The Fording River phosphate occurrence is located on the west bank of the Fording River, approximately 3.2 kilometres northeast of its confluence with the Elk River.

Regionally, the area is underlain by a series of generally north-trending sedimentary rocks including dolomitic carbonate rocks of the Mississippian Etherington, Mount Head and Livingstone Formations (Rundle Group) and Pennsylvanian to Permian Rocky Mountain Group, fine clastic sedimentary rocks of the Triassic Spray River Group, undivided sedimentary rocks of the Jurassic Fernie Formation and undivided sedimentary rocks of the Jurassic to Cretaceous Kootenay Group.

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

The phosphorite bed is approximately 0.80 metre thick and contains 19.10 per cent P2O5. It is overlain by 0.5 metre of phosphatic shale containing 6.05 per cent P2O5 and 0.24 metre 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.

Work History

A historical adit of unknown age, now buried, is reported to have been developed on the occurrence for a length of approximately 12 metres.

In 1975, Cominco Ltd. conducted a program of geological mapping, photo interpretation, bulldozer trenching and seven diamond drill holes, totalling 732.0 metres, on the area as the Elk claims of the Grave Lake property. A sample taken from the historical adit is reported to have yielded 21.3 per cent P2O5 over 1.22 metres (Assessment Report 38562). Also at this time, drilling on the area approximately 1.5 kilometres to the south-southeast and northwest is reported to have yielded 23.0 and 20.2 per cent P2O5 over 0.60 and 1.2 metres in holes 75-0 and 75-5, respectively (Assessment Reports 5867, 38562).

In 2015, MGX Minerals Inc. conducted a minor program of geological mapping and rock sampling on the area. In 2016, Fertox International Organic Inc. conducted a minor program of prospecting and geochemical (rock and water) sampling on the area as part of the Mt. Lyne property.

In 2018 and 2019, J.T. Shearer conducted minor programs of prospecting and rock sampling on the area as part of the Graves Lake property. Float samples from a muck pile near the old adit yielded values of up to 13.63 per cent P2O5 and 0.099 per cent yttrium (Samples 7 and 14; Assessment Report 38562).