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.

This report was prepared to provide published information on the lode and placer mining industries in the Yukon during an important part of its history: mining and milling of Elsa and Keno Hill silver-lead ores had begun; significant nickel, copper, lead and zinc deposits were discovered in the White River, Vangorda Creek, and Macmillan Pass areas; and asbestos deposits were discovered. Placer mining activity continued, although pressures in the form of rising costs, and stable gold prices were forcing the industry into decline. Both the lode and placer mining industries were affected during the war years by shortages of men and equipment, although there was a great deal of attention paid to sources of tungsten, a strategic mineral. Records are not complete. Government office changes, lack of storage space and a warehouse fire may be some of the contributing factors..

Although the Klondike was exceeded by other gold camps throughout the world in total production, portions of it were reputed to be the richest worldwide per square foot of area. Notably rich were portions of Bonanza and Eldorado creeks.

Historic gold grades, dredge extents, and footprints of digitized maps from the Yukon Consolidated Gold Corporation (YCGC).

not_specified

Placer gold mining in Clear Creek extends back to 1900, when the discovery claim was staked. Approximately 129,000 crude ounces (4012 kg) of gold have been reported since 1941 which includes 49,637 crude ounces (1544 kg) obtained by dredging operations (1941 to 1955, and 1981 to 1987). Placer gold morphology ranges from crystalline gold in quartz to rounded nuggets to flattened gold. The largest nugget, recovered from the headwaters of Left Clear Creek, weighed 7 ounces (218 g). Clear Creek valley was filled by ice during the pre-Reid glaciation (early Pleistocene). Pre-Reid glacial drift is preserved as till, resedimented till, and glaciofluvial sediments on the lower slopes along main Clear Creek and parts of Left Clear Creek. Alpine glaciers formed at the headwaters of Left Clear Creek, however most of the moraine deposits have been eroded. During the subsequent Reid and McConnell glacial periods local alpine glaciers formed in the headwaters of Josephine and Big creeks. Alpine glaciers, the pre-Reid ice sheet and their melt waters redistributed the gold in the Clear Creek drainage. The distribution of heavy minerals in Clear Creek drainage is varied. Over the years dredging operations intersected pockets of gravel containing cassiterite, scheelite and galena, but their precise locations were not documented. Contemporary placer mining and our heavy mineral studies have located concentrations of pyrite, arsenopyrite, scheelite and galena, in addition to gold. Exploration for the source of placer gold has resulted in the discovery of numerous gold veins in the surrounding area.

This report marks the centennial of the discovery of gold on Rabbit Creek which led to the famous Klondike Gold Rush of 1898. Placer mining activity during the years 1995, 1996 and 1997 are described in detail.

This report documents the placer mining industry in the Yukon from 1998 to 2002. The information is presented in three sections. The first section contains an overall view of staking activity, placer gold production and a breakdown of gold produced by creek. The second section comprises a collection of general interest and historical articles, including a new segment describing the first Yukon placer mining reclamation award. The Robert E. Leckie Award for Outstanding Reclamation Practices was created in honour of Mayo Mining Inspector, Bob Leckie, who passed away in 1999. Details of the award and each year's winners are in this section. The third section of the report contains detailed descriptions, locations and, in many cases, photographs of various placer mining operations visited by the Mining Inspection Division of the Mineral Resource Directorate during the course of duty.

not_specified

The Stewart River map area (115 O&N) is the most important historic and current placer gold producing region in the Yukon. Unfortunately, the historic placer-gold deposits are becoming depleted, and more efficient mining of existing deposits and exploration for new deposits must be encouraged. Although placer deposits in the Klondike district are well described and their origin is quite well understood, placer deposits in the remaining part of the Stewart River map area have not been so well documented. The purpose of the Stewart River placer project is to describe and document the geology of known placer deposits, to interpret the formation of the placer deposits, and to relate the geology of the placer deposits to the regional surficial and bedrock geology. The objectives of the project are to aid in the exploration and mining of placer deposits by providing a comprehensive and up-to-date placer geoscience database. The utility of the placer database is that it can be used to construct placer deposit models (general summaries of given placer settings). These models then serve as predictors for future placer exploration and mining. Fieldwork for the project began in 1998 and will be completed in 2001; results of the project will be published in a final report and a resource appraisal map for placer gold.