1. Mineral Resources
  2. Online Spatial Data
  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Inspiration Point

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

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10002211
MRDS ID A013112
Record type Site
Current site name Inspiration Point
Alternate or previous names Inspiration Mine
Related records 10136502

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -135.16211, 59.59976 (WGS84)
Relative position This location corresponds to map location 52 of Gilbert and others (1990) and the location in Clough (1989 [BOM, v. 2, sec. C]), referred to as the Inspiration Mine. It is in the south-central part of section 23, T. 26 S., R. 60 E. of the Copper River Meridian. However, Cobb (1972 [MF 424]) shows this prospect on the White Pass-Yukon railroad about 0.6 miles south of the Alaska-Canada border and Gilbert and others (1990) located an Inspiration Mine at the 3,400 foot elevation near the west-central edge of section 26, T. 26 S., R. 60 E..

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Hoonah-Angoon(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Skagway C-1(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Skagway NE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Skagway(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Chilkat-Skagway Rivers(hydrologic unit)

Northern Southeast Alaska(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southeast Alaska(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Lead Primary
Gold Secondary
Copper Secondary
Zinc Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Galena Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) Skarn peripheral to a diorite intrusion.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 58
USGS model code 18a
Deposit model name Porphyry Cu, skarn-related
Mark3 model number 9
Model code 72
USGS model code 19a
Deposit model name Polymetallic replacement
Mark3 model number 47

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Middle Eocene
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Early Eocene
    Chronological age 48
    Dating method U-Pb (zircon)
    Type of media Zircon

Nearby scientific data

(1) Tcp
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = According to Clough (1989 [BOM, v. 2, sec. C]), the Inspiration Mine was probably discovered in the mid-1920's and was intermittently worked until its abandonment in the late 1930's. An 18-ton trial shipment of ore reportedly assayed 7.65% lead, 6.2% zinc, and 3.05 ounces of silver per ton. Local prospectors apparently restaked the property in 1988. The upper level of workings includes an inclined shaft, a vertical shaft, an open-cut, and a 165-foot adit. There is another adit about 200 feet below the upper level of workings. Mineralization occurs in skarn zones developed along sheared limestone within the Clifton Granite. At this locality, the Clifton Granite is actually a diorite. Mineralization is confined to the skarn zones and is not found in the diorite. This is probably the same as location 52 of Gilbert and others (1990) who described skarn, garnet skarn, diorite, and sheared diorite. Skarn samples contain up to 1,500 ppm copper, 7,200 ppm lead, and 24,000 ppm zinc. U-Pb zircon dates of 48 Ma for the Clifton Granite establish a maximum age for the mineralization (Clough, 1991 [BOM, v. 2, sec. C]; Gilbert and others, 1990).
  • Age = U-Pb zircon dates of 48 Ma for the Clifton Granite establish a maximum age for the deposit (Clough, 1991 [BOM, v. 2, sec. C); Gilbert and others, 1990).
  • Age = Chron age is for the Clifton Granite.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Probably inactive

Mining district

District name Juneau (Skagway subdistrict)

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = According to Clough (1991 [BOM, v. 2, sec. C], the Inspiration Mine was probably discovered in the mid-1920's and was intermittently worked until its abandonment in the late 1930's. An upper level of workings includes an inclined shaft, a vertical shaft, an open-cut, and a 165-foot adit. There is another adit about 200 feet below the upper level of workings. An 18-ton trial shipment of ore reportedly assayed 7.65% lead, 6.2% zinc, and 3.05 ounces of silver per ton. Local prospectors apparently restaked the property in 1988.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Exploratory work was done annually from about 1926 to 1932 (Berg and Cobb, 1967).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Clough, 1991 (BOM, v. 2, sec. C)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Skarn, contact metasomatic (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 18a or 19a).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 04-FEB-2001 T.C. Crafford T. Crafford & Associates

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.