The BN Zone is located on steep slopes east of the Jordan River, south west of Valentine Mountain. The occurrence has been explored in conjunction with the Valentine Mountain (Discovery Zone, MINFILE 092B 108) occurrence.
The zone lies within the Jurassic to Cretaceous Leech River Complex (Formation), a fault-bounded block of metamorphosed pelitic, arenaceous and volcanic rocks. The complex lies north of the Leech River fault, south of which lay the tholeiitic basalts of the Eocene Metchosin Volcanics and coeval intrusive rock of the Sooke Gabbro. To the north, across the San Juan fault, are the various volcanic and sedimentary packages of the Sicker, Vancouver and Bonanza Groups, and their related intrusive rocks. To the east, across the Survey Mountain fault, are the Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks that comprise the Colquitz and Wark gneisses.
The rocks of the Leech River Complex have been metamorphosed to low-pressure greenschist and amphibolite assemblages, and display evidence of two regional deformational events. The prospect is underlain by a refolded sequence of metasedimentary rocks with at least two volcanic units, now represented by amphibolite. The dominant structural feature is a gently eastward-plunging anticlinal structure.
The rocks are dominantly metasandstone and metapelites, the latter represented by various types of schist, ranging from biotite- chlorite through garnet-chlorite to andalusite-staurolite-biotite ±garnet. The volcanic rocks are either represented by chlorite-epidote (or zoisite) -actinolite-albite or hornblende-epidote-quartz-plagioclase amphibolites. The metasediments were intruded by complex granitic sills of intermediate composition, and by related pegmatite dikes and sills (see Peg, 092B 111). Many of these sills have been folded along with their enclosing rock.
Locally, a gold-bearing quartz vein system is hosted by gneiss (metasandstone), typically with 10 to 20 per cent biotite and some interbedded biotite-garnet-staurolite schist.
In 1989, Noranda Exploration Ltd. optioned the property to explore for Kolar, India and/or Bendigo, Australia- type auriferous quartz systems. The detailed exploration program focused on the “Discovery Zone” (west extension), “Braiteach”, “BN” and Walker Creek areas and consisted of 17.8 line- kilometres of IP, 51.6 kilometres of magnetometer surveys, geological mapping (81.4 kilometres grid lines), 1,355 soil samples, 1,121 rock chip samples and 727.2 metres of diamond drilling in five holes. Of 41 rock chip samples, the best four assayed from 3.85 to 5.95 grams per tonne gold over widths of 0.02 to 0.05 metre (Assessment Report 30402).
In 2008, Mill Bay Ventures acquired the Valentine Mountain property and completed a program of soil, rock and moss mat sampling and prospecting. In 2009, five diamond drill holes, totalling 544.6 metres, were completed on the Log Dam and Discovery North zones. In 2011, 22 diamond drill holes, totalling 4489.6 metres, were completed across the property. In 2012, six diamond drill holes, totalling 1250.6 metres, were completed on the Discovery and Discovery West zones.
