Mining in British Columbia Industrial Mineral, Metal and Coal Operations in British Columbia YUKON NORTHWEST TERRITORIES Industrial Mineral and Metal Symbols Ag Silver Jd Jade Fireside (Ba) An Andesite Ls Limestone At Aggregate (sand and gravel) Ma Magnetite Cassiar (Jd) Au Gold Mo Molybdenum Ba Barite Mr Marble Bn Bentonite Mt Magnesite Fort Nelson (S) Bs Basalt Op Opal O Cy Clay Pu Pumice Cu Copper S Sulphur Dease Lake M ALASKA ALBERTA Di Diorite Sc Scoria Serpentine Lake (Jd) I Do Dolomite N Sg Slag Fc Fireclay Sh Shale E Fr Fuller's Earth Si Silica Kutcho Creek (Jd) C Fs Flagstone Sl Slate A Shasta (Au)+ Ga Gabbro Ss Sandstone F Gn Gneiss Tu Tufa O Genesis (S) Gr Granite Ze Zeolite R Gy Gypsum Zn Zinc E

I L Boundary Lake (S) ()At indicates mineral resource also used as aggregate N A Fort St John T N McMahon - Taylor (S) Operation and Geographic Symbols E D Industrial Mineral Mine/Quarry Lake Swamp Point (At) R M Pine River (S) Sulphur Producer Willow Creek River North Metal Mine Anyox (Sg) O Mackenzie Brule Province, Territory or N Coal Mine Wolverine State Border T Seasonal Production Mt. Milligan (Cu, Au) Tumbler Ridge + Morphogeological ALASKA A City/Town Belt Boundary Smithers N PACIFIC OCEAN Terrace Trend Aluminum Smelter Zinc Smelter E Fort St. James

Fraser Lake Giscome (Ls) Scale Kitimat Prince George 100 0 100 200 Endako (Mo) Kilometres Huckleberry (Cu, Mo) Dahl Lake (Ls) Dome Creek (Sl, Fs)

Nazko (Sc, Bs)At QR (Au) Quesnel Mount Polley (Cu, Ag, Au) C I O N Moberly (Si) A S Bella Coola Gibraltar (Cu, Mo) Golden (Sl, Fs) S U Williams Lake T Harper Ranch (Ls) L Red Lake (Fr) A A Brisco (Tu) L Ranchlands [Ze-2] (Ze) Buse Lake (Si) R Golden Mount Brussilof (Mt) Revelstoke (Fs) Orca (At) Pavilion (Ls) Elkhorn (Gy) Decor (Sh) Haddington Island (An) MAX (Mo) Four J (Gy) Bralorne (Au) Falkland (Gy) Invermere Fording River Mount Meager/ Kamloops GREENLAND Apple Bay Port Hardy At W.R.P. (Gr) Garibaldi Pumice (Pu) Ash (Bs) Greenhills (DENMARK) [PEM 100] (Si, Cy) New Afton Canyon [Kettle Valley] (Gn) USA Highland Valley Copper (Cu, Mo) Benson Lake (Ls) (Cu, Au, Ag) Shadow Ridge (Bs) Ginty (Sl, Fs) Line Creek Quinsam Craigmont (Ma) Klinker (Op) Elkview Monteith Bay (Si) Spumoni (Bs) Fernie Kelowna Crawford Bay (Do) Campbell River Cranbrook Coal Mountain N Tahsis (Mr) East Anderson River (Gr) Nipple Mountain (Fs) Swansea Hisnet (Mr) Sechelt [CAL] (At) Bud (Bn)/ Ridge (Ga) Trail (Sg, S) Sirdar (Gr) Myra Falls (Cu, Zn, Ag, Au) Zeo (Ze) BC Texada Island Vancouver Burnaby (S) Copper Kootenay Stone (Gr, Fs) Mountain (Cu) Blubber Bay (Ls, Do) Nanaimo Grand Forks (Sg) Lime Creek (Ls) CANADA Gillies Bay (Ls) Skagit Valley (Gr) Winner (Di) Van Anda (Imperial) (Ls) Hardy Island (Gr) Sumas Fireclay (Fc, Sh, Ss) Greenwood (Sg) MONTANA Sumas Mountain (Cy) Rock Creek (Do) IDAHO USA At Gordon River (Mr) Victoria Cox Station (Gr) WASHINGTON

The Five Belt Framework of the Canadian Cordillera For more information on supplementary activities and to explore the interactive BC’s Mineral Resources map, developed by MineralsEd, British Columbia lies in the Cordilleran Orogen (kord-(y)er-uhn or-uh-jen), a mountain belt that runs along the western edge of the Western Hemisphere continents from Alaska to Antarctica. These visit: www.MineralsEd.ca/s/CurrentOperations.asp mountains formed over tens of millions of years as a result of tectonic collisions between the continents and crustal plates located in what is now the Pacific Ocean basin. The crustal plates included slivers (terranes) of volcanic islands, ocean floor and other small continents that collided with and remained stuck onto (accreted) the margins of the continents. These mountain-building collisions were marked by This poster shows all currentoperating metal and coal mines and all major and some minor igneous intrusions and volcanism, deformation (folding, faulting, and metamorphism) and uplift. industrial mineral operations. It does not show gemstone locations or the numerous sand and gravel aggregate operations around the province. Alternate names for select operations are denoted in italicized square brackets. This poster was produced by the MineralsEd using map In British Columbia the Canadian Cordillera is made up of five, northwest-trending morphogeological belts: Foreland, Omineca, Intermontane, Coastal and Insular. They are defined by their distinct geology data supplied by the BC Geological Survey branch and the mountain-building processes that formed them, and are separated from each other by faults. Geoscientists have determined that the rocks in the Foreland belt formed along the edge of ancient (www.empr.gov.bc.ca/MINING/GEOSCIENCE/Pages/default.aspx) of the Ministry of Energy and North America. However, rocks forming the belts further west formed elsewhere and were accreted to the continent between 185 and 50 million years ago. The unique geological characteristics and Mines (www.gov.bc.ca/ener/index.html). mountain-building history of each belt determine the mineral resources each one contains. For additional information on industrial mineral, metal and coal operations in B.C., visit the MineralsEd Web site at: www.MineralsEd.ca. • Foreland Belt, represented by the Rocky Mountains, is made up mostly of a great thickness (>15 km) of ancient sedimentary rocks. Most are between 700-50 million years old, but some are up to 1.5 billion years old. They are composed of sediment that was eroded from Bibliography: O M Grieve, D., Madu, B., Northcote B., Wojdak, P., Fredericks, J., Meredith-Jones, S., Desjardins, P. 2011. Operating Mines and deposited along the western edge of the ancient continent. During mountain building they were thrust eastwards for at least 150 km onto A I L N and Selected Major Exploration Projects in BC, 2010. Victoria, BC: British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Mines and A E the continent. C S A Lands. K A Fredericks, J., Grieve, D., Lefebure, D., Madu, B., Northcote, B., Wojdak, P. 2010. British Columbia mining and mineral • Omineca Belt, represented by several northwest-trending mountain ranges, is made up mostly of folded and faulted metamorphic rocks with exploration overview 2009. Victoria, BC: British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. F I O N Grieve, D., Madu, B., Northcote, B., Wojdak, P., Fredericks, J., Meredith-Jones, S., Saunders, P. 2010. Operating Mines R lesser amounts of granitic rock. Most of these metamorphic rocks formed from pre-existing sedimentary rocks. Some of these are similar in T O E E R M and Selected Major Exploration Projects in British Columbia 2009. Victoria, BC: British Columbia Ministry of I L composition to sedimentary rocks in the Foreland, while others are more similar to those in the Intermontane. This complexly deformed belt NM I A Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. TO N N EN E D RT C MINFILE mineral inventory. 2010. British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. represents the exposed roots of a deeply-eroded mountain chain. It marks a collision zone that formed when the Intermontane was accreted to North A M A N http://minfile.gov.bc.ca/ OE America. N Cordilleran geoscience - the five belt framework of the Canadian Cordillera. 2008. Geological Survey of Canada. C T O A http://gsc.nrcan.gc.ca/cordgeo/belts_e.php. A N • Intermontane Belt, a region of high plateaus and rolling uplands, is made of ancient to Recent volcanic and sedimentary rocks that are intruded in S E The MapPlace. 2008. British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. http://www.mapplace.ca. I T N A S L Grieve, D., Lane, R., Madu, B., Northcote, D., Schroeter T., Simandl, G. J., Webster, I., Wojdak, P. 2007. Industrial many areas by granitic rocks. The oldest of the volcanic and sedimentary sequence (370-180 million years) represents ocean floor and volcanic island U L minerals in British Columbia - 2006 review (Information circular 2007-2). Victoria, BC: British Columbia Ministry of A arc terranes that formed offshore and were accreted during middle Jurassic time (165-172 million years ago). The granitic rocks are related to ancient R Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. island arc volcanism and to later accretion of Insular belt rocks. Grieve, D., Lane, R., Madu, B., Northcote, B., Schroeter, T., Wojdak, P. 2007. British Columbia mining and mineral exploration overview 2006. Victoria, BC: British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. • Coast Belt includes the Coast and Cascade mountains and extends up to the Yukon. It is made up mostly of 185 to 50 million year old granitic rocks, plus Cathro, M., Grieve, D., Lane, R., Pardy, J., Schroeter, T., Wojdak, P. 2006. British Columbia mines and mineral exploration overview 2005. Victoria, BC: British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. scattered remnants of older, deformed sedimentary and volcanic bedrock into which the granitic bodies have intruded. (Similar, undeformed sedimentary and Cathro, M., Grieve, D., Lane, R., Pardy, J., Ryan, B., Schroeter, T., Simandl, G., Wojdak, P. 2005. British Columbia volcanic rocks occur in both the Intermontane and Insular belts.) Similar to the Omineca, this belt marks a collision zone. It represents the roots of a deeply-eroded mining and mineral exploration overview 2004. Victoria, BC: British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. volcanic mountain chain that formed during accretion of Insular belt rocks to North America. Pardy, J. W., Schroeter, T .G. 2004. Operating mines in British Columbia and major exploration and development projects in 2004 - preliminary estimates (GeoFile 2004-10) [map]. British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and • Insular Belt includes Vancouver Island, the Queen Charlotte Islands, and the bedrock forming the seafloor out to the toe of the continental slope about 100 km west of Vancouver Island. It is made up Petroleum Resources. mostly of ancient (350-180 million years) volcanic and sedimentary rocks, which are intruded locally by granitic rocks. Like those in the Intermontane, the volcanic and sedimentary rocks represent Dawson, K. M., Panteleyev, A., Sutherland Brown, A. and Woodsworth, G. J. 1991. Regional metallogeny. In Geology of the Cordilleran Orogen in Canada, ed. H. exotic terranes that formed out in the ocean basin and were accreted to the continent by mid-Cretaceous time (100-115 million years ago). Gabrielse and C. J. Yorath, The Geology of Canada, 4:707-768. Geological Survey of Canada.

The variety and distribution of mineral resources in British Columbia are directly related to the province’s complex and unique geology. Some of these resources, such as limestone, occur and are mined in © 2013 MineralsEd many regions around BC. Others occur or predominate in only certain morphogeological belts as dictated by their bedrock geology and the mountain-building processes that overprint them (Dawson, K. M., (Mineral Resources Education Program of BC) et al., 1991). Major coal deposits, for example, are predominant in the sedimentary sequences of the Foreland and Insular belts, while economic copper-molybdenum porphyry deposits are predominantly 900-808 W. Hastings St., Vancouver, BC V6C 2X4 associated with granitic intrusions in the Intermontane. Where BC’s mineral resources are discovered depends on geology. Where they are extracted depends on economic, logistical, and environmental T: 604-682-5477 considerations. W: www.MineralsEd.ca INTENDED FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY. 6th Edition. Edited Sept 2013.