The mines of the Whitehorse copper belt, like many others of a similar character in different parts of the American continent, since the close of the great war, have seen several years of inactivity. This no doubt has been in a great measure due to the prevailing prices obtaining for their product which, as the name implies, is principally copper, although at some of the properties the gold and silver values are quite important. However in the case of the mines in this district reasons and conditions other that the metal prices have been contributing factors towards their inactivity.
Since the first important discoveries were made about the year 1900 the district has seen two eras of somewhat intensive development. The first of these was about the years 1906-7, when the price of the red metal was sufficiently high to make the exploitation of the mines in the district an attractive proposition. Unfortunately the efforts put forth towards the development of the more promising properties at that time were not productive of good results as far as the physical condition of the mines themselves were concerned, for all mining was done on a highly selective basis, much on the same basis as the ordinary lessor gets his ore. Consequently the properties suffered for lack of development so that when the slump in metal prices arrived it was found that most of the high grade ore developed on existing levels in the camp had been mined out, and having no method of treating the evident larger tonnage of lower grade ore left in the mines, the operators were compelled to close down.
The mines, with one exception, remained inactive from that time up to the beginning of the war, when work on most of them was resumed again in much the same manner as before, the operators not having the capital or foresight to work out any comprehensive plan of development that would take them more than one jump ahead of the ore train at any
time.
These same conditions obtain in a general way in the camp at the present time, for with all the work that has been done none of it has reached anything but relatively shallow depths from a mining standpoint.
The principal mines of the camp are the Pueblo, Carlyle, War Eagle, Grafter, Copper King, Arctic Chief, Valerie and Anaconda, but many other promising prospects, worthy of investigation, are in evidence in the belt. The deepest of the mines mentioned is the Pueblo, which has a shaft approximating 600 feet. None of the others have attained any such depth as this, being simply prospect holes sunk on the ore to
depths varying from 50 to 150 feet.
No attempt will be made in this brief sketch of the district to go into the geological features of the camp as the reader can fully inform himself in this respect by consulting the Dominion Geological Survey in which will be found reports on the district by Prof. R. G. Cockfield, any more than to say that the ore bodies are of the typical contact-metamorphic type, the ores in the main occurring in altered zones in the limestones bordering the granite contact. The commercial ores are principally bornite and
chalcopyrite, but several important shoots of chaleocite, cuprite and native copper have been disclosed in some of the mines during their operations.
Considering the amount of ore mined from these comparatively shallow workings it is safe to say that the mines in this district will compare favorably with mines of a similar type anywhere on the American continent, and that with an intensive plan of development intelligently applied, other and as equally important bodies of ore will be found.
The large majority of mines that depend on shipments of high grade ore for their revenue are conceded to be short lived, and the Whitehorse mines are no exception to the rule. Although the former operators of the mines took the cream, as it were, out of the developed ore bodies, and made themselves and the camp prosperous, they also paved the way for a greater and more permanent prosperity for the district in so far as proving that there are large bodies of commercial ore, lying dormant in some of these
mines awaiting the advent of some concern that will apply modern and scientific methods of extraction and treatment and thereby make a successtul operation and a new era for the district.
The Richmond-Yukon Copper Limited entered the district about eighteen months ago with this object in view, and are making an earnest and intelligent effort to rehabilitate the mining industry in this section, and according to authentic reports are getting very good results. About that time they acquired the old Pueblo property, which was a large and important producer up to 1918. The summer of 1926 was spent in diamond drilling on extensions of the great Pueblo lode, from which they got very gratifying results, cutting large and important ore bodies in hitherto unexplored ground. The winter of 1926-7 was spent in further development of the Carlyle workings, another of their properties from which considerable exceptionally high grade ore was shipped in the early
history of the camp. The result of this work was the discovery of a new and important ore body which will add materially to their known ore reserves.
During the summer just gone diamond drilling was resumed on Pueblo ground about 1000 feet north of the Pueblo shaft, with results that were beyond all expectation. In six holes averaging a depth of about 300 feet, only one hole failed to cut ore. This ore body constitutes a new and separate ore zone than the old ore body of the Pueblo mine proper, and evidently is more economically important as it has better average values over greater widths than existed in the old mine.
In relation to the discovery of this new ore body it may be well to state how it was found, in the hope that owners of similar ground in the camp may benefit by it. The ore channel, for such it may be termed, lies in a north and south direction in the valley of Porter Creek. This valley is about 300 feet wide and is filled with muck and boulders to a depth of from 20 to 30 feet. No outerop is visible along the length, but the west rim shows limestone typical of the ore bearing series. On the east side bluffs of garnetite and diorite, impregnated with copper minerals, are in evidence. It was natural to suppose that the main contact was out somewhere under the creek bottom, and if so the indications from the rock exposures in the valley walls, were that there was a good chance for ore in that section. Hence the discovery. It must not be taken that this means that all such similar places in the camp will be productive of snch results, but rather that any ground having the same geological conditions is well worth investigating.
No doubt there are many large and important ore bodies undiscovered in the camp due to the fact that they are heavily covered with muck and debris, and it is a question if they will ever be found until the advent into the camp of some of the geo-physical methods of prospecting which at the present are receiving close attention in different mining districts throughout the world.
At the present time the Richmond-Yukon Limited are concentrating their work on the development of their War Eagle mine, lying about one mile north of the Pueblo shaft. This property shipped during the war period several thousand tons of ore of an average copper content of around eight per cent, which was mined through the heart of an extensive ore body, or in other words, high graded in much the same way as the other mines were. This ore body has all the earmarks of making a successful mine, having a proven width in several sections along its strike of over thirty feet. Its length has not been determined, but from surface open cuts showing ore of similar character along its strike, it can be safely said that there is ore for a distance of 500 feet on each side of the shaft.
Besides this larger ore shoot there are two or more parallel lenzes a
few hundred feet to the west, which have all the appearance of being productive of ores of commercial grade.
Work of diamond drilling these ore bodies is proceeding at the present time. Two holes already put down have obtained excellent results. With the coming of cold weather surface work had to be suspended, and the present work constitutes the drawing of a crosscut to the west of the main ore body from the bottom of the shaft, where a station will be cut preparatory to setting up the diamond drill and continuing explorations from that point.
At no time within the history of the camp has exploratory work of a similar nature been carried on on such a large scale, and it is pleasant to record that the operators are receiving such returns from their work. Seemingly there is a big mine in the making and one which will, when properly developed for production, compare favorably with some of the big producers in the Northwest that have made history in mineral output.
The sponsors for these operations are men of wide experience in the mining business, whose knowledge, particularly of the type and character of such ore deposits as exist in this district, will go far towards insuring the success of the enterprise.
It is not too much to expect, considering the present outlook, that another six months will see the Whitehorse copper belt well on its way to the production stage again, and on a firmer and sounder basis, for with the completion of the mill which is contemplated, the camp will see the beginning of a new era, which will help materially towards creating interest in other sections of the country well worthy of investigation.
