The Lower Piebiter prospect is located along Piebiter Creek just to the east of its confluence with Cadwallader Creek, thirteen kilometres southeast of Bralorne. In this region, extensive splays and crossfaults of the Bralorne fault system are spatially related to numerous mineral occurrences in the Bridge River mining camp.

The prospect area is underlain mainly by feldspathic hornblendite and limestone of the Mississippian to Jurassic Bridge River Complex (Group) in contact with the Cretaceous to Tertiary Bendor pluton to the northwest. A northwest trending belt of serpentinite, correlative with the Permian and older Shulaps Ultramafic Complex, separates hornblendite from Bridge River metasediments to the west.

At least five skarn zones occur in laminated feldspathic hornblendite and crystalline limestone within 300 metres of the Bendor pluton contact. Mineralization consists of chalcopyrite and scheelite with minor molybdenite in quartz-diopside-garnet-epidote skarn. Exploration in 1969 defined a zone up to 50 metres long and three to four metres wide with grades to 6.6 per cent copper, 1.8 per cent tungsten trioxide, 85.71 grams per tonne silver and 0.34 gram per tonne gold (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1948, page 100).

Results of 1980 exploration allowed the calculation of proven and probable reserves of 72,500 tonnes grading 1.3 per cent WO3 (or 1.03 per cent tungsten); conversion to W using the factor 1.2611 (Assessment Report 15871).

Work History

The occurrence was first reported in the 1948 B.C. Minister of Mines Report.

In 1969, a program of prospecting, geological mapping and drilling was completed on the skarn zones. In 1979, Hat Creek Energy Corp. examined the area and completed a drill program. In 1987, Trans Atlantic Resources Inc. and Armeno Resources Inc. completed a program of geochemical sampling and ground electromagnetic and magnetic surveys of the skarn zones. The following year, two diamond drill holes, totalling 438 metres, were completed. In 1990, Trans Atlantic and Armeno completed a single reverse circulation drill holes, totalling 94.5 metres.

In 2006, Covenant Resources Ltd. examined the area as the Piebiter property. In 2007 and 2008, airborne ZTEM surveys were completed on the area. In 2009, a MMI soil sampling program was completed. In 2011, Worthington Resources Ltd. completed a 408.5 line-kilometre airborne ZTEM survey on the area as the Royalle property.