The Golden Gate occurrence is located approximately 1.9 kilometres northwest of the south end of Alleyne Lake and 3.15 kilometres east-northeast of the south end of Kidd Lake.

Regionally, the area is underlain by the Upper Triassic Nicola Group, which regionally consists of alkalic and calc-alkalic volcanics and intrusions of island arc origin, and which is the principal component of the Quesnel terrane in southern British Columbia (Geological Survey of Canada Maps 41-1989, 1713A). The area lies in the Central Belt or facies of the Nicola Group (after Preto, Bulletin 69). This belt of rocks mainly consists of subaerial and submarine, red or purple to green augite plagioclase porphyritic andesitic and basaltic flows, volcanic breccia and tuff, and minor argillites and limestone. The volcanics are intruded by bodies of comagmatic Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic diorite to monzonite. The area is characterized by long-lived, primarily north-striking faults and related fracturing, which originally controlled intrusion emplacement. East-striking faults are subordinate, and commonly offset intrusive contacts.

Locally, native copper, chalcopyrite, bornite, chalcocite, pyrite and cuprite occur in fractures in red laharic breccia, near the contact with green laharic breccia of the Upper Triassic Nicola Group (Central Belt, Bulletin 69).

Similar copper mineralization is exposed in several pits and trenches some 300 to 400 metres south-southwest, on the Medal Fraction claim (Lot 1540). Here, the same red breccia contains native copper along fractures and minor disseminated chalcopyrite.

A sample assayed 1.2 per cent copper, 0.7 gram per tonne gold and trace silver (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1901, page 1182). A chip sample taken across 3.0 metres assayed 0.5 per cent copper (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1913, page 223).

Work History

In 1957, a ground magnetic survey was completed on the area immediately east of the occurrence as the Bounty claim.

In 1972, Highland Mercury Mines Ltd. completed a program of rock and soil sampling on the area immediately east of the occurrence as the Vagas claims. During 1978 through 1980, Cal Dynamics Energy Corporation completed soil and geophysical surveys over the area as the AK claims.

In 1990, MineQuest Exploration Associates Ltd. rock sampled the area as the Ley 1-3, Al 1-2 and Ken claims. In 1992, Pacific Copper Fields Inc. and MineQuest Exploration Associates Ltd. completed a program of geological mapping and rock sampling on the claims.

In 2008, Christopher James Gold Corp. completed a 1113.5 line-kilometre airborne magnetic-radiometric survey on the area as the Big Kidd property.

In 2011 and 2012, Xstrata Copper Canada Corp., on the behalf of Jiulian Resources Ltd., completed programs of prospecting, geochemical (rock and soil) sampling and a 56.8-line-kilometre induced polarization survey on the Big Kidd property.