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.

The Eagle Plain basin, having proven hydrocarbon potential, is a relatively underexplored intermontane basin located in northern Yukon . Previous studies of the middle Albian-Cenomanian Parkin Formation and the Turonian Fishing Branch Formation are based on broad lithostratigraphic correlations. The primary goal of the study is to refine the sequence stratigraphic framework of the middle to Upper Cretaceous succession based on sedimentological observations. New findings from this study require subdivision of the stratigraphic nomenclature by defining new informal lithological members. Facies transitions, paleoflow indicators and isopach maps indicate overall westward deepening of the basin. Large-scale, sand-prone mass transport deposits observed in the upper part of the lower Parkin shale member in western Eagle Plain indicate the presence of shelf-to-basin floor relief of at least 100 m. Recognition of significant shelf-to-basin floor topography greatly increases the potential for hydrocarbon reservoirs (gas-dominated) in stratigraphic traps associated with the shelf edge.

A copy of this thesis is available at the EMR library – QE195.S543 2015. This thesis is available online at https://prism.ucalgary.ca/handle/11023/2502.

This data release supports the paper titled, “Tungsten skarn potential of the Yukon-Tanana Uplands, Eastern Alaska, USA-A mineral resource assessment”, published via open-access license in the Journal of Geochemical Exploration and available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gexplo.2020.106700. The data release includes GIS data that map potential for tungsten skarn mineralization in permissive tracts in the Yukon-Tanana Uplands, Eastern Alaska, along with tables listing keywords and procedures used to produce the permissive tracts and score them for mineral potential. Supplementary Data part A lists keywords used to extract permissive rock types from the Geologic Map of Alaska (Wilson et al., 2015) to generate the permissive tract for tungsten skarn. Supplementary Data part B describes the tract polishing procedures. Supplementary Data part C lists the parameters for scoring tungsten skarn mineralization potential within the permissive tract features. The GIS data are encapsulated in a file geodatabase called AK_Wskarn_tract.gdb and are also available in the shapefile and KML formats. The geodatabase contains three datasets. The polygon feature class “primary_attributes” contains the scored tungsten skarn permissive tract subdivided by National Hydrography Dataset HUC12 drainages. A related table, “qualitative_assessment” contains detailed scoring information for each feature. The point feature class “mineral_sites_ranked” contains W-bearing mineral sites pulled from the Alaska Resource Data File with additional fields added for this study. The GIS data folder also includes the Python script used to score potential. The datasets and methods are described in detail in the accompanying paper.

The data release includes GIS data that map potential for tungsten skarn mineralization in permissive tracts in the Yukon-Tanana Uplands, Eastern Alaska, along with tables listing keywords and procedures used to produce the permissive tracts and score them for mineral potential.The GIS data are encapsulated in a file geodatabase called "AK_Wskarn_tract.gdb" and are also available in the shapefile and KMZ formats. The geodatabase contains three datasets. The polygon feature class "primary_attributes" contains the scored tungsten skarn permissive tract subdivided by National Hydrography Dataset HUC12 drainages. A related table, "qualitative_assessment" contains detailed scoring information for each feature. The point feature class "mineral_sites_ranked" contains W (tungsten) bearing mineral sites pulled from the Alaska Resource Data File with additional fields added for this study. The GIS data folder also includes the Python script used to score potential.

This report summarizes the results of geological field work and detailed mineral assessment of the Ddhaw Ghro Habitat Protection area. The mineral potential of the highest-ranking tract is due to the presence of known showings and the results of mapping and sampling programs by Viceroy Resources and YTG. The most significant mineral deposit types applicable to Dhaw Ghro Special Management Area (SMA) are intrusive-related mineralization such as Carlin-type, skarn, and manto. The northeastern and eastem parts of the SMA show the highest mineral potential.

The Eagle Plain basin and its environs is a potentially prospective petroleum province in Yukon. Extensive initial exploration in this area, focused on discovering crude oil, identified 83.7 Bcf of natural gas and 11.05 MMbbls of crude oil, throughout the succession and across the geographic extent of the basin. This study differs significantly from previous estimates of undiscovered potential, which were less optimistic. Intriguing plays exist associated with the stratigraphic opportunities for entrapment in Paleozoic carbonates against the Richardson Trough, but these appear to be higher risk/reward targets than the continued exploration of the uppermost Paleozoic succession. Additional conceptual play concepts, including those in the Devonian Imperial and Jurassic Porcupine River formations, which have indications of petroleum occurrence, were not quantitatively assessed.

Reclamation testing was carried out on 3 mineral exploration sites in Yukon: an alpine site at the Red Ridge property in the Whitehorse area, and 2 subalpine sites, a boreal forest site at the Nucleus property in the Carmacks area, and a site in moist permafrost at the Hawk propeerty int he Dawson City area.

The mineral potential of the Northern Kluane Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS) is rated as HIGH. Within the KWS, rocks of the Wrangellia Terrane rate the highest as they include two mineral deposits with proven reserves, one past producer, favorable stratigraphy for a variety of mineral deposits with production history and proven reserves elsewhere in the Cordillera as well as over 45 mineral occurrences within the boundaries of the KWS. Ultramafic hosted Ni-Cu-PGE; Fe, Cu, Au skarn, replacement or basaltic copper, VMS and polymetallic vein deposits are hosted in this belt of extremely high mineral potential. Pennsylvanian and post-accretionnary Cretaceous and Tertiary plutons are also of high potential for a variety of mineral deposit types including porphyry copper, epithermal gold and silver, skarns and polymetallic veins. Sedimentary and volcanic rocks of the Gravina-Nutzotin belt are host to VMS, skarn, and gold and polymetallic vein occurrences. The lower part of the Alexander Terrane, which is exposed within the KWS, contains few mineral occurrences locally but, at a regional scale, contains numerous important and varied mineral deposits. The Triassic succession of Alexander Terrane is not known to outcrop within the KWS although similar Triassic rocks of the Karmutsen Assemblage do. The Alexandrian portion of the KWS occupies the most remote and ice covered corner of the study area. The mineral potential of the Wrangell lavas and related plutons is not well understood. More mapping is needed in order to define the extent of the reported but undocumented felsic end member of this suite. A sliver of Coast Plutonic Metamorphic Complex and Kluane Schist occurs within the KWS. The Amphitheater assemblage and the Quaternary cover are the lowest rating units. Geological map coverage is very poor for the area between the White and Donjek Rivers and needs to be upgraded in order to determine the extent of high potential rocks in that part of Wrangellia.