General Information
Secondary Commodities: copper
Aliases: Whitehorse Copper
Deposit Type(s): Skarn
Location(s): 60.674740 N, -135.122130 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.
The Retribution mineralized skarn is located just northwest of the Best Chance deposit. The deposit contains masses of yellow garnet and greyish green radiating actinolite. The masses of yellow garnet are associated with quartz, calcite, and hematite and the actinolite is associated with bornite and chalcopyrite, which make up the cores of the radiating crystals.
The Retribution mineralized skarn is located just northwest of the Best Chance deposit. The deposit contains masses of yellow garnet and greyish green radiating actinolite. The masses of yellow garnet are associated with quartz, calcite, and hematite and the actinolite is associated with bornite and chalcopyrite, which make up the cores of the radiating crystals.
Location Map
Regional Geology - Terrane
Group: Intermontane
Affinity: W Laurentia
Name: Stikinia
Realm: peri-Laurentian
Regional Geology - Bedrock
Supergroup:
Group/Suite: Whitehorse
Formation:
Member:
Terrane:
Period Max: Cretaceous
Age Max: 112 MA
Period Min: Cretaceous
Age Min: 105 MA
Rock Major: granodiorite/quartz diorite
Rock Minor:
Reference: Hart & Radloff (1990) - YGS OF 1990-4
Geological Unit (1M): mKW
Geological Unit (250K): mKgW
Assessment Reports that overlap occurrence
| Report Number | Year | Title | Worktypes | Holes Drilled | Meters Drilled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 091125 | 1977 | [Drilling on the Parke, Ross, Zircon, Jean, Jay and New Claims] | Diamond - Drilling | 7 | 1119.22 |
| 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) |
