Limestone outcrops along the cliffs and on the west side of Kashutl Inlet, 4.5 kilometres south of the head of the inlet on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
The occurrence lies in a broad belt of Lower Jurassic Bonanza Group volcanics and sediments, up to 30 kilometres wide, that extends southeast from the north end of Vancouver Island for 180 kilometres. The belt is extensively faulted and occasionally intruded by masses of quartz diorite and granodiorite of the Early to Middle Jurassic Island Plutonic Suite.
The deposit is comprised of two beds of limestone separated by 30 to 45 metres of argillite that are overlain and underlain by volcanics consisting largely of amygdaloidal andesite and dacite. These rocks have been subjected to some low grade metamorphism by an intrusion just north of the deposit. The entire sequence strikes northeast and dips 30 to 60 degrees south. The upper (southern) bed is approximately 46 metres thick while the lower bed is approximately 61 metres thick.
The carbonate beds consists of massive, pearl grey to white, medium to coarse grained limestone (marble). Three samples comprised of chips taken at 4.6 metre intervals across accessible outcrops of the upper limestone bed assayed as follows in per cent (D.D. Campbell, 1973, page 7):
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sample Length CaO CaCO3 MgO Insol. Al2O3 Fe2O3 Undetermined K1 30 m 55.06 98.26 0.30 0.60 0.36 0.34 0.14 K2 45 m 54.92 98.01 0.20 1.01 0.30 0.32 0.16 K3 60 m 54.83 97.84 0.30 1.20 0.31 0.25 0.10------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
K1 30 m 55.06 98.26 0.30 0.60 0.36 0.34 0.14
K2 45 m 54.92 98.01 0.20 1.01 0.30 0.32 0.16
K3 60 m 54.83 97.84 0.30 1.20 0.31 0.25 0.10
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Probable (indicated) reserves are calculated at 7.6 million tonnes of limestone assuming a strike length of 180 metres for each bed and a down dip extension of 150 metres (Industrial Mineral File - D.D. Campbell, 1973, pages 1, 8). The deposit is estimated to contain a total potential of at least 27 million tonnes of limestone.
The limestone was examined and sampled by Douglas D. Campbell during 1958 and 1962. Sicamous Resources Ltd. (B.C. Pyrophyllite Co. Ltd.) held a lease on the deposit in the early 1970's. In 1984 C.K. & G. Management attempted unsuccessfully to acquire the mineral rights to the deposit. In 1995, the area was prospected as the Wood Cove property by D.A. Heyman. During 2000 through 2012, A. Kikauka prospected the area as the Kash 1-2 claims.
