The Gold Quartz Ridge prospect is located 1 kilometre west of Mount Brennan and 1.5 kilometres northwest of the historic Gold Quartz showing (082KSW032). Kaslo, British Columbia lies 29 kilometres to the southeast.
The Gold Quartz Ridge prospect is underlain by andesite flows, breccias and pillow andesite of the Permian Kaslo Group. Synvolcanic diorite is also assigned to the Kaslo Group. The andesites are porphyritic with up to 5 per cent hornblende phenocrysts and locally feldspar phenocrysts in a fine grained chloritic groundmass. Kaslo Group volcanics have been intruded by syntectonic coarse grained hornblende diorite and post-tectonic hornblende feldspar and feldspar porphyry dikes. The major structural features of this area are the Dryden anticline and Whitewater fault. The Whitewater fault is a major northwest-trending structure with several ages of movement. The Dryden anticline has resulted in a strong axial planar cleavage. The axial surface is moderately to steeply inclined to the southwest and plunges 15 degrees to the southeast. Regional metamorphism, predominantly of greenschist grade, has affected all lithologies. The common alteration assemblage of Kaslo Group rocks is albite-epidote-actinolite+/-chlorite. Later hydrothermal alteration thought to be related to mineralization includes quartz, albite, iron carbonate and biotite; commonly associated with felsic dikes.
Exploration of the area dates back to the late 1800s when polymetallic silver-lead-zinc veins, such as the Gold Quartz showing (082KSW032) were first discovered. More recent exploration (1970 to present) efforts have been focused on the gold potential of the area.
The Gold Quartz Ridge prospect is crisscrossed with numerous felsic dikes and shear zones with associated quartz veins. Felsic dikes range from 1 to 2 metres width with trace to 4 per cent disseminated pyrite. Quartz stringers are also common. Shears range from 10 centimetres up to 4 metres wide. The shears generally envelop a sinuous quartz vein or stringers. Gold mineralization is restricted to quartz veining. The best assay results occur where shears intersect felsic dikes where quartz flooding and sulphide content increase.
Sample SH-28, a 30-centimetre chip sample, was taken across the intersection of a shear with a quartz vein and a felsic dike. The vein contained 1 per cent disseminated pyrite and chalcopyrite. The strike of the vein was 060 degrees. Assay results yielded 1.74 grams per tonne gold and 43.0 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 19475). Another sample, Sample SH-25, taken 200 metres to the east-northeast along the same shear yielded 1.05 grams per tonne gold and 14.3 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 19475). A third sample, Sample SH-35, yielded 1.70 grams per tonne gold and 21.0 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 19475).
