Abstract: The Harlan property is a significant new sediment-hosted gold prospect within the Selwyn Basin of east-central Yukon Territory. The property has a large, kilometre-scale surface gold-arsenic-antimony-mercury-bismuth anomaly within a thick sequence of Paleozoic Selwyn Basin shelf and off-shelf sedimentary rocks. A series of mid-Cretaceous, late-stage, Tombstone Suite, quartz-feldspar-porphyritic monzonite dykes and small plugs intrude these rocks. Two major mineralized zones have been defined: 1) the Vortex Zone, a thick package of strongly brecciated, silicified, and argillic-altered coarse clastic sedimentary rocks overlain by a thrust-faulted argillite member; and 2) the West Porphyry Zone, consisting of abundant mineralized and altered monzonitic dykes. Surface sampling over the Vortex Zone has defined a north-northwest-trending 1600 m by 700 m zone averaging over 500 ppb gold in soils, with rock sample values up to 6.5 g/t Au. Within this zone, an intensely brecciated area measuring 500 m x 300 m averages greater than 1 g/t Au in soils. A broad anomalous area was identified from surface sampling across the West Porphyry Zone, revealing gold-in-silt values up to 230 ppb and numerous rock chip samples over 1.0 g/t Au. No drilling has been done on the property to date. NovaGold Resources plans to complete detailed surface geological mapping, geochemical sampling, and geophysical surveys to refine drill targets for testing in 2000.

Authors: Schulze, C. and Johnson, G.

Keywords: deposit models, gold mineralization

NTS Mapsheet(s): 105O04, 105O05

Citation: Schulze, C. and Johnson, G., 2000. The Harlan property: A new sediment-hosted gold discovery in the Selwyn Basin, Yukon. In: Yukon Exploration and Geology 1999, Emond, D.S. and Weston, L.W. (eds.), Exploration and Geological Sciences Division, Yukon Region, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, p. 267-270.

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