The Ayesha occurrence is located at an elevation of approximately 1120 metres on a southeast-facing slope, north of Cedar Creek and approximately 2.8 kilometres northwest of Ainsworth.
Regionally, the area is underlain by hornblende schists, limestone and banded quartzite of the Upper Mississippian to Permian Milford Formation and basaltic volcanic rocks of the Carboniferous to Permian Kaslo Group. Granodioritic intrusive rocks of the Middle Jurassic Nelson Batholith are exposed to the west.
The occurrence area covers several layers of fine-grained blue-grey to light-grey limestones separated by fine-grained grey knotted schist, all of the Mississippian to Lower Permian Milford Group. The rocks strike north to northeast and dip to the west at moderate angles. At least three limestone layers several metres thick are exposed. They are lenticular and have a branching outcrop pattern suggesting structural repetitions produced by folding.
The principal showings are along the western contact of one layer of limestone where it is transected by three faults. The faults, which strike northwest and dip 60 to 65 degrees to the southwest, have offset the contact 4.5 to 6 metres to the left. The showings consist of lenses of rusty-weathering siderite in the limestone and contain galena, sphalerite, pyrite and minor chalcopyrite. The siderite replaces the limestone near the faults and occurs as a vein-like filling along the faults. The most extensive replacement is near the faults, where in one place siderite with scattered sulphides forms a lens as much as 1.2 metres thick extending approximately 9 metres from a fault.
The Ayesha has recorded ore production for 1911 and for 1949 to 1952, inclusive. A total of 70 tonnes of ore was produced, from which 28 739 grams of silver, 17 831 grams of lead and 9306 of zinc were recovered.
Work History
The Ayesha claim was Crown granted to E.W. Herrick in 1891. In 1914, approximately 30 metres of underground development was completed. The only work reported on the Anna May claim, located immediately north of the Ayesha claim, was done in approximately 1920. A tunnel was driven but apparently not far enough to reach the ore-bearing zone.
Mr. L. McPhee acquired the Ayesha, No. 5, Anna May, No. 5 Free., Kate, New York and Cecilia May Fraction sometime prior to 1948. Silver Hill Mines Ltd. was formed to develop the claims. The upper adit on the Ayesha claim was extended 23 metres for a total length of 41 metres. A tunnel on the No. 5 claim was driven more than 122 metres without intersecting the vein exposed on the surface above.
Northern Exploration Ltd. acquired the property in 1950 and began work on a surface showing above the Ayesha adit. A 3.6-metre wide lead-zinc replacement zone in limestone was exposed and traced for 9 metres. In 1951, Ayesha Lead-Zinc Mines Ltd. acquired the property. Leasers began a raise 18 metres from the Ayesha portal. Replacement mineralization up to 1.5 metres wide was found in small pockets. In 1953, S.A. Liening of Seattle held an option on the property. The Ayesha tunnel was extended to a length of 116 metres. Narrow veins were intersected at 58 and 104 metres from the portal. On the second vein, 27 metres of drifting and a raise through to the surface were completed.
Triumph Mines Ltd. acquired the property in December 1953. The following year a 64-metre adit was driven on a fissure vein exposed on the No. 5 claim. At the end of the drift a 52-metre crosscut was driven to intersect another vein, which had been explored from the surface approximately 30 metres above by a shaft 9 metres deep. A drift approximately 9 metres long was driven on this second vein. In 1956, Highland-Bell Ltd. conducted a program of geological mapping on the area as the Big Bluff, Fred, Mar and Nick groups of claims.
During 2007 through 2011, Goldcliff Resource Corp. completed programs of prospecting, geological mapping, geochemical (rock, silt and soil) sampling and an airborne geophysical survey on the regionally extensive Ainsworth Silver property. In 2012, David Wallach prospected and rock sampled the area as the Ainsworth property. In 2015, Goldcliff Resource Corp. conducted a program of prospecting, geological mapping, geochemical (rock, silt and soil) sampling and a 4.1 line-kilometre ground electromagnetic survey on the area as part of the Ainsworth Silver property. In 2019, Lee Lorenzen conducted a soil sampling program on the area as the Ainsworth Crown property.
In 2020 and 2021, Goldcliff Resource Corp. conducted a further program of geochemical (rock, silt and soil) sampling and a 508.0 line-kilometre airborne magnetic, electromagnetic and radiometric survey on the Ainsworth Silver property.
