AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
Residual total magnetic field, McQuesten Aeromagnetic Survey, NTS 115P/5, 115O/8 and part of 115O/7, Yukon

A map of the residual total magnetic field derived from data acquired by Goldak Airborne Surveys during the period of November 19, 2008 to February 19, 2009. Data were recorded using a split-beam cesium vapour magnetometer mounted in the tail boom of a Piper Navajo aircraft.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Dempster Fibre Line project newsletters

The Dempster Fibre Line project is a 778-kilometre fibre optic line that follows the Dempster Highway from Dawson, Yukon, to Inuvik, Northwest Territories, in Canada. The project was in construction from 2019 to 2023 and was completed in September 2024. 

The newsletters were used to provide regular updates about the status of the project throughout its construction.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
First vertical derivative of the magnetic field, Wernecke Mountain Aeromagnetic Survey, NTS 106C (north half), Yukon

This map of the first vertical derivative of the magnetic field was derived from data acquired during an aeromagnetic survey carried out by Fugro Airborne Surveys during the period April 17, 2006 to August 26, 2007. The data were recorded using a split-beam cesium vapour magnetometer (sensitivity = 0.005 nT) mounted in the tail boom of a Cessna Caravan aircraft. The nominal traverse and control line spacings were, respectively, 800 m and 2 600 m, and the aircraft flew at a nominal terrain clearance of 250 m. Traverse lines were oriented N30degreesE with orthogonal control lines. The flight path was recovered following post-flight differential corrections to the raw Global Positioning System data and inspection of ground images recorded by a vertically-mounted video camera. The survey was flown on a pre-determined flight surface to minimize differences in magnetic values at the intersections of control and traverse lines. These differences were computer-analysed to obtain a mutually levelled set of flight-line magnetic data. The levelled values were then interpolated to a 200 m grid. The International Geomagnetic Reference Field was not removed from the magnetic total field.

The first vertical derivative of the magnetic field is the rate of change of the magnetic field in the vertical direction. Computation of the first vertical derivative removes long-wavelength features of the magnetic field and significantly improves the resolution of closely spaced and superposed anomalies. A property of first vertical derivative maps is the coincidence of the zero-value contour with vertical contacts at high magnetic latitudes (Hood, 1965).

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Permafrost-related landslides following a 2017 wildfire, Dempster Highway, Yukon (parts of NTS 116G/9 and 116H/12)

The Yukon is experiencing impacts of climate change, marked by elevated annual air temperatures, alterations in precipitation patterns and increased wildfire activity. These changes can lead to permafrost degradation, impacting highways and community Infrastructure. In July 2017, a wildfire burned a slope in permafrost terrain above the Dempster Highway in the Yukon. In the years following the wildfire, two types of permafrost-related landslides have been observed on the slope. Active layer detachment activity was highest in the first year after the landslide, possibly influenced by warm temperatures and rainfall events. Retrogressive thaw flow slides formed in 2019 in areas of ice-rich permafrost and are still active in 2023. Deposition of sediment and influx of water has resulted in flooding near the highway, further degrading the permafrost in the valley bottom. This study characterizes the landslide timing and morphology following a wildfire on permafrost terrain, and investigates potential triggers and controls.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Yukon Targeted Geoscience Initiative, Part 1: Results of accelerated bedrock mapping in Glenlyon (105L/1-7, 11-14) and northeast Carmacks (115I/9,16) areas, central Yukon

The core of Glenlyon and northeastern Carmacks map areas is underlain by a northwest-trending belt of metasedimentary, metavolcanic and (meta)plutonic rocks of the Yukon-Tanana Terrane. It includes two successions of Carboniferous arc volcanic rocks, associated plutonic suites of Mississippian age, Devonian-Mississippian metaclastic rocks, and their basement complex. To the southwest, Yukon-Tanana Terrane is juxtaposed with the Semenof block a belt of mafic metavolcanic rocks of uncertain terrane affinity along the Needlerock and Big Salmon faults. To the northeast, the Tummel fault zone delineates the contact between Yukon-Tanana and Cassiar terranes. The narrow belt of chert, argillite and greenstone which occurs within the Tummel fault zone probably correlates with the Slide Mountain Terrane. The area is intruded by Early Jurassic and Cretaceous plutons and is dissected by a series of late faults, which results in approximately 56 km of dextral offset of the Yukon-Tanana Terrane.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Mineral Assessment of the Tombstone Study Area, Yukon

A mineral assessment of the Tombstone study area was undertaken by the Department of Economic Development in the summer of 1998 at the request of the Department of Renewable Resources. The purpose of the mineral assessment was to produce a mineral potential map, which was to be used to assist with the finalization of the boundaries of the Tombstone Territorial Park.
Following an initial compilation, a field program was designed to document known mineral occurrences, test and improve the existing regional mapping, investigate geochemical anomalies, characterize favourable environments for mineralization, sample for lithogeochemistry, and prospect for mineralization. A field program resulted in the discovery of several new mineral occurrences, as well as the discovery of previously unmapped geological formations. Fieldwork was followed by a compilation phase that integrated the new information to the existing geoscientific data. The geology of the study area was subdivided into thirteen geological tracts. A panel of five industry and government experts, familiar with the geology, mineral occurrences and mineral deposit types to be found in the area, was convened in June 1999. Based on the final compilation and their expertise, they produced a relative ranking of all the tracts according to their potential to host mineral deposits, from highest potential to lowest.

The highest-ranking tracts are those that include, or are near the Cretaceous intrusions (Tombstone, Mount Brenner and smaller intrusions) and have strong potential for intrusion-hosted (Fort Knox-type, porphyry uranium, skarn) and intrusion-related (skarns, veins, replacement) mineralization. Other tracts demonstrate potential for Wernecke Breccia, shale-hosted nickel sulphide, ultramafic-hosted nickel and listwaenite, Carlin-type, Mississippi Valley-type or replacement lead-zinc, as well as volcanogenic mineralization.

A final boundary was adopted in December 2000; it includes land outside of the original study area. This final boundary therefore includes areas that were not assessed in this study. All our wildlife sightings were documented and were included in the subsequent wildlife survey.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Preliminary report on the bedrock geology southwest of Big Salmon Lake (parts of NTS 105F/3, 4, 5, 6), south-central Yukon

Two contrasting lower Paleozoic units underlie the region southwest of Big Salmon Lake in south-central Yukon. The lower unit comprises dolomitic quartzite, quartzite, dolostone, dolomitic shale, siltstone and sandstone, and their metamorphosed equivalents. Two-holed crinoid ossicles indicate an Early–Middle Devonian age for the dolostone. These dolomitic rocks are overlain by largely carbonate-free, dark, fine-grained and siliceous strata. Rock types include graphitic phyllite, siltstone, metachert and porphyroblastic metapelitic schist. The two units are correlated with the Askin and Earn groups, respectively. An interval of metabasaltic schist locally marks the boundary between the Askin and Earn groups. Mafic and ultramafic rocks are intermittently exposed beneath the Askin Group in parts of the region. 

The lower Paleozoic metasedimentary units are crosscut by deformed Devonian–Mississippian two-mica augen gneiss and by largely undeformed mid-Cretaceous megacrystic biotite granite to monzogranite. Deformation prior to the mid-Cretaceous produced close to tight folds that trend northwest. The associated axial-planar cleavage/schistosity dips northeast at moderate to steep angles, away from the crest of a major antiformal structure.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Bedrock geology of western ‘Mendocina Creek’ (NTS 105F/5) and eastern Livingstone Creek (NTS 105E/8) areas, south-central Yukon

Metasedimentary and meta-igneous rocks in ‘Mendocina Creek’ (NTS 105F/5) and eastern Livingstone Creek (NTS 105E/8) areas are part of three distinct stratigraphic sequences: from east to west, the Sheep Creek, Scurvy Creek and Dycer Creek successions. The Sheep Creek succession contains extensive carbonate horizons and is likely part of the Cassiar terrane. To the west, metaclastic rocks of the Scurvy Creek succession are extensively intruded by sills and dykes composed of augen meta-granite of Early Mississippian age; they are correlated with the Snowcap assemblage of Yukon-Tanana terrane. The overlying Dycer Creek succession in the southwest comprises marble, carbonaceous rocks, greenstone and quartzite of Lower Mississippian (and younger?) age that probably correlate with the Finlayson assemblage of Yukon-Tanana terrane. The ‘Mendocina Creek’ area experienced at least four phases of deformation and greenschist- to amphibolite-facies metamorphism. An east-verging thrust locally imbricates the Scurvy Creek succession and the boundary between the Yukon-Tanana and Cassiar terranes corresponds with a west-verging, brittle-ductile thrust fault in the eastern part of the area. Re-interpretation of the geology in western Quiet Lake map-area indicates that this boundary is located 20 km east of the d’Abbadie fault, the previously inferred terrane boundary.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Lithogeochemistry of meta-volcanic rocks from Yukon-Tanana Terrane, Finlayson lake region, Yukon: Preliminary results

In this paper, we present a preliminary assessment of the lithogeochemical characteristics of meta-volcanic rocks in the Finlayson Lake region. Unit 2 mafic meta-volcanic rocks are subdivided into three suites: 1) low Ti tholeiites and boninites (suite 2a); 2) transitional (oceanic island basalt, OIB?), Light Rare Earth Element (LREE) -enriched tholeiites (suite 2b); and 3) normal mid-ocean ridge basalts (suite 2c; N-MORB). Suite 2a has similarities to rocks formed in ancient suprasubduction zone ophiolites and in forearcs in modern intraoceanic arcs. Unit 3 felsic meta-volcanic rocks comprise two subdivisions: 1) a low Eu/Eu*, Zr/Y, and Ce/Yb N suite (3a); and 2) a higher Eu/Eu*, Zr/Y and Ce/Yb N suite (3b). All unit 3 felsic meta-volcanic rocks have calc-alkalic continental arc signatures. Meta-basaltic rocks of the Campbell Range belt (CRB) fall into three suites: 1) moderately LREE enriched E-MORB type rocks (CRB 1 ); 2) LREE depleted N-MORB t ype rocks (CRB 2 ); and 3) a high Mg#, High Field Strength Elements (HFSE) and LREE-enriched tholeiitic suite (CRB 3 ). All CRB meta-basaltic rocks have features consistent with generation in an ocean basin and/or back-arc/marginal basin setting. The most prospective suites for volcanogenic massive sulphide mineralization in the Finlayson Lake region are 2a, 3a, and CRB 1 and CRB 2 .

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Observations of polymetallic Ag-Pb-Zn (± Au ± In) mineralization at the Eagle and Fisher vein-faults, airborne total field magnetics and identification of Tombstone age-equivalent aplite dykes in the Galena Hill area, Keno City, Yukon

We present a new dataset from the Eagle exploration project, completed in 2009 on the lesser explored southeast slopes of Galena Hill in the Keno Hill silver camp. The Keno Hill silver camp is hosted in Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks of the Selwyn Basin that were subsequently intruded by the Cretaceous Tombstone Plutonic Suite. Although a genetic association is documented between the Tombstone plutons and Au-As mineralization regionally, the genesis and age of the Keno Ag-Pb-Zn mineralization remains poorly understood.
Mineralization studied from the Eagle project area, while modally dominated by indium-rich sphalerite, was introduced in at least three distinct phases. A low-amplitude aeromagnetic high occurs at the southeast end of Galena Hill and is suggestive of a buried intrusion. Two new U-Pb age dates of ca. 93 Ma have been determined for aplite dykes, indicating the presence of Tombstone Suite intrusions within the Eagle property.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Investigation into the Reprocessing of Elsa Tailings

This project was undertaken to evaluate the potential to economically recover additional metal values from the 4.6 million tons of Keno Hill flotation tailings which grades 3-4 oz/t silver, 0.8% lead and 0.9% zinc.

The study determined that the higher grade portion of the tailing, containing some 1.0 million tons at 5.35 oz/t Ag, responds well to cyanide heap leaching with a silver recovery of 50-60%. The testing data suggests that heap leaching is economically feasible at the current silver price of $US5.50/ounce and a currency exchange rate of 1.35 in favour of the US dollar.

The response to gravity and flotation concentration was poor.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Enhanced landsat thematic mapper imagery for exploration geology in the Wheaton River district, southern Yukon

Digitally enhanced Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery was evaluated as a mapping aid for exploration geology in the Wheaton River District of the southern Yukon. Landsat TM data acquired on September 1986 was digitally processed to enhance lineaments and alteration zones. Geological mapping was conducted at a reconnaissance scale of 1:250 000 for a 45 km by 45 km area centred on the Wheaton District and at a detailed scale of 1:50 000 for the Mt. Skukum Volcanic Complex. Reconnaissance investigations showed that the TM imagery was valuable for detecting and mapping small scale geological lineaments and for recognizing limonitic rocks. The imagery, however, was not useful for identifying or differentiating lithologic units. A further limitation of the imagery was the loss of information in the shadows created by the extreme topography of the region and the low sun angle present at the time of image acquisition. Detailed field investigations conducted on the Mt. Skukum Volcanic Complex showed that edge enhanced Landsat images were capable of detecting most of the previously mapped faults and fractures, and some dikes. Three unmapped and potentially significant lineaments were mapped using the TM imagery. These new lineaments (Vesuvius-Chieftain Hill, Sulphide Creek, and Rhyolite Creek) are probably deep-seated fractures. Alteration zones, primarily iron oxide rich rocks, were also mapped successfully. Attempts at identifying hydrothermally altered rocks failed. Overall, Landsat TM imagery was found to be a valuable tool for mapping geological lineaments and iron oxide alteration zones at scales between 1:250 000 and 1:50 000.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Rock-Eval/TOC data for 18 wells, Peel Plateau and Plain, Yukon Territory (65° 50’ to 67° 00’ N; 133° 45’ to 135° 15’ W)

This report is a compilation of newly obtained and previously determined Rock-Eval anhydrous pyrolysis analytical results including, total organic carbon content analysis (Rock-Eval/TOC) together with previously determined vitrinite reflectance data for the Peel Plateau and Plain region, Yukon Territory. The study is part of the “Regional Geoscience Studies and Petroleum Potential, Peel Plateau and Plain” research project which aims to provide new information on the geology of the Peel Plateau and Plain in both the Northwest Territories and the Yukon Territory, including a petroleum resource assessment of the region (see Pyle et al., 2006). The research involves the efforts of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC), the Northwest Territories Geoscience Office (NTGO), the Yukon Geological Survey (YGS) as well as university and industry affiliates.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Age, geochemical and metallogenic investigations of Cretaceous intrusions in southeastern Yukon and southwestern NWT: A preliminary report

The geochronology and geochemistry of Cretaceous intrusions and associated mineralization in southeastern Yukon and southwestern NWT is the focus of a new research project. The objective is to investigate the southeastern extension of well-established plutonic suites currently recognized in central and western Yukon. Here we report five new U-Pb zircon ges from the study area that indicate that at least three distinct ages of intrusions are present. Two bodies (Bennett Creek pluton and an unnamed body west of Tungsten) give ages of ~91 Ma and are correlated with the Tombstone Plutonic Suite. Two phases of the Coal River batholith give ages of ~96 Ma and are considered to be part of the Tay River plutonic suite. Finally, the Mt. Billings Batholith east of Tuchitua Junction gives an age of ~106 Ma, and is correlated with the Anvil plutonic suite. Compositionally, the intrusions range from monzogranite to granodiorite and most contain at least minor amounts of biotite ± hornblende ± magnetite. Also, they are dominantly peraluminous to slightly metaluminous, subalkalic, relatively oxidized, and appear to span I-, S-, and A-type (within-plate) fields on various lithogeochemical discriminant plots. These new data will help constrain genetic and exploration models for a wide variety of Cretaceous intrusion-related gold and base metal mineral deposit types in the study area.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Mount Byng property, south Yukon

An interesting grassroots exploration prospect is associated with a Lower Cretaceous intrusive complex on the ridge north of Mt. Byng, 50 km northeast of Whitehorse. Brecciated quartz-carbonate veins which return sporadic high gold values are associated with north-trending rhyolite dykes and small stocks.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Re-evaluating the chronostratigraphic framework for felsic volcanic and intrusive rocks of the Finlayson Lake region, Yukon-Tanana terrane, Yukon

The Finlayson Lake district contains >30 Mt of volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) mineralization, but has not been the focus of field-based research since the mid-2000s. We present herein preliminary fieldwork on Yukon-Tanana terrane (YTT) host rocks that are the groundwork for future petrologic, isotopic, and geochronologic studies of the stratigraphy and crustal evolution of the VMS deposits and YTT rocks in the Finlayson Lake region and other peri-Laurentian terranes of the northern Cordillera. During the summer of 2017, we logged seven drill holes that intersected the stratigraphic hanging walls and footwalls of the mafic-hosted Fyre Lake and felsic-hosted Kudz Ze Kayah and GP4F VMS deposits. The stratigraphic results generally reveal finely laminated to bedded mafic or felsic volcaniclastic rocks that are interbedded with clastic rocks or cut by intrusive rocks and reflect changes in depositional environments and tectonomagmatic regimes in the Late Devonian to Early Mississippian.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Geology of the Upper Hart River Area, Eastern Ogilvie Mountains, Yukon Territory (116A/10, 116A/11)

In the eastern Ogilvie Mountains, geological mapping (1:50,000) was undertaken on map sheets 116A/10 and 11, which straddle the boundary between the Foreland and Omineca belts of the Cordilleran Orogen. The area is underlain by a diverse assemblage of epicontinental and miogeoclinal sediementary, and subordinate volcanic and intrusive rocks, ranging in age from Early Proterozoic to Triassic. These rocks represent most of the geological history of the northern Cordilleran miogeocline and its supracrustal basement.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Finlayson Lake Targeted Geoscience Initiative (southeastern Yukon), Part 2: Quaternary geology and till geochemistry

A regional till geochemistry survey and Quaternary geology investivations were carried out across poorly exposed terrain of the Finlayson Lake map area. Two sampling teams collected 331 till samples, including regional and deposit orientation samples from Wolverine, Kudz Ze Kayah and the Argus properties. In total, 489 till samples were analysed by ICP-MS, including 158 samples collected in 2000. Quaternary exposures were logged and interpreted in order to reconstruct the Late Wisconsinan glacial history of the area (McConnell Glaciation). Ice-flow patterns during glacial maximum generally trended towards the west-northwest. Basal till is widespread across plateau surfaces and glaciofluvial sand and gravel dominate in low-lying terrain. Multi-element anomalies are present near known mineralized zones. High lead and zinc concentrations are measured in till down-ice from the massive sulphide bedrock mineralization at Kudz Ze Kayah. In addition, multi-element anomalies particularly enriched in base metals are found northwest of Wolverine Lake and southwest of Finlayson Lake, where no mineral occurrences are known.

Results of the 2000 survey indicated the presence of a multi-element anomaly suggestive of epithermal mineralization in the northwest corner of the study area. Staking has ensued in the area. Follow-up sampling on the anomaly confirmed the 2000 results and has yielded highly anomalous gold levels. Another sample collected south (up-ice) from the Kudz Ze Kayah deposit returned an unexpected high gold concentration. Samples with high copper/nickel/ chromium concentrations are located in the northwest part of the study area and southwest of Finlayson Lake.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
New paleontological investigations of upper Triassic shallow-water reef carbonates (Lewes River Group) in the Whitehorse area, Yukon

The thickest and best-developed Upper Triassic reef complex in the entire North American Cordillera is at Lime Peak in the southern Yukon. The Lime Peak reef complex is a Dachstein-type, Tethyan reef that lies within Whitehorse Trough stratigraphy of Stikinia, an inboard island-arc terrane of unknown Mesozoic paleogeography. Initial studies of Lime Peak reef faunas revealed characteristics similar to other North American Triassic reefs. Our investigation attempts to better define these paleontological relationships and establish paleobiogeographical associations.

Paleontological samples from five carbonate localities within the Lewes River Group contain corals, sponges, brachiopods, bivalves, disjectoporids, and spongiomorphs. For this study, corals and giant bivalves are identified and compared with fauna from Triassic reef deposits found in the Chulitna (Alaska), Quesnel (southern BC), Wallowa and Western Great Basin (western US), and Antimonio (Mexico) terranes. Preliminary field observations in the Yukon confirm the presence of Wallowaconchid bivalves known previously only from the Wallowa and Antimonio, and systematic analysis of Lime Peak corals identified seven species common in the Quesnel, Wallowa, or Antimonio terranes. These findings demonstrate that reef fossils found in the Whitehorse Trough of southern Yukon constitute an important paleobiogeographical link between Stikinia and other exotic terranes of the Cordillera.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon