The Kisameet Bay occurrence is a deposit of clay on the north side of Kisameet Bay, near the southern tip of King Island, 12.5 kilometres north of the community of Namu. The deposit is on Block A of Lot 1522 about 122 metres inland from, and less than 15 metres vertically above the north shore of Kisameet Bay. This clay has been known to local Indians for many years and was used by them for medicinal purposes.
A small, irregular topographic depression is present about 120 metres north of the shore of Kisameet Bay, at an elevation of 15 metres above sea level (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1951). The clay, presumably Quaternary in age, fills this depression under a thin, mostly organic overburden up to 2 metres thick. The clay itself reaches 13 metres in thickness in the centre of the depression, which covers an area of just over 2 hectares. The dimensions of the deposit were established by about 77 vertical and inclined drill holes in 1946. The clay is underlain usually by sand and gravel, and locally by bedrock, which in this area consists of grey and black schist and gneiss of the Jurassic to Tertiary Coast Plutonic Complex (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1951; Geological Survey of Canada Map 1386A).
The clay is very fine grained and feels smooth and sticky in its natural state. It is dark blue-grey when moist and pale grey when dry. Analysis showed that the grain size of 85 per cent of the clay was less than 3 micrometres. Part of the remaining coarser fraction consists of fresh-looking mineral fragments, primarily quartz, feldspar, hornblende and biotite. None of the clay reacted to dilute or concentrated hydrochloric acid.
The clay is remarkably uniform in texture, lacking stratification or varves. Locally pebbles and cobbles up to 20 centimetres across are present, erratically distributed in the clay. These consist of plutonic or volcanic rock, and are generally rounded, or less commonly, faceted or scratched.
Vancouver interests, apparently through a private company Ray-Vite Laboratories, acquired the property in the 1940s to investgate the therapeutic properties of the clay. The deposit was closely drilled (about 77 holes) in 1946 and samples were submitted to the Mines Branch, Ottawa for differential thermal analysis and X-ray tests. The above interests incorporated Canadian Canamin Limited in April 1949 to acquire the mineral lease on Lot 1552. The clay was sold in a water suspension under the trade-name "Absorvite", to be taken internally for stomach ailments. It was also sold in jars as a mud under the trade-name "Dermavite", for use on burns, sprains, and in beauty packs. Some experimental use was made of the material by Vancouver medical and veterinary practitioners. The company charter was surrendered in 1957.
Starbird Mines Limited held a lease on the property in 1975 but no work was reported.
Claytron Energy Corporation in 1976 acquired a 100 per cent interest in Mineral Lease No. 14522 covering Block A of Lot 1522. The clay deposit was estimated at 181,440 tonnes proven (Northern Miner, May 4, 1978). About 23 tonnes of clay were sold in Europe and South America as a natural pharmaceutical product and cosmetic.
