Latitude: 50°7'N
Longitude: 123°6'W
The Silver Tunnel that was the Van Silver Mine is now caved and closed. Specimens are still recoverable from the nearby Ore Pile, although the material is quite weathered now.
The deposit was a simple hydrothermal lead, zinc, silver, antimony vein system. The simplicity lead to a universal paragenesis that deposited one sulfosalt at a time in agreement with laboratory synthesis. The mm sized crystals are some of the world's best micromounts for the species.
As of July 2008, the access road to the mine was blocked at the turn-off from the Sea-to-Sky Highway. The access is the next left exit further towards Whistler.
In November 2009, the Winter Olympics of 2010 decided they needed parking lots for Whistler and so they stole the Ore Pile and incorporated it under a layer of fine gravel in a huge nearby parking lot!!!
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Mineral List
28 entries listed. 26 valid minerals.
The above list contains all mineral locality references listed on mindat.org. This does not claim to be a complete list. If you know of more minerals from this site, please
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References
- Woodside, R.W.M., Soregaroli, A.E., Ansell, H.G., Twaites, B.L., Balacko T.W. (2000): Rare sulfosalts from the Van Siver Mine, British Columbia. Mineralogical Record, 31(3), 219-229.
-Yang H, Downs R T, Burt J B, Costin G (2009) Structure refinement of an untwinned single crystal of Ag-excess fizélyite, Ag5.94Pb13.74Sb20.84S48, The Canadian Mineralogist, 47, 1257-1264
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