The PD occurrence is located at an elevation of approximately 1670 metres on an east-west trending ridge, approximately 5.7 kilometres west of the northeast end of Purvis Lake.

The area is underlain by allochthonous serpentinized ultramafics, formerly assigned to the Middle Permian to Late Triassic Trembleur Intrusions, and now termed Mississippian to Triassic Oceanic ultramafites. These rocks host local pre-tectonic orthopyroxenite veins, both pre- and post-tectonic gabbro dikes and ‘alteration dikes’ of albitite-rodingite. The massif is bound by north-northeast– and east-trending lineaments and is both surrounded by, and hosts xenoliths of sedimentary rocks assigned to the Carboniferous to Jurassic Cache Creek Complex. Late Triassic to Early Jurassic Topley Intrusions have been emplaced into the Cache Creek Complex rocks immediately west and north of the allochthon.

The allochthon comprises widely serpentinized, tectonized harzburgite with minor dunite. The harzburgite is a mottled black-green to black-brown colour on fresh surfaces and is generally intensely foliated. It weathers to a deep brown with pale, silvery brown talcose patches. The dunite comprises fine- to medium-grained anhedral olivine occurring in contorted, irregularly shaped patches that reflect the internal deformation of the harzburgite. Xenoliths up to 1 square kilometre in area commonly occur in the southern part of the massif and consist of limestone, dolostone, siltstone with chert laminae and shaly siltstone. Smaller xenoliths occur to the north.

Fine- to medium-grained chromite is common as disseminations throughout the ultramafic rocks, varying from trace to two per cent by volume. Harzburgite, however, hosts all but one of the layered and nodular aggregate and massive chromite occurrences in the area (Fieldwork 1982-1, page 237).

In 2004, five rock samples (B158733 through B158737) from the PD claim yielded from 0.173 to 0.254 per cent nickel with 0.048 to 0.111 per cent chromium (Assessment Report 27857).

Work History

Chromite was identified in the area by at least the early 1940s. Little or no other work is reported until at least the 1980s.

In 2004, the area was staked as the IR, PT, PD and OS claims by Ursula G. Mowat and a program of rock and silt sampling and geological mapping was completed. Sampling was reported to be disappointing in that no chromite was located and the rock samples that were analyzed contained no significant values in platinum group elements. Elevated nickel values were encountered in the ultramafics, especially on the IR and PD claims.

In 2009, FPX Nickel Corp. prospected and sampled the area as the Mesa 8-14 claims.