Minister of Mines PROVINCE of BRITISH COLUMBIA
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Minister of Mines PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA ANNUAL REPORT For the Year ended Rlst December 1947 BRITISH COLUMBIA DEPARTMENT OF MINES VICTORIA, B.C. Hon. R. C. MACDONALD, Minister. JOHN F. WALKER, Deputy Minister. JAMES STRANG, Chief Inspector of Mines. G. CAVE-BROWNE-CAVE, Chief Analyst and Assayer. HARTLEY %GGxNT, Chief MinEng Engineer. P. J. MULCAHY, Chief Gold Commissioner. To His Honour CHARLES ARTHUR BANKS, C.M.G., Liezctenant-Governor of the Provilce of British Columbia. MAY IT PLEASE YOUR HONOUR: The Annual Report of the Mining Industry of the Province for the year 194’7 is herewith respectfully submitted. R. C. MACDONALD, Minister of Mims. Minister of Mines Off&, June, 1948. A6 REPORT OF THE MINI,STER OF MINES, 1947. ILLUSTRATIONS, PHOTOGRAPHS. (After page 52.) I.-A. West side of Asitka Valley, showing cirques and horns. B. Diamond-drill camp, No. 3 level, Rambler mine. IL-A. Emerald mill, near Salmo. B. Atkinson dredge near Princeton. 111.-A. Plant of Clayburn Co., Ltd. B. Richmix Clay Co., fireclay mine at Kilgard. IV.-A. Dozer-loader excavating clay near Grand Forks. B. Power-shovel loading coal at Michel. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MINISTER OF MINES, 1947. Review of the Mining Industry. By Hartley Sargent. The value of British Columbia mineral production in 1947 was more than $113,000,000, a record which far exceeds the value of production in any preceding year. Many factors contributed toward the record value, but by far the most impor- tant was the high price for most products. The price of gold we.9 lower than for any year since 1937, the price of silver, although high, was somewhat lower than the 1946 price, but the price for copper was the highest for any year since 1918, the price for lead exceeded substantially the price in any preceding year, and the price for zinc was much higher than for any year except 1915 and 1916. The quantity of coal mined, 1,717,OOO tons, was greater than that mined in 1946 or 1946, and ranks with the better years since 1930. The price, $5 per long ton, for all grades of coal, from all mines, is higher than previously. The value of coal mined exceeded $8,500,000. Miscellaneous metals recovered as by-products in mining and smelting contributed a total of $2,400,000, an increase of 50 per cent. over the 1946 value. Sulphur, also a by-product of the metal-mining industry, was valued at $1,500,000, an increase of 20 per cent. over the 1946 value. Tungsten recovered in concentrates was valued at $680,000. The value of gypsum and gypsum products in 1947 was $523,000, compared with $318,000 in 1946. Clay, clay products, and other structural materials, contributed a total of $5,897,000, compared with $5,200,000 in 1946. Placer-gold output declined to less than 7,000 oz., slightly less than the 1929 quantity, and the lowest quantity for any year since production was begun in 1858. The slump in placer-gold output stems principally from the decline in production from Spruce Creek in the Atlin Mining Division, where two important operations were suspended because of conditions related to ownership and to company policy rather than to the quality of the deposits or general economic conditions. The dredge of Swift River Dredging Company was operated successfully in the Cariboo, beginning in April, 1947, and was not shut down for the winter until January, 1948. In Novem- ber, 1947, operation of a dredge on the Similkameen River, near Princeton, was begun by Atkinson Dredging Company. The Lowhee Mining Company had an unprofitable year, and little ground remains unmined ahead of the face. It is reported that the company will not resume operations. This hydraulic placer mine has been operated since about the beginning of the century. Notwithstanding the fact that economic conditions were unfavourable for gold-mining, there was much interest in dredging possibilities, which may well lead to increased output of placer gold in the Stikine, Omineca, and Cariboo Mining Divisions. Lode-gold output exceeded that of the three preceding years. Production of the Polaris-Taku mine, which had its first full year of production since 1941, contributed to the increase in lode-gold output. Increased rates of wages paid at gold mines and the increased prices for supplies and equipment were accompanied by a price for gold 10 per cent. lower than had been obtained from late in 1939 until midsummer, 1946. 7 A8 REPORT OF THE MINWTER OF MINES, 1947. Copper production was materially greater than in 1946, as the mines operated without interruption, and at the higher price the 1947 output had a value between three and four times the 1946 value. The quantities of silver and lead declined moderately, and the quantity of zinc was slightly lower than the 1946 output. Decreased price, coupled with decreased quantity, gave a value of 1947 silver production about 23 per cent. less than the 1946 value; but because of increased prices, the value of the 1947 lead and zinc output increased very greatly over the 1946 value. The combined value of 1947 lead and zinc production is $72,000,000. This value is greater than the value of all metals for any preceding year and is greater than the total value of all nxineral products’for any of the preceding years except 1937, 1940, 1941, and 1942. Strip-mining of coal was resumed at Corbin, and strip-mining was started at Michel. The output of these operations, 232,000 tons, was about a fifth of the output of the Crowsnest Pass field. Bringing into production of No. 3 mine, & new mine at Coal Creek, in the Crowsnest Pass field, preparation for strip-mining at the Black mine near Princeton, and development of a new mine at Tsable River, south of Courtenay, on Vancouver Island, are worthy of note in the record of the coal-mining industry. Developments in lode metal-mining are reviewed on pages 59 to 61. The following few paragraphs record more general observations regarding metal-mining and the industrial mineral industry. Gold-mining has been confronted by unfavourable conditions for several years. This branch of the mining industry suffered the greatest disadvantages in obtaining labour during the recent war and more recently finds it difficult to compete with hase- metal mining. At midsummer, 1946, the price paid for gold mined in Canada was reduced 10 per cent., hut costs have continued to increase. The situation became more acute in 1947, principally in that the rates paid to labour and the cost of supplies advanced further. It is still too early to he definite about the working of the Dominion Government’s proposal to bonus the production of gold and what the effects will be. A preliminary calculation suggests that the assistance, when received, may little more than equal the increase in costs which has become effective since the middle of 194’7. Despite several years in which conditions have been unfavourable for gold-mining, interest in lode-gold deposits has been maintained; real effort has been made to find ore, and the results obtained must be regarded as encouraging. Important discoveries of additional ore have been made in several of the established mines, and although no new gold camp has been brought in, several discoveries of more than passing interest have been made. A great deal of interest has been shown in silver-lead-zinc areas, particularly in the Beaverdell and in the Sloan-Ainsworth areas, where detailed geological studies have been undertaken in addition to bulldozer stripping and underground exploration. Interest has also been shown in ground adjoining the Sullivan property, where Hol- linger Consolidated Gold Mines and Conwest Exploration Company carried on magnet- ometer surveys. Diamond-drilling was also done by Conwest. It is expected that the Toric silver property at Alice Arm will be brought into production in 1948. A pro- gramme has been started designed to bring into production the Reeves-Macdonald silver-lead-zinc property south of Nelson, and changes are proposed in the Silbak Premier mill to increase the recovery of lead and zinc. Increased use is being made of careful geological mapping and of geophysical mapping in exploratory work. Geophysical surveys have received little favour in British Columbia, although they have been made from time to time in the past twenty- five years. However, the increase in geophysical work has been noteworthy in the past two or three years. Magnetometer surveys at Kimberley have been mentioned REVIEW OF THE MINING INDUSTRY. A9 earlier. Campaigns of geophysical surveying, including magnetometer and potenti- ometer readings, were carried on by Rossland Mines, Limited, and by Valley Mining Company at Rossland in 1947. The potentiometer was found to be the more suitable in that area. In the Cariboo area, on Lightning Creek, in 1946 and 1947 geophysical surveys have been made to determine the -depth of bed-rock. Such surveys may be of great value in indicating whether or not it is desirable to do further testing by drilling or other means. Items in some of the many branches of the mining industry touched upon in intro- ductory notes, or dealt with more fully elsewhere in this Report, indicate that the industry is alert to changing techniques and is active in the search for additional mineral deposits. The facts that a strike has already cut off coal production for a con- siderable period, that the gold-mining sky is not unclouded, and that prices obtained for most of our mineral products are controlled hy world markets must qualify any attempt at this date to predict the 1948 production of British Columbia mineral industry.