Subsequent to identifying the property, Almaden Minerals Ltd. carried out induced polarization (IP) and Natural Source Audio-Frequency Magneto-Teluric (NSAMT) geophysical surveys over areas where prospecting, alteration mapping and soil geochemical surveys outlined mineralization and alteration.

A limited 7 hole drill program was conducted in 1997 targeting IP geophysical anomalies. Up to 1 g/t gold was returned from this drill program however later interpretation suggests that the subsequent NSAMT survey and more comprehensive soil surveys (conducted in 2006) were more successful in identifying the targets of interest than the earlier IP work. These targets were drilled during the first phase of a diamond drill program by Tarsis in 2010 and 2011.

More than $250,000 was spent on geochemical soil surveys at Erika in 2006, with sample spacings of 200 m x 50 m over the western portion of the claims. While a small number of strongly anomalous gold and silver assays were noted, the mercury, arsenic and antimony signature is the primary feature of interest on this property and is thought representative of the surface expression of the deep feeder structures targeted.