Mineral Exploration

20 Mineral Exploration | amebc.ca PHOTO: TOM SCHROETER A Silver Lining The historic Dolly Varden silver camp By ED KIMURA F ollowing a very rich silver discovery made in 1910, the remote Alice Arm area at the northeast end of Observatory Inlet, 160 kilometres north of Prince Rupert in northwestern B.C., became a buzzing centre of prospecting, exploration and mining activity. More specifically, prospectors clambered their way up the heavily forested blu•s and rock walls along the Kitsault River, which drains into the head of the narrow Alice Arm Inlet. The history of the earliest mineral discoveries actually dates back to the 19th century, when the Nisga'a First Nation camped at the Alice Arm site. They discovered molybdenite showing in this area and showed their discoveries to an Anglican missionary; some of these showings would eventually be developed as the Kitsault open pit molybdenum mine in 1967. Frank Roundy was one of the first prospectors at Alice Arm, staking three precious metal claims in 1903. Then John Stark, the first settler at Alice Arm, staked two adjoining claims. This attracted the attention of other prospectors, and from 1907 to 1910 a number of precious metal and base metal prospects were discovered and staked along the Kitsault and Illiance rivers. The molybdenum showings were rediscovered and staked in 1907. Prospecting and claim staking were generally confined to the lower reaches of the Kitsault River until 1910, when Scandinavian prospectors Ole Pearson, Ole Evindsen, K.L. Eik and E. Carlson arrived at Alice Arm. After several days prospecting along the rugged slopes and canyons further upstream along the Kitsault River, Eik and Carlson returned to Alice Arm for supplies while Pearson and Evindsen continued prospecting. It was then that Evindsen discovered what appeared to be a rich vein. Almost simultaneously, Pearson, about 75 feet away, discovered a large white boulder, prompting a vivid flashback of his dream the night before the prospecting expedition. In it, his late uncle prophesied the discovery of a big white exposure and Pearson's subsequent wealth, and instructed his nephew to name the claim Dolly Varden, after the heroine of Charles Dickens' novel, Barnaby Rudge. Accordingly, the four prospectors staked seven Dolly Varden claims on the steep west bank of the Kitsault River, 17 miles upriver from Alice Arm. Early exploration on the claims exposed a 45-foot-wide body of quartz with pyrite, galena and minor chalcopyrite. Working conditions were challenging, as the steep terrain was densely forested and strewn with deadfall, and glacial till masked the underlying bedrock and mineralized zones. Transportation of supplies and equipment was a slow, back-breaking procedure until 1913, when a trail was hacked out to the claims from Alice Arm, though only the lower seven miles were passable with packhorses. Shortly after the trail was built, the prospectors – faced with dwindling resources – gave one-fifth of their interest to Charlie Swanson in exchange for a grubstake. They then built a cabin and started driving an underground drift to expose the mineralized zone. News of their discovery travelled, and other prospectors started staking around the Dolly Varden. In order to protect their interests, the four prospectors staked several other properties, including the promising Red Point copper and North Star silver claims, both about one mile north of the Dolly Varden. R.B. McGinnis, an engineer from San Francisco, came to examine the Red Point property, but was more impressed with the high- grade showings on the Dolly Varden and immediately leased the claims for $50,000. The original four prospectors and Swanson each received $10,000. His prophetical dream realized, Pearson returned to Sweden and bought a farm; the other three partners continued to work CAMPS OF FAME

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