Upper Daly-Alaska

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Silver, Gold, Copper, Lead, Zinc

Sections on this page

Identification information
Geographic coordinates
Site location context
Geographic areas
Commodities
Materials information
Alteration
Mineral occurrence model information
Host and associated rocks
Nearby scientific data
Economic information about the deposit and operations
Mining district
Links to other databases
Bibliographic references
General comments
Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID	10000264
MRDS ID	A010306
Record type	Site
Current site name	Upper Daly-Alaska
Alternate or previous names	Hoosier, Bertha, Western

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates:	-130.03925, 56.02894 (WGS84)
Relative position	The upper Daly-Alaska mine is in Section 25 at an elevation of about 1250-1800 feet on Daly Creek (Elliott and Koch, 1981, p. 17, loc. 66).? Also see lower Daly-Alaska mine (BC065), and 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

Materials information

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

Alteration

(Local) Mineralized greenstone country rock is silicified and partly replaced by calcite and disseminated pyrite.

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 Host

Rock type

Stratigraphic age (youngest) Jurassic

Nearby scientific data

(1)	Canada	ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

Geologic Description = The country rocks in the area of this site are pelitic metasedimentary and subordinate andesitic (greenstone) metavolcanic strata of the Jurassic or older Mesozoic Hazelton Group; the Triassic Texas Creek Granodiorite, which intrudes the Hazelton; the Eocene Boundary Granodiorite, which intrudes the Hazelton and Texas Creek rocks; and still-younger Tertiary lamprophyre dikes, which cut all the other rocks (Smith, 1973, 1977; Koch, 1996).? the deposit at the upper Daly-Alaska mine (Elliott and Koch, 1981, loc. 66) is in fractured zones in silicified greenstone, tuff, and quartz porphyry. The zones contain disseminated pyrite, calcite veinlets, quartz gash veinlets, and bands and patches of relatively massive sulfide minerals. Sphalerite, galena, and pyrite are reported, along with lesser amounts of tetrahedrite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite and arsenopyrite. Selected samples of the sulfides probably contain silver and some gold.? Concentrated sulfide samples from a shear zone at the upper Daly-Alaska mine site yielded an Eocene lead-isotope age (Maas and others, 1995, p. 254, 259). The deposit, however, is similar in mineralogy, structural setting, and hostrock to isotopically dated Jurassic deposits nearby in the Hyder district (see, for example, BC065, 067). The lode thus may be polygenetic, originating as a 'disseminated' deposit during Jurassic (Hazelton) island-arc volcanism (Alldrick, 1993), and then partly remobilized into shear zones during emplacement of the Boundary Granodiorite.
Age = Concentrated sulfide samples from a shear zone at the upper Daly-Alaska mine site yielded an Eocene lead-isotope age (Maas and others, 1995, p. 254, 259). The deposit, however, is similar in mineralogy, structural setting, and hostrock to isotopically dated Jurassic deposits nearby in the Hyder district (see, for example, BC065, 067). The lode thus may be polygenetic, originating as a 'disseminated' deposit during Jurassic (Hazelton) island-arc volcanism (Alldrick, 1993), and then partly remobilized or reconstituted into shear zones during emplacement of the Boundary Granodiorite.
Age = Host rock is similar to isotopically dated Jurassic deposits nearby.

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 little ore was probably mined, but there is no public record of the amount of production.

Comments on the workings information

Workings / Exploration = Deposit was explored by open cuts and more than 100 feet of underground workings, mainly between about 1915 and 1925.

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency	Database name	Acronym	Record ID	Notes
USGS	Mineral Resources Data System	MRDS	A010306
USGS	Alaska Resource Data File	ARDF	BC066

Bibliographic references

Deposit

Chapin, Theodore, 1916, Mining developments in southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 642, p. 73-104.
Deposit

Westgate, L.G., 1922, Ore deposits of the Salmon River district, Portland Canal region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 722, p. 117-140.
Deposit

Buddington, A.F., 1925, Mineral investigations in southeastern Alasaka: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 773, p. 71-139.
Deposit

Buddington, A.F., 1929, Geology of Hyder and vicinity, southeastern Alaska, with a reconnaissance of Chickamin River: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 807, 124 p.
Deposit

Buddington, A.F., and Chapin, Theodore, 1929, Geology and mineral deposits of southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 800, 398 p.
Deposit

Smith, J.G., 1973, A Tertiary lamprophyre dike province in southeastern Alaska: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 10, p. 408-420.
Deposit

Smith, J.G., 1977, Geology of the Ketchikan D-1 and Bradfield Canal A-1 quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1425, 49 p.
Deposit

Cobb, E.H., 1978, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Bradfield Canal quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-922, 98 p.
Deposit

Elliott, R.L., and Koch, R.D., 1981, Mines, prospects, and selected metalliferous mineral occurrences in the Bradfield Canal quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 81-728-B, 23 p., 1 sheet, scales 1:250,000 and 1:63,360.
Deposit

Alldrick, D.J., 1993, Geology and metallogeny of the Stewart mining camp, northwestern British Columbia: British Columbia Department of Mines and Petroleum Resources Bulletin 85, 105 p., 2 plates.
Deposit

Maas, K.M., Bittenbender, P E., and Still, J.C., 1995, Mineral investigations in the Ketchikan mining district, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 11-95, 606 p.
Deposit

Koch, R.D., 1996, Reconnaissance geologic map of the Bradfield Canal quadrangle, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 81-728-A, 35 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Comments on the references

Primary Reference = Elliott and Koch, 1981

General comments

Subject category	Comment text
Deposit	Model Name = Polymetallic veins
Deposit	Other Comments = the first claims on this property were located in 1912 and 1913. Descriptions of the Daly-Alaska property in early reports (Chapin, 1916, p. 97; Westgate, 1922, p. 128, 131-133; Buddington, 1925, p. 74, 83-84; 1929, p. 43-44, 86-88; Buddington and Chapin, 1929, p. 318, 327, 357-358), which were summarized by Cobb (1978, p. 23-24), do not consistently distinguish between the upper and lower workings. Elliott and Koch (1981, locs. 65, 66), however, describe the upper and lower workings separately, and their descriptions are used in this report (also see lower Daly-Alaska mine, BC065).? In early reports, the name New Alaska Mining Company apparently applied in general to the Daly-Alaska property.

Subject category

Comment text

Deposit

Model Name = Polymetallic veins

Deposit

Other Comments = the first claims on this property were located in 1912 and 1913. Descriptions of the Daly-Alaska property in early reports (Chapin, 1916, p. 97; Westgate, 1922, p. 128, 131-133; Buddington, 1925, p. 74, 83-84; 1929, p. 43-44, 86-88; Buddington and Chapin, 1929, p. 318, 327, 357-358), which were summarized by Cobb (1978, p. 23-24), do not consistently distinguish between the upper and lower workings. Elliott and Koch (1981, locs. 65, 66), however, describe the upper and lower workings separately, and their descriptions are used in this report (also see lower Daly-Alaska mine, BC065).? In early reports, the name New Alaska Mining Company apparently applied in general to the Daly-Alaska property.

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.