The Barite (Billy 5) occurrence is located at an elevation of approximately 620 metres on a northeast-trending ridge, northwest of Bowbyes Creek and approximately 2.5 kilometres north of Bowbyes Lake.

The area is underlain by andesite, basalt, rhyolite and volcanic sandstone of the Mississippian Zymoetz Group (Mt. Attree volcanics) that have been intruded by Mississippian to Permian diorites, granodiorites, tonalites and gabbros. The previous units have, in turn, been intruded by tonalites and diorites of the Late Triassic Mount Clague Pluton.

Locally, white to grey, dense to thinly laminated, semi-massive barite occurs in foliated, silicified and pyritized breccia and tuff. The barite showing appears to be concordantly underlain by a coarse quartz-eye rhyolite. Andesitic and rhyolitic agglomerates occur along strike to the south. These rocks are part of the Lower Jurassic Telkwa Formation (Hazelton Group).

Work History

In 1986, Laramide Resources Ltd. completed a program of geological mapping and geochemical (rock and heavy mineral) sampling on the area as the Billy 1-11 claims. Selected samples of the mineralization assayed up to 37.7 per cent barium (64 per cent BaSO4; Assessment Report 15528).

In 1987, BP Resources Canada, on the behalf of Laramide Resources, completed a further program of geological mapping, geochemical (rock silt and soil) sampling and four diamond drill holes, totalling 210.9 metres, on the Billy claims.

In 2017 and 2018, Pacific Empire Minerals Corp. completed programs of soil and bark sampling and reverse-circulation drilling on the area as the Kitimat project.