The former Empire mine is located 3.25 kilometres southeast of Burnell Lake and 2.5 kilometres northwest of Oliver, BC.

Regionally, the area is principally underlain by medium- grained intrusive rocks that form the Jurassic Oliver Plutonic Complex. To the south, the complex cuts Carboniferous to Permian Kobau Group metasedimentary rocks. On its northern margin, the intrusive mass is in contact with Eocene volcanics and sediments of the Penticton Group.

In the Empire occurrence area, the Oliver plutonic complex is composed almost entirely of quartz monzonite. Three distinct phases are evident. A central core of massive, medium- grained, garnet-muscovite quartz monzonite is surrounded by biotite-hornblende quartz monzonite north of the core and porphyritic biotite quartz monzonite to the south. Hornblende diorite occurs in several small areas to the immediate north.

The Empire mine is hosted by the garnet-muscovite quartz monzonite central phase of the Oliver Plutonic Complex. Nearby, a swarm of fine- to medium- grained quartz monzonite dikes cut this unit. The area has been extensively faulted and fractured. Regional hydrothermal alteration has resulted in epidote, which occurs in seams up to 2.5 centimetres wide.

No information could be found about the mineralogy of the veins. However, the mineralogy, in decreasing order of abundance at the Standard occurrence, consists of coarse patches of pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, sphalerite, tetrahedrite and specks of hessite.

In 1934, two nearly parallel quartz veins, 0.45 to 1.37 metres wide, were exposed by a shaft and four open cuts. The veins are shear hosted.

Total recorded intermittent production between 1936 and 1942 from the former Empire mine was 586 tonnes mined. Recovery included 45,068 grams of silver and 4385 grams of gold.

Little is known about the discovery and early history of the Empire occurrence. By 1934, the Empire occurrence was part of the Empire claim group consisting of the Empire (Lot 611), Empire, Monarch and others. The claim group was owned by a Vancouver syndicate. Early development work on the Empire occurrence consisted of a 7.6-metre shaft and four open cuts. The nearby Standard occurrence (MINFILE 082ESW091) and surrounding area were sampled extensively between 1961 and 1962 by Norex Mines Ltd. and Continental Consolidated Mines Ltd. In the late 1970s, the Standard property was restaked as the Snowflake claim by B. Hegan and an option granted to Vermillion Resources Corp. In 1984, Vermillion Resources Corp. conducted exploration at the Standard occurrence. In 1986, Silver Saddle Mines Ltd. optioned the property. Millenium Resources Inc. optioned the Standard property in 1987. In 2013 and 2014, Hi Ho Silver Resources completed programs of rock and soil sampling, geological mapping and 38.0 line-kilometres of ground electromagnetic surveys on the area.