The NKWALA CENTER showing is a postglacial uranium concentration in lake-bottom sediments of Oxbow Lake. It is located approximately 3 kilometres west of Westbench, a subdivision of Penticton.

This is one of many young uranium occurrences discovered by D. G. Leighton & Associates Ltd. in the late 1970s. Work prior to the uranium moratorium in 1980 consisted of auger sampling. The area is underlain by granodiorite of the Jurassic Okanagan Intrusions.

The occurrence is recent, having formed from the interaction between uranium-rich groundwater and unconsolidated material containing organics or clay. This process is believed to still be taking place. The source of the uranium is thought to be the surrounding igneous rocks, where groundwaters rich in carbonate and alkali ions have leached labile uranium from fresh rock exposed after glaciation.

Uranium enrichment averages 0.0079 per cent uranium over an area measuring 22,500 square metres (Culbert, 1979). The uraniferous layer lies at the surface and has an average thickness of 3.0 metres (Culbert, 1979). Within that layer a 0.5-metre section grades 0.0102 per cent uranium (Culbert, 1979). A cross-section of this site shows an approximately 3-metre thick uranium accumulation grading 0.010 to 0.025 per cent, with a 0.5-metre layer grading 0.025 to 0.050 per cent, and spot highs grading 0.050 to 0.075 per cent (Culbert and Leighton, 1988, Fig. 9a). The section is based on 8 auger holes to a depth of 8 metres. A uranium profile of one of the above auger holes shows a 0.25-metre section grading approximately 0.055 per cent (Culbert and Leighton, 1988, Fig. 9a).

Other young uranium occurrences located nearby are WESTBENCH (082ENW075), NKWALA NORTH (082ENW087), NKWALA P. LINE (082ENW089) and NKWALA SOUTH (082ESW188).