oe Se — . ————____—— —_— ———_ ——___-___—— SS ee

91

2 and any estimate of the possible amount of chrome ore present is, in such
= circumstances, simply speculative. The serpentines of the district in
general occur in bands or sheets that are as a rule not very wide; a bed on
the Bonaparte 2 miles above Loon creek, is, for instance, only 100 feet
wide!; others may be nearly 200 feet in width. The serpentine body on
Chrome creek may be a mass of irregular shape, but it is probably a narrow,
closely folded band of no great thickness. ‘The total area over which out-
crops of serpentine are found is about 800 yards by 300 yards or less than
50 acres. Serpentine cliffs 60 feet high occur in this area (Plate XVI) and
the greatest difference in the elevation of the outcrops is just over 200 feet
(Figure 14). ; .

MOLYBDENITE.

Molybdenite is the sulphide of molybdenum (MoS), carrying 59-95

per cent of molybdenum and 40-05 per cent of sulphur. It is an opaque

- mineral with metallic lustre and greasy feel; colour lead-grey, streak bluish

to greenish grey; hardness 1 to 1-5 so that it will rub off on the fingers

when handled; specific gravity 4-7 to 4-8; and it crystallizes in the hexa-

gonal system with perfect basal cleavage, yielding thin, flexible, but not

elastic plates. It resembles graphite, but its specific gravity is much
greater.

:: Ores of molybdenite occur on Timothy mountain in Cariboo district
(Figure 2, locality 18); the peridot and gold-copper ores are found nearby.
Timothy mountain lies at the western foot of Cariboo mountains, 16 to
20 miles in a straight line north of Canim lake, and 30 to 35 miles north-
east of Lac la Hache. Its location and the positions of the surrounding
lakes are not accurately known and, therefore, the position (locality 18)
as given in the accompanying map (Figure 2) may be in error by several

_miles. From Lac la Hache post office on the Cariboo road, about a mile
from the new railway grade, a wagon road leads north to Horsefly river.
Seven miles from the lake, a new road branches off which in 1918 had been
cut nearly to the 52nd parallel survey, east of Sprout creek. From the
end of this road a very excellent pack-trail follows eastward round the
south end of Murphy lake and thence northeastward to Timothy mountain.
The total distance by road and trail from the railway grade at Lac la Hache
to Timothy mountain, is about 35 miles of which over 20 miles is trail,
most of which could easily be converted into a wagon road. ‘The grades
are easy except on the last 2 miles. For the greater part of the distance
the road and trail lead through the roiling hill country of the Interior
Plateau with numerous lakes and with ridges covered with jackpine,
rising 300 or 400 feet above the valleys. From this rolling country,
Timothy mountain rises in the form of a crescent-shaped ridge, to eleva-
tions (as determined by barometer) of from 6,500 to 7,000 feet above
sea-level. A topographical sketch of the top and northeast flank is given
in Figure 13. The top of the ridge is above timber-line. On its eastern
flank is a heavy growth of spruce and balsam, but on the western slopes
the trees are less plentiful and in places there are great grassy swamps
and shallow lakes. Several deep creeks and high ridges separate the
mountain from the main Cariboo range to the east.

1Dawson, Op. cit., p. 86B.