The Yukon Placer Industry Report is a reflection of the strong working relationship between the Yukon Geological Survey (YGS) and the Yukon placer mining industry. Our annual tours into the various gold fields are always productive and provide new details on placer gold settings, which are encapsulated in this report.

The Yukon Placer Mining Industry report reflects the strong relationship between the Yukon Geological Survey (YGS) and the Yukon placer mining industry. Our annual tours into the various gold fields are always productive and provide new details on placer gold settings, which this report encapsulates.

This report documents the state of the Placer Mining Industry in the Yukon Territory for the 1993 and 1994 mining seasons. This report differs from previous volumes in that the placer mining inspection reports are organized by drainage basin. The majority of this volume consists of detailed descriptions of placer operations visited by the staff of the Placer Mining Section of the Mineral Development Division, Northern Affairs Program, Yukon Region. Also included is information that may be useful to readers who are interested in searching for and developing placer properties in the Yukon Territory. This volume contains four papers of general interest: "Prehistoric gold" describes the discovery of an extinct Ice Age horse; "Water" is a brief account that tells of the difficulties, historically, in obtaining water for placer mining; "Oldest valid Yukon placer claims" describes claims kept in good standing for the greatest length of time; and "The early development of placer mining in the Yukon 1873-1896" is a historical overview of the development of placer mining in the Yukon.

This report documents the state of the Placer Mining Industry in the Yukon Territory for the 1991 and 1992 mining seasons. The majority of this volume consists of detailed descriptions of placer operations visited by the staff of the Placer Mining Section of the Mineral Development Division, Northern Affairs Program, Yukon Region. Also included is information that may be useful to readers who are interested in searching for and developing placer properties in the Yukon Territory.

Yukon mineral exploration activity in 2022 normalized, somewhat, as the restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic abated. However, headwinds remained for explorers in Yukon: continued worker shortages, rising labour costs, high fuel prices, supply chain issues, and difficult financial markets. A surprising number of companies were not able to raise the funds necessary to execute exploration programs in 2022. The good news is that precious and base metal prices were generally strong, however, they did soften slightly towards the end of the summer. Expectations are that year-end exploration expenditures will be approximately $124 million ($123 million in 2021). Development expenditures for the year are expected to be $105 million, up from $86 million in 2021. These estimates are compiled by the Yukon Geological Survey from data posted on company websites and conversations with explorers. The expected value of year-end hard rock metal production for 2022 is approximately $543 million ($525 million in 2021; Fig. 1).

The Yukon hardrock mineral exploration sector continued to thrive in 2024 with the release of exciting results and the announcement of seven new mineral resources. Although there were many successes in the Yukon’s exploration industry this past year, they were not immune to the negative impact of the heap leach pad failure that occurred on June 24, 2024, at Victoria Gold Corp.’s Eagle Gold Mine. At the time of writing, the Yukon Geological Survey (YGS) estimates exploration expenditures in the Yukon to be $145M for the year, based on company press releases, System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) postings, and conversations with industry clients. This estimate of the exploration expenditure is down 9% from $160M in 2023. Development expenditures for 2024 are estimated to be $40M, down from $84M in 2023. The decrease in exploration expenditures in 2024 compared with 2023 can be attributed to the heap leach pad failure at the Eagle Gold Mine, which impacted exploration programs across the Yukon. This led some companies to temporarily pause or completely halt their program for the remainder of the 2024 exploration season. The halt in exploration programs was, in part, a response to the demands voiced by some First Nations, such as the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun, who called for an immediate halt to all mining and exploration activity in their Traditional Territory (First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun, 2024). The Government of Yukon responded stating that the territory cannot halt all existing, permitted mineral development activities, as mining and exploration companies are protected under the federal and territorial legislation and the Umbrella Final Agreement (Government of Yukon, 2024b). Mineral production is estimated to be at least $190M (approximately 57.5% attributed to silver production and 42.5% attributed to gold production), down from $513M in 2023. Mineral production was low in 2024 due to the current closure of the Eagle Gold Mine, which was one of the two active hardrock mines in the Yukon. However, production revenue at Keno Hill Mine remains high due to precious metal prices reaching an all-time high and remaining strong in 2024. As of November 30, 2024, there were 84 active exploration projects in the Yukon, which is comparable to the number of projects in 2022 and 2023; 29 of these were partially funded through the Yukon Mineral Exploration Program (YMEP). In 2017, the Yukon began to experience a decline in the number of active exploration projects along with fewer active companies and individual prospectors, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, those numbers have stabilized since 2022. In 2024, the majority (approximately 70%) of active exploration projects occurred within the Traditional Territories of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun(29 projects; 30%), Kaska Dena Nations (17 projects; 18%), Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation (11 projects; 11%) and the Selkirk First Nation (10 projects; 10%; Fig. 5). Similarly, the highest-combined expenditures across the First Nations’ Traditional Territories were approximately $132M for the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun, $51.5M for the Kaska Dena Nations, $13.0M for Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation, and $11.3M for Selkirk First Nation.

This report is a synthesis of the Yukon Geological Survey’s placer fieldwork and captures information collected from approximately 120 site visits conducted each season. Information is supplemented by details from staff at Compliance Monitoring and Inspections and, from conversations throughout the off-season with miners. This edition of the placer industry report is larger than ever, which speaks to the level of activity in the various districts and our commitment to providing an accurate record. In order to provide practical information, we have continued to increase the amount of geological detail in the report. The scope of the report also aims to capture mining activity and equipment utilized at each site. This helps frame the style of mining and gives a general idea about mine layout and processing techniques. The overall aim of the property descriptions is to provide a reference that is both insightful in the short term and informative decades into the future.

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.