The Barnato (Lot 2848) claim is located 15 kilometres east of Beaverdell and 48 kilometres north of Rock Creek. It lies at an elevation of approximately 1230 metres, in the headwater area of Stewartson Creek on the east slope of Lake Ridge. The area has been extensively logged, resulting in a network of four-wheel-drive roads. Access to the property is by dirt roads from either the main Kettle Valley road to the east or from Beaverdell to the west.
The Barnato property is underlain by volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the upper Paleozoic Anarchist Group and igneous intrusions. Locally, the bedded assemblage consists of fine-grained andesitic tuffs and lava flows, chert, and volcanic-derived sedimentary rocks with some interbedded, north-trending limestone. This succession is intruded by quartz diorite and related dikes associated with the Westkettle pluton (Nelson Intrusions). The Anarchist Group is intensely hornfelsed along the contact with the quartz diorite.
The upper section of the claim, where the workings are situated, is underlain by quartz diorite, and a narrow band of fine-grained sedimentary rocks that extends through this part of the property from the northeast. Development work consists of a number of open-cuts and one adit, including 8 metres of crosscut and 15 metres of drifting. Cominco put down four or five diamond drill holes to explore the principal mineral zone at depth.
The principal zone is associated with a narrow, irregular fissure that strikes 035 degrees and dips 70 degrees southeast. The fissure was drifted on for 15 metres and found to be only locally mineralized; 18 metres south of the adit it is faulted 4.6 metres to the east. In the continuation beyond the fault, the fissure contains patches of heavy arsenopyrite up to 20 centimetres wide. Open cuts show the same mineralized fissure extending 24 metres northward, and 60 metres southward from the adit. The drift at the southern end breaks into a large open cut that displays the strongest mineralization on the property. Here the lead consists of bands, stringers, irregular masses and impregnations of sulphides; there is no apparent structural reason for the wide section noted. Two or three bands of sulphide occur in the drift and in the crosscut. The mineralization is not directly related to the fissure everywhere, although it is commonly localized close to it.
The quartz diorite host rocks have been strongly altered, first to a bleached, sericitized rock and then more intensely to a soft, whitish mass consisting almost entirely of kaolin. In the more advanced phases of alteration, there is some secondary quartz and microcline and locally a little epidote, the dioritic texture being almost completely destroyed. Sulphides include pyrite, arsenopyrite, sphalerite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite and galena. Microscopic examination shows the paragenesis to be arsenopyrite, followed in order by pyrrhotite, pyrite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite and galena; the gold appears to be related to pyrite and sphalerite, but some gold clearly post-dates pyrite. There is massive vein quartz but commonly the sulphides occur in silicified rock containing watery-looking quartz. Much of the pyrite is feathery to botryoidal in appearance, weathering to a cellular 'lacy' structure.
Other open cuts to the southeast of the main showing, an old adit and a shallow shaft, display small widths of chiefly pyritic mineralization. The strike of mineralization is mostly north-northeast, although some ancillary structures are extremely irregular.
Production from 1937 to 1939 and 1966 to 1967 totalled 296 tonnes, resulting in 9704 grams of gold, 4136 grams of silver, 407 kilograms of copper and 119 kilograms of lead.
The Barnato claim was Crown granted to Victor Swanson and Samuel Larson in 1905, the property having been worked and explored since 1878. Surface programs consisting of prospecting and trenching led to the discovery of gold in 1896. The target of exploration was a 0.8-metre wide quartz vein that carried some pyrite and arsenopyrite. General assays yielded 15 grams per tonne gold and 3.5 grams per tonne silver. The main development was a 12 metre shaft and two open cuts: one 1.5 by 3.6 metres and another 1.7 by 3.0 metres. In 1917, it was observed that no work had been done on this claim for some time and the workings had caved to some extent.
In 1938, further development on the Barnato claim resulted in the shipment of 77 tonnes of ore to Tacoma, Washington, for smelting. The ore averaged 54 grams per tonne gold, 7.9 grams per tonne silver and 10.17 per cent arsenic. At approximately the same time, Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada Ltd. (Cominco) optioned the property and completed an exploration program consisting of mapping, prospecting, test pitting and drilling. This showed that the veins in the vicinity of the main Barnato workings were erratic along strike and diminished in thickness and grade with depth. During the period from 1965 to 1966, Amcana Gold Mines Ltd. conducted a program of road construction, claim surveying, trenching and diamond drilling (four short holes) in the area of the main Barnato workings.
In 1977, Camnor Resources Ltd. acquired the property from G. Bleiler. Subsequently, the company completed several programs consisting of ground and air geophysical surveys, soil and rock chip sampling, mapping, trenching, prospecting and limited diamond drilling (five NQ holes, totalling 302.9 metres). Golden Seal Resources Ltd. optioned the property in 1986 and completed a small percussion drill program totalling 202.4 metres in four holes. Golden Seal terminated the option because of poor results. Following this, limited soil and rock chip sampling and mapping programs were done by Camnor Resources Ltd. In 1979, Carmac Resources Ltd. acquired the property and did additional exploratory work over the next few years.
In 1989, a sample from the Barnato dump assayed 8.9 grams per tonne gold (Property File - L. Lee [1989-11-01]: Summary Report - Barnato area).
In 1994, Phelps Corporation of Canada, Limited conducted 40-line kilometres of soil sampling in the area. In 1997, Emjay Enterprises Ltd. optioned the property from Phelps Dodge Corp. and carried out some geological mapping, sampling, and an IP survey, and, in 1999, the work continued with additional mapping, soil geochemical programs and a ground magnetic survey. The Barnato vein area was mapped and sampled in detail. Diorite and quartz diorite, and its contact with Wallace Formation argillaceous siltstone and mafic metavolcanics, are the dominant hosts to mineralization. A number of selected samples, concentrated in areas of previous work, yielded values up to 47.5 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 26043).
In 2007, Bitterroot Resources conducted an extensive exploration program in the immediate area, including mapping, sampling and diamond drilling.
