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File Created: 15-Aug-1986 by Gary R. Foye (GRF)
Last Edit:  10-Sep-2009 by George Owsiacki (GO)

Summary Help Help

NMI
Name MCARTHUR GULCH Mining Division Cariboo
BCGS Map 093H003
Status Past Producer NTS Map 093H04E
Latitude 053º 05' 43'' UTM 10 (NAD 83)
Longitude 121º 32' 00'' Northing 5883875
Easting 598209
Commodities Gold Deposit Types C01 : Surficial placers
C02 : Buried-channel placers
Tectonic Belt Omineca Terrane Barkerville
Capsule Geology

Placer gold deposits of the Quesnel Highland region, including the former rich producers of the Barkerville Camp, have accounted for a large proportion of British Columbia's alluvial gold production. With the exception of a few producers in the Wingdam area, which are underlain by Upper Triassic sediments correlative with the Nicola Group, almost all the deposits are underlain by the Upper Proterozoic to Lower Paleozoic Snowshoe Group. These predominantly metasedimentary rocks have been metamorphosed to greenschist facies.

Placer gold deposits in the region are generally found in relatively young Pleistocene gravels. The morphology and mineral associations of the gold suggests that it was derived locally, the most obvious sources are the numerous auriferous veins in the Downey succession of the Snowshoe Group.

A small amount of placer gold production is recorded for McArthur Gulch, located about 2 kilometres east of Wells. Most of the production was apparently from hydraulicking. Recorded production between 1936-45 totalled 591 grams gold (Bulletin 28).

"Data from the Cariboo mining district indicate that supergene leaching of gold dispersed within massive sulphides by Tertiary deep weathering followed by Cenozoic erosion is the most likely explanation for the occurrence of coarse gold nuggets in Quaternary sediments" (Exploration in British Columbia 1989, page 147).

Bibliography
EMPR AR 1875,1877,1883-tables; 1887-256; 1940-91; 1941-85; 1942-85; 1943-82; 1944-77; 1947-192; 1948-175
EMPR EXPL 1989-147-169
EMPR BULL *28, pp. 22,27; 38; 47
EMPR FIELDWORK 1990, pp. 331-356; 1992, pp. 463-473
GSC MEM 149, p. 123
GSC MAP 1424A
GSC OF 844
EMPR PFD 681607

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