Mineral Products and
Their Uses
The Foreland and Omineca belts are underlain by cratonic rocks of the
ancient Canadian Shield and overlain by material deposited as a result of three main
episodes of rifting (fractures in the earth's crust). These episodes created basins into
which thick wedges of sediment were deposited.
The initial event, some 1,200 million years ago (Middle Proterozoic
time), produced sedimentary sequences many kilometres thick. Sediments from this time host
the world class
Sullivan
lead-zinc-silver sedimentary exhalative (sedex) deposit in southeastern British Columbia.
Some 700 million years ago (Late Proterozoic time), a second rifting
event occurred along the length of the Cordillera. Volcanic debris in the sediments
provides evidence of associated explosive volcanic activity.
A major episode of metal enrichment accompanied the third (mid-Devonian
to early Mississippian) rifting event about 380 to 350 million years ago. This led to the
formation of barite-lead-zinc-silver deposits (sedex type) in the Selwyn Basin and the
Kechika Trough (WHIP! viewer required). One such deposit, the
Cirque
(Stronsay) deposit in northern British Columbia, has been approved for mine
development. Others are at an advanced stage of exploration and new discoveries have
recently been made. In the Rocky Mountains, carbonate rocks of similar age host lead-zinc
deposits (Mississippi Valley-type).
The younger, mainly volcanic rocks of the Intermontane and Insular belts
were attached to the western edge of the continent 160 to 60 million years ago. The
granitic rocks of the Coast belt were formed during these activities.
The Intermontane, Insular and Coast belts host polymetallic massive
sulphide, porphyry, skarn, and mesothermal vein type deposits.
Massive sulphide type deposits have been an important source of British
Columbia's production of copper, zinc and silver. They remain favourite exploration
targets because they are multi-element and can be very rich. The high grade
Eskay
Creek gold-silver deposit, for example, discovered in 1988 in the north-western part
of the province has sparked exploration interest in finding other examples of this
relatively unique type of deposit.
Very large, porphyry type, copper-molybdenum and copper-gold deposits
produce most of the province's copper, all the molybdenum and significant amounts of gold
and silver.
Significant copper, gold and iron production has been obtained from
skarn type deposits.
Gold vein deposits have been mined along the length of the North
American Cordillera from Cassiar in the north to Bralorne in south and to the Mother Lode
district of northern California.
Coal occurs in younger sedimentary basins in all the tectonic belts. The
most important in terms of production and size are the Rocky Mountain coalfields in the
Foreland Belt.
There are significant investment opportunities in British Columbia's
mineral sector.
Our vast land base, favourable geology and abundant mineral resources
hold promise for the discovery of new mines. New technology and an improved geological
database are the keys to unlocking the mysteries of areas previously explored and modern
approaches will lead to new and unexpected discoveries.
British Columbia's exceptional geoscience database is continually being
updated and is readily available at low costs.
Recent new legislation and tax incentives highlight the government's
commitment to the mineral sector. A large percentage of the land base has now been zoned
for land use and most of it is open for mining and exploration.
Other opportunities include development of new markets and new products,
particularly for structural materials and industrial and "high-technology"
minerals.
BC Mineral
Potential
Copper has long been a mainstay of the province's metal mining industry.
Significant copper production dates from the turn of the century.
In 1963, the development of the
Bethlehem
porphyry copper mine in the Highland Valley southwest of Kamloops heralded a wave of
exploration and mine development throughout the province. The Highland Valley has been the
province's leading copper-producing district since the opening of the
Lornex
mine in 1972. As a result of exploration and development in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1990's,
open-pit mining of porphyry deposits accounts for almost 90 per cent of British Columbia's
copper production and all of the molybdenum production.
The other important source of copper is volcanogenic massive sulphide
deposits which also contain gold, silver, lead and zinc.
In recent years copper has vied with coal as the most important mineral
commodity mined in British Columbia.
Copper production in 1998 is forecast to total 277.1 million kilograms
and came from the mines listed in Table 1.
The lion's share of the copper production comes from the
Highland
Valley copper mine which is one of the largest operations in the world.
Production at the
Kemess
South deposit began in May 1998 and estimated annual copper production is expected to
be 27,220 kilograms.
A number of porphyry copper deposits are in the advanced exploration
stage, including
Prosperity
(Fish Lake),
Mt.
Milligan and
Red
Chris. The
Tulsequah
Chief copper-lead-zinc-silver-gold deposit in northwest British Columbia received
Environmental Assessment approval in 1998 and is poised for development.
There are currently more than 100 known undeveloped deposits in the
province that contain copper resources (data from MINFILE) and exploration continues to locate
new mines. The
Kemess
porphyry copper-gold deposit in northeastern BC, for example, was discovered in 1983 under
3 to 24 metres of till.
The use of solution extraction electrowinning (SX-EW) technology to
recover copper from low-grade copper resources is a relatively new innovation for British
Columbia and promises to become increasingly important. This process is currently utilized
at the
Gibraltar
mine to produce 2,300 tonnes of cathode copper annually from low-grade stockpiles and
waste dumps. A number of other lower grade deposits in the province could become
economically attractive because of SX-EW technology.
The potential for other types of copper deposits exists throughout the
province, including basaltic copper, sediment-hosted copper and copper-nickel deposits. To
date, no large basaltic copper deposits have been mined in British Columbia. However, the
Sustut
deposit in the northern part of the province has geological reserves estimated at 50
million tonnes with a grade of 1.25 per cent copper. There are also a number of
sediment-hosted copper-silver deposits, including the Troy mine in neighbouring Montana,
which are hosted by rock units that extend into British Columbia.
Nearly eighty per cent of the gold production in BC has come from
mesothermal veins, epithermal veins and skarns. Veins and skarns were the major source of
gold until the development of porphyry deposits in the early 1970s. Annual gold output
subsequently increased steadily until 1991 when it hit a 3-year decline. In 1995 the
annual gold output increased due, in part, to the production of gold as a by-product from
newly developed porphyry copper mines. The increase was also due to production from
several epithermal and mesothermal veins and the very rich
Eskay
Creek massive sulphide deposit in northwestern British Columbia.
Mesothermal veins continue to be an important source of gold. Recovery
from volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits accounts for less than 10 per cent of historic
gold production, but this proportion has recently increased due to the output from the
Eskay
Creek mine.
Production in 1998 totalled 21.7 million grams from the mines listed in Table 2.
The
Quesnel
River (QR) mine closed in March 1998 due to high production costs and low gold prices.
Production at the
Kemess
South porphyry deposit began in May 1998 with estimates indicating an annual gold
production of 7,775 kilograms.
New gold production will come from mining the next generation of
porphyry copper deposits. Many contain significant quantities of gold; for example,
Red
Chris,
Prosperity
(Fish Lake) and
Mt.
Milligan. Development of volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits, such as the
Tulsequah
Chief will also contribute to the province's gold output.
There are currently more than 100 known undeveloped deposits in the
province that contain gold resources (data from MINFILE).
Mesothermal and epithermal veins continue to attract exploration and
development interest, including
Specogna
(Cinola),
Blackdome,
Bralorne
and Polaris-Taku.
At the Harmony Gold [Specogna
(Cinola)] project on Graham Island, Queen Charlotte Islands, a geological
re-interpretation of the host volcanic complexes has identified many new exploration
targets.
The potential for low grade, large tonnage gold deposits, like Fort
Knox, Alaska and Dublin Gulch in the Yukon, is attracting exploration interest in British
Columbia. Recent developments in understanding the controls on gold mineralization along
the Carlin Trend in Nevada suggests that the Canadian Cordillera could have deposits of
this type.
The giant
Sullivan
mine in southeast British Columbia has dominated lead and zinc production in British
Columbia for the past 50 years and, for many years, it was the largest lead-zinc producer
in the world. The
Sullivan
mine has produced almost 93 per cent of the zinc, 82 per cent of the lead and 23 per cent
of the silver mined in the province.
The
Eskay
Creek mine reported proven and probable reserves of 1,356,240 tonnes grading 58.05
grams per tonne gold and 2684.57 grams per tonne silver as of January 1, 1998.
Significant production of lead, zinc and silver has also come from
volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits and from polymetallic veins. Epithermal and
mesothermal gold veins and some porphyry deposits have also been important sources of
silver.
Canada is the world's largest producer and exporter of zinc and the
third largest producer of lead, ranking behind the United States and Australia. Both
metals are commonly produced together, with considerable by-product silver. In 1998, BC
produced 31.3 million kilograms of lead, 153.6 million kilograms of zinc and 451 million
grams of silver from the mines listed in Table 3.
Concentrates are smelted and refined at the Trail smelter, which was
recently upgraded to increase both lead and zinc output.
Porphyry copper deposits produce significant by-product silver; for
example, the
Highland
Valley copper mine produced 56,148 kilograms of silver in 1997.
Most of the balance of British Columbia's zinc and silver production
comes from two volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits - the
Myra
Falls mine, and the
Eskay
Creek gold-silver mine.
Eskay
Creek is the fifth largest silver producer in the world and one of the highest grade
precious metal deposits ever discovered in North America.
The
Sullivan ore body belongs to the class of sediment-hosted exhalative (sedex) deposits that are
prolific producers of lead and zinc. Other examples are found in the Kechika Trough in
northern British Columbia. Sedex deposits are attractive exploration targets and British
Columbia is fortunate to contain numerous belts of prospective Proterozoic and Paleozoic
sedimentary rocks.
Metamorphosed (altered) sedimentary terranes, like the Shuswap Complex,
have potential for Broken Hill-type high grade silver-lead-zinc deposits. In addition the
province has a number of Mississippi Valley-type and polymetallic manto deposits with
sizeable reserves of silver, lead and zinc. Advances in the understanding of such deposits
in the last 15 years make them attractive exploration targets.
The recent discovery of the Kudz Ze Kayah and Wolverine massive sulphide
deposits in the Yukon-Tanana terrane in
the Yukon has awakened interest in correlative rocks in northern British Columbia.
The
Eskay
Creek discovery underlines the potential for finding gold and silver-rich deposits in
correlative rocks throughout British Columbia, particularly in the north.
Large-scale and continuous production of molybdenum began in British
Columbia in the 1960s with development of the
Boss
Mountain and
Endako
porphyry mines. Prior to that, minor production came from the
Coxey
skarn in southern British Columbia. Molybdenum is also an important by-product in many
copper porphyry deposits
Canada ranks fourth in the world for molybdenum production, after the
United States, China and Chile, and virtually all of this comes from British Columbia.
Currently, the
Endako
porphyry molybdenum mine is the primary producer of molybdenum in the province, and
accounts for more than 80 per cent of total production. Table
4 lists the main molybdenum producers.
Three of the six operating open-pit porphyry mines,
Highland
Valley,
Gibraltar
and Huckleberry,
produce about 1,700 tonnes annually of by-product molybdenum.
The potential for new mines that would produce molybdenum in British
Columbia is excellent. Several porphyry molybdenum deposits are undeveloped and a number
of undeveloped porphyry copper deposits contain significant amounts of molybdenum.
COAL
Coal is British Columbia's most economically important mineral product.
Production in 1998 was valued at over $1 billion. Table 5
lists the main coal producers.
Two modern ports, Robert's Bank near Vancouver and Ridley Island near
Prince Rupert on the north coast, can handle 38 million tonnes of coal exports annually
and have storage capacity for 4.4 million tonnes.
Coal resources in the province total 2.15 billion tonnes of
metallurgical coal and 880 million tonnes of thermal coal. Most of the metallurgical coal
resource is along the eastern edge of the province, mainly in the Peace River coalfield in
the northeast and the Kootenay coalfield in the southeast. Most thermal coal resources are
located in central British Columbia and on Vancouver Island.
The Kootenay coalfield in southeast British Columbia has produced more
than 200 million tonnes of metallurgical coal and 10 million tonnes of thermal coal. Today
coal is produced from five open-pit mines (Fording
River,
Greenhills,
Coal
Mountain,
Line
Creek, and
Elkview)
considered to be some of the most modern and productive in the world. The coal rank varies
from high-volatile A bituminous to low-volatile bituminous. The coal is characterized by
low sulphur content and makes excellent coke. The coal produces low coke-oven pressures,
which makes it a prime component in the coking-coal blends of many steel mills.
In the Peace River coalfield in northeast British Columbia two mines, (Bullmoose
and Quintette)
produce close to 6 million tonnes of metallurgical coal a year. These mines began
producing in the early 1980s and have shipped over 80 million tonnes. The coal, sold
exclusively for coke making, has a rank of medium volatile bituminous. There are plans to
open a new open-pit mine,
Willow
Creek, which will produce about 900,000 tonnes of thermal and metallurgical coal
annually over a proposed mine life of 15 years.
A number of coalfields on Vancouver Island were extensively developed in
the early 1900s and produced over 65 million tonnes of thermal coal prior to 1950. The
underground
Quinsam
mine in the Comox coalfield near Campbell River is the only current producer. Quinsam Coal
Corporation is also exploring the
Tsable
River deposit a few kilometres south of the present mine. There, the company plans to
develop a second underground mine with up to one million tonnes per year production
capacity. The coal rank is high-volatile A bituminous.
There are a number of coalfields in the interior of the province. The
Telkwa coalfield is 400 kilometres from the Ridley Island coal terminal and close to the
existing unit-train rail line that serves the Peace River coalfield. Exploration is in the
advanced stage and Manalta Coal Limited plans to develop a 1.5 million tonne per year
thermal
coal mine with an expected mine life of 23 years. The coal rank is high-volatile A
bituminous. Tests indicate that it will make an excellent thermal coal product. Reserves
are estimated at 50 million tonnes. This project is currently in the Environmental
Assessment Process.
The Tulameen coalfield is the focus of recent exploration.
Other known resources include the
Hat
Creek deposit which contains up to five billion tonnes of lignite and sub-bituminous
coal, and the Klappan coalfield, with nearly a billion tonnes of anthracite. Both deposits
were extensively explored in the 1980s.
Industrial minerals comprise a significant component of British
Columbia's mineral production. Products such as limestone, silica and gypsum are processed
locally and sold in local and regional markets. Other commodities, such as sulphur,
magnesia and clay products, have international markets. There is significant growth
potential in this sector with investment opportunities in many different fields such as
dimension stone, refractory minerals, wollastonite, talc, high unit value products such as
silicon, magnesium metal and others. Table 6 lists the main
Industrial mineral producers.
For more than one hundred years, British Columbia has been the main
source of limestone for the Pacific Northwest. Two production centres (Gillies
Bay,
Imperial,
Blubber
Bay) on Texada Island in the Strait of Georgia ship between four and five million
tonnes of limestone annually to lime and cement plants along the Pacific Coast from
northern California to Alaska. The value of cement, lime and limestone produced in British
Columbia exceeds $170 million annually.
White limestone for extender and filler applications is produced from
two deposits on the coast, and one in the interior. The present production rate of over
100,000 tonnes a year has significant potential for growth. About 200,000 tonnes of
chemical lime is produced annually from the Marble Canyon limestone belt near Clinton.
Major limestone resources are located on the west coast of Vancouver
Island in the Holbert Inlet and Quatsino Sound areas. Many potential limestone resources
are also known in the interior.
About 1 million tonnes of sulphur are produced annually as a by-product
primarily from processing natural gas. There is further potential for ultrasour natural
gas pools and potential Frasch sulphur deposits.
The
Mount
Brussilof magnesite mine in the Rocky Mountains opened in 1979. It produces about
180,000 tonnes annually. Magnesite is processed into high-purity caustic and fused
magnesia that have world-wide markets. Other undeveloped stratabound magnesite resources
with good economic potential are known in the southeastern part of the province.
Approximately 150,000 tonnes of glass and metal-grade silica has been
produced annually from two locations in southeastern British Columbia since 1980. The
productive horizon is a massive quartzite unit that occurs over a length of 100
kilometres. A similar unit is known west of Prince George but has not been developed.
About 40,000 tonnes of refractory clay products valued at over $10
million are manufactured annually near Vancouver at Abbotsford. This operation uses mostly
local raw materials, and manufactures both high-alumina and light-weight insulation
refractory bricks. The standard refractory bricks are sold throughout the Pacific
Northwest area while the insulation production is marketed world-wide.
Diatomaceous clay-based industrial and domestic absorbents valued at
$400,000 annually are also produced in the province, at Kamloops, and exported to markets
in western and central Canada and overseas.
The British Columbia gypsum industry, concentrated in the southeast part
of the province, supplies cement and wallboard manufacturers in both Alberta and British
Columbia. A number of undeveloped gypsum deposits should ensure that this $7 million
business will be able to maintain the current annual production of 500,000 tonnes well
into the 21st Century.
British Columbia produces jade and rhodonite as semiprecious stones from
several locations in the central and northern parts of the province. Barite, for drilling
mud and filler applications, is mined in the southeastern and northeastern parts of the
province. There has been a recent revival of the dimension stone industry and today 15
varieties of granite and two of marble are quarried in the southeast part of the province
and on Vancouver Island. There are three modern processing plants in Vancouver.
Industrial mineral development and exploration opportunities are too
numerous to describe in detail. Garnet occurs in placer and hardrock deposits. Tertiary
basins have development potential for zeolites, bentonite, residual kaolin and perlite.
Extensive peat deposits occur in the northern coast and northeastern areas of the
province. Major asbestos deposits are known in the northwest and there is current fibre
recovery from tailings from the old Cassiar mine. Several wollastonite deposits are the
target of exploration programs, including a major discovery at Zippa Mountain near the
Iskut River in northwestern British Columbia. Reserves at Zippa Mountain are in excess of
1.8 million tonnes at a grade of 80 per cent. Talc and white limestone deposits offer
development opportunities to supply Pacific Northwest pulp and paper producers.
Refractory minerals such as magnesite, olivine, kyanite group
aluminosilicates, graphite and silica are known in many parts of the province. Processing
these materials into specialized products that are able to withstand very high
temperatures consumes large quantities of electricity, which British Columbia can supply
at very competitive rates. Gem quality blue sapphires have been discovered near Nelson and
precious opals have been discovered in Tertiary volcanic rocks near Vernon.
Phosphate horizons in southeastern British Columbia also have
significant values of yttrium and other rare earth elements. There are significant
deposits of niobium and rare earth elements in areas of the Rocky Mountains.
Opportunities exist in British Columbia to locate energy intensive
industrial mineral processing plants to produce value-added products for export and to
replace imports. British Columbia's ample supply of low-cost electricity and natural gas
provides a competitive edge. Examples of specific opportunities include refractory
products, synthetic ceramics and silicon metal.
British Columbia offers many advantages, including: good infrastructure,
a skilled labour force, technical support and established capital markets. One of the most
outstanding advantages is the exceptional geoscience database.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines, through the BC Geological Survey
and regional offices of the Mines Branch, collects and disseminates geoscience information
to the mining industry, the government and the public.
A great deal of information documenting results of geological and
geochemical surveys, coal and mineral deposit studies, research by ministry staff, and
exploration activity is available in a number of Branch and external publications. Data
and information can be found on the ministry's web site at:
http://www.em.gov.bc.ca
Through the BC Geological Survey's MapPlace website, multiple
databases can be accessed and searched. The results can be viewed on a map of your
choosing. Data and maps can also be downloaded.
MINFILE is a computerized mineral inventory system containing geological
and economic information on 12 000 metallic mineral, industrial mineral and coal
occurrences in British Columbia. The system is a "desktop prospecting" tool used
for planning exploration programs, investment, resource management, policy planning, land
use planning, teaching and research. MINFILE is recognized internationally as an
exceptional geoscience information system.
The Regional Geochemical Survey database consists of high-quality,
multi-element analytical data, field observations, lithological data and site locations
for stream sediment and water samples. These samples have been collected from
approximately 43,000 sites across British Columbia, at an average density of one site
every 13 square kilometres. Many new mineral prospects have been discovered and a number
of areas previously thought to have little mineral potential have been investigated as a
result of these surveys.
This database is useful for exploration work, regional metallogenic
studies, geological interpretations and projections, land use decisions and environmental
studies.
Property File is a library of research material on many of the mineral
occurrences documented in the MINFILE database. The material in Property File consists of
news clippings, field notes, company documents, historical information, geology,
geochemistry, geophysics, drilling data, claim maps, sketches of workings and photographs.
Most of these are unique documents, and are extremely valuable to researchers. This
library is available for public viewing and copying.
In British Columbia, Assessment Reports documenting mineral exploration
programs are submitted by the mining industry to maintain mineral tenure. More than 25,000
reports, submitted since 1946, are available for viewing as originals or for purchase in
microfiche format. These reports are also catalogued in ARIS, a computerized index.
The BC Geological Survey maintains a large library of Coal
Assessment Reports, that have been submitted by companies in compliance with the Coal
Act.
Exploration data from the Assessment Reports have been summarized and
stored in a computer information system called COALFILE, which provides a quick and
efficient method for accessing the large volume of data.
Interpretative geology and mineral potential maps, at 1:250 000 scale,
are available on the Internet at "The
MapPlace". These maps were prepared so that the best possible assessment of the
mineral resources of British Columbia is available for land use planning and exploration
planning.
The MapPlace provides map-based Internet access to many of the
Ministry's geological and tenure information data sets. This information may be searched
and viewed interactively in map format and some of the data can be downloaded for use in
desktop mapping or GIS programs.
The data sets available include mineral potential assessments, geology,
MINFILE data, RGS data, indexes geological mapping and reports, mineral titles information
and more.
A Free Miners license is needed then title to minerals is acquired by
locating and recording a claim. Claims can be changed to a lease for production purposes.
Coal title is acquired by license, which can also be changed to a lease.
Tenure to minerals and coal is administered by the Mineral Titles Branch
through two Ministry offices and a network of Government Agent offices throughout the
province. There are 24 mining divisions arranged into 7 regions; each region has a Gold
Commissioner who is statutorily responsible for the recording of titles and related
documents for mineral tenures within that region.
The Mineral Titles database is available on the Internet at
The MapPlace as a map theme and as a searchable text database at
http://www.em.gov.bc.ca/mining/Titles/default.htm.
Publications of the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources can be purchased from Crown Publications Inc.
For further information on British Columbia's mineral resources, please
contact the Mineral Development
Office.
Mines Branch Regional
Geologists are located in four offices around the province - Smithers, Prince George,
Kamloops and Cranbrook. The Regional Geologists offer detailed information to the mining
industry, government and the public on their specific region.
Other Contacts
Victoria
Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources
PO Box 9333, Stn Prov Gov't, 1810 Blanshard Street
Victoria, B.C., Canada V8W 9N3
Mining and Minerals Division
Tel (250) 952-0132
Fax (250) 952-0121
Vancouver
British Columbia Trade Development Corporation
Suite 730-999 Canada Place
Vancouver, B.C., Canada, V6C 3E1
Attention: Vice President, Trade Operations
Tel (250) 844-1900
Fax (250) 660-2457
Association for Mineral Exploration, B.C. (AME BC)
840 West Hastings St.,
Vancouver, B. C., Canada V6C 1C8
Tel: (604) 681-5328
Fax: (604) 681-2363
The Mining Association of
British Columbia
840 West Hastings Street,
Vancouver, B.C. V6C 1C8
Telephone: (604) 681-4321
Fax: (604) 681-5305
Japan
British Columbia Trade Representative Office
Akasaka KSA Building 2F
8-10-39 Akasaka
Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan 107
Attention: Director, Trade and Investment
Tel: 011-813-3408-6171
Fax: 011-813-3408-6340
This page was updated:
September 05, 2007.
