The Whitewater occurrence, consisting of a major lode containing many orebodies, was covered by 24 Crown grants and fractions belonging to the Whitewater and Whitewater Deep groups. The underground workings on this lode, including at least nine adits, lie on the west side of Whitewater Creek, approximately 1 kilometre north of its confluence with the Kaslo River.

Regionally, the area lies on the western margin of the Kootenay Arc, in allochthonous rocks of the Quesnel terrane. In the vicinity of the occurrence, the Quesnel terrane is dominated by the Upper Triassic Slocan Group, a thick sequence of deformed and metamorphosed shale, argillite, siltstone, quartzite and minor limestone. Rocks of the Slocan Group are tightly and disharmonically folded. Early minor folds are tight to isoclinal with moderate east-plunging, southeast-inclined axial planes and younger folds are open and southwest-plunging with subhorizontal axial planes. The sedimentary sequence has been regionally metamorphosed to lower greenschist facies. To the south, the Slocan Group has been intruded by the Middle Jurassic Nelson Intrusions, which comprise at least six texturally and compositionally distinct phases ranging from diorite to lamprophyre. The most dominant phase is a medium- to coarse-grained potassium feldspar porphyritic granite. Several feldspar porphyritic granodiorite dikes, apparently related to the Nelson Intrusions, also cut the sedimentary sequence near the occurrence. Volcanic rocks of the Permian to Carboniferous Kaslo Group are exposed to the west (Paper 1989-5).

The Whitewater deposit consists of an upper zone characterized by veins and a lower zone characterized by structurally controlled replacement of limestone and lamprophyre. There are few surface outcrops and most of the geology is known from exploration of the lode by adits. Mining occurred on 14 levels and several sublevels. The No. 14 adit was the principal working adit. Bulletin 22 gives a full description of the underground workings in Figure 5. The Whitewater lode is hosted by carbonaceous slates, slaty argillites, impure limestones and a few quartzite beds of the Triassic Slocan Group. This stratum is intruded by at least one porphyritic lamprophyre dike that is highly altered to carbonate and sericite and locally mariposite.

The upper zone occurs in a zone of shearing and fracturing in slates. The lamprophyre dike occurs as sheets and lenses within the lode and locally within the walls and intruded premineralization. Above the No. 7 level, the productive zone is up to 20 metres thick in sheared and brecciated hostrocks. Carbonaceous gouge and slickensides are well developed along vein walls. The productive zone extended down to the No. 9 level and one small stope on the 9.5 level. Ore consists of galena and sphalerite with minor tetrahedrite and trace pyrite and chalcopyrite, and occurs as streaks up to 20 centimetres wide, lenses and irregular pods up to 12 metres wide. Ore is hosted in a gangue of mostly siderite, as much as 1.5 metres wide, and some quartz. Ore in the uppermost levels is oxidized. Sphalerite contains cadmium in small amounts. The structure of the hangingwall was thought to be an important factor in localization of the ore as well as the flatter dip of the lode at this level.

The structure of the lower zone is complex. The Whitewater lode flattens abruptly below the No. 13 level from an average dip of 60 degrees to 20 degrees northward towards the lode. The footwall consists of slates and the hangingwall consists of limestone. Local silicification occurs around the replacement bodies. There are three ore types in the lower zone. The first type occurs as masses and lenses within the lode. The second ore type consists of massive replacement of limestone by sphalerite and siderite gangue. It constitutes the majority of lower zone ore and is referred to as the ‘spathic ore’. Disseminated and locally massive galena makes up roughly one-fifth of the orebodies. Pyrite and chalcopyrite are rare. Spathic ore occurs in overlapping lenses up to 10 metres thick, conformable to bedding and with minor local silicification observed. On the No. 12, level the main orebody averaged 137 metres long by 2.4 metres wide. The replacement bodies appear to be controlled by irregularly spaced fractures. The third ore type consists of sphalerite and galena in a gangue of magnetite, pyrrhotite, pyrite and other silicate minerals, replacing the lamprophyre dike. This ore, referred to as the ‘magnetic ore’, occurs in relatively large bodies between the No. 12 and 14 levels. The maximum width is 12 metres and length is 76 metres. Between No. 12 and 13 levels, the limestone-slate contact is drag-folded, the dominant structural control localizing ore in the lower zone. These levels produced most of the ore mined between 1925 and 1935.

In 1963, stripping uncovered the Whitewater vein approximately 10.5 metres east of the former shaft. A sample across 0.9 metre of oxidized material assayed 218.9 grams per tonne silver, 4.0 per cent lead and 2.8 per cent zinc (Property File - Semco Mining Corp. [1979-07-01]: Preliminary Mineral Evaluation Report - Charleston-Wellington-Kaslo Claim Group).

In 1991, three dump samples of massive sulphides yielded from 1.37 to 2.07 grams per tonne gold, 1512.0 to 4890.0 grams per tonne silver, 0.162 to 0.804 per cent copper, 13.20 to 33.10 per cent lead and 18.4 to 31.8 per cent zinc (Property File - Minnova Inc. [1991-06-20]: Report on Whitewater Property).

A total of 471 063 tonnes of mined ore is recorded for this past producer spanning a period from 1892 to 1980. Records indicate approximately 108 tonnes silver, 54 kilograms gold, 23 132 tonnes zinc, 13 942 tonnes lead, 39 tonnes cadmium and 45 kilograms copper were recovered.

The Whitewater claim was located by J.C. Eaton in 1892. In this same year, 7.26 tonnes of ore were shipped, the first shipment from this district. The Irene claim and perhaps others were added to the Whitewater group in 1898 and the first concentrator was built on site under the direction of the newly formed Whitewater Co. Ltd. Ground covering the Whitewater Deep group was acquired during this year by the Whitewater Deep Company and the No. 9 and 10 levels were tunnelled. A zinc-rich orebody was discovered below the No. 10 level but little or no work was done on it. Work was carried out independently on the Whitewater and Whitewater Deep groups until J. Retallack and associates acquired a lease on the Whitewater Deep group. The workings of the two groups were connected at this time. Fire destroyed the mining camp in July 1910 and the following year Retallack and associates purchased the combined property. Operations continued on a reduced scale until 1922.

In 1922, the 9 claims of the Whitewater group and 15 of the Whitewater Deep group were consolidated under Whitewater Mines Ltd. . Work was concentrated on the No. 11, 12 and 13 levels. The Metal Recovery Co. erected a small concentrator on the Kaslo River to treat tailings from the old Whitewater mill. A new mill was installed in 1928 and operated until July 1929, when operation by the company ceased. From 1932 to 1935, and briefly in 1937, the S.N. Ross Mining Syndicate operated the mine, mainly on the 1472 level. In 1943, a 40-60 per cent partnership was agreed to between Whitewater Mines Ltd. and Kootenay Bell Gold Mines Ltd. under the name Retallack Mines Ltd. Mill capacity was increased from 114 tonnes to 272 tonnes and put into operation in March 1944. Ore was mined from the 14 and 1472 levels in 1944, then in the vicinity of the No. 12 and 13 levels. Operations continued until 1952, during which time considerable ore was recovered from the old Whitewater dumps. In 1953, the Canada Trust Co. bought out Kootenay Bell Gold Mines Ltd. The mill was sold in 1956 and the property was acquired by the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Co. of Canada. Over its mine life a total of 11 adits and 14 levels were mined along a distance of 550 metres downdip along the lode.

In 1978 and 1979, Semco Mining Corp. completed programs of geological mapping, trenching and geochemical sampling on the area. In 1989, Northern Crown Mines Ltd. and Doron Explorations Inc. optioned the property and conducted sampling and trenching. In 1991, Minnova examined the area.