The Darb occurrence is located approximately 2.5 kilometres east-southeast of the southern tip of Darb Lake, about 123 kilometres northwest of Germansen Landing. The location is centred on a mineralized shear zone and comprises two mineralized shear zones approximately 200 metres apart.
Regionally, the area is underlain by Upper Takla Group volcanics, bounded to the north by the northwest trending Lay Range fault and to the west by the north trending Dortatelle fault. The succession of volcanics has been intruded to the south by the Early Jurassic Hogem batholith. Just to the north, the volcanics have been intruded by the Early Jurassic Darb Lake stock. The Takla Group rocks are porphyritic andesites and basaltic volcanics which have been intruded by granodiorites, syenites and diorites.
Mineralization occurs within two shear zones approximately 200 metres apart cutting basalts and metavolcanics close to the contact with a diorite stock. The shear zones trend northwest and contain chalcopyrite, pyrite and malachite. These shear zones are erratically mineralized, however, a 0.6-metre sample from one of the shear zones assayed 1.7 per cent copper and 0.05 per cent molybdenum (Property File - Burgoyne, A.A., 1973).
In 1991, several mineralized samples were collected by Swannell Minerals over 500 metres along a diorite-andesite contact on the Joh 7 claim. At the south end of the sample segment, chip sample NR02 assayed 1.51 per cent copper, 0.75 gram per tonne gold and 9.7 grams per tonne silver over 20 centimetres. 500 metres north, chip sample KR05 assayed 0.63 per cent copper and 42 ppb gold over 32 centimetres (Assessment Report 21782).
Results from sampling in 2005 yielded up to 0.53 per cent copper and 224 parts per billion (ppb) gold from rock chip sample OR-57 across 2 metres of chloritized andesite with abundant malachite and epidote. Rock grab sample (OR-58) from 35 metres of highly chloritized andesite with strong epidote in fractures and chalcopyrite, pyrite and secondary K-feldspar analyzed 0.18 per cent copper and 122 ppb gold (Assessment Report 28439).
In the early 1970s the property area was explored by the UMEX-Wenner Gren Joint Venture and their work consisted of stream sediment sampling and an aeromagnetic survey over the property as part of much larger survey. Copper stream sediment anomalies, associated with aeromagnetic anomalies, were identified. Major General Resources Ltd. acquired the property and did prospecting followed by 96.8 kilometres of grid lines, geological mapping and rock and soil/talus fines sampling, 109 and 848 samples respectively (ca. 1991-92). This work outlined a strong, 4500 by 700 metres copper-gold soil anomaly associated with porphyry copper-gold showings, at the contact of propylitized monzodiorite and andesite. No induced polarization surveys or drilling was apparently done. Hemlo Gold Mines Inc. did a small grid over a part of the area gridded by Major General and duplicated their copper-gold soil anomaly (ca. 1994).
In 2004-05, Serengeti Resources Inc. carried out a program of stream sediment and rock sampling and confirmed some of the copper and gold anomalies from previous work.
In 2011, DeCoors Mining Corp. undertook mobile metal ion (MMI) soil geochemical sampling over a small grid on the central part of their extensive Darby property, in addition to limited rock sampling, that was part of a larger-scale program that covered portions of the Red Lion property. Rock sampling occurred about 800 to 1800 metres to the northwest of the Darb occurrence, arround Joh 4 (094D 165) and just southeast Joh 2 (094D 167). Assessment Report 32618 (2011) presents geochemical results for the samples and a brief evaluation of the results from the Red Lion area. Aster imaging techniques were also used to prepare maps for the Darby property on behalf of DeCoors Mining Ltd. representing areas of siliceous rocks, sericite and illite, alunite and/or kaolinite, and iron oxides (Assessment Report 32364).
In 2015-16, a work program on behalf of Garibaldi Resources Corp. was completed on their Red Lion property which covers the Darb showing. The work comprised an airborne magnetic and radiometric survey (545 line-kilometres), a wide-spaced induced polarization (IP) survey (26.4 line-kilometres), and a brief geological and geochemical program to evaluate parts of the IP chargeability anomalies (Assessment Report 35623, 36322).
In 2018, an exploration program was conducted by Garibaldi Resources on the Red Lion project. In total 461 soil samples and 51 rock samples were taken at various sites within the western portion of the property (RL West). The area of soil sampling was bound on the east by the west shore of Darb Lake and on the west (roughly) by an imaginary line joining the Joh 1 (094D 168) and Joh 3 (094D 169) occurrences. Of the 461 soil samples taken, 75 were greater than 300 parts per million copper and 16 were greater than 200 parts per billion gold (Assessment Report 37881). The averages of all samples were 195 parts per million copper and parts per billion gold. Of the 51 rock samples taken, 18 were greater than 0.1 per cent copper and 11 were greater than 0.2 gram per tonne gold. Two samples - #3006 and #3020 were fire assayed and graded 35.7 and 10.4 grams per tonne gold respectively (Assessment Report 37881). The rock samples were collected in the soil sampled area west of Darb Lake.
