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The Kootenay mines. A sketch of their progress and present condition, with letters from the Similkameen and Kettle River camps from the special correspondent of "The Miner."
British Columbia Historical Books Collection
St. Barbe, Charles
"Cover title." -- Lowther, B. J., & Laing, M. (1968). A bibliography of British Columbia: Laying the foundations, 1849-1899. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, p. 129.
26 pages : map, tables, advertisements ; 23 cm
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THE KOOTENAY MINES. A Sketch of Their Progress and Condition To-day. EDITED BY CHARLES ST. BARBE. Nelson, B. C. The Miner Print. & Pub. Co. L'd. 1895. KOOTENAY MINES. A Sketch of Their Progress and Present Condition, With Letters From the Similkameen and Kettle River Camps from the Special Correspondent of "The Miner," The Kootenay country is that part of British Columbia embraced by the Kocky Mountains on the east, the valley of the Columbia River on the north and west, and the International Boundary on the sou^h. We propose now to deal with the western half of this area. THE SIZE OF THE COUNTRY. Taking its shape roughly as a parallelogram, it is about 160 miles long (from the Canadian Pacific Railway southward) and has a mean breadth of 60 miles. It thus embraces an extent of about 10,000 square miles. THE FORMATION. The general contour of the country consists mainly of three parallel ranges* being all spurs of the Selkirk Mountains, running nearly north and south with two main water basins between them, the Kootenay Lake to the east and the Arrow Lakes, which are parts of the Columbia River, to the west. The geography of these two main river systems is somewhat difficult to describe without a map. They rise close together unde the shadow of the Rockies, and then flow, the one to the north and the other to the south, putting many hundreds of miles between them and finally uniting in the Kootenay country a few miles below Nelson. They both form magnificent internal waterways. The Columbia is navigable from Revelstoke on the C.P.R. for 200 miles southward to Northport, a station on the Spokane Falls & Northern Railway, in the State of Washington. The Kootenay is navigable from Bonner's Ferry, a station on the Great Northern Railway, in the State of Idaho, northward, by lake and river, for over 100 miles and westward another 20 miles to Nelson, which is situated on that part of the river flowing out of the lake. From Nelson to its junction with the Columbia River at Robson the Kootenay is not navigable, but a railway supplies the connection. The whole country is exceedingly mountainous and for a great part is covered with a dense forest of coniferous trees, of which the hemlock and larch (tamarack) grow to a great size. There are also the so-called cedar (Thuja gigantea) and the white pine and others of great economic value, but owing to the reckless waste* I 2 chiefly through the carelessness of people leaving camp fires burning, the available timber is yearly becoming more scarce. There is at present sufficient timber easily accessible for mining purposes, but it is hard to say how long so satisfactory a condition of affairs will last. The mountains are rugged and lofty, reaching an altitude of over 9,000 feet. The snow line is between 6,000 and 7,000 feet. The Kootenay Lake is 1,780 feet above sea level and the Columbia River at Robson 1,375, aud at the head of the Upper Arrow Lake 1,400. The height of the Slocan Lake is given on Fletcher's map at 1,750 feet and so is that of Kootenay Lake, but the figures we have given are supplied us by the officers of the Provincial Survey Department. In the winter the thermometer seldon falls below zero and the summers are temperate, the heat rarely exceeding 80° in the shade. Snow usually comes in earnest about Christmas and covers the ground for three months. These figures relate to the valleys. On the ranges the cold is considerably more severe, COMMUNICATIONS. Probably no mining field in the world started under better circumstances than Kootenay. Most of the fields in Australia were remote from settlements, the South African fields required not only a long ocean and coasting voyage, but a tedious and expensive trip for several hundred miles "up country. Kootenay has three main transcontinental lines running right into her heart, splendid internal water communications supplemented by railroad spurs, which are being energetically pushed on to reach the mines in the remoter valleys, and one or two good roads. The Canadian Pacific main line passes through the northern part of the district and a branch runs down the Columbia River from Revelstoke to within 14 miles of the head of the Arrow Lakes. A branch starts in eastwards from Nakusp on the upper lake and reaches New Denver and Three Forks in the heart of the great galena country. The same great company owns also the branch that connects Nelson on the Kootenay Lake with Robson on the Columbia River. The main line of the Great Northern Railway between St. Paul and Spokane comes within touch of the steamers plying on the Kootenay Lake and River at Bonner's Ferry. This route, however, freezes up in winter. A direct line runs between Nelson and Spokane, connecting at the latter place with the Northern Pacific railway and nearly all other American roads. 9* In addition to these lines a road is being built from Kaslo, on Kootenay Lake, into the Slocan. It is to be finished by the end of October. The C. P. R. is also proposing to extend its branch from Three Forks to the same spot, which is only about df4 miles further on and close to many of the chief mines. Two companies have given official notice of their intention to construct tramways from the great Trail Creek mining camp to the Columbia River, while the Red Mountain Railway Company has also obtained a charter from the Dominion Government to construct a line from the same group of mines to a spot on the International Boundary, where it will meet a spur from the Spokane Falls & Northern Railway. Further connections of existing lines are proposed, but we do not mention them as there does not appear to be any pressing need or great likelihood of their immediate construction.' A good wagon road connects Kaslo and Three Forks—a distance of 28 miles. On the lakes and rivers there is an excellent service of steamers, most of them the property of the Columbia & Kootenay Navigation Company. Their boats, however, are not quite able to meet the requirements of the traffic, and two new boats are now under construction, one on the Columbia and the other on Kootenay Lake. "The Nakusp," on the Columbia, which was launched in July, is the finest boat on 8 the inland waters of British Columbia, and visitors to this new, rough and wild country will be somewhat astonished at the luxury of board and lodging supplied by the steamers. '*£#* HISTORY. As long ago as the beginning of this century the Indians used to melt down the rock of what is now the Blue Bell mine to make their bullets. They communicated their knowledge to the trappers and hunters of the Hudson's Bay Company. About the middle of the century, too, the wandering placer miners washed the rich gravels of many of our streams. Forty-Nine Creek bears in its name the date of its discovery. But the early miners were only able with their simple appliances to superficially work the rich beds which are now yielding up their treasures to the great monitors of modern hydraulic companies. The discovery of the Silver King Mine on Toad Mountain, just above Nelson, in the latter eighties commences the modern era of the development of the Kootenay. Following quickly on this came a rush of prospectors, whose picks disclosed the secrets of the Slocan, the treasures of Trail. But it was not until the last six months that the latter attracted any notice at all. It is one of Kootenay's advantages that she has a nation of born prospectors close handy just across the border, but at the same time it is galling to a Britisher to see all the prizes of his country falling one by one into alien pockets, which is happening every day. For the last five years the history of the qpuntry has been the usual story of many prospects being found, a lesser number developed and of a very few becoming actual mines. There has been the usual difficulty of attracting outside help in the way of capital and most of the work that has been done is the result of the efforts of the original owners, or their immediate successors. Now, however, a new era seems to have commenced. Sufficient work has been done to demonstrate the fact that the country contains very rich mineral deposits. Many thousand tons of ore have been sent out to the smelters of the United States, a smelter of the most approved modern pattern has been built and at work for the last six months, and the attention of mining men, almost exclusively Americans, has been attracted to this small spot of British territory. The result is that no mining journal in the States is complete to-day without some reference to one or other of the Kootenay camps, and many and strange are the garbled reports that appear therein. Before beginning to describe the various localities it may be necessary to state for the information of our leaders in other countries that the word "camp" is the American synonyn for "field." Thus the Coolgardie gold field would be called a camp in American parlance. It seems a better word, too. NELSON. The capital of the Kootenay doubtless owes it origin to the discovery of the Silver King and Kootenay Bonanza on Toad Mountain in 1886. The town was laid out and the first sale of lots took place in 1888. It is pleasantly situated where the valley of Cottonwood Smith Creek broadens out and joins the Kootenay River. This latter is navigable for 20 miles up to the lake, which is over 70 miles long, and from thence again up the liver to Bonner's Ferry in Idaho. Below Nelson, the Kootenay Rapids commence. A railway runs direct between Nelson and Spokane, and another, a branch of the C. P. R., connects it with the navigable waters on the Columbia River at Robson. Steamers ply daily to Balfour, Pilot Bay, Kaslo and other points on the Lake. At Nelson the Government Agent and Gold Commissioner resides and has his office. The Assizes are also held here, and there are two banks, branches of the Bank of British Columbia and of the Bank of Montreal. The town is well built, clean and tidy, and has many comfortable and picturesque residences. Nelson has many natural advantages as a mining centre. Not only, as will be seen, has it mineral in great abundance and of various kinds in its neighbor" hood, but it is easily accessible from all other parts of the -Kootenay country- The nature of the ground is admirably suited for the building of smelters, there is ample water in the Cottonwood and Grohman Creeks for all purposes. Both these Creeks have also falls of from 60 to 100 feet in narrow canyons, and the falls of the Kootenay River itself would give power enough to drive all the machinery in the country. THE HALL MINES Were discovered in 1886 by a prospecting party from Colville, composed chiefly of members of the Hall and Oakes families. The property, which consists of four claims, the Silver King, the Kootenay Bonanza, the American Flag and the Koohinoor, and covers about 56 acres, was sold in 1893 to the Hall Mines Company of London, England, for something over one million dollars. The works consist chiefly of a tunnel 920 feet loug, running S. 65 deg. E., connected by winzes and inclines with two upper tunnels and with an upper drift about 200 feet long. There are numerous cross-cuts and also a lower drift approached by a winze from the main tunnel. The ore is not in the form of a fissure vein but lies chiefly in two large bodies, which have now been very extensively proved by the workings. In the drift cut above the main tunnel the same ore bodies were struck, but were found to be not so rich as in the original workings. A winze was accordingly sunk and a drift excavated at a lower level. Here again the ore was struck, but this time it was richer instead of poorer. The ore varies very much in quality. Assays of specimens have run the ounces into four figures. The rock in the lower tunnel will average from 30 to 40 per cent, of shipping ore going 130 to 150 ounces of silver, 12 to 15 per cent, of copper and a few dollars in gold to the ton. The minerals found in the mine are Bornite or Peacock copper ore, Tetra- hedrite or grey copper ore and Chalcopyrites or yellow copper ore with occasional iron pyrites and traces of galena. Up to the present time it has been the policy of the company rather to develop their property than to ship ore. But of late a change has been made. A new manager has been appointed, who in a few months has "proved" the mine further than ever it was before. The power drill has been freely used, with the result that the existence of ore atjconsiderable depths and of increasing richuess has been discovered. English companies move somewhat slower than similar institutions in the States, but at last the Hall Mines Company, L'd, has made a move. Their mine is situated nearly 5,000 feet above Nelson, at a distance of 4£ miles in a straight line. The only means of communication until the present time having been a wagon road, necessarily steep and circuitous and long. Recognizing that large bodies of ore could not be conveniently handled in drays, a contract has been let to the California Wire Works Company of San Francisco and a wire tramway capable of delivering 100 tons of ore a day is now in course of erection. It has to be in working order by the end of August and from then on for three months the contractors have to deliver 100 tons a day at its lower terminus in Nelson. Here huge bins are being constructed close to the line of the C. P. R., and the company has ordered machinery for a 100 ton smelter from Messrs. Fraser & Chalmers of London and Chicago. It is to be delivered by the end of the summer. In the immediate neighbourhood of the Silver King are many other claims, some with a good deal of development work done on them. Most of them contain galena, but those which are attracting attention at present are the gold bearing properties. Of these the Starlight and Athabasca have recently been bonded at $30,000 and $50,000 respectively, and genuine work is being pushed ahead on both of them. Mr. A. E. Humphreys, the representative of a Duluth syndicate, who holds many large properties in this district, has bonded the Starlight. This claim has a ledge which contains a quantity of free milling gold quartz. Its owners had done sufficient work upon it to prove the ledge for over 500 feet, and since Mr. Humphreys has taken it the further work he has done has had such good results that he is about to put in a stamp mill to treat the ore on the spot. The Princess, a claim on the wagon road containing a copper ore with gold, has also been recently bonded to Mr. McVicar of the No. 1 mine at Ainsworth. The creeks flowing down from the mountains are all more or less auriferous. On the northwest side a local hydraulic company has established works on Forty-Nine Creek, which are now in full swing. After the first 120 hours' work, which consisted largely of removing boulders and other "dead" work, $5,000 was picked up off the bed rock in front of the sluice boxes and out of the first two or three boxes themselves. The company has a practically unlimited head of water at a height of 300 feet and sluice boxes 500 feet in length. Close to Forty-Nine Creek is Eagle Creek, on which is situated the Poor- man, a free milling quartz mine, which has been in operation for some time. It is privately held and has more than repaid its owners for their outlay. They have a 10 stamp mill running and four vanners collecting the concentrates. Between these two creeks is situated the Royal Canadian, another claim with a ledge of free milling quartz, which has just been sold to Californian mining men. All this slope of the mountain is plastered with claims, on many of which good specimens are obtained. Further down the river is Rover Creek on which the Whitewater claims are situated. News is just to hand that these have been advantageously sold, but the rumour requires confirmation On the opposite side of the hill is Hall Creek, which runs into the Salmon River. It is very rich in alluvial ore, but the huge boulders render it difficult to work. There are claims on its banks with rich showings of free milling and other gold ores. The Salmon River, which rises in the Ymir Mountains to the south of Nelson and runs into the Pendd'Oreille, has long been known as a placer ground. Recently discoveries of mineral of similar character to the Trail Creek ores have been made on the mountains around, particularly on a hill draining into Sheep Creek, one of its tributaries. Here a number of claims have been staked on what appears to be a vein of very considerable extent. Many of the holders are men of some little means and they intend ■P 6 to do sufficient development to show the-real nature of their property and not to satisfy themselves with complying only with the conditions made by the Government, which call for $100 worth of work per annum to secure the lease. Discoveries of low grade free milling ore have lately been made on almost all sides of Nelson, but as they remain at present mere prospects we make no further mention of them. gp Before leaving Nelson, though it is scarcely within the scope of this pamphlet we may mention that on the Kootenay River below Nelson some of the finest trout fishing in Canada is to be had. The Canadian Pacific Railway runs along the bank of the river the whole way and for the convenience of tourists the company has erected two or three cottages in the neighborhood of the best spots. The scenery is magnificent, as indeed it is throughout the Kootenay country. Leaving Nelson* by steamer we proceed up the outlet or west arm of Kootenay Lake, passing many claims of which the Ray of Hope, a free milling, low grade property, is expected to attract some little attention. After proceeding for 20 miles we reach the Lake. At the point of outlet is the little town of Balfour. There is not much mining in this immediate vicinity though there are plenty of claims laid off, but the fishing is excellent and there is a comfortable hotel with all conveniences of boats and steam launches, erected purposely to accommodate sportsmen. Right opposite, across the Lake, about three miles distant, the large, red brick buildings of the Pilot Bay Smelter appear. The volumes of smoke pouring from the tall chimneys proclaim their nature. The works are the property of the Kootenay Mining and Smelting Company, of which Mr. A. B. Hendryx is the General Manager and Treasurer. Including the Blue Bell mine, also the property of the Company, the whole concern, first and last* has cost about $750,000. The works consist of a 100 ton concentrator; four roasting furnaces and a water jacket stack of the same capacity* The buildings are designed and large enough for two other stacks. The whole is very complete and well designed and each department is under competent management. The smelter has turned out during the first five months of this year 700 tons of bullion; We are not prepared to give the exact value of this product, but if we say that a ton of it contains 80 ounces of silver we shall probably be not far from the mark. The ore treated comes mainly from the Company's own mine the Blue Bell, a huge deposit of low grade galena on the shore of the Lake* 8 miles north of the smelter. From there over 20,C00 tons have been mined and hauled to the smelter on barges since January of this year. Ore is now being received also from Ainsworth, a rich mining camp immediately opposite the Blue Bell, across the Lake. AINSWORTH. Is one of the oldest mining camps in this region. It was originally known as the Hot Springs camp from the chalybeate Springs, which issue from the side of the hill in the upper part of the town and which supplied the in- habitants with the most luxurious hot baths. Owing to what is usually called the slump in silver, the bottom nearly fell out of Ainsworth, but four or five mines are working again now and / greater activity is looked forward to in the near future. This revival is, of course, largely the result of the establishment of the smelting works across the Lake. The Ainsworth camp is fortunate in possessing not only rich galena ores, but also what are known as dry ores. These contain silver and iron, but no lead, and are especially valuable in the smelting process. The two chief mines at present working are the No. 1 and the Skyline, both producing dry ore. The latter has only recently been reopened and has not shipped any ore in the period which the statistics at the end of this paper cover, but during the last week or so it has sent small amounts across the Lake and its owner proposes to ship about 25 tons a day of clean dry ore. The No. 1 is under lease to a party of Nova Scotian capitalists and forms with the Hall Mines and the Nelson Hydraulic Mining Company, one of the only three mines in the whole district that is owned and worked by British capital. The No. 1 has not been worked to the best advantage in the past and consequently its output at present is not great. This will probably be improved. At the No. 1 is also a 60 ton concentrator, as the mine contains, like nearly all others, a large quantity of ore unfit to ship straight as it is. The Black Diamond and Little Phil are two adjacent mines which are being worked in a small way by their owners and produce a fairly good galena. The Highland mine is rapidly being developed and will shortly be among the list of shippers. There is not at present, however, any road to it, but from its elevated position a wire tram could easily be put in to reach the Lake. A trial shipment of 5 tons of ore from the King Solomon mine realized 160 ounces in silver and 40 per cent, lead, KASLO. On the west shore of the Lake, about 10 miles north of Ainsworth, is situated the City of Energy, known on the map as Kaslo. In the country at the back of it, and roughly speaking, midway between the Kootenay and Arrow Lakes, lies the great Slocan Mining District whence comes the richest galena in the world. Its trade is a constant bone of contention between the two great waterways, and Kaslo has struggled nobly to hold up her end, in spite of terrible reverses under any one of which a town might have succumbed. Kaslo is a thoroughly American mining town, and consequently it is not altogether the peaceful and prosperous hamlet that might be met with in the farming districts of Ontario. It is a busy bustling place with more saloons than there appears at first sight to be any necessity for. The streets are roughly graded, in many the stumps of trees and huge rocks are left standing. In the good times before *the "slump" in silver people were so busy taking in the dollars, and then so busy spending them, that no one had time to attend to a trifle or two like that. And then again to men accustomed to mountain trails the streets were veritable paths of peace. Times like that seldom last and knowing people reflected that there would probably be time after the first boom was over and before the second came on to tidy up the town a bit. They were right both in their philosophy and conjecture. There has been lots of time between the end of the first boom and the second just beginning to arrange things. This they have done chiefly by incorporating themselves and putting a Mayor and Aldermen over them to impose taxes upon them. This somewhat doubtful blessing however, 8 seems to meet with approval and if the dollar somewhat reluctantly leaves the ratepayers pocket, that individual rejoices in better streets and in protection from the terrible river and even dreams of waterworks in the near future. The "slump" in silver was Kaslo's first blow. That nearlj, in the language of the west, "knocked her endways.' Then in the early spring of 1894 came the great fire, destroying all one side of Front street, on which the principal business places were situated, and a considerable part of the other side as well. No sooner were the ashes cold than the plucky people commenced to accommodate themselves in tents and shanties of all kinds, and things went ou much as ever until June of the same year. Kaslo is built upon a broad bench of shingle extending out into the Lake and formed by the Kaslo River, which here comes out of the mountains. In June, 1894, the annual flood in the Lake, caused by the melting of the snow on the Rockies and Selkirk Mountains, rose about 15 feet higher than was ever known before. On Sunday, June 3rd, the whole of the Kootenay country was visited by a terrible cyclone, accompanied by a scorching wind, such as makes all Australians shudder to think of, torrents of rain and terrific thunder and lightning. Kaslo was, as it were up to its knees in the Lake, and when the great storm swept up all the way from the head of the Lake, 40 or 50 miles away, it sent a resistless sea ripping aud tearing among the defenceless wooden nouses. That night half the people in Kaslo were homeless, and their troubles were not over. While the waves on the Lake were dashing the houses to pieces, the hot breath of the cyclone was tearing up the great snowdrifts that lay high up amid the glaciers on the mountains whence the Kaslo River springs, Early on Monday morning the river began to rise as it had never risen before, and by 10 a. m. it had torn out nearly all that the fire and storm had left of Kaslo. And yet to-day Kaslo is nearly as busy as ever, her people smile at you, confident in their town, confident in their future, confident in their pluck. Nor is their confidence blind. A railway is building and will be in working order in a month or two (about October) which runs right to the doors of the chief mines of the Slocan. The other line, owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway, which served to haul out ore from these mines last year along the rival route to the west, does not go so near the mines as the Kaslo railway does by about 3^ miles and there is a rise of something like 1,000 feet, which is a serious climb for a railway in that short distance.* Kaslo therefore expects to be the shipping point for all the Slocan ore. Only about 5,000 tons were sent outlast year, but this amount will be largely increased this winter, especially if greater facilities of transport are available. THE SLOCAN. f Between the basin of the Kootenay and that of the Columbia is a smaller valley in which lies the Slocan Lake, a splendid sheet of water over 20 miles long and surrounded by some of the finest mountain scenery in the world It drains itself by means of the Slocan River, which runs southwards and joins the Kootenay River about half way between Nelson and Robson. This Lake gives its name to the great argentiferous region lying between it and the Kootenay Lake. To describe all the mines that are therein situated would rake up more room than is at our disposal, while to give an account of all the good pros ♦Since writing the above the contract for the extension of this line to Sandon has been let. 9 pects, many of them largely developed, would require a, volume. Our object is simply to give our readers an idea of the, value of this country and an account of what has actually been done in it. In this we are much aided by a well compiled supplement, which was issued by the Kaslo Prospector in March last and which the Editor of that paper has kindly placed at our disposal. It may be also a fitting time here to express our thanks to the many mine owners who have been so good as to place figures and other information of a private character at our service, by means of which we have been enabled to check the returns found in statistical form at the end of these pages. The best known and most largely developed of all the mines of this district is the Slocan Star, situated on Sandon Creek. High up above the creek the ledge outcrops and then dips into the mountain at an anticlinal to the surface. Four tunnels at different elevations tap and cut the vein. The upper tunnel is 70 feet in length and cuts the vein 70 feet from the outcrop. It thus forms the base of an isosceles triangle of which the vein itself and the surface are the two sides. No. 2 tunnel is 45 feet vertically below No. 1, and No. 3 is 135 feet below No. 2, while No. 4 is 425 feet below No. 1. These tunnels are all connected by winzes and upraises and many feet of drifting along the vein has been cut. The vein at No. 3 is over 50 feet thick, of which the first 10 or 12 feet are first clqiss ore requiring only to be bagged and shipped straight to the smelters. The assay value of this ore is 125 ounces of silver and 74 per cent, of lead to the ton. The amount of ore in sight is enormous. For the 12 months ending May 31st ltast 2,800 tons from this mine were shipped, of which 2,500 tons went to the Omaha and Grant smelters and 300 tons to Tacoma. This ore had to be hauled down on sleighs to the terminus of the railway at Three Forks, a distance of some 5 or 6 miles. This year the completion of the Kaslo Railway will bring the cars close under the mine itself and with such increased facilities the shipments will be much larger. Other Slocan mines which actually ship ore are the Alamo, the Idaho and Cumberland, owned by a Duluth syndicate, who have erected a concentrator near Three Forks connected with their mines by a gravity tramway; the Rueccau, Noble Five, Wonderful, Mountain Chief, Goodenough, Alpha and several others. The amount they sent out in the period mentioned above was close on 7,000 tons. The value, as declared to H.M. Customs was $100 a ton, making a total of over $700,000, The agent for the Omaha and Grant smelter, to which nearly 5,000 tons was sent, has favoured us with the'actual returns from 2,114 tons of ore contributed from various mines. This amount gave a net return, after deducting 5 per cent, silver and 10 per cent, lead, of 241,336 ounces of silver and 1,224 tons of lead. The average product per ton is thus 114 ounces of silver and (nearly) 60 per cent, of lead. Taking the price of silver to-day [August } at 68, and of lead 320 per cwt. the net value of that ore, after paying all expenses of freight and smelting, is $113.64 per ton. f| W ^| fl Most of these great galena properties lie on the mountains round the South Fork of Carpenter Creek, which runs westwards into the Slocan Lake. On the North Fork are several claims with ledges of dry ore (silver and iron without the lead). From one of these claims in the same belt, the owner informs us that a small shipment of picked ore sent to the Pilot Bay smelter went as high as 900 ounces of silver. The vein, which is from 18 inches to two feet in width, averages 200 ounces. This dry ore belt extends from Rosebery, a little hamlet at the ! mouth ol Wilson Creek on Slocan Lake, eastward through the country drained by s i 10 the North Fork of Carpenter Creek nearly to the Kootenay Lake, a distance of some 12 or 15 miles. Quite recently some phenominal discoveries of dry ore with large masses of native silver have been made on the creeks flowing westward into the south end of Slocan Lake. The discovery of the Fishermaiden last year in the same direction has lately attracted attention to this part. This claim shipped 50 tons of ore to the smelter last year, which yielded 265 ounces of silver to the ton, one carload yielding as high as 347 ounces per ton. At present, this part of the country is still in the hands of the prospector, and many strikes are being made, of which some at least will make mines, and public attention will no doubt shortly be turned to them. The following is a list of a few of the chief mines of the Slocan with their characteristics : Blue Bird—Development, 1800 feet tunnelling and 200 feet shafts ; 240 tons have been shipped. Average assay, 137 ounces silver and 75 per cent. lead. Mountain Chief has shipped 800 tons. The average of 100 tons of this was 214 ounces of silver and 71| per cent, of lead. Idaho and St. John, two parallel claims ; 750 tons clean ore shipped averaging 140 ounces of silver and 65 per cent. lead. The owners had about 7 tons of ore on the bank, consisting principally of grey copper and antimonial silver, which carried over 3,000 ounces of silver to the ton. The Alamo belongs to the same parties as the last; 675 feet tunnels and 160 feet shafts. Ore averages 200 ounces in silver and 60 per cent. lead. Deadman, adjoining Noble Five. One car load only as sample, shipped to Omaha. Ore averages 150 ounces in silver and 50 per cent. lead. Washington. Over 1,000 feet of tunnelling and shafting; 1,500 tons of ore shipped; averaged 140 ounces in silver and 60 per cent. lead. Rueooau shipped 350 tons ; 80 tons gave a return of 176 ounces silver and 76 per cent. lead. NobtjE Five Group. 1,700 feet of development work. Shipments amount to 550 tons. Value of ore, 150 ounces of silver and 70 per cent. lead. Alpha. Development work, 500 feet tunnelling. Ore value, 105 ounces silver and 64 per cent. lead. Total shipments, 1,000 tons to Omaha and Grant smelter. Good Enough. A fractional claim adjoining the Ruccan. From a shipment of 21 tons the galena returned 768 ounces of silver per ton and 66 per cent. lead, and the carbonates yielded 375 ounces of silver per ton and 17 per cent. lead. Ruth. A claim close to the Slocan Star. Shipped 66% tons. Ore runs from 115 to 130 ounces in silver and 73 to 79 per cent. lead. Last Change has shipped 110 tons. After paying freight, duty and treatment they returned $8,000. Cost of mining, $1,200, net value, $6,800. Average per ton $61.90. Fisher Maiden. Fifty tons of ore shipped, averaging 230 ounces in silver and 10 per cent. lead. Most of this information has been taken from the figures contained in the Report of the Minister of Mines. Speaking of the new discoveries at the south end of Slocan Lake, the same document says : On Eight Mile and Ten Mile Creeks numerous discoveries were 1 =^ 11 made this summer (1894). The Kalispell, on Ten Mile Creek, is the most promising The locators are at work and have 7 tons of ore averaging between 400 and 500 ounces of silver to the ton. The capital of the Slocan is New Denver, a little town most picturesquely situated on the east side of Slocan Lake at the mouth of Carpenter Creek. Five miles up the creek where its three branches join is Three Forks, and still further up the South Fork is Sandon, for the present the terminus of the Kaslo Railway. North of New Denver on the Lake is Rosebery, a new village of inconsiderable proportions. At the south end of the Lake (on the maps) is Slocan City. In consequence of the remarkable finds in this vicinity the town is apparently materializing and lots therein have actually been sold for hard cash. From the Slocan Lake an excellent trail leads down the left bank of the river to its junction with the Kootenay. It is expected that before long the C. P. R. will build up this river from its Nelson and Robson line. TRAIL CREEK. Many years ago the old Hudson's Bay trail connecting Eastern Kootenay with the rest of British Columbia, crossed the Columbia River about 20 miles north of the International boundary and going westwards led up to the divide by means of an easy canyon. The stream at its bottom became known as Trail Creek. The old trappers and hunters who frequented this route could not hear in the murmur of the .* little brook the word gold, and for years their mocassins patiently trod ground that is almost unpurchasable to-day. About seven miles up tbe creek is Red Mountain and here five or six years ago the first claims were staked. For one reason or another they attracted no notice until the autumn of 1894. The ore is of a refractory nature and five years ago its treatment was a problem not quite removed from the experimental stage. While ore of various kinds, including both free milling quartz - and galena, is found in the mines of Trail, its typical product is a pyritic iron, carrying gold and copper. About November, 1894, mining matters in the Western States and throughout British Columbia being flat the wave of public attention rolled towards Trail Creek. Its two chief properties, the Le Roi and the War Eagle, were acquired by syndicates composed of keen American mining men, the owners of the townsite of Rossland put their wares on the market, the journalist hungering for novelty sent the magic word "gold" from end to end of the States and in 6 months 2,000 people swarm at Rossland and in its neighborhood. Hundreds of claims are staked in every direction and many new finds of valuable mineral have been discovered. No sooner are specimens of ore from these exhibited than they are bonded. Not long ago a bond of $75,000 on a group of claims was regarded as a high figure. Recently we have heard of a group being held under the unprecedented figure of $200,000. «Sm For the information of our foreign readers we may mention that bonding a claim consists in undertaking to pay a certain sum for it at a future time or times, a small amount in cash, rarely exceeding 5 per cent, of the whole, being paid down to bind the bargain. At present there are virtually only three shipping mines at the camp, but the tables at the end will show that they have sent away no inconsiderable amount, and it has practically all been shipped since January of thi3 year. The whole of this ore has to be hauled by wagons in summer and by sleighs in winter by road to the river. There are two roads. One to Trail Landing seven miles in length and the other fourteen miles to Northport on the Spokane Falls & Northern Railway in the > 12 State of Washington. Both this railway and the C. P. R. are laying their plans sd that when the future of the camp is assured and one or two more of the present properties have become mines in the full sense of the word they will be ready to construct railroads in, for the transport of the ore. Tender the title of the Red Mountain Railway, the S, F. & N. Railway has obtained a charter from the Dominion government and has actually commenced work in a mi'd kind of a way, but it is at present himg up on account of some difficulty with the U. S. Government about an Indian Reserve through which it passes on the other side. The C. P. R. has a survey party in the field and will probably build, when it does, up the river to connect with its line at Robson. In January last the Special Correspondent of The Miner wrote as follows of Rossland and the Trail Creek camp : "An easy pull of seven miles from Trail Landing on the Columbia up a well graded road brings us to Rossland. On the way we pass sleigh after sleigh—20 in all—bringing down 3% tons each of glittering ore from the mines. All that glitters is not gold. In this instance, though there is plenty of gold in the shining lumps of hard rock, the glitter is that of iron pyrites. Each of the sleigh loads is worth in the neighborhood of $200. At the top the valley widens out. The hills around it rise gently to their summits in broad benches. On the broadest of these and m the centre of a broad natural amphitheatre the town is situated. The drama of the place, however, is not being enacted on the level central stage, but in the hills that rise tier upon tier around. To the northwest rises the Red Mountain, lifting its sharp peak 1,500 feet above the town. Through its inmost recesses thread veins of gold- Already these are tapped by the Nickel Plate, the Le Roi and the War Eagle. The clatter of the ore falling into the bins is audible all day long. The entire hill is plastered with claims. On its very summit are the St. Elmo, Cliff and Mountain View. It will no longer be allowed to retain the treasures it has been guarding for ages. To the eastward of the Red Mountain, divided from it by a small ravine, and due north of the town, is the Monte Cristo Mountain, Already rich veins have been discovered there and in spite of the frost the miner is busy there too. Still further eastward is the Columbia Mountain. Over the west shoulder of the Red Mountain rises the Spokane Mountain and between the two runs Sheep Creek, down which winds the road to Northport and up which will come the Red Mountain Railway. In the valley of Sheep Creek is the I.X.L., from which very rich specimens of free milling quartz were brought. Further again to the west and almost south of Rossland are the O. K., Lillie May and other claims. In fact the only side on which there are none is the southeast, in which the valley falls away to the Columbia. * * * * It is a little difficult to gauge the population as many of the men are in the surrounding mines and it must be remembered that a census of to-day is no criterion of the population to-morrow, Every,-day people are coming in. If we say that on this 19th day of January in the year of our Lord 1895 there are 3Q0 people in the camp we are probably not f&r off the mark. In two, four or six months it will be interesting to note how this will be increased to possibly as many thousands." To-day there considerably over 2,000, probably nearer 3,000. k< The'only two mines at present shipping are the Le Roi and the War Eagle, but others will quickly follow suit, notably the Nickel Plate. This latter has a shaft down some 70 feet and on the day of our visit had about 12 tons of the richest ore in camp on tire-bank. The Le Roi and the War Eagle are just above the Nickel Plate. I * The tunnel in the War Eagle cuts the vein at rigM 13 angles and drifts proceed from it on either hand and stoping is in full operation. The lode here lies between well defined walls and is fully four and a half feet in thickness. Another tunnel 112 feet below the first is being rapidly driven in and it has already cut another vein even richer than the one it was designed to meet. On the surface cross stripping has disclosed the main lode over a distance of 500 feet, and here it widens in some places to 20 feet and maiutains an average breadth of 7 feet. The ore, like that of most of the camp, is a pyritic iron carrying gold and copper. It lies imbedded in walls of syenite, of which the "country rock" is composed. Its value naturally varies. There are large deposits of low grade stuff which will not pay for shipment, but which will yield handsome returns if reduction facilities can be obtained near at hand. And there is ore that gives returns of nearly $200 in gold per ton. The War Eagle ore, of which from 40 to 50 tons are now being shipped daily, is worth about $45 per ton. The expenses at present of shipping are as follows per ton : Mining, $3 ; freight to Trail Landing by sleigh, $2.25 ; Trail to smelter and smelting, $12.50; total, $17.75. The profit is evident." Since these lines were written not only has the population become thousands instead of hundreds, but many new discoveries of mineral have been made and the development of previous discoveries has shown that they contain valuable ledges. Particularly is this the case with the Kootenay, the Commander and the Iron Horse. The second of these three is an instance of a prospector's cuteness, not unmixed with luck. Two men had been at work for months examining the ground now occupied by the Commander. They felt certain from outside indications that a vein of mineral existed in that direction, but they could not find it. A prospector, well known for his ability and luck, by the name of "Billy" Lynch was called in. He directed his attention after a preliminary search to a swamp, then barely uncovered by the snow, and there sure enough he found a piece of rock outcropping that looked like the expected ledge. To drain the swamp and expose the vein was a simple matter, and there it was. In addition to new discoveries and new developments the ore in such mines as the War Eagle has been found to increase in value as depth is gained. So much is this the case that rightly or wrongly it is now an accepted characteristic of the- Trail Creek mines. The contents of the War Eagle ore as declared for Customs purposes is : Gold, 2.23 ounces ; silver, 4 ounces; copper, 5 per cent. This mine has paid $132,500 in dividends since it was bought by its present owners in December last. Of this amount $32,500 was sufficient to pay off the purchase money of the mine and all preliminary expenses, the remaining $100,000 being pure profit. Not only is all the country adjacent to Rossland covered with claims, but rich finds have been made to the northward. The country in that direction is exceedingly difficult and the new finds remain at present mere prospects. The following are some of the transactions in mining property that have taken place during the year 3 -j- Poorman, Novelty and California—Purchased for $20,000 and since converted into a stock company. Pilgrim, Monita and Surprise—Bonded for $60,000. Mountain View—Bonded for $25,000. St. Patrick, Mount Hood and Only One—Bonded for $30,000. Monte Oris to, Enterprise and Iron Horse—Bonded for $65,000. Maid of Erin and Robert E. Lee—Bonded for $40,000. § j|/ Georgia-Bonded for $20,000. 14 Lily May—Bonded for $25,000. Kootenay and Columbia—Bonded for $75,000. Paris Belle—Bonded amount not stated. Good Hope—Sold for $1,100. | .|| Nickel Plate—Bonded for $20,000 cash and 20 per cent, capital stock in a company to be formed. ffcj^ Mabel—Bonded for $5*000. 1 '§ Cliff and Consolidated St Elmo—Bonded amount reported to be $105,000. White Elephant Group—Bonded for $30,000. Ottawa—Sold for $4,500. St Mary and St. Juan—Bonded for $20,000. 'm Crown Point, White Swan and Hidden Treasure—Bonded for $75,000. Abe Lincoln No. 1—Bonded for $25,000- Homestake (recorded June 6,1890)—Bonded for $35,000. Gem, Uncle Sam and Tiger—Reported to be bonded for $200,000. Spotted Tail and Ida—Sold for $3,000 cash. To go into details of all the hundreds of claims in and around Trail Creek and to give the assays of ore that have been obtained from them would be beyond the scope of this pamphlet. The figures we have given above coupled with those whieh will be found in the tables appended hereto will show the actual amount of work being done in the camp. With regard to the ore shipments, it may be as well to point out that these have been made almost entirely within the first six month of this year. Of the total amount reported only 1,282 tons had been sent out prior to January 1,1895. The export is continually on the increase and its value during the month of June alone was $135,000. NEW CAMPS. This term is not strictly accurate, as though they are only being thoroughly prospected this year the localities have been known for some time to contain mineral. As these are still only prospects we shall merely mention their names and general characteristics, commencing with WHITE GROUSE MOUNTAIN, Which lies to the east and south of Pilot Bay. Here many claims showing copper and gold ore have been found. The camp is some 15 miles in from the Lake and is reached by a trail made by the enterprise of the owners from a little townsite known as Davie. Another route is up La France Creek, on which also there are claims with good showing. GOAT RIVER AND DUCK CREEK Are still further south and run into the east bank of the Kootenay Ri^er before it empties into the Lake. Many of the claims in this camp are something more than prospects, a good deal of tunnelling having been done. Assays of ore runs high in both copper and gold, The camp is* easily accessible from the river, whence there is good water carriage everywhere. CRAWFORD CREEK Is the name of a stream running into a bay of the same name at the back of Pilot Bay. The discoveries here consisting of both gold and silver, are more 15% recent and numbers of men are now going. The proximinity of this oamp to the Pilot Bay smelter will render it valuable if its ledges are found to be continuous. |§ TEN MILE, TWELVE MILE AND SPRINGER CREEKS All run into the south eastern end of the Slocan Lake. Within the last few weeks discoveries of silver ore of almost fabulous value have been made. Many of the specimens are so thoroughly veined with silver that when the rock is shattered under the hammer the pieces still hang together by the plates and slabs of the white metal. A vein of this stuff is reported of over a foot in width, itself being part of an eight foot ledge which runs very high. Free milling gold going over $100 to the ton is also found on some of the claims. The properties in this camp are at present the merest prospects. They have been discovered only a few weeks and no development work has yet been done. . THE SALMON RIVER ft Runs southward into the Pend d'Oreille. Many claims are located on its branches and in its bed placer work on a small scale has been Carried on for years. Lately some discoveries on Sheep Creek have attracted attention, the ore being said to closely resemble that of Trail Creek. The line of the Nelson & Spokane Railway follows the Salmon River for a considerable distance. ^ CARIBOO CREEK Runs into the Arrow Lake about 10 miles below Nakusp. Reports of finds of gold quartz come in from this camp but nothing definite is known about it. From all over the district comes news of fresh finds backed by specimens of ore and the local assayers are kept busy. There are indications everywhere of extensive and valuable mineral deposits. In the Silver King, Slocan Star and Blue Bell these have been proved to be of enormous extent. There are very considerable veins of gold bearing rock at Trail Creek and elsewhere. There is excellent water communication throughout the district and such railway facilities as no other new mining field ever had. The mines are sufficiently developed to warrant still further expenditure, which can in many cases be recouped from the ore put out in the process A few pounds or dollars down will secure a bond for a sufficient length of time to enable a mining man to make up his mind whether or not to pay down his second installment. The field is almost entirely in the hands of the Americans, many of whom are reaping rich profits out of the business. The main object of this pamphlet is to show to British and other investors in mining property an exact picture of Kootenay as it is to-day in the hope that they may benefit in the riches that are even now being drawn from her rugged mountains. 16 OUTPUT OF THE MINES. Table showing the amount of ore actually shipped during the year ending June 30, 1895 : From Nelson— Silver King Mine From Ainsworth— Number One Mine (Concentrates). (Carbonates),. Little Phil Black Diamond Highland..... v King Solomon ....'■. From the Slogan— Minnesota Silver Company [Concentrates!. Alpha Mine .N Slocan Star — Rueccau ..a.'..... Alamo Idaho Enterprise , Mountain Chief Gold Hill Fisher Maiden 1 - Noble Five Cumberland ¥ Last Chance Payne Group Good Enough Ruth v......a....: Surprise , -Ruby Silver Sovereign Dardanelles Blue Bird . Northern Belle Deadman Cariboo Mollie Hughes Wonderful ! Yakima Antoine From Trail Creek— Le Roi War Eagle Josie Nickel Plate Cliff -\ Mines sending less than 10 tons each From the Blue Bell Mine- To the Pilot Bay Smelter; up to May 30th only Total Tons. 535 90 67 150 15 10 15 1,000 2,800 331£ 450 1,151 ioi| 131 5* 539£ 170 80 174| 35£ 66£ 235" 9 15 83| 94J 122 21 m 4£ 34J 20 33£ 4 265J 4,688| 63H 12 31* 16 . 20,285 840* OD/ r,782 9,6441 20 285 39,418£ NOTES ON THE ABOVE. Most of these figures have been obtained from shipping manifests corrected in some few iustances by returns from the mines themselves. Circulars were addressd to every mine asking for information, but many were not replied to. The greatest possible care has been taken in compiling this table and the Editor can confidently assert that it is not over the mark. Silver King Mine. Valued for Customs Entry : Silver, $61,501; copper, $13,688 ; total, $75,189. The Manager writes : "In some cases the value realized exceeded the estimated values, in others it was below." Last Chance Mine. Amount shipped, 80 tons; on hand, 30 tons ; total 17 110 tons mlued at $8,000; less cost of mining, freight and duty, $ 1,21 m I; "net value, $6,800. Good Enough Mike, The owner writes: "Shipped 35 tons to Grreat Falls. Returns amounted to $8,037.82, leaving a profit over all expenses of a little over $5^500." Alphan Mine. The 1,000 tons of ore shipped contained 105 ounces of silver and 64 per cent, of lead to the ton, and netted to the owners .about $55 per ton. Ruth Mine. Assays on samples from shipments give from 130 ounces to 374 ounces,of silver and 20 per cent. lead. Previous shipments run from 11$ ounces to 130 ounces in sliver and 73 to 79 per cent, in lead. Pilot Bay Smelter Returns. The ore stack was put to blast on March 16, and\, with occasional stoppages, has produced up to the end of June, 1,840 tons of silver lead bullion. $0* Table of Ore Exported as declared to H. M. Customs for year ending •June 30, 1895 s Station. Tons. Value. Nelgon Revelstojke. Kaslo Rossland... "VVaneta— Totals. $186,382 .637,744 178,340 180,770 308,625 ,491,811 MINING RECORDS From June 1, 1894, to May 31, 1£95 Place. Claims Recorded. Assessments. Crown Grants Issued. Nelson Kaslo and Ainsworth New Denver 'Frail Creek <5roat River Totals 5 116 312 335 664 39 1,466 102 351 410 74 52 989 4 6 12 8 0 30 1 88 Qj CD <£ § CD ,_j 88 a co d Si CPC3 ^SK CO CD cl^ S* tT" H— 9 P ^ GQco p g M O P ?N d >- ST 5^ * "-* 1—' CD CD 88 co <-i " p c'd OSS: || ^D CO ^d.*r-K i 8? 0 ■c+:-co- &d ^ d: 3 I d a • 85 £S 5:0 i co O p d <-t- -• 0)- o. d I p Is ^ J—'• 2 « CD O .d O CD d CO d o cr CD CO » O co d 5T ® ct- ^ o 2. ^ p CD *< d* ^ d d' ^ d p CD >-" ^M C P CD co 3 O co Bo' i o d. d d cdoq m, ..wh.mii, ail if iw annum miruiaM 1 1 in 11 i.ul.i«.i».i>mi»i»-..i /\ #li8°'fc Longitudes Vifest from Greeft^dch ll?° £ ^Beaver Mouta#w»#fcu <k 2 MO POOLE BROS-, |EJfl3R'S, CHICAGO. -fg? 49 m I—1 co cy CD ►d CD B CO 03 O d o - Ms d" CD Q d 93 p.i 93 d . It 93 d5 o § 93 1-1. I—J I 93 o O >0 03- B SOUTHERN MINERAL BELT OF B. C. Being a Series of Letters From the Special Correspondent of "The Miner," Written in July, 1895. ROSSLAND. In September of 1894 a few people interested in mining had heard of Rossland, and under the name of Trail Creek the camp in which the town is situated had for some time attracted the attention of wide awale men in West Kootenay ; but in September, when a friend of ours arrived there were only four houses in the place. To-day Rossland has an estimated population of from 1,200 to 1,500 inhabitants; it is not easy to rent hotel space for your blankets, the hotels send away they say nearly 100 would-be customers a day, and enough new hotels and boarding houses are going up to make it worth the while of a first class furnishing firm to go in, take up their contracts and establish a place of business in the town. Such a firm is now making arrangements for a house to be put up within a fortnight. This all results from the development of the mineral belt in which Rossland is situated and not (men claim) from town site booming. The fact that about 50 four-horse teams are at work daily upon the road between Rossland and Trail, and that the recorder records from 18 to 20 claims per diem, show that the activity at Rossland is very genuine. Since September, 1894, 240,000 acres have been taken up and the War Eagle mine alone has put out 4,210 tons of ore and paid $84,000 in. dividends to her lucky purchasers. This is a very pretty return so far from a mine which is said to have cost about $23,000 and upon which up to date less than another $60,000 has been expended, especially when it is remembered that the owners of the War Eagle are not ''gutting" their property, but are doing a lot of dead work all the time, in order to keep a reserve of gold ore always in sight. It is said upon good authority that the mine has 1% millions of ore in sight at the present moment and the last report current when we left Rossland was that a new strike had been made in the west shaft of the War Eagle, consisting of a foot of arsenical vein, nearly as white and as heavy as iron carrying $1,400 in gold to the ton, and running through a 19 foot vein of ordinary War Eagle ore. The report was very general and may be true, but it is fair to say that we could not get any authority for publishing it as a fact and, therefore, only give it for what it is worth. Another report circulating through the camp, which we have every reason to believe was well founded, was to the effect that Mr. Drumheller had struck 12 feet of 3 20 rich ore upon his claim, the Alberta on Columbia Mountain, for which he is said to have paid $1,000 a short time ago. No wonder whilst such things are happening —whilst the mountains all round echo with blasting—while Billy Lynch, the lucky prospector, smiles his $50,000 smile on his less fortunate associates, while men see the great wagons loading up all day with ore, no wonder, I say, if the camp is jubilant. You have to get outside of Rossland before you can hope to form any fair estimate of what it all means and of how great is the measure of her success. The cold facts appear to be that Rossland is the centre of the first serious attempt to develop a portion of a great mineral belt now well known and recognized as extending for a hundred miles at least through the southern portion of B. C. That British Columbia "has not begun to be properly prospected" is the verdict of the men who have done most prospecting here and there can be no doubt that even less capital so far has been expended in development than energy in prospecting. Slocan has been lucky in securing a large portion of the capital so far spent. Rossland is having the next turn, and, like her predecessor, she is proving daily how she can repay all the energy and money which has been spent upon her, but neither she nor the Slocan has a tithe of the capital required to do justice to their mineral deposits or to enable men to reap the harvests which they offer. It is still the day of small things in both camps and there is still an enormous amount to be done in each of them. The big men are really hardly in yet. Too many of the buyers are still middle men ; gentlemen come in who with a blast of trumpets bond properties in the hope of selling them again to real capitalists who can work them. If they sell and sell to men who mean mining it is all right. Too often they only tie up properties and retard the growth of the country. It is not then to be wondered at that at present there are only four mines really shipping from Rossland ; the War Eagle, the Le Roi, the Josie and the North Star. The wonder in any other country would be that placed as they are there should be so many mines, so far prospected and doing so much shipping as they are now doing, for it must be remembered that though the Homestake was found in May* 1890, the Lillie May on the 27fch of the same month, the War Eagle, Le Roi and Josie in July, 1890, the camp was left dormant until the fall of last year. Speaking broadly, the Rossland or Trail Creek camp is a camp of smelting ores,- the gangue is quartz, the capping, which varies in thickness from inches to 12 and 14 feet, is an iron capping, and the mineral pyritic iron carrying from $30 in gold and a percentage of copper. There are two or three free milling properties within the limits of the camp; one of which, the O. K., has a five stamp mill at work upon it, and there are properties, like the Commander, 2>% miles east of* Rossland, which carry a large percentage of copper, but these are not typical of the camp. To speak more particularly of the camp, it may be divided into the Red Mountain division, northwest of the town, in which are the principal mines at present—War Eagle, Le Roi, Josie and Cliff (all shipping mines); the Nickel Plate, which has shipped, but is I fancy now shut down, the owners having trouble with their water and being at the moment engaged in a transfer of their property ; the Gertrude, Surprise, Centre Star, Iron Mask and a number of other claims which are being converted from mere prospects into more or less developed properties. North of the camp is Monte Christo Mountain, upon which the principal properties are the Monte Christo claim, in which over 16 feet of solid ore has 21 already been uncovered without finding foot wall; the Enterprise and the Iron Horse (also showing big bodies of ore)and the Georgia. My informants agree that the ore on this mountain was similar to that upon Red Mountain, but of somewhat lower grade, but like all the ore in this camp, improved in quality as it went down. ilil' - * Columbia Mountain is northeast of the town. Upon it are located the Columbia, from which it takes its name; the Kootenay, with a 40 foot ledge of iron pyrites, carrying, they claim, from 2 to ||§ ounces in gold and 3% per cent, copper to the ton; the Tip Top; the North Star which has just begun to ,ship; Belle and the Alberta, which has already been mentioned above. In the hollow at the foot of the Columbia Mountain Mr. W. Lynch recently located the Commander, the ledge of which he found showing a few inches above water in a swamp. Having drained the swamp he uncovered a property showing a high percentage of copper, which he has bonded for $50,000. Lynch is probably one of the luckiest (or best?) prospectors in the country, having already located several valuable mines, amongst others the Washington in the Slocan country. Deerpark Mountain lies to the southwest and is remarkable for carrying some galena, but as yet, though good rock has been brought from it, very little development has been done upon it West of the town lies Spokane Mountain, round the base of which lie the free milling properties, the O. K. and 1XL. Very little has been done on the mountain itself. So much for the mountains. As to the men who are developing them, it must be admitted that they are nearly all Americans. Possibly the leading spirit in camp at present is Mr. John M. Burke, who once ran for the governorship of Idaho and who is now said to own the Great Western, the Golden Chariot, the Ottawa, Key West, Le Roi, etc. The War Eagle is the property of a Spokane company, the Le Roi is also owned by a Spokane company, and I was informed that men from Butte were buying or had bought other important claims. Is it not time that some British capital should be invested in what seems likely to turn out one of the best paying districts in British Columbia ? CAMP MoKINNEY. McKmney is at the top of a mountain 28 miles from Fairview and is an old camp revived, in which at present; everything seems to depend upon the success of the one great mine, the Cariboo, now being operated and likely to be sold by its present owners, the Cariboo Milling, Mining and Smelting Company, to a Butte company represented by Colonel Doyle. That is, I think, a fairly accurate if rough summary of the position at McKinley. That there is a very large quantity of valuable mining property in the immediate vicinity of the Cariboo there is no doubt, and this will probably be bought and developed as soon as one big company gets in and shows the way. But at present the only mine doing anything is the Cariboo, a free milling proposition, upon which a 10-stamp mill has been at work for about a year and in which Colonel Doyle is now employing about 35 men in sinking. The Cariboo is bonded to the people whom Colonel Doyle represents and will be bought if the ore maintains its character to the depth of 200 feet. The shaft is down 146 feet and the colonel himself said that it seemed to improve as it went down. The mill is going night and day, the men working in eight hour shifts, and the ore which they mill returns $18 to the ton in gold. A good deal of work has been done outside of the Caribou In the Alice and 22 Emma there is a shaft 67 feet deep and many other claims have holes in them over 20 feet deep. The Anarchist mountain, near Camp McKinney, is a district full of promises, any work done upon it resulting in excellent showings, but at present, with the exception of the Butte company, represented by Colonel Doyle, and a representative of the Standard Oil Company, there are as far as we could learn no buyers in camp yet. The character of the ore (free milling and the practical results of the development of the Cariboo mine should do much to attract capitalists* to the district, and no doubt will do so as soon as the results of Colonel Doyle's experiment are published. It is creditably reported that Mr. Monahan and his colleagues have made in one year out of the Cariboo its working expenses, original cost, the price of their 10-stamp mill and its freight to McKinney (no slight sum that last) and a very comfortable cheque for pocket money besides, and that the mine is now bonded for $175,000; but this is only hearsay evidence. What we know of our own knowledge is that this one mine is very busy and that, as usual in British Columbia, there are practically no English or Canadians in it. The Americans are not only conquering Kootenay but acquiring British Columbia. It is rather funny to see the facts on the mountain and hear the fancies on the coast. *" FAIRVIEW. i 'II This camp is an extraordinary instance of miners luck—bad luck, unfortunately, at present, though it would only take a very little to make everything at Fair- view as rosy as men could wish. They have the ore, they have the men, they have not the money too. It is the capital to develope which is wanted, for which they have been waiting now for seven or eight years. At present there are only from 35 to 40 men in camp, and yet the discovery of Messrs. Sheehan and Gwatkin's claim dates back to 1888 and there is one developed mine now showing enough free milling ore to keep a 30-stamp mill going for 4 or 5 years treating 50 tons a day, This is McEachran and Mangott's property, known as the Morning Star. It is the old British Columbian story at Fairview. The men who have found and are trying to develope the claims are poor men, who have no means of getting capital in. A strange feature in our country is this, whereas an American, no matter what his reputation is or how stone broke he may be, can invariably go back east and get all the capital he wants, a Britisher cannot do so. Local capital does not exist, except in the hands cf one or two men, whose names are almost unknown off Vancouver Island, who o we every thing to the Province and to whom the Province is never likely to owe anything, and English capital will not come into a country which men fresh from home assert is lookedupon with the greatest possible distrust. How is this state of things to be mended? It is no good to sit upon our beam enls and wait for our minerals to develope themselves. It is a miserably weak thing to depend on our neighbours to develope them and hand over our country to their keeping. There is only one chance for British Columbia. Let our moneyed men take the trouble to visit our mining districts and if there is an opportunity for making money by developing prospects let them show their confidence in B. C. by investing in a business which will remunerate them and help the country, and let our politicians squander no more money upon empty show, but spend every penny they can scrape together in trails for the prospector, roads for the miner, and an energetic attempt through well chosen channels will make British Columbia known in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and such places as these. It is, we believe, the truth which mining men of the greatest 23 experience have spoken over and over again: "There never was a mining country on the whole of God's earth so rich as B. C. and a terrible boom must come here some day," but we cannot live upon hope and we have had enough of borrowing. The presence of men like Col. Baker and Mr. Eberts in the country is a hopeful sign. If we only get men like them and get them often enough and keep them working, we can well afford to be content. But the mining field of B. C. is so wide that it will keep them on the move from one end of the year to the other if they would leave no place like Fairview unvisited. The principal properties in and around Fairview are the properties of the Stratheyre Mining Company (Brown Bear Etc.); the Morning Star, owned by G. McEachran and Mangott; the Stemwinder, owned by Sheehan and Gwatkins; the Sunny Glen, owned by Elliott, and the Sunflower, owned (we think) by Gwatkin. The Stratheyre Company has a 10-stamp mill and some very fine buildings (rather too fine for smelting to my mind) on their property and have run for a considerable time but have now closed down. There are plenty of men ready to tell you why, but it is better to hear as I did that the owners have recently visited their property and announced their intention of reopening at once. The Morning Star, found 6 years ago by the present owners, is a fine body of free milling quartz, milling from $15 to $20 to the ton. By steady work the owners have made a mine of their prospect, on which they have now two parallel ledges uncovered, a shaft 85 feet deep and another 75 deep. The ledges are on opposite sides of the gully and the owners intend, when they have gone deep enough, to connect the two shafts by a cross cot. The width of the ore body is from 10 to 12 feet and it is satisfactory to learn that though the owners had to pay $50 per month for the use of the company's mill they have made quite a bit of money for themselves. The Stemwinder, higher up the gully, is similar in character to the Morning Star and like the Star has had a good deal of work done on it by the men who have held on to it so long. There is a shaft now in the lead 50 feet deep and a .tunnel 110 feet. The ledge is about 5 feet wide and runs about $6.50 in gold. The Smuggler, some little distance from Fairview, is a smelting property, the rock averaging over $100. It was not easy to obtain very full particulars as to this claim as we had not time to visit it, but it has been worked steadily since I came and Mr. Elliott informed us that he had been guaranteed $85 per ton free of smelting charges by the smelters at Tacoma and Everett. Of the Sunflower, we only saw the assays of Mr. S. A. Guest, from which it would appear that there is good rock in the claim (one mile east of Fairview.) The assays showed $35.14 in gold and $51.08 in silver. If we might venture to do so we should suggest that an early visit be paid to Fairview by any of those who are politically interested in the camp. It is worth seeing and its support worth having and it is not only rich in ore but in discontent with political friends just now. Would not a mining commission, to visit and report upon every camp in the country, be almost worth the money spent upon it. |8|§"'';" .'"'•."■ 'M '". ■ ROCK. CREEK. '■■'■■-' Rock Creek is a place of Chinamen and old memories. It was quite a place at one time, and now and again some one finds diggings which pay well for a month or two but no one is'doing very much there at present. The only work which 24 is being done upon a big scale is being done by Chinese, the stores are kept by them* and they are all so infernally saucy that I heard one of them attribute canine ancestors to a white miner without getting his head punched. Up the creek a company of white men is sinking for bed rock, and though they have gone far without finding what they are looking for, they are working with that old bulldog tenacity which may win them a big reward. I hope it may. But the hope of Rock Creek seems to me to be in the chance of finding the quartz from which the gold has come and this cannot be far distant. All the gold which we saw in the Chinese stores was not only coarse heavy gold, but was peculiarly rough and uneven as if it had not long left the matrix. As there are parties of prospectors all over the hills up Rock Creek, and elsewhere and as we heard of men who were preparing to put in a solid summer some 80 miles up Kettle River, we may yet hear of something better than $3 diggings from this district before 1896. The quartz which supplied the gold of Rock Creek's early days would be worth finding. If The Miner took any interest in fishing or farming or even big game shooting, I could tell a story which would paint Rock Creek in rosy colours but I know that The Miner is narrow minded. 1 am afraid it cares nothing for anything but mines and miners and has a most pernicious habit of minding its own business. So on these subjects I am silent. BOUNDARY FALLS, Ir -. Rossland has such attractions of its own, is so thoroughly alive and well advertised that it must be a strong camp indeed that can attract men from the city of Trail Creek. And yet any one who walks from Trail to Boundary will not find that he has the road to himself. Men are pouring into the Boundary Creek country in a steady stream, although it is still far from railways and there are three high rivers and a bad trail between it and Trail Creek. Men have heard of the huge bodies of ore at Boundary and though they cannot be expected to believe all they have heard, they have heard enough to make them anxious to go in and see for themselves. Among the men who have done their best to advertise the country to the outside world is Mr. Suydam, a man known in many camps outside of British Columbia, and amongst those who have been in to see for themselves are representatives of the Parrot Mining Company of Butte; Mr. Largee, banker of Butte ; men from Minneapolis, Chicago and elsewhere. Of these who went in doubt a large number have not only returned in faith but have bought largely as a proof of that faith. To get down at once to details. The camp itself is divided into half a dozen camps or more, lying within a radius of (say) 10 miles from Boundary Falls, and consists of large deposits of red oxide of copper, copper glance and native copper, in what is known as Copper camp; high grade galena, carrying gold, at Skylark camp; copper sulphides carrying gold at Deadwood; sulphides carrying gold, copper and iron, at Greenwood; free milling ore, and refractory ores, carrying gold, silver and copper at White Allwoods and Douglas camps and free milling ore at the Gold Drop camp. A great deal of the ore of the districts so closely resembles Trail Creek ore that even experts cannot tell them apart, and like the Trail Creek mines the character of the deposits found at Boundary is that they improve with depth. But the feature of Boundary Creek ledges is their enormous size. Even the local boomers, if there are such people, have to be content with the bulk, nay more, they diminish instead of increasing the width of their veins. They dare not tell strangers what they have; they would rather that strangers went in and looked for themselves. We were persuaded to visit the Snowshoe claim, the property of a Mr. Denzler and others, and to take a tape with us. It must be clearly under- 2£ stood that the information collected in this article, though collected with che greatest care from the most reliable sources available, had to be obtained in many instances at second hand. Our authorities were Mr. W. Gibbs, the gold assayer; Mr. Suydam, Mr. Kendell, Mr. Denzler and one of the owners of the Copper camp. These men all agreed in the main and we have taken the lowest estimate given by any of them as the basis of our report, and in addition to that made a personal inspection of the Greenwood camp. As no one knew which camp we meant to visit and as the report concerning this camp was proved to be accurate and as assays shown us further bore out statements made to us* it seems fair to conclude that the other subdivisions of the camp not actually seen by us were fairly and honestly reported by our informants. The Green- Wood camp lies in a deposit of refractory concentrating ore, easily treated and concentrating 7 to (I It is stated that Prof. Courtis gets from concentrates in this camp $620 per ton. The capping in the camp is iron, the mineral resembles that found at Rossland, containing lime, iron, silica, sulphur, copper, silver and gold though there is so little silver in most of the claims that no assays are made for it;, the ore is generally oxidized on the surface and in some places to a depth of 7 feet; the gangue is principally quartz and the assays of fair average rock run from $3 to $32 per ton in gold and from a to 10 per cent, in copper on the top, but here as elsewhere in the belt it is an almost invariable rule that the ore improves as you go down. The Greenwood claims lie in a narrow, timbered valley to the west of which lie the Nob Hill, Ironsides, Brooklyn, Phoenix and Stem- winder; on the east, the Monarch, Rawhide and Snowshoe. There are, of course, a lot of others, but these are the principal clrims at present. The Stem- winder, which was the first we visited, has been bought, together with its neighbour the Phoenix, by the Parrot Mining and Smelting Company of Butte, Montana. In the shaft, at a depth of 28 feet, the ore assays from $5 to $50 in gold (assays have been obtained showing as much as $139, but no one pretends that this was fair sample rock) and from 2 to 23 per cent, copper. On the Snow- shoe, we were told that ditches or crosscuts had been cut 70 or 80 feet long, all in solid ore. The Writer himself \ measured one over 110 feet in which ore or croppings of ore could be traced for the entire length, honest measurement. There are on this claim, which I take as a type of the field, three ledges certain and one suspected, all running S. S. W., as do the ledges generally in this country. The assays, according to the owner, Mr. Denzler, run from $3 to $32 in gold and 6 per cent, in copper on the top, and I should like to say for Mr. Denzler that I never saw a man more anxious to give a conservative estimate of everything connected with his own claim to which he has stuck and upon which he has worked through good and bad times alike since 1891. It seems to me that if British Columbia ever becomes a prosperous country, with a small debt and light taxes, she will owe it to men like Mr. Denzler at Greenwood, and McEachran and Mangott at Fairview, and a score of men of their kind who first find their prize in earth's wildest corners and then stick to it and put the best years of their life and bone and muscle not easily matched into a hole in the ground- waiting year after year with magnificent patience for the reward of their labours. Of the other camps I have not room to speak in detail. In Summit camp the ore does not run so high as in Greenwood, but is of the same general character. The Parrot Mining Company of Butte owns five claims here and is developing them. In one of them a shaft has been sunk 80 feet with a cross cut of 30 feet, showing ore all the way. White's camp has a lot of work done upon it. In the City of Paris there is a 16 foot body of ore showing, and a shaft sunk 67 feet %u 26 proves the old rule that the lower they go the better the ore becomes. Eighteen dollars in gold, 7 or 8 per cent, in copper and 20 ounces of silver is the record ©f this camp. On the Skylark they claim 70 foot of ore, going 200 ounces in silver and 1 ounce in gold. Seventy tons have been shipped from here to Tacoma. The Copper camp is a huge deposit of red oxide of copper, m which they have a body 70 feet wide showing in one place This ore assays 5 to 53 per cent, copper and 14 ounces in silver, and reliable witnesses assert that there are hundreds of tons lying on the dump which will go 30 per cent, in copper. And so the story goes, but the trouble is that though the ore is rich ana in those enormous bodies which most tempt the big capitalists, nothing can be done with it by the present owners until a railway comes along. Marcus is the nearest railway point and that is 65 miles away; there are no mills or concentrators or capital to build any. The ore is there and magnificent water power and just enough big mining men are buying in the country to give the plucky prospectors hope, but prospects are still cheap at Boundary Falls, cheaper probably by 50 per cent, than at Rossland. % There is only one favour which Boundary Falls asks of the monied men and that is to come in themselves with the best experts they e*n find and decide for themselves whether any part of the world offers better opportunities for the profitable investment of capital than their own camp. The principal free milling propositions near Boundary Falls are either in White's camp, in which several runs of rich, free milling ore occur, or in the Gold Drop camp. In White's camp the free ore veins average about 1 foot in width and run all the way from $5 to $100 a ton in gold. In Gold Drop the ore ranges from $20 to $80 per ton, but comparatively little is yet known of this camp, in which fresh strikes are being made daily. One word in conclusion. Boundary and Boundary Falls are not the same thing; they are four miles apart. One is a town site, the other a camp. Boundary, or Midway, is the town site. Ibuoeon's JBa^ do., m NELSON, B. C„ 4 re prepared to supply Stores, Hotels, Mines, Miners, Prospectors and all Con- sumers with the Best Brands of A le, Beer, Cigars, Groceries, Liquors, Wines, Etc, BANK OF BRITISH COLUMBIA . (Incorporated by Royal Charter, 1862.) CAPITAL (paid up), £600,000 . $2,920,00 (With power to increase ) RESERVE FUND, £ 60,000 . . 1,265,33' Corner of Baker and Stanley street s Canada—Victoria, Vancouver, New Westminster, Nanaimo and Karaloops. United States—San Francisco, Portland, Tacrma, and Seattle. HEAD OFFICE: 60 Lombard street, LONDON, England. AGENTS AND CORRESPONDENTS: CANADA—Canadian Bank of Commerce and branches; Merchants' Bank of Canada and branches; Imperial Bank of Canada and branches; Molson's Bank and branches; Bank Nova Scotia UNITED STATES—Agents Canadian^Bahk of Commerce, New YorK Bank of Nova Scotia and First National Bank, Chicago. Exchange and Old National Banks, Spokane GRANGE V. HOLT, Manager, Nelson. C. GampDBll-JoIms Mem. Inst. Mining and Metallurgy. Mem. Fed. Inst. Min. Engineers. Fonr Years' Experience + -h + + in British Columbia. Mining Engineer and Metallurgist, VANCOUVER, B. O. W. A. JOWETT. Mining and Real Estate Broker, Insurance and Commission Agent, VICTORIA ST., NELSON, B. C. Gold and Silver Properties for Sale. Hall Mines Co. L'd Shares for Sale. Cable Address : **Jowett" Nelson. ABC. Code, 4th Edition of Moreing & Neal's New General and Mining Code Used. PARTX.V «£■(>▲ Canadian Pacific Railway Co. THE ONLY DIRECT ROUTE TO AND FROM THE FAR FAMED Kootenay and Cariboo MINING DISTRICTS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY COMPANY (The World's Highway from the Atlantic to the Pacific.) IS THE MOST SOLIDLY CONSTRUCTED AND BEST EQUIPPED Transcontinental Route. Unequalled First Class and Tourist Sleeping Cars On All Trams. For Full Particulars, Pamphlets, Rates of Fare, Etc,, apply to the nearest Canadian Pacific Railway Agent, or to D. McXICOLL. ROBERT KERR, ARCHER BAKER, General Passenger Agent, General Passenger Agent, European Traffic Manager, Montreal, Que. Winnipeg, Man. 67 and 68 King William St., London, E. C, GEO. McL. BROWN, District Passenger Agent, Vancouver, B. C. II. E. MACDONEIiL, Travelling Passenger Agent, Nelson, B. C.
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Original Format: University of British Columbia. Library. Rare Books and Special Collections. F5848.K6 S15
Mines and mineral resources--British Columbia
Mines and mineral resources
British Columbia
The Kootenay mines. A sketch of their progress condition to-day
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