After enjoying a cruise to Alaska this summer Lori and I took the ferry from the mainland to Vancouver Island to visit our long time friends who live up in the hills near Duncan B.C.. As we relaxed outside on their front porch I looked down and noticed a can full of what looked like a rough granulated iron oxide. Upon further investigation I noticed that it turned to a yellow powder when you crushed it between your fingers. Being a potter for thirty years, I was pretty sure what it was and I immediately asked my hosts "Where did you get this stuff?" "Oh, that's from the Ochre cave up on the mountain" came the reply "It's full of the stuff". "Hmmm, I said: when can we go?" Long story short, instead of going Salmon fishing, we went up the mountain to this "cave" the next day. Lori was still feeling the effects of the cruise and did not want to go mountain climbing so she stayed back while Robert and Debbie took me up the mountain.
I gathered as many empty containers as I could fit in my pack along with a rock hammer, some plastic bags, a magic marker and several bottles of water. Off we went; across the road and straight up a steep slope covered with an incredible mix of Maple, Cedar, Fir and Arbutus trees. It was an incredibly hot day (well over 30 degrees Celsius) but we eventually reached the top of the ridge and found a logging road that led to the "cave".
Upon arriving at the first of three caves it was obvious to me that these were man made tunnels and not caves at all. The first was shallow and there was little mineralization visible so we moved on. The next one was a different story. It was indeed full of Ochre that had been washed down the walls into pools by a steady dripping of ground water. It was then I realized that I should have brought a flashlight! D'oh! I gathered samples in bags from the sides of the tunnel and filled my jars with the clay like material on the floor. I also took some pictures of the tunnel with my flash camera because I could not see very well. The third dig was longer but as far as I could see there was no mineralization in it either. As I ventured deeper into the tunnel something flew by and hit mt friend in the head as it flew by (scared the life out of him I think). It was all alone so it was probably a small bird just trying to beat the heat.
We had to go home the next day and it was not until I got home and looked at the pictures on the big monitor that I noticed all the green streaks in the walls. I am fairly certain it is copper and that is most likely the reason for the digs in the first place. Copper is way more valuable than Ochre but I doubt the amounts were anywhere near the level of concentration necessary for a commercial deposit.
I am home now and preparing to fire my 75 cubic ft gas kiln in the next few days. I will try to post some of the results next week. I wish I had noticed the copper while I was still there as it will probably be a while before I get back there again. I don't know if the land is staked as a mining claim. I guess depending on the results, I will have to look into that before I go again. I did not see any staking at all and it is on crown land. I would appreciate any comments or suggestions you might have for me. I have always been interested in geology and I plan on doing more explorations for natural materials that I can incorporate into my work.
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