The Akila occurrence is located 4.6 kilometres due east of Duffy Lake and 3.6 kilometres south of Beaton Lake.

The area is underlain by andesite, basalt and related tuffs of the Upper Triassic Nicola Group, which are cut by a silicified shear zone striking 070 degrees.

A decline shaft sunk downdip on the shear zone intersected discontinuous and podiform quartz masses mineralized with knots and blebs of bornite, chalcopyrite, chalcocite, pyrite and tetrahedrite. Magnetite is ubiquitous and minor molybdenite was identified on fracture faces.

In 1983, sampling across a width of 1.4 metres, 10 metres down the shaft, yielded 0.4 per cent copper, 21.9 grams per tonne silver, 1.4 grams per tonne gold and 0.002 per cent molybdenum. A selected sample with obvious sulphides yielded 2.18 per cent copper, 65.8 grams per tonne silver, 0.8 gram per tonne gold and 0.002 per cent molybdenum. Also at this time, a drillhole intersected some quartz veins carrying disseminated sulphides but assay results were minimal with highs of 0.02 per cent copper and 0.7 gram per tonne silver (Assessment Report 12428).

Work History

Exploration activity on the property is evidenced by a 22-metre-deep inclined shaft and several sloughed-in trenches likely dating to the early 1900s. It is reported that a small high-grading operation yielded a few wagon loads of hand-cobbed copper ore with nominal gold values prior to 1935.

Subsequent holders of the ground (Ned claims) conducted a magnetometer survey and minor trenching. In later years, Teck Corporation acquired the ground; however, no work was recorded. In 1982, the Akila claims were staked over the former Blu claims. In 1983, De Baca Resources Inc. dewatered the shaft and drilled one short hole, totalling 31 metres.

In 1996, a program of induced polarization and resistivity surveys were conducted over a portion of the Highland Valley property. The grid totalled 57.5 line-kilometres over 12 lines oriented east-west.