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Myra Falls is a region of central Vancouver Island named for the waterfall located at the south end of Buttle Lake. The region is part of the Strathcona-Westmin Provincial Park and is unusual in that it contains an active mine which pre-dates the park. The Myra Falls area is accessible to the public via a paved road to the Myra Falls mine gate or by boat on Buttle Lake.
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Myra Falls (waterfall)
These spectacular falls cascade below into Buttle Lake from a small upper valley. Scenic attractions near the mine are Upper and Lower Myra Falls plus hiking trails to Phillips Ridge, Tennent Lake, Bedwell Lake and Cream Lake.
Myra Falls (mine)
There is a polymetallic Zinc, Copper, Silver and Gold Mine located above the Lower Myra Falls. The mine started as two open pits but quickly became an underground mine with the HW, Battle, Extension, Gap and South Trough mines discovered.
It seems to be a large stratiform basin somewhat bowl shaped with altered sulphides en deposit. Minerals seen include Sphalerite, Pyrite, Chalcopyrite, Tennantite and the invisible but gravity recoverable Gold. The underground miners can attest to spectacular massive sulphides seen at the working faces. At the Myra Falls mine is a mineral concentrator (process plant) and a surface tailings dam. Environmentally very little contamination reaches the lake below and hydro-electric power help to win the ore from the ground and the minerals from the ore.
Many famous geologists have worked this property including Rick Sawyer, Cliff Pearson, Jennifer Jolliffe, Hugh MacIsaac, Robert Baldwin, Finley Bakker, Laura Hubbard, the late Ken Atkin and many more. One of the more famous planning engineers working the property is John Gubbels and ventilation engineer John Shaw.
The mine is presently owned by Nyrstar N.V.. Earlier owners included Breakwater Resources, Boliden and Westmin Resources (hence the name of the park).