The Rocky Ridge occurrence is located on the south side of a canyon on lower Troutline Creek, just north of McDame Lake, approximately 93 kilometres north of the community of Dease Lake.
The area is underlain by faulted, sheared and altered basalt flows, tuffs of the Upper Paleozoic Slide Mountain Complex (Sylvester Allochthon) and overlying shales of the Upper Triassic Slide Mountain Complex.
Locally, numerous northeast-southeast–trending quartz veins, with associated silicification, occur mainly in the volcanics and contain pyrite, tetrahedrite and minor chalcopyrite. Veins vary between 0.6 to 0.9 metre in width. Native gold has been reported in veins and oxidized stringers.
Later work, in 2005, describes the Somerville system, which comprises several previously known, east-striking and steeply south-dipping, mineralized quartz vein and sulphide-rich alteration zones explored by Cusac Gold Mines in 2005 that were explored previously by trenching on the eastern side of Troutline Creek. The zone was drilled from south to north to intersect steeply south-dipping vein alteration systems. Core sample lengths are greater than true widths. The Somerville system is approximately 500 metres long and open at both ends.
In 1984, a grab sample (P3154), taken across Troutline Creek to the north of the occurrence, assayed 5.6 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 12627).
In 2005, hole 05SV-03 intersected 1.27 grams per tonne gold over 19.0 metres and hole 05SV-04 yielded an intercept of 1.26 grams per tonne gold over 25.6 metres (Technical Report on Taurus II Project, D.A. Sketchley, October 13, 2005 [www.sedar.com]).
In 2019, four chip samples (667638 to 667641) over 7.8 metres, from a trench on the northeast side of Troutline Creek and northeast of the occurrence, yielded an average of 1.34 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 38989).
Work History
The area has been explored in conjunction with the nearby Taurus (MINFILE 104P 012) occurrence and a completed regional and property exploration history can be found there.
In 1976 and 1979, Newcoast Silver Mines Ltd. completed programs of geological mapping, soil sampling, three diamond drill holes, totalling 220.2 metres, and approximately 24 line-kilometres of ground magnetic and electromagnetic surveys on the area as the Van and Tin claims.
In 1980 and 1981, Esso Resources Canada Ltd. completed programs of prospecting, geological mapping, trenching and geochemical (rock and soil) sampling on the area as the Goldhill, Nora, Val and Van claims. An adit, referred to as the Newcoast adit, was reported on the occurrence by this time.
In 1985, Erickson Gold Mining soil sampled the area. Also at this time, Erickson Gold Mining completed a program of geological mapping and a ground magnetic survey on the area immediately east of the occurrence.
In 1995, the area was held and examined by Cusac Gold Mines Ltd. as the Table Mountain Gold property.
In 2005, Cusac Gold Mines Ltd. drilled a total of 2444 metres in 13 drillholes on their Taurus II property, in three areas: the Backyard system (MINFILE 104P 121), with six holes totalling 1140.1 metres; the Somerville system (MINFILE 104P 016), with six holes totalling 1122.5 metres, and the Porcupine East (MINFILE 104P 077), with one hole totalling 181.4 metres. Holes trend northerly, or southerly, perpendicular to the easterly strike of the vein systems, and were moderately inclined.
During 2008 through 2010, Hawthorne Gold Corp., later China Minerals Mining Corp., completed regional programs of geological mapping, geochemical (rock and soil) sampling and 11,657 line-kilometres of airborne magnetic, radiometric, and electromagnetic surveys on the area as the Cassiar Gold property.
In 2019, Margaux Resources completed a program of prospecting, geological mapping, and rock sampling on the area as the Cassiar Gold property. In 2020, Cassiar Gold Corp. completed a program of regional photogeological interpretation, prospecting, and rock sampling on the Cassiar Gold property.
