The Gold Dyke showing is located at an elevation of approximately 690 metres on a south- to southwest-facing slope in the northern headwaters of the Gordon River, approximately 2 kilometres south-southwest of the community of Caycuse on the southern shore of Cowichan Lake.

Regionally, the area is underlain by extensively faulted rocks of the Upper Triassic Vancouver Group and the Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic Bonanza Group. The basal Vancouver Group sequence is comprised of basalt flows, breccias and tuffs of the Karmutsen Formation overlain by Quatsino Formation limestone, which in turn is overlain by black argillites of the Parsons Bay Formation. The overlying Bonanza Group consists of a sequence of argillites, cherts, cherty tuffs, volcanic and/or sedimentary breccias, sandstones and basaltic to rhyolitic flows. The overall package of rocks has been broadly to tightly folded with fold axes generally trending northwest and intruded by granodioritic and feldspar porphyritic dikes and bodies of the Early to Middle Jurassic Island Plutonic Suite.

The occurrence area is underlain by southeast-dipping Lower Jurassic Bonanza Group intermediate to felsic volcanic rocks. These are cut by numerous faults infilled with quartz-carbonate material.

Locally, as defined by diamond drilling, porphyritic volcanics host pyrite, galena, sphalerite and trace chalcopyrite and arsenopyrite mineralization associated with siliceous zone and quartz-carbonate veins. Pyrite, 1 to 20 per cent, and trace chalcopyrite is disseminated throughout the rock units. Generally associated with more siliceous zones, coarse sphalerite and galena (up to 4 per cent) occur disseminated in quartz-carbonate and siliceous veins. The siliceous veins are up to 0.10 metre wide. Associated with vuggy portions of quartz-carbonate veins, arsenopyrite occurs in irregular masses.

A historical adit on the mineralized zone is reported to expose an approximately 3-metre wide quartz-carbonate–filled shear zone hosting galena-sphalerite-arsenopyrite-pyrite mineralization in an altered tuff. The zone strikes 175 degrees with a dip of 60 degrees. The adit is located approximately 100 metres down slope to the south-southwest of the area drilled.

In 1986, drillhole 213-1 intercepted 57.42 metres of altered, pyritic, grey porphyritic volcanics containing two quartz-carbonate veins, one 3.4 metres and the other 6.48 metres wide over a 15-metre section of core, 18.53 to 32.90 metres down hole. The upper, 3.4-metre wide, vein returned yielded an average of 0.56 gram per tonne gold, 0.22 per cent lead and 0.45 per cent zinc over 4.0 metres (18 to 22 metres down-hole), and the lower vein, 6.48 metres wide, yielded an average of 0.27 gram per tonne gold, 0.18 per cent lead and 0.24 per cent zinc over 7 metres (26 to 33 metres down hole); the whole section (18 to 33 metres down hole) averaged 0.35 gram per tonne gold, 0.16 per cent lead and 0.28 per cent zinc over 15 metres (Assessment Report 15821). The entire altered, pyritic, grey porphyritic volcanic section yielded elevated gold, lead and zinc values averaging 0.20 gram per tonne gold, 0.09 per cent lead and 0.13 per cent zinc over 56 metres (13 to 69 metres down hole; Assessment Report 15821). The remaining 23.4 metres of the hole cut intercalated andesite and magnetic andesite with a 1-metre section of quartz-carbonate veining in andesite further down the hole yielding 3.96 grams per tonne gold, 4.9 grams per tonne silver, 1.12 per cent lead and 4.08 per cent zinc (86 to 87 metres down hole; Assessment Report 15821).

Hole 213-2 cut 50.65 metres of pyritic, altered, grey porphyritic volcanics of which averaged 0.25 gram per tonne gold over 38 metres (23 to 61 metres down hole), including 0.69 gram per tonne gold, 0.11 per cent lead and 0.38 per cent zinc over the final 5 metres of the hole (56 to 61 metres down hole; Assessment Report 15821).

Hole 213-4 cut 25.84 metres of magnetic andesite followed by 5.25 metres of pyritic, altered, grey porphyritic volcanics, 12.45 metres of andesite, 10.27 metres of quartz-carbonate vein and 22.08 metres of intercalated magnetic andesite and andesite. The 10.27-metre wide quartz-carbonate vein returned an average of 0.63 gram per tonne gold, 0.29 per cent lead and 0.73 per cent zinc over 11 metres (60 to 71 metres down hole), including 1.14 grams per tonne gold, 0.61 per cent lead and 1.97 per cent zinc over 3 metres (63 to 66 metres down hole; Assessment Report 15821). Another zone of quartz-carbonate veining or breccia in an andesite located further down the hole yielded 1.38 gram per tonne gold, 1.50 per cent lead and 1.04 per cent zinc over 2.47 metres (78.00 to 80.47 metres down hole; Assessment Report 15821).

In 2001, a chip sample (187526) from quartz-sericite-sulphide vein located at the adit portal assayed 0.62 gram per tonne gold and 0.15 per cent zinc (Property File – Houle, J. (2001-07-05): Re: Field excursion to the Akunamatata Claim).

In 2021, a rock sample (DV051) of altered tuff hosting oxidized quartz veins from the occurrence area assayed 1.17 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 39563).

In 2022, a rock sample (DV062) from a mineralized quartz vein exposed at the adit yielded 0.22 gram per tonne gold, 4.2 grams per tonne silver, 1.04 per cent lead and 2.51 per cent zinc (Assessment Report 40741).

In 2023, two samples (F928803 and F928804) of tuff, taken approximately 250 and 600 metres southeast of the occurrence, yielded 0.105 and 0.389 gram per tonne gold, respectively, with up to 6.9 grams per tonne silver and 0.114 per cent lead (Assessment Report 41595).

In 2024, a rock sample (K479195) of mineralized quartz vein from the area of historical drilling assayed 8.17 grams per tonne gold and 3.6 grams per tonne silver, and two nearby samples (K479193 and K479194) of galena-pyrite–bearing quartz vein float yielded values of up to 0.57 gram per tonne gold, 4.3 grams per tonne silver, 0.90 per cent lead and 1.00 per cent zinc (Assessment Report 42518).

Work History

In 1911, the area was held as the Silver Leaf claims and an adit was driven for approximately 27 metres on a bearing of approximately 110 degrees.

In the mid-1960s, the area was staked as the May claim by Wally Deans and minor programs of prospecting were conducted.

In 1981, Invex Resources Ltd. examined the occurrence and conducted limited rock chip and soil sampling in the area. In 1986, Orbex Industries completed a program of soil sampling and five diamond drill holes, totalling 426.8 metres, on the area as the Gold Dyke 1 claim.

In 2001, the area was held as the Akunamatata claim. During 2020 through 2024, programs of prospecting, geochemical (rock, silt and soil) and biogeochemical sampling, spectral analysis/remote sensing and a 3.0 line-kilometre ground magnetic survey were conducted on the area as the Cowichan property by Darcy Vis.