The region is underlain by an assemblage of sedimentary rocks consisting mainly of continental margin and shelf facies rocks. This assemblage was deposited on and to the west of the ancestral North American craton. These sedimentary rocks, for the most part typical miogeoclinal facies, range in age from Hadrynian to Upper Cretaceous. Structurally these rocks are part of the Foreland Thrust and Fold Belt of the North American Cordillera.

The Barbara Ellen showing is located on the Bowron River which, apart from the incision of the river itself, is an area of very poor bedrock exposure. It is probable that rocks exposed in the Bowron River belong to the Lower Cambrian Gog Group. The showing comprises mineralized quartz veins in schistose argillite. The largest vein is up to 7.3 metres wide and is more or less conformable with the enclosing rocks, striking 115 to 133 degrees northwest. Mineraliza- tion consists of chalcopyrite, sphalerite and pyrite. A selected sample taken in 1933 assayed 3.8 per cent copper, 5.1 per cent zinc with traces of gold and silver (Annual Report 1933).

The quartz veins were examined for their silica potential. One sample assayed 99.43 per cent silica (Report of analysis, 1934).