Blue Hawk Mine

Last updated
Blue Hawk Mine
Entrance to Blue Hawk Mine.JPG
Entrance to Blue Hawk Mine
Location
Canada British Columbia location map 2.svg
Schlaegel und Eisen nach DIN 21800.svg
Blue Hawk Mine
Location Kelowna
Province British Columbia
CountryCanada
Coordinates 49°59′2″N119°30′59″W / 49.98389°N 119.51639°W / 49.98389; -119.51639
Production
Products Gold
History
Opened1934
Closed1934

Blue Hawk Mine is a gold mine located on the east slope of Blue Grouse Mountain, on the west side of Okanagan Lake. The mine is just a few kilometres from Downtown Kelowna in the Canadian province of British Columbia.

Contents

The mine consists of several adits operated for a single year, 1934, and has been virtually abandoned ever since. British Columbia's Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources refers to the mine as "082ENW002", [1] and states that 5 metric tonnes of ore was mined yielding 560 grams (18 oz t) of silver and 156 grams (5 oz t) of gold. The total horizontal length of the mine is approximately 90 metres.

The mine is known to many Kelowna locals, and a gravel road leading past the mine is regularly maintained. The entrance to the mine often contains pooled water, but the interior is relatively dry and contains many undisturbed geological formations (first, second).

The location of the mine according to British Columbia's Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources is 49°59′2″N119°31′6″W / 49.98389°N 119.51833°W / 49.98389; -119.51833 . Several Kelowna locals [2] have reported the entrance to the mine to be at the alternate coordinates of 49°59′2″N119°30′59″W / 49.98389°N 119.51639°W / 49.98389; -119.51639 , at an elevation of 965 meters.

History

More recent history of the property and rights is unclear, though the most recent owner to the property seems to be Armac Investments Ltd. of Vancouver, BC. The claims to an area covering 3 km² -- including the Blue Hawk Mine—may have been sold by Armac to Southern Pacific Development Corp. of Vancouver, BC, in 2004 or 2005. [4] [5] [6]

Adit map

Page 13 of F. Marchall Smith's Assessment Report (dated December 18, 1994) contains a detailed map of the area around the mine, including the adit. Recent exploration of the mine has shown that the ceiling has collapsed and is now impassable in the adit beneath "Trench 5". An annotated copy of the map is available with the approximate location of the collapse indicated in red.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adit</span> Horizontal entrance shaft to an underground mine

An adit or stulm is a horizontal or nearly horizontal passage to an underground mine. Miners can use adits for access, drainage, ventilation, and extracting minerals at the lowest convenient level. Adits are also used to explore for mineral veins. Although most strongly associated with mining, the term adit is sometimes also used in the context of underground excavation for non-mining purposes; for example, to refer to smaller underground passageways excavated for underground metro systems, to provide pedestrian access to stations, and for access required during construction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regional District of Central Okanagan</span> Regional district in British Columbia, Canada

The Regional District of Central Okanagan (RDCO) is a regional district in the Canadian province of British Columbia, representing two unincorporated Electoral Areas of Central Okanagan East and Central Okanagan West, along with the member municipalities of the City of Kelowna, City of West Kelowna, the District of Lake Country, the District of Peachland, and Westbank First Nation. The RDCO office is located in Kelowna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Purcell Mountains</span> Mountain range in British Columbia, Canada

The Purcell Mountains are a mountain range in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. They are a subrange of the Columbia Mountains, which includes the Selkirk, Monashee, and Cariboo Mountains. They are located on the west side of the Rocky Mountain Trench in the area of the Columbia Valley, and on the east side of the valley of Kootenay Lake and the Duncan River. The only large settlements in the mountains are the Panorama Ski Resort and Kicking Horse Resort, adjacent to the Columbia Valley towns of Invermere and Golden, though there are small settlements, such as Yahk and Moyie along the Crowsnest Highway, and residential rural areas dependent on the cities of Creston, Kimberley and Cranbrook, which are located adjacent to the range..

There are several classification systems for the economic evaluation of mineral deposits worldwide. The most commonly used schemes base on the International Reporting Template, developed by the CRIRSCO - Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards, like the Australian Joint Ore Reserves Committee - JORC Code 2012, the Pan-European Reserves & Resources Reporting Committee' – PERC Reporting Standard from 2021, the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum - CIM classification and the South African Code for the Reporting of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (SAMREC). A more detailed description of the historical development concerning reporting about mineral deposits can be found on the PERC web site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hoodoo Mountain</span> Stratovolcano in British Columbia, Canada

Hoodoo Mountain, sometimes referred to as Hoodoo Volcano, is a potentially active stratovolcano in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is located 25 kilometres northeast of the Alaska–British Columbia border on the north side of the Iskut River opposite of the mouth of the Craig River. With a summit elevation of 1,850 metres and a topographic prominence of 900 metres, Hoodoo Mountain is one of many prominent peaks within the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains. Its flat-topped summit is covered by an ice cap more than 100 metres thick and at least 3 kilometres in diameter. Two valley glaciers surrounding the northwestern and northeastern sides of the mountain have retreated significantly over the last hundred years. They both originate from a large icefield to the north and are the sources of two meltwater streams. These streams flow along the western and eastern sides of the volcano before draining into the Iskut River.

The British Columbia Energy Regulator (BCER), formerly the BC Oil and Gas Commission, is a British Columbia, Canada Crown Corporation, established in October 1998. It has offices in seven cities: Fort St. John, Fort Nelson, Kelowna, Victoria, Terrace, Dawson Creek, and Prince George.

The University of British Columbia Okanagan is a satellite campus of the University of British Columbia in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Kelowna</span> City in British Columbia, Canada

West Kelowna, formerly known as " " and colloquially known as Gerd, is a city in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley. The city encompasses several distinct neighbourhoods, including Casa Loma, Gellatly, Glenrosa, Lakeview Heights, Shannon Lake, Smith Creek, Rose Valley, Westbank, and West Kelowna Estates. West Kelowna had an estimated population of 34,883 as of December 31, 2018.

Crystal Mountain Resort was a day-use ski area near West Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. It operated two chairlifts and one surface lift: a GMD Mueller double chair, a Poma triple chair, and a Doppelmayr T-bar. The ski area had 30 designated groomed runs and the resort also featured many different tree trails and some glades. Despite the smaller size of the resort, which was considerably smaller than neighbouring resorts such as Big White Ski Resort and Silver Star Mountain Resort, the mountain was a good size and a popular destination for both experienced and first-time skiers, snowboarders and snowshoers. Despite the lower elevation, the area receives heavy snowfall each year with many powder days throughout the winter season. It was long known as Last Mountain Ski Resort but changed its name to Crystal Mountain Resort in 1992. Crystal Mountain Resort offered lessons for skiing and snowboarding and also offered rentals for snowshoeing. It has not been in operation since 2014 due to a lift malfunction of the red double chair.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sacred Headwaters</span> Drainage basin and source of three rivers

The Sacred Headwaters is a large subalpine drainage basin centred around Klappan Mountain of the Klappan Range in northern British Columbia. It is the source of three wild salmon rivers: the Skeena River, Nass River, and Stikine River. It is also referred to as the Klappan Valley, although the Klappan—a tributary of the Stikine River—is only one of the area's watersheds. Local Tahltan people call the area Klabona, which is loosely translated as "headwaters".

The Mount Edziza Recreation Area was a recreation area in Cassiar Land District of northwestern British Columbia, Canada, located southeast of the community of Telegraph Creek. It was established on 27 February 1972 along with Mount Edziza Provincial Park. Initially, the 101,171-hectare (249,999-acre) recreation area formed a 1-to-10-kilometre-wide (0.62-to-6.21-mile) buffer zone around much of the provincial park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beanland Mine</span>

Beanland Mine, also known as Clenor Mine, is an abandoned surface and underground mine in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is located about 1 km (0.62 mi) west of Arsenic Lake and 4 km (2.5 mi) northwest of the town of Temagami in central Strathy Township. It is named after Sydney Beanland, who first claimed the mine site in the 1920s and was a director for the mine from 1937 to 1938.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Dan Mine</span>

Big Dan Mine is an abandoned underground mine in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is located about 1 km (0.62 mi) southwest of Net Lake and just west of the Ontario Northland Railway in east-central Strathy Township. It is named after Dan O'Connor, who first claimed the site in the 1890s.

Corbin is a ghost town in British Columbia, Canada. It was a coal mining community located at the foot of Coal Mountain, south of the Crowsnest Pass in the southern Canadian Rockies.

Temagami-Lorrain Mine is an abandoned surface and underground mine in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is located about 10 km (6.2 mi) northeast of the town of Temagami near Sauvé Lake in central Cassels Township. It is named after the Temagami-Lorrain Mining Company, which carried out work on the property in the early 1900s.

The Temagami Occurrence is a geological occurrence in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is located near the southern end of Kanichee Lake in west-central Strathy Township. It is named after Temagami, the municipality in which the occurrence is located in.

The Danlou Occurrence, also known as the Danlou Gold Occurrence and the Mortimer Occurrence, is a mineralized zone in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. Gold is the occurrence's primary commodity, while copper and silver are secondary commodities. It occurs in a quartz vein within a diabase-porphyry shear zone. Pyrite and chalcopyrite are present in small amounts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Polley mine</span> Gold and copper mine in British Columbia, Canada

Mount Polley mine is a Canadian gold and copper mine located in British Columbia near the towns of Williams Lake and Likely. It consists of two open-pit sites with an underground mining component and is owned and operated by the Mount Polley Mining Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Imperial Metals. In 2013, the mine produced an output of 38,501,165 pounds (17,463,835 kg) of copper, 45,823 ounces of gold, and 123,999 of silver. The mill commenced operations in 1997 and was closed and placed on care and maintenance in 2019. The company owns 20,113 hectares (201.13 km2) of property near Quesnel Lake and Polley Lake where it has mining leases and operations on 2,007 hectares (20.07 km2) and mineral claims on 18,106 hectares (181.06 km2). Mineral concentrate is delivered by truck to the Port of Vancouver.

Peggy-Kay Hamilton (1922–1959) was born in Illinois in 1922 and was an American Research Associate in Mineralogy in the Department of Geology at Columbia University. One of Hamilton's first research breakthroughs was developing Research Project 49, otherwise known as the study of clay minerals. In her later research years, her focus shifted and led to her becoming involved full time in the study of uranium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uranium mining in the Bancroft area</span> History of mining in Bancroft, Canada

Uranium mining around Bancroft, Ontario, was conducted at four sites, beginning in the early 1950s and concluding by 1982. Bancroft was one of two major uranium-producing areas in Ontario, and one of seven in Canada, all located along the edge of the Canadian Shield. In the context of mining, the "Bancroft area" includes Haliburton, Hastings, and Renfrew counties, and all areas between Minden and Lake Clear. Activity in the mid-1950s was described by engineer A. S. Bayne in a 1977 report as the "greatest uranium prospecting rush in the world".

References

  1. British Columbia's Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Archived August 21, 2003, at the Wayback Machine
  2. http://charette.no-ip.com:81/images/2004_06/BlueHawkMine/
  3. Assessment Report on the Kurtis Property (Bluehawk Claim) [ permanent dead link ]
  4. 1 2 Geological Report Blue Hawk Project [ permanent dead link ]
  5. "Geocaching - the Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site".
  6. "Rex Virtue rediscovers an abandoned Mine on Blue Grouse Mountain near Kelowna". Archived from the original on 2013-08-09. Retrieved 2015-08-16.