Geology and Mineral Deposits of Freegold Mountain, Carmacks District, Yukon.
Memoir 214 Johnston, J.R. Ottawa, Ontario: Geological Survey of Canada, 1937.


Geology and Mineral Deposits of Freegold Mountain, Carmacks District, Yukon

Introduction

Freegold Mountain area has attracted attention in recent years following the discovery there of gold-bearing quartz veins. The mountain lies within a belt of intrusive rocks that occupies the Dawson range of south-western Yukon. The locality is 28 mile northwest of Carmacks post office. Carmacks is 200 miles down Lewes [Yukon] River from Whitehorse, Yukon.
During the summer of 1936 the writer made a detailed examination of the geology and prospect openings on the mountain. A map was made, on a scale of 1,000 feet to 1 inch, of an area enclosing the main prospects. D.M. Mckinnon, J.R. Clark, and J.L. Phelps ably assisted in the field.
Various accounts of the geology, mineral occurrences, and prospecting developments at Freegold Mountain have been given by H.S. Bostock in reports for the period 1931 to 1935 . The surrounding region is described in Memoir 189 . The writer, in the following report, has used the data in these publications.
Gold-bearing magnetite was discovered on Freegold Mountain in 1930 by P.F. Guder, who staked the first claim on this showing. Although this deposit, owing to its contact metamorphic character, apparently restricted size, and limited development, proved unattractive to engineers who later examined it, the spectacular values obtained from early samples created wide interest in the mountain which resulted in a stampede in the spring of 1931. Few of the many claims staked at the time were systematically prospected. During subsequent years, however, a few individuals persisted in their search for gold lodes in the vicinity, and revived interest by discovering a number of gold-pyrite quartz veins on the southwest slope of the mountain. These veins have since constituted the most promising showings within the area.
At the present time travel into Freegold Mountain is by trail from Carmacks. The Whitehorse-Dawson Road is followed for 11 miles north of Carmacks to a point near Crossing Creek. The trail then follows the north side of Crossing Creek Valley and crosses a divide to Seymour Creek at the base of the mountain, the total distance from the road being 26 miles. In 1934 the N.A. Timmins Corporation widened and rerouted the Crossing Creek Trail in places and put in a number of bridges. These improvements allow tractor and sleigh haulage in winter, and pack-horse freighting in summer. Airplanes have been landed on a lake at the head of Seymour Creek. This point is near the trail and approximately 6 miles from the mountain.