Lying in the heart of the gold belt known as the Barkerville District, Hardscrabble Creek was discovered by the pioneer prospectors in 1867, and has ever since been noted for the number of heavy minerals associated with the gold. Galena and various iron minerals were recognized, but the most troublesome was a heavy white substance, which caused great trouble to the miners by packing in the sluice-boxes so tightly that the gold was carried over the firmly set particles by the amount of water required to keep the riffles clean. An investigation by an economic geologist of high standing of some lumps of the alleged mineral showed it to be barium sulphate, and no examination was made of the smaller particles.