North Star
The North Star was a minor mine for which little information exists. Its name is perpetuated by Northstar Drive in the Copper Ridge neighbourhood of Whitehorse.
Chronology
- 1907: had two 10-ft (3 m) pits about 200 ft (61 m) apart
- 1976: Caron Drilling drilled 1596-ft (486 m) test hole, possibly under contract to Whitehorse Copper. During that era, Whitehorse Copper was looking for new sources of ore to feed its mill at Little Chief, a short distance north of North Star.
Access
The North Star claim area is east of the Mount Sima Road, north and east of the Mount Sima ski hill. Park at POI 1. The turnoff is approximately 0.5 km south of the intersection of the Copper Haul Road intersection with the Mount Sima Road.
Points of interest
The map below shows some points of interest (POIs) in the North Star area. The table that follows gives more info for each POI.
| POI | Description | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | parking area | 60.62730 -135.05281 497110 6721277 |
This is a good parking area for exploring the North Star Mine region. An early map referred to this as the location of the "powder magazine." Follow the trail south from here to the other POIs. |
| 2 | deep trench pushed west | 60.62220 -135.04822 497361 6720708 |
This trench must have been excavated by machine so is probably not from the early 1900s. Waste rock is pushed off the west end of the trench. |
| 3 | pit, Elmira claim | 60.62138 -135.04587 497490 6720617 |
This old pit/trench is probably from the early 1900s. |
| 4 | North Star pit 1 | 60.62087 -135.04266 497665 6720560 |
One of two original early-1900s pits at North Star |
| 5 | North Star pit 2 | 60.62050 -135.04191 497706 6720519 |
Second of two original early-1900s pits at North Star |
Downloads
| POIs for GPS | map for GPS |
|---|---|
| file of POIs in GPS format for this project and all others in the Whitehorse Copper Belt that you can download | GPS map for this project that you can download |
Photos and more info
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POI 2. This deep trench is probably not from the early 1900s. However, the size of the trees in and around it indicates it's not particularly recent. |
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POI 3. This old trench or pit is not actually inside the North Star claim area. But it's quite close, in the adjacent Elmira claim. It's probably from the same era as the North Star pits, early 1900s. |
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POI 4. This is one of the original hand-dug North Star pits. |
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POI 4. Plenty of promise of copper. But not enough to be commercially viable, apparently. |
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POI 4. Vertical descent by drone over pit 1. This video © 2020 Elizabeth MacDonald. |
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POI 5. This is the second of the original North Star pits |
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POI 5. Copper and gold! More likely malachite and iron pyrite. |
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Evidence of diamond drilling. Drill went down the inclined tube to keep it from kinking. There are several tubes like this scattered around the North Star area along with bits of drill pipe. |
TimmiT History Exploration Notebook