Meteor Mine, Tobin Creek, Slocan, Slocan Mining Division, British Columbia, Canadai

Regional Level Types
Meteor Mine	Mine
Tobin Creek	- not defined -
Slocan	- not defined -
Slocan Mining Division	Division
British Columbia	Province
Canada	Country

The Meteor Mine is located near the headwaters of Tobin Creek, a north-flowing tributary of Springer Creek, about 8.5 kilometres east of the village of Slocan, or 30 kilometres north of Nelson, British Columbia, in the Slocan Mining Division.

There is a description of the property, including regional geology, on the British Columbia “Minfile” site, current to 1997. That portion relative to geology is quoted below:
“The area is dominated by granitic rocks of the Middle to Late Jurassic Nelson Intrusions. Host rock at the Meteor occurrence is a medium-grained potassium feldspar porphyritic granite, commonly crosscut by dykes of biotite diorite and pegmatitic granite phases. The dykes range from 10 centimetres to 3 metres in width, strike north-northeast and north-northwest with moderate to steep dips. Contacts with the granite country rock are sharp and shearing is common along these zones.
Faults, shear zones and joints are oriented predominantly in north and north-northeast directions with generally near vertical dips. North trending faults and shears commonly display strike-slip displacements, while north-northeast trending structures commonly display dip-slip displacements.
The workings of the Meteor mine consist of six adits that intersect a 5 to 50-centimetre wide vein that strikes 105 degrees and dips 35 degrees north. Vein mineralization is associated with the sheared upper contact of a 3-metre wide dike and narrow off-shoot fissures. Quartz veining is localized mainly at the sheared dyke contact but also occurs as narrow (1-2 centimetre) veinlets adjacent to the main vein. These veinlets constitute stockwork mineralization in the dyke up to 1 metre from the main vein. The dyke rock is pervasively sericitized in the zones of quartz veining and contains up to 2 per cent disseminated crystalline pyrite. Both the dyke and the quartz veining are dislocated by a series of nearly parallel vertical post-mineralization faults. Displacement along the faults is of a dip-slip nature with the southeastern side of the faulting being downdropped.
The vein is largely quartz carrying some sphalerite, galena, tetrahedrite, stephanite, argentite [sic] and native silver. Pyrite and chalcopyrite are also present and associated with significant gold values. Scheelite was discovered in the Meteor vein on No. 2 level as a wedge-shaped body approximately 3.6 metres long and 10 centimetres thick at the base. A small amount was also found on No. 4 level. Scheelite also occurs in the No. 6 level adit as disseminated grains along a moderately well-developed fracture striking 320 degrees and dipping 80 degrees northeast in the granite country rock (Assessment Report 9607). Examination of material from the Meteor dump in 1980 revealed molybdenite occurring locally within quartz stockwork hosted by sericitic granite, but was not found in the workings.”

Giles Peatfield comments:
The Meteor Mine is an example of the so-called “dry ores” of the Slocan Mining Camp. Cairnes (1934) described these ores as follows: “Silver is the metal of chief value in Slocan ores, but lead and, in the last decade and a half, zinc are also of primary importance. In many properties silver, and in a few silver and gold are the only metals of economic significance. Ores from such properties are composed mainly of quartz with negligible, or minor, lead and zinc content, and are referred to as “dry ores” . . . . In most of the larger properties, however, silver, lead, and, generally, zinc have all been important constituents, and ores of these properties constitute the “wet ores” of the Slocan Camp.” For much more detail on this topic and on the mineralogy of the district, refer to Cairnes (1934).
The Meteor Mine was mined in a very small way, discontinuously between 1897 and 1985, producing silver (the principal product), gold, zinc and lead. Of this, some tonnage was milled on site, and a substantial amount was made up of direct shipping ore. Official figures on the British Columbia “Minfile” site show that the total ore mined amounted to 2,652 tonnes (2,923 tons), yielding 4,724,994 grams (151,912 troy ounces) silver; 13,177 grams (424 troy ounces) gold; 679 kilograms (1,497 pounds) zinc; and 661 kilograms (1,457 pounds) lead.
I have chosen to present this property because of the presence of scheelite, which is not commonly found in the ores of the Slocan Camp. See the comment below in the mineral section.
Giles Peatfield comments on the minerals reported:
Given the number of different workers and the time frame involved, I have chosen to comment on all the minerals so far reported at this property.
Acanthite: Langley (1920), Cairnes (1935) and Lafreniere and Brown (1981) all reported this mineral as “argentite”. The Pacific Museum of Earth at the University of British Columbia has a group of specimens (Catalogue No. 202) labelled acanthite with quartz and pyrite, from the Meteor Mine, donated by an early British Columbia mining man, J. M. Turnbull.
Tetrahedrite group: Langley (1920) reported tetrahedrite. Cairnes (1935) used the common term “grey copper”. Lafreniere and Brown (1981) were uncertain; upon “microscopic analysis”, they commented that “A dark blue-grey opaque mineral which could have been one of the tetrahedrite-tennantite group was also noted, although the argentite appeared predominant.”
Baryte: Lafreniere and Brown (1981) noted “minor barite” during their microscopic analysis.
Biotite: Wong (1981) reported biotite in several of the intrusive rocks on the property.
Calcite: Lafreniere and Brown (1981) noted calcite during their microscopic analysis.
Chalcopyrite: Cairnes (1935) noted that chalcopyrite was present, and speculated that it might be associated with gold. Lafreniere and Brown (1981) noted “small quantities” of the mineral during their microscopic analysis.
Feldspar group: Wong (1981) reported both “k-feldspar” and “plagioclase” in intrusive rocks.
Galena: Cairnes (1935) reported “a little” galena; Lafreniere and Brown (1981) noted galena during their microscopic analysis.
Molybdenite: Wong (1981) described how his company (BP Minerals Limited) was led to examine the property upon finding traces of molybdenite in the intrusive rocks in the area. They then found molybdenite in quartz stockworks in rocks from the Meteor dump.
Pyrite: This is ubiquitous and reported by all workers.
Quartz: This is ubiquitous and reported by all workers, generally in the form of veins.
Scheelite: This is the mineral of interest in this review. The first reference was by Christie (1904). His comment was that “This is the first time this mineral has been met with in this Province, . . . .” See also Johnston (1915) and Traill (1973, 1980). Cairnes (1935) noted that scheelite has been found at the Meteor Mine. Wong (1981) mentioned that it was the reported presence of scheelite that led BP Minerals Limited to examine the area for molybdenum potential.
Sericite: Wong (1981) noted that an aplite dyke is “. . . pervasively sericitized in the zones of quartz veining and contains up to 2% disseminated crystalline pyrite.”
Silver: Native silver was reported by Langley (1920), and by Cairnes (1935).
Sphalerite: Langley (1920) reported a “small percentage” of sphalerite. Cairnes (1935) reported “zinc blende.” Lafreniere and Brown (1981) reported “marmatite”, presumably on account of its black colouration.
Stephanite: Cairnes (1935) reported this mineral in the Meteor ore.
Giles Peatfield comments on the rock types reported:
All these rock names are based on field identifications, mostly reported by Wong (1981).

Giles Peatfield
BASc. (Geological Engineering) University of British Columbia 1966.
PhD Queen's University at Kingston 1978.
Worked for Texas Gulf Sulphur / Texasgulf Inc. / Kidd Creek Mines - 1966 to 1985.
Vancouver based consultant 1982 to retirement in 2016

Other Databases

Link to British Columbia Minfile:	082FNW137

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References