Underlying the area of the Waneta occurrence are black argill- ite, slate, phyllite, chert, greenstone and minor limestone of what Little (1985) calls the "Pend d'Oreille Sequence" of Yates. These have a Silurian(?), Lower and Middle Devonian, and Carboniferous(?) age (Geological Survey of Canada Open File 1195, page 9). These rocks are intruded by Middle Eocene Sheppard Intrusions comprised of masses of granite and syenite with associated dykes.

Minor malachite is associated with argillite and brecciated argillite that is flanked by two mafic syenite dykes. Minor chal- copyrite and galena were discovered in a small pod of mineralization in the Sheppard Intrusive rocks on the Waneta 6 claim. In 1984, a sample taken from a siliceous, pyritic limestone near a chert horizon on the same claim, assayed 0.01 grams per tonne gold, and 4.6 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 13489). Also in 1984, several chip samples were taken along a plane of the major Waneta fault, these samples returned anomalous values in silver, arsenic, gold, antimony and copper.