Work History

Discovered during the construction of the highway in 1964 and staked in Jan/66 as the Coal cl (98412) by G. Harris and I.L. Foster. The showing was sampled in 1966 by H.S. Bostock for Atlas EL. The coal rights were acquired as Coal Exploration Licences 2984 to 2986 in Apr/80 by Cyprus Anvil Mg Corp, which drilled 13 percussion holes (1520 m) later in the year.
In 1986, Nadahini Mg Corp opened a small open pit mine to supply coal for drying concentrate at the Curragh Resources mill at Faro. Production totalled about 17 000 tonnes in 1986 and 20 000 tonnes in 1987. Nadahini carried out over 730 m of reverse circulation drilling in 1987 to increase reserves, and over 15 240 m in 1988. Production of 10 000 tonnes was recorded in 1988 and approximately 40 000 tonnes were mined in 1989 and 14 000 tonnes in 1992.
Partly overstaked as HWY cl (YB13226) in Apr/88 by Noranda EL.
As of Nov/2003, Archer, Cathro & Assoc. (1981) Ltd holds coal license CYW 0067 for this area; valid until Nov/2006.

Capsule Geology

Coal is exposed in two road cuts about 2 km apart and occurs in a fault-bounded erosional remnant of Paleocene or Eocene sedimentary rocks flanked by much older rocks. The section, which dips southwest at 10° to 30°, is at least 400 m thick, and is composed of sandstone, shale and conglomerate. The sequence shows an overall coarsening upward trend and is interpreted as a lake deposit.
Two coal seams, 3.0 and 1.2 m thick, are exposed at the west locality, while five seams 0.3 to 2.65 m thick, are exposed at the east locality. Coal rank ranges from low volatile bituminous to semi-anthracite, which is markedly higher than elsewhere in the Tintina Trench. The 1980 drilling indicated that better widths are present. Proximate analysis of 7 samples from the Ross River block (4 from the east part and 3 from the west part) are as follows; East - Ash content 11.1 - 13.9%, volatile matter 18.4 - 25.6%, fixed carbon 28.6 - 58.1%, caloric value 13 280 - 25 940 kJ/kg; West - Ash content 10.6 - 25.7%, volatile matter 20.0 - 22.9%, fixed carbon 38.2 - 58.0%, caloric value 17 830 - 26 300 kJ/kg.
Based on assumed continuous thickness of 2.7 m and inclination of 30 degrees for the 1 km strike length between the bounding faults, inferred resources are as follows:

Depth of cover (m) Inferred Resource
0 - 50 m 370 000 t
0 - 100 m 740 000 t
0 - 150 m 1 100 000 t

References

AURUM GEOLOGICAL CONSULTANTS INC., 1994. Yukon Coal Inventory 1994. Energy and Mines Branch, Economic Development, Yukon Territorial Government, 169 p.

CYPRUS ANVIL MINING CORPORATION, 1981. Assessment Report *#090816 by T.J. Adamson.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA Paper 67-40, p. 89; Paper 79-32, p. 6-8, 12-19.

YUKON EXPLORATION 1985-86, p. 222.

YUKON MINING & EXPLORATION OVERVIEW 1988, p. 3; 1989, p. 6.