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Sa Dena Hes Mine, Watson Lake, Watson Lake mining district, Yukon, Canadai
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| Sa Dena Hes Mine | Mine |
| Watson Lake | Lake |
| Watson Lake mining district | Mining District |
| Yukon | Territory |
| Canada | Country |
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
60° 31' 4'' North , 128° 52' 38'' West
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
Köppen climate type:
Nearest Settlements:
| Place | Population | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Watson Lake | 1,547 (2016) | 51.3km |
| Upper Liard | 642 (2010) | 52.1km |
This mine is a lead-zinc mine situated on Mt. Hundere,45 km north of Watson Lake.The mine was a joint venture between Teck Metals Limited (25% ownership), Teck Resources Limited (25% ownership) and Pan Pacific Metal Mining Corp. (50% ownership, a wholly owned subsidiary of Korea Zinc.
Production began in August 1991, but due to low zinc prices, ceased its operations in November 1992. During the 14 months the project was in operation, the mine produced approximately 607,500 tonnes of concentrate containing 374,400 tonnes of payable zinc and 290,200 tonnes lead.
The Sa Dena Hes Mine is currently in a state of Permanent Closure.
I (R.G.) spoke to the mine geologist, William Mann, about the deposit at the 2017 Roundup in Vancouver. He says the deposit was a very high temperature lead-zinc skarn deposit. The "marble line" that marks the edge of this deposit type was several hundred meters away from the igneous contact. The deposit was notably low in iron sulphides so the lead and zinc sulphide concentrates were easy to make.
The Galena is high in bismuth and the Sphalerite/Wurtzite is high in cadmium. William did not differentiate between Wurtzite and Sphalerite at the mine though both were present. The secondary Hemimorphite and Smithsonite occurred in cracks in the rocks at the top of the sulphides. The secondary minerals made for bad ground conditions and so were avoided.
Despite the high cadmium in the zinc sulphides the Hemimorphite and Smithsonite were colourless to light brown. The Galena converted to Cerussite and there were no identified secondary bismuth minerals. William sold his collection of minerals to Rod Tyson after the mine closed but kept one sample of amethyst that occurred in a single pocket in the footwall of the deposit.
Select Mineral List Type
Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsDetailed Mineral List:
| ⓘ Actinolite Formula: ◻Ca2(Mg4.5-2.5Fe0.5-2.5)Si8O22(OH)2 |
| ⓘ Andradite Formula: Ca3Fe3+2(SiO4)3 |
| ⓘ Anglesite Formula: PbSO4 References: |
| ⓘ Calcite Formula: CaCO3 References: |
| ⓘ Cerussite Formula: PbCO3 References: |
| ⓘ Chalcopyrite Formula: CuFeS2 |
| ⓘ Diopside Formula: CaMgSi2O6 |
| ⓘ Fluorite Formula: CaF2 |
| ⓘ Galena Formula: PbS References: |
| ⓘ Grossular Formula: Ca3Al2(SiO4)3 References: |
| ⓘ Hematite Formula: Fe2O3 |
| ⓘ Hemimorphite Formula: Zn4Si2O7(OH)2 · H2O Description: The Yukon property file on Sa Dena Hes contains: Within 130m of surface the ores are commonly heavily oxidized to soft incompetent rusty masses of clay, quartz, smithsonite, anglesite and cerussite. Commonly some relict sulphides, especially galena, are retained in the oxidized skarn. Although oxidation is generally a near surface phenomena, some oxides have been encountered at depths of 300m or more. Locally smithsonite has been mobilized from the oxidized skarns and deposited in nearby open fractures. Smithsonite cemented overburden has been noted in places.
Hemimorphite is not mentioned for Sa Dena Hes but it is a major phase in the non-sulphide zinc deposits of the British Columbia carbonate Zn deposits. These have been described in detail by the B.C. Geological Survey References: |
| ⓘ Magnetite Formula: Fe2+Fe3+2O4 |
| ⓘ Pyrite Formula: FeS2 |
| ⓘ Pyrrhotite Formula: Fe1-xS |
| ⓘ Quartz Formula: SiO2 |
| ⓘ Quartz var. Amethyst Formula: SiO2 References: |
| ⓘ Smithsonite Formula: ZnCO3 |
| ⓘ Sphalerite Formula: ZnS References: |
| ⓘ Wurtzite Formula: (Zn,Fe)S References: |
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
| Group 2 - Sulphides and Sulfosalts | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ⓘ | Sphalerite | 2.CB.05a | ZnS |
| ⓘ | Chalcopyrite | 2.CB.10a | CuFeS2 |
| ⓘ | Wurtzite | 2.CB.45 | (Zn,Fe)S |
| ⓘ | Pyrrhotite | 2.CC.10 | Fe1-xS |
| ⓘ | Galena | 2.CD.10 | PbS |
| ⓘ | Pyrite | 2.EB.05a | FeS2 |
| Group 3 - Halides | |||
| ⓘ | Fluorite | 3.AB.25 | CaF2 |
| Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides | |||
| ⓘ | Magnetite | 4.BB.05 | Fe2+Fe3+2O4 |
| ⓘ | Hematite | 4.CB.05 | Fe2O3 |
| ⓘ | Quartz var. Amethyst | 4.DA.05 | SiO2 |
| ⓘ | 4.DA.05 | SiO2 | |
| Group 5 - Nitrates and Carbonates | |||
| ⓘ | Calcite | 5.AB.05 | CaCO3 |
| ⓘ | Smithsonite | 5.AB.05 | ZnCO3 |
| ⓘ | Cerussite | 5.AB.15 | PbCO3 |
| Group 7 - Sulphates, Chromates, Molybdates and Tungstates | |||
| ⓘ | Anglesite | 7.AD.35 | PbSO4 |
| Group 9 - Silicates | |||
| ⓘ | Andradite | 9.AD.25 | Ca3Fe3+2(SiO4)3 |
| ⓘ | Grossular | 9.AD.25 | Ca3Al2(SiO4)3 |
| ⓘ | Hemimorphite | 9.BD.10 | Zn4Si2O7(OH)2 · H2O |
| ⓘ | Diopside | 9.DA.15 | CaMgSi2O6 |
| ⓘ | Actinolite | 9.DE.10 | ◻Ca2(Mg4.5-2.5Fe0.5-2.5)Si8O22(OH)2 |
List of minerals for each chemical element
| H | Hydrogen | |
|---|---|---|
| H | ⓘ Actinolite | ◻Ca2(Mg4.5-2.5Fe0.5-2.5)Si8O22(OH)2 |
| H | ⓘ Hemimorphite | Zn4Si2O7(OH)2 · H2O |
| C | Carbon | |
| C | ⓘ Calcite | CaCO3 |
| C | ⓘ Cerussite | PbCO3 |
| C | ⓘ Smithsonite | ZnCO3 |
| O | Oxygen | |
| O | ⓘ Actinolite | ◻Ca2(Mg4.5-2.5Fe0.5-2.5)Si8O22(OH)2 |
| O | ⓘ Quartz var. Amethyst | SiO2 |
| O | ⓘ Andradite | Ca3Fe23+(SiO4)3 |
| O | ⓘ Anglesite | PbSO4 |
| O | ⓘ Calcite | CaCO3 |
| O | ⓘ Cerussite | PbCO3 |
| O | ⓘ Diopside | CaMgSi2O6 |
| O | ⓘ Grossular | Ca3Al2(SiO4)3 |
| O | ⓘ Hematite | Fe2O3 |
| O | ⓘ Hemimorphite | Zn4Si2O7(OH)2 · H2O |
| O | ⓘ Magnetite | Fe2+Fe23+O4 |
| O | ⓘ Quartz | SiO2 |
| O | ⓘ Smithsonite | ZnCO3 |
| F | Fluorine | |
| F | ⓘ Fluorite | CaF2 |
| Mg | Magnesium | |
| Mg | ⓘ Actinolite | ◻Ca2(Mg4.5-2.5Fe0.5-2.5)Si8O22(OH)2 |
| Mg | ⓘ Diopside | CaMgSi2O6 |
| Al | Aluminium | |
| Al | ⓘ Grossular | Ca3Al2(SiO4)3 |
| Si | Silicon | |
| Si | ⓘ Actinolite | ◻Ca2(Mg4.5-2.5Fe0.5-2.5)Si8O22(OH)2 |
| Si | ⓘ Quartz var. Amethyst | SiO2 |
| Si | ⓘ Andradite | Ca3Fe23+(SiO4)3 |
| Si | ⓘ Diopside | CaMgSi2O6 |
| Si | ⓘ Grossular | Ca3Al2(SiO4)3 |
| Si | ⓘ Hemimorphite | Zn4Si2O7(OH)2 · H2O |
| Si | ⓘ Quartz | SiO2 |
| S | Sulfur | |
| S | ⓘ Anglesite | PbSO4 |
| S | ⓘ Chalcopyrite | CuFeS2 |
| S | ⓘ Galena | PbS |
| S | ⓘ Pyrite | FeS2 |
| S | ⓘ Pyrrhotite | Fe1-xS |
| S | ⓘ Sphalerite | ZnS |
| S | ⓘ Wurtzite | (Zn,Fe)S |
| Ca | Calcium | |
| Ca | ⓘ Actinolite | ◻Ca2(Mg4.5-2.5Fe0.5-2.5)Si8O22(OH)2 |
| Ca | ⓘ Andradite | Ca3Fe23+(SiO4)3 |
| Ca | ⓘ Calcite | CaCO3 |
| Ca | ⓘ Diopside | CaMgSi2O6 |
| Ca | ⓘ Fluorite | CaF2 |
| Ca | ⓘ Grossular | Ca3Al2(SiO4)3 |
| Fe | Iron | |
| Fe | ⓘ Actinolite | ◻Ca2(Mg4.5-2.5Fe0.5-2.5)Si8O22(OH)2 |
| Fe | ⓘ Andradite | Ca3Fe23+(SiO4)3 |
| Fe | ⓘ Chalcopyrite | CuFeS2 |
| Fe | ⓘ Hematite | Fe2O3 |
| Fe | ⓘ Magnetite | Fe2+Fe23+O4 |
| Fe | ⓘ Pyrite | FeS2 |
| Fe | ⓘ Pyrrhotite | Fe1-xS |
| Fe | ⓘ Wurtzite | (Zn,Fe)S |
| Cu | Copper | |
| Cu | ⓘ Chalcopyrite | CuFeS2 |
| Zn | Zinc | |
| Zn | ⓘ Hemimorphite | Zn4Si2O7(OH)2 · H2O |
| Zn | ⓘ Smithsonite | ZnCO3 |
| Zn | ⓘ Sphalerite | ZnS |
| Zn | ⓘ Wurtzite | (Zn,Fe)S |
| Pb | Lead | |
| Pb | ⓘ Anglesite | PbSO4 |
| Pb | ⓘ Cerussite | PbCO3 |
| Pb | ⓘ Galena | PbS |
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
North AmericaContinent
North America PlateTectonic Plate
- Cassiar TerranePassive Margin
- Liard basinBasin
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Sa Dena Hes Mine, Watson Lake, Watson Lake mining district, Yukon, Canada