The Krans 14 occurrence is located approximately 6.6 kilometres southeast of Lincoln Lake about 49 kilometres east-northeast of the community of Atlin.
This tin occurrence is hosted by alaskite of the Surprise Lake batholith (Surprise Lake Plutonic Suite) and is situated along the upper reaches of a south-flowing tributary of Zenazie Creek. The batholith covers about 1100 square kilometres east and northeast of Atlin and is dated at 70.6 plus or minus 3.8 million years or Late Cretaceous (Map 52, notes). It is composed primarily of medium grained, equigranular alaskite which is essentially a leucocratic granite with microcline and orthoclase with subordinate quartz, and may or may not contain plagioclase and mafics. Some coarse grained, quartz feldspar porphyritic varieties also exist. The contacts between the various textural varieties are commonly gradational. Massive aplitic dikes crosscut the batholith and very coarse grained pegmatitic zones also occur within the alaskite containing large quartz and feldspar crystals and books of biotite. The width of these zones varies considerably, but the contacts are almost always sharp.
A 20 to 30 metre wide alteration zone within alaskite occurs in a creek valley. This zone, striking 060 degrees, has as the core a 0.5 to 0.6 metre wide dark quartz vein centred in a 5.0 metre wide zone of soft kaolinized alaskite. In addition to this pervasive clay alteration, chlorite-magnetite plus or minus tourmaline and pyrite alteration is most common. Greisen-style alteration, often with magnetite, is less common. In 1980, a sample of the vein assayed 0.045 per cent tin, while a sample of greisenized wallrock contained only 0.0023 per cent tin (Assessment Report 9342).
The Krans claims were staked as a tin prospect following the evaluation of the results obtained from a regional reconnaissance stream sediment sampling program carried out in 1977. Reconnaissance sampling in 1979 yielded several anomalous tin values, some of which were examined in further detail in early 1980. This work comprised additional soil, rock and stream pan concentrate sampling carried out on behalf of the Cortin Joint Venture; 143 soil samples, 21 rock samples and 9 pan concentrate samples were taken.
