AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
Tectonic significance of plutonism in the Thirtymile Range, southern Yukon

Two distinct but undeformed suites of granitic plutons intrude deformed siliciclastic rocks in western Dorsey Terrane. A calc-alkaline hornblende-bearing gabbro to granodiorite stock has been dated at 181.5 Ma (by the Rb/Sr method). The second suite consists of highly evolved late-orogenic granites of the Thirtymile stock and Hake Batholith, which are approximately 100 Ma. The penetrative fabric of the metasedimentary rocks indicates generally eastward-vergent layer-parallel shear. The deformation of the siliciclastic rocks is thus constrained at older than 181 Ma. The absence of resetting of the Rb-Sr isotopic ratios of the Jurassic pluton indicates that the mid-Cretaceous magmatism was emplaced at a shallow crustal depth. Since the Jurassic pluton has both a 'juvenile' Sr isotopic ratio of 0.7045 and chemistry indicative of a largely mantle-derived source, a subduction-related setting for magma generation is likely. The spatial relationship of craton-derived clastic rocks and these plutons requires that subduction had an eastward polarity.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Yukon placer mining 2023 development and exploration overview

Placer districts across the Yukon yielded strong production this season as a result of favourable conditions. A continued rise in gold prices and stable fuel prices were complemented by mild temperatures that allowed for an extended sluicing season. As of November 10, 2023, the 146 active placer operations in the Yukon had collectively generated $143.7M in production revenue. The Dawson Mining District was the primary contributor to gold production, accounting for 89% of the total production for the Yukon. The Mayo Mining District followed with a 7% contribution and Whitehorse Mining District reported 4% of the overall production.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Geology and mineral occurrences of the "Dolores Creek" map area (106 C/14), Wernecke Mountains, northeastern Yukon

The study area is underlain by four stratigraphic successions ranging in age from Middle Proterozoic to Early Paleozoic. From oldest to youngest, they are: Middle Proterozoic Wernecke Supergroup; Middle to Upper Proterozoic Pinguicula Group; Upper Proterozoic Windermere Supergroup; and Uppermost Proterozoic to Lower Paleozoic sandstone and carbonate. Together, they represent about a billion years of intermittent sedimentation punctuated by processes such as deformation, uplift, erosion, magmatism and mineralization.

Rocks in the study area record eight phases of contractional and extensional deformation, some of which may be related to strike-slip faulting. Two phases of southwest-verging folds and thrust faults may be related to dextral transpression on the Snake River Fault. Mineral enrichments occur in two general forms:: breccia-related (Middle Proterozoic), and veins (Mesozoic to Tertiary). The breccia-related occurrences have enrichments of Cu ± U, Co, Au and Ag, as dissemminations and veinlets in and near intrusive breccia zones (Wernecke breccia). The vein occurrences comprise Zn-Pb-Ag ± Cu and Au, in veins and related lenses and irregular replacements of carbonate.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Evaluating geothermal potential in Yukon through temperature gradient drilling

As part of the Canadian government’s commitment to establishing clean energy in the North, the Yukon Geological Survey is collecting subsurface temperature data near communities in the southern part of the territory. The research is a collaborative effort among federal and territorial geoscientists, universities, First Nation governments, and geothermal consultants. A major goal of the project is to determine whether ground temperatures warrant further geothermal exploration in the territory. The study also presents an opportunity for Yukon Geological Survey to educate the public about geothermal energy. This paper summarizes the methods and results of the drilling of two ~500 m geothermal temperature gradient wells. The first was drilled in the fall of 2017 in the Whitehorse area, near Takhini Hot Springs, where a surface water seep measures 46°C. The second well was drilled in winter 2018 in the Tintina fault system, near Ross River. Results to date suggest warm fluids and possible permeable rocks in the Takhini well between 450 and 500 m from surface, and a higher than average geothermal gradient of ~31°C/km in the Tintina Trench near Ross River. The results do not indicate temperatures for power generation at economic depths, however, they are encouraging enough to warrant further geothermal studies in southern Yukon.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Granitic Pegmatites in Northwestern Canada

This report is one of a series on the results of research on granitic pegmatites in northwestern Canada. These unusual rocks are of scientific and economic interest for the following reasons:
1) Rare elements such as Ta, Nb, Li, Rb, Cs, Be, and Sn are commonly found in granitic pegmatites, and can occur in concentrations sufficiently high to warrrant mining operations (e.g. Bernic Lake, Manitoba). Tantalum and niobium are used in prostheses, capacitors, laser crystals, and piezoelectric instruments; lithium is medicinally important for the treatment of manic depression, is used in advanced technology batteries, and is a key ingredient of specialized glassware; and beryllium and tin are industrially important as components of alloys.

2) Granitic pegmatites host a diversity of rare mineral species, and are a globally important source of gemstones such as emerald, topaz, aquamarine and tourmaline. Pegmatites in western North America have known gemstone potential.

3) Granitic pegmatites reveal information about melting of rocks in the lower crust and are an important source of information regarding fractionation of felsic magma suites, especially extreme fractionation. The minerals from granitic pegmatites were among the first to be used in absolute (radiometric) dating; granitic pegmatites are of importance in relative and absolute dating of the late stages of tectonic events.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Bedrock geology of the Teslin Mountain and east Lake Laberge areas, south-central Yukon

Mafic volcanic and clastic strata of the Middle Triassic Joe Mountain Formation, east of Lake Laberge, Yukon, represent a juvenile volcanic arc sequence. Mafic volcanic rocks of the Upper Triassic Lewes River Group were formed in the spatial and temporal continuity of Joe Mountain volcanism. Carbonate sedimentation took place in shallow oceanic subbasins adjacent to the arc from the Carnian to Rhaetian; these subbasins were separated by physiographic boundaries inherent to the arc, resulting in lateral stratigraphic variations. Polymictic conglomerate and turbiditic sequences of the Lower-Middle Jurassic Laberge Group unconformably overlie Triassic rocks. Two north-northwest strike-slip faults, the Laurier Creek and the Goddard, control the distribution of units. Joe Mountain Formation rocks are characterized by an east-west structural trend, whereas the Upper Triassic and Jurassic sequences are characterized by north-northwest trending tight folds and thrust faults. At least five post-accretion igneous suites intrude or overlie older stratigraphy, including the Late Cretaceous Open Creek volcanic complex.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Permafrost Considerations for Effective Mine Site Development in the Yukon Territory

The presence and proper classification of permafrost is essential to mine planning, operation, and abandonment in the Yukon Territory. This paper discusses the current state of practice regarding permafrost delineation and classification, presents information regarding design and monitoring of structures on permafrost (with particular reference to mining), and includes examples of Yukon and other northern mines where permafrost has affected operations.

Permafrost in the Yukon is particularly sensitive to disturbance, as it is generally ¿warm¿ and discontinuous. It is therefore extremely critical that planning for new mines include provisions for the proper classification of permafrost on the mine property, as it will directly affect
operations and abandonment of the site, with corresponding financial implications.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
The Fyre Lake project 1997: Geology and mineralization of the Kona massive sulphide deposit

Columbia Gold Mines Fyre Lake project is located immediately to the east of Fire Lake, approximately 160 km north of Watson Lake in the Yukon Territory. The 1997 program, consisting of 44 diamond drill holes, doubled the known size of the Kona deposit. Mineralization within the Kona deposit has a defined strike length of 1500 m and a width of 250 m.

The Kona deposit is hosted within a strongly deformed and metamorphosed mafic to intermediate volcanic succession of chlorite-quartz and chlorite-actinolite-quartz schists. This volcanic package is overlain by a metasedimentary succession composed primarily of finely laminated carbonaceous phyllite that locally contains 1 to 20 m thick beds of micaceous volcanic-derived sediments. An intercalated unit of quartz-biotite schist and chlorite-mica-quartz schist marks the base of the metasedimentary succession.

The Kona deposit consists of two parallel northwest trending zones of copper-cobalt-gold volcanogenic massive sulphide mineralization: East Kona and West Kona. East Kona is made up of two distinct horizons: the Upper Horizon and the Lower Horizon. The Upper Horizon occurs immediately below the contact of the metasediments and the metavolcanics while the Lower Horizon occurs 40 to 70 m deeper, within the mafic volcanics. The mineralization of East Kona consists primarily of pyrite with lesser amounts of pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite occurring as massive to banded sulphides with local lenses of massive magnetite. The mineralization across West Kona changes from magnetite, pyrite, and chalcopyrite hosted within a grey siliceous matrix in the east, or down dip, through massive pyrite and lesser chalcopyrite into massive pyrrhotite in the west. The mineralization of West Kona occurs immediately below the metasedimentary and metavolcanic contact; the same stratigraphic position as the Upper Horizon of East Kona. All of the mineralized zones that make up the Kona deposit have an eastern dip and plunge to the southeast.

The Kona deposit, as defined to date, consists of a 15 million tonne mineralized container with the northern, near-surface portion amenable to open pit extraction. The last two holes of the 1997 program intersected mineralization 450 m along strike from previous drilling. The deposit remains open for expansion to the southeast.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Possible Mechanisms of Natural Attenuation of Metal-bearing Waters in Soils in Northern Climates

Mining of metallic ores exposes metal-bearing minerals in wall rock, tailings, and waste rock to accelerated rates of weathering; this can lead to increased metal loading to the environment. Waters draining natural exposures of metalliferous rocks and rocks exposed through mining or mineral exploration commonly contain high concentrations of metals.

For natural attenuation processes to mitigate the effects of increased rates of metallic mineral weathering on the environment, it is necessary that metals removed from metalliferous waters be stored in a form that is stable over the range of conditions which exist at the attenuating site. Long term storage of metals is essential for natural attenuation processes to be of any practical value. Short term storage (e.g., seasonal retention) may result in periods of metal accumulation followed by large metal fluxes to the receiving environment over a short time period resulting from changes in site conditions (e.g., seasonal changes such as high spring flows). Understanding the temporal stability of different forms of metal storage and the processes by which natural attenuation in soils occurs will allow more accurate estimates of metal fluxes to the receiving environment. This knowledge may also prove beneficial in the design of passive water treatment systems for northern mines and exploration sites.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
The Vangorda deposit

The Vangorda deposit is a small (7.1 million tonne), SEDEX-type, Pb-Zn-Ag (barite) massive sulphide ore body, in the Anvil District, Yukon, Canada. The deposit is currently being open pit mined at aprroximately 13,000 tonnes per day by Curragh Inc. This paper illustrates the macroscopic deformational style of the Vangorda deposit. The deposit is deformed by four significant and one minor phase of deformation. Though there is a very good correlation in macroscopic structural style between the host phyllites and the sulphides, the Vangorda deposit has mesoscale textures that reflect extensive shearing of the orebody, especially in the baritic and pyrrhotitic massive sulphides.

The orientation and location of features such as faults, joints, and various foliations provide important information that can be used to help predict and assess pit wall stability, potential problems with water, location of road access to the active mining area, and to predict loading pattern and charge of blasts. Furthermore, an enhanced understanding of the location and orientation of folds and faults, and which are major and which minor, are of importance in grade control during mining.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Clastic sediment production and diagenesis in selected western North American caves and rockshelters

This dissertation presents investigations into the patterns of clastic sedimentation and diagenesis of coarse clastic sediments at ten caves and rock shelters at sites in the western cordilleran region of North America (Yukon, Alberta, Montana). The author concludes that local and intrinsic features may play a greater role in differences between sites than does regional fluctuation in climate.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Conventional reservoir petrophysical property assessment for 17 wells, Peel Plateau and Plain, Yukon Territory (65º 00’ to 67º 00’ N; 132º 00’ to 136º 00’ W)

In 2008, the Yukon Geological Survey contracted Petrel Robertson Consulting Limited, of Calgary, Alberta, to undertake a conventional reservoir petrophysical assessment of wireline geophysical logs from 17 oil and gas exploration wells in the Peel Plateau and Plain exploration region of the northeastern Yukon Territory. The study was initiated to enhance the research of the hydrocarbon potential of the Peel region that had begun in 2005 with the Regional Geoscience Studies and Petroleum Potential, Peel Plateau and Plain, Northwest Territories and Yukon project, a four-year collaborative research effort among the Northwest Territories Geoscience Office, the Yukon Geological Survey (YGS), the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC), and university and industry affi liates. The aim of this reservoir petrophysical assessment is to highlight specific geological formations which have the potential of hosting economic quantities of conventional hydrocarbons in the Yukon Peel region. The data presented from this report will be used to update a resource assessment of the entire Mackenzie Corridor (including the Peel region), as part of the GSC’s Geo-Mapping for Energy and Minerals
(GEM) 2008-2013 initiative.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Stratigraphy of the Mackenzie Mountains supergroup in the Wernecke Mountains, Yukon.

Mackenzie Mountains supergroup (MMSG) strata in the Wernecke Mountains are described in detail. Three new formations are assigned to the revised and formalized Hematite Creek Group, which forms the base of the MMSG. The Dolores Creek Formation (black mudrocks and microbial dolostone) is the basal unit of the MMSG. The Black Canyon Creek Formation (cyclic peritidal dolostone) and Tarn Lake Formation (desiccation-cracked, shallow-marine siltstone and sandstone) are probably equivalent to the ‘H1 unit’ and Tsezotene Formation in NWT, respectively. The Hematite Creek Group is overlain by the Katherine Group (thick quartz arenite-dominated succession). The highest MMSG strata documented belong to the Basinal assemblage (Little Dal Group). Regional thickness and lithofacies variations in two of the new formations suggest that the basin had considerable paleobathymetric variation that is not consistent with patterns established in NWT. The economic potential of the succession is unknown.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Summary of the Kudz Ze Kayah Project, Volcanic Hosted Massive Sulphide Deposit, Yukon Territory

The ABM polymetallic Volcanic Hosted Massive deposit underlies claims within the Kudz Ze Kayah project area. The deposit is a volcanic hosted massive sulphide body within a thick complex of felsic tuffs and sills or flows interlayered with minor mafic sills or flows and sedimentary rocks. An open pit mineable ore reserve of 11 million tonnes grading 5.9% Zn, 0.9% Cu, 1.5% Pb, 130 gms Ag/tonne and 1.3 gms Au/tonne has been estimated.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Jurisdictional Scan: Public Emergency Communications

This jurisdictional scan examines how five Canadian jurisdictions – British Columbia, Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Northwest Territories – manage public emergency communications, providing insights to inform Yukon’s approach. 

Key findings highlight the critical importance of integrated information platforms, multi-channel communication strategies (combining digital and traditional media), clear governance and messaging policies, and tailored solutions for remote connectivity challenges. 

The report includes high-level recommendations for Yukon, and the jurisdiction comparison table provides province and territory-specific profiles from across Canada.

For up-to-date information about emergencies in the Yukon, visit https://yukon.ca/emergencies.

Published April 2025. For feedback or additional information, contact emo.yukon@yukon.ca.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Drilling techniques and evaluation of placer gold deposits

Even though standard churn drilling techniques may be recommended in placer gold sampling programs, other methods may prove to be more satisfactory. It is necessary that other methods also be considered in an attempt to lower costs. The time required to drill a hole must be considered too, especially in the evaluation of potentially large economic auriferous gravel deposits.

Each placer deposit may have certain characteristics and ultimate requirements which will prevent any one technique from being considered "best". Consequently, several types of evaluation methods are described.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Advances in the mineralization styles and petrogenesis of the Coffee gold deposit, Yukon

Gold-bearing, arsenic-rich pyrite in association with enriched As, Sb and minor Ag is found in two separate mineralization styles at Kaminak Gold Corp.’s Coffee Gold Project, Yukon. Arsenian pyrite replaces primary metamorphic mica by sulphidizing Fe in the host, while pervasive dolomite-illite alteration destroys the host and eventually consumes early mineralized pyrite. Silicification of host rocks is observed with associated arsenian pyrite deposition due to cooling. Brecciation of silicified intervals by coarse grained hydrothermal quartz occurs later with additional pyrite deposition. Mineralized intervals are oxidized by late, meteoric fluids which consume Au-bearing pyrite and release micron-scale free gold from the pyrite crystal lattice into the remnant oxides. Sulphidized biotite within the 98 Ma Coffee Creek Granite constrains mineralization to <98 Ma. Similar metal associations (Au-As-Sb vs. Au-As-Sb-Pb-Zn-Cu) suggest Coffee potentially represents the shallower, epizonal extension of the mesozonal orogenic Boulevard gold deposit, with a late epithermal overprint.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Stratigraphic context for reef-building microbialites in the Tonian Reefal assemblage (Fifteenmile Group) of the Yukon

The Tonian Period (1000–720 Ma) likely represents a critical transition in microbial reef construction, given the emergence of reefs built by thrombolites and other cavity-dense microbialites. However, there are few detailed studies on Tonian reef development to constrain this ecologically significant transformation. Here, we build on previous documentation of reefal buildups in the ca. 850780 Ma Fifteenmile Group in the Coal Creek inlier (Ogilvie Mountains) and contribute seven new detailed stratigraphic sections featuring microbial accumulations in the Reefal assemblage. We document the stratigraphic context for these Tonian reefs and distinguish between predominantly laminated and unlaminated microbial textures. In addition, we identify rare instances of exceptional preservation of unlaminated microbialite, suggesting that reef-building microbialites of the Reefal assemblage have similar framework morphologies to those of the approximately coeval Little Dal Group in the Mackenzie Mountains.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Geologic setting, genesis, and potential of the Rusty Springs Ag-Pb-Zn-Cu property, northern Yukon (NTS 116 K/8 and K/9)

Despite many years of exploration and relatively limited success, the Rusty Springs prospect retains considerable potential for a large-tonnage deposit. The property lies within the east-vergent Taiga-Nahoni fold belt, occurring in the core of a structural culmination exposing host dolostones of the Lower and Middle Devonian Ogilvie Formation. Mineralization occurs in stratabound and discordant zones along the contact with the overlying Devono-Mississippian unnamed shale. Various deposit models, ranging from Mississippi Valley-type to epithermal vein-type have been employed. Poor exposure and relatively deep weathering, resulting from the lack of Pleistocene glaciation, account for the lack of consensus with regard to genesis. Evidence points to the potential for a high-temperature, carbonate-hosted massive sulphide deposit (manto-chimney complex). The great extent of mineralized and altered rocks, together with their stratabound nature, significant thickness, local high grades, and potential for supergene enrichment, suggest that Rusty Springs remains an attractive drill-oriented exploration target.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon