The Murray Ridge ultramafite is exposed over the whole of the ridge above 300 metres elevation 11 kilometres northeast of Fort St. James. A ski recreation facility occupies the western slopes of the ridge and a Ministry of Forests radio repeater station and fire lookout tower occupy the crest of the ridge. No known exploration for chromite was done prior to 1987.

The ultramafite consists of 97 per cent harzburgite and 3 per cent dunite and rare coarse-grained orthopyroxene veins. Dunite occurs as elongate, irregularly shaped bodies parallel with the northwest trending ridge crest. The dunite zones vary in size from 10 centimetres to 25 metres across. The orthopyroxene veins trend parallel with east directed structures (Whittaker, P.J. and Watkinson, D.H., 1981). The rock is massive and moderately to intensely serpentinized. Mantle tectonism features and later high-level deformation features as described in the regional geology section are present.

Chromite mineralization occurs as disseminations of less than 0.5 per cent in harzburgite and as disseminations and stringers in dunite. Chromite stringers are no more than 1 metre in length and contain, on average, 5 per cent chromite. Microprobe work by Whittaker and Watkinson (1981) has determined Cr/Fe ratios of 3.06 in dunite and 2.56 in harxburgie. A geological mapping, geochemical survey and prospecting program was carried out in 1986 and 1987 by Murray Morrison (1987) for chromite and platinum group elements on the MR claim group which covers the majority of the ridge. The initial results were not encouraging as the best values for Pt, Pa, Ir were 38, 13, 13 parts per million respectively from 30 chip samples (Assessment Report 16532). Detailed mapping by C. Ash of the Geological Survey Branch of the British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources in the Murray Ridge area concluded that the chromite and associated platinum group element potential was very poor (C. Ash, personal communication, 1990).

In June 2000, Murray Morrison returned to the area staking the Mur Claim group in the area east of the 1986 property with the intention of covering some of the lower portions of the ultrabasic body. It was hoped that some of the lowermost chromititic dunite layers might contain better PGE values. Doublestar Resources financed the staking venture and earned a 50 per cent interest in the Mur property. The 2000 geological mapping program conducted on the MUR 9, 11 & 13 mineral claims failed to find well developed dunite layers within the ultrabasic body which forms Murray Ridge. Chromititic dunite layers which were mapped on the west half of the ridge in 1987 do not extend eastward to the limits of the mapped areas of the MUR claims. All of the rock encountered was layered harzburgite.

In 2011, Nanton Nickel Corp. completed a program of reconnaissance mapping, prospecting, geochemical (rock, stream sediment and soil) sampling and a 1055 line-kilometre airborne magnetic survey on the area as the Murray Ridge property. The aeromagnetic survey was successful in delineating linear, northwest striking zones of high TMI (Total Magnetic Intensity) and DVD (1st Order Vertical Derivative) corresponding to the magnetite-bearing ultramafic-mafic intrusions, while rock samples yielded up to 0.251 per cent nickel (Duba, D., Haslinger, R.J. (2012-04-05): Technical Report on the Murray Ridge Property).

In 2011, Nanton Nickel Corporation completed an exploration program including an airborne helicopter geophysical survey, reconnaissance mapping, prospecting and geochemical sampling over the property containing the occurrence. Four major, magnetic high anomalies were noted on the property. Stream sediment, soil and rock sampling was completed on the ridge containing the occurrence. Stream sediment samples on the property assayed up to 0.15 per cent nickel, soil samples up to 0.06 per cent nickel, and rock geochemical samples up to 0.25 per cent nickel (Assessment Report 32715).

In 2012, Nanton Nickel Corporation completed an exploration program including ground mapping, prospecting, soil and rock geochemical sampling and a petrographic study. Rock and soil sampling was completed on the area immediately surrounding the occurrence. Soil sampling graded up to 0.11 per cent nickel, and rock samples graded up to 0.19 per cent nickel (Assessment Report 33773, 34686).