PART I-Flanks of Coast Range - Magnetite Deposits of the Coast Al Area of British Columbia

"MAGNETITE HAS BEEN found in many .parts of the coastal area of British Columbia, but the more important deposits are on Vancouver Island and Texada Island. The locations of these deposits are shown on Figure 1.Interest in the magnetite deposits dates back to the 1870s, when land was acquired on the southwest coast of Texada Island by the Puget Sound Iron Company. This ground included the Prescott, Paxton, and Lake deposits. During the years 1885 to 1903, and 1908, 28,898 tons of magnetite ore was shipped to the company's blast-furnace plant at Irondale, Washington, U.S.A. This production was almost entirely from the Prescott open-pits.In the years following the Texada Island discoveries, other magnetite deposits were found in the coastal area, and various plans were proposed to utilize the local ores in the establishment of a steel industry in the Pacific Northwest. None was carried to fruition but, in 1951, open-pit mining was begun at Iron Hill, Vancouver Island, to furnish iron concentrates for steel mills in Japan. In 1952 mining of the Texada deposits was resumed to supply the same market. Production figures for these recent operations are as follows:"