Beaver

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

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10308492
Record type Site
Current site name Beaver

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -154.12095, 63.4445 (WGS84)
Relative position The Beaver prospect is located on a south-facing slope at 1,950 feet (595 m) in elevation, upslope from the West Fork of Beaver Creek in Section 6, T. 24 S., R. 25 E., of the Kateel River Meridian. Location is known within 100 feet (30 m).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Yukon-Koyukuk(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Medfra B-3(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Medfra S(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Medfra C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

North Fork Kuskokwim River(hydrologic unit)

Upper Kuskokwim River(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Zinc Critical Primary
Lead Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Gangue = ferrigenous gossan
  • Gangue = secondary carbonate

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Cerussite Ore
Galena Ore
Smithsonite Ore
Dolomite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) White vuggy dolomite; galena to oxidized cerrusite.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 227
USGS model code 32a
Deposit model name Mississippi valley, without Missouri
Mark3 model number 109
Model code 226
USGS model code 32a
Deposit model name Mississippi Valley, updated
Mark3 model number 108
Model code 224
USGS model code 32a
Deposit model name Mississippi Valley, S.E. Missouri Pb-Zn
Mark3 model number 42

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Silurian
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Early Ordovician

Nearby scientific data

(1) -154.12095, 63.4445

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = (Schmidt, 1997).
  • Age = Host rock is Ordovician-Silurian, based on fossils in host unit (Blodgett, 1982); however, the age of the mineralization is unknown.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name McGrath

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = The Beaver prospect was discovered by WGM Inc. and Patino Ltd. during exploration for base metals on lands in the 'Reef Ridge district.' Sporadic surface investigations were continued by Pasminco Ltd. until about 1989. Grab samples from cerussite-rich gossan contain up to 32.7 percent zinc and 34.5 percent lead. A continuous trench sample that was composed of about 80 percent gossan contained 19.25 percent zinc and 0.90 percent lead over a 40 feet (12 m) channel interval (Schmidt, 1997).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Blodgett, R.B., 1982, Stratigraphy of Reef Ridge project area: WGM Inc., Anchorage, Alaska, Reef Ridge Project area, Block 10, Doyon region: 34 pages.

  • Deposit

    Dutro, T.T. Jr., and Patton,W.W. Jr., 1982, New Paleozoic Formations in the northern Kuskokwim Mountains, west-central Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1529-H, p. H13-H22.

  • Deposit

    Anderson, G.M., and Macqueen, R.W., 1988, Mississippi Valley Type lead-zinc deposits, in Roberts, R.G., and Sheahan, P.A., eds., Ore deposit models: Geoscience Canada Reprint Series 3, Ottawa, Canada, p. 79-90.

  • Deposit

    Schmidt, J.M., 1997, Shale-hosted Zn-Pb-Ag and barite deposits of Alaska, in Goldfarb, R.J., and Miller, L.D., eds., Mineral Deposits of Alaska, 1997: Economic Geology Monograph 9, p. 35-65.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Schmidt, 1997

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Southeast Missouri Pb-Zn (Cox and singer, 1986; model no. 32a) or Mississippi Valley Type
Deposit Other Comments = See Bermuda (MD045), Hillside (MD049), and Big Gate (MD050) Mississippi Valley Type occurrences in Medfra B-3 quadrangle.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 02-JUN-98 Bundtzen, T.K. (Pacific Rim Geological Consulting) Pacific Rim Geological Consulting

Beyond USGS

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

Authoritative Alaska resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.