Nickel Copper ore

The Pride of Emory mine is located at the head of Texas Creek, approximately 12 kilometres north of Hope on the west side of the Fraser River. Access is by mine road from the Trans-Canada Highway. The mine operated during the period 1958 to 1974 and is presently undergoing re-evaluation by Corona Corporation.

The property lies within an ultramafic complex between the southern tip of the Tertiary-Jurassic Coast Plutonic Complex and the northern end of a belt of intrusions termed the Chelan batholith. The intrusive rocks within this belt are granites, granodiorites and quartz diorites of Jurassic age and younger. They form the core of an uplifted block of regionally metamorphosed upper Paleozoic rocks which trend north and are bounded by the Fraser River fault system on the east and on the west by somewhat less metamorphosed Mesozoic rocks.

The ultramafic complex hosting the mineralized zones is composed of hypersthene diorite and quartz diorites, norites and ultramafic rocks, termed the Pacific Nickel Complex, which intrudes schists and earlier intrusive rocks. The older noritic rocks are found northwest and southwest of the ultramafic complex. Potassium-argon ages from the ultramafic complex range from about 120 to 95 million years. The older ages were obtained from the hornblende pyroxenite phase with late hornblende dikes having the youngest ages. The ultramafite is truncated by diorite of the Late Cretaceous Spuzzum intrusions, at 79 to 89 Ma (McLeod, J.A. et. al., 1976).

The ultramafic rocks of the Pacific Nickel Complex form an irregular stock-like mass about 3 kilometres across. The northeastern half of the stock consists of barren pyroxenites and peridotites which contain little or no hornblende. The southwestern half of the stock is a highly variable, hornblende-rich assemblage of peridotites and pyroxenites which are mineralized and contain some seventeen orebodies associated with the mine. These orebodies are scattered along a line trending about 285 degrees.

Ore is associated with pipe-like concentrations of enstatite, olivine and hypersthene containing in order of abundance: pyrrhotite, pentlandite, chalcopyrite, magnetite, pyrite and sphalerite with lesser amounts of chromite and cobalt minerals which include linnaeite and morenosite. The orebodies fall into two types which grade into one another: zoned, with gradational contacts and disseminated sulphides; unzoned, massive sulphides with sharp contacts.

The zoned orebody is the most common with the sulphide present as interstitial grains between olivine and orthopyroxene. Sulphide concentration is the greatest in the core and decreasing outward to minor, patchy disseminations.

Massive orebodies exhibit consistent composition and grade and consists of orthopyroxene with olivine in a groundmass of sulphides. Contacts between the ore and the country rock are sharp. This type of orebody is generally irregular in plan and plunges steeply. The Pride of Emory orebody is composed of massive and zoned parts so that it appears the two types may grade into one another.

Faulting is widespread throughout the underground workings and may be grouped into two broad categories. The first group strikes 310 degrees and dips 50 to 75 degrees northeast. The second group strikes between 335 and 025 degrees with steep dips to the east or west. At least five northwest trending fault zones have been traced up to 609 metres; these are thought to be post-ore features.

Alteration on the property does not appear to be related to mineralization or mineralizing processes. Talc-amphibole alteration produces a soft grey rock which is resistant to weathering. It appears to be related to faults or fractures. Crumbly alteration found in the peridotites appears to be fault related and is recognized by the development of talc along cracks and grain boundaries. This crumbly alteration produces soft rocks which weather deeply and is found in the underground workings. Uralitization (propylitization) is related to faulting and is accompanied by small pegmatitic and aplitic veinlets. Serpentine has developed in some of the peridotites and along strong faults. Violarite is secondary after pentlandite and occurs bordering cracks and cleavages of that mineral. Limonite occurs in narrow, sinuous veinlets that cut both sulphide and gangue minerals. Greenish white stains and crusts of the hydrous nickel sulphate, morenosite, have been identified.

From 1936 to 1974, 4,319,976 tonnes of ore was mined yielding 16,516 grams of silver, 1,026 grams gold, 140,700 kilograms cobalt, 13,212,770 kilograms copper and 26,573,090 nickel. Ore graded about 0.77 per cent nickel and 0.34 per cent copper with cobalt as a byproduct. However, chrome oxide, platinum, gold and silver are also present (Assessment Report 16553).

In 1936, one 22.7 tonne bulk sample taken from the 488 metre (1600 feet) crosscut averaged 2.74 grams per tonne platinum and palladium and 0.68 gram per tonne gold. Early records of samples of ore yielded 3.98 grams per tonne platinum and palladium and 7.89 grams per tonne gold. The chrome content of the ore averaged 0.2 to 0.4 per cent.

In 1987, 63 samples were collected and all were anomalous in chromium with assays up to 1.28 per cent. Three samples collected on the surface were anomalous in platinum and yielded 1.17, 1.61 and 1.61 grams per tonne platinum, respectively. One high-grade sample from the bottom of the "1500" orebody assayed 2.85 grams per tonne platinum and 4.94 grams per tonne palladium. The best gold assay from the rock samples was 0.93 gram per tonne gold.

Exploration and development of the Pride of Emory deposit has had a long history. The original showings were staked and prospected in 1923. In 1926, the B.C. Nickel Co. Ltd. began underground development of the original showings. Further development continued through to 1938 until poor market conditions forced a closure. In 1952, Newmont Mining Co. and Pacific Nickel Mines Ltd. formed Western Nickel Mines Ltd. to reopen the workings and drive the 2600 main haulage level and other adits. Mine and mill development proceeded to 1958 and commercial production began. Production continued from 1958 to 1974, at which time the economic limit of mining was reached. The scattered nature of the mineralized zones and the fact that most of them were blind, forced the closure of the mine.

Combined (proven/probable) reserves in 15 zones are 863,000 tonnes grading 0.75 per cent nickel, 0.3 per cent copper and 0.03 per cent cobalt (Property File - Christopher, P.A., 1975).

See also Star of Emory 3 (092HSW093) and Choate (092HSW125).

Homestake Canada Inc. announced in 2000 that they will undertake a major 2-year quarrying operation at the property, in order to seal the large "glory hole".