Alamo Lode mine, Howson Creek, Sandon, Slocan Mining Division, British Columbia, Canadai

Regional Level Types
Alamo Lode mine	Mine
Howson Creek	- not defined -
Sandon	- not defined -
Slocan Mining Division	Division
British Columbia	Province
Canada	Country

The Alamo claim and mine is one of a number of claims on what became known as the Alamo Lode, an arcuate zone of veining extending for about 1,000 metres. The bulk of the work was in several tunnels collared on the Alamo claim and extending westward to the stoping area principally on the Idaho claim. For the purposes of this posting, the name “Alamo Lode” has been adopted. The mining area is located near the headwaters of a tributary of Howson Creek (a.k.a. Hauser Creek by GSC geologists – see Dawson (1897) and Hoffmann (1897)), about 4.8 kilometres west of the famous mining town of Sandon, and 55 kilometres north of Nelson, British Columbia, in the Slocan Mining Division.
There is a detailed description of the mine on the British Columbia “Minfile” site, current to 2020. Much of this is concerned with the complex history of the mine; a part of that details the geological setting is quoted below:
“The Alamo occurrence is hosted by massive, banded argillites and quartzites of the Triassic Slocan Group. These metasediments have a gentle dip with minor folding and faulting and are intruded by two quartz diorite stocks. On the north or footwall side of the Alamo occurrence, strata are overturned while those on the hangingwall are right-side-up. These represent displaced limbs of a large-scale dragfold with a near horizontal axial plane. The lode is deflected from its west-southwest strike to a northwest strike following bedding in this vicinity.
The lode consists of a curving vein of steep to shallow dip where hostrocks have been brecciated and cemented by quartz. The strike changes from 250 to 290 degrees. The dip averages about 60 degrees south but varies considerably. The lode varies in width from a few centimetres up to 3 metres thick with ore shoots composed of massive galena, tetrahedrite and minor sphalerite in a gangue of quartz, siderite, calcite and brecciated hostrock. A small amount of pyrargyrite was associated with galena and tetrahedrite was prominent in the higher grade ore. Pyrite and chalcopyrite were also present with chalcopyrite locally forming unusually high proportions for ores from this area. Quartz was the dominant gangue mineral and higher grade silver values were reported associated with finely crystalline vuggy quartz.”
Giles Peatfield comments:
The official British Columbia Government records of production from the Alamo property cover only the period 1920 to 1969 (intermittent). Total recorded production was 538 tonnes, yielding 31,386 ounces of silver, 5 ounces of gold, 55,563 kilograms of lead, 47,240 kilograms of zinc, and 38 kilograms of cadmium. However, these figures do not specify if these were from mine-head grades or mill recoveries or smelter returns. They also do not include production (precise amounts not known) in the 1890’s and early 1900’s. The controlling company built an aerial tramway to feed the first mill in the Slocan region in 1894. Substantial shipments appear to have been made from the Alamo claim and other nearby mines. Working out precise production figures for the early days of mining in the Slocan Camp is an exercise in frustration – suffice it to say that the Alamo was a small but significant producer of silver and lead and zinc.

Comments on the Minerals Reported:
All the minerals listed, with the exception of smithsonite, were reported by Warren (1948). Specific points of interest are:
Owyheeite: This was reported by Warren (1948) as X-ray confirmed by Dr. R. M. Thompson at the University of Toronto. Warren described the specimen as “resembling tetrahedrite”. The Pacific Museum of Earth at the University of British Columbia has a specimen labelled as owyheeite from the Alamo Lode, donated by the British Columbia Department of Mines – this may in fact be part of a collection from which Thompson obtained his X-ray pattern. See also Traill (1983).
Smithsonite: This was reported only by Hoffmann (1897), who wrote that “Smithsonite. A mineral not previously known to occur in Canada, has been recognized by Mr. R. A. A. Johnston, in a sample of ore from the Alamo mine, at the headwaters of Hauser [sic] Creek, West Kootenay district, British Columbia, where it is found accompanying sphalerite, galena, siderite, tetrahedrite and pyrite, also some pyrargyrite, in a gangue composed of crushed and brecciated slate, calcite and quartz.” No other workers have mentioned smithsonite from this occurrence, but Hoffmann’s report was copied by Traill (1983).

Other Databases

Link to British Columbia Minfile:	082FNW008

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References