The Joy 87 occurrence area is located 3.8 kilometres east of McBride River and 3.6 kilometres northeast of Mount Sister Mary, 54 kilometres east-northeast of the village of Iskut. The rugged mountainous terrain with peak elevations of 1900 to 2000 metres is characteristic of the southern Cassiar Mountains.
The area lies within the Stikine arch which is bounded to the south by the Bowser Basin. The general east trend of bedding, folding and faulting found along the Stikine arch contrasts with the dominant northwest trend of lithological units within the Stikine Terrane. Mapping by the Geological Survey of Canada (Open File 2241) defines the underlying lithology as island arc-related volcanics and sediments of Upper Triassic to Middle Jurassic age which were deposited in the Hazelton eugeosynclinal trough. Extensive plutonism from the Late Triassic to the Late Jurassic emplaced dioritic, monzodioritic, granodioritic and granitic phases of the Hotailuh batholith. These units have been deformed by regional lower greenschist metamorphism and folding during the Lower Jurassic and open folding during the Upper Jurassic.
The Joy 87 prospect comprises several narrow fractures in a 100 by 300 metre zone. The zone has a north trend, however, individual fractures have a northwest orientation. Hostrocks comprise unnamed Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic porphyritic andesite flows, breccia and tuffs. Chalcopyrite with associated pyrite, pyrrhotite, magnetite and hematite occurs as fissure fillings accompanied by partial alteration of the hostrock to epidote and quartz. Malachite and chrysocolla are common on weathered surfaces. Composite rock chip samples taken across 1.2 to 1.5 metre widths averaged 0.15 per cent copper, 0.17 gram per tonne gold and 6.8 grams per tonne silver, and individual samples assayed up to 2.01 per cent copper and 1.36 grams per tonne gold (Property File - Bowser Resources Ltd., 1969).
Copper mineralization in the McBride River area was first noted by Gabrielse during the course of mapping for the Geological Survey of Canada (Open File 1005). Extensive staking, geological mapping, airborne magnetic surveying, hand trenching and minor lithogeochemical sampling has been conducted over the prospect and adjoining ground from 1969 to 1970.
In 2014, on behalf of Garibaldi Resources Corp., stream sediment geochemistry (20 samples) and airborne magnetic and radiometric surveys (331 line kilometres) were carried out over their large MSM property claims which covers the Joy 87 showing area. As well, satellite imagery was used to produce a lineament map of the property, which was compared to geological, geochemical and geophysical data to help define favourable areas for mineral exploration.
