The Bpex (Braiteach Zone) occurrence is located on the western side of the Jordan River, approximately 2.5 kilometres north of its junction with Bear Creek.
The occurrence lies within the Jurassic to Cretaceous Leech River Complex (Formation), a fault-bounded block of metamorphosed pelitic, arenaceous and volcanic rocks. The complex lies north of the Leech River fault, south of which lie the tholeiitic basalts of the Eocene Metchosin Volcanics and coeval intrusive rock of the Sooke Gabbro. To the north, across the San Juan fault, are the various volcanic and sedimentary packages of the Sicker, Vancouver and Bonanza groups, and their related intrusive rocks. To the east, across the Survey Mountain fault, are the Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks comprising the Colquitz and Wark gneisses.
The rocks of the Leech River Complex have been metamorphosed to low-pressure greenschist and amphibolite assemblages, and display evidence of two regional deformational events. The prospect is underlain by a refolded sequence of metasedimentary rocks with at least two volcanic units, now represented by amphibolite. The dominant structural feature is a gently eastward-plunging anticlinal structure.
The rocks are dominantly metasandstone and metapelites, the latter represented by various types of schist, ranging from biotite- chlorite through garnet-chlorite to andalusite-staurolite-biotite, plus or minus garnet. The volcanic rocks are either represented by chlorite-epidote (or zoisite) -actinolite-albite or hornblende- epidote-quartz-plagioclase amphibolites. The metasediments were intruded by complex granitic sills of intermediate composition, and by related pegmatite dykes and sills (see Peg, 092B 111). Many of these sills have been folded along with their enclosing rock.
The area is 4 kilometres west-northwest of the Discovery zone of the Valentine Mountain property (MIFNILE 092B 108) and is apparently on strike with that zone.
Locally, as indicated by drilling, amphibolites contain local biotite-rich layers and 5 to 7 per cent quartz stringers and sweats, with less than 1 per cent quartz veining throughout the unit. Mineralization consists of 1 to 2 per cent localized disseminated pyrite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite and trace arsenopyrite.
In 1987 and 1988, Valentine Gold Corp. optioned the Valentine Mountain property from Beau Pre Explorations and drilled 43 core holes (28 in the Discovery and 15 in Jordan R. Zones). Additional work by Valentine Gold included property wide soil and silt sampling, prospecting, rock chip sampling, Mag/VLF-EM/Max-Min/IP geophysics, and petrographic analysis. Drill hole 88-12 intersected 3 metres of native gold-bearing rock grading 7.2 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 19362).
In 1989, Noranda Exploration Ltd. optioned the property to explore for Kolar, India and/or Bendigo, Australia type auriferous quartz systems. The detailed exploration program focused on the “Discovery Zone” (west extension), “Braiteach” (formerly Bpex) and “BN, and Walker Ck. areas and consisted of 17.8 line kilometres of IP, 51.6 kilometres of magnetometer surveys, geological mapping (81.4 kilometres grid lines), 1,355 soil samples, 1,121 rock chip samples and 727.2 metres of diamond drilling in five holes. A diamond drill hole (DDH 88-12) intersected 4.66 grams per tonne gold over 3.0 metres (Assessment Report 30402).
In 2000 through 2007, Beau Pre, carried out fieldwork included surveying, road improvements hand trenching, prospecting, geological mapping and geochemical analysis on the area as apart of the Valentine Mountain property. In 2008 through 2012, Mill Bay Ventures acquired the Valentine Mountain property and completed a program of soil, rock and moss mat sampling and prospecting.
