creek,andalongthe
northernsideofUrsusCreektotheNorthFork,
a total dist a n c e of about 6 m i l e s . The e l e v a t i o n a t t h e f o r k s
i s about
300 f e e t . &om t h i s p o i n t a rough t r a i l l e d t o t h e s i t e of
a tent-camp on t h e s o u t h - e a s t e r n s i d e
o f t h e NorthFork, a t
a p p r o x i m a t e l y1 , 5 0 0f e e te l e v a t i o n ,a b o u t
2 m i l e s from t h e
f o r k s . From t h et e n t - c a m p a t r a i l hadbeenbrushedout
for
a l i t t l e more t h a n a m i l e e a s t e r l y a l o n g t h e s o u t h e r n s i d e
of t h e v a l l e y t o a t r i b u t a r y c r e e k .
The t r i b u t a r y was f o l lowed s o u t h - e a s t e r l y t o t h e headof a canyonwhere the Trophy
I t is
v e i n i s exposed a ta p p r o x i m a t e l y3 , 0 0 0f e e te l e v a t i o n .
reported that since the examination the
t r a i l from the forks
hasbeenimproved,
t h a ts e v e r a lc a b i n s
havebeen b u i l t , and
t h a t development work has been done
on t h e v e i n .
T h i s p a r t of t h e a r e a i s u n d e r l a i n by g r a n i t i c r o c k of
t h eC o a s t Range i n t r u s i v e s . The rock i s dominantlyquartzd i o r i t e o f medium t o c o a r s e t e x t u r e b u t l o c a l l y t h e r e a r e
marked c h a n g e si nt e x t u r e .
O n t h ed i v i d eb e t w e e nt h ef o r k s ,
a c o n s i d e r a b l e mass of f i n e - g r a i n e d q u a r t z - d i o r i t e o u t c r o p s ,
and i n t h e canyon a s h o r t d i s t a n c e below t h e Trophy v e i n a
d a r k e rf i n e - g r a i n e dg r a n i t i cr o c k ,i m p r e g n a t e dw i t hs u l p h i d e s ,
i s exposed. The rocksnearthehead
o f t h e canyon a r e v e r y
much a l t e r e d h y d r o t h e r m a l l y ; t h e y c o n s i s t p r i n c i p a l l y
of t h e
u s u a lq u a r t z - d i o r i t eb u ti n c l u d e
some l i g h t f i n e - g r a i n e d
d y k e st o oa l t e r e d
for d e t e r m i n a t i o n . A t some p o i n t s i n t h i s
p a r t of theareasmallremnants
o f volcanicrockareexposed.
-
64
-
The canyon, 30 o r 40 f e e t w i d e and a b o u t 75 f e e t deep
n e a rt h eh e a d ,t r e n d sw e s t
of north. I t c u t s i n t o a g r a s s y
basin which t o t h e s o u t h and s o u t h - e a s t r i s e s t o t h e d i v i d e
betweenUrsusCreek
and theNorthFork.
A small streamfrom
the. basin enters the
canyon by a narrow chute, following
a
t
h
e
%mil
a
t
t
h
e
head
of
s h e a r i, n
canyon.
theprecipitous
The s h e a r , which s t r i k e s no.rth 35 degrees west and d i p s 65
t o 70degreesnorth-eastward,contains
some q u a r t z . A sample
t a k e n a c r o s s 14 i n c h e s , t h e w i d t h
o f t h es h e a r ,a s s a y e d :
nil
i n g o l d and s i l v e r .
"
The Trophy v e i n , s t r i k i n g n o r t h
70 d e g r e e s e a s t and d i p canyon a few f e e t
ping SO d e g r e e s s o u t h - e a s t w a r d , o r c s s e s t h e
of t h e canyon
n o r t h e r l y from t h ec h u t e .
On t h e e a s t e r n s i d e
On
t h e v e i n i s exposed for about 40 f e e t a b o v et h ef l o o r .
t h e o p p o s i t e s i d e 25 f e e t w e s t e r l y from t h e f o o t of t h i s e x p o s u r e t h e v e i n i s a g a i n exposed, and westerly from this
p o i n t i s c o n t i n u o u s l y exposed f o r a h o r i z o n t a l d i s t a n c e of
about 75 f e e t . The end o f t h i se x p o s u r e i s about,50 f e e t
a b o v et h ef l o o r
of t h e canyon. Westerlyfromthispoint
at
d i s t a n c e s of approximately10,
45 and 5 0 f e e t , where t h e s i d e of t h e canyon i s l e s s p r e c i p i t o u s , t h e v e i n
i s exposed i n
s h a l l o wc u t s .
The v e i n was t h u s i n d i c a t e d for a l e n g t h of
about 175 feet through
a v e r t i c a l r a n g e of about 65 f e e t .
The width of v e i n - m a t t e r , s e e n by t h e w r i t e r , rar.gedfrom 6
t o 11 i n c h e s i n t h e h i g h e s t e x p o s u r e s t o a b o u t
1
B inchesnear
t h e bottom o f t h e canyon. I t i s r e p o r t e d t h a t s i n c e t h e
p r o p e r t y wasexamined a n a d i t h a s b e e n d r i v e n s o u . t h e r l y , f r o m
t h e w e s t e r n s i d e o f thecanyon, t o c r o s s c u t t h e v e i n ,
and
t h a t some d r i f t i n g h a s b e e n doneon t h e v e i n .
There i s some gouge along the walls of t h e v e i n ; t h e
r e s t of t h e v e i n - f i l l i n g c o n s i s t s p r i n c i p a l l y
of banded
q u a r t z c o n t a i n i n g a smallpercentage
of s u l p h i d e s i r r e g u l a r l y
d i s t r i b u t e d .P a r t s
of t h e v e i n c o n s i s t
of whitequartzwhich
i s n o t banded,,Thinpartings
o f grey gouge between p l a t e s of
quartzfrom a 1/'4-inch t o 2 o r 3 i n c h e s t h i c k , g,i.ve t h e v e i n
i t s bandedappearance.
The p a r t i n g sa r ee s s e n t i e . 1 l yp a r a l l e l
t o t h e w a l l s and c o n t a i n a good d e a l of s e r i c i t e . Some o f
t h e p a r t i n g s havebeen s i l i c i f i e d and c o n s o l i d a t e d w i t h t h e
q u a r t z .S u l p h i d em i n e r a l si nf i n eg r a i n sa r e
foundalongthe
p a r t i n g s and s m a l la g g r e g a t e s of coars.ersulphidesoccur
t h r o u g ht h eq u a r t z .
The most abundantsulphide j.s p y r i t e ;
g a l e n a ,s p h a l e r i t e
and c h a l c o p y r i t ea r ea l s op r e s e n t .F r e e
g o l d i n small a n g u l a rg r a i n s i s f r e q u e n t l y r e c o g n i z e d i n t h e
w h i t eq u a r t z .P o l i s h e ds e c t i o n sf r o mt h i sv e i n ,s t u d i e d
mic r o s c o p i c a l . l y ,i n d i c a t e dt h a tt h es u l p h i d e so c c u ri nf r a c t u r e s i n t h eq u a r t z .I n t e r g r o w t h s
of s p h a l e r i t e and chalcopyr i t e wereobserved i n f r a c t u r e s c u t t i n g p y r i t e g r a i n s
and a t
,
- 65 -
,!
themargins of p y r i t eg r a i n s .
Galenaandchalcopyritewere
observed i n f r a c t u r e s w h i c hc u tp y r i t ea n ds p h a l e r i t e .
Gold
a t the margins of pyrite and
was f o u n d w i t h g a l e n a i n p y r i t e ,
of galena graj.ns,
and i n t h e gangue away from sulphides.
in
The w r i t e r s e l e c t e d 3 or 4 pounds o f w h i t e q u a r t z ,
p i e c e s a v e r a g i n g more t h a n a n o u n c e i n w e i g h t , e s s e n t i a l l y
f r e e f r o m r u s t or p y r i t e .I ns e l e c t i n gt h i sm a t e r i a l
two
p i e c e sw h i c hc o n t a i n e dv i s i b l eg o l dw e r er e j e c t e d .
The sample
assayed: Gold, 0.02 0 2 . p e rt o n ;s i l v e r ,t r a c e .
A sample of
s e l e c t e ds u l p h i d e - b e a r i n gm a t e r i s la s s a y e d :
Gold,2.70
oz.
p e rt o n ;s i l v e r ,
0.7 oz. p e rt o n .
The w r i t e rt o o kt h r e e
samples across the width
of t h e v e i n , a s s a y s c o n c e r n i n g w h i c h
are as follow:
Width
Inches
9 1/2
14
16
Ass
Gold
)z. p e rt o n
Description
Silver
oz. p e rt o n
Prom e a s t e r n s i d e of
canyon,about
30 f e e t
above t h e f l o o r .
Banded v e i n , l i t t l e sulphide mineralization,
0.30
Trace
12 feeteasterlyfrombott o m o f e x p o s u r e ,e a s t e r n
sideofcanyon.
Barided
vein,littlesulphide
mineralization.
0.08
Trace
0.58
0.6
On w e s t e r n s i d e o f c a n y o n ,
5 f e e t w e s t e r l y from bott o m o f exposure. Banded
v e i n , some s u l p h i d e mineralization.
Sulphide mineralization in the vein
i'msmuch more abundant
on t h e w e s t e r n s i d e of t h e canyon t h a n on t h e e a s t e r n s i d e
on
and r e l i a b l e i n d e p e n d e n t s a m p l i n g i n d i c a t e d t h a t v a l u e s
t h e w e s t e r n s i d e of t h e canyonwere much b e t t e r t h a n on t h e
e a s t e r ns i d e .
The p r o j e c t i o no ft h es h e a r
exposed a t t h e
headof t h e canyonwould i n t e r s e c t t h e v e i n i n t h e f l o o r
of
t h e canyon.Thispoint
was c o v e r e dw i t hd e b r i s
and couldnot
I t i s p o s s i b l et h a tt h es h e a rh a s
a bearing on
beexamined.
t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n of v a l u e s i n t h e v e i n .
However, it should
be observed that free gold
was found i n q u a r t z f r o m t h e e x posure on t h e e a s t e r n s i d e o f t h e
canyon.
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66
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S m e r s h i p of claimsThunderbird Nos. 1
THUNDERBIRD GROUP. t o 8 ,r e c o r d e di n
May andJune1939,
is
(~0.15 Pig.1)covered
by a p a r t n e r s h i pa g r e e m e n b
t etween B. €1. Symns, J. !:[. Harvey, H. F.
Martin, G. A . Williams and i). V . Evans.Otherclaims
i nt h e
same v i c i n i t y were a l s o l o c a t e d by t h e p a r t n e r s . The claims
a r e s i t u a t e d south of t h e main f o r k o f UrsusCreek.
In going
to the property the writer follo%ed
a blazed route from the
o f Ur'sus
c r o s s i n g o r t h e Bedwell River along the northern side
Creek f o r about 4 1/2 m i l e s . The r o u t e t h e n c r o s s e d t o t h e
s o u t h e r n s i d e on a l o g jam and continued on that :;ide past
t h e f o r k s t o t h ep r o p e r t y , a t o t a l d i s t a n c e e s t i m a t e d a t 8
m i l e s . A w e l l - l o c a t e d t r a i l would probably b e s h o r t e r t h a n
t h er a t h e ri r r e g u l a rr o u t ef o l l o w e d .
I n t h e autumn of 1939
a t r a i l upUrsusCreek
on t h e n o r t h e r n s i d e was cc.t out as
farastheforks.
-
The s o u t h e r n s i d e of t h e v a l l e y r i s e s s t e e p l y
from
Ursus.Creek. Down t h i ss t e e ps l o p e ,f r o mt h el a r g : eb a s i ni n
which it r i s e s , Thunder Cree'k p o u r s i n a s e r i e s of cascades.
From t h e b a s i n t h e c o u r s e
of t h e c r e e k i s n o r t h e r l y t o t h e
j u n c t i o n w i t h a westerly-flowing branch, from
-which j u n c t i o n
ThunderCreekflowsnorth-westerlylessthan
a q u a r t e r of a
m i l e t o i t s oonfluencewith 1Jrsus Creek.West
of Thunder
Creek, a t about 800 f e e t e l e v a t i o n a l e a n - t o camp has been
b u i l t on t h e s t e e p s l o p e below t h e b a s i n . Also on t h e westernsideofthecreekthereareseveralsurfacecutsand
s t r i p p i n g s ,b e t w e e n 735 f e e t and825 f e e t e l e v a t i o n , w i t h i n
a fewhundred f e e tn o r t h - e a s t e r l y
from t h e camp. About 1,000
f e e t e a s t e r l y from t h e camp, a t a p p r o x i m a t e l y 700 f e e t e l e v a t i o n , a t t h e n o r t h e r n edge of t h e b r a n c h c r e e k , t h e r e
i s ano t h e rs u r f a c ec u t .
The work:tngs a r e i n q u a r t z - d i o r i t e , w i t h i n
a few hundred f e e t of t h e c o n t a c t w i t h v o l c a n i c
rocks which
l i e t o the south of the intrusive.
The c o n t a c t probablyruns
n o r t h o f w e s t , c r o s s i n g Ursus Creek near the forks.
On this p r o p e r t y q u a r t z - d i o r i t e i s c u t bytwo o r
more zones o f p a r a l l e l s l i p s o r j o i n t s a l o n g which t h e r e h a s
been some s h e a r i n g . They s t r i k e w i t h i n 15 degrees or so of
due e a s t and s t a n d v e r t i c a l l y o r d i p s t e e p l y e i t h e : r n o r t h w a r d
o r southlnrard. A t a p p r o x i m a t e l y8 0 0f e e te l e v a t i o n ,n o t
far
north of thecontact,closely-spacedslipsin
a zcme about
20 f e e tw i d ec r o s s
ThunderCreek.
The q u a r t z - d i o r i t ew a l l rock i s v e r y much a l t e r e d . The c u t on t h e w e s t e r l y f l o w i n g
t r i b u t a r y i s about 600 f e e t n o r t h - e a s t e r l y f r o m t h i s p o i n t a t
about700 f e e t e l e v a t i o n . H e r e t h e q u a r t z - d i o r i t e
i s c u t by
sli.psstandingalmostvertica.llyandstrikingapproximately
due e a s t . T h e r eh a sb e e ns h e a r i n ga l o n gt h es l i p s
and t h e
rockbetweenthem
i s c u t by s e c o n d a r y j o i n t s making v a r i o u s
-
67
-
a n g l e sw i t ht h es h e a r i n g .
The q u a r t z - d i o r i t e i s a l t e r e d and
c o n t a i n s numerous q u a r t z s t r i n g e r s and i s impregnatedwith
f i n e - g r a i n e dp y r i t e .
A w i d t h o f 1 2 f e e t ofsuchmaterial
is
exposed. I n t h e c r e e k w i t h i n
200 f e e t w e s t e r l y from t h e c u t
t h e r ea r ee x p o s u r e s
of similar m a t e r i a l . A samplerepresentat i v e of thepyrite-impregnatedwall-rock,asfreeaspossible
f r o m r u s t , was s e l e c t e d f r o m t h e
c u t . I t assayed nil i n g o l d
1
1/2
i
n
c
h
e
s
wide
was found j u s t south of
Q
u
a
r
t
z
and s i l v e r .
A sample o f t h i s m a t e r i a l
t h e c u t a n d was p r o b a b l y i n p l a c e .
0.10
c o n t a i n i n gp y r i t e and some chalcopyriteassayed:Gold,
0 2 . p e rt o n ;s i l v e r ,t r a c e ;c o p p e r ,0 . 1p e rc e n t .
Near t h e camp, surfaceworkingsexposeshearswhich
s t r i k en o r t h - w e s t e r l y and d i pa l m o s tv e r t i c a l l y .Q u a r t zu p
i n theshearedandalteredquartzt o 1 2 incheswide,developed
d i o r i t e , c o n t a i n s some p y r i t e and o c c a s i o n a l l y a l i t t l e g a l e n a .
camp, shallow s t r i p On a small bench a l i t t l e h i g h e r t h a n t h e
p i n g and t r e n c h i n g e x p o s e a shear f o r a l e n g t h o f about150
f e e t . The s h e a rh a sa l s ob e e nc r o s s c u t
by a rock-cutabout 6 '
f e e t deep,driven
25 f e e ts o u t h - w e s t e r l y .
It c o n t a i n s. q u a r t z
f r o m 2 t o 8 i n c h e sw i d e .S u l p h i d em i n e r a l i z a t i o n
i s v e r ys p a r inglydeveloped.
A sampletaken by t h e w r i t e r i n t h e c u t ,
a c r o s sq u a r t z
8 incheswide,assayed:Gold,
0.05 0 2 . p e rt o n ;
s i l v e r ,t r a c e .
The wall-rock b e s i d e t h e q u a r t z
i s mineralized
w i t h p y r i t e , a sample o f t h i s m a t e r i a l a s s a y e d
i n g o l d and
s i l v e r . From a p o i n t a t 775 f e e te l e v a t i o n , 7 0 f e e t duenorth
fromtheveinintherock-cut,
a s i m i l a rs h e a rh a sb e e n
exposedby s t r i p p i n g for 70 feet n o r t h - w e s t e r l y .
The rook i s
sheared f o r a width o f 1 0 t o 18 i n c h e s i n w h i c h t h e r e a r e n a r r o w i r r e g u l a rv e i n l e t s o f q u a r t z .
Some of t h eq u a r t zc o n t a i n s
p y r i t e and a l i t t l e g a l e n a was seen. The q u a r t z and w a l l - r o c k
a r es t a i n e dw i t hb l a c k
manganeseoxide.
B sample a c r o s s1 2l / 2
i n c h e s ,c o n s i s t i n gl a r g e l y
of q u a r t z , t a k e n n e a r t h e s o u t h 0.02 oz.perton;
e a s t e r n end of t h es t r i p p i n ga s s a y e d :G o l d ,
s i l v e r ,t r a c e .
About 100 f e e t w e s t of n o r t h from t h i s p o i n t ,
a t 735 f e e t e l e v a t i o n , s h e a r i n g
of t h e same g e n e r a l a t t i t u d e
i s exposed f o r a few f e e t by a s u r f a c e c u t . H e r e q u a r t z
4
inches wide contained a l i t t l e galena. A sample of t h i s mat e r i a l in
assayed
gold and s i l v e r .
-
GS
-