The Sabiston Flats mercury showing is underlain mainly by the Upper Triassic Nicola Group comprising massive to plagioclase porphyritic andesite, tuff, agglomerate, argillite, and basaltic flows with picritic phases. The Nicola rocks trend northwesterly with moderate to steep northeast or southwest dips and are cut by major northwest trending faults.
Several large carbonate (ankerite)-silica alteration zones extend from the shore of Kamloops Lake northward and northwestard. The buff to yellow weathering carbonate zones contain varying amounts of stockworks and veins of dolomite, ankerite and calcite with one or more stages of silica (chalcedonic) veining and varying amounts of sericite, kaolinite and pyrite. Ten alteration zones have been recognized which vary from 100 metres long by 10 metres wide up to 1500 metres long by 150 metres wide. Most are poorly exposed and have been traced mainly in rubble outcrop.
The original mercury showing was on a Crown grant that reverted to the Crown and then leased to R.C. Neville in 1940. The principal showing occurs in a lower adit on the westerly side of a dry gulch about 30 metres above and 91 metres from the Canadian National Railway tracks. The short adit (8.5 metres) follows dolomite stringers within an ankeritic alteration zone in andesite and plagioclase porphyritic andesite. The dolomite stringers contain narrow films and disseminations of cinnabar. Local minor disseminated tetrahedrite can also occur with occasional massive clots. An opencut about 457 metres upslope from the lower adit cuts across a shear zone containing stringers of dolomite with minor malachite and azurite. About 15 metres up from this opencut, an adit was driven for 30 metres following a shear zone with dolomite stringers; no cinnabar was observed in place or on the dump (Geological Survey of Canada Memoir 249). In 1984, grab samples from the lower adit area containing dolomite veining with cinnabar and tetrahedrite yielded up to 15 parts per billion gold, 24.2 grams per tonne silver, 1.9 per cent mercury and 3.34 per cent copper (Assessment Report 13618).
In 1972, M. Hjelt staked the Jean claims which covered the adits and showing area and in 1973 a ground magnetometer survey was run for 26 kilometres. In 1982, heavy mineral sampling conducted by Canadian Nickel Company Ltd. yielded anomalous mercury and gold and resulted in the staking of the Kam claim group. Exploration personnel from Canadian Nickel became aware that the numerous hydrothermal mercury occurrences in the area could be a manifestation of zoning in epithermal gold deposits and exploration was pursued intensively from 1982-85. In 1983, extensive exploration took place which resulted in the Jeff claim group being staked. The exploration included 30 kilometres of line cutting, soil (159) and rock (84) sampling, heavy mineral sampling (124), 20 kilometres of VLF-EM surveys, an altimeter survey and 7.6 kilometres of induced polarization survey. In 1984, the company continued exploration with line cutting and grid establishment (35 kilometres), prospecting, geological mapping, rock (237) and heavy mineral stream sediment sampling (9), magnetometer (21 kilometres), VLF-EM (20 kilometres) and induced polarization (19 kilometres) surveys, and percussion drilling of 17 holes totalling 287 metres. In 1987, a total of 1109 soil samples and 23 rock samples were taken on behalf of Canadian Nickel Company Ltd. In late 1987 and early 1988, 10 percussion holes were drilled totalling 940 metres and 2 diamond-drill holes were put down totalling 341 metres on behalf of Canadian Nickel Company Ltd.
