Kwanika Creek flows southerly into the Nation River near the outlet of Tsayta Lake, approximately 40 kilometres east-southeast of Takla Landing. A 3.2-kilometre stretch of the creek, beginning approximately 3.2 kilometres up from its mouth, was worked intermittently between 1940 and 1963.

The creek in this area is traversed, in a north-northwesterly direction, by the Pinchi fault zone, which separates argillite and greywacke assigned to the Middle Triassic to Lower Jurassic Takla Group on the east from Carboniferous to Jurassic Cache Creek Complex limestone to the west. The former sediments have been intruded by various phases of the Late Triassic to Early Cretaceous Hogem Intrusive Complex in the vicinity.

Kwanika Creek flows in what appears to be a postglacial channel which has cut through nearly 8 metres of glacial debris into bedrock. Fairly coarse placer gold has been recovered from this channel, beginning in 1940 when approximately 3438 grams was reportedly won from the gravels. Between 1947-1948, Yuba Consolidated Gold Dredging Company held 19 leases on the creek and drilled two test holes totalling 47.6 metres. In 1955, Martin Mine Limited drilled an additional 12 holes totalling 73.2 metres with unknown results.

The only other production reported in the area occurred in 1963, when approximately 4 tonnes of quality jade was obtained from seven boulders ranging from 0.181 to 7.26 tonnes, discovered in the creek (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1963, page 151).

Aside from gold, arquerite, a natural amalgam of mercury and silver, and cinnabar can reportedly be panned from the creek.