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Big River

Occurrence in Alaska, United States with commodities Copper, Silver, Gold, Molybdenum, Lead, Zinc
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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. Alteration
  8. Mineral occurrence model information
  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 10003415
MRDS ID A106171
Record type Site
Current site name Big River

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -153.87254, 58.67941 (WGS84)
Relative position This site is northeast of the Big River on an unnamed tributary in sec. 26, T. 17 S., R. 28 E. (Church and others, 1992, sheet 1, locality 11). The location is accurate to within 1/2 mile.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Kenai Peninsula(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Afognak C-6(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Afognak NW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Afognak(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Shelikof Strait(hydrologic unit)

Kodiak-Shelikof(hydrologic accounting unit)

South Central Alaska(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Katmai National Park(National Park)

National Park NPS(Type of land area)

NPS(Federal land areas administered by NPS)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

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

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Molybdenite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) The intrusive rock at this site exhibits argillic and quartz-sericite alteration associated with abundant quartz veining.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 85
USGS model code 22c
Deposit model name Polymetallic veins
Mark3 model number 46
Model code 54
USGS model code 17
Deposit model name Porphyry Cu (North America)
Mark3 model number 81
Model code 79
USGS model code 21a
Deposit model name Porphyry Cu-Mo
Mark3 model number 2

Nearby scientific data

(1) -153.87254, 58.67941
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = At this site quartz-sulfide veins and disseminated sulfides occur in an altered Tertiary plug exposed in a creek drainage. Pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and molybdenite are present in quartz veins up to 6 centimeters in width. Metal values run to greater than 20,000 ppm copper, and up to 2000 ppm zinc, 200 ppm lead, 200 ppm silver, 200 ppm cobalt, 100 ppm molybdenite, and 1.1 ppm gold (Church and others, 1994, table 15). Bedrock in this general area consists of sedimentary units of the Kaguyak Formation (Late Cretaceous) and sill-like and crosscutting Tertiary intrusive bodies of tonalite and granodiorite.? This site occurs within a broad zone of geochemical anomalies located southwest of Fourpeaked Mountain and northeast of the mouth of Big River. Within this zone many silt samples are anomalous in arsenic, cobalt, copper, lead, and zinc (Church and others, 1994). Panned concentrates contain arsenopyrite, barite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, scheelite, sphalerite, and wulfenite. the site is also within a smaller zone of silts which are anomalous in boron, molybdenum, and tungsten.
  • Age = The mineralization is associated with a small Late Tertiary stock.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Bristol Bay

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Samples were collected and analyzed by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Church, S.E., Riehle, J.R, Magoon, L.D, and Campbell, D.L., 1992, Mineral and energy resource assessment maps of the Mount Katmai, Naknek, and western Afognak quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF 2021-F, 22 p. 2 map sheets, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Riehle, J.R., Dettermen, R.L., Yount, M.E., and Miller, J.W., 1993, Geologic map of the Mount Katmai quadrangle and adjacent parts of the Naknek and Afognak quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map I-2204, 1 map sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Church, S.E., Riehle, J.R., and Goldfarb, R.J., 1994, Interpretation of exploration geochemical data for the Mount Katmai quadrangle, and adjacent parts of the Afognak and Naknek quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 2020, 67 p., 3 map sheets, scale 1:250,000.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Church and others, 1994

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Polymetallic vein, concealed porphyry copper or porphyry copper-molybdenum (Cox and Singer, 1986; models 22c, 17, 21a).
Deposit Model Number = 22c, 17, 21a
Deposit Other Comments = Site is located in Katmai National Park.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 11-AUG-1998 S.H. Pilcher 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.