Background Report North Coast LRMP Mineral Resources of the North Coast Region Prepared by

• Main Authors: Robert Pinsent, P. Geo, Jill Pardoe
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2003
• Subjects: Alice Arm; Anyox; Aristazabal Island; Kitsault; Kitsault River; Porcher Island; Smith Island
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.602.6434; http://www.llbc.leg.bc.ca/public/pubdocs/bcdocs/365843/mineral_background.pdf

The North Coast plan area has a 100 year history of exploration and mine development and contains some of the most highly prospective parts of the Province. It includes past-producing mines near Stewart, at Anyox, in the Kitsault River valley, at Alice Arm, on Porcher Island, on Smith Island and on Aristazabal Island. These past producers illustrate the range of metallic (gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, molybdenum) and non-metallic (limestone) commodities that can be produced along the coast. The local abundance of relatively untested mineral showings in the area hints at possible mining opportunities still to come. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, prospectors explored the coast by boat. They worked without geology maps, or any real understanding of the local geology and had, at best, poor topographic maps. They prospected for “high-grade ” mineralization and were remarkably successful in finding it. Where the deposits lay close to surface, they were able to turn some of these discoveries into mines by trenching and tunneling; however many of their sites have yet to be properly explored. With better knowledge and using modern methods that make it possible to locate large deposits below surface, some of these relatively untested prospects may yet become mines. Our knowledge of the geology and mineral deposits of the North