The Morgan deposit is located on the upper, north-facing slope of Monashee Mountain, 60 kilometres east-southeast of Vernon and approximately 1800 metres southeast of the St. Paul (MINFILE 082LSE010) deposit.
The area is underlain by sedimentary rocks and greenish volcanics of the Devonian to Triassic Harper Ranch Group intruded by several Jurassic or Cretaceous dikes or small hypabyssal bodies of dacite porphyry. The sediments, which strike west to northwest and dip moderately to steeply south, consist of quartzite, calcareous tuffs and slates.
The Morgan occurrence consists of two or more narrow, north- striking quartz veins that dip approximately 45 degrees southwest and are 10 to 61 centimetres wide. At least one important cross vein is normal to the main veins. The veins occur in quartzite, calcareous tuff and slate, which has been intruded by dacite porphyry dikes. The vein quartz contains, in addition to occasional specks of native gold, disseminated pyrite with some arsenopyrite and locally small amounts of galena, sphalerite and tetrahedrite. Hematite and limonite alteration minerals are also reported. The host rock primarily consists of aphanitic volcanic rocks of the Devonian to Triassic Harper Ranch Group.
Old reports refer to a vein that is up to 3 metres wide but this vein was not found in 1974. Two veins were noted in the large, cleared area south of the caved adit. In 2006, trenching identified up to four possible quartz veins, varying in length from 3 to 9 metres before pinching out or being faulted off, with widths of 10 to 30 centimetres.
In the 1962 tunnel, one 15-centimetre vein was noted approximately 46 metres from the portal; one other vein is reported from this tunnel. A grab sample taken from the 15-centimetre vein assayed 3.8 grams per tonne gold and 13.7 grams per tonne silver (Property File - Report on the St. Paul Property, 1974).
In 1994, diamond drilling (Hole MON4-4) yielded up to 0.50 gram per tonne gold over 3.1 metres (Assessment Report 23916).
In 2006, sampling of trenches yielded up to 283.3 grams per tonne gold from trench 1, located immediately south of the upper Morgan. Trench 12, located 35 metres to the southeast, assayed up to 199.6 grams per tonne gold; trench 3, located 60 metres to the south, average of 4.53 grams per tonne gold over 4 metres; trench 11, located 70 metres south, averaged 8.56 grams per tonne gold over 4 metres and trench 8, located 160 metres south, averaged 6.87 grams per tonne gold over 6.45 metres (Assessment Report 29067).
In 2013, rock chip sampling from the Morgan mine site area yielded up to 37.53 grams per tonne gold with greater than 100 grams per tonne silver and greater than 1.0 per cent lead and zinc, respectively (Assessment Report 34182).
Production for the period of 1914 through 1973 totalled 392 tonnes producing 5630 grams of gold, 112 ,406 grams of silver, 3720 kilograms of lead and 1258 kilograms of zinc for the Morgan and St. Paul deposits. Refer to the St. Paul deposit (MINFILE 082LSE010) for production figures.
A shipment of 10 tonnes of selected material from the veins was sent to Trail in 1973. The shipment graded 44.9 grams per tonne gold, 48 grams per tonne silver, 0.6 per cent lead, 0.4 per cent zinc and 0.02 per cent copper (Property File - Report on the St. Paul Property, 1974).
The showings were discovered in 1899 and staked as the Morgan, Guysborough, Dawn and Morning claims. The Morgan workings, on what later became the Minerva Crown grant (Lot 4187), were the initial development. Later development was mainly on the Toughnut claim (Lot 4189; St. Paul deposit) approximately 800 metres northwest of the Morgan workings. The Cherry Creek Gold Mining Co. Ltd. optioned the Morgan group in 1902 and, by 1904, had driven a 10.7-metre adit on the Morning claim. By 1905, the workings consisted of the 10.7- metre adit and two shafts, 24.4 and 10.7 metres deep. The 10.7-metre shaft and the drift from it provided most of the production. After 1907, the property was restaked as the Minerva group of four claims. The Black Bess, Minerva, Zilpah and Toughnut (Lots 4186 to 4189) were Crown granted in 1915. Development work during the period from 1914 to 1916, mainly on the Toughnut claim, consisted of two adits, 6.1 and 106.7 metres in length. In 1927, St. Paul Mines Ltd. acquired the four Crown grants and three claims. Intermittent development work continued into 1933. The workings in 1930 consisted of five adits from 10.7 to 106.7 metres in length, two winzes and a number of trenches. The company reportedly carried out some work in 1949.
A new adit begun in 1961 was extended to a total length of 61 metres in 1962. A shipment of 7.3 tonnes was reported in 1966. The property in 1971 included the four Crown grants and the Snow, Snowshoe and SKB claims. During 1971 through 1973, exploration work included trenching and stripping. Some crude ore was shipped in 1971 and 1973, and 4.5 tonnes of concentrate were shipped in 1973. In 1973, Coast Interior Ventures Ltd. leased the properties and, in 1974, carried out extensive road improvements, reopening and deepening of old trenches, opening and draining adits 4 and 5 at the St. Paul workings, and a metallurgical study on a bulk sample from the St. Paul workings.
In 1982 and 1983, Brican Resources conducted programs of rock and soil sampling, geological mapping and a ground magnetometer survey on the area. In 1990, Commonwealth Gold conducted a minor program of rock, silt and heavy mineral sampling on the area as the Yeoward claims. During 1992 through 1994, Cameco Corp. completed programs of geological mapping, ground electromagnetic and magnetic geophysical surveys, six diamond drill holes, totalling 631.1 metres, and rock, soil and silt sampling. In 2006, Royal Monashee Gold completed a program of geological mapping, trenching and rock, silt and soil sampling on the area as the KWS claims. In 2012 and 2013, the area was prospected and sampled as the Kannika North claim.
In 2017, Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. completed a program of soil sampling and a 470 line-kilometre airborne magnetic survey on the area as the Donna property. The following year, Pinnacle North Gold Corp. completed a minor program of soil and rock sampling on the property.
