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Mount Casca

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodities Phosphorus-Phosphates, Uranium
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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 10307413
Record type Site
Current site name Mount Casca
Alternate or previous names VABM Casca

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -141.05678, 65.34781 (WGS84)
Relative position The Mount Casca prospects are on the northern and southern flanks of 7,874-foot Mount Casca in section 13, T. 6 N., R. 32 E. Additional Mount Casca prospects are located on the southern flank of Mount Casca in section 18, T. 6 N., R. 33 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian. The prospects cover approximately 2 square miles. The coordinates are for the northernmost prospect. The locations are accurate. These prospects are located on Doyon, Limited selected or conveyed land.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Southeast Fairbanks(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Charley River B-1(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Charley River SE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Charley River(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Doyon, Limited(ANCSA Region)

ANCSA Region NTVPIC(Type of land area)

NTVPIC(Federal land areas administered by NTVPIC)

Yukon-Charley Rivers 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
Phosphorus-Phosphates Primary
Uranium Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Apatite Ore
Collophane Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) Alteration at Mount Casca prospect consists of pervasive silicification with chalcedony-lined vugs and irregular quartz veining. Iron and manganese oxides are present within breccia zones (DiMarchi and others, 1993).

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 243
USGS model code 34c
Deposit model name Phosphate, upwelling type

Nearby scientific data

(1) -141.05678, 65.34781
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The main geologic unit in the Mount Casca area is a massive boulder-conglomerate of the Ordovician to Devonian Road River Formation (Dover and Miyaoka, 1988). The massive conglomerate is overlain by thin wedges of algal limestone of the Devonian Ogilvie Formation and underlain by the Cambrian Funnel Creek Limestone. The massive conglomerate is clast supported with an unsorted matrix. Clasts are mostly silicified oolitic limestone, chert pebbles, granular apatite, and fossil fragments. In some places, phosphate nodules as much as 5 inches in diameter were reported (DiMarchi and others, 1993). The conglomerate also contains limestone breccias. The conglomerate contains anomalous phosphorous and uranium geochemical values. The phosphorous is located in phosphate nodules and apatite, and the uranium is in collophane and uranium-bearing apatite (DiMarchi and others, 1993). The limestone breccias contain 400 parts per million uranium, and 16.5 percent P2O5 (Doyon, Limited, 1986). Alteration in the conglomerate appears as pervasive silicification with chalcedony-lined vugs and irregular quartz veining. Within breccia zones, many iron and manganese oxides are present (DiMarchi and others, 1993). The Mount Casca prospect was explored by WGM Inc. in 1975 and 1976, by Union Carbide in 1977, and by ASA Inc. in 1993. WGM Inc. conducted a soil sampling and trenching program, and Union Carbide took soil and rock samples, and also did some petrographic analysis. ASA Inc.'s program consisted of selective rock sampling and mapping of the prospect (DiMarchi and others, 1993).
  • Age = Cambrian or younger, based on the age of the host rocks.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Active

Mining district

District name Black

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = The Mount Casca prospects were explored by WGM Inc. in 1975 and 1976, by Union Carbide in 1977, and by ASA Inc. in 1993. WGM Inc. conducted a soil sampling and trenching program, and Union Carbide took soil and rock samples and also did some petrographic analysis. ASA Inc.'s program consisted of selective rock sampling and mapping of the prospect (DiMarchi and others, 1993).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Doyon, Limited, 1986, Mines, prospects, and geochemical anomalies on Doyon, Limited, regional overselection lands, Alaska: Fairbanks, Alaska, Doyon, Limited, Report 86-01A, v. 1, 150 p. (Report held by Doyon, Limited, Fairbanks, Alaska.)

  • Deposit

    Dover, J.A., and Miyaoka, R.T., 1988, Reinterpreted geologic map and fossil data, Charley River quadrangle, east-central Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-2004, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    DiMarchi, J.J., Weglarz, T.B., Adams, D.D., Hubert, J.A., and West, A.W., 1993, 1993 annual report reconnaissance program, Doyon option lands: ASA Inc., 120 p. (Report held by Doyon Ltd., Fairbanks, Alaska.)

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = DiMarchi and others, 1993

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Upwelling-type phosphate deposit? (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 34c)
Deposit Other Comments = This prospect lies on Doyon, Limited selected or conveyed land. For more information, contact Doyon, Limited. This site is within the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 07-APR-00 Cameron, C.E. Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

Maps centered on this site

Authoritative Alaska resources

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