A report by F. Soues, Gold Commissioner, in the 1901 Minister of Mines Annual Report refers to a gold discovery on Maiden Creek. He describes a large deposit of fine quartz conglomerate. Samples were forwarded to the Department at Ottawa where a Dr. Hoffman advised that the sample was a yellowish white conglomerate carrying fine parts of native gold. Reported assays from this conglomerate yielded up to $3.75 per ton (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1901).
No further mention is made of this area until 1932 where it was referred to in Bulletin 1 (1932). There was no activity until 1973 when the Au 5-10 claims were staked by John McGoran and geological mapping and soil sampling was conducted; some anomalous soil samples were obtained (up to 570 parts per billion gold) but the claims were allowed to expire. In 1977, the area was restaked on behalf of Seymour Resources Incorporated, and in 1978 an extended soil sampling program was conducted; numerous anomalous samples (highest value of 1400 parts per billion gold) were obtained. In 1980, a more extensive soil survey was conducted resulting in scattered anomalous gold values throughout the grid area; the claims were subsequently allowed to expire. The area was restaked in 1985, abandoned and restaked in 1986; no assessment work is reported. Bay Resources Ltd. and Edgemont Resources Corp. conducted grid preparation, geological mapping and rock sampling, a soil survey and magnetometer survey in 1987. The Maid 1-2 claims were staked in early 1988 after a regional heavy mineral stream sediment survey. In November of that year, heavy mineral sampling of two streams draining an area of pebble conglomerate yielded gold values over 15,000 parts per billion gold. Prospecting and soil sampling followed in 1989 in an attempt to find the bedrock source of the heavy mineral anomalies. In 1990, more claims were located to cover the possible extensions to the heavy mineral anomalies. Teck Corporation established a 45-kilometre grid and 625 soil samples taken and geological mapping performed; scattered gold values of up to 445 parts per billion were obtained. In 1991, Teck Corporation continued with a 72.2 kilometre grid covering the drainages of both the southern tributaries of Maiden Creek. A VLF-EM survey, geological mapping, magnetometer survey and soil survey were completed. This work failed to locate any sign of bedrock mineralization; no further work was recommended. In 1993 and 1994, Cameco Corporation performed geological mapping, heavy mineral sampling, induced polarization survey and rock and soil sampling to locate the source of unexplained anomalous gold values. Due to the results of this exploration program, no further work was recommended.
The Maiden Creek area is covered by extensive overburden. Rock exposures reveal bedded sandstone and polymictic pebble-cobble conglomerate of the middle and Upper Cretaceous Spences Bridge Group. To the west are middle Permian to Upper Triassic Marble Canyon Formation limestone of the Central belt Cache Creek Complex. To the east are middle Pennsylvanian to Upper Triassic Eastern belt Cache Creek Complex rocks.
