Olivine (Slate) Creek flows northeastward from the west flank of Lodestone Mountain for 11 kilometres, before entering the Tulameen River 4.5 kilometres west of the town of Tulameen.

The stream initially passes through a deep but flat-floored valley, 6 kilometres long, before encountering a short canyon, and then a series of waterfalls, just above its mouth. The more extensive gravel deposits are found in the broader parts of the valley above the falls. In one section, the gravels are 1.8 to 2.4 metres deep and thicken downstream.

A large amount of coarse gold and platinum were recovered from the creek's gravels, mostly from the valley above the canyon. One gold nugget found in 1886 weighed 393 grams (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1886, page 198).

The gravels were mined between 1886 and 1900. Estimated production for this period is 37,800 grams of gold. The creek was extensively explored underground for an old channel above and below the falls, and at its mouth, between 1925 and 1931. One tunnel excavated above the falls was 670 metres long. A shaft sunk from this tunnel is reported to have intersected gold and platinum-bearing gravels containing boulders of pyroxenite, peridotite and dunite (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1928, page 271).