The White Rapids mine was developed in part of the Wellington seam which occurs in the Early Campanian Northfield Member of the Upper Cretaceous Extension Formation, Nanaimo Group. The Wellington seam that was worked, consisted of about 61 to 76 centimetres of high volatile bituminous rank coal. This thin seam was characterized by an extremely soft shale roof. Refer to the Bebans mine (092GSW026) for a description of the Wellington Seam and Nanaimo Coalfield operations.

The mine operated between 1943 and 1950, and was closed in July, 1950 due to the thinness of the seam and other factors. During the seven years of operation the White Rapids mine produced 256,564 tonnes of highly volatile, bituminous rank coal.

The area was operated as the Riverside mine in 1953 by J. Biggs, and the Berkley Creek mine from 1954 by R.H. Chambers and A. Vanger.