The Pine Southwest (Skarn 1) occurrence is located at an elevation of approximately 1300 metres on a gentle northwest trending ridge slope, east of the Finlay River and approximately 8 kilometres northeast of its confluence with the Firesteel River, about 201 kilometres north-northwest of the community of Germansen Landing.

Regionally, the area is situated within a Mesozoic volcanic arc assemblage, which lies along the eastern margin of the Intermontane Belt, a northwest-trending belt of Paleozoic to Paleogene sediments, volcanics and intrusions bounded to the east by the Omineca Belt and to the west and southwest by the Sustut and Bowser basins.

Permian Asitka Group crystalline limestones are the oldest rocks exposed in the region. They are commonly in thrust contact with Upper Triassic Stuhini Group andesite flows and pyroclastic rocks, and marine sedimentary and volcanic rocks of the Lower to Middle Jurassic Hazelton Group. These rocks have been intruded by plutons and other bodies of the mainly granodiorite to quartz monzonite Early Jurassic Black Lake Suite and are in turn unconformably overlain by or faulted against Lower Jurassic calc-alkaline volcanics of the Toodoggone Formation (Hazelton Group).

The dominant structures in the area are steeply dipping faults that define a prominent regional northwest structural fabric trending 140 to 170 degrees. In turn, high-angle (approximately 060 degrees), northeast-striking faults appear to truncate and displace northwest-striking faults. Collectively these faults form a boundary for variably rotated and tilted blocks underlain by monoclinal strata.

Locally, an altered monzonite intrusion approximately 500 metres in width, is in contact with Toodoggone volcanic rocks, primarily andesite crystal tuff, to the south and east and siliciclastic metasedimentary rocks and limestone to the southwest. These have been intruded by dacite porphyry dikes. The monzonite is variably phyllic (chlorite, epidote, quartz, sericite, pyrite and jarosite-goethite-hematite) and potassic altered, whereas the volcanics are variably epidote, quartz and calcite altered. These units host quartz-epidote, quartz-calcite and gypsum veins and/or veinlets, up to 8 centimetres wide, with pyrite and trace chalcopyrite.

Another 10- to 15-centimetre-wide vein in the area, hosted by a chloritized andesite, contains chalcopyrite, galena and sphalerite with associated malachite, limonite, epidote, manganese, quartz and carbonate. The vein strikes 025 degrees and dips 84 degrees west.

In 1987, two samples (6747 and 6748) yielded values up to 0.06 gram per tonne gold, 34.1 grams per tonne silver, 0.262 per cent zinc, 0.121 per cent lead and 0.318 per cent copper (Assessment Report 17459).

In 1999, a sample (DR-59) of chlorite-epidote-quartz-potassium feldspar altered monzonite containing vuggy quartz-epidote veins, 1 to 2 centimetres in width, assayed 1.95 grams per tonne gold, whereas a sample (DR-55) of sheared epidote-quartz-calcite altered andesite yielded 0.161 gram per tonne gold (Assessment Report 26251). Another sample taken from a 010-degree trending, chlorite-altered basalt dike hosting quartz-carbonate veins, located approximately 100 metres west of the previous samples, assayed 19.5 grams per tonne silver and 0.84 gram per tonne gold over 0.35 metre (Assessment Report 26251). The exact location of the samples is unknown, but they are reported to have come from the Pine Southwest area.

In 2009, a rock sample from the area yielded 0.203 gram per tonne gold (Assessment Report 31564).

The area has been explored in conjunction with the nearby Pine (094E 016) occurrence and property of the same name. For a complete work history refer to this occurrence.

In 1980, initial silt sampling of the area by Serem Ltd., the predecessor to Cheni Gold Mines Inc., resulted in the staking of the Wrich claims in 1981. Subsequent work, during 1982 through 1985, included geological mapping, prospecting, rock and soil geochemical sampling and geophysics, consisting of VLF-EM and VLF-EMR surveys. In 1987, Cheni conducted a program of rock and soil sampling and geological mapping on the area. An option agreement was made between Skylark Resources Ltd. and Cheni Gold Mines Inc. following this program. The following year, a program included geological mapping, geochemical (rock, soil and silt) surveys and geophysical (VLF-EMR and magnetometer) surveys.

During 1997 through 2003, Stealth Mining Corp., on behalf of Electrum Resource Corp., completed programs of rock and soil sampling, geological mapping and ground geophysical surveys on the area. In 2009, Gold Fields Toodoggone Exploration Corporation completed a program of rock and silt sampling, geological mapping, a 180.8-line kilometre ground induced polarization survey and a 2778.0-line kilometre airborne magnetic survey on the area as part of the Pine property. During 2016 through 2018, Amarc Resources Ltd. completed programs of soil and rock sampling, geological mapping, 115.0 line kilometres of ground induced polarization surveys and 1940.0-line kilometres of airborne magnetic surveys on the area as the Joy property.