If I understand you correctly, yes. If I have a long clip in my selects timeline with multiple audio tracks what I usually do is just blade cut an in and out on the source timeline, select the clips within the cuts, copy those selected clips, move to the edit timeline and paste - if I want to preserve the source timeline intact.
I usually find it easier to extract the video from the source (leaving a gap) so that I know I've used that material as I winnow down the material.
As with any workflow, do a test before you commit to it.
MtD