From 1920 to 1930, there was
considerable mining activity
centred around Terrace. Between

1925 and 1928, gold ore; mixed.

with lead and zinc minerals, was
hauled out by horseback from the
Bear and Black Wolf claims on
Maroon Mountain at Kitsum-
kalum Lake. Between 1923 and
1927, high grade silver, lead and
zinc ores were packed out from
mining claims at the headwaters
of Legate, St. Croix and Chimde-
mash Creeks. During the same
time, hand-sorted gold ore was
shipped from the Lucky Luke
mine southwest of Usk. The
adjacent Cordillera gold mine
operated a small amalgamation
mill from 1915-1922 and con-
tinued development work up to
the spring of 1930, Many other
small mines in the region under-
went exploration. and develop-.
ment, with small quantities of

hand-picked ore being shipped out |

by rail. The failure to find large
ore bodies and the economic col-
lapse of 1929, though, put a stop
to most mining activity for the
next several years,

In the mid-1930’s, mining
interest was rekindled in the
Terrace area. From 1933 to 1935,
the Columario Consolidated Gold
Mines attempted to develop their
mining property southwest of Usk
(near the present Gossan Creek
Subdivision) but ore shoots were
not numerous enough to continue
mine operations. In 1935, a wagon
road 10 miles long was built along
the north side of the Zymoetz
River, opening access to the Dar-
danelle mine, owned by the
Omineca Gold Quartz Mines Com-
pany of Vanderhoof, B.C. This
gold-silver-lead-zinc mine oper-
ated until World War II.

The Lucky Luke Mine at Usk
also commenced milling opera-
tions in 1934. Ore was carried by
aerial tramway from claims on
the side of Kitselas Mountain to a
small grinding mill beside the
railway. One other mine started
in 1935. A molybdenum prospect
between Lowrie and Nicholson
(Shannon) Creeks was developed

by the Nicholson Creek Mining
Corporation based out of Seattle,
Washington.

‘ World War II brought most
mining operations in the Terrace
area to a halt. The deposits dis-
covered to this point were charac-
terized by small rich veins which
were limited in extent and frac-
tured by dykes and faulting. After
the end of the war, the lack of
large ore bodies and the economic
opportunities provided by jobs in
the forest industry reduced the
importance of prospecting and
mining as an industry in the
region.

Since 1950, some new ore
bodies have been discovered and
old prospects have been reworked,
but there have not been any
major producing mines. Deposits
adjacent to Terrace which have
recorded claims include:

Shames — copper and iron:
limestone, argillite, andesite, and
schist intruded by sill-like bodies
of granodiorite and lenses of sul-
phides and local massive
magnetite (iron); inactive. Also,
Paleozoic deposits of limestone;
A.E. Barr quarry operated from
1953-1955.

Amsbury — copper and iron:
Jurassic greenstone close to the
main eastern contact of the Coast
Range batholith with replace-
ments of massive magnetite (iron)
phaleopyrite (copper) and pyrite
(iron); inactive.

Molybdenum Creek, Kit-
sumkalum Mountain, Lunch-
eon Creek — molybdenum and
copper: deposits on or close to the
contact of the Bowser formation
and coast intrusive material;
active exploration.

Mt. Vanarsdoll — molyb-
denum and copper: contact zone
between Hazelton volcanics and
biotite granite intrusives; limited
drilling during 1967.

Kitselas Mountain — cop-
per, silver, and gold: volcanic
flows with narrow quartz lenses
in shear zones: Lucky Luke Mine
operated from 1914 to 1967; inter-

mittent shipments of ore up to~
1967. Also, copper and _ silver:

similar formation; Gold Star pros-

pect; drilling during the 1970's;

some potential for the 1980's.

Usk — copper, gold, silver: °
andesite volcanic flows intruded
by dark igneous dykes; former
Cordillera Mine from 1914-1942,
inactive.

Shannon Creek — molyb-
denum and copper: quartz veins
in Hazelton volcanics; Nicholson
Creek Mine operated from 1934 to
1955; no recent. activities.

St. Elmo (Chimdemash) —
copper, lead, zinc, silver, gold:
volcanic tuff with sparse impreg-
nation of bornite and hematite: -
never developed.

Chimdemash — copper, gold,
silver, lead, zine: quartz veins and
felsite dykes within Hazelton
voleanics; original claims dating -
back to 1890’s, renewed interest
in the 1960’s; some potential for
the 1980's.

Mt. O’Brien (headwaters of
St. Croix and Chimdemash
Creeks) — copper and silver: rich
veins associated with granitic
intrusions into volcanics; ore was
packed out in the 1920's; no
recent work,

Usk (east side) — copper,
gold, silver: quartz veins, and
quartz albite dykes cutting Hazel-.
ton voleanics; claims dating back
to 1890's; no recent work.

Bornite Mountain — copper,
gold, and silver: andesite vol-
canics with mineralization along
fault line; Independence mine
operated up to 1925; no recent
work. Also, copper and silver;
bornite disseminated in volcanics;
former Lucy Jim claims (1908-
1929); drilled in 1968-1970.

Kleanza Mountain — cop-
per, gold, silver, zinc, lead; vol-
canics intruded by granodiorite .
and quartz veins; Columario Mine
operated from 1934 to 1936; new
exploration activity occurred in
1984. Also, molybdenum and
copper: porphyry rocks and boul-
der conglomerate; Kendal Creek
claims - 600,000 tons of 0.25 to”
0.5% capper.

B.C, Mining Week / Terrace Review — February 28, 1992 27

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