Willow Grouse Mine, Victoria Mining Division, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canadai

Regional Level Types
Willow Grouse Mine	Mine
Victoria Mining Division	Mining Division
Vancouver Island	Island
British Columbia	Province
Canada	Country

The Willow Grouse occurrence is underlain by the Eocene Sooke Gabbro, which forms the basement of the Metchosin Volcanics and is composed of coarse-grained gabbro with about equal parts of bytownite and diopside and about 5 percent olivine. Dykes of leucogabbro contain up to 80 percent bytownite. Local agmatization, amphibolitization, and mineralization of the gabbro occurred later along shear zones.

Chalcopyrite with minor amounts of pyrite, pyrrhotite, magnetite, and molybdenite are disseminated in a major shear zone that strikes from 040 to 050 degrees and is about 18 metres wide. It can be traced for more than 600 metres and shows on the surface as subparallel cliffs or scarps. Veins of coarse hornblende are abundant in the main workings, and hornblendite occurs at other places along the shear zone.

The most important of these zones occurs on the Willow Grouse Crown grant where the mine workings are located. The length of this zone is about 45 metres and the width of the high-grade orebodies, of which there are three, are 1.8 metres, 4.6 metres and 6 metres, respectively. The general strike of these fissures is 040 degrees and the dip is about 70 degrees; but there is one fissure which strikes 177 degrees and dips 80 degrees that forms a junction with the others near the southern end of the mine workings and carries the richer portion of the orebodies.

The high-grade lenses have apparently been completely mined out.

Other Databases

Link to British Columbia Minfile:	092B%20%20010

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