The Operator Mountain occurrence comprises 14 separate coal showings in the Taylor Creek and Grizzly Gulch headwaters, roughly 3.8 kilometres southwest of Operator Mountain and about 152 kilometres northeast of the community of Stewart.

The occurrence is part of the southern Groundhog coalfield. The coalfield is an oblong (30 by 80 kilometres) area extending southeast from the headwaters of the Klappan and Little Klappan rivers to Groundhog Mountain. Refer to the Discovery deposit (104A 078), located 11 kilometres west, for an overview of the exploration history, regional geology and local geology of the southern Groundhog coalfield.

The coal seams form part of the Lower Cretaceous Currier Formation (Bowser Lake Group, Groundhog-Gunanoot assemblage) comprising sandstone, siltstone, carbonaceous and calcareous mudstone, minor conglomerate and coal. The most prominent seams are the Grizzly No.1 and Grizzly No.2 which are 0.85 and 1.8 metres thick, respectively. Seams exposed elsewhere in the area are generally less than 1 metre and contain abundant shale partings. Analysis of nine samples collected from Operator Mountain in 1982 (Coal Assessment Report 107) gave widely varying coal quality results:

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                Fixed carbon         37  -     62
                Ash content           26  -     56
                Volatile matter         3  -      11
                Calorific value    2672 -  5312
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The above values are in per cent except for calorific value which is in calories per gram. Coal rank is predominantly anthracite but may range up to meta-anthracite in places.

In 1967, a coal geological survey was conducted on the property on behalf of Coastal Coal Co. Ltd.

In 1991, Dawson and Ryan (Geological Survey of Canada Open File 2555) trenched and sampled in two locations a few kilometres northeast of the MINFILE location, in the saddle on the south ridge of the Operator Mountain peak, and on the unnamed peak 1 kilometre northeast of it. Coal seams there are 0.45 and 1.6 metres thick, with vitrinite reflectance values of 5.25 and 4.74 per cent VMax (anthracite rank).