The Eric occurrence is located at an elevation of approximately 850 metres on a southeast-facing slope, west of Stumbles Creek and approximately 13 kilometres northwest of Merritt.

The Promontory Hills-Craigmont mine area is a complex northwest-trending, steeply dipping volcanic pile of Upper Triassic Nicola Group rocks, bounded to the north by the multistage Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic Guichon Creek Batholith and unconformably overlain by the Upper Cretaceous Kingsvale Group. Most of the area is covered by extensive gravel overburden (approximately 100 metres thick). Nicola Group andesite, dacite and greywacke, with interbedded limy horizons, are intruded by Border phase rocks of the Guichon Creek Batholith, which varies in composition from quartz diorite to granodiorite. The contact zone is characterized by hornfelsing and dioritization of the Nicola Group rocks.

Locally, dump rock from a short shaft comprises epidote-rich rocks with chalcopyrite, specular hematite, magnetite and copper carbonates hosted near the contact of a fine-grained diorite and an albitized rock. Approximately 30 metres northeast of the shaft, a trench exposes an andesite(?) with minor magnetite and chalcopyrite fracture fillings.

More recent drilling (1977) on a northeast-trending magnetic anomaly revealed 3 to 5 per cent disseminated magnetite and occasional thin fracture fillings of chalcopyrite within hornfelsed biotitic siltstone to fine-grained greywacke. Dioritic and granitic dikes cut the altered Nicola Group rocks.

Work History

In the 1930s, a 2.1-metre deep shaft was sunk on the occurrence.

In 1958, Birkett Creek Mine Operators Ltd. completed a 29.4 line-kilometre ground magnetic survey on the area as the Quartzite property. Also at this time, Noranda Mining and Exploration Inc. completed a program of geological mapping and an 85.5 line-kilometre ground magnetic survey on the area as the Merritt property and New Delhi Mines Ltd. completed a 24.7 line-kilometre ground magnetic survey on the area as the Mel, Nicki and O’Leary claims that identified four anomalous zones. The following year, a 22.0 line-kilometre ground magnetic survey was completed on the Merritt property.

In 1968, a 7.0 line-kilometre induced polarization survey was completed on the area immediately east of the occurrence as the Shot and JJM claims. In 1972, a 2.1 line-kilometre induced polarization survey was completed on the Shot and JJM claims. In 1974, Craigmont Mines completed two diamond drill holes, totalling 227.0 metres, on the Quartzite No. 5 claim of the Blue property. In 1977, Craigmont completed four diamond drill holes, totalling 1507.0 metres, on the area as the Orange and Blue groups of claims. In 1978, Craigmont completed a 20.3 line-kilometre ground magnetic and electromagnetic survey on the Orange group of claims.

In 2000, Ahura Mining Ltd. completed a program of geological mapping and geochemical (rock and soil) sampling on the area as the Gord 1-10 claims.

In 2012, Huldra Silver Inc. completed a 903 line-kilometre airborne geophysical survey on the area as the Thule property. This work isolated six magnetic anomalies (A through F) with potential for magnetite skarn development, similar to the nearby Craigmont (MINFILE 092ISE035) deposit.

In 2015, Nicola Mining Inc. completed a program of rock and soil sampling on the area as the Thule Copper-Iron property. A dump grab sample (290515-THU-001) of potassium feldspar-epidote–altered diorite breccia with specularite, chalcopyrite and malachite assayed 0.799 per cent copper and 10.5 per cent iron (Assessment Report 36141).

In 2016, Nicola Mining Inc. completed a program of prospecting, rock sampling, geological mapping and five diamond drill holes, totalling 1063.7 metres, on the Thule Copper property. Chip and channel sampling of the shaft yielded 0.52 per cent copper over 9 metres, whereas drilling yielded intercepts of 0.32, 0.17 and 0.15 per cent copper over 2.00, 13.88 and 14.07 metres, respectively, in hole HU-001 (Assessment Report 36844).

In 2017, Nicola Mining Inc. and Clibetre Exploration Ltd. completed a program of geological mapping; a 27.0 line-kilometre induced polarization survey; a 24.5 line-kilometre airborne magnetic survey; 29 rotary drill holes, totalling 392.0 metres, and 5 diamond drill holes, totalling 2994.7 metres on the Thule Copper property.

In 2018, Nicola Mining Inc. completed a 9.0 line-kilometre ground magnetic and induced polarization survey; 70 percussion drill holes, totalling 1540.0 metres, and 16 diamond drill holes, totalling 6438.5 metres, on the area as the Craigmont property.

In 2019, Nicola Mining Inc. completed a program of soil sampling and five diamond drill holes, totalling 3649.0 metres, on the area as the New Craigmont property.