Junior Miner to Extract Gold, Metals from Historic Waste

Sasquatch Resources, a junior mining company, plans to recover gold and other valuable metals from century-old waste rock at the historic Mount Sicker mine in British Columbia. This project aims to clean up environmental damage while extracting resources from the site on Vancouver Island.

Mount Sicker operated from the late 1890s to 1910, accumulating over 300,000 tonnes of sulphide-bearing waste rock. Miners at the time discarded material below an 8% copper cutoff. Recent tests show this waste still holds significant value, with average grades of roughly 2 grams per tonne gold, along with copper, silver, and zinc.

The company will process these surface piles using conventional ore-sorting technology, not by reopening the mine. This closed-loop system uses density and X-ray fluorescence to separate valuable material without chemical reagents. The waste rock currently generates acidic runoff and pollutes the surrounding ecosystem.

Sasquatch expects to produce a smaller volume of higher-grade concentrate from the 300,000 tonnes of waste. The project faces regulatory challenges as it falls between existing mining frameworks. If successful, this approach could offer a new model for British Columbia’s estimated 2,000 legacy mine sites.