General Information
Secondary Commodities: copper
Aliases: Whitehorse Copper
Deposit Type(s): Skarn
Location(s): 60.677980 N, -135.125550 W
NTS Mapsheet(s): 105D11
Hand Samples Available at YGS: No
Capsule
The Whitehorse Copper Belt is located west of Whitehorse and contains 30+ mines, deposits and showings. By 1900, most of the important deposits had been discovered and the first small ore shipment was made that year. 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.
At Spring Creek, the contact between the Lewes River limestone and Whitehorse batholith granite is marked by a skarn zone, which is up to 100 feet (30 m) wide in places. The skarn contains tremolite, garnet and epidote and mineralization includes malachite, azurite, bornite, chalcocite and chalcopyrite.
At Spring Creek, the contact between the Lewes River limestone and Whitehorse batholith granite is marked by a skarn zone, which is up to 100 feet (30 m) wide in places. The skarn contains tremolite, garnet and epidote and mineralization includes malachite, azurite, bornite, chalcocite and chalcopyrite.
Location Map
Last Updated: Mar 27, 2019
Work History
Year | Work Type | Comment |
---|---|---|
1980 | Drilling: Diamond | 7 holes completed |
1980 | Geochemistry: Drill Core |
Regional Geology - Terrane
Group: Intermontane
Affinity: W Laurentia
Name: Stikinia
Realm: peri-Laurentian
Regional Geology - Bedrock
Supergroup:
Group/Suite: Lewes River
Formation: Aksala
Member: Mandanna
Terrane: Stikinia
Period Max: Triassic
Age Max: 204 MA
Period Min: Triassic
Age Min: 200 MA
Rock Major: shale/sandstone/conglo
Rock Minor: siltstone
Reference: Hart & Radloff (1990) - YGS OF 1990-4
Geological Unit (1M): uTrAK
Geological Unit (250K): uTrAK3
Assessment Reports that overlap occurrence
Report Number | Year | Title | Worktypes | Holes Drilled | Meters Drilled |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
090823 | 1980 | [Diamond Drill Log - Whitehorse Copper Belt] | Diamond - Drilling, Drill Core - Geochemistry | 7 | 1208.83 |
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 |
091123 | 1964 | Summary of assessment work for 316 claims | Diamond - Drilling | 46 | 3652.57 |
Related References
Number | Title | Page(s) | Document Type |
---|---|---|---|
1984-1 | The Whitehorse Copper Belt - A Compilation | Open File (Geological - Bedrock) |
Citations |
---|
Kindle, E.D., “Summary of Research: Field, 1962”; Geological Survey of Canada, Paper no. 63-1, 1963, https://doi.org/10.4095/121464 (Open Access) |