The Westcop 5 occurrence is located at an elevation of approximately 2050 metres on a northwest-trending ridge, approximately 4 kilometres south of Geese Creek and 9 kilometres northeast of the Chukachida River.

Regionally, the area lies on the western edge of the Omineca Belt near the Kutcho fault, marking the boundary with rocks of the Intermontane Belt. The area is underlain by Early Jurassic granodioritic intrusive rocks of the Pitman Batholith with minor roof pendants of metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks. Early regional mapping correlated these rocks with the Devonian to Permian Asitka Group based on lithological similarities (Geological Survey of Canada Open File 483). Fossil evidence from later regional mapping dates least part of the sequence as Mississippian (Geological Survey of Canada Paper 80-1B, pages 207-211). A tentative age of Devonian to Permian is given to these metamorphic rocks. The intrusives consist mainly of diorite, microdiorite, quartz-diorite and microdiorite with lesser amounts of gabbro and pyroxenite. Diabase and basaltic xenoliths are common in all the intrusive phases.

Locally, a 50-metre wide zone of malachite-stained, chalcopyrite-bearing quartz stockwork occurs near the western margin a large gossanous area in coarse-grained quartz diorite to granodiorite. Specularite and pyrite are also reported associated with the stockwork zone. The intrusive is weakly propylitically altered with chlorite and minor epidote.

In 2005, a grab sample (144572) assayed 0.297 per cent copper, 5 grams per tonne silver and 1.131 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 28218).

In 2006, a select sample (06B-70R) assayed greater than 1 per cent copper, 49.9 grams per tonne silver and 0.32 gram per tonne gold (Assessment Report 29117).

Work History

In 1973 and 1974, Union Miniere Explorations and Mining Corp. Ltd. completed an exploration program of detailed geological mapping, prospecting, and rock geochemistry on the area as the Snow claims.

In 2004, Amarc Resources Ltd. prospected and sampled the area as the Cop claims. In 2005, Hard Creek Nickel Corp. completed a program of rock and silt sampling and satellite imagery analysis on the area as the Cop and Westcop claims. In 2006, Rimfire Minerals Corp. prospected and sampled the area.