The PINTO showing is located on the west side of Tenderloin Mountain, approximately 1.7 kilometres southwest of the summit.
The showing occurs in an unnamed Middle Jurassic granodiorite intrusion. A cover of Eocene Marron Formation (Penticton Group) volcanic rocks outcrop several hundred metres to the east.
Mineralization on the property consists of pyrite and chalcopyrite in fractures and in weakly developed quartz stockworks. In several places chlorite and sericite alteration, forming vein envelopes, is noted.
The earliest record of the PINTO is a 1901 Minister of Mines Annual Report which describes a 6-metre deep shaft on the property. In 1907, the property was Crown granted, as Lot 3240, to Thomas Newby. There are no records of exploration on the property during the early 1900s, but old trenches on the property are believed to date from that era.
The PINTO property was staked in 1970 after a copper anomaly was discovered in the stream sediments of Pinto Creek. A soil sampling survey, consisting of 1200 samples, and an electromagnetic survey over 40 line-kilometres was carried out by West Coast Mining & Exploration in 1970. Some copper anomalies were found in soils near old workings close to the head of Pinto creek. The electromagnetic survey was unsuccessful in locating any significant conductors.
In 1976, John May prospected the SANDY claim, which covered the PINTO showing. He found fracture controlled chalcopyrite and pyrite mineralization exposed in 14 of 18 old trenches.
In 1983, Noranda Exploration Company Limited carried out geological mapping and geochemical surveys on the PI 1-3 claims. Three silt samples containing anomalous copper values were collected from the headwaters of Pinto Creek. Several soil samples near Gloucester Creek also contained anomalous copper, although no contiguous trend was apparent. The geological mapping located a silicified shear zone, measuring 0.5 metre by 4 metres long and containing less than 1 per cent pyrite and chalcopyrite (Assessment Report 12254).
In 1989, INCO Limited carried out a program of reconnaissance geological mapping, and soil, silt and rock sampling. Near the head of Pinto Creek, an area of weakly anomalous gold geochemistry in soils was found that measured approximately 200 metres by 75 metres. Old workings in the vicinity include a shallow adit and several open cuts. To the west of Pinto Creek, a small stockwork of quartz-pyrite- chalcopyrite mineralization is exposed. A grab sample assayed 6.829 grams per tonne gold, 6.9 grams per tonne silver and 0.0451 per cent copper, and a chip sample across the 1-metre width of the stockwork assayed 4.6 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 19385).
