The Wells-Barkerville area of central British Columbia is well known for its
production of both placer and lode gold. The majority of the placer gold was
produced during the gold rush which started around 1861 and tapered off
substantially near 1898 when the gold rush started in the Yukon. Placer gold was discovered around 1900 in the Eight Mile Lake area.

All of the lode gold production in this portion of the Cariboo has come from the
three underground mines near the village of Wells, B.C. some three miles south-southwest of the Eight Mile Lake area.

Lode gold production started in 1933 from the Cariboo Gold Quartz Mine located at the south edge of the village of Wells, B.C. The Cariboo Gold Quartz Mine took over the Island Mountain Mines on the other side of the Jack of Clubs Lake, and during the period January 10, 1933 through April 15, 1967, when the mine was closed down, some 2,929,246 tons of ore grading an average of 0.4 02. of gold per ton, produced a total of 1,253,683 ounces of gold. 

The most recent lode mine, identified as the Mosquito Creek Mine, adjoins the old Island Mountain Mine on the northwest and produced gold until it was taken over by Hecla Mining. There is no record of any lode gold production in the Eight Mile Lake area.

The area around the Eight Mile Placer claims, located in the Wells-Barkerville area, is not unlike other portions of the Cariboo where bedrock is covered with a mantle of glacial debris. Bedrock outcrops are limited to sharp breaks in slope, road cuts and in old placer gold workings.