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Unnamed (moraine on Fairweather Glacier)

Occurrence in Alaska, United States with commodities Copper, Nickel, Gold, Silver, Cobalt, Chromium, Iron, PGE, Titanium, Vanadium
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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. Nearby scientific data
  8. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  9. Mining district
  10. Links to other databases
  11. Bibliographic references
  12. General comments
  13. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10307809
Record type Site
Current site name Unnamed (moraine on Fairweather Glacier)

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -137.49114, 58.87271 (WGS84)
Relative position Glacial moraine on a north arm of Fairweather Glacier, about 2.6 miles south-southeast of Mt. Fairweather contains sulfide- and oxide-rich mineral bearing detritus derived from the Mt. Fairweather. The metalliferous detritus is at about 6500-foot elevation and probably is derived from outcrops 0.2-0.4 mile to the west. The location is accurate within 0.25 miles.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Hoonah-Angoon(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Mount Fairweather D-5(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Mount Fairweather NE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Mount Fairweather(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Glacier Bay(hydrologic unit)

Northern Southeast Alaska(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southeast Alaska(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Glacier Bay 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
Nickel Critical Primary
Gold Secondary
Silver Secondary
Cobalt Critical Secondary
Chromium Critical Secondary
Iron Secondary
PGE Critical Secondary
Titanium Critical Secondary
Vanadium Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Cubanite Ore
Ilmenite Ore
Magnetite Ore
Pentlandite Ore
Pyrrhotite Ore

Nearby scientific data

(1) -137.49114, 58.87271
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Cobbles of mafic rocks containing concentrations of magnetite-ilmenite or of disseminated sulfides, including chalcopyrite and pentlandite, occur in moraine adjacent to the Mt. Fairweather layered mafic intrusion and must have been derived from mineral deposits within the intrusion. Plafker and MacKevett (1970) found as much as 0.5 percent copper, also 0.5 percent nickel in the first sampling of the moraine occurrence. Kimball and others (1978) found as much as 0.64 percent copper and 0.2 percent nickel in samples collected from the moraine. Gold, platinum or palladium, cobalt, and chromium were also reported in assays from samples from the moraine.
  • Age = Recent morainal accumulation of sulfide- and heavy metallic oxide-bearing detritus derived from the Mt. Fairweather intrusion.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence

Mining district

District name Yakutat

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = The mineralized rocks were collected from the moraine. No examination of the probable source area of the detritus was possible because of the extremely rugged terrane. Further investigations would call for trained mountaineers. The sites near Mt. Fairweather were first visited by Plafker and MacKevett (1970), who obtained materials estimated to contain as much as 0.5 percent each of copper and nickel. The sites were then resampled by the U.S. Bureau of Mines (Kimball and others, 1978, p. C108-C119). Samples 7K064 and 065 collected by the Bureau contained 0.03-0.05 ounce/ton gold, trace to 0.008 ounce/ton platinum or palladium, as much as 0.64 percent copper, 0.2 percent nickel, 200-300 ppm cobalt, and 2000-5000 ppm chromium.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Kimball and others, 1978

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Unconsolidated glacial moraine containing metalliferous detritus.
Deposit Other Comments = the site is in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. A search for the source of the metalliferous boulders would need mountaineering support.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 06-APR-99 Hawley, C.C. Hawley Resource Group

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.