Gold and platinum placer occurrences found in the Finlay, Parsnip and Peace rivers have been worked since the first discovery by Bill Cust in 1861. The placers generally occur in the top 1.5 to 3 metres of reworked glacial gravels that were deposited in streams and as benches along streams. Normally worked by hand, these placer operations had limited success. The gold is fine and flat and while platinum is common with high values reported locally, it was considered unimportant in most of these placers.

The Nation River occurrence comprises a number of placer workings along the Nation River between Philip Creek and 65 Mile Creek. Prior to 1931, records of production in this area were poorly kept. Between 1931 and 1940, 5598 grams of gold were recovered from the Nation River from an unknown amount of gravel (Bulletin 28, page 45).

Iridium values have also been obtained from assays.