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Wells Creek Gossan

Occurrence in Whatcom county in Washington, United States with commodities Copper, Silver
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Public Land Survey System information
  6. Commodities
  7. Materials information
  8. Alteration
  9. Mineral occurrence model information
  10. Host and associated rocks
  11. Nearby scientific data
  12. Geologic structures
  13. Ore body information
  14. Controls for ore emplacement
  15. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  16. Mining district
  17. Land status
  18. Ownership information
  19. Links to other databases
  20. Bibliographic references
  21. General comments
  22. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10095779
MRDS ID M700409
Record type Site
Current site name Wells Creek Gossan
Alternate or previous names Great Excelsior
Related records 10278450

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -121.79652, 48.89481 (WGS84)
Elevation 686
Relative position 8 MI NORTH OF MT BAKER SUMMIT; ABOUT 0.8 MI SOUTHWEST OF PINUS LAKE, Estimated From Map And Description In Moen

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Whatcom(county)

Washington(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Bearpaw Mountain(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Mount Baker(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Concrete(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Nooksack(hydrologic unit)

Puget Sound(hydrologic accounting unit)

Puget Sound(hydrologic subregion)

Pacific Northwest(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Washington Whatcom

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Willamette 039N 008E 05 Washington

Comments on the location information

  • UNSURVEYED. APPROXIMATELY 1 MI SOUTHEAST OF CONFLUENCE OF WELLS CREEK AND NOOKSACK RIVER

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary
Silver Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Pyrite Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) Andesite Is Silicified, Sericitized

Analytical data

Result ASSAYS SHOW 0.20 OZ/TON AG, NO GOLD, AS MUCH AS 0.40% CU. AVERAGE PYRITE CONTENT IS <3%, MAY BE AS HIGH AS 10%. SEVERAL IRON-OXIDE STAINED ZONES CONTAIN UP TO 700 PPM CU.

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 Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Intermediate Volcanic Rock > Andesite
    Rock unit name Wells Creek Volcanics
    Rock description Wells Creek Volcanics
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Middle Jurassic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Middle Jurassic

Nearby scientific data

(1) -121.79652, 48.89481
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description West Plunging Syncline Superimposed On Regional North-Trending Anticline
Type of structure Local
Structure description Strong Shears

Ore body information

  • General form DISSEMINATED
    Length 1609.3M
    Width 804.65M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Fault

Comments on the geologic information

  • HOST ROCKS ARE OVERLAIN BY PLEISTOCENE ANDESITE OF MOUNT BAKER.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1964

Mining district

District name Mount Baker District

Land status

Ownership category National Forest
Area name In Mount Baker National Forest

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Steelhead Gold
    First year 1988
  • Type Owner
    Owner Glacier Mining Co, Seattle
    First year 1967

Comments on development

  • IN 1964, AN AEROMAGNETIC ANOMALY WAS DETECTED, WHICH INDICATED A COPPER DEPOSIT AT 700 TO 900 FT DEPTH. IN 1966, A GEOCHEMICAL SURVEY OF THE AREA FOUND AS MUCH AS 700 PPM CU IN SOIL NEAR SOUTH END OF CLAIMS.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    HUNTTING, M.T., 1956, INVENTORY OF WASHINGTON MINERALS - PART II, METALLIC MINERALS: WASHINGTON DIVISION OF MINES AND GEOLOGY BULLETIN 37, P. 75, 95.

  • Deposit

    DERKEY, R.E., JOSEPH, N.L., AND LASMANIS, RAYMOND, 1990, METAL MINES OF WASHINGTON - PRELIMINARY REPORT: WASHINGTON DIVISION OF GEOLOGY AND EARTH RESOURCES OPEN-FILE REPORT 90-18, P. 557.

  • Deposit

    TABOR, R.W., HAUGERUD, R.A., BOOTH, D.B., AND BROWN, E.B., 199X, PRELIMINARY GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE MOUNT BAKER 30 X 60 MINUTE QUADRANGLE, WASHINGTON: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OPEN-FILE REPORT 9X-XXX, SCALE 1:100,000 (IN PREPARATION IN 1993).

  • Deposit

    MOEN, W.S., 1969, MINES AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OF WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON: WASHINGTON DIVISION OF MINES AND GEOLOGY BULLETIN 57, P. 95.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE CU ANOMALY IS IN STRONGLY SHEARED AND ALTERED ANDESITE. SHEAR ZONE STRIKES N ON THE NORTH END OF THE CLAIMS AND N 45 E ON THE SOUTH END. WITHIN THE SHEAR ZONE, SILICIFIED AND SERICITIZED ANDESITE CONTAINS FINE-GRAINED DISSEMINATED PYRITE.
Deposit 19 CLAIMS ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT
Deposit SEE ALSO MRDS RECORD M700046

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUL-81 Caress, Mary E. (Evarts, Russ) U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-DEC-91 Peterson, Jocelyn A. 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