Gladstone prospect, Peachland, Osoyoos Mining Division, British Columbia, Canadai

Regional Level Types
Gladstone prospect	Prospect
Peachland	Town
Osoyoos Mining Division	Division
British Columbia	Province
Canada	Country

The old Gladstone “mine” is located near the west shore of Okanagan Lake, about 1.2 kilometres north-west of Peachland, and 34 kilometres north-northwest of Penticton, British Columbia, in the Osoyoos Mining Division.
There is a brief description of the property on the British Columbia “Minfile” site, current to 2008. This has a summary of the history of the property as well as a capsule description of the geology that is quoted below:
“The prospect occurs in greenstone of the Triassic-Jurassic Nicola Group. To the south the Nicola Group rocks are underlain and intruded by granodiorite of the Early Jurassic Pennask Batholith [See note below in comments on rock types re this name]. Eocene Penticton Group volcanics overlie the Nicola Group rocks to the north.
Mineralization on the property is reported to follow shear zones within the Nicola greenstone. The main shear zone is up to 2 metres wide, striking 235 degrees and dipping 85 degrees southeast. The shear zone contains highly fractured greenstone and small, irregular calcite and quartz veining. Mineralization includes blebs and disseminations of chalcopyrite, pyrite, sphalerite, and galena in quartz veins.
A shaft, commonly known as the main Gladstone shaft, was sunk by the Camp Hewitt Mining and Development Company in the late 1890s to a depth of approximately 50 metres. Development work is reported to have included 40 metres of tunneling and crosscuts on the 30 and 45 metre levels. Seventy metres north of this main shaft is a second shaft which has been sunk in a shear zone striking 330 degrees and dipping 60 degrees southwest. Mineralization at this locality is the same as at the main shaft. Veins are up to 3 centimetres wide and malachite staining is common. A normal fault, 100 metres east of the shafts, strikes 020 degrees and dips 70 degrees southeast. East of this fault is a thin bed of graphitic limestone enclosed in greenstone. The limestone bed is fault displaced about 180 metres to the north. South of this limestone bed the greenstone is intruded by granodiorite of the Pennask Batholith. Cutting all rocks on the property are several "Coryell type" syenite dikes. They contain traces of minor pyrite and are fine-grained to highly porphyritic.”
Giles Peatfield comments:
There has been essentially no production from this occurrence. Carlyle (1898) noted that “Some prospecting has been done on these claims, but very little development work, and only a small amount of ore has so far been uncovered. Of this ore, or quartz with chalcopyrite, two small shipments were made to the smelter at Tacoma, . . . .” There is no record of the tonnages involved; Carlyle reported these grades (edited for clarity):
Lot I. - Gold 0.10 oz.; silver 13.9 ozs. per ton; copper 11.7 %.
Lot 2. - Gold 0.15 oz.; silver 13.8 ozs. per ton; copper 10.5 %.
One assumes that these grades are what were reported by the smelter.
Notes of interest: In the popular online world, this prospect is known as the “Peachland Gold Mine”. This is a reflection of the popular media’s habit of calling every little gopher hole in British Columbia a ‘gold mine’ whether or not gold was produced or was even present in appreciable quantities. In this case, based on what little information is available, it would be better called a ‘copper mine’. Some of the items brought up by a Google search for this ‘mine’ have photos that are disturbing in their depiction of unsafe behavior – viewer discretion is advised. And one last word of caution. The British Columbia Department of Mines Index for 1874-1936 (Nation, 1938) lists 17 ‘Gladstone’ properties scattered around the Province, so be careful in researching.

Comments on the Minerals Reported:
Amphibole group: Robinson (1965) noted ‘hornblende’ in granodiorite.
Azurite: Robinson (1965) reported several bulldozer cuts exposing granitic rocks, with “Some thin films and patches of azurite and/or malachite along joint surfaces.”
Calcite: Morrison (1984) reported that “Material on the dump from [the Gladstone] shaft is composed of highly fractured and chlorite altered andesite. Calcite veining averages 5% of the rock, while quartz veining averages less than 1%. Pyrite, 1%, is disseminated throughout the fractured rock.”
Chalcopyrite: Reported by Carlyle (1898) and by Morrison (1984).
Chlorite group: See note above for calcite.
Feldspar group: Robinson (1965) noted that the granitic rocks contained feldspars, but unfortunately gave no details. It is probably safe to assume both plagioclase and k-feldspar, but it is not possible to be more specific.
Galena: Robinson (1965) described the Gladstone shaft as a “small, 15 foot plus, vertical shaft on a vein of milky white quartz with some fine to medium grained pyrite and very minor galena and sphalerite.”
Graphite: Morrison (1984) noted that “The Nicola limestone on the property is a dirty thin-bedded limestone that contains 2% graphite seams.”
Limonite: Robinson (1965) noted surface exposures with some pyrite and iron oxides in greenstone. I have assumed ‘iron oxide’ to mean limonite.
Malachite: See note above for azurite.
Mica group: Robinson (1965) noted that “Those granites observed are medium-grained and light in color. Both biotite and hornblende are present in the mafic fraction of the rock.”
Pyrite: See notes above for calcite and limonite.
Quartz: See note above for galena.
Sphalerite: See note above for galena.
Rock types reported:
Preliminary note: The detailed geology of the area is not well established. In particular, the names and age designations of various rock units tend to change with each regional synthesis. It is instructive to look at earlier compilations to see how geological thinking has changed. This has little bearing on the fine details of the property geology, but is presented below as an interesting example of how the compilation plates have shifted over time in this part of the world. It is also important to note that these compilation maps lie somewhere between the so-called “Macrostrat Geology” maps available on Mindat, which are really cartoons, and detailed large-scale (small area) true geological maps. The detailed comments on rock types are based on the various reports of property geology.
Little (1961) mapped Nicola Group (Triassic) (volcanic and sedimentary rocks), Cretaceous? Nelson Plutonic Rocks (a full spectrum from granite and syenite to diorite), and (also Cretaceous?) Valhalla Plutonic Rocks (granite and granodiorite). Roddick and Okulitch (1973) used the name “Pennask Batholith” for the early Jurassic granite and granodiorite of the major intrusive body. Tempelman-Kluit (1989) used the name Okanagan Batholith for Jurassic granodiorite and granite, Nelson Plutonic Rocks for middle Jurassic granodiorite, quartz diorite and granite, Nicola Group for Triassic volcanic and sedimentary rocks, and Trepanier Rhyolite for Eocene volcanic rocks. Okulitch (2013) shows the major intrusive unit in the area as the Early Cretaceous Kathleen Mountain Pluton (granodiorite) – this appears to be part of what Minfile has called the Pennask Batholith. Other intrusive rocks include Middle Jurassic rocks of the Nelson Plutonic Suite (granodiorite, quartz-diorite, granite). The Eocene Penticton Group rocks are not shown on this compilation map. There will not be an exam.

Comments on the rock types Reported:
Andesite: Morrison (1984) reported that “Material on the dump from this [Gladstone] shaft is composed of highly fractured and chlorite altered andesite.”
Aplite: Robinson (1965) wrote that “Minor acid intrusive rocks are common in the area. Most were observed in granitic terrain but they are also present in the greenstones of the area. By far the most common type is a pinkish tinted, light colored very fine-grained rock referred to herein as aplite.”
Diorite: Robinson (1965) wrote that “The bulk of the granitic material is classed as granodiorite. Outcrops of diorite and granite were also noted.”
Granite: See note above for diorite.
Granodiorite: See note above for diorite. Morrison (1984) reported granodiorite as a major constituent of the Nelson intrusive suite.
Greenstone: Philp (1972) wrote that “On the southeast corner of Rohanna #16, which reportedly covers the old Gladstone claim, a series of old dumps from shafts and adits extends up the hill in a N 80° E[? - un-readable] direction. Most of the dump material consists of greenstone with lesser hornfelsed sediments and limestone.”
Hornfels: See note above for greenstone.
Limestone: See note above for greenstone. Morrison (1984) noted that limestone in the Gladstone shaft area contains up to 2% graphite (see note above in minerals noted).
Pegmatite: Robinson (1965) wrote that “Locally, small pegmatitic bodies of irregular form were noted. They are composed entirely of pinkish cast feldspar in crystals up to one inch in maximum dimension.”
Syenite: Morrison (1984) wrote that “The syenite dykes that cut all other rocks on the property are of varied textures, ranging from fine grained to strongly porphyritic. At some locations rounded quartz eyes up to 1 mm equal up to 3% of the syenite.” He regarded these as Oligocene ? Coryell rocks; these are more generally given an Eocene age - see, e.g., Okulitch (2013).
Tuff: Philp (1972) noted tuff as a minor constituent of the Nicola Group rocks.

Research by Giles Peatfield, Courtenay, British Columbia.
edited by Doug Scott, Ottawa
Posting prepared 15 March, 2025.

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Link to British Columbia Minfile:	082ENW 022

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References