The Rambler (Lot 2797) past producer is located 2.5 kilometres west of the summit of Mount Wallace and 1.75 kilometres east-southeast of Beaverdell, British Columbia (Assessment Report 16772). The Reverted Crown grant was forfeited February 15, 1994.
The Rambler occurrence was first discovered and actively developed by 1901. At this time two or three carloads of ore were already waiting to be hauled out to a local smelter. The vein discovered was reported to be identical to the Sally vein (082ESW073) to the north. The claim was Crown granted to F.J. Finncane in 1903. Further development work of several shallow shafts was steady up to 1906. By 1913, three veins were partially developed; the main vein by a 26-metre shaft. A crosscut, started to intersect the tap the main vein, struck a smaller vein 46 metres from the portal. In 1916, W. H. Rambo became owner and operator. Intermittent development work and ore shipments were made between 1916 and 1945. In 1946, work was carried out by Highland Silver Mines Ltd. Between 1946 and 1968 development work and ore shipments have been made by Highland Silver Mines Ltd. and various lessees. The last recorded ore shipment was in 1950 by leasers operating under the name Cranberry Creek Gold Mining Co. Ltd. Ajax Mercury Mines Ltd. conducted diamond drilling and surface stripping on the Rambler in 1968. Total development work consists of 30 metres of crosscut, 8 metres of drifting with 427 metres of underground diamond drilling. The most recent interest in the Rambler property has been by Canstat Petroleum Resources Corp. in 1983.
Initial prospecting began in the Beaverdell area in the late 1880s. The first ore was shipped in 1896. The major producing mines in the Beaverdell silver-lead-zinc vein camp, from west to east, were the Wellington (082ESW072), Sally and Rob Roy (082ESW073), Beaver (082ESW040), and Bell (082ESW030), with numerous other small workings throughout the area. For a detailed description of the geology and mineralization of the area refer to the Beaverdell (082ESW030).
The Rambler (Lot 2797) adjoins the Standard Fraction claim (082ESW035) in the northwest and the Bounty Fraction claim (082ESW066) in the southeast. The claim is underlain by Westkettle granodiorite which is cut by aplite and andesite (Wellington-type) dikes. The host granodiorite exhibits propylitic, chloritic, argillic and potassic alteration mineralogy. Pervasive chlorite varies from weak to locally intense zones, epidote occurs occasionally as veinlets and is locally pervasive, and minor potassium feldspar is also evident. Argillic alteration is essentially feldspars altered to clay. Silicification is common in the shear zone.
Three mineralized quartz veins occur in an east trending shear/ fault zone. The veins strike 090 to 093 degrees and dip 70 to 90 degrees south. Low angle, north trending strike-slip faults with flat dips (10 to 15 degrees) to the northwest occur. The two main veins may have been originally one and were displaced by this type of fault. Short segments of the veins are repeated and may be due to northeast trending 'slice' faults. The 'slice' faults dip in the same direction of the vein and where the dip of these faults are a little greater than that of the vein, the effect is to repeat the vein.
Mineralization consists of pyrargyrite associated with argentiferous galena, pyrite, sphalerite, possibly tetrahedrite and weak disseminations of chalcopyrite in a gangue of mainly quartz with minor calcite. Some ore shoots are 15 to 35 centimetres in width. In 1915, ore had been mined from a triangular-shaped area lying between the most southerly inclined shaft and a west dipping fault plane, the upper side approximately 12 metres wide. The silver content was found to increase crossing the fault.
Ore samples taken in 1901 yielded trace gold, 1899 grams per tonne silver and 25.1 per cent lead (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1901, page 1144). Sample 110 (47258), a grab sample of ore dump material from the easternmost adit in 1983 by Canstat Petroleum Resources Ltd., yielded 2960.4 grams per tonne silver, 0.8 gram per tonne gold, 1.67 per cent zinc and 1.63 per cent lead (Assessment Report 12734). Sample 105 (50346), taken from an east-trending trench near the south adit yielded 1.09 grams per tonne gold, 787.9 grams per tonne silver, 0.87 per cent lead and 0.63 per cent zinc (Assessment Report 12734). Drillholes 83-9, 10 and 11 were drilled to test mineralized quartz veins below mined levels but only intersected granodiorite with weak to intense chlorite alteration and silicification.
Total recorded past production from the Rambler consists of 149 tonnes from which 690,704 grams of silver, 62 grams of gold, 7014 kilograms of lead and 4237 kilograms of zinc were recovered.
