The Lottie occurrence is located 575 metres southwest of Lottie Lake, between the lake and Big Valley Creek in the west, approximately 14.5 kilometres north of Wells.
The Lottie area is underlain by volcanic rocks of the Mississippian to Permian Antler Formation (Slide Mountain Group). Rocks are mainly an intermediate to mafic sequence of volcanic flows and tuffs, with at least one phyllitic mudstone unit conformably lying within the volcanic lithology.
Mineralized float is located over an area of 15 by 20 metres, and the distribution of boulders and cobbles is suggestive of a train trending to the south and east. At least 20 boulders of massive sulphides have been discovered, with several additional boulders of stringer sulphides in chert. The dominant sulphides are chalcopyrite (75 to 80 per cent), chalcocite (5 to 10 per cent), pyrite (5 to 10 per cent) and minor bornite.
In 1979, Comaplex-Vestor undertook a geochemical survey of rocks from the Slide Mountain terrane in the area between Highway 16 and Wells. The following year, CCH Resources carried out airborne geophysical surveys over four of the geochemical targets identified by Comaplex-Vestor. One target on the south side of Ketcham Creek and east of the Ketcham till anomalies occurred within the Eureka property. A second target was located adjacent to the Eureka property, on the southwest side of Slender Lake. In 1981, the Antler claims were staked by Esso Minerals 3.5 kilometres northeast of Towkuh Lake. Exploration work on the claims included soil geochemistry, mapping and trenching. The discovery of sulphide boulders found by placer miners led to the staking of claims on Sugar Creek, located 8 kilometres west of the Lottie float. Noranda completed electromagnetic, magnetic and induced polarization geophysical surveys over the claims. At the same time, Gordon Gunson staked the Neewa claims 0.5 kilometres west of Westpass Lake based on unidentified sulphides discovered in bedrock. Two small soil geochemistry surveys were completed. In 1983, BP conducted an airborne electromagnetic survey that overlapped the northern portion of the Eureka property. Massive pyritic boulders were discovered north of Bowron Lakes Park, leading to Noranda conducting an airborne geophysical survey to the east of the Bowron River in 1986.
In 1993, while prospecting for volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits in the Slide Mountain terrane rocks around Prince George, Martin Peters located a minor copper-bearing float in the Westpass Lake area. Peters returned to the area in 1996 and identified the Bow massive sulphide float, covering an approximately 300 by 150 metre area four kilometres east of Slender Lake. The float consisted of fist-sized or smaller ferricrete boulders within glaciofluvial gravels underlain by mafic volcanics of the Antler Formation. Samples from the float assayed up to 3.5 per cent copper and 0.25 gram per tonne gold (Assessment Report 26842). From 1996 to 1997, Peters conducted magnetic and soil surveys; in 1997, he identified the Tow float approximately five kilometres south of the Bow float. The discovery was followed up by soil sampling and trenching. Eureka Resources Incorporated optioned the Bow-Tow area later that year.
In 1998, Eureka conducted an airborne geophysical survey, followed by ground geophysics and geochemistry. At the same time, Martin Peters discovered the Lottie volcanogenic massive sulphide float while following the copper mineralization found in the Westpass Lake area in 1993. The float was located in a roadside ditch approximately 800 metres southwest of Lottie Lake and consisted of a small angular block of chalcopyrite-rich massive sulphide and larger blocks of mineralized chert and/or silicified volcanic rock. In 1999, Eureka acquired the Lottie claim. The 1999 field program of Eureka Resources Inc. consisted of a glacial study of ice-flow patterns, the establishment of a 15.5 line-kilometre grid, a 9.8 line-kilometre very low frequency electromagnetic (VLF-EM) survey, a 13.8 line-kilometre helicopter electromagnetic survey, the collection of 559 soil samples and 113 basal till samples, and 110 metres of trenching and geological mapping. The source of the float was not found but many more angular blocks of chalcopyrite-rich massive sulphide were discovered.
The 1999 program indicated that a likely source of the massive sulphide float was located at the moderate to strong, well-defined conductor interpreted from the helicopter electromagnetic survey. The axis of the conductor parallels and superimposes on the footwall zone of the 30 to 100 metre wide sedimentary unit. This conductor is interpreted over a strike length of 900 metres (open). The conductor is located 200 to 600 metres south and east of the float location (up-slope and up-ice). The conductor is associated with a well-defined copper soil anomaly. The shape and location of the anomaly is reasonably compatible with the conductor and favourable lithology.
Trenching was completed by excavator in the immediate area of the Lottie float. Trenching was also completed on the interpreted helicopter electromagnetic conductor. In most cases, the overburden was deeper than anticipated. In two trenches, massive blebs of pyrite with trace contents of chalcopyrite were encountered in bedrock at what is believed to be the contact of a volcanic-sedimentary horizon in the Antler Formation. The mineralization was associated with chert. In addition, several small pieces of float were discovered in this area containing disseminated and massive blebs of chalcopyrite, with lesser amounts of galena, sphalerite and native copper. This contact area in the lithologic sequence is interpreted as a potential host for the massive sulphides.
In 2000, Hudson Bay Exploration & Development Company Limited completed a five-month multidisciplinary program on its Lottie Lake volcanogenic massive sulphide project located 20 kilometres north of Wells. The property incorporates the Lottie, Bow and Tow float anomalies and is underlain primarily by mafic to intermediate volcanic rock, argillaceous sediment and chert of the Antler assemblage (Slide Mountain terrane). Work in 2000 consisted of prospecting, geological mapping, geochemical sampling, ground electromagnetic and Spectrum airborne electromagnetic surveys, trenching and diamond drilling. The program confirmed that high-grade float occurs on the property and identified several electromagnetic conductors, one of which is close to the Lottie float anomaly. The season was completed with trenching (mainly in the Lottie area) and a six-hole (709 metre) diamond drill program testing the area of the Lottie float and electromagnetic conductors. No significant bedrock mineralization was intersected and Hudson Bay dropped the option in early 2001.
In 2001, Eureka Resources Inc. carried out work on the Bow-Lottie property. Prospecting, linecutting and ground geophysical surveys were carried out property-wide on various targets remaining from the 2000 program. Eureka conducted limited geochemical and geophysical surveys on its Lottie Lake volcanogenic massive sulphide property. Five lines of induced polarization were added to the previous year’s survey and delineated two strong east-trending conductive zones. The zones are 300 and 400 metres in length, respectively, and occur south of the main high-grade float area. Eureka completed two short diamond-drill holes (128.65 metres) to test these targets on the South Lottie area. Twenty-three assays gave only background values with some elevated barium numbers.
Eureka resumed exploration in 2005, conducting trenching and confirming the direction of flow of the glacier believed to have deposited the copper-rich boulders. Despite this work, the source of the sulphide-rich float and boulders remained unknown.
In 2013, Eastfield Resources Ltd. conducted a very limited program of rock and stream sediment sampling. Altered rhyolite float was confirmed in several samples in the vicinity of Lottie Lake with the highlights being samples which returned 0.93 and 0.34 per cent copper.
In 2013-14, Eastfield Resources Ltd. acquired the Hedge Hog property by staking (Lottie claim and Golden Sky claim in 2013 and additional claims including the Khan Khan claim in 2014). In 2014, stream sediment sampling and 6.6 line-kilometres of soil sampling at Lottie and 7.4 line-kilometres of sampling over the Golden Sky was followed by 4.7 line-kilometres of reconnaissance induced polarization/resistivity survey at Lottie. At Lottie, a sample of quartz-pyrite veined argillite float/subcrop returned 797 parts per billion gold and 550 parts per million arsenic. A broad roughly east-west chargeability high was defined in the area of the Lottie float.
In 2015, further reconnaissance prospecting and mechanical test pitting and trenching was completed in which 47 pits were dug with an excavator. Forty-two of the pits encountered bedrock while five did not reach bedrock. In each case where bedrock was encountered sampling followed. Un-split drill core originating from the Hudson’s Bay Exploration & Development programs completed in 2000 and 2001 was located and 20 samples collected and analyzed (no significant results were obtained from these analyses). The 2015 exploration program, while failing to locate the source of mineralized boulders, was successful in adding to the geological knowledge base for the Hedge Hog project.
In 2018 and 2019, Eastfield Resources Ltd. and Surge Exploration Inc. completed programs of prospecting, geological mapping, geochemical (rock and soil) sampling and test pitting on the area as the Hedge Hog property.
