History of Mining in Yukon

Yukon has a rich mining history. Mining has continued to be the cornerstone of the Yukon economy from the famous Klondike gold rush of 1896/98 to the present day, although the territory has experienced several "boom-and-bust" cycles as metal prices have risen and fallen over the years.

The first reported exploitation of metals in Yukon pre-dates European settlement. The aboriginal people are known to have mined native copper nuggets in the White River area of southwest Yukon to fashion arrowheads and to trade. Prospecting for placer gold by white settlers began soon after the first reported discovery at Fortymile in 1850.

Significant Yukon Mines 

The discovery of gold on Rabbit Creek in the Klondike district by George Carmack, Tagish (Dawson) Charlie and Skookum Jim on August 16, 1896 sparked the world's biggest 'gold rush'. Placer gold mining remained the mainstay of the Yukon economy from the time of gold rush until the early 1920s. Following rises in the price of gold, placer mining was again important from the 1940s to the 1960s, and from 1974 to today. Currently, small family-run gold placer mines operate each summer, with annual production of approximately 100,000 troy ounces. The total recorded fine gold production from 1885 to date is about 12.5 million ounces, valued at US$4.4 billion at today's prices.

High-grade silver/lead veins were first discovered in the Keno Hill  area in 1906. The first mill was constructed in 1925, with intermittent development and production until 1941. The mines were reactivated in 1945 and operated more or less continuously until production was suspended in January 1989 due to low silver prices. Total production from 1921 to 1988 is estimated to be 6,769 tonnes of silver, 273,622 tonnes of lead, 153,198 tonnes of zinc and 1,800 tonnes of cadmium from 4.9 million tonnes of ore, with production from 16 underground mines and several open pits. The mine is now closed..

Chrysotile asbestos was first noted in the Fortymile area in 1887 with development work undertaken in the 1950s. The Clinton Creek mine operated from 1967 to 1978, during which time over 63 Mt of waste rock and 16 Mt of ore were mined from four open pits to produce 940,000 tonnes of cement-grade asbestos fibre.

Skarn copper mineralization was first discovered in the Whitehorse area in 1897; shipments of high-grade ore prior to 1930 totalled 153,000 tonnes. Following extensive exploration in the 1950s and 60s, a 1,800 tonne-per-day mill was constructed in 1966 and open-pit mining followed. Following a corporate reorganization, underground mining commenced in 1972 and milling continued at 2,000 to 2,400 t/d until economic ore reserves were depleted in 1982. Total production from 1967 to 1982 is estimated at 123,000 tonnes of copper, 90 tonnes of silver and 7 tonnes of gold from 10.3 Mt of ore. The tailings pond is a potential source of magnetite for use as a heavy medium in coal preparation plants.

Massive sulphide zinc/lead/silver mineralization was first discovered near Vangorda Creek in the Anvil Range in 1953. The huge Faro  ore body was discovered in 1965, and mine production commenced in 1970 at 6,000 tonnes/day. Cyprus Anvil Mining Corp. operated the mine at rates of up to 11,000 tonnes/day until 1982 when production was suspended due to low metal prices. In 1985 Curragh Inc. reactivated the mine and produced at rates of up to 14,000 tonnes/day until the Faro pit and the smaller Vangorda pit were depleted in 1992. Curragh began development of the Grum deposit in 1992, but financial problems stopped operations in April 1993. In 1995 the mine was reactivated by Anvil Range Mining Corp. Production was suspended in January 1998.

Other smaller mines have operated for short periods in the Yukon. High-grade gold/silver veins at the Venus mine south of Carcross saw limited production from 1910-11, in 1925, in 1969-70 and again in 1980-81. From 1972 to 1973 underground mining and milling of 540 t/d of high-grade massive sulphide ore took place at the Wellgreen  nickel/copper deposit; operations were suspended due to poor ground conditions and low nickel prices. Since that time the property has been re-evaluated and the potential for a large tonnage, low-grade, open-pit mine at this property has been recognized.

Electrum-bearing quartz-carbonate epithermal veins were mined at the Mount Skukum  gold mine west of Carcross, which operated at about 300 t/d from 1986 to 1988 when ore reserves were depleted. The Ketza River  gold mine, southwest of Ross River, operated at about 350 t/d from 1988 to 1991. Oxidized gold-bearing veins and mantos were mined until the oxide ore reserves were depleted.

High-grade lead/zinc/silver skarn mineralization was first reported at Mount Hundere in 1962. Cima Resources conducted exploration work between 1979 and 1982, and between 1984 and 1988 Canamax Resources conducted a major exploration program. The Mount Hundere joint venture (Curragh Inc. and Hillsborough Resources) purchased the property early in 1989, and immediately began an intensive exploration and development program, with mining and milling commencing at about 1,200 t/d in 1991 at the Se Dena Hes  mine. Production was suspended at the end of 1992 due to low metal prices. In 1993 the property was acquired by partners Teck, Cominco, Korea Zinc and Samsung.

Limited small-scale mining and milling of high-grade gold/silver veins were conducted at several properties in the Mount Nansen  area from 1945 to 1947, from 1966 to 1969, and again in 1975-76. These properties were extensively explored and re-evaluated in the late 1980s by BYG Natural Resources and Chevron Canada Resources. During 1996, BYG redeveloped the property for production, including rehabilitation and expansion of the existing mill and construction of a new tailings dam. Gold production commenced in 1996, with mineable reserves estimated at 386,337 tonnes at 5.17 g/t gold and 75.09 g/t silver. Production continued in 1998, but the mine closed in 1999.

The Brewery Creek  gold property was discovered in 1987 by Noranda geologists who were following up a silt geochemistry anomaly identified in a survey funded by the Canada/Yukon Mineral Development Agreement. Between 1988 and 1993 the property was extensively explored by Noranda and Loki gold; subsequently, Loki bought out Noranda and continued to explore the property. Loki's successor, Viceroy Resources, developed the property for production as an open pit, heap-leaching operation. The first bar of gold was poured in 1996. The site is currently undergoing reclamation and closure.

Reference: Yukon Mineral Property Update, Placer Mining

 

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