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Yukon Geological Survey

Occurrence Details


Occurrence Number
105D 232
Occurrence Name
Copper Cliff
Occurrence Type
Hard-rock
Status
Showing


General Information

Primary Commodities: copper
Aliases: Whitehorse Copper
Deposit Type(s): Skarn
Location(s): 60.592790 N, -135.028260 W
NTS Mapsheet(s): 105D11
Location Comments: From Copper Cliff summary report
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 cliffs at Copper Cliff lake are home to an outcrop of garnet rich skarn about 10 feet wide and 20 feet long and is located along the contact between of the Lewes River limestone and Whitehorse batholith granite stock. The skarn contains bornite, chalcopyrite and specular hematite.

Location Map

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)
ARMC006921 Geology map - Copper Cliff Geoscience Map (Geological - Bedrock)
ARMC006920 Summary report - Copper Cliff Report
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)

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