The Waratah 6 prospect lies in the hillocky valley floor of the Iskut River, approximately 6 kilometres east of the Bronson Airstrip.
The Waratah 6 area is underlain by a sequence of folded and faulted Upper Triassic andesitic volcanic and clastic sedimentary rock units of the Stuhini Group. The sequences of clastic layered rocks consist of volcanic wackes, andesitic flows, and argillite interbeds.
Intrusive bodies include an orthoclase porphyry plug at the junction of Bronson Creek and the Iskut River and a large quartz monzonite to granodiorite intrusion along the east margin of the property.
The volcaniclastic is described as an andesitic agglomerate, comprised of volcanic fragments up to 2 centimetres in length and subrounded to subangular feldspar porphyry clasts. The matrix of this porphyry consists of an aphanitic mass of andesitic to basaltic composition which exhibits pervasive chlorite alteration.
The agglomerate has undergone weak regional greenschist facies metamorphism and is altered by pervasive carbonate, chlorite and to a lesser extent, epidote. The agglomerate also hosts 1 to 3 per cent disseminated magnetite.
Mineral occurrences on the Waratah may be classified into three categories: copper-gold veins, gold-pyrite veins (refer to Golden Arrow 104B 296) and copper lead-zinc-silver-gold veins (refer to Gold Bug 104B 295).
The greatest number of mineral showings consist of copper-gold veins. Up to 18 different veins with gold values trending about 130 degrees occur on the Waratah 6 claim. These veins are associated with a major northeast trending fault, the Handel fault, which cuts through the Waratah 6 claim and trends southwest upslope to Johnny Mountain.
The Waratah 6 prospect consists of 6 closely spaced showings: Swamp vein, X-Cut vein, Bluff vein, Helipad vein, Mag vein and No. 7 vein (Figures 4 and 5, Assessment Report 18111). In 1987, the Swamp vein was tested by two trenches and six drill holes totaling 251.5 metres. Caulfield (Assessment Report 18113) indicated that the poddy auriferous mineralization is discontinuous and erratic both along strike to the southeast and at depth. Trenches 7 and 8 revealed irregular, semi-massive to massive sulphide pods, which vary in width from 30 to 70 centimetres. The sulfides are comprised of pyrite, magnetite and chalcopyrite.
The best examples of the copper-gold vein mineralization, are the Bluff, Swamp and No. 7 veins. The mineralization consists of pyrite, chalcopyrite, magnetite and arsenopyrite within quartz-chlorite veins. Minor bornite, chalcocite and native copper have been reported. Better gold grades occur with higher sulphide content within zones of chalcopyrite, magnetite and arsenopyrite. The gold is assumed to be contained within the sulphide lattice as no visible gold was reported. Vein widths vary from several centimetres to 1.65 metres in width and are controlled by north trending fracture planes.
A 0.5 metre chip sample taken from the main vein in trench 2, on the Bluff showing in 1987, consisting of a quartz vein with massive and banded pyrite, arsenopyrite and chalcopyrite on the footwall, assayed 37.7 grams per tonne gold, 26.06 grams per tonne silver, 0.23 per cent copper, 0.02 per cent lead and 0.01 per cent zinc (Assessment Report 16904).
A 0.75 metre sample from the Swamp vein, which consists of massive pyrite, magnetite and chalcopyrite, assayed 345.32 grams per tonne gold, 115.88 grams per tonne silver and 0.15 per cent copper. The No. 7 vein is comprised of massive lenses of pyrite, chalcopyrite and magnetite and a 1.0 metre sample taken from Trench 9 assayed 71.59 grams per tonne gold, 89.48 grams per tonne silver, 0.41 per cent copper, 0.06 per cent lead and 0.02 per cent zinc (Assessment Report 16904).
The 1988 drill program, which was designed to test the strike and depth extensions of the Bluff and No. 7 veins, has indicated the Bluff vein mineralization extends to a depth of 75 metres down-dip in Hole 27. A 2.5 metre mineralized intersection from this drill hole assayed 8.7 grams per tonne gold. The No. 7 vein was extended 120 metres along strike with intersections grading 5.93 grams per tonne gold across 3.0 metres (Northwest Prospector, June/July, 1988).
In 2008 Newcastle Minerals conducted a program of rock and soil sampling over the Bug Lake property including sampling of the Bluff Vein and No. 7 Vein at Waratah 6. Samples collected from the Bluff vein/shear zone include a 0.2 metre wide chip sample (M500316) across chlorite-altered volcanic rock containing disseminated pyrite and magnetite, which contained 3.58 grams per tonne gold and 19 grams per tonne silver. A 0.6 metre wide chip sample (M500321) collected about 7 metres along strike from M500316 contains 30.21 grams per tonne gold and 18 grams per tonne silver. A series of three contiguous chip samples (M500325 – M500327) collected across the No. 7 vein yielded from 20.57 to 40.92 grams per tonne gold, 21 to 46 grams per tonne silver and 0.08 to 0.42 per cent copper over 0.30 metre. The style and volume of mineralization seen at the No. 7 Showing, includes pods and bands of massive sulphides across 0.9 metre (Assessment Report 30391).
In 2011, chip and channel sampling of trench 7 on the Swamp vein yielded up to 152.5 grams per tonne gold (sample M973007) and 105.5 grams per tonne gold from trench 9 on the No. 7 vein (Burgoyne, A.A. (2012-05-07): Technical Report on The Iskut Property with Special Reference to Johnny Flats & Burnie Trend Target).
Refer to Gold Bug (104B 295) for a discussion of a common work history.