Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/1152269
40 www.resourceworld.com A U G U S T / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 In 1858, word of the discovery of gold on the Fraser River reached the outside world and resulted in an influx of an estimated 30,000 prospectors and gold miners from all corners of the globe. Within a few years gold production from the gravel bars of the lower Fraser began to decline and prospectors followed the river north. They eventually reached the rich gold- bearing creeks of the Cariboo where, in 1861, a party led by William "Dutch Bill" Dietz found gold in a stream they named Williams Creek in his honour. Initially, most of the mining activity was confined to the portion of the creek above the canyon where gold was found at a shallow depth. However, an Englishman, William "Billy" Barker, decided to try his luck downstream, sinking a shaft below the canyon at Williams Creek where the depth of overburden had previously dis - couraged exploration. At a depth of 40 feet, Barker struck pay dirt, creating the rush that formed the historic town of Barkerville whose rich deposits were worked from 1864 to the 1930s after which the town was eclipsed by the new mining town of Wells. In a perhaps an all too familiar end - ing, the instantly wealthy Billy Barker eventually went broke grubstaking fellow prospectors, only to die penniless and find his last resting place, in Victoria in an area of the cemetery reserved for the poor. The town of Barkerville has seen little in the way of mining since that time although today it's been designated both a national and provincial historic site with more than 125 heritage buildings, period displays, satellite museums, restaurants and shops. That might change soon enough with Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd. [BGM- TSXV; BGMZF-OTC; IWUB-FSE] recently announcing an updated underground resource estimate for its Cow, Island and Barkerville Mountain deposits at the com - pany's 100%-owned Cariboo Gold Project located at Wells, just west of Barkerville. The company reports a measured and indicated resource of 2.4 million ounces of gold (13.2 million tonnes grading 5.6 g/t gold) – a 50% increase from the 2018 resource – in addition to an inferred min - eral resource of 1.9 million ounces (12 Gold mining renaissance seems likely for historic Barkerville Gold Camp by David Duval BRITISH COLUMBIA HAS RECORDED ITS SHARE OF GOLD RUSHES BUT THERE WAS NONE MORE FAMOUS THAN THE ONE THAT TOOK PLACE IN THE PROVINCE'S REMOTE, ISOLATED CARIBOO MOUNTAINS REGION BETWEEN 1860 AND 1863.