The WHITE BEAR is located on reverted Crown grant Lot 1025S, which is approximately 2.5 kilometres northeast of Mount Franklin.
The showing consists of a silicified quartz breccia hosted by a pebble conglomerate and arkosic sandstone of the Devonian-Triassic Harper Ranch Group. Nearby a pyritic greenstone is noted. A quartz porphyry dike cuts through the showing and is thought to be related to the Eocene syenitic Coryell Intrusions. A cover of andesite and dacite flows and tuffs of the Eocene Marron Formation (Penticton Group) is found a short distance to the north.
The WHITE BEAR and adjacent LUCKY JACK (082ENE056) showings were described in 1906 as a "large body of white iron" (arsenopyrite?) carrying gold and copper values (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1906, page 164). Several "chutes" of high-grade chalcopyrite were noted. This mineralization may occur only on the WHITE BEAR claim. An old shaft on the showing is thought to date from this period.
In 1910, the WHITE BEAR was Crown granted as lot 1025S to H.C. Kerman and associates. In 1914, the owner of the WHITE BEAR Crown grant was listed as W.K. White.
In 1964, the WHITE BEAR Crown grant was optioned by Northwest Ventures Ltd. to Franklin Mines Ltd.; however, no work was recorded on the showing.
In 1979, J.C. Stephen Explorations Limited carried out geological and geochemical surveys of the WHITE BEAR GROUP, which included the WHITE BEAR reverted Crown grant and adjacent area. Slightly anomalous gold assays were returned from a quartz breccia near an old shaft, soil sampling produced little of interest (Assessment Report 7918).
In 1984, Newmont Exploration funded a program of geological mapping and geochemical sampling on the WHITE BEAR reverted Crown grant and the adjacent Tenderloin claims. The main area of interest was the quartz breccia zone sampled in 1979. A sample of the quartz breccia assayed 0.9 gram per tonne gold and 0.7 gram per tonne silver (Assessment Report 12508). A sample of a pyritic greenstone assayed 5.2 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 12508).
