The Cretaceous Bugaboo Batholith intrudes Hadrynian Windermere sediments of the Horsethief Creek Group. The east part of the intrusion consists of medium-grained leuco-quartz monzonite to coarse-grained biotite quartz monzonite.

Black sand placer concentrations containing uranium- and niobium-bearing minerals occur in the outwash gravels from glacier action in the Bugaboo Batholith. Minerals include uraninite, allanite, rutile, titano-columbite, euxenite-polycrase, pyrochlore, monazite, uranothorite, magnetite, ilmenite, apatite, andalusite, zircon, epidote, fluorite, garnet, hematite, pyrite, lepidocrocite, and sphene.

The Upper Bugaboo placer deposit measures 1170 by 170 by 5 metres and contains 1,000,000 cubic metres of gravel. A sample assayed 0.18 per cent uranium (Geological Survey of Canada Economic Geology #16, 1952).

In 1953 uranium oxide and pyrochlore were identified in post- glacial placer sand and gravel deposits in upper Bugaboo Creek. This and similar deposits on Forster (082KNE005) and Vowell (082KNE007) creeks were mapped and variously explored by Quebec Metallurgical Industries from 1954 to 1957. A pilot plant (concentrating) was operated on Bugaboo Creek and 21 holes were churn drilled on Vowell Creek. In 1955, 11,309 kilograms of concentrate were produced from 5520 cubic metres of gravel (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1956, pages 142,143). In 1957, application for a contract to produce uranium was turned down by the Canadian government and the leases held in the area were allowed to lapse.

No further work was done in the area until, following restaking by Bugaboo Mines Ltd. in 1966 and 1967 of the upper Bugaboo Creek and Forster Creek deposits, an airborne spectrometer survey was conducted in the area during September, 1968. This survey, under the direction of Dolmage Campbell & Associates Ltd., located a number of anomalous areas on several creeks. At that time Dillingham Mining Co. became active in the area through property options and staking. Ground scintillometer surveys and visual estimates of relative gravel quantities in the several anomalous (airborne) areas resulted in the acquisition of property on Bugaboo, Forster, East (082KNE006), Vowell and Malloy (082KNE008) creeks. For a number of reasons, including some of a non-economic nature, some of the properties were allowed to lapse. However, detailed exploration was conducted by Dillingham on Malloy and Vowell creeks in 1969. This work consisted of drilling the favourable areas and doing some mineralogical studies and metallurgical testing.