The Cove property is a limestone property located in a band of upper Triassic Quatsino Formation, adjacent to Telegraph Cove (also shown on some maps as Beaver Cove) 14 kilometres east of Port McNeill.

Two distinct limestones occur on the Cove property, one white and one brown. The white limestone is more abundant; it is dense, fine to medium grained, with a dull, grey-white appearance. It is delicately feathered with dark material. The rock is strongly brecciated, and microfractures are filled with carbonate, clays and limonite. Outcrops are strongly fractured. The brown limestone is dense, fine-grained, cut by a criss-crossing network of white carbonate veinlets. Some samples show pronounced black feathering. Limonite and clays coat fracture surfaces.

Work History

The Cove property was staked and prospected by Tim Hennebury in 1994 and 1995. He determined that both the brown and the white limestones are too fractured to be suitable for dimension stone. However, the white limestone was found to be within the acceptable range for low end industrial filler applications. He planned to test the market for the white limestone as a landscape rock. In 2003, R 1120 Holdings acquired the property by staking and performed a program of geological mapping and sampling in 2005.

In 2008, South Aggregate Resources Inc. completed a program of geological mapping and sampling on the property. 8 samples taken from a 750 metre by 250 metre area of white-grey limestone returned values ranging from 69.02 to 99.43 per cent CaCO3 with 0.46 to 3.12 per cent impurities (Assessment Report 30481).

In 2013, Mammoth Geological Ltd. completed a minor program of rock sampling on the area as part of the North Island Carbonate project. A lone rock sample (140905) yielded 90.74 per cent CaCO3, 0.52 per cent MgCO3 and 5.83 per cent insoluble (Assessment Report 35070).