Texada Island is situated in the Straits of Georgia, between Vancouver Island and the Mainland, and is 27 miles in length, and has an extreme breadth of a little more than five miles. Exploratory work has been conducted at intervals for many years, prospecting being chiefly confined to the northern portion of the Island; but it was not until about four years ago that mining operations were commenced extensively on systematic lines. The result of these development has been generally satisfactory. The geological formations in the present productive area are very similar to those of the West Coast of Vancouver Island, but the gold values are considerably higher, averaging from $8 to $9 per ton, and in individual cases often considerably higher. From the town of Van Anda northwards the principal ore deposits are copper carbonates and bornite, and in the Copper Queen mine, one of the Van Anda group, at the 400-foot level averages $25 per ton in value. This mine has been opened up to a depth of 500 feet, and the adjacent mine, the Cornell, owned by the same company, to about 200 feet. Previous to the erection of a smelter of 50 tons capacity, in 1890 (increased last year to 75 tons), the ore was sent to Swansea, Wales, for treatment. Last year 8,000 tons of ore of the exceptional high grade above mentioned were matted locally. The smelter returns from June to December, 1899, were as follows : Total ore smelted, 4,133 tons, yielding 442,006 lbs. fine caper, 9,528 oz. fine silver, and 1,440 oz. gold; total value $99,484.08. In addition to the Van Anda company's properties, the Marble Bay mine is now entering the productive stage. The important iron occurrences on the west coast of Texada Island are worth more than passing reference.
The property, comprising 2,700 acres of land, on which the iron in the form of magnetite occurs, was purchased by the Puget Sound Iron Company some thirty years ago. For a period the ore was mined and turned to commercial uses. Operations were, however, discontinued until
quite lately, when it was decided to resume upon a far more considerable scale. The deposits are said to be traceable for four miles, following the coast line, from which they are distant from a quarter to three-quarters of a mile. The development to date has exposed 8,000,000 tons of ore, which is remarkably free from impurities. The output of the Van Anda mines for 1900 was 7,054 tons, an increase of over 100 per cent. on the 1899 returns.
Mount Sicker
The Mount Sicker mining area lies about six miles distant from tidal water, on the east coast of Vancouver Island, south of the Chemainus River, and at about an equal distance from Westholme Station, on the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway. On the south slope of the mountain, the altitude of which is 2,000 feet above sea level, are located what are at present regarded, in consequence of their development, as the most important mines-the Lenora and the Tyee, the former of which has been productive for over a year past. The locality was first prospected In 1896, but, though the indications were favorable, it was not until 1899 that serious mining commenced.
The result of operations in 1900 was such as to justify in the most satisfactory manner the earlier high expectations entertained concerning the extent and value of the ore deposits of this area, The Lenora mine, which is owned by a private syndicate, is under the management of Mr. Henry Croft, and is producing at the rate of about a thousand tons of ore monthly, from which smelter returns have been received showing the consignments to yield in value from $20 to $30 per ton, copper and gold being the principal constituents, though occasionally exceptionally high silver values are obtained. The width of the ore body varies from 3 feet 6 inches to 20 feet. The ore is very uniform in value, and consists of about 22 per cent. iron and 24 per cent. silica, with chaleopyrite. Mining is economically conducted, as the country rock, consisting of mica, talcose and graphite schists, is exceptionally soft. The Lenora mine is worked by means of tunnels, Nos. 1 and 2 of which have been driven 1,000 and 600 feet respectively. Last year a three-foot-gauge railway was built from the mine to Westholme Station, at a cost of $45,000, and is used for the transport of ore, which is trans-shipped to the smelter at Tacoma. To March 23, 1901, the Lenora mine shipped 11,867 tons, the value of which, according to smelter returns, was $175,831.42.
Another important mine is the Tyee, which will shortly enter the pro ductive stage. This property adjoins the Lenora on the east, and is owned by the Tyee Copper Company, of London, England, which commenced operations on July 1, 1900, but prior to this time the mine had been exploited by the Tyee Development Company. The main workings consist of two shafts, the deepest of which is 200 feet, from which crosscuts in several directions have been driven. The ore bodies are the same as those found on the Lenora; and in the crosscuts to the north at the 160 and 200-foot levels the ore was encountered and proved to be about 16 feet wide. The mine is equipped with two 50-horse-power boilers, a hoisting engine and a three-drill compressor. Other promising claims in the same locality arc the Copper Canyon group, the Fortuna, the Queen Bess, the Botha and the Mona. The country rock in this district is a quartzite schist. The ore occurs as bedded lenticular veins, lying parallel and conformable with ten enclosing schists, and occupying fissures and bulges in them. The lode matter consists of a quartz gangue, usually dark-blue in color, carrying chalcopyrite and iron pyrites with gold values, and are thoroughly typical ores of their class, not likely to present any difficulties in
treatment by ordinary methods.
Goldstream
Goldstream was erstwhile, in the early sixties, the scene of a placer mining excitement on a small scale; but, except in one instance, enterprise on these lines has entirely ceased. Interest was again directed to the locality, however, in 1896 by the discovery of copper deposits on Mount Skirt, eleven miles from Victoria. The properties, consisting of five claims, were acquired by the Ralph Mining Co., and since development work on a more or less extensive scale has been in progress. The ore is a chalcopyrite, carrying, in addition to copper, small gold values. Several hundred tons have been extracted in the course of development, but it is doubtful whether shipments could be profitably made, the successful operation of the mines depending on the establishment of a matting plant in the immediate vicinity.