This report presents detailed analytical methodologies and a non-interpretative compilation of outcrop and subsurface data specific to Yukon’s Liard basin. It mainly comprises data collected in the 2012-2016 unconventional study, but also includes legacy data extracted from various sources (principally Geological Survey of Canada publications) on conventional source rock and reservoir potential. The report is organized into two sections: a) a summary of the basin’s geology, exploration history and ultimate resource potential; and b) detailed methods for each of the analytical techniques used to assess unconventional shale potential in the basin. Data, including formation tops and thicknesses, are presented in the suite of appendices.

not_specified

Ikon Science Canada conducted a preliminary scoping study of shale gas play data from Yukon’s portion of Liard Basin to determine any potential for future assessment of pore pressure variability in the basin to be undertaken or contracted out by YGS at a later date. The study was a desk-top synthesis of existing, publicly-available geological and petrophysical data; no new data were collected as part of this project.

not_specified

An evaluation of hydrocarbon resource potential in Eagle Plain is one aspect of the Yukon Sedimentary Basins Project, a five-year (2008-2013), collaborative Geo-Mapping for Energy and Minerals (GEM) Program of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC), in partnership with the territorial governments and universities. As part of this project, Yukon Geological Survey (YGS) and Northern Cross (Yukon) Limited (NCY) are collaborating with the GSC to assess shale gas potential of Devonian shale at Eagle Plain. Diamond drill core was retrieved from mineral exploration properties to evaluate shale gas potential of Devonian shale of Road River Group and Canol and Imperial formations. Diamond drill core from four holes, located on the Rich property east of Eagle Plain Hotel, were examined and sampled. The core was systematically sampled and analysed by Rock-Eval pyrolysis, optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) mineralogy, and palynology. The results indicate that the succession is thermally overmature with respect to hydrocarbon generation. Due to the high levels of thermal maturity, the Rock-Eval data are unreliable. However, high amounts of residual organic carbon suggest that the Canol Formation has the potential to be an important source rock in the region, under favourable burial conditions. The very high level of thermal maturity of the strata also resulted in very few identifiable Palynomorphs; however, Canol and Imperial formation samples yielded dates of Middle to Late Devonian and Frasnian to Famennian, respectively. XRD analyses indicate Canol Formation shale is highly siliceous whereas Road River Group shale and silty shale of the Imperial Formation are less siliceous and exhibit a more varied lithology. This study suggests that the Canol Formation is more prospective for shale gas than strata of the Imperial Formation or Road River Group.

not_specified

Summer 2017 fieldwork in Yukon’s lower Paleozoic shale basins (Selwyn basin and Richardson trough) involved participants from government geological surveys (Yukon Geological Survey, Geological Survey of Canada) and several universities (Queen’s, McGill, St. Francis Xavier, Stanford and Dartmouth College). Research interests include: 1) shale chemostratigraphy and biostratigraphy, and pyrite trace element geochemistry to characterize shale units and assess lower Paleozoic paleoenvironmental conditions and depositional controls; and 2) an assessment of hyper-enriched black shales, specifically the colloquial ‘Nick’ or ‘Ni-Mo’ mineralized Ni-Zn-Mo-PGE deposit, in order to develop internally consistent genetic and exploration models for these types of deposits. This paper describes individual research projects underway and summarizes fieldwork in summer 2017.

Prospective Devonian - Mississippian shale gas strata in Liard basin are the focus of a new collaborative study among research scientists of the Yukon Geological Survey, Northwest Territories Geoscience Office, and British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Natural Gas. Reconnaissance fieldwork in July 2012 involved measuring and sampling outcrops in each jurisdiction. One hundred eighty-seven metres of Besa River Formation shale and mudstone was measured and described in the Yukon part of Liard basin (NTS 95C/11). The section comprises three lithofacies: 1) mudstone and shale; 2) silty mudstone and shale; and 3) interbedded mudstone/shale and silty mudstone and shale. Shale is generally recessive, fissile, carbonaceous, very thinly laminated (<1 cm), and black on fresh surfaces. Mudstone is more competent than shale, thin to medium-bedded (1-5 cm), and medium to dark grey on fresh surfaces. Mudstone has variable silt and silica components based on observations of hand samples. Fossils are rare and include cephalopod impressions and unidentified biological fragments. The sampling program involved spectral gamma-radiation readings at one-metre intervals, and chip samples through two-metre intervals for Rock-Eval/total organic carbon, vitrinite reflectance, X-ray diffraction mineralogy, lithogeochemistry, and microfossil biostratigraphy. Laboratory results are anticipated in 2013.

Previous studies based on regional geology, sediment type and stratigraphic thickness, concluded that the Bonnet Plume Basin in northeastern Yukon has gas potential, but insignificant oil potential. However, these studies were not based on samples collected from within the basin. For this study, in total, 226 rock samples collected from outcrop and drill core throughout the Bonnet Plume Basin were analyzed by Rock-Eval 6 programmed pyrolysis and combustion to assess the petroleum source-rock potential of the strata. The results indicate that the Road River Formation (Cambrian to Devonian) has no source rock potential, but the Bonnet Plume Formation (Cretaceous to Tertiary) has gas and perhaps oil potential. Potential oil generation in the Bonnet Plume Formation is attributed to the occurrence of liptinite-bearing coal and previously unrecognized, siliceous, oil shale. A hydrocarbon-rich tar associated with a naturally burning coal seam was also discovered in the Bonnet Plume Formation.