The property is located at the head of Sitkum Creek on Mount Cornfield, approximately 20 kilometres north of Nelson. The location of the Noonday group, relative to the four original claims of the Alpine group, is not known but may have covered adjacent ground which was in later years Crown-granted as the Alpine, Swiss and Washington Fractions (Lots 15002-15004).
The area is dominated by granitic rocks of the Middle to Late Jurassic Nelson Intrusions.
At the Alpine mine, a quartz vein occurs in a discrete shear zone striking 255 degrees and dipping moderately (30 degrees) north within quartz monzonite of the Nelson Intrusions. The vein is traceable over 400 metres on surface and projects into Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park to the north. Vein contacts with hanging wall and footwall quartz monzonite are sharp and variably sericitized and chloritic. The vein ranges from 0.6 to 2.1 metres in width but averages 1.1 metres.
The quartz vein is limonitic weathering, highly jointed and fractured and sometimes brecciated. Vein textures are massive crystalline, ribboned, or banded and vuggy. Quartz is variably milky, white, grey and colourless suggesting episodic deposition (Paper 1989-5). Stevenson (Bulletin 10) refers to scheelite mineralization at the Alpine occurrence.
Mineralization comprises massive, disseminated and stringer-type electrum, unidentified silver minerals, pyrite and lesser galena, sphalerite and tetrahedrite hosted in a quartz and minor calcite gangue. Rare clots of molybdenite were identified in altered potassium feldspar granite from the mine dump (Paper 1989-5).
Pre-mineralization aplite and pegmatite dikes are common; post- mineralization lamprophyre dikes are less abundant, range to 4.8 metres in width and strike between 310 and 010 degrees with east and west dips. Normal faults with displacements up to 6 metres offset all dikes and veins.
Intermittent production from 1915 to 1988 totalled 16,810 tonnes containing 222,044 grams of silver, 356,360 grams of gold, 49,329 kilograms of lead and 17,167 kilograms of zinc.
The Alpine group, comprising 4 claims, the Swiss, Highland Chief, Berne, and Kootenay Pass (Lots 2879-2882, respectively) were owned from 1896 or earlier by C. Faas, H. Cleaver & associates. The claims were Crown-granted to Faas & associates in 1899. No further activity was reported in this vicinity until 1918 when the Noonday group, comprising the Noonday, Climax, Margaret, and Pearl Fraction claims, was owned by J. Radcliffe and J.S. Johnson, of Nelson. Workings included open cuts and a 55-metre adit on the Noonday claim.
By 1927 the Alpine group was owned by E. Harrop & associates. The workings included 2 adits, possibly including the adit driven on the Noonday claim. The Alpine Syndicate acquired the property in about 1936 and built a road to the property. In 1937 further trenching was done, and the No. 10 drift adit was begun. In October 1938, Alpine Gold, Limited, operated the mine and acquired the adjacent Swiss, Alpine, Washington, and Oregon Fractions and the Idaho claim. The Basin, Meadow, and Sitkum claims (Lots 14922, 14928, 14929), located to the south and at elevations of 1675 to 1980 metres on Sitkum Creek, were acquired by the company for a millsite. In 1938 the new No. 10 level adit was extended to 80 metres. A 50 ton-per-day mill was put into operation in December 1939 and operated intermittently until 1948. In 1938 and 1939 the adjacent Gold Crown was operated and ore mine by hand steel. Development work to 1948 included two drift adits, Nos. 7 and 10 levels, located about 235 metres apart at elevations of 2180 and 2110 metres, respectively. The lower adit was driven to a length of 345 metres. The workings comprised over 1646 metres drifts, crosscuts, and raises. Diamond drilling totalling 366 metres was carried out in 1947. Reserves were estimated in 1949 at 90,720 tons at 19.5 grams per tonne gold (Financial Post Survey of Mines 1953, p. 81).
In 1968, Hudson Bay Oil and Gas completed a program of silt and soil sampling and a ground radiometric survey on the area as the Lemon Creek property.
In 1987, Cove Energy Corporation acquired an option to purchase Granges Exploration Ltd., included construction of an access road, dump sampling, cross cutting to provide underground drill stations, and diamond drilling. Work by Cove Resources Corporation in 1988 included a drift extension on No. 10 level, and diamond drilling; this downdip for about 300 metres and widens to about 6 metres. Reserves were reported as 190,500 tonnes proven at 13.7 grams per tonne gold (George Cross News Letter, February 2, 1989). Custom ore was shipped in 1988.
In 1989, Cominco Ltd. acquired an option on the property and drilled and tested the downdip extension of the Alpine vein. The company drilled 1745 metres in 12 holes. Samples of vein or vein-zone material form six holes (AG-89-01,02, 03, 05, 06, 12) yielded in excess of 1 gram per tonne gold; of these two holes (AG-89-05 and 12) assayed greater than 10 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 19483).
In 2000, a minor program of rock sampling and a 0.2 kilometre self-potential survey was completed by Tera Ex Mining. In 2011, Matovich Mining Industries completed a program of geological mapping and rock sampling. A sample (MM2212) of mineralized quartz vein from the former Gold Crown workings assayed 26.7 grams per tonne gold, 47.6 grams per tonne silver and 1.86 per cent lead (Assessment Report 33876).
In 2016, Matovich Mining Ltd. completed an exploration program including prospecting and rock sampling. Highlighted results from vein material included grades of 42.3 grams per tonne gold (McCuaig, M., Giroux, G., Gallagher, C. (2018-03-06): NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Alpine Property).
In 2017, Braveheart Resources Inc. completed an exploration program that included drilling, surface mapping, surveying, and geochemical sampling on the property containing the occurrence. Highlighted chip samples taken from historic underground workings included sample JBALR034, a chip sample of 1.25 metres in length grading 54.60 grams per tonne gold, and sample JBALR037, a chip sample 0.35 metres in length grading 22.60 grams per tonne gold (McCuaig, M., Giroux, G., Gallagher, C. (2018-03-06): NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Alpine Property). Highlighted drill results included hole AL17008 grading 38.0 grams per tonne gold over 1.4 metres at 126.8 metres depth, and hole AL17007 grading 19.1 grams per tonne gold over 1.7 metres at 140.7 metres depth (McCuaig, M., Giroux, G., Gallagher, C. (2018-03-06): NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Alpine Property).
The 2017 resource estimate calculated at a cut-off of 5.0 grams per tonne gold, the Alpine occurrence contains 268,000 tonnes grading 16.52 grams per tonne gold (McCuaig, M., Giroux, G., Gallagher, C. (2018-03-06): NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Alpine Property).
