General Information
Secondary Commodities: antimony, molybdenum, copper
Aliases: Whitehorse Copper
Deposit Type(s): Skarn Cu
Location(s): 60.645890 N, -135.103040 W
NTS Mapsheet(s): 105D11
Location Comments: .5 Kilometres
Hand Samples Available at YGS: No
Capsule
Geology
The Whitehorse Copper Belt is located west of Whitehorse and contains 30+ mines, deposits and showings. Many of the occurrences in the Copper Belt are skarns. The skarns form on or near the contact between the Whitehorse batholith and the Lewes River group. The Whitehorse batholith is commonly a grey coarse-grained hornblende granite and ranges from quartz monzonite to granodiorite to diorite. The Lewes River group contains numerous different rock types, most importantly of which is the limestone group, which is essential in the formation of skarns in the area. A small number of occurrences within the Copper Belt are vein and/or replacement and occur within the Whitehorse batholith granite.
In the old showings near Polar Lake, minor chalcopyrite and bornite occur in actinolite-epidote-magnetite skarn at a limestone-intrusive contact and in narrow shears near the contact. The limestone is partly altered to serpentine. A lens of stibnite 4.6 m long and 20 cm wide was found in limestone about 610 m south of the lake in 1966. Four channel samples across widths of 0.9 m to 3 m assayed between 15.5% and 27.5% Sb. The IP survey revealed 3 anomalies, one of which was associated with disseminated pyrite. Only minor copper mineralization was intersected in the drilling. In Hole 1, 0.9 m assayed 0.55% Cu and in Hole 3, several short sections assayed between 0.8 and 1.2% Cu.
The Whitehorse Copper Belt is located west of Whitehorse and contains 30+ mines, deposits and showings. Many of the occurrences in the Copper Belt are skarns. The skarns form on or near the contact between the Whitehorse batholith and the Lewes River group. The Whitehorse batholith is commonly a grey coarse-grained hornblende granite and ranges from quartz monzonite to granodiorite to diorite. The Lewes River group contains numerous different rock types, most importantly of which is the limestone group, which is essential in the formation of skarns in the area. A small number of occurrences within the Copper Belt are vein and/or replacement and occur within the Whitehorse batholith granite.
In the old showings near Polar Lake, minor chalcopyrite and bornite occur in actinolite-epidote-magnetite skarn at a limestone-intrusive contact and in narrow shears near the contact. The limestone is partly altered to serpentine. A lens of stibnite 4.6 m long and 20 cm wide was found in limestone about 610 m south of the lake in 1966. Four channel samples across widths of 0.9 m to 3 m assayed between 15.5% and 27.5% Sb. The IP survey revealed 3 anomalies, one of which was associated with disseminated pyrite. Only minor copper mineralization was intersected in the drilling. In Hole 1, 0.9 m assayed 0.55% Cu and in Hole 3, several short sections assayed between 0.8 and 1.2% Cu.
Location Map
Last Updated: Jun 11, 2019
Work History
| Year | Work Type | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Trenching | |
| 1970 | Trenching | |
| 1968 | Drilling: Diamond | Four holes, 454.2 m. |
| 1968 | Geochemistry: Drill Core | |
| 1967 | Ground Geophysics: Magnetics | Also IP survey. |
| 1967 | Other: Line Cutting | |
| 1966 | Geology: Bedrock Mapping | |
| 1966 | Trenching | |
| 1960 | Ground Geophysics | |
| 1900 | Development, Underground: Shaft Development | Drove 4 short adits between 1900 and 1907. |
Regional Geology - Terrane
Group: Intermontane
Affinity: W Laurentia
Name: Stikinia
Realm: peri-Laurentian
Regional Geology - Bedrock
Supergroup:
Group/Suite: Lewes River
Formation: Aksala
Member: Hancock
Terrane: Stikinia
Period Max: Triassic
Age Max: 217 MA
Period Min: Triassic
Age Min: 204 MA
Rock Major: conglo/limestone/dolostone
Rock Minor: chert
Reference: Hart & Radloff (1990) - YGS OF 1990-4
Geological Unit (1M): uTrAK
Geological Unit (250K): uTrAK2
Assessment Reports that overlap occurrence
| Report Number | Year | Title | Worktypes | Holes Drilled | Meters Drilled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 062018 | 1973 | Preliminary Report on Geological Control to Ore Distribution in the Whitehorse Copper Belt | Reverse Circulation - Drilling, Bedrock Mapping - Geology, Petrographic - Lab Work/Physical Studies | 665 | 5555 |
Related References
| Number | Title | Page(s) | Document Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984-1 | The Whitehorse Copper Belt - A Compilation | Open File (Geological - Bedrock) |
| Citations |
|---|
| GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA Paper 63-41, p. 35-36. |
| GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA Paper 67-40, p. 43. |
| QUATSINO COPPER-GOLD MINES LTD, May/68. B.C. Securities Commission Open File Report by P.E. Walcott. |
Drill Core at YGS Core Library
| Number | Property | Year Drilled | Core Size | Photos | Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POLAR-1 | Polar | 1968 | AQ | 2 | 0 |
| POLAR-2 | Polar | 1968 | AQ | 2 | 1 |
