The Need 3 occurrence is located at an elevation of approximately 1580 metres on a west-facing slope, east of a small lake and approximately 1.8 kilometres west-southwest of Needlepoint Mountain.

Regionally, the area is underlain by granitic intrusive rocks along the eastern margin of the Lower Cretaceous Cassiar Batholith. To the east limestone, slate, siltstone and argillite of the Ordovician to Silurian Road River Group, calcareous sedimentary rocks of the Devonian McDame Group, fine clastic sedimentary rocks of the Upper Devonian to Lower Mississippian Earn Group and basaltic volcanic rocks of the Mississippian Slide Mountain Complex are exposed.

Locally, a 090-degree–trending and vertically dipping shear zone in a quartz monzonite hosts galena. Another zone of mineralization is located on the west slope of Needle Mountain, approximately 1.3 kilometres east-northeast of the Need 3 occurrence and comprises a breccia zone in shales and carbonates, at least 100 by 200 metres in size, hosting minor zinc values.

In 1980, a rock sample (21032R) from the shear zone assayed 3.14 per cent lead, 0.11 per cent zinc and 12.0 grams per tonne silver, whereas a sample (21069R) from the breccia zone yielded 0.17 per cent zinc (Assessment Report 9344).

In 1981, further sampling of the breccia zone yielded low-grade zinc mineralization in the 0.15 to 0.16 per cent range (Assessment Report 10105).

Work History

In the summer of 1979, following the release of stream sediment data by the Geological Survey of Canada (Open File 562), Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd. staked the Need 1-3 claims on the area. Upon staking, a limited program of prospecting, geological mapping and geochemistry was undertaken. In 1980 and 1981, further programs of geological mapping and geochemical (rock, silt and soil) sampling was completed on the Need claims.

In 2007, Garnet Point Resources Corp. completed a soil and silt sampling program on the area immediately northwest of the occurrence as the Cas claims. During 2008 through 2010, Hawthorne Gold Corp., later China Minerals Mining Corp., completed regional programs of geological mapping, geochemical (rock and soil) sampling and 11,657 line-kilometres of airborne magnetic, radiometric and electromagnetic surveys on the area as the Cassiar Gold property.

In 2019, Margaux Resources completed a program of prospecting, geological mapping and rock sampling on the area as the Cassiar Gold property. In 2020, Cassiar Gold Corp. completed a program of regional photogeological interpretation, prospecting and rock sampling on the Cassiar Gold property.