The Big Five property is located on the uppermost reaches of Ferguson Creek, between 1980 and 2285 metres elevation.
The Big Five No. 1-5 claims were first mentioned in 1896 and by 1898, some stripping and a 9-metre crosscut existed. The property was visited by a government geologist in 1914 but the property was by then idle. In 1924, the property was acquired by Vancouver interests and preparations were in progress for next years work. In 1926, development work continued and it was reported that a McMillan and Trethewey optioned it and were intending to dewater in 1927. Reports indicate that Messrs. W.T. McArthur, Kilmer, Thompson, Elliot and J. Kirkpatrick were the owners in 1926 and probably made the option agreement with McMillan and Trethewey. G.B. McMillan did further unspecified work in 1927. During 2006 through 2009, Mineral Mountain Resources Ltd. completed programs of prospecting, geochemical (soil, silt, talus fines and rock) sampling and an airborne geophysical survey on the area as the Kootenay Arc property.
The property was staked along the northwesterly extension of the Elsmere band of crystalline limestone which, in the Big Five area, is less than 460 metres wide. To the southwest and northeast, the limestone is flanked by dark green chlorite schists and a short distance southwest there is a second large bed of limestone.
Rock units in the area have been mapped as belonging to the Cambrian to Devonian Index Formation (Lardeau Group) but recent interpretations indicate that several of the limestone units may actually belong to the Lower Cambrian Badshot Formation, repeated through folding.
Sulphides are reported in many places within the limestone. As at Elsmere (082KNW081), a narrow zone of pyrite, sphalerite and galena, with minor amounts of chalcopyrite, has replaced the limestone at intervals near its southwest contact with the chlorite schists. Well within the limestone are numerous, irregular leads. One such notable lead consists of white quartz containing scattered amounts of the above sulphides. At 2285 metres elevation, northwest of these showings, and near the top of the glacier, is a large area in which numerous small replacement bodies of sulphide with some quartz occurs, generally more or less parallel to bedding. Galena, sphalerite, tetrahedrite and pyrite are most abundant, forming isolated pockets or small veins along fissures. Microscopic examination of some of the richer pockets reveal the presence of boulangerite and bournanite. A sample of this material assayed 33.43 per cent lead, 9.74 per cent zinc, 0.48 per cent copper, 9.94 grams per tonne gold and 9077.56 grams per tonne silver (Geological Survey of Canada Memoir 161, page 100). Native silver has been reported also.
The most continuos mineralized zone on the property lies near the northeast contact of the limestone. It can be followed and found at frequent intervals for nearly 1371 metres on the surface, varying in width from 30 to 60 centimetres.
