81502 104J 007 104J16 Au1 Liard THIBERT CREEK 104J090 104J16E Past Producer 58° 49' 06'' 130° 06' 52'' 58.818333 -130.114444 9 6520190 435740 Gold, Platinum Intermontane Cache Creek, Quesnel C02 : Buried-channel placers In 1873, gold was discovered on a low bench on the north side of Thibert Creek, about 4.8 kilometres above its mouth. The discovery was made by a man in Henry Thibert's prospecting expedition, but Thibert was granted the Discovery claim as leader of the party. Thibert Creek flows easterly into the north end of Dease Lake. Principal work was done on the lower 16 kilometres of the creek. Much of the early work consisted of drifting and shafts on the benches. Hydraulicking was done by the Thibert Creek Mining Company, and several other companies, during 15 seasons or parts of seasons from 1901 to 1922. Intermittent work was carried out by numerous companies, syndicates and individuals from the time of discovery until about 1937. Thibert Creek produced 1,570,083 grams of gold between 1875 and 1935; most (97 per cent) was mined prior to 1900 (Bulletin 28). The pre-glacial creek channel is the source of the placer gold. Remnants of the old channel occur as a number of benches along the present creek channel. The materials filling the channel are sands and gravels with some silt and clay. Very little gold has been found above the mouth of Berry Creek which is located 10 kilometres upstream from the mouth of Thibert Creek. Between the mouth of Delure (or Deloire) Creek, about 6 kilometres downstream of Berry Creek, rock benches marking the old high-level channel are continuous along the south side of Thibert Creek for long distances. Small remnants of the old channel occur on the north side about 800 metres above the mouth of Delure Creek, and just above the mouth of "Fivemile Creek" which is 4 kilometres further upstream from Delure Creek. The rock benches, even the lowest, are or were covered with at least a thin veneer of glacial drift. Bedrock is exposed in the bed of Thibert Creek at only a few places. It comprises upper Mississippian-Permian serpentinite, peridotite and pyroxenite and Mississippian-Triassic Kedahda Formation greywacke, slate, chert and undivided sediments and volcanics, all of the Cache Creek Complex. Platinum is known to occur in the creek. About 68 grams per tonne of concentrate is reported to have been obtained in one hydraulicking operation. Osmiridium has also been identified in concentrates. In 2000, Netseers Internet Corp. attempted to find the source of the Thibert Creek placers and possibly the Keystone showing (104J 012). The company completed detailed mapping and sampling of the placer workings at Delure Creek (104J 055), Five Mile Gulch, Boulder Creek (104J 054) and Berry Creek with the attempt to locate possible sources of gold mineralization within the workings. A total of 90 soil samples were taken in a total of eleven lines which were intended to bracket the areas of the workings and locate possible sources of mineralization. EMPR EXPL 1996-B12 EMPR FIELDWORK 2001, pp. 303-312 EMPR GEOFILE 2000-2; 2000-5 EMPR OF 1996-11 EMPR AR 1874-4,9,10; 1875-604,Table; 1876-410,413; 1880-427; 1888-295; 1889-278; 1892-530; 1894-735; 1895-664; 1897-498; 1899-610,655; 1900-782,783; 1901-944,987; 1902-H22; *1903-H48-H50; *1906-H59,H60; 1907-L55; 1908-J53; 1909-K54; 1911-K62; 1912-K63; 1913-K75; 1914-K99; 1915-K66; 1917-F81; 1919-N84,N85; 1920-N69; 1921-G72-G74; 1922-N88; 1924-B76; 1925-A111; 1926-A103,A104; 1928-C119,C120; 1929-C116; 1931-A54; 1933-A63; 1935-B28,G47; 1936-B60 EMPR ASS RPT 13914, 26328 EMPR BULL 1 (1933), p. 27; 2, p. 27; 28, pp. 56,57,60 EMPR PF (*Hamfield, A. (1903): Report on the Thibert Creek Mine; 104J General File - Claim map 73M, Dec. 1970) GSC ANN RPT 1887, p. 138R GSC OF 707; 2779 GSC P 68-48 GSC SUM RPT *1925 Part A, pp. 33A-99A GSC BULL 504 GSC MAP 9-1957; 21-1962; 1418A; 1712A; 1713A Placer Dome File EMPR PFD 810843, 5996, 860341, 888692, 861436, 861448, 861449, 861450, 861451, 861452, 861453, 861454, 861455