The United Verde (Southern Belle) occurrence is located near the southeastern arm of Wilson Creek and approximately 2.9 kilometres west-northwest of Lost Mountain.

Regionally, the area is underlain by fine clastic sediments of the Lower to Middle Ordovician Active Formation, sediments and carbonate rocks of the Middle Cambrian Nelway Formation, undivided sedimentary rocks of the Cambrian Laib Formation and quartz arenite sedimentary rocks of the Neoproterozoic to Lower Cambrian Hamill Group. To the north these have been intruded by granodioritic rocks of the Cretaceous Anstey pluton, and a small stock of syenitic to monzonitic intrusive rocks of the Eocene Coryell Plutonic Suite outcrops to the southwest.

Locally, disseminated, stringers and massive sulphide mineralization is associated with at least two quartz veins or gangue zones within lensoidal masses or shoots, up to 4.5 metres wide, along the shear zone known as the Black Bluff fault. The fault is interpreted as a thrust zone with Lower to Middle Ordovician black and graphitic argillites of the Active Formation to the west and upper Laib Formation phyllites, argillites, quartzites and minor limestones to the east. Sulphides include pyrite, sphalerite and galena with lesser scheelite and molybdenite within quartz zones of highly variable width and extent although the mineralization appears related to disconnected shoots rather than to well-defined planar structures. The mineralized quartz-bearing zones strike north 50 degrees east and dip from 70 to 76 degrees southeast.

In 1918, samples of vein material from the lower level are reported to have assayed 1.0 per cent zinc, 3.5 per cent lead, 136.8 grams per tonne silver and 0.7 gram per tonne gold over 0.3 metre, whereas a sample of vein material from the upper level raise is reported to have yielded 1.2 per cent zinc, 6.5 per cent lead and 82.1 grams per tonne silver (British Columbia Minister of Mines Report 1918).

In 1921, A 4.5-metre thick lens containing 1.8 metres of latite dike on the hangingwall assayed 2.74 grams per tonne gold, 442.3 grams per tonne silver, 21.6 per cent lead and 1.3 per cent zinc (Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 172, page 82).

In 1978, two samples of vein material from the ‘Big’ and ‘First’ veins from the lower adit yielded 0.29 and 0.33 per cent copper, 5.78 and 0.28 per cent lead and 2.17 and 5.54 per cent zinc with 106.7 and 22.6 grams per tonne silver over 1.2 metres each, respectively, whereas three dump samples yielded from 1.51 to 5.83 per cent lead, 0.17 to 6.30 per cent zinc and 42.4 to 159.4 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 7300).

In 1979, sampling of mineralized veins exposed by the lower adit yielded from 0.06 to 1.9 per cent tungsten trioxide and 0.002 to 0.007 per cent molybdenite, whereas a single grab sample from a separate vein assayed 0.12 per cent copper, 0.14 per cent tungsten, 0.36 per cent lead, 2.3 per cent zinc, 684 grams per tonne silver and 1.03 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 7849).

In 1996, a grab sample (UV4-1) from a pit near the middle adit assayed 2.66 per cent lead, 221.1 grams per tone silver and 0.63 gram per tonne gold (Assessment Report 24910).

The area has been explored since 1895, when the Southern Belle group, including the United Verde claims, were staked. Minor production was carried out in the late 1910s and/or early 1920s of hand sorted ores from at least three adits and drifting on two levels consisting of approximately 41 metres of crosscuts each on the upper and lower levels, drifting for 21.6 metres on two quartz veins from the lower level and 15.0 metres of drifting, a 6.0 metre raise and a 9.3 metre winze on the upper level. The average grade from a “few tons” of sorted ore was reportedly 0.8 per cent zinc, 30 per cent lead and 934 grams per tonne silver (British Columbia Minister of Mines Report 1918).

In 1952, Kontiki Lead and Zinc Mines Ltd. completed four drillholes, totalling 978.6 metres, on the western side of Wilson Creek as the Snow claims. No records of these holes are known.

In 1978, a program of soil sampling and geological mapping was completed on the area. During 1979 through 1981, BP Minerals completed programs of rock, silt and soil sampling; geological mapping and 53.0 line-kilometres of ground geophysical surveys on the M.U.T. claims.

During 1994 through 1996, Sultan Minerals Inc. conducted programs of geochemical sampling, geological mapping and a 510 line-kilometre airborne geophysical survey on the area. This work identified a large multi-element soil geochemical anomaly in the Wilson Creek area.