Minute Creek flows south off of the San Juan Ridge into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, approximately 3 kilometres northwest of Sombrio Point.

The area is underlain by metamorphic rock (slaty schists) of the Jurassic to Cretaceous Leech River Complex. Basalts and basaltic pillow lavas of the Eocene Metchosin Volcanics are exposed to the south. The Leech River Fault separates these and stretches from west of Victoria westward along the Leech River and Loss Creek valleys, reaching the coast near Sombrio Point.

Placer gold occurs almost exclusively in the gravels of the streams that drain the area that is underlain by the slaty schists of the Jurassic to Cretaceous Leech River Complex (Formation). Fairly coarse gold may be found in the gravels of virtually all these streams. The gold in recent gravel deposits is likely derived from the numerous quartz veins that occur in the slaty schists. These veins are seldom more than small stringers and lenses a few centimetres wide and approximately 1 metre in length. The only metallic minerals in the veins are a little pyrite or chalcopyrite and free gold. The veins are generally too small and too barren to be profitably mined.

It appears that most of the gold was derived from bars or in crevices in the bedrock of the river bed, or from benches along the side of the creek. Small, clear -pink to deep -red garnets are also reported.

The placer deposits were discovered in the late 1800’s in association with placer gold exploration on the island, following the discovery of the Leech River Placers (MINFILE 092B 078) in the 1860’s. Minor work by local prospectors has continued through to present. The lower section of the creek is located in Juan De Fuca Provincial Park.

In 1999, Triange Ventures prospected the creek as the T3 claim. Hand panning and sniping yielded gold “nuggets” up to 10 millimetres in size (Assessment Report 26052).