The Art occurrence is located at an elevation of approximately 1490 metres, near the northeast bank of Roscoe Creek and approximately 1.2 kilometres northwest of the north end of Chataway Lake.

Regionally, the area is underlain by the Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic Guichon Creek Batholith, a multiphase calc-alkaline intrusion that extends over 1000 square kilometres. The oldest phase is the Border or Hybrid phase, a fine- to medium-grained, mafic-rich diorite to quartz-diorite that locally contains xenoliths of amphibolite and monzonite. The Highland Valley phase consists of the Guichon variety, a quartz diorite to granodiorite, and the Chataway variety, a hornblende granodiorite. The Bethlehem phase is a fine- to medium-grained granodiorite that is characterized by amoeboid quartz crystals and poikilitic hornblende crystals. The Skeena variety is a granodiorite that is texturally similar to the Bethlehem phase, but is distinguishable by subhedral to anhedral quartz, lower mafic content and coarser grain size. The youngest phase is the Bethsaida, a biotite±hornblende quartz monzonite to granodiorite.

Locally, a roadcut exposes malachite-bornite fractures in a Chataway phase granodiorite over a distance of at least 15 metres. The fractures are dominantly oriented at 106 and 162 degrees with 40 degrees south and 70 degrees southwest dips, respectively. Zeolite (laumontite), calcite and gypsum are associated with the mineralization. The host granodiorite has been weakly chlorite- and secondary biotite-altered. Two Bethlehem phase dikes are located approximately 500 metres northwest and may relate to the mineralization. Scattered bornite-malachite±chalcopyrite mineralization is also reported along Roscoe Creek to the west and south of the occurrence.

In 1993, diamond drilling intersected Chataway and Roscoe phase granodiorite hosting 1- to 2-millimetre wide veinlets of chalcocite and bornite. Bornite, chrysocolla and malachite are also reported in the drill logs.

In 1993, a drillhole (93CVS-6) yielded several 4 to 6 metre intervals containing greater than 0.1 per cent copper with the best intervals yielded 0.489 per cent copper and 3.3 grams per tonne silver over 5 metres (63.0 to 68.0 metres down hole), including 0.93 per cent copper over 2 metres (Assessment Report 23260).

Two other zones of copper mineralization, referred to as the Roscoe Road and Billy Lake zones, are located on the former CVS 8 and CVS 13 claims and approximately 1.5 and 2.5 kilometres north-northeast of the Art occurrence, respectively. The Billy Lake zone is described as an area of weak northwest-trending copper mineralization in an alteration Chataway phase granodiorite cut by a possible Bethlehem granodiorite dike in an area of extensive historical trenching near the southwest end of Billy Lake. No description of the Roscoe Road zone is known.

In 1993, a drillhole (93CVS-4) on Billy Lake zone intercepted a zone of chalcocite-bornite veins yielded 0.39 per cent copper over 2.4 metres (187.0 to 189.4 metres down hole) and a zone of quartz-sericite alteration with specularite and bornite yielded 0.33 per cent copper over 1.0 metre (364.8 to 365.8 metres down hole; Assessment Report 23260).

In 2011, drilling on an area located approximately 450 metres southwest of the Art occurrence intersected zones of argillic and potassic alteration with shearing and fracturing hosting chalcocite yielded 0.25 per cent copper over 2.0 metres in hole 11-5 and 0.12 per cent copper over 15 metres, including 0.65 per cent copper over 2 metres in hole 11-6 (Assessment Report 33057).

Work History

The area has been explored on conjunction with the nearby Rateria Zone 2 (MINFILE 092ISE199) occurrence, 500 metres to the northwest, and a complete exploration history can be found there.