Property File

The Chevron File was donated to the Ministry in September 2001 by Chevron Minerals Ltd.  The file contains internal exploration reports, maps, property assessments and original field data collected by Chevron, from the mid 1970s to early 1990s. 

The initial Chevron file of 1359 items is catalogued by title, year, MINFILE number, NTS area, claim name and author and is available in Excel Format for download.  The completed file has 3351 documents.

The Commodity File Index for the web was started in November 2004 by the BC Geological Survey to track commodity material.

Uranium:

Geological material relating to uranium in British Columbia is kept in three areas within the Ministry Library: 

1. In the vertical files in the main stacks.  This mainly comprises The Royal Commission on Uranium material.  It has been catalogued and does appear in the library search.  This uranium file index is available in Excel Format for download and is sorted by Deposit/Property, NTS Area and Box No.
2. In the rolling stacks area beside the Coal Files, a considerable amount of Royal Commission (?) material exists that does not appear to be catalogued.
3. In the old "Commodities" files in the back rolling-stacks area, beside the Coal Files.  This material was catalogued in 2004.

The Cyprus-Anvil file was donated to Property File in 2004 from the Yukon government. It is a collection of exploration files from Anvil Range and its predecessor companies, which include Curragh Resources, Cyprus Anvil Mining Corporation, Cyprus Mines, Dynasty Explorations, and Atlas Explorations. It contains geological, geophysical and geochemical reports, property evaluations, aeromagnetic maps and some geological survey publications. These publications date primarily from the 1960's and 1970's, although there are some from as early as 1905 and as late as 1991. The file was reviewed in August 2006, has been linked to MINFILE occurrences where possible, and consists of 2944 documents.

The initial file of 1151 entries, with additional fields, is available in Excel Format for download.

Hardcopy maps showing sample locations for the Regional Geochemical Surveys (RGS) in BC have been scanned and digitally archived.  In total, 876 maps are indexed and archived as "RGS Maps" collection in the Property File.  This work is the result of a joint effort by the BC Geological Survey and Geoscience BC.

Five boxes were donated in 2009 which were indexed, scanned and posted, totalling 1159 documents.

After more than 15 years, the EMR CORPFILE and EMR CORPFILE Index are now available for BC Properties through the NRCan Library in Ottawa.  These documents have been culled and indexed and a copy of the index is also available via the MINFILE Coding Manual.   

An earlier index of general references in each NTS area totals 17,093.  These are available in the Property File database.

127 documents were indexed and scanned in April 2012.

605 documents were indexed, scanned and posted in April 2012.

2373 documents were indexed, scanned and posted in August 2013.

The Industrial Mineral Property Files are a subset of the Industrial Mineral file.  The Industrial Mineral file contains information on industrial minerals that cross-reference to both MINFILE occurrences and/or commodities.  The Industrial Mineral file is filed by mineral occurrence number or NTS Map number in the Property File library located in Victoria. A table is available in Excel format (59 KB) and the documents are available online in the Property File database.

Five documents were donated by Tom Kirk related to MINFILE 082M  003 and are within the Library File.

Wright, J.H., Weicker, R., (June 19, 1989):  Completion report on phase 1 exploration program, J & L Property, British Columbia; for Equinox Resources Ltd., 50 pages , maps and appendices - 1 cerlox book. 

Pegg, R. (December 1985): A summary report on the J & L mineral option, lead-zinc-gold-silver prospect, British Columbia, NTS: 82M/8E; for Selco Division -  B.P. Resources Limited, 55 pages and plans - 1 cerlox book.

Pegg, R. and Grant, B. (February 27 1985): A summary report on the J & L mineral option, lead-zinc-gold-silver prospect, British Columbia, NTS: 82M/8E; for Selco Division - BP Resources Canada Limited, 66 pages, plates, appendices and plans - 4 cerlox books.

Pegg, R. and Grant, B. (March 1984): A summary report on the J & L mineral option, lead-zinc-gold-silver prospect, British Columbia, NTS: 82M/8E; for Selco - BP Exploration Canada Limited, 72 pages, plates, appendices and plans - 6 cerlox books.

Pegg, R. (January 1983): A summary report on the J & L mineral option, lead-zinc-gold-silver prospect, Revelstoke Mining Division, British Columbia, NTS: 82M/8E; for Selco Inc., 160 pages, plates, appendices and maps - 2 cerlox books.

This file was donated to our Property File in 1994.  It contains exploration reports, maps and property assessments by Falconbridge from the 1919's to late 1990s.  This file of over 385 entries were reviewed in March 2004 and have been linked to MINFILE occurrences when possible. The file, with additional fields, is available in Excel Format for download.  The earlier version of the file is also available: September 2002 Excel File.

These total 1066 documents.

After the Placer Dome Mining Corporation's Kamloops exploration office closed in April 1999, 61 boxes were donated to Property File. It contains information on mines and property visits by Placer Dome Mining, from the 1920s to late 1990s.  This file of 2268 documents references 512 MINFILE occurrences and has been amalgamated with our Property File.  Download the Excel file (676 KB).

Under the Prospectors Assistance Program (now discontinued) grants were provided to encourage grassroots prospecting in British Columbia. The Prospectors Assistance Program (PAP) contributed up to 75 per cent of the eligible costs of a proposed prospecting program to a maximum of $10,000.  Reports were submitted from 1994 through to 2001. 

These documents have been amalgamated into our Property File and have been linked to up to three MINFILE occurrences when possible. 

The tables below contain links to the PDF documents.

1994-2001 (ZIP, 234 KB)
1994-2001 (PDF, 148 KB)
1994 (Excel, 33 KB)   
1995 (Excel, 35 KB)
1996 (Excel, 37 KB)
1997 (Excel, 32 KB)
1998 (Excel, 33 KB)
1999 (Excel, 33 KB)
2000 (Excel, 38 KB)
2001 (Excel, 35 KB)

The F.A.M.E. Program, first introduced in the 1986/87 fiscal year, was a provincial initiative with $5 million in funding to promote private sector mineral exploration and mine development in British Columbia.  The program was introduced in response to the recession of the early 1980s and the resulting reduction in mineral exploration and development activity in the province. 

The program was discontinued in 1988.  For more information on Assessment Reports filed under the Financial Assistance for Mineral Exploration (F.A.M.E.), download the tables for F.A.M.E. Reports in 1986 (13 KB), 1987 (13 KB).

Similar to the F.A.M.E. Program, The Explore B.C. Program (1994 to 1996) was part of a five-year $100 million program to provide significant tax reductions and exploration incentives to assist and promote private sector mineral exploration in British Columbia.  It was designed to provide part of the risk capital required by mineral exploration companies to finance their programs, to extend the economic lives of existing mines and contribute to community stability in existing mining regions. 

For more information on Assessment Reports filed under the Explore BC Program, download the table (Excel 14 KB).

This collection of 218 items documents the Metchosin gravel pit (MINFILE 092B  153).

Exploration reports, notes, maps and other materials from Rimfire Minerals and Inmet Mining were donated in 2006. The documents total 7882.

This file was donated in July 1999 by the Okanogan County Historical Society, Washington USA. It contains information on mines and property visits by Charles C. Starr, Consulting Geologist, from the 1920s to late 1950s. This file of 158 entries, which references 199 occurrences in MINFILE, has been amalgamated with our Property File.  It includes 71 entries from Western Exploration Co. Ltd (Excel, 19 KB).

Download Excel file (17 KB)

There are 9264 documents in this collection which have been scanned, indexed and uploaded.  A number of new MINFILE occurrences were coded.

This file is a 15-box collection of B.C. mineral and energy related property reports archived at the Nicola Valley Museum. Further inquires regarding the index and File should be directed to Nicola Valley Museum Archives Association, 2202 Jackson Avenue, P.O. Box 1262 Merritt, B.C. Canada VIK IB8; Phone/Fax: (250) 378-4145; Email:  nvma@uniserve.com; Web: http://www.nicolavalleymuseum.org/.

Download the PDF (1.3 MB)

681 documents were donated in 2007 by the Unversity of British Columbia (UBC).  In April 2012 these documents were scanned and indexed.

Historic Photos - This website shows photos taken by former Ministry staff over the last 100 years.  Currently, there are over 1000 photos in the Library catalogue with references for further information on each one.  They can be located by Clicking on Catalogue Search, Type in a keyword Eg. "Hedley"; then select "Any" under Index name category; Check off "Mediums" Check Box and double-click on "Picture, Postcard, Poster" to select this medium and hit "Search" button.

1187 documents are online.

These documents, totalling 1586, were uploaded by September 2018.

These documents total 234.

These include S. Enns (20), Bob Morris (24).

This is an extensive photo collection of the BCGS, totalling 9433 items.

Collections include 87 documents from Andre Panteleyev, 642 from Bill McMillian, 190 from Don MacIntyre, and 691 from Dave Lefebure and Vic Preto.