North Talc, South Talc and Talc Lake

The North Talc, South Talc and Talc Lake deposits outcrops atop a ridge west of the Fraser River, 19.5 kilometres south- southwest of Lytton BC.

Significant talc occurrences were first reported in this area in the early 1950s by Geological Survey of Canada geologists. The area is underlain by phyllite, schist and foliated greenstone of the Permian(?) to Lower Cretaceous Bridge River Complex (Group) and by phyllite, schist and local conglomerate of the Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous Relay Mountain Group.


Pods of serpentinized ultramafics of the Bridge River Complex occur in fault and normal contact with both units. Since 1992, a systematic program was completed on the North Talc deposit that has included geological surveys, bulldozer stripping, trenching and drilling.

The Talc Lake deposit consists of a lens of talc on the north side of the lake, which has been exposed over a length of 800 metres and a width of 50 to 150 metres. The talc lens is covered by 1 to 2 metres overburden but has been recently exposed by new logging roadcuts.

The talc is pale green to white with a creamy buff weathered surface.
In 1993, a 120-tonne composite sample was extracted and then in 1994 shipped to Finnminerals in Finland for pilot tests. Tests included were beneficiation from grinding, flotation, and micro-ionizing. Tests were also conducted on the chemical and physical properties of the talc, particle size distribution and paper-grade rheology tests.

The final product produced included talc filler and extender with an average particle size 10 microns and brightness of 80 to 83 per cent (ISO), and a pitch control with an average particle size of 2 microns and a brightness of 83 to 85 per cent (ISO). A coating-grade, slurry talc pigment was also produced meeting rheological specification of light weight coated (LWC) papers.