Gold and Silver Ores of the Slocan, B.C. 497 



mineral is well crystallized, but in most cases it occurs 

 chiefly as a fine black dust or stain. The veins, having a 

 comb-like structure, easily open to decomposing agencies, 



Usually a paying quantity of gold is associated with the 

 argentite ores. Some of the yeins are banded. A notable 

 example occurs at the " Exchange" mine, near Slocan 

 City. Here there is first a band of opaque milky quartz 

 some inches in thickness. Xext to this comes an inch 

 band of iron pyrites (always well crystallized) mixed with 

 silver sulphide dust. An inch from this, in a clearer 

 quartz, there occurs a distinct broken lamina of native 

 silver. This arrangement is repeated four times. The 

 pyritous band assays 270 oz. in silver. There are no 

 pyrites with the native silver band. It would be inter- 

 esting to find what relations exist between the pyrites and 

 silver sulphide and if the silver exists as a sulphide below 

 the line of decomposition. 



As regards gold, there is little evidence of its occurrence 

 in a free state. It does occur so in a few places along the 

 east side of Slocan Lake, in a quartz gangue, but even 

 here the ore body carries so much pyrites that it would 

 cause it to become unfit for free-milling-. Usually the 

 gold is intimately associated with pyritous matter, such 

 as arsenical iron, chalcopyrrte and pyrrhotite, as in the 

 Trail Creek country. One of the deposits carrying gold 

 in a free state also carries it in combination as sylvanite, 

 but this is rare. 



Very little gold is found in the galena mines. "What is 

 produced seems to be derived from the pyritous matter 

 contained therein. 



The Trail Creek gold ores are a mixture of chalcopyrite 

 and pyrrhotite, greatly resembling the Sudbury nickel 

 ores. They carry from half an ounce to five ounces of 

 gold. Assayers of this ore have come to the conclusion 

 that there is a direct proportion between the amount of 

 chalcopyrite present and the gold contained. Some such 



