Polymetallic ore

The Tyee (L.36G) past-producer is located on the western slopes of Mount Sicker, approximately 2 kilometres east of the Chemainus River.

Volcanogenic massive sulphides were discovered on Mount Sicker in the late 1800's with production from one main orebody issuing from three independent underground mines (Lenora - 092B 001, Tyee - 092B 002 and Richard III - 092B 003) for several years. These mines were later amalgamated and operated as the Twin J mine (1942-1952). The massive sulphides are hosted within rhyolitic tuffs and associated sediments of the McLaughlin Ridge Formation, Sicker Group. The rocks in the mine include cherty tuffs and graphitic schists which together form a band of folded and/or sheared sediments 30 to 45 metres wide that near the workings are at least 640 metres long. The trend of the band and the strike of the sediments are 110 degrees. The dip of the sediments is 50 degrees southwest. See the Lenora deposit for further details of the geology.

Two types of ore are found in association with the cherty tuffs and graphitic schists: a barite ore consisting of a fine grained mixture of pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and a little galena in a gangue of barite, quartz and calcite; and a quartz ore consisting of mainly quartz and chalcopyrite.

The two main orebodies, known as the North orebody and the South orebody, are long, lenticular bodies lying along two main dragfolds in the band of sediments. The North orebody measures about 500 metres along strike, 37 metres downdip and from 0.3 to 3 metres in thickness. The South orebody, which is 46 metres from the North, and has its upper limit 45 metres higher, measures 640 metres along the strike, 45 metres downdip and is about 6 metres in thickness. Two main faults, striking east and nearly vertical, displace the orebodies. A fracture zone is manifested by vertical silicified zones on the south sides of both the North and South orebodies.

The area was staked by Harry Smith in 1897. The Tyee mine was worked intermittently from 1901 to 1909 producing 762,553 grams of gold, 13,725,069 grams of silver and 5,840,593 kilograms of copper from a total of 152,668 tonnes mined (Mineral Policy data). See Lenora (092B 001) for the combined production and reserve figures that were derived after the three mines were amalgamated as the Twin J mine. Zinc, lead and cadmium are also reported in the Twin J production records.

In 2010 and 2011, Rock-Con Resources completed a program of prospecting and rock sampling on the Mount Sicker property.