Treasure Mountain, Tulameen River Area, Similkameen Mining Division, British Columbia, Canadai

Regional Level Types
Treasure Mountain	Mountain
Tulameen River Area	- not defined -
Similkameen Mining Division	Division
British Columbia	Province
Canada	Country

The Treasure Mountain silver – base metal deposit is located near the headwaters of the Tulameen River, about 40 kilometres west of Princeton, British Columbia.
There is a lengthy description of the deposit and its history, on the British Columbia “Minfile” site, current to 2020, to which interested readers are referred. Brief excerpts regarding mineralization are quoted below:
“Mineralization in the Treasure Mountain occurrence area is hosted in the Treasure Mountain fault and in and near subsidiary faults, and comprise one or more quartz-carbonate veins or stringers that branch, split and coalesce and vary considerably in width and attitude. The lodes consist of up to several sulphide-rich stringers or veins, together with quartz-carbonate vein material concentrated in pockets and disseminated in wallrock. Typically, very little quartz-carbonate gangue is present. The veins, for the most part, are less than 0.6 metre wide and generally consist of a central massive section with veinlets and disseminated mineralization distributed outwards into the wallrock. Veins can range from centimetres to over 3 metres in width and extend for only a few metres to over 300 metres in length. Numerous stringers occur and are centimetres wide and continue for only a few metres. The multiplicity of veins and associated mineralization is irregular. Locally, an aggregate width of mineralized veins or stringers separated by gouge and broken wallrock can reach 3.04 metres. The fault zone wallrock itself is mineralized and locally manganese oxide enriched.”
“Sulphides constitute the greater part of the vein matter, and gangue minerals are present in minor amounts. Sphalerite is the most abundant, followed by galena, pyrite, arsenopyrite, tetrahedrite, pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite. Mineralogical examinations show that zinkenite is present in important amounts. Bournonite is also identified. Magnetite has been reported in drill core along with hematite near dike contacts. Rare native silver and argentite is present in galena. Pyrargyrite and argentite have also been documented in underground diamond-drill core intersections . . . . The gangue mineralogy consists of milky and glassy quartz and light-coloured carbonate. Some of the carbonate may be manganiferous siderite. Cavities in the lodes are common and are narrow (less than 3 centimetres wide). Generally they are lined with sulphide crystals and quartz crystals.”
Comments by Giles Peatfield on some of the minerals reported from the locality:
Acanthite: Reported as “argentite” in polished section by Cairnes (1923), by McDougall (1987) and by Laird (2003).
Anglesite: Reported as “identified” by Laird (2003), and by Payne (2008), as “after galena”.
Ankerite: Reported by Cairnes (1923), and as a “major gangue mineral” by Payne (2008).
Azurite: Reported only by Laird (2003).
Bindheimite: Laird (2003) listed this among the minerals he identified, but gave no analytical data. No other workers reported the mineral. Richard Gunter has posted a photo to this site, of a specimen that he tells me (email communication 31 July 2022) he purchased from Laird in 2005, as “Smoky Quartz and “Bindheimite”. Richard also tells me that the quartz is in fact coloured by fine included needles of boulangerite. There is a further complication in that “bindheimite” is listed as a questionable species (see Back, 2022).
Bornite: Armstrong (2012) observed bornite at Treasure Mountain; no other worker reported it.
Boulangerite: This was “identified” by Laird (2003) and confirmed by Payne (2008) and by Armstrong (2012).
Bournonite: This was “identified” by Laird (2003) and confirmed by Payne (2008).
Cerussite: Reported as “identified” by Laird (2003), and by Payne (2008), as “after galena”.
Clinopyroxene: Reported by Armstrong in thin section, with no further details.
Jamesonite: Reported only by Laird (2003), with no analytical data.
Jarosite: Reported only by Laird (2003), with no analytical data.
Kermesite: Reported only by Laird (2003), with no analytical data.
Malachite: Reported only by Laird (2003), with no analytical data.
Manganese oxide: Reported only by Laird (2003), as “psilomelane”, with no further data. Laird also reported “pyrolucite” (sic - pyrolusite), as well as “wad”. McDougall (1987) reported manganese in “unusually large amounts ranging to 18.5% on weathered surfaces, and 0.2% to 6.4% in fresh material. As no primary manganese mineral has been recognized, it probably originates as manganiferous siderite, a common gangue often related to silver-rich deposits.”
Marcasite: Reported only by Laird (2003), with no analytical data.
“Ruby silvers”: Laird (2003) reported both proustite and pyrargyrite. Harris (2008) opined that the ruby silver he saw was “probably pyrargyrite”. More data are needed.
Tetrahedrite subgroup: “Tetrahedrite” has been reported by most workers on the deposit. In the case of Laird (2003), the mineral was identified as “freibergite”. Harris (2008), in describing “tetrahedrite” from the deposit, commented that “The tetrahedrite was checked by scanning electron microanalysis and confirmed as an argentiferous variety. This analysis does not provide a quantitative measure of the Ag content of the tetrahedrite, but the strength of the Ag peak suggests a figure of 10% or more.” Recently, the name freibergite has been changed to kenoargentotetrahedrite-(Fe) – see Back (2022).
Stilbite: Reported only by Cairnes (1923).
Further comment by Giles Peatfield: The extensive listing of minerals in Laird (2003) has no mention of analytical data, so several of the minerals must be regarded as likely but uncertain. It is indeed unfortunate that Jim Laird is no longer available to provide more information.

Other Databases

Link to British Columbia Minfile:	092HSW016

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References