Supplementary Report Bedwell River Area

BRITISH COLUMBIA DEPARTMENT OF MINES Hon. W. I. ASSELSTINE. Minister JOHN F. WALKER, D.zputy Minister

~ BULL,ETIN No. 13

Supplementary Report on Bedwell River Area Vancouver Island British Columbia

bY H. SARGENT

1941

THECWfRNMENTOF THEPRWlNCEOFBRlTlSH(OlUM0I~ TABLE 'OF CONTENTS Page .

INTRODUCTION

Limits of Map-Area I 1

History ...... 2 Access ...... 5 GeneralCharacter of theArea ...... 6 Field-Workand Acknowledgements ...... 8

References ~ ...... 9 Bibliography 10

GEENERAL GEOLOGY II.:LUSTRATI@FS Facing Page.

Figure 1. BedwellRiver - DrinkwaterCreek Area ...... 15

Figure 2. Plan of Workings, Musketeer Mines Ltd ...... 31

Figure 3. Planof Workings, Buccaneer Mines Ltd ...... 47

Figure4. Sketch Showing Cirque,Big Interior Mountain 63

Figure5. plan of Workings,Della Property ...... 79

Figure 6. Planof Worklngs, Sherwood Property ...... 87

Plate I. BigInterior Mountain lookingsouth- easterly from Mount Tom Taylor 7 (CourtesyDepartment of Lands.)

Plate 11. Panorama lookingnortherly into cirque - Big Interior Mountain ...... 25 (Courtesy Department of Lands .)

Plate 111. Mount NinePeaks viewed ,looking northerly across the valley of Leader Lake and McBride Creek...... 55 (Courtesy Department of Lands.)

i Plate IV A. Slidein which Sherwood VeinOutcrops ...... 91

Plate IV B. Tatterhorns Peak ...... :...... 91

(ii) INTRODUCTION "

Field-work in 1939and 1940, followed by office work in- eluding microscopicstudies, is the basis for thi.s bulletin, whichdeals with an area in the Alberni and ClaycNquot Min'ing Divisions, Vancouver Island,British Columbia. llhe geology of thearea, as far as mapped in the two seasons, is represented on (Fig. l), scale 1 inchto the mile, with topography in the northern part indicated by contours at 200 foot intervals. The topography is taken from part of Map No. 92 F/5, released in 1939 by the British ColumbiaDepartment of Lads, scale 2 inches to themile, contour interval 100 feet. The base for thes'outhern part of (Fig. 1) is the drainage pattern, prepared by the writer from airplanephotographs borrowedfrom the Department of Lands. The accuracy of this part of thebase map is thereforenot of the same orderas thepart to the north.

Some generalinformation which appeared in the Prelim- inary Report on the BedwellRiver Area, Bulletin No. 8, British ColumbiaDepartment of Mines, 1940, is reproduced in thepresent bulletin. Mining propertiesare indicated by reference numbers on (Fig. 1); the same numbershave been used in this bulletin for those that appeared in Bulletin No. 8. Mineraldeposits on properties examined in 1940 are describedunder "Properties and Mineral Deposits", in the order of thereference numbers.These includethe Nusk:eteerand Buccaneerpropertie's, described in Bulletin No. E,, on which a great deal of workhad been done since the 193S1 examinations. A good deal of work hasalso been done on the Avon, Noble, " I_ Trophyand some other properties which it was not. possible to examine in 1940. For descriptions of propertiesinaicated on (Fig. 1) butnot described in this bulletin th.e reader is referred to Bulletin No. 8.

The reports on propertiesinclude details concerning generalgeology, mineral associations and history. Some of this material is summarized in the general part of thebulle- tin. Annual 3eports:Minis.ter of Mines, British Columbia, from1898 to 1933 arethe sources for most ofthe historical information.

Limitsof Map-area "_ .- The irre'gularoutlines of the area mapped geologically lie within a rectangularmap-area (Fig. l), about 10 miles fromnorth to south and a little less than 14 miles from east to west, of which thenorthern boundary is less than quarter of a milenorth of 49 degrees 30 minutes north latitude, and

-1- theeastern boundary is 126 degrees 30 minutes west longitude The southernboundary of Strathc.ona Park crosses the area a little more than 6 milesfrom the northern boundary of the map-area. The greaterpart of thearea is drained by Bedwell River,which discharges into t'ne head of BedwellSound. This stream is referred to in old reports 'as "BearRiver" and that name is still usedfrequently. The easternpart is drained by DrinkwaterCreek which enters Great Central Lake near the westernend, about 5 1/2 milessouth-easterly from the point wherethe creek reaches the eastern boundary of themap-area. Moyeha River flows westerly to a point beyond the western boundary of themap-area, then turns south-westerly and discharges.into the head of Herbert Inlet, some 7 miles north- weste'rly from the head of Bedwell Sound. The part of the area drained byDrinkwater Creek is in the Klberni Mining Division,the remaining and much larger part is in the Clayo- quot Mining Division.

Histo2 "

For many years deposits of copper,gold and iron have been known on the west coast of Vancouver Island and there hasbeen some production of copperand gold ores. Copper was shipped from Sydney Inletprincipally in 1907,1908 and 1909,concentrates were produced at Sydney Inlet principally in1923. From thenuntil 1937production on thewest coast consisted of occasionalsmall shipments of gold-bearingore.. Between 1936 and1938 it became apparent that therewere gord- bearingveins of exceptional interest in the Zeballos camp. Spectaculargold ore was shipped fron the Privateer in 1937, othe'r properties in that camp also became shippers and in 1938 three properties were equipped with mills. The suocess- ful developments inthe Zeballos oamp stimulated prospecting 'alongthe west coast, and particularly in the country tributary to BedwellRiver, some 65 milessouth-easterly from the Zeballos camp. The activities of prospectorsin 1938 resulted in discoveries of gold-bearingveins on Be.dweil River, later discoveries were made on upperDrinkwater Creek. Already substantialdevelopment work hasbeen done on several properties located in 1938and 1939 and it now seems almost certain that there will be some goldproduction from the area which is the subjeot of this bulletin.

Reports of theMinister of Nines,British Columbia, for 1898and 1899, containbrief references to placer-mining on Bear(Bedwell) River in the 'sixties and to Chineseplacer- minersabandoning the district in the late 'eighties, but give no informationabout the extent of the operations and the quantity of gold recovered.

-2- On lowerBedwell Kiver, between 1898and 1900, surface andunderground work, exploring copper-bearing nlineralization. wasdone on theSeattle group; on ground known as theCastle, "- now included in the Avon located in 1938;and on theGalena, " "_ now coveredby a grouplocated in 1938 also known asthe Galena. On the Castle some workwas also done on gold-bearing veins. " Copper-bearing mineralization was discovered and claimswere located on Big Interior Mountain in 1899.Although situated at a high elevation in ruggedcountry, about 12 miles from tidewaterand partly covered by a glacier, this occurrence was considered to have attractive possibilities of developinginto animportant copper producer. Four claims, nowknown asthe Ptarmigangroup, were acquired in 1912by Ptarmj-gan Mines, Ltd., an English company. It was proposed to build a road up Bedwell Riverand toconnect the road to a point near the summit of themountain by anaerial tramway.Road-construction had reached a pointabout 7 miles from tidewater, andequipment for the tramwaywas at thehead of Bedwell Sound when work was stopped on theoutbreak of war in 1914.Before 1906 some work was done on the Big1 adjoining the Ptar'EE and in 1916 I- " preparationswere made for a diamond-drillingprogram. Since that time no activity has been reported at either property.

The Prosper group on lower Bedwell Rivercovers ground, believed to have been stakedin 1903 as thePakeha, "_ on which an adit was drivenfollowing a gold-bearingvein. About 1900 gold-bearingveins were discovered near Della Lake, reached from'Drinkwater Creek, and claims known as the Della group werestaked. An arrastra was built in 1906 butthere is no report of goldproduced. The claims of the You group,cover- ing a vein on thesouth-western slopes of Big Interior Moun- tain, were recordedin 1912. Laterreports refer to developmentwork and the construction of anexperimental cyanide mill but do not mentionthe recovery of any gold.There was activity periodioally at this propertyfrom 19li! until about 1933 or 1934 duringwhich time there was little activity elsewhere in thearea.

Prospectorsdiscovered gold-bearing veins north-west of BedwellRiver on Noble (Clarke)Creek, and staked the Noble andNoble B groups in Augustand September 1938. This was followed by discoveries south of the river near Sam Craig Creek,and the staking of theMusketeer, Shamrock, Joker and Buccaneergroups. Pioneer GoldMines of B. C.,Limited, and Anglo Huronian,Limited, became interestedin the Musketeer- Shamrock property. Undergroundwork, startedbefore the end of theyear, was carried on throughthe winter. A company known as the Musketee'rMines, Limited (X. P. L.;, was in- corporatedana has continued active development of theproperty.Late in 1939Bralorne Mines, Limited (N. ?. L.),

-3- became interested in the Buccaneerwhich is operated by Buc- caneerMines: Limited (N. P. L.).Substantial underground work hasbeen done on the property and it is reported that a mill of 25 tonsdaily capacity is to be builtin 1941. Vnder- groundwork has also been done on the Avon and on the Trophy. " and thesurface explore'd on a number of other properties on Be.dwell River and its tributaries.

In July 1939 the first claims of the Sherwood property on Drinkwater Creekwere staked. The Sherwood vein north- east of the creek was examine'd for Pioneer GoldMines of B. C., Limited,late that year. In 1940 that company didsub- stantial undergroundwork on the Sherwood; prospected gold- bearingveins discovered that year on the P. D. Q,. property, adjoining the"_Sherwood; and prospected silver-bearing mineralization also discovered in 1940near Cream Lake,about 1 1/2 miles to the north.

Thirtyclaims in the area, located,from 1896 to 1912 and originally Crown-granted from 1907 to 1926,were in good standing'at the end of 1940. Most of theother claims held at the end of 1940were located in 1938,1939 and 1940. In the three years a total of 'about 735 claimswere staked and recorded. Of theseabout 100 were in the part of the area,drained by DrinkwaterCreek and the others were in the part drained by BedwellRiver. A large number of theclaims have been can- celled or havebeen allowed to lapse but at theend of 1940 about 300. of the recent locations remained in good standing.

Transportation in the area hasbeen a serious problem! the known deposits tributary to BedwellRiver are from 2 or 3 to 12 miles from thehead of BedwellSound, and those tributary to Drinkwater Creek are 10 miles or more from the head of GreatCentral Lake. The first BedwellRiver road, on which work was stoppedin 1914, was a verycostly undertaking. Be- yond the end of theroad supplies andequipment had to betaken in on pack-horses or back-packedand after the road deteriorated packingfrom the head of Bedwell Sound was necessary. In the DrinkwaterCreek section it was necessary to packfrom Great CentralLake. In spite of difficulties of transportation a good deal of work was done on some of the least accessible properties.Supplies needed for shallowworkings were packed tothe Della property. Supplies needed for ab0u.t 350 feet of underground work andequipment for an experimentalcyanide mill werepacked to the You property.

From the summer of 1939 to the endof 1940, in addition tosurface work inthe area, more than 6400 lineal feet of undergroundwork was done,mostly by hand, on three properties, with a possibleadditional 200 linealfeet on theothers. With

-4- theexception of machinery dragged to the Muskateer ongo- devilsearly in 1940, all thesupplies, equipmentand material used in this workhad to be taken in by back-packingor on pack-horses.

Access I_-

The BedwellRiver pa.rt of the area is entered from the head of BedwellSound, about 20 miles by waterfrom Clayoquot andTofino. Clayoquot and Tofino, about 1 mileapart, are regular ports of call for the Canadian PacificSteamship Company's westcoast steamers which in summer sail from Victoria northboundevery fifth day, and duringthe rest of theyear everytenth day. Northbound passengers may find it convenient to board the steamer either at Victoria or about 24 hours later atPort Alberni. Busses and trains from Victoria and Nanaimo make connectionwith steamers at Port Alberni, and at Nanaimo connection is made with Vancouver steamers.Airplane's of CanadianAirways, Ltd., and Ginger Coote Airways, Ltd., fly regularly betweenVancouver City Airport and points on the westcoast of Vancouver Island, and will call at Tofino when businessoffers. It is- expectedthat in 1941 airplanes will be ableto land at an approved float at the head of Bedwell Sound. W. Knott of Tofinooperates a gas-boat .between Tofino and the head of Bedwell Sound, handlingpassengers and freight. Other boats can be hired at Tofino or Clayoquot. Small scows areavailable for handling; heavier freight. The landing at thehead of Bedwell Sound is on a sloughand cannot beused at low tide.

Repairs to corduroyed. parts of the old road and the construction of .light brid.ges in 1938and 1939 made it possibleto take supplies up Be'dwell River on horses. Construc- tion of a truck-road,following approximately the route of theold wagon-road, started in the autumn of 1939 and reached a point about 2 1/2 .miles from thehead of BedwellSound. Work startedagain in August1940, the program being to follow the old route andwhere necessary to use running plank on crossstringers, after the manne'r of loggingroads. This road is to go far enough to serve theBuccaneer and Musketeer properties, and at theend of theyear was reported to havereached a point between 5 and 6 miles from tidewater,leaving between 2 and 3 milesto -be complete'd.. Trailsbranching from this routeserve various prospects, andan old trail continues up the main valley to the mouth of You Creek,where it branches, about 11 miles from the head ofthe soun'd. One branchcon- tinuesnortherly to the Casino camp closeto the river. Pack- -_I horseswere taken to theCasino in 1939, but in 1940 couldnot " travel beyond8-Mile be'cause wind-falls blocked the trail. The otherbranch goes up You Creek past the You property to

-5- the entrance of a canyon near the head of one of the forks of thecreek. It is possibleto continue by this.route,called BearPass, to Della Lake, and thence via the Della Falls to DrinkwaterCreek. The canyon sectionleading to the summit of BearPass is veryrugged and no trail couldbe found there in July 1940.Pack-horses could be takento near the head of 'You Creek if windfalls were cleared out, but it wouldbe impracticable to build a paok-horse trail via Bear Passand the Della Lake Route.

The easiest route to the easte:rn part of the map-are'a is by boatfrom Great Central, 'a saw-mill town at the foot of GreatCentral Lake, to the head of thelake, thence by loggingrailroad and trail to upperDrinkwater Creek. Busses run between Great Centraland Port Alberni: about 10 mires by road. Power boatscan be hired at GreatCentral and Messrs. Bloedel,Stewart and Welch,engage'd inlogging on lowerDrink- waterCreek and inseveral other sections along Great Central Lake,operate tug-boats on thelake. By arrangementswith thelogging company, Pioneer Gold Mines of B. C., Limitedhad a large part of the material and men going to the Sherwood. on upperDrinkwater Creek.transported to Camp 6: near the western e2d of thelake. andthence to the end of thelogging railroad, about 3 3/4 miles in an air linenorth-westerly from the outlet of DrinkwaterCreek.

From the end of thelogging railway a pack-trail leads about 4 1/2 miles to the Sherwood base camp, on thenorth- e.asternside of DrinkwaterCreek. A trail running to the Sherwood camp leavesthe main trail a.short distance southerly from thebase camp. The oldDrinkwater Creek trail from Great Central L,ake was largely obliterated in building the railway. From therailway to the base camp the trail hasbeen re-located in part and generallyfollows easy grades.

The -trailcrosses to the south-western side of thecreek nearthe base camp. From thesouth-western side of thecross- ingthe Della Falls trail leadsto the Della group, andan old .trail can be followednorth-westerly up thevalley for about two thirds of a milefrom the crossing, or say 250 yardspast thecreek draining Della Lake. It is reportedthat a trail formerlyled from upper Drinkwater Creek to the southern end of Buttle Lake, north of thearea. Old cuttings, beyond a sharp.bend in the valley, about 2 milesnorth-westerly from Della Falls, may indicate where the old trail climbednortherly out of DrinkwaterValley. The writer saw no otherevidence of the old trail to Buttle Lake.

GeneraiCharacter of theArea The area is ruggedand mountainous, many peaksare more

-6- -Plate I. Big Interior Mountain looking south- easterly from Mount Tom Taylor. (Courtesy Department of Lands) than 4000 feet above sealevel. The highestare in the north- eastern part of the area where the mainpeak of Big Interior Mountain is more than 6100 feet,and jagged peaks of Mount Septimusreach about 6400 feetelevation. Average slopes from peaksto valley-bottoms are commonly steeperthan 1500 feet permile and inseveral sections exceed 3000 feet per mile. Steep high bluffs are common: onthe western side of Drink- water Creek,above Della Falls, bluffs rise more than 2000 feet in a horizontaldistance of lessthan half a mile. Above 3000 feet elevation the surfaces onwhich vegetation grows are lessextensive than those of barerock, scree and ice. The baretops of many granitic ridges are roundedand there is open upland country north of upper Drinkwater Creek,but throughout thearea mountains and ridges of Mesozoic volcanics are bothsteep and jagged.Great accumulations of talusare found at the foot of high bluffs; and the upper parts of the main valleys andbranch canyons entering them contain great angular blocks of rockwhich make some parts almost impassible.

In their lower courses the main streamvalley-bottoms are a quarter of a mile wide orwider, and thestreams have moderategradients. In the last 11 miles of its course Bedwelliiiver has an avera,ge gradient of about 80 feet per mile andtoward the mouth meanders in a narrowgravel flood plain. Many tributarystreams rise in deep cirques or basins, flow through deepnarrow canyons andcascade down the last steep slopes to the bottomof the valleysof the main streams.

A number of smallglaciers in the area are indicated on (Fig. l),many smaller snow masses lastthroughout the year. There are some beautifullakes at highelevations. The waters from several of theselakes cascade more than 1530 feet to the floor of Drinkwater 'Jalley and suggest the possi'bility of high- headwater-power development. Most of thelakes are crystal clear, but .the waters of Cream and Beauty Lakes, in the north- eastern part of thearea, contain glacial rock-flour in sus- pensionwhich from a distance gives them a curio!mopaque greenappearance.

Red cedar,hemlock, balsam fir, spruce,Douglas fir, and yellowcedar, grow inthe area. Hemlock and ba1:jam fir ,trees of fairsize continue to elevations of 2000 feet, and trees large enough formining purposes are found locally to elevations of about 4000 feet. To elevations of 2000 'feet or so there are patches with heavyundergrowth and below 1000 feet elevationunderbrl;sh is common. Yew thrives up to about 4000 feet elevation and on some steepslopes the matted growth is almostimpenetrable. At highelevations heather growswhere there is soil: and a few annualsare to befound blooming in

-7- high basins in Augustand early September.

Climaticrecords are not available for points within the area,but 37 years' records of precipitation, and mean minimum temperatures for the years 1931 to 1938 inclusive, at Clayoquot, 16 milessouth-westerly from the head of Bedwell Sound are available.For Clayoquot, (a) the average annual precipitation exceeds ,107 inches of water, for the 6 .lowestmonths the aver- agemonthly precipitation in inches is: April,7.63; May, 5.90; June, 3.75; July, 2.32; August,3.17; and September, 6.37. 'For theother 6 months themonthly averages range from 10.22to 16.12 inches. In average meanminimum temperature February at 36 degreesfahrenheit is thelowest month, and August at 52.degrees is thehighest. Local report, confirmed by the writer's experience in the two fieldseasons, is that precipitation on lowerBedwell River is more thanat Clayo- . quot.Prec'ipitation throughout the area is heavy. At higher elevations many feet of snow fall each year, and much snow .lasts wellinto the summer. Comparison of photographstaken in 1937'and 1940 with some published in 1906and 1916 indicate that in the largecirque in Big Interior Mountain there has been a great decrease' inthe size of the snow mass.

In periods of lowest run-off, many branch-creek.sare dry. Many of the beds of tributariesof.the Bedwell.River aredry crossing the floor of themain valley; and a considerable section of the bed of upperDrinkwater Creek is drya.lso, although there is a fair flow aboveand below the drysection. The steepslopes, and in the higher elevations thelack of soil and vegetation, make forvery rapid run-off. Dry streambeds become torrents after a day's rain,the lar-. gerstreams may increasetheir flow many fold and, in canyon sections, have risen more than 20 feetafter prolonged rain.

Field Work- and Acknowledgements

In 1939 the writer's party reached the head of Bedwell Sound on July28th and spent until September 15th mapping the geologyand examining prospects in part of the area drained by BedwellRiver. E. P. Williams was employed asassistant. Bulletin No. 8, 1940, was basedon this work. In 1940, as- sisted by J. H. Bennett, the writer spent from July 5th to August 20th mappinggeology and examining prospects in the part of thearea drained byDrinkwater Creek. The partythen

~~~~ (a)Data from, "Climate of British Columbia,Report for 1940,Province of British Columbia,Department of Agriculture ."

-8- went to the head of Be,dwel.l Sound viaGreat Cen-tral Lake, Port Alberni, andTofino, and thenceas soon as possible to upper Be'dwell River.This round.abcut journey, of about 150 miles, took the party from the Sherwood base camp, east of Big In- terior Mountain, to the You camp, on thewestern slopes of themountain, less than 4 milesin a straightline. The long route was takenbecause it was impracticable to back-pack supplies andequipment up the'De'lla Falls trail andthrough Bear Pass. As it happenedheavy rain began on August20th and continueduntil the 22nd so that little time usable for mapping was lost by thelong move. Work in the BedwellRiver part of thearea was continueduntil September 17th. Additional mapping wasdone along the eastern contact of the Bedwell River batholith, and some other areal mappingwas done farther west, but most of the time was devoted to mapping and sampling the new workings on theMusketeer and Buccaneer properties.In August1939 weather was generally favorable for field-work, but from August 27th until field-work was stopped there were very few drydays. The 1940season was wetter, of 75 days, 31 hadalmost continuous heavy rain, or rain wit:h interludes of fog. Some traverses were made indrenching rains, but plane-table mappingand photographywere impossible i.n such weather,

The current activity had its beginning so recently that prospectingand development were still in comparatively early stages, and trails and living accommodation were'limited. Prospectors and miningcoqoanies were generous in supplying information and assistance. The writer is indebtedto Messrs. Bloedel,Stewart andWelch, fortransportation on theDrink- waterCreek railway and by steamer down GreatCentral. Lake. The party lived for considerableperiods in the Musketeer, Sherwcodand Buccaneer camps and at Carl Noel's cabin at 3- Mile on the BedwellRiver. Accommodation inthese established camps was particularly weleome because of the wet weather. Plansand other information concerning the Buccaneer, Muske- teer andSherwcod properties were made available by company officials,information concerning located claims was supplied by the MiningRecorders for theAlberni andClayDquot Mining Divisions, and concerningCrown-granted claims by theRegis- trar, Land RegistryOffice, Victoria. The writergratefully acknowle'dges his indebtedness for information',hospitality, and otherkindnesses, without which the field-wc:rk could not havebeen clone nor theinformation for thisbulletin obtained.

References "

publishedinformation on the area is found in: Annual Report,Minister of Mines,British Columbia,1898 to 1933; Bulletin No. 8, British ColumbiaDepartment of Mines,1940;

-9- iYiemoir 204,Geological Survey, Canada. published in 1937; and Map 196-8,Vancouver Sheet, Geological’Survey, Canada, issued1928. The Annual Reports,Minister of Mines, British Columbia, contain some generalinformation concerning the area,progress notes, and some detailsconcerning properties. In Memoir 204, M. F. Bancroft summarized geologicalinforma- tion from othersources: andsummarized referencesto properties in the area which had appeared in the Annual Reports of theMinister of Mines. So far as the writer knows Bulletin No. 8, 1940 containsthe first published map showinggeology of thearea except “Zap196-8” which shows the geology immediately at thehead ofBedwell Sound.

Biblioxraw “ - The following is a bibliography of publications dealing with Vancouver Island and of some interest in interpreting the geology of themap-area.

1. Bancroft, M. F. - Gold-bearingDeposits on the West Coast of Vancouver Island - Geol. Surv., Canada, Memoir 204, 1937.

2. Bancroft, M. F. - ZeballosMining District and Vicinity, British Columbia - Geol.Surv., Canada, Paper40-12, 1940.

3. Clapp,Charles H. - SouthernVancouver Island - Geol.Surv., Canada, Memoir 13, 1912. 4.Clapp, Charles H. - Geology of theVictoria andSaanich Map-areas,Vancouver Island - %ol. Survey,Canada; Memoir 36, 1913.

5. Clapp,Charles H. - Sookeand Duncan Map-areas, Vancouver andCooke, H. C. Island - Geol.Surv., Canada, Memoir 96, 1917.

6. Dawson, G. M. - Report on a geologicalexamination of the northern part of Vancouver .Island andadjacent coasts - Geol.Surv., Canada, Ann. Rept.,1886, Part B.

7. Dawson, G. M. - Mineralwealth of British Columbia - Geol.Surv., Canada, Ann. Xept.,1881 Part R.

8. Dolmage, V. - Quatsino Soundand CertainMineral De- posits on the West Coast of Vancouver Island - Geol.Surv., Canada, Summary

- 10 - Report,1918, Part B.

9. Dolmage, V. - BarkleySound, Vancouver Island - Geol. Surv.,Canada, Summary Report,1919, Part B.

10. Dolmage , V. - West Coast of Vancouver Island Between Barkley Sound and Quatsino Sound - mol. Surv.,Canada, Summary Report, 1920,Part A.

11. GeologicalSurvey, Canada - Vanoouver Sheet, Map 196-A, issued1928: scale 1 inohto 8 miles. I 12. Gunning, H. C. - Geologyand MineralDeposits of Quatsino- NimpkishArea, Vancouver Island - Geol. Surv., Canada, Summary Report,1929. Part A.

13. Gunning! H. C. - Buttle Lake Map-area,Vancouver Island! Geol. Surv.,Canada, Summary Report, 1930,Part A.

14. Gunning, H. C. - PreliminaryReport on t:heNimpkish Lake Quadrangle,Vancouver Island - Geol.Surv., Canada, Sumnary Report, 1931,Part A.

15. Gunning, H. C. - ZeballosRiver Area, Vancouver Island - Geol.Surv., Canada, Summary Report, 1932,Part A-2.

16. Haycock, E. andWebster, A. - Geblogy of the West Coast of Vancouver Island - Geol.Surv., Canada, Summary Report,1902.

17. MacKenzie, J. D. - AlberniArea, Vancouver Island, Geol Surv.,Canada, Summary Eleport.,1922, Part A.

18. Minister-ofMines, British Columbia, Annual Reports - 1898 to1930.

19. Sargent, H. - PreliminaryReport on the Bedwell RiverArea, Vancouver Itiland, British Columbia - Bulletin No. 8, British ColumbiaDepartment of Mines, 1940. 20. Stevenson,John S. - Lode-Gold Deposits of theZeballos Area, British ColumbiaCepartment of

- 11 - Mines,1938.

21. Young, G. A. and Uglow, W. L. - The IronOres of Canada, Vol. 1, B. C. and Yukon, Geol.Surv., Canada, Economic Geology Series No. 3, 1926.

In thefollowing pages some specificreferences to these publications are indicated by the numbers corresponding with thepublications in the foregoing list.

GENERAL GEOLOGY -Previous Geologicalin and near the Map-area. Two maps,"Vancouver Sheet" (11) and "The Buttle Lake Map-area'' (13), published by theGeological Survey, Canada, at eightmiles to the inch, show geologyadjoining or olose to the BedwellRiver-Drinkwater Creek map-area.

The Vancouver Sheet,issued in 1928 is a compilation of geological information concerning south-western British Columbia,and inoludes a narrowstrip along the west coast of Vancouver Island. The rocksat the head of Bedwell Sound areindicated as belonging.to an assemblage of volcanic and sedimentaryrocks of Triassic and (?) Jurassicage.

The Buttle Lake map-area, mapped byGunning in 1930, extends a little farther west and a good deal farther east than th$ BedwellRiver-Drinkwater Lakemap-area. The southern boundary of theButtle Lake map-area,49 degrees 30 minutes north latitude, is approximatelythe northern boundary of the BedwellRiver-Drinkwater.Creek area. Along the common boundary fromwest to east, Gunning mapped about 10 milesas "Jurassic and or Cretaceous,Coast Range Intrusives",thence easterly, "Palaeozoic and.Mesozoic, Volcanics and Sediments", whichcontinue for some milespast the eastern boundary of theBedwell River-Drinkwater Creek area. "___Units Mapped In the BedwellRiver-Drinkwater Creek area unconsolidat\ed material has been mapped where it obscures thebed-rock over a considerablearea, and bed-rock has been mapped as two major units one of whichhas been subdivided into three parts, as set forth in the following table:

- 12 - Recent

Unconsolidated material

"- "- Mesozoic Jurassicand, or, Cretaceous (CoastRange), -. graniterocks, chief:ly quartz-diorite.

Palaeozoicand Mesozoic I__

Chiefly Lower i~esozoic (VancouverGroup), - andesite,basalt, fine-grainedimpure tuffs, limestone.

Permian. - limestone, in partrecrystallized, includes at some points overlying thin bedded siliceous and tuffaceous (?) argillites.

Complex stratigraphically belowthe Permian limestone;.volcanics,tuffaceous and argillaceous sediments, of Pa:laeozoicage; basic instrusives, related to Lower Mesozoic volcanics: and granitic intrusives(Coast Range).

"~-Distribution of Formations -Palaeozoic and1fesozoj.c - In the eastern part of thearea Palaeozoic :and Mesozoic rocksare continuous with C;unning's (13)Palaeozoic and Dieso- zoic, and confirmation of agewas obtained in fossiliferous limestonewhich'has been assiped to the Permian. Threesub- divisions of the Palaeozoic and Mesozo.ic rocks will be dis- cussed later.

The volcanic rocks at the head of Bedwell Sound in the south-western corner of the,map-area, shown in the Vancouver Sheetas part of anassemblage of volcanic and sedimentary rocksassigned to the Triassic, are separated by drift-filled valleybottoms, the PennyCreek intrusive, and urmapped sections, from volcanics.andsediments exposed to th.e north and east between river level and elevations well above 5000 feet, and extending north-easterly to the BedwellRiver batholith. This assemblage is regardedas part of theyoungest of the threesubdivisions.

-. 13 - Coast Rangetrusives.-__

The BedwellRiver batholith, chiefly quartz-diorite, from 4 to at least 6 mileswide, crosses the area and occupies abouthalf of it. The contacts havebeen mapped for some distance northerly and south-easterlyfrom Bedwell River in the westernpart of thearea, and following a similar course in theeastern part. Extending from about the south-eastern corner of the area to a linerunning south-westerly fromBedwell Lake,the batholith, where not traversed closely, has beenin- dicated by a pattern, and these parts may contain roof pendants. Continuing north-westerly the ground was notseen by the writer but is almost certainly occupied by thebatholith, which may extendfarther west than indicated. Gunning's mapping im- mediatelyto the north shws "Coast Range Intrusives" for some distance farther to the west.

In the western part of the area a smaller mass of quartz- diorite, through which PennyCreek cuts, will be called the PennyCreek intrusive. Heavy overburdenprevented accurate mapping of theoutline of thesouthern end of thisintrusive west of Penny Creek. The intrusivecontinues north-westerly beyond the part which has been mapped.

Minor intrusives,too small to berepresented on the map, includein the Palaeozoic and Lower Mesozoicrocks innumerable dykesand lessregular masses of granitic rock, related to the largerintrusives. Later dykes intrude the larger masses of graniticrock? and also intrudethe Palaeozoic andLoyer Mesozoicrocks where they ..are less conspicuous. These later dykes, of whichthe age has not beendetermined, are provis- ionally included with "Coast Range Intrusives" .

The Problem of Correlation Across the Batholith "-._-I_ "I""___l_"l

The BedwellRiver batholith forms anunbridged gap be- tweenrocks older than it in the eastern and in the western parts of the area, and there is no mapping.which .bridges .it within 50 miles to the north-west of 30 miles to the south- east of theboundaries of thearea.. Correlation across the gap is furthercomplicated by thefollowing facts; the older rocksrepresen-t a series some thousands of feetthick, generally of fine-grained volcanic rock much of which is in intrus- iverelationship with the rest; the lithelogical differences are insufficient to differentiate the members definitely where thestructure is complex; there is a greatdeal of fracturing, and where marker horizons are present there .is evidence of faulting on a largescale.

- 14 -

Subdivision of Palaeozoic andMesozoic HssemblaE

The thick assemblage of volcanic and sedimentary rocks mapped as "Palaeozoio and Mesozoic" has bsensubdivided into threeunits, indicated by patterns on (Fig. l), The middle member is a limestoneformation of whichthe ag:e hasbeen determined,on fossil evidence, as Permian. The rocks stratigraphically below thelimestone are mapped as a complex of pre-limevolcanics and sediments, intrusives probably related to the Lower Mesozoic 'volcanics, and granitic rocksrelated to the Bedwell River batholith. These two units werefobnd only in the eastern part of the area. Overlyingthe limestone h.orizon, volcanic rocks are-mapped as Vancouver group chiefly Lower Mesozoic. The volcanic andsedimentary rocks fou.nd south-west of the Bedwell River batholith.arealso put in. this unit. This appears to be justified by Gunning'swork in the Buttle Lake area, to be referred to later, andby the previous mapping represented on the Vancouver Sheet.

Clapp (3, 4 and 5) d.ifferentiated the Vancouvergroup in southern Vancouver Island., but had not definitely established its relationship to a formationimmediately underlying it. Inthe Buttle Lake area Gunningfound Permian :Limestone and describes the series overlying it underthe name Vancouver group, but on his map did. not differentiate be-tween the Palaeozoicand Lower Mesozoicrocks. Concerning subdivision of thePalaeozoio and MeIiozoic assemblage he said, (13 pages 59B and 60k):

"The quitedefini.te statement by Miss :Fritz places thefossiliferous limestone in the Permian. The consider- ablethickness of volcanicrocks and other sediments lying ,stratigraphically belowthe limestone and wellexposed inthe area may, however, be Pennsylvania cor older. It doesnot seem advisableas yet to give these Palaeozoic rooks a definiteformational or group name. When their age,characteristics, etc., are more fully :known, the name Buttle Lake group or formationfor all or p.wt of them is suggested.That they should be separateddefinitely from the overlying Vancouvergroup, even though :possibly con- formable with it, is selfevident and it is interesting to note a remark Dawsonmade years ago in his connection (6), -- 'If this great mass of rocks(Vancouver series)should eventually prove separable into Triassic and Carboniferousportions, I wouldsuggest the reten- tion of the name Vancouver series for the former.'"

- 15 - Palaeozoic andMesozoic Come " -" The rocks stratigraphically below thePermian limestone areexuosed through a range in elevation of at least 2500 and probably 3500 feet. They includerocks. older than the limestone, basicintrusives probably related to Lower Mesozo.ic volcanics, and grantic intrusives related to the BedwellRiver batholith. As therelationships are involved and theelements areoften small, this assemblage is therefore mapped as a complex;included within its boundaries,there are masses of Per- mianlimestone too small to be shown on the map.

The complex consists largely of'fine-grained cherty- looking greenish volsanic rock,of which a goo'd deal may be Biteredsiliceous tuff. Fine-grained argillaceous rocks, some of whichare tuffaceous, are also to be found, and thin- bedded light-colouredsiliceous sediments were found near the north-easternend of Della Lake andnear the pass at thehead ofDrinkwater Creek. 1.n many instancesthe stratified rocks arein blocks which might be regarded as large elements in fragmentalvolcanics. At some points there are larger masses of sedimentary rook, which show small scale folding,but it was notpos.sible to trace them more than a few hundred yards.

Basic voicanics form a minor part of the complex but closeto the limestone they are much more abundant. They intrudethe limestone, and aredoubtless related to lavas whichoverlie it. East of thecirque in Big Interior Moun- tain, and on thesouthern side of theridge between Della and BeautyLakes, basaltic rock is present in large volumeand appearsto be in intrusive rglationship. This rock shows markedchanges in texturein distances of a few inches. It rangesfrom fine-grained to moderately coarsely granular: and in part consists of rounded.oobbles in a matrix,both of whichare esse'ntially of the same .material.This rook appears to be anintrusive breccia, and is probablyrelated to the Mesozoic lavas.Clapp refers to a similaroccurrence: as follows., (3 page 55):

It A peculiartype, apparent1.y related to the basalt porphyrite, is exposed on the east shore of xlberniCanal, a mile and a half north of Coleman Creek. It is anagclom- erate with angular to roundedfragments of volcanicrocks rangingfrom aphanitic types to relatively coarse grained basalt porphyrites; and may representan old volcanic neck."

Basicrocks are also found along the fault on theupper DrinkwaterCreek; and easterly from the bend inthe creek, on steepslopes rising from thefault-draw, some amygdaloidal typesare found. It seems probablethat the fault may have

- 16 - formed a channel for theascending lavas, and it is noteworthy thatamygdaloidal types are rather common in the Vancouver group and rarein the rocks older than the Permian limestone.

North and south of the divide at the head of Drinkwater Creekthe rocks of thecomplex, including rock. whichappears to be shearedflow-breccia, are strongly foliated. The foliation generally strikes northerly and dipssteeply westward. Graniticdykes and some dykes of diorite cut the foliation. Aplite from1/2-inch to a few incheswide, apparently in the nature of lit-par-litinjections, is found inthe foliated rock. Some of theaplite has a foliatedappearance doubtless inherited from theschist, and some gradesinto quartz-diorite dykes.

In thecomplex, particularly near the contact with the BedwellRiver batholith. there are many dykesand less regular massesranging from quartz-diorite to feldspar-porphyry, some of whichpass gradationally into dark dybrid types, difficult to identi9 by themselves. Rocks of the complex, more or lesscompletely granitized, were found at several points, notablynorth of theglacier on Big Interior Mountain.Here the contact wasdrawn rather arbitrarily between granitic rockcontaining more or 'less altered xenoliths on the one handand incompletelygranitized rocks containing numerous graniticdykes on theother.

PermianLimestone " - In the eastern part of the map-area isolated masses of limestone make up about 7 per cent of the triangular area in whichthey are found. From a point on thewestern side of Big Interior Mountain,the base of thetriangle extends south- easterlyabout 3 3/4 milesto a pointsouth-east of Beauty Lake;the apex, about 4 '1/2 miles from thebase, is on a mass of limestonenorth-east of PriceCreek in the north-east corner of themap-area. The trianglehas an area of about 8 1/2 squaremiles; within it 20 masses of limestone, with a com- binedarea of about two thirds of a squaremile, are shown on the map, and thereare o-ther masses too small to be shown.

Althoughaccessible exposed margins are faulted or are contactswith basaltic or granitic intrusives, the isolated masses of limestoneare believed to belong to one horizon. Thisconclusion is supported by thefollowing facts: (l), fossils in the various massesappear to belong to the same group; (2), the same sequence of bedscan be recognizedin many of theoutcrops: (3), aside fromminor folds,the beds have a rather uniform atsitude throughout the area in which thelimestone is found: (4), whereverthe rock overlying

- 17 - thelimestone formation is exposed it consists of basalt much of which shows well marked pillow structure, this rock is markedly different from the major part of the rocks under- lyingthe limestone. It therefore seems reasonableto take the top of the limestone horizon as the base ofthe overlying Vancouvergroup.

The Permianlimestone is theonly conspicuous horizon marker in the assemblage of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic rocks. It servesto indicate definitely faulting on large and on smallscales. It is alsoimportant because it contains wellpreserved fossils whichserve todate the formation. Economically it is of some interest, as onBig Interior Mountain some copper-bearingmineralization has been found at contacts betweenthe limestone and basalt,near the Bedwell River batholith.

The limestoneformation consists principally of thick lightgrey-buff or almostwhite beds, which have a faint pur- plecast, and much of it is recrystallized. In most of the exposures,thin-bedded, siliceous and probablytuffaceous, argillites werefound, 'usually separated from the limestone byfrom 10 to 200 feet of black basalt which is intrusive intothe limestone. The thin-beddedsediments, often folded or contorted and partly destroyed,are also dyked and over- lainby the basalt. They werealways found above the thick- bedded light-colouredlimestone, below which in a number of instancesdark grey to almostblack limestone was thelowest part of theformation exposed. The thick-beddeddark lower beds and overlyinglight-coloured limestone contain fossils. Some bedsare made up almostentirely of c.rinoidstems and discs; and a great deal of darkgrey to almost white chert is found inthe limestone;

Aside from recrystallization, accompanied by destruction of bedding-planesand fossils, the limestone shows very little effect of metamorphism. Some of therecrystallized limestone hasundoubtedly flowed under stress. Garnets, epidote, amphibole, some magnetite, and alsoat a few pointssulphides. are found, mostly near the main peak of Big Interior Mountain, where thelimestone is in contact with basalt near the batholith, or incontact with the quartz-diorite batholith.

Fossilsseen in the limestone were usually difficult to recover: but in a small mass shown about a quarter of a mile north-west of Cream Lake (Fig. l), and in a smaller mass not shown lying a quarter of a mile farther west, weathering causedthe fossils to stand out on thesurface and they were quarried with less difficulty. Thesewere in steep northern

- 18 - exposures of southwarddipping beds. The smallermass, measur- ingabout 100 feet normal tothe beds, almost entirely surrounded bysnow, appeared to be a faultedremnant. The lowerbeds are of verydark limestone, succeeded upward by lightergrey-buff beds. The larger mass tothe east has anexposed thickness ofabout 250 feet, normal tothe beds, and is overlain by basalt. The lowerbeds here too are dark and it was found difficult to recoverfossils from them, butthe light-coloured overlying bedsyielded a good collection.Fossils from the two masses were collected from beds, some of whichhave a sandy texture, inthe 50 feet above thetop of thedark lower measures. They included 3 varieties of corals,several brachiopods, also abun- dantcrinoid stems and discs. A fourthcoral "Syringopora" wasfound east of DrinkwaterCreek on thenorth-eastern side i ofthe fault-draw which runs to a dividebetween Drinkwater Creekand Love Lake.These fossils, with some from nearthe south-westerncorner of Della Lake, were sent to theoffice of theGeological Survey at Ottawa. Dr. Alice E. Wilsonkindly classified them asfollows:

Corals:

Zaphrentisspecies "_Cyathe species Syringoporaspecies Micheliniaspecies " Crinoid discs

Brachiopoda: -Productus species of the Productus vishnu-type "" Orthothetesspecies close to a species on limorIsland Reticulariaspecies species of Spirifer musakheylensis-type Spirifer " Spirifer speciesfraGnentary but aboutSpirifer rajah Salter Dielasma species abou-t Dielasma- problematicum !niaagen

Dr. Wilsonreported further:

"Though thecorals are certainly of late Palaeozoic age, they in themselvesare n0.t sufficient to ascertain the exact age ."

"The rocks of thebrachiopod locality are of Permian age."

The bestpreserved brachiopods were quarried from the limestonenorth-west of Cream Lake,which is thus established asPermian. Limestone on the south-eastern side of Cream Lake contains simi'lar fossils.This mass is separated by a distance of more than half a mile from the mass north-westof

- 19 - thelake and there is evidence of much faulting. However it is reasonable to assume that thesemasses belong to the same horizon. The masson thesouth-eastern side of thelake is intruded and overlain by basalt, and above a considerable thickness of basalt,the thin-bedded siliceous sedimentsare exposed. From thelowest bed exposed, the limestone extends upward southerly to intrusivebasalt, a distanceestimated at 225 feet normal tothe beds. The basaltmeasured in the sameway is about. 210 feet thick, and a remnantof recrystallized limestone on top of thebasalt is about 50 feetthick. Thus limestoneex- posed in this seotion is 275 feetthick. Allowing for the missingdark lower beds and the thin siliceous beds at the top of theformation: it is safeto say that the original thick- nesscannot have been less than 350 feet.

On thewestern side of the cirque in BigInterior Mountain, limestone is exposed ininaccessible cliffs which rise to a maximum height of 700 or 800. feet. The limestonein the talus belowthe cliffs is lithologicailysimilar to that observed elsewhere and some similarfossils were seen in i.t. Banding on the cliffs suggestsbedding-planes of low dip. The exact attitude and thereforethe thickness could not be determined. The thicknesssuggested by theexposure is greaterthan was seenelsewhere .and this mass mightbelong to a lowerhorizon.

Not faroutside the area limestone masses, probably be- longingto the highest Permian formation, are found south- easterly from Love Lake;and fartherto the south-east there is limestonewell up thenorth side of DrinkwaterValley. Referencesto limestone north of thearea are contained in passages byGunning quotedlater. These includeoutcrops, which the writer saw from thedi'stance, on the ridge north- east of Price Creek,north-westerly from the mass shown north-east of PriceCreek, (Fig. 1).

The limsstone on thenorth-eastern side of Price Creek was mapped from airplane andground stationphotographs. It was not examined by the writer but was easily recognized from thesouth-western side ofthe creek. It terminatesabruptly at its north-westernmargin. as is seenclearly in the~field and on the photographs. The south-westerlyprojection of this margin followsthe straightsouth-eastern side of Cream Lake, and continues down thesteep side of DrinkwaterValley in a narrowdraw. This seems definitelyto mark a fault; and the limestone south-east of Cream Lake,which must beupthrown relativeto the massnorth-west of thelake, is on thesouth- easternside of the same fault. The limestoneindicated on thenorth-eastern side of PriceCreek most probably belongs to the same horizon as the massessouth-east and north-west

- 20 - of Cream Lake; and probablylimestone farther northerly on theridge north-east of Price Creek alsobelongs to the same horizon.

Inthe Buttle Lake area Gunningfound limestonein the Palaeozoicrocks (13 page 59K) - -

"The oldest known rockswithin the area were found in-the vicinity of ButtleLake. They consist of a thick series of volcanicrocks including andesitic to basaltic flows,tuffs, and coarsevolcanic breccias with at least two and probablythree interbedded horizons of white, grey, or pink,crystalline limestone andminor amounts of argillite and quartzite. The uppermosthorizon of limestone is theonly one that is wellexposed for any distance.In it, aroundthe headwaters of MarbleCreek, are many well-preserved fossils fromwhich several collections were made ."

The headwaters of MarbleCreek areabout 12 milesnorth- westerly from Cream Lake.Based on thefossil evidence this limestonewas placed in the Permian. Concerning limestone elsewherein the Buttle Lake area Gunning says,(13 page 60A) - -

"This same uppermostlimestone horizon is wellexposed alongthe sumits on thewest side of thesouth fork of Wolf Riverdipping to the west, and extendsto the north acrossthe head of thenorth fork of thatri.ver. What is almost surelythe same horizon is againexposed on the slopes on the east of PriceCreek from the south end of Buttle Lake tothe southern boundary of thesheet, dipping at low angles to the east ."

Inthe BedwellRiver-Drinkviater Creek area, the incomplete and isolated limestoneexposures suggest a considerablerange of thickness inthe limestone as originally deposited,which inturn suggests deposition in looal basins. 1.t will be noted that the fossils foundconsisted of severalcor:als, a number of brachiopodsand abundant crinoid disos or stems. On Marble Creek in the Buttle Lake area Gunning foundabundant bryozoa, some brachiopodsand a few crinoidstems. Bo.th collections havebeen classifiedas Permian. It seemsproblable thatthey weredeposited within a 1i.mitedrange of time in iocalbasins which may accountfor the differences in fauna which accumu,lated or were preserved.

"___Vancouver Grous Immediatelyabove the Permian limestone on Mount Septimus, on the south peak of Big Interior Mountain, and on Mount >line

- 21 - Peaks,the rock is basalt some of which shows well-developed pillowstructure. Lithologically this rock resembles the basalt found intruding and spreadingout over the top of the limestoneformation. It is thusthe lowest and probably the oldest member of the Vancouvergroup, albeit the more granular basalt is usuallyremarkably fresh in appearance both in hand specimensand microscopically. It consistsesentially of labradorite and alugite,with a good deal of magnetite, and contains some chlorite aqd carbonate.Similar rocks are exposed in the peaks toelevations 1200 to 1500 feethigher than,thelimestone on theslopes. Therehas been so much faulting and graniticdykes are so numerous that the strati- graphicdistances of the summitsabove thelimestone are hard toestimate, probably they are of theorder of 1000 to 2000 feet.

Therecan be little doubt that the thick assemblage of volcanic and sedimentaryrocks, exposed from Bedwell River level to 4,800 feet elevation on UrsusMountain, and to 5,800 feet elevation on MarinerMountain, is part of the formationexposed along the shores of Bedwell Sound and mapped asTriassic and (?) Jurassic on the Vancouver Sheet. It resembleslithologically and most probably is the same age as the Vancouvergroup inthe Buttle Lake area, in which Gunningfound Triassicfossils, (13 pages 61A and 62k), and accordingly has been mapped as "Chiefly Lower Mesozoic, Vancouvergroup".

The stratigraphic position of theserocks cannot be worke'd outfrom available data, but it is probablethat this assemblage represents a sectionconsiderably above thebase of theformation exposed on theother side of the batholi.th in the eastern part of thearea. On thesouth-western side of the batholith therocks of the formation consist chiefly of ratherfine- grainedandesites, and black or dark-greenbasalts including amygdaloidal'varieties with light-green amygdules standing out on theweathered surfaces. Float of voloanicbreccia was found in the BedwellRiver, but this rock was notobserved in place.With the volcanics are included andesitic md basaltic dykes,resembling the normal volcanics, often difficult to distinguish from them andbelieved to be closelyassociated in origin with'thevolcanics. Some rocksobserved on Mariner Mountain are probably greatly altered tuffs. Ingeneral the rocks of the Vanzouvergroup aremassive, fine-grained and so altered that thestructure is obscured.Seen from a distance theserocks are of a verydark-brown colour. There are also some lensesof recrystallized limestone, more or lessreplaced by silicates,magnetite, and sulphides,near the PennyCreek intrusive on theSeattle andkvon properties. On theSeattle

- 22 - property basic volcanic rock may havebeen more completelyreplaced by garnet,epidote, magnetite, pyrite and chalcopyrite thanhas the limestone beside it.

Clapp (3 pages 44 to 94) gives a detaileddescription of the Vancouvergroup insouthern Vancouver Island and Gunning (12 pages lOOA to 106A) has describedthe group as found in northern Vancouver Island.Bancroft (1 page 11) refersto limestone bsds outcropping at the head of CotterCreek, which flowswesterly into Herbert Arm: and Dolmage (10 page 15A) refers to thin beds of limestone on Bedwell Sound and Herbert Arm.

Coast Range Granitic Rocks " - Granitic rosks in the BedwellRiver batholith and in the PennyCreek intrusive, underlie a large part ofthe Bedwell River-DrinkwaterCreek area. Innumerable dykes and less regular masses of granit.icrock related to the larger masses cutthe members of the VancouverEroup and olderrocks. These graniticrocks are themselves cut by andesite and dacite dykes and by at least onemass of peridotite.

Insouthern Vancouver Island, Clapp (4, 5 and 6) mapped variousbodies of intrusiveigneous rock which he regardedas allbelonging to one generalperiod of intrusion, -- "cor- related with the irruption of the Upper Jurassic Coast Range batholith" -- (5 page 14:l. Minor intrusiveslater than the main batholiths were regarded as possibly extending into the Lower Cretaceousperiod. The Bealediorite and Saanichgrano- diorite and quartz-diorite,the most widespreadtypes in the northern and western parts of southernVancoavar Island, were regardedas closely related to each other and also to the gneissicintrusives near the south end of theIsland. In NorthernVancouver Island Gunning (12, 13, 14 md 15) mapped rocks of the same generaltypes, as "Coast Range Intrusives," and assigned them to the Jurassic and/or Cretazeousperiods.

The granitic intrusj-vesin the BedwellRiver-Drinkwater Creek areaare doubtless of the sme ageand related to the Coast Range Intrusion. The mostwidespread varieties are light-ocloured and oftenweather to a chalky-w:nite. T'ney show considerabledifferences in texture, but in general have feldspargrains not more than 2 or 3 millimetersacross. Quartzranges fromsmall interstitialgrains to phenocrysts which may be 7 or 8 milli.metersacross. The averagerock of theBedwell River batholi.th is quartz-diorite with quartz forming from 15 per cent .' to 30 percent. of the whole, The feldsparsconsist chiefly of oligoclase-andesine; alkali-

- 23 -

'I feldspar,orthoclase and microcline,rarely forms as much as one thirdof the total feldspar. The PennyCreek intrusive is richerin orthoclase andapproaches the composition of granodiorite in which, according to the classification used, theratio of alkali-feldspar to soda-lime-feldspar is not less than three tofive or more thanfive to three. The femic minerals are usually altered, hornblende is recognized in elon- gatedlaths and there is some biotite. Chlorite is found, apparentlyreplacing biotite and.hornblende, and with epidote and sericitereplacing feldspar. Tiny grainsof apatite are found usually as inclusionsin the quartz grains, but in sections from some parts of thearea apatite crystals are present as inclusionsin feldspar. Normally, the rock has a pale- greencast, due tothe altered femic minerals, but in some sections the surfaces are brown with iron oxide.

Along the eastern margin of the batholith, usually where it is in contact with basalt, a varietji of quarts-diorite, much richer in femicminerals and therefore much darkerthan the mainmass of thebatholith, is observed. It contains 65 to 75 per cent. oligoclase-andesine,. 10 to 25 per cent. quartz, and 10 to 15 per cent., femic minerals,consisting of hornblende, biotite and magnetite in varying proportions. Thisrock appears to be an earlyphase of theintrusive; it is found in irregular masses dyked by the usual'variety of quartz-diorite,but the relationship.of the two is oftenvery much involved. Some of thisdark quartz-diorite contains numerous fragmentsof basalt, but it is usually homogeneous

Ratherfine-grained diorite outcrops at some points on themargin of the PennyCreek intrusive. Thin sections from two points consist essentially of oligoclase with abundant hornblendeand some orthoclase. One sectioncontained a little quartz and the other some titanite; both were altered, thefeldspars and thehornblende being attacked by a carbonate mineral.Similar diorite was found on the western sideof You Creek,south of the You group,near a small pendantor foundered mass of basicvolcani: rock. The diorite may belong to an earlyphase of the intrusion.

Inthe older rocks near the margins of the batholith the numerous granitic dykes show a considerab1e.rangein composition and texture. Some closelyresemble the facies of the main batholith in whichquartz phenocrysts are conspicuous, and arethought to represent dykes connected with the early phase ,of themain intrusion. Similar rocks of more uniform textureare through to be later.Feldspar-porphyry dykes, including a facies marked by elongated laths of hornblende, cutthe dykes with conspicuous quartz phenocrysts. The

- 24 - Plate 11. Panorama lookingnortherly into cirque-- Big Interior Mountain. (CourtesyDepartment of Lands) feldspar-porphyryconsists of phenocrysts of zoned plagioclase, aboutandesine or andesine-labradorite, up to 3 or 4 millimeters I long,in a veryfine-grained groundmass. Some of thesedykes contain laths of hornblende, of these some have a brown orpur- plecolour, which seems to be inthe groundmas:s. The quartz- diorite dykeswith conspicuous quartz crystals, and to some extentthe other dykes, are found merging gradationally with theolder rocks which they apparently replace. Passing from normal porphyriticquartz-diorite? the groundmass becomes verydark and thephenocrysts are unusually conspicuous by contrast, this rock grades to fine-grained material which is hard to identifyunless it canbe traced to the normal dyke type.Other porphyritic hybrid types re:;ernble scme of theporphyritic volcanics. These rocksare uwally altered, and containsecondary minerals. Granitization, producing light types, at points on the eastern contact of the Bedwell Riverbatholith has been mentioned under "Palaeozoic and Fdesozoic Complex".

Later Dykes

H number of dykes of andesite and daciteare found cutting theBedwell River batholith and the PennyCreek intrusive; and a dyke of peridotite,about 75 feetwide, cutting the batholith, is exposed in the bed of Sam CraigCreek about 1 2/3 miles from its confluencewith Bedwell River. The dykesalso cut the rocks olderthan the granitic intrusives. but are less conspicuous here and mighteasily be mistakenfor some ofthe dykes related tothe Mesozoic volcanics. Thesedykes aremually altered hydrothermally, and inthe batholith are cut tNy veins. There appears to be no otherioformation available t.hat would fix the age of thesedykes, which are later than the main granitic intrusion.

StructuralFeatures

The relationships of the different members of the Palaeo- zoic and Mesozoiccomplex stratigraphically belowthe Permian limestone, and the Vancouvergroup above thelimestone, are difficult to establish because of lithological similarities, intrusions, and the metamorphismof therocks. The Permian limestonein the eastern part of the area is a. conspicuous horizonmarker and serves to indicatefmlting on large and smallscales. Unfortunately this rock is found in a small part of thearea only, where it is inisolated masses separated by faulting,erosion, and intrusives.

Bodies of Permianlimestone north-west and south-east of Cream Lake, inthe north-eastern part of thearea, are exposed

- 25 - atabout the same elevations andhave about the same attitudes, striking about east and dippingabout 30 degreessouthward. Faulting intervenes and points at the same elevation in the two massesare separated by about1000 feet normal to the shrike. Tne massesare 250 feetor more thick and no exact correlation hasbeen made between correspondingbeds. If thetops of the two exposures be takenas representating approximatelythe same horizon,the mass south-east of the lakehas been uplifted 500 feet or more relative to the mass north-west of thelake. A shortdistance to thesouth-east a fault of largedisplacement trends south of west. It is readily followed fromBedwell Lake past Love Lake, markedby the deeply trenched valley of Drinkwater Creekand by several draws all inthe same alignment.That there has been displacement is clearlyindicated here as limestone is cut off abruptlyat the fault. South-westerly from thefault limestone is found on the ridge betweenDella and Beauty Lakes, and nearthe summit ofBig Interior Mountain. B.etween these massesof limestone and the fault justmentioned it seems probable that there is anotherfault following a slightly more southerly course from Bedwell Lake and not so deeplytrenched until it reaches the valley of Drinkwater Creek, which it then controls for about 3 miles extending south-easterly beyond the boundary of themap-area. The structureis~complicated by otherbreaks striking east of north.Faulting has produced a substantialuplift of the limestone to the south-west relativeto the limestone found at and north-easterly from the fault first mentioned. The factthat north-easterly from the first faultthe limestone consists of a few smallmasses makes it difficult to work out the actual displacement.

Extendingsouth-easterly fromthg head of Della Lake thelimestone and theoverlying thin-bedded sediments are folded in anopen syncline of which the axis trends north- westerly. One limb of thesyncline is exposed at thenorth- eastern edge of the glacier on Mount NinePeaks, the other limb is exposednot far to the north-east on thenorthern side and crest of theridge between Della andBeauty Lakes. Aside from suchminor structures, where the beds are preserved,the limestone strikes within 30 degreesof due east and dips from 10 to 40 degreessouthward. On thewestern side of Big Interior Mountain the dips are in a' direction westof south, farther east tho direction is nearly due south, and nearthe most south-easterlyexposures the dips are in a directioneast of south. Thesemight be taken as indicating thenose of a foldplunging southward; but there has been so much faulting,the limestone has been so greatlyaffected by intrusives, and is in so many separatemasses, that the existence of such a structurecannot be regardedas established.

- 26 - Deeplyentrenched valleys following straisht courses, or draws inalignment on bothsides of one or more summits, are common inthe area. They appear toindicate rapid eros- ionalong faults or fractures.Steep escarpmeats found along thetrenches support thi:; theory. The topogrcphicfeatures arevery noticeable, many suchtrenches are conspicuous in the airplanephotographs: and thetopographic mapping alsoindic- ates them clearly.

Extending from theolder rocks well into 3r acrossthe batholith, deeply trenched valleys appear to mark a system of strong fractures or faults striking fromnorth-west to west; and anothersystem striking east of north. Thatthey were in existence early in theperiod of granitic intrusion is indicated by early-phasegranitic dykes along them. Other dykessuggest that previously some of thebreaks served as channelsthrough which Lower Mesozoic volcanics ascended. The fracturescontrol parts of thecontacts of the main intrusives.Continuations in the batholith are .narked by late dykesand by hydrothermal. alteration of the rocks along the trenches,indicating that opening of thesebreaks continued after the main granitic masseshad consolidated.

ECONhMIC GEOLOGY

Introductory " Notes

Early interest in mi.nera1 deposits in the area had to do withplacer-mining on BedwellRiver. This was followed by a period in whichcopper-bearing replacement deposits received attention.In the past few yearsthe interest has been in veinscarrying values in gold and some silver.After the writer left that part of the area in 1940, somce work wasdone on silver-bearing. mineral.ization discovered nesr Cream Lake in the north-eastern part of the area.

In thefollowing paragraphs some generalobservations are made concerning"Gold-Bearing Vein's'', "Copper-:Bearing Replace- ment Deposits", and "Placer-Mining".This is followed by a section headed "Properties and Mineral Deposits",which contains detailed descriptions of mineral deposits on several propertiesin the area. Descriptions of a number of properties, not found in this bulletin, will be fo.und in a similar section of Bulletin No.' 8 published in 1940.

Inexamining the various mi'neral deposits many samples weretaken, to.indic'ate the range of valuesan3 the valu'es associatedwith ce'rtain t.ypes of minera1izatio:n. To delimit

- 27 - ore and todetermine average values of gold-bearingveins which may returnassays of severalounces per ton, would require much closerspacing of samples.

Mineraldeposits are described under the names of the properties on whichthe writer believes they occur. When the propertieswere examined, few recentlystaked claims had been surveyedand therefore the exact boundaries were not marked: and it wasimpossible to find the corner posts of some claims surveyedyears ago.

Gold-Bearing Veins

Fractures containing gold-bearing mineralization have beenfound in many parts of the area, in granitic and in volcanicrocks. Some of the more promisingveins which have been discovered strike within a few degrees of north 20 degrees east, or north 65 degreeseast. In the western part of the areaveins of the first groupare found standing almost vertic- ally, or dippingsteeply eastward; in the eastern part they are founddipping less steeplywestward. Of the veins strik- ingapproximately north 65 degrees east almost all seen by thewriter, dip from 45 to 70 degreesnorthward, but one dips steeplysouthward. Other veins in the area have diverse attitudes.In the Bedwell River batholith veinsbelonging to both groupsare found following or cuttingdykes of andesiteor dacite, which in turn cut the batholith.

Nost of the veins are fractures filled principally with quartz, some carbonate, and varying amounts of sulphides. Fragments of wall-rock, more or less replaced, may make up a minor part of the gangue:and commonly there is some gouge at the walls. Many of theveins havebranches which diverge at smallangles from the main fractures. Often the vein- mineralization is widerthan average where a branchleaves the main fracture.Several of theveins have sections,in whichthe width exceeds one foot, and in a few casesvein- fillingreaches a width of 20 inches. The Shemoodvein consists of mineralizationdeveloped as vein-like or lenticular masses in a shear-zone,and the mineralizationreaches greater widths than it does inthe.other veins. Some veins on which a little w,ork hasbeen done, consist 0.f sheetedzones, in which vein-mineralization is developedalong closely spaced branch- ing,nearly parallel, fractures.

In the general part of this bulletin "vein" is used in a broadsense meaning a fracture or sheeted-zone, which may or may not show evidence of shearing,and which is filled essen- tiallywith introduced quartz, carbonate,, or other ganguemin-

- 28 - erals,sulphides, and more or lesssheared wall-rock. This broadsense includes fractures filled largely with vein- mineralization, or fracturesfilled largely wi-th sheared wall- rozkbut containing vein-mineralization. In the section, "Properties End ginera1Deposits", "vein" usually has a nar- rowersense, meaning a fracture, filled 1argel:y with intro- ducedvein-mine,rals, which may also contain a minorproportion of shearedwall-rock. "Shear" is usedfor a fracturefilled essentially with shearedwall-rock, and "shear-zone''for a wider break in which the filling consists of masses of wall- rockseparated by shears,except where the amount of vein- mineralizationin shears andshear-zones is referredto specifically.

Experience so far shows that the gold is confinedto vein-mineralization. The veinswhich contain gold, contain sulphidesranging from a fractionof one percent. to a sub- stantialpart of thetotal vein-matter. Free gold is ooca- sionally seen in many veins, but most ofthe g,old is of microscopicsize. Under the microscopegold is usuallyseen atthe margins of sulphides,veining or replacingsulphides, or inthe gangue nearthe sulphides. The rela.tionship of goldto sulphides is discussedrather fully in. thereports on theBuccaneer and Musketeer properties later in this bulletin. Althoughthe gold is associated with thesulphides, betweenpieces of vein-matterwhich give the wne gold assays there may be a marked differencein sulphide c,ontent; this statementapplies to mineralization from the s:ame veinbut thedi'fference is more striking when mineralization from certain nearby veins is oompared.

The vein-mineralizationconsists of quartz, some carbonate., ' and sulphides. In many veins the gangue is ribboned b) closely spacedfractures parallel with thewalls. These fractures may be healed with later mineralization. The quartz is frequently well-crystallized.Sulphides may form a largepart of thevein- filling, or may be in mall massesbetween quartz crystals or inthe ribbon-fractures. Of thesulphides pyrite is oftenin well-'formedcrystals, and crystals of sphaleriteare found. Some pyrite crystals havebeen cutinto slice:; by ribbon- fractures.Pyrite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite and galenaare thesulphides usually found. Pyrrhotite and marcasitederived from it wererecognized in specimens from several veins. Arsenopyrite wasfound in a vein in the quartz-diorite near the eastern contact of the Bedwell River batholith, andwas reported from a veinnear the western contact. Vein-matter from theShehood and P. D. '2. properties,seen by the writer, was greatly altered by weathering; it contained pyrrhotite and may contain other minerals less common elsewhere in thearea.

- 29 - Copper-bearing Replacement Deposits

Limestone lenses more or lessreplaced by silicates and metallicminerals, near the Penny Creekintrusive, have al- readybeen mentioned. At onepoint on the Avon group.limestone,found in contact withgranitic rocks, is partly replaced by disseminated grains of pyrite,chalcopyrite and magnetite. At another point the metallic minerals havealmost completely replacedthe limestone. Elsewhere on thisproperty green silioates with some magnetiteare found in the limestone at and nearthe contacts; the main mass of thelimestone, however,contains but little introduced material. On theSeattle group,andradite garnet, epidote and magnetite with more or less pyrite andchalcopyrite completely replace limestone and possibly some volcanicrock, and at one pointdisseminated mineralization consisting of magnetite, pyrite, chalcopyrite and sphalerite was observedin the limestone. On theGalena groupmagnetite, pyrite and chalcopyritereplace fine-grained volcanicrock. On theold BedwellRiver road, a little more than a milenorth-easterly from thebridge at 3-rnile, there is anexposure of chalcopyrite filling joints and to some ex- tentreplacing the volcanics in the walls of the joints. This occurrence was describedunder "Empress" in the Annual Reports, Minister of Mines, British Columbia,1917 and 1918, at which timethe surface was stripped.

The Avon, Seattle andGalena properties were described in Bulletin No. 8, 1940. The Ptarmigan and BigI.properties, nearthe eastern contact of theBedwell River batholith, are describedfully in the present bulletin. The copper-bearing mineralization is found principallyreplacing volcanic rocks andlimestone. The workdone on thesedeposits has not developedcommercial ore bodies.

Chalcopyriteappears to be theprimary copper mineral; pyrite,pyrrhotite, and some molybdeniteare found, but except for minoramounts of sphalerite at one point the writer saw no otherprimary sulphides in these deposits. Samples of typical mineralization usually assayed a trace or nil in gold. @nesample ofselected sulphides assayed: Gold, 0.14 02. per ton;'silver, 3.0 oz. perton; copper, 11.1 percent: another assayed;Gold, trace; silver, 2.0 oz.per ton; copper, 8.3 per cent. On theSeattle property some disseminatedmineralization inlimestone contained magnetite, pyrite, chalcopyrite and some sphalerite. A sample ofselected material, containing sphalerite and a moderate amount of chalcopyrite,assayed: Gold, 0.10 oz.per ton; silver, 0.1 oz. perton. Some of thesedeposits aredefinitely younger than the large granitic intrusives, and it is nrobable that allare younper. It is aninterestiog fact

- 30 - \ 9s~ \ 8:< (5; / Rob Vein Adit I

LEGEND \\d;so0‘s P Shear or $auk with dip

Sketchedcontour with elevation e-1100- Surface working Position of sample

.\c9 [// 3 that almostall the gold-bearing veins in the areacontain pyrite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite and galenain about that order of deposition. The chalcopyritecontent is us-lally small. and is oftenmicroscopic. The goldappears to havabeen deposited laterthan, or withthe ].ate sulphides. It doesnot appear that the gold-bearing mineralization can be closely related tothe copper-bearing replacement deposits. S’sme gold-bearing veinshave been found near but not immediately at copper- bearingreplacement deposits.

Placer-Mining

Early reports on the Bedwell River area refer to placer- mining. The scenes of principalactivity are believed to have beenon the north-westernside of the river about five miles fromthe mouth, and just above a canyon-section of which the up-streamend is about 6 1/2 miles from themouth. In the spring of 1939an effort was made torecover gold from the river gravel below thelowest canyon-seotion approximately 3 miles from the mouth of theriver. From this point to the mouth, theriver-bed is wide,bed-rock exposures are known to the writer at two pointsonly, and thereare extensive flats principally on thenorth-western side of theriver. The placeroperation attempted in the spring of 1939 wason ground understood to be included in the Agnes placer-claimregistered inthe name of J. W. Lamb. Two wing-dams wereconstructed and it is reported that some gold was recovered before high water made it necessary to ceaseoperatiom. Some test pits were sunk a few feet on the flat westof the river, near the wing- dams. It is reportedthat gold was recoveredat the wing-dams, in the test pits, andfrom testing andpanning along the river. So far as the writer known, testing has not been sufficiently extensiveto determine fully the nature of the gravel, depth tobed-rock, or average values. Fold recovered in testing is reported to be rather fine,but notflour gold. Largeboulders mightbe expectedin a country of suchrugged topography but very fewwere seen inthe river-channel by thewriter. Four placer-leases,extending downstream for a total distance of approximately 2 miles from the ms,were granted on January 23rd,1940, to Frank A. Noel (Lease143), W. A,. Noel (Lease 144), B. Noel (Lease 145) and Carl Noel (Lease 146).

The eightclaims of theMusketeer MUSKETEERMINES, LTC . groupand five claims of the (No. 8 Fig.1) Shamrock groupwere recorded in September,1938, in the name of Patrick McCrory. A registeredagreement covers the sale of theclaims by McCrory to MusketeerMines, Limited (N.P.L.), a company withhead offices in Vanocuver. Thecompany is the registered owner of the A, B, C and D fractionalmineral ” - - -

- 31 - claimsstaked and recordedin the latter part of 1939.These fractional claims lie between or adjoin claims of theMusketeer andShamrock groups. The company is therecorded owner of the -F mineralclaim and the H fractionalclaim, staked andrecorded of ear1.v in 1941.lvine " L. norTh theother eround: " and of the claims BrokenChain.Nos. 1, 2 and 3 north of theriver, recorded inJuly71939. Thecompany is alsointerested 'in an option " topurchase the claims Joker ?!os. 5, 6, 7 and 8, Trail-No. 1 CI

0.~~ ~ ~ and Trail No. 2. of which therecorded owners are S. Craih0 and G. H. Patton. These claimslie generally north-westerly from theclaims of the Musketeer group. Zxcepting the three BrokenChain claims,which lie across the river, the ground " held by the conpany is south of BedwellRiver on lower 'Sam CraigCreek.

Work on theproperty has been donefrom a tent-camp, at about 950 feet elevation, on thewestern side of Sam Craig Creek. K branch trail runningsoutherly from the river near the mouth of Sam CraigCreek, crosses from the eastern to the westernside of the creek, about a third of a milefrom the river,near the portal of the 700 level, and climbs 300 feet to the camp, about three-quarters of a mile by trail from the river. The river can be forded by horses. andan old log jam half a mile upstream from'the mouth of Sam Craig Creek,can be crossed by men at all stages of the water. K branch-road is to be built to the property from the BedwellRiver road, now underconstruction, and it is reported that work has started on a bridge to cross the river below Sam CraigCreek.

On bothsides of lower Sam CraigCreek the surface is irregular. Rocky knolls and ridgesare separated byswampy depressions and narrowdraws. The averaceslope is steeply northwardto a smallflat along the river. Overburden is deep inthe flatter areas, surface cuts havegone down as much as 10 feetwithout reaching bedrock. Tree-growth.is fairly heavy on the flat and on thelower slopes where the rock is covered by drift.

The discovery in August1938 of the itusketeer Vein on the eastern side of Sam CraigCreek did much to stimulate thepresent activity in the Bedwell River Area. The same autumn?the property, consisting of theMusketeer and Shamrock, -" was optioned to a group including Pioneer GoldMines of B. C ., Limited, of Vancouver, and Anglo-HuronianLimited. of Toronto. The option was later transferred to MusketeerMines, Limited, (N.P.L.), incorporated on June 21, 1939.

Developmentwork on the property started in the autumn of 1938.Underground work was carried on by hand until late

- 32 - in March 1940. Work done in this period consisted of surface workings,four short adit drifts, the 1000 level,including some 375 feet of driftingsoutherly on theTrail Vein, and theouter part of thecrosscut-entry to the 700 level. In Augustand September 193'3 sixdiamond-drill holes were bored totalling 1100 feet.Preliminary work on a proposedwater- power development wasdone duringthe same autumn. Work on this project was suspended when it became apparent that construction of a road up the Bedwell Riverwould not be carried through that year.

The following spring a gasoline-poweredc'Jmpressor was brought in andfrom a date late in March 1940 drilling on the 700 level wasdone withconpressed air rock-drills. Late in 1940 operation of thecompressor wassuspended for the winter, and a smallcrew resumedwork on the 1000 level,advancing the Trail Vein drift southerly by hand.

Figure 2 accompanying thisreport shows therelative positions of most of the workings on the property at the end of August1940. This is based on compass surveys by the writer, except that the position of the 703 levelrela- tive to the 1000 level is based on informationsupplied by the company engineer. The datum on which elevationswere based was obtained from a number of barometerreadings. Relativeelevations of pointsin the surveys w,arecomputed from thesurvey data. The datum used for company surveys is .about 60 feethigher than that used on (Figure 2). The veins on which substantial work had beendone at the time of the examinationare described in this report, with the exception of one or two showings indicated on Fig. 2. Tile 700 level starts as a crosscutdriven southerly and intersectsthe MusketeerVein some 945 feet from theportal. Of thiscross- cut-entry,the inner endonly is represented om Fig. 2.

Sincethe examination the drifts, on the Trail Veinon the 700 and 1000 levels haveadvanced southerly, and the drifts on theMusketeer Vein on the 700 level haveadvanced easterly and westerly. beyond thepoints shown.

The approximatepositions from which the writer took sampleshave been indicated on Fig. 2. The samplingdata aretabulated later in th.is report.This data gives an indication of therange of widthsand values, but samples would need to be more closely spaced. to permitaccurate e:stimates of averagewidths and values.

The writerwishes to expresshis thanks to F. A. Joubin, engineerfor Muskateer Mines, Limited, to J. Merritt,foreman in 1939. to John Swanson,foreman and Ivan Thompson, account.-

- 33 - ant at the mine in1940, who generouslysupplied information concerningthe property, and also made available facilities for work.

The property is about a mile from the western margin of theBedwell River batholith, and is underlain byigneous rock which shows some range in texture andcomposition but consists principally of quartz-diorite. Some finergrained granitic rock,outcropping along the trail west of Sam CraigCreek, is probablyintrusive into thequartz-diorite. Several dykes on theproperty are andesite and some others,too altered for def- initedetermination, are probably andesitic. The granitic rocks and thedykes have been altered hydrothermally near shears and fractures.

The veins so fardiscovered are in fractures along which there has been more or less shearing and whichon their attitudes may be dividedinto two groups. The one groupconsists of fractures which strike from 10 to 30 degrees east of north andrange in dip from 85 degrees westward to about 75 degrees eastward. Some of these fracturesfollow the walls of andesitic dykes of the same general attitude. The other groupconsists of fractures striking from aboutnorth-east to almost due east and dippingnorth-we.stward or northward at angles from 45 degreesto 75 degrees. The MusketeerVein', belonging tothe secondgroup, cuts and appears to offset slightly the TrailVein, which belongs to the first group. The veinsare cut by shears which strike from 30 to 80 degreeswest of north and dipnorthward or north-eastward at angles from 45to 85 degrees.There is some faultingof veins by theshears, the horizontal displacements observed are of the order of a few feetor inches. The Trail Vein cuts some masses of altered andesite but for most of the length of this vein in the walls are of quartz-diorite which is alsothe wall-rock of the other veins .on which extensive .work hasbeen done.

Most of theveins have sections which areribboned by fracturingin the vein-filling parallel with the walls. In theeasterly-striking veins the ribbon fracture-surfaces and the walls of the veins are marked by finegrooves or stria- tions which arenearly horizontal. In the Musketeer Vein the striationsobserved have a low pitchto the east. The walls of a shear which faults the vein are also marked by grooving whichpitches about 55 degrees north-westward.

The vein-fractures usually contain gouge alongthe walls. Introduced vein-matter consists of quartz with more or less whitecarbonate and varyingproportions of sulphides. The widths of vein-matterobserved range from a fraction of aninch

- 34 - to more than a foot. In tneMusketeer Vein the maximum width observed is 8 inches,but in the Trail Vein widths of'8 or 10 inchesare common and locally widths exceed a foot.Vsually the greatest widths are foundwhere a split converges with the main fraoture. The quartz is oftennotably well-crystallized. The sulphidesconsist of pyrite,sphalerite, galena and chalcopyrite. The pyrite.isfrequently in coarse crystals. some good crystals of sphaleritewere found in one vein. The sul- phidesoccur following the ribbon-planes in some ribbonedparts of the veins and as irregular masses which may form a large part of some unbanded parts of theveins. Free gold, generally quitefine, has been found in several of theveins.

The sulphidesare distributed irregularly in the veins and thesulphide content varies greatly from pointto point. In a general way it hasbeen observed that the gold tends to occur in the parts of theveins carrying appreciable percent- ages of sulphides. As a measure of the su1phid.e content,the total sulphur content was determined in a number of samples from thisproperty. In thesamples from theMusketeer vein, thesulphur ranged from a fraction of 1 per cent. to 7 per cent. The higherfigure is probablyequivalent to more than 15per cent. combined sulphides. . Samples containing much sulphidemineralization gave highassays in gold; andgener- ally vein-matter moderately well-mineralized with sulphides gave bettervalues than material poor in sulphides. A closer study was made of the relationship of gold and sulphides in the Trail vein on the 700 and1,000 levels. Assay-pulps from thesamples -taken on eachlevel were grouped within moderate ranges of goldassays. Equal quantities from eachassay-pulp in a groupwere combined to form a compositesample for the group. The results from assaying.fivecomposite samples and a single sample unusuallyhigh in gold are set. forth in the followingTable.

Inspection of the table shows that for thecomposite- pulps,the assays in gold, silver, lead, zinc and sulphur all increase in. the same orderbut not in the same ratio. The single sample unusuallyhigh in gold, is notproportion- ately as richin the other constituents, but is notablyricher than average in all of them. A11 the pulps exceptthe two which assayed highest in gold, assayed -nil in copper. The samplewhich assayed lowest in gold, assayed nil in copper, " lead and zinc:but assayed 1.8 percent sulphur, equivalent to a pyritecontent of 3.4 per cent. This confirms the observations that pyritealone is not a reliableindicator of gold.Galena and perhaps sphalerite are usually observed with pyrite in vein-matter which assays well in gold.

- 35 - CompositeSamples TrailVein

" "

Gold 3ilver Copper Le ad Zinc otalSulphides 07.. 02. ?er Cent. ?er Cent. ?er Cent. PerCent. per ton ?er ton

"" __ . Trace 0.2 Nil Nil Ni1 3 -4 From 700 Level.

I 0.50 0.4 Nil 0.24 0.3 3.9 From 700 Level. w m I 0.06 1 .o Nil 0.57 0.5 6 .O From 1000 Level.

3.56 1.5 Nil 0.84 0.9 7 .O From 700 Level,

4.20 2.5 0.08 1.42 1.o 12.9 From 1000 Level.

.7.90 5.6 0.00 1.02 0.9 4.7 10 -4 From 1000 Level, Singlesample. ...__

* Total metallic minerals calculated as sulphides. The informationobtained fromchemical anrllysis augments andconfirms data obtained from microscopicstudy of polished orespecimens. In themicroscopic work, free gold was found usuallyveining or replacing sulphides, at the margins of sul- phidegrains or in the gangue nearsulphides, and no tellurides or othergold compounds were observed. The sectionsstudied microscopically were generally of vein-matter richer than average insulphides, but some wereof ribboned veh-matter more sparinglymineralized. The metallicminerals identified in thesesections are pyrite, galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite and gold. Some pyritecrystals havebeen cuthto thin slices by theribbon fracturing of theveins. Chalcopyrite occurs separatelyfrom sphalerite and tiny blebs or blades of chalcopyriteare to be seenin most grainsof sphalerite. The chalcopyritecontent is decidedlysmall, usually it is too small forthe copper to be determined by routine quantitative assayingmethods. The microscopicstudy indicates that sulphideswere developed between quartz crystals md in fractures inthe gangue, and thatpyrite is theoldest sulphide. Galena and chalcopyritevein and replacesphalerite and aretherefore laterthan sphalerite. Gold is as late as thelatest sulphides and possibly later.

The coincidence of thegold and sulphides may be explained by thetheory that sulphides, in their order, and gold,with or subsequent to thelatest sulphides, were deposited in the parts ofthe veins most subjectto successive re-opening by fracturing. The laterfracturing may have failedto openchannels in some parts of the vein moderately well-minerali.zed with early sulphides, and may haveopened channels to some poorly- mineralizedparts. Thus moderatelywell-minerdized vein- matter may assaywell in gold, although generally the well- mineralizedvein-matter is richer.Since the gold occurs largelyas grains of freemetal, it is not to t,eexpected that the ratio with the total sulphidecontent or with an in- dividualsulphide wouldbe constant. The microscopicstudy suggests that as an indicator of goldvalues galena wouldbe better than pyrite. MusketeerVein - Surface cuts in deepoverburden expose this vein for part of its known length. Because of thedepth of cverburden, the vein was exploredby an adit-drift on the 1000 level, at rather shallowdepth. This drift follows the vein easterly from Sam CraigCreek for 407 feet. About 125 feet from the Sam Craig Creekportal a branchdrift has been driven sou.therly followingthe Trail Vein;and 3l7 feet fromthe Sam CraigCreek portal a crosscutentry, driven from a pointabout. 60 feetnorth-

- 37 - westerly, makes connection with the Musketeer Vein drift. The portal of this entry is on theeastern side of a low ridge on theeastern side of Sam CraigCreek. The crosscut entry to the 700 levelintersected a vein,believed to be theMusketeer Vein. about 945 feet from the portal andabout 285 feet below the drift on the1000 level. When theproperty was examined the vein hadbeen followed on this level for 122 feet. The averagedip indicated by therelative positions of the drifts on the two levels is between55 and 60 de-grees northward. 1000 Level- The strike of thevein changes markedly at two.points in thisdrift. In the western section the strike is aboutnorth 73 de'grees east. At 85feet from thewestern portal the vein is cut by a shearwhich strikes west of north: in the middle section,easterly from thisshear, the vein strikes about north 85degrees east. About255 feet .fromthe wes'tern portal the veinswings to the left and continuesthence on a strike of north 68 degreeseast. For most of theexposed length the veindips from 45 to 55 degreesnorthward but it steepens toward theeastern end of the drift, and 90 feet easterly from thecrosscut entry dips 75 degreesnorthward. Approximately 50 feet from the western portal the vein is cut by a north- westerlystriking shear. At theshear the eastern segment of thevein is displacedabout a footto the south, relative to the western se-pent.

Throughmost of the length of the drift on the 1000 level, theMusketeer Vein is 1 1/2 to 7 incheswide with gougealon'g the walls. The vein-matterconsists of quartz, a littlecal- cite and irregularlydistributed sulphide minerals. Much of the vein is ribbonedor banded by fractures parallel to the wallsand, in parts of theribboned vein, sulphides are developedalong the ribbon-fractures. Some parts of thevein show no bandingand may contain little sulphide mineralization or may be well-mineralized with sulphides in irregular masses. The sulphidesinclude pyrite, sphalerite, galena and a minor amount of chalcopyrite. It is reportedthat fine free goldhas been .found at a number of points in the vein.

At the western portal the vein is from 3 to 5 incheswide. About 15 feet north-easterly, it haswidened to 7 incheswhere for 2 feet the vein, consisting of whitequartz with a little sulphidemineralization, is complete1crushed. This narrows tosolid well-mineralized quartz 4 12 incheswide, thence to the shear at 50 feet ths vein is from 3 to 4 1/2 incheswide. Thence easterlyto the next shear, a distance of about 35

- 38 - feet,the vein-matter consists of ribbonedwell-mineralized quartz 3 to 5 1/2 incheswide. Thence easterlyfor about 70 feet to a pointpast the Trail Vein drift, thevein-matter is from 1 1/2 to 4 1/2 incheswide. In part it consistsof rusty gouge, bat for most of this section it is principallyribboned quartz. Some high assaysin gold are reported fromsampling of this section of theve.in.

About 30 feet easterly from theTrail vein. drifts, the " Musketeervein passes into a shear from 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 feet " wide,which continues for about 70 feet on a strike north 85 degreeseast and dipabout 45 degreesnorthward. At several points,gouge-filled fracture's branch off into the walls at smallangles with the main shear. Narrow stringers or lenses of quartz with some sulphidesare found along the sides of the main shear. It is reportedthat regular sampling across the width of the shear yielded assays of a few hundredths of an ounce of .gold per ton.

At theeastern end of thissection, continuing on the same strike for 30 feet, the usualtype of vein comes in again. It is 1 1/2 to 3 :l/2 incheswide and is quitewell- mineralizedwith sulphides. In the next 20 feetthe strike changes toabout north 68 degreeseast, the dip steepens to 55 degreesnorthward, and the vein-matter widens to a maximum of about 7 inchesnear the middle of thesection, diminish- ing to 3 inches at theeastern end. Approximately at this point a narrowfracture branches in a southerly direction and thedrift has beenwidened atthe southern side. This fraoture strikes about north 30 degreeseast and dips 85 degrees south-eastward. It containsquartz 1/4- to 1/2-inchwide mineralizedwith sulphides. It is reportedthat fine free gold was found in the main vein near this point.

The cross-cut entry is about 42 feet e'asterly from the narrow fracture and at the time of theexamination the drift continuedeasterly 90 feet;past the cross-cut. In'this section,about 132 feetlong, the vein is less thm 2 inches wide forthe first 15 feet;in the next 107 fee.t the vein- matterranges from 2 1/2 to 8 inches and averagesbetween 5 and 6 inchesin width. Sulphides probably fo:rm lessthan 3 percent. of thevein-matter except where there are local concentrations; onesuch concentration occurs a-:a point 10 feetwesterly fron the crosscut-entry. The last part of the drift was driven through badly shattered ground and in the last 10 feetthe vein ranges from 1 1/2 to 3 incheswide. The diphere is 70 degreesnorthward.

Ten samplestaken from the Musketeer vein on the1,000 "I_

- 39 - level, at positionsindicated on pig. 21, were principally from the parts of the vein regarded as most apt to containsubstan- tial values in gol'd.This excludes the part of the drift followingthe wide shear. The data from thissampling are shown in the following table: Musketeer Vein. - 1000 let

Width Sample Description No. Inches

1 Whitecrumbly vein-matter, little sulphide mineralization. 0.14 Trace

2 Quartzwith sulphides.

3 Banded vein with some sulphidesand gouge. 2.34 1.6

4 Banded vetn-matter with sulphides. 2.64 1.2

5 Rustyquartz, some' sulphides. 1.64 0.6

6 Banded quartz, well- mineralized with sulphides . 3 .OO 2.8

7 Banded quartz with sulphides. 1.56 1.2

8 Quartz with some sulphides. 0.56 0.6

9 Crushedvein-matter, quartz with some sulphides. 0.96 1I 1.0 ! 10 Quartzwith some pyrite. 0.30 1 0.1

700 Level "

When the writer examined the property at the end of August1940, theMusketeer Vein had beenfollowed for' a total distance of about 122 feet by driftswhich extended approxi-

- 40 - mately 20 feet easterly and 102 feet westerly from thecenter line of the 700 levelcrosscut-entry. Timberi:ng hidthe vein inparts of thislength. The fracture is well-marked,ranges from 3 to 8 incheswide and containsquartz frmsm l/2 to 6 incheswide. The sulphidecontent is small. 'The writerdid not sample the vein in this working. Company sampling is understood to have indicated values ingold, but not of commercialgrade for vein-matter of suchwidth. :Since the examination the drift has been advanced westerly to a point 373 feet fromthe center line of thecrosscut-entry. Betweenap- proximately 210 and 310 feet, company samplingindicated commercial values in vein-matter averaging about 2 inches wide. At theface of thedrift, vein-matter is reported to be 7 or 8 i.ncheswide and to have given assays approaching comercial gradre. The drifteasterly has beenadvanced to a point175 'feet from thecenter line of thecrosscut-entry. The Gein has a widthaveraging about 5 inches, but no part of this work was regardedas developing commercial mineralization.

TrailVein " The Trailvein has been explored in an adit, in surface cutsextending -southerly from the adit, and in branch-drifts which run southerlyfrom the Musketeer Ve'in drj.fts on the 1000 and 700 levels. The averagestrike of thevein is 15to 20 degreeseast of north, and theaverage dip j.s about 80 de- greeseastward. The mineralizationdoes not oc:cur in a simple fracture. At sone points,there are several roughly parallel fractures which may rangs from a fraction of aninch to sever- a1inches in width. The greaterpart of the vein consists of a fracturecontaining two or three inches to a foot of quartz, which may be separated by a horse of wall-rock from another fracturecontaining a lesserwidth of quartz. The fractures tendto branoh, and at the point of branchingthe width of vein-mineralization is oftengreater than average. Much of thevein-matter is ribboned.Parts of thevein. are abundantly mineralized. Sone par.tscontain 5 to 10 per cent sulphides.In the adit sulphides wereeven more abundant.Other partsare poorer in sulphides. The sulphidesinclude pyrite, galena,sphalerite and a :littlechalcopyrite. The quartz is well-crystallized,as are the sulphides in general. Some pyritecrystals are more thm 1/2 aninch across. Beautifully formed crystals of -sphalerite were found in a vug in the Trail Vein adit. Gold values bear a rather close relation to the sulphide mineralization as indicated by a table earlier inthis report. The bestvalues are usually obtained from parts of thevein containing sphalerite and galena,as well aspyrite. The wallsare of quartz-diorite,often greatly altered. The vein is cut by a number of cross-shears, few of which offset it markedly.

On .the two levels drifts followthe Trail 'Vein southerly from theMusketeer Vein, hut there has been no drifting north-

- 41 - erly. On the1,000 level a narrow vein-filledfracture is expo.sed on the northern'side of the Musketeer Vein drift, 2 feet west of the projection of the vein followed in the' Trail Vein drift. On the 700 levelthere are several narrow vein- filled fractures on the northern wall ofthe.Musketeer Vein drift,about opposite the entrance of the -.-Trail vein drift.

From the portal of the-Trail Vein adit, about 122 feet v higherthan, and400 feetsoutherly from, the Sam CraigCreek ' portal of the1,000 level, a trenchextending southerly up theslope exposes the vein for about 80 feet. The vein is 'fFom 2 1/2 inchesto 8 incheswide and contains much sulphide mTneralization. About65 feet from the Tower end of the trench,quartz striking about south 10 degreeswest diverges from thevein when followedsoutherly. It is 2 to 8 inches wise and contains little or no sulphidemine.ralization, but containssericite and some ankeriticcarbonate. It is white in contrast with the rusty filling in the principal .fracture. SoutherIy from this trench cuts in deepoverburden expose vein-mineralization at two points.

The Trail Vein adit. driven about 33 feet when the w.riter examined it, was timberedfor about 20 feet from the portal. Where not concealed by timber, the vein ranges from 1 k/2 to 12 inches in width; it has very irregular walls and in part is frozento one wall. The wall-rock is greatlyaltered. Much o.f the exposed vein is heavily mineralized with sulphides.Pyrite, sphalerite, galena and a little chalcopyrite are arranged in bands parallel with the walls 0.f the vein, andform from 2 to 3 toperhaps 40 percent of the vein-matter. The writertook two samplestoward the inner end of the working.

Assay Width Sample Description No. Inches oz.peroz.per

11 Heavily-mineralizedvein- matter. 9.34

12 Quartz with much less sulphides,near heavily-

mineralizedsection. 12.04 , 6.0

On'the 1000 level,the Trail Vein drift extended375 feet southerly from theMusketeer Vein drift when the property was examined.

- 42 - To a point 123 feet southerly from the entrance of the drift the Trail Vein is represented by fracture!:containing from 1/2 inch to 4 inches, andusual1.y not more than 2 inches, of vein-matter. Kt some points,the fractures contain gouge only.This part of thevein was notsampled by thewriter. At 123feet, the drift is crossed by a shearstriking a little south of east and dipping 50 degreesnorthward. Prom theshear southerlyfor 127 feet, th.e vein is generallywider. It is cut bynumerous shearsspaced at shortintervals which strike from appr0,ximately due east to about south 60 de'.gree:? east anddip northward or north-eastward at angles from25 to 85degrees. At most of them there is n.o apparent offsetting of the vein. At a number ofthe shears, the width of ve'in-matter incre'ases markedly. Between 123 and 235 feet from thedrift entrance, the vein is o'f fair width and is more abundantlymineralized thanother sections or com.parable width. The inner 25 feet of this section is 3 to 4 incheswide and is much broken. The writer took six samplesacross thevein in l;he section between123 and 210 feet from the entrance of the drift,the 'data fromwhich aretabulated below. The width of thevein changes inshort distances as will beseen in notes in the table. _"Trail Vein, 1000 level ay Sample iidth Description Silver No. :nche: Z. perton 15 5 Quartz moderately mineralized. 0.66 0.7 16 9 4 inchesabundantly mineralized,rest sparingly. 0.84 1 .o 1 17 6- Well-mineralized. 1.92 2 1.1 18 4L Well-mineralized - Note: 2 2 feetto south the vein is 9 incheswide, sparing ly mineralized, it narrows to 2 inches 8 feet south widening to 6 inche: 10 feetsouth 6.80 5.2 19 6 Banded vein,well-mineralized. 17.90 5.6 20 3i Vein well-mineralized. 2 In 25 feet to south, vein of about this width is much broken. 3.62 3.4 -

- 43 - Between235 and 255 feet from its entrance, the drift is timberedand lagged. In theremaining 120 feet of theworking tothe face, as of August31, 1940, the' quartz-filled vein is continuouslyexposed, ranging from a narrow stringer to a width of a little more than 12 inches. Much of thissection is from 5 to 10 incheswide. Sulphide mineralization is sparingly develope'd.This part of thevein wasre'ported to be non-com- mercialand was not sampled by thewriter. It is reported that the drift hassince advanced a further 60 feet orso and that for the last few feet width and gradeare regarded as commercial.

The Trail Vein drift on the 700 level hadreached a point 178 feet southerly from the Musketeer Vein drift whes the writer examined thisworking on August 28, 1940. In this distance.,the vein-fracturing is generallystrong. In several sections splits run approximatelyparallel with the main fracture for considerabledistances. Within the fracture-zone there is a good deal of wall-rock,in some sectionsas a horse separating two veins of quartz. The width of quartzranges from about 3 inches near the intersection with theMusketeer Vein,to a maximum of 17 inches, and is usually from 6 to 12 ' incheswide. The writertook samples at 9 pointsalong the vein in this draft. At two points,altered wall-rock within thefracture zonewas sampled, and was foundbarren.

Datafrom the writer's sampling are given in the following table:

- 44' - Trail Vein 700 Level. "_ I A2 LY SamPll [idth I Description Go Id Silver -No. :riches z. uertor )z. perton 21 duartz moderately mineralized, wid.er just to south: 2 .a6 1.9 22 Quartzsparingly mineralized. 0.56 Trace 23 duartzsparingly mineralized(vein narrows to 5 inches, 5 feet south. ) 0.78 0.2 24 Quartzsparin.gly mineralized. 0.52 0.3 25 Quartz well-mineralized 4 .a6 3.1 0 to 8 inches from hangin , horseof 26 wall-rock. Trace Trace 8 to 22 1/2 inches from hanging-wall, well-mineralized quartz.(Split from north converges wlth main vein here .) 3.72 2.1 27 White quartz,little isul hidemineralization at Eocalswell. 0.22 0.2 28 & Quartz plus altered 2 wall-rock,little sulphide mineralization. Trace Trace 6 0 to 6 inches from hanging-wall,altered wall-rock, some quartz and pyrite. Trace 0.2 29 8 6 to 14 inches from hanging-wall,quartz sparingly mineralized. 0.68 0.3

5 14 to 19 inchesfrom hanging-wall,altered wall-rock some pyrite. Nil Nil

- 45 - It is reported that when work wassuspended in December 1940 theface of this drift was 504 feetsoutherly from the MusketeerVein. Of thislength company samplingindicates that about 55 per cent is of commercial width and values, in shootsranging from 25 to more than 100 feet in length.

Rob Vein

Some surface workingsand a 45-foot adit on the western side of Robillard Creek,indicated near theright hand side of Figure 2, exposevein-mineralization in a narrowfracture whichstrikes about north 15 degrees east and dipsabout 85 degreessouth eastward. The vein-mineralization from 2 1/2 to 8 incheswide, consists of quartz with more or less sulphides.Parallel shears. striking north 70 degreeswest and dipping 65 to 70 degreessouth-westward, cut the vein. In the aditthe shears were encountered between 28 and33 feet from theportal. The vein is faulted by theshears and on the southernside is offset 3 1/2 ,feet towardthe east, relative tothe segment on thenorthern side. The vein, from 3 to 8 incheswide for 25 feet from the portal, is abundantly-mineralized with sulphides at the portal and well-mineralized forthe rest OP thedistance. Beyond 25 feet fromthe portal it narrows. and at the southern side of theshears it consists 'of quartz 3 to 5 incheswide containing 2 or 3 per cent pyrite and some chlorite. Samplingindicated high values in gold for theabundantly-mineralized material and low values for the sparingly-mineralizedmaterial on thesouthern side of the shears. A cut on theeastern side of thecreek exposed shear- inp; but no vein-mineralization.

Musketeer No. 1 Vein " - Thisvein can be seenunder the water for about 50 feet alongthe western side of Sam CraigCreek, at about 1,250 feetelevation. It hasbeen exposed by stripping extending southerly up theslope on thewestern side of thecreek. Two cuts,in deepoverburden, short distances southerly from the endof the stripping, did notexpose the vein. These workings, indicated in the lower left hand corner of (Fig. 2), expose a sheeted zone 2 to 3 feet wide in which closelyspaced sub- paralleljoints or fractures strike about north 15 degrees east and dipabout 85 degrees south-eastward. Along the eas-ternside of thesheeted zone thereare some narrowstring- ers of quartz. Along the westernside, vein-mineralization consistingof quartz and some calciteirregularly mineralized with sulphides,ranges from 3 to 8 inchesin width, pinching orswelling in short distances. The sulphides,pyrite, sphalerite,galena and chalcopyrite,in small aggregates irregularly

- 46 - Fig. 3. Plan of workings, Buccaneer Miner: Limited. distributedthrough the gangue, form roughly 1 to 15 percent of thevein matter. Two sampleswere taken from this vein.

Assay Description

Well-mineralizedquartz, 10 feet above creek. 4 .54

Quartz with some pyrite, 14 feet above creek. 1 .28 0.6 -~- -

Note:Sulphides formed roughly 15 percent of sample No. 13, and 3 percent of sample No. 14.

Bonus Vein ,.:

An adit-drift on this vein is situatedabout 1,500 feet almost due west from the __Trail Vein adit. The -Bonus adit is at approximately1,400 feet elevation on the north-western side of a north-easterly-trendingdraw. At intervalsin the draw,for about 800 feet down-streamfrom theadit, there are exposures of shearingin the quartz-diorite. The shearing trendsnorth-easterly and dipssteeply south-eristward. The wall-rock is greatlyaltered and at some pointsquartz and some pyriteare developed inthe shear. South-westerly from the adit-portal, at higher elevations, thereare indications of thsshear, and at about 175 feetribboned-quartz 5 inches wide is exposed. The aditfollows the shear south-westerly for about 100 feet. At theportal quartz 4 to 6 incheswide containsvery little sulphide mineralization. The wall-rock is greatly altered on both sides of the shear :?or a total width of about 5 feet. This vein was not samp:led by the writer.

BuccaneerMines, Limited, N.P.L. BUCCANEER NINES LTC. with head office in Vancouver, (No. 9,Fig. 1) is the recorded owner of the claimsDictator, Nos. 2 to 8, " .Ruff Nos. 1 and 2, andGold Mint,recorded in '1938; Grace "" " - Fractional,recorded in 1939; Buccaneer Nos. 1 to 9, and "" -Ruff Nos-3, 4, and 5, recorded in 1940. The original loca- " tions were madeby S. D. Craig andwere later transferred to the company. The claimsare south of the Bedwell River on ground extending across Blaney Creek but most of which lies west of BlaneyCreek. Work on theproperty is underthe

- 47 - direction of the exploration staff of BralorneMines, Limited, which company is reportedto hold an option on a controlling intere.st in BuccaneerMines Limited.

The writer wishes to express his gratitude for accommoda- t,ionprovided at the camp, and for information,very useful in the preparation of this report, whichHenry C. Hill, exploration engineer for BralorneMines, kindly made available.

The property is reachedby an extension of thebranch- trail whichserves the Musketeer Mines Limited property. .From theMusketeer camp the trail runs southerly on the east side of Sam CraigCreek climbing steeply to about 1600 feet elevation, andthence turns easterly following an uneven grade to theBuccaneer camp at about1625 feet elevation. The total distance by branch-trail from theriver, near the mouth of Sam CraigCreek, to the camp is about 2 miles. The camp consists offrame and logbuildings capable of accommo- dating 20 men.

The country is ruggedand on the property thesurface in general slopessteeply either toward the river or toward tribu- tarycreeks. Thecamp and theprincipal workings are west of BlaneyCreek in an area whererock hummocks rise betweencross drawsand swampy depressions, and locally the generalslope is lessthan average. Overburden .is thin or wanting at some points; at others, it is more than 4 or 5 feetdeep. In generaltree cover is not heavy, but conifers in various parts of theprop- ertyare sufficient in size and number toprovide fuel and mining timber.

The property is entirely.within the area occupied by theBedwell River batholith. The principalworkings, consisting of three adits andnumerous surfaceworkings exploring the -Cra& Veinand the West -Vein, are about 1 1/2 miles easterly from the western margin of the batholith.

Between the fall of1939 and early summer of 1940,three adits were driven. On theVein, an aditcalled the 1600 level was drivenabout 590 feetsoutherly andan adit calledthe 1440 level, 160 feetlower, was drivenabout 610 feetsoutherly from a pointnear the camp. The 'Nest- vein-drift, an adit on a veindiscovered early in 1940, was driven 250 feet or so southerly.This vein.is roughly parallel with and 725 feet westerly from the Graig Vein. Work was stoppedduring the summer of 1940 butabout September 1st a small crew,working two shifts per dayresumed work in the West- vein-drift. On September15th, when the writer completed his examination, theface was about 300 feet from' theportal. It is reported

"48 - that this workinghas been advanced to a pointabout 475 feet from the portal, and that between 30 and 40 feet from theportal a winzehas been sunk: 31 feet on the vein. The underground work, totallingabout 1700 linealfeet, has been doneby hand; the only power usedhas been for driving ventilating fans. The adits and thesurface workings on the two veinsas at 'September13th, 1940 areindicated on (Fig.3) on whichthe topography is indicatedapproximately by sketchedcontours at 25-fOOt intervals. Th.is plan is based on a Brunton com- passsurvey by the writer, and on some informa-;ionobtained fromcompany's surveys. The baseelevation wa:? determined by barometerreadings, but the relative elevations of points on the map wereobtained from theBrunton survey. In addition tothe workings shown on Fig. 3, strippings and surfacecuts havebeen made on several other veins, two of whichare east of Blaney Creek.

Most of the workon the property has been done in two zones in whioh vein-mineralization occurs in bzanching fractures, which for much of the indicated length rare in or at thesides of alteredgreen andesite dykes. The dykes, in- completelyexposed in the surface andunderground workings, strike about north 25 degrees east and dipsteeply south- eastward. The exposedwidths of dyke-rockrange from a few inchesto about 25 feet, and generallyrange from 6 to 10 feet. The dykespinch to narrowwidths or disappearalto- gether;they split into irregular branches and at some points curvemarkedly. It seems probablethat the dyke-rock was intrudedalong lines of rupture, as masses which varied considerablyin ,width and were not continuousin straight linesfor long distances. However, anindividual mass may have the same widthand o.ttitude for several hundred feet. It is not clear whether certain apparent displacements of dyke-massesare due tocurving, original emplaoement as off- strike masses, or to faulting.

A dyke-mass is exposed on thesurface about 100 feet south-westerly from the 1,440level portal. The levelfol- lows another dyke-mass underground, which130 feetsoutherly from theportal has diminished to a width of 3 or 4 inches. Dyke-rock,probably emplaced as a separatemass, is enoountered 245 feet fromthe portal, and is about 25 feetwesterly from theprojection of the one followedin the first 130 feet of theworking. The most southerlysurface cuts j.n thissection areseparated by 200 feet across a swampy depression from the cutsto the north. If the mostsoutherly cuts are on the con- tinuation of the same zone (-), the dyke and thevein- fracturing havebeen offset about 100 feet to the west either by curving of the zone or by faulting, neither of whichcan be

- 49 - entirelydismissed at present, but it seems more probable that the most southerlycuts expose dyke-rock emplaced as a separate mass.

Surfaceworkings which expose dyke-rock southerly from the bestdefined part of the __West vein-zone lie east of thesoutherly projection of thebest defined part of thezone, and here, too,the relationship had not been definitely established at thetime of theexamination. Atthe portal of the West- vein- driftthe ve,in-fracture is indyke-rock. Followed south- westerly,the vein crosses to the western contact, and from thatpoint follows approximately along the contact as far as theworking had advanced. It is reportedthat, in the extension of thedrift since the examination, the vein crosses againto the eastern side of thedyke-mass, which it then leaves and continuingsoutherly cut anotWerdyke-mass, some distance east of the projection of the first.

Inthe underground workings, frequently both walls fol- lowsmooth slipsrepresenting two fracturesor joints, both of whioh may be tight and barren, or either or both may con- tainvein-matter. At some points several parallelfractures areexposed in the roofs of theworkings. Vein-filling is usually largely in one fracture which may be from two to 20 incheswide. Although the vein-filling is seen to pinchin one fracture and to make in another, the workings do notexpose parallel fractures both containing.important widths of vein-filling. On the 1440 level,vein-mineralization which has been principally in a fracture on thewest side of the drift pinches in that fracture and beginsto swell in a fracture about 4 feet to the east. In this section,several southerly-strikingstringers cross from the,one fracture to theother. The principalvein-filled fracture may haveboth walls of dyke-rock, or may followthe contact between the dykeand quartz-diorite.In some sectionsthe vein-filled fracturecrosses fromone wall of the dyke to the other. At some pointsthe fractures pass completely into the quartz- diorite. At many pointsfractures branch at small angles fromthe main-fractures, and at suchpoints the vedn-filling inthe main-fractures may be widerthan average. In the -West vein-zoneone branch-fracture has been traced on thesurface between 40 and 50 feet southerly from its junction with the main-fracture. In general,the fracturing strikes east of north and dipssteeply south-eastward, but vertical dips, and dipswestward, are observed. Fracturing in the quartz-diorite is lessre'gular than that observed in the dyke-rock.

At some points,usually inthe quartz-diorite, quartz replacing sheared wall-rock forms the greater part of a lentic-

- 50 - ular mass, and at othersquartz in irregular stringers forms the greater part of an irregular mass of rock. These bodies may be from 1 footto 3 or 4 feetwide. So far as is known, appreciable values in gold\ have not been found in such bodies. Usually,the vein-filling consists almost entirely of quartz, from 2 to 20 incheswide. There is usually some gouge at the walls, but at some pointsthe vein-matter is frozento the walls. The vein-fillingincludes fragments of wall-rock usually in part replaced by ankeriticcarbonate! and chlorite. Small angularmasses of light-buffankeritic carbonate, which sometimeshave a little chlorite on slips,doubtless represent completelyreplaced fragments of wall-rock. The quartz is often well-crystallized and shows the outlines of individual crystals. A littlewhite carbonate ooours with thequartz. Some of thevein-matter is ribboned by closelyspaced fractures parallel with the walls.

The primarysulphides, chalcopyrite, pyrite, galena and sphalerite,occur as scatteredgrains filling openings between quartzcrystals, and alongfractures in the gangue in some ribbonedparts of theveins. Locally. sulphides may constitute severalper cent of parts of the veins, rarely more than a few feetlong: but the average sulphide oontent. wouldprobably be a fraction of one percent. Some evidence of secondary alteration is seen at almost all points where theworkings haveexposed metallic minerals. The primarysulphides are partly replaced by secondary minerals. Malachite and a black mineral,probably ohalcocite, alsooccur in cracks and small openings in the gangue,where probably there had been no prim- arysulphide minerals. Rusty stains may have tBeen derived from theiron oontent of decomposed pyrite, chalcopyrite or sphalerite. Under themiorosoope a good deal of alteration of theprimary sulphides becomes apparent.Cha.lcopyrite is in part replaced by covellite and malachite derived from the chalcopyrite. The secondaryminerals are also deposited at otherpoints, as is theblack mineral. Sphalerite is seen to be partly decomposed and galena is partly replaced by anglesite.

Gold is occasionallyrecognized with the n.aked eye, and underthe microscope it is seenas small grains.Grains about 20 micronsin length are Dot unusualand some are 100 microns long. The distribution of gold is irregular; it occursin thegangue, and in contac-twith or closeto sulphides. The age relationships of thesulphides are in part obscured by secondary minerals which have attacked the margins of the grains.Pyrite is theoldest sulphide and gold is found at themargins and inveins cutting pyrite grains. Gold is found insimilar relationship wlth galena. Chalcopyrite is found

- 51 - asseparate grains in gangue, and alsoreplaces pyrite, but thechalcopyrite and sphaleriteare usually so much altered that their relationship with each'other and with the other sulphides is not clearly indicated.

Quantitativeinformation on themetallic mineral content of the veins was obtained in the following manner. Samplestaken in the -West vein-drift were prouped within limitedranges of goldassays. Par eachgroup a composite samplewas preparedbj combining equal weights from the assay pulp for eachsample inthe group. The compositesamples were assayed for gold,silver, copper, lead, zinc and sulphur. The same procedure was followed for thesamples from the 1600 level andfrom the 1440 level on theCraig Vein. The results of theseanalyses are listed in the table on thefollowing page.

Inthe analyses of thecomposite samples, the highest quantity of any of theelements, copper, lead, zinc and sulphur, is 0:3 percent: therefore the percentage error may be highalthough the actual error in a determination is less than 0.1per cent. Further,' although it seems probable that the metal content or' thevein-matter has not been greatly changed bysecondary alteration, the 'fact that evidence of secondary alteration is so commonly observed in the veins fromwhich the sampleswere taken casts some doubt on the relation of the analyses to' those which might be anticipated from unaltered vein-matter. Therefore, generalizationsregarding unaltered vein-matter,based on theavailable data, are b: no means in- disputable. The generalizationsoffered seem reasonablein thelight of data from this and from otherproperties, and may be of some use inconsidering the relationship of goldin unaltered vein-matter.

Copperwas detectedin onecomposite sample: lead and zincwere detected' in the same sample and inanother. -Nil assaysin these metals werereturned from the remaining samples. A11 samplescontained some sulphur,which however is a small percentagein all cases. The ironcontent of the ore is low,and asiron is introduced'in thegrinding of the samples,determinations of iron in the compositesamples are of doubtfuluse. The totalsulphur content ofthe samples is probablyconsiderably below that ofthe primary ore. Pyrite appears to be theleast altered sulphide. If allthe sulphur is attributedto pyrite, and if thecopper, lead and zincare attributed to chalcopyrite, galena and sphalerite, thetotal content of sulphideminerals computedfrom analyses of the compositesamples in one caseapproximates 2 percent, and in the others is a fraction of one percent.

- 52 - CompositeSamples

West Vein

Gold Silver Copper Lead Zinc Sulphur *TotalSulphides JZ. perton oz. perton Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent.

_" " " -

Trace Trace Nil Nil Nil 0.06 0.11

0.82 0.2 Ni 1 Nil Nil 0.10 0.19

10.54 2 .o 0.22 0.22 0.3 0.29 1.9 plus

Craig Veir I - cn W 1600 Level I Trace Trace Nil Nil Nil 0.05 0.09

0.54 0.2 Nil Nil Nil 0.09 0.17

3.90 0.9 Trace 0.01 0.1 0.09 0.33

1440Level

Trace Trace Ni1 Nil Nil 0.13 0.24

0.96 0.2 Nil Nil Nil 0.06 0.11

3.82 0.7 Nil Nil Nil 0.05 0.09 -

* Totalmetallic minerals calculated as sulphides. It is significantthat the sampie in whichcopper, lead and zincwere detected, and whichaccording to calculation re- presentsthe highest sulphide mineral content, returned the highest assayin gold; and that the sample in whichlead and zincwere detected. and which is second insulphide mineral content, is alsosecond in gold; but it mustbe noted that in the sample third in gold, and very little belowsecond place inregard to that metal, none ofthe metals copper, lead and zinc was detected, and thecalculated total sulphide mineral content is as low asin the samplewhich assayed lowest in gold. In thecase of the three composite samples from the CraigVein 1440 level,the order in gold assays is theinverse of theorder of the calculated sulphide contents. Of thethree samples,the lowest in gold is a composite madeup from sam- pleswhich included some takenacross sheared wall-rock, containing a few quartzstringers and some disseminatedfine grains of pyrite. This disseminatedpyrite. from mineralizedsheared sectionsrather than from the more usualvein quartz, may-accountfor the sulphur content which, low as it is, is still well above theaverage. In thecase of thesamples from the CraigVein 1600 level.although' the base metal contents and the calculatedcontents of sulphideminerals are very low, theirorder is the same asthe order of gold and silverassays, the same conditionobtains for the samples from the West__ vein- drift, and inthis groupthe quantities are larger. In view of the notinfrequent occurrence of visible free gold, and of thevery low metallicmineral content of these veins, the relation of goldto sulphides as shown by theanalyses, might be saidto be remarkablyconsistent. The writerbelieves that pyrite was depositedbefore the other sulphides; that the other sulphideswere introduced into the vein, reopened b> sub- sequentfracturing; and thatthe gold was introducedeither with or subsequentto the latest sulphides; and therefore thatthe later sulphides are apt to be more reliableindic- ators ofgold than is pyrite.xccordingly unaltered parts ofthe veins containing more sulphidesthan the average should befound tocontain more goldthan average, particularly if the sulphidesinclude sulphides other than pyrite.

Widthsof vein-mineralization range from a fraction of aninch to an observed maximum of 21 inches.In the Craig Vein.widths greater than 6 or 8 inches usually represent a localswell. In the West- vein-drift, the average width is greater, but widths exceeding10 inches or so usuallyre- presentlocal swells. At one pointthe width swells from 7 inches at thefloor to 21 inches at theroof. Si.milar changes in width take place in distances of a few feet measuredhor- ieontally.

- 54 - I

Plate 111. Mount Nine Peaks viewed lookingnortherly across the valley of Leader Lake and McBride Creek. (Courtesy of Department of Lands) With rapid fluctuations in width and in values, close sampling is necessaryto determine average width and grade and the limits ofcommercial mineralization. In parts of theworkings company samplinghas been spaced at about two- footintervals. Elsewhere sampling has been less closely spaced. In the West- vein-drift and in some sectionsof the other adits the vein has been left standing at -the side of theworkings and hasbeen sampled inholes, cut through the vein,about breast high. This avoids the need of storing brokenore until the property is broughtinto production and may preserve some orewhich would probably bemixed with waste and lost if brokenduring development. 'Nhere thevein is leftstanding at the side of a drift,the width is not continuouslyexposed and as the one wall is hidden,complete information is not available.

The positions from wh.ich the writertook 4(? samples are indicated on Fig. 3:and the data concerning the samples are givenin tables in this report. These samples:serve toin- dicatethe range in width and values,but wouldneed to be more closelyspaced to delimit commercial mineralization and topermit close estimates of averagewidths and values. Ex- cept in a few instances th.e writer did not samp'le parts of thevein known to be essentiallybarren. Resul-ts of company sampling of the WestVein were not available when the writer ~ sampled the -West Vein-drift. Craig Vein The 1600 and 1440 aditsincompletely explore the -Craig Vein for 800 feetalong the strike. Surface-cuts give additional information concerning this section of the vein. Surface-cuts and strippings at four points in a length of 310 feet,expose incompletely what may be thesoutherly extension of the same Craig zone,offset about 100 feet west ofthe pro,jected strike of' the800-foot section. In the 310-footsection fracturing is ratherirregular. Widths of vein-matterare less than in the better parts of the 800-foot section, and valuesare understood to be sub-marginal.

In the800-foot secti.on, in thebetter parts. vein- matter is usuallyfrom.3 to about 8 incheswide, with oc- casionalswells to 10 or 1.5 inches. On the 1600 level a swellabout 12 feet long reaches a maximum widt:n of 20 inches, fro%widths of 7 to 9 inches at theends. A sample consisting of' channelsacross the central part of this mass gave good valuesin gold. In the poorer parts vein-matter may be thin or absent;but some sections, in which,the quartz is widerthan average, contain low values in gold.

- 55 - Within the800-foot length, the sections showing themost attractive valuesoccur in that part of the vein openetl by the outer 300 feet of the 1600 level, and the downward projection of this part of the zoneon 'the1440 level. Farther south on the 1600 levelthe values are sub-commercialbut conpany samplingindicates some improvement in the last 30 feet of the working. On the 1440 levelvein-mineralization occurs irregularly, and in part consists or incompletely-replacedsheared wall-rock, to a point about245 feet from the portal, below the portal of the 1600 level.In the remaining part of theworking quartz vein-filling is more continuous, and assays of an ourroe of .goldper ton or better are obtained in several short sections of which the first be.gins about 80 feet southerly from the pointcorresponding with the1600 level portal.

-Craig Vein

r A5 LY Sample iidth Description Go Id Silver No. Inches )z. per tor )z. perton

1600 Level

18 3 Face at portal, August 1939, breasthigh, quartz. 1.70 0.4

19 10 Face at portal, August 1939, 15 inchesbelow go. 18,quartz. 0.60 Trace

20 4 3ast wall, banded quartz. 1.82 0.4 21 4 3ast wall, quartz. 3.10 0.7 22 11 3ast wall, quartz with in- :lusions of dyke-rock. 0.38 0.2

23 5 Floor eastside., quartz Nithsone sulphides. 4.02 0.4

24 4 3astwall, quartz. 1.68 0.7 25 4 3ast wall, quartz. 0.54 0.1 26 4 ioof eastside-, quartz. 3.42 0.6

27 9 3oof eastside, quartz anc 3 inchhorse of tlyke-rock. 0.62 0.4

- 56 - Craig Vein Cont'd "

As Y Sample Width Description Gold" Silver No. Inche: )z. pertog z. perton -__1600 Level 28 4.2 Roof eastside, quartz 2 with inclusions of dyke- rock. Trace 0.2

29 12 Roof westside, local swell,quartz and some sulphides 2.30 0.1

30 6 Roof west side,quartz with sulphides. 6.48 1.3

31 5 Roof westside, quartz, some malachite. 6 .20 1.4

32 18 Roof westside, quartz with sulphides midway alonglenticular swell, 12feet long, 7 to 9 incheswide at ends. 9.22: 2.2

33 9L Roof westside, quartz. Trace 0.2 2 34 24 Roof, quartz andsheared quartz-diorite. Trace Trace 1 35 11- Middle of roof, quartz 2 and sheared quartz- diorite. Nil Nil

"1440 Level

36 26 Roof, shearedquartz- diorite with much vein quartz. Nil Nil

37 & Roof, quartz and inclus- 2 ions of ye1l.o~ carbonate. 0 .20 Trace

38 West wall,quartz. 0 .80 Trace 51.2

39 4 flest wall ~ quartz. 1.!lo Trace

- 57 - CraigVein (Contld)

Us Ly iidth DesoriptionSample iidth Go Id Silver -No. Inchesi, )z. pertor )z. perton 1440 Level

40 7 Floor,east side, quartz and carbonatereplacing dyke-rock. 0.82 Trace 1 41 7- East wall, quartzwith 2 inclusions of dyke-rook. 0.14 Trace

42 9 West wall,quartz and 1 inch of dykefrom foot- wall. 1.90 0.5

43 7-1 West wal,l, quartz with 2 some greenstain. 6.36 1.2 44 d West wall, quartz with 2 inclusions of dyke-rock. Nil Nil

45 9 West wall,quartz. 0.90 Trace

46 15 Roof, westside, local swell,quartz with some chlorite. 1.10 0.3

47 10 Roof, westside, quartz with inclusions of dgke- 1 rock Nil Nil

I! Surf ace

48 2.60 0.8

__-West Vein. In this zone thereare surface-workings at intervals over a length of about 900 feet, from a point at about1845 feetelevation, near the north-west corner of (Pig. 3), to a point at approximately 2085 feet elevation about 400 feet southerlyfrom the portal of theNest -vein-drift. In the

- 58 - section extending northerly from the portal the fracturing is ratherirre:gular. Company samplingindicated that values in goldare generally below commercial grade. In the cuts im- mediatelysoutherly from theportal, high values were obtained. Southerly from a point a little more than 200 feet from the portal the fracturing shows a tendency to split and the con- tinuity of the main fracture is not definitely indicated. Company samplingof.. the branch, traced between 40 and 50 feet southerly from its junction with the principal fracture, is reported to have indicated values slightly below profitable grade.Farther to the south across a small pond thereare severalsurface workings some of which do notreach bed- rock. The farthest, a trench,exposed dyke-rock, but the writerdid not see any vein-filled fracturing.

When ths writer examined it, the West vein.-drift had " reached a pointabout 300 feetsouth-westerly .from theportal. At theportal the vein-fracture is indyke-rock. About 75 feetsouth-westerly the fracture reaches the western contact of the dyke-mass and. from thatpoint follows southerly approximatelyalong the contact. The fracture is strong throughout the working including below the section below wherethe tendency. to split was observedon the surface. Near theface the adit cut a cross-breakstriking a little south of east and dipping 50 degreesnorthward. The ground is shearedand crushed for several feet, but south across thebreak the vein was found withoutapparent displacement. The usualrange in width is from 4 or 5 inches to 9 or 10 inchesbut there are frequent swells to 12 or 16 inches, and occasionallyto greater widths. The widest se,stionobserved is about225 feet from theportal, here the vein, 21 inches wide at theroof, was immediatelyabove a section 7 inches wide at thefloor.

Assay Sample Width Description No. Inches 3 1 6- East wall, platy quartz vein with sulphides. 15.70 2.9 1 2 10- /Eastwall, quartz with much chalcopyrite. 6.38 1.4

3 4 East wall, quartz,pinches 1 /outthree feet to north. Trace 0.2 - i

- 59 - WestVein (Cont'd) ___ - A: Y S amp 1c Yidth Description Gold Silver go. Inches )z. pertor z. perton

~ ~ " 4 6 Eastwall, quartz and in- elusions of dyke-rock. 0.24 0.4

5 11 Eastwall, quartz and inclusions of dyke-rock. Trace 0.2

6 9 Roof eastside, quartz. Trace 0.4

7 12 West wall,quartz. Nil Nil

8 15 inlest wall,vein is split, contains some dyke-rock. 0.08 1.1

9 10 Nest wall,quartz some sulphides. Trace 0.2

10 18 West wall, quartz. Trace 0.2

11 11 West wall, quartz, and altered fragments of wall rock. Nil Nil

12 10 Nest wall,quartz and some carbonate. Nil Nil 1 13 7F Roof, westside quartz, narrows to north: 1.20 0.3

21 Roof, westside, quartz and some carbonate. 0.66 Trace

15l4 7 Floor below No. 14, 1 quartz. 1.08 0.4 16 6 Nestwall, quartz some sulphides. 8.48 2.5

17 9 Nest wall, bandedquartz some carbonate. 0.54 0.3 - ___

- 60 - Work was continuing in this drift at the -;ime of the examination. It is reportedthat when work was :suspended, the face of theworking had reached a point 4'75 feet southerly from the portal, and that between 30 and40 feet from theportal, a winzehad been sunk: to a depthof 31 fee,;.Further it is reported that company samplingindicated commercial widths and values in the winze, and in the drift in five 'sections: rangingfrom 30 to 80 feetlong.

FourCrown-granted c:laims known as PTARMIGAN (NO. 12-Fig.1) the Ptarmigan group, and adjoining BIG f (NO. 13-Fig. 1) them tothe south-east, four Crown- grantedclaims known as theBig I, or sometimes asthe Big Interior group, cover !ground whichin- eludes the highest peak of Big Interior Mountainand the north- westernpart of a deepcirque south-east of thts peak. The claimsare in part in the Alberni and in part in the Clayoquot MiningDivisions. The mainpeak is approximately 8 1/2 miles north-westerlyfrom the head of Great Central :Lake and 11 1/2 miles north-easterly from the head of Bedwell I3ound. The claims:Big I No. 6: Lot 1231;Big I No. 7, Lot1232; Great - .Central No. 6, Lot1233; and Great "_ Central No. 5, Lot 1234;

Crown-rrranted.> in 1913.have been calledthe Ptakirran YYL rrrouu and are owned bj PtarmiganMines, Limited, an .English company with a representativein Vancouver. The claims: BA I No. 1, Lot1640; Big I No. 2, Lot1641; XINo. 3, Lot -1642;and - "~ Big I No. 4,Lot 1644;Crown-granted in 1926,have been called Big I groupand are registered as ownedby Jossph A. Drinkwater and Michael Tebo of Alberni.

A cirque in the heart of Big Interior Mountain is en- closed by a series of high peaks and connectingridges except where it opensinto the hanging-valley occupied by DellaLake, describedin the note on theDella. The cirque and therug- ged ridges andpeaks enclosing it are shown on Plate 11, a panorama composed of three photographs looking in northerly directions fromthe top of Mount Nine Peaks,elevation 5975 feet. On thedrawing, (Fig. 4) , based on the panorama, a number of referencepoints are indicated by letters. These letters with the names given in the following paragraph will beused throughout the report.

The termcirque will be,restrictedto the inner steep- walled part and the outer section connecting it with the valley of DellaLake. The slopesextending from thetops of the steep walls tothe peaks and the crests of thesurrounding ridges will be calledthe rim of thecirque. From the main peak "C" a great ridgeextends southerly to a secondpeak, the south peak "A", and thencesouth-easterly to a pass betweenDella Lake and a

- 61 - I m N I

A. South Peak-elevation 5,900 feet. E. Eastern margin of limestoneonridge. 1. Easternend of quartz-diorite. B. Southern margin of limestone,on south spur. F. Fractureon western side of peak. J. Outlet of cirque. C. Main Peak,Triangulation station-elevation G. Draw. K. Fracture at Della Lake"e1evation 3,525 feet, 6.107 feet. H. Top massof snow approximately.in north-westofcorner D. Knob of limestone. cirque.

Fig. 4. Looking northerlyinto cirque, Big Interior I' Mountain, copied from panoramic photograph Plate 11. branch of You Creek.This ridge will be calledthe south spur. Prom the mainpeak a ridgeextends north-easterly for about a quarter of a mile to a knob "D" andthence e,asterly for half a mileto 'IF" the most easterly of severalja@;ged peaks. From "F" a ridgeextends southerly sloping down tobluffs which tower more than 500 feet above theshore of DellaLake. Con- tinuingsouth-westerly with axis paralleling the lake, a spur slopes down to "J", theentrance to thecirque. A snow mass at "H"; in the inner corner of.the cirque, and a draw "G", of which the head is in the rim on thesouth spur, will serveas furtherpoints for reference. Some otherpoints marked with letters will be definedin the geological descriptions.

The floor of theinner cirque is between 3700 and 3800 feetin elevation. Somesnow masses,about a:; inPlate 11, remained in August1940 and theseveral shallow lakes were exposed.Pictures published in the Annual Reports,Minister ofMines, British Columbia, probablytaken in August1906, show a very much greateraccumulation of snow,which was thenreferred to as a glacier. From the floor talusslopes riseseveral hundreds of feet to steep cliffs whichwall the innercirque. An embayment at "H" inthe north-western cor- nerhas walls which are less steep. Extending southerly from the embayment on thewestern side of thecirque steepcliffs of quartz-diorite and1i.mestone rise as much :as 700 feet above thetalus. Bighrusty bluffs extend south-easterly from the embayment to anescarpment which forms the eastern wall of theinner cirque. The innercirque h;as a maximum width of almosthalf a mile. The width,narrows toward the south-east and the stream from the cirque .flows through a shallownarrow canyon at "J" into the valley (of DellaLake. The distance from the cl.iffs at the head of t:ne cirqueto Della Lake is about three quarters of a mile.

Above the precipitous walls of the cirqw the rim rises steeply to the cres,t and to the .several peaks of whichthe southpeak "A" hasan altitude of approximately 5900 feet, the mainpeak "C", of 6107 feet and a peakabout three quarters of a mile to the east has analtitude of about 6000 feet. The outerslopes of Big Interior Mountain aresteep on all sides. The main peakstands more than 5000 feet higher than the floor or Bedwell RiverValley at the mouth of You Creek, lessthan 2 milesto the south-west. From the same peak, north-westerly to a'point on upperBedwell River, the drop is more than 4200 feetin about 1 1/4 miles. The highest peakbetween "E" and 'IF", (Pig.4), is about 3400 feethigher thanthe floor of Drinhater CreekValley, three quarters of a mileto the east. A glacier of which the head is in the saddlebetween "C" and "D", (Fig. 4)?extends northerly to

- 63 - the head of oneof the sources of Bedwell River. There is also a smallglacier in a northerly-facingcirque, in the south peak, "A".

The generalgeology is indicated on (Fig. 1). Trending south-westerlythe contact of the Bedwell River batholith crosses the crest in the saddle between the mainpeak "C?, and a knob of limestone "D", and crosses the crest of the southspur not far south of "C". The main batholith is not exposedelsewhere within the aPea encircled by the crests surroundingthe cirque; but a mass ofquartz-diorite, three eighths of a mile from north to south, is exposedbetween If I 7, and "H" inthe northern wall of thecirque; a second and smaller mass is exposed in the bluffs, westerly from "H", inthe north-western corner ofthe cirque; and a third mass aboutthe size of thesecond is exposed in the bluffs about 1100 feetto the south. Dykes of quartz-diorite up to 50 feetwide are exposed on thespur o,n thesouth-eastern side of thecirque, andnumerous smaller dykes of quartz-diorite and offeldspar-porphyry are found in and aroundthe cirque. Dykes offeldspar-porphyry, including a facies rich in hornblende,cut the quartz-diorite.

Limestoneoutcrops on thecrests of the ridge north- easterly and southerly from "C" and extendsalmost to the foot of steep cliffs between the two smallermasses of quartz- diorite, on thewestern side of the cirque. On thesouth spurlimestone and overlyingthin bedded siliceous and argilla- ceoussediments are intruded by basalt, doubtless related to theoverlying lavas which form thesouth peak "A", and are importantin Mount NinePeaks tothe south and Mount Septimus tothe east. The limestone is believed to belong to the same horizon as other faulted masses found in this part of the area. Fossils collected from two limestonemasses north-east of upper DrinkwaterCreek have been identified and placed in the Permian.

The rocks stratigraphically below thelimestone are mapped as a "Palaeozoic andMesozoic complex". They includefine- grainedcherty volcanics andimpure tuffsolder than the limestone,,small bodies of intrusivebasalt, and at theeastern side of the cirque a large mass of basaltic rock in intrusive relationship,as well as numerous graniticintrusives. Much of the large massof basaltic rock consists of roundedcobbles in a matrix of very similar material which grades from fine- grainedto a moderatelycoarse granular texture. This rook \ passesgradationally to one of more uniformlygabbroio ap- pearanoe and is believed,like the basalt intruding the sediments on thesouth spur, to be related to the Lower Mesozoic volcanics.

- 64 - Much faulting has occurredin this part of the area as indicated clearly where thereare limestonemasses toserve as markers.Probably there has been movement along some fractures whichare indicated by scarps and othertopographic features. A fracturecuts through the spur on theeastern sideof the cirque and is clearly exposed from "K" on the shore of DellaLake, for almost 1 mile northerlyto the peak II F". This fracturestrikes west of north, dips. steeply westward and for some distancecontrols the scarp 2.t theeastern side of thecirque. Other fractures control parts of the south-westernwall of the cirque.

A good dealof limestone is recrystallized but most of it is unmineralized. At some points,notably near the main peak,garnet, epidote, amphibole, and othersil.icates replace basalt and limestone. Some ofthe resulting si-licate rock contains a littlemagnetite. Sulphides are found at a number of points in the silicate rock and, close to contacts with limestone, in the basalt whichhas been less completely meta- morphosed. The sulphidesinclude chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, and at a few points,molybdenite. In the talus on theupper slopesnear the main peak: some banded materialcontaining a good dealof malachite is found.Patches preen with malachite areto be seen at a number of points. The andesite and fine- grainedsediments older than the limestone contain disseminated sulphidesand some magnetite at severalpoints. On the rim and inthe cirque sulphide mineralization was found in the basalt and in the older volcanic rocks more co!mnonly than in thelimestone.

Some ofthe granitic dykes containchalcopyrite and pyrrhotitein tiny fractures. Fine grains of pyrite,pyr-. rhotite and some chalcopyriteare disseminated in some of the granitic rock. particularly nearthe contacts. Great rusty bluffs at the northern side of the cirque consist of quartz- dioritecontaining disseminated sulphides. Rusty bluffs on the peaks facing Drinkwater Creek consist of fine-grained rocks of Palaeozoicage, cut by graniticdykes. Grains of pyriteare disseminated through the dykes and theolder rocks.

Localconcentrations of copper-bearingmineralization and larger masses containing scattered grains of chalcopyrite, in or close to theground covered by theCrown-granted claims, will be describedlater :in more detail. A littlechalcopyrite and some molybdenitewere found near a dyke in theescarpment on theeastern side of thecirque. Elsewhere on Big Interior Mountainthe writer found little evidence of copper-bearing mineralization.

- 65 - History

The Annual Report, Minister ofMines, British Columbia, forvarious years from 1903 to 1933 referto the Ptarmigan - andBig I. The AnnualReport, Minister of Mines,1906 is based onan examination made in August of that year by H. Carmichael and the AnnualReport, Minister of Mines,1916 is based on an examination made in0-tober of that year by W. M. Brewer. The other reports contain the cuqrent news of theproperties and some of them reproduceinformation contained in 1906 and 1916.

From the reports it appears that the first claimswere locatedabout 1899 by J. X. Drinkwater and D. Nichols, and that at differenttimes other staking was done nearby. Of thevar- iousclaims staked theeight mentioned in the first paragraph of thisreport are probabl-y the only ones held for long. kp- parently little actual work was done on theground, although a rat.her costly campaignof road construction was begunby Ptar- migan Mipes, Ltd,and a serious effort was made to take a diamond-drillto the Big I group.

In the Annual Report,Minister of Mines, British Columbia, 1906,Carmichael mentions. a'31-foot adit; this appears to be the only reference to anyworking on either property seen by anofl'icer of theDepartment. The adit is inthe north-western cornerof the cirque toward the north-western boundary of the Big I group.Carmichael does not mention any workings farther tothe north-west on the ground later acquired by Ptarmigan Mines, Limited; and it is probablethat in 1906 therewere no workings on this ground. In the Annual Report,Minister of ldines,1916, Brewer says thatin October he was unable to visit the 31-fOot adit onthe Big I propertybecause the rock was slippery from frost. He saysalso that for the same reason he was unable to examine threeshort adits driven on the Ptarmiganproperty after Carmichael's examination. The present writer foundthe 31-foot adit; and on thePtarmigan property found a 15-fOOt rock-cutfrom the end of which an adit hadbeen driven 3 feet: but found no otherworkings within the area covered byCrown-granted claims.

The 1912and 1913 Annual Reports,Minister of Mines, British Columbia,record that Ptarmigan Mines, Limited, had taken up claims and in 1913obtained Crown-grants of the claimslisted as Ptarmigan group in the first paragraph of thisreport. The 1913 Reportmentions a "tunnelentry of 10 feet" on theproperty of PtarmiganMines, Limited, and theexpenditure of $47,000, principally on roadconstruction. The 1914Annual Report,Minister of Mines, British Columbia, says that the company suspendedwork because of theoutbreak of war.

- 66 - Apparently Ptarmigan Mines, Limited, inten.ded to build a wagon-road up Bedwell River,to a point from which an aerial tramway.would be built to theclaims near the summit of Big InteriorMountain. The exactlocation of theproposed tramway is notmentioned in the reports. It seems probable that the site proposed for the lower terminal ctf the tramway must have been at least as far up the river as the mouth of You Creek,and possibly farther; that is at leeat 11 miles by road from the headof Bedwell Sound and possibly 12 or 13 miles.

It is reported that .when workwas suspended in the autumn of 1914, supplies andequipment, including cab1.e~ for the pro- posedtramway, were left at the head of Bedwell. Sound. Road construction,involving the building of many bridges, had reachedthe 7-mile post. This was a difficult and costlypro- ject requiring the building of many bridges and of much cordu- royedroad. Powder left at the head of the sound had later to be destroyed. The Annual Report,Minister of Mines, British Columbia, 1919, reports that the company engineerinspected the material, and the road, andfound that they had deterior- atedgreatly. The company doesnot seem to haveattempted further work on theproject. In 1939 the wooden bridges and thecorduroyed parts of theroad had deteriorated so much that they were no longeruseful even for pack-horses.

The Annual Reportsmention examinations o:P the Big I property, madeby engineersrepresenting one 01' more mining companies;but there is n.o statement of any specific work done at the property after the 31-foot adit, which was driven beforeCarmichael's examination in 1906. In 1!316, Brewer says that early in October of that year a diamond-drill was taken in and that a light aerial tramway hadbeen built for takingsupplies up themountain from the river camp on DrinkwaterCreek. The tramway, still standingin 1940, extends from thebottom of DrinkwaterCreek Vall6:y to thetop of theescarpment just north-west of DellaFalls. The writer saw a quantity of equipmentincluding pumps, parts of a diamond- drill, pipes and tools still lyingnear the foot of the tramway. Possiblythis equipment was nevertaken tmy nearerthe Big I property. An electricgenerator, the remains of which arein an old cabin on thenorth-eastern side of Drinkwater Creek,and oopper transmi.ssion wire now usedfor hand-holds along the Della Falls trail, were probably taken in at the same time as thediamond-drill.

- 67 - -Access The head of thecirque can be reachedfrom the top of the Della Falls trail by a route along either side of Della Lake,vestiges of a trail remainthrough timber on thenorth- westernside of thelake. The distance is about 1 1/2 miles by eitherroute. At a few points it is possibleto climb well up the cliffs from thecirque, and it may be possibleto reach the rim above the cliffs this way. A safer and much easier course to follow,leads south-westerly from thesoutherly corner of Della Lake to the summit of the pass? a distance of about a quarterof a mile in a straightline, thence the south spurcan be followednortherly. Most ofthemineralization exposed on theupper slopes is close to the mainpeak of Big Interior Mountain,about 1 milewest of north from the pass.

The upperslopes can also be reachedconveniently from theBedwell River side by making use of the trail which leads from a camp-site,about 13 1/2 miles by road and trail from the head of BedwellSound, tothe Casino workings. Thecamp is at about1400 feet elevation, a shortdistance south-east of the river. From it the trail climbs,in about 0.8 miles, to a point at 2600 feetelevation, south-east of the camp. The trailforks here; the left hand forkleads to the mine- camp and to the most extensiveworkings on theCasino property. The right hand fork of the trail is steep, rough,rather cir- cuitous, and may be hard to follow, but it indicates a route 'up thevery steep north-western side of themountain to the openupper slopes.This branch of thetrail reaches a point, at about 3900 feetelevation, on thewestern side of a northerly-flowingcreek, about 1 1/4 miles from theriver-camp. @ne of theCasino veins is exposed at intervalsalong the easternside of this creek. The ridge on thewestern side can be followedsoutherly to a smalllake at about 4400 feet elevation, and 1 3/4 miles from theriver-camp by this route. The lake is a little more thanhalf a milesouth-westerly from the main peak.North-easterly from thelake there are highbluffs of quartz-diorite and of limestone. By circling to the south, 'the crest of thesouth spur, a shortdistance south of thepeak, can be reached with little difficulty. The writer and his assistant climbed from theriver-camp to thelittle lake in just over two hours. It is possibleto go from.thelittle lake to the crest of the main ridgenear the best showing in not more than anhour and a half.

.Examination in 1940

With two assistants the writer devoted a large part of the1940 field season to geological mappingand examination

- 68 - of mineraldeposits on BigInterior Mountain, and on Mount Nine Peaks,immediately south of it. By farthe greater part of theeffort was devotedto Big Interior $fountain. This work included mapping with a plane-table, for which a system of triangulationstations was laidout, and additionalinforma- tion was recordedin pho.tographs taken from several camera stations.Traverses wererun on whichpositions were deter- minedby pacing andcompass bearings, and b3; roughtriangula- tion.

Most of thetime the Sherwoodbase-oamp cn upperDrink- waterCreek was used as thebase. Later, the western parts of themountains were attacked from the Bedwell River side, using the old You. mine-campand theCasino river-camp as bases. Excludingtime spent Itravelling between the I_ou.tside and bases, andtime spent atthe Sherwood base-camp, 32 d.ays in July, Augustand September were devoted to this work:. During this timethere were many rainydays and muoh fog. For plane-table mapping fair visibility and freedomfrom actual rain werere- quired.Other workwas frequently done inthe rain. Climatic oonditions of this kindare usual in this area..

The rugged and oftenpreoipitous slopes of Big Interior Mountain arehazardous when visibility is poor.Large parts of the upperslopes were still snow-covered in mid-August. Taluscovers the bed-rook in considerabie area. on the rim and inthe cirque. The difficultyof access, ruggednature of thecountry andunfavorable climatic conditions, greatly in- creasethe difficulty of examiningmineral deposits in this part of thearea. Rust-stained rock exposures cover large sections and some coppermineralization is indicatedin a verylarge volume ofrook. To sample such a volume of material wouldbe a largetask, and totake the samples out for assay wouldbe another.

The principalcopper-bearing mineral f0un.d in these deposits is chalcopyrite. The puremineral cont,ains 34.5 per centcopper and has a specificgravity from 4.1to 4.3. If we takethe specifio gravity of theaverage rock as about 2.7, it is apparent that chalcopyrite must makeup about 2 percent of the volume of suchrock, inorder for the rock to contain 1 percent copper by weight.Chalcopyrite is a ratherconspic- uousmineral, and is usually seen readily if presenteven in small amounts.Therefore the writer feels that careful observa-. tion will give a fair indication of whether or not chalcopyrite mineralizationapproaohes commercial grade. The writertook samples representing any material which contained chalcopyrite includingmaterial obviously poor in that mineral. These "indicator"samples were designed to support and make more

- 69 - definite careful observations of thechalcopyrite content. The assays of thesesamples are given in the following more detailed notes.

Erosion is proceedingrapidly, snow'lasts more than half theyear, and.therefore most materialexposed at the surface shows little evidence of secondaryalteration. Chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite and pyrite, found in the cliffs, in pieces of talus and inother exposures, show little evidence of alteration. On the other handmalachite, doubtless derived from chalcopyrite, is found at a number of points; and some pieces of talus, near the crest of the"South Spur" northerly from "B", consist of banded materialobviously deposited by surfacewaters, and contain a good deal of malachite. It may bethat, from shat- teredrock where erosion is lessrapid, chalcopyrite has been leachedout almost entirely, leaving perhaps a little malachite. Masses of shatteredsilicate rock, consisting largely of garnet, found northerly from "B!' on the crest of the"South Spur",and south-easterly from "B" alongthe contact between limestone and basalt,contain a little malachite at the surface and might befound tocontain sulphides a few feet below the surface. Notes on- occurrenoes.of miqeralizatton. The position of theclaims inrelation tothe topography is indicated on (Fig. 1) copied fromliap 92 F/5, published by theDepartment of Lands in 1939, at a scale of 2 inchesto 1 mile, and 100 foot contourinterval. The topographicfeatures areconspicuous and thetriangulation station on the summit of the mainpeak of Big Interior Mountain consists of a cairn visible for miles. On theground the writer found only one indication of theclaim boundaries, a point witnessing for one claimpost. It is thereforeimpossible to describe all theoccurrences of mineralization in relation to theboundaries of the two properties, much less in relation to theboundaries of theindividual claims. Forthis reason the mineral occur- rencesare described in relation to topographic features indicated on (Pig. 1) and shown inPlate I, specificreferences are made to lettersin (Pig. 4), a sketch based on Plate 11. Based on the boundaries as given on Map 92 F/5 it can be said thatthe occurrences described in the following notes are almost entirelywithin the ground covered by the eight claims of thePtarmigan and Big I properties.

Mineralizationexposed in the cliffs on thenorthern side of thecirque, from "I" to "A", isdescribed first. Reference is then made to disseminated mineralization in the corner near 11 H 11 and alongthe western side of theinner cirque. The next

- 70 - exposuresdescribed are in the draw "G", which may be outside theground covered by the two properties. The mineralization described next is exposed,near the south-western margin of the limestone on theupper .slopes of the eastern sftde of the south spur,Mineralization exposed on theinner slopes not far below the mainpeak is then. described,followed by reference to masses of silicates found. inthe saddle just north-east of the main peak,and at the eastern edge of the glacter just north of the saddle.

Greatrusty cliffs, extending for about 2000 feetwesterly and north-westerly, form thenorthern wall of the cirque. For about 1500 feet, from "I" almostto "H", thec:liffs consist of ratherfine-grained quartz-diorite which contains inclusions of alteredrock. At some points slabs of alteredandesite or basalt form a veneer on theface of the cliffs, which areabout at the southern boundary of the largest mass of quartz-diorite inthe cirque. It appearedto the writer that the contact dip- ped towardthe south and thatthe cirque advancing northerly has not gone farinto this mass. The quartz-dioritebelongs to a facies rich in biotite and hornblendeand contains grains of magnetiterecognized under the microscope. In the cliffs thisrock contains tiny scattered grains of py:rite,pyrrhotite and some chalcopyrite.In the inclusions and :in theslabs of altered rock exposed in the cliffs there is more-concentrated chakopyrite mineralization. At some inaccessible points on thesecliffs thereare small areas of green shin, probably malachite. The most noticeable of these is tOlNard thenorth- westernend, where theface of the cliffs bendsfrom a westerly tonorth-westerly course.

It seems unlikely that the accessible mineralization in thesecliffs approached commercialgrade. The amount of chalcopyriteto be seen is definitelysmall, and there is nothing to suggest that primarycopper-bearing sulphides have beenleached out. There is more sulphidemineralization in andaround inclusions and inthe slabs on the .?ace of the cliffs but this material is presentin small units, the largest seen by the writer might contain a few hundredtons which certainly wouldnot average 2 percent copper. A large sample consisting of chips knocked off at inte:rvals in 40 feet was taken along thebase of the cliffs, in what appeared to be a fairlyrepresentative section of themineralized quartz-diorite. This sample assayed:Gold, nil; silver, nil:copper, trace.

The talus contains a great volume of rockbroken from the cliffs and alsocontains rock carried down from the rim above.Particularly toward the north-western corner below

- 71 - thecliffs, the talus contains high temperature silicates which may have come from the zone nearthe mainpeak whe.re such sili- catesare found in place. Mineralization richer in copper is alsofound near the mainpeak. It seems probablethat scattered pieces of material, much richer in chalcopyrite than is therock in the cliffs, havecontributed to the idea that the talus might be regarded as low gradeore. The presentwriter does not be- lieve that the talus containsenough copper per ton to cover the costs of extracting it even if theoperation were on a large scale.

The secondand smaller mass of quartz-diorite is exposed on the western side of the north-western corner of the cirque, north-westerly from "H", aboutdue west of thesouthern boundary of the mass of quartz-diorite mentioned in the preceding paragraphs. Between the two masses of quartz-diorite,the rock consists of fine-graineddark volcanics and possibly some lime- stonecut by dykesand less.regular granitic bodies. The graniticrocks include quartz-diorite and hornblende-feldspar- porphyry. At some pointsthey haveabsorbed materjal from the older rocks producing dark hybrid types which are difficult to identif'y. The older rocks havebeen materially altered and frequently consist of fine-grained mottled rocks of in- determinatecharacter. Some of these rocks havebeen bleached and alteredhydrothermally. Inthese rocks there are many joints containing quartz with a maximum width of 1/2-inch. Threesystems of intersecting joints wereobserved, individual joints are separated from the nearest members of the same series by distances of 1 footto 4,feet. Some of thejoints contain a littlechalcopyrite. Fine grains of pyrrhotite, pyrite and chalcopyriteare found inminute irregular frac- turesparticularly in the granitic andhybrid rocks. Small aggregates of magnetitewere observed at some points in the alteredvolcanic rocks.

The writerclimbed to a pointnear "H", atabout 4200 feet elevation,near the top of the snow mass on thewestern side, and thencircling to the north-east climbed the bluffs. At about4625 feet elevation dark quartz-diorite containing pyrite, pyrrhotite and chalcopyritein minute irregular fractures, was sampled across 5 feet fromwest to east. It assayed: Gold, trace:silver, 1.0 oz.per ton; copper, trace. The 31-foot adit is a short distance to the east at about 4525 feetelevation, on the eastern side of a smallcreek which cascades southerlyto the head of the snow mass. In front of theportal a dyke of hornblende-feldspar-porphyry, 10 feetwide, strikes north 40 degreeseast and dips85 degrees north- westward. The dyke containspyrrhotite andchalcopyrite in minutefractures. North-west of thedyke, above theadit

- 72 - and for some distancewest of the creek, the rozk is bleached to a light-buffcolour. White mica in small flakes appears to be theprincipal constituent of.the rock. Above theadit thereare patches stained green with malachite. The adit is drivenabout north 20 degreeswest, in rock that contains some pyrite. On thewestern wall, 12 feet from theportal, a sample was taken,combining two verticalchannels cut from thecurve of theroof.to the floor. It assayed:Gold, nil;silver, nil; copper,trace. Anothersample was cut from theface of the adit. It combined two channelscut from the roof to thetop of the muck, Q distance of 4 1/2 feet; and assayed;Gold, nil; silver,nil; copper trace.

Continuingnorth-easterly and easterly across several creeksand climbing to about 4800 feetelevation, 1itt.le sulphidemineralization was seen. Much ofthe rock traversed consistsof quartz-diorite and hornblende-feldspar-porphyry.

On the western side of the north-western corner cliffs oflimestone tower above the floor of the cirque. They have a maximum height of about 700 feet, and extendsoutherly for more than 1000 feet from thesmall mass of quartz-diorite in the north-western corner to the third mass ofquartz- diorite, which is alsosmall, and is exposed in high cliffs. From the foot of thelimestone cliffs dark fine-grained volcanicrocks cut by graniticdykes slope steeply to the top of thetalus. The limestonehigh in the cliffs is apparently cavernous, andfrom operingstoward the top streams pour down theface of the cliffs to thenarrow strip of volcanic rock atthe base. The cliffsare dark grey in colour and are banded suggesting bedding-planes of low dip. Fragments in thetalus contain fossils resemblingthose obta.ined from otherlimestone masses in thearea ‘but nowhere else in the area did the writer see massive limestone of a thickness comparable with that indicated here. This limestone does not appear to be mineralized.In part of thenarrow strip of volcanics below the cliffs there are small cavities from which nestsof sulphides have been dissolved by surface waters. A number ofhornblende-feldspar-porphyry dykes in. this section containchalcopyrite and pyrrhotite in tiny fractures.

The cliffscontinue southerly or south-easterly to about the endof the third mass of quartz-diorite, beyondwhich a timberedspur projects east of northinto the cirque. At !IE” , (Fig.4), the eastern boundaryof thelimestone crosses thecrest. From this point a planeof weakness extends west of south,dipping westward, and at the top ofthe escarpment, above “H“, marks theboundary of the largest of thethree masses of quartz-diorite.This plane projecte?. southerly

- 73 - crosses the cirque to a bluffwhich is thecontinuation of the main wall of thecirque. The bluff,extending upward tothe rim, is of limestone andfrom it thespur extends easterly. The southern limit ofthe spur is the draw "G". From its head to the bluff the dee'p steep-walled draw cutsthrough limestone.Easterly from thebluff the southern slope of the spur is coveredwith unconsolidated material. The spurap- pears to becomposed chiefly of volcanicrocks.

On thesouthern side of the draw thereare good expos- uresof fine-grained volcanics and impure argillaceousrooks, generally much altered and cut bymany graniticdykes. At about 4200 feet elevation the rock is mottled by alteration. A width of 3 feet with ill-defined boundaries is cut by many joints and is mineralized with pyrrhotite wd chalcopyrite. A sample ofthis material assayed: Gold, trace:silver, trace: copper, 0.1 percent. At 4350 feetelevation on thenorthern sideof the draw a strong shear is exposed striking north 60 degrees west and dipping 60 degrees north-eastward. The shearedrock across a width of 5 feet is sparinglymineralized with sulphides. To thenorth above this exposurethere is dyke of quartz-diorite which the shear cuts 'a little farther tothe west. In the dyke theshear narrows to 10 inches andcontains less mineralization.

Westerly up the draw at about4525 feet elevation, 250 feet from thepoint where theshear was found, a fracture strikesnorth-easterly and dipsabout 80 degreesnorth- westward.This is atthe bluff of limestone previously mentioned. From thefracture to .the head of the draw the northern wall is limestone. The elevation of thetop of thebluff is approximately 4850 feet. In thebottom of the draw a shearstrikes about due west and dips45 degrees northward.There is a dyke of.quartz-dioriteimmediately below theshear, and on thesouthern side of thedraw, below thedyke, fine-grained volcanics extend for 25 feet west of thenorth-easterly striking 'fracture. Westerly from this pointthe south wall of the draw also is of limestone. In thevolcanic rock on thesouth side, the fracture contains a dyke of hornblende-feldspar-porphyry.Close to this dyke, at creeklevel, there is an irregular mass ofpyrrhotite 3 feetwide. It is notexposed north of thecreek, is not traceable far to thesouth, andappears todie out upward. The pyrrhotite is cut by veinletsfrom the thickness of a pencilline to 1/16-inch. They arespaced 1/2-inch or more apart and containchalcopyrite and some quartz. A sample across the width of 3 feetassayed: Gold, trace; silver, trace:copper, 0.4 per cent. The draw "G" cuts well into the rim of the) cirque. Southerly from the draw the limestone is broken and intruded by basalt. From a point a shortdistanoe west of the head of the draw the contact of the mainlinestione mass, with overlyingbasalt, follows an irregularcourse north-westerly to "B" onthe crest of the south spur. The courseof the contact is markedby a depression with volcanicrocks to the south-westand limestone tothe north-east. The depression was partlyfilled with snow onAugust 14th, 1940. The oon- tactroughly follows the limestone beds, strike about north 50 degreeswest, dip 50 to 60 degreessouth-westward, but thebasalt is intrusiveinto the limestone at many points. Chertyand argillaceous beds at the top of thelimestone horizonhave been largely destroyed as have some of the up- perbeds of limestone. Diuch of thelimestone :is recrystallized,but along most of thecontact there is :little other evidence of' metamorphism.

Followingthe contact north-westerly sulphide mineralization was found, at 5300 feetelevation, about !?alfWay between thehead of the draw "G" and thecrest at "B". Forabout 40 feetnorth-westerly along ,the contact and 15 tn 20 feetsouth- westerlyrock, whichpro,jected through the snow, oontains sulphides inirregular masses from aninch to 90 inches wide. Thisrock, largely fine-grained and basic, containssone garnet and possibly some fragments of limestone. The masses containingsulphides oonsist of chalcopyrite,:garnet, some quartz. andunreplaced rock. Possibly 20 percent of the areaconsistea of such material. H selecteds,mple of this sulphide-rich material assayed: Gold, 0.14 oz. per ton; silver, 3.0 oz. perton; copper, 11.1 per cent. The lime- stonejust north-east of thecontact dips 75 degreeswestward. A littlemalachite stain at the margins of cherty nodules was the only evidence of minera1izatio:n in the limestone.

Between this point and the crest of thesmth spur oocas- ionalexposures of garnetand epidote were found near the contact,but there was littleto indicate sulphide mineralization. On the western slope, about 400 feet west of muth from the crest of thesouth spur, the writer found some garnet and a littlemalachite stain in a small areanear the contact. This was theonly copper-bearing mineraiization found by the writer on thewestern side of thesouth spur.

The contact of thelimestone with basalt to the south crossesthe crest of thesouth spur at "B", elevationabout 5700 feet, andabout 1600 feetsoutherly from thetriangula- tionstation on thetop of the mainpeak. Northerl'y along thecrest the limestone is intruded by basalt and by granitic dykes. Between350 and 375 feetalong the crest the rock consists largely of garnetand shows a moderate amount of mala- chitestain. Thence northerlyfor another 350 feetthe rock on the crest is basaltwhich extends for 100 feet or so down theslope to the west, but on theeastern side of thespur limestone is just belowthe crest. On theeaste'rn side', a shortdistance below the crest andabout 700 feet from the southern margin of the limestone,an adit has been driven for 3 feet from the end of a 15-foot rock-cut. Just past this point the main contact of the batholith crosses the crest. From thecontact northerly the crest of thespur is quartz-diorite, as is the main peakabout 900 feet to the north. On thewestern slope the contact runs westerly for some distance,but on theeastern slope of thespur; lime- stonec'ontinues a shortdistance below the crest for 400 feetnortherly. Prom thispoint the crest rises steeply to thetop of themain peak, about 500 feetfarther to thenorth and nearly 300 feethigher. The sidefacing south-easterly intothe cirque is verysteep dovm to a small SIOW mass 300 to 400 feet below the peak. Immediately above the snow for 100 to 200 feetthere are almost vertical cliffs. On this steepsurface the contact is exposedextending north-easterly tothe saddle between "C" and "D". The quartz-diorite in the ridge and in the peakcontains fragments of basalt, is cut by many open joints, and is veryrusty. The contact is irregular, its dip couldnot be determinedbut it is probably steep. Be- low the contactlimestone, of low to moderatedip north-westward, is cut by dykes and thickirregular masses of basalt. The limestone and thebasalt are cut by numerousdykes of quartz-diorite and hornblende-feldspar-porphyrywhich strike north-westerly.Relationships clearly markedelsewhere on Big Interior Mountain indicate that the hornblende-feldspar- porphyry is youngerthan the quartz-diorite.

kt several points in a limitedsection along the contact of the batholith copper mineralization was seen a go0.d deal richer than foundelsewhere, with the exception of theoc- currencehalfway between the head of the draw "G" and the crest of thesouth spur at "B". The sectionextends from thecut and adit on thesouth spur, north-easterly below the mainpeak, almost to the saddle between "C" and "D", or about a quarter of a mile.Mineralization was found at several points within a verticalrange of less than 150 feet and not more than 200 feetsouth-easterlyfrom thecontact. Far- ther to the south-east snow and talus masked thebed-rock as theydid in considerable parts of thearea outlined. The almost verticalcliffs belowthe peakare inaccessible. The examination was thereforelimited to the base of the cliffs

- 76 - and tothe ends wherethe cliffs merge with the innerslopes of thesouth spur and the saddle between ‘IC” and “D”. It was difficult to examine thebase of the cliffs as the only foot- ingavailable was thesharp top of thesnow.2 or 3 feet from theface of thecliffs. Between the snow and thecliffs an openingextended down 6 to 10 feet, On theother side of the sharptop, the hard snow slopedonly less steePly. Involun- tarily the writertravell.ed by this routeto t!le talus 150 feet below.

The cut at about 5775 feet elevation is a short distance east of thecrest of thesouth spur. For 15 feet it follows a fracture westerly and from the end of thecu.t an adit continues a further 3 feetwesterly. The rockhere is basalt, butwhite limestone is exposed tothe east, about 40 feet below thefloor of thecut. The fracturestrikes north 65 degreeswest and dips 85degrees north-eastward, and is at the northernside of the cut and adit. The rockhas .been silicified and sulphidesare dissemi.nated through it. Alongthe fracture for .awidth of a few inches there is abunrlantsulphide mineralization, sorne garnetreplaces the wall-rock and quartz occurswith the sulphides. Molybdenite is presenthere in additionto chalcopyrite and a littlepyrrhoti.te. A sample was taken at the widest part of the concentrated mineralization, 12 feet from theeastern end of thecut. This sample, 8 incheswide, assayed: Gold, trace: silver, 2.0 oz. pet. ton; copper,8.3 per cent; mol.ybdenite, 3.3 per cent.

Inthe zone outlined,north-easteryy from thecut, most of the rock exposed is urlmineralizedlimestone; masses of basalt, alsounmineralized, andwide dykes of quartz-diorite, containinglittle sulphide mineralization, make up most of the remaining rocks exposed. There areseveral rusty patches of garnetized rocks showhg areas of malachite stain. Sev- era1 basalt dykes strike east of north andpinch down north- erlyas they approach the batholith. Some of theseare largely replaced by the garnet and show malachite stain. One basalt dyke,followed northerly for about100 feet,pinches from 3 feet to 5 inchesin width. The narrowed dyke continu- ingnortherly is greatly altered and contains a good deal of malachite. About a third of the way alongthe zone a 3-foot vein,consisting largely of garnet,contains malachite and some chalcopyrite. It strikesnorth 10 degreeseast and dips steeplywestward. A sample acrossthe width of 3 feetassayed:Gold, trace: silver, trace; copper, 1.,1 percent. Followed northerlythe width diminishes to 8 inches, in a distance of 50 feet or SO. At about 5575 feetelevation, towardthe north-eastern end of thezone, a sill-like mass, 20 feetthick, is exposed. It consists of fragments of

- 77 - f b Z

Fig. 5. Plan of workings, Della Property. otherrock in a ground-mass of quartz-diorite, strikes north 30 degreeseast, anddips 55 degrees north-westward. Below the sill therook is whitelimestone andabove it thereare small masses of limestone. The contact of thebatholith is about 60 feetto the north-west up thesteep sl.ope. From 125 to 150 feetnorth-easterly from thisexposure there is a band of garnetrock, thence for about 150 feet a mass ofrock 10 feet thick contains a good deal of sulphide mineralization. Thisappears to be basalt replaced in part by garnet and otherwisealtered. A samplefrom what seemed t;c be a fairly representativesection of thisrock assayed: Gold, trace; silver,trace; copper, 0.6 percent. Quartz-diorite immediately above thisrock contained very little sulphide mineralization. From thispoint to the saddle north-east of the main peak, a distanceestimated at 500 feet, lit.tle bed-rook was exposed.

Limestone is exposed on theeastern side of the saddle, formingthe knob "D" and extending eas.terly along the crest of theridge for about three eighths of a mileto "E". From thesaddle the limestone extends northerly for 800 or 900 feet,rising above theeastern edge of theglauier. Quartz- dioriteoutcrops in the saddle andcontinues we!sterly. On thesouth-eastern slope, just below thesaddle,, a considerable mass of basaltoutcrops. Immediately above, there is a mass of rock composed almost entirely of bright green amphibole. No sulphidemineralization was observedhere. At theeastern edge of theglacier, north of thesaddle, thelimestone is invadedfrom below by dykes of.' quartz- diorite.Beautifully crystallized garnet, epidote, and othersilicates replace the limestone for a shortdistance fromthe contacts. With these silicates there is a little magnetite and a smallquantity of sulphideminerals.

Ground which includes the ncrth- DELLA eastern end of Del1.aLake and the (NO. 16 FIG. 1) adjoiningsouth-western side of. DrinkwaterCreek Valley, is covered by ninecontiguous Crown-granted claims of whic:h the names and ownershipare as follows: -Claim -Lher Lot 591,"Della" M.C. JohnDavid McLeod Lot592, "Bessie" M.C. James Leo Rice Lot593, "Kate" M .C . Herbert George Cummings Lot594, "kmie" M.C. GoodHope MinesLimited (NPL) . Lot595, "Marie" M.C. James Leo Rice Lot601, "Della Fraotion" M.C. HopeGood Mines Limited (NPL) .

- 79 - Lot602, "Minnie" M.C. John David McLeod Lot603, "Kendrick" M.C. William Raymond Hancock Lot604, "Engvick" M.C. William Raymond Hancook

These claimsare reported to havebeen located by Joe Drinkwaterand Alvin Engviok about 1900. The AnnualReport, Minister of Mines, British Columbia,1917, lists theclaims as Crown-granted thatyear, the grantee for all was Big Interior GoldMines, Limited. Later the claimsreverted to the Crown. The presentCrown-grants were issued in the years 1930,1934, 1935 and 1938.

The principalworkings, believed to be on theDella __ weredescribed in the hnual Report, Minister of Mines, British Columbia,1916, and apparently were not new at that time. The reportsmention e.fforts to save free gold which could bepanned from thevein outorops. The AnnualReport Minister of Mines, 1906,states that an arrastra had just beencompleted at the .propertyin August of thatyear. It seems probablethat the workingswere made at about the time the arrastra was built. Pictures of the arrastra appeared in the Annual Reports, Minister 0.f Mines,1906, 1916. Apparently it was built near the outlet at the north-eastern end of Della Lake and was driven by water from thelake under low head.In 1940 the writer's assistant found a circular pit lined with stones, doubtlessthe remains of the arrastra. A lightaerial tramway,probably built about 1916 inconnection with proposed development of copper mineralization on Big Interior Mountain, was standingin 1940;the upper terminal is notfar from the outlet of DellaLake. The site of a cabin,near the principal workings at the -DelYa, is still marked by theside logs. DellaLake, trending north-easterly, occupies a deep hanging-valley,which opens to the east into the valley ofDrinkwater Creek. The floor of thehanging-valley terminatesabruptly at the top of an escarpment overlooking DrinkwaterCreek. The lakeelevation is approximately 3,525 feet and is about 1,700 feet higher than the bottom of the valley of DrinkwaterCreek. The lake is more thanthree quarters of a milelong and has its greatestwidth, about a quarterof a mile,near the south-westernend. It narrows to about 20 yards, less than a quarterof a mile from the north-easternend. gorth-easterly from thenarrows it does not widen greatly. A spurof Big Interior hiountain rises steeply on thenorth-western side ofthe lake, another spur forms thesouth-western wall of thehanging-valle'y. Between thesespurs a stream flowssouth-easterly from a deepcirque in the heart of Big Interior Mountain and entersthe lake nearthe south-western end. A stream from theglacier on

- 80 - Mount NinePeaks enters the lake at thesouthern corner. Thence socth-easterly a steep spur of Mount NinePeaks forms the wall ofthe valley. From nearthe narrows in the lake the valley widens out to the east and south-east.and more moderateslopes prevailto the top ofthe precipitous south-western side of thevalley of DrinkwaterCreek. Bare rocks are exposed in most of this section but heather andclumps of trees grow in depressions and crevices where soilhas accumulated. The principalworkings are close to the south-eastern shore of thelake immediately south of thenarrows. Most of the larger trees havebeen cut near the workings and near the camp-site?about a quarter of a milesoutherly from thenorth- eastern end of the lake.

' Cella Lake dischargesnorth-easterly in several streams which pour down theescarpment in a series pf spec.tacular cascades, known asDella ..?ails. From the falls thewater flowsprincipally in two :streamsreaching Drinkwater Creek less than half a mile from the .lake outlet and about 1,700 feet lowerthan the lake. These streamsjoin Drinkwater Creekabout S 1/2 miles north-easterly fron its mouth,which is near the western end of Great Central Lake. The DrinkwaterCreek trail crosses to the south-western side of thecreek near the Sherwood base camp. Froa thecross- 111 ing a branch-trail to .Della Lake follows an irregular course tothe foot of bluffs just south-east of DellaFalls. The trailclimbs 1,400 feet up the bluffs by a series of switch- backs. Wiresstrung along thetrail and occasiona1,over- hanging branches make the ascenteasier. From thetop of thebluffs the trail follows a moderategrade to the camp- sitewithin the hanging-valley. The distance by trail from thecrossing to the camp-site is a little more than 1 mile. In a straight linethe horizontaldistance is about half a mile and the difference in elevation is about 1,750 feet. By using wires, strung along parts of the trail, andoccas- ionaloverhanging branches as hand holds: it is possible to back-packmoderate loads vp this very steep trail.

The rocksexposed along the trail up thebluffs are largelyfine-grained volcanics. The north-easternpart of the floor of the hanging-valley consists of andesite, siliceous and tuffaceoussediments and small bodies of graniticrock. Nearby thereare considerable masses of intrusive basaltic rock believed to be related to the volcanics of Lower Mesozoic age. The andesite and sediments arebelieved to be among theoldest rocks in the area, con- siderablyolder than Permian limestone which outcrops near the summit of Big Interior Mountain,and south of Della Lake, on thespur of Mount NinePeaks. The graniticrocks

- 81 - arelater than the basaltic ones and arerelnted to the BedwellRiver batholith assigned to theJurassic and, or, Cretaceous. The main contact of thebatholith is exposed a littl'e more than 1 mile fron theworkings. It is probable that the roof of the batholith is considerably nearer the floor of theval1e.y. Near the workings numerous granitic dykesand less re:gularbodies are developed along the breaks, some of whichare strong and others rather indefinite. The resulting pattern is complexand the rock units are small. Vein-mineralization,carrying values in gold, is developed along several fractures which strike east of north and generally dip 50 to 70 degrees north-westward.These fractures are found following the contacts,or cutting across smallrock units. They show marked changesin width, and have bee'n traced for limitedlengths only. In view of the small rockunits and theirregular nature of thefrac- tures it is unwise to project these veins beyond their known limits.

When the writer examined the property in July 1940, shafts and pits were full of water and unconsolidated material had sloughedinto some of theworkings. J. MacDonald and A. H. Rowan: both of Alberni,have been interested in the propertyrecently and in some claimslocated nearby. They arranged to have some prospecting done in 1940. This work was being started when the writer left that part of the area late in August. It is reportedthat the prospecting was done principally low on the bluffs on thesouth-western side of Drinkwater Valley.

The workingsand thelocal geological features includ- ingveins and fracturesare represented on (Pig. 5). Xumerous shallow draws trenchthe surface which is very hummocky. These trenches generally follow fractures or contacts betweenbodies of graniticand.andesitic rock. For convenience in identification various workings have been marked with letters on (Fig. 5). A shaft marked "A" wassunk inandesite. No evidence of mineralization is to be seen in the broken rock at the collar of thisshaft. The otherworkings were apparently made on fractures whichprobsbly contained some vein-mineralization, although such mineralization may not now be well exposed.

The vein-mineralization,consisting of quartz and sulphide minerals, occurs with sheared wall-rock in fractures which rangefrom 1/2-inch toabout 4 feetwide. Introduced vein- matter rarely forms more than a small part of thewiaer sections.Quartz 16 incheswide, measured normal to the walls, was observed at one point. The otherexposures ranged from a fraction of an inchto 7 inchesin width. Pyrite, chalcopyrite,galena and sphalerite at some points form important percentagesof quartz stringers from3/4-inch to 3 inches wide. These stringers may occurin wider zonesshowing evi- denceof mineralization. Some of thevein-matter is rusty and decomposed and possiblysulphides havebeen leache+out. Sampling indicated better values in gold where sulphides were observedthan elsewhere.

From the extent of theworkings it doesnot appear that any substantial quantity of mineralized material hadbeen minedand taken tothe arrastra. Near several workings there aresmall piles of rock containicg rusty vein-matter. Two smallpiles of vein-matter near the lake shore were apparently roasted in the hope that the roasted. material .would be more amenable to treatment: however it was nottaken down the lake to thearrastra.

The most westerly workings in which mineralization was seenconsist of, a pit "B" nearthe southern e:nd of a narrow bay,stripping between a point 125 feetso.utherly from "8" and a shaft "C" 200 feetsoutherly from "B"', and a narrow veinexposed from 44 to 58 feet southerly Prom shaft "C". These workingsand exposures are in a natural-trench through which a smallstream flows northerly into the bay. It seems probablethat the mineralization occurs along one fracture, striking east of north and dipping 55 to 60 delyeeswestward, which for most of the length controls the western wall of the naturaltrench. The pit "B" was full of water, anduncon- solidatedmaterial concealed solid rock at the surface, hut material in the dump indicates that the pit fo:llowed vein- mineralization. Thence southerly to thebeginning of the strippingunconsolidated material covers the bed-rook. For approximately 85 feet from thebeginning of the stripping to thesouthern side of theshaft "C", vein-mineralization is exposed at short intervals. Part of the fil.ling of the fractureoonsists of decomposed blackdyke-rock. The filling alsoincludes sheared wall-rock, more or less silicified, and lenses or stringersof quartz, and sulphides.Sulphides occur with thequartz and with thesilicified wall-rock. In a cut 52 feetnortherly from shaft "C" thesection exposed is indicated by thefollowing samples:

- 83 - T 'Nidth )istance fron A: LY Inche tanging-wall Description Gold Silver - Inches IZ. perto] 12. perton 9 0-9 Compact silicified materialcontaining some pyrite; much pyrite in width of 1 i/2 inchesnear hanging-wall . 0.30 0.1

5 9 - 14 IPlatyrusty quartz. 0.38 0.2

6 14 - 20 Lightaltered dyke, no mineralization, notsampled. -- "

6 20 - 26 314 inchesat hanging wall contains pyrite,. rest is altered dyke rock. 0.14 0 .3 17 26 - 43Black decomposed

dyke. Nil Nil '' - I

The sectionat the northern side of shaft "C" is indicated by thefollowing samples:

Width Distance from Assay Inches hanging-wall Description Gold Si1:ve r Inches oz.per ton oz.per ton 12 0 - 12 Blackdyke, including 2 to 3 inches of quartz with lpyrite and sphalerite. 1.30 0.3 22 12 - 34 Blackdyke, including mineralized ir- regularquartz jstringer. 0.30 0.1

The mineralization in this zone exposed southerlyfrom shaft "C" consists of irreg- ularquartz stringers 2 or 3 incheswide.

- 84 - A pit marked "D", (Fig.5), has been made at an isolated exposure of banded quartzcontaining altered wall-rook and some sulphides. The pit was full ofwater but the quartz was exposed for a length of 4 or 5 feet at the eastl?rn side of thepit. It appearsto be an irregularmass, striking north 10 degreeseast, dipping 50 degreeswestward, and about 16 inchesthick, measurednormal to thedip. A sample across thefull thickness assayed.:Gold, 0.36 oz.per ton; silver, trace.

The most extensivegroup of workings consi:;ts of a trench, 40 feet long, at thenorth-eastern end of which is a shaft "E", northerly fromwhich there is a trench whichdoes not expose bed-rock. The shaft was full of water and thetrench was partly cavedbut south-westerly from the shaft a fair vridth of vein- matter was exposed inthe trench. About 8 feetsouth-westerly from the shaft the writer took thefollowing samples, across vein-matter and alteredgranitic rock, probably representing thefull width of thefracture.

I "" Width Distance from Inches hanging-wall I Description Silver inches 1 tor loz. per )z. perton

5 0-5 Altered rusty wall- rock. 0.01 Nil

7 5 - 12 Quartzcrystals in decomposed rusty mass . 0.10 Nil

15 12 - 27 Rustyhorse of quartz-diorite. Nil Nil 1i 22 27 - IRusty29 decomposed 1 O.lB quartz-diorite Nil

__ " I

The strike of the fracture is aboutnorth 30 degrees east and thedip about 70 degreesnorth-westward. Across a smallcreek, there is a good exposure of finegranular volcanicrock in an escarpment about 50 feetsouth-westerly fromthe end of thecut. Neither fracture nor mineralization wereobserved on the projection of the strike in this direction.

The remainingworkings and exposures are found at inter- valsfor about 160 feetsoutherly from shaft "F" alongthe

'- 85 - western side of a branch of thecreek. The shaft was full of water and a number of theexposures were under water in the creekbed. These exposuresconsist of irregularbranching fractures:containing gouseand at some pointsquartz. The quartz is in discontinuous stringers and lensesthe widest of which is 6 inches.

The Sherwoodand P.D.Q. SHERINOOD (NO. 17 - Fig. 1) propertiesadjoin, are P.D.Q. (NO. 18 - Fig. 1) servedby the same trail, and bothhave been under developmentby Pioneer GoldMines of B.C., Limited. The gen- era1 information in this report is applicableto both properties. The reportdescribes the workdone on eachproperty separately:but so far the two properties havebeen developed by one staff, essentially as a unit.

The propertiesinclude some 51 claims, 31 inthe Sherwood and 20 inthe P.D.Q.Nine of theclaims were staked as frac- tions md it is ,understoodthat overlapping reduces the area of theothers. Of theclaims 8 wererecorded in 1938, 12 in 1939,and 31 in 1940;29 are recorded in the name of Pioneer Gold Mines of B. C. Limited, and the compacy is mderstood to have agreements or options to purchasethe other claims. Some of theagreements provide that thevendor or vendors shall re- tainan interest in claims. Most of the groundcovered is on the north-eastern side of the valley of DrinkwaterCreek near Love Lake,but the Sherwoodground crossesthe valley, north- westerly from DellaFalls, andextends for some distance up thenorth-western side. The P.D.Q.ground adjoinsthe Sher- wood to the east and south-east.

W. J. Sherwood is reportedto havediscovered the Sherwood Vein, a mineralizedshear-zone in July 1939, and is or has beeninterested in many of the claims. The P. D. Q. ground consistsof claims recorded in 1940, staked originally in the names of W. R. Ross, D. E. Lethbridge and Pioneersold Mines of B. C ., Limited.

Suppliesare brought up GreatCentral Lake, and to the end of thelogging railway on DrinkwaterCreek, on steamers and rolling stock operated by thelogging company, Messrs. Bloedel,Stewart and Welch. From therailway to theproperty,about 6 1/2 miles by trail, suppliesare taken on pack- horses.

An examinationof surface exposures and a Pew cuts on the SherwoodVein was made in November 1939 for Pioneer Gold Mines of B. C., Limited. It was impossible to begin to do

- 86 - ,, ,

., ..

Face Aug. 20,1940 I

\,..\I I .. El. 3698' :j. .. !. ,, .,~. I "4 LEGEND ,t 70" Vein with dip + I,.' Ji x --- ,I El. Geological boundary, or branch '6' Open-cut 4512'

fractures, with dip 86/j 0 "No. 3 Level Granitic rock El. 4190' Position of sample

Fig. 6. Plan of workings, Sherwood proper 4, after company plan. I more than preliminary work that year because of heavysnow. In 1940 a start was made as soon as snow conditionspermitted. A warehouse was built at the railway, and necessary work was doneon the Crinkwater Creek trail as far as the site of a base-camp, at approximate1.y 1800 feet elevation, 4 1/2 miles by trail from the end of thelogging-railway. The base-camp, built of logs. is on thenorth-eastern side abo.utwhere the main trail crossesDrinkwater Creek, and is lessthan 100 yards from a log cabinbui.lt years agoand used in connection with work on the Cella and,Big I properties.

K branch-trail was built on thesteep north-eastern side ofCrinkwater valley just north-west of thecre'sk draining Love Lake. It leavesthe main trail about a quarter of a milesouth- easterly from the base-camp,and climbs by a series of switch- backs,which in the first mile are built on a ridgebetween Love Lake Creek and a parallel creek 500 to 700 feet to the north-west.In about 2 mi.lesthe trailclimbs approximately 2,400feet to the mine-camp, at 4,200feet elevation. By late in June trail construction had gone far enough to per- mit takingsupplies on pack-horsesfrom the railway to the mine -camp .

From this camp, consistingof tents, most of the work on the Sherwood Vein and on the ITo. 1 and No. 2 veins of the P. 0. Q. propertyhas been done. Underground w,xk on the Sherwood Vein was carried on vigorously and three levels were driven.During the summer a sesondtemporary camp was built foruse in driving No. 7, thelowest level. When work was suspendedfor the winter i.nfiecember, it is reportedthat work on thethree levels (No. 1, No. 3 and No. 7) amounted to 1707 linealfeet, all driven by hand. The No. 1 and No. 2 veins on the P. D. I$. property,discovered during the season,were prospected by numerous surfacewor:kings.

Love Lake, at about 4,150 feetelevation, ,occupies a cirque, walled on the north by the main ridge of' Mount Septimus and on the east and west by spurswhich extend southerly from the main ridge.In this report the spur west OP thelake will be called "Sherwood Spur",and the spur on the easternside will be called "P. D. Q. Spur". The cirque ope:as tothe south on a small area of low re1.ie.fbetween thelake and the top of verysteep slopes which extend down almostto t:he floor of thevalley of DrinkwaterCreek. The upper mine-camp is about at the outer side of thesection of low relief',less than a quarter of a milesouth-westerly from thesouth-western corner of Love Lake.

In thenorth-eastern part of the map-area(Fig. 1) a

- 87 - strong fault, marked by deepvalleys or draws trenched along it,strikes about north 60 degreeswest. This fault extends from Bedwell Lake south-easterly to a pass at the head of a creekflowing into the lake. On theother side of thepass the fault is markedby the valley of DrinkwaterCreek for about 1 1/2 miles to a pointwhere the creek-valley turns almost due south.The-fault continues south-easterly and is markedby a drawon the western side of "Sherwood Spur", andby a shallower draw extending down to Love Lake on the easternside of thespur. Thesedraws cut deeplyinto the spurleaving a knob at the endwhich will be called "Sherwood Knob". The faultcontinues south-easterly across the lake and is as well-marked on the"P. D. Q. Spur",likewise leaving a knob atthe end of thatspur. This spur forms the westernside of a basin in whichthere are several lakes drained by a creekwhich joins Drinkwater Creek down-stream from the creek draining Love Lake.

The slopestoward Drinkwater Creek from the two spurs andfrom the edge of the area of low relief betweenthem, are verysteep. The curvingwestern and south-westernsides of the "Sherwood Knob" consist of a series of steepbluffs con- nectedby short sections which slope less steeply. The creek draining Love Lake andthe creek to the south-east have very steepgradients and dischargesubstantial volumesof water. There is a good growth of coniferous trees at thebottom of thevalley and up thesteep slopes, the trees become shorter asthe higher elevations are reached.

To thesouth-west of the fault south-westerlythe ground included in the properties is mapped as "Palaeozoic and Meso- zoiccomplex". It includesfine-grained volcanic and sedimentaryrocks believed to be of Palaeozoicage, older than Permianlimestone which is found at the north-eastern side ofthe fault on"Sherwood Spur" and at severalother points north-east of thefault. The complex alsoincludes a good deal of dark,generally fine-grained rock, in intrusive relationship. This rock is believedto be relatedto basaltio and andesiticvolcanic's youngje'r thanthe limestone. Thecom- plex also includes many dykesand lessregular masses of quartz-diorite and relatedrocks, associated with theBedwell Riverbatholith. At thenearest point the eastern contact of the batholith is about 2 miles from thetop of "Shemood Knob". Dykes ofquartz-diorite, related to the batholith, are found alongthe course of the fault, in the complex tothe south- west, and inthe upper slopes of Mount Septimus,north-easterly fromthe fault, where theycontrast conspicuously with the thiokseries of dark volcanic rocks extending cpward tothe jagged summits.

- 88 - The relationshipsof the rocks in the complex arein- volved, a largepart of therock consists of intrusives,relatedto the volcanics and related to the batholith, in irregularmasses which in general are small. Hybridtypes resulting from absorption of olderrocks by the granitic rocksare often difficult to identify. There is alsoevi- dence that some of the rockshave been modified by granitization, particularly in thesection from the summit of"Sherwood Knob" to the area of lowerrelief south-westerly from Love Lake. Inthe same section.there are many openfractures from a few inchesto two feetwide. Pieces of rock dropped into some of the wider fractures could be heard hitting the walls at distancesestimated at 50 or 60 feet below thesurface.

The topography is so rugged,and the relatfonship of the variouselements in the rock-complex is involved. The writer had thebenefit of company plans showing the No. 1 and No. 3 levels on the Sherwood property.(Fig. 6), based on the company plan, shows the three Sherwood levels when work was suspended in December 1940. Some graniticrock cut by the workingsand the traces of thevein as far as the faces, at August 20th.1940, are indicated on (Fig. 6). The posi- tionsof samples taken by the writer are also i:ndicated.

Information concerning the two properties was made availablefreely by the company officials. The writer and his assistants were boarded at the Sherwood camps and supplies and equipmentwere brought from the railway on the company pack-train. Theseaccommodations assistedgreatly inthe examination of the two properties and in work done in the part of the map-area tributary to Drinkwater Creek. The writer wishes to record his gratitude to E. ti. Lovitt, explorationengineer for Pioneer GoldMines of B. C. Limited, and to R. P. Mason incharge at the properties, for the cour- tesies and assistance received. -Sherwood Vein This vein consists of mineralization in a shear-zone. It outcrops in a canyon,which runs south-westerly down the precipitous endof "Sherwood Spur",and opens into Drinkwater valleyat the top of a largetalus fan. Prom the headof the canyon,half a mile westerly from thesouth-western corner of Love Lake, a shallow draw extendseasterly, marking the northernside of thearea of low relief,previously mentioned. Cuts, at 4,440. feet elevation. at thewestern end of the draw just above theportal of No. 1 level, expose theshear-zone. Othercuts, widely separatsd in 1,200 feet easterly from the portal!expose slips which may be the walls of the shear-zone.

- 89 - The cuts godown as much as 10 feetwithout reaching definite vein-filling. They containboulders and finermaterial some ofwhich is decompose&.

The rockexposed near the draw azd up thesteep slope to the top of "Sherwood Knob'' is cut by many open fractures, some ofwhich strike from due west to north 30 degrees west and dipsteeply generally northward or north-eastward.Other fracturesstrike north-easterly and dipsteeply north-westward or south-eastward.Several scarps on thesurface havethe same generalstrike and graniticrock is found at some points along them. Many dykesare indicated along the canyon.

From No. 1 level to well below No. 3 levelthe outcrops ofthe shear-zone are in the bottom of thecanyon, much of whichcannot be reachedsafely. The portal of No. 1 level is reachedby a shelfcut along the side of thecanyon. On No. 3 andNo. 7 levels it was necessary to driveunderground workings to crosscutthe shear-zone belowthe steep floor of thecanyon. The two levelsstart from points at theedge and are driven northerly to north-easterly to the shear-zone. In both!before the shear-zone was reached, it was foundcon- venient to break through into the canyon to improve ventila- tion and reducetramming of waste.

The shear-zonestrikes north of east and dips a little less than 70 degreesnorthward as indicated by theunderground workings. The width,from 3 or 4 toat least 6 feet, is ratherindefinite, because branch-shears run off intothe walls and thewalls and the filling of theshear are greatly altered. In theouter part of No. 1 1evel.thevein strikes aboutnorth 70 degreeseast, it beginsto curve to the right about 240 feet from the portal, and in the inner end of the working strikesabout north 85 degreeseast. About 280 feet from theportal vein-mineralization in theshear is offset a few feetto the south, on thenorth-eastern side of a north- westerlystriking cross-back.

Mineralizationin the shear is in lenses or veins from a few inchesto about 2 1/2 feetwide. Frequently two or more veins or lensesoccur within the width of the shear-zone and areseparated by wall-rockfrom a few inches to two or three feetwide, or by clay gouge a fewinches thick. Narrow veins branchinto the walls of theworkings. The shear-zonecuts volcanicand granitic rocks and at. some pointsfollows along a contact. Some ofthe branch-shears, or branch-fractures containingmineralization, follow contacts.

Almost allthe material in the shear-zone, exposed when

- 90 - Plate IV A. Slide in which Sharwood vein outcrops. Plate IV B. Tatterhorns Peak. thewriter examined theproperty, is greatlyaltered. The width of thezone, open fracturing, and theprecipitous sur- facehave favoured deep oxidation. Primary vein-mineralization includesquartz and sulphides.Xost of thisme.teria1 has been reduced to a rusty,crumbly, and oftenporous, state. Some narrowharder sections contain recognizable sul.phides and on No. 1 and No. 3 levels,toward the faces indics,ted on (Fig. 6), more sulphidemineralization is recognizable. However, even herethe alteration has gone far, and theprimary sulphides have been destroyed in part. Sampling by the writer indicates that clay gougeand horses of wall-rock separatinglenses or veins of mineralization are essentially barren, and that where sulphideminerals are found values in [Sold and silverare usuallyattractive. There is a widerange inassays from samples of rusty decomposed vein-matter.

Sulphidesrecognized in handspecimens included sphalerite,galena, chaloopgrite and oovellite.Pyrrhotite and marcasite replaoing it wererecognized under the microscope. Selectedsamples of sulphidemineralization assayed several ounces of gold perton. Several sections containing sulphides were pol~ishedfor microscopic study. With theexception of pyrite.the sulphides in the sections are greatly altered. themargins of theErains are destroyed, and the primary mineralsare partly, or almost completely, replaced by covellite,malachite, anglesite and possibly by othersecondary minerals. For thisreason the primary relationships are not clearlyindicated. The range of theratio of :silverassays togold assays is wide,probably in part became of secondary alteration;but it is probablethat silver values are in part associatedwith galena and that galena and other sulphides are distributed irregularly in the primary mineralization.

No. 1 level is a drift driven 376 feet easterly from a point at 4,402 feet elevation,about at the top of thecanyon. Inabout 40 feet easterly from theportal the :surface rises to 4,440 feetelevation. Thence easterlythe surface rises gradually. Over theinner end of theworkins the surface is about 100 feethigher than the floor of the adit. Work on this level was stoppedbefore the writer visitad the property. iviuch of theworking is timberedand lagged, ad for that reasoncould not beexamined. Extensive alteration at some points makes identification of the wall-rock difficult.

Over anaverage width of 39 inches company samplingindicated commercialvalues in the first 185 fee.t of this working. Beyond thatpoi.nt values and widthsindicated were markedlyless. The company sampleswere spaced closely and werecut before the roof was lagged.

- 91 - The greatest width of vein-mineralizationexposed is at the portal, immediately to the west below the portal the vein is split. The writertook samples in the outer part of the working in sevenplaces, where the roof was notlagged, between 92 feet and 155 feet from theportal set. At most of thesepoints thesampling wasdone in two orthree sections be'cause of a difference in character of thematerial sampled orbecause of differences in the.slope of.the surfaces sm- pled. The positionsfrom which samples were taken are indicated on (Fig. 6). Datafrom this samplingare shown inthe followingtable: widths given are horizontal, where the surface sampled was inclined the equivalent horizontal width is used.

No. 1 Level

T AS L Sampl ridth Iistance fro1 Gold Silver Description No. :nohe: 1angir.g-wall 0s. 02. Inches 3ertor )er ton

0 - 26 Soft vein-matter 0.90 1.1

0 - 24 Decomposed vein- matter 1 .SO 3 .O

24 - 33 Hard siliceousseo tion 0.56 6.3

33 - 43 Soft rusty materia 0.28 0.9

0 - 10 Rust$rather hard vein-matter 1.30 1.9

10 - 28 Decomposed vein- matter 1.10 5.5

0 - 10 Quartzand 2 inche of gouge 0.02 Trace 10 - 26 Quartzwith sulphides 2.38 .3.5

- 92 - No. 1 Level(Cont'd) -7" "_ AS Y- Sample 'idth Jistance from Gold Silver No. ncher langing-wall Description 02. 02. Inches fertor er ton

11 0 - 11 Decomposed vein- matter,quartz and some sulphides 9.58 0.2

8 11 - 19 Rusty vein-matter, quartz and some sul. phides 1 .cc 1 .o

9 0-9 6 inchessoft vein- matterplus 3 inches gouge Trace 1.6

11 9 - 20 Softrusty vein- matter,largely i quart z 9.16 Nil 2 20 - 22 /Grey gouge at foot- wall 0.02 Nil

9 0-9 Soft vein-matter 0.34 0.5

Themaximum width sampled is 43inches. Widths of vein- mineralization from 12 to 26 inchesare to be seen in most placeswhere the roof is fullyexposed. There is alsonar- rower mineralization some distanceto the foot-wall. It will be seenthat there is a widerange inassays. Sampleswould need to be much more closelyspaced throughout the length of themineralized shoot in order to delimitore and obtainde- pendableaverage values. Beyond thissection vein-mineraliza- tionto be seen is narrowerand is notcontinuous. In the inner end of the working the mineralization is less altered but it is limited to short lenticular masses 4 or 5 inches wide. Some furthergeological details are indicated on (Fig. 6).

No. 3 level,portal elevation 4,190 feet, reached the vein after crosscutting for 235 feet in the foot-wall in volcanicrock. The vein was thenfollowed westerly by a drift which inabout 20 feetbreaks into the canyon, and easterly wherethe face of the drift was about 200 feet from thecenter line of the crosscut when the writer lastexamined the working.

- 93 - It is reported that when work was suspended in December the totallength of drift on thislevel was 449 feet. Company samplingis'understood to have indicated a sectionregarded as commercial for a length of 100 feet,in the outer part of the. drift. Widthswere less but average values.were greater thanthose obtained on No; 1 level.Beyond-this section it is,understood that vein-mineralization is lessoontinuous.

The writertook samples at 10 foot intervals in 80 feet of theouter part of thedrift. The positions fromwhich sampleswere taken are indicated on (Fig. 6), and thedata are shown in thefollowing table.

No. 3 Level

- - As say Sample: lidth Distancefron Description No. :nche: hanging-wall Inches " - 8 14 0 - 14 Mostly soft vein- matter,includes 3- inch hard rib

9 9 0-9 7 inchesquartz and 2 inches gouge at foot-wall 4 .OO 5 .O

10 11 0 - 11 Softrusty vein- matterand 1 1/2 inches gouge at foot-wall 1.10 2.3

11 1.5 0 - 15 Rustydecomposed vein-matter, 1 1/2 inches gouge at foot-wall 0.28 1.3

0-9inches porous I black vein-matter 9-15 inchesrusty 12 I 21 0 - 21 vein-matter i 15-21 inches I gouge at foot- i wall l. i

- 94 - No. 3 Level___"(Cont'd)

I__ c A: Y s amp1 .idth istance fron Gold Silver Description No . nch,e E anging-wall 02. 02. Inches Iertor er ton - - - - 0 - 17 Decomposed mineralized vein-matter 0.50 1.1 13 17 - 34 A little quartz, r:: chiefly crushed wal& rock andgouge Trace Nil

14 21 0 - 21 Rusty decomposed vein-matter, ground is crushed for 3 feetto foot-wall of sample 1.46 3.6

15 19 0 - 19 Rustydecomposed vein-matter, ground. is crushedfor 22 inchesto foot-wall. of sample 0.32 3.6 I 0 - 12 Soft vein-matter 0.30 0.3 16 [:r 12 - 33 Crushed wall-rock Trace 1.6 17 24 0 - 24 Full width of vein-. matter, from face August20, 1940. This sample also az:- sayed:copper, 0.1. peroent, lead 3.9 percent. 3.40 4 .o -

Beyond thesection sampled the drift is in altered quartz- diorite,the mineralization is brokenand shows a tendency to split.Values in gold occur where well-mineralizedvein-matter is found, as indicated by Sample 17, taken from theface on August19th.

No. 7 level,portal elevation 3,698 feet, :had not reached thevein when thewriter ].eft the property. It is understood that when work was suspended in December drifti:ng easterly had not encountered mineralization carrying substantial values,

- 95 - P. D. Q. Veins

In mid-August1940 ~VJOveins, referred to as "No. 1" and "No. 2", discoveredthat summer, werebeing prospected by surfaceworkings. Distances given in the following notes are es- timatedfrom pa-ing, and elevations are from correctedbaro- meterreadings.

No. 1 vein hadbeen tracedwest of southacross "P. D. Id. Spur", from a point at 4,400 feet elevation on theeastern side.Cuts, generally closely spacedi followed the vein almost to the summit at about4,750 feet elevation, ,700 feet on thesoutherly course. For about 600 feetsoutherly from the summit cutswere spaced at intervals of 120 to 150 feet. Con- tinuingsoutherly the, cuts were widely spaced andsome, in deepoverburden, did not reach bed-rock. Farther southerly cuts werebeing made following a vein-filled fracture in a smalldraw which runs down thevery steep slope of thesouthern end of thespur. The lowestcut was at about3,975 feet elevation. At thattime it .couldnot be saiddefinitely that thevein exposed in the more southerlycuts is the oneexposed on theeastern side of thespur. The distance between the first exposure on theeastern side and thelowest cut in the draw was roughly 2,300 feet.

The veinor veins strike about north 20 degreeseast and dip 70 to 85degrees westward. On theeastern side and on the summit thero3k is basalt, pr,obab?yan intrusivere- latedto Mesozoicvolcanics; Across the rounded.top of the spurthe vein, 4 to 8 incheswide, is exposed in a shallcw depression. Toward the.southern end of thedepression a small mass of quartz-diorite is exposedextending south- easterly..Thenoe southerly the country rock is a fine- grainedto andesitic volcanic, but the fracture-walls are usually of quartz-diorite, and it seems probablethat the vein-fracture or fracturesfollow earlier fracturing along whichquartz-diorite hadbeen. intruded. Nuch of this slope is heavilydrift-covered and rockexposures are infrequent. The lowercuts on thisslope indicate vein widths from 12 to 20 inches.

The most encouragingresults are reported to have been obtained from a sectionabout 300 feetlong on theeastern slopebetween 4,600 and 4,725 feet elevation, where the vein 6 to 18 incheswide had been exposed in cuts spaced at intervals of 6 to 20 feet. Toward theupper end of thissection the writer took a sample acrossthe width of the fracture.

- 96 - Insuccession from thehanging-wall it included::rusty streak, 1 inchwide; honey-combed quartz with yellow-greenstain, 8 incheswide; and rusty altered wall-rock, 9 incheswide, ex- tendingto the foot-wall. The sample from this 18inch width .assayed: Gold, 1.84oz. per ton; silver, 2.6 oz. per ton.

Ingeneral the vein-fracture is from 4 to 210 incheswide and contains about half vein-mineralization and half altered wall-rock.In the exposures most of thematerial is oxidized and rusty.Introduced gangue consists of quartzand some carbonate.Pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and galena,were seenirregularly distributed; and a greenishyel.10~ stain suggested ths alteration of an arsenic-orperhaps an antimony- bearingsulphide.

No. 2 Vein " Trendingeast of southon the eastern side of "P. D. 4. Spur",an escarpment forms thewestern wall of a draw which opens into a basin. This escarpment may mark a branch of the large fault described in the general part of this report. At about4,150 feet elevation, just east of theescarpment, No. 2 vein was exposed in a surface-cut. The mostnortherly exposureof the Xo. 1 vein was about1,000 feet northerly from thispoint. No. 2 veinstrikes north 20 to 30 degrees east and dips 60 to 70 degreesnorth-westward. It hadbeen tracedabout 325 feet north-easterly across part, of the basin,with little change of elevation.Cuts at. intervals inthis distance incompletely exposed the vein, 8 inches to 2 feetwide. The vein-fillingconsists of rustyquartz and altered wall-rock with more or less sulphide mineralization. A fair amount of galena was to beseen at some points.

The bestexposure was in a stripping from150 to 170 feet north-easterly from the cut near the escarpment. Here vein-filling consists largely of quartz with sulphide mineraliza- tionconcentrated in 2 or :3 inchesat both walls. A sample takentoward the south-western end of thestripping, across 15 inches,the full width of the vein,assayed: Gold, 0.94 02. perton; silver, 4.2 oz.per ton; lead 1.4 per cent. A sample taken 5 feetnorth-easterly, at the footwall-side, across 3 inches,containing sulphides notably galena, assayed: Gold, 2.32 oz.per ton; silver, 6.2 oz. perton; lead 8.4 per cent. Selectedmaterial containing sulphides and showing a yellow- greenstain assayed: Gold, 0.26 oz. per ton; silver, 5.0 02. perton; lead 7.6 percent. A sectionrepresenting this selectedmaterial was studiedunder the microscope. It was very much altered.Pyrrhotite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and galena,were recognized; small islands of another mineral in the galena may be greycopper.

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