The Sericite East showing is in the middle region of Sericite Ridge at the headwaters of a north flowing tributary of Snippaker Creek, approximately 17 kilometres southeast of the Bronson Airstrip on Iskut River and 57 kilometres southwest of Bob Quinn Lake on Highway 37.
The Sericite East area is underlain by Triassic and younger quartz monzonite and related hypabyssal rocks with lesser amounts of an undivided Triassic to Jurassic assemblage of Stuhini Group or Hazelton Group (Unuk River Formation) andesitic tuffs, greywackes and siltstones. Schists and phyllites derived from the felsic to intermediate volcanics and volcaniclastics, overlie most of the intrusive body. Mafic to felsic dikes and quartz veining crosscut all rock types.
The intrusive, which is part of the Coast Plutonic Complex, is comprised of a medium-grained monzonite to quartz monzonite with a penetrative foliation in and around major structural features that varies between 005 to 020 degrees and dips 28 to 76 degrees.
Several dikes of varying composition related to the monzonite intrusive and later, basalt dikes, occupy fractures in the intrusive and overlying volcano/sedimentary unit. The dikes vary from 1 to 5 metres in width and show prominent east and northeast trends.
A prominent, highly hematite and limonite stained interbedded volcaniclastic and sedimentary unit occurs in sharp contact with the underlying monzonite. The volcaniclastic unit is comprised of a fine-grained latitic matrix and angular fragments up to 2 centimetres in diameter. The matrix is highly fractured and foliated, contains disseminated pyrite, and is intensely altered to sericite and minor chlorite. Siltstone beds are pale to medium grey, laminated, locally up to 20 metres thick and weakly hornfelsed.
A thick sequence of grey to green, well laminated siltstone is prevalent in the southern end of Sericite Ridge. It is highly fractured, iron-stained and hosts pyrite as fracture fillings and local disseminations.
An intensely sericitized felsic volcanic rock, described as sericite-chlorite-schist with disseminated pyrite and chalcopyrite assayed 0.45 grams per tonne gold, 9.9 grams per tonne silver and 0.83 per cent copper. Another, 1.0 metre chip sample from a quartz stockwork infilling a shear zone in silicified siltstone, which hosts disseminated pyrite and patches of malachite assayed 0.395 gram per tonne gold, 16.8 grams per tonne silver, 0.315 per cent copper, 0.064 per cent zinc and 0.025 per cent lead (Assessment Report 16931).
Previous work by Western Canadian (1987) and Aerodat (1989) outlined soils anomalous in gold and airborne conductors respectively. A brief visit in 1990 by Cathedral Gold indicated zones of sericite-silica-pyrite alteration and widespread ferricrete. One sample of sericite-silica-pyrite altered rock yielded a value of 630 parts per billion gold.
In 2017, Imperial Metals' exploration program consisted of rock and soil sampling to investigate a magnetic anomaly approximately 160 metres upslope (west) of the Sericite East showing. Prospecting the magnetic anomaly led to the discovery of an outcrop exposure of magnetite-rich volcanic rocks with weak to strong quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration. The outcrop is 60 to 70 metres long (North-South) 9 and 5 to 10 metres wide (East-West). Rock chip samples (and soil samples downslope) from the magnetite-bearing, quartz-sericite-pyrite altered outcrop exhibit slightly elevated Au values. One anomalous composite sample 780649 collected from the southern-most exposure of the outcrop contains 1.94 grams per tonne Au from a mafic tuff with variable quartz-magnetite veining and silica-sericite alteration (Assessment Report 36805).
More rock sampling in the Sericite East area was done in 2019 as part of a larger property-wide program, returning low concentrations for all precious and base metals (Assessment Report 38871).
Refer to Pelican (104B 214) for details of a common property work history.