The SS showings are located 1 kilometre east of Spout Lake and approximately 800 metres south of Bluff Lake. The area is 22 kilometres north-northeast of Lac La Hache and is accessible from Highway 97 and on old logging roads.
The area near the SS showings is underlain by hornblende biotite granodioritic rocks, which are probably part of the Triassic to Jurassic Takomkane Batholith which intrudes andesites, basalts, calcareous tuffs and argillites of the Upper Triassic Nicola Group. Nicola Group rocks are also intruded by the Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic Spout Lake Intrusive complex, an alkalic intrusive suite ranging in composition from pyroxenite through monzonite to syenite, and from batholithic size to small intrusive plugs, dikes and breccia bodies. Outliers of alkaline plateau basalts of the Miocene to Pleistocene Chilcotin Group are present in the general area.
Assessment Report 1704 reports "copper mineralization, associated with sheared and altered zones in the granodiorite, has been noted at several locations". Mineralization consists of fracture-controlled chalcopyrite, bornite, malachite, magnetite and pyrite, with minor disseminated chalcopyrite and pyrite mineralization in brecciated altered granodiorite adjacent to the fracture zones.
In 2007, angular intrusive float cobbles (sample RSBL-01) containing disseminated chalcopyrite, bornite, malachite and magnetite were located approximately 350 metres east of reported location of the SS zone in an area of anomalous copper-in-soil values. The sample assayed 1.49 per cent copper and 8.1 grams per tonne silver (Gruenwald, W. (2010-01-21): Technical Report on the Bluff Lake Property).
In 2008, drilling on the area of the anomalous float and soil samples intersected monzonitic rocks containing very fine-grained disseminations and thin fractures of metallic copper with trace to rare pyrite, bornite, chalcopyrite and molybdenite. The best intersection was in hole BL08-02 which yielded 0.152 per cent copper over 2.00 metres (Gruenwald, W. (2010-01-21): Technical Report on the Bluff Lake Property).
Work History
In 1966 and 1967, Coranex Ltd. completed programs of soil, silt and rock sampling, prospecting and trenching on the Bluff Lake area. This work identified at least four zones of minor copper (chalcopyrite) mineralization in the area. The best of the mineralized zones was referred to as the C 2 zone, which was reported to be located approximately 700 metres north-northwest of the western end of Bluff Lake.
In 1968 and 1969, Monte Cristo Mines completed programs of soil sampling and a magnetometer survey on the area as the SS claims. This work identified several magnetic highs south of Bluff Lake in the area of the copper occurrences.
In 1973 and 1974, Craigmont Mines completed programs of ground geophysical surveys, soil sampling and a 94-metre-long drill hole. Drilling is reported to have intersected coal-bearing Tertiary sediments beneath Bluff Lake with a 0.9-metre-wide seam of bituminous coal being intersected at 33 metres down-hole.
In 1993 and 1994, GWR Resources completed programs of prospecting, geochemical sampling, geological mapping and geophysical surveys on the area.
In 2004, Candorado Operating Co. completed a program of geological mapping, ground geophysical surveys and 1600 metres of drilling on several claims in the area. This work identified an area of copper mineralization in a potassic-altered monzonite located northwest of Bluff Lake.
In 2007 and 2008, Beeston Enterprises Ltd. completed programs of MMI soil sampling, rock sampling and four diamond drill holes, totalling 710 metres, on the area as the Bluff Lake property.
In 2017, a 641-line-kilometre airborne high-resolution gravimetric and magnetic gradient survey was completed on the area. During 2018 through 2021, EnGold Mines Ltd. completed programs of prospecting, soil sampling, diamond drilling and a geophysical survey on the area as part of the Lac La Hache property.
