The Dowsett showing lies within the Barkerville Terrane of the Omineca Belt. The Barkerville Terrane is in thrust contact with Triassic Quesnel Terrane rocks to the west and Hadrynian to Lower Paleozoic Cariboo Terrane rocks to the east. The Barkerville Terrane in this region is underlain by the dominantly metasedimentary rocks of the Hadrynian to Lower Paleozoic Snowshoe Group. In this area the Snowshoe Group comprises limestone, phyllite and quartzite. These rocks have been regionally metamorphosed to greenschist facies.

The showing was discovered following the recognition of a significant amount of scheelite in the placer sands of nearby California Gulch. The scheelite may be related to mineralization in the Antler Mountain area to the southwest which comprises gold-bearing quartz veins that also are variably mineralized with arsenopyrite, galena and siderite and locally may contain pyrrhotite, sphalerite and scheelite.