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File Created: 12-Aug-1986 by Gary R. Foye (GRF)
Last Edit:  24-Feb-1989 by David G. Bailey (DGB)

Summary Help Help

NMI
Name DRAGON CREEK Mining Division Cariboo
BCGS Map 093H012
Status Past Producer NTS Map 093H04W
Latitude 053º 06' 55'' UTM 10 (NAD 83)
Longitude 121º 45' 46'' Northing 5885810
Easting 582807
Commodities Gold Deposit Types C01 : Surficial placers
Tectonic Belt Omineca Terrane Barkerville
Capsule Geology

Placer gold deposits of the Quesnel Highland region, including the former rich producers of the Barkerville camp, have accounted for a large proportion of British Columbia's alluvial gold production. With the exception of a few producers in the Wingdam area, which are underlain by Upper Triassic sediments correlative with the Nicola Group, almost all the deposits are underlain by the Upper Proterozoic to Lower Paleozoic Snowshoe Group. These predominantly metasediment- ary rocks have been metamorphosed to greenschist facies.

Placer gold deposits in the region are generally found in relatively young Pleistocene gravels. The morphology and mineral associations of the gold suggests that it was derived locally, the most obvious sources are the numerous auriferous veins in the Downey succession of the Snowshoe Group.

Placer gold occurs mainly on bedrock in a buried channel but some is also found in gravels for some distance above bedrock. The gravels are glacial and clayey. Mining was at one time apparently done mainly by underground methods but then hydraulicking was used. The gold is coarse, nuggety and quite pure.

"Data from the Cariboo mining district indicate that supergene leaching of gold dispersed within massive sulphides by Tertiary deep weathering followed by Cenozoic erosion is the most likely explanation for the occurrence of coarse gold nuggets in Quaternary sediments" (Exploration in British Columbia 1989, page 147).

Bibliography
EMPR AR 1876-1883-tables; 1881-393; 1883-402; 1896-50; 1902-97; 101,104; 1921-112; 1927-167; 1928-194; 1929-200; 1930-164; 1931-87, 89; 1932-101; 1933-134; 1938-C51; 1939-106; 1940-92; 1941-87; 1950-198; 1952-237; 1954-170; 1955-83; 1956-139
EMPR FIELDWORK 1990, pp. 331-356; 1992, pp. 463-473
EMPR BULL 28, pp. 21,25,28
EMPR EXPL 1984, pp. 315,316; 1989, pp. 147-169
EMPR ASS RPT 13149, 17687
EMPR PF (Photo of Placer Mining on Dragon Creek, 1956)
GSC MEM *149, p. 153-157
GSC MAP 1424A
GSC SUM RPT 1918B, p. 48; 1932A, p. 74
GCNL #200, 1983
EMPR PFD 902882, 14523

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