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Silver tunnel, Van Silver Property, Brandywine Creek, Vancouver Mining Division, British Columbia, Canadai
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| Silver tunnel | Mine (Abandoned) |
| Van Silver Property | Property |
| Brandywine Creek | Creek |
| Vancouver Mining Division | Division |
| British Columbia | Province |
| Canada | Country |
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
50° 3' 50'' North , 123° 9' 6'' West
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
Mine (Abandoned) - last checked 2023
Köppen climate type:
Nearest Settlements:
| Place | Population | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Whistler | 10,600 (2015) | 14.2km |
| Pemberton | 2,192 (2011) | 37.5km |
| Mount Currie 6 | 961 (2019) | 45.5km |
The Silver Tunnel that was the Van Silver Mine is now caved and closed. Specimens are still recoverable from the nearby ore pile, although the material is quite weathered now.
The deposit was a simple hydrothermal lead-zinc-silver-antimony vein system. The simplicity lead to a universal paragenesis that deposited one sulfosalt at a time, in agreement with laboratory synthesis. The mm-sized crystals are some of the world's best micromounts for the species.
As of July 2008, the access road to the mine was blocked at the turn-off from the Sea-to-Sky Highway. The access is the next left exit, further towards Whistler.
In November 2009, the Winter Olympics of 2010 decided they needed parking lots for Whistler, and so they stole the ore pile and incorporated it under a layer of fine gravel in a huge nearby parking lot!
Select Mineral List Type
Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsCommodity List
This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded at this locality.Mineral List
25 valid minerals. 1 erroneous literature entry.
Paragenesis
Detailed Mineral List:
| ⓘ Ankerite Formula: Ca(Fe2+,Mg)(CO3)2 Habit: 4 mm rhombs single or stacked to cm in size Colour: white to beige Description: Manganese predominates over magnesium |
| ⓘ Baryte Formula: BaSO4 Habit: Tabular prisms Colour: white, sometimes reddish from miargyrite inclusions Description: Gangue mineral with carbonates |
| ⓘ Boulangerite Formula: Pb5Sb4S11 Habit: Rings stacked in Tubes!!! more usually cm sized patches of wispey hairs, sometimes overgrown with freieslebenite. Colour: Steel grey. Half micron thick walls on tubes transmit red light just like tubulite. Description: Tubes of Boulangerite to near mm in length. One of these tubes was probed by Moelo who found 'Owyheeite' which was what they were calling tubulite at the time |
| ✪ Bournonite Formula: PbCuSbS3 Habit: Tabular prisms and cogwheel twins to 3 mm Colour: dull to lustrous steel grey Description: Typical bournonite |
| ⓘ Calcite Formula: CaCO3 Habit: Flattened rhombs to 3 mm Colour: white to yellowish Description: Contains substantial Iron and Manganese |
| ⓘ Celestine Formula: SrSO4 Description: Known as single specimen only. Pinkish cleavages tending to yellowish flattened rhombs, closely resembling calcite |
| ⓘ Cerussite Formula: PbCO3 Habit: acicular sub millimeter xls Colour: white Description: Weathering product on galena and bournonite |
| ✪ Diaphorite Formula: Ag3Pb2Sb3S8 Habit: Terminated prisms , ocassionally twinned to several mm Colour: black, often with irridescent tarnish Description: At least three terminal forms that distinguish it from freieslebenite. Close to Brogniardite. |
| ✪ Fizélyite Formula: Ag5Pb14Sb21S48 Habit: Terminated prisms! lathe like ropey intergrowths often showing curvature. Colour: Black Description: Fizelyite xls are now in two phases, each of which is suitable for structure determination! References: |
| ⓘ ' Formula: (Ag6,[Ag6]4+)(Cu4 C2+2)Sb4S12S0-1 Habit: Sharp modified tetrahedra Colour: Black with internal red lights Description: This "freibergite" has only 20% Ag by wt and is argentian tetrahedrite. |
| ✪ Freieslebenite Formula: AgPbSbS3 Habit: Flattened tabular wedges with only two terminal forms. Colour: Black Description: Generally smaller than diaphorite at Van Silver. Diaphorite has 3 or more terminal forms. |
| ⓘ Galena Formula: PbS Habit: tiny octos, massive Colour: grey |
| ✪ Geocronite Formula: Pb14Sb6S23 Habit: Spikey, feathery 60 degree twins (pseudo hexagonal plates & spikes) Colour: black Description: First of the sulfosalts to precipitate, contains more As (3%by wt) than any other sulfosalt |
| ✪ Miargyrite Formula: AgSbS2 Habit: Blocky, complex and usually un orientable to 5 mm Colour: Black with internal red lights Description: like the rest, the best specimens found in galena veins |
| ⓘ Native Gold Formula: Au |
| ⓘ Native Gold var. Electrum Formula: (Au,Ag) Habit: yellowish wires, un affected by nitric acid Description: very rare |
| ⓘ Native Silver Formula: Ag Habit: wires rare Description: probably post mining |
| ⓘ Native Sulphur Formula: S8 Description: very rare. post mining sub mm blebs which turn to red liquid on heating |
| ✪ Owyheeite ? Formula: Ag3Pb10Sb11S28 Habit: Stacked rings that look like tubes Colour: grayish black Description: These tubes (stacked rings) are rare and one was analysed with SEM by Don Howard as Boulangerite and published in the Min Rec article. Another set of stacked rings that were associated with Fizelyite were analysed (probed) by Yves Moelo as Owyheeite which was what tubulite was being called at the time. References: |
| ✪ Pyrargyrite Formula: Ag3SbS3 Habit: Hexagonal prisms with trigonal terminations Description: There are two generations of Pyrargyrite. The first was almost all remobilised and was near the last to deposit. See the paragenesis in Woodside, R.W.M., Soregaroli, A.E., Ansell, H.G., Twaites, B.L., Balacko T.W. (2000): Rare sulfosalts from the Van Silver Mine, British Columbia. Mineralogical Record, 31(3), 219-229. |
| ⓘ Pyrite Formula: FeS2 Habit: cubes and pyritohedra Colour: yellow, some iridescent to limonitic Description: gangue mineral |
| ✪ Pyrostilpnite Formula: Ag3SbS3 Habit: prismatic, twinning to form sheaves Colour: orange Description: small xls up to .6 mm. They were considered extremely rare until John Dagenais started looking for them at 75x!
|
| ⓘ Quartz Formula: SiO2 Colour: clear, white Description: gangue mineral |
| ⓘ Rhodochrosite Formula: MnCO3 Description: Known as single specimen. Pink cleavages tending to yellowish flattened rhombs, closely resembling calcite |
| ✪ Semseyite Formula: Pb9Sb8S21 Habit: Cockscomb sheaves that are characteristic Colour: lead grey |
| ⓘ Sphalerite Formula: ZnS Habit: tetrahedra Colour: yellow brown, some colorless with black rind Description: gangue mineral |
| ✪ 'Tetrahedrite Subgroup' Formula: Cu6(Cu4C2+2)Sb4S12S Habit: sharp tetrahedra, occasionally modified Colour: black with internal red lights as to be expected with Zincian Tetrahedrite Description: This tetrahedrite contains 20% Ag, 5% Zn,1% Fe, As<1% by wt. |
| ⓘ 'Tetrahedrite Subgroup var. Silver-bearing Tetrahedrite' Formula: (Cu,Ag)6[Cu4(Fe,Zn)2]Sb4S13 References: |
| ✪ Tetrahedrite-(Zn) Formula: Cu6(Cu4Zn2)Sb4S12S Description: See Terahedrite at Van Silver |
Gallery:
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
| Group 1 - Elements | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ⓘ | Native Gold var. Electrum | 1.AA.05 | (Au,Ag) |
| ⓘ | 1.AA.05 | Au | |
| ⓘ | Native Silver | 1.AA.05 | Ag |
| ⓘ | Native Sulphur | 1.CC.05 | S8 |
| Group 2 - Sulphides and Sulfosalts | |||
| ⓘ | Sphalerite | 2.CB.05a | ZnS |
| ⓘ | Galena | 2.CD.10 | PbS |
| ⓘ | Pyrite | 2.EB.05a | FeS2 |
| ⓘ | Pyrargyrite | 2.GA.05 | Ag3SbS3 |
| ⓘ | Pyrostilpnite | 2.GA.10 | Ag3SbS3 |
| ⓘ | Bournonite | 2.GA.50 | PbCuSbS3 |
| ⓘ | 'Freibergite Subgroup' ? | 2.GB.05 | (Ag6,[Ag6]4+)(Cu4 C2+2)Sb4S12S0-1 |
| ⓘ | 'Tetrahedrite Subgroup' | 2.GB.05 | Cu6(Cu4C2+2)Sb4S12S |
| ⓘ | 'var. Silver-bearing Tetrahedrite' | 2.GB.05 | (Cu,Ag)6[Cu4(Fe,Zn)2]Sb4S13 |
| ⓘ | Tetrahedrite-(Zn) | 2.GB.05 | Cu6(Cu4Zn2)Sb4S12S |
| ⓘ | Miargyrite | 2.HA.10 | AgSbS2 |
| ⓘ | Semseyite | 2.HC.10d | Pb9Sb8S21 |
| ⓘ | Boulangerite | 2.HC.15 | Pb5Sb4S11 |
| ⓘ | Owyheeite ? | 2.HC.35 | Ag3Pb10Sb11S28 |
| ⓘ | Diaphorite | 2.JB.05 | Ag3Pb2Sb3S8 |
| ⓘ | Freieslebenite | 2.JB.15 | AgPbSbS3 |
| ⓘ | Geocronite | 2.JB.30a | Pb14Sb6S23 |
| ⓘ | Fizélyite | 2.JB.40a | Ag5Pb14Sb21S48 |
| Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides | |||
| ⓘ | Quartz | 4.DA.05 | SiO2 |
| Group 5 - Nitrates and Carbonates | |||
| ⓘ | Calcite | 5.AB.05 | CaCO3 |
| ⓘ | Rhodochrosite | 5.AB.05 | MnCO3 |
| ⓘ | Ankerite | 5.AB.10 | Ca(Fe2+,Mg)(CO3)2 |
| ⓘ | Cerussite | 5.AB.15 | PbCO3 |
| Group 7 - Sulphates, Chromates, Molybdates and Tungstates | |||
| ⓘ | Baryte | 7.AD.35 | BaSO4 |
| ⓘ | Celestine | 7.AD.35 | SrSO4 |
List of minerals for each chemical element
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
North AmericaContinent
- Coast MountainsMountain Range
North America PlateTectonic Plate
- Coast plutonic complexVolcanic Arc
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Silver tunnel, Van Silver Property, Brandywine Creek, Vancouver Mining Division, British Columbia, Canada