The Gold Quartz B Zone prospect is located 1 kilometre southwest of Mount Brennan and 60 metres northwest of the historic Gold Quartz showing (082KSW032). Kaslo, British Columbia lies 29 kilometres to the southeast.
The Gold Quartz B Zone 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 B Zone prospect consists of a weakly sinuous shear-alteration zone up to 5 metres wide, with associated quartz veining. Massive quartz veins and quartz stockworks pinch and swell from 0.4 to 2.0 metres wide within the central part of the shear. Mineralization consists of up to 5 per cent pyrite, chalcopyrite and galena, generally concentrated along vein walls. Feldspar porphyry dikes are occasionally found adjacent to the shear zone. The shear zone strikes 160 degrees and dips steeply to the southwest. Surface trace of the shear zone extends to 300 metres.
Trenching and sampling has been conducted across this shear zone with the following assay results. Sample MR-18, from Trench 2, yielded 7.92 grams per tonne gold and 83.0 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 19475). The sample was a 0.4-metre chip sample across the most mineralized part of the vein. Mineralization consisted of 2 to 3 per cent pyrite and minor chalcopyrite in quartz, minor carbonate and chlorite. The strike of the vein is 160 degrees and dips 76 degrees southwest. Sample SH-12, taken immediately to the south, yielded 3.52 grams per tonne gold and 1.54 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 19475). A third sample, Sample SH-23, taken 250 metres to the south yielded 5.84 grams per tonne and 81.0 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 19475).
