Mineral Exploration is the official publication of the Association of Mineral Exploration British Columbia.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/225045
On the heels of the Rock Creek gold rush, prospectors combed the area searching for the possible source of the gold in the creeks. In 1884, the Victoria vein was discovered by two placer miners along upper Jolly Creek, a tributary of Rock Creek. There was no immediate followup work on this vein until 1887, when Al McKinney and Fred Rice discovered the Cariboo vein on the west bank of Rice Creek, about four miles north of Rock Creek. The prominently exposed quartz vein was impregnated with glistening free gold grains. This discovery ignited a prospecting frenzy in the surrounding area, resulting in a number of gold-bearing quartz veins being located. The mineralized quartz veins occurring at Camp McKinney were typically white to bluish-white and were mineralized with pyrite, lesser sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite and native gold. They varied from narrow stringers to over 10 feet in width. It is now known that the local major easterly trending, steeply dipping Cariboo quartz vein is developed as a cross-cutting structure in the northwesterly striking metamorphosed sedimentary sequence. This vein has been defined over a 3,000-foot trend and is the dominant structure within a wider mineralized system of sub-parallel and northeasterly striking quartz veins and veinlets. Widespread faulting has disrupted the vein systems in the camp locally with major offsets of 100 feet or more. John Douglas was one of the early mine developers in 1888, and he wasted no time initiating an underground exploration program on the Douglas Mine property to define a very rich vein 150 feet below surface. High-grade ore was mined and stockpiled on the surface with the intention of setting up a mill. However, these plans were stymied as there was, as yet, no road along which to transport the equipment to the site. Underground exploration at the Cariboo Mine also intersected very rich ore on the Cariboo vein, and the owners were planning to set up a mill as soon as a wagon road was built from the U.S. border to the camp. By 1889, there were as many 116 p112-117_CampsOfFame.indd 116 w i n t e r developed with three shafts and six levels to a depth of 530 feet. However, by the year 1900, much of the higher-grade ore was mined out. More seriously, a major fault had cut off the Cariboo vein to the east and to depth, and a program to locate the offset extension was unsuccessful. By 1903, the mine was essentially mining out the last of the available ore, and operations were suspended on December A Geological Survey of Canada 31, 1903. map of the Southern Interior Total production from the from 1888 depicting 1860s gold rush activity near Rock Creek. Cariboo-Amelia mine from 1894 to 1903 was 123,457 tons milled, producing 65,581 ounces of gold and 5,359 ounces of silver. The average recovered grade for the ore was in excess of 0.56 oz/ton Au. After closure, several companies attempted to explore for the "lost lead" or the faulted offset of the Cariboo vein. In 1939, Pioneer Gold Mines of B.C. dewatered the mine and drilled several surface and underground diamond drill holes to explore for the faulted extension. In the period leading up to 1958, W.E. McArthur of Greenwood acquired the property, drilled several holes from surface, and then optioned the property to H & W Mining Company Limited. This company dewatered the mine, In addition to the upbeat exploration extended the underground workings on and mining activity, the mining town of the fifth level northward, and successfully McKinney, named after Al McKinney intersected the faulted extension of the and later renamed Camp McKinney, high-grade Cariboo vein. Following some preparatory underwas being planned on a plateau centrally located about 1,800 feet south of the ground development by McKinney Gold Cariboo vein discovery. Progress stalled Mines Ltd., mining recommenced to in 1891 as road access to the camp was recover 4,370 tons of ore grading 1.20 oz/ still not available, but eventually the ton Au and 1.70 oz/ton Ag in 1960. The main mining operation on the Cariboo ore was transported to the Trail smelter, vein prospered, and by 1901, with a and mining continued until 1962 with population of 250, the town had reached production from 1960 to 1962 totalling its peak, boasting three general stores, 11,292 tons; 12,001 ounces of gold and a butcher, a drug store, five saloons, six 14,261 ounces of silver were recovered. Following mine closure, the workings hotels and a school. One local mine, the Cariboo-Amelia, were allowed to flood. As for Camp McKinney, much of the was well managed. The ore became richer with depth, and by 1896, a year once-vibrant town was destroyed by a forand a half after start-up, approximately est fire in 1919; a second forest fire in 1931 18,000 tons of ore had been milled. The effectively completed the destruction. ■ mine was paying a handsome dividend, and it was recognized as being the first Thanks to Giles Peatfield, Sue Dahlo, Linda lode mine in B.C. to achieve this distinc- Caron and Steve Cannon for co-ordinating tion. The mine workings extending for a and providing historic photographs of Rock mile along the Cariboo vein system were Creek and Camp McKinney. as 25 properties being actively explored or developed by underground methods. The properties located along the eastern and western extensions of the Cariboo vein were defining high-grade ore where the vein was locally up to 10 feet wide; these included the Amelia, Alice, Emma, Maple Leaf and Eureka claims. 2 013 T Lidar.indd 1 Map : Geological Sur vey of Canada Multicoloured Map 363, 1888/© Depar tment of Natural Resources Canada 13-11-27 10:20 AM