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Record Series CM/S1
Name: MINERAL TITLES REFERENCE MAPS
Date Range: (Series) [1942?] - 1977 (Contents) [18- - ] - 1977
Extent: 577 sheets; sizes and scales differ.
Arrangement: By area- based Departmental Reference Map and
Departmental Mineral Reference Map numbering systems. See Index Sheet (CM/S1- Index).
Creator(s): 1942 - 1959 Department of Mines. Administrative Branch. Mining Titles Division
1960 - 1972 Department of Mines and Petroleum Resources. Administration Branch. Mining Titles Division.
1973 - 1977 Department of Mines and Petroleum Resources. Mineral Resources Branch. Titles Division.
Source: Main body of material transferred in 1983 from the Ministry
of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, Mineral Resources Division, Titles Branch to the Provincial Archives. Additional sheets received in 1985 from the same agency.
Introduction: This cartographic record series consists of Mineral
Titles Maps documenting the location of staked mineral claims and placer leases in British Columbia. In addition to the actual Mineral Titles Maps produced by the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum Resource's Titles Division and its predecessors, the series includes Departmental Reference Maps (DRM) and Departmental Mineral Reference Maps (DMRM) which were originally created by the Department of Lands, Forests and Water Resources (and predecessor "Lands" Departments). The DRM and DMRM were used by the Titles Division both as guides to the location of parks, reserves, and surveyed mineral claims, and as base maps in the production of the Titles Maps. The Titles Maps thus generally correspond in scale, area covered, and numbering to the DRM and the DMRM, although in some cases, a Titles Map will cover a subsection of the corresponding base map (For example, Titles Maps 75- M1 through 75- M3 cover subsections of base map 75).
The original filing order of the series is reflected in the series list below (page 7). Thus, the Departmental Reference Maps and the corresponding Titles Maps are identified by area numbers ranging from 1A through 141 which refer to various geographical areas in British Columbia. Similarly, the
Departmental Mineral Reference Maps and related Titles Maps are identified by area numbers ranging from 10T215 to 6T348. In most cases, the Titles Division placed the letter "M" after the area numbers on the Titles Maps in order to differentiate between these maps and the base maps. However, not all Titles Maps were so identified. Indeed, it is now often difficult to determine whether a particular map within this series was produced by the Titles Division or by one of the "Lands" Departments. Moreover, the Titles Maps and many of the DRM and DMRM are not dated. Therefore, no attempt has been made in the item list to distinguish between base and Titles maps or between different versions of a particular map. Researchers are advised to locate their area of interest on the index map (CM/S1- Index) and then examine all maps identified in the item list by the relevant area number.
Administrative Origins: Historically, the locating and holding of
mineral claims has been governed by the provisions of the Mineral Act, while placer- mining has been governed by the Placer- mining Act. Together, these acts outline two processes which led to the creation of the types of maps contained in the Mineral Titles Reference Map series: (1) The recording of staked claims or leases and (2) The surveying of claims or leases.
(1) In order to record a staked mineral claim or placer leasehold, a prospector ("locator") was required to deposit a written description of the area staked along with a sketch- plan in the local Mining Recorder's office. Prior to 1942, Mining Recorders, working under Gold Commissioners within the various Provincial mining districts, would maintain the sole official record of unsurveyed, staked mining properties. In 1942, however, a central records office was established within the newly- formed Administrative Branch of the Department of Mines. The Mining Recorders began to provide this central office with copies of "tracings" showing groups of claims compiled from locators' sketches. (Eventually, the Recorders began to forward the actual sketches rather than the tracings.) At the Administrative Branch (or in later years, the Titles Branch), the mineral claims and placer leases on the Recorders' tracings would be redrawn onto Mineral Titles maps. The boundaries and physical features of these Titles maps would almost always be traced from either the Departmental Reference Maps or the larger- scale, Departmental Mineral Reference Maps produced by the Department of Lands and its successors. The latter two types of maps were created by the Department of Lands in order to document the location of various surveyed properties- - including surveyed mining claims and leases.
(2) When an individual holding mineral claims or placer leases found it necessary to have the properties surveyed- - as when a more secure form of title was sought such as a Crown grant- - the individual would employ a Provincial surveyor who would work according to guidelines prepared by the Surveyor
General of B.C. Upon completing a survey, the surveyor would deposit one set of his original field- notes and survey plan with the Legal Surveys Branch of the Department of Lands. The Legal Surveys Branch would file its set of surveyor's returns" and another set of the returns would be sent to the relevant local Mining Recorder's office. Mining Recorders would simply file their copies of survey returns- - these returns would not be sent to the central records office in the Administration Branch. The Legal Surveys Branch, however, would use its copies to plot surveyed mineral claims and placer leases on reference maps. (The Branch would also plot unsurveyed, staked placer leases on the reference maps, using copies of locator's sketches received from local Mining Recorders.) In many cases, the claims and leases would be added to Departmental Reference maps, which were generally drawn at a scale of one inch to one mile for areas south of the 56th parallel, and one inch to two miles for areas north of that parallel. In those cases where the mining properties in the surveyor's returns were located in an area containing numerous surveyed mining properties, the boundaries of the surveyed properties would be entered on Departmental Mineral Reference Maps, which were usually drawn at a scale of one inch to fifteen hundred feet. Both of these reference map series would also show areas set aside by the Crown as parks and reserves. Together, the two series were used by the Department of Lands to serve as a comprehensive record of all cadastral surveys on file as well as a record of reserved Crown land. As has been seen, the reference maps were also provided to other Departments such as the Department of Mines to serve their mapping or reference needs.
It was therefore the Department of Lands and successors which maintained the official, up- to- date record of surveyed mining properties in the form of the original survey plans and the Departmental Reference and Mineral Reference maps which were continually up- dated. The Department of Mines and successors would maintain a comprehensive record of staked mining properties in the form of locators' sketches and Mineral Titles Maps. The Department of Mines would also maintain certain information regarding surveyed properties. Not only would the local Mining Recorders hold copies of survey plans, the Administrative Branch would also copy surveyed, Crown granted- - as apposed to simply surveyed- - mineral claims from the reference maps to the Titles maps. However, the Administrative Branch would only receive copies of the Departmental Reference Maps and the Departmental Mineral Reference Maps when it needed to use these maps to prepare new Mineral Titles maps. The Branch would not receive each new edition of a given reference map. Thus, while the staked properties on the Titles map would be kept up- to- date, the map would only show those surveyed, Crown granted properties that had appeared on the base map. The base maps themselves would be partially up- dated; that is, the Administrative Branch would note changes in the boundaries of parks and reserves on the reference maps so as to maintain a current record of those
areas where staking was or was not permitted. The method of updating a Titles Map was simply to add new properties in areas without prior claims or leases and to erase any inactive claims or leases which were replaced by active properties. Since neither the groups of properties nor the Titles Maps themselves were dated, it is difficult to determine the age of the various properties.
Researchers should also be aware that it is often difficult to identify the nature of a given mining property depicted on a Mineral Titles Reference map. It appears that prior to 1958, the types of properties most commonly plotted on the Titles Maps by the Administrative Branch were staked mineral claims, Crown- granted mineral claims and placer mining leases. The placer mining leases were apparently often- - but not always- - identified on the Titles maps by the letters P.M.L. Surveyed and unsurveyed placer minining leases, as well as all surveyed mineral claims were plotted on both the Departmental Reference maps and the Departmental Mineral Reference maps by the Legal Surveys Division. However, in the case of the Departmental Reference Maps it is nearly impossible to determine whether a particular piece of Crown- granted land is a mineral claim or some other (non- mining) property simply by examining the maps themselves. After the Crown- granting system was ended in 1958, mineral leases were issued in place of Crown- granted mineral claims. Then, in the 1970s, a number of new types of mining properties (or new names for old types) were introduced, including production leases, two- post claims and so on.
Also in the 1970s, the Administrative Branch and successor agencies introduced numerous changes to the system for mapping mining properties. As early as the mid- 1950s, the Department of Lands and Forest's Legal Surveys Branch had begun to recompile and renumber its Departmental Reference Map series so as to convert these maps from the old departmental numbering system to the National Topographic Series (N.T.S) system. In contrast, the Administrative Branch continued to use the departmental numbers for its Titles Maps and simply added the departmental numbers to those new base maps using the N.T.S numbers. It was only in 1962 that the Administrative Branch gradually began to redraw its Titles Maps using the new larger- scale N.T.S. Departmental Reference maps as bases. Between 1962 and 1977 all of the Titles Maps (including those based on the Departmental Mineral Reference Maps) were redrawn. As each map was redrawn and active claims transferred to new maps, lines were drawn across the claims on the old map or across the entire map itself and notes were often added to the map indicating the numbers of the replacement maps. Thus, by 1977 the old Mineral Reference Map series described above had been replaced by a new series of Mineral and Placer Titles Maps. This latter series was in turn eventually replaced by the present series of computerized titles maps.
Given the gaps in the information available regarding the contents of the Mineral Titles Reference maps and the tentative nature of some of the statements made above, researchers making a detailed study of minining properties may find it necessary to support their examination of this map series with a review of related records. As has been indicated, survey field notes and plans were filed and retained in local Mining Recorder's offices. The local offices of the Mineral Titles Branch may still retain both these notes and plans, and the card files which were first introduced in 1945 and indexed mineral claims and placer mining leases according to owner name and claim or lease number. Although the central office of Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources' Titles Division has not maintained a complete run of the card files, it does hold copies of the Mining Recorder tracings. The Division also holds numerous mining reports, some of which contain early claims maps. Claims sketch maps also appear in the early annual reports of the Department of Mines. Furthermore, the Department of Lands published a small series of Mineral Reference Maps between 1927 and 1935 showing all surveyed claims in the mapped areas. Copies of these maps are held in the Provincial Archives (Call Numbers: CM/B284, CM/C429- CM/C432, CM/C2039). Finally, one of the successors to the Legal Surveys Branch- - the Surveys and Lands Branch, Ministry of Forests and Lands- - retains textual and cartographic records documenting surveyed mining properties.
Unfortunately, there is as yet no central, comprehensive listing of all records containing mining property information. Researchers seeking to determine what information is available at the Ministry of Forests and Lands should write to the Surveyor General and Director, Surveys and Lands Branch (3400 Davidson Avenue, Victoria V8W 3E7). Those interested in the mineral titles records of the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources are advised to write to the Director, Mineral Titles Branch (Parliament Buildings, Victoria V8V 1X4).
SERIES LIST
MINERAL TITLES REFERENCE MAPS
CM/S1
Obsolete Map Index CM/C2063 sh. 1
1A CM/E167 sh. 1
1A sh. 2
1B sh. 2
1B sh. 3
2 sh. 3
2 sh. 4
2 sh. 5
3 sh. 6
3 sh. 4
3A sh. 7
3A sh. 8
3A sh. 9
3B sh. 10
3B sh. 5
3C sh. 11
3C sh. 12
3C sh. 6
3D sh. 13
3D sh. 14
4 sh. 15
4 sh. 16
4A sh. 17
4A sh. 18
4B sh. 19
4B sh. 20
5 sh. 21
5 CM/C2063 sh. 22
5A sh. 23
5A sh. 24
5B sh. 25
5B sh. 26
5C sh. 27
5D sh. 28
5D sh. 29
6 sh. 30
6 sh. 31
6A sh. 32
6A sh. 33
6AM- 1 sh. 34
6AM- 2 sh. 35
6AM- 3 sh. 36
6AM- 3 CM/E167 sh. 7
6AM- 4 sh. 37
6AM- 4 sh. 8
6AM- 5 sh. 38
6AM- 5 sh. 9
6B sh. 39
6B sh. 10
6BM- 1 sh. 11
6C sh. 40
6C sh. 12
7 sh. 41
7 sh. 42
7A sh. 43
7A CM/E167 sh. 13
7B CM/C2063 sh. 44
7B sh. 45
7B sh. 14
8 sh. 46
8 sh. 15
9 sh. 47
9 sh. 16
10 sh. 48
10 sh. 49
11 sh. 50
11 sh. 51
11A sh. 52
11A sh. 17
12 sh. 53
12 sh. 54
12A sh. 55
12A sh. 18
12B sh. 56
12B sh. 57
13 sh. 58
13 sh. 59
14 sh. 60
14 sh. 61
14A sh. 62
14A sh. 63
14B sh. 64
14B sh. 65
14C CM/C2063 sh. 66
14C sh. 67
15 sh. 68
15 sh. 69
15A sh. 70
15A sh. 71
15AM- 1 sh. 72
16 sh. 73
16 sh. 74
16A sh. 75
16A sh. 76
16B sh. 77
16B sh. 78
17 sh. 79
17 sh. 80
17M- 1 sh. 81
17A sh. 82
17A sh. 83
17B sh. 84
17B sh. 85
18 sh. 86
18 sh. 87
18 sh. 88
18A sh. 89
18A sh. 90
18B sh. 91
19 sh. 92
19 CM/E167 sh. 19
19A CM/C2063 sh. 93
19A CM/E167 sh. 20
19B sh. 94
19B sh. 95
20 sh. 96
20 sh. 97
21 sh. 98
21 sh. 99
21M- 1 sh. 100
21A sh. 101
21A sh. 102
21B sh. 103
21B sh. 104
22 sh. 105
22 sh. 106
22A sh. 107
22B sh. 108
22B sh. 109
22C sh. 110
22C sh. 111
22D sh. 112
22D sh. 113
22E sh. 114
22E sh. 115
23 sh. 116
23 sh. 21
23A sh. 117
23A sh. 22
23A CM/E167 sh. 23
23B CM/C2063 sh. 118
23B sh. 119
23B sh. 120
23C sh. 121
23C sh. 122
24 sh. 123
24 sh. 124
24A sh. 125
24A sh. 24
24B sh. 126
24B sh. 127
25 sh. 128
25 sh. 129
25A sh. 130
25A sh. 131
26 sh. 132
26 sh. 133
27 sh. 134
27 sh. 135
27 sh. 136
27A sh. 137
27A sh. 25
27B sh. 138
27B sh. 139
27C sh. 140
27C sh. 141
27CM- 1 sh. 142
28 CM/C2063 sh. 143
28 sh. 144
28A sh. 145
28A sh. 146
28B sh. 147
28B sh. 148
29 sh. 149
29 CM/E167 sh. 26
29A sh. 150
29A sh. 151
29B sh. 152
29B sh. 27
29C sh. 153
29C sh. 154
30 sh. 155
30 sh. 156
31 sh. 157
31 sh. 158
31A sh. 159
31A sh. 160
32 sh. 161
32 sh. 162
32A sh. 163
32A sh. 164
32B sh. 165
32B sh. 166
33 sh. 167
33 sh. 168
34 CM/C2063 sh. 169
34 CM/E167 sh. 28
35 sh. 170
35 sh. 171
36 sh. 172
36 sh. 173
36A sh. 174
36A sh. 175
37 sh. 176
37 sh. 177
38 sh. 178
38 sh. 179
38A sh. 180
38A sh. 181
38B sh. 182
38B sh. 183
39 sh. 184
39 sh. 29
39A sh. 185
39A sh. 186
40 sh. 187
40 sh. 188
41 sh. 189
41 sh. 190
42 sh. 191
42M- 1 sh. 193
42A sh. 194
42A sh. 195
42AM- 1 CM/C2063 sh. 196
42B sh. 197
42B sh. 198
42C sh. 199
42C sh. 200
43 sh. 201
43 sh. 202
43A sh. 203
43A sh. 204
43B sh. 205
43B CM/E167 sh. 30
43C sh. 206
43C sh. 207
43D sh. 208
43D sh. 209
43E sh. 210
43E sh. 211
44 sh. 212
44 sh. 213
44A sh. 214
44A sh. 215
45 sh. 216
45 sh. 217
46 sh. 218
46 sh. 219
47 sh. 220
48 sh. 221
48 sh. 222
49 CM/C2063 sh. 223
49 sh. 224
50 sh. 225
50 sh. 226
51 sh. 227
51 sh. 228
52 sh. 229
52 sh. 230
53 sh. 231
53 sh. 232
53M- 2 sh. 233
53M- 3 sh. 234
54 sh. 235
54 sh. 236
55 sh. 237
55 sh. 238
56 CM/E167 sh. 31
57 sh. 239
57 sh. 240
58 sh. 241
58 sh. 242
59 sh. 243
59 sh. 244
59M- 1 sh. 245
59M- 2 sh. 246
60 sh. 247
60 sh. 248
61 sh. 249
61 CM/C2063 sh. 250
62 sh. 251
62 sh. 252
63 sh. 253
63 CM/E167 sh. 32
64 sh. 254
64 sh. 255
65 sh. 256
65 sh. 257
66 sh. 258
67 sh. 259
67 sh. 260
68 sh. 261
68 sh. 262
69 sh. 263
69 sh. 264
70 sh. 265
70 sh. 266
70M- 1 sh. 267
70M- 1 sh. 268
71 sh. 269
71 sh. 270
71M- 1 sh. 33
72 sh. 271
72 sh. 272
73 sh. 273
73 sh. 274
73M- 1 sh. 275
73M- 2 CM/C2063 sh. 276
73M- 3 CM/E167 sh. 34
74 sh. 277
74 sh. 278
74 sh. 35
74 sh. 36
75 sh. 279
75 sh. 280
75M- 1 sh. 281
75M- 2 sh. 282
75M- 3 sh. 283
76 sh. 284
76 sh. 285
77 sh. 286
77 sh. 287
78 sh. 288
78 sh. 289
78M- 1 sh. 290
78M- 2 sh. 291
79 sh. 292
79 sh. 293
80 sh. 294
80 sh. 295
81 sh. 296
81 sh. 37
82 sh. 297
82 sh. 298
83 sh. 299
83 CM/C2063 sh. 300
84 sh. 301
84 sh. 302
85 sh. 303
85 sh. 304
86 sh. 305
86 CM/E167 sh. 38
87 sh. 306
87 sh. 39
88 sh. 307
88 sh. 308
89 sh. 309
89 sh. 310
90 sh. 311
90 sh. 312
91 sh. 313
91 sh. 314
92 sh. 315
92 sh. 316
93 sh. 317
93 sh. 318
93M- 1 sh. 319
94 sh. 320
94 sh. 321
95 sh. 322
95 sh. 323
96 sh. 324
96 sh. 325
97 CM/C2063 sh. 326
97 sh. 327
98 sh. 328
98 sh. 329
99 sh. 330
100 sh. 331
100 sh. 332
101 sh. 333
101 sh. 334
102 sh. 335
102 sh. 336
104 sh. 337
104 sh. 338
105 sh. 339
105 CM/E167 sh. 40
106 sh. 340
106 sh. 341
107 sh. 342
107 sh. 343
108 sh. 344
108 sh. 345
109 sh. 346
109 sh. 347
110 sh. 348
110 sh. 349
111 sh. 350
111 sh. 351
112 sh. 352
112 CM/C2063 sh. 353
113 sh. 354
113 sh. 355
114 sh. 356
114 sh. 357
114 sh. 358
115 sh. 359
115 sh. 360
115 CM/E167 sh. 41
116 sh. 361
117 sh. 362
117 sh. 42
118 sh. 363
118 sh. 364
119 sh. 365
119 sh. 366
119 sh. 367
120 sh. 368
120 sh. 43
121 sh. 369
121 sh. 370
122 sh. 371
122 sh. 372
123 sh. 373
123 sh. 374
123M- 1 sh. 44
123M- 1 sh. 45
124 sh. 375
124 CM/C2063 sh. 376
125 sh. 377
125 sh. 378
126 sh. 379
126 sh. 380
127 sh. 381
127 sh. 382
127 CM/E167 sh. 46
128 sh. 383
128 sh. 384
129 sh. 385
129 sh. 386
130 sh. 387
130 sh. 388
131 sh. 389
131 sh. 390
132 sh. 391
132 sh. 392
133 sh. 393
133 sh. 394
134 sh. 395
134 sh. 396
135 sh. 397
135 sh. 398
135 sh. 399
136 sh. 400
136 sh. 47
137 sh. 401
138 CM/C2063 sh. 402
138 CM/E167 sh. 48
139 sh. 403
139 sh. 49
140 sh. 404
141 sh. 405
141 sh. 50
10T215 sh. 406
10T215 sh. 407
1T257 sh. 408
1T257 sh. 409
2T257 sh. 410
3T269 sh. 411
3T369 sh. 412
4T269 sh. 413
4T269 sh. 414
4T269 sh. 415
4T269 sh. 51
5T269 sh. 416
5T269 sh. 417
7T269 sh. 418
8T269 sh. 419
8T269 sh. 420
9T269 sh. 421
9T469 sh. 422
11T269 sh. 423
11T269 sh. 424
12T269 sh. 425
12T269 CM/C2063 sh. 426
13T269 sh. 427
14T269 sh. 428
15T269 sh. 429
16T269 sh. 430
18T269 sh. 431
19T269 sh. 432
21T269 sh. 433
22T269 sh. 434
23T269 sh. 435
24T269 sh. 436
25T269 sh. 437
1T280 sh. 438
2T280 sh. 439
5T280 sh. 440
5T280 sh. 441
6T280 sh. 442
7T280 sh. 443
7T280 sh. 444
8T280 sh. 445
9T280 sh. 446
10T280 sh. 447
12T280 sh. 448
12T280 sh. 449
1T286 sh. 450
4T286 sh. 451
6T286 sh. 452
7T286 sh. 453
8T286 CM/C2063 sh. 454
10T286 sh. 455
1T294 sh. 456
1T294 sh. 457
2T294 sh. 458
2T294 sh. 459
3T294 sh. 460
3T294 sh. 461
4T294 sh. 462
5T294 sh. 463
5T294 sh. 464
7T294 sh. 465
8T294 sh. 466
8T294 sh. 467
9T294 sh. 468
9T294 sh. 469
9T294 sh. 470
10T294 sh. 471
10T294 sh. 472
1T300 sh. 473
1T300 sh. 474
2T300 sh. 475
2T300 sh. 476
2T300 sh. 477
3T300 sh. 478
3T300 sh. 479
3T300 CM/E167 sh. 52
3T300 sh. 53
3T300 CM/E167 sh. 54
4T300 CM/C2063 sh. 480
4T300 sh. 481
5T300 sh. 482
7T300 sh. 483
8T300 sh. 484
9T300 sh. 485
10T300 sh. 486
11T300 sh. 487
12T323 sh. 55
1T332 sh. 488
2T332 sh. 489
3T332 sh. 490
3T332 sh. 491
4T332 sh. 492
4T332 sh. 493
5T332 sh. 494
5T332 sh. 495
6T332 sh. 496
6T332 sh. 497
7T332 sh. 498
8T332 sh. 499
9T332 sh. 500
10T332 sh. 501
10T332 sh. 502
10T332 sh. 503
10T332 sh. 504
10T332 sh. 56
1T348 CM/C2063 sh. 505
1T348 sh. 506
1T348 CM/E167 sh. 57
2T348 sh. 507
2T348 sh. 508
2T348 sh. 509
3T348 sh. 510
3T348 sh. 511
4T348 sh. 512
4T348 sh. 513
4T348 sh. 514
5T348 sh. 515
5T348 sh. 516
5T348 sh. 517
6T348 sh. 518
6T348 sh. 519
6T348 sh. 520
Record Series CM/S1
Name: MINERAL TITLES REFERENCE MAPS
[This title is somewhat artificial since the Department of Mines and the Department of Lands were not consistent in the names they used to identify maps showing mineral claims and placer leases. The Titles Division staff ("Mines") appear to refer to the maps they produce as "Mineral Reference Maps." After 1977, the Titles Division Mineral Reference Maps were distinguished from the "Lands" Departmental Mineral Reference Maps by the addition of the letter M or P before the Titles Division Map. The Department of "Lands" used the prefix R to identify its mineral maps. (Stan Hoffman, Titles Division- - Telephone Interview).
The term "Mineral Titles Reference Maps" was used in the 1977 Annual Report of the Department of Mines and Petroleum Resources to refer to the 1942- 1977 series of Titles maps which were replaced by the new "Mineral and Placer Titles Maps." This term, however, has also been used in the annual reports to refer to the post- 1977 Mineral and Placer Titles maps.
The terms "Departmental Reference Maps" and "Departmental Mineral Reference Maps" were used in a 1973 Map Index prepared by the Department of Lands, Parks, and Housing. (This index refers to the maps produced by the Titles Division of the Deparment of Mines and Petroleum Resources as "staked mineral claims maps.")
This series description uses the term Mineral Titles Reference Maps to cover the three series of maps which were filed as a group between 1942 - 1977: the actual ("Mines") Mineral Titles Maps, the ("Lands") Departmental Reference Maps and the ("Lands") Departmental Mineral Reference Maps]
Date Range: (Series) [1942?] - 1977
[1942 is the probable start date for this series since it is the date of the establishment of the central records office (Dep of Mines Annual Rep). Stan Hoffman stated that none of the maps in this series were created by the local Mining Recorders. These officials may have been creating their own Titles maps prior to 1942 (and indeed, probably continued to do so afterwards) but the maps in this series are those produced by the central office. 1977 is the date at which the conversion of the Titles Maps to the N.T.S. system was completed. (Annual Report, EMPR)]
(Content)
[Hoffman stated that sincle the first Titles map created by the central office of the Dep of Mines included all active staked claims and surveyed crown- granted claims, the maps may contain some information going back to the creation of the Province. However, since the office of the Gold Commissioner was established in 1854 and staking began well before the provincial period, could not the maps include colonial information? Also, some of the Departmental Reference maps and most of the Departmental Mineral Reference maps were created prior to 1942.]
Extent: 577 sheets; sizes and scales differ.
Arrangement: By area- based Departmental Reference Map and
Departmental Mineral Reference Map numbering systems. See Index Sheet (CM/S- Index).
Creator(s): 1942 - 1959 Department of Mines (A1). Administrative Branch (A2). Mining Titles Division
1960 - 1972 Department of Mines and Petroleum Resources (A3). Administration Branch (A2). Mining Titles Division.
1973 - 1977 Department of Mines and Petroleum Resources (A3). Mineral Resources Branch (A4). Titles Division.
[Information taken from Annual Reports of Mines Departments]
Donor: Main body of material transferred in 1983 from the Ministry
of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources (A5), Mineral Resources Division (A4), Titles Branch to the Provincial Archives. Additional sheets received in 1985 from the same agency.
[Verbal statement by David Chamberlin. Also acquisition file?]
Introduction:
[Most of the information below was obtained from a review of the maps, a review of the Annual Reports of the Mines Deparments, and the interview with Stan Hoffman.]
This cartographic record series consists of Mineral Titles Maps documenting the location of staked mineral claims and placer leases in British Columbia. In addition to the actual Mineral Titles Maps produced by the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum Resource's Titles Division and its predecessors, the series includes Departmental Reference Maps (DRM) and Departmental Mineral Reference Maps (DMRM) which were originally created by the Department of Lands, Forests and Water Resources (and predecessor "Lands" Departments).
The DRM and DMRM were used by the Titles Division both as guides to the location of parks, reserves, and surveyed mineral claims, and as base maps in the production of the Titles Maps. The Titles Maps thus generally correspond in scale, area covered, and numbering to the DRM and the DMRM, although in some cases, a Titles Map will cover a subsection of the corresponding base map (For example, Titles Maps 75- M1 through 75- M3 cover subsections of base map 75).
The original filing order of the series is reflected in the item list below (page 6). Thus, the Departmental Reference Maps and the corresponding Titles Maps are identified by area numbers ranging from 1A through 141 which refer to various geographical areas in British Columbia. Similarly, the Departmental Mineral Reference Maps and related Titles Maps are identified by area numbers ranging from 10T215 to 6T348. In most cases, the Titles Division placed the letter "M" after the area numbers on the Titles Maps in order to differentiate between these maps and the base maps. However, not all Titles Maps were so identified. Indeed, it is now often difficult to determine whether a particular map within this series was produced by the Titles Division or by one of the "Lands" Departments. Moreover, the Titles Maps and many of the DRM and DMRM are not dated. Therefore, no attempt has been made in the item list to distinguish between base and Titles maps or between different versions of a particular map. Researchers are advised to locate their area of interest on the index map (CM/S1- Index) and then examine all maps identified in the item list by the relevant area number.
Administrative Origins: Historically, the locating and holding of
mineral claims has been governed by the provisions of the Mineral Act, while placer- mining has been governed by the Placer- mining Act. Together, these acts outline two processes which led to the creation of the types of maps contained in the Mineral Titles Reference Map series: (1) The recording of staked claims or leases and (2) The surveying of claims or leases.
[General procedure taken from (1) RSBC 1911 Chap. 157 "An Act relating to Gold and other Minerals excepting Coal" (says the act can be cited as the "Mineral Act" R.S. 1897 Chap. 136; (2) RSBC 1911 Chap. 165 "An Act relating to Placer Mines" (says this act may be cited as the "Placer- mining Act" R.S. 1897 Chap. 136; (3) RSBC 1979 Chap. 259 "Mineral Act" and Chap. 264 "Mining (Placer) Act (Annual Reports up to 1980 refer to these two acts as the Mineral Act and the Placer- Mining Act); (4) Manual Respecting the Survey of Mineral Claims and Placer- Mining Leases in B.C. (Victoria: Department of Lands and Forests, Surveys Branch, 1946)]
(1) In order to record a staked mineral claim or placer leasehold, a prospector ("locator") was required to deposit a written description of the area staked along with a sketch- plan in the local Mining Recorder's office.
[It is not clear whether placer claims were sketched. The 1911 Placer Mining Act, unlike the Mineral Act, does not specifically say a sketch or survey was required. Stan Hoffman said that he had never mapped mineral claims or seen them mapped. But the ?1969 Mines Annual Report speaks of maps showing Mineral Claims, Placer Claims, and Placer Leases.]
Prior to 1942, Mining Recorders, working under Gold Commissioners within the various Provincial mining districts, would maintain the sole official record of unsurveyed, staked mining properties.
[The Office of Gold Commissioner was created in 1854 and appears to have lapsed in 1905 (PABC Mines Inventory). The central registry functions were taken over by the Bureau of Mines. (So district gold commissioners were now within the Bureau of Mines and thus under the Department of Mines??) As of 1900 the provincial mining districts were reorganized on a rational topographic basis. As before, local mining recorders reported to district Gold Commissioners. The Government telephone book now speaks of Mineral Claims Inspectors working in district offices of the Mineral Titles Branch. I think these were added in the 1960s to double check the claims which Mines was mapping. So, do the Mining Recorders still exist? along with the Claims Inspectors? Hoffman seemed to say that the Mining Recorders were now called Gold Commissioners????]
In 1942, however, a central records office was established within the newly- formed Administrative Branch of the Department of Mines. The Mining Recorders began to provide this central office with copies of "tracings" showing groups of claims compiled from locators' sketches. (Eventually, the Recorders began to forward the actual sketches rather than the tracings.) At the Administrative Branch (or in later years, the Titles Branch), the mineral claims and placer leases on the Recorders' tracings would be redrawn onto Mineral Titles maps.
[The Central Records office was located in both Vancouver and Victoria according to the Mines Annual Reports of 1943 and 1951. One of the reports from the early 1980s stated that local mining returns were sent to the Victoria office and a duplicate record system was maintained in the Vancouver office.]
The boundaries and physical features of these Titles maps would almost always be traced from either the Departmental Reference Maps or the Departmental Mineral Reference Maps produced by the Department of Lands and its successors. The latter two types of maps were created by the Department of Lands in order to document the location of various surveyed properties- - including surveyed mining claims and leases.
[I think Hoffman said that the local Mining Recorder's offices also mapped staked claims in the same manner as the Central Office. The Central Office would send copies of the reference maps it received from Lands to the local office.]
(2) When an individual holding mineral claims or placer leases found it necessary to have the properties surveyed- - as when a more secure form of title was sought such as a Crown grant- - the individual would employ a Provincial surveyor who would work according to guidelines prepared by the Surveyor General of B.C.
[By no means were all surveyed claims Crown granted. Most prospecters simply held staked claims which were held on a yearly lease basis. Hoffman estimated that of the approximately 25,000 claims which have been surveyed in B.C. only 1,000 have been Crown- granted. However, it seems that a great many of the claims on the titles maps have c.g. on them. Why?]
Upon completing a survey, the surveyor would deposit his original field- notes and survey plan with the Legal Surveys Branch of the Department of Lands. The Legal Surveys Branch would file its set of surveyor's returns" and another set of the returns would be sent to the relevant local Mining Recorder's office.
[One of the Annual Reports said that Lands sent prints of the originals to the Recorders. As well, the 1911 Mineral Act said that the Minister of Lands shall cause duplicate survey plats to be held for record in the Mining Recorders offices. However, a patron has stated that he examined pen and ink originals in a local office]
Mining Recorders would simply file their copies of survey returns- - these returns would not be sent to the central records office in the Administration Branch. The Legal Surveys Branch, however, would use its copies to plot surveyed mineral claims and placer leases on reference maps. (The Branch would also plot unsurveyed, staked placer leases on the reference maps, using copies of locator's sketches received from local Mining Recorders.) [According to Stan Hoffman]
[The Legal Surveys Branch was responsible for retaining all cadastral surveys. From the original surveys it prepared official plans from which all legal title in the province derives. It is not clear if the claims were thus plotted on official plans as well as reference maps or what the difference is between the role of the Legal Surveys Branch and the Land Titles Office. (See Lands Annual Reports 1950s) The reference maps also apparently showed some unsurveyed properties such as staked placer leaseholds (See Lands annual report 1971). The fact that placer leases could also be surveyed is indicated in the
1979 Placer Mining Act]
In many cases, the claims and leases would be added to Departmental Reference maps, which were generally drawn at a scale of one inch to one mile for areas south of the 56th parrallel, and one inch to two miles for areas north of that parrallel. In those cases where the mining properties in the surveyor's returns were located in an area containing numerous surveyed mining properties, the boundaries of the surveyed properties would be entered on Departmental Mineral Reference Maps, which were usually drawn at a scale of one inch to fifteen hundred feet. Both of these reference map series would also show areas set aside by the Crown as parks and reserves. Together, the two series were used by the Department of Lands to serve as a comprehensive record of all cadastral surveys on file as well as a record of reserved Crown land. As has been seen, the reference maps were also provided to other Departments such as the Department of Mines to serve their mapping or reference needs.
It was therefore the Department of Lands and successors which maintained the official, up- to- date record of surveyed mining properties in the form of the original survey plans and the Departmental Reference and Mineral Reference maps which were continually up- dated. The Department of Mines and successors would maintain a comprehensive record of staked minining properties in the form of locators' sketches and Mineral Titles Maps. The Department of Mines would also maintain certain information regarding surveyed properties. Not only would the local Mining Recorders hold copies of survey plans, the Administrative Branch would also copy surveyed, Crown granted- - as apposed to simply surveyed- - mineral claims from the reference maps to the Titles maps. However, the Administrative Branch would only receive copies of the Departmental Reference Maps and the Departmental Mineral Reference Maps when it needed to use these maps to prepare new Mineral Titles maps. The Branch would not receive each new edition of a given reference map. Thus, while the staked properties on the Titles map would be kept up- to- date, the map would only show those surveyed, Crown granted properties that had appeared on the base map.
[The Administrative Branch could find that its titles map for a given area was becoming crowded with claims. So it could order a 1956 map and place the Crown- granted claims on that map on its new titles map. The Admin Branch might only need a new base map for that area many years later. But in the meantime, Lands would have been constantly up- dating its copy of the Reference map and may have produced several new versions. This is why most of the reference maps in our mineral titles reference map series date from the 1960s or earlier rather than the 1970s.]
The base maps themselves would be partially up- dated; that is, the Administrative Branch would note changes in the boundaries of parks and reserves on the reference maps so as to maintain a current record of those areas where staking was or was not permitted. [This appears evident from a review of the maps themselves] The method of updating a Titles Map was simply to add new properties in areas without prior claims or leases and to erase any inactive claims or leases which were replaced by active properties. Since neither the groups of properties nor the Titles Maps themselves were dated, it is difficult to determine the age of the various properties.
Researchers should also be aware that it is often difficult to identify the nature of a given mining property depicted on a Mineral Titles Reference map. It appears that prior to 1958, the types of properties most commonly plotted on the Titles Maps by the Administrative Branch were staked mineral claims, Crown- granted mineral claims and placer mining leases. The placer mining leases were apparently often- - but not always- - identified on the Titles maps by the letters P.M.L.
[ ]
Surveyed and unsurveyed placer minining leases, as well as all surveyed mineral claims were plotted on both the Departmental Reference maps and the Departmental Mineral Reference maps by the Legal Surveys Division. However, in the case of the Departmental Reference Maps it is nearly impossible to determine whether a particular piece of Crown- granted land is a mineral claim or some other (non- mining) property simply by examining the maps themselves.
[Hoffman said that this is a common problem. The mining claims on the Departmental Mineral Reference maps usually have the name of the mine on them. But the properties on the Departmental Reference maps simply have the letters C.G. and the grant number. So it is almost always necessary to go the original survey records to determine the type of the property. For a list of the types of "cadastra" (properties) shown on the Departmental Reference maps, see the index map of the Department of Lands, Housing...(1973)]
After the Crown- granting system was ended in 1958, mineral leases were issued in place of Crown- granted mineral claims. [Hoffman] Then, in the 1970s, a number of new types of mining properties (or new names for old types) were introduced, including production leases, two- post claims and so on.
[The introduction to the 1979 Mineral Act explains in detail the new terminology used to describe claims. Hoffman said that changes in terminology plus the introduction of new types of claims in the 1970s makes the system very confusing. The sections of the Mines annual reports dealing with titles maps contain the
following statements: mineral claims, placer- mining leases, leases of reverted, Crown granted mineral claims (1943); mineral claims and placer leases (1946); Titles maps showing mineral claims, placer claims, placer- mining leases, and map indices (1968); maps showing placer- mining leases, mineral leases, and mineral claims (1971?); maps showing placer leases, leases issued under the Mineral Act and mineral and 2 post claims by record (1983 Mines Catologue)]
Also in the 1970s, the Administrative Branch and successor agencies introduced numerous changes to the system for mapping mining properties. As early as the mid- 1950s, the Department of Lands and Forest's Legal Surveys Branch had begun to recompile and renumber its Departmental Reference Map series so as to convert these maps from the old departmental numbering system to the National Topographic Series (N.T.S) system. [Lands annual report 1958] In contrast, the Administrative Branch continued to use the departmental numbers for its Titles Maps and simply added the departmental numbers to those new base maps using the N.T.S numbers. It was only in 1962 that the Administrative Branch gradually began to redraw its Titles Maps using the new larger- scale N.T.S. Departmental Reference maps as bases. [Hoffman said 1962. The Mines annual reports of 1976 and 1977 indicate that the process was completed by 1977] Between 1962 and 1977 all of the Titles Maps (including those based on the Departmental Mineral Reference Maps) were redrawn. As each map was redrawn and active claims transferred to new maps, lines were drawn across the claims on the old map or across the entire map itself and notes were often added to the map indicating the numbers of the replacement maps. Thus, by 1977 the old Mineral Reference Map series described above had been replaced by a new series of Mineral and Placer Titles Maps. This latter series was in turn eventually replaced by the present series of computerized titles maps.
[The new Mineral and Placer Titles Maps (two seperate series?) were drawn at a scale of 1 1/4" to a mile (1:50 000) and 2" to a mile. (Mines annual reports) They were used to produce public use prints at a scale of 1:50 000 (According to Hoffman) Apparently, in 1977 a third type of titles series was introduced. These titles maps used the N.T.S. system but were based on Ottawa N.T.S. maps and showed contours (Mines annual report). Hoffman said that these maps were discontinued in 1978 and that in 1979 all titles mapping was halted as the Ministry of Energy Mines and Petroleum Resources began to develop the computerized claims system. According to the Mines annual reports the first computerized map was operational in 1985.]
Given the gaps in the information available regarding the contents of the Mineral Titles Reference maps and the tentative nature of some of the statements made above, researchers making a detailed study of minining properties may find it necessary to support their examination of this map series with a review of related records. As has been indicated, survey field notes and plans were filed and retained in local Mining Recorder's offices. The local offices of the Mineral Titles Branch may still retain both these notes and plans, and the card files which were first introduced in 1945 and indexed mineral claims and placer mining leases according to owner name and claim or lease number. Although the central office of Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources' Titles Division has not maintained a complete run of the card files, it does hold copies of the Mining Recorder tracings. The Division also holds numerous mining reports, some of which contain early claims maps. Claims sketch maps also appear in the early annual reports of the Department of Mines. Furthermore, the Department of Lands published a small series of Mineral Reference Maps between 1927 and 1935 showing all surveyed claims in the mapped areas. Copies of these maps are held in the Provincial Archives (Call Numbers: CM/B284, CM/C429- CM/C432, CM/C2039). Finally, one of the successors to the Legal Surveys Branch- - the Surveys and Lands Branch, Ministry of Forests and Lands- - retains textual and cartographic records documenting surveyed mining properties.
Unfortunately, there is as yet no central, comprehensive listing of all records containing mining property information. Researchers seeking to determine what information is available at the Ministry of Forests and Lands should write to the Surveyor General and Director, Surveys and Lands Branch (3400 Davidson Avenue, Victoria V8W 3E7). Those interested in the mineral titles records of the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources are advised to write to the Director, Mineral Titles Branch (Parliament Buildings, Victoria V8V 1X4).
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