The Eclipse (Lot 5170), 3.2 kilometres by steep road southeast of Camborne, is part of a system of mineralized veins along the south side of Pool Creek. See the adjoining Spider mine (082KNW045) for production. The area is underlain by southeasterly striking, steeply dipping volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Lower Paleozoic Lardeau Group. Sedimentary rocks of the Broadview Formation include medium grey to greenish quartzites, greywackes, carbonaceous phyllites and quartz sericite schist. The volcanic rocks of the Jowett Formation comprise massive fragmental lenses and lava flows, some chlorite schist and a few thin beds of banded iron formation. In the fragmental units, extreme elongation of the clasts, caused by synkinematic metamorphism, has imparted a crude secondary layering subparallel to the primary stratification.
The veins consist of quartz, pyrite, sphalerite and galena and minor amounts of ankerite, chalcopyrite, and rarely arsenopyrite and tetrahedrite.
The two Eclipse veins are believed to be on separate faults because of shears in the Eclipse adit curve into the foliation some distance short of the face; mineralization in No. 2 vein dies out short of the face, and the veins do not line up when projected to the same level. The No. 1 or adit vein is a thick quartz vein, largely in black phyllite. The country rock is extensively altered around the portal but is relatively fresh in the adit. The vein is bounded by shears and appears to end abruptly where they join and pass into foliation. It contains massive pyrite veins as much as 1 metre thick and lenses of arsenopyrite. A promising pocket of ore was opened in a surface cut above, but ore mineralization in the adit is negligible. The No. 2 vein has a known vertical range of about 76 metres and an average length of about 61 metres. It closely resembles the Spider veins, even though it is partly in black phyllite, but the envelope of altered wallrock is much thinner, rarely extending more than 2.4 metres from the fault. Toward the south end a cross-fracture to the southwest contains abundant sphalerite and galena for some 9 metres. On the sublevel the fracture appears to end at at bedded shear.
The Eclipse showing (No. 1 vein) was discovered and staked in August 1899 and by 1900 an adit had been driven 20 metres on the vein. Two claims, the Eclipse (Lot 5170) and Ettie (Lot 5156) were Crown-granted to W.H. Jackson in 1901. No further activity was reported although by 1914 the adit had been driven to a length of 63 metres.
The property was acquired in 1924 by J.E. Lindsley of Camborne and J.A. Darragh of Revelstoke. In 1925 the property was under option to Kay Alexander and some development work carried out. The Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada Limited optioned the claims in 1927 and during 1928 carried out diamond drilling and extended the adit; the option was abandoned that same year.
In 1954, Sunshine Lardeau Mines, Limited optioned the property from Lardeau Mines Exploration, Limited and discovered the No. 2 vein by diamond drilling from surface. A 305-metre crosscut from the Spider No. 10 level was driven to the vein in 1955. The vein was drifted on for 91 metres exposing a mineralized section 55 metres in length. A raise was put up 61 metres and a sublevel established at 34 metres and the vein drifted on for 73 metres. The mineralization pinched out 40 metres above No. 10 level and was mined out by the end of 1957. A winze was sunk on the vein for 46 metres at 65 degrees and a level (No. 11) established at 40 metres. This level was driven for 49 metres and a raise put up to No. 10 level. About half the ore between No. 11 and No. 10 levels was mined out by the end of 1957. All broken ore below No. 10 was removed and mining and milling was suspended May 14, 1958.
In 1980/81 Westmin Resources cleaned out and resampled the oxidized surface showing. Between 1985 and 1987 Triple M sampled the Eclipse mine workings, upgraded road access to the Spider mine workings, completed detailed VLF-EM and magnetometer surveys and completed four diamond drill holes for a total of 608 meters. Between 1986 and 1988 Royal Crystal Resources Ltd. optioned the Marlow claims, constructed log bridges to cross Mohawk
and Pool Creeks, and drilled 14 holes for a total of 1,167.6 meters to test the Execise - Mohawk vein system. During 1989, Royal Crystal carried out additional geological mapping within the claim area, reviewed available exploration data and prepared a new compilation geological map.
Two of the Royal Crystal holes, DDH E87-01 and DDH E87-04 intersected the Eclipse Vein and showed significant mineralization. DDH E87-01 was drilled from approximately 75 meters east and approximately 75 meters north of the Eclipse workings and intersected a 9.2 meter core length of quartz-carbonate-pyrite mineralization at a depth of 99 meters. This mineralization showed low but significant gold values throughout the section (0.8 to 1.6 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 19018)).
DDH E87-04 was drilled from the No. 10 level approximately 200 meters west of the Eclipse Vein and encountered a similar zone containing up to 60 per cent pyrite over some sections. This intersection averaged 1.7 grams per tonne gold (including a 1.4 meter section grading 2.5 grams per tonne gold) over a core length of 4.5 meters and was stopped in mineralization at a depth of 243 meters (Assessment Report 19018).
