Placer gold was historically mined in Lawless (Half Mile) Creek which empties into Quesnel River just above Quesnel Forks, about 8.5 kilometres northwest of Likely. Production from 1931-45 totalled 12,689 grams gold. Bedrock geology in the area consists of Middle-Upper Triassic basal black phyllite of the Nicola Group.

"Data from the Cariboo mining district indicate that supergene leaching of gold dispersed within massive sulphides by Tertiary deep weathering followed by Cenozoic erosion is the most likely explanation for the occurrence of coarse gold nuggets in Quaternary sediments" (Exploration in British Columbia 1989, page 147).

The first placer mining in the Quesnel mining district was along the Quesnel River, and on Horsefly River in 1859. In 1860, new discoveries were rapidly made - Keithley, Snowshoe, and Harvey creeks were discovered and a large amount of gold was produced before the earliest production was recorded in 1874. Fully one-third of the total production of the Quesnel district is believed to have been mined between 1860 and 1873 (Bulletin 28).