Copper Country – An Earth Cache. EarthCache
Copper Country – An Earth Cache.
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Copper was first discovered in this general area in the late 1800’s and has been mined successfully (and in some instances, unsuccessfully) ever since. There are two other geocaches in the vicinity that give some information about the Highland Valley Mine but none are Earth Caches and this mine site is certainly deserving of one.
The posted coordinates will take you to a public lookout point with a series of reader boards. Access is by a paved road that can be navigated by any vehicle and the site is wheel chair accessible. Please take the time to read the reader boards and learn some very interesting information about the Tech Corporation and the Highland Valley mine site itself.
The general area of the mine site exists in a mountainous area with plenty of mining history. The geology dates back to the late Triassic and early Jurassic periods and this Nicola volcanic rock is of the Guichon batholith along with Miocene basalt. The batholith is a large irregular mass of coarse-grained igneous rock and is more than one hundred kilometres square. It is rich in copper and molybdenum and is the principal copper reserve in British Columbia. A large portion of the area is covered by till which is an unconsolidated sediment consisting of various size rock fragments from clay to large boulders, all of which were deposited by alpine glacial action. The massive dull green-black rocks in the area are basaltic andesite.
One of the first prospectors of the Guichon batholith was George Novak who staked some claims in the general area in the late 1890’s. Mining in the Highland Valley mine site started in earnest in 1962, just five years after George Novak passed away at the age of 94, with the opening of the Bethlehem Copper Mine on the north side of the Highway. The Lornex Mine started in 1970 and the milling of the ore commenced in 1972, two years after the opening of the Municipality of Logan Lake.
The consolidated operation of Highland Valley Copper is now the largest open pit copper mine in Canada and one of the largest in the world in the terms of tonnage mined and milled. The mine is expected to continue operating until at least 2019. There has been a continuous reclamation program on site and Highland Valley Copper has prepared new habitat for moose, deer, trout, birds, marmots, livestock, etc. They are also a great supporter of the local Communities by providing them with various goods and services. One of their most successful programs is the Annual Trojan Pond Fishing Tournament held in August of each year on one of the old tailings ponds. It is catch and release fly fishing only with numerous trout in the 50 cm length range. Each year, during the Tournament, they raise and donate nearly $25,000.00 to the Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops.
Again, please take the time to read the reader boards and learn some very interesting information about the Highland Valley mine.
There are three things that one must do in order to qualify this as a find. For the first two, email the following to the cache owner at sir.vayor@gmail.com
1. Copper and molybdenum are mined here and the question is: What is the name of the concentrate that contains the copper and what is the name of the concentrate that contains the molybdenum?
2. A photograph of one of the reader boards that shows an animal or a bird in it.
3. Optional: Please feel free to post your favourite photograph of the mine site itself with your log or email it to me but please do no post any spoilers that would contain readable versions of any of the reader boards.
If you do not have a camera or can not obtain the photographs as requested, then email me the answers to these questions:
1. Reclamation of any mine site is extremely important as it will take the site back to a near-natural state, prior to any mining activity. In the mine reclamation process, how thick is the ‘capping layer’ and what is it composed of?
2. What date did Teck Cominco announce the Company’s participation as an official supporter of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games?
The answers to all the questions are on the reader boards.
Unfortunately, anyone not following these simple items above will have their log removed if they are not complied with within 20 days. The other geocaches worth visiting in the area are: GC1JKPQ, GC1TXPX, GCKHVG, and GC1TQFD.
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Additional Hints
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