The Copperado-P66 (Northwest) occurrence is situated southeast of Highway 5, 4 kilometres north of Nicola Lake and approximately 23 kilometres northeast of Merritt.

The area is situated at the southwestern margin of the Lower Jurassic Nicola Batholith. Locally, the intrusive rocks consist of gneissic hornblende-biotite granodiorite to quartz monzonite and exhibit widespread chloritization. A thin section of the sheared gneissic rock lacked plagioclase but showed a development of clinozoisite. Foliation strikes northwest with moderate to steep west dips. The granodiorite intrudes intermediate volcaniclastic rocks and sediments of the Upper Triassic Nicola Group. The contact strikes east. Aplite dikes occupy north-northwest–trending fracture sets that dip moderately to the east and west. A major fault striking 325 degrees and dipping 65 degrees west displaces the Nicola Group contact approximately 18.3 metres in a right-lateral sense.

Locally, narrow quartz veins and scattered stringers in a shear zone carry sparse copper mineralization. Chalcopyrite, bornite and minor pyrite occur as disseminations; malachite staining is also evident. The veins strike 325 degrees and dip 30 degrees east.

A 2006 drill program encountered quartz and quartz-feldspar veins hosting coarse disseminated stringers and clots of chalcopyrite, chalcocite and minor bornite, along with fine laths and clots of native copper. Disseminated native copper and minor chalcopyrite occur within foliated diorite surrounding the veins. Mineralization within the veins consists of quartz-feldspar dikes contain clots and stringers of chalcopyrite and chalcocite lining vugs. Assay results indicated that mineralization was sporadic with no continuation over significant lengths of core.

In 1977, a rock sample of chlorite-altered andesite from an area of trenching, located south of the P66 occurrence, yielded 0.123 per cent copper (Assessment Report 6264).

In 1992, a 0.6-metre chip sample (965) assayed 4.98 per cent copper, 74.3 grams per tonne silver and 0.53 gram per tonne gold (Assessment Report 22445).

The best result from the 2006 drill program was 6.5 grams per tonne silver and 0.57 per cent copper from drillhole COP06-03 (Assessment Report 28721, page 13). Drillhole COP06-01 yielded 3.04 metres averaging 0.26 per cent copper and 16 metres averaging 0.38 per cent copper; drillhole COP06-02 yielded 4 metres averaging 0.16 per cent copper (Assessment Report 28721, page 13).

In 2012, samples (35 through 40) from the West zone all yielded greater than 1 per cent copper with values of up to 64.9 grams per tonne silver and 1.08 grams per tonne gold (Sample 39; Assessment Report 33375). These samples were later re-assayed and yielded from 2.55 to 4.56 per cent copper (Assessment Report 35529).

In 2015, two samples (PC5 and PC6) from a historical trench yielded values of up to 0.40 per cent copper and 8.6 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 35848).

In 2018, a sample (PC-2018-05) from a historical trench exposing a 1.2-metre wide mineralized quartz vein yielded 1.72 per cent copper, 65 grams per tonne silver and 1.17 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 38095).

Work History

The area has been explored in conjunction with the nearby Turlight (MINFILE 092ISE055) occurrence and a complete exploration history of the area can be found there.