The Quintette (Frame) coal occurrence is located near the head of Mesa and South Mast creeks about 19 kilometres southwest of Tumbler Ridge.

The main coal seams within the Frame pit are the D, E, F, G and J seams which consist of medium volatile bituminous coking coal. The Lower Cretaceous middle Gates Formation (Fort St. John Group) in which this coal-bearing sequence occurs, consists of interbedded sandstones, siltstones, mudstones and conglomerates. The Lower Cretaceous "Babcock Member" of sandstone/conglomerate overlies the middle Gates Formation.

Seam D, 2.14 to 2.97 metres thick, is the uppermost seam and has a shale roof with sporadically developed coal splits. The seam contains minor shale partings and is consistent throughout the pit. The roof transition and the middle portion of the E seam consists of a series of coal splits and shale partings of variable thickness. Two mining sections, E1 and E2, have been identified 1.12 and 2.44 metres thick respectively, or 4.29 metres thick where there are no major splits. The upper seam E1 contains high ash content and is separated from E2 by 75 centimetres of carbonaceous claystone. Seam F, 1.49 to 2.71 metres thick, is separated into F1 and F2. While F2 is persistent throughout the pit, F1 is locally developed and contains many partings. Seam G has two clearly developed coal splits, Upper or G1, 0.73 to 0.66 metre thick, and Lower or G2, 2.47 to 3.03 metres thick. The upper and lower roof and floor sections of G2 contain minor coal splits as does the parting. Seam J contains three main coal splits, Top, 0.66 to 1.13 metres thick, Middle, 0.94 to 1.03 metres thick, and Lower, 2.08 to 2.85 metres thick. Each of the splits is very clean, however, variable thicknesses of shale and minor coal splits separate them.

In 1972, the John T. Boyd Company conducted a coal reserve study and mining plan for the Babcock Mountain area of the Quintette project. The property extended from Kinuseo Creek in the south to Perry Creek in the north. An outcrop of the D Seam was reported to occur, in the property, on the northwestern flank of Babcock Mountain. The outcrop was at an elevation ranging from 1590 to 1680 metres, with the other seams outcropping at corresponding lower elevations. The Wolverine North property was explored at this time with ten drillholes.

The structure of the pit consists of one major feature, the Mast syncline, which is asymmetrical with a northerly axial plunge of approximately 14 degrees which flattens to the north. The northeast limb dips uniformly at 40 to 50 degrees with maximum displacements of up to 40 metres associated with steeply dipping reverse faults. The southwest limb is homoclinal in the upper section with dips increasing from approximately 15 degrees in the southeast to 30 degrees in the northwest. Towards the northwest the dips in the lower part of the limb gradually increase up to 60 to 65 degrees. This disparity between upper and lower sections of the limb resulted in a thrust fault, with increases in throw up to approximately 50 metres in the northwest.

See Quintette (093P 019) for production statistics. The Wolverine (Frame) pit began producing in 1985 and reserves were exhausted in 1998.

The original Quintette coal licenses were acquired by Denison Mines Limited in 1969 and 1970. The first coal exploration on the property was undertaken by Denison in 1971. For the purpose of developing the coal licenses, Quintette Coal Limited was incorporated in December 1971. A significant exploration program was completed each of the following years to 1977. Smaller programs were conducted in 1979 and 1980. In 1981, Quintette Coal Limited conducted an exploration program primarily in three planned mine areas; Babcock (093I 011), Sheriff and Frame. The program included geological mapping, diamond drilling, rotary drilling and driving adits.

In 1975, north of the Murray River in the Wolverine area, Quintette Coal Limited delineated two pits. The Sheriff pit is located on Mast Ridge and is contained in a complex syncline overlying a large thrust fault. The Deputy pit is situated in a smaller syncline immediately to the southwest, and is contiguous with the Sheriff pit. The Frame pit, southwest of the Sheriff pit, is located in the Mast syncline, an area of relatively minor faulting.

As of November 2, 1985, 4.2 million tonnes of metallurgical coal and 0.6 million tonne of thermal coal were produced at the Quintette mine (093P 019). In terms of total waste and coal mined, 70 to 75 per cent originated from the McConkey site and the remainder from Wolverine (Frame) pit. Production from Wolverine is increasing relative to McConkey though the scale is uncertain given adjustments to reserve figures for Wolverine. The areas at or immediate to the mine site where Quintette might satisfy long-term production needs, include Wolverine, Marmot Extension, Shikano, and Transfer.

In September 1987, production at the newly opened Shikano pit (093I 010) began in earnest complementing that at the Mesa and Wolverine (Frame) pits. Quintette produced approximately 5 million tonnes of metallurgical coal in the calendar year, with about 70 per cent of the production from the Mesa subpits, about 20 per cent from Wolverine (Frame) and 10 per cent from Shikano.