The Quilchena property is situated between Robb and Quilchena creeks, south of Nicola Lake, on the east side of the Quilchena Creek alley, 18.3 kilometres southeast of Merritt and 3.25 kilometres south of Quilchena Creek Lodge.

The property is underlain by the Middle Eocene Coldwater Formation (Princeton Group) beds, which consist of arkosic sandstone, conglomerate, shale and local coal seams. A 1 to 3 metre thick layer of bentonite is associated with a coal measure striking 010 degrees and dipping 30 degrees southeast. The deposit consists of light-buff coloured, fine-grained, dense rock with a conchoidal fracture, greasy feel and high absorbency. Bentonite outcrops exposed by a bulldozer in 2010 consisted of brown-weathering bentonitic shale and siltstone with a yellowish, apple-green bentonite layer and an overlying white ash outcrop.

Bentonite was first reported in the area in 1913. In the 1960s, Quilchena Mining and Development Company conducted exploration programs including geophysical surveying and diamond drilling on an area immediately to the west of the Quilchena property. In 2010, Geotex Consultants Limited carried out several days of geological mapping and sampling on behalf of Absorbent Products Limited. Seven samples were collected and analyzed. Results indicated a calcium-rich, sodium-poor bentonite that was not suited to the company’s needs. No further work was recommended.