AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
Glaciation, gravel and gold in the Fifty Mile Creek area, west-central Yukon

Previously unrecognized glacial erosional landforms (i.e. cirques, u-shaped troughs, truncated spurs and arêtes, in order of increasing doubt), and glacial depositional landforms (i.e. end moraine and possibly ground moraine) occur in the Fifty Mile Creek area, west of the pre-Reid Cordilleran glacial limit. The cirques and end moraine, representing the best evidence of glaciation, are similar to landforms in the adjacent Yukon-Tanana uplands of Alaska and formed during the Eagle glaciation (>40 ka, or Reid in age). Glaciation caused climate-controlled variations in runoff and cycles of aggradation and incision in the Fifty Mile Creek drainage. This resulted in the formation of upper- and lower-level terraces along Fifty Mile Creek and its tributaries. The terraces are composed of slightly muddy, sandy gravel of locally derived lithologies, and are fluvial in origin. Placer gold occurs along Fifty Mile Creek and several of its tributaries, as well as in the lower-level terraces. The upper-level terraces are potentially placer-gold bearing.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Natural Sources of Contaminants in the Yukon

This study investigated background levels and uptake rates of organophilic metals, particularly selenium, in ten streams draining portions of the Yukon-Tanana Terrane and Cassiar Platform between Ross River and Watson Lake, Yukon. The study area is suspected to have elevated background metals concentrations and is of interest for mineral exploration and development due to high mineralization. Information on natural metals levels is lacking for this region and for the Yukon in general. Water, sediments, benthic invertebrates and fish (slimy sculpin; Cottus cognatus) were sampled and analyzed for metals concentrations. Benthic invertebrates were identified to genus and percent composition of each species in each stream was calculated. The lack of anthropogenic activity in the area indicates that selenium concentrations found in all sample media and natural, background concentrations. Of all the sample media, concentrations of selenium were highest in sediment; however, sediment selenium concentrations were found to be in a range similar to levels documented at the Kudz Ze Kayah and Viceroy Brewery Creek mines in other regions of the Yukon.
Selenium concentrations in water generally exceeded CCME guidelines, but also fell within a range similar to the Kudz Ze Kayah and Viceroy Brewery Creek mines. These findings with respect to selenium levels in water and stream sediments highlight the importance of developing site-specific selenium guidelines for management of aquatic systems. The rate of uptake of selenium in benthic invertebrate and fish tissues was
greater than that of the other organophilic metals investigated. Selenium concentrations were generally higher in benthic invertebrates than in fish, likely owing to the detritus-feeding and bottom-dwelling life history of these invertebrates. Weak positive trends were noted in the relationship between selenium concentrations in fish and benthic invertebrates, and between fish and the water column. A significant positive relationship was noted between selenium concentrations in fish and stream sediments. These findings are consistent with past studies documenting dietary sources as the most common uptake pathways for selenium, with water comprising a secondary source. Examination of benthic invertebrate community composition revealed commonly abundant species and species typical of fast-flowing streams with high water quality, which is characteristic of the streams in the study area. The findings of this study provide valuable baseline information on background concentrations of metals, particularly selenium, as well as documentation of benthic invertebrate community composition, in an aquatic system that may experience resource development in the future.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Regional Stream Sediment and Water Geochemical Data, Western Yukon (NTS 115N (East) and 115O)

Stream sediment and water geochemistry for the Stewart River map area. The following stream sediments were analyzed: Ag, As, Au, Ba, Cd, Co, Cu, F, Fe, Hg, Loss-on-ignition, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Sn, U, V, W, ,Zn. Stream waters were analyzed for pH, uranium, and fluoride.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Mineral Industry Report 1978

This report is a review of the Yukon mineral industry for 1978 by the Geology Section, Yukon, Northern Affairs Program, Department of Indian and Northern Affairs. It includes descriptions of work conducted on mineral claims by individuals and mineral exploration companies and operating summaries of the several producing mines in the Yukon.

Information in this report was obtained largely from the geological, geochemical and geophysical reports accepted for credit as assessment work by the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs. A list of assessment reports, both confidential and those available for inspection, is included in the list of Technical Reports.

In this report, activities of the mineral industry are divided into lode mining and exploration and coal mining and exploration.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Geology of the Joe Mountain Map Area (105D/15), Southern Yukon Territory

The Joe Mountain map area, northeast of Whitehorse, is underlain by folded, Upper Triassic and Jurassic sedimentary and volcanic strata of the Whitehorse Trough which are intruded by north-trending Cretaceous plutons. Volcanic rocks previously mapped as ""Volcanics of uncertain age"" and Hutshi Group are Triassic in age and comprise three mappable units dominated by thick accumulations of basaltic and andesitic, aphyric pillowed volcanics. The volcanics, and associated sedimentary rocks dominate the eastern part of the map area whereas a thick carbonate assemblage dominates the Upper Triassic stratigraphy in the western part of the map area. The east-west transition represents either a sharp facies change across the map area or a structural juxtaposition. Numerous through-going, north-trending faults which cut the region may originate from motion along the interpreted Lake Laberge Fault Zone which underlies the Yukon River/Lake Laberge valley.

Potential mineral deposits in this map area include copper (gold-molybdenum-tungsten) skarns and gold-bearing quartz veins. Regional silt geochemistry indicates that the distribution of the Triassic volcanic suites is spatially coincident with regionally extensive, gold-in-silt anomalies. The source of these anomalies is uncertain and provide for intriguing prospecting targets.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Geochemical Data from a National Geochemical Reconnaissance Stream Sediment and Water Survey in the Area of Old Crow, Northern Yukon Territory (Parts of 116J, 116K, 116N, 116O, 116P, 117A and 117B)

Stream sediment and water surveys were conducted in the Old Crow area of northwestern Yukon during the summers of 2004 and 2005. These surveys were carried out under a Joint Research Agreement between the Yukon Government (Oil & Gas and Mineral Resources Division of the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources) and the Federal Government, acting through the Earth Science Sector's Metals in the Environment Program.

Analytical data accompany this document for 50 elements in stream sediments and 60 variables in waters from a total of 655 sites sampled in 2004 and 2005. National Geochemical Reconnaissance protocol was used for the collection, preparation and analysis of waters and silts.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
The geology of placer gold deposits in the Indian River area, west-central Yukon

Placer gold deposits in the Indian River area, west-central Yukon, are grouped into five classes based on thickness, grain size, composition, age, process, landform and exposure. The placers vary from 1.5-16 m in thickness and consist of slightly muddy, sandy gravel that is dominated by either vein quartz clasts, or igneous and metamorphic clasts. The gravel was deposited on floodplains, now preserved as terraces and creek and river valley fills, that range from Pliocene(?) to Holocene in age. The formation of the placers is related to a hierarchy of physical scales: at the lithofacies scale (ms), bed roughness determined sites of gold deposition; at the element scale (10s of ms), gravel bars were preferentially enriched in gold; at the reach scale (100s of ms), stream gradient was an important factor; at the system scale (100s of kms), braided river environments transported large amounts of gold; and at the sequence scale (1,000s of km 2 ), economic placers formed in the White Channel Gravel unit in downstream parts of the Indian River drainage, and in upstream parts of the drainage in the unit herein referred to as the Local Creek Gravel.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Yukon Mining, Development and Exploration Overview 2003

Yukon mining, Development and Exploration Overview, 2003 is published as a stand-alone report as well as within the larger publication Yukon Exploration and Geology 2003. It gives a comprehensive overview of mining and exploration activity in the Yukon, including placer mining and the Yukon Mining Incentives Program.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Yukon Diamond Rumor Map and Notes

Since the discovery of the diamond-bearing kimberlite pipes in the Northwest Territories in the early 1990s, there has been an extensive amount of capital invested in exploration and development in the search for diamonds. The focus of this investment has been predominantly in the N.W.T., however some of the exploration activity has spilled into nearly every province and territory in Canada. More than ten years after the discovery on Point Lake we can attribute to this investment an operating mine at Ekati, a soon to be operating mine at Diavik, a third mine in the feasibility and permitting stage at Snap Lake and a number of advanced-stage exploration projects.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Yukon Exploration and Geology 1982

This report contains three main sections: 1) introduction, description of Exploration and Geological Services Division and overview of the Yukon Mineral industry; 2) technical reports by government and contributing geologists on the geology of Yukon mineral deposits and mineral districts under active investigation; and 3) descriptions of mineral properties and mineral claims staked in 1982 and summaries of assessment work undertaken by exploration companies to obtain assessment credits.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Field descriptions of the Middle-Upper Devonian Canol Formation on Trail River, east Richardson Mountains, Yukon

The Middle–Upper Devonian Canol Formation is the focus of a new study by the Yukon Geological Survey in north Yukon. Fieldwork in summer 2013 involved locating, measuring, and sampling Canol Formation strata in the Richardson and northern Ogilvie mountains. In June, 229 m of Canol Formation strata were measured on the Trail River, eastern Richardson Mountains (NTS 106L/6). The Canol Formation at this location is entirely exposed, except for ~2 m at its upper contact with the overlying Imperial Formation. On Trail River, the Canol Formation is a resistant, silica-rich unit that is characterized by rhythmically bedded siliceous shale and chert comprising four lithofacies: 1) siliceous shale; 2) chert; 3) siliceous shale (>50%) and chert (10-50%); and 4) chert (>70%) and siliceous shale (10-30%). Siliceous shale is fissile, finely laminated in beds up to 10 cm thick, and may be either soft and recessive or hard and resistant. Chert exhibits conchoidal fracture and occurs in beds up to 16 cm thick. Both shale and chert are black in color on fresh surfaces, and weather grey to black, olive grey, brown with a distinct yellowish orange, dark red, and/or very minor apple-green weathering residue. The lower contact of the Canol Formation with Road River Group calcareous shale is sharp, and marked by a concretionary bed overlain by a thin (<1 m) weathered mineralized zone. This mineralized zone may be in-part correlative with the Ni-Zn-PGE “Nick” horizon observed in the region. A marked lithology change occurs from the Canol to the Imperial formation which consists of weathered mudstones with a significantly lower silica content. Concretions up to 2.5 m long were observed in the Canol Formation but possible fossils were only observed at two locations where unidentified impressions on a bedding surface could be biological (or mineralogical). Fine-grained pyrite occurs throughout the formation, either as disseminated grains, in thin laminations (mm-scale), and rarely in concretionary horizons. The sampling program involved spectral gamma-radiation readings at one-metre intervals, and chip samples through two-metre intervals for Rock-Eval/total organic carbon (RE/TOC) and inductively coupled plasma-emissions/mass spectroscopy lithogeochemistry (ICP-ES/MS). Targeted samples for microfossil biostratigraphy, vitrinite reflectance, and XRD mineralogy were also collected. Laboratory results are anticipated in 2014.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Aggregate potential mapping centred on Yukon communities and highway corridors

Aggregate potential was analyzed and classified for a four-kilometre corridor centred on Yukon highways and in a 20 km radius around Yukon communities excluding Whitehorse to support maintenance and development of Yukon infrastructure. Aggregate potential scores are derived from existing surficial geology mapping; higher scores are given to map units containing gravel with minimal silt and clay. Scores are lowered for units where overburden must be stripped to access the aggregate or where permafrost is present. Results are presented in a series of maps and a digital geodatabase.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Geology, geochemistry, and lead isotopic analysis of mineralization of the Strike property, Campbell Range, southeastern Yukon

The Strike property is located in the Campbell Range belt in southeastern Yukon. The study area is underlain by a wide variety of mafic volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks, as well as altered mafic intrusions and cherty metasedimentary rocks. Together these rock units are interpreted to comprise several discrete, relatively flat-lying and highly faulted lithologic assemblages. Lithogeochemical analyses of metavolcanic rocks that host mineralization on the property concluded that they are moderately enriched mid-ocean ridge basalts (E-MORB) to normal basalts (N-MORB) that likely formed in an ocean basin and/or back-arc/marginal basin setting. Diamond drilling intersected minor syngenetic, massive pyrite-chalcopyrite mineralization associated with hematitic chert/exhalite, as well as quartz-pyrite-chalcopyrite veining in a rubbly fault zone. Lead isotopic compositions of the mineralization are consistent with it being syngenetic Cyprus-type volcanogenic (VMS) mineralization. The results of the study highlight the potential for more Cyprus-type VMS mineralization in the Campbell Range in addition to the previously discovered Ice deposit and Money occurrence.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Digitizing and spatially analyzing historic YCGC drill data from Dominion Creek: a pilot project

Compilation of historic geologic data can help identify deposits of unmined gold-bearing gravel and promote further exploration on under-explored ground. Archival documents of the Yukon Consolidated Gold Corporation (YCGC) contain detailed, accurate prospecting data, and can be used to identify dredge localities and production values. With dredge inefficiency and crude mining techniques, areas heavily worked in the past may contain both technogenic and remnant in situ gold-bearing gravel. These types of placer deposits have been the target for many miners on previously worked ground, but with the aid of historic data, these deposits can be identified and evaluated for their potential prior to any ground work. Although there are some limitations and challenges associated with the historic documents, the data contained within them can significantly support placer exploration in both mined and unmined areas of Yukon.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Digital impulse radar for glaciology; instrumentation, modelling, and field studies

Several aspects of impulse radar echo sounding of small glaciers are investigated. First, the ranges of values expected for conductivity and relative dielectric permitivity of glacier ice, glacier bed materials and mixtures of ice and rock are established. These parameters, and the fundamentals of electromagnetic wave propagation, are employed in a modelling scheme that examines the reflection of pulses from planar reflectors within the glacier. The glacier bed can be modelled as solid rock or unconsolidated debris and as either frozen or wet. A layer of mixed ice and rock between the glacier ice and bed can also be included. Signal enhancement, especially using multi-channel principal component analysis, is discussed. Discussion of practical application of the technique begins with the description of a portable microprocessor-controlled instrument capable of recording digitized echograms. Then results from experiments on Trapridge Glacier, Yukon are presented. Surveys up to half a kilometer long with soundings at 1 to 20 m intervals were conducted. Bed topography is presented and locally anomalous sections are examined. Smaller-scale parameters such as the attenuation constant of ice and reflector properties are also extracted from the data. Subglacial and englacial temporal variations were studied by automatically recording echoes at one location every 20 minutes over a three-day period. Such experiments are to be used in the future in conjunction with other, concurrent, geophysical and hydrological investigations.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Preliminary geological map of the northwestern Aishihik Lake area, parts of NTS 115H/12 and 13 (1:50 000-scale)

This map is a Yukon Geological Survey contribution to the Geological Survey of Canada Geo-mapping for Energy and Minerals (GEM) program, Multiple Metals Northwest Canadian Cordillera (MMNCC) project.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Geology of Colorado Creek (115J/10), Selwyn River (115J/9) & Prospector Mountain (115I/5) Map Areas, Western Dawson Range, West Central Yukon

The project area includes Colorado Creek (115J/10), Selwyn River (115J/9), and Prospector Mountain (115I/5). Most of the area is in the Dawson Range subdivision of the Yukon Plateau in west-central Yukon Territory.

The oldest rocks in the region are metamorphosed Proterozoic to Paleozoic(?) sedimentary and igneous rocks of the Yukon Metamorphic Complex. They are intruded by batholiths and plutons of hornblende and (or) biotite granodiorite, monzonite, and quartz monzonite of three Mesozoic suites. The older two, which show penetrative metamorphic textures, are the Triassic(?) Klotassin Suite and the Jurassic(?) Big Creek Suite. The third is the unmetamorphosed Dawson Range Suite of Middle Cretaceous age. Slightly younger igneous units consist of felsic to intermediate volcanic and subvolcanic rocks of the Mount Nansen Suite. Early Tertiary igneous rocks include extrusive andesite, basalt, and minor rhyodacite of the Carmacks Suite, and the slightly younger monzonite to quartz monzonite of the Prospector Mountain Suite.

The district contains numerous mineral deposits and occurrences of economic interest. Copper and molybdenum deposits are associated with felsic plutons of at least two ages. Lode gold deposits and one gold-bismuth vein are associated with felsic volcanic rocks and associated subvolcanic intrusions of the Mount Nansen Suite. Placer gold deposits are derived from these rocks. Lead-zinc-silver veins are associated with late-stage intrusions of the Dawson Range and Prospector Mountain Suites. Skarn deposits occur in rocks of the Yukon Metamorphic Complex along borders of younger plutonic rocks.

This Open File includes three 1:50,000-scale bedrock geology maps of the areas, including mineral occurrences.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Geology and metallogenic signature of gold occurrences at Scheelite Dome, Tombstone gold belt, Yukon

The study area is centred on the 91.2 ± 0.9 Ma Scheelite Dome quartz-monzonite stock of the Tombstone Plutonic Suite (TPS). This stock and associated dykes and sills intrude highly deformed metasedimentary strata of the Yusezyu Formation of the Neoproterozoic to Lower Cambrian Hyland Group. The emplacement of TPS intrusions post-dates regional greenschist-facies metamorphism and multiple phases of ductile deformation related to the Tombstone strain zone. Although the Scheelite Dome stock hosts auriferous, sheeted quartz veins, extensive soil geochemistry indicates that the bulk of the gold resource is hosted in the variably hornfelsed metasedimentary rocks immediately south of the stock. The associated gold-in-soil anomaly forms an east-trending corridor of anomalous gold values (>80 ppb) approximately 6 km long by 1.5 km wide, with a more weakly defined eastern continuation. Where metasedimentary bedrock is exposed in the corridor, gold is hosted in fault-vein arrays, and less commonly as disseminated grains and in replacement zones. The styles and distribution of mineralization are largely controlled by brittle structures; a phase of east-west shortening was largely coeval with gold mineralization.

R-mode factor analysis of multi-element geochemical data indicates two geochemically distinct metal suites within the area of the gold-in-soil anomaly at Scheelite Dome. The first suite, characterized by Au-Te-Bi ± W ± As, possesses the stronger gold association and is typical of intrusion-related gold occurrences elsewhere in the Tombstone gold belt. The second suite displays a metal association of Ag-Pb-Zn-Cd-Sb ± Cu ± Au, which is more characteristic of mid-Cretaceous Ag-Pb-Zn mineralization in the Keno Hill district, located approximately 60 km to the east-northeast. Field observations, combined with soil geochemistry, suggest that the different metal associations are paragenetically related. However, the possibility of two distinct hydrothermal events cannot yet be ruled out.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Multisensor airborne geophysical survey, Stewart River area, 115O/16

Data were acquired during the second phase of an airborne geophysical survey (gamma ray spectrometer, magnetometer) carried out by Fugro. Funding was provided by Natural Resources Canada's Targeted Geoscience Initiative. The survey was completed between July 18 and September 28, 2001.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon
Rock River Basin (NTS 95D/11 and 14)

Coal was discovered in the Rock River Basin by Sulpetro Minerals Ltd. In July 1980, and five holes sunk to delimit coal occurrences in September 1981. Samples were collected from all five holes for palynologic analysis and the undisrupted core from three holes examined in the field to determine the depositional setting of the coal and provide a basis for evaluation of the coal potential of this area.

Organization: Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon