Since the Klondike Gold Rush over 100 years ago, Yukon’s mineral industry has been a foundation of the territory’s private-sector economy.
Yukon hosts significant deposits of gold, copper, lead, zinc, silver, tungsten, and coal. One of the world’s largest iron ore deposits is in northeastern Yukon. The Selwyn Basin is one of the world’s largest undeveloped lead-zinc districts. Significant volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits are found in the Finlayson Lake district; five of these deposits have been discovered over the last decade and more will undoubtedly be found. Mactung and Cantung, on the border of the Northwest Territories, contain about 15 percent of the world’s known tungsten reserve.
The complex and varied geological terranes underlying Yukon are host to a number of past-producing mines and numerous showings and occurrences of various minerals. Continuous mineral exploration has helped to refine mineral deposit models for Yukon.
