CLY Group (BiTel Knoll), Bunker Hill, Salmo, Nelson Mining Division, British Columbia, Canadai

Regional Level Types
CLY Group (BiTel Knoll)	- not defined -
Bunker Hill	- not defined -
Salmo	Village
Nelson Mining Division	Division
British Columbia	Province
Canada	Country

The Bunker Hill mine is located north of the Pend D’Oreille River, east of Limpid Creek, 16 kilometres south-southwest of the village of Salmo, or 48 kilometres south of Nelson, British Columbia, in the Nelson Mining Division.
The property is a complex one, with several different styles of mineralization in a relatively small area. There is an extended description of the property, including regional geology, on the British Columbia “Minfile” site, current to 2014. That portion describing the regional and local setting is quoted below:
“Regionally, the area is underlain by quartzites, pelites, phyllites, limestone and argillites of the Cambrian Laib Formation and basaltic volcanic rocks of the Lower Jurassic Elise Formation (Rossland Group), which have been intruded by granodioritic rocks of the Cretaceous Anstey pluton to the northeast.
Locally, the area is underlain by quartzites and pelites of the Lower Cambrian Laib Formation, which have been intruded by granitic stocks, referred to as the Bunker Hill (BH) stock and Bunker Hill (BH) sill, of the Cretaceous Anstey pluton. The BH stock is irregular in shape and outcrops over an area of approximately 1.5 by 1.5 kilometres to the north of the adits, whereas the BH sill is an elongate dike or sill extending south of the BH stock over an area approximately 1.2 kilometres long and 200 to 400 metres wide. Uncommon aplite dikes, likely related to the BH sill, also occur.”
Giles Peatfield comments:
Ray (2004) described three types of mineralization for the property. These have been paraphrased from the description given in Minfile:
1) Tungsten-bearing exoskarn adjacent to the granitic contact, overprinted by gold-bearing quartz-sulfide stringer mineralization. This skarn is best developed in the so-called ‘Lefevre Trenches’, near the granite contact and about 150 metres south-east of the original Bunker Hill workings (see maps by Webster in Howard and Webster (2014);
2) Gold-bearing quartz veins and stringers with pyrite and sporadic traces of galena, sphalerite and tellurides. These are the veins of most mineralogical interest, exposed at the old Bunker Hill mine and at the newly discovered BiTel Knoll occurrence, which has complex telluride mineralogy; and
3) Sparse disseminated sulfides (pyrite, galena, sphalerite) occurring more distal to the granite contact, in altered and bleached argillaceous quartzites.
The Bunker Hill mine was first worked in the early 1900’s. The Annual Report of the British Columbia Minister of Mines for the Year 1900 mentioned that “Several hundred feet of development work have been done, and a 10-stamp mill has been erected.” There is no record of any production from the mine at that time. These veins were further developed, starting in 1933, and some production was recorded (see below). In 1942, scheelite was discovered in old pits near the granite contact east of the original workings (Stevenson, 1943; Fyles and Hewlett, 1959). It does not appear that a large amount of work went into exploring this potential resource. The property was expanded and extensive prospecting and early stage exploration commenced in 1997 and has continued to the present. It was during this phase that the BiTel Knoll veins were identified as having interesting telluride mineralization, which is the main topic of mineralogical interest for the property. Earlier reports (Sargent, 1937; Warren and Cummings, 1937) had mentioned telluride minerals, but with very little detail.
The Bunker Hill mine had a very small amount of production. Between 1933 and 1942, the original quartz and precious metal occurrence was mined and the material shipped to a smelter, most likely the CM&S facility at Trail, British Columbia. Total production was 340 tonnes (374 tons), yielding 310 troy ounces of silver and 106 troy ounces of gold.
Giles Peatfield comments on the minerals reported:
Given the long history of activity and the many workers who have described the minerals present, I have chosen to list each one separately with comments:
Actinolite?: Howard (2000, 2005) reported ‘actinolite?’ from the Lefevre skarn, remarking that “Lefevre is a reduced, pyrrhotite-rich pyroxene (actinolite?) – garnet – scheelite tungsten + gold skarn.” Ray (2004) described “W-bearing scheelite-garnet-pyroxene exoskarns that lie immediately adjacent to the granites [sic] western margin; this mineralization is best exposed in the Lefevre trenches and pits.” He further quoted Howard’s (2000) mention of actinolite?, and also described ‘secondary amphibole’ at Lefevre. This latter mineral may have been what Howard was referring to, but this is not at all clear. I suggest that actinolite should be regarded as tentative for the locality.
Arsenopoyrite: First reported by Hedley (1934) and later by Howard (2000) and by Ray (2004). Ray found the mineral both in the original Bunker Hill quartz veins and in the Lefevre skarn area trenches. In both cases he described it as ‘minor’ or ‘trace’.
Bismuth (native): Cook et al. (2007) described ‘blebs’ of bismuth telluride minerals with inclusions of native bismuth and bismuthinite.
Bismuthinite: See comment above for bismuth.
Calcite: This is probably common, but is specifically mentioned only by Ray (2004), who reported that the original Bunker Hill quartz veins contained minor amounts of calcite, and that there were variable amounts of the mineral at the Lefevre trenches.
Chlorite: Reported by Ray (2004) in the exoskarn at the Lefevre trenches.
Cosalite?: Cook et al. (2007) reported that “Other veins, in Bunker Hill, are characterised by micron-sized inclusions of gold within pyrite (pseudomorphosed after pyrrhotite). Rare Bi-minerals were, however, identified, but appear restricted to sulphosalts such as cosalite.” This is the only mention of this mineral, with no supporting data, and I would regard it as tentative for the locality.
Epidote: Ray and Webster (1997) listed epidote as one of the silicate minerals present at Bunker Hill, but gave no further data.
Galena: Although galena is common, it was not reported in the early years. Little (1960) mentioned ‘minor galena’ in the Bunker Hill quartz veins. Ray (2004) mentioned it as occurring in several of the quartz veins of the region. Howard (2005) described it as occurring in several of the quartz veins, but not apparently in great amounts; he described some of the galena as ‘argentiferous’.
Galenobismutite?: This was reported, by Warren & Cummings (1937) – quoted in Howard (2000, 2005), as being possible. It has not been reported in later work, and should be regarded as tentative for the locality.
Garnet group: Garnets are reported by various workers, but with no specific data. Ray (2004) described ‘garnet-pyroxene’ skarns, some with scheelite, in which the garnets are pale brown, and in one case described as ‘? grossular garnets’.
Gold: Sargent (1937) wrote that, in the workings of the No. 1 level, “Some of the quartz is very rusty and was found to yield fine free gold on panning.” Ray (2004) mentioned quartz veins with visible gold. Cook et al. found gold in polished sections, with Bi tellurides.
Graphite: Ray (2004) mentioned graphite occurring in argillaceous schist.
Hedleyite: This was identified by Cook et al. (2007) in detailed polished section examination.
Ikunolite: This was identified by Cook et al. (2007) in detailed polished section examination.
Ingodite: This was identified by Cook et al. (2007) in detailed polished section examination.
Joséite-A: This was identified by Cook et al. (2007) in detailed polished section examination.
Joséite-B: This was identified by Cook et al. (2007) in detailed polished section examination. All of the five Bi telluride minerals listed here occur in complex intergrowths. It should be stressed that these are reported from a restricted area, although they may be more widely distributed.
Limonite: Probably ubiquitous, but specifically reported only by Howard (2005).
Mica group: Biotite was reported by Hedley (1943), and by Ray (2004) in lamprophyre dykes and in hornfels units.
Mica group: Sericite was reported by Ray (2004), as a minor constituent of the quartz veins in the original Bunker Hill mine.
Molybdenite: Reported in quartz veins by Sargent (1937), and by Little (1960), as well as by several later workers. Ray (2004) mentioned that in the ‘Moly Trench Area’, which lies about 200 metres north of the Lefevre Trenches and just south of the BiTel Knoll occurrence, “The vein varies from 0.2 to 1.25 meter in width and comprises mostly white quartz that in rare locations carries blebs and pyrite, galena ± sphalerite ± molybdenite.”
Pyrite: Common, and reported by most workers.
Pyroxene group: The best reference for pyroxene is Ray (2004). He described several areas of pyroxene bearing skarn and hornfels, but did not give specific mineralogical data.
Pyrrhotite: Ray (2004) mentioned numerous occurrences of pyrrhotite, mostly with pyrite and in minor quantities.
Quartz: Reported by most workers, in most cases as discrete veins with sulfide minerals, but also as ‘stringers’ in granitic rocks.
Scheelite: Scheelite was first found by a Harry Lefevre in 1942 (Hedley, 1943). Hedley reported on a series of trenches to the south-east of the original vein workings; scheelite occurred in gneiss and skarn in these trenches, now known as the Lefevre Trenches. It seems that nowhere are there high concentrations of scheelite, which is for the most part finely disseminated in the various rock types; it is apparently not of economic significance here.
Sphalerite: Ray (2004) identified sphalerite as a constituent of the quartz veins at the Bunker Hill mine, and as sparse disseminations with pyrite and galena in altered and bleached argillaceous quartzites some distance to the west of the original workings.
Titanite: Ray and Webster (1997) listed ‘sphene’ as a silicate mineral at Bunker Hill, but gave no detailed information.
Tourmaline: This was reported by Howard (2005) from various places on the property, but unfortunately with very little firm information and certainly no specific mineral data.
Unknown Bi-Te mineral: This mineral, with a composition given as Bi2Te, was reported by Cook et al. (2007), in close association with other telluride species. No more comprehensive data are available at this time.
Giles Peatfield comments on the rock types reported:
The rock types listed were reported by Hedley (1943), or by Ray (2004).

Other Databases

Link to British Columbia Minfile:	082FSW002

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References