The Black Bear East (North Zone) occurrence is located on a ridge, west of Spanish Creek and approximately 4 kilometres north-northeast of the creek mouth on Spanish Lake.

The area lies within the eastern part of the Quesnellia terrane. This region is underlain dominantly by fine-grained metasedimentary rocks, which are in contact with the Barkerville terrane. The metasedimentary rocks comprise mainly dark-grey phyllite and silty slate considered to be of the Middle to Upper Triassic. Part of the black phyllite succession is informally correlated with the Nicola Group but has also been informally referred to as the Quesnel River Group sediments. Serpentinite ultramafic rocks of the Upper Paleozoic Crooked Amphibolite are exposed to the north and west.

Locally, black shale or phyllite hosts mineralized quartz veins. In 2016, a sample (No. 2064) assayed 10.15 grams per tonne gold; while other samples from the area yielded up to 0.115 per cent lead (sample 2108), 0.131 per cent zinc (sample 2085) and 1.729 per cent copper (sample 2111; Assessment Report 36462).

In 2015 and 2016, the area was prospected and rock samples were taken by Barker Minerals as the Black Bear East property.