The Stemwinder mine is located 6 kilometres west-northwest of Oliver, British Columbia, in the Osoyoos Mining Division. It is the central one of three British Columbia Minfile properties listed as separate units, within the so-called Fairview Camp (Cockfield, 1935). The distinction is based on operating histories, and is not always a firm one, because there was some overlap of operations. The camp hosts a continuous swarm of quartz veins in metasedimentary rocks, over a total length of about 4.5 kilometres in a north-westerly zone between two intrusive masses.

There is a large amount of published information on this deposit on the British Columbia Minfile page, current to August 2020, especially as regards the geological setting and the operational history of the property. The following capsule comments regarding the deposit come from the Minfile page:

“The Stemwinder mine area is underlain by a northwest- trending sequence of three distinct lithologic units: an upper 'green argillite' primarily composed of chlorite with variable amounts of biotite and narrow quartzite laminations; an underlying central grey quartzite that varies from cherty quartzite to banded quartzite, laminated with fine and coarse biotite and a lower, 'dark argillite' that is essentially a massive greenstone. A series of intermediate to felsic dikes parallel to foliation occur in this sequence. The stratigraphy is tightly squeezed and strongly foliated at 100 to 130 degrees between Oliver Plutonic Complex granite to the north and Fairview intrusion granodiorite to the south.”

And further:

“Gold and silver values occur in portions of the vein that contain pyrite, sphalerite, galena and chalcopyrite, which occur along ribbon-textured fractures or as disseminations in quartz. Precious metal grades show little preference for the hangingwall or footwall of the veins. Strong fracturing parallel to foliation with graphite, sericite, chlorite and biotite fracture-fillings accompanies the mineralized zones. Faulting parallel to the quartz vein zone may account for the rapid thickening and thinning of the veins.

Gold and silver values are closely associated with the presence of galena with or without chalcopyrite, sphalerite or pyrite. Galena, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and rare pyrrhotite are fracture- controlled, with most occurring along S1 fractures in quartz veins. A very small percentage also occurs along S2 fractures. For the most part, the best galena-chalcopyrite-sphalerite mineralization and highest gold and silver values occur in the hangingwall parts of the veins, although significant values have been obtained throughout the vein. Gold values are higher where the vein has well-developed S1 fractures lined with sericite-biotite-chlorite-graphite and sulphides.”

Giles Peatfield comments:

Official government production records for the Stemwinder mine are somewhat uncertain, but can be divided into two parts – an earlier stage of production, from 1893-1904, and a later very minor sporadic stage from 1920-1956.

In the earlier stage, the official records show a total of 27,823 tonnes of ore were mined, and 27,551 tonnes milled locally, yielding 3,184 troy ounces of gold, 16,634 ounces of silver, and 3,377 kilograms of lead. For the years 1893 and 1894, the recovered ounces were calculated based on the dollar returns. There are some inconsistencies involved in these totals, but they are regarded as reasonably accurate.

In the period 1920-1956, there was some sporadic and very minor production listed for the mine; a total of 124 tonnes reportedly yielded 41 ounces of gold, 496 ounces of silver, 293 kilograms of lead and 249 kilograms of zinc.

In summary, the Morning Star mine was a small gold and silver producer, over two periods of operation.

Comments on the minerals reported:
Lambly (1899) reported “free gold” and Mehner (1988) reported native gold. All other minerals listed were noted in drill core by Wiley (1982), with the exception of muscovite which was reported by Mehner (1988). Note that all names are based on field identifications.

Comments on the rock types reported:

The rock types were reported variously by Wiley (1982, 1984), Pauwels (1983), Mehner (1988) and Hassard (1994). Note that these are all field names.

Research by Giles Peatfield, Courtenay, British Columbia.
Posting prepared 17 June, 2026.

Other Databases

Link to British Columbia Minfile:	082ESW007

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References