 Exploration work was done in the area prior to 1920 with the construction of trenches and two shafts.Between 1933 and 1936, Cuniptau Mines Limited sank a shaft and installed a pilot smelter.Production amounted to 44,975.6 kilograms of copper, 29,641.6 kilograms of nickel, and relatively small amounts of gold, silver, platinum and palladium.