British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Natural Gas and Responsible for Housing
News | The Premier Online | Ministries & Organizations | Job Opportunities | Main Index

MINFILE Home page  ARIS Home page  MINFILE Search page  Property File Search
Help Help
File Created: 24-Jul-1985 by BC Geological Survey (BCGS)
Last Edit:  12-Nov-2014 by Laura deGroot (LDG)

Summary Help Help

NMI 082E8 Cu1
Name MOUNTAIN CHIEF (L.2393), MORNING GLORY, SUNSET, CALGARY, MORNING GLORY FR., REN, BULLDOG, NORTH WEST SILVER, RENATA GOLD, KING, CLIFF, PEGGY, RICKWARD Mining Division Trail Creek
BCGS Map 082E050
Status Past Producer NTS Map 082E08E
Latitude 049º 24' 30'' UTM 11 (NAD 83)
Longitude 118º 06' 04'' Northing 5473433
Easting 420123
Commodities Copper, Silver, Lead, Zinc, Gold, Molybdenum, Tungsten Deposit Types K01 : Cu skarn
K02 : Pb-Zn skarn
Tectonic Belt Omineca Terrane Slide Mountain
Capsule Geology

This property is located on the west side of Lower Arrow Lake about 2 kilometres south of Renata. The main workings are on the Mountain Chief claim (Lot 2393) at about the 800 metre elevation on the east side of Dog Creek.

The Mountain Chief claim was Crown-granted in 1903 to P. McDonald, W. Ross and associates. Initial work on the property was done in open cutting. No further activity was reported until 1917 when the property, consisting of 4 claims and a fraction, namely the Mountain Chief, Morning Glory, Sunset, Calgary, and Morning Glory Fraction, was owned by N. McDaniels and associates. Mountain Chief Mining Company, Limited was formed in December 1928 to acquire and develop the property. Development work to 1920 included a large amount of stripping and open cutting, an inclined shaft 34 metres deepw tih a level at 15 metres driven northerly 11 metres, from which an inclined raise was driven to connect with a surface trench. An aerial tram 990 metres long was erected in 1919. The company ceased operations in 1919 due to lack of funds and the property reverted to the owners, N. McDaniel and associates. The owners resumed work on the showings in the summer of 1922 and some sorted ore was shipped from open cuts; most of the ore shipped from the property came from a large surface trench.

The property was idle from 1922 until acquired by Renata Copper Company, Limited, which was formed in January 1954. In the latter part of 1955 the property was optioned to United Estella Mines Ltd. and about 122 metres of diamond drilling was done in 4 holes from the shaft and the 15 metre level; the option was dropped after this work. The Renata Copper Company charter was surrendered in 1962.

In 1966, W.S. Davidson optioned the surrounding North West Silver claims, and conducted a geochemical survey. In 1970, I. Wiebe optioned the Mountain Chief and surrounding Ren claims and conducted mapping and a magnetic survey. In 1984, Silver Dart Minerals Inc. staked the Bulldog claims and rehabilitated and sampled the old workings. In 1990, Alpine West Mineral Exploration Services explored the property.

Skarn-related mineralization occurs in altered silicified limestone, of the Permian Mount Roberts Formation, within a large roof pendant surrounded by syenite of the Eocene Corell intrusions. In the upper workings, at about 800 metres elevation and where the mining took place, the mineralization consists of chalcopyrite, pyrite, bornite malachite, azurite and chalcocite. Mineralization appears to be controlled by a series of parallel fault structures. A 3.65-metre sample from a shaft assayed 6.46 per cent copper, 368 grams per tonne silver and 0.5 gram per tonne gold (Assessment Report 12936). In the lower trenches, about 800 metres to the north, mineralization consists of disseminations and veins of galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite and scheelite. Molybdenite has been reported. A sample from a trench assayed 1.1 per cent copper, 13.8 per cent lead, 5.8 per cent zinc, and 133 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 12936).

Bibliography
EMPR AR 1901-1225; 1917-173; 1918-182-183; 1919-140; 1920-137;
1922-210; *1927-328-329; 1955-65-66
EMPR ASS RPT 930, *3090, 12936, 20141
EMPR BC METAL MM00687
EMPR GEM 1971-397
EMPR INDEX 3-206
EMPR PF (Cook, R.S. (1947-05-01): Data on the King Group of Mining Claims; Prospectors Report 1998-6 by John Kemp)
EMR MP CORPFILE (Mountain Chief Mining Company, Limited; United
Estella Mines Ltd.)
GSC MAP 1957-6

COPYRIGHT | DISCLAIMER | PRIVACY | ACCESSIBILITY