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Hardscrabble Creek Scheelite Ledges

“Introductory. The property known as the Hardscrabble Scheelite
Deposit consists of two Crown-granted mineral claims; it is owned by a
syndicate of six men, of which J. A. McPherson, of Stanley, and D.
McCaskill, of Vancouver, seem to be most heavily interested.

“The claims are situated on Hardscrabble creek, half a mile above
the junction of this creek with Willow river. The property is distant
about 16 miles from Stanley. -

“Hardscrabble creek was worked in a small way for placer gold many
years ago. In the course of the drifting operations, small pieces of heavy
white and brown minerals were found in the gravel and also in small amounts
an the sluice-boxes. This mineral was finally identified as scheelite.
Later in the drifting operations, the scheelite was found in stringers in place
in the bedrock; a drift in the bedrock was run and a shaft sunk for the pur-
pose of exploring the scheelite deposit. This work was done some years
ago and since then no further development had been carried out. Last
year the workings were cleaned out and fixed by Mr. Macpherson, so that
the showing could be examined.

“Workings. Entrance to the workings is by a shaft 60 feet deep,
from which a drift extends northerly for 153 feet. At this point a winze
has been sunk to a depth of 20 feet and a drift run to the east for 49 feet.
_ The main shaft is in gravel throughout, and the main drift north is in
gravel for half its distance before breaking into solid rock.........

“Ore-showings. The main showing of scheelite occurs along the
first 15 feet of the east drift, commencing at the winze. The country
rock is a schist, in places highly micaceous. The strike is approximately
north 60 degrees east (magnetic) with a dip to the north. The east
drift follows approximately the strike of the schist country rock.

“The scheelite apparently occurs in irregular stringers and bunches.
There would seem to be two main series or fractures, one striking north
60 degrees east (magnetic) with the formation, and the other north and
south (magnetic). Of these, the latter would seem to be the more important
and in all cases noted they cut the stringers running with the formation.

“With the limited development-work done and entire absence of
surface exposures, it is difficult to ascertain the true strike of this scheelite-
bearing zone. It would seem, though, that the schist had been slightly
fractured in the first place along a line of north 60 degrees east (magnetic)
and some quartz deposited in the fractures. Later this schist has been
fractured along a north and south line, and in these fractures, quartz,
calcite, and scheelite have been deposited. From these fractures some
scheelite has been fed into the quartz stringers running north 60 degrees
east (magnetic), this giving rise to the opinion that the scheelite-zone
followed the formation. More work is necessary to determine definitely the
true strike of the zone.

“Tn addition to the mineral already noted, a little pyrite and galena
occur in the stringers, but not in appreciable amounts. Wolframite,
tungstite, and molybdenite are said to have been found in the deposit,
but none was seen by the writer.