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

Unnamed (Ferndale Creek)

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodities Silver, Lead, Zinc, Copper, Tin
Map
XML
JSON
KML
C
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. 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 10307270
Record type Site
Current site name Unnamed (Ferndale Creek)

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -164.54342, 65.82933 (WGS84)
Relative position This occurrence is on a flat ridge crest at an elevation of 2,220 feet; it overlooks the headwaters of Hot Springs Creek and Ferndale Creek (a tributary to Humbolt Creek, Hudson, 1979, Plate 1). It is one mile north of the continental divide and 2,000 feet east of outcrops of the Oonatut Granite Complex (Hudson, 1979).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Nome(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Bendeleben D-6(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Bendeleben NW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Bendeleben(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Goodhope-Spafarief Bay(hydrologic unit)

Northern Seward Peninsula(hydrologic accounting unit)

Northwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Bering Land Bridge National Preserve(National Preserve)

National Preserve NPS(Type of land area)

NPS(Federal land areas administered by NPS)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

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

Comments on the commodity information

  • Gangue = iron oxides

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Clay Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Iron-oxide staining and bleached discoloration are common; some clay development is probably present.

Nearby scientific data

(1) -164.54342, 65.82933
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = A very fine-grained granite dike trends N 80 W west and intrudes hornfels in the country rocks to the Oonatut Granite Complex here (Hudson, 1979). This dike and adacent country rocks have been altered and rust-stained soils, rock fragments, and small gossan fragments are localized along the trend of the dike. The presence of slickensided rock fragments in the soils suggests that the dike was emplaced along a fault that has had recurring movement. Twelve composite grab samples of soil, altered rocks, and gossan fragments collected across the altered zone contain up to 150 ppm Ag, 10,000 ppm As, 200 ppm Cd, 500 ppm Cu, greater than 20,000 ppm Pb, greater than 10,000 ppm Zn, and 700 ppm Sn. Gold was not determined (Hudson, 1979, p. 26). The length of the altered zone that was sampled is about 1,000 feet. This altered zone is interpreted to have developed above buried parts of the Oonatut Granite Complex and to be related to its crystallization. The Oonatut Granite is part of the western Seward Peninsula tin granite suite (Hudson and Arth, 1983) and the polymetallic character of this mineralization may be reflective of the lead-zinc zone in tin deposit systems (Hudson, 1979).
  • Age = Probably Late Cretaceous; this occurrence is thought to be related to emplacement and crystallization of the Oonatut Granite Complex. K/Ar ages for the Oonatut Granite Complex are about 70 my (Hudson, 1979).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Fairhaven

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Shallow hand-dug prospect pits may be present.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Hudson, 1979

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Sulfide veining or impregnations in hornfels and granite dike

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 15-MAR-99 Travis L. Hudson Applied Geology

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.