The Twin Lakes past-producing gold-silver mine is located about 2.5 kilometres north of Orofino Mountain, about 12 kilometres north-east of Keremeos, in the Osoyoos Mining Division.
The deposit and the surrounding geology are described on the British Columbia Minfile page, current to February 2008; selected parts of the description are quoted, as follows:

“The Twin Lakes property is underlain primarily by west and northwest trending sequences of chert and greenstone of the Carboniferous to Triassic Old Tom and Shoemaker formations. The Old Tom rocks include basaltic and andesitic (greenstone) flows dipping steeply to the north, and minor related diorite. The Shoemaker Formation consists of chert, with small amounts of tuff, greenstone and limestone. To the south these rocks are intruded by Jurassic to Cretaceous gabbroic to granitic rocks of the Nelson and Oliver plutonic complexes. To the north, Eocene Marron Formation basalts are faulted against the older rocks by the easterly trending McCaig Creek fault.

The initial three discovery veins of the Twin Lakes occurrence varied from 0.05 to 1.22 metres width. The Summit shaft and various nearby workings exposed high grade quartz veins in the deformed Carboniferous to Triassic rocks. Veins generally parallel the schistosity of the country rock and thus are extensively warped and fractured, with widths varying from 0.3 to 2.0 metres. Inclusions of country rock are common and veins may be oxidized with black films. Major structural controls include a normal fault dipping 63 degrees to the northwest which offsets the veins about 11 metres vertically, and a series of crossfaults with related lateral displacement.

Mineralization consists mainly of pyrite, both in the vein and disseminated in the wallrock. High grade pockets of galena, free gold and minor sphalerite are also present. Rare tourmaline was observed.”

Giles Peatfield comments:

The question of production from the Twin Lakes mine is complex and not fully clear. The official government totals given are: 7,265 tonnes mined; 9,654 tonnes milled (including 3,272 tonnes from the nearby Grandoro mine); 4,870 Troy ounces of gold (including 1,130 from Grandoro); and 1,177 Troy ounces of silver (including 406 ounces from Grandoro). These totals must be read with caution. There was also some direct shipping ore, perhaps about 880 tonnes, although most was milled on-site. The production was between 1926 and 1942.

Ash (1994) has provided this caveat: “Minister of Mines Annual Reports indicate that the mines within the present claim group boundaries produced 10,845 tons of ore, of average recovered grade 0.45 oz Au/ton, for a reported yield of 4,870 ounces. My knowledge of the milling methods used at the time suggest a recovery in the range of 80%. Thus, the average head grade was probably in the range of 0.55 oz Au/ton, The Oro Fino [Grandoro?] group, which is located outside the boundary of the present Twin Lakes group, is reported to have produced 13,256 tons yielding 3,977 oz. (which was put through the Twin Lakes mill), for a total of 24,100 tons averaging 0.37 oz/ton. The official tonnage and gold production is most likely under-reported since the government reports are rather sketchy, much of the milling was done by leasers who seldom reported the total production, amalgamation was used for gold concentration which tended to be subject to under-reporting, particularly with the 2% gold royalty to the crown which existed at the time.”

In summary, Twin Lakes was a small gold-silver producer, which also served as a custom milling operation for a nearby mine.

Comments on the minerals reported:
The minerals listed have been reported by several workers. Galena, native gold, pyrite and quartz were noted by Cairnes (1937) and by Hedley and Watson (1945). Carriere (1984) noted sphalerite. The Minfile write-up mentions that “Rare tourmaline was observed.” but does not provide a reference. It may be that the presence of tourmaline is based on a report from a nearby property.

Research by Giles Peatfield, Courtenay, British Columbia.
Posting prepared 06 April, 2026.

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Link to British Columbia Minfile:	082ESW011

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References