About YGS | Contact Staff | YGS News | Site Map | Links
Steve Israel - Kluane Ranges
Bedrock mapping of the Kluane Ranges, southwest Yukon
The Kluane Ranges have long been the focus of mineral exploration and placer activity. The belt has been cited as belonging to a major mineral district with associated nickel, copper, platinum group elements (PGE), molybdenum and gold mineralization (http://www.geology.gov.yk.ca/metallogeny/kluane/index.html). Nickel-copper-PGE showings hosted in the Kluane Mafic-Ultramafic belt are mainly found within the eastern portions of Wrangellia from the Yukon-B.C. border northwest to Alaska. The belt is composed of several mafic-ultramafic sills which intrude the Skolai Group at or near the contact between the Pennsylvanian to Permian Station Creek Formation and Permian Hansen Creek Formation. The mafic-ultramafic sills are thought to be part of a sub-volcanic system that feeds Late Triassic volcanic rocks of the Nikolai formation. The intrusive complexes within Wrangellia have distinct similarities to intrusions related to some of the world’s richest nickel-copper-PGE ore deposits. The continental equivalents of oceanic plateaus like Wrangellia contain world-class ore deposits. For example the nickel-copper-PGE deposit of the Noril’sk-Talnakh region in Siberia, arguably the richest ore deposit in the world, is located in intrusions related to the Siberian volcanic plateau. Significant deposits within the Kluane Ranges include the Wellgreen (MINFILE 115G 024) with probable reserves calculated at 42 326 323 tonnes grading 0.36% Ni, 0.35% Cu, 0.51 g/t Pt and 0.34 g/t Pd.
Recent and ongoing geologic bedrock mapping has identified complex structural and stratigraphic relationships between volcanic and sedimentary units of Wrangellia and associated overlap assemblages. The Kluane Ranges mapping project focuses on deciphering these relationships in order to aid mineral exploration and determine the tectonic framework of southwest Yukon.