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This series consists of records related to Crown reserve sales of petroleum and natural gas rights. The records were created by the Department of Mines and the Department of Mines and Petroleum Resources from 1954-1977. The records were created under the authority of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Act (RSBC 1979, c. 323) to document the sale of resource rights.

Records include news releases identifying successful bidders, the amount tendered, and parcels sold; maps showing the location of the parcels; and public notices of sale. The records are arranged chronologically.

The series consists of photographs taken by or collected by the Bureau of Mines, where they were compiled into 30 photograph albums. Some of the albums, or parts of the albums, were compiled at the end of the year's work and were intended by the Provincial Mineralogist to document his annual summer field work throughout the province.

Many of the photographs were published each year in Department bulletins and in the Annual Report of the Minister of Mines. There is a coding in the albums which indicates that a photograph was used in the Annual Report. For example, “R1925 - A182” signifies that the photograph was used in the 1925 Annual Report of the Minister of Mines on page A182. Each Annual Report of the Minister contains narrative descriptions of the field trips taken by the Provincial Mineralogist and other Bureau of Mines staff, so it is possible to trace the relationship each year between these field trip narratives and the photographs.

W. Fleet Robertson (Provincial Mineralogist from 1898 to 1925) took some of the photographs. Beginning ca. 1906, Harold T. Nation was an assistant to the Provincial Mineralogist, and travelled with him on his summer field trips, taking photographs, compiling many of the photo albums and indexing them. Exceptions were the years 1914-1917, when Nation served in the military in Europe, after which he returned to his former position. Others from the Bureau of Mines who contributed to the creation of the albums include: W.A. Carlyle, (W. Fleet Robertson's predecessor as Provincial Mineralogist); J.D. Galloway (Robertson's successor); Herbert Carmichael (an Assistant Mineralogist); and Newton W. Emmens. They took photographs or directed that photos be taken to document their work in the field. Many photographs are labeled “B.C. Bureau of Mines” but the photographer is not identified.

Some of the albums, or parts of albums, appear to have been compiled, not an annual basis, but at a later date, and were labeled “miscellaneous.” They relate to the mining industry, geology, mineralogy, and local culture, but are not related to the annual field trips. The Provincial Mineralogist's office collected some of these from private sources including mining companies and miners. Professional photographers whose work is found in the albums include: R.J. Hughes (Trail, BC), Hughes Bros. (Trail, BC), Joseph F. Spalding (Fernie, BC), Carpenter & Co. (Rossland, BC), Carpenter & Millar (Rossland, BC), The Dominion Photo Company (Vancouver), Richard H. Trueman (R.H. Trueman & Co., Vancouver), E.F. Tucker, and Leonard Frank. There are a small number of photos taken by Charles Camsell of the Geological Survey of Canada, 1911, so it is possible others were taken by federal government employees.

Subjects include a very wide range of industrial and cultural activities and geographic features. These include: mines and mining operations and equipment; mining camps, prospectors, miners' houses, powder magazines, first aid teams, fire brigades, mine rescue squads and stations; immigrant workers; refineries, smelters, coke ovens, concentrators, brickyards, slag dumps and tailings; railways and rail trestles; boats, scows, ships, and dredging; landscape and terrain features including rivers and mountain ranges; mining industry towns, schools, hospitals, hotels, churches, government offices and wireless offices; First Nations activities and culture, including totem poles, grave sites, and villages; whaling and whaling stations; horse pack trains, Hudson's Bay Company posts; and conferences and congresses attended by Bureau of Mines staff.

Many of the photos are annotated with directions for the printing/publication process. Many are pieced together to create panoramas. Some albums have accompanying individual indexes and some have been indexed in the master alphabetical index.

Container No. Photograph Album
001302-0001 -- Bureau of Mines photographs miscellaneous album, H.T. Nation [album misc. B] ca. 188-?-1919
001302-0002 -- Bureau of Mines D : photographs ca. 189-?-1917
001302-0003 -- B.C. Bureau of Mines [E] miscellaneous photographs compiled from October 1927
001302-0004 -- 1895 Bureau of Mines
001302-0005 -- 1896 Bureau of Mines
001302-0006 -- Bureau of Mines, 1897-1898
001302-0007 -- Bureau of Mines photos 1898, 1899, 1900
001302-0008 -- Dept. of Mines, 1901, 1899-1901
001302-0009 -- Bureau of Mines 1902
001302-0010 -- Bureau of Mines, 1903, Victoria, B.C., 1903-1904
001302-0011 -- Photographs : 1905
001302-0012 -- Peace River and other trips in 1906 by W.F. Robertson and H. Carmichael, 1906
001302-0013 -- 1907 Bureau of Mines, Victoria B.C., 1906-1907
001302-0014 -- 1908 photos by Bureau of Mines, Victoria B.C., 1908-1909
001205-0001 -- Bureau of Mines photos collected during 1909
001302-0015 -- Odd photos collected in the Provincial Mineralogist's office, entered Nov. 1910
001302-0016 -- Summer trip of the Provincial Mineralogist to the Bulkley and Telkwa Rivers and the Slocan Mining Division, 1911; 1934
001302-0017 -- Provincial Mineralogist trip to Cassiar, 1912, 1911-1912
001302-0018 -- Photos for 1913 report, taken by W.F. Robertson, B.G. Forbes, W.M. Brewer, J.D. Galloway
001302-0019 -- Photographs taken in 1914
001302-0020 -- Dept. of Mines album 1915
001302-0021 -- Photographs : Dept. of Mines album 1916
001302-0022 -- Photographs : Bureau of Mines 1917-1918-1919
001302-0023 -- Photographs : Bureau of Mines 1920-21
001302-0024 -- Photos received at the Bureau of Mines during 1921 & 1922, compiled by Harold T. Nation
001302-0025 -- 1923 current photos, Bureau of Mines, 1920-1925
001302-0026 -- Dept. of Mines album : photos 1925 continued, 1926, 1925-1926
001302-0027 -- Bureau of Mines photographs 1926 (continued), 1927, 1922-1928
001302-0028 -- Bureau of Mines, Victoria, B.C. misc. photos, compiled by Harold T. Nation, 1927 [misc. album C], 1895-1927
001302-0029 -- Bureau of Mines photographs, 1926-1930, 1966
001302-0030 -- Dept. of Mines album 1930, [ca. 1930-1936]

This series consists of personnel history sheets from the Department of Mines. Records includes a notebook, 1935-1937, with position, date of appointment, salary, place and date of birth, marital status, military service records, work experience, duties of position; and departmental organization charts, 1937, 1942. 1942 chart transferred to Map Division.

The series consists of 45 volumes of prospecting licence stubs for coal, petroleum, and natural gas created by the Dept. of Mines, and its predecessor the Bureau of Mines between 1883 and 1946. The licence stubs are arranged in numerical order and include coal prospecting licenses 1-404, coal and petroleum prospecting licenses 405-9500 and coal, petroleum and natural gas prospecting licenses 9501-13000.

The series consists of photographs (negatives and a small number of prints) created by the offices of the Bureau of Mines and the Mineral Survey between 1895 and 1937, and by the Mineralogical Branch between 1937 and 1945.

The series includes a 1938 memo which indicates that selected photographs were to be used or had been used in the department's published bulletins and in its Annual Report of the Minister of Mines. Photographers include the following government mineralogists, geologists, and mining engineers (followed with dates of photographs): William Fleet Robertson, Provincial Mineralogist, (photos 1898-1908); Herbert Carmichael, Assistant Mineralogist (1901-1904); F.W. Valleau, Gold Commissioner and Mining Recorder in the Omineca Mining District (photo 1901); Harold T. Nation (photos 1903-1926); Newton W. Emmens (1914); Joseph T. Mandy, provincial government resident mining engineer for the Atlin district (photos 1926-1945); Douglas Lay, Resident Mining Engineer (photos 1906-1940); Matthew S. Hedley (photos 1936-1939); Stuart S. Holland (photos 1939-1941); J.S. Stevenson (photos 1938-1942); H.S. Sargent (photos 1936-1941); R. Maconachie (1938-1940) and John D. Galloway, Provincial Mineralogist.

A small number of photographs were collected from private sources, including professional photographers. Some are attributed to the British Columbia Provincial Police. Approximately 50 per cent of the photographs are not attributed to a photographer.

Subjects include: mines, collieries, quarries, mineral veins and specimens; mining crews, equipment and operations; prospectors and placer mining activities; coke ovens, mills, smelters, concentrators and cement works; towns, modes of transportation; topographic features such as mountains, lakes, rivers, creeks. The photographers also captured a very wide range of subjects concerning British Columbia cultural and social history. Examples of this are First Nations activities and culture, including graveyards and bridges built by First Nations. The numbering system runs from 1 to 993. A single number may represent a series of photos on the same subject (for example: 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d).

This series contains a record book of coal, petroleum, and natural gas licences (1 vol.), with nominal index. The book lists licencee, licence number,. locations, assignments, and file number.

This series consists of press releases, articles, speeches and other public reports created from 1932-1943. The majority of the records were created by the Minister of Mines and Deputy Minister of Mines. The records relate to all aspects of the departments work and mining in BC generally. This includes: statistical reports on provincial mining production outputs, particularly coal; the history of mining in BC; the history of the Dept. of Mines; announcements and comments on the opening or closure of mines; biographical information of department executive; considerations on the future of mining in BC; and the discussion of various issues impacting the mining industry.

This series consists of records related to Bullion Mine received by Department of Mines staff from 1894-1924. Records relate to mining leases, land tenure or use disputes, the Cariboo Gold Mining Company and the Cariboo Hydraulic Mining Company, South Fork Hydraulic Mining Company, and the associated Hopp versus Ward court case. Records include correspondence, indentures, copies of legislation, court documents including exhibits, photos, maps and technical drawings of the mine.

The series also includes records related to 1898 mining report, including feedback and comments from miners.

Series contains an annual return (1 page) pursuant to the Coal Mines Regulation Act of the Middlesboro Colliery, Nicola Valley Coal and Coke Company. Shows number of persons employed, methods of ventilation and extraction, depth of shafts, and total quantities of fresh air.

Three indices to the first five volumes, licenses 1-1100. of GR-0177, coal and petroleum licenses, lot 4593, East Kootenay. The indices are arrange alphabetically by name and license number.

The series is a register of orders-in-council created by the Deputy Minister of Mines between 1903 and 1906.

Index to (v. 1) and lists of applications (v. 2) to prospect for coal, or coal and petroleum on the Telkwa River, and on Lot 4593, East Kootenay. The index to the Telkwa River series is alphabetically by name to page number, and to Lot 4593 E-K, alphabetically by name to original license number. Information includes copies of gazette notices, license numbers and dates, license renewal numbers and letters inward and outward numbers. There is no interrelation between the Telkwa River license numbers and those of Lot 4593 E-K.

This series consists of draft reports and statistics created by the Department of Mines from 1902-1903. The records were likely used for the creation of the Department report in the 1902 sessional papers. The records include various statistics, including the production of coal and other minerals at mines around the province.

This series contains bills of lading for shipment of B.C. government reports to Glasgow, Scotland via Canadian Pacific Railway and connecting steamships (3 pages).

The series consists of a small group of diverse mining records created between 1864 and 1896 by the Dept. of Mines and its predecessor bodies. It includes declaratory statements (Cariboo district) concerning the partnerships formed, applications for leaves of absence and mining court records from the Omineca district.