Texada Quarry
By Heather Harbord, 16 February 2013.
Twelve of us, including Barbara Sherriff (Leader) and myself (Coordinator), walked on the 9:50 AM ferry to Texada. On board, Barbara explained how limestone is formed from marine sediments and how igneous intrusions into it produced small deposits of gold, silver and copper.
At Blubber Bay, retired quarry manager, Harold Diggon, and TQL’s Quarry Maintenance Manager, Warren Kiland met us with a bus. The Blubber Bay Museum was the first stop. Texada Heritage Society Chair, Ken Barton, and Texada Archivist, Doug Paton, opened the doors to show off the mining and mineral displays. A quick bus tour of Van Anda showed the group the remains of early twentieth century lime quarry and kilns at Limekiln Bay as well as the 1897 kiln at Marble Bay. The group stopped at the Ravenous Raven which was kindly hosted by the quarry.
At the quarry, we stopped to look at some recently blasted flower rock and then went up to the 820 level where the clouds cleared enough to provide a stupendous view over Texada and across the water to Powell River and Vancouver Island. We collected some lovely samples of iron pyrites associated with quartz and posed for a group photo. The day ended with a quick run back to catch the 3:00 PM ferry.
