The Churchill occurrence is located on a ridge separating Lime and Fault creeks, approximately 10 kilometres north of the community of Zeballos.
Regionally, the area lies within a broad northwest-trending sequence of interbedded sediments and volcanics of the Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic Parson Bay Formation (Bonanza Group) and Upper Triassic Quatsino Formation (Vancouver Group). This assemblage lies on the northeastern flank of the extensive granodiorite Zeballos intrusion phase of the Jurassic Island Plutonic Suite.
Locally, two or three quartz-sulphide veins are hosted by Upper Triassic Quatsino Formation (Vancouver Group) limestone. The veins are on the southwest flank of an anticlinal structure that has its axis striking along the southeast-trending ridge between Lime Creek and Fault Creek. Both veins lie at the south boundary of the Churchill No. 3 claim of and are located 120 metres southeast of the Churchill magnetite-skarn (MINFILE 092L 031) occurrence (Geological Survey of Canada Memoir 272; Figure 2).
The Number One vein contains a mixture of rusty comb quartz; limonite; secondary lead minerals and a little primary galena, sphalerite and pyrite. The vein strikes 310 degrees and has a vertical dip. It has been exposed intermittently for 60 metres. Small displacement step-faults are present at its southern end where the vein is 1.2 to 1.6 metres wide. In the north the vein bifurcates into two 20-centimetre wide veins separated by 0.3 to 0.6 metre of limestone.
The Number Two vein is located 120 metres east of the first, strikes 035 degrees and dips 80 degrees southeast. It has been exposed over a 30-metre strike length and consists of 0.6 to 1.8 metres of highly sheared and oxidized gouge, comb quartz and sulphides. Sulphides (mostly chalcopyrite and sphalerite) are much stronger at the north end than in the south. This vein appears to occupy a persistent narrow fault zone along the northwest side of an andesite dike that cuts the limestone. Post-mineralization movement is evident.
In 1976, a sample from the Number One vein over 1.2 metres assayed 24.0 grams per tonne gold, 96.0 grams per tonne silver, 0.74 per cent copper, 3.93 per cent lead and 3.72 per cent zinc over 1.2 metres, whereas a sample from the Number Two vein assayed 18.2 grams per tonne gold, 19.2 grams per tonne silver, 0.56 per cent copper, 0.05 per cent lead and 0.04 per cent zinc across 0.3 metre of fault gouge (National Mineral Inventory 092L2 Au4; not referenced).
In 1984, diamond drilling yielded up 0.6 gram per tonne gold over 1.0 metre in hole C-2-84 (Assessment Report 13665).
In 1988, a 10-centimetre wide sample (54674) from the Number One vein assayed 86.6 grams per tonne gold, 239.7 grams per tonne silver, 8.82 per cent lead and 24.63 per cent zinc, wheres a grab sample from the Number Two vein assayed 93.0 grams per tonne gold (Property File - Footwall Explorations Ltd. [1989-01-12]: News Clippings - Hiller-Churchill Property).
Historically, the area has been explored in conjunction with the nearby Churchill Magnetite (MINFILE 092L 031) occurrence. In 1951 and 1952, the Argonaut Mine Division of Utah Mining and Construction Ltd. completed 20 diamond drill holes on the Churchill claims. In 1962, Falconbridge Nickel Mines completed approximately 300 metres of drilling on the Churchill property. In 1984, Falconbridge Ltd. completed four diamond drill holes, totalling 214.0 metres, on the Churchill 2 claim. In 1986, Falconbridge Ltd. completed an airborne geophysical survey on the Hiller and surrounding Zeb claims. In 2010, Selkirk Metals Corp. prospected and sampled the area. In 1988, Footwall Explorations Ltd. completed 900 metres of drilling on the Hiller-Churchill property.
