CHAPTER IV

IRON ORE OCCURRENCES, WEST COAST OF VANCOUVER
ISLAND

By W. L. Uglow

INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Tron deposits have been known for many years to occur in the vicinity
of the west coast of Vancouver island, from Sooke peninsula to Quatsino
sound, and geological literature contains very many references to them.
They have been the subject of several brief reports, chief among which are
those by Carmichael! (4) in 1902, Lindeman (15) in 1907, and Brewer (17)
in 1916. Each of these constitutes a valuable record in that it outlines
the condition of the properties at the time of the investigation; but each
fails of completeness in the same particulars, namely, that the deposits
are treated almost entirely from a commercial standpoint and scarcely at
all from a geological aspect, and also that none of the reports is accompanied
by a set of property maps indicating the size and geological character of
the deposits.

For the purpose of obtaining this information and preparing a complete
report, the writer was instructed by the Director of the Geological Survey
to spend the field season of 1924 in making detailed geological examinations
and surveys of the various west coast deposits, to supply detailed maps
and sections of the principal ones, and to make estimates of their available
tonnage and prospective value.

The work was carried on with the aid of four technical assistants,
acting from a 60-foot motor launch as a base. All of the main deposits
were surveyed by means of a telescopic alidade and plane-table and the
mapping was conducted on scales varying from 20 to 120 feet to the inch.
Geological maps and sections were constructed in the field and depict actual
field facts as they are accessible to observation at the present time. From
these data, interpretations were made and conclusions were drawn giving
the writer’s judgment of the value of the various deposits as possible
sources of iron ore. Twenty-eight deposits were carefully investigated
and maps of some fifteen of them accompany this report.

Grateful acknowledgment is made of the valuable assistance rendered
by W. M. Brewer, Resident Mining Engineer of Western Mineral Survey
District (No. 6), in providing information leading to the discovery of
many of the old deposits and in arranging for guides; by G. G. Aitken,
Chief Geographer, Department of Lands, Victoria, in furnishing the
party with maps of the west coast and plans of surveyed mineral claims;
and by many residents and claim owners who assisted as guides. To the
assistants, C. S. Evans, geological engineer, and F. F. Osborne, mining
engineer, ‘especial credit is due for the painstaking care with which they
delineated the boundaries of each deposit, thus leaving the writer free

1 Consult Bibliography, page 158, for ell references.