Placer Geology of Stewart River and Dawson Map Areas, Yukon

Placer gold deposits in the Stewart River (115N&O) and Dawson (116B&C) map areas of west-central Yukon, Canada, have produced an estimated 311 tonnes of gold and still account for about 85% of Yukon's annual placer gold production. The deposits are classified into high-level, intermediate-level, and low-level gravel units, with thicknesses up to 53 meters, and are considered fluvial in origin. The dataset is provided by the Government of Yukon and was last updated in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Classifying placer deposits based on gravel level and thickness described in the geological units.
• Mapping gold distribution patterns based on the hierarchy of physical scales (lithofacies, element, reach, system).
• Analyzing the economic importance of different gravel units (e.g., low-level gravel as historically most important).
• Studying the age and deposition history of gravel units from Early Pliocene to Holocene.
• Identifying source rocks for gold based on the description of derivation from early Mesozoic auriferous quartz veins.

Strengths

• Describes an estimated historical gold production of 311 tonnes.
• Provides specific thickness measurements for geological units (e.g., White Channel Gravel up to 46 m, Klondike Gravel up to 53 m).
• Includes detailed geological classification with three levels of gravel and four main units.
• Specifies temporal age ranges for units, from ~5 to 3 Ma for White Channel Gravel to Late Pleistocene-Holocene for low-level gravel.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the specific Yukon map areas.

Provenance

Source

Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon

Time Range

Geological ages from Early Pliocene (~5 Ma) to Holocene.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-17 16:09:47.714065; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Stewart River (115N&O) and Dawson (116B&C) map areas, west-central Yukon, Canada.