The Dictator occurrence is located in the upper watershed of Dictator Creek, approximately 7.1 kilometres northwest of Lightning Peak.
The Lightning Peak area is underlain by limestone and greenstone of the Devonian-Triassic Harper Ranch Group. These are underlain and intruded by granodiorite and diorite of an unnamed Middle Jurassic intrusion. Quartz porphyry dikes are common in the Harper Ranch Group; pegmatitic variations are sometimes associated with mineralization in the Lightning Peak camp. Several remnants of Miocene-Pliocene Chilcotin Group plateau basalts are found in the area, including the summit of Lightning Peak.
The Dictator quartz vein, up to 0.9 metre wide, is hosted by a north-south–striking shear zone that dips 75 degrees west. The vein contains small streaks and disseminations of pyrite, sphalerite and galena. Native sulphur has been identified filling small cavities in the vein.
Samples from a tunnel, north of the shaft, are reported to have yielded 1.4 grams per tonne gold and 20.5 grams per tonne silver from a 0.9-metre wide mineralized quartz vein, whereas dump samples yielded up to 2.1 grams per tonne gold and 92.3 grams per tonne silver (Property File - Unknown [Unknown]: Report - Lightning Peak Area).
The Dictator claim was staked by J. Glover in the 1890s and was Crown granted as Lot 4636 in 1920. By 1919, the Dictator vein had been exposed over a distance of approximately 90 metres through a series of opencuts and shafts. The vein was reported to be 46 centimetres wide. In 1933, it was recorded that the vein had been traced for approximately 250 metres and that two water-filled shafts on the property were approximately 9 and 12 metres deep, respectively. The vein was no longer exposed because of caving, but vein material from dumps was noted to contain galena, pyrite and sphalerite.
In 1934, Dictator Gold Mines Ltd. was formed and took control of the Crown grant and adjacent claims, including the Morning No. 2 (MINFILE 082ENE022) claim. A 35-metre shaft was sunk and 40 metres of underground workings were developed on the Morning shear zone, located approximately 200 metres to the west of the Dictator shear.
During 1948 to 1955, the Dictator Crown grant was held by the Paycheck Mining and Development Company Limited. Although no work was reported on the Dictator, two trial shipments of ore from dumps on the Morning or Director 5 (MINFILE 082ENE022) property are recorded.
In 1966, Bralorne Pioneer Mines Limited held an option on the Dictator and surrounding properties. No work was done on the Dictator at that time. In 1967, Mastodon-Highland Bell Mines prospected and sampled the area. In 1974, K.L. Daughtry carried out a magnetometer survey of the Morning No. 2 shear zone to the west of the Dictator. In 1979, W.G. Botel carried out a ground electromagnetic survey of the same area, which was staked as the Rob 1 claim.
In 1983 and 1984, two small geochemical surveys were carried out by L.A. Bayrock. The area covered by these surveys was limited to the Morning shear zone. In 1986, Amulet Resources Corporation staked the area surrounding the Dictator Crown grant and trenched a number of lineaments to the south and southwest. Anomalous gold and silver assays were obtained from veins exposed in the trenches. The Dictator Crown grant (Lot 4636) was forfeited on February 11, 1987. In 1989, Annax Ventures completed a program of soil sampling and ground geophysical surveys on the area as the Xen 1 claim. In 1992, Zalmac Mines completed a program of geological mapping, soil and rock sampling, surveying and aerial photograph studies on the area as the P and Z claims.
