The cinnabar showings on the northwest slopes of Hardie Hill were discovered late in August 1895 by Messrs. McCartney and Irving and were known as the Hardie Mountain showings (092INE037). These showings should not be confused with the Hardie Hill cinnabar showings (092INE058, this description) located about 1000 to 1500 metres east and which were discovered later in the 1940s. The Mercury and Hg group of claims covered this showing and considerable prospecting was done by D.B. Sterritt and associates in 1940-41. A shaft, crosscut adit with a drift, numerous pits and trenches were excavated. The showings occur on a group of three knolls and were locally referred to as Hardie, Dickson and Sterritt Hills (Geological Survey of Canada Memoir 249, page 101).

Interest in the area revived in about 1957 and has been more or less continuously staked since that time. In 1966, the Merc claims were staked and sold to L.J. Leier of Calgary. In 1968, the property was optioned to Jason Oils Limited who conducted a geological examination. In August 1968, Jason Oils Limited transferred their option agreement to Savanna Creek Gas and Oil Limited of Calgary. In 1969-70, Savanna Creek conducted soil geochemical and geological surveys on the Merc claims and the newly staked LA claims. In 1969, Savanna Creek conducted exploration on the LA 3 claim which covered the Hardie Hill showing (this description). In 1981, Placer Development Limited conducted a soil geochemical survey over the Jim claims which overlapped the Hardie Mountain and Hardie Hill showings. In 1982, D.A. Ward completed a soil survey over the Ward claims which covered the Hardie Hill showings. In 1984, D.A. Ward hand dug 10 trenches and constructed 1.5 kilometres of access trail on the Pearl claim which covered the Hardie Hill showings. In 1984, P. Peto conducted prospecting on the Hardie 1-8 claims which covered the Hardie Mountain showing (092INE037). In 1985, D.A. Ward performed prospecting and collected 100 rock samples on the Ward 1-8 claims which covered the Hardie Mountain showing. In 1986, D.A. Ward ran magnetometer surveys over the Ward claim group which covered both the Hardie Mountain and Hardie Hill showings. In 1987, D.A. Ward completed soil and rock sampling and 83 trenches totalling 518 metres on the Byrl claims which covered both the Hardie Mountain and Hardie Hill showings (this description).

The Hardie Hill cinnabar showings are primarily underlain by a series of Upper Triassic Nicola Group volcanic rocks that strike northerly and dip west. The rocks include dark coloured, fine grained and amygdaloidal basalts, light grey andesite, tuffs and volcanic breccias which are intruded by light coloured, fine grained felsites including feldspar porphyry and associated dikes. Many of the rocks have been partly ankeritized resulting in a rusty brown colour. Silicification is evident within some felsite intrusions. Local breccia zones in altered volcanics are mineralized with minor disseminated cinnabar associated with fine grained chalcedonic quartz, which were refractured and filled with carbonates (dolomite, calcite) and more cinnabar, and refractured and recemented with carbonate. Locally, the volcanics have been altered to clays that contain abundant gypsum and rare cinnabar.

Slightly over one flask of mercury was produced from the property, all from ore obtained from the main drift in the dike workings. This material was hand sorted and treated in a retort, situated near the entrance of the crosscut, for roughly 24 hours. Approximately 1.5 tons of sorted ore was treated in each batch from which 28 to over 30 pounds of mercury was recovered. Though the cinnabar is finely disseminated through the rock, which was not finely crushed, very little mercury is said to remain in the retort after 24 hours treatment (Property File - Mathews, 1942).