The Cana occurrence is located at an elevation of approximately 1100 metres, northwest of Johnson Creek and approximately 2 kilometres southeast of Saunders Lake.

Regionally, the area is in structurally complex metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks of the Paleozoic (Lower Cambrian and older(?) to Mississippian) Eagle Bay Assemblage. The assemblage has a complex deformational history involving multiple stages of thrust faulting and folding during the Jurassic-Cretaceous periods , which produced strongly foliated and overturned rocks trending northwest and dipping northeast. These Paleozoic rocks are intruded by mid-Cretaceous granodiorite and quartz monzonite (such as the Baldy Batholith approximately 30 kilometres to the north of the deposit), and Neogene quartz-feldspar porphyry, basalt, and lamprophyre dikes. These are all locally overlain by Miocene plateau lavas, now represented in the area by occasional erosional remnants.

The Eagle Bay Assemblage rocks include andesitic volcanic rocks of the Devonian to Mississippian Foghorn Mountain unit, greenstone and greenschists rocks of the Lower Cambrian Johnson Lake unit and Lower Cambrian mudstone, siltstone, shale, fine clastic rocks, limestone, and calcareous sedimentary rocks.

Locally, silicified and brecciated cherts and argillites host quartz carbonates veins and veinlets with disseminated to massive pyrite and disseminated galena, sphalerite, tetrahedrite and chalcopyrite, similar to the that of the Rea Gold (MINFILE 082M 191) and Samatosum (MINFILE 082M 244) occurrences to the southeast.

In 1986, a drillhole (C86003) is reported to have intercepted a 2.0-metre-wide zone of semi-massive to massive pyrite. No assays are known from this hole.

In 1987, drilling yielded intercepts including 0.50 gram per tonne gold over 4.0 metres (56.7 to 60.7 metres downhole) in hole CAN-5, and 0.91 gram per tonne gold and 4.8 grams per tonne silver over 0.9 metre (82.0 to 82.9 metres downhole) in hole CAN-9 (Property File – Heberlein, D.R. [1998-01-01]: 1987 Drilling Report on the Cana Property).

In 1988, a drillhole (C88014) intercepted pyritic cherts yielding values of up to 0.023 per cent copper, 0.033 per cent lead, 0.067 per cent zinc, 7.5 grams per tonne silver and 0.135 gram per tonne gold over an unknown length (Assessment Report 17931).

In 1990, a drillhole (C90-6) is reported to have intercepted a thin quartz-tetrahedrite vein yielding 1.14 per cent copper, 3.94 per cent zinc, 0.67 per cent antimony, 348.7 grams per tonne silver and 1.75 grams per tonne gold over 0.10 metre (118.9 to 119.0 metres downhole; Property File – Hill, A. [1991-09-20]: Summary report on Samatosum drill program). The same vein is reported to have been intercepted by drilling on strike 100 metres to the northwest and was 0.07 metre wide.

In 1991, drillhole C91-8 (grid co-ordinates 8+90N-129+20W) yielded 0.10 per cent copper, 0.18 per cent zinc, 0.32 per cent lead, 28.8 grams per tonne silver and 0.16 gram per tonne gold over 1.57 metres (137.70 to 139.27 metres downhole), including 1.74 per cent copper, 1.43 per cent zinc, 5.75 per cent lead, 454.0 grams per tonne silver and 2.2 grams per tonne gold over 0.07 metre and 1.57 per cent lead, 34.8 grams per tonne silver and 0.13 gram per tonne gold over 0.8 metre (303.5 to 304.3 metres downhole; Property File - Nagati, C. [1991-06-07]: 1991 Drill Logs for the Sam Project - C91-7 to C91-10 - Cana Claims).

Two other drillholes (C91-9 and C91-10), located near the southeast boundary of the Cana claim (grid coordinates 10+35N-127+00W and 9+00N-126+00W) and approximately 200 metres east-southeast of the previous hole, yielded intercepts including 0.171 and 0.06 per cent copper, 0.60 and 0.21 per cent zinc, 0.31 and 0.11 per cent lead and 72.4 and 201 grams per tonne silver with 0.28 and 0.10 gram per tonne gold over 0.15 and 3.0 metres, respectively, in hole C91-9, and 0.023 and 0.129 per cent copper, 0.08 and 1.52 per cent zinc, 3.74 and 0.74 per cent lead and 87.5 and 21.8 grams per tonne silver with 0.87 and 0.58 gram per tonne gold over 0.12 and 1.25 metres, respectively, in hole C91-10 (Property File - Nagati, C. [1991-06-07]: 1991 Drill Logs for the Sam Project - C91-7 to C91-10 - Cana Claims).

Work History

During 1986 through 1988, Esso Minerals Canada Ltd. completed programs of soil sampling, ground electromagnetic surveys and an unknown amount of diamond drilling on the Cana claims.

In 1989, Homestake Canada Inc. completed two diamond drill holes, totalling 359.4 metres, on the Cana claims. Further programs of diamond drilling were performed in 1990 and 1991.