Now the hard part would start. Analysis of the boulders had proven the existence of precious metals in the area. But where had they come from?
Soon after the initial discovery, geological mapping, prospecting, and geophysical surveys were conducted to try to determine the source of the riches contained in the boulders. There were a lot of theories, but it would take time and lots of detective work to either prove or disprove what ultimately may turn out to be just hunches.
Time is something that was not always available to the modern-day explorers. The summer is short in this area - fieldwork had to be completed in a two or three month period, and bad weather could also slow things down.
Throughout the years, much of Northern BC's mineral exploration was taking place in this region. The Stewart area, a hundred or so kilometers to the south, had been the location of several gold and copper mines operating over many years, so the area had a lot of potential.
In 1987, a large boulder field at the toe of the Foremore Glacier was discovered by geologists searching the area. The sulphide-rich mineralized boulders contained in this glacial erratic (rocks that differ from the size and type of rock normally found in the area) were found to contain significant quantities of zinc, copper, lead, gold, and silver, so an international mining company quickly staked the initial Foremore claim in the area surrounding the glacier with the hopes of finding the source of these valuable minerals.
Examining the glacier itself could provide some clues - as dark lines running down the glacier can sometimes be followed to the source. Called glacial moraines, these dark lines look almost like highways as they run down the ice. Glaciers are a large, slow moving river of ice that wind their way downhill through the valleys, propelled by gravity's pull.
Some of the rocks at the tongue of the glacier also contained fossils left over from prehistoric times when much of this area was a large inland sea (the "Bowser Basin", source of one of the area's untouched coalbed methane reserves, isn't too far away). This was in the time before the Coast Mountains were pushed up by tectonic activity and the movement of the continents millions of years ago.
