The Knob Hill (Elk) occurrence is located on the southeast side of Knob Hill, approximately 42 kilometres west of the Port Hardy airport.
Regionally, the area is underlain by the Lower Jurassic Bonanza Group andesite to rhyodacite volcanics intruded by diorite of the Jurassic Island Plutonic Suite. The structural setting comprises gentle folding and block faulting that, with the pervasive alteration, makes attitude determinations difficult. It is thought, however, that the volcanics generally strike northwest and dip southwest. A pyrite-clay-silica alteration zone extends the length of the volcanic belt and several mineral occurrences are associated with these volcanics.
Locally, as defined by drilling, 1 to 5 per cent disseminated pyrite, pyrrhotite and arsenopyrite, minor chalcopyrite, sphalerite and galena and trace to 15 per cent magnetite mineralization is hosted in altered porphyritic feldspar andesite, rhyodacite, altered rhyolite, rhyolite breccia and tuff. The alteration assemblage consists of sericite, clay minerals, chlorite, epidote, biotite, quartz, pyrite and pyrrhotite with the sulphides replacing the mafic constituents.
In 1972, a drillhole (72-1), located southeast of Knob Hill, intercepted a 27-metre interval yielding 0.10 per cent copper and 3.1 grams per tonne silver, including 0.2 per cent copper over 3.0 metres (Assessment Report 5352).
In 1976, drillhole 76-1 averaged approximately 0.03 per cent copper over 144.9 metres, whereas other drillholes yielded up to 0.135 per cent copper over 6.3 metres in drillhole 76-3 (Assessment Report 6170). These drillholes were located to the southwest and northeast of Knob Hill, respectively.
In 1990, sampling of previous drillcore yielded up to 0.41 gram per tonne gold, 1.1 grams per tonne silver and 0.211 per cent copper (Assessment Report 20766). It is unknown which drillholes the core samples came from.
In 1997, drillhole 97-13 yielded 0.163 per cent copper and 0.9 gram per tonne silver over 81.0 metres of a faulted zone containing mixed serpentized andesite and granitic xenoliths(?) (Assessment Report 25330).
The Elk claims were originally staked in 1972 and a program of drilling and geophysical surveys was completed. In 1974, Cities Services Minerals Corp. completed an 11.0 line-kilometre geophysical survey on the area immediately northwest as the Deer claims. In 1975 and 1976, Chevron Standard Ltd. completed programs of geological mapping, geochemical (soil and rock) sampling,122 line-kilometres of ground geophysical surveys and five diamond drill holes, totalling 597.0 metres, on the Elk claims.
In 1980, Teck Explorations Ltd. completed a program of ground magnetometer and electromagnetic surveys and three diamond drill holes, totalling 83.82 metres, on the area. In 1990, Placer Dome Inc. completed a program of geochemical (soil and rock) sampling and geological mapping on the area as the Obling claims.
In 1993, the area was prospected as the Knob 1-24 claims by P.G. Dasler. In 1995, with support from the Explore BC Program, P.G. Dasler, P.Geo. completed 30.3 line-kilometres of magnetic surveys and collected and analyzed 1657 soil samples. This work, concentrated in the central part of the property to fill in and compliment previous work, defined extensive gold and arsenic anomalies coincident with a copper anomaly identified by Chevron in 1972. The data so far assembled points strongly to a high-level, porphyry-related, Le Panto-style gold deposit (Explore B.C. Program 95/96 - M95). In 1996 and 1997, First Choice Industries Ltd. and Kamaka Resources completed programs of soil sampling, ground geophysical surveys and 30 diamond drill holes, totalling 2505 metres, on the area.
