Tracing the history of the Hope Bay deposits

The Hope Bay gold deposits are making news, yet the actual history of discovery has not been well-documented. I would like to set the record straight on the discovery of the Boston and Doris mineral occurrences and give credit to the hard work and determination of a geological team that, so far, has gone unrecognized.

From 1961 to 1966, RHB Mining and Roberts Mining Co. carried out regional prospecting throughout the Hope Bay volcanic belt. This effort was lead by Jack Everett, who had a team of Inuit prospectors. It was during that period that many of the gold showings now being drilled were discovered and named, including Doris. Several high-grade silver showings were discovered, as well. The Roberts Lake silver zone, at the northern end of the belt, was drilled in 1965 and it returned silver concentrations in excess of 900 oz. per ton. A small mill was erected by RHB and Roberts Mining under the direction of Ernest Lehman, and mined in a sporadic fashion until 1981. Total production was estimated at more than 100,000 oz. silver.

In the mid-1980s, Noranda Exploration carried out an airborne geophysical and geological search for massive sulphides, resulting in the discovery of an altered rhyolite that contained several pods of copper-zinc mineralization. Noranda left the area in 1986.

Geological research by Abermin Corp. led to an option agreement with RHB Mining and Roberts Mining Company in 1987. Abermin carried out prospecting programs throughout the Hope Bay belt from 1987 to 1989, without the aid of helicopter support. This extensive traverse-based sampling and mapping program was led by senior geologist Dave Reid and included geologists Doug McLaughlin and Gerry McArthur, as well as prospectors Allen Cole, Barry Girling, Andy Dupre, Ken Reading and Martha Paridene. They walked the entire length and breadth of the Hope Bay belt, assessing previously known gold occurrences and discovering many new showings.

The area now known as the Boston deposit was first seen and sampled by Reid and Cole in 1988, and was staked by Abermin as the Spyder Lake claims. It was obvious from the geological environment and the high-grade samples taken by the exploration team that a major showing had been found. Other Abermin claims now being explored include Discovery, Kennett Tarn, Lahti, Gunn, Angie, Noel, Her, Brick, Koig 8, Ida Point and Wombat. Many of these showings were trenched by Abermin and returned impressive gold values over mining widths. By the end of December 1988, Abermin had staked more than 28,000 acres.

Abermin went into receivership in 1990, with the claims reverting to Goldcorp and CSA Management of Toronto. Many companies were approached with an option arrangement, but no agreements were reached. The Spyder Lake claims lapsed in the following year and were immediately re-staked by Broken Hill Proprietary as the Boston claims. BHP began an aggressive exploration program and quickly outlined the Boston gold deposit. BHP then completed a deal with Goldcorp and CSA for the remaining claims.

The Hope Bay belt will be the source of several gold deposits in the coming years. Many of these have been discovered because of the tenacity and geological know-how shown by the Roberts Mining and Abermin teams.

Barry Smee

Smee & Associates

Sooke, B.C.