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Placer gold deposits are widespread throughout the largely unglaciated Stewart River and southern part of the Dawson map areas. These deposits include the world famous Klondike goldfields, the historic Fortymile and Sixty Mile goldfields, and well known placers along Black Hills, Scroggie, Thistle and Kirkman creeks. Although the deposits have been mined for over 100 years and have produced an estimate 311 tonnes of gold, they still account for about 85% of Yukon's annual placer gold production. The placer deposits are classified into three levels of gravel with four main units: high-level gravel, which usually forms prominent, continuous high-level terraces and is subdivided into the White Channel Gravel (which is locally subdivided into a lower White Gravel and an upper Yellow Gravel unit) and Klondike Gravel; intermediate-level gravel, which mostly forms relatively small, irregularly distributed intermediate to low-level terraces; and low-level gravel, which represents alluvium along present day creeks, gulches and rivers. The White Channel Gravel, is up to 46 m thick and characterized by a predominance of quartz clasts (which are generally more abundant in the White Gravel than in the Yellow Gravel). It is considered Early Pliocene to earliest Late Pliocene in age (~5 to 3 Ma). The Klondike Gravel, not considered an economical placer, is up to 53 m thick and is distinguished by chert clasts derived from the Ogilvie Mountains, located northeast of the map areas. It was deposited as glaciofluvial outwash during the end of the initial and most widespread of the pre-Reid glaciations, and is probably latest Early Pliocene to earliest Late Pliocene (~3 Ma). The intermediate-level gravel, the least important economically, is up to 9 m thick. The low-level gravel, historically the most important gold-bearing unit, is 5 m thick in creeks and up to 20 m thick in rivers. The intermediate-level and low-level gravel have similar amounts of quartz, igneous and metamorphic rock particles, although locally, the low-level gravel contains sedimentary rock particles. The intermediate-level gravel is thought to be Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene (~3 Ma to 750 Ka) in age and the low-level gravel is considered Late Pleistocene to Holocene in age. Practically all of the placers are fluvial in origin and were deposited primarily in braided streams that flowed parallel to the present day streams along which the deposits occur. Gold recovered from the various levels of gravel is detrital in origin and was mainly derived from early Mesozoic auriferous quartz veins. The concentration of gold in the gravel is related to a hierarchy of physical scales: at the lithofacies scale (metres), bed roughness determined sites of gold deposition; at the element scale (tens of metres), gravel bars were preferentially enriched in gold; at the reach scale (hundreds of metres), stream gradient was an important factor; at the system scale (hundreds of kilometres), braided river environments transported large amounts of gold; and at the sequence scale (thousands of kilometres), economic placers formed initially in the high-level White Channel Gravel and later in the intermediate- and low-level gravel.

The Boulevard gold prospect, located in the Independence Creek area of the Dawson Range, comprises sheeted, auriferous quartz-sulphide-carbonate veins and fault breccia, hosted mainly by mafic schist. The nearby Toni Tiger molybdenum showing is characterized by quartz-molybdenite veins cutting Late Permian meta-aplite and garnet-pyroxene skarn of uncertain age. We present geochronological evidence that gold and molybdenum were deposited at 96-95 Ma, approximately 3 m.y. after intrusion of the Dawson Range batholith and Coffee Creek granite. Fluid inclusions from mineralized quartz veins suggests that gold at Boulevard and molybdenite at Toni Tiger were formed from similar H2O-CO2-NaCl type fluids between 279 and 310°C and >1 kbar. We conclude that both are part of the same mineralizing system, and that structurally-hosted gold at the nearby Coffee deposit and in the Moosehorn Range of western Yukon may be broadly related, post-arc orogenic systems developed during exhumation of the Dawson Range in mid-Cretaceous time.

An interesting grassroots exploration prospect is associated with a Lower Cretaceous intrusive complex on the ridge north of Mt. Byng, 50 km northeast of Whitehorse. Brecciated quartz-carbonate veins which return sporadic high gold values are associated with north-trending rhyolite dykes and small stocks.

In this contribution, we present new U-Pb age data for ten intrusive units that bracket the timing of polymetallic mineralization occurring within the Northern Freegold Resources Ltd. (NFR), Freegold Mountain project area. Polymetallic mineralization occurring in the Tinta zone predates trachytic dykes (~109 Ma) and represents the earliest phase of mineralization recognized on the Freegold Mountain property thus far. Feldspar porphyry dykes that intrude the Revenue zone are correlative to the Nucleus zone feldspar porphyry dykes, and yield ages of ~105-104 Ma, indicating that the structural corridor in which Au mineralization occurred was active from at least this time. Furthermore, monzodiorite was emplaced at ~107 Ma within the Revenue zone. An ~97 Ma aplitic dyke that intrudes porphyritic granite of the Stoddart intrusion predates ~94 Ma Mo-Cu-W mineralization. Andesitic dykes (~77 Ma) that crosscut the Stoddart porphyry and rhyolitic dykes (~75 Ma) intruding the Revenue zone, represent Carmacks-age volcanism in the region. These new age data indicate that economically important mineralizing events took place over a period of at least 40 Ma.

The Mount Brenner stock has intruded folded sedimentary and meta sedimentary rock that lie 40 miles northeast of Dawson City, Yukon. The stock consists of four major concentric zones: (l) an outer zone of fine to medium-grained augite-biotite monzonite; (2) a zone of very coarse-grained monzonite porphyry; (3) an intermediate zone of porphyritic horn blende monzonite; and (4) a central zone of coarse-grained pink quartz monzonite porphyry. Except for the outer zone, all rock types are porphyritic and the alignment of feldspar phenocrysts gives the rocks a primary flow structure which conforms to steeply outward dipping gradational internal contacts. All external contacts are sharp. The regional structural trend is modified in the vicinity of the stock so that beds are generally conformable with the intrusive contact. From structural evidence, it is concluded that at the present level of erosion, the stock was emplaced by forceful injection. The different rock zones of the stock can be accounted for by differentiation of an augite-biotite monzonite magma by a combination of crystal fractionation, volatile and alkali diffusion, and multiple intrusion. This thesis is available online at https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/831/items/1.0053527. A copy of this thesis is available from the EMR library – QE195 L35.

Mineralized zones on the Jason property are stratifrom, sediment hosed Pb-Zn-barite deposits that occur in a Late Devonian age marine carbonaceous shale and turbidite sequence. The Jason Property is located 400 km northeast of Whitehorse near Macmillan Pass on the Canol Road. Since the discovery of mineralization in 1975, eighty-nine diamond drill holes have delineated three mineral deposits. In order of their discovery, they are known as the Main, South and End zones. Geological reserves indicated and inferred for the three zones total 14.1 million tonnes averaging 7.1% Pb, 6.6% Zn and 79.9 g/t Ag. The following questions are the focus of the study:: 1) What is the stratigraphic position and setting of the South zone? 2) What is the geological relationship of the South zone to the Main zone? 3) What is the geometry of the South zone? 4) How can the mineralization in the South zone be described in terms of mineralogical and textural facies? 5) What constraints on the processes of ore formation can be demonstrated by utilizing the above studies?

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The Mount Nansen and Stoddart Creek map areas (NTS 115 I/3, 6) are in the southern part of the Dawson Range. They contain a number of porphyry and vein related mineral occurrences which have been undergoing extensive re-evaluation for precious metals potential. Basement rocks are part of the Yukon Crystalline Terrane and include metamorphosed and deformed sedimentary, volcanic and plutonic rocks of uncertain age. These are intruded by two suites of foliated plutonic rocks, the Upper Triassic to Jurassic Klotassin Suite, mainly hornblende-biotite granodiorite, and the Jurassic Big Creek Suite, including K-feldspar porphyritic syenite, quartz syenite and monzonite. Latest metamorphism of basement rocks is likely related to emplacement of these suites. Latest lower Cretaceous was marked by intrusion of the Dawson Range Batholith, consisting of the regionally exposed Casino Granodiorite and the more localized Coffee Creek Granite. The Mount Nansen Volcanics, mainly andesite with a lesser felsic component, are possibly cogenetic with these intrusives. Numerous intermediate to felsic porphyry stocks and dikes may be of Mount Nansen age in part, but they are at least in part younger. The Bow Creek Granite is a newly defined, high level, granophyric pluton with related, peripheral quartz-feldspar porphyry dikes. These rocks appear to cut the Mount Nansen volcanics and may be as young as the Carmacks volcanism. The Caribou Creek Conglomerate is a very localized sedimentary sequence which underlies the Carmacks volcanics. The Carmacks Volcanic Suite, uppermost Cretaceous in age, is relatively flat-lying and has been subdivided into three units. The lowermost consists of felsic pyroclastic rocks and associated glassy domes or plugs. The middle unit, which appears to be quite thin in the map area, consists of andesite flows and pyroclastics with minor basalt. The most extensive is the upper unit, which consists mainly of basalt flows. Mineral deposits are of four main types, including porphyries, veins, skarns and placer. Transitional varieties are associated with brecciation and porphyry dike emplacement. The porphyries are low grade copper-molybdenum deposits with local gold enrichment in the upper parts. Breccias with elevated precious metal values occur within the porphyries and also peripherally associated with quartz-feldspar porphyry dikes. Gold and silver-bearing quartz veins occur in dilational fracture systems which are also peripheral to the porphyries. In the presence of calcareous meta-sediments of Yukon Crystalline Terrane, gold-bearing, iron-rich skarns have formed. Base metal-rich veins are rare and distal from the porphyry centres. Mineralization controls are recognised as follows:: 1. Proximity to major regional structures such as the Big Creek Fault and the Minto Linear which extends north-northeasterly through the map area. 2. Local structures, ranging in trend from northwesterly to northeasterly, are important as hydrothermal channelways and vein sites. 3. Presence of a favourable host, including Mount Nansen volcanics, siliceous meta-sediments and Casino Granodiorite. 4. Proximity to porphyry stocks or quartz-feldspar pophyry dikes.