BRITISH COLUMBIA DEPARTMENT OP MINES Hon. 15’. A. MCKE~UZIE,Minister. ROBT.DUNN, Deputy Xinister. J. D. CALLOVAY,Provincial Mineralogist. J. Droxso~,Chief Inspector of ?!Lines. D. E. WHITTAICER, ProrincialAssayer. BULLETIN No. 1, 1932 LODE-GOLD DEPOSITS OF BRITISlX COLUWBIIA COMPILED BY JOHN D. GALLOWAY, Provincial Mineralogist. PRINTED BY AUTEORlTY OB ‘lHF LEQISLATITE ASSEMBLY. To the Hoa. W.A. NcIfenzie, Ministar of Mines, Victoria, B.C. SIR-I beg to submit herewitha special bulletin on Lode-gold Depositsof British Columhia. This hulletin has been issued to supply the keen demand for infonuation regarding lode gold in the Province. The potentialities for successful sold-mining in the Province are greater than has been generally recognized and it is believed that the comgilation of all material information in one publication mill stimulate the exploitation of the latent gold resources of the Province. The reports by the Resident Engineerson their respecti7.e districts outlint; attraetiw opluxtnni- ties for capital in the opcning-up of known progerties, and give much information regarding likely arcas for the gold prospector. I hare the honour to he, Sir, Your obedient sen-ant, JOIIN D. GALLOWAY, PvovinciaZ Mineralogist. Bureau of .Wines, Victoria, KC.,Februwy Ist, 193%. LODE-GOLD DEPOSITS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. - GENERAL SUMMARY. BY JOHND. GALLOTVAY,PitOSIHCIhL &~IKRXALOGIST. INTRODUCTION. Owing to the conditions attending silver and base-metal mining at the present time, renewed interest is being taken all overthe world in gold-mining, and this is ntostnoticeable in this Province.Lode-mining inBritish Columbia begxn with lode-gold productionfrom Various districts. Ic'or many years past, however, gold-mining has not becn as im))ortant as lead, copper, zinc, and silver mining in the Prouince. Will the attention nowbeing paid to the search for gold result in a considerable increase in gold production in the Province? Are the probabilities and possibilities promising? What are our rcasonable probabilities in dormant properties and ourpossibilities in the unprospected and partially prospected areas of theProvince? This bulletin has bcell prepared to present tho arailable facts with the objective of stimulating the more rapid investigntion of the latent gold possibilities of British Columbia. The essential feature of the bulletin consists of the reports by the llesident Engineers on their resi~eetive dlstriets. These have been written so as to dircct attention to dormant proper- t.ies andfaronrable prospecting areas, ratherthan toelaborate hi~torical and other data regarding old and steady gold-producers--the facts about which are well known. Xuch of the material contained in this report is contained in the A.nnual Reports of the Department estending back for many years, but it is believed that the inclusion in one bulletin of all important knomn informationregarding lode-gold depositswill be of decideduse and benefit.Much of thematerial has been condensed in so far as practical,but geologic and mincralogic information of value to scouting engineers and prospectors has been elaborated as secmed advisable. IIISTORICAL SUNMARY. Despite the belief that gold was first obtained inBritish Columbia from the placer deposits which mere opened by the miners who rushed in from the sonth in 1S3S and the following years, it is a fact that gold was mined from a lode deposit nearly sis years earlier. lleferences to this firstmining of gold are foundin the records of theEudson's Bas Company. In 1852 an expeditionary party mas conveyed in the cornwny's brigantine "Una? Cspt. Wm. Ifitchell, to Nitehcll harbour, on lhe nortb-wcst coast of 3Ioresby island, one of the Qncen Charlotte group, forthe purpose of mining a gold-quart%vein which had been rcported by Indians in 1851. Captain Mitchell mined more than $1,000 worth of ore from this vein. IIjs attempts to bring away the ore were frustrated by the Indians, who stole it as fast as collected, and the party returned emptphanded to Victoria. News of thc incident Soon got abroad and it was reported that large numbers of adventurers were making for the new golrliield. I1.RI.S. " Thetis 'I was thereupon dispacchefl from Esquimalt to protectBritish interests. This constituted the first gold-rush to that part o€ the Pacific north-west which is now British Columbirr.On March 26th, 1S53, James Douglas, Lientenant- Governor of the short-lived Queen Charlotte Island Crown Colony, issucd the first mining law, a Proclamation Setting forth the terms and licence under which, the digging or mining of gold could be carrinl on in the Queen Charlotte islands. The discovery of placer-gold fields in 1855 and the following sears caused aqinfluxof placer- miners from the south. These men, being interested only in placer, directed their attention to the rivers and creeks which promised profitable returns in gold-dust. Lodc-mining was in conse- quence not referred to again until 1S00, when TTiiliam Domnie, who had been exploring alonq the Coast forthe Government,reported having staked free-gold qmrtz claimson Xitimat arm. Other deposits may have been noted as {he Coast mas being then explored carefully,;bnt no records are preserved on the subject. After Some sears the richest and morc easily worked placers.Were beginning to show signs of exhaustion and some of the miners began to consider the possibilities of finding the source of thc gold in veins which were assumed to be in the hills bordering the treela Since practically the whole population was living in and around the placer deposits on the creeks, the prospecting 6 OR BDREATJ MINES sprrad Out from thence. At Barlcerville the Gorerriment Assay Oflice, built in 1862, undertoolc experimental work on quartz ores from the neighbourhood. In 1872 R. W.Foster, of Lillooet, was recorded as the locator of the Big Slide mine On the Fraser river north of Lillooet. He set up ap arastra for the reduction of the quartz, but the results did n'ot come up to expectations. The construction of stanlp-mills now began in earnest and in 1876 a 4-stamp mill was at work at Richfield, while a 10-stamp mill erected by the B.C. >lining and Milling Company and a %stamp mill by Beedy on Burns mountain were running in 1878. Prospecting for lode deposits was carried out in the vicinity of the placers of the lower Fraser and reference ismade to Simash creek in lS70. Interest in quartz-mining, in the Cariboo must have died down in1880, for the Erbtoqv'ise was the only mine marlring, and the Government Agent at Barkerrille in his report for that year speaks of the "undue quartz excitement of 1877-78." Construction-work on the Canadian Pacific transcontinental raiiway having now been com- menced, many miners ~ercemployed on the rock-\~ark and tnnnels along the Fraser canyon and thisled to a noticeabledelay in lode-mining. Incidentalprospecting mas carried out in the vicinity of Yale arid OPE yielding $9.45 in gold am1 $16.60 in silver to the ton was reported by assayers. Vancouver island now appears on the records, for ore from Koksilah river, assayed at the U.S. Assay Office, New Fork, gave $6.20 in gold to the ton, $6O.S3 in silver to the,tan, and 28% per cent. lead. This; by the way, is the first reference to assays having been made on galena ore. Assaysmade in l'ortland, iYew Tor%, San Francisco, Montrcal, and Londonhaving given results varying from $10 to $100 to the ton in gold on ore from the Big Slide, this Property was again thc centreof attraction. A furnace and grinding plantwere erccted in 1881, but no SuCPeSs was obtained through this work. It is interesting to note'that this property in the area west of Lillooet came under observation during lSS5 and lS80, and BIcGillivras, Bridge, Cayoosh, Leon, and other rirers and creeks wereprospected by Ward and Gould, assisted prospectors. These men considered that Bridge river and its upper reaches, Cadwalladeran(1 Hnrley creeks, wouldbecome the"Comstock" of British Columbia.Although placer-minershad passed hy the month of Cayooshcreek e~ersince 185S, the creek had not been examined cren for plilcer until SS80. There mas then a rush to the Geposit and the lodes were staked, including the Bonanza, which created mnch interest. Hison creek, Stump lake, Scotch creek, Kamloops, and the Big Bend irere reported On as to the lode-gold possibilities, and in the south the Tnlameen area mas gone over. The quartz-miners in the Cariboo persisted in their ~orl:,and in S88G William Craib, report- ing to the Gorcrnmcnt Agent at Rarlcerville, stated : " However, up to dateI have made twenty- two assays of ore fromthe different ledges in this vicinity and the lolvest was $27 and the highest $75.23, average $46.30.'' Thc report made to the Geological Survey of Canada by Amos Bowman in 1887-88 discussed the quarh-mining possibilit,ies of the Carihoo wry fully, and, probably 'as a result of this, many smallattempts were made to testthe quartz, including an arastra on Lowheecreek and a 4-stamp mill of the Boyce Company. This activity led to the reopening of the Government Assay Office at Barker.i.ille, and it was finally decided in 1888 to build the Government reduction-Forks, in charge of E. A. Illartin, also ut Rnrlterville. The completion of theCanadian Pacific Railway gave a great impetus to mining in the southern and ea&m part of the Prorince, where the production waschiefly from silver-lead-zinc mines. TheNcXurdo Creclr area,near Golden,however, created an excitement at thistime owing to reports on assay results showing good gold values, one such assay indicating $164.41 in silver and $48.23 in gold tosthe ton and 46 per cent.