The Cretaceous Bugaboo Batholith intrudes Hadrynian Windermere sediments of the Horsethief Creek Group. The east part of the intrusion consists of medium-grained leuco-quartz monzonite to coarse-grained biotite quartz monzonite.

Black sand placer concentrations containing uranium - and niobium-bearing minerals occur in the outwash gravels from glacier action in the Bugaboo Batholith. Minerals include uraninite, allanite, rutile, titano-columbite, euxenite-polycrase, pyrochlore, monazite, uranothorite, magnetite, ilmenite, apatite, andalusite, zircon, epidote, fluorite, garnet, hematite, pyrite, lepidocrocite, and sphene.

The Vowell Creek deposit is about 7400 metres long and averages 250 metres wide. Indicated reserves are 15,292,000 cubic metres grading 18.1 grams per cubic metre uranium, 196.28 grams per cubic metre niobium (Northern Miner - October 25, 1979, page 23). Manganese was also reported to occur.

In 1953 uranium oxide and pyrochlore were identified in post- glacial placer sand and gravel deposits in upper Bugaboo Creek (082KNE023). This and similar deposits on Forster (082KNE005) and Vowell creeks were mapped and variously explored by Quebec Metallurgical Industries from 1954 to 1957. A pilot plant (concentrating) was operated on Bugaboo Creek and 21 holes were churn drilled on Vowell Creek. In 1957, application for a contract to produce uranium was turned down by the Canadian government and the leases held in the area were allowed to lapse.

No further work was done in the area until, following restaking by Bugaboo Mines Ltd. in 1966 and 1967 of the upper Bugaboo Creek and Forster Creek deposits, an airborne spectrometer survey was conducted in the area during September, 1968. This survey, under the direction of Dolmage Campbell & Associates Ltd., located a number of anomalous areas on several creeks. At that time Dillingham Mining Co. became active in the area through property options and staking. Ground scintillometer surveys and visual estimates of relative gravel quantities in the several anomalous (airborne) areas resulted in the acquisition of property on Bugaboo, Forster, East (082KNE006), Vowell and Malloy (082KNE008) creeks. For a number of reasons, including some of a non-economic nature, some of the properties were allowed to lapse. However, detailed exploration was conducted by Dillingham on Malloy and Vowell creeks in 1969. This work consisted of drilling the favourable areas and doing some mineralogical studies and metallurgical testing.

In 1974, Tapin Copper Mines Limited held 21 placer leases on Malloy and Vowell creeks and evaluated the two deposits.