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File Created: 24-Jul-1985 by BC Geological Survey (BCGS)
Last Edit:  30-Nov-1996 by Keith J. Mountjoy (KJM)

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NMI
Name OLALLA, COMSTOCK Mining Division Osoyoos
BCGS Map 082E021
Status Past Producer NTS Map 082E05W
Latitude 049º 16' 46'' UTM 11 (NAD 83)
Longitude 119º 51' 46'' Northing 5462465
Easting 291796
Commodities Silver, Gold, Manganese Deposit Types I01 : Au-quartz veins
Q05 : Jasper
Tectonic Belt Intermontane Terrane Okanagan
Capsule Geology

The Olalla showing is located at 1000 metres elevation on a western tributary of Olalla Creek, 3 kilometres northwest of Olalla, British Columbia. Little information could be found about this occurrence, therefore its location is approximated.

The Olalla claim was first reported Crown granted (Lot 2059) in 1903, when owned by Jas.M. Sharp and W.J. Brewer. In 1906, Bromley and Lyon were reported as owners of the Olalla and Comstock claims. A 3-metre adit and a long opencut were developed. In 1935, Olalla Gold Mines Ltd. acquired the property and reported a shipment of 18 tonnes of silver-gold ore.

The Olalla occurrence is underlain by the Carboniferous to Triassic Shoemaker Formation, northwest of the ultramafic to alkaline Middle Jurassic Olalla intrusion. This intrusion has intruded a sequence of oceanic sediments and volcanics of the Carboniferous to Triassic Shoemaker and Old Tom formations. Black to green chert, light grey quartzite and minor limestone lenses comprise the dominant lithologies. The Shoemaker and Old Tom formations form a broadly folded, east-dipping sequence in the area. The Olalla intrusion consists of a magnetite-bearing pyroxenite peripheral zone to a diorite and syenite core. The pyroxenite is composed primarily of augite with lesser magnetite. Coarse-grained syenite dikes occur at the contact with the peripheral pyroxenite zone.

In the vicinity of the Olalla showing are jasper and thin to massive bedded cherts. Massive acidic to intermediate pyroclastics of the Old Tom Formation, striking northerly and dipping shallowly to the west, outcrop to the west. Thin bedded cherts, argillite and quartzite with fracturing and minor folding occur to the east. Folds plunge 10 to 30 degrees towards 015 degrees.

A total of 45 tonnes ore was reported mined in 1935 by Olalla Gold Mines Ltd. Recovery included 1400 grams of silver and 498 grams of gold (BC Metal MM00359).

Bibliography
EMPR AR 1903-248; 1906-171; 1935-A25
EMPR ASS RPT 406, 14455, 17648, 19611
EMPR INDEX 3-208
EMPR BC METAL MM00359
GSC MAP 341A; 538A; 539A; 541A; 628A; 15-1961; 1736A; 2389
GSC MEM 38; 179
GSC OF 481; 637; 1505A; 1565; 1969
GSC P 72-53

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