Tangier deposit, Downie Creek, Revelstoke Mining Division, British Columbia, Canadai

Regional Level Types
Tangier deposit	Occurrence
Downie Creek	- not defined -
Revelstoke Mining Division	Division
British Columbia	Province
Canada	Country

The Tangier occurrence is located near the headwaters of the North fork of Downie Creek, a.k.a. Sorcerer Creek, immediately north of the divide separating that stream from the North fork of Illecillewaet River, 3.3 kilometres due west of Sorcerer Mountain and about 52 kilometres north-northeast of Revelstoke, British Columbia.

Tangier is immediately below and to the west of the Waverley workings (MINFILE 082N 014).

There is a description of the deposit and area on the British Columbia “Minfile” site, current to 2020. A brief excerpt is quoted below:
“At the Tangier workings, Lower Cambrian strata comprising a considerable thickness of pyritic black carbonaceous schist is in contact with a band of white-to-grey marble at least 36 metres wide. The marble strikes 330 to 325 degrees and dips very steeply east or is vertical and also contains at least two small bands of black carbonaceous schist. A vein-like oreshoot occurs in the marble, between two fault walls, at or near the marble-schist contact. The replacement mineralization is composed of calcite and some quartz and a fine-grained mixture of pyrite, jamesonite, galena, sphalerite and minor amounts of tetrahedrite. The width of the oreshoot varies from 0.4 to 1.8 metres, averaging 0.6 metre. Some mineralization occurs in the schist to the west of the oreshoot. Large calcite/quartz veins and lenses also occur and contain minor amounts of pyrite. The ore at Tangier differs from the Waverley occurrence (MINFILE 082N 014) in that there is not much evidence of oxidation.”

Gunning (1929) reported that “It is reported by the present management 15 tons of sulphide ore, shipped to Wales in the early days, contained 1.5 ounces gold, 130 ounces silver, and 25 per cent lead per ton.” Reference to British Columbia Department of Mines records for the early years shows no record of production for the Tangier deposit, and Gunning’s report should be read with caution.
Comments by Giles Peatfield on some of the minerals reported from the locality:
Ankerite?: Leitch (2009) described “ankeritic carbonate” in thin section.
Bournonite?: Leitch (2009) described a mineral that he tentatively identified as bournonite, but there is no supporting evidence and this should be regarded as tentative.
Chalcopyrite: Leitch (2009) described traces of chalcopyrite in sphalerite, presumably exsolution.
Jamesonite: Identified by Gunning (1929).
“Limonite”: Reported by Leitch (2009), in thin section.
Muscovite: Gunning (1929), describing a persistent quartz-calcite vein with sparse galena and sphalerite, noted that “There is much muscovite in parts of the vein.”
Scheelite?: Leitch (2009) described traces of a mineral that he tentatively identified as scheelite.
Sericite: Described by Leitch (2009) and by Tuner (2010) in thin section. Leitch mentioned that due to the green colouration the mineral might in fact be Cr-bearing.
Silver?: Reported by Turner (2010) but with no supporting data. I would regard it as possible but tentative for the locality.
Stibnite?: Reported by Turner (2010) but with no supporting data. I would regard it as possible but unlikely for the locality. Might he be seeing jamesonite?

O’Grady (1928) gave a good summary of the occurrence, with much sampling data, that is of some historical interest.

Other Databases

Link to British Columbia Minfile:	082N 015

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References