The Ern occurrence is located 25 kilometres south of the Akie River and approximately 222 kilometres south-southwest of Fort Nelson. The Akie deposit (MINFILE 094 031) is approximately 36 kilometres north-northwest of the Ern showing.

The area is underlain by a northwest trending, folded and faulted sequence of Cambrian to Mississippian sediments and carbonates.

Locally, two areas of barite, sphalerite and galena mineralization (the Ern East and West zones) are hosted within massive pyrite-healed dolomite-quartzite breccias. The breccias form part of a basal turbidite sequence of the Ordovician to Devonian Road River Group. The turbidites were deposited into a basin in which exhalative activity was occurring.

In 1981, rock chip samples from trenches R1 through R4 on the West zone yielded values of up to 34.93 per cent barium, 0.220 per cent tin, 0.439 per cent lead and 0.836 per cent zinc (Assessment Report 9905).

In 1985, a 0.35-metre chip sample from the Ern West zone assayed 8.00 per cent zinc and only very minor lead (Assessment Report 14012). Also at this time, rock samples from the East and South zones, located on ridges to the east-southeast and south-southeast, yielded trace and 0.219 per cent lead with 0.130 and 0.496 per cent zinc, respectively (Assessment Report 14012).

In 2007, rock samples yielded up to 0.875 per cent zinc, 0.819 per cent lead and 7.9 gams per tonne silver (Osmani, I.A., Wilkins, A. (2009-08-26): NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Kechika Properties - Aikie-Sika, Sika, Kwad, Bank, Akie-Sika North, CT Ext, Del, Erin, New Gun-Pesika, Sika, Yuen North and Peskie Claim Groups).

Work History

In 1980, Cominco Limited originally staked the Erin claim. Through silt and soil sampling of the claim in 1980, 1981, and again in 1985, Cominco Limited defined a structurally repeating iron sulphide-barite horizon. The identified anomalies were not further evaluated, and the claims were allowed to lapse.

In 2005, David Heyman acquired the Erin mineral tenures. In 2007, ownership was transferred to Megastar Development Corporation and was under option to Mantle Resources Inc. in 2007. The Fingal and Finn claims were acquired by Mantle Resources during the summer of 2007.

The 2007 exploration program covering the Erin property consisted of three soil sampling lines as well as limited prospecting. The purpose of the exploration program was to determine the spatial extent as well as to evaluate the economic potential and lateral extent of a lead anomaly previously identified by Cominco Limited through silt and soil sampling in the early to mid 1980s. During the 2007 field season, three soil lines were added in the southern portion of the Erin claim in order to define the lateral extent off the historic anomaly. The 2007 geochemical data added to the historic data allowing the extent of the lead and zinc anomaly to be further constrained.