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File Created: 24-Jul-1985 by BC Geological Survey (BCGS)
Last Edit:  11-Dec-1995 by Keith J. Mountjoy (KJM)

Summary Help Help

NMI 082K3 Ag5
Name MCALLISTER, MCALLISTER GROUP, MCALLISTER MINE, RIDGEWAY (L.11898), SILVER QUEEN (L.11899), SILVER KING (L.11900), ROUSE FR. (L.11901), PROVINCE Mining Division Slocan
BCGS Map 082K004
Status Past Producer NTS Map 082K03E
Latitude 050º 03' 16'' UTM 11 (NAD 83)
Longitude 117º 13' 59'' Northing 5544710
Easting 483316
Commodities Silver, Gold, Lead, Zinc, Copper Deposit Types I05 : Polymetallic veins Ag-Pb-Zn+/-Au
Tectonic Belt Omineca Terrane Quesnel
Capsule Geology

The former McAllister mine is situated on the northwest slopes of London Ridge at 1768 metres elevation. The former Lucky Jim mine (082KSW023) is located 2.75 kilometres to the southeast.

The initial showing of the McAllister Group was staked in 1902. In 1903 and 1904, Hunter and Fairburn owned and operated the property. The McAllister Group Company worked the property in 1906. Then in 1907, Bennett and Clark assumed property work. From 1912 to 1917 work was abandoned. In 1917, the McAllister Mining and Milling Co. acquired the property. The property changed owners again in 1919 to the Slocan Silver Mines Ltd. The Standard Silver-Lead Mining Co. acquired a controlling interest in 1926. Mining operations were then intermittent by either the owner or leasers, until about 1947. At this time the Allan Nelson Mining Co. Ltd. acquired the property. In 1949, Noonday Mines Ltd., a subsidiary of Alpine Gold Ltd., optioned the property. The option was dropped soon afterwards and the former mine has remained inactive since 1950. Ore from the dumps was shipped in 1958 and 1980. Premier Resources Ltd. conducted surface and underground exploration of the former McAllister mine in 1975. Mine workings consisted of 6 levels over 122 vertical metres. Roughly 1829 metres of drifting and crosscutting was done in 6 adits.

The McAllister occurrence is hosted by massive to argillaceous quartzite, argillite and some limestone of the Triassic Slocan Group. This strata dips 40 degrees to the west and is intruded by numerous quartz porphyry dikes and sills which strike nearly conformable to bedding.

Mineralization is hosted in quartz-filled fissures that strike 036 degrees and dip 35 to 60 degrees southeast. The deposit consists of a quartz vein 0.90 to 2.73 metres wide where hosted in massive quartzite. The vein has been explored over 488 metres length on the No. 3 level. The vein is composed of quartz and angular fragments of hostrocks. Pyrite with some galena, sphalerite, tetrahedrite (and other unknown silver minerals), and chalcopyrite are disseminated in the quartz or form small, massive ore shoots where a crossfissure intersects the main vein at about 30 degrees. Carbonates or sulphates of copper and manganese occur in certain parts of the orebody.

The most persistent and productive part of the lode is where it crosses a 200 metre thick sequence of massive quartzites. Where the vein enters more argillaceous rocks on both sides of the quartzite sequence, the vein becomes more difficult to follow with small faulting and branching.

Production from the former McAllister mine was significant but intermittent, spanning 77 years from 1903 to 1980. Production peaked in the period 1926 to 1938. Total production figures are 21,564 tonnes mined with 32,790,962 grams silver, 3099 grams gold, 16,419 kilograms lead and 4253 kilograms zinc recovered. Most of the ore came from the No. 2 level but significant amounts of high-grade ore were mined down to the No. 4 and 5 levels. The ore is typical of dry ores found at other mines in the Slocan mining camp.

Bibliography
EMPR AR 1895-679; 1896-64,72; 1903-137; 1904-182; 1905-161; 1906-249; 1907-99,214; 1908-99; 1909-115,273; 1910-99,244; 1911-134; 1912- 149; 1914-514; 1915-124; 1916-516; 1917-161; 1919-125; 1920-125; 1921-134; 1922-198; 1923-223; 1924-197; 1925-241; 1926-252; 1928- 289; 1929-285,312; 1935-G51; 1936-E49; 1937-A37,E50; 1938-A37,E42; 1939-39,91; 1940-26,77; 1942-72; 1944-40,71; 1946-161; 1947-169; 1949-189; 1950-143; 1958-A46; 1966-223; 1968-254
EMPR BC METAL MM01299
EMPR GEM 1969-330, Fig.41; 1970-454,455; 1975-E44
EMPR INDEX 3-204; 4-123
EMPR IR 1984-2, p. 102
EMPR LMP Fiche No. 60953
EMPR MINING 1975-1980, Vol.1, pp. 32,74
EMPR PF (Mill, G.L. (1974): Report on the McAllister Mine; Premier Resource Ltd. (1974): Prospectus)
EMR MP CORPFILE (Standard Silver-Lead Min. Co.)
GSC MAP 1667
GSC MEM *173, Map 273A; *184, pp. 79-81
GSC OF 432; 464
GSC SUM RPT 1916, p. 56
GCNL #223(Nov.21), 1975
EMPR PFD 4276, 4277, 4278, 750168, 680212

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