The Blackbird occurrence is located on a southeast-facing slope, northwest of the Zeballos River and between Maquinna and Pandora creeks.

The occurrence area is underlain by a lens of silicified limestone, 600 metres long and 100 metres wide, striking west and dipping 75 degrees north. The limestone is part of the Upper Triassic Quatsino Formation (Vancouver Group) and is surrounded by pyroclastic andesite, tuffs and volcanic breccia of the Lower Jurassic Bonanza Group. These rocks are intruded by hornblende diorite (Zeballos phase) of the Upper Jurassic Island Plutonic Suite.

The occurrence, which has been explored over approximately 25 metres by several open cuts and a short adit, comprises a 10-metre-wide band of interbedded dacite, limestone and garnetite that contains scattered clusters of magnetite and chalcopyrite with minor pyrite and pyrrhotite. This band lies between crystalline limestone to the south and green hornfelsed and skarn-altered tuff to the north. Epidote, wollastonite, diopside and actinolite are also present.

The National Mineral Inventory (092L2 Au31) combines the occurrence with the Maquinna gold vein (MINFILE 092L 023) occurrence, located approximately 220 metres to the north-northeast.

Work History

In the early 1900s a short adit and several open cuts are reported to have been developed on the occurrence.

In 1971, New Privateer Mine Ltd. completed a program of soil sampling and a ground magnetic survey on the area as the AG and Kodiak claims. In 1979, R.H. Lonsdale completed a program of geological mapping on the area as the R&R claim group.

In 1999, Zeb Oro Explorations Inc. prospected the area as the Zeb Oro property. In 2014, the area was prospected as the Zeballos Vancouver Island property. In 2017, the area was prospected as the Zeballos property.