The Silver Bell showing is located near the southern shore of Horne Lake, across from the Qualicum River mouth.
The Cowichan uplift consists mainly of northwest trending volcanic-volcaniclastic-sedimentary rocks of the Paleozoic Sicker and Buttle Lake groups. These are bounded by younger mafic volcanics of the Vancouver Group and sediments of the Nanaimo Group. The stratigraphy is very complex with numerous intercalations and rapid lateral facies changes. The rocks are commonly schistose in the vicinity of faults with associated carbonatization and silicification.
Locally, a quartz vein, up to 20 centimetres in width and 21 metres in length, hosting massive stibnite, arsenopyrite and pyrite occurs in volcanics of the Devonian Nitinat Formation, Sicker Group. The wall rock is sericite- quartz-carbonate altered. The vein has a 015 degree strike and 70 degree northwest dip.
In 1939 an adit was driven for about 30 metres on the vein. A test sample was submitted by Ryder in 1939 (Personal communication with nephew). In 1982, Asarco Exploration Co. of Canada, Limited completed a program of soil geochemical sampling on the area as the SB claim. From 1986 through 1988, Nexus Resources and Reward Resources completed programs of prospecting, geological mapping and rock and silt geochemical sampling. Samples of massive stibnite assayed up to 14.20 per cent antimony (Assessment Report 17730). In 1991, A.B.L. Whittles prospected the area as the Silverbells claim. A sample of dump material assayed 4.1 per cent antimony (Assessment Report 22096).
Previous sampling, from the 1960’s, reportedly assayed up to 56 per cent antimony, 0.17 grams per tonne gold and 6.8 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 22096).