Goldpan Creek is located about 19 kilometres west of the south end of Dease Lake. Placer gold was discovered on the creek in 1924 about 600 metres from the mouth. Recorded gold production to 1940 totalled 84,467 grams (2716 ounces).

Regional mapping by the Geological Survey of Canada (Open File 2779) shows the area to be underlain by the Lower Jurassic Inklin Formation (Laberge Group), comprised of mainly slate, greywacke, and conglomerate. Upper Triassic Sinwa Formation (Stuhini Group) limestone, commonly argillaceous, is exposed locally.

The occurrence area is underlain by slate, shale, and rusty carbonate rock. The deposits overlying the bedrock consists of boulder clay, sands, gravel and to a lesser extent, recent alluvium. The paystreaks below the present stream gravels are postglacial and have been formed by concentration from the glacial drift.

Gold occurs most abundantly where the surface gravels extend down to bedrock in the bed of the stream. The best concentrations were found in the lower 400 metres of the creek where the valley is narrow. In the upper parts of the creek and tributaries where clay occurs beneath the surface gravels, there are many small concentrations of gold on or in the upper parts of the clay but none beneath the clay. The depth of the bedrock is variable. The gold is coarse and flat and nuggets up to about 62 grams (2 ounces) have been found (Bulletin 28).

In 2019, on behalf of M. Hawley, a brief one-day exploration program was carried out consisting of a ground geophysical magnetometer survey coupled with hand test pitting and panning. The magnetometer survey yielded several areas with a higher magnetic response. All test pans returned trace gold and one yielded four colours. Pans are representative of surface gravels (Assessment Report 38551).