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Surprise Creek

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodity Copper
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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. Host and associated rocks
  8. Nearby scientific data
  9. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  10. Mining district
  11. Links to other databases
  12. Bibliographic references
  13. General comments
  14. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10093998
MRDS ID A011759
Record type Site
Current site name Surprise Creek
Alternate or previous names Laddie, Sheehan, Hubbard
Related records 10209591

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -143.81364, 61.74077 (WGS84)
Relative position Spur of land between Sunshine Creek and Surprise Creek, both tributaries of Kotsina River. Includes several old prospects on Surprise and Sunshine Creeks. Best location: MacKevett and others, 1978, loc. 4. Accurate within radius of 100 feet.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Valdez-Cordova(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

McCarthy C-8(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

McCarthy NW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

McCarthy(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Middle Copper River(hydrologic unit)

Copper River(hydrologic accounting unit)

South Central Alaska(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Wrangell-St. Elias 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

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bornite Ore
Chalcocite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Pyrite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metavolcanic Rock > Mafic Metamorphic Rock > Greenstone
    Rock unit name Nikolai Greenstone;Chitina Valley Batholith; Granodiorite
    Rock description Nikolai Greenstone;Chitina Valley Batholith; Granodiorite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Triassic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metavolcanic Rock > Mafic Metamorphic Rock > Greenstone

Nearby scientific data

(1) -143.81364, 61.74077
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Quartz-calcite veins, containing chalcocite,bornite and chalcopyrite, in faulted Nikolai Greenstone near a large Jurassic granodiorite pluton.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Chistochina

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Type of workings: surface and underground. Explored by open cuts and a few short adits.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Moffit, F.H., and Maddren, A.G., 1909, Mineral resources of the Kotsina-Chitina region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 374, 103 p.

  • Deposit

    Moffit, F.H., and Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1923, The Kotsina-Kuskulana district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 745, 149 p.

  • Deposit

    Berg, H.C., and Cobb, E.H., 1967, Metalliferous Lode Deposits of Alaska. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1246, 254 p.

  • Deposit

    MacKevett, E.M., Jr., 1976, Mineral deposits and occurrences in the McCarthy quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-773-B, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    MacKevett, E.M., Jr., Smith, J.G., Jones, D.L., and Winkler, G.R., 1978, Geologic map of the McCarthy C-8 quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ-1418, scale 1:63,360.

  • Deposit

    MacKevett, E.M., Jr., Smith, J.G., Jones, D.L., and Winkler, G.R., 1978, Geologic map of the McCarthy C-8 quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ-1418, 1 sheet, scale 1:63,360.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Moffit and Mertie, 1923

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Lode: vein, shear zone

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 27-OCT-1997 Leonard, K.R. U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 27-OCT-1997 Elliott, R.L. U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 27-OCT-1997 Richter, D.H. 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.