The Hopeful occcurrence is located on the northern slopes of Mount Vaughan about 23 kilometres northeast of the community of Atlin. The Atlin Ruffner past-producing mine (104N 011) is 2.6 kilometres to the west-southwest.

The occurrence lies completely within the Middle Jurassic Three Sisters Plutonic Suite composed of tonalite intrusive rocks that are cut by dark green lamprophyre dikes. The Hopeful showing is defined by a 3-metre-wide silicified lamprophyric dike bounded on its south margin by a recessive mineralized zone and post-mineral fault gouge. In 1989, channel samples through the zone assayed 332 grams per tonne silver, 2.60 per cent copper, 0.79 per cent lead and 1.20 per cent zinc over 5.5 metres (Assessment Report 20822). The mineralization is inferred to be similar to the Atlin Ruffner mine (104N 011), where quartz-calcite veining and shear zones are heavily mineralized with galena, sphalerite and arsenopyrite with lesser pyrite and chalcopyrite.

In 1989, Homestake Mineral Development Company established a detailed grid on the Hopeful 3 and Forbes 1 claim to cover a mineralized zone exposed in a hand pit. A soil geochemical survey was completed on the grid in an attempt to define the strike extensions of this mineralized zone.

In 2020, Stuhini Exploration conducted mapping, prospection, ground geophysics and geochemical sampling on the Ruby Creek property. Several rock samples were collected in the vicinity of the Hopeful occurrence; sample 1869664 returned 1.1 per cent copper, 0.3 per cent zinc, 237 grams per tonne silver and 0.39 per cent lead (Assessment Report 39374).