The Ring Zone occurrence is located approximately 52 kilometres north of Williams Lake, and approximately 54 kilometres south-southeast of Quesnel, British Columbia. In the southeast part of the larger Ben property, the Ring Zone occurrence is situated between the Mount Polley Mine and the Gibraltar Mine. The Ben property lies on the Fraser Plateau, a flat and gently rolling area mostly covered by glacial drift. The Ben property lies on a northwest trending height of land between the Beedy Creek and Beaver Creek Valleys, two prominent topographic lineaments considered to mark significant faults (Assessment Report 35173).
Situated within the Cache Creek Terrane, the Ring Zone occurrence is underlain by rock units of the Permian to Triassic-aged Cache Creek Complex. Noted rock units include marine sedimentary and volcanic rocks including phyllite, siliceous phyllite, ribbon and massive chert, argillite, mudstone, sandstone, limestone, tuff, mafic volcanic rocks, and serpentinite. The area is bounded to the east and to the west by rocks of the Quesnel Terrane. The structural geology of the Ben property is not well understood or documented. The fabric of the underlying sedimentary and volcanic rocks trends north-northwest (Assessment Report 35173).
Although not formally mapped, drilling across the Ben property intersected several zones containing shallow-dipping, variably serpentinized dunites, with lesser peridotites and gabbros. The serpentinite is mostly composed of antigorite and lizardite. Accessory magnetite (up to 10 percent) and chlorite are dispersed within serpentine-rich pseudomorphs and within vein-like domains. The ultramafic rocks occur within interbedded marine sedimentary rocks of the Cache Creek Complex (mudstone, greywacke, sandstone, conglomerate), and volcanic rocks (tuff, dacite, basalt). Alteration styles include serpentinitzation and silicification. Nickel and cobalt mineralization are hosted in variably magnetic serpentinized ultramafic rocks, mostly contained within the nickel-sulphides heazelwoodite and pentlandite (Assessment Report 35173).
Very limited work was recorded on the Ring Zone occurrence until Westhaven Ventures optioned the property from claim owner B.H. Kahlert in 2012. Rock geochemical samples were taken, and one induced polarization line (2 kilometres) was completed (approximately 500 metres south) in 2012 (Assessment Report 33544).
In 2014, Westhaven Ventures completed a property wide airborne magnetic survey, consisting of 851 line kilometres, with flight lines oriented east-west and spaced at 200 metre intervals. The Ring Zone was defined by a 1.5 kilometre, circular, ring-shaped magnetic anomaly. Follow up work at the Ring Zone included prospecting and soil sampling (Grid D – with North Lobe), identifying multiple parallel, northwest-striking zones of anomalous nickel values. Detailed ground magnetic surveying was completed in August and October, to enhance the results of the airborne magnetic survey. Throughout 2014, a total of 4 holes (381.9 metres) were drilled at the Ring Zone, targeting magnetic anomalies. Drilling encountered variable serpentinized dunite with intersections of andesite, toff, graphitic shale, and silicified volcanic rocks and mudstones. Results of drilling include 50.6 metres grading 0.18 per cent total nickel (0.15 per cent sulphide nickel), and 0.010 per cent cobalt (in BN14-20 from 9.6 to 60.2 metres down hole depth) (Assessment Report 35173).
