Exploration in British Columbia 1979 Province of British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources British Columbia Cataloguing in Publication Data Main entry under title: Explorationin British Columbia. -- 1975- Annual. With: Geoloey in British Columbia, ISSN 0823-1257; and,Mining in British Columbia, ISSN 0823-1265, continues : Geology, exploration, andmining in British Columbia, ISSN 0085-1027. 1979 published in 1983. Issuing body varies: 1975-1976, Ninistry of Mines and PetroleumResources; 1977- , Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. ISSN 0823-2059 Ly Exploration in British Columbia 1. Prospecting - British Columbia - Periodicals. 2.Geology, Economic - British Columbia - Periodicals. I. British Columbia.Ministry of Mines andPetroleum Resources. 11. British Columbia. Ministry of Energy, Minesand Petroleum Resources. TN270.E96 1975 622.1'09711 VICTORIA BRITISHCOLUMBIA CANADA AUGUST 1983 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFA V INTRODUCTION ............................................ 1 METALSEXPLORATION 3 Contents ............................................ 3 Review of Metals Exploration and Prospecting . , . 5 Reports on Metals Exploration . 13 STRUCTURALMATERIALS AND INDUSTRIAL MINERALS EXPLORATION ...................................... 325 Contents ............................................ 325 Review of Exploration 011 Non-Metallic Mineral Deposits . 325 Reports on Exploration of Non-Metallic Commodities , . , . , . 326 COAL EXPLORATION . 339 Contents ............................................ 339 Review of Coal Exploration . , 340 Reports on Coal Exploration . , 341 ILLUSTRATIONS Figures E-1 Index map of properties showing NTS grd divisions and mining divisions. In pocket E-4 British Columbia, areas underlain by major coal-bearing formations , . In pocket iii PREFACE BACKGROUND The first Minister of Mines of the Province of British Columbia was appointed in 1874. One of his responsibilities was 'the duty of collecting information on the subject of the mining industries of the Province.' This material, which consisted of reports by the Gold Commissionersand Mining Recorders of the Province, was published in the Annual Report of the Minister of Mines. A Bureau of Mines was established by Parliamentary authority in 1895 and in 1896 was staffed by a ProvincialMineralogist and anassayer and chemist. Technicalreports on mines and mining activities were prepared by them and published in the Annual Report, together with reports contributed by the Mining Recorders and Gold Commissioners. Over the years, with the expansion of the mining industry, the staffof the Department of Mines grew, as did the number and size of the technical reports on geology and mining that were still published in the Annual Report of the Minister of Mines. Over a period of nearly 75 years the Annual Report became known as the authoritative record of mining in the Province. However, because of the size to which the Annual Report had grown, it was decided in 1969 to publish all geologicaland technicalreports dealing with solid minerals in a separate volume entitled, Geology, Exploration and Mining in British Columbia. Thus a new annual publication was initiated with chapters on exploration and mining related to metals,placer, structural materials and industrial minerals,and coal. In 1975 a revised format was introduced for Geology, Exploration and Mining in British Columbia to allow the three main sections to bereleased as soon as prepared.The separate sections are: Mining in British Columbia - a record of mining in the Province plus the Chief Inspec- tor'sreport; Exploration in British Columbia - a recordof the performance ofthe industry in exploration; and Geology in British Columbia - a record of the mapping and research ofthe Geological Division of theMineral ResourcesBranch. This modecon- tinued until 1978 when the growth of the three volumesand the delay in assembling them led to their complete separation. ORGANIZATION This report is organized in the following order: metals, non-metallic commodities, and coal. Introductory statements precede the body of each section. The general reviewof exploration is brief. V A map showing the distribution of currently exploredproperties is in the pocket of Exploration (Fig. E-1). All reports arearranged sequentially according to theNational Topographic System (NTSI mapdesignation. In the NTS designation, thewhole of Canada is divided into primary quadrangles, each 4 degrees latitude by 8 degrees longitude. Each is described by a number, the last digit of which indicates bands of latitude and the first one (or two) indicatesbands of longitude (for example, 104). British Columbia is covered by six of these primary quadrangles except for minor areas. Each primary quadrangle is subdivided into 16 1 :250 000 mapsheets, each 1 degree latitude by 2 degrees longitude, anddes- cribed by letters A to P (for example 104G) proceeding from the southeast corner to the west in the southern panel, then east to the next panel, and so on. Each lettered quad- rangle is subdivided into 16 mapsheets, each 15 minutes latitude by 30 minutes longi- tude and numbered 1 to 16 in ananalogous manner to thelettering (for example, 104Gl7). Finally each sheet is halved east and west for maps of the 1 :50 000 series and each is described (for example, 104G17E and 104Gl7W). This report proceeds by primary quadrangle from the southeastern part ofthe Province to the northwestern part. Within each primary quadrangle the order proceeds from All E to Al1W toA/2E, and sequentially to P/16E. An index to published base maps and air photographs may be obtained from the Surveys and Mapping Branch, Map Production Division, Ministry of Environment. SOURCES OF INFORMATION A considerable amount of information in the following reportsis supplied by mining and exploration companies. Partially completed forms are sent to explorers as a result of receipt of a completed Form 10-11. Noticeof Work on a Mineral Property. The cooperation of explorers in completingthe forms is gratefully acknowledged. This information is augmented by staff geologists then edited and assembled by Resource Data andAnalysis and Publications Sections. Otherinformation is gathered by forms sub- mitted jointly by MineralEconomics Division of the Ministry and Statistics Canada. Geological, geophysical, geochemical, drilling, and prospecting assessment reports contain a large amount of valuable information. The results of work presented in assessment reports that were submitted and accepted in 1979 are summarized and published herein. The last report summarized for thecurrent publication is Assessment Report7853. Assessment reports submitted and accepted after 1979, concerning properties for which exploration questionnaires have already been submitted to the Ministry, are entered as references on theproperty writeups until this manuscript is finalized forpublication. Reports accepted in 1979 for work done in 1978 are not summarized if the work was previously reported on exploration questionnaires. Because of this policy not all assess- ment reports appear as references. Assessment reports are available for study or for dupli- cation at cost one year after the date of their submission. vi Geologists and engineers on the staff of the Mineral Resources Branch prepare reports on mineralized areas, deposits, and Imines which may be extracted for this volume. LOCATIONS In this report, a description of the property location is given as well as the latitude and longitude and NTS designation of the 1:50 000 map sheet in which the property lies. The latitude and longitude given is either the centre of the property or the area of major work. NTS designation is that of themain showingk) or the majority of the claims. In cases where claims are located in more than one NTS sheet, several NTS designations are given. NAME Most often the name or names given to a property are those used for the Mineral Inventory.This is often the name by which the property was originallyor formerly known (for example, Glacier Gulch, Magnum). Sometimes the name or names are those of one or more of the claims that constitute the group; occasionally a name is used which is derived from the name of the company owning the property (for example, Bralorne, Granisle). Where established to a reasonable degree of confidence, the Mineral Inventory number, which appeared after the property name in 1975, has been included with the references (for example, Mineral Inventory 82EiSE-I). Where practicable, all names of claims comprising a property are given under the heading ‘claims.’ OWNERSHIP Where possible the owner (or owners) of the claims reported is stated. For located claims the owner is taken directly from Ministry records at the time the manuscript is being prepared. Unrecorded bills of sale and outstanding option agreements sometimes make it impossible to determine the owner at a given date. For Crown grants, unless an extensive search is made, it is sometimes impossible to be certain of their ownership. In instances when the operator (the company or individual for whom the work was done or who paid for it) is knownbut the owner is uncertain, then only the operator is recorded; when the owner is also the operator, then only the owner is recorded; and when the owner is not the operator and both are known, then both are recorded, vii INTRODUCTION Exploration expenditures for metals increased dramatically from $29 475 341 in 1978 to $53 810 829 in 1979. This increase is associated with second-stage detailed