The placer claim(s) on Harper's bar were originally staked around 1864. With the influx of white and Chinese miners in the Cariboo gold rush of the mid-1800's, many small sniping operations (unregistered) removed a large amount of placer gold. Mr. T. Ward bought the old Harper's lease in 1891 and began an organized hydraulic operation. This was quite a large operation. However, no complete production records are available. Estimates of 29000 to 59000 ounces have been made.

The hydraulic pit was approximately 18 metres below the river level. Gold was in yellow gravels, some of which was partially cemented. Blue gravels, lower in the section, also carried some gold. The pay gravels bottomed on (Eocene) shaly rock that dips away to the west, south and east at about 30 to 35 degrees. It appears that the Ward deposit is at a "paleo high" and the gold gravels dip away steeply as demonstrated by the Miocene Shaft 608 metres southwest. The shaft bottoms on Eocene shaly rock at 152 metres below surface (about 145 metres below river level).

The gold values were of sufficient grade to warrant installation of a hydraulic elevator and profitable operations continued for over 14 years.

"Data from the Cariboo mining district indicate that supergene leaching of gold dispersed within massive sulphides by Tertiary deep weathering followed by Cenozoic erosion is the most likely explanation for the occurrence of coarse gold nuggets in Quaternary sediments" (Exploration in British Columbia 1989, page 147).