The Taurus II (Blue zone) occurrence is located north of McDame Lake in northern British Columbia, 115 kilometres southwest of Watson Lake, Yukon, and 120 kilometres north of Dease Lake. Access to the property is via Highway 37, which connects to these towns. The abandoned town of Cassiar is at the northwestern end of the property, and the unincorporated settlement of Jade City is on Highway 37 at the road entrance to the mine facilities.

Upper Paleozoic Slide Mountain Complex mafic volcanic rocks are the most widespread and crop out over most of the property area. The volcanic rocks comprise massive and pillowed basalt with rare chert intercalations with the lower portion in the Taurus area (MINFILE 104P 012) marked by magnetite and jasper-rich basalt. The non-magnetic and non-jasper–bearing basalt sequence hosts most of the vein systems in the camp and has been the focus of exploration.

A vein system intersected in the trench 5 area in the north-central portion of the property has been named the Blue zone. The trench exposed several subparallel alteration zones and a complex quartz vein system including a 3.1-metre true width complex quartz vein system that contains less than 0.25 per cent pyrite and less than 1 per cent tetrahedrite. A broad, intensely dolomitized alteration halo surrounds the vein. This system may be related to the Oro structure 2 kilometres to the east.

The Blue zone structure has similarities to Taurus-style mineralization. Fine- and coarse-grained subhedral to euhedral pyrite disseminated throughout intensely dolomitized and locally quartz-stringered basaltic volcanics yields grades in the 0.3 to 3 grams per tonne gold range. The system strikes generally 125 degrees and dips 80 degrees south. The structures have been defined over a strike length of 150 metres. Mineralized intersections have an average core length of 18.2 metres translating to 9 metres true width. The system appears to either be cut off or pinched, and grade width composites decrease to the west.

The best intersection from five diamond drill holes was yielded by the deepest cut on the system; drillhole 06TII-16 assayed 1.04 grams per tonne gold over 28.35 metres core length. An initial series of three holes spaced approximately 40 metres apart laterally provided an initial test of the downdip geometry of the structures/alteration exposed in trench 5. Drillhole 06TII-13 was designed to intersect the trench 5 structures 25 metres vertically below the trench level. The hole intersected 19.9 metres of well-mineralized, altered, stringered and veined volcanics. Drillhole 06TII-14, collared 40 metres to the west, was either faulted off the structure or the structure does not continue to the west. Drillhole 06TII-15, collared 35 metres east of hole 06TII-13, intersected an 11-metre (core length) alteration/breccias/quartz stringer zone yielding 0.37 gram per tonne gold and a second zone yielding 0.33 gram per tonne gold over 18.05 metres (core length) that may either represent a fault offset duplication of the zone or a subparallel zone. Hole 06TII-16 was drilled to undercut hole 06TII-13; hole 06TII-16 yielded the best intersection of the program. Drillhole 06TII-17 was drilled along strike approximately 80 metres east of the initial set up. The hole intersected a 13.8 metres core interval of mineralized volcanics that graded 0.50 gram per tonne gold over 13.8 metres core length (Assessment Report 29235).

The strike orientation of the structure as currently interpreted is not considered normal for the region. It is distinctly possible that the system consists of either discontinuous ‘laddered’ lenses or that the system has undergone significant post emplacement offsetting resulting in duplication of zones and a false strike (Assessment Report 29235).

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.

In 1995, the area was held and examined by Cusac gold Mines Ltd. as the Table Mountain Gold property.

In 2006, Cusac Gold Mines Ltd. conducted a soil geochemical survey (2720 samples), LiDAR survey (139 square kilometres), trenching program (eight trenches for a combined length of 530 metres), and diamond drilling program (21 holes for a combined depth of 3280.3 metres; 843 core samples) on the Taurus II area of their Table Mountain Gold property. Twelve holes (1885.5 metres) were drilled to test the western extension of the Oro Structure exposed in the trench 3 area; five holes (586.1 metres) were drilled to test the Blue zone exposed in the trench 5 area. An additional four holes (808.8 metres) were drilled to test isolated targets in the Reo, TR-6E, and McHwy areas.

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.