These claims lie directly west of Loon Lake at an elevation of about 1000 metres, The property may be reached by road from Ainsworth.
The Krao (082FNE076) and Crow-Fledgling Crown grants are underlain by hornblende schists, limestone and banded quartzite of the Mississippian to Lower Permian Milford Group. Calcite, siderite and quartz with galena and sphalerite occur in a fissure in the limestone. Wire silver occurs in solution cavities and joint planes within the mineralized zone.
The Crow-Fledgling has recorded production for 4 years from 1937 to 1960 when 169 tonnes was shipped. From this, 25,913 grams of silver, 13,394 kilograms of lead and 10,039 kilograms of zinc and 22 kilograms of cadmium were recovered.
The Krao and Crow-Fledgling claims were Crown granted to A.D. Wheeler in 1890. During the first period of major development work, which lasted through 1908, the deposit was stripped over a 18 by 46 metre area. A shaft, dipping west at 75 degrees, was sunk on the hanging wall to a depth of 30 metres. A tunnel on the Crow Fledgling claim was driven for 259 metres to intersect the Krao limestone at about 91 metres below the surface. Several hundred feet of drift along a limestone band at the end of the crosscut failed to turn up any ore. In 1906 the property was sold to the Krao Silver-Lead Mining Co. and a program of stripping and of stoping of small amounts of high-grade ore was carried out. The following year the shaft was deepened to 78 metres and 152 metres of drifting and crosscutting was completed. Water courses were encountered in sinking.
Active production ceased soon after 1908 and except for small amounts of very rich silver ore mined by leasers, there was little change up to 1952. In 1949 the Yale Lead & Zinc Mines Ltd. acquired these claims. The Krao dump, amounting to 173 tonnes, was milled in 1952. In 1953-54 stoping was done adjacent to the shaft at the 30 metres level. The following year stoping was carried out above the 61 metres level. Coin Explorations and David Minerals may have been involved with property in 1967 and 1980 respectively. M
