This property is located at 1524 metres elevation on the south side of Hall Creek, 11.2 kilometres south of Nelson.

The ground was staked by a Captain Duncan in about 1894. Five claims, the Fern (Lot 374), Eureka, Hidden Treasure, Chicoia, and Foothill, were bonded to Frank Fletcher in about 1895; the Fern claim was Crown-granted in 1896.

The Fern Gold Mining and Milling Company Limited Liability was formed in 1897 to explore and develop the property. A 10 stamp mill was erected that same year and the mine and mill operated until the latter part of 1900. Leasee E. Rammelmeyer worked the mine intermittently from 1902 until about 1908. Other small scale, intermittent, leassee operations were carried on until 1927.

The Gold Fern Syndicate was formed by Buffalo and Toronto interests in 1933 to lease and operate the mine. Development work began in 1934. The syndicate formed Gold Fern Mines Limited in 1935 and the company continued exploration and development work into 1937 when all activity ceased. The property was acquired by C.E. and L.R. Hawley, of Spokane, in about 1939 and lessees worked in the mine until 1943.

Work on the property was resumed in 1945 by Harold Lakes and Associates, who obtained an option on the mine. A diamond drilling program was begun and succeeded in finding the extension of the vein south of the fault which bounded the area stoped in the first mining operation. A new company, Fern Mine, Limited, was formed in March 1946 to develop and operate the property. The company was financed by Premier Border Gold Mining Company, Limited and Quatsino Copper-Gold Mines Limited. A crosscut adit was collared 30 metres below the outcrop of the vein extension and the vein was drifted on for 142 metres. Values of interest were found in the first 16 metres from the fault and again at 86 to 119 metres from it but the widths represented were too narrow for company operation.

The original mining operation was carried on in 4 adits between elevations of 1536 and 1478 metres, and includes some 427 metres of drifts and 78 metres of crosscuts. In 1934 a crosscut adit was started 244 metres below No. 4 level and driven 49 metres before work was suspended. No. 5 level is a crosscut, driven 15 metres of the estimated 30 metres required to reach the "B" vein. The 7th adit, began in 1946, was driven a total of 167 metres.

Weland Mining Ltd. acquired the property in 1965 and began a program of surface exploration and underground diamond drilling.

The Fern mine is located on Hall Creek, 14.4 kilometres south of Nelson. The deposit was located in 1896. The majority of the production was from 1897 to 1904 and from 1904 to 1942 production was intermittent.

The area is underlain by sheared volcanics, comprising augite basalt flows, flow breccias and subvolcanic intrusions (Unit Je1, Open File 1989-11)) of the Lower Jurassic Elise Formation, Rossland Group. These have been intruded by granitic Middle To Late Jurassic Nelson Intrusions.

The Fern vein, hosted in augite porphyry is well defined, sinuous and strikes 305 to 075 degrees with a 60 degree west dip. This orientation is generally conformable with the Silver King shear zone. Locally, it follows a granite porphyry dyke and varies from a few centimetres up to 2 metres in width. The mined portions of the vein were up to 1 metre wide and high grade streaks were up to 0.30 metre wide. Quartz with crushed rock and minor siderite is the gangue for pyrite, chalcopyrite, bornite, pyrrhotite and free gold. Pyrite, by far, is the dominant sulphide. Arsenopyrite is a minor constituent of some quartz veins. The vein is cut off by a fault containing a lamprophyre dyke which strikes northwest and dips 75 degrees north. The ore contained substantial oxidized material.

The records indicate that better grades of precious metals were obtained from areas of the vein which were within or associated with the older, granite porphyry dyke. The vein is later than the dyke. An extension to the vein was found 1945 and 1946 but results were disappointing.

Numerous other veins occur in the area, but vein B and vein P 1 are the only ones with good values, up to 9.6 grams per tonne gold (Geological Survey of Canada Memoir 191, page 52).

The mine produced 11,277 tonnes yielding 196,448 grams of gold and 16,515 grams of silver.