The Bon Accord prospect is about 16.5 kilometres northeast of Stewart, on the north side of Hartley Gulch and approximately 3 kilometres west of Otter Mountain.
The area is predominantly underlain by west-northwest striking, northeast dipping, variably pyritized argillites, siltstones, tuffaceous sandstones and andesite of the Lower Jurassic Unuk River Formation (Hazelton Group). The argillites are cut by lenticular masses (sills? or dikes?), up to 30 metres thick, of augite porphyry (diorite?). Granitic dikes intrude both the supracrustals and the porphyry.
Two well defined shears cut across the sediments and the porphyry. The shears are 50 to 60 metres apart, trend north-northwest and dip 55 to 80 degrees northeast. The shears are marked by white gouge, 0.3 to 0.6 metre wide, and have been traced for more than 350 metres. Fracturing and brecciation extend up to 12 metres into the footwall where the shears cross the porphyry but are essentially absent where the shears cross argillite. Similarly, mineralization extends the full width of the brecciation in the porphyry but is confined to a quartz-sulphide vein in the argillite. Mineralization comprises quartz, carbonate, pyrite, arsenopyrite, galena, sphalerite and chalcopyrite.
There are two main structurally controlled quartz veins exposed in three crosscut tunnels. The No. 1 tunnel (the uppermost one) exposes the No. 2 (or Upper) vein only. The No. 2 tunnel (the middle one) exposes the No. 1 (or Lower) vein at the portal and the No. 2 vein about 64 metres from the portal. The No. 3 tunnel (the lowermost one) exposes the Nos. 1 and 2 veins at 121 metres and 182 metres from the portal, respectively. Mineralization extends over a width of more than 12 metres in the No. 2 vein exposed in the No. 2 tunnel; this mineralization is mainly on the footwall side of the shear. The two lower adits are buried by talus but the uppermost adit is still accessible.
The No. 1 vein can be traced for about 120 metres, has an average strike of about 310 degrees and dips 60 degrees to the north. The No. 1 vein, on surface, consists of a zone of ferricrete (0.5 to 1.0 metre thick) with a central portion of grey clay hosting sulphides. Samples from the No. 1 vein have assayed up to 45.3 grams per tonne gold and 105.6 grams per tonne silver across 1.2 metres (Property File - Mathews, 1942). Drillhole 81-2 assayed 6.1 grams per tonne gold and trace silver across 0.5 metre from the No. 1 vein (Assessment Report 10392).
The No. 2 vein system has an average trend of 290 degrees and dips about 60 degrees north. The vein is less than 10 centimetres wide and the host shear zone is 3 to 10 metres wide. The northern splay of the vein, traced for about 70 metres, strikes roughly east and dips steeply northward. The vein is 190 metres long and the east end is covered by talus. Mapping indicates that the rear part of the vein is hosted by intermediate to felsic(?) intrusive rock and the front part is in a light green rock which appears to be bleached argillite or fine grained epiclastic rock. In the upper adit, the No. 2 vein consists of quartz with irregular concentrations of sulphides. The vein appears to contain 5 per cent galena, 2 per cent sphalerite and 5 per cent combined pyrite and arsenopyrite. Galena and sphalerite are concentrated on the southern margin. Samples from the No. 2 vein have assayed up to 18.5 grams per tonne gold, trace silver, 0.1 per cent zinc, nil lead and trace copper across 1.0 metre (Property File - Mathews, 1942). Samples from drillhole 81-2 assayed 3.6 grams per tonne gold and trace silver across 0.2 metre from a footwall splay of the No. 2 vein and 5.3 grams per tonne gold and 112.8 grams per tonne silver across 0.3 metre from the No. 2 vein (Assessment Report 10392).
Samples taken in 1990 assayed up to 4.9 grams per tonne gold and 23 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 21975). Surface samples taken in 1991 from the upper adit area assayed up to 37.4 grams per tonne gold over narrow widths (Assessment Report 21975). The 1991 program concluded that the values in the veins were spotty and the veins were limited in extent.
The L.L. & H. claim group was staked before 1910 by Lydden, Lade and Hartley. Stripping, opencutting and two tunnels were completed in 1910-11 and 1920-21. In 1928, Bitter Creek Mines Ltd. acquired the property, then comprising the Fidelity claims. The Marmot Metal Company Ltd. optioned the property late that year and carried out further tunnelling. The following year the Northern Metals Holding Syndicate performed more tunnelling on the No. 1 (upper) and No. 2 (lower) tunnels. The Bitter Creek Mines charter was surrendered in 1931. In 1931-32, the property was restaked by Harkley, as the Bon Accord claim group and the No. 1 tunnel was extended. In 1934, Playfair Gold Mines Ltd. acquired the property. No further development work was done until 1941 when a third, 137 metre long tunnel (No. 3) was driven below the other two crosscuts. The crosscut intersected both the No. 1 and No. 2 veins; both veins were drifted on for 20 to 25 metres. No further work was done until 1981 when Northair Mines optioned the property. Northair carried out surface mapping, sampling and drilled three short surface holes (totalling 315 metres) about 125 metres south of the No. 1 tunnel. One of the drillholes penetrated the mineralized structures; the others failed to reach the targets. Prospecting was carried out on the property in 1983 by Norcan Exploration Ltd. In 1988, Ibex Energy Inc. did geochemical and geophysical surveys on the claims. Bond Gold Canada Inc. optioned the property in 1989 and did some prospecting and sampling in 1990 and 1991.
