Transcription
BUREAU OF MINESREPORT
t
Report on the Occurre ncesof Iron-ore Deposits onVancouver and Texada Islands, B.C.OUTLINE OF REPORT.HI,: following report is made after an examination by thewriter ofthe various occurrences Of iron ore on Vaucollrer and Tlesada islandsduring the slimmer of 3.916, in compliance with instmelions frorrl theProvincial Xineraloxist. The most important deposits of iron orc occlira t Several points along the west coast of Vancouverisland, also atpoints near me east coast; ana 011 the west coast of 'I.'esada island,in the strait of Georgia.The most notable points along themest coast of Vancouver island ,There sue11deposits occw are the Gordon river, Bugaboo creek, Barkley sound, Aibcrni canal, ,Ilcn(lrrs0n lilrc, Kennedy lake, and Nootka andQuatsinosounds.:9cartheeastcanst of Tancouver island deposits a r e found 011 the Upper Quinsairc lake and onIClaanch rirer. On the west coast of 'resada island the deposits occur betvecn threcand four miles north of Gillies bay.d J U g l l i E t i t 0 is tilenlostllsuaiirol:ore occurring at the several 1IOilllR referredto. This ore is usually found at or near the contact between crystalline limestolieand crnytirc 1 m L S bclon-in- to the Vnncouvei' series, as classified h:: the late Dr.Da vson. The pcrcentage of irou carried by the ore is usnally between 65 and 70 percent., with.ille l ercentage of.phosphorus qnltelow an11 geuerallg considcrably belowthe Brsscnwr" limit.In some of thedepositstheconlentof s llphnris more than 1 per cent.,butIISUHIIS. it is lcss tlliln that. The h1;:her Sulphur eoutcnt is acconnt2d for by thefact that there is solnetimes 5 variable quantity OS pyrrhol.ite and iron pyrites moreor less closely associatedwith tlre wagnelite, and generally x hellthis is the casesolm of tile ore also carries a i o w percentage of copper. 'In many cases the I)laguetite-depOsitS bare been found to carry a percentage ofcopper wniciently high to cause such deposit t o possess a grrcatcr coll lllercialraluefor the copper content, and therefore no Yalue for iron-making. 1Iany.of the occurronces of conpek ore on the islands re::erred to are closely associated with magnetite,and such ore is sometimes attractive to sme1tet.s on account of the flusing qualities.Konc of such occurrences of copper or,? are deseritred in this report, whiell is confinedto a description of such depositsouly as apparently possess colnme,rcial Yalue asiron-ore mines for the production of cig-iron.Tlw percentage of insoluble mal.ter, chiefly silica,'containedin a number ofsanlples vdries appreciably, ranging f::om less than 3 to ;26 per cent.LinzonilE, or bog-Iron ore, occurs on the west cOast of Vancouver island, nearits north end, on tile West arm of Quatsino sound.Urcnzatite has been reported t o occur 011 the isldnds referred to i.11 this report,but the writer failed t o find any dqMsits of this variety of iron ore during llisexaminations.!l'mninge.--Frointile writer'sohserrationsandexaininations o thesurfaces l m i n g sauil tlln deleloi)me t- od1on thevarious mineralclaims examined byI'
TOtRl.Ralph* .Rose* .Baden Powell imd Little BobsSirdar .!Conqueror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . son Lalie . . . . . . . . . . . . .Black Prince .2nn, 604,noo.n.sss,2on470,000.
prospectors a1111 other ownersofdepositsthat liad been stalzcd severalyearsagohad suspended develo jment-worl afler havingacquiredCrown grantsfortheirclaims. Owing to this fact the trails to themorltings alidoutcroppingshavebeenneglected; the underbrush, devil’s-cluil, huckleberry, salmon-berry, an(l salal bushesllave reached such great growth that Ille 0111 trails were mostly found t o be impassable, dumps of bre, as well as outcroppings, were covered up, and the entrances toiunnels were only found with great di.tliculty; consequently, considerallly more timev a s occnpied in n akingtile esiminations than otllerwise would have been the case.In addition to such difGculties, the absence of the OIvnerS from most of the properties examined often presented such an obstacle as to seriously impede the work ofesaminatio11.BIBL.IOGRAPHY.The follo\ving mentioned reports have been published relative to the occurrencesof iron ore on Vancouver and Terada islands :Report an the Troll Ores of the Coast of British Columbia, by Ikubert Canniclmel,pnblislierl in the Xinistcr of Mines’ Report for 1902.Rillletili 011 the I r o lOres of the Coast of British Columbia, by the FrorincialJIi csalogist, oublislied in1903.Unlleti IS o . 47 on the Iron-ore Deposits,of Va converand Teatrda Islands,British Colulubia, by EillarLindeman,&LE., publisl1ed by tllc M.ines Branch,Canadian Department of hfines, in 1910, from examinations made in19M.llelnoir So. 13, Southern Vancouver Island, by Cbas. IT. Clapp, pulllislml by thcCanadian Geoloyicai Survey Branch, :Department of Mincs, in 3012, f r o m eraminations made in 1008, 1909, and 1.910.Jlemoir KO. S , Canada Department of Mincs, Geological Survey, ‘lexada Island,B.C., by It. e. h1cConne:l.I n addition Lo the literature referred to, therehave been seyeral rellorts fromexaminations rnatlcby mining enginc1:rs for prirate clients previous to 1910 xhicllhave not been published.HISTORY.The history of theilltcresttakenby the public i n tire iron-or.? deposits 011Vancouver and Texada isiands dates bwlt to 1S74, when c s s rGocdall,s.per1 iils,and Prescott, of San Francisco, enga::ed W. El. Lee, a furnaccmau from h a b a n a ,to examine the clcposits of magnetite ,nthe west cosst of Texnda isim d,which that6l.m puschased the following year. The I’ngct Sound Iran Co’ropany y n sorga izcd,wllich later esected a blast-furnace at Irondale, near Port Towvllsend, in thc stateof Washington, U.S.A., wherethcn annfacture of charcoal pipiron was started.The n1agnetitc ore fqom Texada island was mixed with bos-orc from Ilnmillon,Sliaait County, Washington.At that time tlle Sal1 IWmeisco ficm owned, i n addition to the mipes; an ,blastfurnace, a fleet of st&nlers that plied betx een I’uget Sound norts &id ::i? Yrarrcisco,also ttlc nlanllfacturing plant in San B‘rancisco now awned by thc pniol ,,S]jorljv,sl,sComlmny. Some yearslater all of old, but t h o last-named property was, and still is, retaincrl by the originn1’ nrchasess.Until about 1907 considerable pror pecti?g and some development-\ drFl was donein variouspostions of Vancouver islmd and a t a few p i n t s on tilt I inlqd ofBritish Colnmbia by variousprospectors ‘ a n d companies i? s Q I ’ c I I L I ‘f o r ,otherdeposits of iroll ore, but since then the interest has waned Until8 the! nvesent, ,time.The nlos! serioils efIosts to develorl the iron illdllstry on this nort.io]i O f ’ t h e , m a s tand utilize Eritish Columbia ore wer(? made by the late Homer Sway& \ h i was11IIfOrtU11BteI (Isomled about 1004 in the wreck of the Steamship “Cliildm,”’trhel he had Ilrncticaily carried his negotiR:ions l o the point where he was promised thenecessaryfinancialassistanceto attempt to place theindustry of iron andsteeluxrldng on :L colurncrcinl, basis.3
’Afterthedeathof Mr. Smaney otherattemixsvere.madetoestablishtheinduslry by nsingironorefromVauCouver islaud andsmelting i t i n the State ofWashington;themostnotableby theIroudaleIron andSteel Cornpang, mhichresulted in failure principally ou ingto commeroial reasons.&‘e blast-furnace has yetbeen built in British Columbia, although tlteadrisabilityof doing so has been very freely dTscussed.GEOGRAPHY.Considered geograi hically, the occurrence of deposits oi iron ore are fouud tooccupy 1)osit,ions, so far as the mest coast of Vancouver island is concerned, eitherinlmediately aionsthe coast-line or a short distance back, usually not exceedingaboutten Iniles. Thedepositsalreadylinown a r e found along 3 1 1 almost straightclosely IT-itil thegeneral lille oflinein a nortli-westdirection,conformingveryContact of the sedinlcntary deposits on the mest vitll the general igneous batholithof the interior of the islalld. The most southeriy deposit is situated almost directly011 the Coast line south o f the entrance to Sooke lrarbonr, about thirty lnilcs by autoroad mest from the city of Victoria.Tmrelling towards the north-west, tlle nest l n m ndePosits of iron ore a r e nea?Port Sal1 J u u n , 011 t i x Cordorr river, also on Bugaboo ,creek, n tribulnry of that river.This iocation is about eighty rniles by steamship route from victoria.Travellingstillina north-westdirection,thenest deposits of iron oreareadjacent to the Eastern chalruel of Barkley sound a t the foliolying locntions, via. :011 the Sarita river. thatemptiesintothesoundinNumukmnus bay: on Copperisland, about four nriies north-west of the mouth of Sarita river; 011 the east sideor UclluCBleSit harbour, about a mile from the entrance; near the head o f Helldersolllake, about foorteen uiles in a direction slightly west of north from the entranceto Cchucklesit ilarbonr; at the hc&.d of Handy Creek, t h a t flows into Aiberni canal,about two miles northmard from the entranceto Uchncklesit harbonr ; also a t Smith’sI,anding, about three miles farther up the canal on the east side.There are two routes by mhich all of these deposits on Barkieysound can hereached: one is by railway over the Esquinlait & Sanailno Xaiirvay to Port Alberni.the western tenninus, thence by launch to the nearest landing to the deposit desiredto be reached; thc other route is by Canadian Pacific Railway steamer from Victoriadirect, and 3s a11of the occurrences of iron ore are within easy walking distancefrom the sliore this route is very advantageous.Continuing to travel in a north-westerlydireclionacrossBarkleysound fro111the Eastern channel to the Middie channel, several deiJosits of iron ore are foundwithin a short distance from tlle Shore a t Sechnrt, mhich can he reached by eitherof the routes already mentioned.The nest occurrence of iron oreisnearthehead of Kennedy lake, and onlyabout tvelve miles in an air-line north-west from tlie head of liendersou lake. Toreach Kennedy lake it is necessary, with the present facilities, to travel by steamerto Clayoquot sound, about twenty-five miles llortll-west from Barkley sound; thenceby iauncllup Tofino illlet, an arm of the sound, t o tilemouth of licunedyriver,and up that river into the lake, which is about tvelre miles in length,to a pointnear the head, from mhich a trail has been built about three miles in length to theisomore deposits il! the vicinity of Mount Xaitland.The next degosits of magnetite occur near the eastern and western shoresofIiesquiat lalie, a t the heed of Ilesquiat harbour, situatedaboutforty-eiqlltmiiesin a n air-line and north-westerlydirection from Kennedy lake.Elesquiatharbourisreachedby mail-steamerfromVictoriatmicc eachmonthunderthepresentschedule.Rronl the last-mentioned location to the next l&o vn deposits of iron ore is adistance i n a north-west direction, in an air-iine, of about t.wenty-four miles, as theyare located at the head of Head bay, on the Tlupana arm of Nootka .sound. To reach
ioBUREAUOBMINES.are submerged. The submergedington,but both the southern and northern endsnorthem eud forms the Sound region separating Vancouverisland and the QueenCharlottcislands from the mainland. %ne down-foldisflanked on either. side bygreat mountain ranges. Those on the cast side are the Sierra Sevadaof California,t h e Cascaderange of Oregon andWashington, and theCoast range of BritishColumbia; .those on the west a r e t h e Coast range of California, the Klamath mountains of Oregon, the Olylnpic mountains of Washington, the Vancouver range,andlast two ranges have been gsoupedthe low range of Queen Charlotte islands. Theby Dawsou and designated the Vancouver system. The Vancouver range constituteswhich is 290 miles long and fifty to eighty mileswide,virtually the entire island,the total area being about 20,000 square miles.“The Tertiary erosion surface, the general outlines of which are nom preservedon the nplaud of Vaucouvcr island, h,ad reached before uplift II stagc Varying fir0111latematuritytooldage. \It was peneplaned inthesouthernpartwherea fewrounded, nionadnoclr-likc hills remained a few hundred feet above the general level.In the central region iarger and higher monadnocks andsmaI1 ranges of mountaindivide residuals-survi,-ed,which apparently ha& elevations of from 1,OOO t o 3.000feet above the general Tertiary erosion level, and which are UON from 8,000 to 7,000fect abovc sen-level, a few peaks being higher. Tile elevation of the Tcl’tiury pen*plane is at present Ices than 1,500feet near the southern coast, but increases zapidlyt o 2,000 feet, and tllen increases more slowly until the penepiane merges intothemorc rolling and mountainous count17 which,a s mentioned above, is &BractcriSticof the central part of the island.”The tomgraphy of the northern WTtiOJl of Vancou cr island is a continuationof the rolling and mountai ouscollntry described by Clapp as characteristic of thecentral wrtion, but towards the extreme north end the elevationsof the mountainpeneplaned surfacerangesdecrease, f l evalleys become more estensive,andthegradually loses elevation, until it is submerged into the sound region mentiolied byClapp as sepal atingVancouver island from the Queen Charlotte islands.The deposits of iron ope usually occupy positionsinthenlountainranges a televations varying from ea-le .el,as is the case in the south endof the island, t onearly 3,000 feet abovesea-level inthecentralandnorthemportions,exceptatQuatsino sound, where the bog-ore deposits occur nearsea-ievel.The topography of the nosth.western portio11 of ’Pexada island, where the ironore depositsoccur,ischaracterizedby roundtopped, often cliff-bordered hills andridgcs, not esceeding 1,OOO feet in elevation, ana separated by low-lying areas. Theslopes o? the hills are quite steep andthe shore.llue bold and rocky, so that Someaimculty is found in locating a desirable mh,arf-site; Gillies bay is the only shelteron the vest mast of the island, and as t h a t is located about three miles south fromthe iron-mines, it has never been considered a convenient or desirable location’fora shippillg-point.GEOLOGY.The geological conditions that sul’l’olmd the occnrrences of iron ore on Vancouuerand Texada islands are very similar.In both districts the magnetite-deposits occurat or near the contnctsbetweenigneousrocksand crysstailine limestone. Theserocks are refcrredto by the late Dr. G. 11. 1)nwson as the VancouverSeries ofTriassic age, and inclnde uot only the entire msas of voiciinic materials which unconformablyunderlietheCretaceous,butalsothe interbeddedlimestonesandAaggyargillites and quartzites.
IROX-OILEI EPOSITSON V n c o c m rA N D TEXADAIs a?.os.- . . . . 11. -By Cllas. 1. Ciai)p tile Same rocks R T C rcferred to as the Tancoll er;:roup, mllichlie lms mapped and SuWividea as follows:Jurassic (?)-\Ietcllosinvoicallics (basalt, tuff, etc.).Jurassic or Triassic-Sicker series (andesitic flows, t u f f meVmconvcrstone).groui,.1;ower Nesoxoic, possibly, in part, I'al oeoic-T'alicoure ,rolcanics (andesite, am,ygdaloid porphyries, tuff, etc.)J11rassic or Triassic(?)-Nitinatformation(crystalline iimcstone).11. 0. hIcConnCl1, in AkmoiL No. 58, Canadian Department of Xmi s, GeologicalSnr\-cy, rol'evs t o iile deposits of lnagu.etite on Texada island as occurring at andnein ilre conlact of quartz diorites aud cr stallilrelimeslone classified a!; the hrarblel i a r fosmation, i11so at the contact bchvecn qnarh diorite .and porphyrites assigmaio ihc I1'csild:l group by 0. E. LeRay, of tire Cxuncli'nn Geological Snrrey. IIcColrneiirbnsiders tllat the iilnilrte diorite should be tcntatirdg assigned to Ihc Upper Jurassic: g cthc, jmq1iiJrites to the Lomer Jurassic, and tile .\larblc Ray limestcn to eitherthc 'Priassir or Jwassic periods, but statcs ilut tire ngcs assigned are te-rtatiye only,a s (Icfinitu fossil evidence is wanting.IIJORE-DEPOSITS.Tile general characteristics of the bodies of magnetite on the coasts of bothVanconrcr .rind Texads islands show 1uari;ed similarity as regards th,? genesis oftlrc'ore-structure of the bodies and associated minerals. All of the authorities agreethat the genesis of the magnetite ore is duc to contact replncement of rk.e limestone,and sometimes also of tlle contact basic igneous rocks, ,and that the most importantdeposits belong t o tile contact-metamo1pbic type, : llilougl i n CI;ipi)'s report he refersaisoto deposits occurring as impregnatedschists in the Siclies series, as veli asrepi:lcemrnt or segrc8ationdeposits in Ihe Soukc gabbro. Tile writer's ,!.nervationsshow thnt tile contact-metamorphic ana replacement or segregation deposits arc theonly types that a t present, a t least, hnr: commerciai vaine; in fact, such is also t h eopinion of hlr. Clapp, as expressed in his report qnoted.'l'1l.c structllre of each of the n i l a c t - n e t a m o doposits p h i c exan.ned by thewriter is that o i n mass o r lens usually forming the end or flank of a ridge or OCCIII"ring ins :L steep cliX standing out as a prominent landmask, which on nicount of itsharmess 'has esc:qld destruction Srom !:he forces of erosion and de1iuda:ion. Thesemasses or lmses often reachdimensions of great extent i n supxficinl area, sometimes several hundved feetin length and morc than 100 feet in width,but llaveirrcfnlar outlines.GENESIS.Was. 11. Ciapb,, in th? lvkmoir Plo. IS, Southern Yuncoupr lsL ;d,of theGeological Survcy, ,1032, pages 192, 193, gives thc following, theory of tnoriginioftile conlact de@mit of magnetite, which is quoted below becqusc tho,majoqity of tllc1,deposits esamincd bsr the writer bciollg to that type:,"As tile mcurrepce of the magnetile Bodies is restrictql to ihe eolltkcts of theniarble n u l tlip intrusive plutonic rocks, I h e v e call be littie qurstionth:lt;they ow?tileis origin tq Ole, ionbact action of the plutonic rocks 011, the 'marble. This coilclusion or tlrcqrr hA8'been substantiated by observations in nianyiparts 00the world.Tile original iipcstones, to judge from t h e zesidunl lcuscs nbw .emainin:, and fromthe nbsencc of othersedimentary rock3 intheKitinatformation, nwe com1,aratively pure carbonates of lime and maf:nesia. Altiiougi.il theNitinat linrbiesh a r ebeen invailctl by the granitic rocirs t o L;llch an extent tililt tllc IlrescLlt masses arevirtnaliy large 'roof pendants' in the batholiths,in no case do pure nmrbles OCCUI.
.12BURE.4U OF fIXES.in actual contact with the plutonicrocks. They must, therefore, havebeen subjectto profound niteration. The magnetite bodies a r e llsually develop2d in the alteredor metamosphosed marble,but are Occasionally in conliact with the basic andschistose diorite, and more rarely with the nnaltered marble.“ A n esception,ally good contact of the magnetite mith pure marble occurs onthe Conqueror claim, on Bugaboo creek. These the magnetite body, which forms acliff 30 to 40 feet high ol‘er which the creel; falls, is in contact with a mass of whitecrystalline marble, at least 100 yards in width, wllicll occurs down-stream, t h a t istothenorth.IrregularmagnetiteYeins extcnd from t h e magnetite body into thepure marble, brecciatillg it.and including blocks of marble much as apophyses of anigneous rock would brecci’ate and include Iragmmts of an inl-aded formatian. Fromthe abol-e evidence it is Seen that the magnetite-deposits of the Nitinat formation notonly owe their origin to the intrusion of the plutonic roclcs, but since i t seems as ifthe original limestones were pure, t h e minerals of the deposit ha7.e apparently beenderived from the intrudingbatholith.Afterthelimestones had been more or lesscontact-aretanlorphosed, as inclusions of siliwtes occur in the magnetite, solutions ofmuguetite. with snlaii amounts of sulphi(les, penetrated the contact zone and replacedi t il,part.“ T h e solutions wcke xppnrcntly very conccntmtctl, Tirtually mn,-ctitemagma,sincetheyintrudedand brecciated theshearcddioriteandunaltcredmarblesinmuch the same manner as rock magma Intrudes and brecciates. Vesy large depositsof masletite supposed t o have becn formed in .a Simiiils manner-thatis,by theintrusion of concentrated magnetite solutions or magnctite magma-occur in Normay,thefamous deposits of ICiirunavaara. Similarcontact deposits have been recognized by ScVeral observers, m d inrecentclassificationsof ore-bodies have beeniliade a separate type of contact deposits, the mametitc tme.”Tne associated ml lerals found with the magnetite are the usualcontact-metamorphicminerals,principally cpirlote, andradite(lime-irongarnet),augite,andvarieties of amphibole.The difitribntion of the lenses of magnetite a r c notiecably rery erratic, as theyare found along the contact of lime diorite, lime porphyrite, porphyrite diorite, andalso in some cases are fonnd enclosed in a11 three fosmations a t considerable distances from their boundaries. I n two cases, at least, 011 Texada island, as re11 asin some instances on Vancouver isl’and, lenses of magnetite h a r e formed at the endsof quartz-diorite dykes.Up to the present time there has Been practically no esploration on any of thedeposits of nlagnetitc to determine the question of continuity of the ore t o a depthbelow 430 feet from the apes of the outcrop, :rnA t h a t 113s onlg been done a t onepoint on Texada island; consequently the qoestion as to the conditions in respect tothe depth to.n.hich the rarlous oredeposits niay maintain persistency i s yet to bedcterininell. The conditions snrroundinp some of themn metite-deposits on Va11courer island suggests shcdlo\vness. but until prospecting with diamond-drill h a s beendone the question must remah open, so f a r 3s actual proof is concerned.T H E MINES, SOOKE DISTRICT.The deposits of iron ore in this portion of Tranconrer island belong to the tygeclassified by Clapp as replacement or segregation deposits in the Soolre gabbro.”AS no morl; has been done since 1WO on any of the magnetite-deposits in thisdistrict, the writer did not examine them during the past summer,as the conditionsare the same as when an examination was made by Herbert Carmlchael in 1902 andreported on in the Xinister of Mines’ Report for that year, as follows: “Magneticiron has been known for many years to exist at Sooke, on the peninsula to the eastof Soolre harbour, mhere there are very extensive surface exposures. These depositswere mentioned by Dr. Dawsou in 1587, who said: ‘The deposit is rather of theI‘
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“About 3.5 or 40 fect below this tunnel another tunnel had been run i n t h e S a mdirection for 114 feet into thc ‘liilil gcing through iilncstonc and diorite.The lastfew fect, horr.ewr, show mtlgnetite dipping in towards tlichill.”From tileInregoingdescription OS the ndergx’o ndworkings, awociated withthat or tile susfacc showings, the writer ciln only roughly estimate tonnage ofprobable and fjosstble ore, as the dntn la insufficient to marrant any estimateofactual ore. Of flroohnble ore he estimates 500,000 tons, and allows 250,000 toni, or50 per ccnt., ndditionnl for yossible ore, bcing a total of 750,000 tons that lnay benvnilablc after fnrtlrer dwelopment-work hils beell clone.“East of this main outcrop, and close to t h e trail leading down to the maintrail np the Gorrlou valley, scveral strippipings had es1)osed mametite, b u t did notgive sunicient inforniatlon in regard to t11c extent of the orebodies.“The Sirdav wincsal cinim is situated two miles farthcrup the valley, and isvery sitllilar to the Batlen Powell and I;ittlc Robs. The masnetiteoutcrops herea1611gthe face and braow of a ridge for about IGO feet.“Abont 50 feet below tile toil of the sidge a tunnel has been 1’1111 :LO3 feet intothe hill, SlloIving the width of the ose tn be about 82 feet. An avcsage tlampk tniwnalong the tunnel gave the following analysis:Per cent.8.32Insoluble mntter .Iron .56.572.75Snll hus .rllos ,ilorlls .0.121’’The rvritcr rollgllly estiluates the ‘:onnam! of aotzclkl orc exlloscd in the undergronna workings a t 94,000 tons, and alloms 47.000 tons, or 50 per cent. addition;das possible ore that m y be found t o ‘38 available after further deeuell,pment-worLis done.Since tllc examinations made b rMr. l indelnanni 1007, on W t l i i t l tlic abovereport is based, the mritcr is reliably informed tlmt practically no f u r t h w work llasbeen done.T i m e a r efifteen mineral claims in tile Cm quemrgroup, namedConqueroras follovs: Curus, Daniel, Cowuerol;Zlijalc, Renjmain, Gvip ofGroup.11.0% Iron Muster, I r o ? Master’s So%, Irorh King, i’voa Prince,Jenvbie Bractionel, J o s r p l ,Ivan Prince Brmtional, Jacob, andDavid. ‘the mxitev esamined this I)LY)pcrty snme years ago. Since tbcn it has beenexamined ilnd reported 011 by Herbert Cnrmichacl, i n tile Ministor of RIiues’ Fieport,lW2: also by- Einas fiindeman, in the Cunadcl Department of Mines, Mines BranchBull. Xo. 47; m byl otlmr engineers for privalo inlercsts.The group is on ’Rusaboo creek, a iributaly of the Gordon river, and t h e maiusllowing of magnetite occurs on the Conqwror mineral ciaim, abaut eighi milcs fromSnll Joan bay, n t an elevation of about 1,600 fcet above sca-lewl, where thc creciccrosscuts a solid,body.ofmagnetite about 40 T e c t lii& over which the ,?reel forms, a waterfall. TiliS deposit belongs to the ontxct-,netnmori)hic type,and the ore-bodylies befveen crystalline linlestone and diorite.The maximum n i d t h of the ore-0od.y esllosed ui the bed of the creek is ahont100 feet. Surface stripping east of the creek has exposed outcropDings of magnetitefor some distance, illdiCIAting that the deposit lnny estend for a t least 200 feet inIWgLll. About 40 fcet below the top of the outcrop a drift has been drivcn 14 feetlong in solid maguetitc.From the foregoing data the writer estimxtes 16,000 tons of actunl nrc exyosedon thsw sides, 14 feet long, 100 feet wid& SO feet deep, but from the exposures heroughiy cstlmatcs 230,ooO tons of prohoblo ore and 320,000 tons of 1)ossIBlc ope tlmtfurtilur dcvelo] lllcnt nlny make avallabb?.4
BGREAUOB IIXES.16. . Arerage Sanwles tal1L.n in 1000 by tile writer nsr;i?-cd:Per cent.Siiica .SullYllur .Pllosphorlls .11.011A sample take11 along the drift59.76.163.0s.viz.PCt cent.02.9s4.2sTrace.Fit.by Linde1nau assayed :Pcr cent.Irou .Iilsolublr matter .Su1l)hur .rIlos1j!lorus .A snnq letalccli by Cxrnrichael assayed:-.Iron .Siiic;i .Sulphlrur .F7.094.511.G00.00069.22.70.5Outcroj pings of nmgnctite occus on some of tile other claimsinthegronl?,of the Conqueror. Open-cuts have bmn made in severaluiaces, cqtosing magnetite of approxinlatC1y tllr same pradr ns the &re s mples,but the \ 01'1 Is not sufficient to \vanant mi estimate of the tonnage of available ore.The \mtcr-supl)lyin the Gorilon river, as me11 as ill Bugaboo crcek, i s sufficientfor ordinary powerpurposesl as well as for mining and domestic use. The timberis nlnl lefor nll purposes, including thc manuf.actore of lntilbcr.Transiiortatlon facilities to salt mater fromn n y of the mineral clalins includedill the groups describedherein,inthe Port Renfrewdistrict, can be Installed a treasonable cost. The linrbour near the nroutll of the Gordon rirer affords solnc guodSites for bunkers and rrhan-es.ilotztbly 011 til@D( .cid,east
IROII-ORE-DEPOSITSOX' ANCOUYEiL AND. . . . . . . . . . .TI&LDIISL.iiVDS.li.the porlal; the remainder of tile norl; is incnuntry-rock. The mineralieatiou is aNixture of iron gyrites, nlagnetite, pyrrhotite, and marcasite.Awrage samples assayed:I'er cent. I?W cent.Iron .23,s13.4Sulphur .14.46.9l'hosphorus . Trace.Trace.Silica .48.009.3ICvidenily work was abaildooed ;after the grade of t h e ore \vas'nscertained, andCurtiler prospecting was done along the ridge to the mest, because about a quarterof a l n i k ill that direction there is a n o c c r . e nofc enmgnetite on the east bank of aSw:lililIy creek that crosscuts the sa111e ridge, as nlreadp mentioned. Au oyeil-cut10 feet dcc11 by 120 feet long has b,-.en rr,a(Ieacross a part of tile ridge, exposingdiorite 011 tlic soutll side, nextmagnetite E2 feet wide, tileu crrstaliine limestone1 2 feet wide, then magnetite 45 f e e t wide, to limestone \mil. In t l i s deposit them:lSclctite is good grade, and theinlpuritiesfoundassociatedwit11 tile ore in theblufC ovc lnoki g the river,are lackillg. The gnnguc ulatevinl is gxrnetite.The writer attempted to trace the deposit on the s,mface farther to the west,bnt fou
Report on the Occurre nces of Iron-ore Deposits on Vancouver and Texada Islands, B.C. OUTLINE OF REPORT. HI,: following report is made after an examination by the writer of the various occurrences Of iron ore on Vaucollrer and Tlesada islands during the slimmer of 3.916, in compliance with instmelions frorrl the Provincial Xineraloxist.
