You can't remember? Optical illusion?
I think I know what caused the confusion and memory loss.
When they said you can sniff the flowers, they did not mean snort.
I found one thing. I used to invite people out to these showcase claims in Beardmore. We would lead them to this pit and have them pan for gold in the rusty decrepitated sericite schists. Generally and with only one or two exceptions out of 20, we would have to show them the basics of panning, and showing the tail as it were. In every single case without exception when they got to the gold tail, generally about 2 inches long or in a clump, large enough to cover with a CDN dime, or perhaps 300 to 400 very fine colours, they would smile. Everybody did that. They could not hold back. There is not one single individual who did not GRIN from ear to Cheshire ear. This phenomenon is worldwide and transcends the races, sexes and religions. The one skein of common wonder it seems that hold the entire human race together is a deep almost visceral appreciation of the wealth, worth and beauty of gold. That they find, all by their baby selves, wild in nature, in all its refulgent glory.
One lousy PhD looked at it and refused to believe it. Hugh Squair. He looked, askance and asked me, "how do you know its gold? This could be pyrite." I patiently explained to him, that the colour, reflectivity behaviour and position in the pan due to specific gravity, fineness, evenness of colour in any light, dictated that it was 100% gold and no other metal. The pyrite had long since left the pan. It sat like toad full of shot, the colour of a duck's foot, ahead of the heavy black sands, the magnetite, immobile and golden. I would bet a million pans if it were not gold, we had been sent to another dimension. For the record also two geologists knew how to pan already. Penti Lassila and a Brown from Noranda. I showed Penti one of the showings. He said, "This should run". Me: "Yes, your are right, it is the main showing, it runs 0.50 ounces." Penti: "Yes, this should run. You should look for more of this kind of thing." Me: "Yep, that is right, that is what we do." I am glad he agreed with me.
Most of the geos looked at the structure, who sort of knew what they were doing, and sort of discounted what they would find immediately. Too small they said. No I pointed out, the fold is over 200 feet wide. It plunges down for perhaps 2500 or more vertical feet at an angle of 38 degrees. That is 4060 feet of probable ore. At 700 feet strike on surface we know of, that gives a vertical thickness of 431 feet. Widths could be from 50 feet to 6 feet, of ore. Taking 12 as an average we might find over 200 feet of W fold, we might say 600,000 to 800,000 ounces of gold at 0.5 ounces. It may have more than one stope in 200 feet of width, but that is safe bet. And there could be other folds and lenses. It is a good start.
One company looked at the area, enthused about the alteration, carbonatization, silica flooding, presence of gold etc.. and opined it had all the earmarks of a mine. "Keep digging around", they said, "we will be back next year to see how you are doing". We said we hoped we would not.
For the record only one company deigned to option the claims and its 200 foot wide fold zone, the entirety of across which gold could be panned easily. Ray Lashbrook's, Quinterra optioned the claims. I quickly realized they were not people of their word, as they took other information from me, that I had casually mentioned and got licenses of occupation in other areas. They deal I had verbally made with them for work on the claims was not honoured. He drilled on hole, ended in visible gold and refused to go further! In addition, he rejected my advice to assay every quartz vein in the hole (there were 50 veins in 500 feet) as you had no way of knowing what would run and what would not, he insisted on sticking to a model of crack seal veining, which would be indicated by signs of transgressive intrusion. i.e. flame structures or irregular vein edges. The whole point of Beardmore veining which is based in part on intrusion into dilations occurring at bed separation due to differential movement on folding, like the edge of a bent pack of playing cards, is that the sides of the vein show no evidence of transgression, being quietly emplaced into existing dilations. When geologist think they know everything you might as well close out the mine before it starts. He assayed 5 of the fifty veins, ignoring the W fold he had drilled into, and ample signs of greenschist alteration, as well as accessory pyrites at vein edges up and down the core.. not to mention the VG at the bottom of the hole. Brilliant. You find the gold, form the theory after. Sure there is lots of rock I would refuse to assay on sight too. And there is lots we all miss too. Sometimes since you spent $50,000 to drill the hole, a little idle curiosity doesn't hurt.
My faith in Vancouver mining companies in general had begun to fade. 30 more years would pass and I would never not be disappointed in the honour and trustworthiness of the Vancouver listed bandits.
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