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File Created: 24-Jul-1985 by BC Geological Survey (BCGS)
Last Edit:  22-Jul-2020 by Karl A. Flower (KAF)

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NMI 082E2 Cu12
Name SNOWSHOE (L.891), PHOENIX MINE Mining Division Greenwood
BCGS Map 082E008
Status Past Producer NTS Map 082E02E
Latitude 049º 05' 40'' UTM 11 (NAD 83)
Longitude 118º 35' 04'' Northing 5439164
Easting 384331
Commodities Copper, Gold, Silver Deposit Types K01 : Cu skarn
K04 : Au skarn
Tectonic Belt Omineca Terrane Quesnel, Plutonic Rocks
Capsule Geology

The Snowshoe mine is 1000 metres east of the Phoenix pit (082ESE020), adjacent to the Gold Drop (082ESE028) claim to the west and the Rawhide (082ESE026) and Curlew (082ESE024) claims to the south. The Snowshoe claim (Lot 891) was staked by J. Taylor and S. Mangott in 1891. It was restaked in 1893 by R. Denzler and W. Gibbs and Crown granted to T. McDonnell in 1898.

The Snowshoe Gold & Copper Mines, Limited, a susidiary of The British Columbia (Rossland and Slocan) Syndicate (Limited), was incorporated in 1901 and produced from 1900 to 1904. In 1906, the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada (Limited) leased the property and operated the mine until it closure in 1911. During this period, production totalled 545,129 tonnes, yielding 1284 kilograms of gold, 4950 kilograms of silver and 6322 tonnes of copper.

The Granby Consolidated Mining, Smelting and Power Company, Limited purchased the property in 1913 but did not operate it at the time. W.E. McArthur acquired the property in the 1930Æs and Attwood Copper Mines Limited optioned it in 1951. In 1955, Granby optioned the property and conducted mining operations in the Snowshoe pit in 1959 and from 1962 to 1964. Production during this time is included with the Phoenix.

The Snowshoe mine (082ESE025) consists of two main mineralized zones worked to a depth of about 65 metres. Development to the end of operations in 1911 included several open cuts, glory holes, two shafts and a series of stopes accessed by 3000 metres of tunnelling. Surface excavations, including a 70 by 120-metre pit, completed between 1957 and 1964, resulted in the production of about 270,000 tonnes of low grade ore from the southern part of the claim.

The south ore body (Snowshoe mine) is a continuation of the one developed in the Curlew, Rawhide, and Gold Drop mines. It is broadly considered as one ore body, though bands, wedges, and ribs of slightly mineralized gangue rock break its continuity. These were removed or left in stopes depending on their size and structure. Along the Snowshoe-Curlew boundary the footwall dips north at about 40 degrees. To the west, it has a curving strike to the north with easterly dips ranging from 30 to 65 degrees. North of the main shaft at the first cross-cut, the strike is northeasterly with southeast dips from 40 to 50 degrees. In its downward extension, the ore body apparently swings to the northeast, which brings it adjacent to, or in contact with, the north ore body. The north and south axis of the ore body is about 180 metres and the east and west axis is about 80 metres long. The thickness of the ore according to the cross sections varies from 8 to 11 metres with occasional local swells giving a greater thickness over small areas.

The footwall rocks are sharpstone conglomerate beds, tuffs, and red and grey argillites, with local patches of quartzose crystalline limestone. The hanging wall consists of the garnet and epidote rocks of the mineralized zone into which the ore either insensibly fades, or from which it is separated by a gouge filled fissure (slip). The ore body in depth terminates abruptly against the quartzose rocks of the Knob Hill group, on the plane of a presumably pre-mineral fault or contact plane, which dips west at from 15 to 38 degrees. The ore body throughout is cut by numerous fissures, which in places have a marked influence on the character of the ore, and which were the main channels of circulation of the ore bearing solutions. Many of these have been filled during the closing stages of deposition with quartz, calcite, chalcopyrite, and pyrite in banded arrangement.

The north ore body was probably at one time connected surficially with both the South Snowshoe and Gold Drop No. 1 bodies, but has been separated by subsequent erosion. From the mine plans and sections, the main part of the north ore body has a length north and south of 110 metres on the surface, a width ranging from 34 to 46 metres, and is from 2 to 17 metres thick, the average being about 11 metres. The dip of the footwall varies from 18 to 56 degrees east. A fault dipping west at 12 degrees cuts the ore off. To the north this fault steepens to 47 degrees and with a displacement of about 12 metres brings the lower part of the ore body to surface. The ore at this point lies on an augite porphyry dike which has been intruded along the footwall. In its northern extension, the strike of the ore body swings to the northeast and the sharpstone footwall gives place to the quartzose rocks of the Knob Hill group. The dip is to the southeast from 22 to 65 degrees, averaging about 45 degrees. The ore in this portion of the body was of higher grade than the average mined in the camp, particularly in the copper content.

A mineralized grab sample assayed 2.07 per cent copper, and 13.3 grams per tonne gold (EMPR Bulletin 101, Appendix 4B).

See Phoenix for additional details on development, geology and mineralization in the area.

Battle Mountain (Canada) Inc. and Kettle River Resources Ltd. drilled 8 holes, totalling 764 metres on the Snowshoe Group in 1992.

Bibliography
EMPR AEROMAG MAP 8497G
EMPR AR 1894-756,map after 758; 1896-578,581; 1897-582,593;
1898-1123,1161,1196; 1899-604,763; 1900-870,873,880;
1901-1051,1058,1062,1151; 1902-174,182-183; 1903-170,173;
1904-222,300; 1905-183; 1906-156,161,250; 1907-113,115,215;
1908-116,248; 1909-134; 1910-122; 1911-176; 1913-164;
1914-339; 1915-1191; 1918-208,209; 1955-46; 1956-75; 1957-39,
40; 1958-36; 1959-58-60; 1962-69; 1963-68; 1964-111; 1965-170;
1966-194; 1967-227,231; 1968-231
EMPR ASS RPT 22112
EMPR BC METAL MM00931
EMPR BULL 101, pp. 57, 80, 90, 236, Appendix 4B, 6
EMPR INDEX 3-214
EMPR MR MAP 6 (1932)
EMPR OF 1990-25
EMPR P 1986-2
EMPR PF (Snowshoe Gold Mines Ltd. (1942-02-28): Map of Snowshoe (L.891) - Lower Level; Snowshoe Gold Mines Ltd. (1942-02-28): Map of Snowshoe (L.891) - Inermediate Level; Snowshoe Gold Mines Ltd. (1942-02-28): Map of Snowshoe (L.891) - Surface Showings; Snowshoe Gold Mines Ltd. (1942-02-28): Map of Snowshoe (L.891) - Camp Level; see also Phoenix (082ESE020))
EMPR PRELIM MAP 59EMPR P 1989-3, pp. 41-43, 99
EMR MP CORPFILE (Cominco Ltd.; The Granby Mining Company Limited;
Attwood Copper Mines Limited)
GSC MAP *16A; 828; 45-20A; 6-1957; 10-1967; 1500A; 1736A
GSC MEM *21, pp. 11, 15, 86-89, 91, 92
GSC OF 481; 637; 1969
GSC P 45-20A; 67-42; 79-29
GSC SUM RPT 1902, pp. 90-116,133
Basque, Garnet (1992): Ghost Towns & Mining Camps of the Boundary
Country; Sunfire Publications Limited, pp. 82-115
CIM Transactions Vol. 59 (1956), pp. 384-394
Ball, M. (2017-01-26): Technical Report on the Greenwood Area Property
Cowley, P. (2017-06-02): Updated Preliminary Economic Assessment on
the Greenwood Precious Metals Project

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