The Cordova occurrence lies in the Zeballos gold camp, an area underlain by Lower Jurassic Bonanza Group basaltic to rhyolitic volcanic rocks. Dioritic to granodioritic Jurassic plutons of the Zeballos intrusion phase of the Island Plutonic Suite have intruded the volcanic rocks. The Eocene Zeballos stock, a quartz diorite phase of the Catface Intrusions, is spatially related to gold-quartz veining in the area.

The Cordova shear-vein has been explored by a 15 metre adit and 3 open cuts on the main vein and an adjacent subsidiary vein which cuts fine-grained diorite and light-colored granodiorite of the Late Jurassic Island Plutonic Suite. The shear zone strikes 063 degrees and dips 80 degrees south and ranges between 5 to 45 centimetres in width. Pyrite and arsenopyrite with a small amount of gold mineralization occur within lenses of quartz in the shear zone. The quartz is broken and crushed.

In 1939, about 1.0 tonne of ore was shipped and 156 grams of gold, 31 grams of silver and 4 kilograms of copper were recovered.