The Murphy occurrence is situated east of Little Spider Peak near the headwaters of Siwash Creek, approximately 750 metres south-southwest of the Pipestem mine (MINFILE 092HNW011).
The area is underlain by greenstone assigned to the Lower Triassic Spider Peak Formation in contact with strongly sheared, talcose serpentinite of the Coquihalla serpentine belt along a section of the East Hozameen fault.
Locally, a single quartz vein is exposed in a road cut, approximately 400 metres north-northwest of the McMaster Pond. The vein varies from 5 to 25 centimetres in width and is hosted by altered greenstone, occurring no more than 2 metres east of the steeply dipping, northwest- trending fault. The vein has been traced, discontinuously, for 20 metres parallel to the fault and dips very gently north eastward into the hillside. It pinches and swells along strike and comprises white quartz containing small, quartz crystal-lined vugs.
Gold is most commonly seen as a fine coating on oxidized sulphides (goethite, hematite and lepidocrocite) and as fine particles associated with both pyrite and arsenopyrite, which together account for less than 2 per cent of the total vein. It has also been observed free in the quartz. No wallrock alteration has been noted adjacent to the vein.
In 1979, a sample of mineralized quartz assayed 0.14 per cent arsenic, but did not carry significant precious metal values (Bulletin 79, page 66). Gold has, however, been panned from the brick-red soils overlying the occurrence. Similar soil occurs at the Gem occurrence (MINFILE 092HNW010), 1 kilometre to the east.
Approximately 100 metres to the southeast, a short section of the East Hozameen fault contains a 5- to 15-metre wide slice of listwanite.
In 1982, Carolin Mines completed a program of geological mapping, rock and soil sampling, trenching and 19 surface diamond drill holes, totalling 1721.51 metres, on the area. In 1994 and 1995, Athabaska Gold Resources completed programs of geological mapping and geochemical sampling. In 2012, New Carolin Gold completed airborne magnetic and radiometric surveys, totalling 759 line-kilometres, on the area.
