The Thistle mine is located about 16 kilometres southeast of Port Alberni, just south of Father and Son Lake.

Basaltic flows and pillow basalt of the Triassic Karmutsen Formation (Vancouver Group) are underlain by a complexly inter- layered succession of volcanics and sediments of the Paleozoic Sicker and Mississippian to Lower Permian Buttle Lake groups. These include basaltic flows, agglomerates and bedded tuffs of the Upper Devonian McLaughlin Ridge Formation (Myra Formation), Sicker Group and limestones and marbles of the Upper Pennsylvanian to Lower Permian Mount Mark Formation (Buttle Lake Group, previously Buttle Lake Formation).

Disseminated to massive sulphide mineralization, consisting of pyrite, chalcopyrite and minor pyrrhotite plus sulphide rich quartz-carbonate veins, occur in sheared pyritic quartz-sericite schists with chloritized mafic volcanic flows ("Mine Flow Unit") and tuffs of the Upper Devonian McLaughlin Ridge Formation. A nearby limestone, which strikes 170 degrees and dips 65 degrees southwest, has largely been replaced by diopside (skarn). Disseminated magnetite, some of which has been oxidized to hematite, occurs in the calcite and malachite occurs in places.

Two ore zones, 40 metres apart, measure 2 to 20 metres long by 1 to 8 metres wide. A 1.8-metre chip channel sample of a high grade shear at the south end of the lower glory hole assayed 38.4 grams per tonne gold, 30.5 grams per tonne silver and 2.69 per cent copper (Assessment Report 11064). Drilling in 1984, intersected 20 centimetres of 17.6 grams per tonne gold in chloritic basalt, including 2 centimetres of massive pyrite (Assessment Report 15288).

The Thistle Mine was reported by early workers to be a skarn deposit in altered limestone, intruded by fine-grained diorite.

From 1938 to 1942, the Thistle Mine produced 6,283 tonnes of ore grading 4.9 per cent copper, 10.3 grams per tonne silver and 13.7 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 17661). Nexus acquired the property in late 1980. In 1981 and 1982, Nexus conducted surveys in the Panther Road (MINFILE 092F 439) and Thistle mine areas. In 1983, the property was optioned by Westmin Resources Ltd. and an exploration program of geological mapping, soil sampling, geophysical surveys and 6053.9 metres of diamond drilling was completed. In 1988, Nexus completed 1205.4 metres of diamond drilling on anomalies previously not tested, primarily on the Saddle occurrence (MINFILE 092F 442). In 1995, the area was staked as the Thistle 1 claim and a program of geochemical sampling was completed.