Early History

The Tulsequah and Taku valleys have a history of mining exploration dating back to the 1800's. Knowledge of the Tulsequah Chief deposit is reported to date back as far as 1910. In 1929, the Big Bull deposit was discovered, followed by the discovery of the Whitewater deposit on the west side of the Tulsequah River.

Exploration work continued in the area, and in 1937, the Polaris-Taku Mine was brought into production. This mine operated continuously until 1951, producing a total of 231,000 ounces of gold. The workforce at the mine varied from 120 to 200. These people lived in the town of Tulsequah, many with their families.

In 1947, Cominco Ltd. initiated exploration and pre-production work at the Big Bull and Tulsequah Chief deposits, and roads were built to connect the two mine sites to the Taku River. In 1951, the Polaris-Taku mine was closed just as the Big Bull and Tulsequah Chief mines were opening. Mining continued successfully here until 1957, producing an average of 482 tonnes per day. When metal prices dropped, the mines were closed and the mill equipment sold.

Recent History

In 1981, Redfern commenced exploration in northwest British Columbia and staked a block of claims surrounding Cominco’s block of claims over the Tulsequah Chief mine. Eventually an agreement was signed between Redfern and Cominco to continue exploration in this entire area. Work started in 1987 with surface diamond drill holes, and continued each year until 1992 when Redfern purchased Cominco’s interest in the property. Redfern, as sole owner, expanded the drilling programs in 1993 and 1994 leading towards feasibility assessment and permitting decisions. All of this exploration work has defined a large and continuous extension of the previously mined deposit.

Tulsequah Deposit

The Tulsequah Chief project centres on re-opening an underground zinc-copper-lead-gold-silver mine that closed in 1957. Mineral reserves are sufficient for eight years of production, with a strong likelihood that more ore will be found at greater depth and immediately adjacent to the known orebody.

Mining will be by long-hole sub-level stoping using trackless mining equipment exclusively in the early years, supplemented by a hoist installed in the fourth year of the project. The mining rate is planned to be 2,000 tonnes per day.

Mine access will be from two existing adits. The 5200 Level adit is approximately 1,000 m long and will be the main access for mechanized vehicles. The 5400 Level adit is also approximately 1,000 m long and will be equipped for rail haulage. The mineralization at Tulsequah is Kuroko style Volcanogienic Massive Sulphide deposit,  with several distinct lenses of mineralization that were deposited at, or slightly below the sea floor as a result of precipitation from the venting of metal-rich hydrothermal fluids. The sulphides in order of abundance are pyrite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, galena and bornite and tetrahedrite is also an important ore mineral. Native gold is a relatively common accessory, and native silver has been observed in high-grade precious metal rich veins in the footwall to the ore lenses. The deposit is predominantly underlain by rocks of the Devono-Mississippian to Permian-aged Mount Eaton group, which is a low metamorphic grade island arc volcanic assemblage contained within the Stikine Terrane of northwest British Columbia. These rocks are situated east of the Chief (Llewelyn) fault, and are predominately located north of the Taku River, and east of the Tulsequah River.