Patmore Mine (Fil-Mil Mine), Amai Inlet (Deep Inlet), Kyuquot Sound, Alberni Mining Division, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canadai

Regional Level Types
Patmore Mine (Fil-Mil Mine)	Mine
Amai Inlet (Deep Inlet)	Coast
Kyuquot Sound	Complex
Alberni Mining Division	Division
Vancouver Island	Island
British Columbia	Province
Canada	Country

The Patmore, or Fil-Mil gold occurrence is located on the south side of Amai (or Deep) Inlet, about 3 kilometres from its entrance into Kyuquot Sound, about 18 kilometres west of Zeballos, and 188 kilometres north-west of Port Alberni, in the Alberni Mining Division.

The deposit and surrounding geology are described on the British Columbia Minfile page, current to May 2022; selected parts of the description are quoted, as follows:

“The region is underlain by flows and pyroclastics of the Lower Jurassic Bonanza Group which are intruded by granitic rocks of the Late Jurassic Island Plutonic Suite. The contacts between the intrusive phases are mostly transitional. Contacts with the volcanics can be sharp fault contacts or transitional zones, up to 130 metres wide. Post-intrusive aplite and lamprophyre dikes cut both granitic and volcanic rocks.”

“The Patmore occurrence lies in a creek that occupies a major 025-degree trending fault zone. The occurrence is underlain by medium-grained equigranular hornblende granodiorite, locally grading to tonalite. Near the Number 3 adit, a quartz-eye porphyritic phase is in sharp contact with the main granodiorite. In the creek area, felsic dikes trending 025 degrees are aphanitic and range from dacitic to rhyolitic composition. Mafic dikes trend 025 to 065 degrees, are comprised of andesitic to lamprophyric composition, and range from grey-green to dark green in color.”

“The mineralization is contained in two dike-fault structures that have been traced over 300 metres horizontally and 150 metres vertically. Mineralization consists of pyrite with limonite and gold tellurides (tetradymite, sylvanite) [sic – tetradymite is not a gold telluride] and minor sphalerite, chalcopyrite and malachite.” For further information on tellurides, see the comments on the minerals reported.

Giles Peatfield comments:

The Patmore or Fil-Mil ‘Mine’ is a minor gold occurrence that has never gotten beyond the exploration stage. Despite the small amount of underground work and the near completion of a tramline, see Hughes (1947), there has been no production from the occurrence, and there is no record of any test shipments. The reason for this posting is primarily to discuss reports of telluride minerals said to be present in the gold-bearing veins.

There are no radiometric dates presently noted on the Canadian Geochronology Knowledgebase for the intrusive rocks in this area.

Comments on the minerals reported:

Arsenopyrite: Poloni (1986), in drill logs for holes in the area of the adits, noted arsenopyrite with pyrite and native gold in an iron-stained quartz vein. The 0.43 metre interval assayed 11.94 ounces/ton gold and 3.29 ounces/ton silver.

Biotite: Poloni (1986) noted, in drill logging, ‘biotite mica alteration’ in quartz diorite.

Calcite: Patmore (1945) wrote that “Calcite is rare where the ore is commercial [sic].”

Chalcopyrite: Patmore (1945) wrote that “The ore is simple rather than complex and few ore minerals have been identified so far. Of these, pyrite is the most abundant but even the pyrite is relatively scarce because of extensive oxidation. A little sphalerite and still less chalcopyrite, usually oxidized to malachite, have been encountered.”

Chlorite Group: Patmore (1945) wrote that “The gangue minerals are mainly quartz with a little chlorite and sericite.”

Epidote: Poloni (1986) noted in core logging numerous examples of epidote alteration.

Hematite: Poloni (1986) noted, in core logging, ‘hematite stain’ in a mafic dyke.

Hornblende Root Name Group?: This is listed on the original Mindat posting, but is not mentioned in any of the papers reviewed in this summary. The Minfile summary mentions ‘hornblende granodiorite’.

'Limonite': See note below for native gold.

Magnetite: Franzen (1985) noted magnetite and pyrite in a ‘volcanic rock’.

Malachite: See note above for chalcopyrite.

Molybdenite: Poloni (1986) noted one example of ‘very minor MoS2’ in an altered mafic dyke.

Native Gold: Patmore (1945) described the native gold in some detail; his description is of some interest: “Visible gold is plentiful and it varies from almost invisible specks to grains as large as a small pea. Much of it is crystalline and grinding tests have shown that it is easily divisible and will pass readily through fine screens. The gold lies inside pure white masses of non-porous
quartz as well as amongst bunches of chocolate-brown oxide of iron [‘limonite’?], and its
presence in quantity in this state at over 125' in depth would suggest primary, rather than secondary, deposition. With so much oxide showing, even at the deepest face, there is always the question of some secondary enrichment but it should be remembered that there is no comparison between the ease and rate of oxidation of relatively unstable pyrite and the ease and rate of dissolution of almost insoluble gold. Besides, considerable gold may be seen confined to a few inches near and at the surface amongst pure oxide in the wettest and highest part of the ore zone where, apparently, it has not been carried downward with the supposed effect of impoverishing the surface and enriching the vein beneath. Rather, this surface gold is of the extended "wire" type forming strings 12" to 2" [sic – should this be 1 – 2 inches?] long of tiny crystals which are never found at depth in the Deep Inlet veins and it undoubtedly has the appearance of secondary gold. It seems possible that highly localized solution and recrystallization has taken place within an extremely thin surface layer of the vein, where optimum conditions (the presence of ferrous sulphate and sulphuric acid for example) could result in the formation of these delicate wires. However, such solutions are highly unstable at the best so that any transfer of gold would be limited. This relation would thus be residual enrichment as the surrounding pyrite has been completely oxidized and rapidly removed, leaving the gold concentrate behind.”

Orthoclase: Patmore (1945) wrote that “These granitic rocks are easily distinguished in the field by the almost totally light grey to blackish (dioritic phases) appearance of the Zeballos batholith and by the abundant areas, small masses and irregular dikelets of pink to red orthoclase feldspar so common in the greenish Deep Inlet intrusive.”

Pyrite: See note above for chalcopyrite.

Quartz: See note above for ‘Chlorite Group’.”

Sericite: See note above for ‘Chlorite Group’.”

Sphalerite: See note above for chalcopyrite.

Sylvanite?: This mineral is listed on the original Mindat posting for the property. This inclusion would appear to rely on the summary in the British Columbia Minfile, which in turn seems to have been derived from Patmore (1945), who wrote that “Galena, so apparent in other Vancouver Island camps, is entirely lacking but the far less common tellurides are visible in scattered specimens, especially where appreciable coarse gold is to be seen. Field examination of the small specks is not sufficient to allow determination of the exact species but tetradymite and possibly sylvanite are thought to be present. Chemical analysis has substantiated this observation.” There does not appear to be any analytical data in his report to back this statement up. Note ‘possibly’ and ‘thought to be present’. It is considered by this writer unlikely that either species actually occurs here, and mention of them should probably be removed, or at least flagged.

Tellurobismuthite: This is the only telluride mineral positively identified from the Patmore (Fil- Mil) property. Thompson (1951) wrote “Tellurbismuth. Bi2Te3. Fil-Mil Mine, Deep Inlet, Alberni M.D., B.C. This property is on the south side of Deep Inlet, about 2 miles from its entrance into Kyuquot Sound and 15 miles by boat from Kyoquot . . . . A number of narrow fissures and shear zones in granodiorite are filled with quartz and aplitic material and sparsely mineralized with pyrite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, and gold. A small sample supplied by the B.C. Chamber of Mines shows a coarse aggregate of quartz crystals cemented by gold and plates of tellurbismuth [sic]. Bismuth tellurides are becoming common accessory minerals in a number of gold occurrences in this province.” The Pacific Museum of Earth at UBC has in its collection a specimen (# 149) consisting of a small glass vial with a fragment of vein quartz with coarse native gold and tellurobismuthite – this is probably the specimen from which Dr. Thompson acquired the X-ray confirmation of the mineral. See also Traill (1983).

Tetradymite?: See note above for sylvanite.

The identifications of the rocks listed are from the work of Franzen (1985), except for quartz diorite which was mentioned by Cohen (1973). Note that Franzen’s (1985) ‘felsic dykes’ are probably Patmore’s (1945) aplite, and ‘mafic dykes’ are ‘probably lamprophyre’.

Research by Giles Peatfield, Courtenay, British Columbia.
Edited by Doug Scott, Ottawa
Posting prepared 24 January, 2026.

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Link to British Columbia Minfile:	092L 033

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References