The Orca Quarry is situated on the south shore of Broughton Strait, approximately 3.8 kilometres west of Port McNeill, on Northern Vancouver Island.

The area is characterized by gentle, rolling to level topography with scattered uplands. The lowlands are underlain by gently dipping sedimentary rocks of the Cretaceous Nanaimo Group and the uplands by volcanic rocks of the Upper Triassic Vancouver Group. Intruding these are Jurassic granodioritic Island intrusions and Tertiary basaltic to dacitic dikes. The bedrock was extensively modified by glaciers during the Pleistocene Epoch, and most surficial material was laid down during the last glacial episode, the Fraser Glaciation, which occurred 25,000 to 9,000 years ago.

The deposits of the Orca Quarry are believed to have been layed down as the glaciers retreated and sediment in meltwater was deposited in a delta at the mouth of the Cluxewe River. The deposit is 60-100 metres thick, exposed for approximately 8 kilometres in a northwest direction and is well-sorted, glacio-fluvial sand and gravel.

The Orca Quarry is made up of three sand and gravel deposits. The first of three deposits to be developed, the East Cluxewe deposit, contains a reserve of over 121 million tonnes of high-quality sand and gravel and is expected to have an operating life in excess of 25 years. The West Cluxewe and Bear Creek deposits are located adjacent to the East Cluxewe and contain measured and indicated resources of 34 million tonnes and 37.2 million tonnes respectively.

The sand and gravel deposit consists of two clearly definable horizons labelled Stratum A (upper) and Stratum B (lower). Material in Stratum A is a mixture of coarse aggregate with fine aggregate in the interstitial spaces. Stratum B is represented by fine to medium sand. A third horizon labelled Stratum C (lowest) was identified which consisted of a very fine glacial till. This stratum contains silt or fines in excess of 40% and is considered to have no economic value and therefore does not form part of the resource.

The quarry is permitted to produce 6 million tonnes per year of sand and gravel and includes a dedicated ship loading terminal.

In 2001, Polaris Minerals completed a reconnaissance mapping and sampling program on the area as the Orca property. In 2002, a more detailed program of sampling and mapping was undertaken. In 2003, a 10 kilometre seismic reflection survey and a sonic drill program was completed. In 2005, a 4.3 kilometre ground transient electromagnetic survey was completed on the area. In 2007, an airborne photo mosaic-LIDAR survey was completed.