Following the discovery of highly anomalous silts from Sallus Creek in the spring of 1969, Canadian Johns-Manville Co. Ltd. staked about 120 claims along the western contact of the Mount Martley stock. An additional 60 claims in subsequent years were staked to cover the northern and southeastern portion of the contact zone. Reconnaissance mapping and geochemistry were completed over the entire claim area in 1969 and 1970. During 1970 and 1971, detailed mapping, geochemistry and induced polarization surveys were completed over a possible porphyry copper-molybdenum deposit setting in the southern portion of the claim area (this description). In the fall and early winter of 1970, detailed mapping, sampling and diamond drilling were completed in black argillite near the contact of the stock, in the northern portion of the claims (see Sallus Creek (North Showing), 092INW094). The argillite at the North Showing was found to be very anomalous in zinc and copper, and moderately anomalous in molybdenum, lead and silver. Diamond drilling proved to be unsuccessful in that penetration of the argillite was costly, and after three attempts, the programme was abandoned. In 1973, the field programme in the North Showing area consisted of bedrock, soil and talus geochemistry. Percussion drilling was performed on some claims in 1974 and totalled 450 metres in 25 holes.

The Sallus Creek area is underlain by the western contact of the Early Jurassic Mount Martley stock which intrudes the middle Permian to Middle Jurassic(?) Western belt of the Cache Creek Complex. The stock is a medium to coarse grained, massive granodiorite with local secondary silicification and sercitization near the contacts. Cache Creek rocks comprise argillite and limestone. Pervasive quartz veins and aplite dikes are found within the stock near the contact. Intense thermal alteration of the sediments is evident near the contact of the stock; limestone, in part, is totally recrystallized. Intense pyritization of the argillites is observed near the contacts, evidenced on surface by rust colouration and gossans.

Mineralization in the No. 1 showing area consists of malachite, bornite, chalcopyrite and molybdenite in 2-20 centimetre wide east trending quartz veins within quartz monzonite of the Mount Martley stock. Pyrite, pyrrhotite and malachite occur in Cache Creek rocks, particularly near diorite dikes. Assay values from samples taken from the showing range up to 1.10 per cent copper and 0.32 per cent molybdenum (Assessment Report 2376).