The Last Chance claim (Lot 753) is on the road to Phoenix and is centred 1.6 kilometres northeast of the Greenwood post office at an elevation of approximately 1050 metres. This Last Chance claim should not be confused with the Last Chance (Lot 644) claim associated with the Skomac mine (MINFILE 082ESE045), which lies 5.5 kilometres to the southwest, northwest of Boundary Falls. There is also another Last Chance (Lot 660) claim located near the Copper Queen (MINFILE 082ESE054) occurrence on Copper Mountain, 10 kilometres to the east-northwest.
The Greenwood-Grand Forks area contains late Paleozoic and Mesozoic volcanic and sedimentary rocks, mainly in the greenschist facies of regional metamorphism, intruded by Mesozoic plutons and unconformably overlain by Tertiary volcaniclastic and flow rocks. The pre-Tertiary stratiform rocks are contained in a series of five, north-dipping thrust slices with bounding faults, which at many places are marked by layers and lenses of deformed serpentinite. These thrust slices lie above high-grade metamorphic complexes.
The Upper Paleozoic rocks in the Greenwood area are Devonian to Permian Knob Hill Group chert, greenstone and related diorite and serpentinite and Carboniferous to Permian Attwood Group dark-grey argillite, limestone and minor volcanic rocks. They are unconformably overlain by the Brooklyn Formation of clastic sedimentary rocks, limestone and largely submarine pyroclastic breccias and related dioritic intrusions. These rocks probably formed in an environment of growth faulting and explosive volcanism (Open File 1990-25).
The distribution of the Tertiary rocks is controlled by a complicated array of extension faults. Three sets are recognized. The oldest are gently east-dipping, at or near the base of the Tertiary. Later, dominantly west-dipping, listric normal faults have caused rotation so that the Tertiary strata dip to the east at moderate angles; the apparent offset on each of the five of these faults is measured in kilometres. The third and latest faults are north to northeast-trending, steeply dipping, strongly hinged and influenced by the earlier faults.
Mineralization consists of pyrite, galena, sphalerite and tetrahedrite in irregular quartz and carbonate veins and lenses in a sheared talc-carbonate alteration zone of an ultrabasic intrusion (sepentinite). This intrusion follows the contact locally between the Cretaceous Anstey pluton (granodiorite) on the west and metamorphosed Permian to Carboniferous Attwood Group rocks (limestone) on the east.
In the 1920s, a sample from the dump assayed 15.8 grams per tonne gold, 2784 grams per tonne silver, 2 per cent lead and 5 per cent zinc.
In 1975, a sample of a 25-centimetre wide quartz vein exposed at the surface breakthrough of a stope assayed 9.9 grams per tonne gold and 140.2 grams per tonne silver (Property File - Alrea Engineering Ltd. [1975-07-22]: Preliminary Examination - Skylark Property).
Production in 1904, 1905, 1920 and 1935 totalled 704 tonnes, resulting in 4665 grams of gold and 3 026 166 grams of silver.
The claim was staked in 1894 by George Cook and associates and a 12-metre deep shaft was sunk. In 1898, a two-compartment shaft was developed to 30 metres without intersecting ore and the property was abandoned. In 1904 and 1905, the mine was operated by the Spokane Boundary Mining Co. (D. McVicar). A crosscut was driven from the 30-foot level in the shaft and production occurred in those two years. In 1920, the claim was Crown granted to James Poggie and some ore from the dump was shipped; by 1921 the workings were flooded. W.E. McArthur did minor development in 1935 and shipped a small amount of ore.
The Last Chance and adjacent claims were held in 1969 as part of Mineral Lease ML 277. Work by Sarco Investments Ltd. was confined mainly to the Skylark (MINFILE 082ESE011) occurrence and included five short drillholes, totalling 31.95 metres. In 1974, H.H. Shear held the Last Chance and Skylark; work was confined to the Skylark. The lease lapsed and the Last Chance was optioned from J.A. MacLean by Greenwood Explorations Ltd. in 1975.
