MDRU is pleased to launch the new 2-year, industry and government-funded Yukon-Alaska Metallogeny project. This project responds to the needs of gold and copper exploration companies in the Yukon-Alaska Cordillera, a region widely recognized for its mineral potential, but where geoscientific data is either absent, of poor or outdated quality, or requiring synthesis and interpretation. This project will provide the exploration industry with new regional and deposit-scale information, new datasets and compilations, and will build technical confidence in targeting and evaluation decisions.

The Yukon-Alaska Metallogeny project builds on knowledge developed during MDRU’s highly successful Yukon Gold Project.

Where?

The Yukon-Alaska Metallogeny project will concentrate on the Intermontane region of Yukon and eastern Alaska, bound by the Tintina and Denali faults. Data compilations will include information as far south as the Yukon-BC border and as far west as the Fairbanks district of Alaska. The bulk of detailed fieldwork will concentrate on western Yukon and eastern Alaska (see map), although regional field studies may extend beyond this.

Why Yukon and Alaska

Globally speaking, Yukon and Alaska are mining-friendly but immature districts, with only a small number of active mines, and vast expanses of poorly understood geology. The high rate of discovery in recent years – especially during Yukon “Second Gold Rush” of 2009-2012 – is testament to the strong mineral potential of these jurisdictions, but the lack of exploration-friendly datasets and models highlights the need for focused metallogenic studies.

Yukon and eastern Alaska are metallogenically diverse, with notable examples of porphyry copper-gold deposits (Casino), gold-rich porphyries and skarns (Nucleus-Revenue, Peak) epithermal gold-silver (Mt. Nansen camp), and orogenic gold (White Gold). Other significant deposits such as Coffee, Minto, and Pogo fail to fit neatly into deposit classifications. The Yukon-Alaska Metallogeny project will provide new insights into the geological controls of each of these deposit types, establish metallogenic belts based on geologic and geochronologic criteria, and provide industry with the datasets necessary to make sound technical targeting decisions.

Key Objectives

1. Establish the regional geological and structural controls on gold mineralization;
2. Establish the deposit-scale controls on gold, including Coffee gold deposits (Kaminak Gold Corp.);
3. Establish the key ages, magma compositions, and geological settings for porphyry copper and related epithermal and skarn mineralization;
4. Develop a robust geochronologic framework for mineralization with respect to important geologic events such as magmatism, deformation, and exhumation/cooling;
5. Develop new metallogenic frameworks, databases, and maps

 

People

Dr. Murray Allan	Project Manager/ Senior Researcher	MDRU / UBC
Dr. Craig Hart	Principal Investigator	MDRU / UBC
Dr. Jim Mortensen	Principal Investigator	MDRU / UBC
Kathryn Grodzicki	PhD Candidate (sponsored by Kaminak Gold Corp.)	MDRU / UBC
Stephen Bartlett	BSc  Honours Candidate 2016 (sponsored by Kaminak Gold Corp.)	MDRU / UBC
Josh Pillsbury	BSc Honours Candidate 2016 (sponsored by YGS)	MDRU / UBC
Matthew Topham	BSc Honours Graduate 2015	MDRU / UBC
Sara Jenkins	GIS Specialist	MDRU / UBC
Johanna McWhirter	Project Support / Management	MDRU / UBC

Collaborators

Dr. Maurice Colpron	Yukon Geological Survey
Dr. Patrick Sack	Yukon Geological Survey
Dr. Steve Israel	Yukon Geological Survey
Tim Smith	Kaminak Gold Corp.
Rory Kutluoglu	Kaminak Gold Corp.
Eric Buitenhuis	Kaminak Gold Corp.
Adam Fage	Kaminak Gold Corp.
Geoff Newton	Kaminak Gold Corp.
Takashi Kuriyama	Sumitomo Metal Mining America Inc.
Yoshinori  Okaue	Sumitomo Metal Mining America Inc.
Honza Catchpole	Sumitomo Metal Mining America Inc.
Yuki Beppu	Sumitomo Metal Mining America Inc.

For more information see the Project Prososal.