They had been commissioned by the syndicate formed by Karl Springer and “Doc” Kidd to prospect and explore for gold and silver in the Coast Range Mountains, north of Stewart, B.C., during the summer of 1946.
Einar Kvale and Tom McQuillan formed an exceptional team of talented and enterprising adventurers for such an undertaking. Kvale had just returned from an extended period overseas in the Canadian army, with an interval spent as an interpreter at the war crimes trials in Nuremberg, Germany. McQuillan was a veteran both of exploration and mining, with an extensive knowledge of this rugged frontier region.
The area presented a unique and awesome challenge for any venture group. The rich Premier gold mine was situated north of Stewart in the Salmon River Valley. A bonanza type of deposit, it had a wealthy, 25-year operating history of handsome dividend payouts. The geology of this district was such as to encourage the exploration for other orebodies of equal magnitude. Beyond and above these considerations was the formidable task of penetrating the vast glacial fields of the Salmon, Berenden, Leduc and Frank Mackie ice sheets, which encompassed this entire region in the uncharted depths of the Coast Range.
Kvale and McQuillan had the personalities and the experience for such an undertaking. Both prospectors were self-reliant, healthy, rugged and imaginative, and they possessed the skills, intelligent judgment and discretion required of men in such circumstances.
They loaded their toboggans with supplies and provisions and set off across the mountains and ice fields, undaunted by the fierce winds and heavy snow. Progress was difficult and strenuous, and many nights were spent camping out on the glaciers.
They both realized, however, that the fresh and recently scoured rock faces of the towering mountain sides presented a valuable opportunity to explore for evidence of mineralization.
Their search led them across the Berenden glacier and onto the Leduc glacier. Here they ventured upon outcroppings of sulphides which were to lead to the rich depths of the Granduc mine on the west face of Granduc Mountain. They were deeply impressed by the luxurious surface exposures of chalcopyrite. Their instructions, however, were to look for gold, and so they turned away and, most unwillingly, left the site.
In their camp that evening, both men reviewed the specimen samples from Granduc Mountain and, in a reversal of their previous decision, resolved to stake the Granduc mine the next day.
They then continued their search, trekking up the North Leduc glacier and over to the Frank Mackie system, and later exploring and staking the “Sulphurets” Creek copper showings.
It was their first prospecting venture since the end of the Second World War, and it proved to be an outstanding success. First, the Granduc mine was launched towards development. Then (and for a good many decades later), the showings on “Sulphurets” Creek revealed rich and extensive gold-silver-copper deposits.
The whole story testifies to the great monuments of achievement that can result from a team of outstanding prospectors under the direction of a man such as Karl Springer.
— S.J. Hunter, a retired mining engineer and regular contributor, resides in Vancouver, B.C.
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