The Gold Standard occurrence is located at 1006 metres elevation adjacent to Rock Creek near its confluence with Jolly Creek, 600 metres west of the Victoria occurrence (082ESW021). Bridesville, British Columbia lies 8 kilometres to the south-southwest.
Early development on the Gold Standard claim was a 122-metre adit near the quartz lens and a 27 metre shaft on the small quartz vein located 122 metres downstream. The adit exposes a number of stringers and masses of quartz which carry pyrite and coarsely crystalline galena. The large lens of quartz occurring near the portal is not reported in the workings. This early work was conducted by Lemon Gold Mining Co. from 1898 to 1901. A 5-stamp mill was reported shipped and operated to process ore from the 38-metre level of the adit, in 1901. No production records could be located however. Claims owned at this time included the Lemon (Lot 760), Gold Standard, Pennsylvania, Last Chance and Galena. By 1935, the property was referred to as the Gold Standard Group and included the Gold Standard, Ogofan and Ecuador (Lot 1452) claims.
The Gold Standard occurrence is situated in a sequence of metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks of the Carboniferous to Permian Anarchist Group. The sequence, over 1000 metres thick, consists of greenstone and diorite grading upward into a sedimentary sequence which in turn grades upward into a tuffaceous sedimentary sequence. Calcareous greenstone is the dominant rock type surrounding the Gold Standard occurrence. The greenstone is locally sheared, schistose and talcose. Where less altered, a porphyritic texture is observed. Other greenstones are finely crystalline and tuffaceous grading to a medium grained hornblende porphyritic hornblende diorite. Elsewhere greenstones contain argillaceous and minor marble partings and bands. Orthogneiss is developed along faults to the northeast. To the north are Cretaceous granites and granodiorites of the Okanagan batholith. Middle Jurassic Nelson granites occur to the southwest. Eocene Penticton Group volcanic and sedimentary rocks overlie locally sheared amphibolite and serpentinite bodies to the east. Lithologies located east and northeast of the Gold Standard occurrence include quartz latite, trachyandesite and syenite. For a more detailed description of the geology refer to the Cariboo-Amelia (082ESW020).
Mineralization on the Gold Standard claim of the Gold Standard Group is within small quartz lenses and stringers, and an irregular quartz lens. Stringers and lenses intersected in underground workings carried disseminated pyrite and minor coarsely crystalline galena. The lens is 1.8 to 2.4 metres wide and hosted by black schist. The lens is parallel to the foliation of the schist. Smaller veins of quartz occur in the wallrock. Approximately 122 metres downstream from the lens along Jolly (Rock) Creek is a small quartz vein reportedly containing free gold. Still further downstream, along Rock Creek, a 30 centimetre wide quartz vein containing pyrite and galena, striking east and dipping 45 degrees north, outcrops.
A showing on the former Ogofan claim of the Gold Standard Group consisted of a 1.2-metre wide shear zone striking 035 degrees and dipping 67 degree southeast. Ankeritic and chlorite altered greenstone comprised wallrock of the zone. The shear zone hosted quartz stringers mineralized with pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and contained malachite staining. Assay sample results, however, were reported to be low (Memoir 179, page 18).
On the Ecuador claim of the Gold Standard Group, a shear zone occupies black schist between two walls of quartzite 1.2 metres apart. This shear zone strikes 070 degrees and dips 45 to 80 degrees southeast. The schist hosts bunches and stringers of quartz that are also reported to carry low values (Memoir 179, page 18).
