The Cinderella occurrence is located at an elevation of approximately 800 metres on a south-facing slope, approximately 2.7 kilometres northeast of the community of Merritt.

The area is located in rocks of the Upper Triassic Nicola Group, which comprise felsic to mafic volcanics and volcaniclastics with interbedded sedimentary rocks. The area is covered by extensive (9 metres thick) overburden of fine silt and clay underlain by pyritic and albitized andesitic tuff. Vertical greywacke beds strike slightly west of north. A 15-metre thick band of limestone extends 183 metres upslope and strikes 010 degrees and dips 70 degrees east. The limestone is light grey and contains considerable silica and dolomite as small irregular grains. The ruins of an old pot kiln lie near the base of the exposure. Near the top of this exposure are old pits and trenches.

The Nicola Group rocks are intruded approximately 4 kilometres to the north by granodiorite of the Lower Jurassic Guichon Creek Batholith. Several north-trending pyritic dioritic dikes occur.

The volcanic rocks are locally highly fractured, with iron oxide and manganese oxide staining and fine disseminations of pyrite. Quartz-calcite and epidote veins carry specularite and chalcopyrite. Within the fault zones, magnetite, specularite, pyrite, epidote, chalcopyrite and malachite occur on fractures which strike mainly east, southeast and south and dip southwest. The largest patches of specularite are 15 by 10 centimetres and occur at fault intersections.

Copper skarn mineralization is exposed in a series of old pits and trenches along the margins of a limestone unit that can be traced over a strike length of approximately 650 metres. In the central part of the area, a northwest-trending, left-lateral strike-slip silicified fault displaces the limestone unit approximately 75 metres to the southeast. The Chase (MINFILE 092ISE045) occurrence is located approximately 1.1 kilometres to the north and appears to be associated with the continuation of the same limestone horizon.

At least three zones (D, E and F) of mineralization had been identified by 1993. The northernmost of these, the D zone, comprises epidote alteration with local specular hematite and disseminated chalcopyrite hosted in a sequence of calcareous volcanics and limestone units associated with the intersection of north- and east-striking fault zones. The E zone is located approximately 200 metres south of the D zone and comprises a 75-metre width of epidote-carbonate–altered interbedded limestone and calcareous tuffs hosting specular hematite, chalcopyrite and quartz. The F zone is located approximately 150 metres south-southwest of the E zone and comprises three or more north-striking limestone units interbedded with epidote-carbonate–altered tuffs hosting specular hematite, chalcopyrite, minor bornite and sphalerite. Bedding dips steeply to the east. To the west of this zone, a 4-metre wide breccia/vein zone with hematized and silicified volcanic fragments has been identified. The breccia matrix comprises quartz-carbonate with disseminated to blebby chalcopyrite, galena and sphalerite. This zone trends northwest and is reported to possibly represent a healed fault structure.

Work History

The area has been explored since the early 1900s.

During 1962 through 1976, a variety of individuals and companies held mining claims and explored the Jesse Creek area, mainly for copper-magnetite skarn mineralization similar to that at Craigmont Mine. Exploration work at this time usually included soil sampling, trenching and magnetometer surveying.

In 1964 and 1965, Peel Resources Ltd. and Nippon Mining Co. Ltd. completed programs of soil sampling, ground magnetometer and induced polarization surveys and 1590 metres of diamond drilling in 12 drillholes were completed on the Cinderella claims. By this time, the discovery of four short historical shafts, 3 to 4.5 metres long, and numerous opencuts/trenches had been reported.

In 1969, two chip samples (9384 and 9385) yielded up to 0.74 per cent copper and 21.2 grams per tonne silver over 3.0 metres, whereas another chip sample (9388) assayed 1.09 per cent copper and 8.6 grams per tonne silver over 1.5 metres (Property File - 673529). These samples came from the former Cinderella 5-6 claims in the area of the D zone.

In 1976 and 1977, Quintana Minerals Corp. explored their claims north from the Merritt city limits to the Jesse Creek drainage. A magnetic survey was performed and identified a number of magnetic anomalies, which were followed up on with a program of detailed geological mapping to assess the inferred skarn mineralization.

In 1980, Noranda completed a magnetic and electromagnetic (very low frequency) survey on the area.

In 1991, Conlon Copper Corp. acquired claims covering the known copper-bearing skarn showings in the area. Over the next decade Conlon Copper or its later publicly reporting companies, Merritt Copper Corp. and Conlon Copper Corporation, explored the claim holdings with several phases of geological mapping, rock and soil geochemical sampling, geophysical surveying, trenching and diamond drilling. The results from a 1997 induced polarization survey within the Cinderella-Chase (MINFILE 092ISE045) area show a strong, northwest-trending induced polarization chargeability anomaly covering an area of 800 by 600 metres and open to the east and south.

In 1993, sampling of the mineralized zones yielded up to 0.99 per cent copper over 1.5 metres on the D zone; 0.2 per cent copper and 0.3 to 1.3 per cent zinc over 1.5 to 3.5 metre widths on the E zone and 0.4 per cent copper over 3.2 metres, including 0.93 per cent copper and 9.6 grams per tonne silver over 1.7 metres, on the F zone (Assessment Report 23258). Also at this time, sampling of the breccia/vein zone located west of the F zone yielded up to 0.2 per cent copper, 1.23 per cent lead and 2.88 per cent zinc over 4.0 metres (Assessment Report 23258).

In 1999, four diamond drill holes, totalling 404 metres, were completed on the area. Hole 99-2 intersected a quartz-carbonate stockwork zone yielding 0.75 per cent copper and 6.6 grams per tonne silver over 10.01 metres with individual samples yielding up to 2.05 per cent copper, 15.4 grams per tonne silver and 0.35 per cent zinc (Blanchflower, J.D. (2012-02-17): Technical Report on the Jesse Creek Property).

In 2012, Dundarave Resources Inc. retained Minorex Consulting Ltd. to carry out a property examination on the Jesse Creek property. A 1050.0 line-kilometre airborne magnetic survey and a 68.6 line-kilometre induced polarization survey were completed at this time.

In 2013, Ocean Park Ventures Corp., on the behalf of Dundarave Resources Inc., completed seven diamond drill holes, totalling 2043.0 metres, on the Jesse Creek property.

In 2016, Wealth Minerals Ltd. completed a program of soil sampling on the Jesse Creek property. The following year, a program of geochemical (rock and soil) sampling, geological photo-interpretation, a 24.2 line-kilometre induced polarization survey and 18 diamond drill holes, totalling 4478.9 metres, were completed on the property.