The Tule Lake showing is located approximately 500 metres southwest of the south end of Tule Lake and 3.4 kilometres northeast of Aspen Grove.
Regionally, the area is underlain by the Upper Triassic Nicola Group, which regionally consists of alkalic and calc-alkalic volcanics and intrusions of island arc origin, and which is the principal component of the Quesnel terrane in southern British Columbia (Geological Survey of Canada Maps 41-1989, 1713A). The area lies in the Central Belt or facies of the Nicola Group (after Preto, Bulletin 69). This belt of rocks mainly consists of subaerial and submarine, red or purple to green augite plagioclase porphyritic andesitic and basaltic flows, volcanic breccia and tuff, and minor argillites and limestone. The volcanics are intruded by bodies of comagmatic Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic diorite to monzonite. The area is characterized by long-lived, primarily north-striking faults and related fracturing, which originally controlled intrusion emplacement. East-striking faults are subordinate, and commonly offset intrusive contacts.
Two closely spaced shafts and one adjacent trench expose chalcocite, bornite and malachite in massive red augite andesite to basalt porphyry of the Upper Triassic Nicola Group (Central Belt, Bulletin 69). Additional chalcocite is found in three closely spaced shafts, 300 metres farther south.
In 1991, a grab sample (91433) of quartz, carbonate and limonite-altered andesite tuff hosting malachite assayed 2.29 per cent copper (Assessment Report 21824).
Work History
At least five shafts and numerous trenches, likely dating to the early 1900s, have been developed on the occurrence area.
In 1968, David Minerals Ltd. examined the occurrence area as the Chalco claims. 1971, Frontier Explorations Ltd. and David Minerals Ltd. completed a program of soil sampling and a 32.0 line-kilometre ground magnetic survey on the area as the Halo, Ram, Lou, Chalco, Magnus and Touch claims of the Hans Haveroen Copper property.
During 1975 through 1980, David Minerals Ltd. conducted programs of geological mapping, self-potential surveys, trenching and five diamond drill holes, totalling 169 metres, on the claims. In 1979, Cominco Ltd. completed a 26.0 line-kilometre ground magnetic and induced polarization survey on the area immediately north of the occurrence as the Snowflake and Tule claim groups of the Grove property.
The area was re-staked in 1989 as the Shear claims after copper mineralization was exposed in a roadcut along the north side of the recently completed Coquihalla Highway (Phase 3 - Okanagan Connector). The occurrence area was subsequently mapped, trenched and sampled by Amex Exploration Services Ltd. in 1990, Northair Mines Ltd. in 1991 and Placer Dome Inc. in 1992. In 1993, Northair Mines Ltd. completed a further program of rock sampling on the property. In 1997, Christopher James Gold Corp. completed a program of geological mapping, geochemical (rock and soil) sampling and a 13.8 line-kilometre induced polarization survey on the area as the Big Kidd property.
In 2007, Etna Resources Inc. completed a 366 line-kilometre airborne geophysical survey on the area immediately north of the occurrence as the Aspen Grove property. In 2008, Christopher James Gold Corp. completed a 1113.5 line-kilometre airborne magnetic-radiometric survey on the Big Kidd property. In 2009, a further program of geological mapping, soil sampling and 48.8 line-kilometres of ground magnetic and induced polarization surveys were completed on the Aspen Grove property.
In 2011 and 2012, Xstrata Copper Canada Corp.completed programs of prospecting, geochemical (rock and soil) sampling and a 56.8 line-kilometre induced polarization survey on the Big Kidd property on behalf of Jiulian Resources Ltd.
In 2013, New Chris Minerals Ltd. completed a program of rock and soil sampling on the Aspen Grove property on behalf of Richard Billingsley. In 2017, Cazador Explorations Ltd. completed a 145.0 line-kilometre airborne magnetic survey on the property.
