The Fennell zone occurrence is located directly south of the northeastern end of East Barriere Lake, approximately 30 kilometres northeast of Barriere and 80 kilometres northeast of Kamloops. The Fennell zone is located immediately east of Upper John Creek Road, approximately 300 metres south of John Creek.
The area is underlain by probable Lower Cambrian to Hadrynian Spapilem Creek–Deadfall Creek Succession (unit SDQ, Map 56). The rocks consist of quartzite, micaceous quartzite, grit and phyllite, with lesser staurolite-garnet-mica schist, calc- silicate schist and amphibolite. These rocks are cut by Late Devonian orthogneiss and sillimanite-bearing paragneiss (unit Dgnp). To the northeast, the rocks are cut by post-tectonic granitic rocks of the Mid-Cretaceous Baldy Batholith.
The mineralized zone lies within paragneiss rocks consisting of highly argillaceous hornfels with lesser interbands and lenses of arenaceous material yielding impure quartzites and feldspatic gneisses. Sulphide mineralization occurs in the upper 20 metres of a 30-metre-thick bed of hornfels dipping west at 17 to 22 degrees. The hornfels is bounded by 7 to 8-metre quartzite beds. The sulphide mineralization has a true width of at least 12.19 metres (40 feet) and an indicated length of 198.12 metres (650 feet).
Mineralization consists of pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite and pyrite. Five grab samples across the surface-exposed zone ranged from 0.04 to 0.56 per cent copper (Assessment Report 6720).
Initial exploration in the area was conducted by J.A. (Sandy) Fennell in the late 1960s. Fennell located the Fennell zone, a heavily rusted zone with anomalous copper values, while prospecting in the area and carried out an exploration program of trenching and short drillholes. In 1967, Barriere Exploration Ltd. acquired the property and established 975 metres (2700 feet) of gridlines centred on the mineralized zone and completed ground magnetic and geochemical surveys over the grid. No significant results were obtained from the program. In 1969, while conducting exploration on Souvenir Mines Ltd.’s East Barriere Lake prospect (Renning [MINFILE 082M 050] and Grizzly occurrences [MINFILE 082M 049]) to the north, Angus G. MacKenzie Mining Consultants Ltd. collected a grab sample from the Bex Trench (also referred to as Trench 2; Assessment Report 2230). In 1971, Canadian Superior Exploration acquired the Bex claims from Barriere Exploration Ltd. and staked additional claims in the surrounding area. That year, Canadian Superior conducted a program consisting of geochemical sampling and induced polarization geophysical surveys. The induced polarization survey outlined a large, weak induced polarization anomaly stretching over 2.5 kilometres from the Upper John Creek access road to East Barriere Lake with spotty geochemistry values in an area to the north. Drilling of the anomaly encountered considerable widths of disseminated chalcopyrite of sub-ore grade. No drilling was completed in the trench areas. In 1976, Sandy Fennell restaked the area as the Jay claims and excavated Trench 1. The following year, Fennell hired Jay Murphy, P.Eng., to conduct an exploration program consisting of geological mapping and rock sampling. Five grab samples were collected and sent for assay and Trenches 1 and 2 were mapped but, due to sloughing in Trench 2, little outcrop was observed. Based on observations of the property, Murphy concluded that both trenches were located on the same mineralized trend.
In 1981, Trans-West Minerals drilled four short drillholes under the Fennell zone trench. The following year, Trans-West Minerals rechecked the Canadian Superior Exploration geochemical anomaly identified in 1971, conducting a soil sampling program over a tighter grid. Results from the program confirmed the 1971 geochemical anomaly and identified a promising anomalous zone between two previous Canadian Superior drillholes. The property was later abandoned and restaked as the Sam claims.
In 1990, Minnova Incorporated optioned the Sam property from Jay Murphy and conducted an exploration program over the Fennell zone. Exploration that year consisted of geochemical soil sampling, a magnetometer geophysical survey and a small induced polarization survey over an area to the east and west of the old trench. Promising results were obtained to the west of the trench but never drill tested. The following year, Minnova drilled two diamond drill holes on 200-metre step-outs east of the trench, encountering no significant results. The Sam claims were forfeited by Minnova and restaked by Jay Murphy in 1995.
In 2009, Jay Murphy completed structural mapping on the Bex zone (MINFILE 082M 010) to the northeast, followed by a grab sampling program in the same area in 2011. Murphy completed technical work such as prospecting and geological exploration on the property in 2012 and 2013.
Pyrrhotite, hematite, pyrite, marcasite, chalcopyrite and sphalerite were recognized in the main showing area. Drill holes returned assays of up to 0.82 per cent copper over 1.62 metres and 0.87 per cent nickel over 15 centimetres. Two quartz veins, 13 and 20 centimetres wide, assayed 0.17 and 0.34 gram per tonne gold respectively. Up to 0.005 per cent molybdenum was associated with copper values.
