At the Fording River showing, a shallow dipping, thin pelletal phosphorite bed occurs at the base of the Jurassic Fernie Formation. Overlying this phosphorite are phosphatic shale and limestone of Sinemurian age and by belemnitic-bearing shale of Toarcian age. These strata unconformably overlie siltstone of the Triassic Sulphur Mountain Formation (Spray River Group).

The phosphorite bed is approximately 0.80 metres thick and contains 19.10 per cent P2O5. It is overlain by 0.5 metres of phosphatic shale containing 6.05 per cent P2O5 and 0.24 metres of shale and phosphorite averaging 7.88 per cent P2O5 (Open File 1987-16). Weakly phosphatic shale, 1.6 metres thick and averaging 2.54 per cent P2O5, caps the phosphatic sequence.