Description of BC Geological Survey Publication Products

Annual Reports of the Ministry, 1874-1979, document mineral exploration and development, and economic activity related to the mineral resource sector within the province on an annual basis.  They contain details of geology, individual and company activity and production, and reserves/resources statistics.  These reports contain a wealth of historical information on British Columbia's mining industry.

From 1969 to 1974, technical reports on geology, mineral exploration, metal mines, placer, industrial minerals, structural materials and coal, formerly included in the Annual Report, were published separately in Geology, Exploration and Mining in British Columbia.  In 1975, Geology, Exploration and Mining in British Columbia was divided into three parts.

All Annual Reports are available digitally (free) from this website.

The current Bulletin series was started in 1940 and comprises the premier geological publications of the BC Geological Survey.  From 1896 to 1939 Bulletins were issued as an annual series, but starting in 1940 Bulletins have been numbered sequentially.

Many Bulletins are accompanied by geological maps and, where applicable, the catalogue identifies the scale of the main map.

Bulletins are available are available digitally (free) from this website. 

Exploration and Mining in British Columbia

In 1969 a new annual publication entitled Geology, Exploration and Mining in British Columbia (G.E.M.) was initiated.  It comprised chapters on metals, placer, structural materials, industrial minerals and coal.  It incorporated and expanded on the geological and technical reports that were formerly part of the Annual Report series.

In 1975, Geology, Exploration and Mining in British Columbia was separated into three parts: Geology in British Columbia, Exploration in British Columbia and Mining in British Columbia.  Geology in British Columbia was discontinued after 1981.  Exploration in British Columbia from 1975 through 1984 contains an overview of mineral exploration activity and a summary of assessment report data. 

In 1985, Exploration in British Columbia incorporated Part B, containing detailed descriptions of mineral properties.  This re-established the excellent geological reporting typical of the G.E.M. and Geology in British Columbia series. 

In the 1989 volume, Part C, A Summary of Assessment Report Data, was discontinued and a new emphasis placed on economic geology and metallogenic studies in Part B.  Starting in 1990, information on assessment reports is contained in the Assessment Report Index.  Since 1993 Exploration in British Columbia contains only what was previously included in Part A.

Starting in 1998, Part A of this publication contained a review of exploration and mining highlights in each of the five regions, contributed by the Regional Geologists in Smithers, Prince George, Vancouver, Kamloops and Cranbrook. The regional reviews were preceded by a provincial overview paper contributed by Tom Schroeter of the Vancouver Mineral Development Office. Part B of the publication contained several geological descriptions of specific properties. 

In 2003 Part B was discontinued.

GeoFiles are digital geoscience products designed to get information out quickly to clients.  They are not subject to the same editorial standards as hardcopy publications and are similar in some aspects to the Open File series of products. They address a variety of geoscience topics, and make information available to the public which previously may not have justified publication.

These products are not available in hardcopy but may be downloaded free of charge, through the BC Geological Survey website.

The Information Circular series of products started in the late 1980s to address the need for geoscience information by the general public, or for specialist marketing and promotional objectives.  Today they are a special series of publications which provide government, industry and the general public with a wide variety of information relating to the geoscience database.  Print runs are limited but many of these circulars are updated annually.  Information Circulars distributed by the BC Geological Survey are free as long as supplies last or are available digitally (free) from this website.  

The Geoscience Map series was started in 1991 to encompass all final geoscience map products.  They normally comprise geological maps with legends and commonly short marginal notes.  They may be used to accompany Bulletins but provide a vehicle to release mapping information relatively quickly, and commonly before a final Bulletin report has been completed.

The BC Geological Survey released the first in a series of Mineral Potential Maps for British Columbia in 1992.  These maps present an evaluation of the mineral potential of the various areas and are based on recent 1:50 000-scale geological mapping, an integration of geochemical and geophysical data and a current knowledge of economic geology. The Mineral Potential program has completed regional scale Mineral Resource Assessments for the province.  This project has also compiled the geology of the province at a scale of 1:250 000.  The new interpretation replaces older maps made unreliable by advancing technology and knowledge.  These maps will be particularly useful to land use planners and to explorationists considering the mineral potential of a region.  The data presented on these individual maps is now available in an interactive environment through the MapPlace.  

The Preliminary Map series was discontinued after 1990.  Similar products now appear as either Geoscience Maps or Open File maps.  Originally, the Preliminary Maps were products made available prior to the release of final Bulletin quality map products.  However, the technology used to produce this style of maps had become increasingly costly and required substantial preparation time before maps were in the hands of clients so the series was discontinued.

This annual publication since 1983 provides an overview of mineral exploration activities in the Province of British Columbia for a given calendar year.

It contains statistical information, tables, illustrations and location maps which summarize significant exploration and development projects in the province. The report documents mineral exploration expenditures, active exploration areas and the companies involved.  You can also link to a current Provincial Map showing the location of major exploration projects and producing metal, coal and industrial mineral mines in BC.

The Open File series of geoscience reports, maps and database products was started in 1986 to place information in the hands of the public as quickly as possible.  These products are not rigorously edited and reviewed and are commonly interim products from ongoing research and mapping projects, or compilations from geoscience databases or library research.  Although many these products are replaced by final reports, such as Bulletins, many Open Files constitute the only published material on the topic, particularly for those projects of short duration.

Papers including Geological FieldworkToward the end of 1978, the Ministry of Energy and Mines started a series called Papers to help distinguish the increasing number of publications. This series, in the past, encompassed all ministerial publications that were not included in the Bulletin, GEM, (Geology, Exploration and Mining), or Annual Report series. Since 1987, it consists primarily of geological research reports representing the culmination of project activity or annual reviews of the BC Geological Survey as a whole.

Some earlier publications from the Regional Operations Health and Safety Branch (now called Mining Operations) have been allotted numbers and are listed below for completeness.

Hard copies of these publications are available at various libraries, such as the James T. Fyles Library at 1810 Blanshard Street in Victoria, B.C. or are available digitally (free) from this website.

MapPlace facilitates easy access to selected maps and databases of the BC Ministry of Energy and Mines (formerly Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources). Create your own maps using interactive data sets. Create reports and download data from selected themes and objects. Click the MapPlace.ca image to visit our Main Maps to assist in your mineral exploration projects. Or visit Thematic Maps to view Oil and Gas, Offshore Data, Coal, Publication Index, Aggregate Potential, Terrain & Soils, Geophysical, and Mining Economy maps.

To view our great maps or create your own map using interactive data sets please download the appropriate plugin for your workstation browser before you proceed.

The advantages of this system are its speed and functionality.  Only the information required to produce the map in the browser's view window is downloaded, not the entire data set.  Each item, such as a contour line, mineral claim polygon or MINFILE point has information associated with it or is linked to a large database allowing access to vast amounts of information simply by selecting a point on the map.  The vector nature of the displays allows the screen display to be cut and pasted into graphics programs such as CorelDraw, ungrouped and enhanced for high quality map products.

The Viewer allows you to select a theme which is then downloaded from data sets that are updated on a regular basis.  As each theme is selected, different layers are added to the map.  These layers can be turned on or off depending on the information that is required.  As you ZOOM into an area, more themes are available and the detail increases.

MapPlace provides interactive access to MINFILE, ARIS, RGS data, mineral titles information and a host of similar geoscience data products.

Minfile is a digital database containing summary information on over 12 500 metallic mineral, placer, coal and industrial mineral occurrences within the Province of British Columbia.  The database contains extensive information on geology, resources, historical production, references and economic geology for each of the mineral occurrences identified.  It is the premier source of information on mineral occurrences and operating mines within the Province.

Property File is a library of research material indexed and cross-referenced relative to NTS map sheets and to MINFILE.  It contains materials, generally unavailable elsewhere and it expands continuously with new acquisitions from companies and individuals. Information contained in Property File consists of unpublished reports, theses, papers, field notes, company prospectuses and pamphlets, historical and commodity information, geology, geochemistry, geophysics, drilling data, claim maps, sketches of workings and photographs.  Property File also contains general information on each NTS area, the National Mineral Inventory cards, topographic maps and some work histories.  Donations to Property File are strongly encouraged.  Property File is currently being indexed and scanned.  Over 26,800 documents are available online.

The British Columbia Geological Survey (BCGS) has over 31,400 approved mineral exploration assessment reports filed by the exploration and mining industry since 1947. These reports provide information on geological, geophysical, geochemical, drilling and other exploration-related activities throughout B.C.  These reports have been scanned and are now available for viewing/printing from this website.  

ARIS (Assessment Report Indexing System) greatly assists users in locating specific assessment reports for viewing or downloading, and provides brief report summaries (see ARIS Searches), including the ability to import text files containing assessment report numbers. 

RGS - REGIONAL GEOCHEMICAL SURVEY DATABASE

The B.C. Geological Survey (BCGS) of the Ministry of Energy and Mines has been involved in reconnaissance-scale stream sediment and water surveys since 1976.  This joint federal-provincial initiative was originally referred to as the Uranium Reconnaissance Program (URP).  In 1978 the provincial program was renamed the Regional Geochemical Survey (RGS) and in 1987 the Province began to independently administer surveys conducted in British Columbia.  As part of Canada's National Geochemical Reconnaissance (NGR) program, the RGS program continues to maintain sample collection, preparation and analytical standards established by the Geological Survey of Canada. New drainage surveys and archive sample re-analysis has been undertaken by Geoscience BC after 2006 and the results incorporated into the RGS database.  To date, over 59,600 stream sediment and water samples have been collected from 58 - 1:250,000 NTS map sheets covering approximately 75 per cent of the province. Determinations for up to 60 metals, field observations and sample location coordinates are compiled into B.C.’s largest and most comprehensive stream sediment and water geochemical database.

This data is available digitally from the BC Geological Survey website.