The Irene occurrence is located at an elevation of approximately 1800 metres on a northeast-trending ridge west of Char Creek and south of Summit Creek.
Regionally, the area is underlain by quartzite and quartz arenite sedimentary rocks of the Three Sisters Formation, argillite, greywacke, wacke and conglomerate turbidites of the Monk Formation, greenstone and greenschist metamorphic rocks of the Irene Formation and conglomerate and coarse clastic sedimentary rocks of the Toby Formation, all of the Neoproterozoic Windermere Supergroup. To the west these units have been intruded by granodioritic rocks of the Cretaceous Anstey pluton, and to the north and south large bodies of Middle Jurassic granitic intrusive are exposed.
Locally, mineralized quartz carbonate veins are primarily hosted by north-trending, steeply dipping shears in amygdaloidal or vesicular basalt and agglomerate of the Irene Formation, and in places are slightly metamorphosed to regional greenschist grade (chlorite facies) and thus appear as metabasalt or chlorite schist. A thin bed of conglomerate separates the quartz-bearing volcanics to the east from the more abundant intermediate variety of volcanic rock to the west. Several lenses or beds, greater than 10 metres thick, of limestone and dolomite are intercalated in the volcanics.
Mineralization consists of minor pyrite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, galena and sphalerite found in thin, up to 30-centimetre wide, irregular and discontinuous quartz carbonate veins and/or quartz breccia zones. The veins are commonly malachite-, azurite- and/or limonite-stained and are concentrated in places within limestone or dolomite beds. Trace chalcopyrite and naïve copper have also been found as amygdule fillings with calcite in volcanic rocks. Alteration minerals include silica, carbonate, epidote, chlorite, hematite, sericite and siderite. Copper values tend to be associated with epidote and pyrrhotite, whereas gold values tend to be associated with oxidized veins hosting pyrite with sericite. Similar mineralization, referred to as the southern shear zone, is exposed by a road cut approximately 600 metres to the south-southeast of the main (northern) shear zone.
Another mineralized zone, comprising massive sulphides in rusty (limonite-stained) silicified dolomite, is located approximately 600 metres to the northeast of the main (northern) shear zone at an elevation of 1780 metres.
Other mineralized veins are located on Char Creek near the junction of its three southern arms, approximately 2.2 kilometres to the southeast, and comprises rare sphalerite and galena in a quartz vein varying from 3 to 20 centimetres in width. At least four other chalcopyrite-bearing quartz veins are reported in the area and are located: approximately 500 metres further southeast of the previous vein at an elevation of approximately 1670 metres; in the extreme southern headwaters of Char Creek at an elevation of approximately 1680 metres; on the west side of Char Creek, northeast of the main (northern) shear zone, at an elevation of approximately 1530 metres and on a ridge located approximately 600 metres west of the southern shear zone.
In 1991, a rock sample (MH91-59) from a zone of mineralized outcrop assayed 0.278 per cent copper, whereas a float sample (MH91-58) taken downslope to the northeast yielded 0.236 gram per tonne gold and 0.213 per cent copper (Assessment Report 22054). Another float sample (MH91-61), taken from a southeastern tributary of Char Creek, assayed 0.144 gram per tonne gold, 0.258 per cent copper and 11.7 grams per tonne silver, whereas a sample (MH91-62) of mineralized quartz vein in exposed in sub-crop in the southern headwaters of Char Creek yielded 0.185 per cent copper (Assessment Report 22054).
In 2001, a rock sample (CHAR-16) from a quartz breccia zone in carbonate-altered volcanics hosting a 30-centimetre wide quartz vein assayed 2.833 per cent lead, 461.3 grams per tonne silver and 8.77 grams per tonne gold, whereas a sample (CHAR-4) from the massive sulphide-bearing dolomite zone yielded 2.659 per cent lead, 4.938 per cent zinc, 0.040 per cent cadmium, 110.3 grams per tonne silver and 0.12 gram per tonne gold (Assessment Report 26797).
Also, at this time samples (CHAR-3 and -23) from other chalcopyrite-bearing quartz veins, located northeast of the main mineralized zone at an elevation of 1530 metres and southeast of Char Creek at an elevation of 1670 metres, yielded 0.244 and 0.116 per cent copper, respectively (Assessment Report 26797).
In 2011, two rock samples (CR11-05 and -15) yielded up to 0.534 per cent copper and 0.10 gram per tonne gold (Assessment Report 32961).
In 2012, two rock samples (CHARMK-19 and -17) from the area of historical workings and sampling yielded up to 0.86 per cent lead, 2.38 per cent zinc and 0.255 gram per tonne gold, whereas a sample (CHARMK-4) from a parallel vein, located 30 metres to the east, yielded 0.492 gram per tonne gold (Assessment Report 34161).
Also at this time, rock samples (CHARMK-23 and -26) from the southern shear zone yielded up to 0.60 gram per tonne gold, 1.34 per cent lead and 3.41 per cent zinc, whereas float samples (CHARMK-23 and -24) yielded up to 4.82 per cent lead and 7.15 per cent zinc (Assessment Report 34161). Samples (CHARMK-15 and -11) from two other parallel veins, located approximately 100 metres east and west of the southern shear zone, yielded 0.292 per cent lead, 0.497 per cent zinc and 0.20 gram per tonne gold from the eastern vein and 0.23 gram per tonne gold from the western vein (Assessment Report 34161).
Another sample (CHAR-9) of epidote-altered mafic volcanic hosting thin quartz veins with disseminated pyrite and chalcopyrite assayed 0.735 per cent copper and 1.031 gram per tonne gold (Assessment Report 34161). This sample was taken from a ridge located approximately 600 metres west of the southern shear zone.
The Irene 1-3 claims were staked in 1990 by Cominco Ltd. to cover strong gold, base metal and indicator element stream sediment anomalies in Char Creek. The following year, a program of prospecting and rock and soil sampling was completed.
In 2001, a program of rock and heavy mineral sampling was completed on the area as the Char 1-14 claims. This work identified fine grains of native gold in stream silt heavy mineral samples.
In 2011 and 2012, Integra Gold Corp. completed programs of rock sampling, geological mapping and a 13.2 line-kilometre ground electromagnetic and magnetic survey.
