The Barber Bill property is situated on the east slope of the Silver Cup Basin on Nine Mile Mountain between the Sunrise (MINFILE 093M 043) and Silver Cup (MINFILE 093M 040) properties, 14 kilometres northeast of Hazelton. The Barber Bill veins were discovered in 1910.
The property is underlain by clastic sedimentary rocks—mainly greywacke—of the Middle Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous Bowser Lake Group, which is intruded by a stock of coarse-grained granodiorite of the Late Cretaceous Bulkley Intrusions.
Three main veins comprise this prospect: the Tunnel, Adit and Cable veins. The showings are explored by several trenches and a 14-metre-long adit.
The Tunnel vein is situated at 1241 metres elevation on the Bill 14 and 15 claims. The vein strikes 030 degrees and dips 18 to 30 degrees east, parallel to the bedding in the tuffaceous hostrocks. It ranges from 10 to 120 centimetres in thickness and carries fine-grained jamesonite, sphalerite, galena and arsenopyrite along with sparse vein-quartz and pyrite. The vein has been exposed for 182 metres. A 60-centimetre-wide channel sample taken by Kindle assayed 1.5 grams per tonne gold, 510.6 grams per tonne silver, 5.67 per cent lead, 12.5 per cent zinc, 2.22 per cent antimony and 8.15 per cent arsenic (Geological Survey of Canada Memoir 223, page 8). A chip sample across 1 metre, taken 106 metres north of the portal, assayed 437.07 grams per tonne silver, 3.75 per cent lead and 3.1 per cent zinc (Property File, Newman, W.R. [16/12/1968]: Geology of the Barber Bill property, page 6).
The Adit vein is situated at 939 metres elevation on Mineral Lease 57. The vein strikes slightly east of north and dips flatly to the east. A sample taken 15 metres north of the adit over a 57-centimetre-wide vein in grey slaty greywacke and argillite assayed 164.5 grams per tonne silver and 2.97 per cent lead and 0.15 per cent zinc (Property File, Newman, W.R. [16/12/1968]: Geology of the Barber Bill property, page 7).
The Cable vein is situated at 1453 metres elevation on the Bill 4 claim. The vein has been traced for approximately 85 metres. Crossfaulting has displaced the vein less than a metre (several feet). The vein strikes roughly east-west and dips 16 to 45 degrees southeast. The lowest assay was from a sample across 1.2 metres width and 3 metres length, which assayed 106.27 grams per tonne silver, 1.8 per cent lead and 4.5 per cent zinc (Property File, Newman, W.R. [16/12/1968]: Geology of the Barber Bill property).
The first discovery of silver-lead-zinc ore containing antimony was made on Nine Mile Mountain in 1908. In the years that followed, numerous other mineral-bearing veins were discovered in the area. Between 1910 and 1913, small shipments of high-grade silver-lead ore were made from 15 properties.
The Barber Bill veins were discovered in 1910. Later that year, active development was underway on the Barber Bill group. In 1917, the Barber Bill claim group was bonded to Mr. Carleton, but the bond was relinquished shortly after without any record of work being completed.
In 1928, W.S. Harris and Associates carried out limited development work on the Barber Bill property. C.H. Schwerdt restaked the claims in 1948 and optioned the property to Crown Silver Lead Mines Limited, a subsidiary of Trans-Continental Resources Limited. In 1951, C.D. McCord conducted surface work on the property on behalf of Crown Silver Lead Mines. That year, stripping and open cutting at the 1250-metre elevation on the eastern side of the basin exposed 114.3 metres of vein. A 13.7-metre adit was driven midway along the strike of the vein and a shallow winze was driven at the face of the tunnel. Samples collected from a second vein, situated approximately 488 metres south of the adit at 1448 metres elevation, yielded promising values for silver, lead and zinc.
Frontier Explorations Limited acquired the Barber Bill property in 1963. Exploration carried out between 1963 and 1968 included geochemical sampling and bulldozer stripping. In 1968, W.R. Newman examined the property on behalf of Frontier Explorations Limited. Newman collected three chip samples along an exposed section of the Tunnel vein. At the time of the examination, Frontier Explorations was working to expose an old, caved adit situated at 945 metres elevation on Mineral Lease 57.
In 1974, the area was held by Spectrum Industrial Resources Limited as the Beta property. That year, Daniel Basco of Nordic Mining Services conducted a geological reconnaissance of the Beta claim group.
In 1980, Short Staun Minerals Corporation conducted a program of regional geological mapping and prospecting over the Cup claims to the immediate west of the Barber Bill showing.
By 1981, the area was held by Sunrise Metals Corporation. As part of a joint venture agreement with Sunrise Metals, Westmin Resources Limited began work on the Sunrise property. That year, exploration consisted of geological mapping, rock sampling, soil geochemical surveying and trenching. Exploration continued in 1982 with an induced polarization and resistivity geophysical survey over the central portion of the property.
The ground lay dormant until 2005, when Cadre Capital Incorporated staked new claims over the Nine Mile Mountain area and the Sidina Creek area to the north as part of their Hazelton project. The following year, Golden Sabre Resources optioned the claims and carried out a limited exploration program of rock sampling and soil grid geochemistry. Between 2006 and 2012, the claims appear to have been dormant.
By 2012, TAD Mineral Exploration Limited (formerly known as TAD Capital Corporation) expanded their Sidina property to include additional claims covering the Nine Mile Mountain area to the south, formerly held by Cadre Capital. That year, Rio Minerals Limited conducted grid surveys and soil sampling near the Silverton occurrence (MINFILE 093M 038).
A 0.67-metre chip sample collected by W.R. Newman in 1968 assayed 1758.8 grams per tonne silver, 13.2 per cent lead and 16.17 per cent zinc (Property File, Newman, W.R. [16/12/1968]: Geology of the Barber Bill property, page 6).
