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Cantu

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Silver, Gold, Copper, Lead, Zinc, Barium-Barite
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Mineral occurrence model information
  8. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Links to other databases
  13. Bibliographic references
  14. General comments
  15. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10000181
MRDS ID A010218
Record type Site
Current site name Cantu
Related records 10258427

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -130.06564, 56.07588 (WGS84)
Relative position The Cantu mine is in Section 11 on the east flank of Cantu Mountain about 0.1 mile from the Canadian border. The mine is at an elevation of about 1500 feet and the deposits crop out between elevations of about 1200 and 2180 feet (Buddington, 1929, p. 91-92; Elliott and Koch, 1981, p. 15, loc. 57). The location is accurate within about a tenth of a mile.? Also see Additional Comments field, below.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Prince of Wales-Hyder(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Bradfield Canal A-1(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Bradfield Canal SE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Bradfield Canal(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Southern Southeast Alaska(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southeast Alaska(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Tongass National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Gold Primary
Copper Primary
Lead Primary
Zinc Critical Primary
Barium-Barite Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Pyrite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Tetrahedrite Ore
Barite Gangue
Calcite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 85
USGS model code 22c
Deposit model name Polymetallic veins
Mark3 model number 46

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -130.06564, 56.07588
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The country rocks in the general area of the Cantu mine include the Triassic Texas Creek Granodiorite, which underlies and locally intrudes pelitic metasedimentary and subordinate andesitic metavolcanic strata of the Jurassic or older Mesozoic Hazelton Group; the Eocene Boundary Granodiorite (Smith, 1977), which intrudes the Hazelton and Texas Creek rocks; and still-younger Tertiary lamprophyre dikes (Smith, 1973), which cut all of the other rocks.? the deposit (Buddington, 1929, p. 43, 91-92) consists of sulfide-bearing quartz-barite-calcite(?) fissure veins in Texas Creek Granodiorite, which is cut by quartz porphyry and lamprophyre dikes. The veins, ranging from a few inches to three feet thick, as well as smaller veinlets, carry galena, sphalerite, and tetrahedrite, generally sparse pyrite and chalcopyrite, and, in places, barite equal in amount to the quartz. ? Maas and others' (1995, p. 258) description of the Cantu deposit differs from Buddington's in that they interpret the hostrock as Hazelton greenstone, not Texas Creek Granodiorite.? Assays of a carefully selected 20-ton shipment sent to a smelter in 1925 showed 0.175-0.30 oz Au and 13.80-31.05 oz Ag per ton, 37.20-44.1% Pb, and 5.6-12.2% Zn. Assays of grab samples of sorted ore were generally comparable in metal content, except for one sample rich in tetrahedrite that contained 61.2 oz Ag per ton. A grab sample from another vein 30-35 feet thick that contained streaks and disseminations of pyrite gave an assay of 0.8 oz Au and 1.202 oz Ag per ton.? Lead-isotope studies of galena from the Cantu deposit (Maas and others, 1995, p. 254) indicate that the deposit is Jurassic in age, contemporaneous, at least in part, with island-arc volcanism in Hazelton time (Alldrick, 1993).
  • Age = Lead-isotope studies of galena from the Cantu deposit (Maas and others, 1995, p. 254) indicate that the deposit is Jurassic in age, contemporaneous, at least in part, with island-arc volcanism in Hazelton time (Alldrick, 1993).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Hyder

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = A 20-ton test shipment was sent to a smelter in 1925

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Presumably fairly extensive surface and underground workings. Maas and others (1995, p. 258) report four adits ranging from 10-40 feet long.? Assays of a carefully selected 20-ton shipment sent to a smelter in 1925 showed 0.175-0.30 oz Au and 13.80-31.05 oz Ag per ton, 37.20-44.1% Pb, and 5.6-12.2% Zn. Assays of grab samples of sorted ore were generally comparable in metal content, except for one sample rich in tetrahedrite that contained 61.2 oz Ag per ton. A grab sample from another vein 30-35 feet thick that contained streaks and disseminations of pyrite gave an assay of 0.8 oz Au and 1.202 oz Ag per ton.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Buddington, 1929

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Polymetallic veins
Deposit Other Comments = Claims were originally located in 1925. The Cantu group, restaked in 1949 and 1966, probably covered an area somewhat different from the original Cantu claims (U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1979).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 17-MAY-1998 H. C. Berg U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

Maps centered on this site

Authoritative Alaska resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.