The Orofino Creek rhodonite occurrence is located about 1.5 kilometres west-northwest of the mouth of Orofino Creek, 10 kilometres north-northwest of Oliver, in the Osoyoos Mining Division. Note that the co-ordinates given by Minfile and quoted above may be slightly in error, but close enough for Mindat plotting – the precise location cannot at this time be determined.

The occurrence is described on the British Columbia Minfile page, current to November 1996 as follows:

“The [Orofino Creek] rhodonite occurrence is located within the Intermontane Belt near its eastern boundary with the Omineca Belt. The [Orofino Creek] occurrence is underlain primarily by a west to northwest striking and 70 to 80 degree southwest dipping sequence 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 and west, these rocks are intruded by Middle Jurassic to Cretaceous gabbroic to granitic rocks of the Nelson and Oliver plutonic complexes and the Fairview pluton. To the north, Eocene Marron Formation basalts are faulted against the older rocks by the easterly trending McCaig Creek fault.

Rhodonite occurs in cherts of the Shoemaker Formation at the [Orofino Creek] occurrence. The rhodonite has been explored by old workings of unknown age. Further to the west at the Orofino Mountain occurrence (082ESW113), rhodonite occurs with quartz as irregular replacement zones in the Shoemaker Formation.”

Giles Peatfield comments:

The Minfile page lists this as the MO rhodonite occurrence, but this is an error. The MO occurrence lies, as noted above, to the west, on the Orofino Mountain property (Christopher, 1986).

The Orofino Creek occurrence was mentioned by Sabina (1964) as being “. . . with chert in an exposure about 1 mile up Orofino Creek from the Back Road (personal communication: R. M. Thompson).” Leaming (1966) described the occurrence as follows: “Rhodonite occurs on the north side of Orofino Creek about a mile up the road from Meyer’s Flat (Sabina 1965 [sic - 1964]. Geological Survey of Canada map 627A ‘Okanagan Falls’ [Bostock 1928] shows the geology of the area although the locality is not identified. The deposit lies in the Shoemaker Formation, close to the contact with altered dioritic rocks of uncertain origin. The deposit appears to be near the bottom of the Shoemaker Formation. The deposit runs parallel to the contact between the chert and the diorite which itself closely follows the bed of Orofino Creek.” Leaming (1973) described the Meyer’s Flat Locality as follows: “Rhodonite occurs in an exposure along Orofino Creek abut a mile up the road along the creek from the turnoff on Meyer’s Flat west of Oliver. . . . . Rhodonite and jasper have rolled down to the road level from workings which are about 100 feet above the road.”

Comments on the minerals reported:

Rhodonite was mentioned by Sabina (1964) and Leaming (1966, 1973). Jasper was mentioned by Leaming (1973).

Comments on the rock types reported:

The rocks listed are those of direct interest with regard to the rhodonite occurrence. Bostock (1928) described the Shoemaker Formation as “mainly chert; tuff, greenstone, limestone.”

Research by Giles Peatfield, Courtenay, British Columbia.
Posting prepared 14 April, 2026.

Deposit Types Q02 : Rhodonite, F01 : Sedimentary Mn

Other Databases

Link to British Columbia Minfile:	082ESW009

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References