The Smuggler occurrence is located at about 600 metres elevation, south of Togo Creek, in the historic Fairview mining camp. Oliver, British Columbia lies 4.5 kilometres to the east-northeast.
The Smuggler occurrence was discovered prior to 1899, by which time a main tunnel had been driven 9 metres. The ground was staked as the Powis claim, now a Reverted Crown grant. A full 10-stamp mill was erected on the property in 1901. Approximately 98 tonnes of ore from the Smuggler mine and another 492 tonnes of ore from the Stemwinder mine (082ESW007) were used to test the mill. Total underground development is reported to have consisted of a 107-metre adit with a 61-metre shaft connecting it to surface. Levels are reported north and south of the main adit at 15, 31 and 61 metres. Stoping was observed across about 1 metre at the shaft collar but the total length of stoping is unknown. Small amounts of ore have been mined intermittently in 1939, 1942, 1963 and 1973. In 1983, Lawrence Mining Corp. conducted geochemical soil sampling over the area of underground development on the Smuggler vein and reopened the No. 3 level. At this level the workings appeared to be only exploratory, as no significant gold-bearing veins were observed. Upper levels were inaccessible. Shangri-La Minerals Ltd. conducted an extensive exploration program in 1978 for Yuriko Resources Corp. In 1990, under option to Yuriko Resources Ltd., Fairbank Engineering Ltd. was hired to conduct a limited exploration program. In 2014 and 2019, Hi Ho Silver Resources Inc. completed minor programs of rock sampling and structural analysis on the area as the Fairview property.
The Smuggler occurrence lies within the Okanagan Terrane of the Intermontane tectonic belt. Polydeformed and regionally metamorphosed rocks of the Carboniferous to Permian Kobau Group dominantly underlie the area. Highly deformed, low grade metamorphic quartzite, phyllite, schist, greenstone and marble comprise the main units of a 1900-metre structure succession. Three phases of fold have been identified in the Kobau Group rocks. The initial phase of folding was coincident with pre-Jurassic regional metamorphism, whereas later phases of folding are related to intrusive activity. The main intrusions in the Fairview camp are the Jurassic Oliver granite and the Jurassic to Cretaceous Fairview granodiorite. The Oliver pluton is heterogeneous and is composed of biotite-hornblende granite, porphyritic biotite granite, garnet-muscovite granite, porphyritic quartz monzonite and syenite. Other intrusive phases cutting the Kobau Group metasediments and volcanics include aplite dikes, granitic, dioritic and mafic stocks, auriferous quartz veins related to Jurassic intrusions and Tertiary northeast-trending mafic dikes.
The Smuggler occurrence is hosted along the contact between quartzite (KQ1) of the Kobau Group and Fairview pluton (Fieldwork 1988, pages 19-25). The Kobau Group unit is composed of quartzite layers 1 to 5 centimetres thick separated by biotite-rich layers, some biotite-rich sections and lenses of mafic schist. Chlorite is common throughout. Low-grade greenschist facies metamorphic effects were noted near the Smuggler workings.
Little is known of the mineralization and structure of the Smuggler vein. No early records could be found containing this information. Limited information has been obtained from re-opening underground workings. Mineralization, in quartz veins, includes pyrite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite and galena. Malachite alteration is frequently associated with chalcopyrite. If the workings followed the trend of the vein, the vein strikes roughly east and dips near vertical.
In 1987, several surface samples near the upper workings yielded anomalous values. Grab sample JDK-505 yielded 19.3 grams per tonne gold, 34.9 grams per tonne silver, 0.15 per cent zinc and 0.11 per cent copper from massive white quartzite with chalcopyrite and malachite (Yuriko Resources Corp. (1988): Prospectus). Another chip sample, JDK-400, yielded 10.9 grams per tonne gold, 58.9 grams per tonne silver, 0.40 per cent lead and 0.12 per cent zinc from massive white quartz with pyrite, chalcopyrite and minor disseminated galena (Yuriko Resources Corp. (1988): Prospectus). A third sample taken from a short adit yielded 3.12 grams per tonne gold (Yuriko Resources Corp. (1988): Prospectus). A total of 110 metres of the main adit were sampled at 5-metre intervals. The highest values were from sample 730, which yielded 1.99 grams per tonne gold and 3.8 grams per tonne (Yuriko Resources Corp. (1988): Prospectus). The sample was taken from a drift north of the raise.
Preliminary lead isotope studies indicate the mineralization is associated with quartz veins is younger than or as young as the Oliver pluton (circa 155 Ma) (Fieldwork 1988, pages 19-25).
Total intermittent production from 1939 to 1973 from the Smuggler occurrence amounts to 137 tonnes from which 3763 grams of gold, 2643 grams of silver, 93 kilograms of lead and 174 kilograms of zinc were recovered.
