Anaconda/Rabbit Foot
Index:
The Anaconda Mine is on the Anaconda mineral claim located between the Alaska Highway and the Whitehorse Waste Management Facility (WMF, landfill). The claim straddles the WMF road. Part of the mineral claim actually protrudes across the highway to the cliffs on the east side just north of the junction with the Fish Lake Road.
The Rabbit Foot Mine is on the Rabbit Foot (sometimes Rabbit's Foot or Rabbitfoot) mineral claim that butts up against the Anaconda claim on the south and west. The claim gives its name to Rabbit Foot Canyon through which the highway passes just north of the junction with the Fish Lake Road. The WMF gate and entrance to the landfill are in the Rabbit Foot claim area.
Anaconda chronology
- 1898: staked by W.A. Puckett, a Whitehorse businessman. Puckett's Gulch (location of the Black Street stairs) is named after him.
- 1899: development work started
- 1900: June, owners (J.P. Whitney, A.P. Benton, Ole Dickson, W.A. Puckett, Charley Ward, Mr. O'Neil) turned down offer of $100,000 for the Anaconda mine alone and later (December) turned down another offer of $150,000 for the Anaconda and Rabbit Foot mines together. Anaconda showed promise of being as lucrative as the Copper King.
- 1900: same owners owned the adjacent Whitehorse 2 claim
- 1901: January, 135 feet (41 m) of tunneling complete with numerous cross-cuts and several 20-foot (6 m) shafts
- 1901: 100 tons (91,000 kg) of ore stockpiled waiting for construction of a smelter in Yukon, which was anticipated for summer 1901 but never materialized
- 1904: 300 feet (91 m) of drift from the main adit portal completed
- 1907: 300-foot (91 m) adit abandoned; no ore shipped
- 1907: some shallow pits and trenches, and one shaft of 30 feet (9 m)
- 1907: claim under control of Col. Thomas of Pittsburgh PA, who owned interests in several other mines in the area
- 1907: some stripping and trenching
- 1915: operated along with the Rabbit Foot Mine by John Bozanva, Fred McGlashen, and William Cernic. Not very high-tech: ore was hoisted up the shaft using hand cranks.
- 1915–1917: shipped up to 20 tons/day (18,000 kg/day) in bags by road to Whitehorse, 400 tons (363,000 kg) total. Price of copper was high due to WWI.
- 1966: New Imperial Mines optioned the property
- 1970: geochemical soil sampling conducted in the area for New Imperial Mines, which changed its name to Whitehorse Copper the following year
- 1970s: exploration by bulldozer; minor scrapes and trenches
- 1998: claims covering the area transferred from Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting, which had merged with Whitehorse Copper, to H. Coyne and Sons
- 2008: Kluane Drilling drilled in the area of POI 2.
- current: current mineral claims exist in the area belonging to Kluane Drilling and H. Coyne and Sons (parent company of Kluane Drilling); current boundaries do not coincide with historical claim boundaries
Rabbit Foot chronology
- 1899: 7 July, staked by Ole Dickson
- 1900: December, owners (J.P. Whitney, A.P. Benton, Ole Dickson, W.A. Puckett, Charley Ward, Mr. O'Neil) turned down offer of $150,000 for the Anaconda and Rabbit Foot mines together
- 1900: same owners owned the nearby Whitehorse 2 claim
- 1907: only slightly developed; two shafts 90 feet (27 m) apart
- 1915: operated along with the Anaconda Mine by John Bozanva, Fred McGlashen, and William Cernic. Not very high-tech: ore was hoisted up the shafts using hand cranks.
- 1915–1917: shipped 100 tons (91,000 kg). Price of copper was high due to WWI.
- 1966: New Imperial Mines optioned the property
- 1970: geochemical soil sampling conducted in the area for New Imperial Mines, which changed its name to Whitehorse Copper the following year
- 1981: one hole drilled, location uncertain (might have been in Anaconda area)
- 1990: staked by W.B. Wallis, trenching took place east and west of original shafts
- current: current mineral claims exist in the area belonging to Kluane Drilling and H. Coyne and Sons (parent company of Kluane Drilling); current boundaries do not coincide with historical claim boundaries
Access
The Anaconda/Rabbit Foot area is inside the Whitehorse city limits and is easily accessible. You could park at the corner of the Alaska Highway and the Fish Lake Road, and walk the double-track trail along the west side of the highway to the area. Or you might park carefully on the WMF road just off the highway.
Be very careful about traffic in this area. Fast-moving northbound vehicles appear quite quickly around the blind curve in the highway at the junction with the WMF road. As well, trucks coming out of the WMF may find it difficult to stop quickly on the downhill grade that leads to the last curve before the highway.
Points of interest
The map below shows some points of interest (POIs) in the Anaconda/Rabbit Foot area. The table that follows gives more info for each POI.
| POI | Description | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anaconda main adit | 60.75108 -135.14381 492161 6735071 |
Portal of the main adit opening over Porter Creek (the actual creek, not the housing subdivision), which runs parallel to the highway on the west side. This dates from the early 1900s. The adit has collapsed just a short distance inside. To visit this area, you could fight your way through the thick undergrowth between the cliff face and the creek. (This has become much more difficult due to beaver activity resulting in high water and very difficult access along the base of the cliff.) You could walk down the highway to the green "Landfill" sign and wade across Porter Creek. (The water is not very deep but the exact conditions depend on beaver activity in the creek.) Or you could slide down the cliff from above, just to the south of the adit would be best; it's not that steep and climbing up again is not impossible. (This is probably the easiest access but make sure you judge your slide-down point carefully so you don't miss the adit by very much. There is a lovely outcrop of green malachite hidden in the undergrowth above and to the south of the adit.) WARNING: Do not enter this adit due to possibility of rock fall or bad air. |
| 2 | Anaconda shallow pit 1 | 60.74965 -135.14584 492050 6734911 |
Shallow exploration pit probably from the early 1900s with an adjacent cleared area possibly from diamond drilling in 2008. As you go up the landfill road, this pit is on the top of the high point to the left. |
| 3 | Anaconda shallow pit 2 | 60.74992 -135.14759 491955 6734942 |
Shallow exploration pit probably from the early 1900s. Adjacent bulldozing from the 1970s has turned up green rocks. Just north of POI 2, there is a double-track trail that leads westward through the woods to this area. |
| 4 | Anaconda shaft 1 | 60.75144 -135.14839 491911 6735111 |
This is the first of two deep shafts. It may have been connected underground to the other shaft. It is probably the site of production during WWI. WARNING: This is potentially dangerous and is not a place for children to explore on their own. There is some early trenching and evidence of later bulldozing in the area. Look around for old tin cans and other signs of human activity. There is a double-track trail that leads northward through the woods to this area from POI 3. |
| 5 | Anaconda shaft 2 | 60.75132 -135.14873 491893 6735097 |
This is the second of two deep shafts just to the west of POI 4. |
| 6 | small log shelter | 60.74957 -135.14939 491857 6734903 |
This small structure may have been for material or equipment storage. It's part of the Rabbit Foot mine. |
| 7 | Rabbit Foot shaft 1 | 60.74934 -135.14988 491830 6734877 |
This open shaft is right next to Rabbit Foot shaft 2 (POI 8). On the north edge of this shaft is the remains of the hand crank used to lift material out of the mine. Not very far away are the remains of an old cabin. WARNING: Do not go too close to the edge of the shafts because the edges may crumble. |
| 8 | Rabbit Foot shaft 2 | 60.74925 -135.14999 491824 6734868 |
This open shaft is right next to Rabbit Foot shaft 1 (POI 7). WARNING: Take special care when traversing the area between shafts 1 and 2. |
| 9 | Rabbit Foot shaft 3 | 60.74924 -135.15026 491809 6734866 |
This closed shaft is not far away from POIs 7 and 8. It would be easy to miss except for the trace of waste rock around it. Records from 1907 referred to two shafts 90 feet (27 m) apart, probably POIs 7 and 8 as one shaft and this POI 9 as the second shaft. |
| 10 | Porter Creek Valley | 60.74805 -135.14836 491912 6734734 |
Porter Creek flows through a very short but impressively steep valley in this area that very few people ever visit. It's just a short walk through the woods from POIs 7, 8, and 9. This has been called the "Secret Valley of the Miniature Mammoths." Why? Try Miniature Mammoths, which is episode 41 of the On the Marge series of podcasts. |
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 1. Portal to the Anaconda main adit seen from the cliffs on the east side of the Alaska Highway. Due to the vegetation, this is difficult to see unless looking at exactly the right angle from exactly the right spot. NOTE: This photo was taken in June 2019. Since then, a fallen tree some earth subsidence have further obscured the opening. See video just below. |
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POI 1. Portal to the Anaconda main adit seen from the cliffs on the east side of the Alaska Highway, progression for 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2023. While this became visible briefly in 2019, it would probably not attract attention today. |
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POI 1. Portal to the Anaconda main adit close up. This was probably covered with fill that hid it for many years until the fill slumped to reveal the hole. |
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POI 1. Portal to the Anaconda main adit even closer up |
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POI 1. Video exploration of Anaconda portal using a light and camera on the end of a long pole. Video starts after about 5 seconds of title. This video © 2019 Peter Deer. |
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POI 1. Interesting mineralization above and to the left (south) of the Anaconda main adit. No wonder early prospectors thought there was copper here. If you're facing the portal, move to the left and scramble up the steep side of the cliff to see this. If you go right to the top, you'll come out just across the road from POI 2. |
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POI 2. The road going up to the landfill. POI 2 is on top the high point to the left of the road. |
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POI 2. Shallow exploration pit. |
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POI 4. Anaconda shaft 1. Not sure how far this goes down. Possibly 30 feet (9 m) if this is the shaft mentioned in old records. |
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POI 5. Anaconda shaft 2. This is possibly connected to adjacent shaft 1. |
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POI 4 and 5. Old exploratory trenching around the Anaconda shafts |
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POI 4 and 5. Old exploratory trenching around the Anaconda shafts |
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POI 4 and 5. Bare-ground LIDAR image showing old exploratory trenching around the Anaconda shafts. This image is from the Government of Yukon's GeoYukon elevation image service. |
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POI 6. Small structure of unknown use situated near the Rabbit Foot shafts |
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POI 7. Rabbit Foot shaft 1 |
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POI 7. Old cabin located adjacent to Rabbit Foot shaft 1 |
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POI 7. Old cabin located adjacent to Rabbit Foot shaft 1 |
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POI 7. Crank on the edge of Rabbit Foot pit 1 |
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POI 8. Rabbit Foot shaft 2 |
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POI 10. Looking across the top of the Porter Creek Valley, "Secret Valley of Miniature Mammoths" |
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POI 10. Porter Creek Valley. The valley floor is a real jungle due the sheltered nature of the valley and the moisture provided by the creek. It's certainly largely impassible by humans and probably would be very difficult for miniature mammoths. |
TimmiT History Exploration Notebook